Chapter 8
PAIN:
Treating Causes, NOT Symptoms
Simply stated, pain is the body's way of telling you something is
wrong.
Our goal is to relieve the causes of pain not just the symptoms.
Many of the causes of common painful conditions are unique to the
female body. For example, hormonal imbalances related to PMS or menopausal
conditions, candidiasis, allergies and low thyroid can cause or aggravate
neck and back pain, arthritis, joint pain and/or muscle cramping.
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Many of the causes of common painful
conditions are unique to a woman's body.
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In turn, painful PMS related conditions can be aggravated by chronic
negative stresses including those caused by the challenges and
responsibilities of modern life and imbalanced daily living habits.
A woman's health can also be jeopardized by certain activities of daily
living (or the lack of activity). Carrying a purse, a child or groceries
on one side of the body over a prolonged time can cause spinal and
musculature imbalances. These imbalances can cause pain between the
shoulder blades; neck and lower back pain; and numbness, tingling and pain
down the arms and legs.
A lack of exercise and stretching, poor muscle tone and poor posture
can also result in pain and stiffness. Maintaining the same posture or
position for many hours or doing repetitive movements or motions can cause
tendonitis, sprains, strains, or discomfort in the joints.
For example, driving in one position for many hours can cause back and
neck pain. Hammering or repetitive wrist motions can cause a very painful
condition called Carpel Tunnel Syndrome.
Improper sleeping habits and using an improper pillow can cause neck
and shoulder pain. Physical problems caused by a previous injury can be
reactivated by a whole host of physical maladies including osteoarthritis
and rheumatoid arthritis (degenerative joint disease).
Taking the proper type and amount of calcium and making sure the
calcium can be absorbed properly is essential for maintaining good, strong
bones.
Our clinic can help you learn which form of calcium (as well as other
nutrients) are best for you. We can also help formulate a nutritional and
dietary program that best suits your needs and lifestyle.
After obtaining your case history, performing a physical examination,
testing for nutritional and other imbalances, the physician can often
reveal the actual causes of many painful conditions.
In many cases, the physician must discover and treat pre-existing
conditions as well as the hormonal imbalances, recognizing that the body
functions as an integrated system.
It should also be recognized that chronic anxiety, stress and tension
can build up in soft tissues of the body over time. These factors can make
muscles feel hard, tight, knotty and tender to the touch. Chronic coffee
drinking and high sugar intake can cause overstimulation and make matters
worse.
Try pressing gently on someone's shoulders after they have been doing
clerical work, data entry, typing, reception work, housework or other
activities that could cause high stress. Gently pressing can cause
shoulder or neck pain sometimes with pain down the arms or even headaches.
If a person feels this pain, it is an indication that they should consider
treatment.
Eventually, the combination of chronic tension without the benefit of
stretching, exercise or emotional outlet can cause skeletal muscle pain
and spinal misalignment. This problem can also hinder sufficient nerve
impulses to the body's organs causing them to function at partial
efficiency. Impaired absorption, digestion, and elimination as well as
many other conditions discussed in this manual can be triggered or made
worse by chronic tension.
Muscle cramping, chronic neck, shoulder and lowback pain caused by
chronic stress can bring about injury and arthritis pain in later life.
It is the author's opinion that pain can be caused by many factors in
varying degrees or combinations among three main groupings: physical,
emotional or biochemical causes.
After helping you discover the cause of the pain, the physician should
offer gentle, soothing treatments, natural medicines and home care
programs to help alleviate pain thus restoring healthy structure and
function, and putting control of your life back into your own hands.
Today's woman should be encouraged to know that the majority of their
problems are treatable by Naturopathic Medical practices. Relief can be
obtained without undesirable side effects or surgery. This approach of
strengthening the body by using natural methods to rebuild and restore
health is the true essence of Naturopathic Medicine.
That their is hope is echoed by the phrase repeated by many of our
patients...
"This month really has been better!"
Please share this booklet with other women so that they can be helped.
A copy can also be obtained by calling our office in Milwaukie, Oregon at
(503) 654-3938.
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