pain management Archives - The Bridge Recovery Center

The Typical Causes of Chronic Neck Pain

January 26, 2019/in News, pain management /by Daren Brooks

Being a neurologist specializing in the diagnosis and therapy of various kinds of pain, I’m helping an increasing number of patients suffering from chronic neck pain. And since there are a lot of possible causes and reasons for this condition, a proper diagnosis can at times be challenging.

By chronic neck pain (often known as cervical pain), we need to be aware a health condition that lasts more than 3 months. The pain may come from any kind of ailments and diseases that affect just about any bone, tissue, or gland located in the neck section. These ailments often cause the muscles of the necks feeling tender, dizziness, sharp shooting pains, tingling, hard to swallow, numbness, and other conditions.

Facet joints are among the most frequent causes of chronic neck pain. Facet joints are little stabilizing joints situated between and behind adjacent vertebrae. Since these synovial joints are deep in the backbone, you can’t feel them, and you can’t see them with no imaging studies. Your facet joints works just like your knee, or even your shoulder: they may get debilitating or arthritic like your knee or your own shoulder. Basically, the very same sorts of stuff that you can do to a knee or a shoulder you can do to the facet joint, particularly in whiplash accidents where the neck slides backwards. Facet joint pain has become the most frequent cause of chronic neck pain after a car accident.

Another reason for chronic neck pain is disc injury. The pain originating from the disc usually indicates about a tear inside of the disc. The outer wall of this disk (known as the Annulus) could be ripped by a whiplash injury. The disc might get weaker and damaging when stressed during regular activities. The actual pain comes from the nerve sections in the annulus. 1/3 of chronic pain sufferers complain of disc pain, and there may be equally disc pain and facet joints pain in some individuals.

The aforementioned conditions are undoubtedly the two most frequent causes of chronic neck pain. Other ailments, such as muscle strain of the neck, can cause mild pain, but generally heal within a brief time period. In some people, chronic neck pain might be due to a pinched nerve from a herniated disc, but such instances are comparatively rare. Herniated discs usually result in arm pain, and not chronic neck pain.

Knowing the reason for pain is the key to appropriate treatment. In assessing the history of symptoms, the neurologist should note the location, intensity, length, and radiation of the pain. Any previous injury to the neck and past treatments must be noted. Aggravating and relieving motions or positions also have to be listed, both at rest and in movement. Tenderness is discovered during palpation of the neck. An assessment of the nervous system is done to check whether or not nerve involvement exists.

Undiagnosed neck pain on further testing can include of X-ray test, CT and MRI scans, Electromyography (EMG), nerve conduction velocity test (NCV), along with other. Regardless of you MRI’s or X-ray findings your neck pain can be relieved. Neck pain is seldom solved with surgery and many of those contemplating neck surgery or those that have had neck surgery have found no relief. The Bridge employs the entire body system for relief with excellent results. Contact us now.

Diabetic Foot Pain Dilemma – How You Should Deal With It

January 7, 2019/in pain management /by Daren Brooks

There are lots of facets of diabetes where scientists and physicians have yet to know, in addition to emerging aspects of this disease which could be tricky to work with present technology. As an example, there’s still no known connection between sleep apnea and diabetes, even though sleep apnea may place people at a higher risk for cardiovascular disease, as can diabetes. Diabetic foot pain is most common, also well-documented. Specific correlations have to be demonstrated, and new complications appear as scientists identify more people afflicted by this much-dreaded disease.

A renowned diabetic foot pain symptom is gangrene of the feet, which may frequently cause amputations. A new aspect of its disease is its genetic element, and experts such as molecular biologists and diagnosticians are working to understand how people get diabetes from their parents.

How Do People Get Diabetes?

There are three primary types of diabetes; however, the three main forms come about due to the inability of the human body’s insulin-producing cells to exude sufficient levels of insulin. Insulin assists in breaking down sugars and carbs into forms which the body can use for energy. Without it, sugar levels in the blood rise, translating into tissue and organ damage.

Type I diabetes is considered an autoimmune disorder, in which the body’s immune system destroys the pancreatic cells that make insulin. Type II diabetes and gestational diabetes involve resistance by the body’s cells to the effects of insulin; gestational diabetes, or pregnancy-related diabetes, though, will often subside after the baby is delivered.

Diabetes isn’t grabbing, and for individuals who have diabetes continuing education is essential to notify them and their loved ones about therapy regimens, in addition to what factors can lead to diabetes. Obesity is a significant risk factor for Type II diabetes, and so people that have a family history of diabetes should be careful to eat a balanced diet that’s low in sodium and saturated fats.

Fatty Abdomens

Knowing the source of diabetes might help doctors design a treatment program which could help patients manage the disease better. Disease management for diabetes may incorporate a rigorous diet, increased physical activity, and physical fitness strategy to lead to fat and weight reduction. Research proves that abdominal fat is a huge factor for diabetes, so people with fatty abdomens are often recommended a more rigorous fitness regimen, in addition to routine checkups to determine if diabetes type II has developed.

Genetics also plays a significant role in diabetes, so the big question is the scientific community today – How is diabetes inherited? Type I and Type II diabetes could be inherited and may be triggered by different stimuli like stress, viral diseases, or even illegal drugs. At present, scientists are analyzing what mutations are needed for diabetes to set in completely, how these mutations are brought around, and if they can be passed from parent to child.

What Does Diabetic Foot Pain Feel Like

Since diabetes can damage the nerves of the toes and impede blood flow, foot pain can be common in people who have diabetes. There are specific shoes for diabetics that are designed for this pain. Individuals who have diabetes have stiff joints, and can sometimes bleed due to decreased clotting ability of the blood. This usually means that wounds will heal slower, and with reduced nerve function in the feet, people with diabetes can often have foot wounds not knowing.

With increased harm to numb feet, a person who has diabetes may not know he or she requires to take antibiotics or apply certain ointments to take good care with diseases of the foot. And since the flow is slowed, wounds at the feet may not cure in any way, leading to foot ulcers or gangrene. At this stage, amputation is the only cure.

Diabetic foot pain is just the beginning of someone’s worries, so deal with it until it gets out of control. Always check your feet for wounds, and then wash your feet daily with soap and warm water. Scrub your feet and dry it carefully. If you see wounds, use an ointment, or consult with your diabetic physician about treatment regimens. You may also need to visit a physical therapist to maintain the muscles of your feet active. Such treatment may be costly, though some packages of health insurance for people with diabetes has it.

The 8 Steps to Fight Diabetic Foot Pain

Neuropathy is the cause of foot pain in diabetics or damage to the nerves in the foot. Often diabetic neuropathy leads to numbness, to the point of not being aware of damage, ulcerations, as well as gangrene (tissue death). For some, the neuropathy causes excruciating pain; they’re incredibly sensitive to anything even lightly brushing the foot. The pain has been described as tingling or burning.

Sadly, having diabetes greatly increases the likelihood of losing feet or even the entire foot. The safest thing to do is avoid damage as far as possible to reduce foot pain caused by neuropathy.

a. The American Diabetes Association discovered that diabetic nerve pain is radically reduced when blood glucose levels are controlled in reasonable limits. It is best to help yourself by monitoring your glucose levels.

b. Protection for your feet. Socks have to be soft, non-restrictive, not too loose as they can bunch up inside a shoe & press on the skin. Shoes should be worn with socks. Nylons don’t protect the foot nicely.

c. Visit a podiatrist for a complete medical exam. You might find some diabetic foot pain relief with custom orthotic devices. Report any kind of sensation. Also, your podiatrist can offer expert guidance regarding footwear. In case you have any foot deformities such as bunions or hammertoes, then it could be beneficial to repair them.

d. Using warm water, wash feet gently and thoroughly. Check the water temperature first. Make sure you dry properly, and inspect between the toes, the back along with the under surface to check for any diabetic foot pain symptoms of infection or pressure.

e. Moisturize skin. Due to high levels of glucose, diabetic foot skin tends to be dry and dryness results in cracks. A skin cracked is easier for bacteria to invade, and foot ailments are painful and more difficult to heal in people with diabetes. Stay away from over-moisturizing between the toes.

f. Proper foot care involves keeping the nails trimmed. Cut them straight across, rather than so short since they might bleed. Get assistance if you aren’t sure. Gently treat calloused areas with a pumice rock. To avoid skin irritation and to help the sock, ensure foot is smooth.

g. Improve blood circulation to the feet with exercise that doesn’t cause issues. Try biking, swimming, and yoga. These are the best exercise to start with. Circulation improves blood flow and helps decrease neuropathy.

h. Ensure you follow up. Diabetic foot pain requires a daily regimen to maintain as comfy as possible and to avoid further issues. Treat your feet like precious possessions.

Why You Should Care About Diabetic Foot Pain and How it Impacts Your Life

If you have diabetes, here is why caring for your feet could save your own life:

Diabetic Foot Pain is only one of many worrying indicators of Diabetes Mellitus Complications – due to what it might foretell. Other diabetes complications may result in many diseases in which (typically), higher blood sugar levels cause damage of the nerves and also nerve-endings, kidneys, blood vessels and eyes, normally developing over very long periods.

Effective Diabetes Management  

If your diabetes isn’t carefully handled, permanent organ damage and disability of your immune system are possible too. And like these issues are not bad enough, complications from diabetes lessen the body’s capacity to fight even mild infections. And infection of the feet can be a challenge to have.

Your Diabetic Foot Problem  

Diabetic Foot Pain is only one of a vast assortment of diabetic foot problems which are highly prevalent in diabetes patients but keep in mind; even minor diabetic foot problems could quickly become serious indeed.

If diabetes leads about damage to your nervous system, this is usually most obvious in your feet. You might not even be in a position to feel it, and sweat and oil production that’s vital to lubricate the skin of the foot is generally impaired also. These factors can create an abnormal strain on the bones, skin, and joints of the feet. These issues can subsequently result in an entire breakdown of the skin of the foot, and blisters (as well as diabetic ulcers) can eventually grow.

Impaired Immune System  

Diabetes can result in a dangerously weakened immune system, which may become subsequently tricky for even small wounds to recover. Again, this is a specific issue for lesions on the legs or feet. This may result in bacterial infection of the skin or connective tissue, including the muscles and the bones. If not promptly treated, these diabetic infections can primarily develop into gangrene.

The Outcomes of Poor or No Circulation  

People with diabetes always suffer from poor circulation in their feet. Therefore regular antibiotics cannot necessarily find their way into the location of the infection. In certain extreme cases, this may take the sufferer to the point where the only effective treatment is that the complete amputation – or a foot or worst-case scenario part of the leg.

Worse still, if the infection spreads, it can get into the blood vessels, which causes a broad range of life-threatening issues.

Diabetes Management Becomes a Full-Time Necessity  

People living with Diabetes have to be conscious that diabetic foot pain might be an early indication of a looming diabetic severe foot disease and take every possible step to reduce the spread of foot problems. They need to look out for potential issues, and to receive immediate treatment if and when a diabetic foot problem should strike.

Modern treatments for diabetic foot pain and infection continue to improve. However, prevention such as controlling blood glucose levels remains the only best method to stop diabetic foot disease becoming more than a minor nuisance.

Examine Your Feet Regularly

If you have diabetes, you need to learn to effectively examine your feet and identify any early signs of diabetes-related foot problems.

It’s also advisable to undergo a routine for personal foot care and prepare to call in or go to a physician if a problem appears like it can become severe enough to seek professional help.

At The Bridge Recovery Center, we provide a very natural effective diet and exercise program for diabetic foot pain and will help improve this condition. You will work with our personal trainers, therapists, chefs and other staff to make sure your stay is as effective as possible. Our physician and team are well-versed in how to treat diabetic foot pain and will provide excellent support throughout your stay. Contact us and learn how we can assist you.

Best Alternative Treatments For Chronic Migraine and What You Can Do To End The Pain

December 30, 2018/in pain management /by Daren Brooks

In case you’ve been coping with chronic migraine headaches, and none has helped you, it’s time to search at other alternatives for relief of migraine pain. When you’ve got chronic migraines, you’re mainly dealing with the same recurring migraine day by day. And generally, you’ll have to take your migraine medication pills faithfully for the whole year in hopes it will provide you lasting relief from these horrible chronic migraine headaches. But doing so frequently results in serious side effects, so this isn’t a healthy situation for a majority of people.

At this point what you require is to have an excellent chronic migraine treatment set in place because once your body becomes used to having the medicine in its system, ceasing drug is very likely to cause acute, chronic migraine headaches. When this occurs, it’s tough for you to begin using a different medicine in hopes of eliminating those unwanted effects, (or trying to reduce the chronic migraines ), as your old medicine appears to be in complete charge of your chronic migraine headaches. Additionally, it resembles age is a variable because elderly folks seem to have the most trouble replacing one medication with a different one

If you’re attempting to have a new drug to function at maximum strength in your body, the very first thing you have to do is get a full medication detox treatment. This will rid the body of all traces of your previous medication, but the procedure can be difficult and painful so you may want to contact with a treatment centre that’s geared towards the medication detoxification procedure. This should take three weeks for complete detoxification for migraine treatment. Besides, the staff at the treatment centre should evaluate how much medication you must take as they will offer you some painkillers to reduce your migraine pain. Be aware that you will still have migraine pain during detoxification since your body is losing all of the medication that it has grown used to.

Upon completion of your medicine detoxification procedure, you should be free of migraine pain. Your whole body will feel fresh, and you’ll also experience greater energy. Whenever you’re in this stage, the one thing that you can do is pray that your chronic migraine headaches will not return. Sadly, however, some folks do get back their pain back, and age appears to be a factor. The older you’re, the higher your odds of getting your migraine pain back but the actual time it takes for the pain to come back differs for everybody.

Even so, now your body has been fully detoxified you can try out a new migraine medicine and receive the utmost advantage out of it next time a migraine appears. Now’s the time which you have to be analyzing those alternative procedures of treatment, you do not wish to wait for your migraine attack to return before you start considering a solution. Bear in mind, the less quantity of medication you have on your body the better your body will respond to other alternative treatment solutions.

It is essential that you commence the natural remedy before chronic migraine headaches come back. You do not want to forget this off. Don’t assume that your recurring migraine is gone forever because that may not be the scenario. Usually, the only men and women who’ll not have chronic headaches are young victims or individuals who have never undergone chronic migraines.

Today the question is which strategy you should decide to start with? Acupuncture is my best recommendation for you. Not only is that a natural remedy solution but it has shown amazing results for those who have chronic migraine headaches.

You should be aware though that it is going to take some time that you discover an acupuncture specialist that’s ideal for you. You would like to search for somebody who has Asian blood but not so young. The older age you choose, the better, (with a few exceptions of course). You also wish to get in contact with your local migraine institution. They’re the people who will be able to suggest acupuncture experts within your town.

How many times should you consult your acupuncture specialist? Well, each acupuncture specialist has their style of needle positioning in addition to their ideas on your healing procedure. Usually, though, you can expect to go 2x a week for about the 1st month. You then will often go after a week every other week for the next 2 months and then once a month for the next 3 months.

The Common Symptoms and Triggers of a Migraine

All migraine sufferers don’t have the same experiences. That seems fairly basic, but you would be amazed how many people just presume that a migraine is a migraine. This isn’t the situation. In reality, one’s migraine disease is as exceptional as he or she is. Some suffer from migraine headaches. When chronic migraines grow frequency, they can be extremely painful. For starters, the pain worsens in time (left untreated), and you also can experience multiple different symptoms, such as nausea and swelling. By educating yourself about migraine triggers, symptoms, and remedies (like surgical procedures), you can recover a healthy lifestyle and control over the problem.

Common Triggers of a Migraine

Many triggers the cause of migraines. To begin with, depression or anxiety could result in those ferocious headaches. Even people who don’t have this disorder can create headaches from stress. Therefore, long-term depression or anxiety is the primary cause of migraines. Also, hormonal imbalance may often cause a migraine headache. These imbalances often affect nerves in the neck and head, resulting in a migraine attack. Should this happen regularly, it is positive that these are migraines. Since women’s hormones change regularly throughout every month, they are way more likely to experience chronic migraines because of hormonal imbalance. Ultimately, underlying health issues, like a tumor may lead to migraine headaches.

Symptoms of Migraine Pain

Migraine symptoms would be the same as with regular migraine headaches. The most evident and apparent sign is a pulsating, pounding pain. This is sometimes relevant with any number of symptoms, like auras, mild hallucinations, vertigo, nausea, fatigue, blurred vision, along with a noticeable drop in perception. Migraine pain can last several hours to a day or two, so rest is essential in treating a migraine once begun. What distinguishes chronic migraines compared with the normal ones is the frequency with which the headaches happen.

How To Treat Migraines

As with all migraines, this can be cured in many ways. To begin with, lifestyle changes reduce the frequency, duration, or intensity of the attacks. Additionally, taking daily preventative medicine along with pain-relieving pills can help also. For chronic ones, however, medication doesn’t necessarily help or assist enough. In those circumstances, patients have chosen to get migraine surgeries. There are many types of approaches available. One involves the cauterisation of superficial blood vessels in the head. Another comprises the removal of nerves or muscles at established trigger sections. Finally, for individuals afflicted by an inherent health cause, a surgical operation is available that corrects a congenital heart defect.

Migraine Medications Over the Counter

Many people suffer from chronic migraine headaches, and it’s has become quite frustrating to go through lots of medications to fight these life-stopping headaches. The pain can be so intense it results for people to hold all actions due to nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to both sound and light. A major issue that’s been raised about migraine headache remedies is if over the counter drugs are really useful and are they worth the risks? All medicines in any form have dangers linked with the ingredients. Migraine drugs are no exception.

Regrettably, there are a few migraine medications that could be harmful to our body rather than effective on your migraine pain.

Think for a second…

A small amount of aspirin which is used in medication can cause bleeding issues. Some of the concerns are internal hemorrhage and stomach bleeding.

Drugs that contain acetaminophen can lead to a dangerous risk in potential liver damage. This damage can happen from the minimum recommended dose taken once within 4 days.

Drugs which contain aspirin may result in stomach ailments. These medicines are categorized as Naiads since the most drug component is non-steroidal and anti-inflammatory.

Of those 3 drug types, all can be found in brand name over the counter varieties that we’re familiar with. The fact of the matter is that when you suffer from chronic migraines, you’ll have to take something quite frequently. This may be quite dangerous. In hindsight, it’s a smart idea to think about other alternatives for treating your migraines.

If you think about the costs related to taking these migraine drugs often, you also need to think about the costs which are required when you thought you have damaged your liver or got bleeding problems. Is your life worthwhile if drugs do not work?

The complete acupuncture chronic migraine treatment will be a year for someone who suffers from chronic migraine headaches. This may depend on how awful your migraine pain is and precisely what your specialist believes. However, if you’re attempting to determine ways to reduce migraines and you suffer from chronic migraine headaches then here is the best migraine alternative remedy out there.

Migraines are treated successfully at The Bridge and our 7-year history speaks for itself as most of our guest who come for help with migraines leave medication free or at least taking much less. Let our comprehensive program help by calling today we would love to help facilitate your recovery.

Pain Management Is Not All About Medications

June 26, 2018/0 Comments/in pain management /by Daren Brooks

It is often confused that Pain Management is all about taking the right medications, which is not true. As Wikipedia acknowledges – Pain Management is the branch of medicine employing an interdisciplinary approach for easing the suffering and improving the quality of life of those who are suffering from chronic pain – persisting for a long time or recurring.