Over the past month we have been discussing recommendations on being healthy without drugs and surgery.  Today we are going to discuss nutritional support for your joints!  Previously we talked about the other 4 key steps:  proper sleep, stress reduction, dietary methods to reduce inflammation and pain, and posture.  You can read about these other steps by clicking:  Chiropractor Freehold NJ Blog.

As a chiropractor in Freehold, NJ I see thousands of people who are experiencing different types of joint pain.  From degenerative joint disease, to arthritis to normal wear and tear from not taking care of the joints.

The most common nutritional supplements on the market for joint support are chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine.  Research studies have proven that a lot of people can get relief from these two supplements and they usually see results in about 6 to 8 weeks.

I do recommend them to my patients, but I also know it doesn’t help everybody.  Being an athlete myself, I played competitive soccer for 28 years, I have tried these supplements but unfortunately they do not work for me.  They do not work for everybody but I still recommend on trying them.  You do have to be patient to wait to see if it will work for you.

For everybody, 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.

The questions:

1) Do you have a repetitive injury like carpal tunnel or tennis elbow?

2) Do you notice you are pulling muscles and tendons more than usual?  (Maybe you notice sore muscles and tendons after a short hike, or after working out in the gym, or some part of your body hurts more than before, as examples)

I’ve had many of my patients say that their knees hurt after kneeling in the garden after five minutes while working with her flowers.  This is NOT normal!

3) How bad are your 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.

4) Do you have scoliosis?

5) Does it feel as if your condition is worsening?

If I get two yes answers, chances are good that it’s a manganese deficiency.

Not only myself, but other doctors I know that also practice nutrition have seen magnificent changes in patients when we replace the manganese in their diet.  I’ve seen people getting ready for hip replacement surgeries that didn’t need the surgery once they supplemented with manganese.  There have been countless patients with carpal tunnel syndrome and tennis elbow, all deficient in manganese.  A manganese deficiency can easily be confirmed by hair analysis!

A chiropractor I know who is also a nutritionist told me:  One woman in her 40s was in tears because her knee pain was so great and she couldn’t walk anywhere for weeks.  After three days on manganese replacement, 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.

So what about the chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine?”

If you are already taking them, the supplements may be doing some good so you 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 & ligaments, manganese is key to your health!

The previous chiropractor told me she starts patients 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 that the person needs.  That person is probably very, very low in many minerals and needs a whole protocol of supplements to take to build up their body.”

She continues:  “The reason why I don’t recommend chondroitin sulfate or glucosamine is that the active ingredient in it 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 that they are missing – manganese.  My patients who have been on manganese for awhile 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 and help for nutritional support to reduce the pain and inflammation.

My friend shared her protocol with her patients and it’s what I currently use with my patients:

• A good multiple vitamin/mineral.  I have one that 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.

• 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.)

      • 200 mcg selenium (another mineral most are deficient in)

• 150 –300 mg germanium (reduces pain, oxygenates the area thereby decreasing Inflammation)

• 400 to 800 IU vitamin E

• 3000 to 6000 mg vitamin C

• 100 mg CoQ 10 (this can be wonderful at decreasing pain and inflammation)

• 3000 to 5000 mg omega 3 oils

These are what I use generally speaking, but every case is a little different. Some-times my patients modify their protocol a little bit, like take more germanium or more coQ 10…

Oh, one more thing… it is utmost important for your joints to receive chiropractic care, too!  Chiropractors find the joints that are restricted and are putting pressure on the nerves.  These restricted joints not only cause neck pain, back pain, headaches and migraines, sciatica and disc problems but can also cause many other healthy problems.  There is also research that shows joints that are misaligned for just 2 weeks start forming arthritic changes.   Your chiropractor will get the joint moving again and help prevent the progression of arthritic changes and help save your joints, but also improve your health, wellness and ability to enjoy your family, friends and normal daily activities.

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 whatever health issue you are experiencing right now.