Finding The Origin of Your Pain
By Dr. Fawn Dunphy I
n today’s on the go, fast paced lifestyle, inevitably, we will become injured or experience sore or stiff muscles. As winter is slowly exiting Maine, we might have fallen on the ice, possibly fell skiing, shoveled a little too often, or worked out a little too hard after being house-bound with all the snow. Regardless, there is no reason to live in pain. As humans, we are unique in our own individual biology, physiology, and anatomy. For this reason, pain is also unique and should be dealt with at its source. These are the two guiding principles of Chiropractic Healing Arts Center and ARPwave Therapy Clinic of Maine. ARPwave (accelerated Recovery Performance) is a system built upon the premise that painful physical symptoms have neu- rological origins. When the nervous system develops a dysfunc- tional pattern, as a result of trauma or poor movement patterns, a muscular imbalance develops, resulting in pain and decreased movement. ARPwave’s bioelectric current works to re-program your nervous system while RAPIDLY strengthening muscles as you perform specific therapeutic exercises. This system is the only modality of its kind approved by the FDA and covered by most insurance plans. The advantage of Chiropractic and ARPwave therapy is its
natural, multifaceted approach to pain relief and functional resto- ration. Instead of invasive surgery, or drugs to temporarily relieve symptoms, chiropractors use gentle, safe manipulative maneuvers, combined with specific exercises and physiotherapy that provide effective, long term results in treating a wide range of ailments.
Joint Pain or Failure is Neurological in Origin
ARPwave Therapy works off the simple premise that joint pain stems from muscles around the joint being unable to ab- sorb forces due to imbalance in strength or stimulation. Joints are designed, for example, to rotate a knee, hip, shoulder, or spine, not to support impact to those areas. Muscles need to support the forces and absorb any impact, protecting the joint
20 Essential Living Maine ~ May/June 2014
from injury. Most muscular and joint pain occurs when muscles are not receiving proper signals due to neurological breakdowns. This breakdown forces other muscles to compensate for them. This leads to breakdown in balance, inflammation and injury. The result of the application of this current, augmented with specific exercises, is rapid pain reduction. A study was done by Mercola and Kirsch, “The Basis for Microcurrent Electrical Therapy in Conventional Medical Practice,” which shows this application also reduces inflammation, edema and swelling, while increasing range of motion, strength, and muscle relaxation. All of which ac- celerate wound healing.
Sports and Activities
In sports and activities, muscles must turn on and off to create and absorb the force of impact. When the muscles perform cor- rectly and in balance, no injury occurs. When a muscle is tired, strained or inflamed, they can no longer withstand the impact and an injury occurs. Example: A runner is in constant calf pain. After receiving
many treatments, i.e. massage, heat, ice, PT, etc. to the calf, the patient has only experienced short term relief. What if the calf wasn’t the origin of the pain but simply a symptom? What if the quad or hamstring was not firing properly? This would cause the calf to be supporting too much of the impact, overworking it and causing it to be in pain. Get the quad and hamstring to fire prop- erly, supporting the impact, thus ending the calf pain. The ARP- wave treatment identifies and treats the true cause of the calf pain. Notice we did not treat the calf, which was just a symptom. You may often hear friends or family saying, “my joints hurt
because I’ve been running for so long the joint is shot.” Or, “my joints hurt because I’m getting old.” However, the more likely reason for chronic shoulder, knee or hip pain is because the muscles around the joint aren’t supporting that joint by taking the impact they are designed to absorb. Instead that load is put on the
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