Dr. Charles D. Everts D.C.

Now if you just allow the cause of pain to stick around we will talk about what can happen. Let me tell you a story… lets say my mother-in-law came to visit this summer. Now lets say I water my lawn by having it hooked up to a hose that I stumble out of bed, open the front door, open the valve to water the lawn, then go eat my cheerios, then turn off the valve, job done. So my mother-in-law parks her car on the hose, blocking it off, I go about my routine and do not notice until she leaves the hose was blocked and my grass is turning brown. Now the car was there a week, it was hot so the grass turned brown but did not die, so I could water it again and get it to turn green no problem. Now lets say she  comes again, stays a month, blocks the hose and this time not only does the grass turn brown, it dies, and no matter how much I water it, it won’t turn green again, it is dead and gone. The big problem is the body works in a similar way.

The nerves not only carry pain signals it also carries info to and from organs and muscles. If there is pressure on a nerve it either gives off to much or to little info, like stepping on the hose we talked about above. So if you have pain caused by pressure on  a nerve, the organs and muscles it goes to are also affected due to the pressure. If the pressure is on the nerve for too long a period of time it can effect the organ or muscle permanently, similar to the grass in the story above. The only time back surgery is truly indicated, is when nerve damage is occurring, usually bladder or bowel function, not a fun function to lose control of.

The problem is that when most people get pain they just turn off the symptom (indicator) with drugs, and don’t fix the underlying problem (pressure on a nerve). The nerve damage usually takes longer than the lawn story above, but the longer it is there the bigger the chance there is to have permanent damage occur. So in a nut shell the sooner you take care of a problem the better. The other reason is that most nerve pressure is caused typically by a bone being out of place, a muscle moves the bone and ligaments and tendons hold it in place, if you allow it to be out of place too long the muscles, tendons, and ligaments remodel or lengthen or shorted that they hold it in the misaligned position. The longer it stays out of place the longer it takes to over come the remodeling thus taking longer to fix. If a person comes to see me with the first headache it is easy to fix, but after years of pain reliever use it has remodeled and takes much longer to fix.

The moral of the story; get your pain and problems checked out and fixed early! Don’t wait call 480-985-9113 today to get the problem fixed.

Pain is the reason the vast number of patients have sought treatment in my practice over the years, no surprise. There are countless remedies and products for pain on the market; aspirin, acetaminophen, Oxycontin, even preparation H! A product for every type of pain in any location. OK pain is a big deal but lets get to the bottom of this.

Pain is simply an indicator. Pain is there to let us know something is wrong. To put this in proper perspective lets look at my usual analogies. Lets say you were driving down the road in your car, suddenly the red light that says oil under it comes on. You now have choices, first off the light came on because there is a problem with the oil system of your car, it was an indicator. You have a couple of choices at this point, you could take off your shoe and bash the light until it goes out; mission accomplished the indicator is now off, so every thing is OK…right? Well your car will still work, for a short while, but will soon make some very disturbing noises, then the engine would promptly seize up,  stop working and cost a lot to fix. The alternative and practical solution to the light coming on would be to pull over, shut off the engine and add some oil so the light goes out. Both ways the indicator light stopped shining red, but there are two big different results. Before you think the first alternative is crazy, this is exactly what most of us do when we have pain! We simply shut off the indicator with a pain pill of your choice, this is like buying a fire alarm with  a snooze button, whack the button the fire alarm shuts off, go back to sleep, all is well…right? Pain is there to indicate there is a problem, common sense tells us to get up for the fire alarm and put the fire (the cause of the alarm) out.

Most common headaches are cause by the nerves in your upper neck being irritated (see my headache blog for a better description), when the average person gets a headaches they take a pill…right? Taking a pain pill for and pain is simply shutting off the indicator without fixing the real underlining problem.  So usually for the first headache you take an aspirin, them when more headaches come back and the aspirin doesn’t work they go to extra strength whatever, and so on, letting the underlying problem to get worse and worse until they call me. The real problem with all this is that if they would call a chiropractor with the first headache or two, my job would be easier. I have read many articles, books etc.,  and never have I read of a headache caused by an aspirin deficiency!

The real key here is to get the problem fixed, don’t cover it up with medication, and the sooner you start on the fix the easier and faster it will be fixed. Next time we will talk about what happens if we don’t fix the problem soon enough!

Dr. Everts

August 7 2012

Arthritis,

I am very often asked the best way to treat common or osteoarthritis. As a bit of a joker I tell them to never get it in the first place. I know this is one of those classic answers but lets figure it out. Unfortunately not every one can avoid arthritis, as genetic and environmental factors play a huge part. So what can we do if it is just plain going to happen? Lets look at an analogy.

We all know the front tires of you car need to be aligned to work and wear properly. If the tires are out of alignment the car will drive, it may pull or wander on the road but will still go. The problem is even though it drives, the tires wear much fasted than they would normally. If not fixed you need to buy tires much more often. Your body works much the same way, if your joints are out of alignment you still work, but you know something is wrong…pain, stiffness, headaches, popping, etc. If the misalignment is allowed to remain for too long, your joints will wear out. The main difference between you and your tires is joints are pretty tough to replace. We all have genetic factors that play a big role in this, but if your joints are working perfectly they will wear as your genetics tell them to. If you allow misalignments to persist the joint will wear faster then it should. This is where getting regular chiropractic treatments are the key. By keeping your joints in the best alignment and working as they should you can help keep arthritis from coming too soon.

If you already have arthritis, lets look at this. If caught soon enough at a point where joint damage is just beginning or is minimal chiropractic adjustments and some supplements such as glucosamine sulfate can have a great effect. If there is too much damage the best we can do is to help it from getting worse, or help manage the pain. So as you can see the best way to treat arthritis is to never have too. The best way to never have to is to get a regular chiropractic check up and treat as soon as possible any seemingly small problem. Make that call for your check up today.

Headaches,

One of the conditions that responds well to chiropractic care is headaches. Most headaches are the tension/stress type and these respond quickly to a well managed treatment plan. These are caused by tight muscles in the back of the neck/skull area, adjustments and some muscle work, works wonders for this type of headache.

Migraines respond well to chiropractic treatment but do take a little longer typically. Migraines are thought to be vascular headaches, with the vessels either contracting or dilating to cause the pain. I believe that most are caused by constricting vessels that cause lowered blood flow to the surrounding area. A classic migraine has what is called an aura preceding it, where the sufferer has sensory issues such as weird tastes, numbness, visual disturbances, strange sounds as some of the symptoms. These are thought to be caused by the area of the brain that is being effected by the reduced blood flow, sort of like pins and needles you feel in your arms and legs with decreased blood flow. There is a blood vessel complex called the vertbrobasilar arteries that run through the bones of the neck,  if this is compromised you can have decreased blood flow to the inner portion of your brain making you susceptible to migraines. Of course, this is a simplified version of what happens, as there are triggers like a women’s monthly hormone change and dietary issues. By normalizing the curve of the neck and getting the full blood flow to the brain migraines can be helped. My wife used to have at least three days a month she was out of commission due to migraines, but hasn’t had one for over 20 years, due to chiropractic treatment.

There are many other causes of headaches, call and schedule a free consult to find out if you can be helped with modern chiropractic.

Yes house calls are back. Health care in the privacy of your home or office. The return of the family physician. No waiting for the doctor, the doctor comes to you at your convenience.

Dr. Everts has provided house calls for 8 years. This is a new and exciting way to receive health care. Be advised that not every condition can be treated in the home environment, but in 8 years of doing this just a handful have been a problem. Dr. Everts has 24 years experience as a chiropractor, and has more than likely seen a condition like yours and successfully treated it. Back pain, headaches, neck pain, sports, auto and work injuries respond very well to the techniques I use.

I am available from 8:30 to 8:30 Monday thru Thursday with Friday and Saturday by appointment. Convenient and effective are words used to describe our services.

Feel free to contact me about almost any condition and I will be happy to let you know if I can help you out and if not who you should contact. I want to earn the title of your family chiropractic physician.

Yes house calls are back. Health care in the privacy of your home or office. The return of the family physician. No waiting for the doctor, the doctor comes to you at your convenience.

Dr. Everts has provided house calls for 8 years. This is a new and exciting way to receive health care. Be advised that not every condition can be treated in the home environment, but in 8 years of doing this just a handful have been a problem. Dr. Everts has 24 years experience as a chiropractor, and has more than likely seen a condition like yours and successfully treated it. Back pain, headaches, neck pain, sports, auto and work injuries respond very well to the techniques I use.

I am available from 8:30 to 8:30 Monday thru Thursday with Friday and Saturday by appointment. Convenient and effective are words used to describe our services.

Feel free to contact me about almost any condition and I will be happy to let you know if I can help you out and if not who you should contact. I want to earn the title of you family chiropractic physician.