Morristown chiropractic corner: Why your (enter body part here) pain never goes away

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Let me guess.  You’re in pain.  It might be your back, your neck, your knee, your elbow, or your big toe.  You’ve had intermittent occasions of this pain for years.  You’ve seen your doctor; he told you to take anti-inflammatory pills and rest.  You did.  It went away.

Then, activity continues, soon followed by your (enter body part) pain.  What the heck?!  Or … months go by where you think you’re in the clear, and there it is again!!  You think “what did I do wrong?!”

Here’s what’s going on…

Your body really is amazing.  It began as one cell, now made of trillions.  You can move, lift stuff, sense things, express yourself, fight infection, heal damage, and create more copies of yourself through procreation.

The common treatment of musculoskeletal injuries consisting of “anti-inflammatory  pills, ice, and rest” has its place.  But it does not work for all injuries; only when the body is “inflamed” or trying to heal.  Unfortunately, inflammation is only one of three primary causes of musculoskeletal complaints requiring conservative care.

1.   Inflammation: All other things being perfectly healthy, the body gets inflamed because of a trauma.  Examples of this consist of a fall, smashing your elbow against a wall, or jamming your toe into the ground.  The hallmark signs of inflammation progress, including redness, swelling, increased temperature, and of course, pain.

Here is where the anti-inflammatory prescription has its sweet spot: Anti-inflammatory nutrition, preferably in the form of fruits, vegetables, grass-fed beef, and omega-3 fatty acid supplements (rather than drugs), ice, and rest will help this heal most quickly and efficiently.

It’s important to note that rest does NOT mean to lay in bed for weeks until it feels better; you’ll lose your flexibility.  People still need to continue to move throughout the day, walking and slowly easing injured body parts into full ranges of motion.

You are essentially telling your body “I know you’re injured, but I still need to use this part when you’re healed.”  For example, you bang your elbow.  It’s swollen, red, and painful.  You should be fully flexing and straightening the elbow on a consistent basis throughout the day to promote flexibility, increased blood flow to flush out garbage from the trauma and bring in new materials for construction.

2.   Scar tissue: When time does not allow healing, there is an underlying issue.  Often, it is scar tissue.  Scar tissue is caused by too much stress on a muscle, ligament, nerve, or tendon over time.  Too much stress without time to heal causes damage.  The body lays down scar tissue to repair itself, so that there is support and the body can continue to handle the stress you are putting on it.  Scar tissue helps you handle the stress in the short term, but unfortunately, it does not help you stay functional and mobile in the long term.

If scar tissue is minor, dynamic stretching or foam rolling may help.  If scar tissue is significant, some form of manual therapy is warranted.  Your options are ROLFing, deep tissue massage, Graston therapy, or Active Release Technique (A.R.T.).

3.  Weakness: Along with scar tissue, relative weakness is the other primary cause of chronic pain issues.  It’s not “weakness” where you can’t use your muscles at all.  It’s “relative” in that you aren’t using your muscles in a mechanically efficient way.

Gluteus_maximus
We ignore the gluteus maximus at our peril. Illustration: Wikimedia.org

For example, your glutes (also known as your “butt”), particularly gluteus maximus, is the strongest muscle in your body.  Your hamstrings are the main stabilizer of the knee.  Due to our sedentary lifestyles and too much sitting on our “butts,” we essentially “shut off” these muscles.

So when we go to walk, run, or pick up the laundry off of the floor, we selectively use other muscles (our quadriceps or our backs), muscles not designed to do the brunt of the movement to work.

This compensation should be addressed by teaching and strengthening the glutes and hamstrings how to do the job so that bodily stresses are balanced properly.

What’s the moral of the story? If you have an ache or injury for the first time, it is smart to step away from activity and rest.  Assume your injury had no other cause but excessive stress and let time do its magic, hopefully.

If your injury has occurred several times and is chronic, or you feel as if there was no excessive trauma in one incident, then there is likely an underlying issue going on.  Seek the expertise of an experienced strength coach, manual therapist, sports or chronic pain doctor.  Conservative care is often effective at managing these issues before you seek drugs or surgery.**

**Disclaimer: This post is for informational purposes only.  If severely injured, you should visit a health care professional.

Christopher is a chiropractor, health/fitness enthusiast, and nature lover who lives to empower others and writes about the unconventional wisdom of health and happiness on his blog, The Humble Observer and practices at the Barefoot Rehabilitation Clinic in Morristown, NJ.

2 COMMENTS

  1. I appreciate your comment Dr. Barter. It’s important for practitioners to be egoless when fixing people, and that means always addressing whatever the cause of the problem is.

  2. Well written post! Most chiropractors only discuss the bones but it was very informative that you addressed the issue of muscle weakness and how that goes a long way to create optimal health not only adjusting but also addressing the scar tissue.

    Thanks,

    Dr. Ann Barter, Longmont Chiropractic

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