(Excerpted from Dr. Norton’s new book: Where Does It Hurt?  Surprising Stories and Insights for Releasing Pain and Restoring Whole Body Health) – **See Below for Special Pre-Publication 2 for 1 Sale

We can divide pain into two basic types, with the difference determining our perspective and the actions we should take.

Acute pain can refer to pain of high intensity but primarily implies a short duration. Chronic pain has lower intensity but more typically is a long-term experience. The U.S. National Center for Health Statistics defines chronic as being of three months duration or longer.

Acute pain often appears during or soon after an injury or emotional stress, or at the onset of an illness. That includes, for example, the pain of an ankle twisted playing basketball, neck pain following a tension-filled interaction with a boss or a family member, and various aches due to an infection with fever, and so on. These are termed acute pain because they’re short-term expressions of a current challenge.

With proper self-care measures and professional assistance, most acute pains and the tissue damage they reflect can be resolved fairly quickly. Sometimes no attention at all is required. Acute pain clearly serves the dual purpose of drawing attention to an immediate ailment and pushing for changes in behavior.

Appropriate responses or behavior changes include adequate rest, support, and ice applied to the ankle, better communication combined with surrender and release in the emotional conflict, and rest, better nutrition, and some spinal adjustments in the flu scenario.

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<Pain Perspective>

Chronic pain or illness refers to a long duration that’s continuous or constant. It’s when a condition lingers or is prolonged beyond a short-term recovery period that we experience the most devastating aspects of pain.
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Chronic pain tends to produce both permanent physical damage and the emotional struggle with anxiety and worry that can lead to disturbing and dangerous levels of depression.

(View applications of this message to your life in Healing Hints below)

Visit Our Website and the "Ask Dr. Norton" Health Forum!

Visit Dr. Norton's web site. The Norton Chiropractic Wellness Center web site is packed with a vast amount of news, tips, and health information. Also check out and interact with our new Ask Dr. Norton Chiropractic Health Forum. If you are experiencing pain, or just want more information on your health or how we do business, please stop by!

News & Events

1. During the week of November 5-8, 2007, Norton Chiropractic Wellness Center will conduct a Pain Solution Week. This is a very special event because all people new to our office or who haven’t been present for at least 6 months will receive multiple benefits as follows:

   The consultation, full examination (including the unique computerized nervous system stress assessment), any needed spinal x-rays, the doctor's report of findings and recommended strategy cost only $30 and there’s no obligation to initiate care! This is a $240 value and is only offered 3 times each year.

   Please call 559-490-9550 ASAP for the best times and share this with anybody you know who may suffer with pain or illness of any kind. We must hear from you by November 8th to be included! If you would like to learn more about us and our work first, then please go to: www.DrMatthewNorton.com for everything you could ever want to know.

2. Dr. Norton’s new book Where Does It Hurt? Surprising Stories and Insights for Releasing Pain and Restoring Whole Body Health is completed and in the final layout/design phase prior to printing. It is available at www.WhereDoesItHurtBook.com for Christmas gift giving advance orders. How many presents could be of greater value and importance than the gift of diminished pain and greater health? Consider the people in your life that may be suffering with pain or illness whose quality of life could be dramatically improved with your help.

3. A special pre-publication sale of limited edition numbered and autographed copies of Where Does It Hurt? (500 total)are available for purchase Now at Norton Chiropractic Wellness Center by calling 559-490-9550 or at www.WhereDoesItHurtBook.com. During our “Receive and Give the Gift of Health” pre-publication sale you may purchase one copy of this hardbound book and receive a second one FREE to share with a friend! Call or go online today to order.

Visit our Center!

Norton Chiropractic Wellness Center (View Map) at 5670 N. Fresno St. Ste. 102 in Fresno, Calif. Call us at (559) 490-9550 or contact us here.

If you are in the California Central Valley call Norton Chiropractic Wellness Center at 559-490-9550 or visit us online at www.DrMatthewNorton.com for a virtual tour and to schedule an appointment to see if we can help you.

You will also appreciate the valuable tools on the Learning Resources page of the website if you are not in our area!

Healing Hints

1. When you become aware of a new acute pain, take immediate action. Pause long enough to assess the situation and understand its message, then ask yourself what attention your body should be given to produce a full healing resolution. Do your very best to assure that the pain isn’t allowed to become chronic, which leads to a much bigger and sometimes permanent problem.

2. Understand that the primary pain location may not be the full extent of your condition or even the cause of the pain. Often pain is referred to another location distant from its source and frequently is simply one expression of a more system-wide imbalance.

3. Given the inherent difficulty in “seeing” the bigger picture in ourselves, it is often necessary to gather more information and involve an outside observer. This may need to be a health care provider, expert in the type of condition you are confronting. If you’re not certain what the real issue is, you may need to explore, increase your knowledge, and get some different opinions. More knowledge and openness to other possibilities can also assist your intuitive decision-making.

4. Remember not to be fooled into thinking that your underlying condition has been adequately corrected and healed simply because your pain or other symptoms stop. Frequently just by resting the injured or painful area the pain will subside while the actual problem persists but drops off the radar screen of your awareness. Be sure to follow through and actually resolve the disturbed function.

5. One of the most prevalent causes of pain are spinal misalignments following injuries and overwhelming stress, which disturb nervous system function. If you live in or can get to Central California, call and schedule an appointment during the special Nov. 5-8 Pain Solution Week and find out if we can solve your condition. Even if you’re not currently suffering with pain or ill health, this opportunity could literally spare your future quality of life. Call 559-490-9550.

About Dr. Norton

Dr. Norton unites his passion for learning, teaching, and healing with a compassion for those who are struggling with pain and illness or not performing at their peak. He brings to his work a high level of academic achievement and cutting-edge bodymind research. However, he also brings a deeply caring heart transformed by difficult personal life experiences. Read more.