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 preparations such as Darvon, Darvocet, Doloxene, Lentogesic and Synap Forte, being described as the worst drug in history and finally being banned in most countries.

Propoxyphene has been the direct cause of the demise of many patients with osteoarthritis. No single drug has ever caused so many deaths,  says researcher Dr Jonasson.

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

All the research points towards the great danger of using more than one analgesic in the treatment of chronic pain. Those serious side effects go up exponentially, for example if you've used both aspirin and Darvocet.

Chronic joint pain causes

Chronic joint pain causes is a great medical dilemma.

Darvocet

Darvocet contains the aforementioned propoxyphene, the worst drug in history, but mixed with a second dangerous drug, Tylenol (Acetaminophen) which, in its own right, causes more ER visits that any other medicine on the market, it's a deadly combination; don't even consider it for your chronic joint pain causes.

and Tylenol...

Taking Darvocet mixed with Tylenol is madness, because you'll soon discover that the treatment will be worse than the disease. There are any number of better solutions to your chronic joint pain causes.

Taking dual antiinflammatory drugs is downright dangerous too.

Together, Propoxyphene and Acetaminophen 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 together.

Let's start by acknowledging that the causes of chronic joint pain are many, and cannot be fully covered in a short newsletter. Let us divide them up into the more common causes of chronic joint pain.

Chronic joint pain causes

Chronic joint pain causes invites chiropractic to make a contribution; correct diet and exercises are vital too.

1. 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.

2. 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 ...

3. 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.Too little activity causes far more problems than too much activity.

4. IMMOBILISATION ARTHRITIS

Physiologists have now proved beyond doubt that fixated joints become arthritic. 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.

5. 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

• Flax seed nutrition information ...

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

First and foremost is the need for plenty of greens in the diet to provide plenty of folate, choline and betaine; and an egg to supply vitamin B12. These are responsible for the immediate methylation of homocysteine; it's highly inflammatory.

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 making a compost pile ...

• CHIROPRACTIC MAINTENANCE CARE ...
  
  

Just as other chronic diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure require maintenance care, so does joint pain that you've had for years.

No one can cure these conditions and careful management of chronic joint pain, DCs believe, should include an occasional, but regular chiropractic adjustment.

How occasional is that? That depends on a host of factors; how long you've had it, whether the ache radiates down your arm or leg and a dozen more. Did you know that research proves that if you've had neck pain for six months, you've got it for life no matter what treatment you have? Do something sooner rather than later.

Every month I get letters from around the world, not to mention patients in the clinic, with pain in the ribcage, usually associated with midback discomfort or ache, and sometimes with breastbone tenderness. This may be associated with a fall, or a scoliosis, or Scheuermann's disease or the coughing associated with chronic bronchitis and asthma.

Occasionally I confess after an overly robust manipulation you may have chest pain. Iatrogenic disease pertains to chiropractic too, though it's very rare for it to become a chronic condition; temporary after the treatment, sometimes acute, but rarely does it last long.

Whatever, chronic joint pain causes are many, additive and often obscure, relating to an old injury perhaps fifty years ago.

• Scheuermann's disease ...
  

CERVICAL RIB

A less common cause of chronic rib pain is a cervical rib. Normally the ribs belong to the midback - the thoracic spine, but very occasionally a large cervical rib may interfere with the brachial plexus and sometimes the subclavian artery.

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

I don't believe it unfair to say that medicine's approach in many instances is to prescribe painkillers of one sort or another. Month after month, year after year. It's understandable because patients are often resistant to change, and many doctors are still not open to the benefits of chiropractic treatment.

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 is the worst drug in history

So, what are you to do?

... for your chronic joint pain causes and relief if these painkillers are likely to contribute more pain and sudden death than the disease itself causing your pain?

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 ...

 Exercises for the low back

Exercises for the low back are the most important contribution you can make to the health of your lumbar spine and sacroiliac joints; they are a far better bet in the management of your chronic joint pain causes than taking medication; perhaps even more effective than chiropractic help, though that's a heresy!

Done sensibly, there are absolutely no side effects from doing the right exercises for the low back; it's very rare they will make you worse.

They should be done at home, daily, remembering that you are not preparing for the Winter Olympics!

"Many thanks for the newsletter. I have attained the age when totting up many sporting injuries, that I have hitherto somehow have managed to ignore, are now refusing to be run, paddled or peddled away.

The day has arrived to do something about them, and your newsletter has been the catalyst. I have followed your suggestions, particularly the low back exercises; I should have started them thirty years ago.

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

That incidentally is what Chiropractic Help is about: encouraging you to help yourself. I'm not entirely altruistic! You can always buy one of my Bernard Preston books to say thank you. They are dirt cheap on your Kindle or tablet. 

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.

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; it's one excellent solution to your chronic joint pain causes. 

5. Look long and hard at your food. 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.

Foods like strawberries, watermelon, apple, carrot, and broccoli should all be in the planning; I aim for ten coloured foods. Look to increase the omega-3 in your diet; that means fatty fish, freshly ground flaxseed, free range eggs and a herb called purslane.

We also enjoy raisins, hummus, parsley, spinach and zucchini. Get into the habit periodically of counting how many coloured foods you have eaten that day; even small amounts as in a sprig of cilantro; not neurotically, but just to keep a check on yourself.

6. Consider going for a monthly Chiropractic consultation. I treat so many elderly folk with chronic neck and lower back pain; hip, foot and shoulder aches; none are cured, but most are helped or they would stop coming and I believe that it is far safer, and more effective than those dangerous medications. Is there research to prove it? There's oodles.

7. Grandma would have regularly cooked up a ham bone 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 percent.

• Chronic LUMBAR FACET ARTHROPATHY ...
  
• Chronic LUMBAR SPONDYLOSIS CaseFile ...
• Chicken bones stock ...

Chiropractic

Chiropractic is a form of manual therapy, meaning done by hand, that together with more exercise and a better diet will do amazing things for your health. But, how many with chronic joint pain causes are cured? Probably not many, but that should not be discouraging. Medicine doesn't cure them either, nor does it permanently fix those with diabetes and high blood pressure.

Chronic conditions needs to come under management control rather than seeking the elusive cure. Maintenance care is often a large part of the solution.

Understanding chronic joint pain causes is important for both you and your doctor; it's healthy to use the brain the Good Lord gave you. Think and plan and you'll find that to a large degree you can help yourself.

• LOWER BACK PAIN homepage … 
• Purslane plant is the richest source of omega-3 in your garden; most consider it a weed. 
• Dual anti-inflammatory drugs; are you taking more than one painkiller?