The Problem With Your Pain Management (Neck Pain, Back Pain, Migraines, Headaches, Disc Problems, Pinched Nerves, and More) and What To Do About It.  

The real problem with pain and what to do about it.

Most people take pain relievers called NSAIDs for Back Pain. Some NSAIDs are common over the counter pain relievers and others are available with prescription.

One of the more famous NSAIDs is Vioxx which is no longer available because it caused a at least 55,000 heart attacks (estimates as high as 500,000 deaths) in the five short years it was prescribed.

What many people don’t know is that even over the counter NSAIDs can cause serious harm and death through a variety of different means including heart attack, kidney damage, and stomach bleeds.

Tylenol, another common pain reliever that is in so many over the counter pain relievers is associated with liver damage and failure.

This might be even more concerning in the upcoming decades due to the high incidence of fatty liver disease that is now present in kids and adults primarily from high sugar and high processed food diets.

Other people suffering in pain end up turning to narcotics (opiates). These medications have increasingly come under fire recently due to side effects, including addiction and death.

What is really the problem?

Why do so many people take these over the counter pain relievers frequently, even daily?

The problem lies within our ideas about health and pain.

We, as a society, think that if we don’t feel a symptom that we’re healthy… that everything is fine.

Not only is this untrue, it’s dangerous.

Every major health problem that is killing people starts decades before it takes them out.

It’s inside you growing without any early symptoms long before something happens.

Heart disease kills more people than any other problem in the US. It kills 1 out of every 4 Americans.

It’s not a sudden problem, it’s a chronic problem that happens over a long period of time.

One of the most common signs of heart problems is a heart attack!

In fact, as many as HALF the people don’t realize they have a problem with their heart until they experience a heart attack… and HALF those people die with that first real symptom.

Cancer is the same.

People have no idea that cancer is growing inside them until that cancer gets big enough that they experience a symptom. Unfortunately by that time for many people, it’s too late.

We could talk about Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, autoimmune disorders, and more. ALL of these things don’t just happen in an instant.

These things happen over a long period of time – generally decades BEFORE a symptom.

We, as a society, are doing the same thing with arthritis, disc problems, musculo-skeletal changes, injuries, and pain.

Outside of a recent major trauma, like a car accident, a fall, or some other significant trauma… pain occurs as a symptom telling us that something is wrong.

Pain is not the problem, at least not initially (chronic pain becomes a problem in and of itself).

Pain tells us that there is a problem, not what that problem is for us.

It’s a warning that bad things are coming, in fact bad things are already here in the majority of cases.

Our body is telling us there is a problem.

It’s easier to cover up a symptom with a pain reliever, an anti-inflammatory like an NSAID.

We take the pills and then think because we don’t feel it as much that it’s better. The problem is not better at that point, you just lose some of the warning signal.

Reducing that signal allows us to go on about our regular activities allowing us to do things that pain would’ve prevented us from doing.

This can easily result in us causing further damage.

The challenge is that not only are we covering up the signal that something is wrong, but we are now at much greater risk of other problems from the medications that are reducing our symptom.

Over the years, it adds up and people die every day from taking these pain relievers, often over the counter pain relievers, over time others suffer from serious health problems as a result of their chronic use leading to problems with their heart, liver, kidneys, stomachs, and more.

It’s more common than you realize.

Not everyone has to wait years for organ failure though, some experience an almost immediate problem from these common medications.

Laying out the problem, pain is telling us that something is wrong.

It is far better to improve that problem than to simply cover it up, ignoring the underlying problem, causing additional damage to your body from the problem and often from the medication.

Regardless of what you have been told by friends, family, and various specialists, it’s likely that you can still improve your pain by improving the problem.

I do this virtually every single day in my office in Texarkana.

People come see me after seeing numerous specialists for many years, suffering the entire time, often getting worse while they continue to follow their advice, taking an ever-increasing amount of medication, getting injections, and more.

Don’t get me wrong, sometimes these treatments can be helpful. The issue is that they aren’t generally correcting what is causing the pain. They are helping reduce a symptom, the warning signal.

It’s best to do those interventions in addition to seeking other care, like an experienced Chiropractor, to address the physical problem that is causing the pain.

Every week, almost every single day, I see local Texarkana residents that have suffered with chronic, daily pain from so many different problems… headaches, migraines, neck pain, back pain, shoulder problems, hip problems, pinched nerves, disc herniations, and so many other issues.

Talking with them, I ask if they had ever tried seeing a Chiropractor. The most common response is no.

When I ask why, more often than not, they say they asked their doctor or their surgeon if they should try seeing a Chiropractor.

The response they get is either,

“Chiropractic can help some people, but not you. You’re problem is different, it’s too serious.”

OR

“Don’t see a Chiropractor. If you do they will kill you or paralyze you.”

Here’s a recent statement by the FDA recommending that Medical Doctors find out more about Chiropractic Care. It’s just that for most MD’s, no one has educated them about Chiropractic Care. It’s not their fault. MD’s are experts at what they do, they just aren’t experts in Chiropractic.

So, in spite of advice my patients get about Chiropractic, they ultimately come see me after getting this advice because they are not getting better.

They’ve suffered for years, following all the advice they were given, and have nothing to show for it other than a loss of all those years. In many cases, they are much worse!

What generally happens next is that I evaluate them, find what is wrong, and begin treating the problem.

The person gets better, often remarkably fast.

I’ve had people crying in my office because they are finally better after years of suffering.

Others become angry about all the wasted time, the advice they were given to not see a Chiropractor because it’s dangerous or not for them.

My advice to you.

If you live in or around Texarkana and are suffering with chronic pain, whether it’s migraines, headaches, back pain, neck pain, an extremity problem or some other neuro-musculo-skeletal problem – make an appointment to come see me.

The odds are that I can help you, most likely I can make a huge difference for you.

It doesn’t matter what you’ve heard or been told.

If I can’t help you, I’ll tell you and let you know what I think you should do next to get better.

There’s only one way to know if I can help you get your life back and that is to come see me in my Texarkana office to find out.