Chronic Pain Solutions Using a Functional Medicine Approach

  “Ouch.”

  “Kiss it all better.”

  For many, the simple boo-boo has evolved into a complex chronic epidemic that not even mama can make go away.

  Chronic pain has afflicted more than 100 million Americans at a cost of over $600 million.

  Trying to solve chronic pain with medication has brought a whole other level of complexity to the problem. 

  Over the counter anti-inflammatory drugs have risks of heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure and kidney damage. Increasing opiate prescriptions has resulted in, among other problems, increased addiction. Prescription drugs are now the second-most abused category of drugs in the U.S., following marijuana. Now there’s a shift towards using the street drug marijuana. 

  Meanwhile, there’s little being done to actually address the root cause of the pain in the first place.

  If you are suffering from chronic pain, you simply want it to go away.  You don’t care how. Whether its back pain, headaches and migraines, neck pain or fibromyalgia the pain can be debilitating in your life. Many just want to hide under their covers and shut out the world. So, the use of drugs is completely understandable.  

  But in the end, all you want is to put the ongoing cycle of pain behind you.

  Unfortunately, treating the symptom over and over again, without addressing why it’s there in the first place, can lead to serious consequences. It can develop into drug dependency and worsening of the pain. But can the pain really go away if you, instead, focus on its root cause?

  Think of it this way. If you sprained your ankle, it swells up. Maybe you throw some ice on it and after a couple weeks it gets better. But what if the swelling is still there? Five years later! That would be odd. But that’s exactly what’s happening with chronic pain. The swelling just never went away. Chronic pain in the body is directly related to chronic systemic inflammation. That’s why anti-inflammatory drugs are used.  You might ask, “Then why don’t anti-inflammatory drugs work long term?”

  The answer is simple. Its only a temporary solution. That’s all it was ever meant to be. But we’ve tried to use drugs long term. It’s like mopping the floor every time the roof leaks. Yes, it needs to be done but eventually you’ve got to fix the roof. Also, how much more damage is being done the longer you let it leak.  

  The more you allow the cause of the pain to settle in the more permanent the pain becomes. 

  And the dangers of medication add to the drama. Fixing why the chronic systemic inflammation is there in the first place is really the only way to fully resolve chronic pain.

  Today, more than the past, there are many common reasons for inflammation. Here’s a short list:

  • Chronic Poor Diet
  • Food Sensitivities
  • Accumulated Toxins
  • Cell Dysfunction
  • Hormone Imbalance
  • Blood Sugar Imbalance
  • Adrenal Fatigue
  • Hidden Infections
  • Digestive Problems
  • Immune Dysregulation
  • Intestinal Malabsorption
  • NEUROPATHY 
  • Mitochondrial Damage

  A Scientific Functional Medicine Approach to Chronic Pain

Advances in scientific technology have allowed us to pinpoint these underlying causes.  The above factors can be discovered and addressed to reduce or eliminate the systemic inflammatory process that perpetuates pain. A FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE approaches allows for finding and addressing the root causes of pain.

  Another component of chronic pain, aside from the chronic inflammation, is the physical component. Neurological, soft tissue and structural imbalances can add to the vicious cycle of pain.  

  Using an individualized physical re-balancing process, while at the same time, resolving the causes of systemic inflammation has been the key to our unique results in our practice.  

To find out if you can be helped by our approach or to check appointment availability contact us here.