Muscular Skeletal Pain: Integrative Approach

By Jeff Kucine, DO

Back To Balance

. https://www.drkucine.com/

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Muscular Skeletal Pain: Integrative Approach

Acute or chronic pain can stop one’s life in its tracks. Pain from an injury, arthritis, herniated discs, chronic neck and low back pain, and stiffness are some of the more common issues in regard to pain. As most have become aware of the opioid crisis, utilizing pain medications to get back into the flow of life is no longer a useful option. Fortunately, we have many tools in the toolbox to alleviate acute and chronic pain, getting people back to their daily lives in a timely manner.

Three of these tools are gentle osteopathic manipulative therapy, biopuncture, and the ancient art of acupuncture. All three of these therapies are relatively painless and quite pleasant to receive. All three work with the body’s ability to heal itself.

Osteopathic manipulation is performed by a physician utilizing gentle techniques to re-establish the balance in the body. When this occurs, general circulation and blood flow improves. This serves to help wash away the products of inflammation and brings fresh oxygen and nutrition to the hurting, inflamed tissues, thus giving relief of pain and stiffness. A typical osteopathic treatment lasts anywhere from 20-45 minutes depending on patient needs. Treatments are given once every 10-14 days. As pain is relieved, we begin to stretch out the frequency of the treatment, often getting to the point of one treatment every three to four months, maintaining a pain-free and flexible state.

Often, biopuncture and or acupuncture is paired with the osteopathic manipulation. Biopuncture is a therapy that has been available approximately for 40 years and is the injection of very low dose plant and mineral substances which work with the bodies ability to heal itself. This therapy has been approved by the FDA approximately 14 years ago and is very safe. Acupuncture has been around 3-5 thousand years, and patients typically fall asleep during treatment, as it is very relaxing. Acupuncture works with the “energetic aspect of the body” also re-establishing the circulation and better blood flow, increasing the oxygenation and nutrition of all the surrounding tissues.

Often times, we will also discuss with patients the utilization of whole food nutraceuticals and or herbal remedies that will successfully modulate inflammation, thereby controlling pain and discomfort.

In conclusion, it is wonderful to be able to afford patients pain relief without the utilization of synthetic medications, especially narcotics or other addictive substances. That being said, if certain medications are necessary in the short term, we will also take advantage of the ability to prescribe them as needed.