“My disc healed on a nerve”

My wife heard this comment at her gym Wednesday night… she goes to Lifetime for kickboxing, and CrossFit with me.  This was Lifetime.  She was sitting near one of our neighbors after class, and the person commented to someone else that her “disc healed on a nerve”.

“Healed on a nerve?” her friend said.

“Yes, my doctor said that it healed after they injected it with junk, and it is now healed on the nerve”.

“What are they going to do?”

“Need to go in now I guess.  I don’t want to, but they aren’t giving me many options.”

I need to make some comments on this topic.  This is really a sad situation of poor understanding of how the body works, but it is because of a doctor poorly educating a patient.  I can think of one really good reason why, it removes accountability from the doctor, and puts it all on the patient.  First off, true healing is not healing with disease.  True healing occurs when you heal to your natural state.  A disc (protruded, herniated, etc) does not “heal” onto your nerve.  It is still a clinical condition, it is still diseased and sick, it is not healed.

So why did this doctor use this terminology?  He was injecting a steroid very likely, into her disc to reduce inflammation, and the “healing” terminology was used because it is easy to help a patient get around the idea of healing.  The reality, is that all the steroid is doing is reducing inflammation, and healing is the thing that your body is doing on its own, under the control of the nervous system, however the nervous system is compromised by the disc pushing on the nerve, so it cannot heal.

You see, the important point of this discussion is that healing cannot occur without a clear signal from that nerve that is being compressed by the disc.  So what do you do in this situation?  Well, decompression is the necessary step.  You need to try to remove the pressure from the nerve, and in that process gain healing of the disc.  There is probably a 50/50 chance that she could be healed fully, if she does the right thing.

The conversation of the two women was preceded with a “My back is killing me comment, I shouldn’t be doing this class… but as long as I don’t do kicks I should be ok”.  When in reality, she shouldn’t be doing any kind of twisting rotating motions with a disc that is protruded or herniated, and symptomatic.  They should be focused on activities that will allow for healing to occur.  Once again, misinformation has led her to believe she can continue without worsening the condition, when in reality, everything that she is doing is worsening her condition.

When you have the sensation of nerve pain, it is a sign that you have really put a significant amount of pressure on your nerve.  It isn’t an insignificant problem at all.  Nerve pressure comes without pain first and foremost, then it slowly develops into pain.  When you feel it shooting down your leg, there is a significant amount of pressure, and it might be disc related.  I know spending extra money isn’t anyone’s favorite pasttime, but if you have nerve pressure, then you should consider talking to us about trying decompression, and considering what other activities you should avoid.

I hope that helps you gain a little better understanding of your discs and healing.  Be well, enjoy the weekend, Dr. E

Injury and Health

Injuries are a common thing.  Last week, as I review my patients, I can recall no less than 8 brand new injuries that took place.  From car accidents (1), falls <some on stairs> (4), to gardening incidents (1) to working out (2)… and there might be more?  That is a lot of damage done in one week, especially for a summer week where I am seeing on average 20% less people.

So with this much injury happening all around me, I think we should discuss what happens following an injury, and make sure that we are taking all of the necessary steps to heal at our absolute best.  I am first reminded of my eye injury, and the systemic havoc that it played on my body.  For those who are newer to my office, and don’t know the history… it will soon be five years since the day I was hit with a hockey puck from a slapshot.  It hit me in my left eye, cracking my cheek bone on the way in, and rupturing my eye.  It was a 25+ stitch repair to my “globe” (eyeball) to put it back together.  The iris was displaced, so it appeared as though I was looking up, but in reality, that bit of color was simply exploded into the wrong place.

The thing that I often forget about, but was reminded when I got into this discussion on Saturday with one of my patients, was the way I felt following the injury.  Not right after, but months after.  Starting about six months after the injury, and lasting for close to a year, I had acquired such severe body pain, that had I actually opened up and talked about it at the time, I would have said that I had acquired fibromyalgia.  I had taken care of so many fibro patients over the years, that this would be the only way I could have described my symptoms.

Real untouched photo of Tyrone Prothro of the Alabama Crimson Tide

It might have been a small case of Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD) which is a nervous system/immune system over-response to injury.  It typically occurs in limbs (the pain is there) following minor injuries.  Whatever it was, it was pretty awful.  I would wake up in the morning and moan and groan on my way to the bathroom.  My legs were the primary source of pain, but everything felt stiff.  I was working out the same, but feeling pain like it was ten times the amount of work going in.  So part of my desire today, is to help you understand the different directions that your body could head following minor injury.

First, most injuries = healing.  Normal healing is dependent on a few things, but you will at least head in that direction as the primary movement of your body.  Those factors, however that support moving your WHOLE body towards healing are:

1. nervous system function

2. diet (necessary nutrients as well as avoiding certain things)

3. rest

These are the primary needs for healing.  Notice, there is no need for medication or band aids to heal, kind of cool, those are actually totally unnecessary, and in many cases will actually disturb healing (keep that in mind when you are using the med to gain the rest).  So let’s review this list.  The first is hinged on being a low stress peaceful individual, with normal brain function and normal spinal and nerve function.  This allows your brain to direct healing (mitosis and DNA replication) at the cellular level.

Second, diet.  You need a HOST of nutrients.  Every cell has two layers of fat, so a diet high in healthy fats (coconut oil, avocado, fish, nuts, organic dairy – butter and yogurt are tops); a diet with clean and lean protein and a diet with a ton of vegetables to support the enzyme processes of tissue re-building and inflammation breakdown.  If you adhere to this kind of diet, you are now more likely to be healed properly.  And lastly, the one that I probably did not do enough of when I was post injury/post surgery… rest.

You should really be thinking about 8+ hours of rest as a minimum for as long as it takes to know that you are through the worst.  I actually as so beat, that for the first three months, I averaged about 12 hours of sleep everyday.  It was really weird for me.  I am always working on something, writing on the computer, publishing sprouts, etc.  But all of a sudden I found myself both unable to look at a computer without significant pain, and the feeling of absolute fatigue; there was nothing left to do but sleep!  I just think I cut it off too soon, and likely that was responsible for my 11 month slide into daily pain.

What should you avoid when it comes to healing?  Sugar, excessive lectin (not leptin) foods such as grains, legumes, dairy (other than the good stuff listed above), and potatoes.  These foods, especially when you are susceptible “post trauma”, can do some significant damage.

Bottom line – pursue health, harder when you are hurt if you need more motivation, otherwise pursue it hard all the time.

Take this daily sprout and pass it on, email it out, and help change the world.  Every bit of knowledge is power, and health is the most important thing you have in your life.  Every time, health is it.  Be well, Dr. E

Medical research in favor of MAINTENANCE chiro care!

I was reading this great article on ChiroAccess.com which talks about two studies that have been published in medical literature since January, that support chiropractic care.  This isn’t a first, medical literature has been supporting chiropractic care for years.  The difference, is that medical literature that supports chiropractic care, always supports it for ACUTE care only.

These literature pieces support maintenance care!  Ongoing chiropractic adjustments for better health. Let me give you the details.

The first study published in January 2011 in Spine concluded that “SMT (spinal manipulative therapy) is effective for the treatment of chronic non specific LBP (low back pain). To obtain long-term benefit, this study suggests maintenance spinal manipulations after the initial intensive manipulative therapy.”

The study… of course, is directed at pain, which isn’t the best thing for chiropractic progress, but it is a start.  Cool part, they discuss maintenance adjustments as a method of continuing to keep someone out of low back pain.  Which is nice to see in the medical literature.  You may have heard me say it before (and when I say it, it is way more profound – because I know that chiropractic brings health, not just pain free living)… eating healthy one day a month doesn’t bring health.  Working out one day a month, doesn’t bring health or fitness (but it does bring soreness); and getting adjusted one day a month, doesn’t bring health.

The next study, published in April 2011 – Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, provides additional support for the value of chiropractic maintenance care for post injury low back pain patients.  The study followed 894 injured workers for a period of one year.  During that year there were four different types of therapy available to the workers:  medical management, physical therapy,  chiropractic, and no therapy.  Episodes of repeat disability were recorded during the year following the initial injury.  Physical therapy had the highest percentage of reinjured workers followed by those receiving medical management or no treatment at all.  The lowest incidence of repeat injury was found among those workers who had received chiropractic maintenance care.

Nice!  The simple answer… your brain is the single most valuable tool in bringing and maintaining health.  God protected your nervous system with a skull and a spine, and nothing else is protected that way.  You can work on your muscles, and rehabilitate them… but if you do not rehabilitate the message to them, then you cannot heal.  It is necessary for healing!

I have another journal article that I am fond of.  In 2005 the Spine Journal published a study from six medical doctors in Japan showed that loss of cervical curve increases incidence of atrophy of the spinal cord, as well as demyelination.  Basically, these doctors figured out that the cervical curve directly relates to MS and ALS type conditions.

This is a good direction for chiropractic, but we sure do need more.  In the meantime, we’ll do everything we can to keep you healthy, and everything we can to keep your moving in the direction of correction!  Be well!

Dr. E