Chronic Pain affects 100 million people in the United States. By definition, Chronic Pain is pain that lasts longer than six months. The signals of pain remain active in the nervous system for months if not years! This creates an incredible amount of physical and emotional stress on the individual as well as their family and friends.
At Camarillo Functional Health, Dr. Michael Veselak commonly sees chronic pain patients resulting from motor vehicle accidents, nerve related issues such as sciatica, neuropathy, or carpal tunnel. Chronic back and neck pain from stenosis, failed back surgery, degenerative of herniated disc type lesions all can cause chronic pain. Dr. Veselak has had numerous patients over the years that are chronic migraine sufferers, have fibromyalgia and complex regional pain syndromes.
These chronic pain conditions all create an incredible amount of not only physical stress but emotional stress. This leads to an overload of cortisol, which will eventually ramp up the entire nervous system, and with time, affect the metabolic system. Cortisol, in the beginning, is our friend – it will help our body shift gears to handle the stress and/or pain. Over time, it will become inflammatory to not only the brain, but will also cause a thinning of the mucosa in the stomach causing a “leaky gut” type scenario. This propels the vicious cycle of pain, making the signals from the brain and nervous system more active and less inhibited. Serotonin, our “feel good” neurotransmitter is primarily produced in the gut.
Symptoms of anxiety, depression, fatigue and anger diminish the body’s natural ability to deal with the pain, compromising some of its basic defense mechanisms and often times resulting in a suppressed immune system.
As a Certified Functional Medicine Practitioner and Board Certified in Integrative Medicine, Dr. Michael Veselak manages Chronic Pain from a Functional Medicine Perspective. For a successful recovery, Dr. Veselak believes you must get to the source of the problem rather than mask the symptoms with prescription medications. Throughout his years of experience, Dr. Veselak has found that with all chronic pain patients, there is an underlying component that must be addressed if the patient is ever going to respond to conservative care.
Inflammation is a major factor in the body’s response to chronic pain. This does not just refer to the inflammation coming from the pain region but rather a systemic inflammation in the body resulting from several causes.
Some common causes of inflammation are:
- Blood Sugar
- Anemia
- Autoimmunity
- Infections, viral or bacterial
- Gut Issues (Dysbiosis, parasitic, fungal)
- Heavy Metal or Chemical Toxicity
- Adrenals
- Liver Detoxification
- Previous Surgeries/Scars
- Trauma (emotional or physical)
- Food Sensitivities
- Genetics
At Camarillo Functional Health, Dr. Michael Veselak manages the chronic pain in a safe and effective manner, providing support for the body to decrease the stress and inflammation. It is important to note the causes are slightly different for everyone.
Along with the dietary, nutritional and lifestyle recommendations, Dr. Veselak utilizes advanced methods to inhibit the pain pathways in the body. This is achieved through various brain-based therapies such as eye exercises, cerebellum exercises, sound therapy and SITS-VITS therapy. Our goal is to change the signal the brain, specifically the Parietal Lobe, is sending to the body causing this unrelenting pain.
At Camarillo Functional Health, Dr. Michael Veselak also employs state-of-the-art therapies to help modulate the chronic pain. These therapies include the Hako-Med Microcurrent which helps stimulation for the large diameter afferent fibers, Spinal Decompression for the complicated lower back and neck pain patients, and Cold Laser, an advanced treatment for stimulating the energy production, or ATP of the cell.
Dr. Veselak’s success rate with chronic pain has improved dramatically since he began utilizing this multi-modality approach in conjunction with nutritional and neurological support. Throughout his experience, Dr. Michael Veselak has found that a comprehensive functional medicine approach to treating each patient structurally, neurologically, and metabolically has had the greatest impact on his patients with suffering with chronic pain.
Recently, Dr. Veselak had a patient with a neuropathy type pain in her mouth following a palate surgery. The pain level was an 8/10 for the past seven years, everyday! Through electrical stimulation of the Vagus Nerve and our specific nutritional and lifestyle recommendations, Dr. Michael Veselak was able to reduce her pain to a zero within one month of therapy!
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