Monday, April 20, 2020

Muscle "Splinting"

  Your body will respond to an instability or an injury by tightening muscles to protect you. This is an involuntary, autonomic response that I see every day in my practice; I call it muscle “splinting.”
The effect is similar to when the doctor puts a splint on an injured limb to protect it. The splint stabilizes and protects the area from further disturbance and pain.
A common site of muscle “splinting” is in the low back, alongside the vertebrae in the lumbar spine. Autonomic tightening of these muscles accompanies misalignments of the lumbar vertebrae, as well as soft tissue injuries or stresses such as accompany a strain-sprain.
When vertebral misalignments, whether from overuse, one-time biomechanical stress, or an injury, are corrected by precise adjustments with the Activator instrument, the muscles are then able to start to relax. 

Monday, April 13, 2020

A Painful "Crunch"

  A "crunching” in your knee when you crouch or squat may signal that you have the start of a degenerative condition called chondromalacia patella, a form of arthritis. 
This is a condition of abnormal wear-and-tear, and Is commonly caused by aberrant tracking of the patella, or kneecap. The kneecap is embedded in the tendon of the quadraceps (quads) muscles, and every time you bend your knee back or forth, which activates these muscles, the kneecap slides in a grove in the bone underneath.
Misalignment of the patella causes it to rub too far sideways in that groove. What causes this misalignment? Commonly, it is uneven action in the quads.
My treatment is two-fold---correction of the patellar misalignment with the Activator instrument, and teaching the patient how to do daily exercises to correct the action of their quads.

Monday, April 6, 2020

Whiplash Side Effects

 An acceleration / deceleration neck injury, aka whiplash, is not only painful, but can also result in weakness in the neck, loss of normal cervical curvature, hypertonic muscles, and impingement of nerves that exit the spine in the cervical region. 
This nerve impingement may manifest as Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS), with symptoms including pain traveling down the arm, alteration of sensation in the arm and / or hand such as numbness, tingling, and lack of normal perception of touch---hypoesthesia (diminished sensation) or hyperesthesia (accentuated sensation) in the upper extremity.
Symptoms may not be immediately noticeable, but may appear slowly following the injury, and often take a while to resolve.
Proper treatment, including precise, gentle adjustments with the Activator instrument as soon as possible after the injury; rest; a neck brace if needed; ergonomic counseling; anti-inflammatory soft tissue therapy, including ice & topical arnica; and appropriate introduction of gentle stretches + exercises will assist healing and recovery.

Monday, March 30, 2020

A Painful Snap! at the Elbow

  Disturbance of the upper part (head) of the radius, the outermost bone in the forearm, where it attaches at the elbow, can cause a sudden sharp pain with movement of the forearm or hand.
The upper end of the radius is encased by, and rotates within, an annular ligament, which encircles it and holds it snug against the joint complex at the elbow. 
Misalignment of the head of the radius causes painful stress at this joint, and can cause abnormal wear & tear on the annular ligament.
Careful assessment and precise adjustments with the Activator instrument will re-align the bone, relieve the abnormal stress and ease the pain. A compression band should be worn just below the ligamentous attachment to protect the area as it heals. 

Monday, March 23, 2020

Tips to Stay Healthy / COVID-19

Include ORGANIC, UNREFINED COCONUT OIL in your diet---coconut oil is loaded with lauric acid, which is effective against viruses, as well as being anti-bacterial. Use it when sauteing vegetables, put it in your coffee or tea, use it in soups or stews.

QUERCETIN is a plant pigment that is an antioxidant, & it has anti-viral properties. The best way to get it is to eat foods high in quercetin. Foods high in quercetin include:
Red Onions—BEST source
Organic apples, grapes, and tomatoes
Dark berries like cherries, blueberries, and blackberries
Taragon, chives, coriander, and dill
Spinach and kale 

 AVOID SUGAR in all forms. Sugar suppresses our immune system.
---The amount of sugar in one soft drink suppresses immune function for up to 12 hours.
---There is a 50% decrease in the effectiveness of your white blood cells to fight infection for up to 4 hours after eating just 2 teaspoons of sugar.
---Read labels; divide the number of grams of sugar by 4 to tell how many teaspoons of sugar a product contains.

VITAMIN D is a key nutrient for supporting immune function. Your body makes Vit D  when you’re exposed to natural sunlight, so try to spend some time outdoors. You can supplement with Vit D---4,000 or 5,000 iu (international units) is recommended per day. Have your Vit D status checked if possible, and in the meantime get it in foods rich in Vit D, such as fatty fish (tuna, salmon, herring, sardines, mackerel), egg yolks, and mushrooms.