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Headaches
Most people at one time or another get a headache. For some, simply taking a couple of pain relievers, such as aspirin, will knock the headache down and let you continue on with your day. That is fine for an occasional headache; however, if you have repeated headaches you should get checked by a physician or a chiropractor to determine the cause and a treatment plan to correct the underlying problem.
Kinds of Headaches
There are several different types of common headaches (that I will cover here) : tension headaches, sinus headaches and migraines. Read more in the newsletter to see various strategies to relieve these types of headaches, including chiropractic adjustments, foods to avoid, and exercises to do.
What is the Treatment
By gently adjusting the cervical (neck) and upper thoracic (midback) vertebrae, a chiropractor can take the pressure off of pinched nerves, restoring the normal nerve impulses, and helping to balance the surrounding musculature; thus, decreasing or alleviating the headache.
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The First Annual Healthy Living Day be held on April 10th from 10 am until 2 pm at Zager Chiropractic Services at 2840 Business Loop 181 N, Floresville, TX. This mini-seminar day will provide information on a wide variety of common conditions such as low back pain and headache, as well as self help topics like how to do core exercises, nutritional tips, exercises for kids, correct lifting techniques, and relaxation techniques. It is free of charge and refreshments will be provided.
Click here to sign up for the class or Call (830) 393-6554
The Fibromyalgia class will teach you the diagnostic criteria of fibromyalgia and related conditions such as myofascitis and myofascial pain syndrome. It will also teach you causes of these different conditions, easy self help techniques, and various treatment approaches for these conditions.
Click here to sign up for the class or Call (830) 393-6554
The thyroid gland controls your metabolism (your energy levels). People who have cold hands or feet, feel sluggish, and have difficulty losing weight usually have hypothyroidism. You can first check your thyroid by taking your basal (under your armpit for 10 minutes without moving around) temperature first thing in the morning before you get out of bed. Take it for 3 – 5 days in a row. If it is below 97.8 – 98.2 it strongly suggests hypothyroidism. Again this may be subclinical, but you should have some thyroid tests performed. There are some natural and supplemental vitamins that can help. The innervation for the thyroid gland comes from the Vagus nerve and the superior cervical ganglion (located at C2).
While the Thyroid gland and subclinical hypothyroidism may not be the direct cause of Fibromyalgia, it can be a co-existing condition and may in fact enhance or exacerbate your symptoms. Many of the symptoms of hypothyroidism (fatigue, coldness, low energy, irritablness) are also symptoms associated with Fibromyalgia. Low thyroid function should be ruled out and/or treated along with your other Fibromyalgia symptoms.
Some of the co-existing conditions of Fibromyalgia also include:
Chronic fatigue syndrome
Depression
Endometriosis
Headaches
Irritable bowel disease
Hypothyroidism
Lupus
Osteoarthritis
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Restless Leg Syndrome
There is also some talk about whether there is a chronic, subclinical (not a full blown) yeast infection component of Fibromyalgia. People who consume lots of sugary foods (sugar, fructose, and corn syrup) are more prone to yeast infections. Yeast infections can reduce your energy, make PMS worse, and alter your digestion habits.
I also believe that there may be either thyroid and/or estrogen-progesterone imbalances that are present, but which may not be severe enough to show up on lab tests as below normal values. They sometimes show as low normals. These imbalances may be causes or simply aggravating factors.
Some researchers are now looking into the possibility that one of the things that happens is that the nervous system becomes hyperactive to pain. This means that it takes a much lower stimulus to provoke a pain interpretation in the brain. Instead of a deep pressure to evoke a pain sensation, it only takes a light pressure. Instead of a lot of a muscle activity to make your muscles feel sore – it just takes a little bit of activity. Your brain is “primed” to feel the pain.
Additionally, nerve pathways are “learned” pathways and they build reflexes or associated pathways. Just as an athlete practices and trains their muscles to respond in a certain way – your body and nerves “learn” to react in certain ways. The longer time you have pain – the body (muscles and nerves) learn to react in a particular way and develop into bad habits. We have to “re-train” both your nerves and your muscles to react in different “good” ways.
First I believe that myofascitis can turn into Myofascial Pain Syndrome and it can then turn into Fibromyalgia. There are a lot of components to Fibromyalgia and each component can become a vicious cycle in and of itself.
Researchers estimate that approximately 4% of the population has Fibromyalgia, mostly women. Fibromyalgia is probably a much higher percentage.
When you are under stress (constant or high) your muscles contract and tighten down. If they are in prolonged contraction they can build up adhesions or scar tissue between the muscle fiber and the sheath and other muscle fibers. That is the knot you feel. The knot can become inflamed and tender. As the knots stay there, they can become tender points and then trigger points where they themselves can cause pain. Your muscles can become stiff and won’t work smoothly. Remember that you have muscles everywhere: You digestive tract is one big smooth muscle, as are your arteries. You will see the connection a little later with the co-existing conditions.
Sometimes the stress that initiates everything can be from a specific injury or it can be from repetitive micro traumas. The more your muscles stay contracted, the more likely adhesions (like scar tissue) form, and then create tender points and trigger points. The longer your muscles stay that way, the more the muscle thinks that that is the correct position.
When you are in pain, you have difficulty finding a good position (non painful) to sleep in and your sleep quality goes down. When you don’t get good sleep – your muscles do not get the rest they need, nor does your body get the repair time it needs. If you don’t get good sleep for more than 2 weeks – you are heading toward sleep deprivation. Your body just doesn’t work very well, nor does your brain. A vicious cycle can and will start and any part of the body can now be affected.
Trigger Points: Trigger points are discrete, focal, hyperirritable spots located in a taut band of skeletal muscle. They are usually found as sore or tender round spots in muscles. You can usually “move” them around. Many of them are found near muscle/tendon junctions or near tendon/bone junctions. They can produce pain locally and/or in a referred pattern and often accompany chronic musculoskeletal disorders. Acute trauma or repetitive micro trauma may lead to the development of stress on muscle fibers and the formation of trigger points. Tender Points are like trigger points, but do not refer or radiate pain out.
Tender points/trigger points can be painful for several reasons. First there is inflammation or swelling around the knot, which is painful in itself. Secondly, as the muscle is in continual contraction it fatigues (painful) and waste products (lactic acid – painful) build up. Thirdly it can build neural “links” to other nerves stimulating their pain fibers. Very similar to sclerodermal pain from a heart attack is referred to your left shoulder. Fourthly, the rest of the muscle is now not working at its optimum level or ergonomics because a portion of it isn’t working in concert with the rest of the fibers. This can overburden the rest of the fibers and not make them as effective.
Myofascitis (muscle fiber inflammation): a condition where muscle fibers are inflamed. This can be either acute (a specific injury or infection of a muscle) or chronic. The chronic condition is much like Fibromyalgia. Your muscle fibers are tender or inflamed and just hurt.
Myofascial Pain Syndrome (pain syndrome of the muscle fibers): This condition is characterized by tender points or trigger points in various muscles that when pressed on are very tender and can refer or radiate pain themselves. Some experts believe that Myofascial Pain Syndrome can turn into Fibromyalgia.
Fibromyalgia (fibers of the muscles hurt): is a chronic condition where you have pain in a variety of places throughout your body, especially in your muscles, ligaments, and tendons; as well as, fatigue and multiple “tender points” or “trigger points”. The pain can be vague (more aching than sharp) and can change intensity from day to day. Most people with Fibromyalgia also suffer from fatigue and sleep disturbances.
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