Aches & Pains?

Who doesn’t have some kind of pain they live with on a regular basis? Maybe you have a “bad” knee? Or is there a point on your back that is constantly “going out”? Or how about that TMJ that constantly nags you, causing headaches and stress?

Whatever pain you are living with, it probably involves a joint. You ask, “what about the muscles?” Good question! Muscles respond to joint instability with spasm. So, when you experience that low back pain, it is most often due to the strain of a joint. It might be your lower spine or maybe your hip joint which is unstable and causing muscle spasm (pain).

If you have ever had a serious injury [who hasn’t?], you might have gone through physical therapy. Much of the time P.T. is directed toward strengthening the muscles that support a joint. Joint stability is a crucial component for recovery. For instance, if you were involved in a car accident or sprained your ankle playing basketball, the trauma would have created injury. The injury would frequently either involve ligaments or tendons, or both ligaments and tendons. Ligaments hold bones together and tendons attach muscles to bones. When there is trauma to ligaments or tendons, the muscles are almost always involved. The reason why muscles are so intimately part of the equation is due to the recognition of the body that a joint is compromised. This triggers the body to create muscle spasms in an attempt to stop further injury to the joint. Muscle spasms create pain. This cycle of muscle spasm and pain can linger on indefinitely, until the joint is stable again.

A major reason why joints wear out is due to joint instability. Did you ever wonder why you did not hurt as much as a child? Much of the reason is that your joints were healthy and stable. Over time, your joints go through wear and tear. The wear and tear creates joint instability which can lead to arthritis and chronic pain (inflammation).

So, what do you do about it? Well, as usual good nutrition and adequate water consumption is important. However, there is a wonderful treatment option that allows ligaments and tendons to return to their original strength, creating a healthy (painless) joint. This treatment is called sclero-therapy, also known as prolo-therapy. It involves injecting a non-toxic substance into or around joints to stimulate the reformation of the materials that hold a joint together. The treatment works relatively fast (depending on the degree of injury) and has lasting results. Some people have to live with pain, but for many of you there is hope…

Prolo-therapy can dramatically help people with: weak ankles, “bad” knees, hips, back and neck pain, shoulder problems, wrists and fingers, TMJ, and more. Call the St. Johns Health Center and find out how pain may be a thing of the past. Reconnect with the child within you, who ran around without pain.

For more information or to schedule an
appointment, please call St Johns Health Center:
503.286.4400