Regular Kitchener Chiropractic Care and a Healthy Nerve System

Replacement Parts: What You Need to Know

Regular Chiropractic Care and a Healthy Nerve System

The need for hip, knee, and shoulder replacement surgery often arises when the joint in question cannot be used without causing substantial pain. The person has avoided attempts to lift the arm, bend the hip, or flex the knee. But such loss of function may not be tolerable in the long-term, and surgery may be required. For most of us, lifestyle choices could be implemented long before such a critical stage is reached. Certain courses of action can help us improve joint mobility and overall musculoskeletal function. Regular vigorous exercise, for example, consistently challenges joints and muscles, helping improve range of motion and tolerance for daily mechanical stress. Regular chiropractic care is an important part of such lifestyle choices. By helping reduce nerve interference, regular chiropractic care enables your body's master system to function at peak efficiency. The result is enhanced musculoskeletal performance and increased levels of overall health and well-being.

If you've ever been involved in a motor vehicle collision, you're probably familiar with the term "replacement parts" or "crash parts". Your auto insurance company will usually offer to repair your car using after-market bumpers, door panels, wheel assemblies, and other parts. Or, you may prefer to have the repair done with parts from the original manufacturer. Regardless of the source of the parts, your car will not be the same as it was in its original condition. It's important to bear the auto analogy in mind if a surgeon has recommended a hip, knee, or shoulder replacement as a solution to a problem of chronic pain.

The frequency of joint replacement procedures of all types is dramatically on the rise within the last 20 years.1 For example, in the United States there has been a 58% increase in total knee replacements from 2000 to 2006. There has been a 50% increase in total hip replacements from 1990 to 2002. Unfortunately, the revision rate (repeat procedures) for total knee replacement more than doubled and revision total hip replacements increased by 60% within the respective, above-noted intervals.

The simple fact is that although your body may appear to be a machine, it is rather an exceedingly complex entity whose whole is much greater than the sum of its parts. Thinking of your body as a machine may be a useful metaphor, one that may aid considerably in medical practice. But the metaphor is not the reality, and forgetting this crucial distinction may lead to substantial and possibly irremediable problems for a patient. Manufactured joints are never as good as your actual physiological structures, no matter the quality of the replacement components.

Of course, there are many circumstances in which joint replacement is indicated and provides great benefit for a patient. However, such procedures should probably be a last resort and never considered standard of care. A best practice would be to reserve joint replacement for situations in which pain is unrelenting and the person has failed several forms of conservative care.

Optimally, in most cases measures are available to avoid such radical outcomes. The best steps for each of us to take is to begin ongoing programs of regular vigorous exercise and healthy nutrition.2,3 Regular exercise, a healthy diet, and sufficient rest will assist all our physiologic systems to achieve peak levels of performance. By making such beneficial lifestyle choices, we help diminish the likelihood of chronic, debilitating pain and loss of function. As a result, we help ourselves avoid the need for replacement parts.

1Singh, JA: Epidemiology of Knee and Hip Arthroplasty: A Systematic Review. The Open Orthopaedics Journal 5:80-85, 2011
2Marley J, et al: A systematic review of interventions aimed at increasing physical activity in adults with chronic musculoskeletal pain--protocol. Syst Rev 2014 Sep 19;3(1):106. [Epub ahead of print]
3Tanaka R, et al: Effect of the Frequency and Duration of Land-based Therapeutic Exercise on Pain Relief for People with Knee Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. J Phys Ther Sci 2014 Jul;26(7):969-75. doi: 10.1589/jpts.26.969. Epub 2014 Jul 30

Questions? Concerns? Give us a call at (519) 748-5535 and put your mind at ease.

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The Right Kind of Pain by Chiropractor in Kitchener, Ontario

The Right Kind of Pain

Listen to your body!

How often have you heard the expression, “No pain, no gain”? It can apply to many life situations, including exercise to shape up, tone or drop weight. But when pain is severe or prolonged, you gain nothing and stand to lose a lot!

There are a number of tips to help you stay safe to avoid workout injuries. Some of them include:

• Warming up – Warm muscles are far less likely to tear than cold ones. So, if you’re going out for a run, walk a bit first, then trot before you go into full running mode. Stretching your muscles, especially the ones you’re going to be using, also helps you to avoid injury.
• Cooling down – The same is true when you end an exercise session. You can’t just automatically stop when you are finished with your workout because this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. Using running as an example- slow down to a walk again before you just stop your exercise. It’s also important to stretch out those muscles again.
• Staying hydrated – Water, water, water! Drinking water before, during and after a workout replaces fluids lost from sweating and exertion, especially important in warm or hot weather.
• Taking it easy – You can’t expect to run a marathon your first day out. Start slowly and build in terms of time spent and exertion level for your workouts. For example, if you’re engaging in weight training, you don’t want to start with the heaviest weights; you want to start small and gradually increase weight levels.
• Listening to your body – Don’t continue your workout if suddenly you find yourself in pain. Your body is trying to tell you something. Ignoring it can only make it worse, so stop whatever you’re doing and give your body a few days to recover before starting up again.
• Making sure you’re wearing the right shoes for the exercise – This is really important to reduce the impact of the exercise on your body, particularly your ankles, shins, calves, knees and other joints.
• Learning the proper technique for the workout – Make sure you know the proper technique for any new workout routine you are attempting for the first time. Correct technique is as important as warming up to avoid injury.

The decision to exercise is an important one for your overall health – as important as diet/nutrition and regular chiropractic care – to keep your nervous system fit and healthy. Just remember to start out slowly, don’t overdo it and stop if you feel any type of pain, in order to avoid serious injury. And… if you do experience any pain, be sure to let us know.

Questions? Concerns? Give us a call at (519) 748-5535 and put your mind at ease.

Or

Visit our website: www.fairwaychiropractic.net

No Need For a Referral - Chiropractor Kitchener - Waterloo - Cambridge Ontario

No referral necessary.

You don’t need a referral or permission from anyone to see a chiropractor in Kitchener.

However, if you expect financial assistance from certain insurance plans, some policies dictate that certain approval steps be taken before commencing care. Sometimes these are granted freely and sometimes it’s virtually impossible.

Be careful that you don’t allow your health to be compromised by the profit motives of an insurance company or the petty bias or jealousy of a gatekeeper who doesn’t understand chiropractic!

It’s your body, your health and your future.

Questions? Concerns? Give us a call at (519) 748-5535 and put your mind at ease.

Or

Visit our website: www.fairwaychiropractic.net