Dr Oz: The Revolutionary Cure for Pain in Pottsville

September 12, 2012 by

Schuylkill County: For those of you in pain it just doesn’t have to be that way anymore.  The Dr. Oz show titled The Revolutionary Cure for Pain was about this new treatment, what he termed the “Pain Eraser”.  Our office has the “Pain Eraser” since February 2012 and I can say the results I have seen are truly amazing.

chiropractor pottsville Dr Oz: The Revolutionary Cure for Pain in Pottsville

We have had incredible responses with patients that have rheumatoid arthritis. The reduction of pain has been astonishing, especially in their hands and feet.

Patients with chronic arthritis have also responded well.  Remo Piccioni of Pottsville could only walk one block because of his arthritic knees.  He was told his knees were so bad that they were bone on bone. He is now walking one half mile without pain.  Another patient could hardly walk without arthritic pain in both knees. She just returned from a cruise to Alaska and reported that she did well; she was able to move about the ship without pain and had no flare-ups.

We have had remarkable success with neuropathy with a number of patients.  Some responses have been very quick and others were slower but all responded.

chiropractor pottsville Dr Oz: The Revolutionary Cure for Pain in Pottsville

Remo Piccioni receiving the “Pain Eraser” treatment

Some other conditions that we have treated with great success are carpal tunnel and all types of shoulder pain.  We also have treated dozens of Schuylkill County residents with foot and ankle pains with extraordinary results.

Some of the most astonishing pain patients have been chronic back pain sufferers. We have a few patients that have “tried everything” and ended up at our office as their last resort.  The back pain specialists at Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia saw one patient. He had a complete work-up for this back pain.  Nevertheless, he was told there was nothing they could do. Just come back when the pain gets worse.  With one treatment, he was moving his back and legs unbelievably better.  Another patient had back surgery and was not doing well.  He was “all over” looking for help.  He even had a series of ozone shots in his back muscles that helped temporarily. But one treatment and the “Pain Eraser” he walked out of the office pain free.

If you have pain, and are tired of “living with it”, you owe it to yourself to try the “Pain Eraser”.

Click on the link below to watch the Dr. Oz show on the “Pain Eraser”.

Dr. Oz: The Revolutionary Cure for Pain

 

Filed Under: Arthritis, Back Pain, Car Accidents, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Chiropractic, Foot Pains, Neck Pain, Sciatica, Shoulder Pain, Work Injury Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Fibromyalgia and Muscle Fatigue in Schuylkill Country

January 1, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Schuylkill County: Muscles are comprised of two different basic muscle types: fast twitch and slow twitch.  Fast twitch muscle fibers have low endurance whereas slow twitch muscle fibers have high endurance.  As an example, sprinters have a high percentage of fast twitch muscle fibers in their legs and long-distance runners have a higher percentage of slow twitch muscle fibers.  Everyone has their own genetic mixture of these two types of muscle fibers in their muscles.  Additionally, postural muscles, the muscles that hold us upright against gravity, have a high percentage of slow twitch fibers.  Dynamic muscles, the muscles that enable us move have a higher percentage of fast twitch muscle fibers.  That is why when you workout using your dynamic muscles you fatigue more easily than just standing using primarily your slow twitch muscles. 

chiropractor pottsville Fibromyalgia and Muscle Fatigue in Schuylkill Country

Example of Fast Twitch and Fast Twitch Muscle Fiber

A recent study has shown a difference in muscle fatigue in fibromyalgia patients.  In the study two groups of patients were utilized, one with fibromyalgia and the other normal controls.  In the first test the subjects upper arm muscle was stimulated using electrical current to contract the muscle while measuring muscle activity with a surface EMG.  In the second test, the subjects were asked to flex their upper arm muscle and hold it for 3 seconds.  Muscle activity was also recorded with a surface EMG.

The researchers found that there was no difference in strength between normal subjects and fibromyalgia subjects.  There was also no difference in muscle fatigability when the muscle was stimulated/contracted by the electrical impulse.  However, there was a difference in fatigability of the muscle between the two groups when the subjects voluntarily contracted (under control of their brain) their muscle.  Fibromyalgia patients had a higher rate of muscle fatigue and it occurred much earlier.

Fibromyalgia sufferers activate a higher percentage of fast twitch muscle fibers (the ones that fatigue easily) compared to normal subjects.  The control of this activation is under the Central Nervous System (the brain and spinal cord).  Therefore, the researchers concluded that the altered activation is a Central Nervous System motor (muscle) control-processing problem.

Although it is well established that fibromyalgia is a central pain-processing problem, this is the first time research demonstrated a central muscle control difference between normal subjects and fibromyalgia sufferers.  The fatigue problem is not in the muscles, but is in how the brain and spinal cord recruit the muscle fibers and control the muscles.

Along with treating the central pain processing problem with transcranial electrical stimulation to increase the alpha waves it also explains why light exercise has been shown to be beneficial.  Additional studies have shown improvement in muscle fatigue symptoms with whole body vibration (WBV).  WBV exercise targets the fast twitch muscle fibers and therefore increases the number of fast twitch muscle fibers and fatigability is lessened.

An research paper can be found here:

Central motor control failure in fibromyalgia: a s… [BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2009] – PubMed result

Filed Under: Chiropractic, Fibromyalgia, Natural Remedies Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

No-Crash Auto Accident in Schuylkill County

March 6, 2010 by 1 Comment
Pottsville, Schuylkill County: I am constantly amazed by the number of covered no-crash car accidents that we see in our office.  Another covered no-crash auto accident happened this week.  This time snow and a pickup truck was involved.
This “car accident” occurred when the patient was shoveling snow out of the back of his pickup truck.  His foot slipped and he twisted injuring his back.    They are very common, but you never hear about them.  Any injury that involves a car is presumably a covered injury under the medical portion of your car insurance policy.
See  Weird Car Accidents That Were Covered By Auto Insurance In Schuylkill County in this blog for more information and other no-crash car accident stories.

Doctors’ Choice Physical Medicine and Rehab

Dr. David Novatnak

Glee Pascual, Physical Therapist

Pottsville, Schuylkill, PA

This information is solely advisory, and should not be substituted for medical or chiropractic advice. Any and all health care concerns, decisions, and actions must be done through the advice and counsel of a health care professional who is familiar with your medical history.

Filed Under: Back Pain, Car Accidents, Health Tips Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Schuylkill County: Hand Pain, Tingling, and Numbness

October 30, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Pottsville PA: Do you have hand problems that have their cause from pinched or irritated nerves?  Arthritic pains from joints occur with these symptoms.  Sometimes there is no hand pain at all, just tingling and numbness.  Many patients think they may have poor circulation.

When hand pain strikes, it can be a difficult problem to deal with since we use our hands for so much: our work, our play.  It can also be distressing psychologically to have a part of your body not working as it should.

Carpal tunnel, Thoracic Outlet, or a Pinched Nerve in the Neck?

Hand pain can be a difficult thing to diagnose since there are many causes of hand pain. One familiar cause is a carpal tunnel syndrome. This is where the bony tunnel in the wrist is narrowed, pinching or irritating the nerves that pass through and go into the hand.

Another cause for hand pain is a thoracic outlet syndrome. The thoracic outlet can be compressed in the shoulder girdle region causing hand pain.  Many times raising your hands above your head can bring on the symptoms.

Another problematic area to consider with hand pain is in the neck.   This could be a disc lesion compressing the nerves in the neck causing referred or radicular (nerve root) pain into the hand. 

All of these problems have very similar symptoms in the hands.

These three problems can independently cause hand symptoms or they can all co-exist to varying degrees.  You are entitled to more than one cause, correct?  Getting a proper diagnosis is the first key to a full correction of a problem.  If your hand pain is being treated with an anti-inflammatory, there may be a reduction in symptoms but pain medications cannot release a pinch or irritated nerve.

You might also want to consider that pain or tingling is a signal.  The problem that is causing the symptom should be your focus.  When the fire alarm goes off at home, do we think to turn off the fire alarm, or put out the fire?  Pain or a symptom is the fire alarm, not the fire.

Find the Cause of the Problem

Recent research (Nord KM, et. al. False positive rate of thoracic outlet syndrome diagnostic maneuvers. Electromyogr Clin Neurophysiol 2008;48:67.) has shown that differentiating between these three unique disorders with clinical tests can be problematic, since false positive tests are more a rule, rather than an exception. Patients with carpal tunnel syndrome were one of the most frequently misdiagnosed groups of patients.

You may also need special x-rays views of your of your wrist and neck region to fully get at the cause of your hand pain or symptoms and determine the best course of action.  Sometimes more advanced tests like Electromyograms and Nerve Conduction Velocity Studies (EMG and NCV) are necessary.

Conservative Care Before Surgery   

All of these three problems respond well to conservative care, like chiropractic and physical therapy, is an often-overlooked form of care.  At our office, we use a type of stretching device to stretch the shortened ligament at the wrist.  It carries very low risks.  This type of therapy should be a first option for anyone who is considering wrist surgery.  We have helped many people avoid carpal tunnel surgery.

We may be able to help.  Check out or blog on this website for more information.

http://www.chiropractorpottsville.com

Doctors’ Choice Physical Medicine and Rehab

Dr. David Novatnak

Glee Pascual, Physical Therapist

Pottsville, Schuylkill, PA

 

 

 

Filed Under: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,