A Patient's Story Back pain and diet
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When people come to Caring Medical for Prolotherapy treatment for chronic pain, they may not understand at first how diet can play a beneficial role in getting them to be pain-free. One Prolotherapy patient, Melinda, learned quickly how important a healthy diet plan is to her overall health.
At 46 years of age, Melindas health was in shambles. She had back pain that had lasted 13 years despite massage treatments, physical therapy, and wearing a lumbar belt. She had severe heartburn and indigestion that required her to take antacids and "heartburn" medications. Melinda also had trouble sleeping, sitting for a long time while at work, and moving around due to her back pain. It was 24/7 pain!
In addition to all of this, Melinda was 50 pounds overweight and unable to exercise. Unless you have lived with this kind of pain and indigestion, you may not realize how much of a toll living like this day to day continues to take on your body, it is a viscous circle that continues to result in more pain, less sleep, less functionality, less enjoyment in life!. Melinda knew this and was desperate for answers to her pain.
On Melindas second visit to Caring Medical for Prolotherapy she read about the Hauser Diet and decided she wanted to give Diet Typing a try. She wanted to heal her back and had goals of better energy, better moods, better digestion, and improved overall health. On her third visit to our office, she visited our lab for Diet Typing and food sensitivity testing.
Melinda met with our nutritionist to review her Diet Typing results. But before we could give Melinda her Diet Type, we had to look at her current diet plan. Melinda tended to eat carbohydrates and protein at each meal, but they were all from processed sources or restaurant food. She also told us that she drank close to 144 ounces of diet soda per day and only one glass of water. No matter what Melindas Hauser Diet Type would be, it was clear that she would need to start eating fresh foods and wean off the diet soda as soon as possible. Her Diet Typing results revealed that she had normal blood pH with fast oxidation (This means the person breaks down (oxidizes) food too quickly. The recommended diet for this person is one that contains larger amounts of foods such as proteins and fats that are broken down slowly. This will help keep the persons blood sugar stable.)
Therefore Melinda would need to increase her protein intake on the Hauser Otter Diet to balance her fast oxidizer physiology. Melinda left our office with many changes to make, but with the motivation to make them.
About two weeks later we sent Melinda her food sensitivity results. We explained that these delayed food allergies cause inflammation and could be contributing to her indigestion, heartburn, excess weight, and back pain. She had over 23 food allergies ranging from common foods such as dairy, eggs, gluten and beef to less common such as okra, kale, and pinto beans. After we gave Melinda some alternatives to eating the allergenic foods, she was off to increase her intake of fresh protein and vegetables and decrease her carbohydrate and diet soda intake.
We kept up with Melinda each week over email to be sure that she was able to make the necessary diet changes and to answer any questions. With each email she told us that she was noticing improvements such as decreased swelling, less pain, and weight loss. When she returned one month later for her next Prolotherapy treatment, she reported some major improvements. She had lost 15 pounds and was considerably less swollen. In fact, her hands, wrists, arms, face, legs, ankles and feet were all less swollen. She had even lost a whole shoe size! She had no idea that all of these food allergies were causing so much inflammation. As a side note, this is one thing we see very often in patients with underlying food sensitivities: the bloated look in their face and swelling in their joints goes down after eliminating their specific allergenic foods. Melinda also reported stable moods, less irritability, and better sleep. She was able to say adios to the antacids, as her heartburn and indigestion cleared up almost completely. Her back pain was improving and she was able to decrease the frequency of Physical Therapy sessions from twice a week to once every 10 days. She was truly seeing the power of a proper diet plan as the Otter Diet helped to stabilize her blood sugars and avoiding her food allergies prevented inflammation.
After two months on the Otter Diet and six Prolotherapy treatments, Melinda was feeling a world of difference. In her own words, she had a greater sense of well-being, much less pain, more energy, and her body felt much more stable. After 13 years of intense back pain and other symptoms, Melinda was able to turn it all around with a few months of Prolotherapy and Diet Typing. We truly believe in the power of food and proper diet plans. If you are ready to experience changes in your own life, give us a call. We are ready to help you get on the road to change.
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