Quick Fix

Rarely a day goes by that I don’t have a patient in my office with neck or low back pain. Surprisingly, many of these people truly believe that when they go to see a chiropractor or physiotherapist that a “quick fix” is readily available. Even though I have personally witnessed many people make incredible improvements with only a single chiropractic treatment, expecting that outcome out of every treatment would be wrong.

In most cases, regardless of the type of practitioner or their preferred method of treatment, correcting a physical problem often requires a series of treatments over time. In any injury, there are always a few phases that a person must pass through. First, there is the “acute” phase. This is the initial period of time immediately after the injury where there is lots of inflammation, pain, muscle spasm, etc. Second, there is the “healing” phase. This is when your body is healing itself naturally. There are no medications that can do this for you. Third, there is the “rehabilitative” phase. This is after the pain and other symptoms have subsided and the injured area is strengthened or rehabilitated. It is important to understand that even though the pain is gone at this stage, the area is still vulnerable to re-injury.

Although many people would disagree, a lack of pain does not mean that you are healthy or a problem has been completely fixed. Eliminating the “pain” or symptoms is only one of the necessary steps to a full recovery. The theory “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is usually wrong no matter what you apply it to. What I am getting at is that an absence of pain or simply “feeling better” does not mean that you should discontinue your treatment and assume you are 100%. Pain is commonly the first symptom to disappear. What I see on a daily bases is a patient will go back to gardening or push mowing the yard the moment they are “pain free”. Since they are feeling better, they believe they can go back to life as normal. With this mindset they end up re-injuring themselves and possibly making the condition worst than is initially was all because they went back to doing too much too soon because they were “pain free”. With that in mind, follow through with a practitioner’s treatment recommendations so that you fully rehabilitate your injury. This will prevent the problem from re-occurring.

Another important point is that even after you fully recover from an injury, you must make the necessary changes so that it doesn’t happen again. For example, if you slipped in the tub and sprained your shoulder, put a non-slip mat in the bottom of the tub. But what if your low back is sore from your job sitting all day while driving or working at a desk? Do you simply quit your job? I would think not. In this instance, you must do more to look after yourself so that your body can tolerate the physical stress your job creates. You may have to exercise more, work less, lose weight, see your chiropractor more often, etc. None of these are easy things to do. But, you can’t expect your chiropractor, or any other practitioner, to fix your problem and keep it that way when you are not willing to reduce or compensate for the aggravating factors that are creating your problem in the first place.

If you have any questions about neck pain or a topic for my next blog, email me at landrumdc@gmail.com or visit my website, http://www.landrumdc.com

Numb Hands in the Mornings?

Do you frequently wake up at night because your hands and lower arms have gone numb or “asleep”? You may find that it happens when you are sitting at a desk or even when driving long distances. This is commonly caused by compression of the nerves and blood vessels that enter the arm. The technical term is referred to as “thoracic outlet syndrome”.

The neck portion of your spine, the cervical spine, has seven vertebrae. Passing inside of vertebrae is the spinal cord. Originating from the spinal cord, there are eight nerves. These nerves exit the spine between each of the vertebrae and combine together into a large bundle of nerves. The bundle of nerves then pass under the chest muscles, through the shoulder and down the arm. The primary function for most of these nerves is to control pain or touch sensations and the contraction of the muscles of the arm.

When someone sleeps with their arm under their pillow or over their head, the bundle of nerves can become mildly stretched. When this happens, the nerves cannot perform their job as well. For example, if a water droplet hits your hand, a message from the hand is sent through the nerves to the spinal cord and then to the brain. Your brain then consciously tells you that your hand is being touched. So, if the nerves become stretched, they cannot communicate their message to the spine properly. This will eventually make your hand and arm feel numb and weak. This can also happen to those of you that prefer to sleep curled up into the fetal position. Your arms are likely curled up tight in front of your chest. This position causes compression of the nerves as they pass through the shoulder and into the arm area. The resulting numbness in the arm and hand will occur again for the same reason. Also, if you spend too much time at the computer or drive for long distances, the muscles in the chest and shoulder can become very tight. This can also compress the nerves as they pass through the shoulder and give the same result of numbness. If these muscles are only mildly tight but not enough to cause numbness, the overall space that the nerves have to pass through is still less. If you combine this scenario with your arm in the previously mentioned sleeping positions, you are even more vulnerable to experience the numbness.


So how stop the numbness? First of all, avoid sleeping with your arms over your head or curled up in front of you. To alleviate the potentially tight muscles in the chest and shoulder, a simple stretch has been shown. Avoid a slouching posture, as the shoulders will roll forward and further decrease the available space for the nerves to pass through the shoulder and into the arm. If you are experiencing numbness into the arm or hand, you should also have your neck properly examined by a Chiropractor because all of these nerves pass through this area. Problems in the neck can cause symptoms very similar to Thoracic Outlet Syndrome.

Next week I will discuss proper sleeping positions. If you have any questions about neck pain or a topic for my next blog, email me at landrumdc@gmail.com or visit my website, http://www.landrumdc.com

It’s Time to Rake Leaves!

It’s Time to Rake Leaves!

Get your rakes out! It’s time again to get your rakes and blowers out of your sheds and spend your weekends picking up those colorful extracts from your trees

It is very surprising how many people end up calling the office early Monday mornings because of the acute low back pain they have earned while raking. This is usually due to raking in the incorrect posture for too long at one time. The weight of the leaves or needles is not usually the culprit. The most common cause of the low back pain is the repetitive twisting motion that many people do as they pull the rake towards themselves. Our backs are not designed to handle repetitive twisting motions, especially if lifting is involved.

Commonly, you don’t even notice the pain while raking. It often builds up during the night when your back is no longer moving. During this time, the inflammation or swelling accumulates and the joints become stiffened. You then jump out of bed thinking your raked your whole yard and got off pain free when the acute muscle spasm and pain hits you. You might even have a sharp pain that may or may not travel down to the leg or buttocks.

The best treatment for this condition is to restore normal joint movement of the area and keep it that way long enough for it to heal. Chiropractors receive good results in my office by doing adjustments of the effected joints to restore their mobility. By having good mobility in the swollen and sore joints, the swelling can be flushed out, the circulation inside the joint is improved, and the joints heal much faster with less pain. It is important that people understand that only your body will heal the injury and that the chiropractor is just making that system work more efficiently and at a faster rate. Applying ice packs or even frozen peas for ten to fifteen minutes at a time, two to three times per day, will help decrease the swelling around the nerves and joints. In the unfortunate event that something more serious has occurred, such as a herniated disk, the chiropractor is trained to identify and conservatively treat it. If conservative therapy will not work, the appropriate referral to a specialist can be made. This is usually done in conjunction with your medical doctor.

Of course, the best cure for low back pain is prevention. When you are raking, keep your back straight and pull the rake directly towards your body. Do not pull the rake to your side, as this will automatically encourage your back to twist. It is also important to not try to rake the entire yard in one day. Spread the job out over a few days. Some may laugh at this, but it is recommended that you actually warm up and stretch before starting to rake. Go for a light ten-minute walk and do a few repetitions of stretching for the low back before starting. Lastly, an emerging trend in the leaf extraction business is with leaf blowers. Leaf blowers help decrease the amount of bending over and twisting that you would normally have to perform and even speed up the process. Regardless of which method you take, it’s time to get started! Leaf removal starts November 1 (Hopkinsville, KY)!

If you have any questions about back pain or a topic for my next blog, email me at landrumdc@gmail.com or visit my website, http://www.landrumdc.com

Whiplash

Whiplash can be defined as any injury to the neck caused by a sudden movement of the head, backwards, forwards, or sideways. Whether from a car accident, sports, or an accident at work, whiplash or other neck injuries warrant a thorough chiropractic check-up. The biggest danger with whiplash injuries is that the symptoms can take from months to years to develop. Too often people don't seek treatment until more serious complications develop. Even after whiplash victims settle their insurance claims, some 45% report they still suffer with symptoms two years later.

In the past a typical whiplash injury, where no bones were broken, were hard to document. Soft tissue injury didn't show up on normal x-rays/radiographs and insurance companies would deny coverage. Literally adding insult to injury, the patient's real pain was sometimes considered to be a fraud, a liar, or at best a hypochondriac. Today’s imaging devices (CAT Scans, MRI and Ultra Sound) now show soft tissue injuries with much greater detail.

Whenever someone has a whiplash injury, there are typical symptoms that one may experience.

When there are no bones broken and the head doesn't strike the windshield, the following symtoms are the most common:


62% to 98% complain of neck pain, which typically starts two hours up to two days after the accident. This is often the result of tightened muscles that react to either muscle tears or joint sprains.

66% to 70% of those suffering from whiplash complain of headache. The pain may be on one side or both, on again off again or constant, in one spot or more general. These headaches, like the neck pain, are often the result of strained, tense muscles trying to keep the sprained cervical joints of the neck stable. They pain of these headaches are often felt at the back of the head, forehead, temples, and behind the eyes.

Shoulder pain often described as pain radiating down the back of the neck into the shoulder blade area, may also be the result of tensed muscles.

Muscle tears are often described as burning pain, prickling or tingling.

A more severe injury, such as disc damage or herniation, may cause sharp pain with certain movements, with or without radiation into the arms, hand and fingers, which are relieved by holding your hand over your head.

The following is a list of other symptoms that one may feel after a whiplash injury:

Blurred vision

Difficulty swallowing

Irritability

Fatigue

Dizziness

Pain between the shoulder blades

Low back pain and/or stiffness

Nausea

Ringing in the ears

Vertigo

Numbness and tingling

Pain in the jaw or face


If you experience any of these symptoms, play it safe and get a chiropractic check up. To see a chiropractor in regards to any type of related injury, you do not need a referral from your medical doctor. Once a proper examination is performed and an accurate diagnosis is made, safe and conservative chiropractic treatment can commence.

If you have any questions about your back pain give me an email at landrumdc@gmail.com or visit my website http://www.landrumdc.com

Snow Shoveling can be a Pain in the Back!

As the white stuff begins to accumulate on our sidewalks and streets, we will
have the wonderful task of getting out there and shoveling it. As with every year when
we receive a good dump of snow, I will be anticipating the rush of patients into the office suffering with acute low back pain.

Most people are not use to a long stint of physical work that requires a lot
of low back movement and strength. So, when they challenge themselves too much,
problems often arise. The most common scenario involves an average person just like
you that may not even have arthritis or an old injury that would predispose you to having
problems. However, you may have mildly stiff joints and muscles in your back but not
enough to cause pain or restrict any regular daily activities. This means that your lower back
may have only 80% of its potential mobility and strength and you do not even know it.
This would not interfere with your work or day-to-day activities and you would not even
be consciously aware of it. However, when you go out and shovel that heavy wet snow
for an hour and demand the full 100% of your back’s potential….it cannot handle it.

At first your back may just feel a little stiff and perhaps weak. Then, after sitting down or
relaxing for a while, the ache begins as the inflammation in the joints accumulates. If
you are unlucky enough to have the inflammation around or near a nerve, the pain will
become worse. Once the nerves are irritated, they begin to fire at a greater become “over stimulated”. Then, whatever the nerve is responsible for controlling, such as the muscles, will also function at a higher level of intensity and become “over stimulated”. This is where the muscle spasms originate. They feel like waves of sharp pain that can hit you even during the smallest of movements. You may also experience pain or tingling down one leg, commonly termed “sciatica”. At this point, it may even hurt to cough, laugh, sneeze, or to do just about anything. If you are stubborn, you will stall a day or so “waiting for it to go away”. It is then that most people slowly walk into my office. The joints in your low back would now be extremely stiff and sore.

For any joint in our body to heal properly once it is injured, it must be able to
move properly. When it comes to restoring the proper range of motion of stiff, sore, and
inflamed joints, no health care practitioner is better trained to do it than a chiropractor.
Only when the mobility of the joints is fully restored and maintained will they heal
naturally, completely, and at a much faster rate. By restoring the normal functioning of your spine, it is able to heal faster and more efficiently. An even better treatment for low back pain from shoveling snow is prevention ofthe injury in the first place.

The technique you use to shovel the snow is very important. Push the snow shovel in front of you. Don’t push the snow at the side of your body in a sweeping motion. This will make your low back twist repetitively and you will be forced to lean to one side. If you use this improper motion, you are just asking for a sore back. If the snowfall is deep and heavy and you have a large area to do, don’t try to shovel the entire driveway at once. The remaining snow will still be there the next day still waiting for you.

If you have any questions about your back pain give me an email at landrumdc@gmail.com or visit my website http://www.landrumdc.com/