These chronic, persistent, localized muscle spasms are caused by postural inefficiencies, biomechanical faults, and stress. Any or all of these factors may be involved. Stress may be ongoing, depending on the person’s circumstances, but posture and biomechanics can definitely be addressed and improved with chiropractic care.

Your chiropractor will analyze and identify biomechanical issues, particularly those involving spinal misalignments. A chiropractor will design treatment specifically tailored for your individual needs and, if needed, will help educate you regarding good postural habits and exercises that will be beneficial for many years to come.
Trigger points are persistent, localized muscle spasms that can cause a great deal of pain. Trigger points alone may be responsible for many cases of neck pain, upper back pain, and lower back pain. This relationship is fairly common knowledge among physicians who treat pain, including chiropractors, rheumatologists, and physiatrists (doctors of physical medicine).

What is not generally known is that trigger points may also be implicated in radiating pain into the arm and hand or radiating pain into the leg and foot. In fact, radiating pain due to trigger points may be mistaken for pain caused by a herniated disc, in either the neck or lower back. Trigger point pain affecting the wrist and hand may even be misdiagnosed as carpal tunnel syndrome. A patient in whom a correct diagnosis of trigger point pain is missed may lose much precious time and other resources, as she fruitlessly “tries” one doctor after another and needlessly undergoes all sorts of complex and costly testing.

The key to correctly identifying the source and cause of upper or lower extremity radiating pain is to be able to accurately characterize its nature. Radiating pain caused by trigger points is diffuse – the pain broadly covers a region. This diffuse pain is described as “scleratogenous”, meaning that it is pain referred from connective tissue such as muscle and tendon. Radiating pain caused by a compressed spinal nerve (ultimately caused by a herniated disc, for example) is described as “radicular” or “dermatomal”. This pain is confined to a specific area – the area that is supplied by a specific spinal nerve. For example, pain involving the thumb and index finger could be caused by compression of the C6 spinal nerve. Pain involving the outside of the foot and the little toe could be caused by compression of the S1 spinal nerve.

Scleratogenous pain is not specific. A person might complain of pain across the “shawl” portion of the upper back and traveling into the upper arm, experienced “all over” the upper arm. Another person might be experiencing pain across the gluteal region, hip, and upper thigh. Both of these patterns of radiating pain are likely due to several trigger points, localized to the respective areas.

Of course, an accurate diagnosis is necessary to be able to develop an effective treatment strategy. The good news is that although trigger points necessarily represent a chronic muscular process, they may be treated with very good to excellent outcomes using conservative protocols. Chiropractic care is the optimal method for managing trigger point pain. Chiropractic care is a drug-free approach which directly addresses the biomechanical causes of these persistent trigger points and their associated patterns of radiating pain. Chiropractic care improves mobility and restores function, helping to reduce and resolve chronic pain.

1Alonso-Blanco C, et al: Multiple active myofascial trigger points reproduce the overall spontaneous pain pattern in women with fibromyalgia and are related to widespread mechanical hypersensitivity. Clin J Pain Feb 28 2011 (Epub ahead of print)
2Bron C, et al: Treatment of myofascial trigger points in patients with chronic shoulder pain: a randomized, controlled trial. BMC Med 9:8, 2011 (January 24th)
3Renan-Ordine R, et al: Effectiveness of myofascial trigger point manual therapy combined with a self-stretching protocol for the management of plantar heel pain: a randomized controlled trial. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 41(2):43-50, 2011

NOTE: This information is solely advisory, and should not be substituted for medical or chiropractic advice. Any and all health care concerns, decisions, and actions must be done through the advice and counsel of a health care professional who is familiar with your updated medical history.

Want More? Click here for Free Daily Health Updates by email

View Feed XML

Through carefully applied pressure, massage, and manual manipulation of the vertebrae and joints, pressure and irritation on the nerves is relieved and joint mobility is restored, allowing your body to return to its natural state of balance, called homeostasis. Put another way, when the bones in your spine are allowed to go back to their proper positions, the nerve energy can resume its normal flow and your body’s natural healing processes can function properly.

In general, proper chiropractic treatment of your body’s lumbar, or lower back, region, involves very little risk and the rewards can be significant.

Chiropractic or osteopathic manipulations can be especially helpful in relieving pain for facet joint injuries, osteoarthritis, and sacroiliac joint dysfunction, because such conditions respond well to mobilization. Moreover, scores of patients with chronic headaches, sinus problems, high blood pressure, ear infections, leg pain, arthritis, and many other illnesses have reported significant relief after chiropractic therapy.

Increasingly over the past few decades, the medical community has come to accept and recognize chiropractic care as a valid form of treatment for a variety of neuro-musculoskeletal conditions, and as a conservative treatment option for patients with lower back pain. Moreover, many medical doctors recognize a chiropractic diagnosis and accept it as the first line of treatment for functional disorders of the entire musculoskeletal system.

Studies by leading medical journals in recent years have confirmed the benefits of chiropractic care:

1. A 1993 report by the Ontario Ministry of Health concluded that chiropractic care was the most effective treatment for lower back pain. The agency also recommended that chiropractic care be fully integrated in the Canadian government’s health care system.
2. In 1994, the federal Agency for Health Care Policy and Research published its Clinical Practice Guidelines, which asserted that spinal manipulation was effective in reducing pain and speeding recovery among patients with acute low back symptoms without radiculopathy.
3. A 1996 New England Journal of Medicine study of outcomes and costs for acute low back pain found that patients treated by chiropractors were significantly more satisfied than those who saw primary care, orthopedic or managed care practitioners.
4. A 1996 study in the journal Spine echoed that study and found that patients who sought chiropractic care were more likely to feel that treatment was helpful, more likely to be satisfied with their care, and less likely to seek care from another provider for the same condition, compared to those who sought care from medical doctors.
5. In 2001, the Center for Clinical Health Policy Research at Duke University concluded in a study that spinal manipulation resulted in almost immediate improvement for cervicogenic headaches, or those that originate in the neck, and had significantly fewer side effects and longer-lasting relief of tension-type headache than a commonly prescribed medication.

NOTE: This information is solely advisory, and should not be substituted for medical or chiropractic advice. Any and all health care concerns, decisions, and actions must be done through the advice and counsel of a health care professional who is familiar with your updated medical history.

Want More? Click here for Free Daily Health Updates by email

View Feed XML

Relief comes from a variety of means, including over-the-counter medications and prescription drugs, rest, and ice/heat packs on the forehead or neck. Sources of headaches include, but are not limited to, certain kinds of foods, sounds and excessive noise or bright lights, changes in blood sugar, and even too much exercise.

Some recent studies have shown that patients suffering from chronic headaches and migraines may benefit more from long-term chiropractic care than drug therapy alone. For headaches that originate in the cervical, or neck, area, chiropractic treatment, such as spinal manipulation, has been shown to be quite effective.

A 2001 Duke University study, for example, found that spinal manipulation provided relief for patients with headaches that originate in the neck, and resulted in fewer side effects than medication. Researchers in that study concluded that such treatments as relaxation training, thermal biofeedback combined with relaxation training, electromyographic (EMG) biofeedback, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and to a lesser degree, acupuncture, are all modestly effective in treating migraine headaches.

Close to 15 percent of people who visit a chiropractor do so to seek relief for pain from chronic headaches or migraines, according to the American Chiropractic Association.

NOTE: This information is solely advisory, and should not be substituted for medical or chiropractic advice. Any and all health care concerns, decisions, and actions must be done through the advice and counsel of a health care professional who is familiar with your updated medical history.

Want More? Click here for Free Daily Health Updates by email

View Feed XML

Question: I have taken oral doses of bioidentical hormones for a couple of years. Should I ask my physician to change my prescription to transdermal (applied to the skin) or sublingual (taken under the tongue)?

Dr. Brownstein’s Answer:

A bioidentical, natural hormone is a hormone that has been derived from a plant product and has the exact same chemical structure of a human’s hormone. Examples include natural progesterone and natural estrogen.

Because they have the same structure as our hormones, bioidentical, natural hormones are recognized to have specific receptors to bind to. By contrast, synthetic hormones, which are created by Big Pharma in order to be patentable products, have different chemical structures from our own hormones. This difference causes the synthetic hormones to cause adverse effects.

There are many delivery mechanisms for bioidentical hormones, including oral, transdermal, or sublingual dosing. Oral dosing of estrogens can be a problem because when estrogen is taken orally, it undergoes a “first-pass” effect in the liver. This means that the liver has to activate or de-activate the hormone depending on the body’s needs. The ability of the liver to adjust to the oral dosing of estrogen depends on the liver’s functional status.

Studies have also shown that oral dosing of estrogens (compared to transdermal doses) cause more adverse side effects, including gallstones, abnormal blood clotting, and weight gain.

Transdermal dosing bypasses this first-pass effect in the liver and is a much safer route. Sublingual dosing can also avoid the first-pass effect in the liver, but this type of dosing is dependent on not swallowing any of the hormone. I have found that transdermal dosing is the best route for estrogen-based hormones.

www.newsmaxhealth.com

All-Natural Bioidentical Somatotropin Creme

All-Natural Bioidentical Testro-D Creme

NOTE: This information is solely advisory, and should not be substituted for medical or chiropractic advice. Any and all health care concerns, decisions, and actions must be done through the advice and counsel of a health care professional who is familiar with your updated medical history.

Want More? Click here for Free Daily Health Updates by email

View Feed XML

Lumbar degenerative disc disease usually starts with a torsional (twisting) injury to the lower back, such as when a person rotates to put something on a shelf or swing a golf club. However, the pain is also frequently caused by simple wear and tear on the spine.

Despite its rather dramatic label, degenerative disc disease is fairly common, and it is estimated that at least 30% of people aged 30-50 years old will have some degree of disc space degeneration, although not all will have pain or ever receive a formal diagnosis. In fact, after a patient reaches 60, some level of disc degeneration is deemed to be a normal finding on an MRI scan rather than the exception.

Lumbar Degenerative Disc Disease Symptoms

Most patients with lumbar degenerative disc disease will experience low-grade continuous but tolerable pain that will occasionally flare (intensify) for a few days or more.

Symptoms can vary, but the general characteristics usually include:

Pain that is centered on the lower back, although it can radiate to the hips and legs
Pain that is frequently worse when sitting, when the discs experience a heavier load than when patients are standing, walking or even laying down
Pain that is exacerbated by certain movements, particularly bending, twisting or lifting

The low back pain associated with lumbar degenerative disc disease is usually generated from one or both of two sources:

Inflammation, as the proteins in the disc space irritate the surrounding nerves, and/or
Abnormal micro-motion instability, when the outer rings of the disc, called the annulus fibrous, are worn down and cannot absorb stress on the spine effectively, resulting in movement along the vertebral segment.

NOTE: This information is solely advisory, and should not be substituted for medical or chiropractic advice. Any and all health care concerns, decisions, and actions must be done through the advice and counsel of a health care professional who is familiar with your updated medical history.

Want More? Click here for Free Daily Health Updates by email

View Feed XML

However, arsenic is also showing up in food and drinks, for which no safety limits have been set, raising concerns about overexposure through diet, especially for children and pregnant women.

Tests performed by both Consumer Reports and Dr. Oz recently exposed high levels of arsenic in fruit juices, especially apple juice. As a result, Consumer Reports is calling for government standards to limit consumer exposure.

Ten percent of 88 juice samples tested by Consumer Reports had arsenic levels exceeding the U.S. federal drinking-water standard.

Many foods, including chicken, rice, and processed baby foods have also been found to contain high levels of arsenic.

While acutely toxic at high levels, low-level chronic exposure to arsenic can lead to a wide variety of health problems, including gastrointestinal problems, skin discoloration and hyperkeratosis, chronic fatigue syndrome, high blood pressure, diabetes, reproductive problems, reduced IQ and other neurological problems, and various cancers.

NOTE: This information is solely advisory, and should not be substituted for medical or chiropractic advice. Any and all health care concerns, decisions, and actions must be done through the advice and counsel of a health care professional who is familiar with your updated medical history.

Want More? Click here for Free Daily Health Updates by email

View Feed XML

Such a diet focuses primarily on a wide variety of raw, whole vegetables, fruits, nuts, roots and meat

Overeating and excess weight is a symptom of an improper diet, because when you consume too many sugars and carbs, you set off a cascade of chemical reactions in your body that makes you hungry and craving for sweets

A Paleo directed diet can be very effective for reducing blood pressure, cholesterol and triglyceride levels—more effective, in fact, than a statin drug. On average, people tend to see a 30 point drop in cholesterol in just two weeks

Your body is also genetically “wired” to move like a hunter-gatherer, which includes extensive walking with regular lifting and short bursts of high-intensity activities

NOTE: This information is solely advisory, and should not be substituted for medical or chiropractic advice. Any and all health care concerns, decisions, and actions must be done through the advice and counsel of a health care professional who is familiar with your updated medical history.

Want More? Click here for Free Daily Health Updates by email

View Feed XML

We’re often told that whole grains are healthy, but the high-fiber bran portion of grain — the part that makes it a whole grain — actually contains many of the anti-nutrients

There is a sizeable body of scientific evidence showing that grains, as well as legumes, contain anti-nutrients that may increase intestinal permeability and cause leaky gut and associated symptoms

Eliminating grains (and sugars) from your diet, while introducing traditionally fermented foods, can help prevent leaky gut as well as other chronic health conditions

NOTE: This information is solely advisory, and should not be substituted for medical or chiropractic advice. Any and all health care concerns, decisions, and actions must be done through the advice and counsel of a health care professional who is familiar with your updated medical history.

Want More? Click here for Free Daily Health Updates by email

View Feed XML

In addition to supporting healthy leptin sensitivity*, Hydroxydrene also helps:

Reduce the activity of glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase which may help reduce the amount of starch and sugar calories that turn into body fat.*

Support a slowing of the rate of carbohydrate absorption from the intestines and a reduction of the caloric impact of starchy and sugary foods.*

Support healthy adiponectin levels while helping to maintain healthy insulin sensitivity.*

Of course, I must carefully caution you that if you eat more calories than your body can utilize, weight loss can’t occur. Excess calories are stored as fat in your fat cells. It’s just that simple. In my opinion, you simply can’t consume unlimited calories and expect to shed fat pounds by taking a product that might happen to show weight loss in a research study.

HYDROXYDRENE: Rapid Weight Loss Support Formula

NOTE: This information is solely advisory, and should not be substituted for medical or chiropractic advice. Any and all health care concerns, decisions, and actions must be done through the advice and counsel of a health care professional who is familiar with your updated medical history.

Want More? Click here for Free Daily Health Updates by email

View Feed XML

Avoid processed foods
Avoid high fructose corn syrup, sugars, grains, fruit juices, and sweetened and diet drinks
Supplement with high quality omega-3 fatty acids (Krill oil is a good, highly absorbable form to use)

In my opinion, one of the most important steps in helping your cells to respond ideally to the three command signals is to choose foods that are right for your body type.

You see, your body responds to food – which ultimately becomes your fuel – based on your genetics, biochemical makeup, family history, and everyday interactions with your environment.

The idea is that by determining your unique Nutritional Type, you can then select foods that work best for your body. As you probably know already, I’m a huge advocate of Nutritional Typing and believe it’s clearly one of the most critical things you must do to support good health. Here’s why… The science of Nutritional Typing is one of the only systems that customizes nutrition based on the way your body reacts to food.

And that might help explain why certain foods make you feel bloated, sluggish, and generally not great after you consume them. Even if they are so-called “healthy” foods…

But That’s Not All. There are Still Two More to Go…

We’ve talked about leptin and how it’s an important chemical signal that commands your brain to cease eating.

The second signal produced and released by your fat cells is adiponectin – a hormone that helps to maintain your body’s normal insulin sensitivity. As the amount of fat tissue increases, the level of adiponectin decreases. Larger fat cells naturally produce less adiponectin. Levels of adiponectin also appear to be directly related to belly fat.

Overall, levels are lower in overweight people and higher in lean people. When you lose weight, more adiponectin is available to promote health.

Last but not least, glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase is the third command signal that your fat cells produce. This is an enzyme that helps convert starch and sugar calories to stored body fat.

I probably don’t need to state the obvious, but I’m sure you’re beginning to see why maintaining healthy, normal levels of these three substances may be helpful for not just a lean and trim body, but for total health.*

Just to summarize how these three substances can help contribute to maintenance of your ideal weight… in my opinion, the perfect weight loss tool would help:

Increase adiponectin
Decrease glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase
Allow leptin’s natural signals to be “heard” optimally

HYDROXYDRENE: Rapid Weight Loss Support Formula

NOTE: This information is solely advisory, and should not be substituted for medical or chiropractic advice. Any and all health care concerns, decisions, and actions must be done through the advice and counsel of a health care professional who is familiar with your updated medical history.

Want More? Click here for Free Daily Health Updates by email

View Feed XML