Frequent headaches or migraines can significantly affect quality of life. Severe headaches can also affect our ability to concentrate and relax, leading to feelings of frustration, anxiety, and other negative thoughts.

Properly managing headaches is important to prevent further impairments and disability. Unfortunately, the most common treatment for a headache is pain medication. These can have nasty side effects with long term use and don’t address the root of the cause. More beneficial options include physical therapy and chiropractic care. Ideal Spine’s expert backed Chiropractic BioPhysics (CBP) techniques may be able to address the underlying issues causing headaches and lead to potential lasting relief.

What causes headaches?

There are several different types of headaches including tension headaches, cervicogenic headaches, and migraines. Tension headaches present as band like tension around the skull, while cervicogenic headaches are related to cervical spine dysfunction. Lastly, migraines tend to be an issue with blood perfusion leading to pain on one side of the head, sensitivity to light, and nausea.

No matter which type of headache is experienced, there is still a lot that is not understood about what causes them. Causative factors typically include overall health, pain beliefs, genetics, posture, stress levels, and neck stiffness. Each person’s headache symptoms are unique and require specialized attention for the best results.

Keeping track of symptoms is important for addressing more serious underlying issues. If headache symptoms change, become severe or chronic, or require frequent use of pain medications, talk to a trusted healthcare professional immediately.

How chiropractic care may provide headache relief

Treatment for headaches requires a multifaceted comprehensive approach to be able to holistically address the issue. CBP certified chiropractors are specially trained to complete a full patient assessment and determine the best way to manage symptoms.
Chiropractic care for headaches can include manipulation to address spinal misalignment, soft tissue therapy to address tense areas in the neck and head, lifestyle education, modalities such as ice, heat, and traction, and much more. Treatment for each patient is personalized for their specific symptoms and needs to maximize outcomes.

Headaches can aggravate stress, affect sleep quality, and lead to poor mental health. Comprehensive CBP chiropractic corrective care can help promote better spine alignment, nerve flow and reduce overall neck stiffness. When working with a CBP chiropractor, clinic care visits will be more frequent at first and then gradually decrease with time as an individual improves and a program is designed for self-management at home.

Additional lifestyle factors that may help with headache management include nutrition, particularly caffeine reduction, stress management such as exercise and social time, adjusting the amount of daily screen time, and relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, yoga, and meditation.

Acid reflux disease is a common problem that occurs when stomach acid flows past the esophageal sphincter and back into the esophagus itself. This leads to sensations of burning and discomfort in the chest, also known as heartburn. If this occurs two or more times a week, it is considered Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease or GERD.

Symptoms are most common after eating a meal, especially if lying down immediately after. Additional complaints include nausea, an inability to swallow, feeling as if the throat is blocked, and an acidic taste in the mouth.

The underlying cause of acid reflux has to do with the ability of the digestive system to work without unnecessary outside influences. Through Ideal Spine’s science-backed, results-oriented Chiropractic BioPhysics (CBP), a chiropractor may be able to help restore balance throughout the spine and body and promote optimal digestion without onset of acid reflux symptoms.

The causes of Acid Reflux Disease

The most common causes of acid reflux include obesity, poor posture, and pregnancy because of the pressure they place on the stomach. Additionally, a hiatal (stomach) hernia, smoking, poor diet, and stress can all lead to acid reflux as well. Anything that alters the body’s ability to create digestive enzymes and acid or it’s structural function (due to misalignment) may lead to less than ideal digestion and acid reflux symptoms.

Common treatment options for acid reflux include a change of diet, learning to eat less food at a slower pace, weight loss, stopping smoking, posture education, and staying up after eating. Additionally, certain medications such as estrogen, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories, and anti-depressants may need to be modified since they may affect the efficiency of the esophageal sphincter. Keep in mind that if trouble with swallowing and choking persist or become more severe, medical attention should be sought out immediately.

How Chiropractic may Help Digestion

Working with a CBP chiropractor may potentially help maximize your outcomes for acid reflux treatment. They will help address spinal misalignment that is affecting the body’s nerve flow for proper digestion.

When the entire body is in balance and alignment, it will be easier for the physical process of digestion to occur. Plus, neural inputs from the autonomic system (where digestion is controlled) and other areas of the brain and spinal cord will be able to occur uninhibited.

Additional chiropractic treatments that may be of benefit include posture and lifestyle education, weight management, soft tissue therapy, and core strengthening to alleviate stomach pressure. Consult with a chiropractor and physician to determine what treatment options are best.

Poor digestion and acid reflux is hard on the entire body, since it affects our ability to properly absorb nutrients and focus on other equally important bodily processes. The sooner relief occurs the sooner life can go back to normal.

The sudden onset of shoulder and arm pain can be debilitating, particularly when there’s no obvious sign of an injury to be healed. One somewhat rare condition, brachial neuritis, causes spasms of pain down one arm, followed by numbness, tingling, and weakness. If not treated effectively early on, these symptoms have the potential to significantly impede on a patient’s life and may even worsen with time.

Through Ideal Spine’s expert-backed Chiropractic BioPhysics (CBP) approach, chiropractors may be able to provide their patients with relief and faster healing from this inflammatory condition. Patients suffering from shoulder and arm pain should speak to their chiropractor about potential at-home and in-office treatments that might improve their condition.

The symptoms of brachial neuritis

Also known as Parsonage-Turner Syndrome, brachial neuritis affects the brachial plexus, a group of nerves that run from the neck and upper back to the shoulders. The condition typically affects only one side of the body and occurs at random. It is not common in conjunction with an arm or shoulder injury.

In brachial neuritis, the nerves of the brachial plexus become inflamed. Inflammation may be triggered by an autoimmune response, often resulting from an infection, surgical procedure, vaccination or other internal stressor.

The inflammation of these nerves may lead to significant, piercing shoulder pain over the course of a few days, as well as long-term numbness and weakness in the shoulder and arm. Pain may be exacerbated with movement.

Typically, the pain that brachial neuritis causes goes away on its own within a few days. Unfortunately, the numbness, weakness, or tingling feelings in the shoulder or arm may persist for much longer. What’s more, these symptoms may worsen over time without treatment.

Untreated brachial neuritis may also lead to muscular atrophy of the arm. Pain and weakness may make it difficult for the patient to move their arm at all, leading to decreased strength. Since the symptoms of brachial neuritis could potentially last up to a year or more, patients must find ways to strengthen the arm in spite of their condition.

Chiropractic may provide relief

Treatment for brachial neuritis typically requires pain management until the majority of the pain subsides, after which physical therapy and movement exercises may be useful to improve mobility and strength. Chiropractic care may provide the tools patients need to prevent the worsening of their symptoms – potentially reducing pain, improving their mobility, and restoring strength to the arm over time.

Chiropractic manipulation may be useful in ensuring that no nerves near the brachial plexus have been compressed, in case a secondary problem is exacerbating the symptoms caused by an inflammatory response. Targeted trigger point release and massage may alleviate tension in the surrounding tissues of the arm and shoulder. These treatments may be particularly beneficial during the initial bout of shooting pain, as well as later, once muscular stiffness has set in from shoulder immobility.

Additionally, chiropractors can teach their patients effective pain management techniques for home use, including ice and heat therapy and stretching exercises. Through techniques from Ideal Spine to restore the proper alignment and flow of the spinal vertebrae, nerves, and surrounding tissues, the body may be able to heal faster and more effectively, leading to symptom reduction and the prevention of a worsened condition.

Chiropractic BioPhysics® corrective care trained Chiropractors are located throughout the United States and in several international locations. CBP providers have helped thousands of people throughout the world realign their spine back to health, and eliminate a source of chronic back pain, chronic neck pain, chronic headaches and migraines, fibromyalgia, and a wide range of other health conditions. If you are serious about your health and the health of your loved ones, contact a CBP trained provider today to see if you qualify for care. The exam and consultation are often FREE. See www.CBPpatient.com for providers in your area.

Thousands of people live each day with chronic pain. This pain cannot always be explained or even cured, often leading to a cycle of failed treatments and frustration. Chronic pain has become so prevalent that the practice of pain management, or pain medicine, has become much more important.

Chiropractic care is one of the many potential facets of pain management. Given its gentle, non-invasive nature, Ideal Spine encourages patients to use chiropractic as a “pillar” of their chronic pain management program.

Pain management is often considered a response to a diagnosis, but it is much more than that. The practice of pain management serves many roles in the realm of chronic back pain; its techniques are not solely for injury recovery. As chiropractors, we must understand these roles to best serve our patients’ needs through treatment methods, as well as referrals to other pain specialists.

It’s important to remind patients that pain management programs may be useful at many stages of their recovery process. Chiropractic pain management may help chronic back pain patients in the following ways:

• Identify the source of back pain: Pain treatments like chiropractic may help in the identification of the root cause of pain. Although this generally requires a process of testing abilities and may not produce immediate results, chiropractors may eventually be able to identify where the patient’s pain is coming from. Then, they can create a more appropriate course of pain management.
• Provide an alternative to surgery: Chiropractic care may be part of a pain management program to help a patient reduce their pain without surgery. Many people prefer to pursue non-invasive pain management methods initially, treating surgery as a last resort. Gentle chiropractic manipulations – as well as other methods like physical therapy exercises and massage – may provide the relief the patient needs without severe measures like surgical intervention.
• Rehabilitate the patient after surgery: Some patients with chronic back pain might require surgery to stabilize the spine or repair musculoskeletal damage. After surgery, many patients experience heightened pain and seek to manage it as the body recovers. Alternative forms of pain management like chiropractic may be useful to help rehabilitate the patient and allow the body to heal properly. These treatment methods may also be useful in the long term if the patient continues to experience pain even after surgery and healing.
• Teach patients how to manage their pain: Pain management is not a static process. It encompasses both professional treatment and patient action. To that end, pain management professionals should use their expertise to teach patients how to effectively manage their pain on their own at home. All kinds of patients – including those who have undergone surgery and who are using alternative methods in place of surgery – may benefit from a greater understanding of their agency in relation to their chronic pain.

No two patients will experience chronic pain in exactly the same way. The differing physical, neurological, and psychological aspects of pain require a unique perspective and treatment program.

At Ideal Spine, we teach chiropractors how to leverage our understanding of the body to potentially treat or alleviate pain in patients, regardless of the presence of an identifiable source. Chiropractors must remember and inform others of the many roles pain medicine has when it comes to chronic pain, to help make patients’ lives easier.

If you are a patient experiencing chronic back pain, seek a chiropractor trained in Chiropractic BioPhysics (CBP) to learn how their pain management programs may help you along every step of your healing journey.

Chiropractic BioPhysics® corrective care trained Chiropractors are located throughout the United States and in several international locations. CBP providers have helped thousands of people throughout the world realign their spine back to health, and eliminate a source of chronic back pain, chronic neck pain, chronic headaches and migraines, fibromyalgia, and a wide range of other health conditions. If you are serious about your health and the health of your loved ones, contact a CBP trained provider today to see if you qualify for care. The exam and consultation are often FREE. See www.CBPpatient.com for providers in your area.

For years, Ideal Spine has preached chiropractic as a safer alternative to prescription painkillers for those living with chronic pain. Now, after more than a decade of momentum, the opioid crisis has come to a head. More than ever, people need to break free from opioid dependence and address their chronic pain, instead of masking it. Chiropractic is well-positioned to help.

A landmark ruling in the opioid crisis

In April 2019, the first precedent for opioid manufacturer liability was handed down in Oklahoma courts. Purdue Pharma, makers of Oxycontin, settled with the court system to the tune of $270 million for misrepresenting the addictive nature of its brand-name painkiller. The company chose to settle rather than face as many as 2,300 lawsuits, spanning 23 states.

Based on the settlement amount alone, this settlement is a drop in the bucket. What’s more important is the precedent set. Purdue Pharma and its Oxycontin painkiller are just two of the many players in the opioid crisis. In this David vs. Goliath legal battle, David has prevailed—giving those affected by opioid addiction grounds to pursue other Goliaths and their addictive prescriptions.

Alternative treatments surge

Despite the landmark settlement, the opioid crisis is anything but new. It’s been front-page news for the better part of a decade. As such, people living with chronic pain have begun shying away from conventional prescription medications. Instead, they’ve begun exploring alternative therapies. Anecdotal evidence suggests it’s been effective to some degree, since demand for alternative healing is higher than ever before.

At the forefront is chiropractic—particularly Chiropractic BioPhysics (CBP). A marriage of evidence-based therapy and traditional chiropractic adjustment techniques, it’s a modality people have come to trust for incremental, measurable results.

Where painkillers and prescription opioids suppressed pain and covered symptoms, CBP and other chiropractic modalities strive to treat the source of pain. Misalignment of the spine. Compressed nerves. Strained muscle groups. These are some of the core causes of chronic pain and the focus of chiropractic adjustments. Through routine adjustment, pain patients may be able to actively correct the condition causing them grief, instead of masking and/or unintentionally aggravating it.

Post-painkiller recourse

As the assault on opioid addiction continues, chiropractors nationwide need to position themselves alongside sobriety. Patients kicking an opioid addiction or those refusing prescription painkillers will be looking for answers to their pain. It’s important for chiropractors to be transparent about their abilities and their course of action in addressing chronic conditions.

It starts with education. What is chiropractic? How can adjustments improve health beyond the spine? How does a chiropractor trace symptoms to a root cause? Taking the time to explain chiropractic and the CBP approach to diagnosis and treatment gives credence to the practice. More importantly, it gives people hope in an era when the conventional solution is now the most harmful: Prescription pain medication.

Ideal Spine advocates individualized patient care using holistic, measured practices. Through CBP, we encourage incremental treatment aimed at restoring wellness and wellbeing to people suffering from chronic pain. In a time when the opioid crisis has reached its boiling point, we see the need for chiropractic like never before.

Chiropractic BioPhysics® corrective care trained Chiropractors are located throughout the United States and in several international locations. CBP providers have helped thousands of people throughout the world realign their spine back to health, and eliminate a source of chronic back pain, chronic neck pain, chronic headaches and migraines, fibromyalgia, and a wide range of other health conditions. If you are serious about your health and the health of your loved ones, contact a CBP trained provider today to see if you qualify for care. The exam and consultation are often FREE. See www.CBPpatient.com for providers in your area.