Dr. Bellinger’s Favorite Neck Pillow- The Cervical Traction Neck Pillow

My Cervical traction neck pillow dilemma...

Not to worry, there’s no actual problem with the pillow itself, just not enough of them to go around. Here’s what happened. My parents traveled here to Connecticut from Florida for the Thanksgiving holiday. I completely forgot that my mother uses a traction pillow and loves it. The problem was I use one too and I only had one upstairs. There was not one in the guest room.

We always have a supply of the pillows at the office but I didn’t want to go get on because it was late; plus, this time of year especially we get extra orders so I din’t want to disturb the supply.

I gave my mother mine and I used one of my other pillows. Needless to say, my mother slept like a baby while I missed my favorite pillow. I’ve learned my lesson. Now I have ones for my wife and I as well as one in the guest room.

I can honestly say, sleeping without it for a couple of nights, combined with trying to catch a cold, I woke up with an achy neck for the 1st time in a year.

There are a lot of great benefits from using this neck pillow but just having a pillow that you like, that’s comfortable, and helps give you a good night’s sleep is worth much much more that the pillow actually costs. Its really a win win win – correct neck posture, reduce neck pain and sleep comfortably. Do yourself a favor and get one if you don’t already have one and get one for a loved one. Tell them Dr.B sent you !


CT Spine and Disc Center is located in central Connecticut- Specializing in patients who suffer from sciatica, disc degeneration, bulging disc or herniated disc in the lumbar spine. Call us at 860-633-8756 to see if you are a candidate for non surgical spinal decompression

Additional Reading Resources:

• How to Use the Traction Side of the Cervical Traction Neck Pillow for Maximum Pain Relief and Better Sleep
  
• More information about the cervical linear traction neck pillow
  
• Back Pain Relief with the Right Back Support Pillow
  
• The Neck Pain Support Blog
  
• Understanding Non Surgical Spinal Decompression: FAQ's
  
• Research about Non Surgical Spinal Decompression
  

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"What Kind of Arthritis Do I Have?"

When degeneration is found in the spine or other joints, we often simply are told it’s arthritis. When we are a little more stiff in the morning, we call that arthritis. When we have back pain from years of wear and tear on our body, we refer to it as arthritis.

To many, a surprise is that this may be true, but we can get much more specific; there are many types of “arthritis.” Based on our examination, patient history, and radiological findings we can determine which type of arthritis an individual with joint pain may have.

There are three basic type: degenerative arthritis, inflammatory arthritis, and metabolic arthritis. Degenerative arthritis is often called DJD (Degenerative Joint Disease) or Osteoarthritis. Patient's with DJD often present with joint stiffness with reduced range of motion particularly in the morning.

Inflammatory arthritis includes rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, lupus, and scleroderma. Symptoms include inflammation of the joints as well as bilateral presentation (both sides of the body similar). For example: both SI joints vs. DJD which is often a unilateral presentation (one side more than the other).

Metabolic disorders are a third type of arthritis, and one that people commonly hear about is gout. This can have common features of both degenerative and inflammatory arthritis, but will often have positive blood work or laboratory findings. For example, with gout we often find an increase of uric acid in the bloodstream.

Over time arthritis will work its way into the spine and that means breakdown of the discs in the back. Talk to chiropractors Dr. Bellinger or Dr. Gill to find out if chiropractic treatment or spinal decompression may help you get pain relief in your back.



CT Spine and Disc Center is located in central Connecticut- Specializing in patients who suffer from sciatica, disc degeneration, bulging disc or herniated disc in the lumbar spine. Call us at 860-633-8756 to see if you are a candidate for non surgical spinal decompression

Additional Reading Resources:

• Patients talk about their decompression or chiropractic treatment.
  
• Arthritis Relief
  
• A change in the barometric pressure can cause an increase in disc pressure.
  
• Understanding Non Surgical Spinal Decompression: FAQ's
  
• Research about Non Surgical Spinal Decompression
  

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Home Treatment Of Lower Back Trigger Points

Everday I see patients who can benefit from muscle work along with their adjustments or spinal decompression. For example a patient may present to the office with lower back discomfort. He or she may have a misalignment of their pelvis, SI joint (sacroiliac joint), lumbar vertebrae, or slippage of a disk.

Once this happens it puts unwanted preesure on nerves. The muscles will often get irritated because the shift may alter the balance not to mention, if their is preesure on the nerves suppling information to that muscle and that information is blocked, there will be a problem.

When the muscles become imbalanced they will often knot up. Muscle fibers work by sliding across one another for motion, when something is interfering with this, the fibers often adhese together or form knots. Through muscle fibers run smaller nerves which may also create a pain response making your back pain even worse.

Often something that may help the pain relief is to massage the knots (also refered to as muscle adhesions or trigger points). This may hurt slightly when working on these muscles but will feel much better later on.

At home I recommend using the TheraCane because one can easily reach any trigger point and they can save their hands (your hands will be sore after doing alot of muscle massage; trust me - Iknow!).

CT Spine and Disc Center is located in central Connecticut- Specializing in patients who suffer from sciatica, disc degeneration, bulging disc or herniated disc in the lumbar spine. Call us at 860-633-8756 to see if you are a candidate for non surgical spinal decompression

Additional Reading Resources:

• Getting Rid of Trigger Points Can Help Relieve Lower Back Pain.
  
• Trigger point massage is part of lower back rehababilitation.
  
• Treatments for Sciatica
  

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What Does It Mean To Have FibroMyalgia?

Today’s blog post comes from Dr. Bellinger’s November Newsletter.

At my Glastonbury CT office, I often see patients who have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia is not a condition that you can say has a specific cause with a clear origin and means of diagnosis. It is one of those conditions that are obscure and can only be diagnosed by eliminating other, more common conditions. Fibromyalgia is one of those conditions where the degree of pain and disability can be profound and life quality interrupting, yet all the tests come back negative and there are no other conditions to explain the collection of symptoms. It is at that point when the diagnosis of fibromyalgia is typically made.

Fibromyalgia is typically a chronic (symptoms have been present for at least 3 months) condition where the patient complains of widespread, generalized muscle, ligament and tendon pain accompanied with fatigue and multiple tender points on the body that hurt with only light pressure. To be considered “widespread,” it usually affects both sides of the body and is both above and below the waist. It occurs in approximately 2% of the population in the US and women are 3-4 times more likely to develop fibromyalgia. The risk of fibromyalgia increases with age and can be secondary to other physical or emotional trauma, or it can occur all by itself. No obvious pattern usually exists as signs and symptoms can vary depending on weather, stress, physical activity, and even the time of day.

Sleep quality is an issue that seems well agreed upon as regardless of the number of hours in bed, the deep, restorative stages of sleep are seldom reached. Other sleep disorders frequently associated with fibromyalgia include sleep apnea and restless leg syndrome.. “central sensitization”. This is basically a low threshold for pain because of increased sensitivity in the brain to the incoming pain signals. Certain chemical (neurotransmitters) changes in the brain have been identified resulting is hypersensitivity creating an overreaction to pain signals.

The American College of Rheumatology has established two diagnostic criteria that include

1. widespread pain lasting at least 3 months
2. at least 11 out of 18 positive tender points using just enough pressure to whiten the fingernail bed.

What are these 18 tender points that have been identified?

Tender Points seen in Fibromyalgia patients

1. Lower neck in front (2)
   
2. Edge of upper breast bone (2)
   
3. 2 cms below side bone at elbow (2)
   
4. Just above knee on inside (2)
   
5. Attachment of neck muscles at the base of the skull (2)
   
6. Midway between neck and shoulder (2)
   
7. Muscle over upper inner shoulder (2)
   
8. Upper outer buttock (2)
   
9. Hip bone (2)
   

There are no direct blood tests to confirm a diagnosis of fibromyalgia but other conditions can affect or cause Fibromyalgia can be diagnosed with blood testing. These include:

• thyroid disease (thyroid function blood tests)
• inflammatory arthritis such as rheumatoid (ESR),
• complete blood count to assess anemia and infection.
  
  
  
  At Ct Spine and Disc Center in Glastonbury CT, we take pride in providing quality, evidence-based care and appreciate the opportunity to do so when patients choose our clinic for their chiropractic care. We realize that there are many healthcare options available. If you, a friend or family member require care for fibromyalgia, we would be honored to offer our chiropractic services.
  
  Additional Reading Resources:
  
  
  • Dr.Oz talks about Prescription pain medications
    
  • Products for Pain Relief at home
    
  • What tests will my Dr do to Help with my back Pain?
    
  • Natural Cure for Fibromyalgia
    
  • Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue
    
  
  
  
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