The Natural Way to Heal Chronic Pain in Doylestown, Pa.

The Natural Way to Heal Chronic Pain in Doylestown, Pa.

Heal Chronic PainDo you suffer from chronic pain? Where is it? Is it in your back, wrist, neck, or leg? There are natural solutions to heal chronic pain throughout your body.

It starts with discovering the source of the chronic pain and then creating a treatment plan to address it. Your medical professional can help.

For example, in Doylestown, Pa. You can see a chiropractor to help you pinpoint the reason behind the pain and find natural pain relief.

As you may know, chiropractors practice a safe and effective approach to relieving chronic pain.

Your Spinal Health Matters 

When you think about it, it makes sense, chiropractors keep your spine in good working order and your spine is connected to your central nervous system (CNS). Your CNS is responsible for sending and receiving messages throughout your body.

Chiropractors love to say, “your spine is your lifeline” because it’s so critical to your health. It connects your nervous system to everything in your body. When the messages flow easily, everything goes well. Your body works like it’s supposed to and you feel good. When it doesn’t, it’s kind of like when your internet buffers. You notice it and it’s irritating. For some, it’s debilitating.

Chronic pain is wearing. It nags at your central nervous system all the time and often triggers something called “central sensitization” which means you’re more sensitive than before. In other words, chronic pain intensity might mean you move up the pain scale from a 3 to a 7 or an 8 quicker than before. If you’ve ever lost patience or said you were on “your last nerve,” then you’re familiar with the feeling.

However, regular exercise, massage therapy, and chiropractic adjustments can help you feel your best.

Why Do You Have Chronic Pain?

Pain is a warning. It may stem from an injury or a poor posture or overuse of certain muscles (like carpal tunnel.)  You might know exactly why you’re in pain and you might not. Yet, everything is connected to your spine and your spine is connected to your brain where the messages originate.

There are 33 bones in the spinal column, plus nerves, muscles, and tissue. From there, everything else in your body is connected. There’s a reason we call chiropractic care an “adjustment.” We adjust your bones, muscles, and tissue and make sure your body is re-aligned.

That way, if your chronic neck pain, for example, originates from the way you jut your head forward from long hours at the computer (it’s a subtle jutting – no one would notice – but it puts a ton of pressure on your body), then your adjustment realigns your neck and takes the pressure off the nearby nerves. You’ll immediately feel better.

In other cases, you might have hurt your back or be suffering from sciatica. Chiropractic care can help with those too. In some cases, you may have a bone pushing into nearby tissue and even the nerve. This is common and chiro care excels in helping you find natural pain relief from pinched nerves and other common pains.

What to Expect From Your Chiropractor

At McQuaite Chiropractic in Doylestown, your first visit starts with X-rays of the painful area. That gives insight into what’s causing your pain and how to best treat you. Next, we’ll make recommendations for your treatment. This could include hot and cold therapy, spinal manipulation, and a modest exercise program. Though it varies for everyone.

You deserve to feel better! If you’re in Doylestown, Pa. or the surrounding area, give us a call. We accept walk-in’s, crawl-in’s and various insurance.

6 Ways to Protect Your Joints as You Age 

6 Ways to Protect Your Joints as You Age 

Protect your joints

It’s easy to take our bodies for granted. You can walk, bend over, sit and stand, and maybe even run and dance. But one wrong step can change everything. Twist your ankle stepping off a curb and you may find yourself traveling through the airport in a wheelchair because you can’t walk. 

As you get older, many people find they have more aches and pains than before. Often, it’s joint related and if left unchecked, can seriously hamper your activities. 

There are a few ways you can maintain your joint health though, no matter your age. 

How to Protect Your Joint Health 

1- Maintain a healthy weight – There are so many health benefits to maintaining a healthy weight and joint health is a big one. Take your knees for instance. Every extra 10 pounds on your body is like another 20 pounds on your knee joints. That takes it’s toll after a while. 

2- Stretch – According to researchers at Harvard University, it helps to move and stretch every 15 minutes. That helps keep the oxygen flowing through your body which carries nutrients and helps lubricate the joints. Stretching regularly also improves range of motion.

If you can incorporate a regular yoga class appropriate for your abilities, that’s also beneficial. 

3- Create an ergonomic workstation – If you’re like most of us, you spend more time in front of screens that away from them. Not only is sitting for long periods unhealthy, but bending over a screen causes pain in the upper back, shoulders, and neck. Then there’s carpal tunnel pain a lot of people develop due to a lot of typing.

If you keep your screen at eye-level, that will help. If you have a laptop, you can raise it on a special laptop stand or even a stack of books and use an external mouse and keyboard. If you’re using a separate monitor, it’s easy to raise that on a shelf or books. 

4- Get a massage Therapeutic massage goes beyond just feeling good. It also helps reduce toxins and stimulate the blood flow throughout your body. A regular massage has many of the same benefits of stretching such as releasing tight muscles and improving range of motion. 

5- Chiropractic care – Chiropractic care works well with massage to protect your joints and offer pain relief. The massage relaxes the muscles and the chiropractic adjustment re-aligns your spine which in turn, helps your whole body. In some cases, we don’t do a traditional adjustment but rely on other techniques like ultrasound and a TENS machine to help your joints and reduce pain. 

6- Don’t overuse – If you have arthritis or consistent pain in certain joints, evaluate how you can make lifestyle changes to limit certain actions. For example, if it’s painful for you to chop vegetables, try to buy them pre-chopped. 

Overall, there are many ways you can protect your joints. Hopefully, you can implement some or all of these suggestions before you’re in a lot of pain. If you’re in or near Doylestown, Pa. and would like to talk with a chiropractor about protecting your joints, we offer a free consultation.

Discovering Your Natural Back Pain Treatment

Discovering Your Natural Back Pain Treatment

Natural Pain TreatmentAre you looking for natural back pain treatment? 80% of Americans experience back pain at some point in their lives. Many of you live with chronic back pain and lose tens of hours of your lives hurting.

For many patients, natural back pain treatment can be a combination of:

1 Adjusting your workspace – Are your shoulders perpetually hunched over a computer? Many Americans are taking on the appearance of a modern-day hunchback. Shoulders rolled forward, a chair that’s not the right height, your computer monitor being too low—all of these can contribute to neck and back pain.

Ideally, your monitor is at eye level. Your arms, wrists and backs are supported by your chair. You may need an ergonomic keyboard or a back support in your chair. If any of these are set-up incorrectly, you might want to look at moving your desk and its components around. Alternatively you could also look into purchasing some new products that can help you sit with a more comfortable posture, such as this 32 inch computer monitor to make viewing easier, for example.

2 MassageRegular massage can help relieve back pain and when used in conjunction with chiropractic care, it can make a huge difference. The reason is simple; chiropractic adjustments manipulate your joints while massage manipulates your muscles. One complements the other.

3 Regular chiropractic careChiropractic adjustments are natural back pain treatment. It’s common for bones to be out of alignment. When they are, they can cause pressure on nerves or organs which can lead to back pain. When your chiropractor adjusts your spine everything is back into place.

Of course, most people’s bodies have adjusted to the “out of place” bones and they’ll creep back. Massage helps your muscles re-adjust to their “rightful” place.

Dr. Jeff McQuaite always welcomes new patients with an X-ray to see where the problems lie. Then, he usually offers a treatment plan that includes hot and cold therapy plus electric muscle treatment (lying on the table with the electric sensors delivering steady buzzing feeling on your sore muscles.)

Most patients enjoy the stem cell treatment and find it relaxes them.

You deserve natural back pain treatment. If you’re in the Central Bucks County area, try Dr. McQuaite and feel relief. Crawl-ins are always accepted.

How Chiropractic Care for Shoulder Pain Helps You

How Chiropractic Care for Shoulder Pain Helps You

Shoulder PAinShoulder pain can stem from a number of causes including a rotator cuff injury, carpal tunnel syndrome or a pinched nerve. These can be chronic, nagging and even debilitating pains.

Five muscles make up your shoulder. Together they allow you to type, play golf, drive a car, even wash your hair. When one or more of these are injured, you may feel the pain radiating down your arm and into your hand. Or, it may be more concentrated in your shoulder. Either way, it will get in the way of completing daily tasks and your enjoyment of life.

Shoulder pain can show up in a variety of ways including swelling, recurring pain or the lack of mobility in your arm, neck or shoulder area.

If you’re suffering with shoulder pain, you can ice it for 15-20 minutes to numb it. Then, come in to see your chiropractor and get an Xray. This will determine the source of the pain so your chiropractor can recommend a treatment plan. Because, after all, you can’t heal something if you don’t know what the problem is.

How Chiropractic Care Relieves Shoulder Pain

Your chiropractor will make a determination based on your Xrays. He or she will manipulate the tendons and muscles in and around the area of pain as necessary and make adjustments that will re align your body.

This “resets” your muscles and bone structure so they return to their rightful positions putting your body back into alignment, so you don’t feel chronic pain. Your chiropractor will often prescribe therapeutic exercises and make other recommendations for healing too so you start feeling better quickly.

How Quickly Will You Find Relief?

While some people feel immediate relief, others may take a couple of visits before they feel better. A series of regular visits will help your body heal so you can get back to doing the things your love – pain-free.

If you’re in the Central Bucks, PA area, Dr. Jeff McQuaite has a terrific new patient special.