When you strain a muscle, or sprain a joint, or have an overuse injury, the injured tissues are primarily your soft tissues. Soft tissues include muscles, tendons, and ligaments. You may feel the pain in the bones or joints themselves, but most of the damage is to the “soft” tissues. The body heals bones remarkably well; tendons and ligaments, not quite so well.
What can you do? First, if you have an injury, including an overuse injury, DON’T take anti-inflammatories. Stop the ibuprofen, the aleve, etc. WHY? These meds block the necessary inflammation that accompanies healing. Yes, you may hurt a little longer, but you will repair much better. Recent research compared back injured people who took NSAIDS (non steroidal anti-inflammatory meds) to those who did not take them. At the end of a year, the people who took the NSAIDS were much more likely to have chronic pain.
What about chronic pain? The body’s own healing process for an acute injury slows to a crawl or stops at 6-8 weeks after the injury. So, if you are left with pain after 2 months, what can you do?
Regenerative medicine is a set of tools that restart the healing process. Prolotherapy and PRP and stem cells are all injectable ways of restarting soft tissue healing.
I have been curious as to whether, as a chiropractor, can stimulate healing, and produce similar results without needles, without injections. I’ve used Chinese-style gua sha, and Graston Technique, and deep tissue massage, with some success. In the last few years, I now have an even better solution. Shock wave (it’s not as painful as it sounds) is a unique form of ultrasound that activates the body’s own healing methods. European research has confirmed how effective this is for common chronic soft tissue pain. Plantar fasciitis and shoulder tendinosis and low back facet syndrome are three common conditions that shock wave is very effective for. Shock wave is not a stand alone therapy. Exercise and chiropractic care enhance the results. Research your own condition with ECSW (Extra Corporeal Shock Wave) in the search.
Shock Wave Therapy is available at Marc Heller’s Chiropractic Office. It usually takes 4-6 treatments. The improvement continues for several weeks after the active treatment is completed.
Anti-inflammatory Medications Raise Risk of Chronic Back Pain in Patients
12 May 2022 Joseph Cariz https://www.aaas.org/news/anti-inflammatory-medications-raise-risk-chronic-back-pain-patients
