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Health & Fitness

A Few Ways To Detect Joint Problems Before They Become Painful

If you are not feeling pain, how can you tell whether or not there is a joint problem?

In a previous blog, I explained that the nerve endings that send signals that the brain interprets as pain have a threshold. In other words, there has to be enough pressure or inflammation around the nerve ending to cause it to fire and alert the brain that something is wrong. But what happens when the injury is too slight to trigger the nerve ending? The type of injury that sometimes happens in an auto accident or from the chronic stress of sitting in front of a computer for most of the day or even the slow breakdown of tissue due to aging.

You can have 99.99 percent of the pressure and inflammation necessary to trigger the pain nerve ending and not feel a thing. You will have no idea that anything is wrong at all. That's why the majority of patients who come into a chiropractor's office don't have a clue with regard to what caused the pain. They may have had the underlying condition going on for years, but it wasn't until that morning that the small fraction of an ounce of pressure or inflammation added to what was already there crossed the threshold and caused the nerve ending to fire. The patient is then unpleasantly surprised when X-rays reveal advanced arthritic degeneration of the painful joint. 

Like a smoke detector, pain is the alarm, not the problem. For a smoke detector to sound its alarm, there has to be enough smoke to set it off. If it does go off, pulling out the battery will do nothing to put out the fire.

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Once pain nerves go off, killing the pain with pills, injections, or even a couple of chiropractic adjustments does nothing to truly address the underlying problem. Pills or injections only temporarily block the pain or bring down the inflammation. A chiropractic adjustment or two will increase joint movement, thus relieving enough of the pressure to bring it below the threshold of pain that stops it. To actually correct the underlying problems will take a number of chiropractic adjustments, plus a specific exercise program.

If it is a new injury and there is no underlying degeneration, as, for example a teenager who twisted his back playing basketball, two or three adjustments may actually correct the underlying problem completely as well as eliminating pain. If that same player is middle-aged, the pain may go away with a few adjustments, but if he or she is to correct the underlying problem as much as possible, a plan of adjustments and rehabilitative exercises over several months may be necessary. If the person is significantly overweight, a weight loss program may be necessary as well. In an elderly person, the problem will usually have to be managed by keeping the degenerated joints mobile enough so that the pressure and any inflammation remains under the pain threshold. 

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So, if you are not feeling pain, how can you tell whether or not there is a joint problem? Here are three easy ways:

  1. Stiffness may slowly creep up on you, making it harder to get up from sitting or getting out of the car.
  2. You may start to lose your range of motion. Do you have to turn your whole body now when you used to just have to turn your head? Can you still reach both arms over your head? Do you have trouble bending from your hips or knees?
  3. Are there sore spots when you put just a moderate amount of pressure over a joint? That's called a "subacute" condition. One where there is almost enough pressure or inflammation necessary to cause pain, but you are not quite there yet.

There are more sophisticated methods such as posture exams, computerized muscle activity testing, and X-rays that most chiropractors employ to help you detect a problem before it becomes painful or, worse yet, a chronic degenerative condition. So if you do detect a problem on your own, it's a good idea to get a follow-up from a professional.

Remember what Benjamin Franklin said: "An ounce of prevention... " I know. You've heard that one a thousand times.

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