Chiropractic focuses on resolving the reasons that we have pain which doesn’t go away. One reason for persisting pain is persistent injury to an area. The body attempts to heal the area, but cannot keep up with the recurring injury. The fact that an area is being injured over and over again is not always obvious.
A good example is repetitive strain injuries associated with office work. Sitting at a computer key board all day long is traumatic to the muscles of the arm. It’s not the way we usually think to trauma, like straining a muscle when lifting something heavy.
Holding the muscles of the shoulder, arm and forearm in a contracted state for hours on end restricts blood flow in and out of the muscles. When there is less blood flow into the muscle, the cells receive less nutrition and oxygen. There is also less blood flow out of the muscle, resulting in the accumulation of waste products in the tissue.
The Weekend Warrior Syndrome
We’ve all heard of the weekend warrior, who goes out on the weekend and does a lot of physically strenuous things. Even though no injury occurred, the next day he or she is so sore all over that they can barely move.
This temporary muscle pain of the weekend warrior is due to buildup of lactic acid and other waste products in the muscle tissue. Lactic acid (being an acid) acidifies the tissue and this stimulates pain nerve endings in the muscle. Once the blood circulation is able to remove the lactic acid, the pain disappears.
Back To The Office
The same thing occurs in the muscles of the arm when some one types all day. Some people can tolerate eight hours at the computer day after day, with little long term problems, because their arms are able to recuperate the other 16 hours of the day with the end result that they do okay.
Others cannot. As the pain continues, the body repeatedly attempts to heal the area. This results in formation of scar tissue and adhesions in the muscle tissue. The muscles become hard and full of tender nodules. In medicine we call this fibrosis of the muscles.
Degenerative Arthritis Can Cause Tissue Damage
Another example of ongoing trauma would be a bone spur. For example, bone spurs frequently develop at what is called the acromioclavicular joint. This joint is at the top of your shoulder. A bone spur can develop at the joint. The bone spur then digs into muscles that move the shoulder.
Whenever you go to move your arm at the shoulder these muscles tighten and press against the bone spur, causing pain. The bone spur can cut into the muscle and actually tear it apart. With a bone spur of this sort, the best way to handle the problem is to have the bone spur surgically removed.
Repetitive Trauma Has To Be Stopped For Healing To Occur
I don’t want to overstate the obvious. But any repetitive trauma to an injured area has to be stopped if the area is to heal. Imagine falling down and scraping your knee. A week later it has scabbed over, and without thinking you hit your knee against a table. It hurts like the dickens and begins to bleed. The scab also pulls away from the wound and you have to remove it.
You’re back to square one healing your knee injury. This is exactly what happens when you do too much after any injury, and it increases the pain. You have reinjured it. In order to have it heal you have to avoid reinjuring it.
While this is obvious, it is often ignored by personal trainers, physical therapists and even doctors. We tend to think that you have to push through the pain in order to improve. Once in a blue moon this may be true, but 99% of the time it is not.
The author Harlan Mittag, D.C. is one of many MN chiropractors who are trained to treat repetitive trauma injuries. To talk to Dr. Mittag, to arrange a complimentary consultation or to make an appointment as a new patient, please click here.
Dr. Harlan Mittag is a chiropractor in St. Louis Park and Minneapolis, MN and owner of Mittag Holistic Chiropractic. He is a chiropractor, nutritionist and acupuncturist who specializes in the treatment of natural pain and natural pain remedies. A graduate of Stanford University and Northwestern College of Chiropractic, he has had a clinical practice in Minneapolis, Minnesota for the past 25 years. He is proud to be one of approximately 2600 MN chiropractors in practice in Minnesota.