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.

It's a Veggie! It's a Fruit! It's Full of Vit. C!

         Often thought of as a vegetable, red bell peppers are actually classified as a fruit, because they have seeds.

        Red bell peppers are an excellent source of Vit. C---one cup contains 117 mg---and they are low in sugar.

They also contain multiple antioxidant compounds---a single red bell pepper has 30 different antioxidants. They are one of the most nutrient-dense foods one can eat.

https://www.organicconsumers.org/news/veggie-thats-a-fruit-more-vitamin-c-than-an-orange?utm_medium=email&utm_source=engagingnetworks&utm_campaign=OB+673&utm_content=OB+673

Yep, It's All Connected

  “The thigh bone’s connected to the knee bone, the knee bone’s connected to the.....” as the saying goes. 

And it’s true. The technical term is “a kinematic chain.” Meaning the movement of one part affects or is linked to movements of the other parts.

Thus a problem at the hip affects the knee and possibly the foot, a problem at the ankle affects the knee & in turn the hip, a distorted pelvis reverberates down into the lower extremities, etc.

So if you come in with hip pain, I'm going to also check your pelvis, knees, ankles, and feet. If you have knee pain, I will likewise check your lower extremity above and below your knee, as well as your pelvis. 

Unless the whole kinematic chain is addressed and corrected, you're not likely to get lasting relief.

A Common Issue at the Base of the Neck

        Stress at the juncture of the cervical spine with the thoracic region, at the lower neck, may cause compression between the parts of the vertebrae that touch each other and the neighboring soft tissues.

The vertebral parts that touch are called the facets. Here the compression causes a “jamming” of the bone areas together. The adjacent soft tissues become involved, and the result is similar to a clenched fist. 

This causes pain to be referred out into the shoulder, and it can be persistent, usually needing precise intervention to resolve.

Most often the patient presents with complaints of a shoulder problem. However, the real cause of the problem is not in the shoulder at all, but in the neck.

I see this problem often in my office. Specific, precise adjustments with the Activator instrument release the compression and bring patients relief.