Do you know someone or is this person you… where they have this certain ache (back pain, headaches, migraines, TMJ, shoulder pain, etc..) and they go see their doctor to find out what’s going on. The doctor tells them its nothing or just gives them pain medication. While taking the medication, the pain starts to feel like it is going away, but that only happens when you take the medication. Once the pain meds wear off, the pain comes back. Round and Round we go, pain comes and goes depending on the medication.
You go back to your doctor saying the pain is still there. They either give you more medication (a stronger dose or they give you the strong stuff like muscle relaxers). You take the strong stuff and it hides the pain, but you don’t like how it feels. The side effects of the stronger medication make you feel lousy or sleepy. It knocks you out and all you want to do is sleep. Meanwhile, your family and friends want to go out, but because the pain or the medication, all you want to do is sleep. Round and round we go again.
Now you can’t do the things you used to do (ex: work out, go out with friends, sit for long, etc…) or want to do. You go back to your doctor again because the chronic pain hasn’t gone away. They send you to physical therapy or to acupuncture. It helps, but the pain still comes and goes. You try other things like yoga, stretches, massage, cupping or you invest in massage guns but that still doesn’t get rid of the pain. Round and round we go.
By now your doctor doesn’t know what else todo. They send you for xrays or a MRI, they might find something and give you a diagnosis. Either way that doesn’t do anything to relieve the pain. Eventually the doctors may even recommend surgery, but there is no guarantee that will correct the problem.
I say round and round we go because this is very common for many of the patients I come across. These are people who are sick and tired of feeling bad, who don’t want to take more medication, the things they tried haven’t worked and they definitely don’t want surgery. It makes me sad to hear that this is the system that people have to deal with. They go through that system in the hopes that their insurance and doctors will take care of them because they are in their insurance network. Case in point, I recently had a new patient come in with bouts of vertigo, migraines and neck pain. He’s been dealing with this for at least 10 years. Going through Kaiser, they gave him meds, physical therapy, tried massage and topical pain relief patches. He came because his pain is forcing him to take time off work.
If this sounds like you or someone you know, this doesn’t have to be the end of the story. You’re in the right place and these are the things that I see everyday in my practice. Chronic pain that is negatively affecting one’s quality of life, they waste a lot of time trying other therapies but it’s not giving them the long term solution. With pain that comes and goes, where other modalities have not helped, I’ve found that the cause of the symptoms are due to vertebral subluxations (misaligned, stuck bones in the spine that puts pressure on the nervous system). That stress on the nervous system will not go away by taking medication, doing yoga, or just doing muscle work, that’s where chiropractic can help.
If that sounds like you. Call and see if you are a candidate for chiropractic care. Call or text (619) 758-5820 to make an appointment.
Dr. Palmes is a family chiropractor in Scripps Ranch. He services Scripps Ranch, Mira Mesa, Poway, Sabre Springs, Rancho Penasquitos, Miramar, Rancho Bernardo and San Diego county. He works with kids, pregnant women, men, and women be the best version of themselves so they can have a greater impact on the world.