Neuromuscular Referred Pain, Is It Impacting You?

When it comes to Neuromusculoskeletal disorders, many techniques are available for one to learn. Some of these techniques include: 

• Activator methods
• Applied Kinesiology
• Atlas Specific
• Meric System
• Network Chiropractic
• Pro-Adjuster
• And Many More

As a healthcare practitioner, upwards of 90% of your consultations involve a clinical investigation. The most often asked questions to patients include “How long have you had the pain?” and “What aggravates the pain?” However, it is imperative to determine the best course of treatment for patients. To properly do this, you do a functional history that includes all dimensions of wellness, not just physical and pain. These questions include: 

• Past Medical History
• Occupational Status
• Social Status
• Medication History
• Surgical History
• Identifying non-neuro muscular disorders the patient may have like diabetes, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer

Understanding all areas of injury is vital due to neurological referred pain. Neurological referred pain occurs when signals get mixed in your neurological wiring. Sensory inputs from different areas of the body combine into single neurons (the nerve cells) in the spine. In the spine, they are integrated and modified before being sent to the brain. To properly assess and have successful treatment, one must identify the proper tissue that has been compromised. 

Along with this, there are perpetuating factors that can lead to downfalls as well. 

Mechanical Stresses

The stresses that directly impact pain and the skeletal system include short leg, hemipelvis, long second metatarsal, short upper arms, postural stresses, misfitting furniture, poor postures, abuse of muscles, and immobility. 

Short leg is seen frequently and puts a biomechanical strain on the supporting muscle. This creates a distortion of axial alignment. The main muscle impacted is the quadratus lumborum. This muscle being compromised is one of the most overlooked sources of low back pain. Once this is identified, the shoulder girdle should be evaluated next. If individuals are suffering from low back pain frequently, nutritional inadequacies should be considered. 

There are research studies done showing nutritional deficiencies to be associated with chronic neuromusculoskeletal system disorders. For optimal health, we focus on the body down to the orthomolecular components. These include: 

• B1
• B6
• B12
• Folic Acid
• Vitamin C
• Calcium
• Potassium
• Iron
• Magnesium

InBody

Part of obtaining a full history is having patients undergo an InBody scan. This scan focuses on body composition and inflammation. It provides a full report of water, percent body fat, phase angle, visceral fat, basal metabolic rate, ECW/TBW and contains multiple segmental analysis sections. The InBody 770 high power technology to accurately assess patients.

The human body is vastly intertwined and health care providers should be looking at every area if you are experiencing pain or discomfort. A detailed history can help doctors get to the root source of your pain. -Kenna Vaughn, ACSM-EP, Senior Health Coach 

References: 

Dr Ron Grisanti,D.C “Insiders Guide.” Functional Medicine University (FMU). 

Williams FH. Neuromuscular complications of nutritional deficiencies. Phys Med Rehabil Clin N Am. 2008 Feb;19(1):125-48, vii. doi: 10.1016/j.pmr.2007.10.006. PMID: 18194754.  

Additional Online Links & Resources (Available 24/7)



Online Appointments or Consultations:  bit.ly/Book-Online-Appointment



Online Physical Injury / Accident Intake Form: bit.ly/Fill-Out-Your-Online-History



Online Functional Medicine Assessment: bit.ly/functionmed

Disclaimer

The information herein is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional, licensed physician, and is not medical advice. We encourage you to make your own health care decisions based on your research and partnership with a qualified health care professional. Our information scope is limited to chiropractic, musculoskeletal, physical medicines, wellness, sensitive health issues, functional medicine articles, topics, and discussions. We provide and present clinical collaboration with specialists from a wide array of disciplines. Each specialist is governed by their professional scope of practice and their jurisdiction of licensure. We use functional health & wellness protocols to treat and support care for the musculoskeletal system’s injuries or disorders. Our videos, posts, topics, subjects, and insights cover clinical matters, issues, and topics that relate and support, directly or indirectly, our clinical scope of practice.* Our office has made a reasonable attempt to provide supportive citations and has identified the relevant research study or studies supporting our posts. We provide copies of supporting research studies available to regulatory boards and the public upon request. We understand that we cover matters that require an additional explanation of how it may assist in a particular care plan or treatment protocol; therefore, to further discuss the subject matter above, please feel free to ask Dr. Alex Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900.  Read More…

Dr. Alex Jimenez DC, MSACP, CCST, IFMCP*, CIFM*, CTG*

email: coach@elpasofunctionalmedicine.com

phone: 915-850-0900

Licensed in Texas & New Mexico