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Nutritional Support to Soothe Back Pain
Nutritional Support to Soothe Back Pain
Now I’m going to let you “listen in” on a conversation I had one day with a friend who has a master’s degree in nutrition.
I asked about her thoughts on the two most common nutritional supplements on the market for joint support—1) chondroitin sulfate and 2) glucosamine.
“Research studies have proven that a lot of people can get relief from these two supplements,” she said. “They usually see results in about six to eight weeks.”
“So you recommend them to your patients?” I asked. I have been recommending them to my patients for years now, and they do help my patients quite a bit.”
“If they’re already taking them, I don’t tell them to stop. That would be like pulling a crutch away from a crippled person. What I do is ask my patients five questions. If they answer yes to at least two questions, then I can just about bet that they have a mineral deficiency without running a lab test.”
“What five questions do you ask?” I was quite curious.
“The first is this: Do they have pain? The second question is: Do they notice they are pulling muscles and tendons more than usual? Maybe they notice sore muscles and tendons after a short hike, or after working out in the gym, or some part of their body hurts more than before, as examples,” she said. “One of my patients in her fifties said her knees hurt after kneeling in the garden after five minutes while working with her flowers. This isn’t normal.”
“OK, that makes sense so far,” I said.
“The third question is this: How bad are their joints feeling on a scale of 1 to 10? A score of 5 or more is a bad answer and is too much pain and inflammation. The fourth question is this: Do they have scoliosis? And the last question is this: Does it feel as if their condition is worsening? If I get two ‘yes’ answers, chances are good that it’s a manganese deficiency,” she said.
“And this is something that you can almost bet on?” I asked.
“I’ve never been wrong yet. I’ve seen people getting ready for hip-replacement surgeries that didn’t need the surgery when we replaced the manganese in their diet. There have been countless patients with carpal tunnel syndrome and tennis elbow, all deficient in manganese. I confirm it with a hair analysis.
“One woman in her 40s,” my friend continued, “was in tears because her knee pain was so great and she couldn’t walk anywhere for weeks. After three days on manganese replacement and laser therapy, she was able to do her normal routine again. Another woman in her 50s was able to jump up and down in aerobics class because her body ‘told her’ through intuition that her knees were more stable after taking manganese for three days.”
“Yes, our body gives us signals all the time about whether or not we’re ergonomically correct or if we are strong enough to do certain movements,” I agreed. “So what about the chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine?”
“If they’re already taking them,” she told me, “the supplements may be doing some good, so they can continue. But what I’m looking for is the decrease in pain and inflammation that results from restoring the proper levels of manganese. It should occur in as little as three days and as long as two weeks. When it comes to muscles, joints, bones, tendons, and ligaments, manganese is key to their health! I start them on a level of 20 mg manganese two times daily for six months, depending on how low their hair analysis test results are. If we don’t have a hair analysis test, then I recommend 10 mg manganese daily for a week. If there’s no improvement in one week, then it’s probably not just manganese the person needs. That person is probably very, very low in many minerals and needs a whole protocol of supplements to build up their body.”
“Do you think manganese can replace chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine? I knew it was important for joints, tendons, muscles, and ligaments, but I had never learned it was that important,” I said.
“The reason I don’t recommend chondroitin sulfate or glucosamine is that the active ingredient in them is manganese. You see, there’s so little manganese in the product that it takes two to three months to get relief using that chondroitin sulfate,” she said. “I want my patients to experience the quickest healing possible, so I’ll use the real substance they are missing—manganese. My patients who have been on manganese for a while sometimes stop taking it, but when they notice their joints start hurting again, it means their manganese levels are falling again. They get back on track, and the joint pain disappears.”
“Manganese can be a simple solution for a lot of people. How many years have you been using the manganese as a way to help your patients heal?”
“About 15 years now,” she said.
“What else do you add to make sure your patients’ joints are getting all the nutritional support they need?” I asked.
“Here’s my usual protocol….” And this is what she shared with me:
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A good multiple vitamin/mineral. I have one I depend on exclusively because it contains 450 mg calcium, 200 mg magnesium and 350 mg phosphorus. These three have to be in the proper ratio for joint health. A joint without calcium is a weakened joint. Without the phosphorus, you can’t absorb calcium, and calcium and magnesium have to be present together.
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10 mg manganese, up to 50 mg manganese (50 mg is too much to guess on without a hair test; the mineral can be toxic in high amounts unless there is a deficiency).
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200 mcg selenium (another mineral most are deficient in).
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150–300 mg germanium (reduces pain, oxygenates the area thereby decreasing
Inflammation)
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400 to 800 IU vitamin E
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3000 to 6000 mg vitamin C
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100 mg CoQ 10 (this can be wonderful for decreasing pain and inflammation)
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3000 to 5000 mg omega-3 oils
“These are what I use generally speaking,” my nutritionist friend explained, “but every case is a little different. Sometimes my patients modify their protocol a little bit, like take more germanium or more CoQ 10. Oh, one more thing…they still have to get the chiropractic care, too.”
You can see from my discussion with my colleague how much of a difference something as simple as eating right and taking your nutritional supplements can make in people’s lives. Using nutritional supplements can speed your progress and even prevent further injury and surgery. Don’t be afraid of them. The best news is that approaching your health from a natural standpoint can only improve any health issue right now.
Take Action!
You now have increased knowledge and many tools to begin taking control of your healthy back. I don’t want to wish you luck because it’s not about luck—to feel better, you need to take action and implement what you now know.
P.S. Don’t Fall into This Trap
The “no more pain/no more problem syndrome” is what I call discontinuing treatment or self-treatments too early. Depending on the severity of your problem, the cause of the pain might be completely gone. But after thousands and thousands of treatments, the patients with the best and most lasting results continue treatment recommendations, self-stretching, prescribed exercises, and lifestyle modifications, or undergo maintenance treatments. It is easy to fall victim to and out-of-sight/out-of-mind approach or, more appropriate, no-pain/no-problem. Lack of symptoms is not necessarily a predictor of health. Many back pain suffers fail to realize that just because they begin to feel better or pain stops, the problem is not necessarily permanently gone.
No magic pill, potion, or lotion, but very successful treatments allow people to get their lives back. Even after knowing all this information, 90 percent of people fail to incorporate any advice from this book or take action to improve their situation. Many believe their pain is not all that bad and don’t take it seriously, all the more reason to start now to do something about it. The patients in my clinic who truly get it are very good at listening to their bodies and seeking treatment before a full-blown back attack occurs. They prefer to be proactive, to stay ahead of the pain, rather than reactive. Regular maintenance is much easier for the patient and doctor to handle. It takes less treatment and time out of your busy schedule.
If you need more information or additional help, please don’t hesitate to contact me or my team at 325-695-9355, email me at www.abileneadvancedchiro@gmail.com or visit www.abileneadvacncechiro.com.
