Southwest Florida's Health and Wellness Magazine Health and Wellness Articles
Pain management is highly sought after by droves of patients, and most will say that they suffer pain in similar areas chronically. Neck and lower back pain are the most common and account for 20 percent of all medical doctor visits. Pain, unfortunately, is a necessary component of the healing process, but if the cause is never addressed, then the pain persists. When we feel pain, we have lost a considerable amount of function, in some cases up to 80 percent before we even begin to feel that pain.
Masking Pain is Erratic & Irresponsible
Many of the options in pain management are temporary and provide symptomatic relief. If you’re only in the habit of relieving pain, your symptoms will come back worse until more invasive treatment is offered as the solution for the problem. That is the trend. If someone only utilizes passive options, i.e., pills, massage, acupuncture, heat, whirlpool, the symptoms of pain are bound to come back. If in pain management, you are relying on steroids as the way you resolve pain because you have no other options, you will be worsening the situation. Did you know that you are limited in the number of injections you can have in a year for the very fact that they will erode the cartilage inside the joint that you place it in for pain relief? Doesn’t that seem counterintuitive that we want to improve the function of the joints, not erode them? Stem cell therapy is a newer therapy that can improve cartilage function but are cost prohibitive. If you catch the problem earlier, these more invasive therapies and their expense can be avoided.
Addressing The Root Cause of Pain is Essential
The good news is that as long as the structure is sound and the musculature can again build around the injured part, you will improve. This involves physical rehabilitation. The key is to find the right physical rehabilitation specialist. You need one that will spend the time to figure out all the factors that contribute to the problem. You also need one with experience to understand multiple types of issues and how the entire body works together. When you actively build up the surrounding musculature, the process works 95 percent of the time. Those are great odds. You see, the muscles are intended to be abused. They can tear and shred them, and they are designed to recover, which is called delayed onset muscle soreness. If the cartilage, disc, or joint tears, there is no mechanism to repair them. If this continues to occur and is not addressed and we get to the point that the phrase “bone on bone” is used, these words are told to the patient to lead them down the road and make them believe that surgery is the only option. In my experience, the words “bone on bone” are used too frequently. You do not judge a patient by their X-ray or MRI. The experience of what they feel when performing exercises and their abilities to achieve results involving strength is how you really judge the patient. To me, it is a win-win situation when it comes to rehabilitation because when you do the targeted specific exercises, you will often avoid surgery and if you needed surgery, going into it stronger is always better. It shortens the length of time spent in post-rehabilitation. Finding the clinician with this expertise is the challenge.
Working at The Site of Pain is NOT The Answer
Issues can arise from traditional approaches because traditional medical doctors are not trained in the musculoskeletal system, and they don’t understand the kinematic chain. Their focus is on the painful area. Time is often the issue as all the factors are not taken into proper account. This may lead to misdiagnosis, and in many cases, the painful area is not the problem. People often correlate pain and weakness together, but through proper testing, we often see that the painful area is stronger than its opposite side. The realization that strengthening the weaker side (non-painful side) becomes the solution. This takes more pressure off the painful side. In this way, we are succeeding where others fail because we worry about balance. I have a saying I like to use. “He who works at the site of pain is surely lost.” When you understand that everything is linked together and asymmetry could be the cause, you have to put the puzzle together to get a clearer picture.
Spinework’s Multidisciplinary Approach
Dr. Bryan Hunte and his team at Advanced Spinework’s model is designed to get the body to function better. Joints need to move better. Improved motion feeds the cartilage in your joints with nutrition. When the joints function better, we apply physical rehab to support the improved function. With the rehab, we focus on symmetry and utilize the state-of-the-art equipment called the multicervical unit (MCU) and the Eccentron to give us data through physical performance testing to give us direction. This provides the lasting results people are looking for, and we are the only ones in the area that have these pieces of equipment—More details on these below.
Dr. Hunte’s Patients Can Expect
• A rapid return to normal activities and/or lost activities
• Custom exercise routines formulated from the physical exam
• A conservative approach to many musculoskeletal conditions
• Prevention of future episodes
• Education about injury prevention and ergonomics
If you have neck/cervical spine pain, MCU might be the answer you’ve been looking for.
ECCENTRON™
The Eccentron™ takes advantage of the way the body truly builds strength; through focusing on negative resistance.
What are the benefits of using the Eccentron?
• Improved balance – Safely increases strength and stability for improved balance, mobility, and decreased fall risk
• Cardiopulmonary – Provides measurable strengthening for those with low cardiac output
• Easy on the body – Allows you to make major improvements without high impact exercises
• Specificity – Elderly and extreme athletes can all strengthened on the same equipment
• General rehab – Controlled treatment and single-leg tracking
• Enhances overall athletic performance – strength, power, reaction, and agility
• Builds muscles for long-endurance – builds fast-twitch muscles used in powerful burst movements, and boosts spring quality with high load, high repetition eccentric training
Advanced Spineworks
Advanced Spineworks provides a multidisciplinary approach using chiropractic, and physical rehabilitation, makes us your one-stop source for effective pain relief, rehabilitation, and results. Since 2001, we have delivered physical therapy, chiropractic, and manual therapy to patients. Dr. Bryan Hunte will support you in your recovery. Whether you are dealing with back pain, neck pain, headache, or a sports injury, we are here to help you every step of the way.
If you’re looking for exceptional pain relief and rehabilitation in the Bonita Springs area call Advanced Spineworks today 239-221-6200.
Dr. Hunte—Advanced Spineworks
Dr. Bryan Hunte D.C. started his undergraduate work at Ithaca College in New York with a bachelor’s degree in Cardiac Rehab and Exercise Science. He was also involved in many sports in his youth and played college football which gave him particular insight into many conditions facing athletes. From there, he attended National University of Health Sciences and obtained his doctorate in Chiropractic Medicine. He has practiced in multidisciplinary practices his entire career which has led him to appreciate how powerful chiropractic is at helping someone get out of pain.
The rehabilitation which follows will provide lasting results. It has been this strong combination that has helped patients recover from their most serious conditions. Furthermore, Dr. Hunte has also obtained superior equipment called the Multicervical Unit and the Eccentron, which can achieve results where others have failed. He prides himself on achieving results which allow his patients to live medication free and avoid surgery. He strives to get his patients back to the life they love.
Advanced Spine Works
239-221-6200
advancedspineworks.com
16517 Vanderbilt Dr. Suite 3, Bonita Springs, FL 34134