Meet the Experts: 3 ways to reduce inflammation and increase mobility from Jackson Healing Arts

At Jackson Healing Arts, Dr. Philip Pappas, D.C. and Cassandra Doss, FNP-BC approach medicine and the body holistically. Their collaboration helps patients by providing faster, less expensive care: Often, Doss says, a patient may have a wide range of symptoms that are each treated individually by multiple specialists. However, functional medicine finds those wide-ranging symptoms often have the same root cause and identifies and treats that root cause rather than only treating the symptoms, thus seeing improvements in all other areas of concern. At Jackson Healing Arts, this is what Pappas and Doss do.

“We are not separate parts. All our parts, functions, work together to make a whole being, and therefore, it has to be looked at that way,” Pappas says. “To compartmentalize too much, you’re cheating the person.”

Jackson Healing Arts offers chiropractic care, functional medicine and regenerative medicine. They also offer acupuncture, allergy testing and laser treatments for inflammatory issues. In addition, they offer Dutch hormone testing, which utilizes six urine and saliva samples throughout the day to observe the fluctuations of hormones. They also offer vitamin infusions and weight loss solutions.

Often, Pappas says, people who have stiff, achy, inflamed joints don’t move, because they want to avoid pain. Or, they chronically rely on over-the-counter pain relievers, which can cause other issues. Getting to the root cause of an issue and then educating the patient on treatment of that cause are important parts of Jackson Healing Arts’ practice; the goal is for the patient to heal and learn how to care for themselves.

Here, Pappas and Doss share ways you can reduce inflammation caused by emotional, nutritional and physical stressors, so you can live pain-free and engage in the activities you love:

1. Manage your stress.

It’s important to reset your mind, Doss says, whether that’s through journaling, talking in therapeutic communication or using your hands in activities like gardening. Prayer, meditation and detaching from electronic devices so you have quiet and space to free the mind to think creatively are also positive ways to relieve stress, Pappas says.

At Jackson Healing Arts, Doss and Pappas help patients identify triggers of stress and then find ways to prevent those.

2. Eat whole foods.

Avoiding processed foods and cutting out added sugar, gluten and dairy can help reduce inflammation. Added sugars can be replaced by consuming natural sugars like those found in fruit.

“What we put in our body matters,” Doss says.

3. Change the way you work.

The physical demands of a person’s job can cause physical stress on the body, as can exercising incorrectly or too much. Pappas says it’s important to modify the way one works or to see an athletic trainer to ensure you’re doing exercises correctly and using equipment safely. And be sure to stretch.

Whether a patient is experiencing pain and inflammation from an accumulation of stress, arthritis or an injury, Jackson Healing Arts works with them to find and treat the root cause of their discomfort through services like nutrition guidance, stem cell injections and chiropractic adjustments.

“Our ultimate goal is to see our patients living a full and active life, without limitations,” Pappas says.

Jackson Healing Arts

3130 E. Jackson Blvd., Jackson

(573) 243-5095