Someone may have osteoarthritis and not feel any pain until they do something that exacerbates it. Whether you are in pain daily or you have flare-ups chiropractic care can help.
Give us a call today at (360) 260-6903 to see if we can help.
Transcription
Hey, it’s Dr. Troy here. The osteoarthritis chiropractor.
You know, nowadays with the baby boomers and people getting older, there’s a lot of people being diagnosed with osteoarthritis. They go in because they have pain. Neck, back, hip, shoulder and the doctor will say “Oh, you have osteoarthritis.”
And so what is the solution? The medical approach is to write prescriptions for painkillers, muscle relaxers, or even cortisone shots, injections, and sometimes even surgery. But, we got to rewind a little bit here because what causes osteoarthritis?
Well, there’s two things that happen. One is that there has been trauma to a joint or the spine and the joints aren’t moving properly. The other component is lack of motion because motion brings nutrients into a joint. So the joint has been traumatized and/or lack of movement.
So, here we have a nice cervical curve, let’s use the neck, for example, this can happen in any joint. Neck’s in alignment, there’s been some sort of thing, physically or mentally or chemically, that has caused tension on the body and then the body responds by shifting out of alignment. Which is fine, we call this “level one.”
Over time that “level one”, we start seeing degenerative changes. Early sign, there’s calcium and extra bone being laid down to support the weight of the head or the joint so the body doesn’t collapse naturally. Over time, it continues to build more and more bone; you can see the spring here, the calcium, this is osteoarthritis. That means bone arthritis or bone inflammation, that’s what the word breaks down.
Over time, we’ve got even more loss of disc height. You can see the white, the more white calcium deposits, more bone’s being laid down to support the weight of the head due to this misaligned area and so it’s supporting this.
So, osteoarthritis in itself is not painful. You can have somebody who’s got osteoarthritis lit up throughout their whole spine, they are totally fine if they sit there. But guess what, they go and mow the lawn, they go and wash the dog, or lift chicken food, or vacuum, or do the dishes, and all of the sudden “My back hurts, my neck hurts, now my knee hurts.” They were fine until they did activities that exacerbated it.
So, if you are suffering from osteoarthritis, chiropractic may be right for you. Get the joints moving again. They’re never going to be 100%, but if you took someone from a pain level of 9 out of 10 down to a 3 out of 10 and got them 60% or 70% relief, that could change their life, that could their activities and daily living. There’s also some nutritional things you can do.
One of the things we highly recommend that people who have osteoarthritis is get on Wuji Chlorella. It’s an anti-inflammatory, it’s a whole food vitamin mineral, and it’s a great thing for patients with osteoarthritis.
If you are interested in more information, call our office (360) 360-6903.
Free consultation to determine if chiropractic is right for you. If you are experiencing any issues related to osteoarthritis, we may be able to help you.
Give our office a call. One of our Doctors will be happy to take care of you!
More Information On Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis often referred to as degenerative joint disease, is a joint disease that involves the eroding of joint cartilage and bone. The joints that are most often affected are in the hands, the neck, the lower back, the knees, and the hips. It’s not uncommon for the disintegration to affect different parts and different sides of the body independently.
People who have osteoarthritis can find that it affects both their work and leisure activities. Even simple tasks, like writing, walking, or playing with your kids and grandkids, can lead to a great deal of pain. And while osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease (meaning it grows worse over time) that doesn’t mean there aren’t effective treatments to help relieve pain or reverse the condition.
What are the Symptoms and Causes of Osteoarthritis?
As a joint disease, the most common and direct symptom is joint pain or stiffness. At first, the signs may only be apparent after an extended period of activity, such as exercise, but the discomfort will gradually become more constant. Other symptoms include the swelling of affected joints, a decreased range of motion, and a clicking sound when the joint bends. If the affected joints are in the back or spine, patients may also feel weakness or numbness in their arms or legs.
There can be many causes. Osteoarthritis is often inherited, though that doesn’t mean treatments can’t be effective. Injuries to a specific joint are also a primary culprit, so for instance if you’ve had a cartilage tear in the knee from a sports injury, chances are greater that you will develop osteoarthritis later in life. There are a number of risk factors as well, such as obesity, having different sized legs, or high stress jobs. But no matter what the contributing factors may be, at its heart, osteoarthritis is a generally wearing away of the joint tissue and bone caused by mechanical stress on the joint.
Osteoarthritis Analysis and Treatment
It is important to note that osteoarthritis should not be confused with other forms of arthritis, such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, or ankylosing spondylitis, which are all inflammatory diseases. These all need very different types of treatment, and they could be worsened by the types of treatments that are effective with osteoarthritis. One of the first things we’ll look at is if there is swelling around your joints, which will need to be treated prior to other chiropractic care.
Chiropractic Care for Osteoarthritis
The best way to reduce the effects of osteoarthritis is a multi-pronged approach that will both treat the symptoms and focus on overall wellness. In particular, if you are suffering pain in the lower back area, it’s important to manage the pain and reduce the symptoms in order to prevent the spinal column from being affected. We’ll use a combination of decompression, massage, stretching, anti-inflammatory supplements, and physical therapy to do this.
Summary
If you have been diagnosed with osteoarthritis or suspect you may have it, the sooner you decide on a treatment option, the better the results will be. You can schedule a FREE consultation to discuss your particular case and learn about how a chiropractor can help relieve your symptoms. At Zenaptic, we make it our top priority to help our patients live a healthy and pain-free life. Contact us today to start down the road to wellness.
