Yoga for back pain?

Yoga for back pain?

If the exercises are boring

Sometimes spinal exercises are borning. If you are doing the exercises correctly, they should be challenging. I've had patients state that they want to watch TV while doing the spinal exercises. If you can watch TV or read a book while doing the exercises I've given you, then you're not doing them correctly.

I understand it's not the most exciting part of the day, but 3 minutes per day is all I'm asking you to do. If you do them, you'll have less pain. Less pain is NOT boring.

Work hard during the 3 minutes. Focus on contracting the correct muscles and try not to fall off the gym ball.

BTW: I don't like doing them either. They keep my spine from hurting, so I know they're necessary.

Getting out of bed

When I ask a patient to get off the chiropractic table, I sometimes cringe. It's like I'm watching an injury happening right before my eyes.

The way NOT to get up is to start on your back and do an old fashioned sit up. Just rising up like dracula is not the way to get out of bed or a chiropractic table.

The proper way to get out of bed or off a chiropractic table is to first roll onto your side. Once there, bend both knees and let the feet fall off the bed. Use your arms and elbow to prop yourself up, maintaining a straight spine.

This will avoid further back pain.

Heart problems

Seems as though in the past couple weeks, lots of patients are having heart problems and not knowing what to do. First of all, if you are asking ME, I am the wrong person. If you have any question or even think you are having a heart attack, you need to call 911 or be taken to the emergency room NOW.

Having said that, I've realized that many people know the symptoms commonly portrayed on TV and the "not-so-obvious" symptoms are overlooked. Obviously, intense chest pressure/pain is the most common known symptom of heart attacks.

Here are the "not-so-obvious" symptoms: fatigue, sweating, can't-catch-your-breath feeling, indigestion, arm pain (most commonly the left) along the little finger side, jaw pain, middle back pain, nausea, and dizziness.

Now the hard part is this: you can't run to the hospital every time you have a symptom. If you just ate a load of food and have indigestion, it's likely indigestion. If you just lifted something and your arm hurts, it's probably that you lifted something too heavy. The main concern is IF YOU HAVE THESE SYMPTOMS, AND THERE'S NO REASON WHY.

Notice that some of the symptoms above could be chiropractic problems. It is my job to know when it's a chiropractic problem or a heart problem. So if I tell you to go across the street to the hospital, it's because I have determined that you do not have a problem that chiropractic can help. If I suspect you are having trouble with your heart, you should listen and go.

It's better to be safe than sorry.

Anti-depression medication and back pain

A number of patients tell me that they are given anti-depression medication for their back pain. I often ask "are you depressed?" and they answer "no."

I do not understand why these medications are given to you. In health care, you want a treatment that hits the problem in the bullseye. These means that you want antibiotics for a bacterial infection, not a fungal infection. You want a muscle treatment for a muscle problem and a tendon treatment for a tendon problem.

If I gave you an antibiotic for your spinal curves, you would think I was nuts. The treatment doesn't match the problem. This should make sense.

There is a limited list of structures that could possibly cause lower back pain. Here they are: muscle, bone, disc, ligament, cartilage, nerve, and bone are the most common. The rarer forms of back pain could be caused from blood vessels (aneurysms, etc), kidneys, prostate, ovary, uterus, and liver.

One of these structures is causing you pain. Find that and you are half way to proper treatment, or at least something close to the bullseye.

This "anti-depression medication-for-back-pain" seems to be very common.

The $6000 Chiropractor

There is a trend in Chiropractic that is, in my opinion, wrong. I have had patients that have moved out of the area and asked me "how do I find a chiropractor that's good?" My usual answer is to ask around and if a doctor's name keeps popping up, and he's been in practice for over 10 years, he's likely pretty good.

I've learned that there are more questions to ask than just that.

Every month, we get new patients that were told that they needed to see the doctor 50-70 times for $6000. That's six grand paid up front. They're in our office because their gut instinct told them that something was wrong with that other doctor.

Here's the truth behind the $6000 chiropractor. They learned a "script" or a pre-written speech to say to each patient in an effort to try to sell them tons of visits for insane amounts of money. They learn this in weekend seminars...kind of a "how to get rich" type of program.

You can usually tell who these doctors are: They're very charismatic, almost as charming as a hot-shot real estate agent. They take x-rays and will explain to you the severe findings on the x-rays (usually a loss of curve- most common in the neck). Without their special one-of-a-kind therapies, your spine will likely crumble. Then the money transaction: normally $7200, but if you pay today, it'll only be $6000.

Hook. Line. Sinker.

So if you need to find a chiropractor, keep your gut instincts about you, and keep your credit card safe. If they take x-rays and emphasize curves in your neck, require excessive amount of treatment for your condition, and want you to pay insane amounts of money upfront, then find someone else. These doctors are using their authority inappropriately and I think it's wrong.

We obviously don't do this.

P.S. This is not exclusive to chiropractic. I've changed dentists in the past because within 6 months it became apparent that my dentist and his staff became experts in teeth whitening. I was given the "script" each visit how doctor XYZ was now an expert in teeth whitening and how I can schedule next time for his program.

Hurting Feet

We offer custom-made orthotics.

These orthotics are made by the company named sole supports. I’ve taken the training and have passed the required tests to be a provider of these orthotics. First let me say that these are awesome. I’ve had many different orthotics made for myself at twice the cost and they don’t compare to the improvement I’ve felt from these specific orthotics.

Here’s the reasoning why:

Sole supports allow the natural motion of the foot to occur rather than trying to hold up your arch. Some people have flat feet and some don’t. Yet everyone’s foot is supposed to pronate when you step and push off with 60% of your weight on the big toe. Most off-the-shelf arch supports don’t allow you to do this.

Each side must be made separately and should not be mirror images of each other. Many patients I’ve noticed have the arch dropped only on one side, or their bunion is worse on one side, etc. You wouldn’t want to give them the same support on the left and on the right. This is the true value of “custom.”

The orthotics are calibrated to your weight and activity level. This is something I never understood when I had other orthotics made. How am I supposed to run in the same orthotic that was made for my dress shoe? It didn’t make sense. Sole supports are made specifically for your activity level.

Lastly, the orthotics should be calibrated to the flexibility of your feet. How strong your ligaments are in your feet determine the strength of the arch.

What all of this amounts to is that these orthotics can change how your feet FUNCTION because they work with what your current structural problems are. I personally love them and recommend them to you.

The price of the orthotics are $300. Figure out what the price of surgery is in your time, pain and money and you’ll find that these orthotics are a bargain.

Post-surgical nutrition

Having had two surgeries within 12 weeks wasn’t fun but I learned something. No one talked to me about what to do after the surgery. Once the last stitch was completed, there was almost a feeling of abandonment. I was told by one doctor that it was now up to me and God. Huh?

The only recommendations for nutrition were to stop all my nutritional supplements prior to surgery. Turns out it’s better to have blood more like sludge rather than water. It clots better.

So here’s what I did:

It’s well understood that your protein requirements increase in times of greater need. That’s why when you work out hard and damage your muscles, your body has an increased protein requirement to rebuild the muscle. A teenager needs protein during a growth spurt because protein is required to build muscle and bone. Surgery is a trauma to the body and what’s required to mend the pieces together is protein.

So I made some hard boiled eggs, 18 of them to be exact, plus had some chicken made as well. Eggs have 7 grams of protein and a chicken breast has 21 grams. After the surgery I ate an egg every hour (about 14 per day) and had two chicken’s per day in addition to my normal food. If my body needed protein, that should do it.

In addition to this, when our body becomes inflamed it will create scar tissue. This is often why the doctor will want you to do some form of therapy. The therapist will try to move your leg to prevent excessive scar tissue and do therapies to reduce inflammation (like ice). For some people that have had surgery, the scar tissue can then become a source of chronic pain. Chemically, anti-oxidants such as vitamin C, E, and selenium reduce scar tissue formation. Viola. Eat tons of vegetables during the day to get tons of these antioxidants. So, while I was icing, I’d be munching on crunchy raw veggies.

You can simply google protein requirements and antioxidants for all the research on this stuff. This in addition to icing every 20 minutes and starting to do my own rehab as soon as possible helped me recover from surgery quickly.

Back Pain and Weight

Sometimes your weight can be a factor in lower back pain. If the weight is around the middle of your body and it's directly placing stress on the joints of your spine, it's a factor causing the back pain.

If you don't match an ideal weight for your height but your weight is evenly distributed throughout the body, it's not contributing to your back problem.

Lastly, it really depends upon the back problem itself. If you fell down a flight of stairs and sprained your back, it doesn't matter what your weight is.

"I don't want to get buff from weights"

You won’t. Many women have fears of getting “buff and gross”, as one patient put it.

If you are female, you should lift weights and the weights should become progressively heavier.

Regardless, here are the reasons lifting won’t cause you to get buff:

1. Genetics. People that get big have the genetics to get big. There are ectomorphs, mesomorphs and endomorphs. Google them and you’ll soon learn that you can’t make an ectomorph into a mesomorph. Trust me, I’ve tried for years.

2. You must lift weights for many years, even decades, and lift more than twice your body weight in the three big lifts: bench press, squat and deadlift, and do NO CARDIO. If you’re lifting dumbbells or pulling cables, you are most certainly not going to get large.

3. You must eat 2 grams of protein for each pound of body weight per day. To get huge, if you are a scrawny 140 pounds, you must eat 280 grams of protein per day. If you are not doing that then you will simply not grow large bulging muscles.

4. Those people that achieve the really “gross” appearance have taken steroids. Since you are not going to do that, you will not achieve that grotesque look.

5. You must use spray tanning techniques to highlight all the little lines that define muscle.

6. Those “gross” people in magazines are in their contest shape. They aren’t like that all the time. Those pictures show them just 30 minutes away from passing out due to dehydration (dehydrated muscles look better on a stage). They’ve dieted down to the leanest that they can become.

7. Photoshop. All those good looking models in the magazines were half created by a computer technician that can narrow the hips, make lips fuller, etc. What you see in a magazine is a half-truth.

So you can see that lifting weights will not cause you to get big. It takes a lot of work both in and out of a gym to achieve that, as well as good genetics and other techniques.

You need to be strong enough to carry your child, lift a bag of dog food, work in the back yard, walk up the flight of stairs to my office, etc. If you can’t, you need to lift weights to build up to at least that. You will want to lift progressively heavier weights and you should have no fear of getting too buff.

What's wrong with me?

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.

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.

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.

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.

Here's information on stretching

http://www.clickondetroit.com/health/23158050/detail.html

This is a good link for those of you that need to stretch.

How can I change the hump in my back?

What you can do to help the adjustments change your posture are the following:

Nutrition: Make sure that the hump doesn’t get worse from microfractures of the vertebrae. Everyone knows to take calcium, but the overlooked nutrients in bone health are protein and vitamin C. Don’t be one of those people that take calcium supplements but are deficient in protein and vitamin C. Protein and vitamin C are the building blocks of the matrix of bone that calcium attaches itself to.

Foam roll daily: Get a foam roll and use it daily. Roll the lower area of the middle back. This should take no longer than 3-5 minutes.

Stretch the front of the shoulders: Go in a doorway and put your elbows on the door frame and stretch the front of the shoulders/chest muscles for 30 seconds three times per day.

Strengthen the back muscles: If you have access to a rowing/weightlifting machine, use it a lot. Most people workout the “beach muscles” and neglect the back. Rowing/pulls, pull ups, spinal extensions will all help the adjustments work better and avoid the ugly hump in the back.

Bananas

It seems the banana in 2010 is the egg of 1970.

In the last two weeks, I’ve commented to patients regarding snacks to simply eat a banana and you wouldn’t believe the concern and fear. You would’ve thought I asked them to eat an egg in 1970.

I have come to the realization that people believe bananas are bad for you. Frankly I’m surprised because isn't “eat your fruits and vegetables” a mantra that we’re all supposed to follow? One patient told me that their medical doctor told them not to eat bananas because of their high sugar content. Another person told me about bananas and the lack of fiber. Still another person told me that they refuse to eat bananas because of the glycemic index chart. This all seems very strange to me. People are spending way too much time investigating this issue.

This reminds me of a time when the egg was evil. You couldn’t get people to eat an egg even if you paid them. They thought that an immediate heart attack was about to happen if they consumed it. Years later the yolk was to blame, so everyone was eating egg whites. Currently we know that the yolk has lecithin which is actually supposed to LOWER your cholesterol. Jeez, you just can’t win.

Now the banana is the bad guy.

My argument is that in time we will find another food to blame and bananas will be popular again. For those of you on the fence, I’m not asking you to eat 90 bananas a day. I mean, it’s just a banana. How many can you eat in a day anyway? It’s just a piece of fruit.

Ankle Pain

If you have ankle pain that just does not go away, it may be because your ankle has lost the ability to pull upwards enough. Your ankle should have enough range of motion to point your toes upwards by 20 degrees. If you can't walk on your heals for example and maintain at least 2 inches between the ball of your foot and the ground, you may have this problem.

This can be easily fixed with adjustments and stretching. The adjustment creates a gap between the ankle (the talus bone) and the shin (the tibia bone). Almost instantly the normal range of motion is restored.

Stretching the calf in the back of the lower leg and the soleus muscle (that's in front of the achilles tendon) often allows the ankle to maintain the range of motion.

Problem solved.

Lack of motion in the ankle can lead to chronic pain in the ankle and often knee pain.

It seems last week I had a number of patients with this problem and each and every one of them responded beautifully to this technique.

Statin Myalgia

There’s a new condition that many of you should be aware of. It’s called statin myalgia. It’s caused from taking drugs for cholesterol. This is a common problem as many people have high cholesterol. These drugs can cause lower back pain, leg pain and magnify any pain by 50-60%. This has very important implications for chiropractors.

Since I see patients all the time for lower back pain and leg pain, it is important to tell me if you are taking these drugs. These drugs can slow the improvement that you would normally expect. I have found that some patients take longer than others to heal. This could be for a number of reasons, but this recent information regarding the dangers of cholesterol drugs makes me wonder how many people are not getting the results they want because of the side effects from the statins.