For years, doctors have told their patients their problems are due to osteoarthritis. Years ago, in chiropractic college we were taught about the arthritic profile which was an assumption that pain in older people was due to arthritic processes. Typically, patients who were stiff in the morning or the evening and were considered to be arthritic. Drug companies sold drugs such as Tylenol Arthritis formula which is a time released version of Acetaminophen because of the idea that arthritis sufferers need this. Use of this and other medications that results in chronic pain and osteoarthritis we see on an x-ray years later. Avoiding arthritis may be as simple as viewing pain differently and seeing the right providers when we are younger and improving function instead of reaching for a bottle of temporary relief. An arthritic blood panel profile helps doctors better diagnose rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory diseases, many of which start in the gut and have to do with our poor dietary habits and its results years later on quality of the bacteria in your gut. The more bad bacteria, the more weight gain, the more metabolic dysfunction and the more diseases. This dysfunction often called metabolic syndrome is why so many Americans are overweight and are diabetic. The problem with symptoms. When patients develop pain in the arm or wrist, rather than properly evaluating the part, urgent care is happy to take an x ray of the region and if there is any osteoarthritis, the patient is often told that they just have arthritis. A non specific medication is often recommended even though the doctors training in musculoskeletal system is minimal and the diagnosis is usually wrong unless there is trauma involved and osteoarthritis is a process that takes years. If the problem began in another part of the body, as it often does with chronic problems, looking at where it hurts and then taking an x ray or blood test is bad medicine. Bad medicine leads to chronic problems. The irony is that urgent care is part of conveyor belt medicine and many of these are owned by huge hospital systems and are designed to drive business to their closed system’s. Patients often tell me that after the age of 40, it was downhill from there in the way they feel and move. True, the game changes as we get away with many things before we are 40. By then, the discs in the spine have lose much of their moisture and everything changes. We need to play the aging game better by functioning better. Ignoring things with medication is no longer is an option. Why your chiropractor should be the first person you see if you are told you have arthritis? More people are visiting chiropractors because they help patients feel and function better naturally. As our knowledge of the human body, and how we move and function, science is showing us that movement if impaired will cause pain. Diagnosing movement dysfunction in lower back, leg pain, knee pain, sciatic pain and problems in the arms, neck, shoulders as well as other parts of the body requires a holistic evaluation and a thorough history of your main complaint and other more minor problems you regularly tolerate. It requires a thorough workup and an understanding of the patient in front of us. Older patients who have been in pain for years and have chronic problems often require an x-ray to better understand the wear and tear of the body. When this is done poorly, non specific physical therapies, specialty referrals and medications are often used in the medical realm which often do not work and result in chronicity. The more chronic the problems become, the more the body and even the brain adapts resulting in either further chronic pain and dysfunction or osteoarthritis in the joints. It is likely that better management while we are young will result in fewer problems when we age, including a diet lower in sugar and less nutritious processed foods. Your chiropractor can help you avoid years of misery later if you see them when you are younger. When your 8 year old complains of shin or knee pain, bringing them to the chiropractor may help them avoid movement related problems months and years later. Who you see first can determine your healthcare utilization, cost and results. The chiropractor is the provider best trained to understand why you hurt. You do not need therapy, you need a chiropractor to determine if therapy would be beneficial. One patient found out the hard way when after she was discharged from an automobile accident after treating in our office, The patient visited a physical therapist for protocoled therapy on her shoulders which was recommended after MRI’s of both shoulders and other parts of her body. I suggested the therapist and I chat to make sure we understand her problems the same way after the patients arms became numb at night from the therapy protocols. When I called the therapist, she explained the exercises she was doing for the shoulders and then I suggested that the patients shoulder problems were from her lower body which is why the exercises made her problem worse. She was happy to rethink the approach to care, focusing on the lower body stability instead as I suggested. The patients shoulders are now improving because the proper approach was to understand her shoulder pain instead of only using a protocol recommended by the orthopedic who only looked at an MRI. Recently, a patient who was told 10 years ago that her pain is from arthritic by her doctors had been sent to pain management and her condition was worsening. The doctor tried to convince her that she needed a nerve stimulated implanted in her spine. She was then recommended by a family member and the pain level in 5 visits is half of what it was a month ago. What our chiropractic office did differently. The patients x rays had shown her right hip had moderate degeneration and she had swelling in her ankles as well. The swelling was from impact which was doing damage to her hip. She walks normally now with the help of her chiropractic care that included manipulation of the spine and ankles, loosening of the hip joints, appropriate exercises to improve her strength and flexibility and management included foot orthotics that leveled her hips What we avoided Additional tests and their costs. A nerve stimulator in the spine that is costly and of no value. Medication. Wasted time that would have destroyed her right hip. Keeping things simple, it was obvious that the patient could not stand for long periods of time due to postural adaptations that were obvious by just looking at her. Specialists who look at your parts rather than the whole miss the obvious. Chiropractors are generalists for the musculoskeletal system. Looking at you keeps you out of the system, the tests, drugs and other methods that have been disproven over time. Get arthritis relief by keeping it simple. Think chiropractic first. We are trained to rule out medical problems and will refer you to the right specialist if necessary. The good news is, it usually isn’t necessary. The other good news is that for most people, the arthritis seen on the x ray is a process or a history of malfunction. The right chiropractor will improve how you function and feel without drugs, unnecessary tests or surgeries. Why suffer and become more chronic with medications that do not solve mechanical problems. Chiropractors are body mechanics. Research proves chiropractic reduces costs and has a high level of satisfaction. Need help today? Book online or call today.