Arm & Leg Pain

Arm and Leg Pain Common Causes

The arm is very complex as it contains three bones, 24 muscles, 48 tendons, and eight ligaments. Boasting four bones, seven muscles, 14 tendons, and eight ligaments, the leg is similarly complicated. Therefore, pain in the limbs can have many causes and can be due to various factors.

Overuse injuries are common with arm and leg pain because we continually use our limbs for walking, reaching, and many other movements. Poor posture is also another cause of limb pain, especially when the problematic posture creates nerve compression or spinal misalignment.

A degenerative joint disease that causes pain in the elbows, wrists, knees, and ankles is called osteoarthritis. These painful joints can make it challenging to move and may cause pain to spread to other areas of the arms and legs. A lot of this pain occurs when we make changes in posture or movement to compensate for joint pain.

Electrolyte imbalances, nutritional deficiencies, and dehydration are other medical conditions that can cause limb pain. This is why every patient receives a comprehensive nutrition evaluation to ensure their bodies get all the nutrients needed to optimally function.

Arm Pain Symptoms

Arm pain comes in various forms. Some of our arm pain chiropractic patients describe the pain as more of a tingling sensation, but many patients have pain that radiates down to the upper arm or elbow.

A great deal of patients also experience weakness in the arm. Many have problems moving their neck, hands, or other parts of the body. Arm pain treatment should begin as soon as possible to reduce the impact on daily activities since the arms and hands are so crucial to everyday life. 

Leg Pain Symptoms

Leg pain can significantly limit day-to-day life, just like arm pain. Since walking is powered by the legs, it can become a challenge to even leave home, limiting social activities. Without the ability to bend, kneel, or lunge, typical household cleaning and maintenance tasks can also be difficult.

Early leg pain treatment is essential because the legs are responsible for carrying the body. Pain that shoots down the legs due to sciatica has brought some Vital Wellness Center patients to tears. For other patients, knee and foot pain has caused tingling, burning, or stabbing pain when trying to move.

Our Chiropractic Can Help Improve Arm and Leg Pain

Not all reasons for the many causes of arm and leg pain respond well to chiropractic care. A broken arm or leg needs emergency treatment including an x-ray, setting the bone properly, and applying a cast. Another cause of arm pain requiring a hospital visit for treatment is a heart attack.

Coming to Vital Wellness Center following a medical crisis is a great way to support healing through nerve health optimization, strategic nutrition, and muscular or cardiac rehabilitation. Some conditions that respond particularly well to chiropractic for arm and leg pain are in the following sections.

Osteoarthritis

Anyone over the age of 18 will have some degree of osteoarthritis. Normal wear and tear of the joints, which makes them unstable, results in this condition. Typically accompanied by a grinding sensation as bone rubs against bone, osteoarthritis instability is particularly noticeable in the knee. Joints that are affected by osteoarthritis become painful, swollen, and difficult to move over time. Most of the arm and leg pain our chiropractor, Dr. Foss, sees results from osteoarthritis of the thumbs, hands, wrists, hips and knees.

Injuries Due To Overuse

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a common issue we see in our patients who work in an office setting, but there are more repetitive strain injuries than that. Performing the same movements on a daily basis can cause microscopic tears in the muscles and tendons whether it’s from musical instrument performance, excessive smartphone use, or certain sports. Microtrauma can create chronic pain and dysfunction over time although most people won’t quickly notice this damage.

Poor Posture

Poor posture like slouching doesn’t just look bad, it’s also terrible for your health. We cringe when we see a new arm pain chiropractic patient in our waiting room hunched over their smartphone. Upper crossed syndrome can happen when people crane their heads forward and slope their shoulders down toward the phone. This condition will double muscular tension in the neck and shoulders. Pain in the neck and shoulders can lead to back, arm, or even hip and leg pain because the body is a unit. 

Regional Pain

Pain in one region of the body can also cause pain in other areas of the body which is due to the sharing of nerves, muscles, and other structures. It can also be caused by compensatory movement such as walking with an altered gait to keep the weight off an ailing knee or using the less painful arm more frequently.  

Our Chiropractic Can Alleviate Arm and Leg Pain

Here at Vital Wellness Center, a comprehensive health evaluation is the first step in chiropractic for arm and leg pain. Many times our patients are amazed that we ask questions about their home situation or social life, and some think it’s rather invasive. However, gaining an understanding of these situations helps us pinpoint areas that are critical for optimal health and allows us to equip them with the skills and strategies needed for their well-being.

We then perform a complete physical evaluation which includes a range of nerve and movement tests. Keeping nerves in optimal condition is critical for good health because nerves carry the signals that tell the brain what’s happening in the body as well as carrying instructions from the brain to the body.

At the heart of chiropractic medicine is a term called subluxation which simply means a misalignment of the bones. Treating spinal subluxations is vital to ensuring proper nerve function throughout the body even though the misalignments can happen anywhere in the body. The spinal cord is connected to every nerve in the body which means that anything that happens to the spinal cord can drastically impact overall health. 

Arm pain treatment at Vital Wellness Center focuses on the correction of subluxations in the cervical spine, or neck, region. The neck contains five nerves which are crucial to arm function. Correcting misalignment helps optimize arm health by allowing communication to flow freely from the arm to the brain.

Leg pain chiropractic is very similar. While helping to restore communication between the brain and legs, realigning the spine also results in enhanced coordination, improved blood flow, and increased muscular strength.

Specific Arm and Leg Chiropractic We Provide

At Vital Wellness Center, we focus on improving function and alleviating pain with the minimum amount of disruption to our patients’ lives and bodies. Our approach is a more conservative type which includes:

• Hands-on spinal and other chiropractic adjustments
• Strategic stretching
• Therapeutic massage
• Targeted nutritional recommendations

Visit Our Chiropractor for Arm or Leg Pain

Because the limbs are constantly being used, arm and leg pain can become challenging. Additional movement may worsen the underlying injury or prolong and worsen the pain. That is why you should seek care for arm and leg pain right away. Call Vital Wellness Center and schedule a consultation with our arm and leg pain chiropractor, Dr. Foss, to help restore limb function and health.

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