Back Pain, Joint Pain and Root Cause Medicine
If you are suffering from pain and come to visit us and, our first step is to perform an extensive history and in-depth physical exam. During the history and exam, you will learn how Root Cause Medicine works and the fact that your body is creating pain for a reason. That sounds obvious, but what is less obvious is the reason why.
How we identify the root cause of your pain and get rid of it is what makes Root Cause Medicine so very different from conventional drug-focused medicine.
What is different about Root Cause Medicine is that we do not mask you pain with drugs but rather attack it at its root. This approach gives us an 85% success rate of eradicating your pain.
The most common response we hear from patients is that the root cause approach makes sense and they wonder why more doctors do not offer it. Once we explain this method to you, you will be excited to begin a program.
Statistics regarding pain
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Pain affects more Americans than diabetes, heart disease and cancer combined.
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8 out of 10 Americans will have back pain at some point in their life, interfering with their daily activities, ability to exercise and/or sleep.
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It found that an estimated 11.2 percent of Americans had pain every day for the preceding 3 months.
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Nearly 17.6 percent of Americans experience severe levels of pain.
Shockingly 9 out of 10 sufferers never identify the root cause of their back pain
Perhaps this last statistic says it the best. Of the millions suffering, 90% never find out why; the underlying root cause is never identified.
It likely explains the reason why pain is one of the leading reasons Americans search out an alternative to traditional medicine.
It is frustrating. You have taken a pain reliever, gotten relief perhaps, but the drug wears off and you are back in pain again. You can continue to take the pain reliever but perhaps you have looked at its side effects and they worry you.
You have likely heard of the devastating and life-threatening side effects of prescribed pain killers such as opioids, but over-the-counter medications have dangers as well.
Side effects of over-the-counter medications should concern you
NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) such as aspirin, Aleve, Advil, and Motrin, even when over the counter, increase your risk of our number one killer, heart disease and stroke. Tylenol, the common non-NSAID option, increases your risk of serious liver disease and liver failure.
These are serious side effects from widely taken drugs.
But the even larger problem is that these drugs do absolutely nothing to identify what is causing your pain. The drug takes away your pain, masking it, but it is also masking what your body is actually trying to tell you.
No one likes pain, but if you realized that your pain was your body crying out for help and a pain killer was just acting like a muzzle, you would likely want to ensure that you sought out the type of healthcare that listened and truly identified what your body was trying to communicate.
I realize this is very different from conventional medicine. But I promise you that listening and identifying the true root cause of your pain is not only respectful of you and your body, but it also works!
Here is a quick personal story: I used to suffer pain from migraines, menstrual cramps, and chronic low back pain. Each pain was associated with an underlying root cause that when addressed, allowed me to regain optimal, pain-free health. Interestingly, there was one root cause that was common to all my problems. I shudder to think where my health might be now had I gone the traditional route of taking drugs as the only treatment.
Pain gets our attention until we can cover it up with a drug. Does the drug “handle” the root cause of the pain? – of course not. The true root cause is left to fester and worsen, soon causing other symptoms. And yes, traditional medicine will mask the new symptoms with additional drugs. Now you are on multiple medications, some exclusively designed to counter the side effects of the original drug.
It is a dangerous and dwindling spiral and none of it is addressing root cause. If this sounds familiar you are in good company; 90% of those who suffer never discover the reason for their pain.
You do not have to continue down this path; Root Cause Medicine can identify the cause of your pain and apply the correct therapy to heal you.
Potential Root Causes of Pain
- An irritated nerve
- A tight muscle
- A weak muscle
- A lax or damaged ligament – this by the way is a common side effect of adrenal fatigue.
- Adrenal fatigue – as just mentioned due to its relationship to ligament integrity, but also because the adrenals produce natural anti-inflammatories; when they are fatigued, they are unable to perform this function and you are more likely to experience pain.
- Inflammation – a very common cause of pain that has at its root an internal imbalance of some type, meaning anything from food sensitivities to infections to toxins.
- Digestive problems – this may sound “odd” but your body functions normally only to the degree it is properly fueled. Poor digestion results in poor food to fuel production, potential gut and/or nerve inflammation with pain as a result.
- Food sensitivities – certain foods are well documented to inflame the nervous system and/or digestive tract, creating pain.
- Hormonal imbalance
- Drugs – many drugs, including stronger opiates, factually reduce your pain tolerance, setting you up to feel pain more intensely. Sadly, this is the mechanism that creates addiction to these dangerous drugs.
- Overweight
- Lack of exercise
- Poor muscle tone and/or weak core muscles.
The cause of your pain can be one or a combination of the items listed above. As a personal example, my migraines were due to a combination of irritated nerves, hormonal imbalance, and a food sensitivity. Once identified and handled, I never had another migraine, despite the fact I suffered for well over a decade and there was a strong genetic component of migraine sufferers in my family. It has been more than two decades since I had a migraine.
Your body does not function in a vacuum, so there is likely more than one system involved in the cause of your pain. It is for this reason we put together the team we have here at Root Cause Medical Clinic.
We are not interested in only providing you temporary relief – we want to correct your pain and allow you to reclaim your health. There is no reason the root cause of your pain should remain unknown and therefore untreated.
If you miss the underlying root cause, you are never going to stably get out of pain.
We live in a society that strongly pushes drugs. You are told: “If you feel pain, take a pain reliever”. The underlying message is clear: “Mask the pain; don’t worry why you have it. When the pain returns, take more drugs”.
Here is something to consider: whom do you think benefits from that message? Is it your body that is being fed dangerous chemicals? No. There is only one answer: the drug company making the pain reliever receives the benefit. You listen to them and you mask the pain. As time passes the real problem worsens. Now you need more drugs. Again, you need to ask, who benefits? It is not you!
As clinicians practicing Root Cause Medicine it is our job to tell you the truth. Instead of medication we will utilize natural solutions as we are navigating our way through your treatment program.
Regardless of whether the root cause is structural, neurological, organ-related, or some combination, Root Cause Medicine requires some action and effort on the part of the patient to be successful. Since we are not just handing you a pill to take, you are going to have to make some lifestyle changes. It could be performing exercises given to you by the Doctor of Physical Therapy or Chiropractic, or it could be dietary changes given to you by the Doctors in the Functional Medicine department.
One of the major reasons we propose an initial consultation, is because we want you to be able to meet with us and understand our approach before you pay for any visits. This visit can occur in person or over Zoom.
We want success for you just as much as you want to be successful in improving your health. This is a team approach. As mentioned, we do not just hand you a pill, far from it. We work extensively together to change diet, lifestyle, repair faulty organ function and restore physical alignment and strength. This does not happen overnight, and it will not occur without help.
Therefore, we want to ensure you are ready to embark upon the adventure to regain your health with a clear understanding that it will require some work and change on your part. But you are not alone; we are right here with you.
As we like to say, with patient compliance, success is all but assured.
Do you need help with back pain, joint pain, or any other type of pain? We can help.
Do you know someone in pain? Please share this with them.
Contact us here for a consultation or give us a call at 727-335-0400.
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Arrange an initial consultation to discuss your health history and how we can best help you regain your health.