I’m not sure why this is, but there have been a growing number of new patients coming to our office with TMJ problems. Issues with your TMJ (temperomandibular joint, a.k.a. your “jaw”) most commonly lead to jaw pain and headaches.
TMJ issues can arise from a trauma to the jaw, like when you play sports or you happen to get hit. A lot of the issues comes from just going to the dentist. Not that the dentist did anything wrong, it’s just that when you have to hold your mouth open for so long and the muscles get tight and pull things out of place.
Then the jaw starts to pop or click each time you open your mouth. A lot of this can be accepted for awhile, but when it starts to lead to pain is when people want to take action. Some patients arrive in our office dealing with a totally different problem. Then I’ll get a question like, “Can chiropractic help my jaw?” Then the conversation begins.
The treatment is usually focused on working the muscles of the jaw. Kind of like massage, but more specific to the jaw muscles. Usually one side is way tighter than the other. Loosening up the tight side goes a long way in easing the pressure.
The TMJ itself can be adjusted through chiropractic. In our office, we can adjust the joint by using our hands, or the use of a low-impact adjusting tool called an activator. Both methods work well and seem to relieve the pain and pressure in the jaw.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Is There An Easier Way To Stretch Hamstrings?
Most of the patients that come to my office sit at a computer all day. (Who doesn’t these days?) I also seem to have more than my share of people that are active in running and working out, but not necessarily taking the time to stretch.
Since sitting all day at the computer is limited in its movements, the same areas of their bodies seem to get tight and stressed. One of the primary muscle groups that seems to lead to a lot of low back pain is having tight hamstrings. The hamstrings are the muscles at the back of your thigh. Can you bend down and touch your toes? If not, and you feel pulling at the back of your thighs, you probably have tight hamstrings.
Another test would be if you lay flat on your back, how high can you lift one leg at a time before your knee starts to bend, or before you start to get so much tightness that you can’t go up any further. If you can’t make it to 90 degrees, your hamstrings are too tight. If you can’t make it past 30 degrees, like a lot of patients, you are in trouble and need to get moving on regular stretching.
At this point, I do have to warn you that you should consult with a physician before attempting any exercise program. Done!
If you try to stretch your hamstrings in the most common ways; from a standing position and then bending over, or sitting on the floor with your legs stretched out in front of you and then try to reach your toes, you may be having trouble. Take a look at someone holding this position. They are doing more stretching to their backs then they are to their hamstrings. That’s because in order to hold that position, they have to be at 90 degrees! Which is the point you want to get to anyway!
Since you can’t do that, your back compensates and you reach out with your neck and strain you back. Try this instead: Sit at the edge of a chair or bench. Reach one leg out in front of you with your leg straight and your foot pointing straight up. Keep good posture and just reach as far as you comfortably can. If you feel a good stretch, then hold it for 30 seconds and then repeat. If you feel sharp pain or anything other than a stretch, back off until you get back to the right position.
It’s also way better to stretch after you’re already warmed up too, like after working out or having walked for ten to fifteen minutes. You’ll get a lot more out of the stretch and have fewer complications.
Since sitting all day at the computer is limited in its movements, the same areas of their bodies seem to get tight and stressed. One of the primary muscle groups that seems to lead to a lot of low back pain is having tight hamstrings. The hamstrings are the muscles at the back of your thigh. Can you bend down and touch your toes? If not, and you feel pulling at the back of your thighs, you probably have tight hamstrings.
Another test would be if you lay flat on your back, how high can you lift one leg at a time before your knee starts to bend, or before you start to get so much tightness that you can’t go up any further. If you can’t make it to 90 degrees, your hamstrings are too tight. If you can’t make it past 30 degrees, like a lot of patients, you are in trouble and need to get moving on regular stretching.
At this point, I do have to warn you that you should consult with a physician before attempting any exercise program. Done!
If you try to stretch your hamstrings in the most common ways; from a standing position and then bending over, or sitting on the floor with your legs stretched out in front of you and then try to reach your toes, you may be having trouble. Take a look at someone holding this position. They are doing more stretching to their backs then they are to their hamstrings. That’s because in order to hold that position, they have to be at 90 degrees! Which is the point you want to get to anyway!
Since you can’t do that, your back compensates and you reach out with your neck and strain you back. Try this instead: Sit at the edge of a chair or bench. Reach one leg out in front of you with your leg straight and your foot pointing straight up. Keep good posture and just reach as far as you comfortably can. If you feel a good stretch, then hold it for 30 seconds and then repeat. If you feel sharp pain or anything other than a stretch, back off until you get back to the right position.
It’s also way better to stretch after you’re already warmed up too, like after working out or having walked for ten to fifteen minutes. You’ll get a lot more out of the stretch and have fewer complications.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Why Don't More People See Chiropractors?
According to various polls and questions asked of the public, more than 50% (sometimes 60%) of the population indicate they would consider visiting a chiropractor. For the last forty years, the percentage of people that actually do so has remained the same. While more people are seeing chiropractors than ever before, consistently only 10% of the population does so.
Why? If so many people would consider chiropractic as an alternative to other medical choices, why don’t they actually do it when the need arises?
They don’t know what to expect.
Most people have gone to see a medical doctor. They have an overall understanding of what they can expect when they walk in the office. They expect a little window, to be handed some paperwork to fill out, and then eventually get a chance to visit the doctor and tell them where it hurts. They also know that they’ll likely be handed a prescription that will help their symptoms and they can be on their way.
What happens when they go to see a chiropractor? That’s just it. They don’t really know. They assume it’s similar to a visit to an MD, except that instead of a prescription the chiropractor is likely to “pop” something. Do they really need something “popped”? They’re not sure so they go with what they know.
They don’t know if their condition can be helped with chiropractic care.
They think of chiropractors as helping with auto accidents and low back pain (if you just go by the most common advertisements seen), but they don’t have that. They have headaches, or neck pain, or shoulder pain. Can a chiropractor help with that? They look at a couple of yellow page ads or run through some websites. Some say they do, some don’t say anything about it.
Can they get help by seeing the chiropractor? Again, they’re not sure so they just go back to what they know. They want relief and they want it fast. They’ve gotten relief before by getting a prescription so once again they find themselves at their physician’s office.
They don’t know who to see.
All the chiropractic ads say different things. Activator Methods? Gonstead? Palmer Graduate? Do I need that? Is one really better than the other? This guy seems okay, he’s wearing a white coat and advertising “decompression.” Do I need to be decompressed? All of the chiropractors seem to be advertising slightly different things, while the medical doctor offices all seem to be closer to the same.
There can be a lot of confusion about visiting a chiropractor. While many chiropractors offer an initial no-charge consultation, most people just aren’t going to sit through a consultation when what they really want is pain relief as quickly as possible. It’s really up to the chiropractic profession to continue to educate and get a consistent message out there so people will know what to expect, which conditions are regularly treated, and understand some of the terminology that is out there when it comes time to make their choice.
Why? If so many people would consider chiropractic as an alternative to other medical choices, why don’t they actually do it when the need arises?
They don’t know what to expect.
Most people have gone to see a medical doctor. They have an overall understanding of what they can expect when they walk in the office. They expect a little window, to be handed some paperwork to fill out, and then eventually get a chance to visit the doctor and tell them where it hurts. They also know that they’ll likely be handed a prescription that will help their symptoms and they can be on their way.
What happens when they go to see a chiropractor? That’s just it. They don’t really know. They assume it’s similar to a visit to an MD, except that instead of a prescription the chiropractor is likely to “pop” something. Do they really need something “popped”? They’re not sure so they go with what they know.
They don’t know if their condition can be helped with chiropractic care.
They think of chiropractors as helping with auto accidents and low back pain (if you just go by the most common advertisements seen), but they don’t have that. They have headaches, or neck pain, or shoulder pain. Can a chiropractor help with that? They look at a couple of yellow page ads or run through some websites. Some say they do, some don’t say anything about it.
Can they get help by seeing the chiropractor? Again, they’re not sure so they just go back to what they know. They want relief and they want it fast. They’ve gotten relief before by getting a prescription so once again they find themselves at their physician’s office.
They don’t know who to see.
All the chiropractic ads say different things. Activator Methods? Gonstead? Palmer Graduate? Do I need that? Is one really better than the other? This guy seems okay, he’s wearing a white coat and advertising “decompression.” Do I need to be decompressed? All of the chiropractors seem to be advertising slightly different things, while the medical doctor offices all seem to be closer to the same.
There can be a lot of confusion about visiting a chiropractor. While many chiropractors offer an initial no-charge consultation, most people just aren’t going to sit through a consultation when what they really want is pain relief as quickly as possible. It’s really up to the chiropractic profession to continue to educate and get a consistent message out there so people will know what to expect, which conditions are regularly treated, and understand some of the terminology that is out there when it comes time to make their choice.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Back Pain: It's Not Always What It Used To Be
If you ignore a back problem, it will likely not go away on its own. Sometimes you can get through an episode when it’s early in the condition with some over the counter medications and rest. So you’d think. If the underlying problem is never addressed, the back pain problem is there to resurface again at a later date.
Usually when the pain returns, it hurts a little bit more and lasts a little bit longer. Over time, the episodes will start to show up more frequently until the person takes the actions necessary to create a more substantial healing. (Hopefully they go to see a chiropractor and get their spine in its proper alignment instead of relying on stronger and stronger medications.)
More often than not, the person dealing with the back pain follows their doctor’s orders and concern themselves with their back only when the pain shows up. Then they return to doing all the same things that led them to the the problem in the first place. Then the symptoms return and they show back up to their doctor.
“I know what I’ve got, doc. Last time you told me it was my L5 disc.” They then expect you to do what you did last time, give them the relief in the same time frame you gave it to them last time and they can get on with their lives. Sometimes it happens just like that, sometimes the episode takes a couple of extra days to return back to normal.
Eventually, they’ll get the same condition, they’ll show back up to your office, expect the same results… and they won’t happen. The doctor will end up doing more tests and discover that they don’t just have an “L5 disc” problem anymore. They now have L4 and L5 and the sciatic nerve is being compressed. The previously minor disc bulge at L5 has turned into a full blown disc herniation with potentially more invasive treatment needed to alleviate the pain.
How could this have been avoided? Once you’ve been notified that you have a back problem, seek relief from the pain first. Once the pain is gone, you must distinguish that your “pain” and your “problem” are two different things. Celebrate the relief of your pain, but evaluate what may have led to the problem in the first place.
Are you strengthening your back muscles? Are you getting enough exercise? How are your daily activities contributing to the problem and how can they be modified. Don’t accept your back condition and assume it will never change or get worse. Most of them can and do get worse over time.
Usually when the pain returns, it hurts a little bit more and lasts a little bit longer. Over time, the episodes will start to show up more frequently until the person takes the actions necessary to create a more substantial healing. (Hopefully they go to see a chiropractor and get their spine in its proper alignment instead of relying on stronger and stronger medications.)
More often than not, the person dealing with the back pain follows their doctor’s orders and concern themselves with their back only when the pain shows up. Then they return to doing all the same things that led them to the the problem in the first place. Then the symptoms return and they show back up to their doctor.
“I know what I’ve got, doc. Last time you told me it was my L5 disc.” They then expect you to do what you did last time, give them the relief in the same time frame you gave it to them last time and they can get on with their lives. Sometimes it happens just like that, sometimes the episode takes a couple of extra days to return back to normal.
Eventually, they’ll get the same condition, they’ll show back up to your office, expect the same results… and they won’t happen. The doctor will end up doing more tests and discover that they don’t just have an “L5 disc” problem anymore. They now have L4 and L5 and the sciatic nerve is being compressed. The previously minor disc bulge at L5 has turned into a full blown disc herniation with potentially more invasive treatment needed to alleviate the pain.
How could this have been avoided? Once you’ve been notified that you have a back problem, seek relief from the pain first. Once the pain is gone, you must distinguish that your “pain” and your “problem” are two different things. Celebrate the relief of your pain, but evaluate what may have led to the problem in the first place.
Are you strengthening your back muscles? Are you getting enough exercise? How are your daily activities contributing to the problem and how can they be modified. Don’t accept your back condition and assume it will never change or get worse. Most of them can and do get worse over time.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Get Healthy! Just Do One Thing At A Time.
If you’ve started to notice that your health is declining and it’s time to do something about it, you’re probably wondering where to start. You know you don’t feel good, you know you’re not doing enough healthy things for yourself, but it can all be a bit overwhelming. Even if your primary goal is to drop a few pounds and just feel better… which action should you take first?
One school of thought is to take massive action. This is certainly a good thing and has helped many overcome great obstacles. Taking massive action should lead to massive results. However, when it comes to changing your health, which massive action should you take? Go and buy every vitamin in the store? Run laps around your block until your legs won’t move? Schedule appointments with a chiropractor, personal trainer, massage therapist, and psychologist?
My suggestion is to take massive action… on one thing at a time. Pick something. It doesn’t have to be anything other than something that will move you closer to a long term goal of being healthy. To me, that would mean that I’m an appropriate weight, I’m generally free of pain, I have lots of energy, and my moods are pretty consistent in a positive way.
The major categories are going to be eating better and exercise.
Eating right can start with eliminating the things that you know are bad for you that you regularly eat. Too many sodas? Trips to the vending machine? Double frappacinos with whip? Something just popped into your head and you know it’s been slowing leading to a decline in your health. Pick one and let it go.
Bring your lunch to work a couple of days per week or find something healthy that you can eat at least once per day. Start taking a decent multi-vitamin if you’re not doing so already and drink a lot more water. Just do something healthy.
Once you’ve got this habit formed and are starting to feel pretty good about your results, time to reassess and eliminate something bad and add in something good. Keep this up until you get where you want to go.
What about exercise? I have to admit, doing this regularly is not always the easiest thing for me. I say it’s about spending the time and effort, but I think it’s more about not spending the time finding something that I really enjoy doing. You don’t have to start an exercise program by planning to run a marathon (unless that helps you get motivated).
Walking 1 mile and running 1 mile burn about the same amount of calories since it takes longer to walk that same distance. Find ways to walk more, even if it just means parking your car further away from the building at work. You can do it, but you have to start somewhere and that means taking action towards your goal.
You can get healthy, really! It’s possible for those that are willing to make the effort. If your health has declined to such a degree that you need professionals to help you heal and feel better, then by all means do that too. Take massive action… just do it on one thing a time.
One school of thought is to take massive action. This is certainly a good thing and has helped many overcome great obstacles. Taking massive action should lead to massive results. However, when it comes to changing your health, which massive action should you take? Go and buy every vitamin in the store? Run laps around your block until your legs won’t move? Schedule appointments with a chiropractor, personal trainer, massage therapist, and psychologist?
My suggestion is to take massive action… on one thing at a time. Pick something. It doesn’t have to be anything other than something that will move you closer to a long term goal of being healthy. To me, that would mean that I’m an appropriate weight, I’m generally free of pain, I have lots of energy, and my moods are pretty consistent in a positive way.
The major categories are going to be eating better and exercise.
Eating right can start with eliminating the things that you know are bad for you that you regularly eat. Too many sodas? Trips to the vending machine? Double frappacinos with whip? Something just popped into your head and you know it’s been slowing leading to a decline in your health. Pick one and let it go.
Bring your lunch to work a couple of days per week or find something healthy that you can eat at least once per day. Start taking a decent multi-vitamin if you’re not doing so already and drink a lot more water. Just do something healthy.
Once you’ve got this habit formed and are starting to feel pretty good about your results, time to reassess and eliminate something bad and add in something good. Keep this up until you get where you want to go.
What about exercise? I have to admit, doing this regularly is not always the easiest thing for me. I say it’s about spending the time and effort, but I think it’s more about not spending the time finding something that I really enjoy doing. You don’t have to start an exercise program by planning to run a marathon (unless that helps you get motivated).
Walking 1 mile and running 1 mile burn about the same amount of calories since it takes longer to walk that same distance. Find ways to walk more, even if it just means parking your car further away from the building at work. You can do it, but you have to start somewhere and that means taking action towards your goal.
You can get healthy, really! It’s possible for those that are willing to make the effort. If your health has declined to such a degree that you need professionals to help you heal and feel better, then by all means do that too. Take massive action… just do it on one thing a time.
Monday, January 25, 2010
How Much Do Your Daily Activities Create Back Pain?
Uh oh, it’s happened again. You can feel the initial “twinge.” That is, you can feel the early warning sign that you low back pain problem is about to come back again. You knew you should have been keeping up with your chiropractic visits and the exercises your doctor gave you, but you just haven’t done it.
You feel great most of the time, but you’ve learned that when you get this feeling, things are about to go downhill…fast. Sometimes you get off easy, just a few over-the-counter remedies and you can get back to work. Sometimes you’re going to be spending the weekend putting ice on your back and waiting for the doctor to open up first thing Monday morning.
Worse case is that you’ll spend the next couple of weeks trying to get yourself back to feeling not just pain-free, but to the point where you don’t feel like things are about to go bad at any point. That’s the worse feeling.
So it’s somewhere in one of these episodes that you begin to ask yourself, “Why does this keep happening? Is it something I’m doing or not doing?” Most of the time, the answer is “yes!” Now, our bodies are not made out of concrete, and no one can make sure that your back pain will never, ever return again. However, there’s plenty that you can do to keep the episodes at bay and keep from feeling bad more often than not.
Let’s not even get into some of the preventative measures like regular chiropractic care. Let’s just realize that your daily activities are usually what is contributing to your problem. If you sit all day on the computer, then get in your car and sit, and then go home and sit, and then go to sleep and do the whole thing all over again… you’re going to have problems.
Some people will do some exercises, but that seems to be primarily made up of sit-ups, walking, and riding their bike. None of these activities will strengthen the spine to any noticeable degree. Certainly nothing that is going to keep that “feeling” from coming back again. Your normal daily activities have a focus on actions that occur in front of you with almost no engaging of the back muscles for anything other than keeping you upright.
If you’re going to keep a back problem away, you’re going to need to strengthen your back. Taking some time out to follow your doctor’s recommendations and perform some regular activity for the sake of your spine will go a long way in keeping things together. Keep the weight down, the stress away, some regular general exercise, and some regular exercise focused on strengthening your spine and you should do okay.
You feel great most of the time, but you’ve learned that when you get this feeling, things are about to go downhill…fast. Sometimes you get off easy, just a few over-the-counter remedies and you can get back to work. Sometimes you’re going to be spending the weekend putting ice on your back and waiting for the doctor to open up first thing Monday morning.
Worse case is that you’ll spend the next couple of weeks trying to get yourself back to feeling not just pain-free, but to the point where you don’t feel like things are about to go bad at any point. That’s the worse feeling.
So it’s somewhere in one of these episodes that you begin to ask yourself, “Why does this keep happening? Is it something I’m doing or not doing?” Most of the time, the answer is “yes!” Now, our bodies are not made out of concrete, and no one can make sure that your back pain will never, ever return again. However, there’s plenty that you can do to keep the episodes at bay and keep from feeling bad more often than not.
Let’s not even get into some of the preventative measures like regular chiropractic care. Let’s just realize that your daily activities are usually what is contributing to your problem. If you sit all day on the computer, then get in your car and sit, and then go home and sit, and then go to sleep and do the whole thing all over again… you’re going to have problems.
Some people will do some exercises, but that seems to be primarily made up of sit-ups, walking, and riding their bike. None of these activities will strengthen the spine to any noticeable degree. Certainly nothing that is going to keep that “feeling” from coming back again. Your normal daily activities have a focus on actions that occur in front of you with almost no engaging of the back muscles for anything other than keeping you upright.
If you’re going to keep a back problem away, you’re going to need to strengthen your back. Taking some time out to follow your doctor’s recommendations and perform some regular activity for the sake of your spine will go a long way in keeping things together. Keep the weight down, the stress away, some regular general exercise, and some regular exercise focused on strengthening your spine and you should do okay.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Neck Pain After Extended Computer Use?
You sit down at your computer, ready to put in a full day’s work and make some serious headway on your projects. You know you’ll easily be spending 8 to 10 hours sitting in front of the computer.
You’ve set up your computer workstation as effectively as you can figure. Your keyboard is appropriately placed in front of you and your monitor is directly in front of you at eye level. So why will your neck start to hurt? Why will your effectiveness be destroyed by the nagging, aggravating neck pain that seems to show up more and more frequently?
If you are regularly spending a lot of time in front of a computer, you have to realize that your body is going to begin to change and adapt to take on this frequent activity. Your front neck muscles are slowly growing shorter and tighter, while the muscles in the back of your neck are growing longer and weaker.
The back muscles are also growing full of spasm and knots while they are forced to hold up your ten pound head for hours at a time. You would think they would grow stronger from having to hold your head up all the time, but it just never seems to work that way. As they get longer, they are growing weaker, and the job of holding up your head becomes increasingly difficult.
The best options are to do exercises and activities that will counteract the extended computer usage. The rule of thumb is to spend time stretching the front of your neck and strengthening the muscles in the back. This same rule applies to anyone looking to improve posture.
To stretch the front of the neck, turn your head slightly to one side, about forty-five degrees. If you turn your head to the right, you are stretching the left and vice versa. Place your right hand on left side of your chest and pull down gently as you tilt your head back. Stop immediately if you feel sharp pain or any dizziness.
To strengthen the back of the neck, the easiest route would be with a neck exercise machine. Some health clubs have them, but they are more of a specialized device. You can also fold up a towel and place it against a wall. Put the back of your head against the towel and push into it. Hold for a few seconds and release. This is an isometric contraction.
If you are unable to complete some of these movements, or you find that you can’t painlessly move your head backwards, it may be time to visit a chiropractor. The chiropractor will perform a spinal adjustment and restore the normal movement of your spine.
Your neck shouldn’t hurt just because you’re sitting in front of your computer. You’ve got to work and pain can be a nuisance, but it doesn’t have to be there with a little effort.
You’ve set up your computer workstation as effectively as you can figure. Your keyboard is appropriately placed in front of you and your monitor is directly in front of you at eye level. So why will your neck start to hurt? Why will your effectiveness be destroyed by the nagging, aggravating neck pain that seems to show up more and more frequently?
If you are regularly spending a lot of time in front of a computer, you have to realize that your body is going to begin to change and adapt to take on this frequent activity. Your front neck muscles are slowly growing shorter and tighter, while the muscles in the back of your neck are growing longer and weaker.
The back muscles are also growing full of spasm and knots while they are forced to hold up your ten pound head for hours at a time. You would think they would grow stronger from having to hold your head up all the time, but it just never seems to work that way. As they get longer, they are growing weaker, and the job of holding up your head becomes increasingly difficult.
The best options are to do exercises and activities that will counteract the extended computer usage. The rule of thumb is to spend time stretching the front of your neck and strengthening the muscles in the back. This same rule applies to anyone looking to improve posture.
To stretch the front of the neck, turn your head slightly to one side, about forty-five degrees. If you turn your head to the right, you are stretching the left and vice versa. Place your right hand on left side of your chest and pull down gently as you tilt your head back. Stop immediately if you feel sharp pain or any dizziness.
To strengthen the back of the neck, the easiest route would be with a neck exercise machine. Some health clubs have them, but they are more of a specialized device. You can also fold up a towel and place it against a wall. Put the back of your head against the towel and push into it. Hold for a few seconds and release. This is an isometric contraction.
If you are unable to complete some of these movements, or you find that you can’t painlessly move your head backwards, it may be time to visit a chiropractor. The chiropractor will perform a spinal adjustment and restore the normal movement of your spine.
Your neck shouldn’t hurt just because you’re sitting in front of your computer. You’ve got to work and pain can be a nuisance, but it doesn’t have to be there with a little effort.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
