Tale of A Wayward Kneecap

  A common cause of knee pain is when the kneecap “tracks” too far toward the lateral side of the leg. This causes abnormal friction, and if not corrected, can lead to a form of arthritis called chondromalacia patella. 

Why does this aberrant tracking of the kneecap happen?

Every time you activate your quads (quadriceps)--the muscles in the front of your thigh--the kneecap moves up & down, because the kneecap lies embedded in the tendon of the quadriceps muscles. With contraction / relaxation of the quads, the kneecap “tracks” in a groove on the tibia, underneath it.

The outer (lateral) parts of the quadriceps often become dominant, pulling the kneecap laterally, causing it to rub abnormally against the tibial groove. Pain and eventual arthritis are the results.

I correct this with specific adjustments with the Activator instrument, and give the patient exercises to balance the quadriceps & eliminate the abnormal dominance.

Three Anatomical / Geometric Planes

  As an Advanced Proficiency Rated ACTIVATOR Chiropractor, I am trained to evaluate and adjust joints of the body in three anatomical / geometric planes.

For example, the “ball and socket” hip joint may become misaligned laterally (in the sagittal plane, which divides the body left / right), superiorly or inferiorly (in the axial, or horizontal, plane, which divides the body up / down), or backwards or forwards (in the coronal or frontal plane, which divides the body into back / front). 

The precision of this geometric assessment, with accompanying corrections, contributes significantly to the effectiveness of Activator Chiropractic Method, and helps patients heal and return to normal functioning in a quicker, more lasting way.

Compression in the Carpal Tunnel

  I frequently find that patients have compression in the carpal tunnel at their wrist(s), especially if their activities involve a lot of use of their hands.

This compression can develop slowly over time, prior to full-blown Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS).

The carpal tunnel is a passageway through bones in the wrist. The median nerve goes through this passageway. With repetitive motion / overuse of the hand & wrist, this nerve can become impinged or irritated due to pressure on, or abrasion of, the nerve inside the tunnel. The irritated, inflamed nerve may swell, further complicating the situation.

Unrelieved, the end result can be the painful, and often difficult to resolve, condition of CTS.

When I find the aforementioned compression, I gently relieve it with the Activator instrument. In patients whom I know may be prone to this condition, I make it a habit to monitor their wrists.

Ouch!!--Pain at the Base of the Thumb

  Pain and soreness at the base of the thumb may be De Quervain’s tendonitis. Tendons at the bottom of the thumb are irritated, inflammed, and constricted.

There may be swelling, tenderness to touch, and moving or using the thumb is painful. Turning the wrist or gripping something will hurt.

This is called De Quervain’s tendonitis, and it is often caused by repetitive motions or overuse of the hand, wrist & thumb. Tendons attach muscles to bone; repetitive uses of the hand / wrist / thumb, such as gripping, twisting, wringing, chopping, etc., irritates the tendons & causes the inflammation.  

As with other inflammatory conditions, ice is your friend. Protecting the inflammed tendons is key, so limit usage to allow healing. Application of anti-inflammatories such as arnica, as well as ice, is helpful.

Medicare Advantage Plans

Medicare recipients have an option of buying private insurance outside of Medicare, often called “Advantage” plans. These plans are offered by private companies that contract with Medicare, and often include benefits not provided by regular Medicare, such as vision, dental, etc.

This type of private insurance plan must conform to the rules of Medicare--such as limiting charges for certain services--but is administered by Blue Cross, United Health, or other private companies. Patients still have the rights and protections provided under original Medicare.

For more information, go here:   https://www.medicare.gov/sign-up-change-plans/types-of-medicare-health-plans/medicare-advantage-plans

6 Facts You May Not Know About Carrots

Orange carrots contain beta carotene, but purple carrots have more antioxidants & potentially more health benefits.

Some vegetables are as nutritious frozen as they are fresh, but not carrots. Peeling, processing, freezing, & thawing destroys much of their antioxidants.

Though convenient, baby carrots, pretrimmed & scrubbed, are actually misshapen mature carrots that have been whittled down to smaller, more uniform size. The part that’s thrown away, the outer skin & what’s just beneath it, is much more nutritious. As much as 1/3 of phytonutrients are lost by rimming away the outer parts.

Carrots are better for you when cooked. Cooking breaks down their tough cell walls, making their nutrients more bioavailable. And it matters how you cook them--boiling allows their water-soluble nutrients to leach into the cooking water. Steam or saute them instead. Also, cooking them whole instead of sliced or chopped retains more of their food value and natural sweetness. Cook first; then slice. 

Eating carrots that have been cooked whole may even reduce cancer risks. Carrots contain falcarinol, a cancer-fighting compound. Whole cooked carrots have 25% more of it than those that have been cut before cooking.

Lastly, carrots are best eaten with a healthy fat or oil, because some of their best nutrients are fat-soluble.

     

       (Eating on the Wild Side: The Missing Link to Optimum Health, by Jo Robinson. Little, Brown & Co., 2018)

The Secret is the SOIL!

   Plants absorb carbon and put it back into the soil. 

“All the farmers of the world can contribute to mitigate climate change.” Soil organic carbon “is our bank, it is our fertility, it is the source of everything that we have and what we have to build.”

The 4p1000 Initiative is an international climate agreement that puts agriculture and agroforestry at the center of how we deal with climate change. 

    It "calls for countries to draw down more carbon than they emit, and to store it in the soil. How? By scaling up regenerative farming, grazing and land-use practices. These practices lead to an increase in photosynthesis—nature’s own system for pulling excess carbon out of the air and sequestering it in the soil. They also produce more drought-resistant and resilient crops, and more nutrient-dense food."

Watch this video about restoring and using HEALTHY SOIL for healthy people and a healthy environment:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=210&v=AY9YVwJZDvw

Bunions

Bunions are the troublesome result of the body’s response to abnormal stresses in the foot.

      When the arch of the toot begins to drop, or when one has “flat feet,” the inside of the foot is stressed downward toward the floor; this is called pronation. 

A fallen arch / pronated foot creates abnormal stress in the joint at the base of the big toe, and the body responds by forming a bunion at that site. 

As an ACTIVATOR Chiropractor, I check the status of the arch, assess for pronation, check & adjust all the joints of the foot, then advise the patient about orthotics, exercises, and how to relieve the stresses that caused the bunion.

This treatment plan has been personally successful for me, as well as for many of my patients.

When the "Sit Bones" Are Skewed

  The bones on both sides of the pelvis where you feel your body weight when you sit, often referred to as the “sit bones,” are technically called the “ischial tuberosities.”

They are weight-bearing parts of the pelvic girdle in a sitting position. If the pelvis becomes distorted, or out of alignment, the distribution of your body weight on these bones when sitting will be skewed, or uneven.

Sitting will be uncomfortable, as may other activities as well---walking, sleeping, etc.

This is correctable with precise, directional, adjustments with the Activator adjusting instrument. As an Advanced Proficiency Rated ACTIVATOR Chiropractor, I correct this when I balance the pelvis, without pain or discomfort to the patient.

4 Reasons Some Oils Are Dangerous & Unhealthy

 1. They are toxic products of OXIDATION

            Vegetable and nut oils (canola, soybean, corn, sunflower, safflower, peanut, sesame, walnut, flax seed, etc.) are polyunsaturated, and as such, are subject to degradation into extremely toxic oxidation products when heated.

            "Polyunsaturated" means they have carbon-to-carbon double bonds that are vulnerable to oxidation---oxygen readily attaches across these bonds in the chemical process called "oxidation." Even at room temperatures, these chemically “unsaturated” oils will oxidize slowly over time into toxic byproducts.

        2. They are OUT OF OMEGA-6 / OMEGA 3 BALANCE

       Vegetable oils are concentrated sources of Omege-6 lineoleic acid. Too much Omega-6 causes an imbalance with healthy, anti-inflammatory Omega-3’s.

        3. They are CONTAMINATED WITH GLYPHOSATE  

            Corn and soy oils, in particular, as well as others, are produced with genetic engineering, which includes major exposures to glyphosate (aka "Roundup").

        4. They are HIGHLY PROCESSED WITH HEAT & / OR CHEMICALS

    Some vegetable oils, especially canola, grapeseed, and rice bran oil, are highly processed, which may include extracting with heat or solvents, and bleaching and degumming with chemicals.

The Secret Life of Beavers

 Yes, those chubby, “paddle-tailed, bucktoothed, dam-building” rodents who chew off young trees and drag them into streams to build dams, slowing water flow, and effectively engineering whole wilderness landscapes----those critters. 

Who knew that beavers are masters of ecological restoration? Their dams, in slowing stream flows, allow water to seep into the land, helping to recharge aquifers, reducing erosion and flooding, and restoring marshes and wetlands. 

Their ponds become habitat for myriad other critters---birds, fish, insects, etc.---a diversity of life in “a lush, soggy paradise.”

Read all about it here:   baynature.org/2018/12/07/for-beaver-believers-salvation-lies-in-a-once-reviled-rodent  

A Painful, Sore Spot on the Scalp

A persistent sore spot on the head, painful to pressure, may be a “trigger point" in the scalp muscle.  It may feel like a spot of irritation, and when pressed, pain may seem to spread out from it. This is called “referred” pain, and is a characteristic of trigger points, which can appear in any muscle.

The spot may feel taught, tight, like a nodule or a tiny muscle spasm. The patient will not describe having had an injury or blow to the head, or any kind of spider or insect bite, so the source of the pain may seem mysterious. In addition, the spot may have been sore for quite some time.

Dr. Janet Travell, M.D., an American physician who did extensive research on trigger points and produced two extensive textbooks on the subject, defined predictable patterns of referred pain from trigger points in muscles throughout the body.

Her detailed “maps” of referred pain caused by trigger points serve as guides for doctors in distinguishing the causes of muscular pain. 

Dr. Travell’s recommended treatment included injections of pain relieving medication, as well as application of hypercoolant sprays. 

I recommend application of ice to the sore spot, 10 minutes on, 10 minutes off, repeating until the trigger point is relieved. 

Head-Forward Postures---a NO-NO!

 Any position of the body in which the head is forward of the body’s center of gravity is a potential troublemaker---causing neck, upper back, and shoulder tension and discomfort.

Watch out for any of these postures or positions:

----bending the head forward, whether sitting or standing,

----straining the chin / head forward ("leading with your 

              chin"), such as when using a computer, 

----pivoting forward from the hips when sitting.

In all of these positions, the head is forward of the body’s center of gravity, forcing posterior cervical muscles to work overtime to support the weight of the head.

This results in muscle fatigue, tension, chronic reduction of blood flow into contracted muscles, build-up of cellular toxic wastes / inability of cells to rid cellular metabolic wastes because of impeded blood circulation, and pain.

Temporal Arteritis

When a patient comes in with headache and / or jaw pain, especially if the pain is on just one side of the head, it is important to rule out inflammation in the blood vessels, also called “vasculitis.”

Vasculitis in the temporal arteries, which are in the areas of the temples on each side of the head, is known as temporal arteritis, and it should be recognized, because it is serious. A Chiropractor who suspects this should immediately refer the patient to an M.D.

This condition can have serious consequences, such as inflammation spreading to blood vessels of the eyes, possibly causing blindness.

The inflamed vessels are swollen, painful, and may be constricted, or narrowed. The temple area(s) may be tender to touch, the patient may say their jaw hurts after chewing, and there may be diffuse muscle aches and fatigue. These symptoms, as well as fever and a throbbing headache, are “red flags” for temporal arteritis.