Low Back Compression

  Patients who present with central low back pain, especially if the lumbar curve is accentuated, often exhibit compression between the sacrum and the 5th, or lowest, lumbar vertebra.

The patient will often say they “just can’t get comfortable,” even in bed. Sometimes pulling the knees to the chest is relieving, but standing, as well as sitting, cause worsening of the pain.

I relieve the compression by appropriately-vectored adjustments with the Activator instrument, and give the patient stretches & exercises. 

Ergonomic counseling for correct sitting & standing postures is helpful to prevent recurrence of the compression.

OUCH!!--I've Got Gout!

  You wake up with severe, burning pain in the joint at the base of your big toe, and it’s swollen and red.

Chances are, you may have gout!

This is a type of arthritis that is of metabolic origin---too much uric acid in the blood causes sharp crystals to collect in a joint, usually the big toe, and more commonly in men than in women.

This happens because you consume too many foods high in purines, organic water-soluble compounds that oxidize to form uric acid. 

Meats are high in purines; so is beer, seafood such as scallops & sardines, beans such as garbanzos or lentils, vegetables such as asparagus or mushrooms, & wheat bran & wheat germ. Inflammatory foods such as sugar and wheat (all wheat in the U.S. is highly hybridized, thus containing foreign polypeptides that are highly inflammatory) are also culprits.

Your chances of getting gout are higher if you are overweight, drink too much alcohol, eat too many foods containing purines, or drink beverages sweetened with fructose (fruit sugar) or foods with high-fructose corn syrup (soft drinks, ice cream, sports drinks, breakfast cereals).

Gout is successfully treated by changing what you eat and drink. It is important to drink lots of pure (devoid of chlorine or other chemicals) water to help your body flush out waste products and toxins. 

Plantar Fasciitis

   Pain in the bottom of the foot, usually in the arch further back toward the heel, may be plantar fascitis. It is caused by injury or inflammation of the plantar (bottom of the foot) fascia. The plantar fascia is a band of fibrous connective tissue on the sole of the foot.

The pain may come on slowly, related to chronic pronation (a falling inward of the inside of the arch) combined with a “fallen” arch, or be more acute, due to an injury---landing hard on the sole of the foot, quick acceleration / deceleration when walking or running, or repetitive shock of hard heel strike during the gait cycle.

My treatment includes carefully aligning the bones of the foot with the Activator instrument, support of the arch with orthotics, exercises to strengthen the arch, stretches to maintain flexibility, and ice and other applications for inflammation.

The patient must not go barefoot---there must be NO weight-baring without orthotic support.

Could It Be My Pillow??

   No, not the My Pillow advertised an infinitum on TV---I seriously doubt those provide proper and adequate support for the cervical spine.

If you aren’t sleeping on a proper pillow, one that correctly supports the curve of the neck, this may be the reason you have persistent neck and upper back pain.

When the pillow you sleep on allows your head to tilt downward toward the mattress, or pushes your head upward at an angle, it is not serving you. Your neck should be parallel with your mattress when you are lying on your side, and if on your back, your head should not be angled abnormally up or down.

The right pillow gives consistent, resistive support to the spine throughout the night.

It doesn’t compress, as does a pillow filled with down or feathers. 

It doesn’t deform, as a buckwheat pillow will.

It doesn’t squash down where your head and neck press on it, creating a depression that discourages movement during the night, as a memory foam pillow does.

Look for an orthopedically-designed pillow, such as the one I sleep on----I have them available in my office for patients.

Bench Pressing / Ergonomics

   Dropping the elbows too low while bench pressing heavy weight can cause stress injuries to the acromioclavicular joint in the shoulder.

The outer end of the collarbone, near the front and top of the shoulder, articulates with the acromion process, a bone projecting forward from the scapula. The clavicular part meets the acromion part, forming the “acromioclavicular, or AC, joint.

One of several joints making up the shoulder complex, the AC joint is particularly subject to injury because it is essentially two bones butting together, held by ligaments.

Recently a patient who had come from working out at the gym presented with shoulder pain due to over-stressing the AC joint while bench pressing.

Precise adjustments with the Activator instrument, combined with home care & ergonomic counseling, were the solution.