Posts Tagged ‘arm pain’
Is Whiplash Haunting You?
Is Whiplash Haunting You?
Well, it happened again. This past Monday I had a new patient in my San Diego Chiropractic clinic that was complaining of neck pain with radiating pain in his right arm.
This patient had been in a car accident in which he was whiplashed nearly 20 years earlier and he stated that his neck pain began as a result of that accident. Like many of my patients, he never received care for his neck injury because he always thought it would go away even though as the years passed he felt that his episodes of pain were increasing in both frequency and intensity.
This past weekend he woke up with his typical stiff neck but this time it was accompanied by a dull aching pain that radiated down his arm and into his right hand.
Since radiating pain can be caused by anything from muscle spasms to herniated discs I sent him for x-rays so I could see why his arm was achy. As I expected from an old, untreated whiplash injury, this patient had his share of spinal arthritis including a few large bone spurs and thinning discs. These x-ray findings were consistent with his current symptoms and his whiplash history.
Unfortunately for this patient any kind of treatment whether medical, acupuncture or in this case, chiropractic care will only be to help control his symptoms – there will be no “cure” for him. Treatment for whiplash needs to begin within days or weeks of the injury to give the best chances of avoiding this patient’s situation.
Statistics tells us that even with early treatment that approximately 25% of whiplash victims who receive care will develop chronic pain due to their injuries. Some studies show that up to 75% of patients who don’t receive early care or any care at all will likely suffer from ongoing pain related to the long term effects of their injuries.
This patient would be in much better shape had he received treatment for his injuries 20 years ago versus waiting until now, unfortunately his wait and see approach has resulted in chronic pain that will require ongoing attention.
Yours In Good Health
Dr. Steve Jones
(619) 280-0554
Chiropractic and Stretching
Try to be More Flexible in 2009 – Stretching and Chiropractic.
The headline of this article could be interpreted in a variety of different ways. For the purposes of this blog post it will address our physical flexibility. Flexibility is an important measure of our physical fitness. Flexibility is just as important to our overall health as is strength, endurance, aerobic capacity and body composition.
One of the big problems that I encounter with my patients in my San Diego Chiropractic office is a lack of flexibility in the joints. Strong muscles that span flexible joints is ideal for everything from mundane household chores to weekend athletic adventures. A lack of stretching catches up to us when we perform movements beyond the normal for our lifestyles or activities. In some cases, an extreme movement can be something as simple as reaching to the table behind you for your cup of coffee. Neck pain, back pain, arm pain and leg pain can all occur as a result of injuries due to inflexibility.
As a general rule, as our bodies age, our physical fitness degrades. Regarding flexibility, we tend to loose it. That is why it is very important to develop flexibility when we are younger and maintain it as we get older. Even those of us in our forties or older must try to regain some and maintain most of our flexibility even though we are not 20 something anymore.
I always tell people to think about how much strength, endurance or in this case flexibility that they have lost in the last 10 or 20 years. I know that I am not as physically fit as I was when I was 20 or even 30 years old. There is no way that I want that same trend to continue over the next 20 years. In order to prevent the atrophy of our bodies we have to maintain them through stretching and exercise.
In addition to perhaps regaining the ability to touch your toes, becoming more flexible will also help in the following ways.
1) Helps Relieve Stress: Flexible muscles are loose and relaxed muscles. Loose, flexible muscles are less likely to tighten up during stressful, tense situations.
2) Helps Improve Posture: Loose muscles help your body maintain better posture. Avoiding unnecessary postural stress will help you feel better.
3) Helps Increase Circulation: Increased circulation comes as a result of consistent stretching. Improved circulation helps bring nourishment to your muscles while removing toxic build-up of lactic acid and other waste products.
4) Helps Improve Coordination: Stretching will improve your joints range of motion providing for better balance, mobility and coordination. Improved coordination will help us with all athletic activities and help prevent falls as we age.
I always recommend stretching in the form of Yoga. Stores like Target have many instructional DVDs on Yoga. I have always found that Rodney Yee produces better than average DVD courses on Yoga. If you are not experienced in Yoga you will need to start with a beginners course, many people look at Yoga and assume that it is easy. THIS IS NOT THE CASE. Yoga is not only a great stretch but an excellent work out and you can hurt yourself if you over-do it.
Some guidelines for safe stretching include:
1) Warm up Before You Begin
2) Don’t Bounce While Stretching
3) Avoid Pain While Stretching – It Should Feel Like A Good Stretch – Not A Painful One
4) Stretch Both Sides
5) Stretch Both Before and After Exercise
Your’s In Good 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
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