Today, the military utilizes treatments such as acupuncture to help wounded soldiers tolerate chronic pain. NPR news featured the militarily health care systems ongoing changes towards more conservative treatments such as acupuncture and chiropractic care and away from their former approach “a pill for every ill” was announced. Sgt. Rick Remalia, who broke his back, hip, and pelvis in Afghanistan, said “acupuncture is the first treatment that has really made a difference.” Arizona Pain Specialists is honored to have a working relationship with Phoenix department of Veteran Affairs helping this country’s injured servicemen.
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Military pokes holes in acupuncture skeptics theory – APS Responds
Preventing Back Pain: 10 Ways to Protect Your Back
Back pain is one of the most common ailments encountered by US physicians and causes of job-related disability and missed work, costing Americans more than $50 billion per year on diagnosis and treatment2.
Common causes of back pain include degenerative diseases such as osteoarthritis, muscle strain, mechanical problems such as a herniated disc, soft tissue injury and vertebral fractures associated with osteoporosis2. Rare, but more serious, causes include cancer, infection, vascular problems and damage to nervous tissues.
Often the best treatment for back pain is prevention; below are the top 10 methods for protecting the back from injury and preventing pain.
5 Reasons to Visit your Chiropractor
There are many good reasons to seek chiropractic care. Our top five?
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Preventing Neck Injury: 5 Ways to Protect Your Neck
Neck pain can occur with injury to any of the structures in the neck, including bones, muscles, nerves, ligaments, and the inter-vertebral discs that stabilize and support the spine1. The most common neck injuries include2:
- Strains, or tears of muscles and tendons
- Fractures, or broken cervical (neck) vertebrae
- Spasms, or tight contractions of neck muscles
- Stingers, or injuries of the nerves between the neck and the arm causing numbness, weakness and tingling
Neck injuries are often minor, but can be serious if there is a fracture or spinal cord damage2. These are the top five methods for protecting the neck from injury:
5 Reasons to Be Wary of Prescription Opioids
Opioids are a broad class of controlled medications which are typically prescribed for the short-term relief of chronic pain1, 2. The most commonly prescribed group of medications in the US, opioids act on specific receptors in the brain to produce analgesia (pain relief) and euphoria3, 4.
While opioids have been proven to be very effective in certain painful conditions for which they are prescribed, like most drugs they are not without side effects and other consequences:
