Let me guess, you suffer with chronic back pain? You’ve also heard that if you could reduce inflammation, you may have less back pain.
Is that right?
Great!
Yes, your food choices can help reduce inflammation
That means you’ve probably heard the reports of the dangers of inflammation. That left unchecked it can lead to rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease and more.
You also probably know that inflammation can cause that throbbing pain in your lower back.
Which means, it makes sense that reducing chronic inflammation would be a good thing and help reduce your back pain.
And you’d like to do it without drugs.
After all, you probably know that frequent use of over the counter pain meds can cause all manner of other problems including gastrointestinal bleeding. And prescription pain killers, well, the problems with those are all over the news.
So, what are you to do?
How can you reduce inflammation and have less back pain? And manage it without popping pills?
Glad you asked.
As an experienced back doctor aka a chiropractor, I have some ideas for you. Some involve diet and lifestyle changes while others include wellness treatments like massage therapy and chiropractic care.
Sure, it may be a little harder than popping a pill but in the long run it’s healthier. Besides, don’t you want to be as healthy as possible?
5 Ways to Reduce Inflammation
As you probably know, everything you do affects something else. If you eat a steady diet of junk food and your exercise consists of walking from your driveway to your door, then you’re likely to gain weight. No surprise there.
But what you might not know is how closely linked healthy habits are to reduced inflammation. Here are five lifestyle choices proven to reduce inflammation.
1- Eat Healthy – You didn’t think I would recommend a diet of fried food and high carbs did you? Sorry. Those can make inflammation worse, cause you to put on weight and generally head towards disease. Instead; think fruits and veggies, lean chicken, and wild caught salmon. These are the types of foods that will help you feel your best.
2- Exercise – Walking, yoga, or crossfit will all benefit you. Some research says as little as 20 minutes a day of exercise can reduce your inflammation. (Source) As you know, exercise also reduces stress and weight gain both of which are excellent benefits.
In too much pain to exercise? If you’re near Doylestown, Pa., come in for a consultation so we can see what’s really going on and get you to feeling better.
3– Chiropractic Treatments – Why does chiropractic care reduce inflammation? Because studies show regular adjustments can reduce your bodies’ production of a certain type of protein called cytokines. These proteins can cause inflammation so by reducing them, viola, your pain can be reduced. Some say chiropractic care can be as effective as NSAIDS.
Caveat: Everyone’s body and back pain is different so therefore your treatment plan is personalized based on your medical history.
4- Massage Therapy – Loosening tense muscles and ligaments not only feels soothing but it can also reduce inflammation and pain in your body. It’s also good to combine massage therapy with chiropractic adjustments because when your body is less tense, you’re usually more receptive to chiropractic adjustments and they can “last” longer.
As you can see, there are multiple ways to reduce inflammation. And reducing inflammation can help your body relax and relaxation will help reduce back pain.
5- Acupuncture – This ancient medical practice involves using small needles placed in strategic places on your body. If you’ve never experienced it, it can sound a little odd but some patients have had tremendous success with it for everything from back pain to cold relief.
As you can see, each of these contribute towards your goal of living a healthy lifestyle. You don’t have to be extreme to reap the benefits either. Eating healthy food and light exercise will go along way towards keeping you healthy.
Want to feel unstoppable? Stand up, throw your shoulders back and your chest out, raise your head proudly and hold your hands in fists by your sides. This is the “superhero” pose– so called because every superhero movie seems to show the heroes in this stance.
When you improve your posture you’ll feel better
It’s a powerful way of standing.
It says, “I’m here and I’m ready.”
If you haven’t already, go ahead and try it!
Feel better?
Ok. When the occasion doesn’t call for standing like a superhero – it’d be a little odd in the grocery line for instance – you can also try theAmerican Chiropractic Association’s guide to great posture.
Why Better Posture Improves Your Mood
One reason your posture affects your mood is that sitting slumped over restricts oxygen flow into the brain. Studies show that even those diagnosed with depression will feel better if they sit up taller. You feel more energetic when you improve your posture too. Plus, lousy posture takes a toll on your joints.
And while it’s no secret that sitting slumped over can make you feel tired and irritable, but you may not have realized, it can also contribute to back, neck, and wrist pain and even carpal tunnel syndrome.
8 Ways You Can Improve Your Posture and Reduce Pain While at the Computer
Besides boosting your mood and giving you more energy, improving your posture can also reduce pain. Yes, you’ll alleviate stiffness from long periods of working at the computer but also, better posture can help with chronic pain too. Here are 8 ways to feel your best.
1- Get a Good Chair – There are dozens of high-quality chairs on the market. Some of them are even known as “gamer’s chairs.” I probably don’t have to say any more about those! Such a chair has lots of padding but also supports your lower back to help it stay in proper alignment.
2- Check your Computer Screen – When your computer screen is at eye level, your neck can stay aligned with your spine which means it won’t be jutting out and putting additional pressure on your neck. You can find out more about setting up an ergonomic desk here.
3-Standing Desks – You can buy those battery powered ones or construct your own. Even shoe racks or plastic boxes can offer enough height to boost your screen to the right height. But make sure you stand with good posture. Well-cushioned shoes help protect your back and joints; especially if you’re on a hard surface.
4- Exercises – If you’ve ever pressed your back against a wall and squatted down in “chair pose,” then you know what it feels like to press your shoulders back. You can do this several times a day to counteract the effects of the forward slump. Your chiropractor can give you additional exercises that can help your specific condition.
5- Don’t Give Yourself Text Neck – Bending over your phone is apt to cause something we chiropractors call “text neck.” Like your computer screen, you’ll put less pressure on your neck if you keep your phone screen at eye level. It might feel funny to hold your screen up in the air, but your neck will feel better.
6- Chiropractic Adjustments – Regular chiropractic treatments help your body stay healthy and they can reduce chronic pain. You may be familiar with chiropractic adjustments as a quick, calculated thrust to a specific area of your body with the goal to realign the joints and tendons. I evaluate every patient, review their medical history and x-ray, and base the treatment accordingly.
7 – Massage Therapy – A good massage relaxes your muscles. Relaxing your muscles reduces pain caused by poor posture. Cramped and tight muscles hold tension. Massage will loosen them so you can stand taller.
8- Practice – Most of us don’t think about our posture much. But if you start noticing it, you might be surprised at how often you find yourself slouching – even a little. But noticing it and correcting it is half the battle when it comes to improving your posture.
In summary, bad posture contributes to feeling tired, sluggish, and even depressed. It can also cause pain in your neck, back, and wrists. Making adjustments such as improving your computer set up and recognizing when you’re slouched over can help you maintain better posture. Regular chiropractic treatments can help you maintain and improve your posture by helping your body shift and remain aligned.
If you or a loved one suffer from sciatica, then you’re familiar with the sudden flare-ups and debilitating pain. It’s common too. In fact, an article from Harvard Medical School says, “As many as 40% of people will get it during their life, and it becomes more frequent as you age.”
Sciatica is also often misunderstood. Many times it’s lumped in generically with other back pain even though it’s not the same thing. However, since sciatic pain is often in the lower back, its sometimes treated as degenerative disc disease or other common back pain causes.
In this article, we’ll look at the typical causes and symptoms of sciatica along with some treatment options including chiropractic therapy for sciatica.
Common Causes and Symptoms of Sciatica
You’re probably familiar with the sciatic nerve. It’s the longest nerve in the body which means it is easily irritated. The sciatic nerve runs from the top of your spine to your feet. These are common causes:
Muscle spasms
Lumbar spinal stenosis – the lumbar is the lower part of the back and spinal stenosis is when it narrows more than it should.
Spondylolisthesis – when discs stack onto another
Even pregnancy
It often strikes people who are overweight and sedentary, but not always. I’ve known young yoga teachers to suffer from sciatica. Overall, it’s generally caused by nerve compression.
The Symptoms of Sciatica
Just as the causes are varied, so are the symptoms and it’s very individual. You might feel:
Tingling in the legs
Numbness
Throbbing pain
For some, it’s a mild annoyance while for others, it’s debilitating. It can last for years, come and go without notice, or disappear after a period of acute pain.
It’s important to be checked by a medical professional. That way you’ll be treating the right issue. As a chiropractor, we conduct a thorough physical and medical history including an x-ray right in our Doylestown, PA office.
We’ll prescribe a treatment plan once we’ve assessed that it is sciatica.
Can Chiropractic Therapy for Sciatica Help?
As you may know, many people find their sciatic pain will go away on its own – sometimes within a few hours. But for others, it can drag on and keep reappearing.
Fortunately, many patients find sciatic pain relief through chiropractic care. The entire purpose of chiropractic care is to offer an effective natural solution for our patients.
We also recommend hot and cold therapy to reduce inflammation and spinal adjustments.
Other natural pain relief treatment options include:
Ultrasound – this warm heat is gentle and goes deep into the tissues to help muscles relax.
TENS machine– (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) – We use this in our Doylestown office to help relieve pain. You’re hooked up to a machine that sends electrical currents throughout your body—concentrating on the painful area. It can be as gentle as you like or more like a deep tissue massage. However, it’s up to you.
There are smaller home units available too.
Chiropractic massage – A good massage therapist can help loosen muscles and improve blood flow throughout your body. Improved blood flow can reduce inflammation which will relieve the pain.
Low impact exercise – Walking, gentle yoga, daily back stretches, swimming, and other low impact exercises will improve your mobility while also improving blood flow. They also strengthen the back muscles which help support the lumbar spine.
As you can see, there are many ways chiropractic therapy can help sciatica. If you’re suffering from sciatic pain or any back pain, give us a call or come in. We’d like to help you feel better!
Chiropractors have long been known as “back doctors.” Yet, they offer so much more. Studies show chiropractic care benefits asthma, ADD, neck pain, shoulder pain, carpal tunnel, scoliosis, and more.
The reason is because chiropractors are the “doctors of the spine” and it turns out that spinal health affects everything else.
Take chronic neck pain for example.
In chiropractic terms, the neck is also called the cervical spine.
If you reach around your head and touch the base of your skull, that’s where it starts. If you continue running your fingers down the back of your neck, you’ll feel the knobby vertebrae.
These vertebrae support your head and allow it to turn left and right, up and down. However, while the flexibility of your neck makes it easy to look over your shoulder and merge on the highway, for example, this flexibility also puts the neck at risk.
You know what it feels like to wake up with a “crick” in your neck. Usually, that type of pain will disappear after a few hours. However, other types of neck pain aren’t as easily solved.
Chronic neck pain is common after accidents, aging, diseases, and bad posture.
Imagine, if you’re in a car accident. Often, the impact forces your head forward and then it “whips” back. That’s where the term “whiplash” comes from and it can be super painful. The reason is that such a force can injure the muscles, joints, discs, ligaments, and even the roots of the nerves.
Even simply getting older can lead to degenerative problems like spinal stenosis, osteoarthritis, and degenerative disc disease.
Then there are the stresses of everyday life which can cause you to tighten your neck muscles.
Poor posture which can push your neck forward and cause your head to stay jutted out. That puts pressure on your neck and spine.
As you can see, there are many causes for chronic neck pain. But what can you do about it?
3 Treatments for Chronic Neck Pain:
There are many ways to treat chronic neck pain including massage therapy, acupuncture, and chiropractic care. Your medical professional will likely recommend a specific treatment plan but let’s see how these can help.
Massage Therapy – The massage therapist will work on manipulating the muscles in your neck to loosen them. Depending on the extent of your neck pain, you may feel immediate relief or it may take additional sessions. Many people find massage therapy combined with chiropractic care offers long-lasting pain relief because the neck muscles are able to relax which improves the chiropractic treatment.
Acupuncture – This ancient Chinese practice uses tiny needles to place in strategic points throughout your body. These locations – or acupuncture points – are message centers in the body and when triggered, they can improve blood flow in the body which helps reduce pain.
Chiropractic Care – The neck or “cervical spine” is at the top of the spine and the whole point of chiropractic treatments is to take care of the spine. Which means it makes sense that chiropractic adjustments can reduce chronic neck pain. According to the American Chiropractic Association, multiple studies have found more than half the study participants have found relief for neck pain with chiropractic care.
Now that you know these three all-natural pain relief treatment options for chronic neck pain, which will you try? If you’re located near Doylestown, Pa., we invite you for a free consultation.
It connects your lower body to your upper body via the spinal column, tissue, tendons, and miles of nerves. There’s a place for everything though it’s not hard for parts of your body to shift and sometimes get out of place.
Take a pinched nerve in your lower back for instance.
Why Do Nerves Get Pinched?
When a nerve is pinched is often because a bone, tendon, or other matter has shifted out of place and is pressing on the nerve.
According to The Mayo Clinic, “A pinched nerve occurs when too much pressure is applied to a nerve by surrounding tissues, such as bones, cartilage, muscles or tendons. This pressure disrupts the nerve’s function, causing pain, tingling, numbness or weakness.”
Sometimes a pinched nerve in the lower back is related to a herniated disc. Arthritis, a fall or injury, or other health matters can pinch a nerve.
What Are the Symptoms of a Pinched Nerve in the Lower Back?
No matter the cause of the pinched nerve in your lower back, it’s due to compression of the last five vertebrae. You may feel sharp pain, tingling, numbness, and weakness in your lower back all the way to your feet.
How is a Pinched Nerve Diagnosed?
A physical exam with your doctor will help determine if a pinched nerve is the cause of your lower back pain. Do you have a reduced range of motion? Are you experiencing balance problems?
Here at your Doylestown chiropractor, we’ll ask about your medical history. We’ll also conduct an x-ray to see what’s going on in your lower back. Nerves get pinched for many reasons. Our goal is to determine the source of your pain. That way, we can recommend treatment options and help you find relief.
Find Pinched Nerve Pain Relief
There are many ways you can find pinched nerve relief like these.
Gentle Yoga Stretches – If you’re not a yogi, try a beginner class or one that’s called Gentle Yoga or Yin Yoga. These classes typically use props like blankets and blocks to support your body. A skilled teacher will help you find postures that reduce the pressure on your nerve and lower back so that you can find relief.
Acupuncture – Traditional Chinese Medicine uses an ancient system called “meridians” to locate points on your body where tiny needles can be inserted. The needles stimulate a healing response in your body.
Massage Therapy – A skilled massage therapist will work deep into your tissues to help them loosen. Combined with chiropractic adjustments, massage can help your body benefit even more from chiropractic treatment. Why? Because while chiro helps your bones and tendons go back to their rightful places while massage helps them stay there.
Chiropractic Treatment – A chiropractic adjustment may be your quickest solution to pain relief. For many people, a few spinal manipulations will provide near-instant relief which is great for short term pain relief. We’ll craft a treatment plan for your long-term healing.
Of course, there’s no “one and done” solution for a pinched nerve in the lower back. Any treatment will require multiple applications for longer-term pain relief and you may find a combination of things works the best. If you’re in pain and in the Doylestown, PA area, come see us. We’d love to help.
