osteoarthritis Archives - Hometown Family Wellness Center

Sep 12 2020

Collagen Supplements: What You Need to Know Before Wasting Your Money!

Every day I see more posts and people selling collagen supplements. There are things you need to know and I am going to discuss:

- The importance of collagen
- Collagen Deficiency
- What You Can Do about it
- What to avoid and look for with collagen supplements
- The Benefits of quality collagen formulas

Watch Dr. Russell Brokstein discuss this important topic about the importance of collagen and supplementation:

Collagen makes up a lot of the connective tissues in your body. It makes up 1/3 of all protein that makes up your body, more than any other type of protein. You lose around 1% of your collagen every year starting in your 20’s, causing your tissues to break down, make your skin age and make it harder for your tissues to heal.

Collagen supplementation is gaining popularity but there are many things you need to know before wasting money. Most products are made with Type 2, 3, 5, 7, 10 yet there is little to no clinical evidence of benefits from these forms. The problem is 90% of the collagen in your body is Type 1. So if you do use collagen, check the label to see the type and source.

Collagen Supplements — What you need to know about collagen supplements

One of the amazing supplements I have available is a medical grade liquid hydrolyzed Type 1 collagen peptides. This makes sure of the most bioavailable source of collagen to help improve your tissues. To further enhance the health benefits, the formula includes an antioxidant support system, Biotin, Hyaluronic Acid, L-Citrulline and 10 grams of protein. The company also hydrolyzes the collagen in house using plant based enzymes to increase absorption. All this separates our formula from every other collagen supplement on the market.

When using the right collagen supplement, you can see improvements in skin elasticity, hair, nail, bone, help with osteoporosis and arthritic conditions, promotes weight loss, improves brain health, gut health and improve joint, back and knee pain. I started using this over a year ago with other joint supplements and noticed an improvement in not only my knee and shoulder pain, but improved range of motion and able to exercise and run further without discomfort.

If you would like more information feel free to comment or to get yours click here: Icaria Glow Collagen

May 11 2020

You Can Prevent Spinal Arthritis!

An amazing research quote says that chiropractic care can actually prevent arthritis. Did you know that “If joint immobility is not corrected within two weeks, osteoarthritis becomes permanent”…or that “Permanent changes cannot be reversed”…AND even more importantly that “Restoring mobility to the joint will prevent it (arthritis) from progressing?” Source: Clinical Biomechanics reported as far back as 1987 (issue 2:223-229)

Watch for more details:

May 11 2020

Osteoarthritic Knee Pain Helped with Chiropractic Treatment

Osteoarthritic knee pain occurs from “normal wear and tear” causing arthritis. The cartilage which provides natural cushioning starts to wear down. The bones begin to rub without the cartilage resulting in pain, stiffness, swelling,

Osteoarthritic knee pain is common but can be helped by chiropractic — Osteoarthritic Knee Pain is Common but Can Be Helped by Chiropractic!

decreased motion and even sometimes bone spurs. Many doctors say this is a normal part of aging. More middle-aged people are seeking knee replacement surgery for ostoearthritic knee pain. These surgeries are both invasive and cost a lot of money. If people would seek early conservative treatment, surgery could be avoided.

Is osteoarthritis really normal wear and tear with aging? Imagine if you never brushed your teeth or gone to the dentist… would tooth decay be a normal part of aging? What if you never brought your car for maintenance… wouldn’t the car break down more as it got older and you drove it more? Doesn’t it make sense that as you put more stress into your body, your joints would wear and tear more without taking care of them?

A study: The Effect of a Manual Therapy Knee Protocol on Osteoarthritic Knee Pain: A Randomised Control Trial shows that chiropractic adjustments can help relieve osteoarthritis of the knee. The treatment group receiving chiropractic care showed a significant decrease in pain levels. The patients also noted a decrease in crepitus (grinding and clicking), improvement in the motions of the knee and improved the ability to perform regular daily activities. No adverse side effects were reported by the chiropractic patients. Those in the control group did not experience the benefits seen in the patients that received chiropractic care.

It’s important to not wait for the joints of your knees, spine, shoulders and other areas to misalign with daily stress, poor postures and injuries. The longer joints are out of alignment the pressure causes an increase in osteoarthritis and other degenerative conditions of the joints and discs between the vertebra. Chiropractic helps conditions like osteoarthritic knee pain by aligning the joints, reducing inflammation, improving gait, motion and flexibility. If you experience knee pain, let us help you avoid unnecessary surgery and harmful medications that are commonly prescribed by medical doctors.

Our Freehold chiropractor has helped patients with osteoarthritic knee pain for over 17 years. Watch one of our patients tell how he was helped with his knee pain as well as back and shoulder pain in this video:

May 11 2020

Spinal Degeneration Helped with Chiropractic!

Spinal degeneration is a condition suffered by many people. When your spine is neglected the joints, discs and supporting soft tissues start to decay. Throughout life your body is experiencing stresses. When you are first born the doctor pulls on your head and neck to deliver you. When you first start to learn how to walk how many times do you think you fell? Do you think sitting at the desks in school for what seems like years on end in bad postures has an effect on your spine? What about sports injuries, car accidents, slips and falls, bad sleep positions, your neck tilted while texting, sitting at a computer at work all day and many other stresses to your body?

All these stresses have an accumulative effect of misaligning the bones in your spine. This causes pressure on the discs and joints. Wear and tear occurs causing spinal degeneration. The discs start to lose their shock absorption due to loss of fluid. This can lead to bulging and ruptured discs.

Other factors too can increase spinal degeneration: Dehydration, smoking, lack of exercise, sedentary lifestyles, poor nutrition.

Medically, doctors say spinal degeneration is normal wear and tear and is part of aging but read the following analogy.

Spinal Degeneration Can Be Helped by Chiropractic

Think of your teeth for a second. If you neglect your teeth you will get tooth decay. If the day you first had teeth you just ate foods, drank acidic and sugary products. Over the years, your teeth would start to decay or degenerate. One could say it’s part of normal wear and tear or part of aging but you were taught from a young age that if you brush your teeth, floss and see the dentist on a regular basis we can prevent cavities and keep your teeth in good shape for many years to come.

The nice thing with your teeth is they can always be replaced. If you get spinal degeneration it’s much more serious. Your spine cannot be replaced AND it protects the most important system of your body, the nervous system.

When you get spinal degeneration it typical results in pain and many times osteoarthritis and spinal stenosis. Eventually the nerves start to get affected leading to numbness, tinglings and reduces the function of your entire body.

Now a study from the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation shows chiropractic can improve the condition of spinal degeneration. 40 men from 30 to 40 years old with degenerative lumbar disease at L5-S1 were split into 2 groups. One received the spinal manipulation while the other received a placebo.

Patients were assessed for height, perceived low back pain, neural mechanosensitivity and spinal mobility in flexion. Immediate improvements, even after just one treatment, were seen in the group that got the adjustments in all test categories.

Chiropractic provides relief for patients suffering with spinal degeneration. We have seen the same results in our office. Freehold Chiropractor, Dr. Russell Brokstein has been helping patients with spinal decay for the last 16 years. We recommend not waiting to get to this point. Simple chiropractic maintenance with home stretching and exercise can prevent these conditions from occurring in the first place, just like brushing your teeth and seeing a dentist protects your teeth. For more information about Dr. Brokstein click here.

May 11 2020

Spinal Degeneration Risk Factors

Spinal degeneration occurs naturally as we age with the normal grind of daily living. The discs naturally break down forming arthritic type changes. The joints start to decay, calcification builds up, and the discs lose their ability to absorb shock. Sounds very similar to tooth decay right? Well you know if you don’t continually take care of your teeth with brushing, flossing, rinsing and periodically seeing a dentist, the process occurs more rapidly.

Spinal Degeneration progresses unless you address the risk factors

Spinal degeneration can occur at every level of the spine: the neck or cervical spine, mid back and lower or lumbar spine. You might not notice the pain at first but as it progresses more pain is felt. You can also notice restricted motion and reduced ability to perform normal activities. Almost half of the population aged 40 years or older experiences pain from spinal degeneration. After 80 years old about 80 percent of the population suffers with this condition.

Studies have shown risk factors of spinal degeneration. By limiting these factors and promoting spinal hygiene, we can reduce degeneration and improve quality of life, especially as we age.

From 1997 to 2007, 197 individuals were studied every 2 years using xrays to measure disc heights in the lumbar spine. It was found disc heights decreased at each level gradually over the years on average of 5.8%. The likelihood of disc degeneration increased more in females, those who had knee osteoarthritis and those who had back pain at the start of the study.

Another study shows that smoking cigarettes increases disc degeneration, weakening of spinal ligaments and spinal instability. Evidence suggests that the severity of degeneration is worse in smokers than non smokers. Smoking causes physiological changes that increases the spinal decay.

A study in the Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association shows the benefit of manual therapy on osteoarthritic knee pain. After just 2 weeks, those receiving manual therapy for 3 times per week for 2 weeks experienced less pain, improved movement and ability to perform general activities which were previously more difficult.

Other risk factors that increase spinal degeneration and back pain are:

Occupation hazards: If you do a lot of bending, lifting or long periods of sitting and standing without breaks.
Genetics: There is some evidence that there is some inherited component
Sedentary lifestyle: Those not active without regular exercise have higher risk of back pain and severity of pain.
Excessive weight: Weight increases stress on the joints, ligaments, tendons and discs
Poor posture: Slouching, sitting at a computer, texting and other modern technology, driving hunched, bad sleeping positions and lifting things improperly or just some things that increase stress to the spinal segments.
Hydration: 80% of your body is water. Most people are dehydrated which leads to tissues being “dried out”. Think of a sponge that you leave on the counter for an extended period without putting water on it, it will dry out and becomes brittle. Your muscles, tendons, ligaments and discs are similiar and become more fragile.

Spinal degeneration can be reduced and prevented with spinal hygiene. I describe it like dental hygiene as previously mentioned in this article. It’s very important to limit the risks listed above. Work on your posture, keep active with exercise, maintain a healthy weight, stop smoking, stretch regularly while at work, use proper form lifting and bending, and keep properly hydrated (drink half your body weight in water) and limit products that contain caffeine like coffee or energy drinks as caffeine leads to dehydration.

Most importantly go to a Chiropractor to help keep your joints moving and aligned. Chiropractic adjustments remove back pain and help reduce risk factors of spinal degeneration. Unlike tooth decay where you can replace your teeth, you are born with one spine that cannot be replaced!

In our Freehold chiropractic office, we use a combination of adjustments, therapeutic stretching and exercises to get you the full benefits of care in preventing spinal degeneration. Let us help you live a long, healthy, active lifestyle!

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