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O que é artrose?

Arthrosis is the most common rheumatic disease that starts aflicting men and women on their early 40’s. It attacks mainly the joints on the knees, back, hip, hands and fingers. Arthrosis can be distinguished by a progressive deterioration of the cartilage in the joints, and by an alteration of the bone, known as “beak-shaped osteophyte”. These phenomena causes a little inflammation in the area, and are associated to restriction of movements. The tendency of the joints is to become stiff, that is, the movement between the bone structures on the joints becomes more restricted with time.

In the specific case of the backbone, this movement restriction causes a reduction of the space between vertebrae. The canal through which the nerve roots passes in the spinal cord also have their size reduced, and this causes pain, which may go down the arms or legs as a tingling, burning, prickling or stinging feeling leading to loss of sensation and strength.

Causes:

• Traumas, accidents;
• Genetic predisposition;
• Overweight;
• Advanced age;
• Inflammation and infection;
• Postural vices.

Signals and symptoms:

• Pain related to movement;
• Movement difficulty;
• Unstable joints;
• Morning stiffness;
• Muscle contractions;
• Joints vibrations.

Treatment:

The body is made of movement. That way, the less you move your body, the more it rusts. That´s it. You grow “rusty”. We all have a natural “oil” in our joints that’s called the sinovial fluid, which is produced as we move. This oil is the key to prevent and to treat arthrosis. With our everyday bad moves, postural vices, traumas, wrong sleeping positions, and wrong sitting positions at work, we usually work our muscles unevenly, and this causes unbalance. Your body eventually gets used to it, but at some point it starts “complaining”. This unbalance causes some vertebrae to become stiff, motionless.

Because it makes no movement, it doesn´t produce sinovial fluid which means that a degenerative process is about to begin. One of the treatments recommended, which does not make use of medicine, and has already being used in the United States for 110 years now, is Chiropractic. Through specific precise hand movements, this treatment returns the movement to the stiff vertebrae. As they start moving again, the production of sinovial fluid (“oil”) increases thus causing the pain to decrease, the space between vertebrae to enlarge, as well as decompression of the discs, nerve interferences to be removed, and the degenerative process to be under control.

Scoliosis is a deformity distinguished by a lateral deviation of the vertebral spine towards the right or the left, in the shape of an “S” or “C”. This deviation may be joined by a vertebral rotation or by a gibbosity (hunchback). This spinal deformity can have a variety of causes. Despite the similar physical aspect of the many different types, scoliosis may have very different prognostics, depending on the cause, the difference in progressiveness and severity of the curves. There is also the scoliotic attitude, different from the real scoliosis, which, in 80% of the cases, happens due to an asymmetry in the size of the legs, and vanishes when the patient is in the horizontal position

Signals and symptoms:

At the beginning, the scoliosis may be progressive or acute. Progressive scoliosis is more common in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (of unknown causes), which usually afflicts females. When the scoliosis is acute, the problem is usually more serious, like deterioration of the disc, a tumor or even a fracture. In the standing position you can observe a curve in the spine of the patient, one shoulder in a different level than the other. To compensate, the head tilts to one side and the patient may present a difference in leg sizes.

Treatment:

The risk of progression of the scoliosis must be evaluated, and the risk-benefit of each treatment must be considered. It is important to look for a competent professional to evaluate the case because, in extreme cases, scoliosis may cause cardiopulmonary complications and reduction of the intervertebral foramen (the canal through which the nerve passes in the spine gets thinner) which damages the nerve supply of different organs. Every six months the patient should have a radiography done, to keep a follow up until skeletal maturity. Among the treatments recommended for scoliosis, Chiropractic is greatly indicated.

The chiropractor performs orthopedic and neurological tests, analyses radiographies and detects the misalignments in the vertebral spine and other joints, and adjusts them (joint repositioning) thus realigning the backbone. It is important to look for professionals with at least a university degree in Chiropractic, don’t let anyone who is not prepared manipulate your vertebral spine. É importante procurar profissionais com nível superior em Quiropraxia, não deixe ninguém manipular a sua coluna que não seja preparado para isso.

Sciatic nerve pain is the body trying to alert us to the physical and emotional excesses we make. That is, a reflex of the long-term use of inapproriate posture, at work or at home, when performing activities that demand an excessive ammount of weight-lifting. The intention of Chiropractic, a science that provides a fast, safe and effective treatment with no use medicine or surgery, is to realign the vertebral column (backbone), decompress the discs, remove nerve interferences and return mobility to the column, causing the symptoms to decrease progressively.

The sciatic nerve pain forces us to reduce, or even interrupt, our ammount of everyday activities, often leading to temporary inability to perform our many daily errands. In extreme cases, it may cause us to stay in bed for some time, having to cancel all our appointments, and we find ourselves under a continuous stress. And, when that happens, the muscles of the lumbar area (lower area of the column) start suffering spasms. As the muscles are located in bone structures next to the joints, these muscle spasms cause joint misalignment in the lumbar vertebrae. It can trigger a pressure on the Sciatic nerve, thus causing pain. Therefore, in order to correct this problem, it is necessary to realign these bone structures, and to change our overall behavior towards life.

It can manifest itself by little stings, and, if we are smart enough to listen to this first cry for help and reduce our pace, the problem tends not to take bigger proportions. However, if we persist on doing intense activities and take painkillers to relief, and mask, symptoms, we will be asking for a louder cry, which comes in the form of a pain crisis. And this pain is so intense that it will immobilize us and force us to reduce our daily activities and tasks.

Tips to avoid a crisis of sciatic nerve pain:

• Ask yourself why you have to multitask.
• Ask yourself what you are trying to prove by taking so many responsibilities.
• Respect your physical and emotional/psychological limits, otherwise your body will make you do that, anyway.
• Do stretch/flexibility exercises, and always do physical activities under professional supervision.

Have your column realigned with a capable chiropractor in order to prevent and/or remove the pressure unaligned vertebrae makes on the sciatica.

The vertebral spine has 24 bones (vertebrae). Between every two bone structures there is a cartilaginous disc which works as a shock absorber and helps the body´s mobility and protection. Some factors like stress, small and big falls, inappropriate posture at work, while performing everyday tasks, sitting down, sleeping, practicing sports and bad eating habits, among others, overload the body and press the discs, causing one or the other to dislocate or to be “misplaced”. This dislocation causes the disc to bulge out towards the nerve or the marrow and it can result in a herniated disc if the situation is not corrected. Even when the discs are herniated, in most of the cases the situation can be controlled, by avoiding its progression, and in some cases, reverted, through changes in the habits that have created the problem in the first place, and through the correction of the cause of the symptoms. Self-medication only “masks” the symptoms, without correcting the problem. Those symptoms should be an alert that something is wrong and that you need to fix the cause of the problem, for the alert to be shut down.

The intention of Chiropractic, a science that provides a quick, safe and effective treatment without medicine or surgery, is to realign the vertebral column (backbone), decompress the discs, remove nerve interferences and return mobility to the column, causing the symptoms to decrease progressively.

A Quiropraxia é um dos tratamentos mais recentes no Brasil que já existe nos Estados Unidos desde 1895 para hérnia de disco. A Quiropraxia é uma ciência cujo método terapêutico é rápido, seguro e eficaz que previne a utilização de medicamentos e evita a cirurgia. O objetivo é o realinhamento da coluna vertebral, descomprimindo os discos, retirando interferências nervosas e devolvendo a mobilidade para a coluna, provocando uma diminuição gradativa dos sintomas porque age na causa do problema.

Headaches may have different causes, and 99,5% of them are benign, that is, offers no life risks whatsoever.

Common causes:

• Caused or aggravated by specific neck movements;
• Stress, or end of a stressful situation;
• Physical activities;
• Hormonal alterations (period, pre-menstrual syndrome, puberty or menopause);
• Blood glucose alterations (excess or low blood sugar);
• Specific foods (cheese, chocolate, coffee and others).

Headache may vary in location and characteristics. Some present as a pressure in the entire head, others as a throb, occasionally causing nausea and vomit associated to intolerance to light and noise.

Some of these causes makes muscular spasms. This happens because some muscles are located in bone structures near the joints, which may cause joint misalignment that restrict movement, making it painful. Thus, neck movements can aggravate or trigger headache in that situation.

Mochilas escolares podem provocar lesões na coluna

It has been proven that many everyday habits can easily cause orthopaedic deviations in children and pre-adolescents, among them, sitting, sleeping posture and even carrying heavy backpacks.

The student who carries excessively heavy backpacks will suffer from posture alterations. Excessive bag weight puts a great preassure upon the cervical column (neck) and lumbar (lower back), because the first starts projecting forward, while the latter is projected backwards. It happens due to the tendency our body has, of balancing its weight. This structure alteration doesn’t happen only in the bones. Muscles, tendons, and ligaments undergo tension and the nerves are also irritated and subject to pressure.

Such alterations have been associated to:

• Neckpain,
• Headaches,
• Pain irradiated to the arms,
• Temporomandibular joint disorders (jaws),
• Dental arcade disorders,
• Accelerated progressive deterioration of the joints, which may, over time, cause an early arthrosis.

As the bone structure in children and pre-adolescents is flexible, treatment is usually simpler at this age. It is crucial to correct bad posture habits and prevent possible orthopaedic problems at this stage, in order to avoid more severe or, even chronic injuries in the future.

Preventive measures:

• The backpack’s size should be proportional to the child/adolescent’s, and adjusted to touch his/her back.
• Look for cushioned straps to protect the shoulders.
• Avoid excessive tight straps.
• The backpack must be carried over both shoulders.
• The weight limit of the back pack should be 10 % of the child’s weight.
• Only carry the essentials.
• Heavier objects must be next to the column.
• From time to time, make sure the child doesn’t present pain or discomfort. You must not ignore any complaint of back pain in children or adolescents.
• Only use a rolling backpack or put the packpack in a rolling cart if they have handles high enough for the child to hold them and still keep the right posture.
• Physical activities are important to strengthen the muscles.
• Go see your chiropractor.

Back pain is a pain located in the lower area of the vertebral spine (lumbar spine). The area presents five vertebrae, the saccro and the tail bone, which surround and protect the spinal marrow, and nerve roots which spreads to the thighs, legs and feet.

Symptoms:

The pain is usually located in the lumbar area, hips (pelvis) and/or saccro. The symptoms usually associated with the pain may be a tingling, burning or shocking (stinging) sensation, among others. Depending on the extension of the pressure on the nerve root, the pain can spread to the buttocks or the legs on the afflicted side, sometimes spreading to the feet, and may or may not be joined by the aforementioned symptoms.

Causes:

In most of the cases, the pain is caused by a lumbar spine disorder, and it can be joined by other factors such as muscular spasms, herniated disc, scoliosis, arthrosis, and more.

How Chiropractic can treat this problem?

Chiropractic science whose treatment is fast, safe and effective without the use of drugs and/or surgery, aims to realign the spine, decompressing the discs, removing nerve interference and restoring mobility to the spine, causing a gradual decrease symptoms

Tratamento de dor lombar com Quiropraxia

Low-back pain, located in the lower part of the vertebral spine, may be caused or increased when a person crouches down to pick up an object from the floor, when he/she sits down or stands up, in some sleeping positions (making it hard to sleep), walking, among others. It can be a stinging, shocking, burning or prickling pain, sometimes even spreading to one, or both legs, compromising muscle strength, which makes it difficult to walk and/or to perform everyday chores and tasks.

The pain usually has a mechanic origin, and rarely is caused by infections or tumors. As low-back pain can be mistaken for a kidney condition, however, it is necessary to do a further investigation in order to find out the cause of the problem.

Chiropractic is a new profession to the health care field that corrects mechanic dysfunctions in the vertebral spine. The chiropractor has a neurological, orthopedic and radiological background, which enables a careful evaluation of the vertebral spine and other joints. That is how joint disorders are detected and corrected through vertebral manipulation, if there are no contraindications. If necessary, the patient is sent to other professionals of the health care field, because the chiropractor believes in the efficiency of the multidisciplinary approach.