So-called pinched nerves are more usually just irritated or inflamed because the bones, joints or muscles of the spine are not in their proper position, or not moving correctly. This condition is the aforementioned “subluxation”, which the doctor of chiropractic specializes in correcting.

Those times when nerves do genuinely become “pinched” include Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Sciatica and Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. These involve an injury, spasm or inflammation that causes the surrounding muscles and connective tissue to compress the nerve, resulting in pain. These conditions are called “tunnel syndromes”, and although the chiropractic treatment of these is more complex than dealing with a simple spinal subluxation, they usually respond very well, especially when combined with exercises, stretching, and massage, etc.

Trigger points are very small and tight “knots” in the fibers of the muscle that form when the muscles become chronically overworked or injured. Pain from trigger points is very often referred to other parts of the body that may seem wholly unrelated to the source. Trigger points can be successfully treated by a combination of chiropractic care, stretching, and a precise deep tissue massage known as “trigger point therapy”.

Pain of any sort must be properly diagnosed before it can be effectively treated, especially when it is the nerves that are affected. Otherwise the nerve may end up being permanently damaged. Being told by your doctor that you have a “pinched nerve” should not be viewed as a diagnosis; only as an indication that further investigation by a doctor of chiropractic is required as soon as possible.

Consider that your spinal cord runs down a space in the centre of the vertebrae, which protects it from harm. Along large bundles of nerves running out from between each pair of vertebrae, nerve impulses are sent to every part of the body. From your cervical vertebrae, impulses are sent to your arms, and some into your upper back. Thus pain in your arm, such as numbness, tingling, cold, aching, or “pins and needles”, may be referred from the neck. People with neck problems may mistake their pain for carpal tunnel syndrome, a condition in the hands that is often caused by repeating the same repetitive motions for long periods.

Neck problems can also lead to headaches, muscle spasms in the shoulders and upper back, ringing in the ears (tinnitus), inflammation in the middle ear (otitis media), temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMJ), or simply a restricted range of motion and severe tightness in the neck and upper back. Issues from the neck can show up in the upper back because many neck muscles originate there, including the trapezius, the levator scapulae, the cervical paraspinal muscles and the scalenes.

Causes of neck and upper back pain

Most times, neck and upper back pain is the result of not just one factor. Injury may be combined with poor posture, subluxations (misaligned spinal vertebrae), mental stress, or disc problems.

Injuries: Easily the most common injury to the neck is whiplash, the sudden, violent whipping motion of the head in an accident. It is most often associated with a car accidents, but it can happen when playing sport, or any other time the head suffers this particular whipping trauma. When this happens, the supporting muscles, ligaments and other connective tissues in the neck and upper back are damaged, but the full effects of this may not be felt for weeks or even months. This is why anyone who suspects they may have suffered whiplash should be extremely careful not to aggravate it, even if they feel no immediate ill-effects. An assessment should be sought from a chiropractor, in case treatment is needed to minimize the effects and guard against possibly permanent damage. 50% of whiplash victims in one study were shown to still be suffering the effects of the injury many years after settling their insurance claims.

Poor Posture: Poor posture is one of the most common causes of neck pain, and can also cause headaches. Unlike sudden injuries, which we usually know have happened, bad posture occurs over time and is something we soon begin to feel as normal. Everyday activities such as reading in bed can create issues and pain later on, and anyone working on a computer for extended periods is certainly susceptible to developing a forward head posture (FHP) and spinal subluxations. The rule is to keep your neck in a neutral position if possible. Avoid craning or hunching the neck, or remaining in the same position for too long. If this is unavoidable, try to practice correct posture to minimize any problems. Ideally, the head should be kept in a neutral position, back supported, knees slightly lower than your hips, and arms supported.

Subluxations: These are extremely common in the neck and upper back area, thanks to the weight of your head resting on such an unstable part of your spine. The majority of subluxations are centered around four areas:

• The top of the cervical spine where it meets the skull
• The middle of the cervical spine which supports the greatest weight of the head
• The transition between the cervical and thoracic areas of the spine
• The middle of the thoracic spine which supports the greatest weight of the upper body

You can check for signs of subluxation yourself. Look in the mirror and see if your head is tilted or if one shoulder rides higher than the other. Does one sleeve appear shorter than the other; does a necklace hang off-center? Ask someone to look from the side and see if your head sits noticeably forward from your shoulders (the aforementioned FHP). Subluxations need to be corrected as soon as possible. Over time, they stress the body, throwing all sorts of problems into areas that are then forced to compensate until everything is out of kilter and pain results.

Stress: Mental and emotional stress causes the muscles to tense, especially those in the back and neck. This ‘muscle guarding’ is a primitive survival response to avoid injury in the face of danger, but it ends up causing injury when it happens for any length of time. If pinching the trapezius muscle causes you to wince, that is a sure sign your muscles are tight and trigger points almost certainly exist. Exercise and deep breathing/relaxation techniques are useful for combating stress.

Herniated Discs:  A herniated or bulging disc will put pressure on the nerves that exit the spine through that area. Lumbar discs are more prone to herniating than cervical discs, but trauma such as whiplash can provoke a herniated cervical disc.

A consultation with your chiropractor should be scheduled if you are experiencing any pain in your neck or upper back that does not resolve very quickly.

As the state of the spine affects the nervous system, gentle chiropractic adjustments are one suggested course of action, and babies with colic treated by chiropractic frequently show improvement as the spinal irritation eases. Given the traumatic experience of child birth, it is not surprising that babies may experience spinal subluxations that cause problems with their delicate nervous systems. Colic is also seen to provoke an increased need for attention in babies, and more sensitivity to the world around them, both of which suggest a neurological cause.

Colic may also be the result of the diet of both mother and baby. Cow’s milk and other dairy products are one of the chief offenders in the development of colic. Human milk and cow’s milk are not at all interchangeable, and cow’s milk is not a suitable substitute. Cow’s milk contains the sugar lactose which is difficult for newborn babies to digest, plus many proteins that are detrimental to a young digestive system.

Similarly, the food that a baby ends up absorbing from natural breastfeeding may cause colic if the mother is indulging in unsuitable foods, such as those that are spicy or dairy-based. It hopefully goes without saying that alcohol and tobacco should be totally out of the question for a breastfeeding mother. The best diet is one that is quite bland, and high in (non-dairy) protein, at least for the first three or four months of breastfeeding.

If your baby suffers from colic, here is some helpful advice:

• Seek regular chiropractic treatment for your baby, especially in the first 4 months
• A warm water bottle on your baby’s stomach is soothing, as is a warm bath
• Rock your baby in a chair or cradle, or take them out in a car seat for a drive
• Gently rub your baby’s stomach
• Smaller, more regular feedings may help
• If using baby formula, avoid dairy or soy-based products

The reason low back injuries are so prevalent is that this is a highly unstable part of the spine, much like the neck. Whereas the thoracic spine is supported and stabilized by the rib cage, the upper and lower spinal areas are on their own, so to speak. It is to our benefit in one way because it allows us greater flexibility to carry out more tasks, but it also makes us vulnerable to injury.

Having said that, provided the low back is cared for, it is able to offer immense support and withstand great forces. If that were not so, power lifters would not be able to do what they do, hoisting hundreds of pounds of weights off the floor. On the other hand, if your low back is weak or misaligned, even the lightest of movements can create problems.

The old approach to low-back pain and injury was to let it heal on its own, as it was assumed this happened naturally. Recent research shows that this is not the case; it may ease for a while but often returns. This points to the importance of promptly attending to any low-back pain through chiropractic care to prevent a recurrence.

Low back pain can result from many conditions, such as sprained ligaments, strained muscles, ruptured disks, myofascial pain (muscular trigger points), and inflamed joints. It can happen following an obviously traumatic incident such as during hard sport, or it can be triggered by something as simple as sneezing where a weakness existed previously. It may also be the result of conditions such as arthritis, bad posture, obesity, mental stress, kidney stones, kidney infections, blood clots or bone loss.

This great variety of causes means it is very important not to assume the reason for any low-back pain you may be experiencing. Professional help should be sought to identify the problem, or to at least rule out anything more serious. Doctors of chiropractic are specially trained in assessing low-back pain, and offering appropriate treatment.

Common Causes of Low-Back Pain

• Subluxations: This refers to disruptions in the normal movement or position of the vertebrae, resulting in often debilitating pain and inflammation. In the lumbar spine, it is the point between the lower spine and the sacrum that is most usually subluxated. Thankfully, chiropractic treatment can effectively remedy subluxations, reducing pain and inflammation, and this improvement is often instantly felt following treatment.
• Herniated Discs:  It may surprise you that a herniated disc does not necessarily cause any discomfort in the low back. One study showed that half of those adults suffering from herniated or bulging discs did not even know it. However, a herniated disc can refer serious pain to other parts of the body, and they rarely recover to their previously perfect state. Chiropractic care is an effective way to retard this deterioration.
• Sprains, Strains and Spasms: Individuals who lead fairly sedentary lives during the week and then go a little crazy at the weekend are most prone to this kind of low-back pain. Someone who perhaps has a game of soccer or a hard game of squash to blow out the cobwebs can end up overstressing themselves very quickly, suffering injuries that cause pain and inflammation.
• Stress: Mental stress causes your blood pressure and heart rate to rise, and stress hormones to flood your system. This leads to a tightening of the muscles, which are then more susceptible to injury. Ongoing muscular tension makes them weak, sore and full of trigger points – small concentrated knots that refer pain to other parts of the body, sometimes quite distant from the trigger point. Relaxation techniques, breathing exercises, and physical exercise are all important in combating stress.

Chiropractic Treatment of Low Back Pain

Low-back pain is bread and butter to a doctor of chiropractic, and usually treated with comparative ease. Adjustments are made to the lower lumbar vertebrae and pelvis, thus returning normal functioning to your bones and joints. Numerous studies have shown that chiropractic is the most effective treatment for low-back pain, being cheaper to administer and producing far better long-term improvements. This is because it is only chiropractic that seeks to realign the spine and re-establish normal vertebral motion. Conventional treatments such as muscle relaxants, pain killers and bed rest do no more than temporarily mask the symptoms, and do not attend to or correct the root cause of the problem.

The sideways curve in the spine of a scoliosis sufferer takes an “S” or “C” shape, and is possible because the vertebrae can rotate at the thoracic level of the spine, causing a hump near the rib cage and making the waist or shoulders uneven. A curve of more than 60 degrees is considered serious, and, unlike with the normal forward-back curvature of the spine, working to correct your posture will not help this sideways curvature.

Degenerative diseases of the spine related to age can also sometimes cause scoliosis. In the case of osteoporosis, the softening of the bones in older people can cause the vertebrae to bend out of shape, creating either a scoliotic curve or kyphosis (round back). Proper and prompt treatment for scoliosis is essential, because if left to progress, it can cause severe back pain, deformity, and difficulty breathing.

Chiropractic and Scoliosis

Chiropractic care is helpful in improving scoliosis. Your doctor of chiropractic will assess your overall health, lifestyle factors, examine the state of your spine, and discuss symptoms. A medical history will be taken to identify any events that may have triggered the condition, or that may be making it worse.

Assessing scoliosis usually involves the Adam’s Forward Bending Test, which is used by many schools in physical education classes. Chiropractors also use this, which simply involves the person bending at the waist as the spinal alignment is checked. Any abnormal prominence or hump is a sign something is amiss. Leg length is also measured to determine if they are even, and a range of motion test measures mobility at the waist. If needed, other medical professionals will be called in to help with treatment.

It is important that regular chiropractic visits are made so that the progression of the condition can be observed, and the appropriate treatment options applied in timely fashion. Specific exercises are often a very useful tool to increase muscle strength and mobility.

The following list will help guide you towards achieving a healthier, more vibrant body.

Regular Chiropractic Care

Chiropractic treatment is holistic, meaning it addresses your overall health. Vast amounts of research have shown chiropractic care to be one of the most effective treatments for back pain, neck pain, headaches, whiplash, sports injuries and sundry other musculoskeletal problems. It is also known to be beneficial to many other functions within the body, such as helping to lower high blood pressure, reducing the frequency of childhood ear infections (otitis media), and improving asthma.

Chiropractic is not just about relieving pain; it aims to restore the body to its natural state of optimal health. Various forms of treatment are used to this end, including manual adjustments, massage, trigger point therapy, exercise rehabilitation, coupled with advice on diet and lifestyle choices that impact your health. Left alone to work unimpeded, your body has an amazing ability to heal itself and maintain health, thus the chiropractor’s job is to remove the impediments to those good things taking place.

Ideally, chiropractic care should be an ongoing event in your life, much as regular exercise and healthy eating should be. The stresses of modern life, the little incidents and accidents that happen to us, daily wear and tear, mean that aches and pains are pretty much inevitable, unless steps are taken to minimize their effects. One of those steps is chiropractic care to ensure your joints last longer, you feel better, move with more freedom, and stay healthier and more active for as long as possible during your life.

Good Posture

Good posture is important because the further your posture deviates from what is correct, the more stressed your spine and back muscles become. This leads to stiffness and pain. Correct posture allows the spine to naturally take the strain as it was designed to do. Imagine carrying a bag in the normal way with your arm at your side. Then think how much extra burden you give yourself if you hold the bag out in front of you. Think of the muscles that then have to compensate to not only hold the bag, but also to rebalance the shift in your weight.

The Wall Posture Exercise is a good way to check your posture and understand how it should be. Rest back against a flat wall and bring your heels, shoulders and head backwards until they touch the wall. Sensing how this feels, step away from the wall and try to maintain that position for as long as possible throughout the day.

Less Stress

Stress is a major cause of bodily tension and its associated pain and problems. The list of things and events that can stress you is endless. Job, family, money, illness, lack of sleep, commuting, moving house, relationships, bereavement, divorce – anything that causes you to feel something is not as you would like it to be can cause you stress. If you think about that now, you’ll realize that’s an awfully long list.

Many people will not even realize that they are stressed if they’ve learned to live with the things that they don’t like in their life. You may also be stressed because of the things you fear might go wrong in your life. Many times, stress can be down to your perception of a situation, not how the situation actually is. Real or not, your body responds to stress by raising blood pressure, heart rate, respiration, metabolism, and the blood flow to your muscles. Over a sustained period of time, these effects and the release of stress hormones can be highly detrimental to your health.

Assuming you cannot eradicate every stressful situation from your life, you must learn to manage and mitigate it. Practice some relaxation techniques, breathe deeply, and get some exercise. Your body will thank you for it.

Watch Your Weight

There can’t be many people that don’t understand the importance of maintaining a sensible body weight to stave off such conditions as coronary heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and colon cancer. Being overweight, however, can also be a big factor in the development of low back pain. This is because the spine is only designed to support a certain amount of body weight. Overly burdened by excess body weight, the spine becomes stressed and may end up suffering structural damage. Osteoporosis, osteoarthritis (OA), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), degenerative disc disease (DDD), spinal stenosis, and spondylolisthesis are all known to be significantly exacerbated by being overweight.

Being overweight also contributes to feelings of fatigue, as well as difficulty breathing and shortness of breath. When these symptoms lead you to avoid activity and exercise, then the situation is made worse because lack of exercise contributes to many types of back pain.

If you are overweight and suffer from low back pain, it is obviously in your interests to change things. Talk to your doctor about how best to lose weight in a safe and healthy manner to ensure lifelong weight control rather than the yo-yo effects of the latest fad diets.

Buy a Good Mattress

The positive benefits of sleep are often underestimated, but getting enough good quality sleep is essential for your overall health and quality of life. Sleep debt is costly for society in both fiscal and physical terms, therefore sleep must be a priority and not relegated to something we grab if and when we have the time. Back problems can be caused by not sleeping well, or made worse by it.

One key ingredient in having a good night’s sleep is a good mattress. The following advice will help you select the mattress that’s right for you:

• Choice of mattress is a highly personal matter that depends on the individual. What may be perfect for you may be terrible for someone else. There is no magic mattress that works for everyone with low back pain. What’s important is to find a mattress that helps you sleep without pain and that does not create problems for the next day
• Find a mattress with good back support to guard against low back pain. It should provide support while allowing the spine’s natural curves and alignment to be unaffected. Generally, a medium-firm mattress is usually better than a firm mattress.
• Don’t put off buying a new mattress if yours is obviously past its prime. A visible sag in the middle is a good indicator. Placing a board under the mattress is not a long-term fix, and may even cause more problems.
• “Orthopedic” or “medically-approved” mattresses should be taken with a pinch of salt. Extensive medical research or controlled clinical trials have not been carried out on the issue of mattresses and low back pain.

Wear Orthotics

Orthotics are special inserts for your shoes to keep your feet functioning properly. This is crucial because your feet are your foundations, supporting you when you stand, walk, or run. They serve to protect your spine, bones, and soft tissues from the damge that can be caused by moving around, and they can better do this when they are in stable and correct positions.

The foot has three arches that provide exceptional supportive strength, distributing the weight of the entire body across them. If one arch is compromised, the other two must take the extra strain, and the whole foot then starts to become affected.

Custom-designed orthotics stabilize and balance your feet, boosting your body’s performance and efficiency, reducing pain, and contributing to your overall wellness. You spend around two-thirds of your day in shoes, so it’s important to find inserts that provide optimal support.

Drink More Water

Water is your life source. Drinking enough water means you are helping your body remain healthy and function at its best. Most people do not drink enough water. The average person should be consuming around ten cups of water a day, or just over a half gallon.

Water accounts for 60% – 65% of your total weight, and is the most abundant nutrient in your body. It is also the least forgiving of your nutrients, in that you cannot go more than a couple of days without it. Water transports nutrients, oxygen and waste products around the body, it regulates your body temperature, and it is the medium in which all your body’s chemical reactions take place.

Drinking coffee, tea, juices and soft drinks is not a substitute for drinking enough water, because, along with the water they contain, they also contain products the body will need to eliminate, thus robbing you of water to do so. Any drink containing caffeine is even worse because it is diuretic, so you actually end up with a net loss of water from your body. Because the food and drink you consume will contain water, you do not need to drink a full half-gallon of water every day. Instead, a good guide is to get a 1.5 liter bottle of water and make sure you drink that each day, or two of those if you are exercising heavily.

More Fruits and Vegetables

Most people do not eat enough fruit and vegetables in their diet, despite the huge amount of public information telling them to do just that. Fast food and snack food has taken the place of fruit and vegetables, adding in dangerous amounts of salt, sugar, and bad fats. Some people may go weeks without consuming fruit or veg.

Fruits and vegetables have always figured highly in the evolution of the human body, and many of the compounds unique to plant foods are required by your body for it to function correctly. Reducing fast and processed foods and swapping in fruit and veg instead can make a huge difference to how you feel and function.

Less Sugar

A recent USDA study reported that the average American consumes 134 pounds of refined sugar every year; that’s 20 teaspoons a day. If that seems unbelievable, consider the following facts:

• A 12 oz. can of Pepsi contains 10 teaspoons of sugar
• A 2 oz. package of candy contains 11 teaspoons of sugar
• A 16 oz. cup of lemonade contains 13 teaspoons of sugar
• A cup of Frosted Flakes contains 4 teaspoons of sugar

This excessive consumption is desperately unhealthy, contributing to obesity, Type II diabetes, heart disease from elevated triglycerides, kidney stones, rotten teeth, chronic fatigue, and reactive hypoglycemia. The types of foods high in refined sugars include soft drinks, candy, cake and donuts, and many condiments. Check the labels when food-buying, and choose products sweetened with apple juice or stevia, rather than sugar or high-fructose corn syrup. The latter is also the most craved source of food for the cancer cells in your body.

Supplement with a Multivitamin

Some experts consider this is not necessary if you are getting sufficient quantities though a healthy, natural, raw food diet. However, it has to be considered that along with the good things we may be taking in, we are also exposed to far more toxins and pollutants in other foods and in our environment – all of which sap and tax our body’s supplies of vitamins. Our ancestors who did not supplement did not have to cope with these, or the constant electromagnetic field from power lines and cell phones around us. They were also less stressed and more active than we are today. As your body is under this bombardment day in, day out, it is a good idea to ensure that you have a good supply of defensive vitamins and nutrients.

Get Into the Light

One of the most important nutrients for your mind and body is sunlight. Many people don’t think in terms of sunlight being a nutrient, especially with the scaremongers telling you to avoid the sun or die of skin cancer, but it certainly is. Sunlight and the vitamin D it promotes in your body is necessary to regulate proper hormone function, calcium absorption, and bone health, as to keep your daily sleep-wake cycle (circadian rhythm) working well. If you suffer from a lack of sunlight, you are more likely to experience the following:

• Seasonal depression, known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
• Disturbed, poor quality sleep
• Poor performance at work, especially in night-shift workers
• Disrupted melatonin regulation
• Reduced cortical brain activity
• Compromised immune system

Manmade light is not a substitute because it is not the full-spectrum light you get from the sun. Too little sunlight and too much artificial light is known to create problems with lack of concentration and lethargy. One study even showed that calcium absorption in the elderly fell away when too much time was spent indoors, and increased in those who spent time outside. This would have serious implications for bone strength and especially osteoporosis. Sunlight is also known to have a massive effect on mood, lowering stress and feelings of depression, and boosting feelings of happiness.

The following advice will help you increase your exposure to sunlight:

• Spend at least 15 minutes outside every day, even when it’s cloudy. Full-spectrum daylight is still available and is still beneficial.
• Use a special full-spectrum light box during the darker months to ensure a good dose of the right light, especially if you suffer from SAD.
• Only wear sunglasses in very bright light or to protect the eyes from flying objects such as sand or dust. Sunglasses create unnatural light for your eyes.

A Healthy Heart

Heart disease is the number-one killer of adults in America, and most deaths are preventable through changes to lifestyle choices. The key changes are: exercise, diet and body weight, not smoking, and vitamin supplementation.

Exercise is crucial not just for your neuromusculoskeletal system; it also hugely protects your heart health. Regular exercise makes your body far more able to assimilate oxygen, burn calories, and maintain normal blood pressure.

Diet and body weight are obvious factors in heart health. Carrying too much weight and eating the wrong foods can quickly lead to heart problems. Amazingly, it takes around one mile of additional blood vessels to supply just one pound of additional fat. That’s a huge extra burden on your heart, pushing your blood through all that extra tubing. Multiply that by 30, 40 or 50 pounds of additional fat, and you can imagine the stress placed on your heart.

Smoking is like living your life inside a burning house in the effects it has on your body. It degrades the collagen in your skin, causing premature wrinkling, destroys your lung cells, promotes heart disease, and causes cataracts and cancer because of the oxidizing effect of the free radicals released into your blood stream.

It can also worsen back pain by dehydrating the spinal discs. As bone is a living tissue that is dependent on your other body functions to stay healthy, an interruption to these other systems means bone is not able to rebuild itself. Bone formation is especially boosted by regular physical exercise and healthy hormonal activity, both of which are compromised by smoking.

Smoking decreases oxygen levels in the blood and increases the level of harmful substances, such as carbon monoxide. The nicotine from smoking causes the small blood vessels that feed your spinal discs to constrict, reducing their supply of nutrients. This results in your discs eventually becoming dehydrated, leading to degeneration. Smoking in perimenopausal or postmenopausal women is particularly risky as it increases estrogen loss, which can result in a loss of bone density and more chance of developing osteoporosis.

Vitamins E and C and folic acid are the most important supplements for a healthy heart. Vitamin E helps to prevent the cholesterol in your blood from becoming oxidized. This is the most dangerous aspect of high cholesterol in the blood. Vitamin C helps to strengthen the collagen tissues around artery walls, so they are less susceptible to tears. It also prevent cholesterol plaques developing inside the coronary arteries. The B-vitamin folic acid (also called folacin), reduces the homocysteine level in the blood. Homocysteine is a by-product of your metabolic process which can significantly hasten the onset of heart disease. You should ideally take at least 400 IU of vitamin E, at least 500 mg of vitamin C (preferably 1000mg), and 40 mcg of folic acid.

Causes of herniated discs

Discs can herniate due to various factors that decrease their strength and resilience. This can include certain lifestyle choices such as smoking, lack of exercise, and poor nutrition. Discs are further stressed by daily wear and tear, poor posture, from injury or trauma, or incorrect lifting or twisting. A weakened disc can sometimes herniate from something as simple as a single everyday movement or strain, such as coughing, sneezing or bending.

Signs of a Herniation

You are more likely to suffer a herniated disc between the ages of 30 and 40, and you may not even know it when it happens as it may not cause any pain. The most common symptom, though, is pain in the herniated disc that may radiate out into the hips or buttocks, or pain or numbness radiating down the leg to the ankle or foot. A large herniation may cause weak extension of your big toe and trouble putting pressure on your toes or heels when walking. Severe cases may even prompt changes in bowel or bladder function, and/or sexual function.

Treatment of a Herniated Disc

Chiropractic care, stretching, and exercise therapy are often sufficient to treat mild to moderate disc herniations. More serious cases will often require chiropractic care be coupled with some form of spinal decompression, such as traction or mechanical decompression.

As a last resort, surgery may be needed when a herniation is severe and all other treatment options have failed to bring improvement, or if the spinal cord or nerves are too badly compressed.

Causes of Sciatica

Sciatica is a sign that something is putting undue pressure on a nerve in your lower back. Most usually, the nerve is being compressed by a bulging or herniated lumbar disc. Another cause is piriformis syndrome, which happens when the piriformis muscle lying directly over the sciatic nerve becomes tight or goes into spasm, putting pressure on the nerve. Men can occasionally suffer sciatica from sitting for too long on a wallet in their back pocket.

Pain pattern of sciatica

The classic sciatic pain is that which radiates from your lower spine to your buttock and down the back of your leg. This may be accompanied by numbness, tingling, and muscle weakness in the affected leg. The severity of the pain can vary from a mild ache, to a sharp burning, to excruciating discomfort. Sometimes, the pain may feel akin to an electric shock. Sciatic pain usually comes on gradually and worsens over time, and can be exacerbated by when you sit, cough or sneeze.

Treatment of sciatica

Sciatic pain can very often be relieved through a treatment combination that includes chiropractic care, stretching, and deep tissue massage (trigger point therapy) of the piriformis muscle. If the piriformis muscles are identified as the main culprits, the pain is chronic, and if the combined treatment of Chiropractic, stretching and deep tissue massage is not effective, then a trigger point injection may be recommended, whereby a small amount of anesthetic is injected directly into the muscle to help break the cycle of spasms, however this is considered extremely rare.

It is thought that three-quarters of menstruating women experience some degree of PMS, and it is women in their late 20s to early 40s who are likely to suffer most. 10 to 20% of sufferers will experience symptoms they find severe or even disabling.

The cause of PMS is naturally assumed to be the hormonal changes that take place during the monthly menstrual cycle, which can then be exacerbated by stress, a lack of serotonin in the brain, and subluxations in the low back.

Chiropractic care cannot remedy the hormonal changes that precede menstruation, but certain studies have shown that it can help to reduce many of the symptoms of PMS, with the added benefit of your avoiding prescription drugs. This is because the tissues in the lower abdomen are regulated by the nerves that exit the lower spine, therefore chiropractic care to alleviate any unnecessary pressure or irritation on these can help make a positive difference.

While there is a long list of other diseases that may cause bone loss, including certain cancers, hyperthyroidism, and malabsorption syndrome, it is the metabolic factors that define osteoporosis. These include the levels of calcium and vitamin D, and the activity of osteoblasts, which are the bone cells that produce bone matrix. Bone matrix is made up of organic components such as collagen, and inorganic materials such as phosphate and calcium. When we talk about bone loss, it is the bone matrix which is being described.

It is the weight-bearing bones that are chiefly affected by osteoporosis – the pelvis, femur (thigh bone), and lumbar vertebras. Naturally, bone loss in these structures can lead to serious fractures with potentially devastating results.

Osteoporosis can be brought on by many conditions, circumstances, and deficiencies. The menopause is strongly linked to the condition, as are being over 50 years old, smoking, inadequate calcium, vitamin D, and dietary protein, and a lack of exercise.

Consistent weight-bearing exercise is very important to strengthen the vulnerable bones and prevent loss of bone mass. Walking, running, cycling, and strength-training exercises all stimulate both your muscles and bones to build up stronger. This physiologic bone-building response is known as Wolff’s law, which says that bone remodels when physiologically stressed. In other words, mechanical challenges cause your bone to build more bone, producing stronger, denser bones that are much less likely to fracture.

Chiropractic Care for Osteoporosis

The spinal adjustments that a chiropractor makes directly impact the proper functioning of the nerve system. A misaligned spine will cause tight and inflamed spinal ligaments and muscles, and restricted mobility anywhere along the spine. This results in a poor flow of information between the nerve system and the rest of your body, which means that there is an increased likelihood of disease taking hold.

Regular chiropractic care, along with vigorous exercise and proper nutrition, will create the correct environment for your body to become as strong and resistant to osteoporosis as possible.