Pain takes the fun out of life and is a distraction at the very least. Worst case scenario, its incapacitating, unrelenting, unresolving, and like being tortured 24/7. Sometimes it’s quick and over fast. Sometimes its chronic, difficult to overcome, frustrating and gradually worsening. Whether your pain is physical, chemical or emotional, here are 5 things that you can do to get relief and get back to your life fast.
1. Avoid Inflammatory Foods & Start Taking Anti-Inflammatory Supplements
Anti-inflammatory medications are one of the most common treatments for pain but when the side effects outweigh the benefits you need another solution. The most affordable natural solution is to stop eating foods that cause inflammation. Dietarily, inflammation is centered around a chemical called arachidonic acid. You can eliminate this chemical for the most part by cutting grains from your diet. Bread, pasta and even rice should be reduced or eliminated from your diet. On the other hand, for a price, you can add anti-inflammatory supplements. Fish Oil. With hundreds of studies showing its benefits, fish oil is perhaps the best supplement for reducing inflammation and pain. It balances your omega3 and omega 6 ratios by increasing omega 3’s and reducing inflammation. Take 2000 – 10000 mg/day. Turmeric, curcumin, pancreatic enzymes and more can naturally reduce inflammation.
2. Sit Up Straight
Your parents, grandparents and their parents have been rapping knuckles and saying, “Sit up straight!” It’s in our DNA. Why is it instinctual to try to sit up straight? Obviously, it’s important. Research has shown in nursing homes that those who have that nursing home posture with the hump on the upper back, they live 40% shorter life span than those without it. More importantly, a loss of curve in the spine can cause muscle tension that gets worse as the curve progresses over time. That loss of curve can lead to painful degenerative changes and arthritis. Most importantly, poor posture is a sign that there may be something wrong with the nervous system. Posture, balance and joint coordination are controlled in the upper neck in the brain stem. Head injuries, concussions, neck pain or problems are all connected. We know now that those injuries can lead to a rapid increase in joint problems, eye, ear, nose, throat problems, as well as a whole host of other problems. So, sit up straight! And, if you are having trouble with that come and see us or find a good chiropractor who can get your head on straight and get the pressure off of your brain stem.
3. Consider Acupuncture
Used for 5000 years to relieve pain and improve function. It is not a placebo. Acupuncture works on dogs and cats. They don’t know why you are sticking them with needles. They would have stopped using it 5000 years ago after they stuck in the first needle made out of a chicken bone splinter if it didn’t help. Ouch! Obviously, no one would have ever done it again. When nerves are damaged because of a physical injury such as a fall, a work or sport injury, or years of poor posture, or even chemical or emotional stress, the electrical energy in the nerve will pour into the surrounding tissue and build up pressure, like air in a balloon, and cause pain, stress and other symptoms. Acupuncture needles are used to “pop” the energy bubbles and relieve the pressure. Acupuncture has been shown to be 70% effective for pain even when medications and surgery have failed. Morphine was only 50-80% effective for pain. We have seen acupuncture help with thousands of our own patients. Many people consider it a miracle. Everyone is different. You will have to find out for yourself how you respond to acupuncture.
4. Correct The Causes of Pain
A science, philosophy, and art based on the concept of vitalism. Chiropractic works with your body’s innate ability to heal. Chiropractic addresses the cause of your pain or stress by taking the pressure off of your nerves by moving the bones of the spine back into alignment allowing your natural healing abilities to work without restriction. Chiropractors call those bones out of place putting pressure on your nerves causing pain and other stress, subluxations. Chiropractic can correct subluxations, taking the pressure off of the nerves that cause pain. It can take the pressure off of the nerves that give you rapid energy when you need to urgently survive. Chiropractic keeps those hormones in balance and makes sure you have plenty of them when you need it the most. Chiropractic GETS the pressure off the nerves that allow you to adapt to stress every day. It’s always easier to nip a subluxation in the bud earlier while we can still make a difference rather than wait until the subluxation degenerates to a point where we can no longer help. Chiropractic keeps your body adapting to physical stress at its maximum, so you can feel the way you felt before your pain began, so you can live pain-free, exercise, travel, socialize, be productive and smile.
5. Regenerative Medicine & Stem Cell Therapy
This is cutting edge therapy that will change the world. Currently and in the near past, when the cartilage wears out in your knee, hip or shoulder, doctors would treat it with pain killers, lidocaine injections, cortisone injections or hyaluronic acid injections. Some of these treatments would at best temporarily reduce the pain and at worst, in the case of cortisone injections, cause the tissue in the joint to more rapidly deteriorate. Regenerative medicine uses concentrated healing elements from your own body or even better, donated stem cells from a young source called umbilical cord Wharton’s jelly. These stem cells have been shown to replace damaged cells in your body with healthy young cells and literally regrow lost tissue in a knee, hip or shoulder. They reduce pain and have been found to be effective even when more invasive treatments like cortisone had failed and can be safely repeated as much as necessary. These kinds of treatments are more effective if you can catch a problem early on so don’t wait until you reach a point where we can no longer help, and the only option is surgery. Stay ahead of the problem and you may never need this kind of surgery again.
Have A Question About Pain?
Dr. David Dow is a Chiropractor and Acupuncturist with 26 years in private practice in Madison, WI and has helped thousands of patients, who we call practice members, get out of stress and get back to living life. Dr. Dow corrected his own health problems and that is how he knows how you feel and how to correct those problems. Working together you will formulate a plan to get out of stress and achieve your goals. Don’t procrastinate. Procrastination is the thief of health. Schedule an appointment today. First, we will take a thorough history. Then we will perform a neurological exam, including x-rays if necessary. Lastly, we will review the exam findings and give you our recommendations to correct whatever was found. You only get one body. You deserve to be happy. Miracles happen in our office on a daily basis. Schedule today. Celeste will find you the next available appointment. Call (608) 233-3588.
