chiropractic alignment can bring natural pain relief
Aches, pains, and being just plain physically uncomfortable are things that happen to all of us as we age. Sometimes back pain, knee pain, and other chronic pains are due to accidents and injuries. Others we can chalk up to years of bad habits (like poor posture.)
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
What if you could relieve annoying back pain with a chiropractic alignment?
What’s a chiropractic alignment?
Also called an adjustment, a chiropractic alignment is a series of short, sharp thrusts at the hands of a trained professional to re-align the spine. When the bones, tendons, and other parts of your body are in their right places, you have less pain.
That’s because chiropractic care supports your body’s natural way of being.
You probably know your joints, muscles, and bones have a specific configuration. When they’re in physical alignment you don’t feel pain but when they’re out of whack, you do.
Misalignment can be caused by things like poor posture, or repeated activity. For instance, doing the same motions for a job or sitting at a computer for hours at a time often leads to repetitive stress injuries.
For instance, athletes are more likely to experience foot and knee pain and discomfort than the average person. That doesn’t mean a person with a desk job won’t ever experience knee pain but athletes who jump, run, and constantly put a lot of impact on their knees see the pain in those areas the most.
Then there’s back pain which affects virtually everyone at some point in their lives. Our backs are constantly in use, well if you’re a person who sits up at all. Back pain doesn’t have to be just accepted as a part of ageing. We can retrain how we sit, stand, and if the damage is already done get realigned to relieve that pain.
5 common ways to relieve pain
The alternatives to Chiropractic alignment are pain-relieving drugs, over-the-counter topical treatments, steroid shots, or surgery. These can help in the short term but they’re not natural and may not help at all.
1- Steroids: Things like steroids have a lot of chemicals in them and have side effects like elevated blood pressure, eye pressure, and even psychological effects. Also, in a lot of cases, people can build a tolerance to their steroids making them not work overtime.
2- Over-the-counter pain relievers: Some of the most common over-the-counter options are things like Advil and Tylenol. Medication serves as a type of Band-Aid rather than a solution. Plus, they’re not meant for long-term, daily use and if used that way, they can cause problems with your stomach lining.
3-Topical treatments: These are things like ointment, and balms that help soothe the pain. These treatments block pain signals and may add a cooling effect that helps soothe the pain. This method can provide short-term relief but it doesn’t help your body heal.
4- Surgery: This is the only form of treating back pain that does typically get to the root of the issue. However, this form of pain relief is extremely invasive, sometimes ineffective, costly, and comes with a lot of potential issues down the road. So many people have not found it helpful there’s even a syndrome called “Failed Back Surgery Syndrome” or FBSS.
We tend to think of it as a last resort.
5-Chiropracticalignment:
A professionally trained chiropractor assesses your body, talks with you about your medical history, and makes strategic adjustments to help you find pain relief. Using decades of proven techniques, a chiropractic alignment helps your body heal itself. It’s also often covered by insurance.
If you’re in Bucks County, Pa. Consider making an appointment with Dr. Jeff McQuaite to assess your body’s aches and pains. It may be that a chiropractic alignment treatment is exactly what you need.
Are you one of the 20.4% of American adults living with chronic pain? If you are, you’d probably like to find a solution.
Chronic pain can last for years and impact your quality of life in significant ways. At first, you make small adjustments to accommodate your pain. Maybe you find another family member to open the jars for you or you sit out your favorite activities.
Before you know it, you’re sitting out your favorite activities. Natural pain management can help you get your life back.
4 Ways Natural Pain Management Can Benefit You Mentally and Physically
Finding ways to manage chronic pain is important to your quality of life. Everyone is different so what works for you may not work for your spouse or friend, but these natural approaches have many benefits.
Yoga – From “lay on the floor” Yin Yoga to Power Yoga, there’s a yoga style to fit everyone. Of course, if you want to incorporate yoga into your pain management program, it’s important to assess your current activity level and find a teacher/class geared towards those in chronic pain. If you’re not a regular practitioner, you can find a beginner class to give it a try. Some yoga studios offer classes called “Yoga Basics” or “Yoga for Beginners.” You can also call and ask about classes for natural pain management.
Massage Therapy – Harvard Health Publishing shares that “A study published in Annals of Family Medicine in 2014 found that 60-minute therapeutic massage sessions two or three times a week for four weeks relieved chronic neck pain better than no massage or fewer or shorter massage sessions.”
It also benefits chronic back pain, shoulder pain, and other conditions. Massage therapy stretches and soothes your muscles and tendons which can reduce pain. It also relieves anxiety which helps reduce your pain too. We recommend interspersing massage with chiropractic treatments.
Chiropractic Care – Chiropractors use spinal manipulation and other therapies to help treat people with chronic pain. While chiropractors are often thought of for back pain relief, they can also help with carpal tunnel, headaches, and other chronic pain.
For example, at our chiropractic office, your first visit will include an x-ray and health assessment. That way, we can create an individualized treatment plan for your pain management. It may include some exercises and alternating heat and cold in between chiropractic adjustments.
Acupuncture – This ancient practice is part of Traditional Chinese Medicine. If you’re familiar with it, the practitioner uses tiny needles at strategic points in the body to release the body’s natural life force. The idea is that pain and illness come from blockages within the body. When the blockages are removed, blood and oxygen can flow freely.
Of course, this is only a sampling of natural pain management techniques. You might try physical therapy, hot and cold therapies, and a combination of other therapies. Fortunately, there are many ways you can feel better.
If you’re in chronic pain, you know the toll it takes on your physical and mental well-being. It zaps your energy and enthusiasm. You deserve to feel better.
First, you want to get at the source of why you have chronic pain. Maybe you know your knee pain stems from high school sports. Or, you suspect your shoulder pain relates to long hours at the computer. From run-of-the-mill chronic pain to sciatica and slipped discs, the right blend of therapies can help you feel your best.
If you’re in Doylestown, PA, why not visit us for more information about pain management? Dr. McQuaite will consult with you and develop a treatment plan for your specific body. We take most insurance! Why not come in and let us help you feel better!
One of the things people don’t always realize is how damaging car accidents can be to your body. Even it seems “minor” and there’s only a little dent in your fender, your body sustained a jostle big or small.
Think about it, if you’ve ever hit a large pothole, you know how much that can damage your car alignment. It’s no different with your physical body.
You can get out at the scene of the accident and feel fine at the time. Yet, in the next day or two, you might start feeling achy. This is not unusual. In fact, you may not even connect it to your car accident if it’s several days later or a week later.
For instance, let’s say you were rear-ended by a car going 5 miles an hour. You have a dent in your fender, but otherwise, everything seems fine. Then, a few days later, you have neck pain. Most people don’t realize even such a minor seeming impact is strong enough to cause whiplash and other painful injuries. That’s why chiropractic treatment after a car accident can really help.
Factors in Possible Car Accident Injuries Include:
1- The type of vehicle – both the type of vehicle you’re in as well as what hit you. If you’re in a small car like a Prius and a jeep hits you, your car may have more damage.
2–Angle it hit you – We’ve all seen those roadside accidents where it’s obvious that the vehicle sustained a blow at one of the corners. The direction the vehicles made impact affects the damage on the vehicle and the person inside.
3-How fast it hit you – A light tap on the rear in stop-and-go traffic is not the same as a head-on collision, yet, if that “light tap” damages your fender, that could be enough to knock your body out of alignment too.
4-The location of your headrest to the location of your head – For example, the headrest can offer protection if it cradles the back of your head, but if you have it down and your head whips front and back, then you could have whiplash.
5 – Did you tense in anticipation or was it a surprise? (Surprise car accidents can cause injury to your ligaments whereas if you tense up, the injury is more likely to be in your muscles.)
These are all factors that go into whether your body sustained an injury after a car accident.
Chiropractic Treatment After a Car Accident is a Good Idea
Just like your car may need realignment your body needs realignment periodically. This is especially true after an accident. Even a “minor” accident can knock your spinal column out of place. Fortunately, a chiropractic adjustment will put everything back where it needs to be. In our Doylestown office, we can also run an x-ray to see if there’s any reason for concern internally speaking. Plus, your insurance may cover all or part of your treatment.
If you have a car accident, please don’t delay seeking chiropractic treatment. You deserve to feel good.
Do you suffer from chronic pain? Where is it? Is it in your back, wrist, neck, or leg? There are natural solutions to heal chronic pain throughout your body.
It starts with discovering the source of the chronic pain and then creating a treatment plan to address it. Your medical professional can help.
For example, in Doylestown, Pa. You can see a chiropractor to help you pinpoint the reason behind the pain and find natural pain relief.
As you may know, chiropractors practice a safe and effective approach to relieving chronic pain.
Your Spinal Health Matters
When you think about it, it makes sense, chiropractors keep your spine in good working order and your spine is connected to your central nervous system (CNS). Your CNS is responsible for sending and receiving messages throughout your body.
Chiropractors love to say, “your spine is your lifeline” because it’s so critical to your health. It connects your nervous system to everything in your body. When the messages flow easily, everything goes well. Your body works like it’s supposed to and you feel good. When it doesn’t, it’s kind of like when your internet buffers. You notice it and it’s irritating. For some, it’s debilitating.
Chronic pain is wearing. It nags at your central nervous system all the time and often triggers something called “central sensitization” which means you’re more sensitive than before. In other words, chronic pain intensity might mean you move up the pain scale from a 3 to a 7 or an 8 quicker than before. If you’ve ever lost patience or said you were on “your last nerve,” then you’re familiar with the feeling.
However, regular exercise, massage therapy, and chiropractic adjustments can help you feel your best.
Why Do You Have Chronic Pain?
Pain is a warning. It may stem from an injury or a poor posture or overuse of certain muscles (like carpal tunnel.) You might know exactly why you’re in pain and you might not. Yet, everything is connected to your spine and your spine is connected to your brain where the messages originate.
There are 33 bones in the spinal column, plus nerves, muscles, and tissue. From there, everything else in your body is connected. There’s a reason we call chiropractic care an “adjustment.” We adjust your bones, muscles, and tissue and make sure your body is re-aligned.
That way, if your chronic neck pain, for example, originates from the way you jut your head forward from long hours at the computer (it’s a subtle jutting – no one would notice – but it puts a ton of pressure on your body), then your adjustment realigns your neck and takes the pressure off the nearby nerves. You’ll immediately feel better.
In other cases, you might have hurt your back or be suffering from sciatica. Chiropractic care can help with those too. In some cases, you may have a bone pushing into nearby tissue and even the nerve. This is common and chiro care excels in helping you find natural pain relief from pinched nerves and other common pains.
What to Expect From Your Chiropractor
At McQuaite Chiropractic in Doylestown, your first visit starts with X-rays of the painful area. That gives insight into what’s causing your pain and how to best treat you. Next, we’ll make recommendations for your treatment. This could include hot and cold therapy, spinal manipulation, and a modest exercise program. Though it varies for everyone.
You deserve to feel better! If you’re in Doylestown, Pa. or the surrounding area, give us a call. We accept walk-in’s, crawl-in’s and various insurance.
When was your last massage? For many, it’s been awhile. Once thought of as a indulgence, the medical community now recognizes the benefits of massage therapy. You may know it reduces stress and relieves pain. But did you know massage therapy also releases feel-good endorphins?
Endorphins are naturally occurring chemicals in the body that promote relaxation. Endorphins also lower your blood pressure and improve oxygen flow. As you may know, better oxygen flow reduces inflammation and helps flush away toxins.
According to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, “Massage therapy is used to help manage a health condition or enhance wellness. It involves manipulating the soft tissues of the body. Massage has been practiced in most cultures, both Eastern and Western, throughout human history, and was one of the earliest tools that people used to try to relieve pain.”
Medical professionals of all types recommend massage therapy. Studies show it’s helpful for everything from tension headaches to chronic pain like fibromyalgia. It’s even helpful for diabetics.
Here at Mcquaite Chiropractic, we recommend massage therapy as a complementary therapy to your chiropractic treatments. The reason why is because while a chiropractic adjustment realigns your spine; massage relaxes your muscles. They’re each good on their own. But together, they’re like peanut butter and jelly. They both reduce inflammation, reduce pain, and improve your flexibility. It’s a good holistic approach to your body’s overall wellness.
Other Benefits of Massage Therapy
Anxiety Reduction
Lying still for an hour (or even half hour) forces you to slow down. This is good for your mental state. Plus, safe human touch fulfills a deep human need for human contact. Studies have shown that people feel less stressed and happier after massage.
Pain Reduction
Massage therapy improves blood circulation and reduces inflammation. You instinctively rub sore muscles for relief, a massage therapist does it better. Plus, this natural pain relief means you may skip pain medication including opioids.
Helps Control Blood Sugar in Diabetics
It can help control blood sugar by helping your body better absorb insulin. It also helps reduce toxins.
Improved Digestive System
Better circulation helps the blood carry oxygen and nutrients throughout your body and flush out toxins. This stimulates your lymph nodes, your digestive system, and even your immune system.
As you can see, there are many benefits of massage therapy. There are also many different types of massage. Some of them include deep tissue, Swedish, myofascial, and sports. If you’re wondering which is the best massage for you, it depends on why you’re getting the massage and your personal preference. Your chiropractor can make recommendations for you.
When you combine massage therapy with chiropractic care, you’ll feel better in between treatments. If you live in or near Doylestown, Pa. and you’d like to experience natural pain relief with chiropractic and massage therapy, stop in or call for your free consultation.
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.
