Advanced Wellness Solutions offers personalized holistic healthcare, including primary care, medical weight loss, gentle chiropractic, acupuncture and medical massage therapy. Discover the difference patient-centric care makes. Advanced Wellness Solutions is offering primary care in our Stuart location in Martin County. Offering primary care is not just a service; it’s a commitment to the health and […]
low back pain
Acupuncture for Pain Relief
Using acupuncture for pain relief has been an effective drug-free treatment for thousands of years.
Acupuncture and Chinese medicine have been treating pain and illness for thousands of years. Researchers have conducted numerous studies to assess the effectiveness of acupuncture. The Acupuncture Trialists’ Collaboration compiled raw data from trials where the main outcome measures were pain and function. They concluded that acupuncture is an effective method of treating chronic pain. Their conclusions included: 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 solely by the placebo effect.
The report itself states:2
Acupuncture is effective for the treatment of chronic musculoskeletal, headache, and osteoarthritis pain.
Acupuncture for Pain Relief
Acupuncture 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.
Advanced Wellness Solutions patients frequently tell us that they didn’t realize how much chronic pain was impacting their lives.
The research makes it clear that chronic pain is detrimental for your physical health. Chronic pain can elevate blood pressure, pulse rate, adrenaline and cortisol serum levels. This puts hazardous stress on the cardio-vascular system. Chronic pain can cause elevated serum lipids and glucose levels.1
According to 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
Living with chronic pain makes everything more difficult. Chronic pain can make performing the simplest tasks more difficult. It also has a significant impact on your mental health.
Chronic Pain Affects Your Sleep
According to the APA, 2healthy 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
Insomnia has been treated with acupuncture 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 attentioncare aree impaired in up to two-thirds of patients with chronic pain.3
Chronic pain doesn’t just harm your physical health. It affects your emotions and relationships. It even affects your state of mind. Chronic pain causes changes in the levels of stress hormones and neurochemicals found within your brain. This disruption can affect your mood, thinking and behavior.
Chronic pain can influence your thoughts, feelings, and memory. It also affects your concentration. It can even affect your 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. Chronic pain can make you more susceptible to depression, anxiety, and fear. Chronic pain can cause sleep disturbances, depression, and a heightened risk of suicide.4
Acupuncture for Pain Relief and Mental Health
According to studies, acupuncture may be valuable for those suffering from mental health disorders.4
Chronic Pain Affects Your Heart
Chronic pain can lead to a chronic stress reaction. This in turn causes an increase in blood pressure and heart rate. This stress reaction can lead to a reduced ability to fight off illnesses and diseases. It 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. Other factors associated with chronic pain include mood disorders, decreased sex drive (libido), medications or stress. All of these can affect sexual function.6
Chronic Pain: The Invisible Disability
Chronic pain is the “invisible” disability. 7What this means is that it is possible to look like the picture of health but suffer from chronic pain. Chronic pain makes everything more difficult.
Advanced Wellness Solutions’ health care practitioners treat chronic 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 drug-free pain relief treatments. Our goal is to help our patients achieve a better quality of life.
Advanced Wellness Solutions offers drug-free pain relief using gentle chiropractic, acupuncture and Chinese medicine.
Gentle Chiropractic Care Provides Chronic Pain Relief
One of the things we often hear patients say after treatment is, “I didn’t realize how much chronic pain was affecting my life!” It’s very gratifying to be able to provide chronic pain relief. We’re happy to help our patients get back to enjoying life instead of simply struggling to survive the day. Regrettably, numerous chronic pain patients endure unnecessary suffering and seek our assistance as a final option after exhausting all other options.
Accepting new patients. Call 855-509-5400 to schedule your appointment.
We Accept All Major Medical Health Insurance and Medicare.
Living with chronic pain makes everything more difficult. Performing even the simplest tasks can be difficult when you’re in chronic pain. Whether it’s headache pain, back pain, neck pain or hip or knee pain, chronic pain leads to a stress reaction throughout the body. Chronic pain can cause muscles to tighten and spasm, which in turn results in even more pain.
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 may also experience elevated serum lipids and glucose levels.1
So it’s clear that chronic pain is bad for your physical health. However, the damage caused by chronic pain doesn’t stop with your physical body. Chronic pain also affects your emotions, your relationships, and even your state of mind. Chronic pain is known to change 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.
People suffering from chronic pain tend to have poor sleep and sleep disturbances. This leads to fatigue, trouble concentrating, decreased appetite, and mood changes. Poor quality sleep, the frustration of dealing with chronic pain, and the elevation of stress hormones can then cause depression and anxiety.
Overuse of Pain Relief Medication Can Cause Headaches
When you’re in chronic pain, it’s fast and easy to reach for pain relief medication. Unfortunately, repeated use of pain relievers can cause medication overuse headaches. 1Medication-overuse headache (MOH) is a clinical diagnosis. It’s classified as a secondary disorder affecting patients who use pain-relieving medication (OTC or prescription) more than two to three days per week.
The bad news: the most effective treatment for MOH is to stop using pain-relieving medication.2
The good news: gentle chiropractic care can effectively treat chronic pain without drugs or other medication. Finding effective treatments for chronic pain can restore healthy sleep patterns, which in turn can reduce blood pressure and pulse rate while lowering adrenaline and cortisol serum levels.
Accepting new patients. Call 855-509-5400 to schedule your appointment.
We Accept All Major Medical Health Insurance and Medicare.
Advanced Wellness Solutions treats a variety of health conditions using personalized holistic healthcare. We offer primary care, medical weight loss solutions, gentle chiropractic, acupuncture and medical massage therapy.
7 Tips to Creating an Ergonomic Home Office
A lot more people are working from home these days. For many, it brings to mind images of relaxing on the couch while working. Few realize the importance of creating an ergonomic home office until they’re in pain.
On a well-known image sharing website, I searched for “working from home” and found the image below. If this is how you’ve been working from home, you may notice you have some new aches and pains. Your neck and back may be aching. Your wrists may hurt as well. Maybe you’re having headaches.
Don’t wait until you’re in severe pain to ask yourself: Is your workspace helping or hurting you? Are you working productively? Or is working from home slowly crippling you?
(By the way, this article applies to children who are homeschooling as well.)
If the decision to work from home was a sudden one, you probably didn’t give much thought to ergonomics. You set up your computer where you could and got to work.
The majority of people are unaware that an employer designed their workspace with ergonomics in mind. Ergonomics draws on many disciplines to optimize the interaction between you and the work environment. Ergonomics is how you and your workspace interact.
When your home office isn’t set up with ergonomics in mind, eventually you’ll experience:
- headaches
- shoulder pain
- back pain
- neck pain
- wrist pain, a.k.a., carpal tunnel syndrome treatment
Poor office posture injuries are repetitive use injuries.
Notice the word “eventually” above. You see, the human body is great at “making do” with whatever situation you put it in. This means the first time you flop down on your couch to work, your body isn’t going to scream at you to stop. Instead, it will do its best to adapt.
However, if you continue to put stress on your back, neck, shoulders, elbows and wrists with poor office posture, eventually you’ll experience the aches and pains described above.
It’s not just people who work from home who can suffer from these injuries. Anyone who works in an office is susceptible to these repetitive use injuries. However, if you’re working from home and you haven’t set up your home office with ergonomics in mind, then you’re even more susceptible to these types of injuries.
Employers invest in trying to optimize workplace ergonomics because they want to increase productivity while decreasing injury and illness. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in 2013, musculoskeletal disorders cases accounted for 33% of all worker injury and illness cases. 1
Home Office Ergonomics Can Prevent Musculoskeletal Disorders
Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders are among the most frequently reported causes of lost or restricted work time. These include:
- carpal tunnel syndrome (wrist pain)
- tarsal tunnel syndrome (ankle/foot pain)
- pinched nerves
- herniated disks (back/neck pain)
- tendinitis
- rotator cuff injuries (shoulder pain)
- epicondylitis (elbow pain)
- trigger finger (finger pain)
- muscle sprains, strains and tears
- mid back pain
- low back injuries
- neck pain
These Musculoskeletal Disorders have one thing in common. They all have symptoms of pain, swelling, and numbness.
The following are frequent causes of work-related musculoskeletal disorders:
- repetitive motion involving microtasks
- overexertion
- vibrating, rubbing, or jarring.
Creating an Ergonomic Home Office
You can reduce your risk of illness or injury by keeping workspace ergonomics in mind as you set up your home office.
Create an ergonomic home office by focusing on these key elements.
#1: Choosing The Proper Chair
It’s well worth the investment to purchase a quality chair. Keep in mind you will be spending 8 to 15 hours a day sitting as you work.
Don’t let clever marketing trick you. The term “ergonomic chair” is used loosely at best and is lying at worst. Instead, focus on finding a chair that fits you properly. If you are tall or short, you may need to spend some extra time to find that perfect chair. One advantage to outfitting your home office is you can purchase the best chair for your body.
The height of the chair is paramount. You should be able to adjust your chair so your feet are flat on the floor and your legs are parallel to the floor. Tilts are helpful to get that angle just right.
The backrest of your office chair should be separate from the seat. You should also make sure you can adjust the height and angle. Be sure the chair supports the natural curve of the spine. Pay close attention to the lumbar region of the chair. Make sure your chair offers proper support in the curve of your back.
What about Exercise Ball Office Chairs? While an exercise ball is great for working out, it is not your friend as an office chair. For most people, the height of the ball is not suitable for desk work. (See the image above for proper positioning.) While it’s good to exercise your core, these exercises should only be done for a short period of time, not for an entire 8-hour workday.
#2: Choosing the Proper Keyboard/Mouse
Many office workers suffer from tendinitis, carpal tunnel syndrome and other repetitive strain injuries caused by poorly designed keyboards and mice or positioning.
Finding the right keyboard and mouse is difficult because there is no “one size fits all” product or solution. While there’s no one product that is right for everyone, there are things to keep in mind to help you find the perfect match!
- Distance: Proper sitting posture dictates where you should place your keyboard.
- Angle: The keyboard should have a slight negative angle of about 15 degrees
- Height: Your posture and desk height dictate the correct height of your keyboard and mouse
- Mouse: the most important thing is to make sure you don’t twist your wrist while using the mouse
What about Wrist rests?
Often a wrist rest is used as a support rather than a rest. It should only be used, ideally, when a sharp or hard surface is present that you are constantly coming into contact.
#3 Laptop: Ergonomic Friend or Foe
Unfortunately, your laptop is an ergonomic foe! Laptop computers are much more convenient and portable than desktop varieties. However, it’s the ability to use your laptop anywhere that makes it an ergonomic foe! Using it while in bed or while seated on the sofa is a recipe for neck, shoulder and back pain. In addition, the keyboard is flat, which means your wrists won’t be properly positioned.
If you must use a laptop computer, don’t use the laptop’s keyboard and mouse pad. Instead, purchase an ergonomic keyboard and mouse and attach them to your laptop just as you would to a desktop. Place the laptop on a flat surface and position the screen to the proper height. See the illustration above. When you do this, you will find it very uncomfortable to use the laptop’s keyboard/mouse.
#4: Using the Phone
Do Not Cradle Your Phone!
If you are on the phone and typing, cradling the phone between your ear and shoulder can be hazardous to your neck. Cradling the phone can lead to neck spasm, headaches and ear pain.
Using speakerphone is the fastest and easiest solution. If using your phone’s speakerphone isn’t an option, invest in a good headset. It will literally save your neck!
#5: Choosing a Desk
Height is by far most important factor in choosing a desk for your ergonomic home office. The Canadian Standards Association (CSA) recommends a general height desk of 28.7 plus or minus 1.
Many people work from home from their dining table. Standard dining table heights are 28″ – 30 so it’s possible your dining table is the proper desk height. It’s also possible that your dining table is just a bit too tall or short. In the Work From Home Office Ergonomics illustration above, make sure your arm rest allows your elbow to be at a 90° angle while working at your table. If not, shoulder, wrist, neck and back pain can result.
#6: Positioning Your Monitor
- Distance: Your monitor should be set up 20 inches away or at arm’s length
- Elevation: The top of the screen should be at or slightly below eye level. The monitor should be directly behind your keyboard. If you wear bifocals, lower the monitor an additional 1 to 2 inches for more comfortable viewing.Tilting your head back to try to read your monitor can lead to headaches and neck pain.
- Angle: 10-20 degrees A greater angle will cause you to hold your head at an uncomfortable angle, leading to neck strain.
- Glare: Glare on your screen causes eye strain. Placing your monitor and desk perpendicular to the window works best. Whatever kind of lighting you use, position the monitor so that there is no distracting glare.
#7: Footrest
Footrests are a way to shift postures or provide support for the feet if the chair cannot be lowered. Unfortunately, using a footrest when the chair is too high provides only one place for the feet to rest.
- Height: Footrests should be adjustable. Adjust the footrest until the thighs are parallel to the floor +/- 1-3 inches.
- Rocking: When using a footrest, be sure to shift postures frequently. The rocking action on all-plastic footrests tends to wear out quickly, so look for durable models.
Chiropractic Care Can Help!
If you haven’t set up an ergonomic home office, you may already be feeling the effects. Sometimes simply changing your workspace can help alleviate your pain. If it doesn’t, gentle chiropractic care can help. Chiropractic care focuses on treating all of your joints and muscles. If you work on a computer all day, be sure to ask Dr. Danielle about adjusting your wrist.
3 Reasons to Choose Chiropractic Care after a Car Accident
If you live in Stuart, Palm City, or Hobe Sound, Florida, and are injured in a car accident, here are 3 reasons to choose chiropractic care after a car accident.
Car accidents can not only cause injury but anxiety as well. Even if your car accident was minor, your injuries could be serious, even life-altering. According to a study published in the Society of Automotive Engineers, vehicle1 crash damage does not directly correlate to the degree of occupant injury.
Unfortunately, it’s common for people to develop chronic issues as a result of a seemingly minor accident. What’s worse, you may not be aware that you’ve been injured immediately following the accident.
Accepting new patients. Call 855-509-5400 to schedule your appointment.
We Accept All Major Medical Health Insurance and Medicare.
Chiropractic care is the best option for musculoskeletal injuries, including those suffered in car accidents. Many of these injuries can be effectively treated without drugs or surgery. Fortunately, the injuries suffered in most minor auto accidents don’t require surgery and drugs.
Here are the top three reasons to choose chiropractic care after a car accident in Martin County, FL
#1: Imaging can’t catch micro-tears that are caused by a car accident.
Unfortunately, medical imaging such as X-rays or MRIs can’t detect the micro-tears in ligaments and muscles after a traumatic injury like those resulting from an auto accident. These microscopic tears in the muscle are why you may wake up with severe pain the day after an accident. Whiplash is a soft tissue neck injury that occurs when the neck snaps back and forth in a rapid motion. That rapid snapping back and forth causes microscopic tears in the neck muscles.
Soft-tissue injuries (a.k.a., micro-tears in ligaments and muscles) like whiplash can take a long time to heal. One study found that more than 70 percent of people who visited the emergency room after a car accident were still in pain six weeks later. Other researchers have noted that nearly half of whiplash sufferers continue to experience symptoms three months later, while 25 percent remain symptomatic for six months.2
Traumatic injuries such as those suffered in a car accident often include microtears and microlesions. These cause inflammation, which in turn causes pain.3 Studies show that chiropractic adjustments help the body release anti-inflammatory Interleukin 6 (IL-6). 4Interleukin 6 (IL-6) plays an integral role in the body’s healing ability, including trauma, burns, cancers and infections.5
#2: Chiropractic Care After a Car Accident Helps Heal Internal Scar Tissues
When you hear the word “scar tissue,” you might think of the scar from a nasty fall off your bike when you were young. Your body also forms this special type of tissue inside your body when your ligaments and muscles are injured. Just as the scar tissue you see on your skin doesn’t look or act like your undamaged skin, the scar tissue inside your body doesn’t have the same elasticity or mobility as uninjured soft tissue.
When scar tissue forms in the ligaments, especially those in your neck or back, it can lead to long-term pain and reduced mobility. Scar tissue continues to grow and change throughout the recovery process, which may take from twelve to eighteen months. 6Prompt chiropractic care after a car accident is very effective at remodeling scar tissue. Chiropractic treatment and stretching of scar tissue helps align the collagen fibers, allowing them to tolerate daily activities. 7
Studies show that car accident victims treated within one week of their accident saw the best overall improvement.8 Many chiropractors refer to this time period as the “golden week” because the inflammatory reaction that occurs during this period, if left unchecked, will produce scars and adhesions that make future management more difficult.
#3: Chiropractic Care After a Car Accident Releases Pain Relieving Hormones
Studies also show that chiropractic care helps release pain-reducing hormones.9 These hormones provide natural pain relief from both acute and chronic pain. They will help relieve the pain from the acute injuries suffered in a car accident. Fortunately, they don’t stop there! They will also help any other areas that were causing pain before the accident.
Unfortunately, turning to pain pills can actually make pain worse in the long run. Contrary to marketing messages that imply otherwise, pain medications do not speed up the healing process. Pain medications (both OTC and prescription) can be very beneficial for the first 7–10 days after a traumatic injury. Used in the short term, these can provide symptomatic relief while chiropractic care breaks up scar tissue and adhesions, relieving stiffness, pain and the discomfort it causes.
We’re learning that you won’t find the solution to pain—even – even chronic pain—in a pill. Not only are opioid medications dangerous and addictive, they can actually cause your pain to worsen. Studies show that when you use an opioid pain reliever, it sets off a chain of immune signals in the spinal cord that amplify pain rather than dulling it, even after the drug leaves the body. 10
Prompt Chiropractic Care is Key
Gentle chiropractic care will help prevent long-term, chronic pain conditions and allow you to achieve optimal recovery after an auto accident. Gentle Chiropractic Care is a newer method of chiropractic care. It replaces high-velocity adjustments with low-velocity, low-amplitude manipulations. It is performed with a gentle touch, targeting a specific area. Gentle chiropractic care is more comfortable and provides maximum benefit from minimal visits.
If you or someone you know has been in a car accident and you need gentle chiropractic treatment, call 855-509-5400 to schedule an appointment.
Sleep is Important for Health
Sleep is important for health and well-being. According to the NIH, sleep is essential for vital bodily functions such as growth and development, energy conservation, brain waste clearance, modulation of immune responses, cognition, performance, vigilance, disease, and psychological state. Sleep is also critically important to healing from injuries. Chronic pain is just one of many conditions that can keep you from getting the healthy sleep you need.
If you have trouble sleeping, you’re not alone. The American Sleep Association reports that nearly one-third of adults don’t get the recommended 7 hours of sleep each night, and sleep quality is declining.
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 for Health
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’ve been injured in a car wreck or suffer from chronic pain, getting that healthy sleep is easier said than done.
Sleep is Important for Health & Injury Recovery
While sleep is important for health, it 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 your body can repair damage to muscles, ligaments, tendons, 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 process 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. 5At the same time, the hormones that tell your body that you’re full (leptin) go down. 4This 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 effort. 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. 7While 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 having trouble sleeping, it’s time to schedule an appointment with Advanced Wellness Solutions. Acupuncture has been used for thousands of years to:
- Reduce depression and anxiety 7
- Improved sleep quality, sleep efficiency and total sleep time8
- Increase energy and improve fatigue9
Call (772) 403-7640 to schedule your appointment.
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 that it impairs your cognitive processes and 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!
In our continual pursuit of natural, hands-on pain relief, we’re proud to offer massage therapy and acupuncture in addition to gentle chiropractic.
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 for Disc Herniation
Chiropractic treatment is a non-surgical option for disc herniation. Chiropractic care is frequently the preferred first choice for treatment since it is non-invasive and avoids the use of medications or injections.
Your spine is made up of a series of bones (vertebrae). Between each bone is a rubbery disc that acts as a cushion. When the soft center of a rubbery disc is pushing through a crack in the tougher exterior casing, it’s called a disc herniation.
Unfortunately a herniated disc can irritate nearby nerves, resulting in pain, numbness, or weakness in an arm or leg.
With proper treatment, a herniated disc does not mean a lifetime of unbearable pain.
Is a herniated disc serious? Yes. Many herniated discs can be managed successfully with proper care and monitoring.
Seek immediate medical attention if you have:
- Loss of balance, bladder control or consciousness
- Vomiting
- Loss of sensation
- Symptoms are rapidly getting worse
A disc herniation falls into a broader category of disc derangement.
Disc derangement is a general term for when a disc has been damaged. This damage can be minor or major depending on age and type of trauma. The disc is made up of a gelatinous center called the nucleus pulposus surrounded by fibrocartilaginous material (annulus fibrosis). When the annulus fibrosus is torn due to stress, the gelatinous nucleus pulposus can ooze out.
How far that gelatinous nucleus pulposus oozes out is what determines what kind of disc derangement you have.
There are four stages of disc derangement:
- degeneration,
- prolapse,
- extrusion,
- and sequestration.
Degeneration
The first stage of disc derangement is when the nucleus pulposus begins oozing into the layers of annulus fibrosis.
Prolapse
Prolapse is when the nucleus pulposus pushes all the way out to the last layers of the annulus.
Extrusion
Extrusion is when nucleus pulposus has left the confinement of the annulus fibrosis. This is the state where nucleus pulposus can physically start interfering with surrounding structures.
Sequestration
Sequestration is the most severe. The nucleus pulposus has left the confinement of the annular fibrosis and has broken off into little pieces. These pieces can travel and cause interference with the surrounding structures.
Any stage of disc derangement can cause pain.
How much pain depends upon the individual and the location of the derangement. Extrusion and sequestration pose the most serious risk of the four. Anytime nucleus pulposus has left its confinement, it can cause impingement and pain.
In rare cases, disc derangement actually pinches a nerve, causing pain. Usually, the pain associated with disc derangement comes from the inflammatory response of the body to the change in structure. Inflammation occurs around the deranged disc, causing the nerve to become irritated. This in turn causes pain.
An MRI can show the location and what type of disc derangement is present.
What are the symptoms of a herniated disc?
Disc issues can manifest in various forms. Some individuals may have herniated discs yet experience no noticeable symptoms. The nature of the symptoms varies based upon where the herniated disc is located.
Cervical disc herniation symptoms:
- Pain in the arm or hand; this pain often feels like it is traveling down the arm or radiating
- Numbness and tingling
- Weakness in the arms
- In severe cases, reduced reflexes in the upper limbs with increased reflexes in the lower limbs
Lumbar disc herniation symptoms:
- Low back pain that travels down the buttocks, legs and feet
- Numbness and tingling
- Weakness in the legs
- Decreased reflexes
Risk factors for herniated disc:
- Overweight: excess weight puts extra stress and different weight loading on discs
- Physically demanding jobs
- Genetics: a family history of disc herniation
- Age: most likely to occur between 30 and 50
What causes a herniated disc?
Herniated discs can happen gradually with repeat stress. In other cases, trauma (like a car accident) can damage or displace one or more discs.
Common car accident injuries include
- bulging discs (when a disc shifts out of place and bulges into the spinal canal),
- annular tears,
- herniated discs.
How do you treat a herniated disc?
Treatments for a herniated disc include:
- Gentle chiropractic treatment with adjustments
- Acupuncture
- Medical massage therapy
- Cervical traction
- Physical therapy
- At-home exercises and stretches
- Postural correction
- Weight reduction
- OTC pain medications, muscle relaxers and prescription opioids.
- Surgery
An important thing to remember with a herniated disc is to avoid too much bed rest. Lying in bed waiting for the pain to go away is one of the worst things you can do. Taking it easy and not lifting heavy things is fine.
Gentle Chiropractic Treatment for Disc Herniation
Gentle chiropractic care has been demonstrated to effectively treat lumbar disc herniation. A gentle chiropractic care technique (activator method) has advantages over traditional chiropractic techniques when treating symptomatic lumbar disc herniation.1
We [the case study authors] speculate that the use of an AAI, combined with Activator methods, may provide definitive benefits over side-posture manipulation of the lumbar spine in treatment of resistive disc lesions, because of the lack of torsional stress imposed upon the disc during instrumental spinal adjustment.
In another case study, Activator-assisted spinal manipulative therapy had positive subjective and objective results for low back pain in a patient with degenerative disk disease.2
Yet another case study concluded:3
Conservative chiropractic treatment may provide an effective therapeutic intervention in selected cases of cervical disc protrusion.
This study specifically cited “instrument-delivered adjustments” (gentle chiropractic) as providing benefit in cases in which manual manipulation causes an exacerbation of the symptoms or is contraindicated altogether.
Other gentle chiropractic techniques, such as the flexion-distraction technique, the drop technique and pelvic blocking, have been shown to be helpful in treating disc herniations.3,4
Flexion-Distraction Technique
This spinal adjustment method utilizes a specialized table that allows the chiropractor to gently stretch your spine.
The photo above is of William sitting on our specialized table that gently stretches your spine.
This technique is gentle and typically painless, making it suitable for individuals experiencing significant discomfort. It can help reposition the herniated disc away from the nerve, providing symptom relief.
Pelvic blockage Treatments
This approach makes use of specially designed cushion wedges. During treatment, these wedges are placed beneath each side of your pelvis. This positioning helps to naturally shift the herniated disc away from the impacted nerve. In addition to addressing herniated discs, pelvic blocking can also be beneficial for other issues such as headaches and general body pain.
Acupuncture Treatment for Disc Herniation
Herniated discs can cause inflammation and pain, but acupuncture can reduce it. While it doesn’t address the root cause of degenerative disc disease, acupuncture can provide relief from symptoms and help slow the disease’s advancement.
Individuals undergoing acupuncture treatment could see a faster healing journey. Additionally, acupuncture aids in improving overall movement capabilities. When it comes to alleviating pain and enhancing mobility, acupuncture may offer more advantages compared to traditional physical therapy methods. After undergoing surgery for a lumbar disc issue, acupuncture might prove to be more beneficial than standard medical treatments for alleviating post-surgical discomfort.
Medical Massage Therapy Treatment for Disc Herniation
Medical massage therapy can be an effective treatment for a herniated disc. It can alleviate discomfort resulting from nerve compression and muscle tension. It also
- enhances blood flow to the affected region
- aids in regaining mobility in the joints,
- and provides support to the herniated area.
Medical massage therapy may boost the likelihood of natural healing for the disc, potentially facilitating the disc’s return to its proper position.
If you are experiencing symptoms of a herniated disc or have been in a Florida car accident and fear you have a herniated disc, you should contact Advanced Wellness Solutions.
Chiropractic Treatment of Facet Syndrome
Chiropractic treatment of facet syndrome,1 along with exercise, is the most effective approach for addressing both acute and chronic pain in the facet joints. Surgical options are usually not necessary for the treatment of facet syndrome because conservative treatment (such as chiropractic care) often resolves the issue.
Chiropractors emphasize the importance of addressing the root neurological, mechanical, and muscular issues contributing to facet joint pain.
Facet syndrome is a degenerative joint disease of the facet joint that can mimic the symptoms of a herniated disc.
The facet joints play an important role in stabilizing the spine while allowing movement. When these joints become injured in some way, it can result in considerable pain and disability. Since there are facet joints throughout most of the spine, this is a condition that can affect the neck, upper back and lower back. Even though facet syndrome can occur in any facet joint, it appears most often in high-movement and weight-bearing areas such as the neck and low back.
While facet syndrome often presents in patients older than age 50, anyone suffering from repeated trauma such as whiplash or multiple car accidents can suffer from facet syndrome.
Chiropractic care specializes in treating disorders of the musculoskeletal system and can offer some of the most effective treatment options for facet syndrome.
Flexion distraction is a gentle chiropractic technique designed to alleviate discomfort and symptoms linked to facet syndrome. The technique involves gentle stretching and rhythmic motions aimed at decompressing the spine, which can lead to pain relief and improved mobility.
Advantages of flexion distraction include:
- Enlarging the spinal nerve passageway,
- Decreasing pressure on intervertebral discs,
- Relieving inflammation in spinal nerve roots,
- and restoring proper movement in spinal joints.
What causes facet syndrome?
The cause of facet syndrome is still unclear. There are several factors that can contribute to the presentation of facet syndrome.
These factors are:
- Age 50 or older
- Repeated trauma to the neck or low back
- Repetitive stressful movement
- Genetics
Degeneration of the facet joint due to age or trauma causes the inflammation that produces pain in facet syndrome. Inflammation irritates the small nerves located in the facet joint, causing pain.
What are the symptoms of facet syndrome?
The symptoms vary depending on the area that is involved.
In the cervical region, the symptoms that may present are:
- Headaches
- Inflammation
- Neck and shoulder pain
- Limited range of motion when turning the head and bending the neck
- Stiffness
In the lumbar region, the symptoms that may present are:
- Lower back pain
- Tenderness
- Stiffness
- Radiating pain down the buttocks or back of the thighs
- Pain when twisting or arching the lower back
How do you treat facet syndrome?
In both the cervical and lumbar regions, treatment usually starts conservative.
Conservative treatments include:
- Chiropractic adjustments
- Acupuncture
- Medical massage therapy
- Physical Therapy
- NSAIDs
- Hot/Cold therapy
- Range of motion exercises
- At home stretching
If conservative treatment fails, there are other options, such as:
- Intra-articular facet injections
- Median nerve block
- Radiofrequency neurotomy
- Cervical Fusion
Surgical options are usually not necessary because conservative treatment often resolves the issue. All surgical interventions should not be taken lightly and should only be considered if a great deal of conservative treatment has failed.
If you are experiencing symptoms of facet syndrome and wish to discuss your treatments options, contact us at 855-509-5400
