Posts Tagged ‘Headache’

What Does Nutrition Have to do With Chiropractic Care?

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

Do you believe the concept of junk in equals junk out concerning your health?

I have seen and heard some strange things regarding health and habits out of my patients of my San Diego Chiropractic practice over the years.

One of the stories that I like to tell regarding a friend of mine involved her smoking habits. This girl would not smoke in her car because she didn’t want to ruin the interior! What is worse yet is that she had a condition called Raynaud’s Syndrome which is a narrowing of the blood vessels that feed the fingers. This condition is found in smokers, it is painful and can lead to the lose of your fingers. All this, yet she smoked, but not in her car because she was concerned about The Car’s interior!

Smoking affects your chiropractic care because it restricts blood flow which makes you more pain sensitive and makes healing a slower process. Smoking can produce or prolong painful sensations for many conditions ranging from neck pain and back pain to sciatica and headaches.

Two other very common items that we consume that have a negative impact on our bodies is caffeine and sugar. Both caffeine and sugar increase our metabolic rate which make us more pain sensitive.

I have the nicotine, sugar and caffeine talk with all of my patients yet at some point during treatment, a fairly large percentage of them will come to my office with either a soda pop or a cup of coffee – once in awhile a few will smoke the last of a cigarette right outside our front door. All these indulgences are completely counterproductive to the goals of their treatment.

A final mention for this blog post is the prevalence and effect of wheat allergies. Wheat allergies not only cause dietary distress but they also can cause muscle aches and joint pain. Identifying a wheat allergy can go along way toward restoring your health.

Regarding dietary supplements, there are many support joint and muscle health, reduce inflammation and speed healing. I recommend these to the patients in my San Diego chiropractic practice on a regular basis.

If we treat our bodies with respect by limiting the intake of harmful substances while supplementing a few critical nutrients we can take some long strides towards supporting a healthier lifestyle.

Your’s In Good Health


Dr. Jones

(619) 280-0554
www.JonesPainRelief.com

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Postural Awareness and Chiropractic

Wednesday, September 9th, 2009

Being a San Diego based chiropractor, I talk to my patients all the time about the ill effects of bad posture. Poor posture can lie at the root cause of headache problems, neck pain, back pain, etc.

Oddly enough, whenever I think about my posture I find that I need to correct something. I will either find my upper back slumped forward, my head extended out in front of my body, my lower back rounded forward or my shoulders rolled forward.

Posture is difficult to maintain. I would guess that probably half of my patients end up in my office because of some injury, old or new, that is further aggravated by postural stress. Eliminate postural stress and many cases of neck pain and back pain would be eliminated as well.

One of the problems that we encounter with posture is that our awareness of our posture declines as we focus on other duties. Posture is especially difficult to maintain when we are seated in front of our computers. Our natural response toward any type of work that we perform is to lean into it. Getting close to our work helps us focus. Unfortunately, getting close to our work in this way instigates poor posture and the resulting stress can cause a number of different aches and pains.

Poor posture has become habit among most of us. The only way to improve your posture is to become aware of your bad posture and practice maintaining good posture. Sounds simple but it takes self awareness and plenty of dedication.

Your’s In Good Health


Dr. Jones

(619) 280-0554
www.JonesPainRelief.com

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Chiropractic and Ergonomic Principles

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009

Most of my posts regarding ergonomics have strictly focused on issues surrounding computer use. After reviewing my prior posts on this topic, it was clear to me that while the majority of the patients that I see in my San Diego Chiropractic Clinic suffer with neck pain, back pain, headaches and carpal tunnel syndrome as a result of poor ergonomics related to computer use, I was not covering the basics of ergonomics that can be utilized in all types of work.

My next few posts will expand beyond the ergonomics of computer use to include some of the more basic principles of ergonomics. Remember that these principles are most effective when applied both on the job as well as in other areas of your life.

Principle 1 – Keep your most frequently handled objects within easy reach. Over-reaching makes work difficult and less efficient

Principle 2 – Reduce repetition whenever possible. Continuous repetition can have a significant negative impact on the body. Repetition combined with over-reaching or awkward movements accelerates wear and tear on the joints and inflames muscles, tendons and ligaments

Principle 3 – Try to create a comfortable work environment. This includes comfortable temperatures, proper lighting, comfortable seating and use of shock absorbing floor mats.

Principle 4 – Maintain good posture – always. Poor posture / postural stress is responsible for most of the injuries that I see in my office. Remember that good posture includes more than the spine. You need to be aware of stresses that are placed on all the joints of your body – especially wrists, shoulders, elbows and knees.

Principle 5 – Limit or reduce excessive force. Excessive force, especially combined with postural stress overloads muscles, tendons, joints and ligaments setting the stage for injury and potential disability.

In my next post I will cover more of the basic principals of ergonomics. Remember to try to apply these concepts. I treat people in my San Diego Chiropractic clinic on a regular basis who suffer neck pain, back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome and headaches as a result of poor ergonomics. Following ergonomic concepts is a perfect example of implementing the idea behind the saying “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”.

Your’s In Good Health


Dr. Jones

Pain Relief Blog

www.JonesPainRelief.com

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The Evils of Sugar; A Chiropractic Perspective

Tuesday, July 7th, 2009

Those of you who have read my recent blog post, “The Chiropractor Finally Gets Healthy” know that I recently experienced a significant improvement in my health as a result of a radical diet change that was part of the Standard Process Purification Diet. Through the course of this diet, I discovered the negative impact of the processed foods and sugars on my health.

As a doctor who is concerned for my patients health needs beyond the common complaints of neck pain, back pain and headaches, I always encourage them to do better for themselves where diet is concerned. With that theme in mind, I stumbled across this great list of all the bad things that processed sugars do to you. The list is composed by Nancy Appleton, Ph.D., who is a nutritional consultant, researcher, lecturer, and author of Lick the Sugar Habit, Healthy Bones, and Balanced Body Secret.

1. Sugar can suppress the immune system.

2. Sugar upsets the minerals in the body.

3. Sugar causes hyperactivity in children.

4. Sugar produces a significant rise in triglycerides.

5. Sugar contributes to the reduction in defense against bacterial infection.

6. Sugar can cause kidney damage.

7. Sugar reduces high density lipoproteins.

8. Sugar leads to chromium deficiency.

9. Sugar leads to cancer of the breast, ovaries, intestines, prostate and rectum.

10. Sugar increases fasting levels of glucose and insulin.

11. Sugar causes copper deficiency.

12. Sugar interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium.

13. Sugar weakens eyesight.

14. Sugar raises the level of neurotransmitters called serotonin.

15. Sugar can cause hypoglycemia.

16. Sugar can produce an over-acid stomach.

17. Sugar can raise adrenaline levels in children.

18. Sugar can lead to anxiety, difficulty concentrating and crankiness in children.

19. Sugar can cause aging.

20. Sugar can lead to alcoholism.

21. Sugar causes tooth decay.

22. Sugar contributes to obesity.

23. Sugar can cause acidity in the stomach.

24. Sugar can cause changes frequently found in persons with gastric or duodenal ulcers.

25. Sugar can cause arthritis.

26. Sugar can cause asthma.

27. Sugar can cause Candida albicans (yeast infections.)

28. Sugar can cause gallstones.

29. Sugar can cause heart disease.

30. Sugar can cause appendicitis

31. Sugar can cause multiple sclerosis.

32. Sugar can cause hemorrhoids.

33. Sugar can cause varicose veins.

34. Sugar can elevate glucose and insulin responses in oral contraceptive users.

35. Sugar can lead to periodontal disease.

36. Sugar can contribute to osteoporosis.

37. Sugar contributes to saliva acidity.

38. Sugar can cause a decrease in insulin sensitivity.

39. Sugar leads to decreased glucose tolerance.

40. Sugar can decrease growth hormone.

41. Sugar can increase cholesterol.

42. Sugar can increase the systolic blood pressure.

43. Sugar can cause drowsiness and decreased activity in children.

44. Sugar can cause migraine headaches.

45. Sugar can interfere with the absorption of protein.

46. Sugar causes food allergies.

47. Sugar can contribute to diabetes.

48. Sugar can cause toxemia during pregnancy.

49. Sugar can contribute to eczema in children.

Your’s In Good Health


Dr. Jones

http://www.jonespainrelief.com/blog1/

www.JonesPainRelief.com

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The Chiropractor Gets Healthy

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

I have always considered myself a fairly healthy person. That being said, I do have some health concerns. To begin with, since I am a chiropractor I will declare that I have my bouts with neck pain, back pain and the occasional headache but for the most part I am pain free. Since college I have suffered from a mild case of office hypertension – meaning that my blood pressure was borderline high but I attribute that to the anxiety I get from taking my blood pressure. Another thing worth mentioning is that some days I would get a little spacey from mild hypoglycemia, but this would only happen on days where my diet suffered from poor planning. Overall, for my age (44) my health compared favorably to most of those in my age group. On a superficial level it all looked pretty good.

One day here about two weeks ago my assistant Linda told me that she had a representative from Standard Process coming to the office to discuss nutritional products. At the time of this appointment, I really had no expectations of where this would go. I figured that since I exercised and ate right (for the most part) that we would be discussing products for my patients.

By the time the appointment with the Standard Process representative ended both Linda and I had committed to doing a 21 day purification program. It was at this point where I really started looking at my diet. What I found was that vegetables and fruits were a good part of my diet but so were bean rice and cheese burritos, occasional cheeseburgers, potato chips, an occasional soda pop and lots of coffee. All of this stuff would have to go under the guidelines of the purification program.

Basically, the purification program involves taking whole food supplements to stimulate the kidneys, liver and intestines to eliminate toxins, supplementing whey protein for animal protein sources and eliminating all caffeine, dairy and processed foods.

Today is the thirteenth day of our purification program. I am embarrassed to say that even as a doctor with extensive schooling in nutrition that I have been taken back by the dramatic positive changes in my health as a result of this purification program. To begin with, what I thought was office hypertension is gone. Since the third day of this program my blood pressure reading has ranged from a low of 115/74 to a high of 121/80. This reading is accompanied by a calmness that I have rarely if ever felt as an adult. In addition to lower blood pressure, my digestion is significantly better – no more bloating, my blood sugar has been stable and my sleep is much improved.

I attribute these improvements in my health to three simple changes that seem so elementary. Stop putting junk in, eat a clean healthy diet and get the toxins stored in our bodies out.

I have been asked what I plan to do after the 21 day program is over. At this point, I can’t imagine not continuing with a healthy diet and taking whole food supplements. The taste of that BRC burrito or that morning cup of coffee will not be missed in the least.

The chiropractor finally got healthy!

Your’s In Good Health


Dr. Jones

http://www.jonespainrelief.com/blog1/

www.JonesPainRelief.com

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Chronic Neck And Back Pain and How it Affects You

Saturday, February 14th, 2009

When was the last time that you felt pain?

I treat people with back pain, neck pain and various other pains on a daily basis.

Pain is a very complex sensation. The body’s interpretation of pain involves both nerve and chemical processes that are relayed to the brain for interpretation. In my San Diego Chiropractic office, I hear my patients complain of neck pain, back pain, headaches, sciatic pain etc. Some of these patients suffer from acute pain while others who are less fortunate complain of chronic long lasting pain.

A study completed recently in Chicago revealed some very interesting things about brain activity in people suffering with chronic pain.

Brain scans taken of people in chronic pain show a constant activity in areas of the brain that are at rest in those who don’t suffer with chronic pain. Researchers said that this finding could help explain why chronic pain patients have higher rates of depression, anxiety and other disorders.

Apparently they found that chronic pain seems to alter the way people process information that is unrelated to pain. They found that enduring long periods of pain affects brain function even with tasks that demand minimal attention.

Studies have shown that in healthy people, certain regions of the brain take over during a resting state, something known as a default mode network. “It takes care of your brain when your brain is at rest,” Dr. Chialvo said.

When a person performs a task, this default mode network quiets down, but not in people with chronic pain.
Instead of quieting down, a front region of the cortex of the brain associated with emotion is constantly active. This constant activity disrupts the brains’ normal equilibrium.
To study this specific brain activity, Dr. Chialvo did a type of brain scan on 15 people with chronic back pain and on 15 healthy people.

In this study, volunteers were given a simple attention task — tracking a moving bar on a computer screen – in order to observe the brain shifting out of default mode to handle the task.

Both groups performed the task well but when they measured areas of the brain that were activated, the differences emerged.
“Where we were surprised is the difference in how much brain they used to do the task compared with the healthy group. It was 50 times larger,” Chialvo said.

They said disruptions in this brain activity could explain why pain patients have problems with attention, sleep disturbances and even depression.

So there you have it. If you feel a little off or if someone you work with or care about has trouble focusing or staying on task because of pain, your observations are correct. Give yourself and others a break.

Here’s To Your Health


Dr. Jones

http://www.jonespainrelief.com/blog1/

www.JonesPainRelief.com

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Benefits of Fish Oil Suppliments To Your Vision

Monday, January 26th, 2009

Chiropractic care is often thought of as treatment just for the back. While chiropractic care is extremely effective for neck pain, back pain, headaches, etc., chiropractors are also concerned with the overall health of our patients.

Nutritional concerns play a very important role in our general health. One of the common suppliments that our patients take is fish oil.

We always stress the importance of fish oil for the heart and the digestive tract, but you probably haven’t heard that people who eat the most fish have the fewest eye problems.

The impact of fish oil on vision was a topic at this week’s meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. They reviewed evidense that showed that fish oil consumption extended to two very serious eye problems.

The first of these problems helped by fish oil is age-related macular degeneration. Macular degeneration is the disruption of the center of the retina where the fine nerve complex at the back of the eye essential for all fine visual tasks rests. Macular degereration is the leading cause of age-related blindness.

Fish oil protects the eyes from age-related macular degeneration because of a component of fish oil called docosahexaenoic acid also known as DHA. DHA is one of the omega-3 fatty acids linked to other health benefits. DHA helps vision by building up in the eye near light-sensing nerve cells.

“National Eye Institute researcher John Paul SanGiovanni, ScD, and colleagues analyzed dietary data from 4,513 60- to 80-year-old participants in the Age-Related Eye Disease Study. Those who ate fish more than twice a week were half as likely to get macular degeneration as those who ate no fish at all. More than one weekly portion of broiled/baked fish or tuna lowered the risk by a third.

“The risk for [age-related macular degeneration] was significantly decreased for the highest versus the lowest quintiles of total [omega-3 fatty acids] intake,” SanGiovanni and colleagues write in their abstract.”

In another study, fish oil was found to protect the eyes from dry eye syndrome. Dry eye syndrome is a condition in which a person’s eyes don’t make enough tears. Dry eyes can lead to scarring of the cornea and vision loss.

A study of 32,470 female health professionals found that women whose diets had the most omega-3 fatty acids were far less likely to have dry eye syndrome.

Women who ate two to four servings of tuna a week had an 18% lower risk of dry eye syndrome than those who ate less tuna. Eating five or six four-ounce servings of tuna every week lowered this risk by 66%.

Your’s In Good Health


Dr. Jones

http://www.jonespainrelief.com/blog1/

www.JonesPainRelief.com

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Origins of Low Back Pain

Monday, January 5th, 2009

How did I hurt my back doc?

I was asked this question by a new patient the other day. The funny thing about this question was that he was a new patient for me but he had been going to different chiropractors for nearly 40 years. Neck pain, back pain and headaches that occurred after various falls, work injuries and car accidents were what created his need for a life time of chiropractic treatment.

Certain types of injuries can cause chronic symptoms. Various physical issues that never fully return to their pre-accident state cause chronic symptoms.

For instance, whiplash type injuries leave about 25% of the patients with chronic ongoing neck pain. In these cases, the muscles that move and support the neck have been stretched and sometimes torn. When muscles tear they heal with scar tissue. Scar tissue does not move, stretch or contract like healthy muscle tissue.

Because of the different properties of scar tissue that has formed within the healthy muscle, the joint that is moved by that muscle becomes dysfunctional. As the joints movement alters, it has the potential to become irritated and inflamed. These irritated and inflamed joints then become painful, restricted in their movements and the muscles that move that joint tighten and spasm as a protective mechanism.

Chiropractic care is the perfect solution for painful joints and spasmed muscles. Through manipulation or adjustments of the affected joints, the muscle spasms are calmed and the pain is relieved. For some patients, ongoing chiropractic care helps prevent the onset of pain and stiffness that is associated with chronic injuries.

This example above is just one of the reasons that some chiropractic patients come in for treatment on a regular basis.

As for the patient above, he said he has been coming in for chiropractic for neck pain and back pain for years. He receives treatment for both health maintenance reasons as well as for control of specific symptoms that come up from time to time.

Your’s In Good Health


Dr. Jones

http://www.jonespainrelief.com/blog1/

www.JonesPainRelief.com

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Low Back Pain in San Diego

Monday, December 29th, 2008

I am often asked the question “how do you think I hurt my back?” Believe it or not, in the absence of some recent significant injury / accident, this question isn’t so easy to answer.

My chiropractic practice in San Diego helps people recover from back pain, neck pain and all types of work and auto injuries. Work and auto injuries often provide a single, identifiable explanation for pain.

Many patients simply wake up with back pain that wasn’t there when they went to bed, or they throw their backs out while reaching for a cup of coffee or picking a sock up off the floor. These scenarios are typical.

The truth is that our backs are very strong. Some of the ligaments in our backs are capable of withstanding over 700 pounds of tension. That is a lot of force.

Yet somehow we manage to injure ourselves with mundane events.

The answer to many of these injuries involves postural stress. Postural stress is dangerous to the health of our spines. It can result in lost days of work, disability and worst of all – loss of recreation and fun.

Postural stress results from poor posture, awkward bending and lifting, too much sitting, poor eyesight (makes us lean forward to see what we are doing) and many other activities of daily living.

These stresses that we endure are compensated for in other areas of our spines. However, with time and enough exposure to the stress previously mentioned, the joints in our backs become irritated and inflammed leading to muscle spasms and pain.

I like to use the analogy of stacking the straws on the camels back with injuries like this. In other words, these instances of stress are nothing by themselves but the effects of the stress is cumulative. As the stresses build, the body’s’ chance of a breakdown increases. Eventually you suffer a breakdown.

Chiropractic care can help you control the effects of postural stress. When our backs hurt, that is a clear indication that inflammation is present. Inflammation always stimulates scar tissue formation which limits your spines’ flexibility and causes pinched nerves and pain. Chiropractic adjustments breakdown the inflammation caused scar tissue and improve your spines flexibility. Improved flexibility keeps your spine healthier and much less likely to be aggravated by your activities of daily living.

If your job requires sitting for more than four hours per day, monthly chiropractic adjustments are very important in controlling the accumulating stress in your back.

There are other obvious steps that you can take toward improving the health of your spine and preventing episodes of back pain. Eating a healthy diet and exercise are very important in reducing the chances of suffering a back injury.

Being careful when lifting and carrying heavy objects and making sure that you don’t sit in one position for longer than twenty minutes is also helpful.

More Coming Soon


Dr. Jones

http://www.jonespainrelief.com/blog1/

www.JonesPainRelief.com

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Chiropractic Treatment for Headaches

Thursday, December 18th, 2008

I don’t know about you, but I am a headache wimp. I hardly ever get headaches, when I do I don’t handle them very well. I get moody and I tend to “snap” at people that really mean me no harm.

In addition to my San Diego chiropractic office treating patients with neck pain and low back pain, we see many people with headaches. Headaches have many causes and there are many different types of headaches as well.

The most common types of headache that we provide treatment for are migraine and muscle tension headaches.

Muscle tension headaches typically begin in the muscles of the neck and upper back. When these muscle become tense, they pull on the muscles that cover your head. This tension results in a headache.

Muscle tension headaches can result from postural stresses such as long hours of computer work, they can develop as a result of whiplash type car accident injuries, pinched nerves or just plain old work and home stresses.

One common reason for chronic, on going tension in the muscle is miss-aligned vertebra. When the vertebra become miss-aligned due to postural stress, awkward sleeping positions, accidents, etc., the muscles around that vertebra tighten up as a protective mechanism. The tight muscles are commonly the root cause of the muscle tension headache.

Chiropractic care re-aligns the joints of the spine causing a relaxation of the surrounding muscles. When the joints in the neck are re-aligned, the muscles that move and support that particular vertebra relax and return to their normal functions.

When the muscles are relaxed, the muscle tension subsides and the headache goes away. Treatment for muscle tension headaches usually requires a series of treatments but you should notice a decrease in the frequency and the severity of your headache with subsequent treatment.

Your’s In Good Health


Dr. Jones

Pain Relief Blog

www.JonesPainRelief.com

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