Pain will limit a patient’s memory and ability to understand. It happens when a patient is in pain and asks me “what’s wrong with me?” I’ll answer and 1 ½ minutes later, they’ll say, “I wish I knew what was wrong with me.” I’ll answer again and sure enough, they’ll leave the office wondering what’s wrong with them.
Pain can blur things. If you don’t know what’s wrong with your body, ask me. I’ll be happy to answer more than once. I understand it’s hard to remember.
The more you know about your own condition, the more you’ll understand why I recommend ice versus heat or stretching versus exercise. Make sure you know why you are coming in to see me.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Be a Friend, Help a Friend!
We know times have been tough, and many people have lost their health insurance. But that shouldn’t prevent people from seeking the medical attention they need and deserve.
For your friends and loved ones who don’t have insurance we have “Friends Helping Friends”. As a courtesy to You, our patient, the person you refer to our office will receive a special new patient benefit.
The first visit includes:
-Consultation
-Orthopedic and Neurological Examination
-Spinal Functional Examination
-Deep Tissue and Trigger Point Examination
-Any recommendations and/or treatment performed that day
With Friends Helping Friends, the first visit is $50 (normally $100) and just $40 after that!
Remember, we are a sports-injury oriented office that specializes in unique and cutting edge methods such as Graston, Gonstead, cold laser, and Non-force Adjusting. These methods are helpful for injuries common to runners, swimmers, golfers, cyclists, and other athletes.
Our office gives patients the advantage of quicker recovery and long lasting results without the ‘crack’ and ‘pop’ of traditional chiropractic.
The techniques we utilize are evidence based and effective in treating such problems as headaches, rotator cuff syndrome, knee pain, degenerative arthritis, and herniated discs.
If you have a friend or family member experiencing pain, refer them to our office. Be a Friend, Help a Friend! They’ll love you (even more) for it.
For your friends and loved ones who don’t have insurance we have “Friends Helping Friends”. As a courtesy to You, our patient, the person you refer to our office will receive a special new patient benefit.
The first visit includes:
-Consultation
-Orthopedic and Neurological Examination
-Spinal Functional Examination
-Deep Tissue and Trigger Point Examination
-Any recommendations and/or treatment performed that day
With Friends Helping Friends, the first visit is $50 (normally $100) and just $40 after that!
Remember, we are a sports-injury oriented office that specializes in unique and cutting edge methods such as Graston, Gonstead, cold laser, and Non-force Adjusting. These methods are helpful for injuries common to runners, swimmers, golfers, cyclists, and other athletes.
Our office gives patients the advantage of quicker recovery and long lasting results without the ‘crack’ and ‘pop’ of traditional chiropractic.
The techniques we utilize are evidence based and effective in treating such problems as headaches, rotator cuff syndrome, knee pain, degenerative arthritis, and herniated discs.
If you have a friend or family member experiencing pain, refer them to our office. Be a Friend, Help a Friend! They’ll love you (even more) for it.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
10 tips for knee pain
1) Get some knee sleeves.
Buy some knee sleeves and wear them every time you workout. Warm knees hurt less.
2) Warm up.
Warming up reduces the viscosity of synovial fluid (the stuff that fills your joint space), providing better lubrication and healthier joints in general.
3) Improve ankle and hip flexibility.
Knee pain that is non-traumatic are typically due to dysfunctions such as hip and ankle flexibility.
4) Work out the butt.
Squats and Lunges work very good for this as long as you are doing it correctly. Ask me and I'll show you.
5) Do the following daily:
• Foam rolling of the quadriceps, IT band, and calfs.
• Trigger point therapy to the same muscles including the inside knee muscle.
6) Stop exercises that increase the pain.
This is sommon sense but lots of people don't follow it. Get it evaluated so that you know what you're dealing with.
7) Get your body in proper alignment.
See a DC. Enough said.
8) Learn how to lift weights properly.
We see a lot of patients FROM the gym. If you don't know how to do a machine, find out first. That's what they are there for right?
9) Eat an anti-inflammatory diet.
Take fish oil, GS/CS that's in the joint formula, and stop eating white pasty things. Eat chicken, turkey, eggs, meat and vegetables. Eat fruit for snacks. It really isn't more complicated than that.
10) Stretch your thighs and calves.
Too many people emphasize the hamstrings. Try stretching the thighs and calves and see what it does for your knees. It may just improve them.
Buy some knee sleeves and wear them every time you workout. Warm knees hurt less.
2) Warm up.
Warming up reduces the viscosity of synovial fluid (the stuff that fills your joint space), providing better lubrication and healthier joints in general.
3) Improve ankle and hip flexibility.
Knee pain that is non-traumatic are typically due to dysfunctions such as hip and ankle flexibility.
4) Work out the butt.
Squats and Lunges work very good for this as long as you are doing it correctly. Ask me and I'll show you.
5) Do the following daily:
• Foam rolling of the quadriceps, IT band, and calfs.
• Trigger point therapy to the same muscles including the inside knee muscle.
6) Stop exercises that increase the pain.
This is sommon sense but lots of people don't follow it. Get it evaluated so that you know what you're dealing with.
7) Get your body in proper alignment.
See a DC. Enough said.
8) Learn how to lift weights properly.
We see a lot of patients FROM the gym. If you don't know how to do a machine, find out first. That's what they are there for right?
9) Eat an anti-inflammatory diet.
Take fish oil, GS/CS that's in the joint formula, and stop eating white pasty things. Eat chicken, turkey, eggs, meat and vegetables. Eat fruit for snacks. It really isn't more complicated than that.
10) Stretch your thighs and calves.
Too many people emphasize the hamstrings. Try stretching the thighs and calves and see what it does for your knees. It may just improve them.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Stress and Our Bodies
Stress and Our Bodies
In a life and death situation our body reacts similarly to how we react to any stress. We have a hormonal, adrenalin and muscular experience. We are simply “hard-wired” to react this way.
How does it work?
During stress, certain bodily functions shut down: digestion stops, sexual function stops, adrenalin in released from glands, and even our immune system is temporarily turned off. Our heart pumps two-to-three times its normal speed, our eyes dilate, and the blood vessels under the surface of our skin close down, so we can sustain a surface wound and not bleed to death (this makes our skin turn pale). At the same time, our blood pressure rises, so life-giving fluid reaches our muscles faster, sweating increases to cool our muscles and help them stay efficient and all of this happens when our minds and bodies are stressed. This is a fight-or-flight phenomenon as well as what happens during chronic stress.
The structural panic pattern
Chiropractic has a unique approach to dealing with stress. The fight or flight response was originally discovered and researched by the great Harvard physiologist Walter Cannon in the 1920’s. Cannon and his associates, being physiologists, studied the body’s reactions to danger by limiting their observations to a person’s chemical, vascular and internal organ changes.
Chiropractors using Koren Specific Technique (KST) have discovered that structural changes in the body are also involved in the fight or flight response. We refer to this as the panic pattern.
What is the panic pattern?
The panic pattern is the structural component of chronic stress. It consists of the following:
1. The coccyx (tailbone) moves forward. When the coccyx moves forward, our nerves within the spine tighten. Watch your dog when they tuck their tails between their legs as they run in fear. This happens to us too.
2. The sternum moves up. This protects our heart and lungs.
3. The zyphoid process moves forward. This often makes breathing harder.
4. The larynx moves up. This makes it harder to speak and makes our throats feel tight.
5. The pubic bones moves up.
Which comes first—the stress or the posture?
It doesn’t matter. We strive to fix both, but in the chiropractic office it’s easier to fix the posture. Some research has shown that postures may not just reflect internal states but rather produce them.
Researchers discovered that tasks performed in “defeated” or “helpless” postures create a sense of defeat in patients. When people perform the tasks in good posture, the sense of defeat takes far longer to manifest. It’s like smiling or frowning, irrespective of our emotional state, we create a chemical physiology of happiness or sadness.
Finding and correcting the panic pattern
Using KST protocols, we can quickly and easily analyze and correct or adjust the posture making it ideal for correcting the panic pattern. The patient is usually adjusted in standing or sitting posture. I use the ArthroStim™, setting it at 12 taps per second. The areas that are adjusted are usually the coccyx, sternum, ziphoid, larynx, and pelvis. Patients often feel an immediate sense of relief within 24 hours and the stress reduces their physical pains tremendously.
In a life and death situation our body reacts similarly to how we react to any stress. We have a hormonal, adrenalin and muscular experience. We are simply “hard-wired” to react this way.
How does it work?
During stress, certain bodily functions shut down: digestion stops, sexual function stops, adrenalin in released from glands, and even our immune system is temporarily turned off. Our heart pumps two-to-three times its normal speed, our eyes dilate, and the blood vessels under the surface of our skin close down, so we can sustain a surface wound and not bleed to death (this makes our skin turn pale). At the same time, our blood pressure rises, so life-giving fluid reaches our muscles faster, sweating increases to cool our muscles and help them stay efficient and all of this happens when our minds and bodies are stressed. This is a fight-or-flight phenomenon as well as what happens during chronic stress.
The structural panic pattern
Chiropractic has a unique approach to dealing with stress. The fight or flight response was originally discovered and researched by the great Harvard physiologist Walter Cannon in the 1920’s. Cannon and his associates, being physiologists, studied the body’s reactions to danger by limiting their observations to a person’s chemical, vascular and internal organ changes.
Chiropractors using Koren Specific Technique (KST) have discovered that structural changes in the body are also involved in the fight or flight response. We refer to this as the panic pattern.
What is the panic pattern?
The panic pattern is the structural component of chronic stress. It consists of the following:
1. The coccyx (tailbone) moves forward. When the coccyx moves forward, our nerves within the spine tighten. Watch your dog when they tuck their tails between their legs as they run in fear. This happens to us too.
2. The sternum moves up. This protects our heart and lungs.
3. The zyphoid process moves forward. This often makes breathing harder.
4. The larynx moves up. This makes it harder to speak and makes our throats feel tight.
5. The pubic bones moves up.
Which comes first—the stress or the posture?
It doesn’t matter. We strive to fix both, but in the chiropractic office it’s easier to fix the posture. Some research has shown that postures may not just reflect internal states but rather produce them.
Researchers discovered that tasks performed in “defeated” or “helpless” postures create a sense of defeat in patients. When people perform the tasks in good posture, the sense of defeat takes far longer to manifest. It’s like smiling or frowning, irrespective of our emotional state, we create a chemical physiology of happiness or sadness.
Finding and correcting the panic pattern
Using KST protocols, we can quickly and easily analyze and correct or adjust the posture making it ideal for correcting the panic pattern. The patient is usually adjusted in standing or sitting posture. I use the ArthroStim™, setting it at 12 taps per second. The areas that are adjusted are usually the coccyx, sternum, ziphoid, larynx, and pelvis. Patients often feel an immediate sense of relief within 24 hours and the stress reduces their physical pains tremendously.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
