“I have been diagnosed with arthritis.”

Arthritis? So? What’s so unusual about that? Everybody eventually gets it, right? It’s like grey hair.

Or is it?

This may sound like a crass statement and, yes, it is. It’s a reaction to a very poorly worded diagnosis. It’s about as vague as telling someone they have lumbago. There are hundreds of causes of lumbago, from extremely serious (like cancer), to a little tiny ache periodically. Lumbago is a meaningless term, and really the word arthritis is too.

Why? Because there are over 100 types of arthritis and many of them are quite different. Osteoarthritis, gout and Paget’s disease are all forms of arthritis but they have very little in common, except that all three affect the joints.

Very often we are faced with a condition that really should be called arthrOSIS, not ITIS. WHY? Because there is no inflammation. That’s why anti-inflammatory medication doesn’t help. Getting the joint moving again, thus increasing the synovial fluid flow in the joint, and rehabbing the surrounding tissue is what will relieve the pain and disability associated with osteoarthritis associated with the cervical facet syndrome in the neck, for example.

Highly regarded medical journals report strong research that people who eat vitamin C rich foods are three times less likely to get arthritis.

Whiplash Symptoms and Treatments

If you have recently been in a car accident and you are experiencing neck or back pain, you may wonder if you have whiplash. This condition is marked by specific symptoms, but there are treatment options available. This painful injury is often masked by other injuries received during the accident and it can be several days or weeks before the injury becomes more than just a “pain in the neck!”

What Causes This Condition?

Whiplash is caused by an abnormal force or motion applied to your neck. This force or motion causes your neck to move beyond its normal range of motion. The most common cause is from a rear end motor vehicle accident, but sports, falls, and assaults can also cause this specific injury. It is often called a cervical strain, a cervical sprain or a hyperextension injury by most physicians.

What Are the Symptoms?

The symptoms include pain, swelling, tenderness, and a limited range of motion in the neck. This pain can radiate down the back and shoulders and it can make any movement of the neck area very uncomfortable. Many people report they feel as though they slept in the wrong position, but the pain is much worse. This injury can be rather minor and require no care to very severe and requiring substantial, long term treatment.

What Are the Treatment Options?

Most people associate whiplash treatment with a chiropractor and this is the best solution to your pain. Through a series of tests, including-rays, the chiropractor will determine how severe the injury is and if an adjustment or massage will help ease your pain. This is one injury that doesn’t go away quickly and you may need to see the doctor several times to get the relief you are seeking. In some cases, people may experience the discomfort for the rest of their lives. However, most patients are able to return to their normal lives within a couple of weeks.

A Few Things to Consider

Most of the chiropractic offices will work out payment arrangements with your personal injury attorney, if you have one. Most will also accept your health insurance, although there are some insurance companies that do not cover chiropractic care. If you think there will be any type of legal action taken in reference to the accident, you should retain an attorney immediately in order to protect your rights. This will also give you the access to medical treatment that you otherwise may not be able to afford.

Whiplash is not something that you should ignore. The pain can often lead to other symptoms, such as headaches and back pain. You should get care and treatment as soon as possible in order to allow the doctor to return your neck to the way it was before the crash.

As you likely already know, there are many different solutions available for somebody facing pinched nerve pain. If you go to a doctor, it is likely that they will suggest pain relief pills to temporarily remove the symptoms of pain from your life. This will not permanently solve the problem though. If you go to a chiropractor, it is likely that they will suggest new lifestyle changes and massage therapies to help you deal with subluxations or other misalignments that may exist within your body.

Overall, chiropractic treatments tend to avoid solutions that are oriented towards invasive treatments. Invasive treatments often include drugs or surgeries. You should certainly understand before you approach a chiropractor that drugs and surgeries are only used as a last resort for most symptoms.

If you talk to your chiropractor about why they stay away from invasive treatments, it is likely that they will inform you about the fact that drugs and surgeries come with a high level of risk. The last thing a chiropractor wants to do to one of their patients is cause more harm than good. Many drugs today are toxic, and for this reason, chiropractors believe that these temporary solutions are not solutions that treat nerve pain.

Natural approaches stay away from these possible mishaps. Natural solutions like a massage can help improve a condition without putting the patient at risk. Massages and other therapies chiropractors provide are generally oriented towards helping patients achieve a state of vibrant health. This state of health is often considered to be far more than a simple solution to a problem.

Vibrant health is the ultimate goal every chiropractor holds for their patients. Chiropractors understand that once a patient achieves vibrant health, they will be in a place in their life where they can achieve states of being that are far beyond an absence of pain. If you visit a chiropractor, you can be sure this is how your chiropractic helps locals relieve pinched nerve pain in Carmel Valley, San Diego.

Stress can make life emotionally draining but it can also affect your body’s ability to work properly. When your life is hit by stress your body physically reacts to the stressful situation by causing certain reactions and hormone release in the body. Prolonged stress can result in prolonged secretion of cortisol (glucocorticoid), mineralcorticoid, androgen, epinepherine, and norepinephrine from the adrenal glands which can result in:

weight gain

mild depression

disrupted sleep pattern

night sweats

decreased sex drive

decreased energy

lightheadedness

fatigue

cravings for salty, fatty, and high protein food like cheese and meat

Increased symptoms of PMS

Insidious pain in the upper back and neck

difficulty getting up in the morning

The most important glucocorticoid is CORTISOL.  When this is lowered, the body will be unable to deal with stress. This happens in Adrenal Fatigue.

Cortisol (The Hormone)

The most important anti-stress hormone in the body is cortisol. Cortisol protects the body from excessive Adrenal Fatigue by:

• Normalizing blood sugar level – Cortisol increases the blood sugar level in the body thus providing the energy needed for the body to physically escape threat of injury (both phycological and physical) in order to survive. Cortisol works to provide glucose to the cells for energy. More energy is required when the body is under stress, from any source, and cortisol is the hormone that makes this happen. In Adrenal Fatigue, more cortisol is secreted during the early stages. In the later stages of Adrenal Fatigue (when the adrenal glands become exhausted), cortisol output is reduced.

• Anti-inflammation Response – Cortisol is a powerful anti-inflammatory agent. When we have a minor injury or a muscle strain our body’s inflammatory cascade is initiated. Cortisol is secreted as part of the anti-inflammatory response. It’s objective is to remove and prevent swelling and redness of nearly all tissues. These anti-inflammatory responses prevent also prevent Adrenal Fatigue.

• Immune System Suppression – People with high cortisol levels are very much weaker from the immunological point of view. Cortisol influences most cells that participate in the immune reaction, especially white blood cells. Cortisol suppresses white blood cells, natural killer cells, monocytes, macrophages, and mast cells. It also suppresses Adrenal Fatigue.

• Phycological Induced Stress – People with Adrenal Fatigue cannot tolerate stress and will then succumb to severe stress. As their stress increases, progressively higher levels of cortisol are required. When the cortisol level cannot rise in response to stress, it is impossible to maintain the body in optimum stress response.

Cortisol Regulation

The adrenal glands are controlled via the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. There is an existing negative feedback loop that governs the amount of adrenal hormones secreted under normal circumstances in people with Adrenal Fatigue. For example, the HPA axis adjusts cortisol levels according to the body’s need via a hormone called Adrenal Corticotrophic Hormone (ACTH) that is secreted from the pituitary gland in response to signals from the hypothalamus. When the ACTH binds to the walls of the adrenal cells, a chain reaction occurs within the cell. This leads to the release of cholesterol where it is manufactured into pregnenolone, the first hormone in the adrenal cascade. After this, cortisol is released into the blood stream where it travels in the circulatory system to all parts of the body and back to the hypothalamus.

Steps to repair your adrenals

1. First of all understand this. Traditional medicine testing cannot detect adrenal fatigue unless it has become severe. That’s why so many physicians tell their patients – and you may have been one of them – to go home and relax or give them a prescription drug for anxiety to help. That’s simply a band-aid approach and resolves little if anything, and it definitely doesn’t cure the problem.

2. However, there is a saliva test that holistic practitioners and doctors are using that has excellent results in measuring your cortisol and DHEA levels. It is called the ASI, or Adrenal Stress Index. Although nothing is ever 100% accurate, this has very high accuracy. The reason is that your saliva is part of your tissues and can relate to the lab technicians what is being absorbed within your body as well as the level of your hormones.

3. Realize that all physical disorders have emotional cores. You may be able to “fix” your adrenal problem temporarily by making some lifestyle changes, but if you don’t release the negative emotion that underlies your stress it will simply come back again, perhaps in another form. We are multidimensional beings and it requires a balance in all four areas to be healthy. One tire on your car can cause quite an imbalance if it loses enough air. So it is with your body and health.

4. Remove your stressors.  Write down your stressors: work, family, spouse, finances, health, etc.  Priorities these stressors and work on resolving them.  Professional physcological help may be the best route.

5. Get enough sleep! This can be a real problem for many people.  So many come to me about sleepless nights our health store begging for something so they can sleep. Insomnia often accompanies adrenal fatigue yet it is most necessary for repair. 7-8 hours or more are necessary for healing and the adrenals repair most from 11pm – 1am. (some say the repair begins at 10 pm)

6. Change your diet . Follow these guidelines to allow for adrenal repair:

Eliminate sugar, caffeine, and alcohol – these fight against adrenal repair, consume many organic vegetables, at least 6 servings every day.  Consider juicing veggies several times a week for cleansing your body. Drink 2 liters of water on everyday with ½ organic lemon squeezed in it – cleanses the liver easily and naturally. Exercise!!!

Eat regularly, at least three meals per day – may benefit from 5-6 small ones. Eat plenty of good protein as amino acids found in protein help restore adrenals.

Supplementation that can support adrenal repair:

Speak to your health care provider prior to supplementation, prescription medication may be warranted.

Vitamin C and bioflavonoids – 1000 mg to 5000 mg daily, divided doses B-5, pantothenic acid, or panethine gelcaps – 1000 – 1500 mg daily, divided Vitamin E, mixed tocopherols – 400 iu’s daily, one gelcap Magnesium – citrate good form, 500 or more mg daily, powdered form good Natural progesterone cream

B complex, 50 – 100 mg 2 x’s daily Multi-vitamin/mineral – once daily Antioxidants DHEA – be careful with this, especially women, as only a little is needed to help Natural hydrocortisone

Among many patients with pain in the neck and or back, one of the most common complaints is the inability to sleep well do to pain.  This can be a significant problem for many reasons.  The obvious problem is the lack of sleep greatly affects how we function during the day.  The less obvious problem is the spine does most of it’s healing from everyday stresses at night when the disc and joints are unloaded.  Without this healing time, symptoms may increase significantly.  Therefore without proper rest and sleeping posture, spinal pain may worsen and may become a vicious cycle.

The best solution to breaking this cycle of pain and sleep loss is trying to maintain a neutral spine when sleeping.  A neutral spine allows the disc and joints to unload so they can heal and receive nutrients.  Avoiding rotation while sleeping also takes unwanted stress off the discs and joints.

The best sleeping position is side lying with a pillow support between the arms and legs.  To keep your back in neutral, you need to keep your hips and knees bend forward 60-90 degrees.  Lying on your back is also a good position if you have pillow support underneath your knees.  Lying on your stomach is not recommended because it puts your back into increased extension (or archs your low back).  If you can only sleep on your stomach, use a cervical pillow under your hips and stomach to keep your low back as neutral as possible with one pillow under your head.

It may take time to sleep in a neutral position with pillow support but you should see an improvement in neck and back stiffness once you have done it consistently.

Lower back pain can have several causes, including being on your feet all day long. The lumbar region of the spine, or lower back, is where pain strikes most often. As the heel strikes the ground, thousands of tiny shock waves travel up legs to the lower back, where they aggravate back muscles and initiate pain. Dr. Kunard and Amfit orthotic technology gives you immediate relief that lasts all day long.

How Fallen Arches Occur

Lack of arch support in shoes and genetics play a large role in most cases of fallen arches. For these people, both feet are typically affected. Other causes of flat feet are lax ligaments, congenital conditions that affect the foot, and the aging process. The posterior tibial tendon is the main support structure for your arch, and years of use can weaken this tendon. Once this tendon becomes weak, it can become damaged and may cause fallen arches. Wearing high heels, obesity, traumatic foot injury and diabetes are among the stresses that can damage the posterior tibial tendon.

Why Orthotics?

Orthotic therapy benefits people with foot pain or discomfort, due to walking mal-alignments. The purpose of the orthotic is to get your skeletal structure back to a better alignment.  For example if the roots of the tree are weak the rest of the tree will suffer, this is the same principle with the human skeleton.  All orthotics are best worn in lace up shoes to aid support and functionality. Orthotics should be worn gradually and built up over a period until they are worn all the time.  Orthotics will benefit those who work or stand all day or carry heavy items putting extra load on their feet.  During sporting activities extra stress and strain is usually put on the feet therefore it is an added benefit if an orthotic is worn to combat the high impact the foot and body goes under.

Mild passive stretch is an excellent method of reducing spasm in the long muscles, but heavy passive stretch destroys beneficial reflexes. For example, spasmed erectors of the spine (muscles that run parallel with the spine) can be simply relaxed by laying face down on an adjusting table and tilting the abdominal and pelvic section upward to flex the spine (you can also lay on a few pillows or even better, a stabilization/physio ball). The weight of the structures above and below the midpoint of the flexed spine offer a mild stretching effect. The muscles relax within 2–3 minutes. Thumb pressure placed on a trigger area is then directed toward the muscle’s attachment and held for a few moments until relaxation is complete.

poor posture causing back pain

2. Tension Headaches: Sitting hunched over at your job, most commonly caused by your hands reaching for the keyboard when typing on your computer leads to your shoulders and head slumping forward. This posture tightens the muscles in your neck, upper back and shoulders. After awhile, the tightness causes nerve irritations and muscle spasms which restrict proper flow of blood to the back of your head. This leads to tension headaches.

3. Fatigue: Fatigue is one of the most common causes of bad posture. Tired and tight muscles cannot support the skeleton as they are designed to do. Your muscles have to work extra hard just to hold you up if you have poor posture, leaving you without energy. Lack of adequate muscle flexibility and strength, abnormal joint motion in the spine and other body regions will lead to overall muscle fatigue.

4. Make you look older: Never underestimate the beauty and health benefits of good posture. Often poor posture is just a bad habit that is easily corrected. Poor posture not only makes you look older, but could be the first step toward dowager’s hump, double chin, potbelly, and swayback as well as some internal problems too. When a person is hunched over or not standing straight that person may be perceived as older than they actually are. Good posture is not only beneficial to your body; it also makes you look taller and slimmer. What’s more, good posture can convey self-confidence, which may just be the best accessory you can have.

5. Diminished Breathing: Poor posture can lead to severe kyphosis (hunched back) causing the torso collapse leading to breathing difficulties. Rounded shoulders and overly bent or imbalanced spine restrict the expansion of the rib cage, which restricts the rise and fall of the breathing diaphragm. Reduced rib and spinal mobility will affect the normal breathing movement. If the diaphragm can’t rise, it won’t be able to draw in as much oxygen during inhalation.

In a fast food nation, eating healthy food becomes difficult to do. Yet a poor diet contributes to low energy, obesity, stress, health problems and high medical bills.  Stay tuned!

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