To heel spur or not to heel spur?

 Have you ever tried to get out of bed in the morning, and it felt like your heel was bruised and it hurt to walk? Don’t remember injuring yourself, what could that be?

That’s classic for plantar fasciitis-the swelling of the plantar fascia, erroneously known as heel spurs (though over time a spur will form on the calcaneus from chronic stress, it is not a pain generator). The bottom of your foot is composed of 3 arches that act as shock absorbers. They are covered by tissue known as fascia. As you stand and walk, you exert 3-5times the force of gravity on your feet. Over time, the fascia over stretches and becomes inflamed. Not that you expressly did anything to mess it up, it just happens. Like a rubber band that you pull over and over and it eventually frays. This is extremely painful and sometimes debilitating. Though it may seem like it came on overnight, it has actually been brewing for some time. Just like no good wine before its time, there’s no good crippling foot pain before its time (doesn’t rhyme as well).

Ice is a powerful anti-inflammatory and excellent home remedy. Also make sure you are wearing proper fitting, well-made and not over-worn shoes.  However, to prevent it from coming back or getting worse, most people will need a round of rehab to correct the damage followed with customized foot orthotics to help stabilize the foot and ensure proper function.  

Learn more @ http://susquespine.com/custom_content/c_125152_foot__ankleheel_pain.html

Have you always wanted that amazing night’s sleep on a luxurious Tempur Pedic mattress but thought it wasn’t affordable? Well now TempurPedic is offering 12 months same as cash, delivered to your bedroom financing on the professional line when purchased through authorized health care professionals (that’s me).

Can chiropractic help with arthritis?

Certainly! Arthritis alone is the general inflammation of joints, which leads to pain, stiffness, and decreased function of the joint.  There are several types of Arthritis.  Each form has its particular symptoms, demographics, and development.  Osteoarthritis is most directly the result of generalized “wear and tear” of joints and their associated structures.  Rheumatoid, Psoriatic, JRA, Septic all are systemic forms of arthritis that develop as a result of the presence of variants in the blood.  Lastly gout and pseudo gout are metabolic forms of joint inflammation that is generally associated with dietary input into the body as well as improper metabolic function of the body.  Each form has its specific signs and symptoms that Chiropractors are trained to recognize during a comprehensive health history, physical exam, and utilization of x-ray diagnostics.    Chiropractors are expert in the operation of joints and in the therapies that keep them working properly. Though the spine is the chain of joints they are best known for working on, their training lets them help with ailments of all the body’s joints. Depending on the type of arthritis you have, the condition can flare and subside. A key to managing the disease is a balance between rest and exercise.   Your chiropractor can give you a regimen of exercise, like stretching and dance moves, that improves range of motion in arthritic joints; strengthening exercises, including weight lifting, which can tone the muscles critical to joint support; and aerobic or endurance exercises, which help improve the cardiovascular system, tone muscle and control weight. A Chiropractor can make recommendations for dietary changes as well as the use of vitamins and supplements to reduce swelling and promote healing mechanisms within the body and joints.  Additionally the mobilization of joints will create a pumping mechanism which aids in the circulation of swelling out of the joint spaces. As always, for more visit www.susquespine.com or on Facebook as Susquehanna Spine N Rehab.

Breaking News

Observation and warning

Breaking news!!! For the 10^th straight year, Dr Lee has been voted the coolest, most-handsome chiropractor in the land…And a warning on a popular anti-biotic.

Many people feel that Chiropractors are anti-medicine and anti-medical establishment. For the most part we aren’t. Like the old Jeff Foxworthy bit goes: Not all Southerners are crazy or stupid, only the ones on TV are; same thing with my kind. I try not to be anti-anything. I am for anything and everything that will make you, my friends and patients, healthy.

Today however, I am here to speak out on a particular drug: Levaquin. In 2 weeks I have had 2 patients come in with chemically induced rotator cuff tear and 1 with an ACL tear, all from Levaquin. In fact, the following is straight from the National Institute of Health’s website: “WARNING-Using levofloxacin injection increases the risk that you will develop tendinitis (swelling of a fibrous tissue that connects a bone to a muscle) or have a tendon rupture (tearing of a fibrous tissue that connects a bone to a muscle) during your treatment or for up to several months afterward. These problems may affect tendons in your shoulder, your hand, the back of your ankle, or in other parts of your body…”

In short, taking Levaquin may (and does) have the same effect on your body as falling down the stairs or 20 years of manual labor. 

Great Big Fancy Word of the Day

As many of you know I have 3 little girls that LOVE everything pink. So it goes without saying that Pinky Dinky Doo is one of our favorite shows. Just in case you haven’t seen it (I’ll try not to give it away) Mlle. Dinky Doo goes about telling her little brother and pet Guinea Pig a story using the “Great Big Fancy Word of the Day.” Today’s GBFWDs are ‘acid-base precipitation reaction’.

‘Acid-base precipitation reaction’: Kidney stones. I have been told that the pain from a kidney stone is worse than labor.   Kidney stones are like snowflakes, no 2 are alike; and shaped much like one too. Spherical with sharp and jagged edges, they are many time as or larger in diameter than the small, sensitive ureter and kidney vessels they pass through. Think of swallowing a golf ball coated in broken glass, but down stairs. Yet they are quite preventable

Precipitation is well, rain. The atmosphere is full of water, and when conditions are right, that water precipitates out. While urine is sterile, it is not pure. There’s lots of stuff floating around in it, but dissolved. When conditions are right, like concentration and pH, the stuff goes through a, GBFWD-acid-base precipitation reaction, and ‘un-dissolves’ itself forming stones.

You can prevent stones by controlling urine concentration and pH. First, 8 glasses of water a day, minimum. Second, diet. What you eat and drink shifts your body chemistry either acidic or basic. Animal proteins, carbs, sugar and alcohol tend to run acidic while vegetable matter basic. You should keep a good balance of both to keep your body chemistry operating at the optimal pH.

If you aren’t getting enough vegetables in your life, you should try Anabolic lab’s Essential Greens: a day’s supply of vegetables along with extra anti-oxidants and enzymes in one serving.

Did any of you catch the teaser for the local news during the Superbowl pre-game about this new “fountain of youth pill?” Well, it ain’t exactly new. They were talking about resveratrol, a compound found in grapes, pomegranate, blueberry, mangosteins, goji berry’s and a handful of other fruits. It is a super anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory that does slow the effects of aging. However it is most, GBFWD-bioavailable-dissolved in alcohol as in red wine. It has to be naturally dissolved, so pomegranate martini’s don’t’ count. If you’re concerned about the extra calories or just don’t like red wine, the best place to find the fountain of youth is in Lyflo Select’s Inflammation Defense; as with Anabolic’s Greens, exclusively available here.

Ironic isn't it?

It’s like Rain…

…On your wedding day. Ironic really. Almost embarrassing. I, Dr. Lee, a chiropractor and self-proclaimed most handsome disc specialist in Harford County if not all of Maryland, threw my back out. I saw it coming. As with most cases, it wasn’t one single event like saving a little girls bunny from a raging river, it developed over time. And obviously so, can happen to anyone anytime.

A few years back I injured my foot skiing. I rehabbed it. But the tendons and ligaments of the leg are very plastic in nature and never go back 100%. I wasn’t the most diligent in my follow up care; so I injured it again running. And I was even less diligent in my follow up care. So I then developed an abnormal gait pattern (hitch in my get-a-long). This caused my spine to over-compensate weakening the joint. Add that to my diminished workout schedule due to my bad foot; the fact I’ve been slacking on my veggie eating now that my CSA is out of season; staying up too late to watch Colberet; only getting adjusted monthly as opposed to bi-weekly-Wham! There goes my disc. Luckily for me, I am the above-mentioned handsome-most disc expert in Maryland. I’ve been on the spinal-decompression machine and rehabbing the heck out of it.

Just like cops have to be tased to carry a taser, it’s good for doctors to be on the other side of the table at least once. I have a better appreciation for what my patients go through and more sympathy for their plight (except somehow female OB’s seem to be more hardened in an “I did it so can you” kind of way).

So, if you or a loved one is suffering back or neck pain, not only am I one heck of a nice guy to refer to, I know where you’re coming from.

Why bother?

This is the time of year when people start telling themselves this is the year that they are going to get in shape, eat right and stop stealing office supplies. And most will have failed the first two goals by the end of the Sugarbowl Halftime Report, and #3 by 4:00 on the first Monday after the holiday. So in other words, don’t bother.

The problem with lofty goals is that they are unattainable. Then when you slip, you get depressed and completely give up. Or sometimes people will set these ridiculous goals knowing they can’t do it, giving themselves an “out” of doing what’s right.

You can’t go from doing 12 ounce curls on the couch to training for a marathon on New Years Day. You can’t go from 3000 calories of processed meats and sugars to an 1800 calorie whole food diet (and not want to commit homicide) in just a week. And you’re never going to start buying your own stamps when the Post Office keeps raising their rates.

It was either Shakespeare, Lau Tzu or the cast of Glee that said: ‘a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.’ If you want to change, you’re going to have to make reasonable, attainable, measurable goals. Not just make random cheap champagne fueled wishes on the back of a cocktail napkin.

If you want to get in shape, start small. A 5 minute warm up, 5 minutes on the treadmill/elliptical/bike/street then a 5 minute cool down 3 times a week. Then ad a minute every week until you’re up to 5/30/5. If you want to eat better, do Novolife then replace your daily bag of chips with a cup of broccoli and drink water instead of soda; then go from there.

With any goal, no matter if it is health, financial or other, you need support. This is actually true for any change you are trying to make. If you enlist someone (who cares) in your journey you are much more likely to make it. That’s why, as a married man, I’ve been party to lot’s of goals.

So do bother, and as Nike said (I’m sure they stole it) “Just do it.”

If you haven’t heard, the Man is shutting me down. Not completely, just on Facebook. Be sure to look for the new page (Susquehanna Spine & Rehab) and ‘like it’ today!!!

COW
Slipped discs: Did you know a disc actually doesn’t “slip.” It’s just an old term to describe a herniated or bulging disc. Either way, it hurts. And as with most spinal issues, it doesn’t get better on its own, just worse. If you or a loved one is suffering from a bad disc; we can help. Have them call for their complimentary consultation.

De-stress

All disease and disorder is caused by stress. Be that mechanical/physical, chemical and or emotional stress. The stress of life, the stress of work, the stress of family, the stress of trying to decide what you want to get me for Christmas not only tightens up your muscles it causes structural abnormalities in your cervical spine and shoulders. These go on to not only cause pain and discomfort but feed back into your system affecting your over all health. Now I can fix it, but isn’t an ounce of prevention worth a pound of cure?

So am I saying you should quit your job, emancipate from your family and skip me over this holiday season? No, no and most definitely no. What I’m saying is take control of your emotional and mental well being.

#1 It is physically impossible to be anxious, stressed, angry sad or/or afraid while you are grateful. Be thankful for what you have and be sure to thank those around you. An attitude of gratitude will make you more powerful than your current circumstances.

#2 To be happy, focus on happiness. Every morning and night think about, say and/or do something that makes you happy (and yes, dreaming of me counts). Make happiness your priority then do the things it takes make it a reality.

#3 Don’t just wait for it to get better, it won’t. You have to “do;” take action to better your situation, whatever that may be. That band-aid isn’t loosening with time, yank it off.

#4 Simplify/Time Management. Learn to say no. Delegate, don’t waste major time doing minor things. Constantly ask yourself “is this the best use of my time right now?”

#5 List your MIT’s (Most Important Things). Of your 1000 item long to do list, write down the most important 3, do them, and move on. Avoid distractions and don’t create new ones in avoidance.