Arthritis demands serious relief

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a debilitating autoimmune disorder in which the body attacks and destroys its own beneficial tissue, including the cartilage that supports your joints. The resulting loss of mobility and weakness creates a condition that breeds pain and discomfort. Autoimmune disorders are hard to come to grips with and even harder to treat effectively because we still don’t know what triggers the body’s immune system response to attack healthy tissue. At Community Chiropractic & Acupuncture of Park Slope, we have been using natural modalities to help RA sufferers manage their pain and live well despite their condition. Let’s take a look at how acupuncture helps manage RA symptoms.

Acupuncture for headaches

While acupuncture would never purport to be a be-all, end-all treatment for headaches, it can directly address the the root causes of the headache and thereby ease the symptoms. Acupuncture needles are placed in accordance with the meridians of Traditional Chinese Medicine, which often coincides with nerves throughout the body. Insertion of the needles at these strategic points will release such important hormones as endorphins which trigger a pain-killing response in the body. With very little risk for side-effects, acupuncture has emerged as one of the premier alternative-medicine treatments for headaches. For people looking to avoid the side-effects of prescription drugs and other traditional forms of headache treatment, it is worth asking whether acupuncture could work for you. 

A natural approach to treating Thoracic Outlet Syndrome

Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS) is a painful condition that occurs when nerves and blood vessels in the thoracic outlet become copmressed. The thoracic outlet refers to the space between the collar bone and the first rib, and compression of this zone is associated with pain and dysfunction in the upper extremities. Symptoms depend on whether nerves or blood vessels are impinged upon. With nerves:

• Tingling, numbness and weakness in the arms and hands
• Weakness or pain in the shoulders
• A weakening grip 

With blood vessels:

• Discoloration of the hands
• Blood clots 
• Swelling and pain in the arms 

This is a serious condition that requires a thoughtful approach to treatment- that being said, many patients experience significant improvement with conservative therapies like chiropractic and acupuncture. 

Your center of gravity determines your stability

This hypothetical location refers to the point in your body where your mass appears to be concentrated. In a stationary world, our COG is located anterior to the second sacral vertebra, but because we are always in motion, this position is fluid- changing with every motion of the upper and lower bodies, as well as the limbs. Understanding your center of gravity (along with knowing where it is) has important implications for balance and stability, injury prevention and overall wellness. Let’s find out a little bit more about the importance of your center of gravity. 

Acupuncture for sports performance starts by improving muscle function

No matter your level of athletic ability, simply putting your body through the demands of physical activity causes stress to your muscles. Systemic muscular stress is associated with fatigue, decreased athletic performance and injury; not surprisingly, acupuncture is becoming one of the premier ways to respond to these limitations. In a sports setting, acupuncture is used to:

• Relieve pain 
• Speed the healing process
• Increase muscle strength and resilience
• Boost stamina

Athletes across the world are finding that acupuncture is a natural, effective tool that helps them reach peak levels of performance. So how does it work?

The older you get, the more important strength training becomes

No matter how much we fight it, strength is harder to come by in old age. We are no longer enjoy the resilience of our strapping young bodies, which means that we are more vulnerable to injury; when injury does strike, it takes more out of us. That is why we believe, in accordance with general health guidelines, that strength training is essential to well-being in old age. By focusing on strengthening muscles in all the important areas of your body, you remain more able to function and more resilient to injury. Read on for more information about the importance of strength training for over-50s. 

Sleep is rejuvenation for your spine

Whether you live with no back pain, chronic back pain or a degenerative spinal condition, sleep offers the same opportunity for all of us: rest and restoration. It should be a time when cells in the muscles, joints, discs and bones are able to find a brief reprieve; time to repair in an extended position. The problem for many people with back pain is that the very condition prevents them from sleeping: with no distractions, all they have left is to focus on the pain. A vicious cycle is created that prevents you from getting the rest your spine needs to repair. At Community Chiropractic & Acupuncture in Park Slope, we prioritize sleep in the lives of all our patients. Here are some tips for sleeping with certain spinal conditions.