Back Pain: When To See A Chiropractor

When should you schedule an appointment with a chiropractor? In short, whenever you want.

Pain in the back is a common disorder with a high rate of recurrence. Almost 80% of Americans will experience back pain at least once in their adult lives. At any one time, 6.8% of the population is suffering from an episode of back pain lasting more than two weeks.

Back and neck pain may result from stress, repetitive activity, strenuous physical exercise or trauma caused by a recent car accident or fall. Most Americans lead a largely sedentary lifestyle. Sitting hunched over a keyboard for long periods of time laces unwanted pressure on the back and can ultimately cause bones and discs to shift.

Most people have experienced or will experience back pain, but different people have different types of pain and different levels of pain tolerance. You may not run to the chiropractor for an occasional backache, but recurring back pain may eventually become debilitating and may prevent you from going to work and participating in daily activities.

There are many causes of pain, and not all causes are readily apparent. Sciatica, which occurs when the spinal nerve is entrapped through misalignment or disc herniation, can be diagnosed. However, Sciatica accounts for less than 10% of cases related to pain in the back. With other causes of back and neck pain, there may be no clinical signs or pathological changes to assist in diagnosis. Chiropractors are musculoskeletal experts, highly educated and trained to assess, diagnose and treat the underlying causes of back pain. Difficult back pain diagnoses are a chiropractor's specialty.

For the most part, back problems go untreated, and some pain subsides with time and rest. However, there is no need to endure pain and discomfort. Chiropractors manipulate joints and bones to correct spine misalignment, correct abnormal flow of nerve impulses, improve joint mobility, reduce muscle spasms and help heal injured tissues. Patients who treat chronic and acute back pain through chiropractic care experience better outcomes in pain, functional disability and patient satisfaction than patients who elect other treatment methods.

When back pain is accompanied by other changes, such as fever, weakness, chest pain or loss of bladder control, the pain may be symptomatic of a more serious problem, such as a spinal infection or cancer. If you experience a combination of symptoms, you should seek immediate medical attention. Your chiropractor is a good place to start. After conducting an examination and history, your chiropractor will be able to recognize red flags and refer you to the appropriate medical specialists.

Some people visit chiropractors as a last resort, when severe pain does not improve with medications or other treatment. People who have suffered trauma or athletic injury may visit chiropractors as part of a balanced healing and rehabilitation plan. Some people visit chiropractors regularly, as a preventative measure to ensure their spines stay optimally aligned.

You do not have to be in pain to seek the advice of a chiropractor. Chiropractic treatment can assist with a variety of other issues, including posture, stress relief and headaches. However, most people pursue chiropractic care as a result of upper or lower back pain. As a general rule, you should seek treatment for pain following a trauma, mild pain that continues for two to four weeks, or severe pain that does not improve after a day or two of rest and pain relievers.

If your back pain is having a negative impact on your life, you should seek the expert advice of a chiropractor. There is no reason to live in pain and discomfort.

How Alternative Medicine Can Help With Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction

The Sphincter of Oddi, named after Ruggero Oddi, an Italian anatomist who described this structure in 1887, is the muscle valve that regulates the flow of bile and pancreatic juice into the duodenum (beginning of the small intestine). Regulation of the Sphincter of Oddi is accomplished through the nervous system and the blood by special messengers- digestive hormones.

If there is no food in the intestine, the Sphincter of Oddi valve remains closed. Bile is retained in the gallbladder and pancreatic juice is retained in the pancreas. Spasms or blockage of this valve may cause bile and pancreatic juice to back up.
If a tiny amount of bile gets into the pancreatic duct, serious trouble can ensue. Bile can activate digestive enzymes inside the pancreas and these enzymes start to digest their own pancreatic cells, causing pain, congestion, inflammation and even the death of pancreatic tissue. This is referred to as pancreatitis.

The blockages of the Sphincter of Oddi by tumors, large gallbladder stones, or scars after inflammation, certainly need surgery. The number of individuals with these problems is relatively small, but millions of Americans suffer from occasional transient spasms of the Sphincter of Oddi with pain, nausea and bloating. In most situations, their tests are normal and these individuals get labeled with acid reflux disease, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), stomach flu, food poisoning or other diseases.

Many of those ppersons have type III Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction (SOD). According to statistic information, the prevalence of Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction in the general population is 1.5%. It can mean that 4.5 million people in the US suffer from SOD.

A lack of proper treatment of Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction can later cause serious complications like pancreatitis and gallbladder inflammation.
Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction can affect children, women after age 40, overweight individuals and people after abdominal surgeries. For example, statistics show that almost 20% of individuals with pain after gallbladder removal have the Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction.

Why does the Sphincter of Oddi become spasmodic? The answer depends on many reasons if we put into account the very complicated regulation of this sphincter by the nervous system and special blood messengers - digestive hormones. Here are some examples of what can make the Sphincter of Oddi spasm:

• Stress, depression and anxiety
• Poor eating habits such as "eating on the go", eating while watching television, irregular diets, dieting, fasting and wrong combinations of foods such as mixing fatty foods with starches and sugars
• Drugs, some medication, alcohol and nicotine
• Harsh, intensive and repetitive "liver cleansing"
• Hormonal imbalance such as lower thyroid function or menopause
• "Aggressive" acidic bile with sand, sludge, gallbladder stones and more
Usually we can see combinations of these factors in predisposed individuals with overweight issues, sedentary lifestyles and stress for long periods of time.

The Standard American Diet, which is full of processed and acidic foods (meat, sugars, alcohol, animal fats, white flour, etc.) causes acidity in the whole body. The Standard American Diet leads to acidic conditions in the bile and pancreatic juice as well. The bile becomes acidic and the amount of bile acids in the bile increases as well. Bile acids are very aggressive substances; they irritate the wall of the Sphincter of Oddi causing muscle contractions - spasms.

3-4 liters of mixed pancreatic juice and bile travel through the Sphincter of Oddi daily. Acidification of these fluids makes them very "aggressive," corroding and irritating for surrounding tissues, particularly the Sphincter of Oddi. Putting into account that bile is a vehicle for removing toxic chemicals such as bile pigments, heavy metals, drugs, medications and poisons from the body, and that bile ducts and the gallbladder often harbor parasites, there is no question that the Sphincter of Oddi is an easy target for irritation. Additionally, alcohol, unhealthy foods, irregular eating and improper food combinations cause chaos in the normal functioning of the Sphincter of Oddi as well.

The most common and prominent symptom of Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction is upper abdominal pain. This is often experienced as a sharp pain in the middle of the abdomen right below the rib cage. Pain can be severe in nature, bring people to the hospital and require pain medication. But in many cases, pain may be mild and usually does not need painkillers. Symptoms of Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction are divided as biliary pain and pancreatic pain.

Symptoms of Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction Biliary Abdominal Pain include:
• Biliary pain felt in the middle or right part of the upper abdomen
• Pain radiating on the back at the lower tip of the scapula or right shoulder
• Pain accompanied often by bloating, nausea and vomiting
• Pain precipitated by fatty food or alcohol intake
• Pain varying in intensity and lasting anywhere from 15 minutes to 4-5 hours

Symptoms of Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction Pancreatic Abdominal Pain include:
• Pain located in the upper abdomen on the left or right side
• Pain radiating directly through the abdomen to the back
• Pain accompanied often by bloating, nausea, and vomiting
• Pain precipitated by incorrect food combinations of protein/fat/starch/sugar food or consumption of alcohol

Non-drug holistic approaches may be helpful. Holistic remedies for healing of the Sphincter Oddi Dysfunction Type III are widely used in many countries throughout the world.

The healing program of the Sphincter Oddi Dysfunction type III may include some actions:
• Healing Customized Diet
• Drinking healing mineral water prepared from genuine Karlovy Vary spring salt
• European Whole Body Cleansing through the Restoration of Friendly Intestinal Flora and Colon Hydrotherapy
• Anti-Candida Program
• Acupuncture
• Herbal Medicine
• Nutritional Supplementation
• Chiropractic Manipulations
• Visceral Massage
• Relaxation, Meditation, Hypnosis, Custom Hypnosis CDs

Healing courses of alternative and holistic medicine can be used separately or as complementary approaches to traditional medicine.

The information on this article is presented for educational, informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for the diagnosis, treatment and advice of a qualified licensed medical professional.

Chiropractor After a Car Accident

Transportation in our time has become all about motorized vehicles that move us from place to place. Short distances, long distances and everything in between happen at speeds much faster than walking. All this moving has led to the inevitable sudden stopping that happens in a car accident, and if you live in America you are almost guaranteed to be in one at some point. Although safety has become much better in the last 20 years, the human body just isn't made to handle the kind of punishment that a car accident creates. Depending on how serious the crash is, a trip to the hospital may be in order; but during the healing process a chiropractor may become your best friend.

Fender benders are the most common type of car accident and take place at speeds below 20 MPH. Keep in mind that we are dealing with the usual outcome in these situations; not every possibility that can happen. Sometimes as a fluke, a person can die from the smallest crash or walk away from the most serious one. In an accident under 20 MPH; the most common problem is a soft tissue injury, a hurt muscle, in the neck or lower back. Muscles attach to bones, and when they get injured they constrict and can pull bones slightly out of alignment; causing discomfort and immobility. A few simple trips to the chiropractor can fix this problem and cut your recovery time down considerably.

A medium accident happens between 20 and 45 MPH and causes a lot more damage to the body. You may or may not feel hurt right after the crash, but you definitely are. This type of accident can cause lots of different injuries including hairline fractures in bones and whiplash in the neck, but you may not feel the pain for a couple of days. Realignment of the spine and other bones is crucial in this situation; otherwise recovery will just be weeks or months of constant pain every time you take a step or turn your head. See your doctor right away to get checked out; then be prepared to visit your chiropractor ten to twenty times to get in good working order.

Anything above 45 MPH is a serious accident and can have major repercussions to your health for the rest of your life. I got in one of these crashes more than ten years ago and my neck still gets tight every time the temperature begins to fall dramatically. It doesn't matter if you walk away from this accident, or are transported by an ambulance; you need to see your doctor right away to look for problems you may not even know you have. Internal bleeding and broken bones need to be fixed right away and the adrenaline released into your system during an accident can cover up the pain completely. Once the immediate problems have been addressed; you will be left with a long recovery process before you really feel like yourself again. Chiropractic in this situation is long term and may require regular visits for months or even years.

Chiropractic care is a more recent advancement in healthcare and still hasn't fully moved into the mainstream. Most insurance plans do cover chiropractic now, but the norm is to limit the number of visits a person can have in a year. Discount plans like Ameriplan don't have any limits on visits, but only provide a cut in the chiropractor's asking price. A combination of the two could be just what the doctor ordered if you find yourself in this situation, but even if you don't have either, seeing a chiropractor is essential to your recovery. Who knows; when it's all over with, you may even have a new addition to your Christmas card list!

Signs of Spiritual Awakening - Strange Incidents That Repeat

In another article I put together a list of nine signs and symptoms of spiritual awakening that I found essential to the awakening process. In this article, I discuss in detail one of the signs of awakening that could be called "repeating incidents." This is when you have the same thing (particularly something out-of-the-ordinary) happen to you two or three (or more) times in a relatively short span of time, like, say, 24 hours. The repetition assures that you notice what your higher self wants you to notice. (Because noticing it helps point you in the right direction in your awakening process.)

The following is a wonderful example of this sign of awakening that I came across when I listened to an online interview of Dr. Eric Pearl. Dr. Eric Pearl is a well-known chiropractor and healer and the author of the book The Reconnection who developed a new method of healing after he experienced the sign of spiritual awakening discussed here.

His story goes like this: Years ago he awakened in the middle of one night to find the light in his bedroom on, with the feeling that there were people in his house (he lived alone). He got up to look around the house, noticed some strange things such as a door that was ajar (he was obsessive about having things exactly in place), but found no one.

The next day at his chiropractic office, seven of his patients reported that they felt there were other people in the treatment room and that they could feel Eric's hands on their bodies before he actually touched them during an adjustment.

Having seven of his patients tell him the same thing (plus the fact that it was a bit strange) immediately got his attention, and it was not long afterward that a significant portion of his patients began to report instant healings of a variety of physical conditions. Later he developed a new method of healing called Reconnective Healing, which he now teaches to others.

What I found interesting about what he shared was that about four months before the "people in the room" incident, he began to take a moment to become more present with his patients and to "feel into" their situation before he started the chiropractic adjustment. I believe four months of "tuning in" helped prompt the unusual occurrences and the healings. (A note to those of you who expect grand things to happen after one week of dedicated meditation: have some patience!)

I experienced several unusual incidents, some of which were repetitive. One incident involved an out-of-the-ordinary meeting of another parent at my child's school one morning. The next morning the same thing happened again, as though I were in the movie Groundhog Day. It turns out I was supposed to notice this person--he had a significant role to play in my awakening process.

Another incident involved having the word "volcano" brought up three times by different acquaintances in a span of only a couple hours. It turns out that two days later, a small volcano exploded in the South Pacific. Furthermore...I would not have known about this volcano had I not been driving in my car playing with the radio when the brief news announcement was made. (In this case, I felt that spirit was teaching me something important: how to pay attention to my environment.)

Please note however that you will have your own unique repeat incidents because you have a unique path to follow and a unique contribution to make.

In summary, experiencing a repeat of something unusual in a short span of time is one of the essential signs and symptoms of spiritual awakening. Like the others, this sign of awakening helps point you in the right direction in your awakening process.

Can a Chiropractor Heal What Ails You?

Chiropractic care has come a long way since it first began. With the entire range of dedication being based on physiology and anatomy, it is something that can really help your entire body.

Chiropractic care was officially founded in 1895 with the introduction of a clinic-like place by a man who based it on findings of medical journals of the time and other research.

A few years after that, the same man opened the first chiropractic school and began training. A century later, it has been found that chiropractic care can save millions of dollars in medical care by preventing and curing things that other physicians might want to fix with more expensive treatment.

Chiropractic care spans many medical areas. These doctors have to go through much schooling in order to become a practicing chiropractor. In school, they learn many different things about many different aspects of the body. They have to learn physiology and anatomy, how diseases work, about respiratory dilemmas, and many other things. All of this makes their knowledge base very wide and enables them to be able to diagnose and treat many different things.

Many people think this line of work is concerned only with the neck and back. They are wrong. Because of the spine's function, chiropractic care can be used to treat many things.

Physically it can help with muscle and joint pain, headaches, sciatica, carpal tunnel syndrome, sprains, strains and many other things. On a different level, these doctors can also use their skill to improve asthma, allergies, digestion issues and other common problems.

One large thing that this kind of care takes care of is stress. Stress can impact everything about our bodies, physically and emotionally. Alleviating some of that stress and having the back loosened up can make you feel a lot better in general and can help eliminate problems without further doctors being needed.

This form of care is very non-invasive and is based on the sciences of anatomy and physiology. With a properly trained, licensed doctor, many of your day-to-day health problems can be improved upon or in some cases even completely fixed. Your old false assumptions about this kind of care should be completely wiped out and maybe trying a chiropractor out will help you to feel better more often. Sometimes, you need to remember, faith heals where medicines fail to work. Trying out alternative therapy is a great way to improve your health without any side effects.

An Alternative Treatment for Neck Surgery

Do you have chronic neck pain? Is a surgical consultation the next step? The neck can be injured in many ways. In the event of a traumatic accident or injury, emergency surgery may be necessary to stabilize a life threatening situation or to prevent paralysis. But what about the patient with chronic neck pain? The patient who lives day to day on pain medications or has frequented the chiropractor and physical therapist for years? Is surgery the only next step? What are the causes of chronic neck pain? Chronic neck pain usually centers around the nerves. A disc in the neck can become herniated or "bulge" because of the wear and tear of the tendons, ligaments, and muscles. One possible diagnosis out of many may be spondylolisthesis.

When the ligaments and tendons become weakened, the vertebrae can move out of place. This may cause pressure on the disc and in turn irritate a spinal nerve. Sometimes a pinched nerve occurs when the nerve becomes trapped between the vertebrae. What about disc degeneration? As we age the discs can also degenerate, wear out, get weak, flatten out, and lose the flexibility they need to act as shock absorbers. Sometimes in an attempt to stabilize the weakened area of the neck, bone spurs will form (osteoarthritis) to "hold things in place." It is at this point "conservative treatments" for alleviating the pain of the neck area are used. This can begin with a steady diet of anti-inflammatory medications to ease the nerve pain. Cortisone may be injected to reduce inflammation and swelling.

Chiropractics is often tried to push the vertebrae back into place and usually it does, but the vertebrae will slip back because of loose ligaments that chiropractors can cause, and the pain cycle starts again. As pain increases, the surgical consultation is considered. To prevent pain, either bone is chipped away from the nerves (laminectomy) or fusion to prevent the vertebrae from slipping out of place is recommended. Fusion Surgery Fusion surgery is of course a complicated surgery, metal and/or bone is attached to the vertebrae and "fused" together to prevent the vertebrae from moving and cause distress on the nerves. Fusion surgery has its draw backs. First, even if successful, the fusion will limit the patient's mobility in the neck region.

Second, the fusion can cause a "different pain," because new stress is placed on the non-fused area above and below the fusion. Third, new pain can be caused by the damage of the surgery to connective and supportive tissue, ie ligaments and tendons already in a weakened state. As a former surgeon in training, I believe that surgery should always be the last option (unless an emergency situation), especially when there are treatments such as Prolotherapy available that can ease the patient's pain, permanently. Prolotherapy Prolotherapy causes inflammation by irritation. How can this possibly be beneficial? Because the inflammation is controlled to those select areas of ligaments and tendons damaged by wear and tear and whose weakness causes bones to slip out of place. Is this effective for disc degeneration?

Disc degeneration is a diagnosis typically given when reading an MRI or x-ray. The problem is that the image on the film of a suspect disc or discs may not be a true picture of what is causing the pain. Degenerative disc disease may only be incidental to the real cause of the neck pain - ligament and tendon weakness. The big kicker is that many patients have disc "disease" and have no pain at all. By injection an irritant into the neck, Prolotherapy strengthens the ligaments and tendons and restores their natural state of elasticity and resiliency and helps keep the vertebrae where they belong.

Does Prolotherapy work for everyone? Studies have shown Prolotherapy to effectively reduce pain in 90% of patients studied. Its benefits are minimal side-effects, a much safer and less invasive procedure than surgery, and rare down time for recovery. It is also much cheaper than surgery without the need for rehab or time off from work. Are you a candidate for Prolotherapy? Finding the right doctor is the first step. If you're interested in seeing if you're a candidate for Prolotherapy, visit Dr. Marc Darrow.

Chiropractic Treatment

Most people are familiar with the word "Chiropractor" but all of them might not necessarily understand how a Chiropractor visit might benefit their well-being. What is a Chiropractor? How can they help the people who come to them for treatment? And what types of treatment do Chiropractor services offer to the people of the county?

A Chiropractor is a medical professional who specializes in the treatment and diagnosis of illnesses and injuries which are present inside the joints and spinal system of the body. A Chiropractor will assume that spinal joint misalignment results in damage to the nervous system's functionality. Consequently, this situation leads to worse general health and a reduced immunity to diseases.

Chiropractor Treatment

Treatment encompasses a "hands on" approach with patients aimed at speeding up the process of healing and lessening any pain. Such treatment is implemented with the manipulation and movement of the spine of the patient, along with the muscles and joints. As well as this procedure, there are also some Chiropractic treatments involving complementary therapy.

Chiropractic is a well established discipline in Australia, Canada and the US and remains the 3rd biggest doctored health profession, behind only dentistry and medicine. It shares similarities with other manual therapy treatments, like osteopathy, physical therapy and massage therapy. The majority of people who seek Chiropractor services do so for lower back pain.

If you are a US resident and you wish to become a Chiropractor, you have to complete a minimum of 2 years as an undergraduate. Students must also complete a minimum of ninety credit schooling hours and undergo several Psychology, Biology, Physics, English, Inorganic and Organic Chemistry and Social Studies (or Humanities) courses. Nonetheless, lots of successful Chiropractic College applicants frequently complete a 4 year degree. Actually, in the near future, a 4 year degree could become a minimum requirement for all US Chiropractic Schools.

Following completion of the necessary undergraduate schooling, potential students will apply for a specialized course at a Chiropractor School. Ever since 2007, there have been 16 Chiropractic courses which are Council on Chiropractic Education verified institutions. Obviously, these courses only want the top applicants - so a great CV and academic record is essential...

Diagnosis

A diagnosis utilizes a traditional approach to discover patient's problems. Your first visit to a Chiropractor will encompass providing your medical history, having a normal neurological, orthopedic and physical exam, and maybe having several x-rays taken or some other tests.

Further visits to a Chiropractor will involve the spinal alignment of the patient via spinal vertebrae manipulation. This is carried out both with massaging and "cracking". Cracking is where the Chiropractor uses a strong and fast movement to take a joint away from its' comfort zone and then back into position. The shock of this releases any gases which have built up around the joint that put pressure upon the joint and the remainder of the skeletal structure. This does not hurt and can lower stress levels on a patient's joints and spine.

Chiropractors additionally work to improve their patient's range of motion by moving the body of the patient into various poses and causing the muscles to be worked in new ways which will hasten the recovery of the patient. Electric stimulation and massages are also frequent types of treatment employed when someone uses Chiropractic services.

As well as physically manipulating their patient's bodies, a Chiropractor will also ask about the other areas of their patient's lives to find out how this might affect their ailments.

Chiropractors often help patients to enhance their exercise and diet routines and Chiropractor care is safe when employed skillfully and appropriately.