Chronic Muscle Pain

Have you ever heard a physician say to you, “I’m looking at the x-rays and the MRI. I don’t see any thing wrong. There is nothing we can do for you except send you to a pain management clinic?” You go to pain management and their solutions are drugs that cloud you mind, destroy your bones and ruin your liver. Or worse yet, they recommend destroying some of your nerves. It is time to become knowledgeable and proactive.

When you experience a deep, aching muscle pain, a tender knotted muscle, a sensation of muscle weakness, tingling, and stiffness, or difficulty sleeping due to muscle pain that persists or worsens over time this is myofascial pain syndrome (MPS). Tight muscle fibers may form in the muscles after injuries or overuse creating sensitive areas called trigger points. The trigger point causes strain and pain throughout the muscle causing other muscles to try to compensate. Over time this pattern of compensation creates further muscle strain creating a cascading chronic pain.

Fascia is a soft connective tissue located just below the skin, which wraps and connects the muscles, bones, nerves and blood vessels of the body. Myofascial release is a massage therapy typically done by sports and rehabilitative massage therapists. MPS most often occurs in people between the ages of 30 and 60 years and affects men and women equally.

Tight muscle fibers occur for various reasons including disuse, not enough stretching, or injuries. The fascia and the underlying muscle tissue can become stuck together creating an adhesion. Adhesions restrict muscle movement, create pain and soreness, reduce flexibility, and may limit range of motion.

Myofascial release is also affective in treating patients with sloppy posture, chronic fatigue, severe tension and anxiety, and repetitive stress injuries. Other factors that increase your risk of muscle trigger points are stress and anxiety. The theory is that these individuals, when stressed, are more likely to clench their muscles, which is a form of repeated strain leaving muscles susceptible to trigger points.

Research suggests that myofascial pain syndrome may develop into fibromyalgia Fibromyalgia, a chronic condition, features widespread pain and is believed to occur when the brain has become more sensitive and reactive to pain signals over time.

Trigger points are highly sensitive areas within the muscle, which are painful to touch and may cause pain that is often felt in another area of the body; this is called referred pain. Active trigger points are always sore and may prevent the full use of the muscle leading to weakness and decreased range of motion. A latent trigger point does not cause pain during normal activities, however, it is tender when touched and may be activated by muscle strain, overwork, fatigue, injury or cold.

Often physical therapy is recommended for MPS, which includes stretching, postural and strengthening exercises. Therapeutic massage therapy can loosen tight muscles and relieve cramping or spasms. It is important to address lifestyle factors, such as poor posture, workplace ergonomics, or mechanical problems, hypothyroidism, vitamin D and magnesium levels, as well as stress that contribute to pain.

Lifestyle factors:

•                Improve your posture

•                Reduce your body weight

•                Exercise regularly

•                Eat a healthy, well-balanced diet

•                Learn stress-management techniques

•                Use proper techniques at work, and during exercise and sports

The normal, healthy state of fascia is a relaxed, supple web, like the weave in a loose-knit sweater. Restricted fascia looses pliability and may create pulls, tensions, and pressure as great as 2,000 pounds per square inch. The fascia system is a continuous running from the bottom of the feet through the top of the head and has three layers. Superficial fascia lies directly below the skin and stores fat and water. Nerves to run through it, and allows muscle to move the skin. Deep fascia surrounds and infuses with muscle, bone, nerves, and blood vessels. The deepest fascia interfaces within the durra of cranial sacral [spinal] system.

Fascia restrictions do not show up on MRI scans or X-rays making diagnosis more difficult. Pain caused by myofascial tightness is due to restrictions within the fascial system, which is the web of connective tissue that spreads throughout the body and surrounds every muscle, bone, nerve blood vessel, and organ to the cellular level. These restrictions can play a significant role in the malfunction of the spinal structure; lymph and blood flow in the extremities and proper organ function.

Self care aims to control pain and keep muscles and joints warm and loose and includes:

• Anti-inflammatory pain relievers (herbs such as white willow bark and boswellia)
• Applying heat to soothe constricted muscles or using ice to calm swollen areas
• Performing self-stretching exercises to maintain flexibility and increase range of motion 
• Aerobic exercise to increase blood flow to the affected areas 

Other treatments include: 

• Chiropractic manipulation,
• Physical therapy, or occupational therapy
• Acupuncture

The rehabilitative massage therapist may use light to moderate traction and twisting strokes to apply the appropriate tension on the soft tissue to achieve a full reflex range of the muscle and to unblock fascia and muscle. The therapist may also use a hands-on, kneading-style strokes that are meant to stretch, loosen, soften and lengthen muscle tissues. The stretch is performed until the muscle is totally relaxed and a release is felt.

Myofascial Release is considered a neuromuscular therapy massage. Because painful muscle spasms occur when our muscles lack adequate blood flow. The lack of blood flow allows lactic acid to accumulates in the muscle. Neuromuscular massage disperses the lactic acid so the deficient muscle can accept a clean supply of oxygen and blood flow. 

Does our height need to shrink as we age? Do we need to have age related scoliosis, curvature of the spine? Many body workers, massage therapists say no. They know from the daily practice of their profession that through massage and myofascial stretching people can regain height. There is a theory that some of the shrinking in spinal discs results from the contraction of the fascia---pressing on the discs not allowing proper hydration.

Massage is absolutely essential to healthy aging. And myofascial massage is essential to anyone with chronic muscle pain.

http://www.spine-health.com/treatment/physical-therapy/myofascial-release-therapy

www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/myofascial-pain

Borg-Stein J. Treatment of fibromyalgia, myofascial pain, and related disorders. Phys Med Rehabil Clin N Am. 2006 May;17(2):491-510, viii.

Solvining The Mystery of Chronic Pain and Depression

Many of us do everything the medical establishment asks when we are faced with injury, pain and chronic disease. Yet we just can’t seem to get well. And we are left with the question: Why can’t I achieve total recovery?

Dr. Gary Kaplan, Doctor of Osteopathy, author of Total Recovery: Solving the Mystery of Chronic Pain and Depression tells us the medical establishment has been thinking about disease all wrong. Current research is revealing the neurological connection between physical pain and emotional pain as two sides of the same coin.

New research findings reveal that every injury, infection, toxin, and emotional assault we experience generates the same inflammation reaction in the brain. Inflammation activates tiny cells in the brain called microglia.

Inflammation is a normal, healthy response to injury or infection. Inflammation, which displays as localized heat, redness, swelling, and pain, increases nourishment and immune activity where healing is needed. But chronic inflammation can have devastating effects contributing to chronic diseases, autoimmune diseases, or possibly cancer.

Microglia are small nonneural cells, rather immune cells that form part of the supporting structure of the central nervous system. These cells, found in all regions of the brain and spinal cord, help to defend and repair the brain from injuries.

When the microglia receive too many assaults, this creates a devastating cumulative effect of hyper-reactivity. This hyper-reactivity is a key to understanding the connection between chronic physical pain and depression. A body in constant stress cannot completely heal.

In Total Recovery, Dr. Gary Kaplan tells us conventional treatment for health conditions focuses on symptoms, not causes. This leaves patients locked into a lifetime of pain and suffering. Dr. Kaplan has a unified theory of chronic pain and depression, which helps us understand the cause of these conditions as well as the issues we must address to create a pathway to healing.

Mark Hyman, MD, author and chairman of the Institute for Functional Medicine, remarks with cutting edge science and clinical expertise, Kaplan has identified the source of the inflammation that has been keeping patients in an endless cycle of pain and depression. Kaplan offers excellent insight into the role our life experiences as they create a cumulative effect on our health.

Andrew Weil, MD, founder and director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center and author remarks Kaplan’s Total Recovery, has created potentially game-changing insight. The neurological key to the inflammation, which keeps patients in an endless cycle of pain and depression. This remarkable book may change your life.

Brian Berman, MD. Professor of Family and Community Medicine and Director of the Center for Integrative Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine reports Dr. Kaplan’s book offers us paradigm-shifting insights into the causes of chronic pain.

Wayne B. Jonas, MD, Former Director (1995-1999), Office of Alternative Medicine, National Institutes of Health describes Gary Kaplan as the Sherlock Holmes of chronic pain. Total Recovery describes a method to uncover the underlying causes of chronic pain and how by correcting them patients can move toward health. Jonas describes it as a 'must read' at every pain center, by every pain physician and for every patient with chronic pain.

Kaplan sees the whole person. He views the seemingly disconnected events of the individuals life history and health issues as source information for the brain’s microglia hyper-activity. This life and health history predisposes patients’ bodies and emotions to over-react to seeming small new traumas.

Dr. Gary Kaplan’s website describes him as a pioneer of integrative medicine and board-certified in both family medicine and pain medicine. He is a clinical associate professor at Georgetown University, director of the Kaplan Center for Integrative Medicine, and serves as a consultant to the NIH.

Kaplan offers a free online Total Recovery Toolkit, which includes:

A 3-PART VIDEO SERIES ON THE GUT BRAIN CONNECTION

In this series, Dr. Kaplan discusses why people stay in pain, in spite of treatment, and how treatment strategies must change to become more effective. Topics include:

▪ The neuro-physiological connection between the human gut and brain.
▪ The gut’s role in mediating chronic pain conditions.
▪ The effect of pain medications and antibiotics on gut health.
▪ The problem of “leaky gut” and how this condition contributes to chronic pain, inflammation, obesity, fatigue, metabolic syndrome and depression.
▪ How to improve gut health through nutrition, exercise and stress management.

AUTOGENIC MEDITATION INSTRUCTION

The Total Recovery Toolkit also includes an 8-minute autogenic meditation instruction MP3 to guide you in exploring several relaxation techniques to help regulate physiological variables such as body temperature and blood pressure. Say ah…

A WEEKLY HEALTH DIARY

Keeping a current health diary assists with identifying any problem aspects to your diet. The toolkit includes a template for your diary with tips for getting started.

A HEALTH TIMELINE

Maintaining a health timeline helps you to see if/when a cumulative problematic health pattern has emerged. If you’re dealing with an illness, it will help you to find evidence of how your illness has evolved over the years. The toolkit includes a health timeline template to effectively track and chart your health history. You might be surprised at what you’ll find!

CONSUMER GUIDE TO CHOOSING A DOCTOR TO TREAT YOUR CHRONIC PAIN

medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Microglial cells

http://www.kaplanclinic.com/

http://www.amazon.com/Total-Recovery-Solving-Mystery-Depression/

Healthy Sex

All aspects of life are important and contribute to healthy living. Knowledge creates good health, responsible behavior, and happiness. Current research has identified the surprising health benefits of sex, which extend well beyond the bedroom.

According to Kara Mayer Robinson, WebMD Feature writer, “Sex not only feels good. It can also be good for you. “Sexually active people take fewer sick days,” says Yvonne K. Fulbright, PhD a sexual health expert.

Research at Wilkes University in Pennsylvania found that college students who had sex once or twice a week had stronger immune systems and were better able to defends the body against germs, viruses, and other intruders.           

            





According to Goldstein, research indicates "women who have vaginal intercourse often have less risk of breast cancer than those who do not."

Healthy life patterns create healthy sexual activity. Be sure to eat right, stay active, get enough sleep, keep up with your vaccinations, and use a condom if you don’t know both your and your partners STD (sexually transmitted disease) statuses. Statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that, among 45- to 65-year-olds, STD rates have nearly tripled over the past decade. The best way to prevent an STD, other than abstinence, is to use a condom.

Benefits of healthy sex


• Strengthens the immune system
• Boosts libido
• Improves women’s bladder control (by strengthening the pelvic floor)
• Lowers Your blood pressure
• Counts as exercise (increases heart rate and uses various muscles)
• Lowers heart attack risk
• Helps keep your estrogen and testosterone levels in balance
• Lessens Pain
• May make prostate cancer less likely (men who ejaculated frequently at least 21 times a month were less likely to get prostate cancer according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association)
• Improves Sleep
• Eases stress
• Sex and intimacy boosts self-esteem and happiness
• Orgasm can block pain (of chronic back and leg pain, reduce menstrual cramps, arthritic pain, and in some cases even headache-- Barry R. Komisaruk, PhD, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey)

What is Healthy Sex?

Healthy sex has a knowledge base that is about less clinical processes, disease prevention and neurology and more about enjoying sex the way you want to. Dr. Sonia Borg, an accomplished sexologist and author states healthy sex is "feeling good about the sex we're having.” You should define "healthy" or "normal" sex for yourself and as a couple. Sexuality is a personal and what makes a healthy sex life is going to be different for different people.

According to Dr Borg, there are no rules for how many times a week, how long each session should last, or guidelines as to what you should be doing in the bed. Sexually healthy individuals and relationships have the common traits of trust, honesty, freedom from guilt or shame, communication, and allowance for the other person to feel how they feel.

An open, trusting relationship can be exceedingly difficult. Often we would rather let our sex lives and relationships waste away rather than share our thoughts. These fears can run deep. Many of us feel intense guilt and shame when it comes to sex. There is no fault; this is a reflection on much larger scales of culture and society.

In some countries there is very little sex education. Individuals are not really allowed to talk about sex to anyone, books on sexual health are burned, and the stigma regarding sex outside procreation is strong as a result STI rates are incredibly high.

According to the World Health Organizations (WHO), countries where sexuality is not a taboo subject have lower rates of sexually transmitted diseases. Dr. Borg says, "it seems pretty clear that our attitudes about sex have a lot to do with [STI prevalence]---if even thinking about your sexuality unsettles you, don't just ignore these feelings. Sex is natural, and your response to sexuality is just as natural, and it is also incredibly important to your overall well-being."

Dr. Borg’s Four-steps to a healthier sex life

• Define healthy sex (be specific--healthy sex, for me, is …)
• Identify the type of sex life you'd like to have (describe it in great detail…)
• Identify the gaps between your desired sex life and your actual sex life
• Each day or week - some defined amount of time - take action on those items. 

According to Dr. Michael Cirigliano of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, sexual activity is a form of physical exercise. Making love three times a week burns around 7,500 calories in a year -- the equivalent of jogging 75 miles. A night of love raises the amount of oxygen in the cells keeping the organs and tissues functioning at their peak.

Internationally recognized author, speaker and sex therapist, Wendy Maltz, LCSW, has identified these conditions---Consent, Equality, Respect, Trust, and Safety---as essentials to healthy sex.

“CONSENT means you can freely and comfortably choose whether or not to engage in sexual activity. You are able to stop the activity at any time during the sexual contact.

EQUALITY means your sense of personal power is on an equal level with your partner. Neither of you dominates the other.

RESPECT means you have positive regard for yourself and for your partner. You feel respected by your partner.

TRUST means you trust your partner on both a physical and emotional level. You have mutual acceptance of vulnerability and an ability to respond to it with sensitivity.

SAFETY means you feel secure and safe within the sexual setting. You are comfortable with and assertive about where, when and how the sexual activity takes place. You feel safe from the possibility of harm, such as unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted infection, and physical injury.”

Maltz believes these conditions need to exist in the healthy, intimate sexual relationship. She recommends spending time together; engaging in lots of honest, open communication, and a strong friendship with your partner first before becoming lovers.  Knowledge of healthy sex habits minimizes the possibility of something bad resulting from the sexual experience. Maltz is the author of the book, The Difference Between Healthy and Unhealthy Sex.

http://www.webmd.com/sex-relationships/guide/sex-and-health?page=3

http://www.healthline.com/health/what-is-healthy-sex

http://www.healthyplace.com/sex/good-sex/the-certs-model-of-healthy-sex/

The Healing Power of Hope

 

We look at a World in chaos and we don’t see the value in being hopeful and positive. Sadly, many people have a bias against having a positive attitude. Positive individuals are stereotyped as childish, naive, and less intelligent.

In contrast negative, angry, hostile people claim to be powerful with high standards and as knowing best ‘what is right’. These frustrated individuals feel justified in acting out their anger believing life will be good once their goals are met.

Hope or Negativity—which is the power position?

Typically, people who are optimistic or happy are more successful in work, school and sports, are less depressed, have fewer physical health problems, and have better relationships with other people (Seligman, 1991; Lyubomirsky, King & Diener, 2005). This confirms hopeful thinking empowers Mind, Body, and Spirit.

Psychologists have been developing positive psychology for decades building on the work of a.) Rogers and Maslow founders of humanistic psychology; b.) Wellness and prevention programs of Albee and Cowen; c.) Bandura and others’ concepts of self-efficacy, research on gifted individuals; d.)  The broader concepts of intelligence (Gardner and Sternberg); and e.) Marie Jahoda work on wellbeing in its own right, not simply as the absence of disorder or distress. 

According to Seligman (2002), positive psychology is a scientific study of the individual’s strengths and virtues that enable her/him to thrive. Positive psychology has three central concerns: positive emotions, positive individual traits, and positive institutions. Hope is a dynamic cognitive motivational system.

A hopeful nature enhances Mind, Body, and Spirit wellness

Hope is more than optimistic thinking—it is proactive attitude and behavior. Hope thinking has three distinct components: Goals, Willpower, and Way power. First, one creates a clear and compelling mental picture of the Goal--this establishes a goal. Waypower is thinking of numerous ways to achieve your goal—this will counteract frustration and fear. Willpower is tapping into Mind and Spirit to muster the mental energy to pursue the goal.

Research has shown that the people who are able to get what they want out of life are the people who have the greatest hope. This means clearly identifying the goal for your self, accessing your mental or spiritual energy (willpower thinking), and generating various paths to your goal (waypower, or flexible thinking.)

The outcome of hope thinking is having a physical life in a good state of equilibrium. Hope is not a new concept in psychology in 1991 Charles Snyder and his colleagues came up with Hope Theory.

Research shows high hope correlates with:

• Lower levels of depression
• The ability to envision a broader range of goals
• Greater will power and energy
• Ability to generate a greater variety of routes to reach one’s goal and objectives 
• Academic achievement

The power of hope expresses in the many arenas of our daily life, the spiritual and religious, emotional and mental processing, as well as our relationships at work, within families, and in athletic team sports. Essentially hope is ethical and leads to success whether it be monetary, good health, happiness, creativity, or effective work behavior.

When workers lose hope they go through the motions and do just enough work to not get fired. Low hope workers fail to produce the quality and quantity of work they are capable of. Research indicates business goals should be concrete, measurable, realistic and challenging to encourage a hopeful work environment. An environment where workers experience success is more productive with less absenteeism and loafing.

When medical professionals’ attitudes shift into hope, communication is improved and patients’ sense of hope is enhanced. Hope creates the medical benefits of the placebo effect, or the expectations of positive outcomes. Viewing the physician as competent also contributes to incresing hope related healing effects.

Hope comes into its own when crisis looms, opening us to new creative possibilities. Hope empowers us to a mindset and strategy-set oriented to success, increasing the chances one will actually accomplish their goals. Positive psychology and Hope psychology are very beneficial in treating PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.)

I recommend reading C. R. Snyder’s book on the power of hope if you feel ineffective in your own life and somewhat depressed. In Psychology of Hope: You Can Get Here from There (2003) Snyder gives us the tools to measure hope, develop hope in ourselves, and nurture hope in our children and our relationships. He gives specific advice on how to envision goals, increase one's energy for pursuing one's objectives, and how to develop a variety of strategies to reach goals.

Emotions follow thoughts. Hope-related thinking is important. By constantly planning strategies to meet one’s goals, and monitoring progress the individual stays on task actively engaged in hopeful learning. Research shows that a hopeful approach to learning goals is positively related to successes from academic achievement to sports to arts to science to business. Hope is a positive motivational state that is based on an interactive thought process of a.) Goal identification; b.) Agency (goal-directed energy); and c.) Pathways (planning to meet goals)”.

Snyder explains how neglect, abuse, parental loss, unrealistic expectations for the child, and inconsistent parenting can erode the child's ability to envision goals, or one’s ability to develop strategies to goals. Finally, he provides practical, research-based information on how hope can be fostered in children and adults. The Psychology of Hope is a book for anyone who seeks to understand the psychological underpinning of this essential psychological virtue.

Research evidence shows high hope correlates positively with being able to cope with severe burns, arthritis, spinal cord injury, fibromyalgia, and blindness. High hope individuals remain energized during the recuperative process. Those with high hope experience less pain and tolerate pain well twice as long as those with low hope.

Characteristics of Hope Therapy:

• Obstacle thinking is grounded in reality and perception, not misunderstanding or negativity.
• Hope can be measured—it is not optimistic guesswork.
• Hope is trait, domain-specific, and state—and can be developed.
• Hope can be found in stories of struggle and success.
• Hope is evident in our daily language—positive affirmations change brain chemistry.
• Therapeutic relationships are hopeful relationships.
• Hopeful relationships can be developed in peer group and family.
• Counseling groups create hopeful bonding.
• Helpers can prevent burnout via hopeful consultation.
• Hope profiling can crystallize and build on hopeful memories.
• Reflecting on mentors and heroes can boost agency (willpower energy.)
• Hope interventions (refer to Snyder’s book) can be conducted anytime, anyplace.
• Hopeful reconnections (family/friends) help us recall hopeful pathways.
• Hope is enhanced via formal programming—(affirmations, neuro-linguistic techniques.
• Hope can be shared vicariously---interact with hopeful people.
• Hope talk can be used to share hope.
• Enhance hope by making small changes and practicing these changes.

High hope individuals remember more positive comments about events and themselves while those with lower levels of hope remember more negative comments and events. Those with high hope feel challenged by goals, while people with low hope feel demoralized by goals. High hope correlates with higher feelings of self-worth.

High hope correlates with resilience. General George W. Casey, Jr., the army chief of staff and former commander of the multinational force in Iraq, November 2008, ordered an initiative to measure resilience and teach positive psychology to create a force as fit psychologically as it is physically fit. “This $145 million initiative, under the direction of Brigadier General Rhonda Cornum, is called Comprehensive Soldier Fitness (CSF) and consists of three components: a test for psychological fitness, self-improvement courses available following the test, and “master resilience training” (MRT) for drill sergeants. These are based on PERMA: positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment—the building blocks of resilience and growth.” Harvard Business Review, Martin Seligman (April 2011.)

According to Seligman, “how human beings react to extreme adversity is normally distributed. On one end are the people who fall apart into PTSD, depression, and even suicide. In the middle are most people, who at first react with symptoms of depression and anxiety but within a month or so are, by physical and psychological measures, back where they were before the trauma. That is resilience. On the other end are people who show post-traumatic growth. They, too, first experience depression and anxiety, often exhibiting full-blown PTSD, but within a year they are better off than they were before the trauma [due to resilience training]”. For those who need to enhance their resilience, Hope psychology has much to offer. Snyder’s book Psychology of Hope: can be empowering and therapeutic. However, some individuals my need face-to-face work with a therapist, or therapeutic peer group.

Research on Positive Psychology reveals:

•.               Wealth is only weakly related to happiness both within and across nations, particularly when income is above the poverty level (Diener & Diener, 1996).

•.               Activities that make people happy in small doses – such as shopping, good food and making money – do not lead to fulfillment in the long term, indicating that these have quickly diminishing returns (Myers, 2000; Ryan & Deci, 2000).

•.               Engaging in an experience that produces ‘flow’ is so gratifying that people are willing to do it for its own sake, rather than for what they will get out of it. The activity is its own reward. Flow is experienced when one’s skills are sufficient for a challenging activity, in the pursuit of a clear goal, with immediate feedback on progress toward the goal. In such an activity, concentration is fully engaged in the moment, self-awareness disappears, and sense of time is distorted (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990).

•.               People who express gratitude on a regular basis have better physical health, optimism, progress toward goals, well-being, and help others more (Emmons & Crumpler, 2000).

•.               Trying to maximize happiness can lead to unhappiness (Schwartz et al., 2002).

•.               People who witness others perform good deeds experience an emotion called ‘elevation’ and this motivates them to perform their own good deeds (Haidt, 2000).

•.               Optimism can protect people from mental and physical illness (Taylor et al., 2000).

•.               People who are optimistic or happy have better performance in work, school and sports, are less depressed, have fewer physical health problems, and have better relationships with other people. Further, optimism can be measured and it can be learned (Seligman, 1991; Lyubomirsky, King & Diener, 2005).

•.               People who report more positive emotions in young adulthood live longer and healthier lives (Danner, Snowdon, & Friesen, 2001).

•.               Physicians experiencing positive emotion tend to make more accurate diagnoses (Isen, 1993).

•.               Healthy human development can take place under conditions of even great adversity due to a process of resilience that is common and completely ordinary (Masten, 2001).

•.               There are benefits associated with [self-revealing] writing. Individuals who write about traumatic events are physically healthier than control groups that do not. Individuals who write about the perceived benefits of traumatic events achieve the same physical health benefits as those who write only about the trauma (King & Miner, 2000). Individuals who write about their life goals and their best-imagined future achieve similar physical health benefits to those who write only about traumatic events. Further, writing about life goals is significantly less distressing than writing about trauma, and is associated with enhanced well being (King, 2001).

•.               People are unable to predict how long they will be happy or sad following an important event (Gilbert, Pinel, Wilson, Blumberg & Wheatley, 1998; Wilson, Meyers, & Gilbert, 2001). These researchers found that people typically overestimate how long they will be sad following a bad event, such as a romantic breakup, yet fail to learn from repeated experiences that their predictions are wrong.

C.R. Snyder, Psychology of Hope: You Can Get Here from There, April 1, 2003

http://www.ppc.sas.upenn.edu/index.html

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/beautiful-minds/201112/the-will-and-ways-hope

https://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/home

http://www.weber.edu/WSUImages/leadership/docs/sq/azusa/general/psychology-of-hope.pdf

Prolotherapy for Chronic Back Pain

I am a chronic back pain sufferer. I have ligament laxity. Ligament laxity is a term that refers to ligaments in the body that can move more than usual. Doctors can also call these looser than normal ligaments hyper mobile; they do not generally refer to lax ligaments as a condition. Chiropractors tend to use the term to describe a potential cause of chronic joint pain or sprains.

For me exercise does not improve ligament or tendon laxity. When exercising here is a point of diminishing returns. I realized as muscle strength increased there was a corresponding tendency to tendonitis and ligament strain. Seemingly my muscle strength over powered my ligaments. Physical trainers and even physical therapists that have the “boot camp” mentality and harass one to work through pain often frustrate me. Pain is a symptom of something wrong, not something good.

Yes weight-bearing exercise is healthy, while running faster and longer builds muscle as well as a stronger heart and lungs. However this does me no good if I end up with sprained ankles and I can’t walk at all. Swimming is the best exercise foe me to keep up muscle strength, flexibility and cardiovascular health.

Hyper mobility is genetic. An estimated 5% to 12% of the adult population has some degree of generalized joint hyper mobility associated with ligament laxity. Marfan or Ehlers-Danlos are recognized syndromes, which are generally rare syndromes, and are characterized by ligament laxity and other determinants.  Hyper mobility syndrome appears to be familial with a clear-cut female predominance. Typically symptoms first appear in children or young adults. Although hyper mobile individuals have a potentially heightened aptitude for activities such as gymnastics, dancing, and playing musical instruments, they also have an increased susceptibility to dislocations, traumatic joint pain, tendonitis, and overuse injuries. These problems may present as a fibromyalgia-like syndrome triggered by exercise.

Chronic back pain can be a symptom of underlying structural problems, or it may be a symptom of an underlying condition. It is essential to have an appropriate physical exam to rule out kidney stones or kidney infection, prostatitis, chronic diverticulitis, cancer of the pelvis, endometriosis, ovarian cysts, fibroid tumors, shingles and circulatory deficiency from hardening of the arteries.

Your back supports your entire body, using a complex interconnecting network of nerves, joints, muscles, tendons and ligaments. All these components are capable of producing pain in the back, low back and surrounding areas. Because the back is connected to the rest of your body, back pain can be an early warning of underlying conditions elsewhere in your body.

Large nerves that originate in the spine and go to the legs and arms can make pain radiate to the extremities. The pain may be felt in the neck (or might radiate into the arm and hand), in the upper back, or in the low back (and radiate into the leg or foot). Other symptoms may include symptoms weakness, numbness or tingling.

If left untreated, most back problems only worsen as time and gravity take their toll on our bodies. After falling hard on my knee and twisting and torqueing my pelvis I had excruciating lumbar pain for nearly five years. I had sciatic pain shooting through my buttocks and down my leg into my foot. I could walk for about fifteen minutes at a moderate pace but could not tolerate standing after five minutes.

I started with physical therapy and back strengthening which created minor improvement but the PT became a treadmill sadist and I felt myself regress. I saw an orthopedic surgeon who requested I get an MRI. Although, I did have two slightly herniated discs, very slight spinal stenosis, and mild lateral arthritis, I did not meet his criteria for surgery because the pattern of symptoms did not indicate a diagnosis remediable by surgery.

My chiropractor told me about prolotherapy an injection technique that stimulates growth of cells and tissue that stabilize and strengthen weakened joints, cartilage, ligaments and tendons.

The injected solution intentionally causes controlled irritation in the tissue. This irritation is an inflammatory response, which increases the blood supply and thereby stimulates the tissue to heal and regrow new tissue. Typically prolotherapy involves the injection of natural substances such as dextrose into the tissue to initiate the healing process. Dextrose is the most studied substance worldwide and is extremely safe and effective. 

My initial prolotherapy, which occurred 1 ½ years ago, created a 20-30% improvement. (I have not lost any of this improvement.) I also worked with a Rolfer (Structural Integration therapy) and Sacral-Occipital Therapy Chiropractic. I would say I had another 30% improvement. Because I still have a tendency to extreme muscle tension in the lumbar, I felt that the pain had decreased significantly but not enough.

Recently, I attended a Dr. Norm Shealy workshop on wellness protocols. He described sacral shear as the cause of low back pain. This happens when the sacrum become hyper mobile and presses on the sciatic nerve. The sacrum is a small triangular bone located at the bottom of the spine and between the hips. I realized I had originally because I had only addressed half of the hyper mobility affecting my sciatic nerve. I am seeing a local osteopath for prolotherapy injections to strength the ligament laxity around the sacrum.

Prolotherapy was the innovation of Dr. Earl Gedney, an osteopathic physician and surgeon. In the early 1930s, Dr. Gedney caught his thumb in a door thereby stretching the joint and causing severe pain and instability. He was told that nothing could be done for his condition and that his surgical career was over. Gedney knew of a group of doctors that used irritating solutions to stimulate the repair of the distended connective tissue ring as treatment for hernias. He extrapolated this knowledge and utilized it to inject his injured thumb. He was able to fully rehabilitate the thumb. In 1937, Gedney published “The Hyper-mobile Joint,” the first known article about Prolotherapy. The 1937 article gave a preliminary protocol and discussed two case reports, one of a patient with knee pain and another with low back pain who were successfully treated with this method. Prolotherapy is practiced by physicians in the U.S. and worldwide. It is effective in treating many musculoskeletal conditions such as tendonopathies, ligament sprains, back and neck pain, tennis/golfers elbow, ankle pain, joint laxity and instability, plantar fasciitis, shoulder, knee, and other joint pain.  C. Everett Koop, the former US Surgeon General has endorsed prolotherapy, was helped by it, and practices it.

I view this odyssey as a life lesson; it took sixty years to get to this point I cannot expect to reverse the damage quickly. The alternative approaches I have chosen have been researched; they are not paid for by health insurance but they should be. Health insurance should pay for therapies that promote health, not pain killer medication addiction and steroids that cause physical deterioration.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/413950

http://www.prolotherapy.com/Prolotherapy.php

http://www.getprolo.com/tag/sacroiliac-pain/#sthash.BYAO8X00.dpuf

http://www.getprolo.com/prolotherapy-after-back-surgery/