NorthshoreLinks Health

Better Beverages

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Try not to get caught in the trap of thinking that the only beverages available to you are those which you see on TV or hear about on the radio. Don’t believe for one second that “Coke adds life” or that you need a vitamin water, energy drink, sports drink or that you can obtain your daily need for fruits and vegetables in some type of drink - you can’t. Also, “fruit” juice for you or your child should be a rare treat; not a daily drink.

Pure Water:

Is always an important beverage in anyone’s daily diet. You should try to drink 4 or more glasses of contaminant-free water each day depending on your body size and how much you sweat.

Green Tea:

Is a wonder drink - you are encouraged to drink this daily.

Herbal Tea:

Many types and flavors are available such as apricot, strawberry, cherry, black currant, lemon, mint, chamomile, etc. Be sure to purchase teas that are caffeine free. Left over herbal teas can be made into ice cubes or enjoyed chilled with a little lemon juice. When enjoying herbal tea, use different teas during the week. Minimally sweeten your tea and always avoid any and all artificial sweeteners.

Lemon Juice and Water:

In a cup of hot or cold water, use 1/8 teaspoon of ground ginger and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice (if you prefer a stronger taste then add more lemon juice and ginger). If this beverage upsets your stomach at all or produces a burning sensation, this is often a sign of unresolved upper GI inflammation. Contact your Nutritional Counselor for advice on this. This drink is great if you have a cold or the flu.

Coffee:

Most people have the impression that coffee may be unhealthy. This is not true and some studies have shown a positive health benefit from moderate coffee consumption - 1-2 cups in the morning is fine. Try to avoid afternoon or evening consumption. The “need” for coffee at these times is an indication of poor blood sugar balance. Always use minimal sweeteners and always avoid any and all artificial sweeteners and any coffee creamer substitutes. Use real milk or cream if needed, avoid adding any flavorings and avoid all of those coffee drinks (some can contain over 300 calories).

Pure Fruit Juice:

Varieties of fruit juices such as apricot, raspberry, guava, strawberry, lemonade, pear, apple and grapefruit and many others are available for those occasions when you don’t have the time or opportunity to make them fresh. For a refreshing change, add some fruit juice to your herbal tea with a squeeze of lemon. Just remember that fruit juices are high in simple sugars and are thus best limited to the “treat” category. Diluting fruit juice using equal parts of spring water is always a good idea. Remember, fresh fruits and their juices, especially when in season, are always preferred over canned, bottled or frozen.

Spritzers:

You can make these at home with fresh fruit juice and sparkling mineral water. Bottled or canned spritzers come in a variety of flavors. Just be sure there are no added sugars or artificial flavors or preservatives.

Juicing:

If you have a juicer, you can utilize this and make your own fruit and vegetable juices. Remember that it is always better to “eat” the whole vegetable or fruit than to just drink the juice. Also, if you are trying to lose weight, juices are not a good choice until your weight or blood sugar balance is improved.

Alcohol:

It is a myth that alcohol is not a good choice and if you want to be healthy, you need to avoid alcohol. If you choose to drink alcohol (personal preference), a glass of wine or beer will not be a problem for most people. There are studies indicting some possible health benefits from 1-2 drinks on occasion. Of course, if you are pregnant or have any other health condition that makes alcohol contraindicated, abstain.

Always make pure water 90-95% of all the liquid you drink to ensure your best health. If you want a powerful, anti-aging miracle - drink more water and only water.

Health N Wellness Solutions

Dr. Dennis Mutell

832 E. Boston Street #8

Covington, LA 70433

985.875.2225

drd@healthnwellnesssolutions.com

Are You Having Stomach Problems?

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If you suffer from chronic stomach problems, indigestion, heartburn, GERDS, sour stomach, bloating, etc., understand these simple truths to take the stress off your tummy.

First - a brief explanation of what a stomach does and how it works:

The primary function of the stomach is to set up the digestion process to allow the small intestines to complete digestion, allow for proper absorption of nutrients and set up the large intestines (bowel) for proper elimination of waste.

The stomach does this by secreting digestive juices which contains enzymes and acids necessary to breakdown complex foods and release nutrients, such as amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins and minerals.  Consider that a piece of chicken (muscle) is made of molecules called amino acids - these amino acids are the same molecules that make up your muscles.  So your body has to be able to take that chicken and break it down to molecules so your body can absorb these molecules and use them to keep you alive.  This is true of everything you eat.  Your stomach and its proper ability to help do this miracle is a vital function of your health.

So, if your stomach is having problems, then your whole body is having problems.  And if you take over-the-counter drugs or prescribed drugs for stomach problems and are not addressing the cause of the problem, then all of digestion and elimination is compromised and all of your health will suffer. Taking medications to cover up stomach problems have been linked to increased risk for osteoporosis, lower GI infections, constipation or diarrhea, stomach cancer and nutrient deficiency conditions.

The cause of stomach problems is never too much acid.  That’s right - it’s never too much acid.  The problem is too little acid.  If your stomach can’t make enough acid to digest your food then your food just sits in your stomach.  As it sits in your stomach, it starts to rot, it is warm and moist and full of bacteria that came in with the meal.  It’s like leaving your dinner out on the patio table in the heat and humidity of the summer for an hour or more.  Would you eat that?  So as this food rots and ferments in a stomach incapable of doing its job (making too little acid), it starts to product organic acids, gas and all the symptoms you could be experiencing.  The result is that you have indigestion and your food can’t feed your properly.

If the food in your stomach does not reach a pH with enough acid, then it sits in your stomach.  If your food is properly acidified, it signals the body that proper stomach digestion has been achieved and the rest of digestion, absorption and elimination can be achieved.  So this acid food mass empties into the upper small intestines and the pancreas, the gallbladder and intestines release the additional necessary factors to complete digestion and allows your food to nourish you and your body to effectively remove waste.  Don’t count on long term medications to cover-up symptoms and put your entire body at risk.

Don’t put your future health at risk…  You can cure your stomach problems…

Get the answers, take action and be healthy !

Eat Well - Move Well - Think Well

Copyright © 2011 Health N Wellness Solutions

Dennis Mutell, D.C.

Health N Wellness Solutions / Doctors Chiropractic Group

832 East Boston Street, Suite 8

Covington, LA 70433

985.875.2225

www.HealthNWellnessSolutions.com

Why You Need These Essential Fats

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Food Sources of Essential Fats

The most important natural fats and oils in human nutrition and health are the fatty acids: Linoleic acid (LA) and alpha-linoleic acid (LNA).  These are Omega 6 and Omega 3 oils.  Both LA and LNA are known as essential fatty acids.  This means that the human body has to acquire them by eating foods that have these fats or take them via supplements,  as it cannot make them.

Sources of essential fats:

1.  Flax Seed oil (A rich source of LNA)

You can make a healthy dressing and top your vegetables, grains, lentils and legumes with it.  Just use it in place of olive oil.  You may mix it into your hot foods (ie: cereal, pasta, potatoes, etc), but never cook with it.  If you do not like the taste of flax oil on your food then you can add the fresh ground seeds as suggested below.  Do not use flax seed oil supplements - they are a waste of time and money.  Using flax seed oil in place of olive oil is a good practice.  Taking supplements with flax seed oil is not.  Flax seed oil is available in health food stores and some supermarkets - only buy it if it is organic and is refrigerated in a dark-colored bottle.  Always check the expiration date.

2. Flax and Sesame seeds: (combine to provide both Omega3 and Omega 6)

Grind your seeds and sprinkle them on top of your foods.  Use a coffee or spice grinder (do not use the same one you use for coffee).  Sesame and flax seeds are so small that you cannot chew them enough to break the husks and your digestive system cannot dissolve the husks.  They must be ground in order to maximize their breakdown and proper absorption.  1-2 tablespoons of either fresh ground flax or sesame seeds daily is recommended.  Note: Sesame seeds are an excellent source of calcium as well.  You can add them to smoothies and you can also mix them into nut butters - such as natural peanut butter (the unnatural ones  are full of high fructose corn syrup which is very bad for you), almond butter, cashew butter and sunflower seed butter.  Note: Ground flax seeds are a great source of additional fiber and other nutrients shown to reduce risk to some cancers and for proper hormone balance.

3. Sunflower and Pumpkin Seeds and Walnuts:

Top any of your foods with them or have them alone as a snack.  Sunflower seeds are uniquely rich in calcium and linoleic acid (Omega 6 precursor).  Buying walnuts in the shell and cracking them just before you eat them preserves their freshness.  If this is too much fuss, then at least buy the whole walnuts instead of chopped and keep them in your freezer.  Pumpkin seeds are rich in zinc, anti-parasitic enzymes and the omega 3 precursor alpha-linolenic acid.  Research shows that these nuts and seeds have major and multiple health enhancing benefits.  You can also add some walnuts to blend into your smoothie.

4. Fresh Cold Water Fish and Shellfish:

Fish like salmon, mackerel, rainbow trout, sardines, tuna and eel contain large quantities of one of the essential fatty acids, omega 3.  Shellfish contain both essential fatty acids but in smaller quantities.  Wild caught varieties have higher concentrations of these oils, due to getting their natural diet.  Try to eat fish 1-2 times per week.

5. Omega 3 EFA is most commonly known as fish oil, krill oil or cod liver oil.

It is the fat most deficient in the average person’s diet.  This oil is essential to health.  That means that without it you would die.  Most people get some but not enough; therefore they are just sick as a result of being deficient in this oil.  The only way to ensure that you have a daily supply of this vital nutrient is to take a good quality fish oil supplement.  1000 to 2000 mg of a fish oil that has EPA and DHA is a typical dose.  If you want more info about Omega 3 EFA, check out this website: nordicnaturals.com.

EFA’s are essential in helping to prevent:

* Heart disease                  * Arthritis                  * Inflammation

* Depression                      * Asthma                    * Focus-cognition

* Dementia                         * Diabetes                  * Weight gain

* Dry eye syndrome            * Vision problems      * Prostate problems

* Colon problems               * Osteoporosis           * Early death

These oils are called essential because without them a person cannot survive.

They help directly and indirectly with every system in the body.

Make sure you get yours.

Contact my office for recommendations on excellent quality essential fatty acid supplements.

Eat Well - Move Well - Think Well

Copyright © 2011 Health N Wellness Solutions

Are You Trading Relief from Joint Pain for Congestive Heart Failure?

1. Prescriptions, such as Celebrex, over-the-counter drugs such as Advil or  Motrin (Ibuprophin) and Aleve (Naproxin) are non-steroidal anti- inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS). These drugs now carry warnings about potential heart problems.

Many people take these drugs chronically due to arthritic joint pain.  Australian  researchers in early 2009 stated that up to 20% of all new cases of congestive  heart failure can be traced to chronic use of these types of drugs.   Vioxx was an  arthritis drug removed from use in 2004 due to heart problems.  Chiropractic treatment, exercise, massage and proper nutritional supplements help address the  cause of joint and muscle pain without additional health risk.

2. With the use of glucosamine and condroitin sulfates, proper healing can occur in joints.

You also need:

* Real calcium, not milk and not calcium carbonate (which is found in most  supplements), but use calcium citrate or calcium lactate

* Real raw bone meal (not bone ash found in most “bone meal” supplements)

* Vitamins A, D and K (all fat soluble vitamins are necessary)

* Real sources of trace minerals like manganese and magnesium

* Vitamin C in all its natural forms with phyto nutrients such as bioflavonoids  are needed to support collagen for connective tissue

Then proper joint movement and healthy joint stress all stimulate the body to repair and regenerate.

Is this a cure for arthritis? No.

Do these steps allow you to support healing and repair? Yes.

Do you regain more pain-free movement and function? Absolutely -yes.

Can you prevent NSAID drug-induced congestive heart failure?

Positively - yes.

Can you avoid NSAID induced ulcers and digestive disease? Yes.

We have protocols that with a willingness to take real action, can dramatically improve joint pain and dramatically improve joint function.

Chiropractic care helps to restore normal joint movement and range of motion. This allows a person to start and resume healthy weight-bearing activity.

The next step is proper coaching and recommendations that help restore flexibility, strength and balance to all the joints of the body.  Adding in massage and even acupuncture can be helpful and have proven very beneficial.

Then - adding in proper food for the repair and healing of injured joints, ligaments and muscles can have profound benefits.

Natural anti-inflammatories such as fish oil (Omega 3 oils) and some herbs add further support.

Yes - arthritis can be helped.

Yes - you can, in most cases, resume an active life.

Yes - you can find relief from pain.

No - you don’t have to accept joint pain and disability as just a part of getting older.

No - you don’t have to trade congestive heart disease or an ulcer in order to obtain temporary reduction of pain from drugs.

Don’t settle - get help and unless you have consulted a chiropractor, have been coached in proper activity and given your body the nutrients necessary to support joints, don’t say “you’ve tried everything”.   Don’t believe there is no help available because there are miracles for those who seek good advice and take meaningful action.

So what do you do ?  You get a health coach (me) to help you learn how to support, heal and maintain a strong heart and a healthy body.

Dr. Dennis Mutell

Eat Well - Move Well - Think Well

Copyright © 2011 Health N Wellness Solutions

Liquid Health

My Mission Statement - The Practice of Health

My Purpose: “Through education, Chiropractic care, nutritional and herbal support, health can be restored by establishing a balance  in the body that allows healing to occur”

My Goal: “To empower you to empower your health by helping as many people as possible regain, maintain and experience abundant  health without the need for surgery or for the dependence on drugs”

Liquid Health

What is the best thing to drink?

Water!  Water should be 90-95% of all the liquids you consume.

There is no other liquid that is as essential to your health or better than water - not even 100% organic, freshly juiced fruits or vegetables.  You can only live minutes without oxygen, only 2-3 days without water and weeks without food.  YOU NEED WATER !

Do not believe anyone who says that coffee, soda, fruit juice, etc. is mostly water so it’s all the same and it’s all just as good.  That is not true.  Everytime you drink anything other than water, you are getting mostly useless calories or chemicals that the body needs to deal with; such as added sugar, artificial sweeteners, flavorings, colors, etc.

How much water should you drink?

When in doubt, drink another glass.  Studies show and many blood tests I have reviewed reveal most people are chronically dehydrated.

Forget all of those silly rules about drink your weight in pounds in ounces of water or any other such formula.  Just drink water all day, every day.  The more you sweat, the more you need to drink.  So if you are not urinating every few hours (2-3) during the day, you are not drinking enough.  Just use that as the test.  Drink water, urinate - simple and effective.

Every function of your body needs water to work. Why would you ever compromise your health even for a second because you won’t drink another mouthful of water?

Simple Rules of Hydration:

Drink pure water.  Filter tap water to remove as many impurities as possible. A simple under the counter filter with a separate water faucet at your kitchen sink is a good place to start.  Only drink filtered water when possible and only cook or prepare other drinks with filtered water.

Drink all day, enough to make you need a trip to the bathroom every few hours.  This ensures you are completely hydrated and since one of the main functions for urination is to flush out toxins and poisons, why would you want to keep those in your body any longer than necessary?

The more you sweat, the more water you need to drink.  Endurance athletes know to stay hydrated.  The body shuts down the more dehydrated you get.

HINT: I often have people tell me they don’t like water or drinking water makes them feel sick. Sipping water all day a little at a time is the solution to both problems.  If you don’t like water, it’s only because you’ve trained yourself to not like it by drinking too many other flavored beverages.  Un-learn this; it is impossible for a person not to like water.

For some variety, you can add some lemon, lime or orange squeezed into some pure water.

And as in all things, there are exceptions to the rule. Drinking some cold or hot brewed green or black tea or other herbal tea is one way to increase the value of water’s natural health benefits.  For these benefits, the tea must be consumed without sweeteners.

Last point:  What about the other 5-10% of liquids? Anything except the following: soda, diet soft drinks, refined bottled juices or other artificially colored, artificially sweetened and artificially flavored drinks.

Coffee, alcohol, real juices (fruit or vegetable) or tea are all OK in moderation.

Don’t allow yourself to be “conned” into believing that you can get a “full serving” of fruits or vegetables from some refined, commercially prepared “100% natural” beverage.  You can’t!  DON’T BE FOOLED.

Eat your fruits and vegetables and drink your water.

Eat Well - Move Well - Think Well

Copyright © 2011 Health N Wellness Solutions

www.HealthNWellnessSolutions.com

Useless Medical Study

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USELESS  MEDICAL  STUDY

Sometimes I honestly think the only reason some medical studies are done is to try and justify the medical communities inability to accept that the very nature of human function and biology is ALL BASED ON FOOD. This allows pharmaceutical chemists to justify altering that biology with man-made drugs.  Then they want to convince you that this is somehow superior to what God designed. It makes no sense otherwise because it seems that everytime a study is published testing a “natural” substance such as a vitamin, mineral, herb or Omega 3 fats and it doesn’t “perform a miracle”, it is of no value.  All these studies when examined are designed to prove the substance being studied won’t prove to be beneficial.

Case in point.  Recent news article, this also made national TV and I heard it on NPR radio:  ”Fish oil pills may not help memory.  Omega 3 doesn’t slow Alzheimers”.  In the case of this study, $10 million was wasted on a study designed to not show a benefit from Omega 3 Essential Fatty Acids.  Fact: The brain by weight is 60% fat.  That’s what the brain is made of.  Fact: 30% of the fat in a healthy brain is supposed to be DHA, which is ONE of the essential fatty acids found naturally in fish oil (a good source of Omega 3 EFAs).  The other essential component of fish oil Omega 3 is EPA.  This study was based on a chemically altered, refined oil which eliminated EPA and only used DHA.  Stay with me on this point.  Taking naturally occurring fish oil which ALWAYS has EPA and DHA and chemically altering the oil to isolate the DHA is the same as stacking up wood without nailing it together and expecting to build a house.  Some places in the body DHA is the wood as in the brain and EPA is as essential as a nail.  In other body tissues and functions, it is the opposite.  So since DHA and EPA never exist in real biology isolated from one another and DHA and EPA always work together in biology, isolating one part is stupid.  It is just plain stupid.  It was designed to fail.  In my opinion, on purpose.  Second problem with the study - they used this totally fake oil on people already suffering from Alzheimers.  So it’s like throwing a bucket of water on a forest fire.

$10 million and the headline says, “Omega 3 oils don’t slow Alzheimers”.  It wasn’t a “real” Omega 3.

So armed with this information, drug reps will visit doctors telling them that fish oil won’t help Alzheimers patients but Aricept will.  This is the most commonly prescribed drug presently used with this condition.  This drug is marginally effective if at all.  It can have serious side affects.  But the important part is that it is a patented drug so big money is involved.  Also the studies to test Aricept were designed to “prove” its’ safety and effectiveness.  Follow the money.  You can’t patent Omega 3 EFA.  That is the only reason I can find for spending $10 million on this study to “prove” fish oil, which is really not fish oil, doesn’t perform a miracle for people already diagnosed with Alzheimers.  If DHA isolate showed any promise the drug companies would have tried to mess with the molecular structure of DHA so they could patent a drug and try and make billions of dollars on it.  Either way it is a win.  If they were able to develop a “drug”, they win with billions in profits.  Now they can try and convince the public that fish oil can’t help brain function (a flat-out lie) so more people won’t take fish oil, more people will develop brain disease and more doctor visits and drug sales will happen.

Once again, you can not take a single, isolated, chemically-altered substance found in nature and expect it to work.  So any study of Vitamin C, Vitamin E, calcium, iron, whatever, given alone is bound to have little or no benefit.  Sometimes these studies find that the person is sicker.  Real food or supplements developed from whole, complete, real foods is the ONLY thing that can support brain function and all of your biology.

This is my last point because it is important on this topic and I will be writing an article on this in detail soon - DO NOT FALL VICTIM TO THE “NEW” NUTRACEUTICAL stuff.  Nutraceuticals is a fancy word for trying to push large doses of isolated, chemically derived vitamins or formulations to affect health.  Once again, that is in stark contrast to how human biology works and therefore, like chemical drugs, can seemingly have health restoring benefits; but in the course of time, will fail just like drugs.

If you ever have a question about something you read, see or hear about regarding health and you want the truth - I will answer your question to the best of my ability.  Send your question to info@healthnwellnesssolutions.com.  If I don’t know the answer, I’ll find out the straight stuff and let you know.  Let’s learn to question the source, trace the source back to what’s in it for them and learn from there.

*     Eat Well     *     Move Well     *     Think Well     *

Dr. Dennis Mutell
info@healthnwellnesssolutions.com
985-875-2225

Vitamins, Herbs & Nutritional Supplements

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Health N Wellness Solutions / Doctors Chiropractic Group

VITAMINS, HERBS AND ALL NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTS
Greetings from Dr. Mutell,

* The number one rule - there is absolutely no product that will help you lose weight, grow hair, heal arthritis or any other health claim simply by taking a pill or potion.  There are miracles in real food. Food heals.  Food can help cure anything.  Real food helps prevent every type of illness or disease.  But never does the latest amazon jungle juice or caterpillar fungus from Tibet result in miracles.

* Without eating real food and living a healthy lifestyle, taking the latest and greatest miracle compound will not make the difference.  Many of these miracle supplements, such as Acai juice or caterpillar fungus (yes there is such a thing) can and do have significant health benefits, but alone they will not “heal the sick”.

* New super foods, phyto-nutrient compounds and even vitamin compounds are still being discovered.  And that makes my point - food is totally complex.  Our human understanding of God’s miracles is so very limited.  A single molecule in a complex food makes a difference.  The synergistic working of each component of a food working together creates the healing miracle.

* Medical research into isolated nutrients such as Vitamin C, E and A, etc. rarely produce meaningful improvements in a person’s health.  That’s because Vitamin E isolated does not exist in real food.  It’s always one compound in a complex food that needs all aspects of that food to do its’ job.

* All the pills, capsules, potions, etc. are called “supplements” for a reason.  They should supplement healthy, real food and a healthy lifestyle.  No one can “pill” their way out of their ills.  Not even naturally.  That’s another point - taking vitamins or herbs is not “natural”.  If it was, there would be pill trees.  Don’t get me wrong - I totally support taking nutritional supplements.  In the modern world with all the nutrient poor foods, stress, demands on our bodies, exposure to toxins and being born to parents who most likely were nutritionally depleted, makes taking supplements a necessity.

*  So - what do you do?  First - stop buying into the hype of anything that claims to have unrealistic benefits.  Second - take supplements to insure you get all your nutrients.  Third - use supplements made from whole foods and all the miracles contained in them.  Don’t use synthetic isolated vitamins and minerals.  If you want advice on how to get these types of supplements - contact my office and I’ll send you a DVD and some information on real food nutritional supplements.  With healthy overall changes, these types of supplements can support miracles.

Stay Well!

Dr. Dennis Mutell

832 E. Boston Street #8

Covington, LA 70433

(985) 875-2225

info@healthnwellnesssolutions.com

healthnwellnesssolutions.com

Newest Member of the NORTH Team - C-Arm

Fluoroscopy is a form of X-ray that allows physicians to perform precision placement of medications. After a complete history and physical combined with the latest radiographic studies such a MRI, the NORTH physicians can make the determination of which level of the spine is causing the patient’s pain. By using fluoroscopic guidance, with our C-arm, medication can be placed directly into the joints of the spine with increased precision. Patients can either choose to have the procedure performed in the office or go to an outpatient surgical center and have the procedure performed under intravenous sedation. Procedures performed under fluoroscopy include selective nerve injections, facet injections and SI joint injections, an even small hand and other orthopedic joints.  We have found a great advantage for our patients to have the injections performed in our Injection Suite at our office, saving them a great deal of time and money.

 

Q:What is the purpose of spinal injections?

A:The steroid injected reduces the inflammation and/or swelling of nerves in the spine and the anesthetic agent used “numbs” the pain from this inflammation. This may in turn reduce pain, tingling & numbness and other symptoms caused by nerve inflammation / irritation or swelling. 

 

Q:How long does the injection take? 

A:The actual injection takes only a few minutes. 

 

Q:Will the injection hurt? 

A:The NORTH  physicians will numb the skin and deeper tissues with a local anesthetic using a very tiny thin needle. Most patients experience very little to no discomfort during the procedure. However, the benefit of having the patients awake and able to communicate about sensations radiating down their leg, for example, reinforces the accurate placement of the injection.

 

The steroid usually starts working in about 1-3 days and its effect can last for several days to a few months or longer. 

 

Q:How many injections do I need to have? 

A:If the first injection does not completely relieve your symptoms in about a week to two weeks, you may be recommended to have one more injection. Similarly, if the second injection does not completely relieve your symptoms in about a week to two weeks, you may be recommended to have a third injection. 

 

 

 

Q: What is a facet injection?

A: It is an injection of both a long-lasting steroid “cortisone”  and an anesthetic numbing agent into a specific facet joint of your spine. The injection can be placed inside the joint capsule or in the tissue surrounding the joint capsule. Corticosteroids reduce inflammation, and they are very effective when delivered directly into the part of your back that is causing pain. Corticosteroids are different than the anabolic steroids that athletes may use. The facet joint is the moveable joint of the spine that connects one vertebra to another. This procedure is different than an epidural steroid injection, which injects the steroid into the epidural space of the spinal cord. Facet injections may provide relief of pain and inflammation as well as provide more diagnostic information for your physician. The injection “blocks” the pain in much the same way as your dentist would use an anesthetic injection to block the pain in your jaw before working on your teeth. Injections into joints or nerves are sometimes called “blocks.” Facet blocks can be used as a diagnostic test to determine if you will benefit from a facet rhizotomy. The pain relief can last from days to years, or in some cases, permanently.

 

Q: Am I a candidate for facet injection?

A: If you have neck, low back, or leg pain stemming from inflammation or irritation of your facet joints, you may benefit from a facet injection. The doctor may wish to perform it as a diagnostic test to find the facet joint that may be causing your pain. Facet injections may be helpful in treating your inflammatory condition. If you are in too much pain to exercise, facet injections can ease your pain enough so that you can continue with your rehabilitation program. Facet injections should not be performed on people who have an infection, are pregnant, or have bleeding problems. If you have diabetes, the steroidal medication may elevate your blood sugar temporarily.

 

Every case in treated individually! Call us today for an evaluation, to see if an injection, or other treatment is best for you, to get you back to the life you deserve!  Call 985 871-4114, and for more information visit our website www.northinstitute.com.

 

We Give Back Life!

You Don’t Have to Live with Severe Joint Pain! Get ready for Spring!

Your joints are involved in almost every activity you do. Simple movements such as walking, bending, and turning require the use of your hip and knee joints. Normally, all parts of these joints work together and the joint moves easily and without pain. But when the joint becomes diseased or injured, the resulting pain can severely limit your ability to move and work.

Whether you are considering a total joint replacement, or are just beginning to explore available treatments, we can help. It helps to understand the causes of joint pain and treatment options. Most importantly, learning will give you hope that you will be able to do more of the things you enjoy — with far less pain.

One of the most common causes of joint pain is arthritis. The most common types of arthritis are:

Osteoarthritis (OA)
It is sometimes called degenerative arthritis because it is a “wearing out” condition involving the breakdown of cartilage in the joints. When cartilage wears away, the bones rub against each other, causing pain and stiffness. OA usually occurs in people aged 50 years and older, and frequently in individuals with a family history of osteoarthritis.

Joint pain can also be caused by deformity or direct injury to the joint. In some cases, joint pain is made worse by the fact that a person will avoid using a painful joint, weakening the muscles and making the joint even more difficult to move.

The medical management of arthritis and joint degeneration may be handled by a family doctor, an internist or a rheumatologist. However, when medical management is not effective, an orthopaedic surgeon should be consulted to determine if surgery is an option. In some cases, the orthopaedic surgeon may be the first physician to see a patient and make the diagnosis of arthritis.

So if you are dreading the Spring and the gardening that comes along with it because of joint pain, give us a call!  We want to help you get your life back!   The NORTH Institute (985)871-4114, with locations in Lacombe, Hammond, Slidell, and Bogalusa.

Manning’s Back Will Know He Played the Saints!

Monday Morning, Manning’s Back will Know He Played the Saints!  Thanks to Fujita, McCray, and the Boys…..

But you, on the  other hand, Your Spine Deserves Special Care.

Your spine is at the center of a delicately balanced system that controls all of your body’s movements. Bones, muscles, ligaments, tendons, and nerves all work together to balance the weight of your body. Even minor damage to one component of your back’s structure can upset this fragile balance and make movement painful.
It is not surprising, then, that back pain is second only to headache as the most common cause of pain, or that 8 out of 10 people will have a problem with back pain at some time. The causes of back pain can be simple or complex; the vast majority can be treated nonsurgically, but in some serious cases, surgery is necessary.  Physical Therapy and anti-inflammatory medications are most often tried initially, depending on the severity of the injury, or length of time the problem has been occurring. 

And if you happen to throw yours out while cheering the Saints on…The NORTH institute can help! Our TEAM of specialists, including physicians and physical therapists, work together to create individualized plans for each client!

NORTH Institute (985)871-4114, with locations in Lacombe, Hammond, Bogalusa, and Slidell!   We BACK the Black and Gold! Go Saints!

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