POST CHIROPRACTIC ADJUSTMENT PAIN

Greetings to all our readers and a happy and healthy 2012.

Just a reminder that sparkling good health will come by and large in 2012 to those who consciously make the right choices. It's no coincidence, nor a matter of luck, good or bad...

True, for some a terrible car accident not of your making, a sickly genetic profile (I am a Cystic Fibrosis carrier) or a job in a company that goes belly up can have dreadful repercussions.

But, mostly, good health comes to those who follow the known rules of life. That means taking holidays, getting exercise and eating healthily... it's very definitely a matter of choices, not of luck for the great majority of us.

This month we look at

1. Post Chiropractic Adjustment pain
2. A healthy prostate gland
3. Home management of very severe lower back and leg pain.

(Keywords: POST CHIROPRACTIC ADJUSTMENT PAIN, tingling in legs and feet, severe leg pain, lower back and leg pain, prostate cancer)

PAIN

Probably a full 90% of chiropractic patients coming for treatment have torn, inflammed, swollen or arthritic tissue that is at the heart of their condition. Stretching, massaging and adjusting of such tissues inevitably causes a degree of "after-treatment discomfort or pain."

It's no different for the physiotherapist, dentist, surgeon - ever had your impacted wisdom teeth out? Been to a physiotherapist given the task of mobilising a knee or ankle post-surgery? Have a friend who has had spinal surgery? Some post treatment pain is the norm. But how much is some?

Letter to Chiropractic Help

Why do I have this pain and aching post adjustment??"

Is this acceptable, is it normal?

But... and it's an important but, a certain degree of what the Dutch call "na-pijn" - discomfort, and occasionally pain for one or possibly two days after a treatment - is not uncommon. And provided the overall benefit of the treatment is clear to both patient and doctor, then it is usually acceptable to both parties.

The alternative is that the chiropractor must give a treatment that is so gentle that probably little is achieved.

But "unbearable pain"?

1. Firstly, most importantly, s/he should take you seriously. To treat your comments with disdain, to ignore them, to dismiss them is unprofessional in my opinion. It's also stupid. He is going to lose a patient.
2. Reading between the lines, this patient consulted a chiropractor for lower back pain and sciatica, but the post chiropractic treatment pain seems to be mainly in the neck and midback.

This raises an age-old question: Should every patient get a full spine adjustment regardless of the initial complaint? My own opinion is NO, but there are many chiropractors who would disagree.

Aside:

I had a new patient this week complaining of severe midback pain of several weeks' duration. She has previously consulted chiropractors for various complaints but, if her neck is ever adjusted, she gets severe headaches for a few months. She asked me not to touch her neck, where she had absolutely no complaints.

However, she was in a car accident some years ago and clearly has silent subluxations in her lower neck. The range of motion of her cervical spine was markedly reduced for a young woman.

I told her that whilst I respected her request, once the midback has settled down, I was going to ask permission to adjust her lower neck. Otherwise she is certain to get IMMOBILISATION ARTHRITIS ... the most common form of arthritis in the neck and in fact all fixated joints.

Yes, it's possible that she may have significant and even unbearable headaches for a period after the treatment, though I think this unlikely. The headaches probably resulted from a ATLANTO OCCIPITAL JOINT adjustment which I would avoid. This person's fixations are in the lower neck. To ignore them means a great likelihood of ARM PAIN or other conditions like frozen shoulder, tennis elbow and ahref="https://www.chiropractic-help.com/carpal-tunnel-syndrome.html"> carpal tunnel syndrome.

But everything by discussion and with the patient's full permission. It is after all your body and you have every right to state plainly to all your doctors what they may, and what they may not do to you. We treat our patients with respect.

VULNERABLE

Any POST CHIROPRACTIC ADJUSTMENT PAIN if you ignore this advice lies at your own door! Be sensible after your treatment.

If your post chiropractic adjustment pain occurs regularly after your treatment, and you haven't been playing "silly buggers"! then it's most likely directly related to the treatment.

TWO ADULTS

In the above case, I feel a little sad. Said chiropractor has clearly helped the patient with the lower back pain and sciatica. Nevertheless he is going to lose his patient in all likelihood.

Two adults ought to be able to speak plainly, and honestly, to one another without offense or embarrassment. The days of "I am the doctor and you are the patient, you will do what I tell you" are fortunately long gone.

The prostate gland

The prostate is a particularly troublesome gland for the older male, usually 50 plus. Non-bacterial prostatis can be particularly painful as it responds to virtually no medical treatment. It's not an infection.

The first sign is difficulty having a sweet pee, though prostate cancer, the leading cancer killer of men can be silent in the initial stages.

Decreased normal blood supply to the gland is one of the causes of the pain. A good understanding of the PATHOPHYSIOLOGY OF ATHEROSCLEROSIS is the beginning of getting on top of this nuggety glandular problem.

ENLARGED PROSTATE BULGING INTO THE BLADDER

1. A tomato a day reduces the likelihood of contracting prostate cancer. Proven. It's the lycopene, a powerful antioxidant, that does the trick. Every male should have both cooked and raw tomato EVERY DAY. TOMATO PROSTATE ...
   
   
2. Men low in selenium, another anti-oxidant mineral, have a much greater likelihood of getting agressive prostate cancer. Broccoli is particularly rich in selenium.

3. Phytosterols are substances found in many foods, but which typically are deficient in the Western diet; they have an enormously beneficial effect on Benign Prostate Hypertrophy, non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate gland. What are phytosterols ...
   
   

   AVOCADO BENEFITS include being particularly rich in beta-sitosterol, an important phytosterol for the prostate gland. One avocado per day is sufficient to provide the recommended dose for the treatment of BPH. Avocados are extremely good for you in many ways, incidently, but if you have a weight problem, you will have to reduce your other fat intake. They contain zero cholesterol, but a whole avocado contains about 300-400 calories, depending on the size and the season.

SEVERE LOW BACK PAIN RULES

If there is paralysis of the leg muscles, typically an inability to raise the big toe or the heel off the ground, then surgery is usually immediately recommended.

Skillful chiropractic adjustments may save you from surgery, but a strict conforming to the following rules is ABSOLUTELY VITAL if you have very severe lower back and leg pain.

1. Don't sit at all, not at all, for at least a week, and sometimes several weeks. Stay out of the car. Lying on the back seat may be acceptable.

2. Don't bend, not at all. If you have to pick something off the floor, go down ON ONE KNEE.

3. Try very hard not to cough or sneeze. Blow your nose if you feel a sneeze coming on. Eat a fibre-rich diet to prevent constipation. BEETROOT CONSTIPATION ...
   
   
4. Ice your back twice a day, for 20-30 minutes followed by a little heat.

5. Do some very gentle exercises prescribed by your chiropractor, perhaps even every fifteen minutes. LOWER BACK EXERCISES ...
   
   
6. Every hour get up from your bed of woe and go for a short walk around the house. Stay at home. Don't stand for too long, but you may "perch" for short periods. Place the keyboard on a small box if you are at the computer.

   
   
   

   

   
   
   
7. So, if you can't sit at all, and you may only stand for short periods, what do you do? GO TO BED. Lie on your back with a cushion under the knees; when it becomes uncomfortable, roll onto your side with the pillow between the knees. Keep rolling. Do the exercises every 15-30 minutes. Get up for a short period EVERY HOUR during the day. And perhaps once or twice at night. Research suggests that lying flat on your back for long periods is not beneficial.

   A couple cushions under the neck and upper back, whilst lying on your back will enable you to watch TV or work on the laptop.

8. Shower, don't bath. Ask s/he who must be obeyed to wash your feet!

9. Stop smoking. It's THE greatest risk factor in not recovering from a slipped disc. Without 100% oxygen, that disc won't heal.

If you can't (or won't?) follow this regimen, to the letter, for several weeks, occasionally six, your chiropractor probably won't win if you have a prolapsed disc with a foot drop. Make a choice: Follow these rules to the letter, otherwise don't waste your time and money. Go straight away for LOWER BACK SURGERY ... skilfully done, it can be very successful.

PER KIND FAVOUR

• the medical book s/he reaches for most often, and
• the chiropractic reference book s/he consults most frequently.

Jot them down, and send them to me please. Or ask him or her to CONTACT me...

"Every exaggeration of the truth once detected by others destroys our credibility and makes all that we do and say suspect."

Stephen R. Covey

Bernard Preston DC

PS. Feel free to forward this to family and friends.