When most of us think of knee pain, we immediately think of sports injuries to this vulnerable and unprotected joint. But not all knee pain is the result of trauma to the area or ligament injuries from twisting or falling. There are many other reasons for knee pain at the joint itself, such as infection, overuse, age, bursitis, aneurysm, cyst, tumor, etc. But this isn't meant to scare you. Usually, when the knee joint is the cause of the pain, it will be very obvious to your doctor. Most often, you will remember the trauma (if any) and be able to describe it in detail. Surprisingly, however, many cases of knee pain have nothing to do with the knee itself.
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Part of the chiropractic philosophy is to live life in a natural way. Your body is designed to function well in an environment with other people, animals, and even bacteria. When that environment changes, the function of our bodies can change, too. Recent studies have shown that children who are allowed to play in dirt grow up healthier than those who live mostly indoors, and that Amish children are surprisingly resistant to asthma and allergies. The cleaner we try to be, and the more chemicals we use in that pursuit, the more we interfere with the natural environment that our bodies expect. And here is yet another interesting study that shows that intimate contact between parents and infant has positive results for the baby's immune system. Children who breastfeed already have intimate contact with their mother's skin (and the hosts of bacteria who peacefully live there). If parents additionally kiss their children or deliver them vaginally or suck their pacifiers to clean them, the parents can also transfer healthy bacteria to their children. This stimulates the children's immune system. Parents who boil their children's pacifiers to sterilize them, however, may not be passing along these bacteria and thus putting their children at some risk for asthma and eczema. If the children never encounter these healthy bacteria, their immune systems may not develop properly. Ah, the 17 billion dollar question: What is fibromyalgia, anyway, and how do you know if you have it?
First, a couple facts, courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fibromyalgia affects about 2% of the United States population, which is about 5 million individuals. The cost of treating fibromyalgia is about $3500 per person per year. That means that the cost of treating all those individuals with fibromyalgia costs about $17 billion per year. This is significant and sobering, especially since fibromyalgia has often been considered a "disease of last resort." That is, if a doctor was unable to identify another disease process that was causing chronic pain, and if the doctor was able to identify 11 specific sore points on your body, then the doctor would say that you had fibromyalgia. The trouble with that diagnosis, however, is that it is a diagnosis of exclusion, not inclusion. Most diagnoses are made by identifying symptoms and causes: "This causes that, therefore you have X disease." But the diagnosis for fibromyalgia, for many years, was made by saying the opposite: "We don't know what causes that, therefore we'll call it fibromyalgia." Research still has not proven what causes fibromyalgia, but we now know a whole lot more about fibromyalgia. What we now know may just surprise you. A patient was recently advised by a health care provider to take Vitamin D supplements between meals in order to boost absorption of the Vitamin D. She was surprised at this advice, because she had always heard that vitamins should be taken with meals. She approached me with this question: "Should I take Vitamin D with a meal or without?" Here's the short answer: On limited evidence, it appears that Vitamin D supplements are best absorbed if taken with the largest meal of the day. Car accidents cause damage to your car, which is often the first thing we think about after an accident. After all, we can see the twisted metal, broken headlights, and scratched paint job. Car accidents can cause a devastating amount of damage to your body, which is a lot harder to see. An insurance company can tell you exactly how much damage occurred to your vehicle, but it's difficult to say exactly how much damage occurred to you. Some people who have whiplash, for example, can undergo symptoms for months and months, even if they are treated immediately after the accident. Many of the people who have whiplash also have dizziness. Two Swiss researchers investigated the dizziness in some chiropractic patients who have whiplash. They published an article in the journal Chiropractic & Manual Therapies recently in which they asked two important questions: 1) does whiplash with dizziness take longer to improve; and 2) do men or women usually have dizziness with whiplash? And they came up with these surprising answers: |
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DisclaimerUnless otherwise attributed, all content is written by Kyle Johnson, DC, of Johnson Family Chiropractic of Peoria.
All images used are under Creative Commons license. Although every effort has been made to provide an accurate description of our chiropractic care and its benefits, the information given on this website and blog is not intended to be, nor should it be interpreted as, medical advice for any condition. If you have any questions regarding your condition, you should seek the help of Dr. Johnson in person, so that he may properly assess your condition. This blog is provided by Johnson Family Chiropractic of Peoria, S.C., proudly located in Peoria, IL. |