Posts Tagged ‘shoulder pain’

How To Pick A Good Mattress

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

One of the more frequent questions that the patients of my San Diego Chiropractic practice have asked me over the years is “What is the best bed to get?”

As with most things in life, what is good for me may not be so good for you and visa-versa. As a general rule, the firmer the sleeping surfaces the better. That being said, a mattress should be comfortable. Remember however that comfort can be a fleeting thing – we can feel comfortable as we fall asleep but awake with back pain, stiff necks, sore shoulders or hip pain. A comfortable mattress should allow you get a full nights sleep and awake feeling pain free and rested. Some stores offer a comfort exchange plan that will allow you to exchange the mattress after a month or two if it is not a good fit for you.

A mattress should also offer the right amount of support for your lower back, shoulders and hips. The mattress should have enough give for your hips and shoulders so that when you are lying on your side your spinal column remains straight.

Another thing to consider is the cost of a new bed. This is an issue that I have with my patients that drives me absolutely crazy! If we get the recommended 8 hours of sleep each night, that equates to one third of the hours of each day that we spend in our beds. I have patients and friends who are so cheap when it comes to buying a new mattress while at the same time they spend $30,000, $40,000, $50,000 or more on cars that they drive for less than an hour each day.

Over the years, I have had patients buy mattresses from all the major brands. The Tempurpedic mattress or one made of memory foam are always popular as are the air support beds like the Select Comfort.

The bed that my patients have had the most satisfaction with is the Select Comfort. The idea of being able to change the firmness of the sleeping surface is a nice feature. I like to recommend this mattress because it can change as your comfort needs change.

Your’s In Good Health


Dr. Jones

(619) 280-0554
www.JonesPainRelief.com

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Cold Weather, Pain and Chiropractic Care

Monday, December 14th, 2009

Are you one of those people who knows when it is going to rain because your joints hurt? Are your joints sensitive to cold weather? If so, you are not alone.

Joint pain from either cold or rainy weather is typically due to pre-arthritis or arthritis of the joints. The reason that joints ache when the weather shifts is debatable. Many experts feel as though scar tissue is at the source of this pain.

As it turns out, scar tissue is believed to be very sensitive to the changes in barometric pressure that come with rain as well as extreme changes in temperature.

Once one of our joints has been injured in a fall, motor vehicle accident, work injury, etc., the process of joint degeneration begins. The initial injury causes irritation of the joint. The irritation leads to inflammation which later cause scar tissue formation. Scar tissue not only limits joint motion but can be a source of pain itself. This is why some long lasting chronic joint problems are associated with both pain and stiffness.

Chiropractic care helps control joint pain by stretching and breaking down the scar tissue that is limiting joint motion and causing pain.

Through chiropractic manipulations, scar tissue that is responsible for neck pain, back pain, shoulder pain, etc, can be reorganized and less of a burden to normal joint motion. Like anything mechanical in this world, if the parts (in this case the parts of the joint) are moving like they are supposed to with minimal restrictions, they will last longer and provide more years of reliable use.

Your’s In Good Health


Dr. Jones

(619) 280-0554
www.JonesPainRelief.com

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Ergonomic Principles Part 2

Friday, August 7th, 2009

In my last post regarding ergonomics, I reviewed five of the ten principles of ergonomics.
In this post I will review the rest of the ten principles of ergonomics. Remember that it is easy to think of ergonomic principles only being applied to your work duties but it is just as important to apply them to your at home and recreational activities as well.

Ergonomics should be taken into consideration when driving or working on cars, while playing musical instruments, during your workouts / exercise, walking the dog, etc.

So, picking up where I left off…

Principle 6 – Design workstations to allow for change of posture if at all possible. Sit / stand work stations with a higher seating surface allows you to significantly reduce postural stress by giving you the option to change positions and keep movement.

Principle 7 – Work stations should be spacious. Work should not be confined by cramped environments. The area should be large enough to allow for adequate room to complete the task yet contained enough to allow easy access to tools or other items necessary to complete the task.

Principle 8 – Make sure that your work is located at the proper height. You should be able to reach your work without overextending your arms and without straining your back or neck. In general, work should be done at elbow height. Heavy work should be done lower than elbow height and very light delicate work can be done at a level higher than elbow height to allow for better visual reference.

Principle 9 – Try to avoid fatigue – especially static loads. Static load on a muscle group is a continuous contraction over a long period of time. When static loads are combined with awkward postures or excessive force injuries are sure to follow.

Principle 10 – Minimize contact stress / pressure. Contact stress such as leaning on an elbow or having to apply sustained pressure on a lever, switch or tool can inhibit blood flow and interfere with nerve function.

These are the ten basic principles of ergonomics. Look for violations of these principles in your work / home and you will be serving yourself well!  Identifying and eliminating a few ergonomic stressors can help you prevent or decrease neck pain, back pain, shoulder pain, wrist pain and so on.  It is definitely worth your effort.

Your’s In Good Health


Dr. Jones

(619) 280-0554
www.JonesPainRelief.com

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Reaching and Workstation Ergonomics

Friday, November 14th, 2008

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

http://www.jonespainrelief.com/blog1/

www.JonesPainRelief.com

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Repetieve Stress / Cumulative Trauma Injuries – Continued

Monday, November 10th, 2008

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

http://www.jonespainrelief.com/blog1/

www.JonesPainRelief.com

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Chiropractic Care and Computer Work

Friday, November 7th, 2008

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

http://www.jonespainrelief.com/blog1/

www.sdchiropracticcare.com

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Arthritis and Back Pain

Wednesday, November 5th, 2008

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

http://www.jonespainrelief.com/blog1/

www.JonesPainRelief.com

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