Common ailments
Common conditions
Naprapathy has a wide scope of practise and the naprapath takes care of many different forms of conditions of pain and reduced function in the locomotive organs and support agencies. Amongst our patients are young as well as elders, elite athletes as well as less physically active, all with acute, subacute or chronic conditions. A few examples of what naprapaths treats is listed down below (if you have a condition which is not listed, you can talk to your naprapath or our office and we will inform you in what help that can be given).
NECK AND SHOULDER PAIN
Complaints in neck and shoulders includes pain, ache or reduced function in one, or both body parts. These affections can vary in difficulty and can last during shorter or longer periods of time. The complaints often reappear in cases where muscular imbalance remain due to too little activity and training and too much static work. Pain in neck and shoulders often depend on an incorrect work position or a long lasting unilateral strain. The causes can also be of a psychosocial character – stress and bad opportunities to affect your work environment can be examples of that. An imbalance between the front and the back of the shoulder where the chest musculature is stronger sometimes occur, and can lead to tired and aching muscles on the back of the shoulder. The combination of work related causes and inactivity is common when it comes to these forms of complaints.
How do i get rid of pain in neck and shoulders?
Besides from manual treatment with a naprapath the patient often needs to change his or hers work environment, way to work and activity level. Shorter working periods and bigger variety is arrangements that can reduce the risk of reappearing of the problems. Training and stretching in combination is often efficient to create better function. Ergonomic changes is of great importance since you then change a big negative vulnerability for the body.
Tension headache
Tension headache often appear in the back of the head and over the eyes, forehead and crown and has a pressing nature. The ache can also appear in the neck, jaws and temples. This form of headache is common and often appears during and after a long lasting and intense static work with a lack of ergonomics – for example in the office. Stress, psychological challenges, eyestrain and lacking orofacial pain can also cause reappearing headache and trauma towards neck and head. If a headache that you do not recognise appears suddenly or you have headache that lasts during a longer period of time you should go to a doctor in order to examine the cause
How do I get rid of tension headache?
Tension headache is usually important to treat. It is crucial to find the source to why the complaints have emerged and that is why the naprapath does a thorough examination before the treatment is begun. The treatment is performed on the thoracic spine and the neck, both in joints and muscles, and also often in the face muscles, through manual techniques. You will also get tips on how you can prevent the arise of continued discomfort. This can involve changes in sleep habits, diet, training and ergonomics in you working environment.
Migraine
Migraine implies reappearing seizures of headache which amongst other things can be triggered by certain eyestrain and state of tension in the neck muscles. It is not clear why migraine develops, but it is a complicated interaction between nerves and blood vessels in the brain which occur during the migraine seizures.
The seizures can arise both with or without warning. Signs on that a seizure is about to arise can be sight fenomens or impact on the tactility, the aura phenomena. The headache is often located on one side, exploding, pounding and hurts so much that you get sound and light sensitive, nauseous, and perhaps even make you vomit. This means that it starts off as a tension headache and then transcend into a migraine seizure. In order to separate which type of headache you are suffering from you can use a so called headache diary, which is distributed at the district health care centers. Bring the diary to your doctor or naprapath so that you can make the connections of what creates your headache together. The treatment is the same as for torticollis.
What can I do about migraine?
Manuel treatment can sometimes prevent or help patients with migraine, but other treatment methods are often needed as well. There are for example medicines which can be taken directly when symptoms for a seizure is starting to show. In order to prevent the seizures an important part is to examine what triggers them. Another method that help some is CBT, cognitive behaviour therapy.
Shoulder pain
Except from work with your arms above your shoulders, computer work is an usual cause for shoulder pain. The construction in many keyboards often make the upper arm to rotate outwards. This makes the shoulder joint very close to it’s most extreme position, and a number of muscles then have to work in a strained and abbreviated position. The consequence is that shoulder joints and muscles have to work under very unfavourable conditions, which can lead to pain and stiffness arising. Other possible causes can be muscular imbalance where the muscles at the back of the shoulder are weak in comparison with the muscles at the front side of the shoulder.
How do I get rid of shoulder pain?
It is very important to find an as comfortable and natural work position as possible. If your muscles get tired quickly you are presumably sitting in a wrong way, or have your desk placed at the wrong height. Another reason can be that the interaction between muscles and joints are not working in a satisfying way due to long lasting unilateral or static work. A naprapath can help you to find the cause, adjust these and give you advice on what you can do to rehabilitate and prevent future complaints.
Mouse arm
Mouse arm can be described as pain or stiffness in neck, shoulders, arms or hands, and is often caused by long lasting work with a computer. A complete medical definition of the condition is however non-existing – it is rather an umbrella term for a lot of conditions. Lack of ergonomics in your work environment or in other contexts can lead to that muscles in the shoulders, neck and arms works static or in an unfavourable condition. This means that you under a long time with pressure on the muscles with a low intense, negative strain. The result is a impaired circulation and thereafter an increased probity in muscles and joints. The symptoms can be poor tactility, coordination difficulties, tickles in hands and arms, difficulty with opening and tieing your hand, and tender muscles and hands.
How do I get rid of a mouse arm?
Pain is a warning signal and should not be ignored. When the complaints has arised a naprapath can examine and diagnose your arm and help you by treating the muscles involved. The naprapath will help you figure out what the causes might be, and will also give you advice regarding training and developing of your work space. A key concept when it comes to work related issues is variation. Remember that the biggest help can be to change the negative strain and reduce the static work. Regular pauses with movement and exercises often gives a very good effect. Try to vary your work tasks and plan your work space so that natural movements with shifting working moments is included. If possible: also try to vary between standing and sitting work position.
Tennis elbow
Despite what the name might indicate, tennis is rarely a triggering factor in this case. When you have tennis elbow the pain is located at the elbows external and the pain is often increased when the wrist joints are turned upwards. Sometimes the pain can radiate to the underarm and hans. A common cause for pain in the elbow is an overload of the underarms muscles or it’s insertions, which can arise due to repeated unilateral and static strain. To strain the underarm, wrist and hand with intense work that you are not used to can also be a possible cause.
How do I get rid of a tennis elbow?
In order to avoid the appearance of chronic complaints it is important with an early set treatment. The most important thing is that you from the beginning eliminates the strain or the movements that causes the complaints. After that more specific training of the underarm’s muscles can work nicely – this is also often what prevents future complaints. The naprapath can sometimes hurry the process with help of manual techniques such as shock wave treatment. It is also important to fix the primary causes and for example look at work postures.
Lower back pain
Pain and stiffness in the lower back has a connection to long lasting unilateral, repeated and static strain and an incorrect work position. Inactivity is also a common cause. Local tension in the muscles arise, the spine’s function is affected and it becomes harder and harder to find a comfortable working position. The back gets tired quickly and a vicious circle emerge. The cause is often a combination of reduced function in the joints and an increased activity in the back’s muscles when they get tired which then ache.
What can I do about lower back pain?
A naprapath will help you to find the primary cause to the problem, and if you need other examination with, for example, a doctor, you will be directed there. The treatment aims to reduce the pain and restore the back’s normal function. You will also often get advice regarding training, stretching and how to develop a better work environment.
Lumbago
The word lumbago is usually used when it comes to sudden or gradual ache in above all the lower back. When you have lumbago you experience difficulty with walking straight and sit up from sitting or lying position. You can also experience symptoms such as sciatica or a lighter radiation to the breech or legs. The lumbago is a symptom in itself where you very seldom find an injury or any underlying disease. The pain can appear in many different structures of the back, for example in muscles, in joints between fetlocks, in lamellas and in leading-strings. Back pain and lumbago can also have psycho-sociological causes, and today we see that more people in stressful life situations have problems with back pain more often.
What can you do about a lumbago?
The naprapath practise a thorough clinical examination to rule out other possible causes for back pain such as for example intervertebral disk displacement. You will be directed to a doctor if the need lies. Acute lumbagos can sometimes be treated successfully with manual techniques and improvement often happens momentarily throughout the treatment. If you have felt pain during a longer period of time a bigger number of treatments might be needed before you get better. You will also receive advice regarding exercises and further arrangements that can help you avoid back pain in the future.
Sciatica
The term sciatica is usually used for back pain which radiates from the backs lower part, down to one leg, and sometimes all the way down to the foot. The term is in medical sense limited to describe a condition of pain which is caused by a mechanic and/or chemical irritation of the sciatic nerve. The gluteal muscle can possibly spawn a pain reminding of sciatica. The causes for muscle related complaints can be long lasting, unilateral work positions, inactivity or incorrect training.
How do I get rid of sciatica?
When issues like sciatica arises it is important to clarify if the pain is caused solely by strained muscles or if a a mechanical and/or chemical irritation of the sciatic nerve exists. When suspicion about intervertebral disk displacement, root canal obstruction, or sliding of fetlocks lies, the naprapath will direct you to an orthopaedist for further examination. If you have acute complaints, such as non existing control of urine and/or feces, you should go directly to an emergency room for examination. If the cause is of muscular character it is important to treat. When this is the case you often get advice on which exercises you can do on your own in order to rehabilitate and prevent.
Knee pain
Knee pain can for example be caused by overload of the knee and its surrounding structures. A too fast increase of the strain when it comes to weight training, or incorrect training when it comes to new or old knee injuries is often triggering causes. Running is good exercise, but can cause knee complaints if you do not have the required requisites such as strength, flexibility and technique. A process in the training that goes too fast can also be a possible cause.
How do I get rid of knee pain?
The naprapath will make a thorough examination in order to clarify the cause for the complaints, and sometimes a further examination made by an orthopaedist can be needed. The treatment is focused on coping with eventual lack in the knee joints and surrounding structures. The foot in connection with the shoe you are wearing, hip joints, the thoracic spine and the lower back can also be causes for why examination and treatment in these areas also can occur. To accomplish a good and long lasting result it usually requires that the treatment is combined with specific training and/or review of techniques.
Achilles tendon complaints
Pain in the Achilles’ tendon often hinge on acute injury or overload during a longer period of time. The acute injury can sometimes be caused by the tendon bursting, which leads to a bleed and swelling which also creates pain. The tendon can snap totally when violent and rapid overload occurs, and when this happens surgery is usually needed. Tenseness or weakness in the calf muscle can be possible causes to pain in the Achilles’ tendon. Common symptoms are morning stiffness, pain during and after activity, pressure tenderness and/or swelling on the tendon, cracking by movement, reduced strength and lameness. Complaints with the Achilles’ tendon often strike those who are active within sports on all levels, for example track and field athletes where running and jumping is included. The for example be unilateral strain, increased amount of training, a ground switch, overpronation, short calf muscles, reduced function in the ankles and bad shoes
How do I get rid of the pain in the Achilles’ tendon?
A naprapath will help you to estimate the sort of the injury and its degree of difficulty. If a suspicion of another cause is not existing, the naprapath will start the treatment which is aimed to recreate normal function in the foot and knee joints, and also in the muscles that can affect the complaints – mainly the calf muscle. After that the treatment consists out of training which can include weights as well as flexibility. Rehabilitation in combination with advice about continued training and shoes is of great importance.
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