With the cost of living, increasing patients are often asking our office tips on how to keep their healthcare costs down and still feel well. The following is a list of tips we have put together to help you and your family try to save on the cost of healthcare and maintain your health:
Listen to your body. If you have minor muscle strain, your body will usually heal itself. However, if pain persists and progressively gets worse, it’s important to listen to your body. If you don’t take the trouble, the trouble will take you. If you ignore your health, it will go away.
Be patient in dealing with chronic pain. Chronic pain comes from irritation or inflammation of soft tissues or joints. If movement causes pain, you tend not to move. The less you move a muscle, the weaker the muscle gets. The weaker the muscle, the more stress affects it. The more stress, the more pain and the more pain, the less you move. It’s a vicious, chronic pain cycle. The degeneration of the joint and atrophy of the surrounding tissue that accompanies chronic pain takes time to rehabilitate.
We all want to be well right now, if not yesterday. But often we have unrealistic expectations. Nature takes time to heal, even with the proper care. You can’t walk around the block and be in shape tomorrow. You can’t eat one healthy meal and lose 20 pounds. It takes nine months to have a baby. You can’t rush nature.
To reduce costs will require active participation by you. So let’s analyze how your lifestyle will contribute to a more rapid recovery.
In addition to cutting the cost of health care, patients also ask how they can encourage a speedy recovery. The following are a few general tips for a rapid recovery:
Exercise. Do you live a sedentary lifestyle? All the muscles in your body were meant to be used. Did you know that if you didn’t use your shoulder, the muscles could atrophy up to one percent per day? Movement is vital to recovery. Motion enhances circulation, oxygen to the tissue, lubrication of joints and nutrition to the cells. Therefore, to help yourself recover twice as fast, do the exercises we prescribe diligently and as frequently as we recommend.
Understanding ergonomics. Ergonomics is the ability of your body to adapt to your environment. Every pound you lift exerts 15 pounds of stress on your discs. Ergonomics is your posture at work. If you sit at a desk all day, your head and hands should be in “neutral” positions. If you can’t position your chair properly or change the way you work, you must take frequent breaks during the day and do a few stretching exercises prescribed by your doctor.
For more information or a complimentary consultation, you can reach Dr. Chace R. Unruh at 661-288-0022, 23206 Lyons Ave. Suite #110, Valencia, CA, or www.unruhchiropractic.com .