Where does it hurt?

Do you have aches and pains that you are trying to manage?

It has happened to all of us. We wake up in the morning and something hurts. Most of the time, we laugh it off with a joke: “Wow, I hurt myself sleeping. How pathetic.” Something along those lines…

Sometimes we chalk up aches and pains to age or a bad a mattress. We might think that headaches or upper back pain is a result of stress. Regardless, we often do not make resolving minor pains a priority.

 Your body’s “Check Engine Light”

Imagine that you are driving your car and suddenly the check engine light comes on. What do you do? Do you ignore it and hope it’s not a problem? Or do you take it to a mechanic to determine what the issue is?

Aches and pains are our check engine lights. The sensation of pain is a message sent by the peripheral nervous system specifically to tell us that something is wrong. Ignoring these messages can actually affect how our brain and body functions. If we live with aches for too long, they may begin to feel natural, and often become unnoticeable as we go about our daily lives. However, the underlying cause is still present.

Just as a good mechanic works to get to the root of the problem (he doesn’t just turn off the check engine light and send you on your way!), a good chiropractor should be working to get to the root of your problem as well. It is not enough to manage the pain; in order to fix the problem, you need to know what is causing the pain, and often the answer is not so obvious,

When we notice pain, we need to take some steps to determine what the underlying culprit is, and what we can do to get back to feeling “normal”. Although some people have the misguided notion that chiropractors only work on backs, most chiropractors tend to be holistic practitioners. Our primary focus is the nervous system, which plays a huge role in all of the other parts of the body. How you treat your body (your nutrition, physical activity, sleep) impacts your nervous system health, and in turn affects your health in other areas.

Headaches

A variety of things can cause headaches.

Dehydration and malnutrition can both cause discomfort. In order to ensure that your body performs at its peak, it is important that you fuel it properly. Many chiropractors are well versed in nutrition and offer nutritional advice.

Alternatively, your chiropractor might identify a misalignment that contributes to your headaches. In our office, we have seen cases where chiropractic care alleviates sinus pain (and even infections). Adjustments can reduce pressure, allowing your respiratory systems to operate more freely, and can help to reduce headaches relating to that.

Joint or Muscle Pains

Pain in your muscles and joints can often be attracted to issues with musculoskeletal alignment. Yes, the direct cause of pain may have been shoveling snow, but proper alignment can ensure can help to mitigate issues so that your body operates optimally.

Upper Back and Shoulder Pain

When it comes to pain in our upper back and shoulders, we might find ourselves getting into a “chicken and the egg” argument. Perhaps you recognize that the cause of your pain may be poor posture because you are sitting for too long at a desk, hunched over a computer. Again, misalignments might help not only alleviate current discomfort, but prevent future pain as well.

These examples are just the top of the iceberg. You may have aches and pains elsewhere. The bottom line is that good chiropractic care can and should be a step that everyone takes to help to mitigate pain.

About Keystone Chiropractic

As an engineer, Dr. Schurger looks at the whole body as a system to determine what is best for each patient. He performs custom spinal imaging for each patient in order to create a custom correction. Dr. Schurger has transformed himself through the ketogenic diet. As part of his practice, he offers nutritional advice to help patients improve their overall health (weight loss being a side effect). His practice, Keystone Chiropractic, focuses on upper cervical chiropractic care, and is located at 450 S. Durkin Drive, Ste. B, Springfield. Call 217-698-7900 to set up a complimentary consultation to see if he can help you!