Tag Archive for: neck pain

Weekly Health News for You 10/10/2011

Dr. Hyman is back in the office after taking a week off. He looks rested and is ready to see you!

4 members of our staff did the Denver Rock n Roll 1/2 Marathon on October 9, here are their times:

Dr. May 1:57

Keri B, Office Manager, 2:04

Dr. Stripling 2:04

Erin Young, LMT, 2:05

Mental Attitude: Money Can Be Depressing? Rates of depression are higher in countries with higher per capita incomes. 121 million people worldwide have depression. Severe depression can lead to suicide and causes 850,000 deaths every year. The United Sates and France had the highest depression rates. Higher incomes can be related to more work hours and a lowered quality of life. 15% of people in high-income countries were likely to become depressed during their lifetime, compared with 11% of those in low or middle-income countries. British Medical Journal, Aug 2011

Health Alert: You Are Getting Very Sleepy. Insomnia affects 23% of US workforce, costing $63.2 billion annually. Insomnia is a condition characterized by difficulty falling asleep and remaining asleep. It includes a wide spectrum of sleep disorders, from not enough sleep to lack of quality sleep. Sleep, Aug 2011

Diet: Bad Habits? People entering the movies were given a bucket of either just-popped, fresh popcorn or stale, week-old popcorn. Moviegoers who didn’t usually eat popcorn at the movies ate much less stale popcorn than fresh popcorn. Moviegoers who typically had popcorn at the movies ate about the same amount — regardless it was fresh or stale. When we’ve repeatedly eaten a food in an environment, our brain comes to associate the food with that environment and we keep eating as long as those environmental cues are present. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2011

Exercise: Runners Drinking Too Much? 50% of recreational runners may be drinking too much fluid during races. 37% of runners drink according to a preset schedule or to maintain a certain body weight and 9% drink as much as possible. Expert guidelines recommend runners drink only when thirsty. 30% incorrectly believe they need extra salt while running,

British Journal of Sports Medicine, June 2011

Chiropractic: Careful. In work-related nonspecific low back pain, the use of health maintenance care (treatment after initial disability was resolved) provided by Physical Therapist (PT) or Medical Physician (MD) services was associated with a higher disability (injury) recurrence than in the use of Chiropractic (DC) services.

Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, April 2011

Quote: “A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are the others crazy?” ~ Albert Einstein

Active Release Techniques: Sore Knees. The knee joint is a very complex joint. Various layers of muscles tendons and ligaments both move and support the knee. While there may be many causes of knee pain, we’ve found at Denver Chiropractic Center the common cause is tight quads transmitting force to the patellar tendon (the tendon that connects the knee cap to the shin). ART to the both the tendon and quadriceps muscle, along with rehab and stretching, can fix things up in 4-8 visits. If you or someone you know is dealing with knee pain, give us a call. 303.300.0424.

Low Back pain and Spondylolisthesis. How we can help you at Denver Chiropractic Center

Low back pain can arise from many conditions, one of which is a mouthful: spondylolisthesis. The term was coined in 1854 from the Greek words, “spondylo” for vertebrae and “olisthesis” for slip. These “slips” most commonly occur in the low back, 90% at L5 and 9% at L4. According to www.spinehealth.com and others, the most common type of spondylolisthesis is called “isthmic spondylolisthesis,” which is a condition that includes a defect in the back part of the vertebra in an area called the pars interarticularis, which is the part of the vertebra that connects the front half (vertebral body) to the back half (the posterior arch).

This can occur on one, or both sides, with or without a slip or shift forwards, which is then called spondylolysis. In “isthmic spondylolisthesis,” the incidence rate is about 5-7% of the general population favoring men over women 3:1. Debate continues as to whether this occurs as a result genetic predisposition verses environmental or acquired at some point early in life as noted by the increased incidence in populations such as Eskimos (30-50%), where they traditionally carry their young in papooses, vertically loading their lower spine at a very young age. However, isthmic spondylolisthesis can occur at anytime in life if a significant backward bending force occurs resulting in a fracture but reportedly, occurs most frequently between ages 6 and 16 years old.

Often, traumatic isthmic spondylolisthesis occurs during the adolescent years and in fact, is the most common cause of low back pain at this stage of life. Sports most commonly resulting in spondylolisthesis include gymnastics, football (lineman), weightlifting (from squats or dead lifts) and diving (from over arching the back). Excessive backward bending is the force that overloads the back of the vertebra resulting in the fracture sometimes referred to as a stress fracture, which is a fracture that occurs as a result of repetitive overloading over time, usually weeks to months.

If the spondylolisthesis lesions do not heal either by cartilage or by bone replacement, the front half of the vertebra can slip or slide forwards and become unstable. Fortunately, most of these heal and become stable and don’t progress. The diagnosis is a simple x-ray, but to determine the degree of stability, “stress x-rays” or x-rays taken at endpoints of bending over and backwards are needed. Sometimes, a bone scan is needed to determine if it’s a new injury verses an old isthmic spondylolisthesis.

Another very common type is called degenerative spondylolisthesis and occurs in 30% of Caucasian and 60% of African-American woman (3:1 women to men). This usually occurs at L4 and is more prevalent in aging females. It is sometimes referred to as “pseudospondylolisthesis” as it does not include defects in the posterior arch but rather, results from a degeneration of the disk and facet joints. As the disk space narrows, the vertebra slides forwards.

The problem here is that the spinal canal, where the spinal cord travels, gets crimped or distorted by the forward sliding vertebra and causes compression of the spinal nerve root(s), resulting pain and/or numbness in one or both legs. The good news about spondylolisthesis is that non-surgical approaches, like Active Release Techniques, spinal manipulation and core strengthening exercises work very well to manage sondylolisthesis. We use all three at Denver Chiropractic Center.

We realize you have a choice in who you see for your healthcare services.  If you, a friend or family member requires care for low back pain, we are here to help you. Just call us at 303.300.0424 to set up your New Patient Appointment. Or have us call you by filling out the very brief form on our website: http://www.denverback.com/contact.html

Denver Chiropractic Center’s weekly health news for you 9/26/2011- what makes us fat and active release for car accidents…

Here’s this week’s Health News For You, a weekly email newsletter from Denver Chiropractic Center. If you’d like to get these fun & interesting weekly newsletters sent to your email address, just sign up on our home page. You can unsubscribe at any time and your email will never be sold or shared.

9/26/2011 What Makes Us Fat?

After spending last Thursday through Saturday teaching for Active Release Techniques at their Lower Extremity workshop, I’m back in the office this week. For those of you wanting to get in to see me, you should know that I (Dr. Glenn Hyman) will be out next week on vacation in an undisclosed location. That’s code for ‘we haven’t really decided where yet. Nothing like leaving it to the last minute.

Dr. Jeff Stripling will be in the office to help you all next week.

Diet: What makes us fat? Excessive consumption of carbohydrates leads to excess body fat. (I used this fact to lose 17 pounds this year.) “What Makes Us Fat? And What You Can Do About It.” An extensive review of the literature from the last 100 years by Gary Taubes. Find it on amazon.com or at your local library.

Wellness/Prevention: Watch This! People who watch TV for 2 hours a day have a 20% higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, a 15% higher risk of developing fatal or nonfatal cardiovascular disease, and a 13% greater risk of dying early from any cause. Watching TV alters energy expenditure by displacing time spent on physical activities, and is associated with unhealthy eating (more fried foods, processed meats, sugary drinks and less fruits, vegetables, whole grains). On average, Americans watch TV 5 hours a day (who the hell has time for that??? – Glenn). Journal of the American Medical Association, 2011

Health Alert: Patents About To Expire. By the end of 2012, 7 of the 20 top selling medications will lose their patent protection. $225 billions’ worth of annual global sales of drugs will go off patent by the end of 2015. FDA, August 2011 (My dad, a pharmacist, recently explained to me that drug companies increasingly are pushing to have their drugs that go off patent approved for over-the-counter sales. Remember, your health is your responsibility.)

Exercise: Good Reasons To Exercise. Exercise reduces the risk of developing hypertension (high blood pressure), increases the density and breaking strength of bones, improves your physical appearance, and increases circulating levels of HDL (good) cholesterol. Surgeon General’s Report on Physical Activity and Health, 1996

Mental Attitude: Lost And Found. A new study shows the neural networks in the brains of the middle-aged and elderly have weaker connections and fire less robustly than in the young. As people age, they tend to forget things more often, are more easily distracted and disrupted by interference, and have greater difficulty with executive functions. While these age-related deficits have been known for many years, the cellular basis for these common cognitive difficulties has not been understood. Nature, July 2011

Quote: “There has never been a better time to learn.” ~ voice on the iPad 2 commercial.

Active Release Techniques (ART): Car Accident Injuries. Did you know that treatments with Active Release Techniques can help you recover quickly from car accidents? The forces from a car accident can cause widespread injuries in your body. ART treatments help manage to the healing process by reducing scar tissue and maximizing ranges of motion. Spinal adjustments and functional rehab program adds to this healing effect. Treatment at Denver Chiropractic Center includes all of these. If you or someone you know has been in a car accident, call us today 303.300.0424, or reply to this email. In most cases insurance covers treatments in our office.

The very popular barefoot running article is now online

Those of you (over 1000!) who get our paper newsletter already have the barefoot running article from the June / July 2010 newsletter.

We sort of goofed and never managed to put it online. Well, here it is:

http://www.denverback.com/pdf/2010_July.pdf

For those of you who like to follow my training, I did a workout I picked up from top strength guru Mike Mahler’s facebook page. P90X is starting to seem a little too easy for me.

It looked a little something like this:

10 sets of 10 reps of the following (in giant-set formation):

  • Heavy Kettlebell Swings (72 pounder)
  • Dumbbell Presses (65’s)
  • Double Kettlebell Rows (62 pound KB’s)

‘Twas quite brutal. Look for Mike Mahler on Facebook, or go to  www.mikemahler.com

A back pain question from a triathlete

Question from a real patient:

Dr. Hyman,

My name is (deleted) and I’m a member of the (deleted) Triathlon Club. I noticed you are a sponsor and are very familiar with the athletic world who has worked with all types of athletes. I’m in my fourth year of racing Tri, which is remarkable due to a back injury in 2001 that resulted in a bulging disc. In 2006 I had a skiing accident that resulted in an avulsion facture of the L5 vertebrae. I was all healed up and good until a week ago when for some reason, a drive to Breckenridge aggravated my back. This resulted in crawling around for a couple of days. My back is very stiff and the pain is now tolerable. I want to consult your services in hopes of a speedy recovery to get back to training. Can you help me and how?

Answer:

A patient with this type of injury history is susceptible to aggravations of back pain. These may be severe and these may be minor. Since this patient had no pain radiating into his legs, and no other neurological symptoms, I was comfortable working with him. In this case, a simple move in the wrong direction led to a fairly significant muscle spasm. It’s likely that this person’s existing herniated disc received excessive pressure as a result of his posture in the car. This led to a painful guarding response that stopped him from skiing and doing further damage to his low back. After 2 – 3 weeks of treatment and some reasonable range of motion exercises, this patient should be able to return to full activity. His triathlon training should be normal, but core strength is definitely going to be a priority.

Note: This article is for informational purposes only. Don’t use it to diagnose yourself. See a qualified licensed health care practitioner.

A Question about knee pain

The Question (from a real patient):

Hi, Glenn

You sucessfully treated me over a year ago for tarsel tunnel syndrome. I had my left knee scoped about four months ago to remove torn cartilage. I went through several months of PT and regained reasonable strength (it took me longer than some people because I had lots of edema and the VMO had been shut down for months.) However, I still have tightness, localized tenderness and restricted range of motion when I attempt to get back into certain yoga poses or do deep squats. My ortho and PT suspect that I have some scar tissue. I’ve been receiving deep tissue massage, which is helping but feel I need to do more to recover normal function. Have you treated similar issues before and do you think that ART would be helpful in my situation?

Dr. Glenn’s answer:

Residual scar tissue often follows arthroscopic surgeries. In my experience, the targeted techniques of Active Release are the best way to access and break up this scar tissue. On average, 4-8 sessions are required, but the results are usually good.

Back from the USAT certification

I just finished up at the USA Traithlon Coaching
Certification clinic in Colorado Springs. Had a great
room for 2 nights at the Broadmoor. What a place.

But that’s not why I’m writing. During one of the breaks,
a coach from New York asked if I could take a look at
her shoulder. Somehow she had been googling Active
Release and found my website. It was kind of strange that
she knew who I was.

Anyway, she had been dealing with shoulder pain while
swimming for over a year. It hurt to raise her arm
over her head, hurt to put a shirt on, hurt at night,
etc.

Fear of needing surgery had kept her from saying
anything about the pain to anyone. She was hoping
maybe I could give her an opinion.

I put her through some ranges of motion and her
problem was obvious. Scar tissue in her subscapularis
was keeping that muscle from firing. This was causing
her humerus to ride a little too high in the joint.
Classic impingement syndrome.

I treated her during the first two days at the clinic,
mostly breaking up the scar tissue in the subscap.
On the third day she swam and reported it was
about 90% better. I referred her to an ART doc in
NY to finish up. She was so excited that she cried.
I love that kind of case.

This was no miracle. Many shoulder problems start in
the subscap. They can usually be fixed. The first step
is finding the right person to help. I’ve treated
hundreds, probably over a thousand.

So, I’m back in the office after the certification.
If you or anyone you know is having shoulder pain,
I can probably help. Call 303.300.0424.

You can read more about shoulder pain here:
http://www.denverback.com/q_shoulder.html