Nutritional supplements are sold everywhere these days. I even sell them in my Fort Collins chiropractic practice. Chances are you took some today. It is a multi-billion dollar industry that shows no sign of slowing down. Back pain is also a multi-billion dollar industry. Seeing how most people deal with back pain or neck pain at least once in their life these two may intersect.
Being real with you I have to raise the question. Do any of these supplements cure back or neck pain? The answer is a big resounding NO. There is no cure because ALL pain is a result of something else. That may cause you to scratch your head and say “huh?”. Pain is the conscious perception of dysfunction or damage to a tissue somewhere in the body. To make it more difficult to understand, the pain doesn’t even have to be located where the damaged tissue is. Have you ever seen in the movies where the heart attack victim grabs their left arm? It’s not because of some scripting issue from a clueless screenwriter nor is the heart in the left arm. Pain can be just down right tricky.
Pain is Always a big deal but never the problem. It serves to draw attention to the problem that is the damage or dysfunction. If you can then find the location of said tissue, you can address the cause. That is why there is no nutritional product to cure pain. You can give it the best Chinese herbal solution, latest craze at the health food store or whatever and the results will not address the underlying cause.
Now as it relates to spine pain there are a few supplements that can play a hugely supportive role as the replacement parts in restoring your health but they are not the stars of the show. The top two are the only ones I routinely stock in my Fort Collins chiropractic practice.
- Vitamin D: This guy is getting all the press over the past dozen years or so. We used to think of vitamin D as something you need to avoid rickets. True, if your D levels get to low you can have this outward manifestation affecting your legs. Most of us get enough sun to stay above that level. But science is showing us that optimizing your levels of, particularly, the D3 strain of the vitamin has a far-reaching influence on bone health, ligament health, immune system health and overall every cell in the body functioning properly the type of health. So without it, systems can break down into dysfunction.
- Omega-3 fatty acids: This is another just like vitamin D. Our food sources are so void of this stuff that we have to supplement with it (same for Vitamin D3). This is not only a huge anti-inflammatory, but it is the stuff that cells and hormones are made out of. It is kind of extremely important.
- Honorable mentions: There are so many others that could make this list very long, but none of them are essential for health and well-being. Homeopathic like arnica Montana have shown to be effective in stimulating a healing process. Then there are spices and herbs like turmeric that have some amazing anti-inflammatory properties. And since here in America, we typically eat inflammatory foods (i.e. sugar, grains) this is a good supportive supplement that can help but not solve the problem.
So the big deal of your Big Deal pain lies in the importance of your spine from which it is coming. Your spine is the beginning of every motion you will make. It houses your spinal cord giving off nerves to every cell in your body so that you are fully connected and functional. Your spine is the epicenter of everything necessary for you to live and thrive as a human being. So being created with a few more pain receptors in your back and neck serve to protect you and alert you when damage is being done and you are losing function. Because just a slight misalignment in your spine will put pressure on your nerve system, so hallelujah for pain that can tell me about this big deal so that you can correct it. A Fort Collins chiropractor can help you with this. But you don’t need to be a doctor to know that pressure on your nerves is never a good thing. Get it corrected, restore function and squash the pain.
I am a chiropractor Fort Collins has come to trust and appreciate over the years for competent quality care. If you have any questions I can answer you can call me at 970-300-2166.
Ready for an expert opinion? Set up an appointment today!
Dr. Jeremy Overholt, your Fort Collins chiropractor, is your go-to expert for comprehensive chiropractic care. With years of experience and a dedication to your well-being, he specializes in treating a vast array of health issues to help you live a healthier, more comfortable life.
