CHRONIC JOINT PAIN CAUSES

Chronic pain has recently been in the medical spotlight with a common painkiller, Propoxyphene, in use for over 50 years in medications such as Darvon, Darvocet, Doloxene, Lentogesic and Synap Forte being described as the "worst drug in history" and finally being banned in most countries.

There have been a huge number of deaths. Says researcher Dr Jonasson: "No single drug has ever caused so many deaths."

Particularly galling is the admission by the president of the American Academy of Pain Medicine that Propoxyphene isn't very effective anyway in the treatment of chronic joint pain causes. Yet this dangerous drug has been prescribed for over fifty years for chronic pain.

DUAL ANTIINFLAMMATORY DRUGS

Darvocet contains the aforementioned Propoxyphene WORST DRUG IN HISTORY but mixed with a second dangerous drug, Tylenol (Acetaminophen) which in it's own right causes more ER visits that any other medicine on the market. Together, they make up an extremely dangerous cocktail of drugs in the treatment of chronic joint pain causes.

Likewise with DUAL ANTIINFLAMMATORY DRUGS such as taking both aspirin and ibuprofen.

CHRONIC JOINT PAIN CAUSES

TRAUMA

A very large part of any pain clinic is the management of old injuries that have left their mark. It may be because they were poorly treated at the time, or perhaps just a serious injury that unavoidably would cause chronic pain.

Having treated whiplash for more than thirty years, I am now of the opinion that most whiplash injuries will leave their mark. And, that's not just my opinion. WHIPLASH RESEARCH confirms that 40-50% of the victims of MVAs end up with permanent pain.

Falls of horses, slipping on ice, contact sports like rugby and football... old trauma is a major factor in joint pain causes.

STRUCTURAL ABNORMALITIES



Leg length inequality and Low Back Pain are well known bedfellows. A short leg makes for an imbalance in the pelvis and spinal scoliosis. Moreover, the incidence of hip and knee arthritis is much higher if you have a short leg.

What is controversial, is "how short". My experience is that an insert in a the shoe of only a few millimetres can make an enormous contribution to chronic low back pain, but medical opinion seems to be that anything less than 10-15mm is not significant.

Another chronic joint pain cause ... also a structural abnormality, is a lumbarisation or sacralization at the first joint above the sacrum. In addition to the rudimentary disc joint, much narrowed, there are often pseudo joints between spatulated, large transverse processes and the sacrum leading to chronic pain. Sacralization of L5 CaseFile ...







ACTIVITY

Much chronic joint pain is caused by too much sitting, particularly in poorly designed chairs. Truck drivers, office workers and couch potatoes in general all have a higher incidence of chronic lower back pain.

Conversely, there is strong research that EXERCISE CLASS BENEFITS ARTHRITIS ... the body was designed to be in motion.

IMMOBILISATION ARTHRITIS

Physiologists have now proved beyond doubt that fixated joints become arthritic. IMMOBILISATION ARTHRITIS ... Hyaline cartilage has no blood supply of its own and is utterly dependent on the fluid that bathes the joint for oxygen, nutrients and the removal of waste products. In fixated joints, this "synovial fluid" is not adequately replenished and refreshed causing arthritis.

DIET

There is heaps of evidence now that a deficiency of omega-3 (found in fish and flaxseed oil and walnuts) for example in the diet is a major cause of arthritis. For more information follow this link: FISH OIL HEALTH BENEFITS

Likewise a build up of a waste product in the body called homocysteine has a dramatic effect on the cardiovascular system and joints. HOMOCYSTEINE CARDIOVASCULAR ...

A magnesium deficiency too is the the cause of chondrocalcinosis, a major cause of the chronic pain of osteoarthritis.

If you want lovely green beans like these, full of magnesium, high in vegetable protein, low in fat, full of phyto sterols then you should, if you have your own garden become acquainted with starting a compost pile ...

Just as other chronic diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure require maintenance care, so do chronic joint pain causes. No one can cure these conditions and careful management of chronic joint pain, chiropractors believe, should include an occasional, but regular chiropractic adjustment.

How occasional? That depends...

Chronic rib pain casefile

RIB PAIN TREATMENT CaseFile ...

CERVICAL RIB

The result is chronic arm pain. Read more about this cervical rib casefile and the devastating effect they can have, albeit rarely. Small cervical ribs are common and are not usually clinically significantly.

CHRONIC JOINT PAIN RELIEF

For many it was a wake-up call when ex-President Bush's wife described the pain from an ulcer acquired from taking anti inflammatory drugs for chronic joint pain as the worst pain she had ever experienced. In fact it nearly cost her her life. More than 10,000 people die every year in the USA alone from a bleeding ulcer caused directly by anti inflammatory drugs.

Another shock was when the "miracle drug" Vioxx was withdrawn suddenly from the market because of all the incidents of sudden heart attack associated with the Cox-2 inhibitor drugs.

Now... PROPOXYPHENE Worst Drug in History

So, what are you to do?

Unashamedly, recognising that as a chiropractor I am biased, I would humbly put forward the following suggestions.

1. Resolve NEVER to take more than one anti inflammatory drug at a time, even aspirin plus another NSAID.
2. Exercise the joint(s) that are causing you pain on a daily basis with great faithfulness. These lower back exercises for example, done EVERY morning BEFORE getting out of bed, will do wonders for your lower back and leg pain ...

   
   
   

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   "Thank you for your Chiropractic-help newsletter. I have reached that age when the accumulation of sporting injuries I somehow have managed to ignore, have refused to be run, paddled or peddled away.

   The time had come to do something about them, and your newsletter was the catalyst. I have followed your suggestions, particularly the exercises for lower back pain, and now realise that I should have started them twenty years ago.

   Not only can I now run, paddle and peddle with increased enjoyment, I also have the satisfaction of knowing that, through your generosity, I have helped myself."

   Regards

   Tony
   
   

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   That incidently is what Chiropractic Help is about: encouraging you to help yourself.

   
   

   Likewise, at Chiropractic Help you'll find frozen shoulder exercises, rotator cuff exercises, chronic neck pain exercises, carpal tunnel exercises, hip exercises, knee exercises, ankle joint exercises... use the Search this Site function at C-H.

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3. Go for a walk every day. And if you can't walk, then cycle or swim. But do something daily for pain relief. It really does help. Also, researchers have found that how fast you can walk 13' (4m) is an excellent predicator of how long you will live. WALKING SPEED ...
   
   
4. Go for a weekly massage.
5. Look long and hard at your diet. If you are on a "Black and White" diet you can expect to find one of the chronic joint pain causes, as well as cardiovascular and bowel pain. Five colours a day is considered a minimum. Strawberries, watermelon, apple, carrot, broccoli... I aim for ten! Raisins, hummus, parsley, spinach and zuccini today. Get into the habit of counting how many coloured foods you have eaten each day.
6. Consider going for a monthly Chiropractic consultation. I treat so many elderly folk with chronic neck pain, lower back pain, hip pain, foot pain, shoulder pain.... none are cured, most are helped (or they would stop coming) and I believe that it is far safer, and more effective than those dangerous medications. Research to prove it? Nope, I'm afraid not.
7. Grandma would have regularly cooked up a hambone or chicken bones to make a bouillon for a soup - that's where the chondroitin sulphate and glucosamine are to be found, so helpful for your cartilage. It's not difficult, but it does take a little planning. The flavour of your soups will improve 1000%!

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