Each year thousands of Martin County residents are involved in car accidents. Here are 3 reasons to choose chiropractic care after a car accident. Some car accidents cause minor damage while others cause major damage. The severity of the damage to vehicles and the severity of the injuries vary. Did you know that the vehicle […]
joint pain
Acupuncture for Pain Relief
Using acupuncture for pain relief is an effective drug free treatment option.
Acupuncture and Chinese medicine have been treating pain and illness for thousands of years. Many studies have been performed to measure the effectiveness of acupuncture. Researchers with the Acupuncture Trialists’ Collaboration compiled the raw data from trials where the main outcome measures were pain and function. The results from these studies concluded that acupuncture is an effective method of treating chronic pain. They concluded that 1
- acupuncture is effective for the treatment of chronic pain
- that the effects of acupuncture persist for up to 12 months,
- and that the benefits of acupuncture cannot be explained away solely by the placebo effect.
The report itself 2 states:
Acupuncture is effective for the treatment of chronic musculoskeletal, headache, and osteoarthritis pain.
Acupuncture for Pain Relief
Acupuncture for Pain ReliefAcupuncture involves the insertion of sterile, fine needles into specific spots to stimulate the body to heal itself. There are 2,000 acupuncture points according to Traditional Chinese medicine. These points are connected by meridians or energetic pathways. Energy or Qi (pronounced “chee” which means vital energy), flows through the body using these pathways.
In a healthy body, Qi (vital energy) flows freely. Pain, lack of function, or illness are signs that Qi has been disrupted.
By stimulating specific points on the body, Dr. Heather can help to restore healthy function to the body.
Dr. Heather J. Walden, Licensed Acupuncture Physician is accepting new patients.
Call (772) 403-7640 to schedule your appointment.
Advanced Wellness Solutions patients frequently tell us that they didn’t realize how much chronic pain was impacting their life.
Living with chronic pain makes everything more difficult. Chronic pain can make performing the simplest tasks more difficult. As if that weren’t enough, chronic pain has been shown to have a significant impact on your mental health as well.
The research makes it clear that chronic pain is bad for your physical health. Studies show that chronic pain can elevate blood pressure, pulse rate, adrenaline and cortisol serum levels, putting hazardous stress on the cardio-vascular system. Chronic pain can cause elevated serum lipids and glucose levels.1
According Perry G. Fine, MD of the Department of Anesthesiology, School of Medicine, Pain Research Center, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA,1 the long-term consequences of chronic pain include:
- sleep disturbances
- cognitive processes and brain function
- mood/mental health
- cardiovascular health
- sexual function
Chronic Pain Affects Your Sleep
According to a study released by the American Psychological Association 2, healthy sleep has been proven to be the single most important factor, more important than diet, exercise, or even heredity, in predicting longevity.
Acupuncture for Pain Relief and Insomnia
Acupuncture has been used to treat insomnia in China for thousands of years. Western clinical studies confirm that acupuncture may have a beneficial effect on insomnia.3
Chronic Pain Affects Your Thoughts
If you’re in chronic pain, you’re not operating at your cognitive best. Memory and attention care impaired in up to two thirds of patients with chronic pain.3
The damage caused by chronic pain isn’t limited to your physical health. Chronic pain affects your emotions, relationships, and your state of mind. Chronic pain is causes changes in the levels of stress hormones and neurochemicals found within your brain and nervous system. This disruption of the delicate balance can affect your mood, thinking and behavior.
Chronic pain can influence your thoughts, feelings, memory, concentration, and even connections with others.
Chronic Pain Affects Your Emotions
The emotional effects of chronic pain include:
- Depression
- Anger
- Anxiety, and
- Fear of re-injury
Living with chronic pain can affect your mood, making you more susceptible to depression, anxiety, and fear. Chronic pain causes sleep disturbances, depression, and a heightened risk of suicide.4
Acupuncture for Pain Relief and Mental Health
According to recent studies, acupuncture may be a valuable adjunct therapy for those suffering from mental health disorders.4
Chronic Pain Affects Your Heart
Chronic Pain Affects Your HeartChronic pain can lead to a chronic stress reaction that causes an increase in blood pressure and heart rate. This stress reaction can lead to a reduced ability to fight off illnesses and diseases and can increase the risk for heart disease.5
Acupuncture for Heart Health
Acupuncture reduces stress and improves heart function, according to UCLA researchers.6
Chronic Pain Affects Your Sex Life
Chronic pain may interfere with sexuality for several reasons. One is the nature of the pain itself. However, other factors associated with your chronic pain, including mood disorders, decreased sex drive (libido), medications or stress, can also affect your sexual function 6.
Chronic Pain – the Invisible Disability
Chronic pain is the “invisible” disability.7 What this means is it is possible to look like the picture of health but suffer from chronic pain. Chronic pain makes everything more difficult.
Dr. Heather J. Walden, Licensed Acupuncture Physician is accepting new patients.
Call (772) 403-7640 to schedule your appointment.
Advanced Wellness Solutions’ health care practitioners are well-versed in treating chronic pain. Our practitioners will believe you if you say you are in pain. If they can’t find a way to relieve or manage your pain, they’ll refer you to someone who can.
Advanced Wellness solutions offers natural, drug free pain relief treatments that can help our patients achieve a better quality of life.
Advanced Wellness Solutions offers gentle chiropractic care or acupuncture and Chinese medicine for drug free pain relief.
You Should Know: Sleep Helps You Heal
Pain can keep you from getting healthy sleep. Sleep is critically important to healing from injuries as well as maintaining good health.
If you’re not getting a good night’s sleep, you’re not alone. The American Sleep Association estimates that 50-70 million adults in the US have a sleep disorder.
Though the exact mechanisms are not fully understood, the current research suggests that individuals with a sleep disorder may be more likely to develop chronic pain and people with chronic pain are more likely to have trouble sleeping.1
A growing body of evidence suggests that sleep problems pose an important risk for the development of musculoskeletal pain in adolescents. A large cross-sectional study involving 6986 adolescents found short sleep time to be a risk factor associated with regional musculoskeletal pain, particularly chronic regional pain and chronic widespread pain.2
Why Sleep is Important
When you crawl into bed to go to sleep, you might think your body is shutting down and resting. We now know nothing could be further from the truth. Sleepy time is when your body performs many “heavy lifting” tasks that repair, restore and maintain your mind, body and health.. These processes are so intensive that the body waits until you’re asleep to perform them. This is why getting proper sleep following surgery or an injury is an important part of the healing process.
If you been injured in a car wreck or suffer from chronic pain, getting that healthy sleep is easier said than done.
The Role of Sleep in Injury Recovery
Sleep plays a surprisingly important role in injury recovery . Whether you’ve been in a car accident or you’ve hurt yourself at work or play, you need to get healthy sleep so you body can repair damage to muscles, ligaments and tendon, and even bones.3
According to John DeLucchi, Physical Therapy Manager for OrthoCarolina, “If you want to upgrade your athleticism, decrease your risk of injury, decrease persistent pain, recover faster, boost your immune system, have more energy and perform better, sleep is critical.” 4
Your immune system relies on sleep to be able to fight harmful substances. When you don’t get enough sleep, your immune system can’t properly protect your body from infection. Your body makes white blood cells while you sleep. These white blood cells attack viruses and bacteria that can slow the healing process as well as make you sick.
Sleep is when the body manufactures hormones. During healthy sleep cycles, the brain triggers the release of hormones that encourage tissue growth to repair blood vessels. This helps wounds to heal faster and restores sore or damaged muscles. Some of the hormones your body makes and releases during sleep slow breathing and relax muscles. This process can reduce inflammation and assist with healing. Other hormones your body releases are the ones that make you feel hungry or full. When you don’t get enough sleep, the hormone levels of ghrelin go up. Ghrelin is called the ‘hunger hormone’ because it stimulates appetite, increases food intake and promotes fat storage. 5 At the same time the hormones that tell your body that you’re full (leptin) go down. 4 This is why poor sleep patterns often lead to overeating and obesity.
So – to recap – healthy sleep helps you
- heal and recover after surgery or injury
- relax muscles
- repair blood vessels
- fight infection
- restore sore and damaged muscles
- maintain a healthy weight
In a cruel catch-22, chronic pain sufferers find it difficult to get healthy sleep. Chronic pain can lead to sleep disturbances, depression and a heightened risk of suicide.5 Healthy sleep plays a vital role in battling chronic pain, but chronic pain often prevents healthy sleep patterns.
Good Sleep Hygiene
Here are some things to try to help you get a healthy night’s sleep.
-
- Make your bedroom a sleep sanctuary. Reserve the bedroom for sleep, intimacy, and other restful activities.
- Keep your bedroom cool. Between 60 and 67 degrees Fahrenheit for optimal sleep.6
- Banish electronics from your bedroom.
- Be careful about napping. Taking a nap at the peak of sleepiness in the afternoon can help to supplement hours missed at night. However, daytime naps can also interfere with your ability to sleep at night.
- Instead of napping, try taking a brisk walk. Exercising – especially when you’re having trouble sleeping – is tough but worth the efforts. Make sure to avoid exercising within three hours of bedtime.
- Avoid caffeine after noon.
- Alcohol is not a sleep aid. While many people think drinking alcohol helps you sleep, studies show the opposite is true. 7 While alcohol will make you fall asleep faster, the quality of sleep you get is greatly diminished. The more you drink, and the closer your drinking is to bedtime, the more it will negatively impact the quality of your sleep.
If you’re logging in 8 hours of sleep at night but don’t feel refreshed in the morning, it’s time to schedule an appointment with Advanced Wellness Solutions. There are many medical conditions – including chronic neck and back pain – that could be responsible.
Get Relief from Chronic Pain
No one likes living with chronic pain, but many of us push through rather than address the underlying issue(s). Did you know that chronic pain can harm your health even if it’s not limiting your activities? Fortunately, effective gentle chiropractic care can provide drug free relief from chronic pain.
Chronic Pain Significantly Impacts Your Overall Health
If you’re living with (and ignoring) chronic pain, university medical school studies reveal that you may be doing long term damage to your overall health.
According to a University of Utah School of Medicine report published at NCBI, chronic pain significantly impacts your overall health. One of the ways chronic pain can affect your health is by disrupting your sleep. According to a study released by the American Psychological Association, healthy sleep has been proven to be the single most important factor in predicting longevity. Healthy sleep is more influential than diet, exercise, or heredity for predicting longevity!
Another negative health effect of chronic pain is it impairs your cognitive processes, brain function – even your your mood and your mental health. 1 2 3
As if that laundry list weren’t enough, the University of Utah study shows that chronic pain can even impact your cardiovascular health, not to mention your sexual function.
Gentle Chiropractic Care Provides Drug Free Relief from Chronic Pain.
The good news is that chronic pain can often be successfully managed without drugs, injections or surgery.
Modern chiropractic care addresses so much more than just neck and back pain. Modern chiropractors treat the whole person – not just a specific body part.
Dr. Danielle has helped hundreds of patients find drug free relief from chronic pain.
If you’re dealing with chronic pain – don’t delay! Chronic pain can have a domino effect on your overall health!
Don’t suffer another day with chronic pain!, You owe it to yourself to schedule an appointment with Advanced Wellness Solutions. Call 855-509-5400 to schedule your appointment today.
Chiropractic Treatment of Neck pain: Cervical spondylosis
Sometimes referred to as “arthritis of the neck,” cervical spondylosis is an age related cause of neck pain.
If you answer yes to any of the following questions, then you may have cervical spondylosis.
- Are you over 65?
- Have you played a lot of sports throughout your life?
- Have you had a fair amount of physical trauma in your past such as multiple motor vehicle accidents?
What is cervical spondylosis?
Cervical spondylosis is the medical term for wear & tear of your cervical discs and joints. Cervical spondylosis occurs when trauma or age causes the discs to shrink and bone spurs to form and other signs of osteoarthritis to appear.
What are your risk factors for cervical spondylosis?
- Age
- Multiple neck injuries
- Jobs that have strenuous physical demands
- Genetics
Cervical spondylosis is very common and worsens with age. There are some suggestions that there is a genetic component to the severity of degeneration that will occur. This means that if someone in your family has serious arthritic symptoms in their neck then you may be more likely to develop more severe cervical spondylosis.
According to the Mayo Clinic,
“More than 90 percent of people older than age 65 have evidence of cervical spondylosis and osteoarthritis that can be seen on neck X-rays.”
What are the symptoms of cervical spondylosis?
Often cervical spondylosis produces very few symptoms. When symptoms do occur they are often pain in stiffness located in the area of the neck.
However symptoms can arise from the bone spurs and disc height loss associated with cervical spondylosis. Bone spurs and loss of disc height can narrow the space required by the spinal cord and nerve roots.
If this space is compromised it can cause symptoms that present as:
- Numbness or tingling
- Loss of balance
- Loss of reflexes, decreased sensation and loss of muscle strength along one part of the arm
- Loss of bladder or bowel control.
If you are experiencing sudden numbness, loss of strength or loss of bladder or bowel control seek emergency medical help as soon as possible.
What causes cervical spondylosis?
There are many causes for cervical spondylosis and all increase in severity with age. The most common causes of cervical spondylosis are:
- Dehydrated discs
- Herniated discs
- Bone spurs
- Stiff ligaments
What are the treatments for cervical spondylosis?
Treatments for cervical spondylosis are geared toward pain relief and motion preservation.
Chiropractic adjustments can help to reduce the loss of motion in cases not presenting with worsening neurological symptoms.
The treatments available for cervical spondylosis are:
- Chiropractic adjustments (in cases not presenting with worsening neurological symptoms)
- Range of motion exercises
- Cervical stretches
- Cervical traction
- Pain medication
- Steroid injections
- And in cases of severe neurological symptoms surgery
A word of caution to anyone experiencing cervical spondylosis/arthritis in the neck. Cervical traction should only be done under direct supervision of a medical professional! Even at home units leave the potential for serious harm and should only be used under a professional’s guidance. The infomercials and online ads make it look easy to use, but please check with your healthcare provider to see if this treatment is right for you.
If you live in or near Stuart, Fl and are experiencing any of the symptoms associated with cervical spondylosis symptoms, please contact Advanced Wellness Solutions to schedule an appointment. If you’re outside this area, please contact a local chiropractor.
