Archive for November, 2008
Does Chiropractic Work?
As a chiropractor, I am always asked “Does chiropractic really work?” This is an unfair and a loaded question. Chiropractic care is a very effective form of treatment for some things and not for others.
Being a Chiropractor in San Diego, I see sports related injuries all year round. Running injuries, falls from bicycles or rollerblades, golf injuries, basketball injuries – you name it and most likely we have seen it. More often than not these injuries result in typical sprain / strains that result in neck pain, back pain, sciatica etc.
The types of injuries that I just listed are a few of many joint injuries / symptoms that chiropractic care is very effective in treating. You might say that chiropractic care was made for such injuries. The reason that I say this is because of the nature of these types of injuries.
The typical sprain / strain injury usually results when a fall or an accident forces a joint through an excessive or abnormal range of motion. This type of injury stretches the ligaments and muscles that move and support the spine. The result of this type of injury is irritation and inflammation of the joint and scar tissue formation.
Without chiropractic treatment, the scar tissue from sprain / strain injuries restricts and or alters normal joint motion which can cause pain and stiffness. Chiropractic manipulations help to restore full, normal joint motion by breaking down scar tissue that would otherwise cause stiffness and pain.
Chiropractic care is an excellent form of therapy for reducing the effects of postural stress from sitting at a computer, poor lifting habits, poor posture and a variety of other stresses that we expose ourselves to on a daily basis.
So, does chiropractic work? The only way to know is go visit one and see. Chiropractors want their treatment to work and are reluctant to take on cases that may not properly respond to their therapy. No doctor that I know wants to have unsuccessful treatment sessions during the course of their work day. A good chiropractor can look at your history, perform an examination and make a sound determination on how well you will respond to care.
Here’s To Your Health
Dr. Jones
Chiropractic Care and Athletic Performance
Chiropractic Care in San Diego is utilized for both crisis care and for wellness care / preventive care.
Our population has a passion for fitness and exercise. Chiropractic treatment helps keep neck pain, back pain and other body aches from slowing us down.
Neck pain and back pain typically respond very well to chiropractic treatment. Chiropractic care helps restore normal joint motion which is vital to a healthy neck and back.
One of the wonderful benefits of chiropractic treatment is its ability to help active people avoid neck pain, back pain and other spinal injuries.
Getting chiropractic adjustments in a regular basis helps your spine maintain its full range of motion and flexibility. Typically, it is a loss of normal range of motion and flexibility that exposes us to injuries. Chiropractic care that is delivered prior to an aggravation, in other words “when the patient is not in pain” is a perfect example of preventative healthcare.
Chiropractic adjustments gently push the joint through its entire range of motion. When your joints are moved through their full range of motion by a trained chiropractor, tight muscles associated with that joint are stretched out and scar tissue that has formed in and around those joints is broken down.
Usually, having your spine adjusted is not a painful procedure. Most of the time, the patients in my San Diego chiropractic clinic feel a sense of pressure relief and relaxation in their backs when they are adjusted.
This feeling of pressure release and relaxation is due to a number events that occur during an adjustment.
When the spine is adjusted, there is a reflexive relaxation of tight muscles that occurs. Relaxed muscles are much more comfortable than tight, spasmed muscles.
Another event that takes place with an adjustment involves the “pain gate”. Adjustments trigger the “pain gate” in the nervous system which, as it implies, decreases our sensations of pain.
On a mechanical level, chiropractic care stretches tight muscle and ligaments and helps breakdown restrictive scar tissue. This effect improves our spines’ range of motion resulting is feeling of increased flexibility.
As a chiropractor in San Diego, I notice that a healthy percentage of my treatments revolve around spinal maintenance and improving athletic performance.
Chiropractic treatment is a vital part of maintaining your health.
Here’s To Your Health
Dr. Jones
Arm Pain, Neck Pain and Chiropractic Treatment
Have you ever slept on your arm and had it fall asleep? Imagine if it felt like that all of the time.
A few months ago I had a young lady come to my San Diego Chiropractic office with these complaints. In addition to numbness and tingling, she had neck pain, shoulder pain, arm pain, wrist pain and hand pain. She also complained of weakness in her left hand, which was resulting in clumsiness and was affecting her work as an executive secretary.
These complaints are seen with regular frequency in my chiropractic office. The process is a familiar one and common with many musculoskeletal conditions that involve the nervous system. Usually, postural stresses such as leaning over a desk or computer will eventually irritate a specific joint in the spine. The irritation of the joint causes inflammation of the muscles and ligaments that move and support that joint. This inflammation will cause compression of the local nerves and blood vessels resulting in pain and muscle spasm. If the nerve compression persists, numbness, tingling and weakness of the related muscles will follow.
This patient was displaying signs and symptoms of long-term nerve root compression that involved her left arm and hand.
We treated her with chiropractic manipulations that were delivered with the specific goal of eliminating the nerve root compression. She was also treated with ice packs, hot packs, electrical muscle stimulation and ultrasound in order to address the soft tissue inflammation. In addition to in office care she was given a set of stretches and exercises for at home therapy and advised to use ice packs daily for twenty minutes per session.
It took approximately eight weeks of active care, which is three treatment visits per week, to relieve 90% of her pain and 90% of her left arm weakness. The rest of her symptoms will resolve with at home therapy and chiropractic care delivered on an as needed basis for flair-ups that will occur in the future.
Your’s In Good Health
Dr. Jones
Chiropractic Care, Nutrition and Health
Being a Chiropractor in San Diego brings special challenges. In addition to our population leading more active and physically demanding lifestyles, they also are more likely to seek out alternative health care.
Neck pain, back pain, headaches and sciatica rule the symptoms that instigate new patient and returning patient visits.
What do they all want? Chiropractic adjustments of course!
Most of my patients consider themselves to be purveyors of natural health care. However, when asked about nutrition, most of them don’t have a good handle on it. Hence the topic of this blog post.
I thought that I would do a very brief overview of vitamins.
Vitamins are essential for us to maintain a healthy body. They regulate metabolism and assist the processes that release energy from digested food. The body needs vitamins in much smaller amounts than it needs carbohydrates, fats, proteins and water. Vitamins are considered MICRONUTRIENTS.
Vitamins act as coenzymes that work with enzymes that are the foundation of all humane bodily functions. They are the catalysts or activators in all of our chemical reactions.
Vitamins exist in two categories; water soluble and oil soluble. Water soluble vitamins must be taken into the body daily. Water soluble vitamins cannot be stored in the body and are usually utilized and excreted within 24 hours. Vitamin C and the B vitamins are examples of water soluble vitamins.
Oil soluble vitamins are stored for longer periods of time in our fatty tissues and in the liver. Examples of oil soluble vitamins include A, D, E, and K.
Both types of vitamins are necessary for maintaining health and fitness.
Vitamins are a small piece of nutrition. Just as important as taking vitamins is the ability to resist the urge to eat junk.
Soda, deep fried foods, tobacco, alcohol, refined sugar and many others steal our health.
True health maintenance has to include examining our nutrition.
Here’s To Your Health
Dr. Jones
What to do in Case of an Auto Accident
Do you know what and what not to do after an auto accident?
It is that time of the year again. You know, when the roads are wet with rain and half the people on the road drive like it is dry (FAST) and the other half slow down to half the posted limit. People who live in San Diego only see an average of 11 rainy days per year. That is about 3 percent of the time. Until your car loses traction and you hit another vehicle, most don’t realize how quickly and easily it can happen. While an accident usually starts and ends in matter of seconds, the neck pain, headaches, back pain, etc. can continue for weeks, months or sometimes, years.
In addition to the typical physical aches and pains associated with auto accident injuries, there are legalities to consider as well. Sometimes there are disputes as to who is the guilty party that is responsible for the accident. Many people will deny their responsibility even though their role in the accident is obvious. If you have been involved in an automobile accident, there are a number of things you can do to preserve your legal rights.
The following is a summary of some of the most important things you can do to protect your legal rights after an automobile accident:
1. Do not leave the scene. If you leave the scene of an automobile accident, you may be criminally prosecuted. You are required to provide your name, address, driver’s license and auto insurance information to the other driver.
2. Assess yourself for injuries and then, if you are able, help the injured if there are any. If someone has been injured in the accident, you should call for an ambulance / paramedics and assist them to the extent you are qualified. Before calling for the ambulance, be prepared to give an accurate location of the accident and a count of the number of individuals injured.
3. Avoid additional collisions. Make sure your vehicle is not presenting a safety hazard to other motorists. If possible, it should be moved so that it is not obstructing traffic. You can further warn oncoming traffic to proceed with caution by setting flares, turning on your hazard lights, and raising the hood and trunk of your vehicle.
4. Notify the police. Typically the police will prepare a report that contains specific information regarding the accident and the parties involved. While you may not be required to call the police, the accident reports they produce could be helpful to you later.
5. Do not admit liability. You should not admit responsibility for the accident to the other drivers, passengers, or to the police for that matter. You may convey facts concerning how the incident occurred; however, it is best not to comment on your responsibility (or liability) for the accident. This is a legal matter that is not always readily and easily ascertainable.
6. You should get the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of any individuals involved in the accident, as well as any witnesses to the accident. You should also obtain the name of the insurance company and policy number of the other drivers involved. If possible, you may take photographs to document the accident scene including skid marks, road obstructions, and damage to the vehicles.
7. Notify your insurance company. If you do not give your insurance company prompt notice, your policy may provide that the insurance company may deny coverage for your claim. Accordingly, you should give your insurance company notice by way of telephone and by written notice that provides you a means of proving such notice was given, such as by facsimile or by certified mail. You should provide your insurance company with all information they request concerning the facts of the accident.
8. Consult a chiropractic doctor to evaluate your neck and back for injuries. Some injuries may not manifest themselves until some period of time after the accident; the fact that you do not immediately feel as though you have been injured does not necessarily mean that no injury has occurred. You should consult your insurance agent to see if the cost of seeing a doctor in connection with the accident is covered by your insurance policy. You should not settle your claims for injuries arising from the accident until you have been advised by your chiropractic doctor as to the full extent of your injuries.
I hope that you find this information helpful. Drive safe!
Your’s In Good Health
Dr. Jones
Reaching and Workstation Ergonomics
Have you ever noticed how tight your neck, upper back and shoulders are after a long day of sitting at the computer?
There are a number of factors that contribute to this tightness. Simply the stress of deadlines, an overbearing boss or an annoying co-worker can make your shoulders rise up and your head push forward. And this stress is the result of just the emotional stress of work. When you add the real physical strains of a poorly designed work station on top of the emotional stresses that already exist you have a perfect recipe for a repetitive stress injury.
A large part of designing an ergonomically friendly workstation revolves around limiting the “reach” for items that are frequently accessed.
The distance that you have to reach for any object in your workspace can have major implications on your health. In general, workers should have the items that they use on a regular basis through the day such as the mouse and keyboard for computer users or the telephone for a receptionist or a sales person, positioned close to their bodies so as to avoid awkward or overreaching.
As a general rule, the best positioning for your keyboard and mouse allows you to operate them while your shoulders hang straight down at your sides and elbows are slightly extended. This position reduces the stress of overreaching and allows for completion of your tasks with less muscular effort.
There are many ergonomic apparatus that allow for proper placement of your computer input devices. Pull out keyboard trays, split keyboards, mouse platforms and even foot controls help reduce the ongoing stresses of computer input.
Even with these devices, it takes awareness to maintain an ergonomically friendly work environment.
For a nice selection of high quality ergonomic office products you can visit www.comfortkeyboard.com.
Your’s In Good Health
Dr. Jones
Bad Posture and Back Pain
Have you ever injured your back and scratched your head and wondered – how did this happen when my back has felt fine up until now?
Patients present to my San Diego Chiropractic clinic on a regular basis with neck pain, back pain and other related symptoms that not only lack a history of pain in that area but also have no recent injury or accident to explain their current painful symptoms.
This is frustrating for the patient yet a typical presentation that I see in my Chiropractic office.
When patients come in for care with this type of history recent injury, my inquiries usually lead to a situation that involves excessive postural stress for that patient.
Ongoing postural stress affects our body much like the old analogy of the straws on the camels back. Our bodies are capable of compensating for quite a bit of stress before symptoms appear.
This is good and bad.
The good part of this situation is that if we didn’t compensate for all the little stresses that we are subjected to, we would be uncomfortable all the time. The bad part about compensation is that we often are not keen enough to recognize when our bodies are being exposed to ongoing low levels of stress.
Once the stress levels build to a certain point, the body part in question reacts with irritation, inflammation and muscle spasm. This combination produces pain and tightness and usually is the reason that patients call my office.
Postural stress can place an amazing amount of stress on your spine. One of my reference books has a chart that describes how different body positions affect the amount of pressure on your discs in the low back. The differences are amazing.
When standing straight up with ideal posture, the pressure in the discs of the low back is 100%. When lying flat on your back the pressure is at 24%. While sitting straight with good posture, the pressure is at 140% but when slouching forward with poor posture the disc pressure goes to a staggering 190%.
Considering that most of us sit for a good portion of the day, simply sitting becomes a significant source of stress for the lower back.
This kind of ongoing stress combined with an awkward twist or bend can generate a crisis for the low back leading the patient to wonder exactly how turning to pick that cup of coffee off the desk behind him / her lead to such a severe back pain and spasm.
Here’s To Your Health
Dr. Jones
Repetieve Stress / Cumulative Trauma Injuries – Continued
In addition to neck pain, back pain and headaches, my San Diego chiropractic office provides treatment for many patients with various types of repetitive stress injuries. This post will continue from where the last one left off and will describe what repetitive stress injuries are.
A Repetitive Stress Injury is a kind of catch all phrase for many conditions. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Tenosynovitis / DeQuervain’s Syndrome, Tendonitis, Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, Trigger Finger, Myofascial Pain Syndrome and Chronic Sprain / Strain are some of the actual diagnosis that are rendered in my office. All of these conditions are serious and in many cases can cause great pain, permanent disability and sometimes loss of employment.
Repetitive Stress Injuries occur from repetitive movements involving a specific set of muscles and joints. RSI injuries are the result of an accumulation of stress and strain that causes irritation, inflammation, and eventually pain or other disability. A good analogy used to characterize the onset of RSI would be the “straws on the camels back” saying.
Initially, RSI affects the soft tissues of the involved joint(s). Soft tissues include muscles, nerves, ligaments and tendons. However, if left untreated for long periods of time, the involved joint can become arthritic and form bone spurs resulting in permanent damage to the joint.
While various occupations ranging from meat cutters to construction workers develop RSIs that result from the typical duties of their professions, the most frequent cause of these injuries involve computer work. The constant muscular demands of keyboarding and mousing combined with the postural stress of confinement in an office chair with one’s neck and back held in prolonged fixed positions has resulted in an epidemic of injuries that includes hand pain, wrist pain, arm pain, neck pain, back pain and shoulder pain.
I hope that you are finding this information helpful. My next post will continue this series and will describe the basics of workstation ergonomic set-ups.
Your’s In Good Health
Dr. Jones
Chiropractic Care and Computer Work
Does computer work seem much more difficult (physically) than it should be?
The patients in my San Diego chiropractic practice often seem perplexed by the fact that they can be injured doing such sedentary work as computer work. Most are of the opinion that it takes a forceful and traumatic incident to result in injury.
Unfortunately, this is not the case. National statistics point to the computer as a major contributor to lost days at work due to injury. I see the same thing in my San Diego Chiropractic office. Neck pain, shoulder pain, wrist pain, hand pain and back pain are common among those who don’t have the proper ergonomic set-up of their computer stations. That being said, some people get these symptoms regardless of their ergonomic set-up and must evaluate many other contributing factors in order to relieve the stress.
Computer ergonomics is the study and / or implementation of workstation design with the purpose of reducing or eliminating physical stress.
My interest in repetitive stress syndromes began approximately 10 years ago when my practice started seeing a much greater number of people suffering from the effects of computer / keyboard work. Despite all of my training and continuing education related to these types of injuries, I quickly realized that traditional treatment for this type of injury was marginally successful at best.
Any type of therapy was going to have to include the application of basic ergonomic principals to the patient’s work environment.
I am of the opinion that treatment alone or application of ergonomic principles by themselves is not going to resolve a repetitive stress injury.
Over the next several weeks I will write a series of articles that will address the implication of workstation ergonomics and injury resulting from postural stress secondary to use of the computer mouse.
Specifically, the following will be addressed:
1) What repetitive stress injuries are
2) What role do work station ergonomics play in injury
3) How reaching for the mouse sets the stage for injury
4) What are the symptoms of repetitive stress injury
5) How you can avoid mouse reaching injuries
Your’s In Good Health
Dr. Jones
Arthritis and Back Pain
Arthritis is a scary word to most people. It is also a condition that most of think we will never be afflicted with.
In my San Diego Chiropractic clinic, I see people every day who suffer from the effects of arthritis. Besides the fact that arthritis slows you down and limits your physical abilities, it also causes pain. Neck pain, back pain, knee pain, shoulder pain and even headaches (secondary to the neck pain) are common complaints from people with arthritis.
Most of the patients that we provide chiropractic treatment for are suffering from a type of arthritis know as osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is also known as degenerative joint disease, degenerative arthritis and wear & tear arthritis. The term osteoarthritis describes a type of arthritis that occurs because of a wearing down of the joint. Other types of arthritis such as rheumatoid are due to a more aggressive auto immune response that destroys the joints much faster than osteoarthritis.
In some cases, osteoarthritis is the result of some injury to the joint that resulted in unnatural or awkward movements of that joint. In the medical community we refer to these abnormal movements as “biomechanical abnormalities” In many cases, a joint has to be exposed to biomechanical abnormalities for years before the joint becomes laden with arthritis.
In my chiropractic office, we treat many patients for automobile accidents. I always tell these patients that while I am not trying to minimize the pain that they are currently suffering from, the most important aspect of their entire treatment program is to help restore normal biomechanics of the spine. This is because eliminating the pain associated with car accident injuries is important but the initial pain that comes with a car accident is only a fraction of the long-term discomfort that comes with biomechanical abnormalities (arthritis).
Of course I am referring to a process that involves whiplash of a joint leading to scar tissue formation causing abnormal biomechanics that results in arthritic joints.
We do provide effective treatment for the PAIN of arthritis but there is no treatment that CURES it.
The bottom line is this: If you have neck pain or back pain now, get treatment for it before it becomes an incurable disorder like arthritis.
Your’s In Good Health
Dr. Jones
Building a Strong & Healthy Spine
Have you ever wondered what it takes to build a healthy spine?
Being a Chiropractor in San Diego, I see many types of injuries. These injuries result in symptoms such as neck pain, back pain, chronic headaches, etc. The cause of these injuries ranges from car accidents and work or sports injuries to injuries caused by more domestic duties that result from around the house chores and sometimes things as simple as sleeping in an awkward position.
Of these injured patients, I would say that at least for the moment, while they are in pain, at least 75% of them ask “what can I do for myself to make sure that this doesn’t happen again?” This question served as the inspiration for this article and I will address in this post.
To begin with, pain is a great motivator. When people are in pain they take a proactive approach to their health. People often inquire about what kind of stretch or exercising that they can start right away. Unfortunately, the best thing that you can do while your injury is new is to apply ice packs to the injured area and rest. More often than not, over my 15 plus years in practice I have seen enthusiastic patients ignore this advice and end up giving their conditions major set backs. The time to start exercising and stretching your back for most of us is when it is out of its acute stage of pain.
My biggest struggles in practice have been dealing with my patients exercise and diet habits. Exercise is one of the few things that a patient can do at home, outside of chiropractic care, to help prevent or diminish the chances of developing back pain.
After an injury, you should approach exercise cautiously – almost to a point where the exercise that you are performing feels like it is doing nothing. If you can get through a few low intensity exercise sessions like this without aggravating your condition, you should slowly add resistance which allows you to build confidence and strength at the same time.
This is a sensible approach to exercising after a back injury. Slow and cautious – and under the advise of a health care professional. Strong muscles add strength and support to your spine and can only serve you in a beneficial way.
More Coming Soon
Dr. Jones
Building a Strong & Healthy Spine
Have you ever wondered what it takes to build a healthy spine?
Being a Chiropractor in San Diego, I see many types of injuries. These injuries result in symptoms such as neck pain, back pain, chronic headaches, etc. The cause of these injuries ranges from car accidents and work or sports injuries to injuries caused by more domestic duties that result from around the house chores and sometimes things as simple as sleeping in an awkward position.
Of these injured patients, I would say that at least for the moment, while they are in pain, at least 75% of them ask “what can I do for myself to make sure that this doesn’t happen again?” This question served as the inspiration for this article and I will address in this post.
To begin with, pain is a great motivator. When people are in pain they take a proactive approach to their health. People often inquire about what kind of stretch or exercising that they can start right away. Unfortunately, the best thing that you can do while your injury is new is to apply ice packs to the injured area and rest. More often than not, over my 15 plus years in practice I have seen enthusiastic patients ignore this advice and end up giving their conditions major set backs. The time to start exercising and stretching your back for most of us is when it is out of its acute stage of pain.
My biggest struggles in practice have been dealing with my patients exercise and diet habits. Exercise is one of the few things that a patient can do at home, outside of chiropractic care, to help prevent or diminish the chances of developing back pain.
After an injury, you should approach exercise cautiously – almost to a point where the exercise that you are performing feels like it is doing nothing. If you can get through a few low intensity exercise sessions like this without aggravating your condition, you should slowly add resistance which allows you to build confidence and strength at the same time.
This is a sensible approach to exercising after a back injury. Slow and cautious – and under the advise of a health care professional. Strong muscles add strength and support to your spine and can only serve you in a beneficial way.
More Coming Soon
Dr. Jones