Time

Time, she’s (ever noticed inanimate objects/concepts that cause grief are personified as females???) a tricky bugger. Whisky and wine improve over time. Your body on the other hand, is more like milk; old injuries-more like milk left out on the counter. If I only had a dime for every time I heard someone in their 30’s, 40’s, 50’s and on tell me that they’ve been fighting with a high school/rec league/drunken foolishness injury from decades previous, thinking it would just go away. Given that a clean fracture completely heals in 6 weeks- if the pain of an injury hasn’t gone away by then, it’s not going to.

First we need to separate pain from injury and disease. If you’ve heard this from me once, you’ve heard it a 1000times. Pain is not a disease, but a sign of disease. Just like the check engine light in your car-it’s not a broken light bulb, but a broken engine. Pain is your body’s way of telling your brain something is wrong and needs to be fixed. If something hurts-fix it! (no dear Liza needed).

Just like diabetes, infections or high blood pressure, leaving a joint or tissue injury un-checked just worsens the condition. When you are injured, many things go wrong. First, the part that’s injured stops working correctly, which means it starts to break down faster, which leads to degenerative joint disease, muscle contractures/trigger points and arthritis.

Second, injuries become epicenters that spread degenerative changes. Take a foot for example. You hurt your foot, you walk funny so your knee starts to wear out, which taxes your hip, which alters your low back, which affects your upper spine and before you know it, a twisted ankle in high school gymnastics becomes chronic headaches by 35 (true story-saw it with my own 2 eyes on a patient a few years back. Also-Google upper and lower cross syndromes).

Third, they change your internal biochemistry. When you’re injured, you start the inflammatory process. Only a small percentage of inflammation is pain, the rest is manifested by other chemical changes in your system. These mediators are the same as the ones in the fight or flight reaction. Higher blood pressure, altered metabolism, shunting blood away from and shrinking genitalia is a great idea when trying to escape the clutches of a saber-tooth tiger, but not so much when sitting on the couch watching the O’s blow the division.
In conclusion, that tricky knee from a football injury isn’t a badge to be worn proudly, it’s a sign you’re asking for trouble down the road.

Joint Pain

Joint pain can be caused by illnesses, such as Rheumatoid Arthritis, Osteoarthritis and Bursitis. Joint pain can also result from injury. No matter what the cause, joint pain can prohibit you from doing the activities you love. Hundreds of people have found relief from joint inflammation and joint pain relief after receiving chiropractic adjustments.

There are somewhere between 200 and 300+ joints Combined moveable/non-moving) in the human body, depending on how you count them, on average. And by definition average is only average 50% of the time. On a weekly basis we run into someone who has extra or “missing” joints. And we employ many ways to help ease the pain in all of them, not just the spine: from Chiropractic, to rehab and physical therapy along with massage, dry needling and nutritional/wellness counseling.

Chiropractic care for joints can also speed up the recovery from injuries to ankles, knees, hips wrists, elbows and shoulders. By properly aligning these joints in the body, circulation within the joint increases and the surrounding muscles relax into their proper place. This not only reduces joint pain, it also provides more freedom of movement and minimizes stiffness in the joint.

Chiropractic techniques for joint pain relief are natural and effective. With targeted gentle pressure to properly align joints, we combine our knowledge in many disciplines to determine the source of the pain any other areas affected. Soon, you will be on your way to being pain free.

Chiropractic adjustments will restore all of your normal joint movement and the neurological activity in the joint. This not only alleviates pain, but promotes overall health as well. Restored function of the joint due to proper alignment results in relief from joint pain, a decrease in other symptoms and increased freedom of movement. Let us help you begin your healing journey to be free from joint pain.

Fascia

Today, we're going to talk about the wonderfully exciting world of fascia. Fascia is zzzzzzzzzzzzzz........Ok, it's not that bad, but definitely under rated. So under-rated, that Harvard (yes, the real one) Medical College decided a few years ago that they were going to start holding 3 day, annual symposiums on fascia and fascia related-disorders.

I'm sure by now you're asking yourself, what is this fascia stuff?  How should I describe fascia?. 1-after you've pulled the skin off a chicken breast there's that thin little layer of sheen left which is also what all die hard meat smokers know as silver skin on a rack of ribs; that is fascia. Wikipedia says: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascia. In short it's kind of like a saran-wrap layer around your tissue that supports and even makes up parts of our structural system. And like plastic wrap-if done right-fits great the first time. Mess with it, and it's hosed; mess with it anywhere, and you've messed with it everywhere.

Fascia is also a key component to our mysterious 'core.' The core is what is responsible for keeping our eyes parallel to the ground, and keeps us from falling over when we're moving forward and it is a key component to performance. If our core isn't strong, the spine has to do it, and when the spine and other bones do it, they wear out, fast. And when they wear out, they hurt. So, the key to keeping your back from hurting, developing bulged and herniated discs, sciatica, TMJ problems, headaches, heel spurs, neck pain, pre-disposing yourself to nearly all soft-tissue injuries, improving performance, etc. etc. etc. is to keep your core happy and fascia intact.

Step #1, avoid creep (see also blog entry of same name). Step #2, avoid damage to the fascia-which includes but is not limited to: surgery on or around the back, neck, stomach, chest (including cosmetic), feet; pregnancy; injuries; standing too long; going barefoot;  etc., etc., etc.

Now that we know we've all crapped out our fascia-what do we do about it? -Simply, keep your hamstrings loose and abs tight. Also, Pilates and yoga based exercises. Beyond that-myofascial release. A fancy type of massage and other soft tissue related therapeutic technique that sometimes also includes dry needling (see website) to correct imbalances, rehab exercises and of course, chiropractic adjustments.

Do you know anyone who's in pain or injured that may have had fascia damage? Or even ot, we can help!

Good, ol' fashion back pain

Today we’re going to talk about good, ol’ fashion back pain. There’s no such thing. Many of you have heard me say this before, and it bears repeating-pain is not a disease, it’s a side effect of a disease or disorder. Just like the check engine light in your car is not a broken light bulb, but an indicator there’s something wrong with the engine. So when you have back pain, there’s something wrong with your back; and that something could be any number of things.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people say that their back pain was “only muscular” so nothing could be done; horse feathers. Lots can be done. We employ a wide array of physical therapy modalities to alleviate muscle spasm such as electric stim, ultrasound, dry needling (really cool, look it up) and now massage from a licensed massage therapist. If you have-great big fancy word of the day-myogenic pain (muscle pain) then you have muscle spasms. And muscles don’t spasm just for giggles, it’s a protective mechanism. In other words, muscle spasms are a side effect.

Muscles spasm to protect an unstable joint; acting like an air cast of sorts. Joints become unstable from two main reasons: trauma and degenerative. Trauma is falling down the stairs, car accidents, sky diving incidents, too many Natty Boh’s and the phrase “hey watch this.” Degenerative is exactly as it sounds. It’s not always age, but time; I’ve seen many people in their 20’s and 30’s with signs of degeneration. Over time we are subjective to physical stresses (what we do to/with or not to/with our bodies), chemical stress (genetics, what we eat/drink/smoke; don’t eat/drink) and emotional stress (how we think and feel) all affects our joints and makes them stop working so well. This, over time, is what causes degeneration. If left un-fixed, this degeneration will become arthritis, herniated discs, stenosis, and worse. And like other diseases, there are just as many side effects you’re not feeling as you are feeling. That’s why you’ve heard me say we don’t treat pain, we fix the disorder causing your pain.

And fixing degeneration by restoring the proper motion and structure of joints is the mainstay of chiropractic care. To caveman up the ending: you have pain then you have problem, me fix problem.

My Favorite Metallica Song...Whiplash

Everyday thousands are injured in auto accidents that they seem to “walk away from” with little to no visible vehicle damage. They erroneously assume that since the car is barley damaged, then they aren’t either. But that’s just not true.  In a large German study of injury producing rear-impact collisions, nearly half were under 6 mph, the same goes for a recent study in New York. Sometimes the pain is immediate and sometimes it may take up to 6 months or longer to surface. While numerous theories have been advanced to explain this delay, no one knows for certain.

Whiplash actually describes the mechanism of injury, not the disease (true whiplash is a rear-end only phenomena); but has become to be known as the broad range of disorders, lesions, syndromes and conditions associated with auto accidents. Those include, but aren’t limited to the usual neck pain, but also: TMJ pain, dizziness, hearing and eyesight problems, ringing in the ears along with breathing problems, stomach pain, post-traumatic stress, back pain, thoracic outlet, carpal tunnel, weakness, herniated discs, sciatica and the list just keeps going and going. A rear-end accident is not the only way to get hurt, just the most common.

So what happens when you’re in an accident? You do your best imitation of a crash test dummy. A lot of it has to do with the laws of physics-energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred from one system to the next; and energy follows the path of least resistance. So a 4000 pound car going 5 miles per hour is generating 4000 X 5= a lot of energy. And it is following along the easiest path…you. It causes your spine to hyperextend vertically then horizontally and to then hyperflex; ripping, tearing, squishing and smashing tissues along the way; all in under a second or two.

In short-if you had an accident, no matter what the car looks like, you’re hurt; and need help. I’m the one to do that.

How I beat, well, am beating Rosacea.

I got the curse of the Celts. People as white as me weren't meant to grow up in sunny South Texas. Mother Nature had assigned us to Northern Europe. Having been exposed to hours of intense sun has allowed me more than one trip to the dermatologist-and the real reason I gave up my previous career as a male model. Rosacea is NOT caused by alcoholism; it's a genetic disorder common in us honkies. It's characterized by acne-like appearance in people over 35. As opposed to acne, it is not an infection, but from flushing-an extreme opening of the blood vessels in the head and face that causes redness. It's worsened by anything that causes an increase in the blood flow to the face and neck (huge list, google it later). Typical acne treatments actually may make it worse due their harshness.

Like other genetic disorders, you can't cure rosacea, but you can render it mute. I'm not really going to touch on the traditional or allopathic treatment protocols; I'll leave that to the dermatologists.
A very common trait amongst us is low stomach acid (or high pH-I know, confusing). This makes what we eat harder to digest; which means we're not getting the nutrition out of our food-just the crap instead. To curb this, I take special enzyme supplements to aide in digestion. Also, no liquids ½ before or 2 hours after eating-it's a chemical thing. Add water or any other liquid to acid, and you dilute it-plus vast amounts of liquids will push the food through too fast. Plus I threw in a little extra fiber to slow intestinal motility to give the food a little more time to break down.

It's been said beauty is skin deep, the truth is though, healthy skin comes from the inside out. What you bring in shows; especially in skin disorders-regardless of your acidity. All disease is manifested through inflammation. To fight disease, fight inflammation. The first thing I did was go to on a complete low inflammatory diet void of dairy and gluten after a Novolife cleanse to rid my body of the toxins. I followed this by a month-long, anti-inflammatory detox vitamin regime to get in deep; then continued on with a healthy dosing of multivitamins, omega fatty acids and continuous chiropractic care to promote health.
Not just Rosacea either-any and all inflammatory disorders, skin or not. Including but not limited to more depressing is suffering from many of the numerous diseases and fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, sinusitis, allergies, acne, asthma, digestive conditions, flu symptoms, dysmenorrhea, endometriosis, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, hypertension, depression, insulin resistance syndrome(pre-diabetes), and diabetes and so on (another big list-google it later) are all manage the same way: diet, supplements and plenty ofchiropractic care.

Kind of like those old hair club commercials-I'm not just the president, but also a client. If it works for me and 100's others; it'll work for you too.Are you or someone you know suffering from an inflammatory disorder? Forward them this email for a complimentary consultation!

Did we tell you massage is coming? Just waiting on Gov O'Malley to sign Holly's license and drop it in the mail. The first 20 people who respond to this email with the phrase: "massage" will get $10 off their first massage!!!

Referred Pain

Q:If it's my back that's out, why does my leg hurt instead? A: Referred pain
Referred pain comes in 2 main types (3 really. The third being trigger points, a muscle based problem-but that's a different story for a different day): Sclerotomal and Deramatomal. No, I didn't just make those up, and hopefully they're not as boring to you as they may sound. The difference between the 2 is very important in the diagnosis and treatment of pain generating conditions. They also explain the often counter-intuitive: if it's my back, why does my leg hurt?

Dermatomal is relatively easy. It's neurogenic pain, i.e pinched nerve. Just like when you kink the hose. It affects the water coming out the end, not where you're holding it. When you herniate a disc in your spine, the disc innards push out and kink your nerve. That's why you get burning, numbness and or tingling in your legs when it is in fact your back-All in a very predictive pattern based on which nerve/where is pinched.

Sclerotomal, on the other hand, is not nerve based pain. It's based on the fact that we were all once worms. As we're cooking in momma's oven; we transform from a long, worm-like tube into the handsome devils we are at birth. During this metamorphosis, our tissues twist, turn and intertwine. It puts our backs and upper leg on the same plane; and the same for shoulders and neck. So when something goes wrong in your back, you may not feel it in your back; but in your buttocks and leg and even knee instead.

Hold on, I need some B vitamins, I just put myself to sleep. There, better. Point is pain is not a disease, but a side effect, or sign. Just like the check engine light in the car-doesn't mean broken light bulb that we should drive around and ignore or cover up with a piece of tape. That leads to a $600 tow charge out of the Harbor Tunnel, so I've heard. Just like a problem with the engine makes the light come on; a problem in your back will make your rear-end, thigh, leg, knee, foot and or ankle hurt. Same goes for you neck and shoulder, arm, hand, fingers. And just like covering up the light prolongs and worsens the inevitable; so does covering up the pain with aspirin, oxy and/or Jack Daniels.