When you get a misalignment in one of your joints, one of the body’s first responses is inflammation. The initial inflammation following injury is good – the swelling reduces range of motion so you don’t continue to injure and it also activates the immune system for healing to begin. Whether it’s just an alignment issue, sprain/strain or torn ligament, there is inflammation and pain, so non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are one of the most common treatments. While these drugs are effective and extremely easy to get, they tend to be used frequently (in many cases, constantly) and this takes a toll on the body. NSAIDs may reduce pain and inflammation, they do nothing for actual repair or realignment of the joint. When the pain is less, this allows you to continue to use the injured joint, possibly causing further damage.
NSAIDs main adverse effect is peptic ulcers and hemorrhaging in the stomach. They can also contribute to cardiovascular disease and are one of the leading causes of kidney failure. Rather than continuing to take NSAIDs day after day, the best thing to do is go to Solutions Integrated Medicine so you can find the cause of your joint pain. At Solutions, we will perform a series of functional and orthopedic tests as well as take x-rays to help diagnose your joint problem and also make sure there is no degenerative arthritis. At our clinic, we offer a combination of joint alignment, regenerative medicine and comprehensive rehab to treat many joint conditions including misalignments, sprain/strains and even end-stage degenerative joints facing replacement surgery.
