Rehabilitation After An Accident Through Massage Therapy

Accidents occur all the time, and most people aren’t sure what to do when they occur. Whether

you’re at work and you fall, or you’re involved in a car accident, you will sustain injuries that are not always life threatening, or you may “walk them off”. However, after the initial adrenalin rush wears off, and you’ve had time to reflect, you will realize that there is an issue with your body that needs help. Some people will go to the doctor and they’ll receive one of two diagnosis. They will either be told to get surgery to repair chronic issues, or they will be told that there is nothing physically wrong or that they are just having a traumatic episode and nothing more. The truth of the matter is that accidents leave their mark, whether it’s visible or not.

Dealing With An Accident

A lot of the times, these things go unreported. Whether you’re at work and slip, but you catch yourself, or you are in a fender bender and no one is seriously hurt and the cars are fine, you’ll find

that not everything gets reported. If you or someone you know has dealt with the accident in this matter, but is experience any kind of discomfort, it’s time to look for help from a massage therapist, or a chiropractor that can help align the back and alleviate the pressure that can occur in the body.

The Healing Touch of Massage

Massage therapy that is used with rehabilitation after an accident takes on a whole new role of the body. A trained chiropractor will consider the issue that is being felt and will utilize natural reflexology to heal the troubled areas and massage the muscle tissue. The muscle tissue and nerve endings across the body can be cajoled into alleviating any pressure, and this can cause a major sense of relief. Whether the issue is visible through bruising, or it’s invisible, there are a lot of reflexes that can be focused on to gain a natural healing methodology.

A Natural Rehabilitation Process

The key thing to remember about massage therapy is that it focuses on the body’s natural systems. Aligning the spine correctly, focusing on the muscle tissue, the reflexes, and the overall systems in place, a trained practitioner of this healing art can change the way you feel after any sort of accident and in many cases can help with the avoidance of surgical procedures. Not every answer is one that involves going under the knife, and that’s something that most people don’t really understand, until they experience the healing touch of a massage. 

Connecting The Dots of Pain

No matter what your age is, occupation, nationality, or how active you may be, you’ll find that pain can send you a variety of signals. For some people it’s to indicate that they’re growing older, for others, it’s a matter of dealing with an old injury, but regardless of the reason you may be feeling this signal the body is trying to communicate something. If you are like millions of others today, you may reach for a pain killer that is over the counter. Today, the answer to anything from a light sprain to a headache is to reach for pain medication, and that can send you down a slippery slope.

The Problem With Pain

The problem associated with pain is often discomfort, and nuisance. You may not be able to concentrate, walk, or do anything that you’d like to do as a result. However, the signals that the body are sending shouldn’t be ignored or drowned out. When you reach for the medications that are supposed to heal you, you’re actually just drowning out the body’s signals to you. This is only masking the problem and could end up causing more damage than good. If you have chronic pain, and you are taking pain relievers on a daily basis, it’s time to seek medical help.

Chiropractic Care

A holistic option that you can consider in regards to pain management is that of chiropractic care. The goal of a chiropractor is not to give you medications, or anything that is going to numb your body’s signals, but rather listen to the signals and connect the dots. You may feel pain in your knee, but the reality may be that you have injured your heel or a muscle in the lower back is not correctly in line. Something is awry, and the body is manifesting a signal in the appropriate area, but it’s really connected to something else. That’s where a chiropractor will be able to treat and help you regain balance and holistic healing.

Fixing The Root Cause

Many people ignore the root cause in favor of finding a way to numb pain. That’s a big issue that is plaguing the world today. You’ll find that more people go for a numbing effect, than to fix the real issue. If you don’t fix the root cause today, you could end up in the operation room tomorrow. Not everything needs surgery on day one, but day 300 of chronic pain and use of pain killers could result in those courses. Those are last resorts, and should not be seen as places to go unless you’ve ignored the body’s pain signals for too long and you’re in dire need of surgical help.

Visit a chiropractor when pain manifests, and see what alternatives are to just numbing the issue. You’ll be surprised how connected the body’s pressure points are. It’s something that will completely change the way you look at medicine, forever.

Holistic Medicine versus Traditional Medicine

Holistic Medicine versus Traditional Medicine

The main difference between holistic medicine and Western or traditional medicine is the approach. Simply defined, holistic health focuses on the body as a whole, rather than individual parts and symptoms, recognizing the importance of body, mind, spirituality, and emotions, as opposed to traditional medicine, which focuses on symptoms and cures.Emphasis is placed on individual symptoms and pain management. Diagnosis in western medicine is made through general classifications (textbook cases), rather than recognizing patients as individuals. Chemicals and surgery are the primary methods of treatment in this form of medicine, leading to unpleasant side effects (often worse than the original symptoms). Some side effects often prove fatal. Traditional medicine is best used to treat infectious diseases, trauma, and acute conditions.

Holistic medicine recognizes the individual, focusing on causes and patterns, using natural, organic, and ecological treatments directed towards healing, rather than masking symptoms. This form of medicine views each unit of the body as a whole, with every area affecting the other. When one area is deficient, the whole is deficient. Prevention and correction is then implemented alongside patient pro-activity. Changes in lifestyle, eating habits, and wellness practices are determined by the individual patient’s needs. Holistic medicine is best for chronic disorders (often the cause of stress and lifestyle), toxemia, immune problems, body system imbalances, and glandular deficiencies. 

I've Been In An Accident, Now What?

Chiropractic Therapy and Massage Therapy

After seeking medical attention, accident victims should seek chiropractic care, whether suffering from pain or not. Stiff and sore muscles, herniation of discs, and other musculoskeletal injuries are often the cause of future chronic pain (and possible scarring of tissue) when left untreated. A chiropractic evaluation after a car accident can determine possible injuries, even though these injuries may not produce immediate or painful symptoms. Undetected injuries can potentially lead to serious complications over an extended period of time. Spinal misalignments and whiplash are often a result of accidents, making chiropractic treatment (often combined with massage therapy) essential to wellness and recovery. These adjustments are non-invasive and are a safe alternative to drug treatment.

Massage therapy after an accident has many benefits, while working in tandem with chiropractic care to restore balance to the whole body. Massage therapists are trained to work with injuries resulting from car accidents, especially muscle sprains, whiplash, headaches, nerve compression, and lower back pain. Massage restores proper circulation to muscles, allowing for faster recovery to traumatized areas of the body, while relieving stress and pain that often result from car accidents. 

Chiropractic care and children

Chiropractic care and children

For over a hundred years, chiropractors have cared for children, alongside adults. Many common childhood ailments have been proven to respond to this safe, natural form of health care, and a growing number of parents, especially those who are already chiropractic patients themselves, seek chiropractic care for their children. A child encounters many physical stresses during their growing years, and the resulting problems in children’s spines may occur at any point in their growth and development.  The cause of many newborn health complaints such as reflux, sleep issues, allergic reactions, breastfeeding problems, and chronic infections can often be traced to nervous system irritation caused by spinal and cranial misalignments.

The first challenge a growing spine faces is the position it is forced into inside the womb, such as the breech and posterior positions. Spinal segments can be pushed out of place even in the womb. If this position is less than ideal, it can result in a longer and more difficult labor. Even natural birthing methods can stress an infant’s spine and nervous system, much less interventions such as induction, forceps, or caesarean section. The latter (which account for a growing percentage of births in the United States), while appearing to offer a less traumatic birth for the child, may actually create additional traumas and compromises to the infant’s future health.

Because significant spinal trauma can occur at birth or in the womb, many parents choose to have their newborn’s spine assessed after birth. Many growing milestones, such as holding up the head, sitting upright, crawling, and walking, are affected by spinal alignment and are important times to have a child checked by a chiropractor. Falls, sports injuries, playground mishaps, heavy book bags and sitting for long periods in the classroom are physical stresses to the spine and nervous system are other reasons for seeking chiropractic care on a regular basis.

The Benefits of Chiropractic Care

The Benefits of Chiropractic Care

             Chiropracticcare is a method of natural healing, triggering the body to heal itself, and includes the use of manual spinal manipulation, helping restore the mobility of restricted joints resulting from tissue injury. Tissue injuries are a result of traumatic incidents, such as car accidents, falls, kinesthetic injuries (lifting or twisting the wrong way) or repetitive stress. Chiropractic care provides an alternative to conventional pain relief for injured muscles, joints, bones, and connective tissues (ligaments, tendons, and cartilage). Recurring headaches, fibromyalgia, and osteoarthritis patients also respond to this method of care.

            Involving no drugs or surgery, chiropractic methods are considered safe for most patients. The techniques used are believed to treat the body as a whole, rather than just treating individual symptoms. The chiropractic viewpoint holds that if the spine is out of alignment, other body systems will manifest symptoms of illness or dysfunction.  Patients who visit a chiropractor regularly generally see a reduction in previous symptoms of lower backaches, headaches, and neck strain. When combined with regular exercise and diet changes, many patients see a positive change in overall health.

            Chiropractors incorporate exercise, rehabilitation, and nutritional counseling into their treatment plans, the goal of their practice being to restore function to their patients, as well as the prevention of future injuries by educating patients about spinal health, exercise, and nutrition. While a large percentage of chiropractic patients are those suffering from acute lower back pain, patients with a variety of conditions, illnesses, and symptoms see a chiropractor regularly as an alternative or in conjunction with traditional medical treatment. 

Dr. Smith is the owner of Full Body Rejuvenation Center

3636 Panola Rd Ste B

Lithonia, GA 30038

Chiropractic Care During Pregnancy

Chiropractic Care During Pregnancy

Chiropractic care is beneficial before, during and after pregnancy. Imbalances in the pelvis and other areas of the body can be detected before pregnancy, reducing the likelihood of discomfort and other problems during the actual pregnancy, while post-natal care addresses issues with ligaments loosed in late pregnancy and childbirth. Care throughout a woman’s pregnancy has many benefits for the expectant mother, easing symptoms throughout pregnancy and the birthing process.

All chiropractors are trained to work with pregnant women, and chiropractic care is deemed safe for most expectant mothers.  Special tables are sometimes used for pregnant women, adjusting especially for the comfort of the patient, and techniques which chiropractors use during pregnancy avoid unnecessary pressure to the abdominal area. While working with pregnant patients is routine for chiropractors, many are specially trained in prenatal chiropractic care, such as those with Webster certification. Chiropractors with DACCP certification are those who have completed the highest level of advanced training. Specially trained chiropractors can provide stretches and exercises that are safe for their pregnant patients, as well as providing nutritional counseling.

The main reason for seeking chiropractic care during pregnancy is to maintain pelvic balance and alignment. Misalignment of the pelvis can reduce the amount of room for the growing baby, called intrauterine constraint, making the birthing process difficult. Other benefits include controlling pregnancy symptoms (nausea, digestive issues), relieving neck, back, and joint pain, reducing labor and delivery time, preventing c-section deliveries, and maintaining an overall healthy pregnancy. 

Full Body Rejuvenation Center

3636 Panola Road Ste B

Lithonia, GA 30038

info@fullbodyrejuvenation.com

The Benefits of Breaks in the Workplace

The Benefits of Breaks in the Workplace  

Medical experts and psychologists agree that taking breaks during the workday is essential for superior productivity, less stress, and better health for employees.

Increased Productivity

            Studies show that workers who take short, frequent breaks are more productive than those who work for longer stretches of time. Psychologists believe that allowing the brain to rest after smaller work intervals (1-2 hours) helps the brain function at a higher level, rather than overtaxing the brain for long periods of time (3-4+ hours). A ten-minute break between each work period has been shown to boost performance levels of workers.

Reducing Stress

Over two million stress-related absences are reported in the U.S. workplace every year. Stress on

the job can be reduced with frequent breaks, allowing workers to return their minds and bodies to a more balanced state by getting a healthy snack, walking up the hallway, or practicing deep breathing exercises.

Lowers Physical Injuries and Ailments

Taking short breaks throughout the workday not only increases productivity and reduces stress, but also contributes to the overall health of the worker. Frequent problems resulting from working long hours without breaks include eyestrain, lower back pain, and decreased circulation. Long-term issues include diabetes, obesity, and heart disease. Studies find that workers sitting for more than 3 hours at a time have an elevated risk of developing the conditions listed above.

Recommended Break Activities

A few examples of healthy activities during breaks include taking a walk (hallways, stairs, outside); stretching the arms, legs, neck, and back; taking 5-6 deep breaths with eyes closed; eating a healthy snack (nuts, fruits, etc.); drinking water or other beverage low in caffeine and sugar; and meditating or simply resting the eyes. 

Dr. Nailah Smith, chiropractor, is the owner of The Full Body Rejuvenation Center in Lithonia, GA.