Ouch! At The Elbow

You’re chopping vegetables, making a salad, brushing your hair, stacking kindling for the fireplace, hammering a nail---any of a multitude of actions that involve bending your hand backwards at your wrist---and you notice pain at your elbow.

What’s going on?

The muscles that bend your band backward at your wrist connect to the bone in your elbow. The tendon that attaches these muscles, called the “wrist extensors,” at the elbow can become irritated & inflammed, often due to overuse.

The result is that every time you activate your wrist extensor muscles when using your hand, there is a pull on the inflammed tendon at your elbow, and it hurts. 

What’s the solution? 

This situation can be very persistent of not treated. My protocol includes precise, gentle adjustments of the forearm and wrist with the Activator instrument, protection of the irritated tendon by use of a compressing band, anti-inflammatories including ice and topical arnica, and soft tissue therapy to the involved muscles.

New Medicare Deductible

We have cycled into a new “year” with Medicare, and there is a new annual deductible that must be met before reimbursement will kick in.

The 2020 deductible, $198, has increased to $203 for 2021. 

Compared to typical private health insurance deductibles, Medicare continues to be fair and reasonable, in my opinion, and Medicare continues to cover Chiropractic care for the spine. 

Regenerative Agriculture

 

“Just transitioning 10 percent of agricultural production to best practice regenerative systems will sequester enough CO₂ to reverse climate change 

and restore the global climate.” 

 Reversing Climate Change through Regenerative Agriculture - Regeneration International

Regenerative Agriculture uses farming and grazing methods that rebuild the soil’s organic matter, restore soil biodiversity (organisms and microorganisms), sequester more carbon in soil, and increase the amount of water the soil can hold.

It’s done by:

---disturbing the soil as little as possible; aka “no-till” farming. No plowing, which disturbs healthy soil fungi & microorganisms & increases erosion,

---cover crops, composting, & crop rotations to feed nutrients into soil,

---managed grazing to stimulate plant growth & increase soil fertility. 

Learn more here:   www.regenerationinternational.org/why-regenerative-agriculture/

Neurovascular Compromise

 A common example of neuromuscular compromise is Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS), when the nerves and / or blood vessels (brachial plexus) coming from the neck and going down the arm are subjected to pressure or abrasion (impingement) that compromises their normal function. 

Symptoms include numbness & tingling, reduced or altered sensation, or pain in the arm or hand.

Causes can be impingement between the scalenes (vertical muscles on the sides of the neck), between the clavicle & 1st rib, or a posterior distal clavicle (result of a direct frontal blow). Sometimes this is a sequela of whiplash injury; or chronic stress & tension affecting the neck, including postural stress; or from repetitive motion / overuse syndrome.  

I have precise, gentle adjustments to relieve the impingement, and give the patient stretches, exercises, and ergonomic counseling.

5 Secrets of the Right Pillow

IT PROVIDES CONSISTENT, RESISTIVE SUPPORT

to maintain the normal curve of the neck,

IT KEEPS THE HEAD IN LINE WITH THE SPINE

not bent up, or bent down,

IT DOES NOT SQUASH FLAT OR DEFORM

with movement during the night,

IT IS ORTHOPEDICALLY DESIGNED

to normalize posture during sleep,

IT WORKS FOR BOTH SIDE OR BACK SLEEPING

so you can change position.