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Posts Tagged pain relief

Research Reveals That Your Brain Shrinks When You Have Pain.

Jul 28

Posted by Dr. Michael Pritsker, DC in sciatica | No Comments

The Journal of Neuroscience brings sobering news to chronic back pain sufferers. Scientists found that even one year of chronic back pain can age the brain 10 to 20 years. 26 people with chronic, continuous pain of more than a year were compared with 26 healthy people. The researchers theorize that the stress of chronic pain causes “burnout shrinkage.” But that may not be a life sentence. So, can your chiropractic doctor keep your brain from shrinking?

Shrinkage doesn’t always equal loss of brain cells and shrinkage may reverse once the chronic pain ends. Can chiropractic reverse the damage? Chiropractic success with chronic conditions is well known. Apparently “learning to live with it” may cause serious long-term problems. If you know anyone with a chronic condition please advise them to explore chiropractic – their pain and their brain will thank them.

Most of you know that there are damaging effects to your brain from different types of electromagnetic radiation, environmental pollution, toxic chemical additives to food and other chemicals added to the things we drink and eat. But did you know that pain can cause your brain to shrink. I have been contemplating this brain shrinkage phenomenon since I first read about it a year ago. The conclusions I have come up with may astound and surprise a lot of you.

Here they are (keep in mind that I am being sarcastic here to prove a point): 1) it may be beneficial to most of us that we only use a minor percentage of our brain’s capacity to engage in our daily activities (the myth that we use only 10% of our brains is exactly that, a myth). But this could mean that most of us have lots of brains to spare so if we ever get into pain and start to lose our brains, we shouldn’t have much of a problem. 2) Because people tend to think that their pain will “eventually go away by itself” (if only I had a dollar for every time I heard this), I suppose that the logic explanation for the reason that the pain eventually goes away is that part of our brain just disappeared. 3) If pain causes our brains to shrink it would probably be a good thing for those of us who are quite knowledgeable on every subject known to mankind (i.e. smarty pants) to be in pain every once in a while in order to give the other people around us a chance to keep up with us. 4) Some of us have been told that we have “swollen heads”, pain every once in a while might help our heads to shrink slightly, allowing us more easy passage through doorways and getting in and out of cars, we would also be less of an obstruction for the people behind us at the movie theatre. 5) Chronic pain could allow us to have that constant light headed feeling that some long distance runners strive for because our heads would literally be lighter. This would also help our posture because a lighter head would be easier to keep upright. Less forward head leaning with the reduction in weight makes for a better posture.

Well I hope you get the big idea here. The big idea is that having a smaller brain is not a good thing or should I say avoiding pain is a good thing! It’s been found that the best way to avoid pain is to be proactive about your health. When our patients at the chiropractic office in San Diego ask us how often they should come in to get adjusted I recommend at least one time per month to get checked and realigned. All of the chiropractors at New Century Spine Centers personally try to get adjusted once per week and it is believed that it helps prevent a lot of problems with our health that we would have otherwise developed.

So here is my official position on how often you need to be coming in to get adjusted. If you do not have acute pain due to some unfortunate incident you should be coming in once per month. I look forward to seeing you and helping you maintain your hat size for the duration of your life. New Century Spine Centers is located in San Diego in Mission Valley and can be reached at 619-630-9153.

Looking to find the best information on spinal decompression therapy, then visit www.BackCareTreatment.com to find the best advice on chiropractic for you.

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Get Pain Release Performed By A Massage Chair

Jul 25

Posted by Chip Grover in back pain | No Comments

Do you suffer from aches and pains? Are you seeking pain relief? The most common way to relieve pain is with pharmaceutical drugs. There are many conditions that this is certainly the most effective and perhaps only viable means. However, do you know what the second most common means to relieve pain is? The answer is massage therapy.

Many people rely on drugs to just remove the symptoms. This is the best that drugs can do. Pharmaceutical drugs do not get to the root cause of problems. They help the symptoms to temporarily go away. There are natural methods such as massage therapy that penetrates deeply through the muscle and tissues to provide thorough relief. Your body and muscles can hurt for a variety of reasons, but it is important to work to the root of the issue.

There are many different massage therapy techniques. Some of the more popular ones are Swedish, shiatsu, acupressure, reflexology, and deep tissue. Each of the techniques targets particular areas and has specific benefits. All of these massage therapy techniques are available in massage chairs.

You may be surprised to know that today’s massage chairs have very advanced technologies. The science of massage has been studied and then replicated by the technology in massage chairs to deliver effect massage therapy treatments. These chairs can massage you from head to toe.

Massage chairs are massage therapy machines. They have a different economic than human labor does. For instance, a $2,000 massage chair will have a minimum life span of 1,000 hours. The economics per hour of massage is $2.00 per hour. By contrast, a human massage therapist runs $50.00 per hour without a tip. A massage chair has an upfront cost which is then amortized over a long life versus paying a high cost per hour for a masseuse.

A massage chair is tremendously convenient. It is always ready and waiting for you. You can have it at your home or office. It provides massage therapy in parallel which means you have a quick 5 minute full body massage for a quick refresher. It never gets tired, so you can go as long as you like.

The best thing about massage chairs today is the tremendous variety of massage techniques and treatments that are available. You can get a sports massage to warm up for exercise. You can get a sports massage after playing a strenuous sport. Try a shiatsu massage to relax and invigorate your body. For more pain relief, you can get a deep tissue massage that penetrates thoroughly into the muscles.

Top brands like Sanyo, Omega and Panasonic not only offer excellent massage therapy in their massage chairs. They also come with other complimentary therapies to soothe and relax you. You can find MP3 music players to help take your mind off your busy day. You can find lower body traction to stretch out the muscles and improve your flexibility to mention a few.

We all have aches, pains and tightness. Do not just head for the medicine cabinet. Check out some natural remedies that can help get to the root of the problem rather than symptom relief. Massage therapy is a natural way to ease aches, pains and other discomforts. Help not just your body to relax, but also your mind. Be refreshed and rejuvenated. Find out how a massage chair can be an effective method of pain relief.

Get effective Pain Relief with a Massage Chair specifically designed for massage therapy treatments. Imagine the advantageous convenience with an arsenal of massage therapy at your constant disposal. We carry the best Massage Chairs from Omega, Sanyo, Panasonic and more. We have a library of massage chair reviews for your perusal. Find a natural remedy for pain relief.

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Eliminate Your Neck Pain For Good

Jul 23

Posted by Dr. Alice Sexton in neck pain | No Comments

Stand up straight! Stop slouching! I cannot tell you how many times I heard my mother tell me that as I was growing up. Unfortunately, this is another thing I have to admit that my mother was right about.

Although our parents desire for us to demonstrate good posture likely did not include our wellbeing, we know this is true today.

Our bodies are strongest when they are in neutral alignment, that is, our bodies can function best when they are aligned as designed.

One of the most common causes of poor posture today is a forward head posture. Our daily activities ? computers, TV, video games, office work, driving the car ? all lend to us putting our head forward and can bring on pain in our neck, shoulders, or even migraines.

Our heads are the heaviest part of our body, as heavy as a bowling ball, and if the head is balanced neutrally, you should be pain free.

Imagine holding that bowling ball out from the top of your body just an inch or two. It might be easy to hold it straight above of your shoulders, but moving it out just a little bit becomes a serious amount of work and the bowling ball gets heavy real soon, does it not?

The ultimate position for your head is therefore a no-brainer and it should be right over the top of your neck and shoulders. And if we hold our heads forward even 1 inch in front of its normal position, our neck has to work quite a lost harder to hold it there (think of the bowling ball).

A neutral head position enables our body parts, such as the vertebrae and spinal discs to do their jobs optimally, but moving the weight out of alignment can lead to disc herniations from the abnormally placed pressure. This misalignment causes overworking the muscles in the front of the neck, and stretching and straining those in the back.

If you are suffering from neck pain, shoulder pain or headaches, it may be from incorrect posture, but there are some steps that you can take to help yourself.

With some understanding of your situation , simple actions can ease your discomfort.

Understanding your problems will come from evaluating your special situation.

The best person to perform this assessment is a skilled chiropractor as they are specially trained for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of musculoskeletal disorders. This training allows them to properly review your posture and propose solutions.

The first step to your solution is to locate a highly regarded, professional Chiropractor.

Not sure your posture is bad? Then try this simple test to see if you need to correct poor posture. Stand with your back about 6 inches from the wall. Now back up in small steps until some part of you first touches the wall and see which part touches first:

1) Head

2) Shoulders

3) behind

4) Heels

All body parts should have touched at the same time, if they did not, not all is lost, simple stretching, and strengthening actions can help realign your posture.

Your muscles will typically respond quickly to these movements.

If following the wall test your shoulders failed to touch first and your posture appears rounded and slumped forward, you will likely benefit from stretching your chest (pectoral) muscles. A simple stretch for this muscle group involves standing in a doorway and extending your arm so that your elbow is against the door frame, then slowly stepping forward until you feel the stretch across the front of your chest area. Repeat this with the other arm and you should feel your shoulders move into a more open position more easily.

For those whose head failed to touch along with the other parts, a chin tuck can retrain your neck muscles to sustain neutral alignment. This is done by sitting or standing straight and using your neck muscles to pull your chin into a tuck towards your body. Holding this position for 5-15 seconds then returning to starting position will lengthen the muscles in the front of your neck while strengthening the muscles in the back of your neck.

Doing the right exercises to correct your posture is STEP TWO of the solution.

By identifying and addressing the issue and doing the simple stretches is frequently enough to reduce neck pain for most, some long-standing issues require further personalized treatment by your chiropractor.

Along with the discomfort that you have been feeling, sometimes scar tissue builds up in the affected muscles leading to poor pliability of the muscle. Studies has shown that two techniques are available to eliminate scar tissue, the Active Release technique, and the Graston technique. Your chosen chiropractor will know which method is best for your situation.

The old admonition to stand up straight holds true, not only to improve your posture, but also your wellbeing. Professional Chiropractors are available to evaluate you and your posture, give information, and treat you, all in the hopes of improving your overall wellbeing.

Let Dr. Sexton help remove your neck pain. She is a renowned Houston Clear Lake chiropractor helping many people live pain-free. As a special offer, Dr. Sexton is offering 50% off your first appointment with a print-out of this article. Call 281-286-2229 to set your appointment now.

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A Massage Chair Relieves Lower Back Pain

Jul 10

Posted by Danny Whitney in back pain | No Comments

Low back pain is thought to affect 80% of the population at some times in their lives. This means that all of us at some point may experience some level of back pain. This may be aggravated by certain activities or happen because of an accident. What happens is the stress on your spine becomes concentrated which puts enormous stress. This stress will fatigue the soft tissues and muscles making them become stiff and hurt. Many people are turning to massage chairs as a convenient method to reduce the stiffness and pain associated with low back problems.

One of the most important areas for low back pain is prevention. There are many things you can do proactively to minimize the occurrence of low back problems. Prevention means you have to be aware of things that can impact your back health in a negative way. By changing some of the most basic habits with respect to sitting, standing and lifting you can reduce the occurrence of low back pain.

The majority of minor back injuries can be prevented by paying better attention to your posture. Standing, sitting and lifting are the 3 main activities that if performed correctly will help strengthen the back and to distribute the weight evenly. If you stand correctly with your head held up and your shoulders back, then you are using your back the way it was designed.

How good is your sitting posture? Do you slouch or do you sit upright? If you slouch, then you make your upper body compensate for the uneven distribution of weight. This will begin to fatigue those muscles as they have to take more than their normal share of your body weight. Try sitting up straight and put your shoulders back. If you sit right, it actually feels better.

Lifting is probably one of the most important activities to make sure you do properly. Lifting generally involves adding more weight and stress to your back. When lifting, you need to lift with your legs. These are some of the strongest muscles in the body. Do not lift by bending over and letting your back do the work. This is a sure way to cause a low back injury.

Another area of prevention is warming up and warming down prior to and after physical activities. Many injuries occur due to improper warm up before activities. The muscles and the body are cold and inflexible. When strain is put on them, they do not have the elasticity required and may cause an injury. Massage chairs help the body to warm up and warm down before and after activities.

Relax your back with a soothing rolling massage from a massage chair. The rolling massage moves the rollers up and down the spine. The chair is usually reclined back so the weight of the body is used to help adjust each disc in the spinal column as the roller passes each one. This provides a stretching of the soft tissues which helps to keep them flexible and elastic.

A Shiatsu massage is a very relieving massage that can be delivered by a massage chair. The Shiatsu technique came from Japan and has been integrated into many massage chair programs. Shiatsu stimulates acupressure points throughout the back. The back is known to have over 100 such points. These points help induce full body relaxation. Additionally, chopping and kneading massages are used to relieve tension in the muscles.

One of the newer functions being integrated into massage chairs are traction systems. These traction systems can stretch the upper body including the arms and shoulders. Other traction systems are for the lower body which stretches the hips, thighs, knees and ankles. These systems will stretch out these muscle groups helping to improve range of movement by increasing the flexibility of muscles.

If you have back pain, then a massage chair may be an important compliment to your overall health and wellness plan. Prevention is certainly the best medicine. However, if you are affected by low back pain, then finding the right treatments is paramount to proper recovery. A massage chair can help you both on the prevention side and on the recovery side.

Browse through different Massage Chairs for Back Pain and find what is best to suit your needs. There are a wide variety of massage therapies and supplemental treatments as well which make for a holistic experience. Peruse our extensive library of our Massage Chair Reviews covering as many models as we have tried.

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Massage Chairs Are Wonderful Relief For Discomfort From Lower Back Pain

Jun 9

Posted by Lisa Lammers in back pain | No Comments

Do you know that 80% of us will have low back pain during our lifetimes. Our spine is very important to our mobility and getting around. Just everyday activities can put stress and strain on our backs. Improper lifting techniques or even posture can set you up for an injury. Low back pain is a symptom of either a condition, disease or injury. Rehabilitation of the spine may include a chiropractor, massage chair therapy and even physical therapy.

Low back pain is a costly condition in the US. It is estimated that over 50 billion dollars per year is spent on health care related to low back pain. It is the most common cause cited for job related disability. In fact, the states and the fed are now including chiropractic care in their insurance programs. Chiropractic care is also been picked up on many HMO and private care plans as well.

The treatment for low back pain usually incorporates the use of non-invasive recommendations and usually doesnt involve surgery. Rehabilitation with a physical therapy will involve the use of analgesics or pain medications, protocols to help reduce inflammation, restore proper function and strength. Most patients will recover without any residual functional loss.

One avenue of recovery involves chiropractic treatments. Chiropractors are trained to restore the health of the spine with natural methods. Some treatments involve spinal adjustments, electrical stimulation and massage treatments. The key is to rebalance the spine allowing the muscles and soft tissues the properly heal and pull their weight again.

There are several things that a patient can do at home to start caring for their back. Using ice or heat, although never scientifically proven to quickly resolve low back injury, may help to reduce inflammation or swelling. If you undertake strenuous activity or have slight pain, then use an ice pack over the area. Use a bag of ice wrapped in a towel. Use the ice for 20 minutes several times a day for 2 to 3 days. The ice will help to reduce the inflammation.

Heat has been applied throughout the ages to relax muscles and improve blood flow. Warm baths were the common approach in Roman times and are quite effective. Using a heating pad or hot packs on particular areas is effective. Try applying heat to warm up the muscle and provide relief. Control the temperature so you do not overheat the muscle and cause burns.

Believe it or not exercise is an important aspect of rehabilitation of the lower back muscles, even within one week of the injury. The key is to slowly build muscle strength and flexibility. A routine of back-healthy activities should be included each week that will keep the muscles moving and speed the recovery process. These activities will include stretching, swimming, walking and other exercises to improve coordination.

One popular method for rehabilitation is the incorporation of Yoga. Many of the stretches and exercises can be targeted to the lower back. Stretching helps with flexibility while exercises helps to maintain and strengthen the muscles and soft tissue areas. Daily exercises for 15 minutes can make an enormous difference. Just do not over due it.

Massage therapy provided by a massage chair helps with rehabilitation. Massage chairs provide a number of therapies to help the lower back. Massage chairs use a variety of massage techniques to stretch, elongate and stimulate the muscle tissues. Massage chairs are great to use to warm up before exercise and to warm down after exercise. They help to relax the muscles, increase blood flow and to increase flexibility.

Rehabilitation of the lower back involves restoring the flexibility and strength of the muscles and soft tissues of the spine. To restore the elasticity of the muscles a combination of diet, exercise, massage treatments and stretching play an integral part of your spines health. Continue your treatments in the privacy and convenience of your home with a massage chair.

Prevention of low back pain is the best strategy. Get into a routine to help maintain and restore the health of your spine. If you have low back pain, then discover Massage Chair Rehabilitation as an integral part of your day. Relax and soothe aching muscles. Get into out more by persusing our library of helpful Massage Chair Research articles.

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