Archive for arthritis
Dr. Donald Bolt, your Oxnard Chiropractor, wants you to know that it’s not always mandatory for you to look for a conventional healing technique if you have painful arthritis. As a matter of fact, more often than not some natural techniques may be able to aid you in overcoming the pain, even when medical science is incapable of doing so. One of the reasons for this is because most natural methods tend to look for a cure for the real cause of the problem but medical practitioners treat just the symptoms. If you’ve been searching for natural treatments that have proved to help arthritis pain and many other afflictions, you need look no further than chiropractic treatment and acupuncture. Here are the reasons why.
The Healing Benefits of Acupuncture
Acupuncture has been implemented for thousands of years in traditional Chinese medicine. Today, quite a few sufferers all over the world are experiencing relief from their arthritic pain and other health challenges by coming in to see an acupuncturist on a routine basis. In keeping with traditional Chinese acupuncture therapy, small needles are inserted into the body at specific points that are known to affect multifarious areas of the body. In traditional therapy, only the needles are used, but on occasion and particularly in recent years, minute electrical currents are sent through the needles into the body, has been found to be an especially effective technique for arthritic pain. Despite the fact that it may seem though it would hurt, it hardly ever does and, in fact, almost all people experience relaxation and pleasurable sensations during acupuncture treatments.
Chiropractic Treatment Eases Pain and Slows Joint Degeneration
For over a hundred years, chiropractors have been helping people suffering from back pain due to arthritis and other arthritic problems. A chiropractor treats people who are suffering from musculoskeletal and nervous system problems. Arthritis is generally inflammation and degeneration of particular joints within the skeletal system. Chiropractic medicine treats the aberrations of the vertebral column that restrict the activity of the nervous system. These misaligned vertebra, in addition to producing arthritic changes in the spine, can lower resistance and immunity, hence causing new health conditions. A proficient chiropractor has superb observational and diagnostic skills that assist in ascertaining physical aberrations and joint problems. Many chiropractors perform neurological tests and orthopedic examinations. Some will evaluate the posture of a person in order to identify postural deviations and may also study gait to determine faulty movement patterns that may produce new arthritic changes as well as add to current arthritic pain. Chiropractic care non-invasive, drug-free treatment and in addition will offer advice and provide education about the benefits of individual lifestyle changes, such as in exercise and nutrition, that will help to slow down joint degeneration in the body.
So, if you are experiencing arthritis, back pain, headaches, neck pain, hip pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, or balance challenges, and you’d like to do more for your body than simply taking medication, chiropractic and acupuncture may be able to help. One way to find out for sure is to go in to see a good chiropractor, like Dr. Bolt, your Chiropractor in Oxnard, or an acupuncturist in the area, and to permit an alternative healthcare professional to clarify for you definitively what these healing methods are going to be able to do for you. It’s very possible that you will experience some relief from your pain even after only one visit. With subsequent visits, you will maintain your improvements, and you might just discover that these natural treatments work best to relieve your painful arthritis.
Your Oxnard Chiropractor Warns: Don’t Let Excess Pounds Put Your Joints on Overload
Posted by: | CommentsYour Oxnard Chiropractor, Dr. Donald Bolt, treats many patients who are suffering from weight-related musculoskeletal problems. It is no secret that carrying around excess body weight, especially as we age, can cause a number of health problems from cardiovascular diseases and diabetes to back and joint pain. Extra body weight puts undue stress on organs, like the heart, and on joints in the low back, hips, and knees. Over half (62%) of American adults are overweight or obese, according to recent studies. That is a very significant number and a big problem (no joke).
Excessive weight, in the form of body fat, is hard on the structure of the human body. It was not designed for the added. Only an additional 20 or 30 pounds can put the musculoskeletal system literally on overload. Weight in the belly, for instance, requires that the body compensate (counterbalance the weight) by tilting the pelvis forward. This creates compression in the joints of the low back. Joint compression constricts nerve activity and produces painful inflammation. Weight-bearing stresses can cause a pinched sciatic nerve or create misalignments of the spinal column that impinge nerves. This is the reason that most overweight individuals suffer from low back pain. Misaligned vertebra can not only create new arthritic changes in the spine, but can continue to irritate the degenerative changes that have already taken place over time.
How can chiropractic help? Though a healthy body weight is absolutely indispensible for the ideal performance of the musculoskeletal system, chiropractic treatment relieves nerve restrictions in the spine and helps to restore motion back into the joints of the musculoskeletal system, like in the low back, hips, and knees. And, exercise and physical activity is a lot easier when the spine is in alignment and the joints have healthy motion. Exercise will not only help in weight reduction, but it can actually delay degenerative changes as we age.
It is always best to discuss diet and exercise with a healthcare professional, like Dr. Bolt, your Chiropractor in Oxnard. Chiropractors not only help individuals get pain relief from back challenges and joint inflammation due to arthritis but, in addition, they offer expert advice on the type of lifestyle changes that can aid an individual in staying healthier and more active through the years. Arthritis and immobility as we get older do not have to be inevitable. The human body was designed for a lifetime of pain-free movement.
So, if you’ve been throwing your weight around and all you’ve been getting in return is back and joint pain, Dr. Bolt can help relieve your suffering. Make an appointment today!
Don't Let Arthritis Keep You From Exercise
Posted by: | CommentsAs your Oxnard Chiropractor, I feel great empathy for my patients who have arthritis, but I still recommend and encourage that they exercise. A new study reveals why exercise is still important even though movement can often be painful if you have arthritis. Achy knees and joints are not reason enough to stop exercising. In fact, not exercising can make the symptoms of arthritis much worse. Regular, modest exercise improves joint stability and strengthens muscles, according to the December issue of Mayo Clinic Women’s healthSource. In addition, exercise improves mood, sleep, energy levels and day-to-day functioning. People with arthritis who exercise regularly actually report less pain.That’s right. exercise can actually relieve the aches and pains of arthritis.
Why is this so? When a person avoids exercise, joints become even less mobile and the surrounding muscles shrink, causing increased fatigue and pain. Read more…
Chicago Chiropractor and Arthritis
Your Oxnard Chiropractor, Dr. Donald Bolt, wants you to know as much as possible about arthritis and the benefits of chiropractic care. Please watch the video and read the information below. Then, call your chiropractor!
Arthritis is universally confusing to most people. Often the word, “arthritis,” produces fear of a future that includes crippled and twisted joints. However “arthritis” is a very general word that comprises many different conditions from the benign to the severe. For our purposes we will limit this discourse to the most common forms of arthritis.
Osteoarthritis and Chiropractic Care
Osteoarthritis, degenerative arthritis, or degenerative joint disease (DJD) are the terms for the most common form of arthritis, which is also called, spondylosis, if it occurs in the spine. This form of arthritis is not limited to humans, but occurs in all mammals, and is due to the degradation of the cartilage that lines the joint surfaces. When joint cartilage is injured, the sensitive bone tissue that is normally protected by the cartilage becomes stressed causing degenerative changes in the joint. Sometimes the bone around the joint will proliferate and make osteophytes, or what are more commonly called bone spurs. These spurs can produce painful irritation to other tissues adjacent to the joint, thus complicating the already distressing condition.
As a rule areas of the body that develop degenerative joints are in the spine, particularly in the lower neck and lower back, the knees, the hips and the fingers. Previous trauma, certain occupations and activities, weight, diet, and heredity all appear to influence both the onset and severity of DJD.
Pain and/or stiffness in the affected joints are primary indicators of DJD. If the weight-bearing joints, such as the hips or knees are involved, ones mobility can be affected especially in the more advanced stages of the condition. In some cases, if the joint is sufficiently worn and the person can no longer walk without severe pain, the joints are surgically replaced with synthetic devices. Of course, one should attempt to manage the condition early on in ones life to avoid the need for surgery.
The best management of DJD is, without exception, prevention that involves taking care of ones joints at an early age.
- Making sure that all injuries to joints are correctly treated will help to avoid future problems.
- Shoes with suitable support and shock absorption should be worn by those whose jobs demand extended periods of standing or walking.
- Excess body weight can produce increased stress upon the weight bearing joints of the body.
- Care should be taken to protect knees from pain aad strain when kneeling on hard surfaces.
- The natural vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants included in fruits and vegetables are essential for healthy joints and a healthy body.
Recently there have been some studies that reveal that the nutritional supplement, Glucosamine, can help with DJD and can possibly help rebuild joint cartilage. However, it must be used over an extended period and does not work in all conditions.
Chiropractic adjustments are not only safe, but an effective treatment for arthritis, and can assist in restoring proper mobility and function to the spinal joints, thereby giving patients great relief. Your Oxnard chiropractor has many of years of experience in helping people with arthritis pain. In addition, chiropractic modalities such as joint mobilization, ultrasound, cold laser therapy, massage and electro-therapy may be used to aid in the treatment of painful and stiff joints. Occasionally, a brace is used to secure the joint and relieve pain. A chiropractor may suggest exercises such as stretching, yoga, tai chi and other gentle mobilizing activities to help maintain arthritic joints.
Gout
Gouty arthritis is generated by increased levels of uric acid in the blood and the accumulation of uric acid crystals in the joints. The most common joints are the big toes, the knees, ankles and wrists, and is often characterized by excruciating pain and swelling. A large number of people who develop gout are predisposed through heredity, though episodes are more often than not brought on by binge eating of inflammatory foods, when dehydrated or fasting, or after a major surgery or illness. Particular foods such as red meat (especially organ meat), certain seafood, legumes, and mushrooms have the natural substance, Purines, that are metabolized in the liver to form uric acid. Since individuals with gout cannot efficiently metabolize uric acid, the accumulation in the bloodstream produces joint problems. In addition to the foods specified and additional foods containing Purines, other dietary restrictions need to be followed including the avoidance of alcohol.
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease of systemic origin. The direct cause is not known, but it is thought to be due to a problem with the immune system. The most common joints affected are the small joints of the hands and fingers, the feet, knees, and shoulder, although other areas of the body can be affected as well. Morning stiffness aggravated by movement is generally associated with the disease. Further symptoms can consist of general malaise and fatigue, and in its more advanced stages other systems of the body may be affected. There are particularized blood tests to help identify Rheumatoid arthritis that can be easily run. Management includes medication and vitamin and diet therapy, as well as chiropractic manipulations. In addition, joint mobilization and modalities such as ultrasound, heat, electro-therapy and massage can help with the pain and stiffness associated the condition.
Dr. Bolt, your Chiropractor in Oxnard, is dedicated to supporting individuals in getting relief from the pain and suffering associated with arthritis.
