Many suggest that these rises are primarily related to the increase age of our population combined with accessibility and advancement of surgical procedures. Of course, for those with unrelenting, daily pain these radical surgeries can appear to be a blessing. However with the level of risk associated to the procedures themselves combined with the fact that the occurrence of nosocomial infections is continuing to rise it is important that we start taking actions today to help prevent these types of surgeries from continuing to rise in popularity. By far the best way forward are the old reliable: regular exercise, as vigorous as is reasonably possible; a healthy diet containing plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables; and sufficient rest on as consistent basis as possible. Regular chiropractic care is also a key component of helping to keep your weight bearing joints in peak condition.

Most replacement surgeries are done when patient reaches the point of severe and unrelenting pain caused by degenerative joint disease, which is also called osteoarthritis. The hips, knees, and ankles are all weight bearing joints. These joints are big and strong and have many surfaces on which to distribute the substantial mechanical loads which are placed on them throughout the day. Unfortunately, these joints may not last forever and similar to many living systems when their age starts show they begin breaking down. If this breaking down process progresses the joint can become necrotic at which point a replacement is almost inevitable. However, there is significant research to suggest that this breaking down process can at the very least be slowed down and in many cases it can actually be reversed through restoring normal movement to the joint and then through using regular exercise.

Chronic poor posture is a significant factor that results in abnormal movement patterns in these large joints and leaves them susceptible to degeneration. Unfortunately, our body doesn’t come with an instruction manual. So as time goes on, the inefficient habits we develop as children and teenagers can become permanent. People slouch, they let their abdominal muscles sag, they stand with all their weight on one leg, and their heads stick out in front rather than being centered over their chests. One result is chronically tight and painful neck, shoulder, and lower back muscles. Another result is chronically uneven distribution of the weight of the body, ultimately causing restricted movement and degeneration of hips and knees.

Poor dietary habits can also be a significant factor. These large joints actually produce their own lubricating fluid, however certain dietary deficiency can result in key nutrients not being available and thus poor production of the lubricating fluids. Lack of proper joint lubrication leads to osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis leads to pain when used for exercise. Lack of regular exercise inhibits normal joint motion and normal joint nutrition and lubrication, leading to the development of degenerative joint disease. When you add up faulty biomechanics, lack of a healthy diet, and lack of proper exercise, the result is a prescription for chronic hip and knee problems.

The best time to start addressing these issues when you’re young and have healthy joints to work with. As they say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. That doesn’t mean that you can’t get started at any age because you can. It simply means that starting healthy habits in your lifestyle is easier to achieve when you are young. When you are 9 or 90 the best time to begin making healthful changes is right now. Chiropractic care directly helps improve a person’s biomechanics and posture. Chiropractic care also helps the body to adapt and recover faster when starting a new exercise program. Chiropractic care helps the body make the best possible use of the good food they’re beginning to eat.

For most of us, the best way to prevent the need for a hip or knee replacement is to take consistent, healthy actions on our own behalf. If a hip or knee replacement turns out to be the way to go, all of these healthy actions will help ensure a quick recovery and continued good health from this point onward.

The fact is that you did get a measurable result – you were just measuring the wrong things: New Membership, New Clothes and New Equipment. Of course, that wasn’t what you had intended but in today’s culture we have a tendency to throw money at things in an effort to buy a solution. Unfortunately it doesn’t really matter how much money you throw at your fitness – it’s tough to buy regular exercise. That doesn’t mean that you can’t make the experience more pleasant by buying a few comforts but the first thing that should be on your to do list is a commitment to what you want to achieve with your regular exercise, in what time frame you want to achieve this goal, how you benefit by achiving this goal and an action plan. You can get very specific on this point.

What Does Your Goal Look Like?

My Regular Exercise Goal: Walk Continuously for 30 minutes 4 days per week
Time Frame to Achieve My Goal: 6 weeks (this is a good time frame to start with)
Benefits from Achieving My Goal: Increase Cardiovascular Fitness, Improved Sleep, Lower Stress and More Life
Action Plan: Walk Continuously for 5 minutes 4 days per week and increase by 5 minutes each week.

Learning to Leverage Yourself

Now it’s time to leverage yourself to ensure that you actually achieve your goal. Decide on a reward that you will give yourself for achieving it. Don’t go over the top on your first goal but it should definitely be something that you really want.

Reward for Achieving My Goal: 2 hour Full Body Spa Treatment

Don’t wait until you achieve your goal to buy the reward – go out and buy it now! This is the best way to spend money on achieving better fitness; on a reward for doing it.

Now the last and most important step to really leverage yourself. Call someone that knows you have been struggling with your exercise and let them know what your goal is and that you have already bought your reward. Tell them that you are so committed to achieving this goal that if you don’t do it that you will be giving them your “reward”! This works even better if you would hate to give this person your reward.

We All Love to be the Winner

As small children we were well conditioned to work hard toward a goal when there was a perceived reward for achieving the goal. We also understood that if we didn’t win that someone else would get the reward for winning. For the vast majority of us that desire to achieve the goal and to get the reward is still present. Learning how to access this built in desire to achieve the goal and reward as part of your regular exercise program can help to get you off of the merry-go-round. The trouble with regular exercise is that we very often can’t perceive the goal or reward and as a result we have a hard time understanding why we are continuing to do this regular exercise. By building in your own goals and reward system I can promise that your commitment to achieve your goals will be much more sustainable.

Once you achieve your first goal and receive that reward be sure to celebrate it because you are in the “Winner’s Circle”! Then turn around and set your next goal. Initially you will want to keep your goals simple to achieve so that you can be the winner again and again. Keep your time frames beteen 4 and 6 weeks so that you can maintain your intensity for achieving the goal. Make each successive goal a bit more difficult but still attainable and one goal at at time you will see your level of fitness continuing to improve.

Is Walking Really Beneficial to My Health?

Remember that general exercise is a key factor in maintaining overall health and well being. If you’re committed to the long-term health and well-being for yourself and your family, regular exercise is essential. Starting with walking as your form of regular exercise is one of the best possible choices. Walking avoids the vast majority of pitfalls associated with other types of exercise. Walking is low-impact, requires minimal equipment, and no gym memberships. Walking can be done outside in the fresh air and sunshine which provides many additional benefits beyond those gained from the exercise itself.

Starting slowly is the main consideration. If you haven’t done any vigorous physical activity for months or years, 5-10 minutes of walking at a modest pace should be sufficient for your first day of walking. 3-5 minutes out and 3-5 minutes back. Make 10 minutes your limit even if that amount feels like it is too little. It’s always better to start with less exercise and gradually increase over time than to start with too much and suffer from muscular soreness or injury. Adding approximately a minute eacj day, until you’re doing a thirty minute walk at a modest pace. With this quantity of comfortable walking, you can now begin to increase your pace. Ultimately, 30 minutes of walking at a brisk pace will provide sufficient health benefits for most people, based on 4 to 5 walking sessions per week.

Consistent regular exercise can help to lower blood pressure, prevent heart disease, reduce the incidence of stroke, reduce the incidence of diabetes and obesity, and it can even improve the outcomes of patients receiving cancer treatment. Walking for exercise is an efficient, enjoyable, and easy way to enable you and your family to begin obtaining these long term health benefits.

Most people that have experienced this painful condition will call it a “pinched nerve”, exclaiming, “it feels like I’ve pinched a nerve“. However, the majority of the time there’s a bit more going on!

Between each of the bones of the spine there are a pair of openings, which are individually called the intervertebral foramen or neural foramen. That’s Latin for a hole or opening between the bones of the spine or an opening for a nerve, respectively. This hole between the bones of the spine is where the nerves exit from the spine to form the connection between our brain and all of the other parts of our body.

This nerve opening along your spine must be kept open to maintain proper communication between your brain and your body. Think about it this way. Do you remember the last time your internet connection was down? That can be pretty frustrating. You have important work to get done or a message that you need to pass along but you are disconnected. Well when these nerve openings between the bones of the spine are closed off your brain and your bodies “internet connection” is down and they can’t properly communicate.

There are 24 movable bones in your spine that are designed to protect your spinal cord and the nerves of the spine while at the same time allowing you to have the freedom of normal movement: twisting, turning, flexing and extending. The spinal nerves exit from the spine in pairs, one on each side. Inside of the spinal column the nerves are connected to the spinal cord in a very organize way. Each segment or level of the spinal cord where a nerve connects services specific organs and tissues of your body. When a neural foramen (nerve opening) is blocked or obstructed, even slightly, your brain can’t do it’s job of controlling and regulating the functions of your body properly.

When a spinal bone is malpositioned or doesn’t move the way that it should this can encroach or close down these important nerve openings resulting in either a pinched nerve or an irritated nerve. In either case most people will refer to this as a “pinched nerve”.

The Two Types:

• Compression lesion: This is the fancy name for a pinched nerve. What is surprising to most people is that this specific problem is actually quite rare.
• Facilitated lesion: This is when the nerve root is over stretched or if the muscle or other connective tissues in close proximity to the nerve become inflamed or injured. When this happens the nerve becomes super sensitized. Imagine that someone or something has been bothering or aggravating you all day long and your at the point where any little thing could just make you scream. That is a “Facilitated lesion”.

Pain Spasm Pain: The Vicious Loop

A facilitated lesion most often starts as a painless process where the body is trying to protect an area that has a mild injury. Maybe you over stretched while lifting something our of your car or twisted yourself while reaching for something under your desk. Initially, you may not feel any pain. However, the area of the spine that has been mildly injured will become tight to restrict the normal movement of the area in an effort to protect it so that it can be repaired. Unfortunately, because we may not realize there is an injury we continue on with our normal activities and the simple fact that we continue to move and use the area allows it to become more and more aggravated until we reach the point that any little thing will cause it to scream. At the point where we reach “pain” the protective reaction of the body becomes stronger and muscle tension becomes muscle spasm. The muscle spasm further aggravates an area which is already facilitated, which in turn causes more pain and the cycle pain spasm pain repeats and repeats.

Remember that bones are a static structure of the body. Bones don’t move on their own – they must be moved by a muscle. Similarly, muscles don’t move the bones of our body unless they are given the signal to do so by our nervous system. In the pain spasm pain loop the facilitated nerve is almost always the culprit. Our job is to locate these areas of your spine and help to bring things back into balance.

A Specific Nudge

A chiropractic examination is designed to helps us identify areas of your spine where the spinal bones and joints are malpositioned or not moving properly as these are often times the cause of a facilitated lesion. Then, through a specific little nudge called a chiropractic adjustment we help your body to “right itself” thus allowing the nerve irritation to be reduced.

Chiropractic care is a natural way to restore and maintain the normal function of your spine and nervous system. Abnormal spine and nervous system function can lead to a variety of health problems. Chiropractors regularly help patients to recover from health concerns that on the surface appear unrelated to a problem in their spine. Remember spinal dysfunction leads to nervous system dysfunction which in turn causes health problems. Chiropractors help spinal function which helps nervous system function which leads to improved health.

Give us a call today to find out how chiropractic care can help.

FAQs on Pinched Nerves:

How long does it take for nerve irritation to reduce?

There are many factors that help to determine how long the healing process will be. For some pain relief may be instantaneous. While for others it can take many weeks or even months. The biggest factors that affect the healing process include: how long have you had your problem, are you following your treatment schedule, are you getting the proper rest, hydration and nutrition, do you smoke, are you in otherwise in good health? Most patients will experience a sense of good progress while they are following our recommendations. We will do our best to provide you with a good estimate of how long your healing time may be.

My friend/co-worker/family member only needed one visit?

It is true that a single visit can sometimes produce amazing pain relief. However, this type of result is relatively rare and is most often short lived. If the underlying muscles and supportive tissues of the spine are not strengthened and reconditioned, a relapse or worsening of the condition can often occur. Clinical experience demonstrates that the majority of adult patients starting chiropractic care today will have significant levels of damage and adaptive changes to the bones, joints, muscles and other supportive structures of the spine. This leaves a spine in a state where it is easily injured from normal day to day activities and less likely to recover from injury without treatment. A single “miracle” adjustment may offer significant relief it rarely if ever produces permanent positive changes to the function of the spine.

Our feet carry us everywhere that we want to go. They come in virtually every size and shape and are thrust into narrow spaces or raised up on four-inch heels to give us height. Victimized by bunions, calluses, plantar warts, and blisters. Subjected to hot sand, hard gravel and stones in the summer and occasionally treated to a pedicure – very nice! Believe it or not they can also be the cause of that chronic low back pain! Yes, we are talking about your feet!

Normally, the arches of our feet are designed to be strong and flexible and like the shock absorbers in your car they help to absorb the impact of every step, which is an important feature if you plan to do any walking. Our feet also provide the balance necessary to support the body. When arches are flat, the muscles in the lower back become strained as they work harder to balance the body over both feet and absorb more of the impact of each step.

One way to compensate for low arches and to reduce back pain is to invest in some good foot orthotics. Worn in each shoe, orthotics bring back form and function to the feet so that proper balance can be restored. In order to heal, it’s important to wear orthotics in your shoes whenever you’re standing, walking, running or biking. Orthotics are not a solution for everyone but for the person that needs orthotics they can be a true blessing.

Most orthotics are specially designed to fit the specific needs of a patient and can be made to accommodate any size foot. Typically, you can replace your current shoe insole with the orthotic very easily. By changing the mechanics of your feet work more efficiently can offer significant relief to the muscle strain in the lower back. If the source of your lower back pain comes from poor foot mechanics this one step can offer significant improvements for your lower back. Many notice more energy and less fatigue almost immediately.

Of course, it’s important to remember that orthotics are are designed as an adjunct to support your chiropractic adjustments! Be sure to contact us for a thorough examination if you are experiencing low back pain regardless of the source.

We look forward to serving you!

As a child, you were probably told a few times to “Stand up straight!”, “Sit up straight!” or my favorite “Stop Slouching!” Good posture isn’t really about being “straight”. The basis for good posture is a “neutral and balanced” position that minimizes asymmetrical strain on the various joints of the body. That means that we should try to carry the same amount of weight through our joints on both sides of our body as well as from the front to the back.

Why is Posture So Important Today?

Posture has always been important. Historically much more so than in modern times. This importance was passed down from teacher to student, parent to child or grandparent to grandchild through those wonderful affirmations, “Stand up straight!” I not sure that our teachers, parents and grandparents necessarily knew how important posture was in relationship to our health but they did know that their teachers, parents and grandparents reinforced it for them – so it had to be good enough for us. However, in more recent times this “importance” of reinforcing posture has been slipping for various reasons. Over the last 30 years we have witnessed a significant change in the teacher to student, parent to child and grandparent to child dynamic. Telling a student, child or grandchild to “sit up straight” or “stand up straight” to reinforce their posture is no longer an integral part of our cultural experience.

When we couple together the facts that today’s children are not receiving positive postural reinforcement along with regularly taking part in activities that reinforce poor posture such as: television, computers, and video games it is no surprise Doctors of Chiropractic are regularly treating young patients suffering from repetitive strain injuries (RSI). Twenty years ago RSIs were primarily reserved to people working in the data entry or secretarial services. Problem like carpal tunnel syndrome, chronic pain in the hands, back pain, neck pain, headaches and shoulders pain which are symptoms normally related to bad workplace ergonomics. Today we are seeing these conditions rising at an alarming rate in high school students.

A New York Times article reported that over 70% of America’s elementary school students are now regularly using computers in school. It is only a matter of time until the other 30% of students will also be using computers. While this is good for the minds and the future work prospects of these children, it can be damaging to their bodies.

Researchers from Cornell University published a study revealing that 40% of the elementary school children they studied were using computer workstations that created a significant postural risk. While all of the students in the study used work stations that at the very least raised “some concern” about the affects on the students posture.

It is not enough to teach children how to use computers; more emphasis has to be placed on teaching them how to properly use the actual workstations. These are the formative years for an individual, mentally, emotionally and physically. Poor work habits when young can lead to serious health effects that plague that person for the rest of their life. While parents know to watch out for signs of substance abuse in their children, few have any idea of the long-term health effects that can arise from postural problems.

What can you do?

Thankfully, there are certain things you can do to lessen the chances of your child suffering painful and potentially disabling injuries. First and foremost ensure that your child understands how important their posture is by reminding them to “Stand up straight” and “Sit up straight” in a loving way but regularly.

To maintain good posture while standing, it is important to:

• Position your head directly over your shoulders, which should be positioned directly over your pelvis
• Keep some space between your feet, one foot slightly in front of the other
• Keep your abdominal muscles taut (tighten the “core” muscles) and your bottom tucked in
• Bend slightly at the knees

To maintain good posture while sitting, remember to:

• Keep your feet flat on the floor with your hips and knees at a 90 degree angle
• Keep your chin level – practice with a book on your head if it helps!
• Keep your lower back slightly arched – use a “lumbar roll” to maintain proper posture in the lower back if you sit for long periods of time
• Remember to take periodic breaks from sitting and move around a bit or adjust your sitting position from time to time to prevent stress on your spine

If you or your child are suffering from posture related pain despite your best efforts to avoid it, your next stop should be a doctor of chiropractic to prevent the injury worsening and to promote healing. Having your posture and spine fully evaluated if the first step to designing a program to help your body recover.

Persons with fibromyalgia have so many symptoms that an uninformed physician may find it easier to refer such patients to a psychologist or psychiatrist but the physical symptoms of fibromyalgia are real. The sufferers have widespread pain on a chronic basis. Additional symptoms include fatigue, sleep disturbances, numbness or tingling in the hands and feet, joint stiffness, and cognitive dysfunction (brain fog). Depression is also common in those with fibromyalgia as it becomes difficult for them to see an end to their pain.

Fibromyalgia is notoriously difficult to treat because even gentle treatment can result in very significant changes. Quite often fibromyalgia sufferers are using multiple medications, prescribed by multiple specialists attempting to combat the problems that fall within their particular branch of medicine – pain management, rheumatology, and psychology/psychiatry. Unfortunately, even trying to comprehend the various interactions between these medications is mind boggling.

Despite seeing a variety of specialists and taking the variety of medications they have been provided, most fibromyalgia patients tend not to show signs of improvement. Depression and chronic pain can take a profound toll as their daily living becomes quite burdensome. Many fibromyalgia sufferers give up hoping for even a partial solution.

Attempting to address fibromyalgia by treating the various symptoms will almost always fail. To date the exact physiologic causes of the disorder is classified as unknown. However, many holistic approaches have offered a greater likelihood of success. Multidisciplinary approaches to treatment are often needed to impact this type of systems-wide disorder. Many fibromyalgia sufferers have reported great responses to chiropractic care. Chiropractic care combined with nutritional recommendations designed to help the patient get back to normal levels of physical activity has offered some of the most consistent relief. Because many fibromyalgia sufferers are significantly delayed in getting on the road to recovery they may also require some psychological counseling or support to help them regain their confidence and to stay positive while in a program of care.

When the physiologic cause for a condition is unknown it is virtually impossible to identify a cure. However, adding activities to your lifestyle that are known to improve health and well-being can be beneficial regardless of the health condition from which you are afflicted. Improving your diet, improving your movement, improving your posture, and improving your hydration all have been shown to be beneficial for your health regardless of your current health condition.

We are always available to answer questions and to see if we can help. Give our office a call today.

Have you ever woken up after a full night’s sleep and felt more exhausted than when you went to bed? Of course you have, but what is the difference between good sleep and bad sleep? The difference is in our sleep cycle and most importantly about the REM our brain was able to experience during this time.

What is REM?

REM or Rapid Eye Movement is one the two main cycles in our sleep. During REM sleep our voluntary muscle groups become temporarily paralyzed by the base of the brain. By turning off the neurons in our spinal cord we do not actively act out the dreams that we are experiencing.

It was first given this name by scientists who noted the rapid, jerky movements of the eyes through closed lids, as if the persons asleep were seeing something. When an electroencephalogram (EEG) was attached to volunteers in a sleep study, it showed that the levels of brain activity were nearly identical to those who were awake. They also noted an increase in heart rate and breaths per minute.

While we sleep we cycle between REM and non REM with four stages of NREM sleep preceding one stage of REM. NREM sleep is the stage at which our body repairs itself, energy is replenished and our immune system is boosted. A complete cycle of sleep takes between 90 and 110 minutes in total, with approximately a quarter of that time being spent in REM sleep. It is also the stage during which dreaming almost always takes place. Scientists are still trying to discover the extent to which REM sleep affects our health and mental well-being, but they do know that REM sleep is important for the development of creativity and problem solving ability, and is how we learn to adapt to our world.

Age Difference

The percentage of time spent in REM sleep is the greatest among babies and children. Babies can spend as much as 50% of their sleep time in the REM stage. And while it has been thought that the dreams we experience during REM sleep are a consolidation of the memories that we have experienced during the previous day, babies in the womb (who experts believe have few or no real world memories) spend most of their sleep time in a state of REM.
Although we are still unclear of its true dynamics, a Professor of Psychiatry Emeritus at Harvard University, J. Allan Hobson, says the purpose of REM sleep is: “A reinforcement of basic knowledge—knowledge that precedes any waking-state learning: how to be a person, how to be an ego, how to exist in a space, how to move in a space, how to feel. It’s not environmental memory; it’s genetic memory.”

Right after harvest the nutrients in any vegetable begin to deteriorate, including those all-important antioxidants. The sooner a vegetable is eaten after it’s picked, the more nutrients it has. Having a home garden is excellent, as you can simply walk out your door, pick what you need and plop it straight into the cooking pot or salad bowl. Of course, not everyone has the space or time for a garden, so what’s the next best thing?

A farmers’ market!   The veggies from a farmers’ market are usually grown locally and are normally fresher than what you can get at the supermarket. Barring that, the next best choice is, surprisingly, frozen vegetables.

What most people don’t know is that frozen food can often be more nutritious for you than fresh, especially if the fresh variety has been transported over a long distance. If you’re living in New York and are eating fresh peas grown in California, those peas have endured a number of days in a truck before arriving at your market.

Also, any sugars in the vegetable begin to convert to starch from the moment it’s picked, which is why freshly picked corn straight from the farm is so much sweeter than the kind that has been sitting in the supermarket for a few days. However, frozen peas and many other vegetables are generally flash frozen on the spot where they are harvested, preserving those nutrients.

On a whole, vegetables that have been cooked are generally not as nutritious as raw.  Remember if you do cook them be sure to do it only long enough make them tender. The longer they cook, the greater the nutrient loss. There are, however, some exceptions. Tomatoes, for example, provide greater amounts of lycopene when they are cooked than when eaten raw. Cooking breaks down the plant’s cell walls, releasing greater amounts of nutrients. Zucchini, carrots and broccoli are best eaten cooked for this reason.

The lowest in nutrients are canned vegetables.  Many of the vitamins are lost in processing under high heat. The water-soluble vitamins B and C and polyphenols are easily lost when canned or boiled. Researchers at the University of California found that between 85 and 95 percent of the vitamin C in canned peas and carrots were lost in the processing. The vegetables containing fat-soluble vitamins such as A, D, E and K can be steamed or boiled, however, without losing a great amount of nutrients.

Raw vegetables are generally best, but if you find eating raw veggies unappealing to the point where you avoid them, its fine to eat them lightly cooked. Better to get some healthy nutrients than none at all!

Good nutrition can sometime appear to be very complex as our understanding of it is constantly evolving.  If you have questions about your current nutrition or supplement plan, please ask.

We look forward to helping you!

Two Common Causes For Back Pain in Stuart

The facet joints at the back edge of each spinal bone are rich with pain receptors and are a common cause of back pain. The pain can be a sign these interlocking joints have lost their normal mobility. The discs between spinal bones can also be involved. Simple traumas like a slip or fall or over stretching while lifting can cause the soft, gel like material in the middle to shift and cause pressure on nearby nerves.

Your Options in Stuart When Back Pain Strikes

We’ve helped many people suffering with back pain both chronic and acute case using chiropractic care. However, other very common choices include:

• Ignore it: Spinal problems when ignored tend to worsen over time.
• Bed rest: May offer short term relief but as with “ignoring it” this option delays addressing the problem.
• Therapy: Again this may offer short term relief but if malfunctioning joints are present it is again just “ignoring it”.
• Medicine: Numbs the pain offering relief but there are no medications that properly address joint dysfunction.
• Surgery: Certain types of back pain may require surgery but these are rare and even in these cases surgery is recommended as the last resort and only when conservative treatment options are unable to help.

Chiropractic Option: Address the Source of Your Pain

Chiropractic treatment helps to improve spinal position and mobility. By restoring the way your spine works the joints, discs and soft tissues begin to repair, nerve pressure can be reduced, pain diminishes and stability returns. If you don’t have a chiropractor, we would scheduling a consultation to answer your questions. Just click here to contact us.

Back Pain FAQs:

I have a “little” back pain every day – is that normal? Pain of any kind is a warning sign that something is wrong. Pain is your bodies way of telling you that a physical limitation has been reached or a problem has developed. Because our body has a tremendous capacity for adapting, minor aches and pains are often ignored. While the pain may stop, if the underlying problem (the reason for the pain) is not addressed, the problem may worsen until it becomes more difficult and expensive to resolve.

What about taking muscle relaxers? Of course chiropractors don’t dispense drugs, instead we use natural drug-free methods to help our patients. There are many stress relieving activities that can provide muscle relaxation: improved hydration, deep breathing exercises, and positive mental visualization can significantly help patients that are struggling to recover because of muscle tension. Additionally, for acute pain or pain related to treatment (muscular soreness similar to that experienced from starting a new exercise) properly applied ice has an analgesic effect and when used regularly can help to improve the circulation to areas suffering from degeneration. Most importantly you get the benefit of these methods without the unwanted effects associated with many medications.

How does chiropractic work? Chiropractic “works” because your body is self-healing, self-regulating and controlled by your nervous system. Millions of instructions are communicated between your brain and your body, up and down the spinal cord, and over the peripheral nerves to every organ and tissue. The messages sent back to the brain confirm if the body is working correctly or tell the brain there is an emergency (pain). Improper movement and/or position of the bones of the spine can negatively affect this vital exchange of information between the brain and body by irritating or compressing nerves and thereby diminishing the function and coordination of affected organs and tissues. Chiropractic treatments are designed to improve this brain body communication cycle. By improving nervous system communication the body repair process improves and the warning system (pain) can return to it’s normal resting state.

Does insurance cover chiropractic care in Stuart? Today many policies cover at least some of the care that you may need. It’s always a relief when an insurance company or some other third party helps pay the bill. But be careful! Most huge corporations prefer to focus on their own bottom line rather than what is in your best interest regarding your health. If you sincerely want your health back, in most cases we can help and we will do our best to make chiropractic care affordable for just about anyone.

The Reality of Carpal Tunnel

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome typically starts off as pain or numbness and tingling in the hands or wrists. It receives the name from the carpal bones in the wrist that form a tunnel around the median nerve leading to the hand. The pain can often radiate from the hand up to the shoulder. Most often it is related to an injury caused by repetitive and forceful movements. These micro-traumas to hands and wrists on a daily basis due to awkward positioning, forceful and repetitive movements, and stressful activities result in the swelling around the tendons and pinching of the median nerve. This compression causes the painful tingling, lack of muscle strength, and control in the hand. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is a risk to most workers who may work on computers, on a cash register, or an assembly line.

The usual treatment for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome can extend to heavy medication and surgery; however there are alternative methods of treatment that can alleviate the symptoms and help repair the damaging effects. If Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is detected early, then surgery can be avoided with chiropractic treatment being the leading method of non-surgical treatment.

Chiropractic treatment may involve various methods, for instance a combination of rest, ice, ultrasound, and electrical stimulation. Treatment may also include:

• Chiropractic manipulation therapy of the elbow and upper spine, where the joint’s soft tissue undergoes manipulation;
• Nutritional supplements in the diet such as B6, a vitamin that has a long-term benefit;
• Electro-acupuncture treatment;
• Bracing, a technique that has had extensive success, by limiting extension and flexion in the hand. The compression on the median nerve encourages recovery by easing the swelling in the tendons;
• Exercises for the wrist and hand designed to encourage recovery;
• Reassessing the ergonomics of the work place to minimize stress the best way as possible.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome can become a serious health problem, and if left too long may require surgery. If it’s caught early, then chiropractic treatment is an effective, drug-free method to ease the symptoms and pains and provide long-term relief.

Everybody is different. If you have questions about whether chiropractic is an appropriate choice for your specific situation, please ask. We are here to help!