San Diego Chiropractic
Are you ready to try chiropractic care?
Jones Chiropractic is a referral-based chiropractic practice. We use this blog and our website to explain to San Diego-area residents and visitors what a chiropractor does—and what a chiropractor doesn’t do. We also use these sites to relay plenty of information regarding maintenance of your general health and fitness.
At my San Diego Chiropractic Clinic we believe in empowering you to take control of your health – not just by coming to us for chiropractic care but by enlightening you regarding activities that you may be engaging in that make your condition worse. We also (with your interest and cooperation) teach you how to heal, balance and strengthen your body with stretches, exercises and nutrition – all of which you can do at home to better maintain your health.
Are you looking for natural solutions for your headaches or back pain? Are you considering treatment methods that will help you get well and stay well while avoiding drugs or surgery? If so, you’ve found the right place! That is because finding a qualified chiropractor in the San Diego-area begins and ends right here!
Take the first step toward relief by calling our office today – countless other San Diego-area residents already have!
Please read on, and have a great day!
Dr. Jones
(619) 280-0554
Weight and Back Pain
Does Excess Fat Lead to Back Pain?
I talk to the patients of my San Diego Chiropractic clinic about health and weight on a daily basis. While many people don’t want to hear about how their health habits, in this case carrying too much weight, can negatively affect their joints, it is my responsibility to present them with the facts (I don’t harp on them by the way!).
The joints of your spine, hips, knees, ankles and feet are all weight bearing joints. These joints support the weight of your body. The more you weigh, the more weight bearing stress is directed into these joints. With time, weight bearing stress wears the joints down resulting in a condition known as osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is a “wear and tear” type of arthritis that causes inflammation, scar tissue formation and muscle spasms. Inflammation is often responsible for the neck pain, back pain and other joint pains that we experience.
We know that weight gain causes joint pain and that joint pain can make exercise difficult however, a recent study out of England also suggested that as we gain weight we tend to lose our desire to exercise at an emotional level as well. You can see how as we gain weight the deck becomes stacked against us as far as our ability to regain a healthy weight.
I am well aware that talking to patients about their weight issues is only effective if I can catch them during a period of time when weight loss is important to them. That being said, I also know that none of us look forward to experiencing the downsides of growing older complicated by the negative effects of weight gain. The bottom line is this; weight gain is bad for all of your joints and can cause pain and disability as we grow older. Do yourself a favor and keep your weight in check – it will make you and your joints happy!
Have a Nice Day!
Dr. Jones
(619) 280-0554
What is Neuropathy?
Do you have numbness in your hands or feet?
I see patients in my San Diego chiropractic clinic everyday that complain of numbness or tingling sensations in their hands and / or feet. Many times these sensations are caused by either pinched nerves secondary to neck pain or back pain. Sometimes numbness and tingling is caused by herniated discs in the neck or back. This post will focus on peripheral neuropathy as a cause of numbness and tingling in the hands and feet.
Peripheral neuropathy is caused by damage to the nerve as a result of trauma, infections, metabolic conditions and exposure to toxins. Diabetes is by far the most common cause of diabetes and commonly results in sensations described as glove like or stocking like.
Peripheral neuropathy usually starts in the longest nerves – those which reach your toes and fingers are the ones to be affected first. The onset is usually a gradual progression of numbness and tingling in the feet or hands that can spread into the legs and arms. People with neuropathy describe the sensations as burning, sharp, electrical, numbing and tingling. Sometimes these patients experience a loss of coordination, weakness and even paralysis.
In addition to diabetes being a cause of neuropathy, common contributors of this condition include vitamin deficiencies, alcoholism, infections, exposure to toxins and auto immune diseases such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and Guillain-Barre Syndrome.
Treating neuropathy can include exercise, stretching, healthy eating and if you are a smoker – kicking the habit. Chiropractic care is also effective in treating neuropathy by using adjustments and providing proper nutritional support. Medications are also available for treating neuropathy but they often produce undesirable side effects.
Yours in Good Health,
Dr. Steve Jones
(619) 280-0554
Insurance and Whiplash – Who Pays For Your Injuries?
Hey Doc, I know that I need the care but who is going to pay my bills?
In my San Diego Chiropractic office, I hear this question from most of my patients who have been involved in car accidents. Aside from the pressing issues of neck pain, back pain and headaches that are common after a car accident, payment of medical bills is one of the more common concerns of my patients. The reason that this question is so common is because there are so many avenues through which your medical costs can be covered.
Most people have a medical payments provision on their auto insurance. Your medical payments will cover all or the great majority of your medical expenses up to the stated limit on your policy.
If the person that hit you is uninsured, you may be able to cover your medical costs with the uninsured motorist provision of your auto insurance – if you opted to have this type of coverage on your policy.
Some people don’t carry medical payments on their insurance policy (you really should because it is inexpensive). If this is the case in your situation, you can pursue the responsible parties insurance via what is commonly known as a third party claim. Often you can settle a third party claim on your own but some prefer to use a lawyer.
If you choose to hire a lawyer, your medical expenses will be covered under an attorney’s lien. We accept liens as do many other doctors’ offices. When your medical care is covered under a lien, your doctor will be paid out of the settlement after your attorney settles your claim.
I hope that this basic explanation of insurance benefits related to care for car accident injuries is helpful. There are other scenarios but the ones that I mentioned above are the most common.
Your’s In Good Health,
Dr. Jones
(619) 280-0554
What is Pain?
Do you have pain?
Most of the patients of my San Diego Chiropractic Center come to me for pain relief. The question is; what is pain? The answer to this question can be complex but pain is always the end result of some sort of long standing dysfunction that has resulted in inflammation and eventually pain.
Using the analogy of an ice burg; pain relative to the dysfunction that caused it is analogous to the “tip of the ice burg.” We all know that 95% of an ice burg lies underwater and the tip that we can see represents the smallest portion of its mass. The same is true with processes that cause us to experience pain. Our bodies have many coping mechanisms that help mask or compensate for pain – by the time the underlying process actually causes pain it is usually quite advanced.
Because pain represents a small portion of the dysfunctional process, the meaning of pain relief can be confusing. Since pain is the final manifestation of a particular dysfunction, the simple relief of the pain should not be confused with “a fix” of the original problem. Sometimes patients that don’t understand what pain represents make the mistake of stopping care as soon as the pain resolves. Failure to correct the cause of the pain leads to chronic conditions that become very difficult to effectively treat.
A simple example of pain as a result of a primary dysfunction is low back pain that is secondary to a dysfunctional sacroiliac joint. I see many patients with restricted sacroiliac joint motion – primarily this joint dysfunction comes from long hours of sitting. Patients with restricted sacroiliac joint motion are prone to suffering with lower back pain. Treatment for this condition involves chiropractic adjustments on the locked sacroiliac joint. Many patients get pain relief with adjustments even though on subsequent evaluations the joint motion has not been restored to normal. I would guess that about half of my patients continue with their care after pain relief in order to restore normal function to the problematic joint while the other half discontinues care as soon as they feel better. My personal experience (20 years worth!) tells me that those who discontinue care with pain relief are much more likely to develop chronic pain in the future because they didn’t treat long enough to correct the underlying problem.
The point is this – pain is not good measure of your health. People have cancer, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and many other life threatening disorders and don’t experience pain or other symptoms until the process has significantly advanced. Back pain, neck pain and headaches act the same way. Regardless of the type of care you receive, follow through with treatment until your doctor releases you. Cutting your care short will only serve to make you more comfortable while your joints degenerate.
Yours in good health,
Dr. Jones
(619) 280-0554
Your Health and a Down Economy
A down turn, the economy affects everything that we do regarding our finances – even decisions regarding health. Down turns in the economy can cause us to experience both the physical and emotional manifestations of stress.
That being said, there are businesses that are more resistant to economic down turns than others.
The bar in the complex where my San Diego Chiropractic Center is located seems to be handling the current economic stress with ease. The struggling economy may have even made them busier!
My office has maintained itself during this economic down turn because during times of stress my patients tend to place a higher value on their health. I find it peculiar that during stressful times that some people will spend their hard earned money on unhealthy items such as alcohol and cigaretts while others spend their money on improving their health with chiropractic care, acupuncture, massage, yoga and gym memberships.
When the economy goes south and we can’t treat ourselves (financially) to the things that normally make us feel satisfied, many of us re-focus on our health or other types of self improvement.
Stress has many negative physiological effects on our bodies so it is imparative that during stressful periods that we take better care of ourselves. Cortisol is the “stress hormone” that is released when we are stressed. The release of cortisol not only stresses our adrenal glands but it also tends to make us gain weight which causes more health and happiness issues. Yes, stress can even make you fat! Stress also magnifies old injuries by creating muscle spasm that can aggravate or cause neck pain, back pain and headaches.
Our bodies like balance. Balance helps our bodies negate the effects of stress. Pro-active steps towards maintaining health can help us attain balance which helps control the physical and emotional expressions of stress.
Yours in good health,
Dr. Steve Jones
(619) 280-0554
Zombie Chiropractic – At Your Service!
After 18 years in practice I finally had a self proclaimed zombie stagger into my office the other day.
We have all seen zombie movies depicting the living dead stumbling around with awkward walk postures and body positions. Yesterday, a patient came into my San Diego chiropractic office who jokingly asked if I had any experience with treating zombies. This man had injured his back and walked with a staggering gait and had not slept in two days yet maintained enough of a sense of humor so as to compare himself to a zombie.
Since I have been a zombie movie fan for many years I replied ‘of course we treat zombies! I only ask that during your visit that you try not to take a bite of my staff, another patient or myself.’ No Biting immediately became my newly adopted rule for zombies entering my office for care.
I examined this patient and found that he had a completely locked up sacroiliac joint that was causing his pain and his staggering zombie-like gait.
A little therapy and a few good low back adjustments later and this patient was on his way back towards joining the ranks of the living – at least he walked up to front desk looking like a more comfortable zombie.
I definitely enjoyed this patient’s creative self diagnosed zombie-ism but I don’t think that his diagnosis would be accepted as a new diagnosis in the medical coding book. In the mean time I will always welcome zombies to my San Diego Chiropractic Clinic.
Yours in good health,
Dr. Steve Jones
(619) 280-0554
Health, Wellness and Life Extension
Over the past few years we have seen the ideas of health, wellness and life extension used with increasing regularity. Even Kaiser has rebranded itself as a center for health, wellness and life extension.
The question is; What do health, wellness and life extension have to do with chiropractic care?
In the early years of its development as a health care instrument, the founders of chiropractic identified the link between chiropractic adjustments and a healthy nervous system. Chiropractic researchers noted that when patients came in for care for conditions like neck pain and back pain that as they received care, other symptoms that they suffered with also improved. Conditions like asthma, constipation, headaches and a host of other complaints would improve as these patients proceeded with their chiropractic care.
Athletes would see improvements in overall performance in their abilities and workers noticed quicker recovery times and fewer injuries as a result of chiropractic care. Chiropractors all over the country found that patients who had first sought care for a specific ache or pain wanted to continue treatment even after their original symptoms had resolved. Ongoing chiropractic care simply made patients feel better physically then they ever had before. It was then that the benefits of chiropractic care for health maintenance purposes became the larger focus of chiropractic treatment.
The connection between chiropractic care, health, wellness and life extension is an easy path to follow. The function of all of our body processes is dependant on a healthy nervous system. Chiropractic care directly acts to help your nervous system function at its best. When your nervous system is healthy, all of your systems are more efficient resulting in better health, a higher level of wellness and life extension.
Yours in good health,
Dr. Steve Jones
(619) 280-0554
Paying Attention to Our Diets: Processed Foods
Do you remember the last time you bought margarine?
If you are like many of the patients that I have spoken to in my San Diego Chiropractic Center, you have probably bought margarine instead of butter because of the health benefits – right? Or maybe you bought it because it is easier to spread than butter.
Margarine is heavily processed – so much so that it is hard to even consider it a food product. I have made a big deal over avoiding processed foods in many of my blog posts in the past. In this post I will give some details about how margarine is made so you can better understand what the “processed” in the phrase “processed food” means.
Margarine begins as vegetable oil – a liquid at room temperature, obviously not what we buy at the store. This oil is boiled at high temperature until it becomes a congealed, lumpy mass of a grey colored material. This grey, lumpy mass is then hydrogenated where it picks up nickel oxide – which is not removed from the final product. Hydrogenation occurs under tremendous pressure and temperature and results in the formation of “trans” fatty acids. Of course we now know that trans fats interfere with your body’s ability to clear cholesterol from your blood.
After hydrogenation, the oil is then homogenized with soap-like emulsifiers and then infused with starch to produce a denser consistency. At this point the product is bleached in order to remove any remaining color. At this stage the margarine has no flavor and no color.
Obviously, nobody would buy margarine if it has no color or flavor so a sulfur based coal tar dye is added to give the product its nice yellow color and strong flavorings are added that make it taste like something that it is not. Preservatives are then added in order to prevent the margarine from becoming rancid. This is the final product that goes to market and is sold to us consumers as a healthy alternative to butter.
There are many processed foods that are fully hydrogenated and cause liver, heart and circulatory diseases. Margarine just happens to be one of many alternatives to natural foods – in this case, butter – that is sold under the guise that it is a healthier alternative.
I just recently heard a short interview with fitness guru Jack LaLanne who is now 96 years old. He ended his interview with these words “if it tastes good spit it out and if man made it don’t eat it!” Based on what we know about how processed foods are made, it would be difficult to find a better perspective regarding what we eat.
Have a Great Day!
Dr. Steve Jones
(619) 280-0554
Have you had Chiropractic Care?
I ask all of the new patients of my San Diego Chiropractic Center this question. I would estimate that about 75% of them answer “yes” to this question although at least half of them really have not had Chiropractic Care.
Let me explain, I am not calling my patients liars but many of them are misinformed regarding their past experiences with chiropractic treatment. Chiropractic treatment is much more complex than “my back is ‘out’, can you pop it back ‘in” scenario that only involves a treatment or two.
Many of my patients have had back or neck problems in the past and went to see a chiropractor for an adjustment and are under the impression that they have had chiropractic treatment and that it only took one visit. In reality, chiropractic care is a process that improves your health through the cumulative effects of a series of treatments combined with specific exercises, stretches and nutritional support.
Let me explain some more – joints don’t just “pop out”. The joints in our spine are surrounded by some of the strongest ligaments and muscles in our bodies. In order for a joint to “pop out” the muscles have to be week, the ligaments stretched and typically you have been exposing yourself to some kind of ongoing postural stress or some stressful activity that your spine is not coping with adequately.
Pain is the final manifestation of this process and by no means is an indicator of spinal health. Unfortunately, pain is relieved quickly with care (sometimes just a visit or two) while the underlying problem continues to fester and worsen for years before it produces pain again leaving the patient with a false sense of security regarding the status of their condition.
When I see a new patient who has had the same problem in the past that they thought was corrected with prior chiropractic care (one or two treatments), the current episode of pain is usually much worse than it was in the past because the patient only received treatment to relieve the pain – not the necessary care to treat the underlying problem.
Hence, a treatment or two with a chiropractor to relieve your pain is very different from being under chiropractic treatment that addresses all aspects of your condition including pain relief, treatment for the underlying reasons for your pain and supportive therapy to insure that your condition doesn’t continue to silently worsen.
Yours In Good Health
Dr. Steve Jones
(619) 280-0554
Is Whiplash Haunting You?
Is Whiplash Haunting You?
Well, it happened again. This past Monday I had a new patient in my San Diego Chiropractic clinic that was complaining of neck pain with radiating pain in his right arm.
This patient had been in a car accident in which he was whiplashed nearly 20 years earlier and he stated that his neck pain began as a result of that accident. Like many of my patients, he never received care for his neck injury because he always thought it would go away even though as the years passed he felt that his episodes of pain were increasing in both frequency and intensity.
This past weekend he woke up with his typical stiff neck but this time it was accompanied by a dull aching pain that radiated down his arm and into his right hand.
Since radiating pain can be caused by anything from muscle spasms to herniated discs I sent him for x-rays so I could see why his arm was achy. As I expected from an old, untreated whiplash injury, this patient had his share of spinal arthritis including a few large bone spurs and thinning discs. These x-ray findings were consistent with his current symptoms and his whiplash history.
Unfortunately for this patient any kind of treatment whether medical, acupuncture or in this case, chiropractic care will only be to help control his symptoms – there will be no “cure” for him. Treatment for whiplash needs to begin within days or weeks of the injury to give the best chances of avoiding this patient’s situation.
Statistics tells us that even with early treatment that approximately 25% of whiplash victims who receive care will develop chronic pain due to their injuries. Some studies show that up to 75% of patients who don’t receive early care or any care at all will likely suffer from ongoing pain related to the long term effects of their injuries.
This patient would be in much better shape had he received treatment for his injuries 20 years ago versus waiting until now, unfortunately his wait and see approach has resulted in chronic pain that will require ongoing attention.
Yours In Good Health
Dr. Steve Jones
(619) 280-0554
Chiropractic and Chronic Hypertension
Do you suffer from the silent killer – hypertension?
Several years ago a few studies emerged that suggested that chiropractic manipulation had a blood pressure lowering affect on those folks who suffer with chronic hypertension. For chiropractors this was no new revelation. For the general public, however, who sees chiropractic care simply as a fix for neck pain, back pain and headaches, this report was news to them. Many of my patients greeted the reported affects of chiropractic care on lowering blood pressure with skepticism.
I believe that skepticism is healthy since there are so many scams in healthcare. That being said, you also have to keep an open mind regarding potential new cures for common human conditions. Had one of my colleagues told me a story of lowering blood pressure with chiropractic manipulations I would have believed him because I understand the interaction between chiropractic adjustments, the spine, the nervous system and the many functions of our bodies. However, when I recently read a study in the Journal of Human Hypertension that documented blood pressure reductions of -17/10 mm HG in a group of patients who were receiving chiropractic adjustments of the upper neck I gained additional validation for what I already knew.
The purpose of this blog post is not to promote that I can help patients with chronic hypertension – although I can. The purpose of this post was simply to advance the idea that chiropractic care is effective at treating a vast number of conditions, not just the typical cases of neck pain, back pain and headaches. The conservative nature of chiropractic care makes it a safe and effective therapy for many of the conditions that ail us.
Dr. Jones
(619) 280-0554
Chiropractic Care and Text Neck
Remember the old diagnosis of “Nintendo Thumb”? Well now we have “Text Neck”.
Saying that technology leads to neck pain and back pain may be over-reaching a bit, but there is a definite link between our obsessions with hand held electronics and spinal health.
Most of the cases of neck pain that I see in my San Diego Chiropractic office are due to postural stress. The postural stress that causes most of the cases of neck pain in my office is caused by regular, frequent texting, computer use, DS play, cellular phones, iPhones (and similar devices), e-book readers (such as the Kindle), iPods, etc. Kids, young adults and even mature adults admit to spending hours each day retrieving and inputting information into these hand held devices.
The end result of the postural stress caused by hand held electronic devices is known as Forward Head Posture or FHP. Forward Head Posture causes a variety of symptoms that can range from mild annoyances to significant levels of disability. We can often feel the results of FHP, such as neck pain, upper back pain or stiffness, after returning to a neutral position after just a few minutes of looking downward at a keyboard or a smart phone. With time, these symptoms can expand to include headaches, neck strain, pinched nerves and a host of other painful syndromes involving the upper extremities.
The bad news about FHP is that in a few years it will be much more prevalent than it is today. A recent study by Kaiser found that kids aged from 8 to 18 spend an average of nearly 8 hours per day either playing DS type games, texting or using smart phones in some other way. Chances are that this statistic will worsen.
FHP is a type of repetitive stress syndrome. Over my years in practice I have seen my patients lose their careers because of injuries due to repetitive stress. While the world is changing its communication habits it is vital for our health that we manage the time that we spend with hand held electronic devices.
Have a great day!
Dr. Jones
(619) 280-0554
Chiro Care VS Medical Care: What is the Difference?
At my San Diego Chiropractic office I often find that patients that are both new and returning to chiropractic care have misconceptions regarding the differences between medical care and chiropractic treatment.
Most of my patients initially come to my office with neck pain, back pain or headaches. Regardless of the complaint, I often check many chiropractic subluxation indicators in order to find the cause of the complaint. This method is typical for the kind of care you would get from a holistic practioner.
One of the most substantial differences between chiropractic treatment and medical treatment is the way in which we look at you, the patient. Chiropractic care is holistic in its approach to you. A holistic approach sees you as a whole person whose parts are interdependent on each other. Medical care takes an allopathic approach meaning that your care tends to be focused on the specific area that has become problematic.
If we use tension headaches as an example to expose the differences between the two types of care the differences between allopathic and holistic treatment become clear.
As a chiropractor the first thing that I do when a patient comes to me complaining of muscle tension headaches is look for the source of the muscle tension. Sometimes the muscle tension lies in the thin band of muscle that crosses the bottom of the skull while other times the muscle tension comes from the neck or shoulders / upper back. The point here is that different sources of pain drive a need for different types of care. After the source of the muscle tension is found, treatment is delivered to the source of the problem.
If you present to your MD with the same muscle tension headache, you will probably be prescribed some kind of medication to dull the pain but not to address the cause of your headache. This kind of care is allopathic – focusing only on the pain of the headache – not the cause of the headache.
But that’s where the similarity ends because each discipline looks at health and healing in very different ways.
Chiropractors and medical doctors have two very different philosophies, yet each has its place. If you have broken bones or you’re bleeding by the side of the road, you need the lifesaving measures of emergency medical treatment.
On the other hand, if you have chronic aches and pains or if your interest lies in wellness and health maintenance, you definitely want the “focus on health” approach that is the objective of chiropractic care.
Have a great day!
Dr. Jones
(619) 280-0554
Health and Dietary Fiber
The word “health” means a lot of different things to a lot of different people.
In my San Diego Chiropractic practice sometimes my patients associate health with ridding themselves of back pain, neck pain, headaches or perhaps making a recovery from injuries suffered in a car accident.
At my chiropractic clinic we try to encourage our patients to take a broader view of health than simply being pain free. Health is about your body expressing its full function and operating at the optimum levels that it is capable of. It has been my experience that chiropractic care can help you function better, but optimal health will not be expressed without paying close attention to your diet and nutritional needs.
One dietary change that you can do right away to help support your health is to get more fiber into your diet. Fiber is an extremely important part of a healthy diet and can help you regain and maintain your health. Because of the fast-food lifestyles that we have come to accept as normal, most Americans aren’t getting enough fiber. On average, Americans consume only 5 to 10 grams of fiber a day…15 to 20 grams less than the 25 grams recommended by the FDA.
You may ask, why is fiber so important?
- Fiber helps stabilize energy and sugar levels. Fiber slows digestion and therefore helps slow the absorption of sugars into the bloodstream. Soluble fiber, specifically, delays the absorption of sugars and starch by dragging partly digested food through the intestine. Delaying the absorption of ingested sugars keeps your blood sugar, insulin and energy levels more stable throughout the day.
- Fiber is filling. Fiber is a bulky and stays in the stomach longer, providing a greater sense of fullness between meals. For instance, a slice of 100 percent whole grain bread (loaded with fiber) is more filling than two slices of white bread (very little fiber). Foods high in fiber also need to be chewed thoroughly so it slows down the eating process. Eating slower helps prevent overeating.
- Fiber facilitates weight loss and maintenance. Fiber helps move fat through our digestive system faster so that absorption is significantly reduced.
- Fiber can reduce risk of disease. Soluble fiber helps lower blood cholesterol and glucose levels. This, in turn, reduces the risk of diabetes, high cholesterol and heart disease.
- Fiber helps maintain regularity. Fiber increases the movement of food through the digestive system. As a result, fiber promotes regularity and helps avoid or eliminate constipation, abdominal pain and “sluggish bowel” syndrome.
Dietary fiber can be found in fresh vegetables, fresh fruit and whole grains. At my office we always stress the importance of a healthy diet – adequate fiber intake is an important component that is needed in our daily diets.
Have a great day!
Dr. Jones
(619) 280-0554
Weight and Back Pain
The kids were obnoxious as they often are, but they were right.
I was at Costco the other day looking at pants when I found myself standing near a few guys in their late teens / early twenties who were also looking at pants. I remember when I was in my twenties thinking that guys my age (45) were old as dirt and I occasionally enjoyed saying things for shock value in order to stir up the “older” folks. That is exactly what the one younger guy did when he said “none of these sizes will fit me – it is a short fat world isn’t it?” with enough volume for me to easily hear this comment. Quietly, I agreed with him.
As I stood there looking at pant sizes, I realized that they did not have any in my size either. Had my waist measurement exceeded my length, Costco would have had plenty of pants to choose from. I find it difficult to find pants at most stores that I shop at because waist sizes run so large compared to lengths – it is really sad that as a society we have reached this point.
Being a San Diego chiropractor, I am always concerned with the health of my patients. In addition to neck pain, back pain, headaches and other pain related issues, my patient’s weight and fitness are equally important. Every extra pound that we carry increases the stress on our joints. As joint stress increases, the chances of irritation, inflammation, joint pain and eventually arthritis increase as well.
Not to imply that weight control is only important for our joints but it is one more reason to either lose the extra weight or at least keep it in check.
I attended a seminar recently and learned that large deposits of fat can actually work like an endocrine organ that predominantly produces estrogen. This is true in men as well. Excess estrogen in men is associated with increased risks of heart attack, stroke, and prostate disease.
I always bring up the topic of weight loss with my patients that would benefit from losing a few pounds – but I never ride them. Losing excess weight is necessary in order to live a healthy lifestyle, but you have to want that in order to obtain it.
Have a great day!
Dr. Jones
(619) 280-0554
Neck Pain and Whiplash
Neck pain is common after a car accident. The treatment that you receive following that accident can have an impact on your spinal health for the rest of your life.
Whiplash does nasty things to your joints and the muscles and ligaments that support them. Sometimes these processes are painful immediately and other times they don’t become symptomatic until years later. The key to relieving pain now and / or avoiding future episodes of pain or disability is to get treatment for your whiplash as soon as possible.
Tremendous amounts of force are placed on the muscles and ligaments when we are involved in whiplash accidents – these forces far exceed normal movements that we purposefully engage in. The force of a whiplash accident tears muscles and ligaments resulting in swelling, pain, spasms and scar tissue formation. Scar tissue can not only become a source of pain but it can severely restrict your range of motion as you age.
We all know those older (and sometimes younger) people who have to turn their entire bodies in order to look behind them. Those people have limited range of motion of the joints in their necks. With rare exception, this limited range of motion is caused by scar tissue formation and arthritis that has accumulated from old injuries.
Chiropractic treatment helps with many different conditions and is even beneficial as a health maintenance type of treatment. That being said, chiropractic care is the perfect therapy for most injuries that are related to whiplash. Chiropractic care helps control the pain associated with torn muscles and ligaments and it is also very effective with breaking down excessive scar tissue that restricts normal range of motion.
We have successfully treated hundreds if not thousands of patients who suffer from either current whiplash injuries or the later effects of those injuries in my San Diego chiropractic office. Chiropractic treatment combined with a structured stretching / exercise program and proper nutritional support can be the difference between chronic long lasting pain and a healthy pain free spine.
Have a great day!
Dr. Jones
(619) 280-0554
Sugar and Your Health – A Chiropractic Perspective
In the past I have written blog posts specifically about the dangers of soda consumption – especially diet soda. Diet soda contains aspartame which brings a host of symptoms related to ill health. In fact, diet soda is so unhealthy do to the artificial sweeteners that over the years I have advised the patients of my San Diego Chiropractic Clinic that if they are going to drink soda that they are better off drinking regular soda – not the diet varieties.
Please know that I don’t recommend drinking soda to any of my chiropractic patients simply because it is not good for you. I explain to my patients that caffeine, nicotine and sugar all make you more pain sensitive. For my patients I hope that my stance on these three consumables translates into the notion that these unhealthy items will magnify the back pain, neck pain hip pain, etc that they are experiencing. After all pain is a great motivator – at least for awhile.
A recent study done at Emory University has made me second guess my thoughts on regular soda being better for you than diet soda. This study found that those who consume large amounts of added sugars such as cane sugar, high fructose corn syrup, fruit juice concentrates, glucose and fructose had lower HDL (good) cholesterol levels and higher LDL (bad) cholesterol levels and higher triglyceride levels than in those who don’t indulge in sweetened, processed foods as a regular part of their diets. This combination of low HDL and high LDL and triglycerides are linked to heart disease.
Most of us had already known about the association of weight gain and diabetes risk with consuming foods and drinks high in added sugar but this has been the first study that was able to link sugar intake to higher cholesterol levels in humans. In the United States, 16% of our daily total calories are from added sugar and soda is responsible for one third of the average Americans daily sugar intake.
Improving your health takes just a little discipline – eliminate soda and other drinks with added sugar, pay attention to sugar grams on the labels of packaged foods and try to avoid foods with double digit sugar grams and finally, limit sweet splurges to just a few per week.
Have a great day!
Dr. Jones
(619) 280-0554
Light Impact Car Accidents and Chiropractic Care
Most insurance companies try to dispute payments made for medical care that was related to car accidents with little to no damage to the cars. Most of the time the responsible insurance company ends up paying for your injuries but it can be a struggle.
I recently had a new patient in my San Diego Chiropractic office that had been injured in a car accident. She had a severe headache, neck pain that prevented full motion in her neck, middle back pain and low back pain. She also had shooting, stabbing pain in her right arm. Prior to the accident she didn’t have any of these symptoms.
As this patient sat on my exam table, sobbing because of her pain, I noticed on her intake form that she was a claims adjuster for a large auto insurance company. After our consultation and exam were completed and I made my treatment recommendations she said something that I will never forget. She said “I can’t believe how much pain I am in – especially since there is no damage to my car. I feel so bad that I have been denying claims like these for years – I had no idea that anyone could be hurt by such a minor accident!” And this lady was an insurance adjuster!
After several weeks of care that produced slow improvement, I sent her out for an MRI of her neck. The MRI results revealed that she had two herniated discs in her neck that were largely responsible for her neck pain and the right arm pain.
This lady was only 24 years old and was in good shape physically. Before this accident, she had no prior car accidents or significant falls or other injuries. Regarding this accident, her car was undamaged – in fact she said the impact felt like a light tap on her bumper that surprised her more than it jolted her body.
The chiropractic care that we were delivering changed a little bit with more of our treatment emphasis going towards therapies then chiropractic adjustments. Over the course of the next few months her symptoms went away but she would still occasionally bring up how bad she felt about fighting all those claims that were just like hers.
Yours in Good Health,
Dr. Jones
(619) 280-0554
Glucosamine for Aching Joints
Do your joints hurt? Have you stopped or restricted certain activities because of joint pain?
As a practicing chiropractor in San Diego, I treat people for joint pain everyday – sometimes even on Sunday. A growing part of my treatment recommendations is nutritional support.
Most cases of neck pain and back pain can be greatly improved just with chiropractic adjustments. However, some cases of ongoing, lingering pain – especially in weight bearing joints – such as ankles, knees, hips and spinal joints also require nutritional support and specific exercises in order to provide relief.
As with most things in life, personal experience with your own advice always gives you better perspective. Those of you who have been reading my blog posts over the last few years are aware that I had stopped running a few years ago because of ongoing ankle pain. My pain would make bearing the weight of my body nearly impossible after just a short run – less than a mile and would necessitate hours of icing in order to get me walking again.
Recently, I started taking my own advice on nutritional support for joints. On the advice of my representative from Standard Process, I began taking a supplement called Glucosamine Synergy. I also started drinking Joint Juice that I get from the local Costco.
What a difference! I am not going to make running my sole aerobic exercise but I have been able to run a few times weekly for two or three miles with no ankle pain at all.
The bottom line is that we often underestimate the value of nutritional support.
Your’s In Good Health
Dr. Jones
(619) 280-0554
www.JonesPainRelief.com