Chronic Pelvic / Low Back Pain

If you have chronic pelvic or low back pain, it is critical to look for what is happening at your feet (called your "pedal foundation"). If you pronate or have flat arches, this reverberates all the way up through your legs, knees, hips, pelvis, and into the low back. Unless your feet are addressed, a treatment plan for your pelvic or low back pain may not be successful.

5 Secrets of Neck Pain Relief

WATCH OUT FOR HEAD-FORWARD POSTURES,
which strain the muscles in your neck.

USE YOUR HEADREST,
especially when you're a passenger, with someone else driving.

SLEEP ON THE RIGHT PILLOW,
one that adequately supports your cervical spine.

BE KIND TO YOUR NECK,
guard against sudden extreme movements, or repetitive motions
of your head.

GET YOUR SPINE CHECKED
for underlying problems by your Activator Chiropractor.

Yes! Medicare Covers Chiropractors

If you have a question, you can call Medicare (1-800-MEDICARE), and you will reach an actual person, who will answer your questions with patience and courtesy.

When Medicare receives your Doctor's Statement for your chiropractic care, they process it first, then they automatically send it on to your supplemental insurance for that part of processing. You don't have to do a thing!

Medicare covers chiropractic care, but currently, only for treatment to the spine. It doesn’t cover extremities, exams, or adjunct therapies. Yet. But we’re (your chiropractors) working on it.

Medicare patients are welcome in my practice. Chiropractic care is excellent support for senior's health, wellness and vitality. And the Activator method is low-force and gentle. Please call with any questions or to schedule your appointment today.

Why I am a Chiropractor

  

Five whiplash injuries in my youth---from auto accidents, none of them my fault---led me to become a Chiropractor. Good Chiropractic care relieved my pain and helped prevent degenerative changes that might have severely limited my function later in life. I'm grateful, and I love being able to help others as a Doctor of Chiropractic.

Essential Function of the Pelvis

 Our pelvis, commonly called the “pelvic girdle,” is the bio-mechanical foundation for our whole body. Everything above and below depends on the stability of the pelvis.

     If your pelvis becomes distorted, due to a fall, a sudden twist or jolt, or just due to accumulated stresses, then it becomes unlevel. An unlevel foundation is an unstable foundation. This can reverberate downward and affect your lower extremities, or upward and affect your chest and neck. 

     As an Activator Chiropractor, I specialize in full-body balancing, including careful attention to the pelvis. This helps my patients’ adjustments to be more effective and more long-lasting.

The Seymour Marine Discovery Center

                       "Jingle Shells" 

                     Arts and Crafts Festival 

is Sunday, Dec. 10 at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center, 12:00 - 5:30 pm.You can shop for gifts made by local artisans, enjoy the aquarium, kids' activities, hot cider, and music. Discounted admission all day.  Go to  https://seymourcenter.ucsc.edu/  for more information.

Wearing Your Shoulders for Earrings?

       
Are you "trying to wear your shoulders for earrings?"

     Sounds like a joke, doesn’t it? But there’s a very real anatomical basis for saying this, and it can cause a lot of trouble in the upper back and neck. 

     If you carry your shoulders in a “perpetual shrug,” holding chronic upward tension, and pain runs from your shoulderblades all the way up your neck, maybe also involving a headache, you may be doing this. 

     Particular muscles, called the levator scapulae, attach to the upper part of the shoulderblade, and to the vertebrae in your neck. If these muscles are on chronic contraction in a “perpetual shrug,” they become exhausted and painful. 

     This can be relieved by precise Activator Chiropractic adjustments of the underlying bones and joints, re-setting the tension in the muscles with the Activator instrument, and stretches and exercises at home. 

     In my office, I include ergonomic counseling to correct stressful postures that may be aggravating the problem.  

Medicare = EXCELLENT Insurance!

     The current Medicare deductible is just $183 per year.  Where else can you get health insurance with such a low deductible?

     And, yes, Medicare covers care of your spine by your Chiropractor. 

     Be sure to inform your Chiropractor as soon as you are covered under Medicare.

Leave the Leaves!

     One of the best things you can do to support pollinators---bees, butterflies, beetles, & moths---is to let fallen leaves stay on the ground! Fallen leaves become food & shelter to insects that overwinter in our landscapes, protecting them from predators and the cold.

     Although Monarch butterflies migrate, most butterflies and moths spend the winter in the landscape as an egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, or adult, & all these stages use leaf litter for winter cover. Fallen leaves may become the first food of caterpillars in the spring.

     Some bees burrow into the soil to hibernate for winter; a layer of leaves helps protect them.

     Fallen leaves are free mulch. They suppress weeds and retain moisture, and the decaying organic matter enriches the soil. 

     Go to  https://xerces.org/2017/10/06/leave-the-leaves/  to learn more.

Scoliosis---Early Intervention is Critical

     Schools offer scoliosis screening for good reason; the earlier it is detected and addressed, the better chance that conservative care can be effective. 

     My treatment plan, preferably begun early, includes chiropractic balancing of the entire frame, special exercises, and ergonomic counseling. 

     This approach has successfully stopped advancement of the curvature for several girls in their early teens.

The Brachial Plexus

     Nerves from the neck that go down the arm are called the “brachial plexus,” literally meaning “arm (brachial) network of nerves (plexus).” 

     Picture the wires inside an electrical box outside your house---multiple wires coming in, maybe different colors, bundled together in clusters of wires, going somewhere inside your home. A rough analogy, but your brachial plexus is somewhat similar. 

     Nerves exit the spine in the neck, join into “bundles,” and travel down the arm and into the hand.

Severe Pain, But There's No Fracture

     A not uncommon cause of severe pain in the ribs, when X-ray rules out fracture, can be strain of the tiny muscles between the ribs, the intercostal muscles. Some kind of trauma is usually involved, such as a fall, an auto accident, overexertion, etc. 

     These little muscles help with the movements of our chest when we breathe, so if they are injured, every breath can be painful. 

     Healing can be slow, but can be assisted by careful assessment of the rib cage for misalignments that put stress on the injured area.  

Pregnancy and Postpartum

A hormone called “relaxin” is generated in a woman’s body when she is pregnant. It has a loosening effect on her joints, partly to prepare the pelvic joints for passage of the baby through the birth canal, but it affects all the joints in her body. Because of this, her joints become more vulnerable to misalignments or distortions.

It is especially beneficial for expectant moms to come in for periodic full-body balancing. My Activator Chiropractic method is gentle, comfortable, precise, and especially suited for women in pregnancy.

After the birth, relaxin slowly dissipates, but for a while the mother’s joints remain susceptible. So continuing to get checked and balanced, while the body returns to pre-pregnancy status, is a good idea.

A Persistent Pain in the Neck

     Patients often present with tension and pain low across the back of their skull where the cervical spine transitions to the cranium. This area is called “suboccipital,” meaning just inferior to the occiput, the bone at the bottom of the back of the head. 

     Tension and discomfort here can be stubborn to alleviate, usually because of chronic bad postures, often at a computer. Suboccipital muscles work overtime with these stressed postures, resulting in fatigue, restricted blood flow to the tense tissues, and consequent buildup of cellular metabolic wastes, lack of oxygen & nutrients to the cells, and an eventual self-perpetuating, painful cycle.

     Precise Activator Chiropractic adjustments to balance the cervical spine & occiput, and to reset the tone in the suboccipital muscles, along with gentle cranial balancing, is the first step. But changes in postures and specific stretches done by the patient are key to a long-term solution.

Bee Better Certified

     “1 in 3 bites of food you eat is the result of insect pollination,” and “28% of North American bumble bee species are in decline,” according to The Xerxes Society for Invertebrate Conservation, https://xerces.org

      The “Bee Better Certified” program partners with farmers and food companies whose practices support pollinator protection. Consumers alerted by the “Bee Better Certified” seal on food products can then make buying choices that support bees, butterflies, and beneficial insects. 

     Learn more about partnering to protect pollinators at https://beebettercertified.org/partners  

5 Secrets of Neck Pain Relief

WATCH OUT FOR HEAD-FORWARD POSTURES,

     which strain the muscles in your neck.

USE YOUR HEADREST,

    especially when you're a passenger, with someone else driving.

SLEEP ON THE RIGHT PILLOW,

    one that adequately supports your cervical spine.

BE KIND TO YOUR NECK,

    guard against sudden extreme movements, or repetitive motions 

    of your head.

GET YOUR SPINE CHECKED

    for underlying problems by your Activator Chiropractor. 

29 Problems, 29 Solutions

     As an Advanced Proficiency Rated Activator Chiropractor, I have 29 adjustments for the knee. 

     In-other-words, in Activator, the Advanced doctors, who are the most highly trained, have 29 tests for misalignment or aberrance of the structures of the knee. This includes the osseous components (the bones) as well as soft tissue (muscles and their tendons which act on the knee). 

     We even have new adjustments for the medial and lateral meniscus, which, in my practice, I am finding very helpful for my chronic knee patients.

YES, Medicare Covers Chiropractic

      Attention Seniors:  Medicare covers Chiropractic!

     Although it will only pay for adjusting the spine, Medicare does reimburse for chiropractic care. I see many Medicare patients in my practice, and I am happy to discuss how this works. 

     Questions? Give me a call, 831-476-2168.

Bicipital Tendonitis

       A common cause of pain in the shoulder is irritation of the bicipital tendon, the tendon that attaches the biceps muscle (your “Popeye” muscle) to the shoulder. 

      This tendon “rides” in a groove on the front of the humerus, the bone of the upper arm. It may become inflamed due to injury, overuse, or compensation due malfunction of components of the shoulder. 

      My treatment plan for bicipital tendonitis includes careful, precise Activator Chiropractic adjustments to correct abnormal internal or external rotation of the humerus, protection of the tendon so it can heal, and anti-inflammatory applications such as ice.

OUCH-!!! I've Got An Awful Pain in My Foot!

 Severe, burning pain, often accompanied by red, swollen joint(s), and usually of sudden onset, may be a metabolic condition---gout. It most often shows up in the big toe, and is more common in men than women.

It is a type of arthritis caused when sharp crystals form in a joint because of too much uric acid in the blood. Your chances of getting it are higher if you are overweight, drink too much alcohol, or eat too many foods containing purines, such as meats, including steak, organ meats, and seafood, or drink beverages sweetened with fructose (fruit sugar).

There are other risk factors, including family history, medical conditions like diabetes or kidney disease, and certain medications such as diuretics.

Treatment may include medications, but a gout sufferer can often control the situation with diet. Avoid anything containing high fructose corn syrup (sodas, ice cream, fruit juices, sports drinks, breakfast cereals). 

Avoid high-purine foods---organ meat (liver), red meat, shellfish, anchovies, herring, mushrooms, asparagus, cauliflower, kidney beans, lentils, spinach, peas, and whole wheat http://www.ukgoutsociety.org/docs/goutsociety-allaboutgoutanddiet-0113.pdf

Keep alcohol consumption moderate or minimum, and drink lots of pure (devoid of chlorine or other chemicals) water to help your body flush out waste products and toxins.