Auto Accidents & Work Injuries

Auto Accidents & Work Injuries

Pure Wellness Auto and Work Injury Rehabilitation

An injury of any type whether an auto or work injury can cause a great deal of responses in the body, including inflammation, muscle spasms, ligament tension, laxity and exhaustion, as well as other symptoms. At Pure Wellness, we rehabilitate your injuries using the latest and most effective techniques and equipment in a two-phase program.

Therapeutic stretches and exercises are an important part of many treatment plans, as they enable the healing process through increasing your muscle strength and coordination, and enhancing your flexibility and mobility.

When participating in our rehabilitation program, we assist you in returning to your pre-work or pre-auto accident injury status.  Many of the stretches and exercises can be continued even once active care is finished. This reduces the likelihood of sustaining new injuries and minimizes the recurrence of previous injuries.

Steps to Faster Recovery

Each phase begins with a 5-minute bike warm up to increase blood flow and stimulate both sides of the body.

Phase I: Re-educate the Joints
Accomplished through basic stretches to increase range of motion (ROM). Followed by ice to reduce swelling and spasms.

Phase II: Re-train Muscles and Ligaments
Continue basic stretches with low resistive exercises to further increase ROM and also increase strength, endurance, and tone. Followed by ice to decrease any persistent swelling and spasms.

After completion of Phase II, the patient is typically given an individualized home-stretching program to maintain flexibility and strength at home.

Fatigue

Fatigue

It’s one thing to feel sleepy or tired for a day or two after a stressful work or life event. It’s quite another to struggle day after day to find the energy to do the things you need to do during the day. Or fight through to stay awake during the early evening hours. Fatigue is more than just feeling tired, it is limiting and lingering and may be caused by stress, illness, a chronic lack of sleep, or hormonal imbalance.

What is fatigue?

We sometimes confuse fatigue with feelings of being tired. In reality, fatigue is something entirely different. Fatigue is defined as constant, lingering and limiting tiredness that affects someone physically or emotionally.

Fatigue is not always a bad thing. During exercise, your muscles and brain become fatigued from the exertion. There is a point where you can no longer perform the rep or run the mile the way you did when you first began called muscle fatigue. For athletes, it is important to know this physical breakdown point so you can train for it and improve. You may gradually increase the distance you run or increase the weight you lift to push past your fatigue point.

And that is what most of us try to do. We begin to experience a physical breakdown and push on anyway. You may feel like you have missed too many hours of sleep, you are trying to reason through a mental fog, or you are catching the flu, but you attempt to push on in your daily tasks anyway, hoping that you will build strength in the process.

Am I tired or fatigued?

It’s no secret that we’re more stressed out today than ever before in human history. It’s common to have a few sleepless nights or days filled with more “to do’s” than hours leaving us tired, lethargic or sleepy when we are meant to be energetic. However, there is one differentiating factor between being fatigued and just tired.

You may chuckle at the National Sleep Foundation recommendation that adults get 7-9 hours of sleep every night. You’re not alone. According to the CDC, nearly 1 in 3 adults in the US don’t get enough sleep. Between demanding jobs and responsibilities at home, we may find ourselves going to bed at a different time each night and scrolling social media before bed in an attempt to unwind – both factors that contribute to a poor night’s sleep. While poor sleep habits can certainly contribute to chronic fatigue, it is not the only defining factor.

The key differentiating factor between being just tired and being fatigued is that fatigue is constant and limiting. When you are fatigued, you tend to:

  • Have a loss of memory
  • Concentrate poorly
  • Experience unexplained joint or muscle pain
  • Have more frequent headaches
  • Sleep poorly, even when you have adequate time asleep

What causes fatigue?

There are literally hundreds of causes of fatigue. While some people experience it as a part of a larger illness, others simply experience fatigue and its other symptoms as a standalone condition. For this group, causes of fatigue fall into one or more broad categories.

Poor nutrition

What we eat has a direct impact on how we feel. Eating too much sugar, too many processed foods, and too little key nutrients can contribute to fatigue. Women are especially prone to fatigue that has its root in nutritional causes as they neglect their own nutrition in favor of work, home and family. Deficiencies in iron, Folate, other B vitamins, and Vitamin D can impact mood, energy levels and even reproductive health. However, men are not immune to nutritional deficiency.

Consider what happens to your metabolism and energy levels when you eat a candy bar. The combination of sugar and fat hit your digestive system like a speeding truck. You experience a sharp fluctuation in your blood sugar level that gives you a jolt of energy.  However, since you have not eaten a meal with fiber, complex carbohydrates, or protein, (peanuts help a little, but don’t exactly counterbalance all of that sugar) your blood sugar begins to crash, leaving you feeling tired, hungry, cranky, or even dizzy and light-headed. Repeating this cycle over and over leads to weight gain and fatigue.

Hormonal Imbalance

While we spend most of our time talking about the hormonal changes women experience as they age, men experience hormonal shifts as well that can leave them feeling fatigued. After age 35, the amount of estrogen a woman produces begins to drop. This is common knowledge. What most people do not realize is that progesterone, the hormone responsible for preparing the uterus for implantation, and testosterone, the hormone that revs a woman’s energy and sex drive also begin to decline at a rapid rate. As these hormones become more and more out of balance, women experience crushing fatigue, unexplained weight gain and difficult and irregular periods.

While they do not have the hormonal trifecta to contend with, men’s testosterone levels begin to naturally decline after age 30. Even though this decline is part of aging, a rapid decline can lead to unexplained weight gain, fatigue and decreased performance in the bedroom.

Underlying Illness

Fatigue may be a condition all on its own, but it can also be a symptom of several illnesses. When considering your symptoms, your health care provider is also considering the possibility of:

  • Anemia  Red blood cells carry oxygen to your organs including your muscles and brain. When you have fewer red blood cells than you should, you are considered anemic which is a major cause of fatigue.
  • Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) – Whether you call it CFS, Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) or systemic exertion intolerance disease (SEID), the symptoms are the same. You experience extreme, unexplained fatigue. CFS is found in women two to four times more than men and those between age 40 and age 50 are more likely to develop this condition than any other age group.
  • Diabetes – While excessive thirst, excessive urination, and weight loss are hallmarks of diabetes, fatigue is the biggest differentiating symptom of the disease.
  • Fibromyalgia – Fibromyalgia is not an illness, but rather a descriptive term for chronic, wide-spread pain without a cause. It affects more women than men and is characterized by daytime fatigue, aching joints and muscles, and a “fibro fog” – a mental haze that makes it hard to concentrate on the simplest of tasks.
  • Heart disease – Fatigue is a common symptom of heart disease in women. When your heart does not pump blood throughout your body efficiently, you become tired easily.
  • Thyroid disease – Who knew a butterfly-shaped gland on your neck could cause so many problems. If it is overactive, you tend to burn through the fuel you consume too quickly. If it is underactive, you feel sluggish.

Mental Health

Fatigue and mental health are inextricably linked. In fact, some argue that your mental health and physical health have a chicken and egg relationship. It is impossible to know if stress, emotional trauma, grief, and physical trauma cause fatigue or if physical fatigue contributes to stress, emotional trauma or grief. When these feelings are linked to a stressor, the fatigue tends to pass when the stressor passes. However, fatigue is an almost daily struggle for those that suffer from chronic mental health issues like seasonal affective disorder, clinical depression, postpartum depression, anxiety, and Bipolar disorder.

The Link Between Chronic Stress & Fatigue

You know what stress feels like, but do you know the biological impact stress can have on your body? You have a miraculous, biological way to protect yourself from predators called the “fight or flight” response. When you face danger, your body floods your brain with hormones in preparation to fight for your life or run away. Every part of your body prepares for the experience. Your digestion slows down, your skin becomes more sensitive, your pupils dilate, and your muscles store as much fuel as possible to prepare for the feats of strength you will require. Once you have fought or fled you naturally go into a “rest and digest” phase to allow your body to return to normal and store up for the next possible predator.

However, for as incredible as your fight or flight response is, it cannot tell the difference between facing a bobcat in the forest and an important presentation for work. Your body will respond the same. This only becomes a problem when you never enter the “rest and digest” phase. If you only feel fight or flight, eventually your adrenal glands will stop functioning the way they should and you will be left only feeling stress and fatigue.

Fighting Fatigue

Someone who experiences fatigue as the result of illness will often find relief once the underlying condition is treated. For others, treating fatigue involves adjusting a lifestyle, adding in non-drug therapies, balancing hormones, and managing stress. These tips and tricks can benefit nearly everyone who feels fatigued.

  1. Nutrition Counseling. Yes, it is tempting to live on coffee, whatever is leftover from your child’s lunch and a prayer, but consuming a diet rich in fiber, complex carbohydrates, protein, and vitamins and limiting processed foods, sugar, caffeine, and alcohol can go a long way to fighting fatigue. With so much conflicting information on nutrition, it is easy to see why so many Americans simply give up and eat whatever is fast and convenient. Enter nutritional counseling. Taking your lifestyle, age, hormone level, and exercise routine into account, nutritional counseling offers you customized eating plans that can help you manage your weight and fight fatigue all at the same time.
  2. Stress less. There you go laughing again. But learning how to manage your stress keeps your body cycling from fight or flight to rest and digest. Simply managing how you experience stress can limit many feelings of fatigue that are so common to so many of us. Massage is the perfect way to relax, work out knots in tired muscles, and find peace in a stressful world.
  3. Sleep. CEO’s know that the key to success is to get the same amount of sleep, during the same hours every night. While this is easier said than done during the years when you are raising a young family, getting adequate rest can often reduce feelings of fatigue during the day.

Feelings of limiting, endless exhaustion do not have to be your version of normal. Fatigue is treatable with non-drug therapies like chiropractic, acupuncture, massage, IV therapy, nutritional counseling, and bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. Call Pure Wellness today for your fatigue consultation and rediscover your lost energy.

Anxiety

Anxiety

Everyone is anxious from time to time. The big presentation at work or the looming exam in school is enough to cause anyone anxiety. However, chronic or generalized anxiety is a crippling condition for millions of Americans. Fortunately, there is hope for those struggling with anxious thoughts or feelings.

What is Anxiety?

Our bodies are equipped with an evolutionary response called fight or flight. When faced with impending danger, our pupils dilate, breathing and heart rate speeds up, digestion slows down, and muscles store available glucose to prepare to either fight for our lives or run away as fast as possible. Once the threat has passed, our breathing and heart rate slow, digestion resumes, and we enter a phase known as “rest and digest”.

This response served our ancestors well when they faced predators and raiding clansmen. However, it doesn’t matter whether we have an impending deadline or a bull charging toward us, the response is the same. A person who struggles with anxiety not only experiences fear in situations where there is a real threat, they also experience that fight or flight response when the threat is only perceived.

How Does Anxiety Feel?

Anxiety sometimes feels different to different people. However, many of the symptoms include:

  • Fast heart rate
  • Shortness of breath
  • General feelings of panic
  • Emotional outbursts
  • Depression
  • Overwhelming fear

How is Anxiety Treated?

Most physicians rely on medication to treat anxiety as Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors or SSRIs. Also known as anti-depressants, SSRIs increase the levels of serotonin in the brain, the body’s natural “feel-good” hormone. Typically prescribed in conjunction with behavioral or talk therapy, SSRIs also carry side effects such as nausea, headache, insomnia, sexual dysfunction, and worsening symptoms. But what if there was a way to treat anxiety without medication?

Acupuncture

Typically, patients think of acupuncture as a treatment for pain disorders. In reality, acupuncture has been used for hundreds of years to give patients an overall sense of well-being. Small, thin needles are placed under the skin at strategic points throughout the body known to be associated with mood disorders such as anxiety. Patients feel happier, more calm, and more in control of their thoughts without side-effects.

No matter the cause of your anxiety, there is help available. Call our office today or schedule your consultation online and rediscover life outside of fight or flight.

Degeneration

Degeneration

The human body is like a finely tuned automobile, complete with an advanced electrical system and shock absorbers that are good for thousands of miles. The problem is, when the shocks start to wear out, it affects the electrical circuits, causes pain, and stops the machine from running the way it should. Don’t believe us? Consider this.

What are Intervertebral Discs?

Your spine consists of 33 bones, each set on top of each other. In between these bones are discs made of thick, gelatinous material. These discs act as the shock absorbers on a car, cushioning the bones and preventing damage from the walking, bending, standing, sitting, climbing, and moving we do from the day we are born until the day we die.

What is Disc Degeneration?

When the intervertebral discs are healthy, they are shiny, round, and thick. If they are compressed, they bounce back quickly, never moving more than a fraction of an inch at a time. While they are durable, they can shift out of place (a slipped disc) or even rupture if they are severely injured. If a disc is repeatedly stressed, if a person ages, or if the disc becomes dehydrated from injury or illness, it will gradually deteriorate, a condition known as disc degeneration.

Symptoms of Disc Degeneration

Some people will experience disc degeneration and never have any symptoms. More often, disc degeneration will begin causing problems with the nerves that emanate from the spinal cord, passing through the vertebrae. These symptoms may include:

  • Numbness or tingling in the arms, hands, legs, and feet
  • A burning sensation in the extremities
  • Back pain
  • Stiffness
  • Limited range of motion

What are the Best Treatments for Degeneration?

When it comes to disc degeneration, most people assume that the best treatment is surgery to either repair or replace the disc. Fortunately, there is a drug-free, non-invasive approach that can relieve disc degeneration symptoms and improve spinal health.

Chiropractic

The spine is the housing for the spinal cord, a major player in the central nervous system. Responsible for all voluntary movement and involuntary processes like breathing and digestion, your body’s health is hinged on your spinal cord doing what it was intended to do. When discs degenerate, the bones in the spine affect the nerves that radiate from the spinal cord, causing pain, numbness, tingling, and other symptoms. Fortunately, chiropractic care realigns the spine and creates space for intervertebral discs to begin to heal themselves.

 

Massage

Yes, massage is relaxing, but it also improves blood flow and improves the immune system. In addition to easing symptoms of disc degeneration, therapeutic massages can halt the degenerative process and in some cases reverse it. When used in conjunction with other therapies, massage becomes an important piece of the puzzle.

Curious whether you are experiencing disc degeneration? Looking for an effective, drug-free, non-invasive approach to improving disc health? Contact our office for your consultation today.

Digestive Upset

Digestive Upset

There are few things that can ruin your day faster than stomach pain, nausea, diarrhea, heartburn or other digestive problems. But before you reach for the antacids, there may be a treatment you are not considering that can offer safe, effective, lasting relief for your digestive issues.

What Causes Digestive Upset?

There are as many causes for an upset stomach as there are ways to experience it. Some of the most common include:

  • Poor diet
  • Stress
  • Illness
  • Medication
  • Food sensitivities or allergies

Most Effective Treatments for Digestive Issues

Reaching for the antacids may offer temporary relief but often causes rebounding, a condition marked by worse symptoms than you were experiencing before. Instead, the most effective treatments for digestive issues involve long-term lifestyle changes. Eating a diet rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats can relieve heartburn, indigestion, and constipation and promote a healthier immune system. Reducing the amount of stress in your life can limit the number of times you reach for an acid reducer. However, there are two treatment options that safely and quickly relieve digestive upset that most people do not consider.

Chiropractic Care

Most people don’t realize that your nerves don’t just control the muscles in your body, they also control your organs. When they can communicate with your brain and organs without interruption, your body stops sending out distress signals in the form of pain and digestive upset. When the nerves that originate in your brain and spinal cord are interrupted by improper positioning of your vertebrae, the electrical signals are interrupted, creating problems throughout your body. These problems may take the form of pain, numbness, or tingling, or they may appear in nausea, indigestion, diarrhea, or other digestive issues. If you properly position the bones in the spine through chiropractic care, you eliminate the pressure on the nerves, and with it the stomach and intestinal problems.

Acupuncture

For hundreds of years in Eastern medicine, acupuncture has been used to create targeted stress for digestive upset relief. Using tiny needles, strategically placed in different areas of the body, acupuncture balances the entire digestive system while harmonizing organs to relieve IBS, diarrhea, and constipation. It can also promote a healthier stomach dynamic to relieve heartburn, acid indigestion, and bloating. By targeting specific channels for internal organs, acupuncture can even promote the proper function of the largest component of your immune system, your stomach, and intestines.

Regardless of the source of your digestive upset, the time has come to say farewell to your stomach and intestinal issues for good. Call our office today or schedule your consultation online and start on the road to wellness.