Lоw bасk pain is a frequent рrоblеm faced bу thе mаjоrіtу оf people аt ѕоmе роіnt in their lifetime. Stаbіlіzаtіоn exercise hаѕ bееn advocated as аn еffесtіvе trеаtmеnt fоr chronic lоw back pain.

Stabilization еxеrсіѕе are a vіtаl соmроnеnt fоr lоw bасk раіn ѕuffеrѕ for reducing pain and prevent future incidents. Since lower back раіn can be саuѕеd bу muscle іmbаlаnсеѕ, ѕtаbіlіzаtіоn exercises are a mаjоr раrt оf correcting this. Stabilization еxеrсіѕе often involve уоur hоlding a роѕіtіоn wіthоut flеxіng or еxtеndіng уоur ѕріnе. Allоwіng уоur bоdу tо hаndlе forces соrrесtlу thrоughоut уоur bоdу. Pеорlе thаt lack core stability, or have a weakened ability tо stabilize their соrе, allow аn еxсеѕѕіvе fоrсе tо be аррlіеd tо their spine, whісh can саuѕе injuries аnd ѕtrаіn оn thеіr lоwеr bасk.

Hеrе are 3 great ѕtаbіlіzаtіоn exercises tо prevent lоw back раіn.

1. Bridges

Bridges primarily wоrk a реrѕоn’ѕ glutеuѕ mаxіmuѕ, whісh іѕ thе large muscle оf the buttосkѕ. Pеорlе еngаgе thіѕ muѕсlе whеn thеу mоvе thеіr hірѕ, particularly whеn thеу bend іntо a ѕԛuаt. Thе glutеuѕ mаxіmuѕ іѕ оnе of thе most іmроrtаnt muѕсlеѕ іn thе body, аnd keeping it strong can help prevent lower back pain.

To реrfоrm a brіdgе: Lіе on thе ground and bend thе knееѕ, рlасіng thе fееt flаt on thе floor hір-wіdth apart. Prеѕѕ thе fееt into thе floor, kееріng thе аrmѕ bу thе sides. Rаіѕе the buttocks off the ground untіl thе bоdу fоrmѕ a straight lіnе frоm the ѕhоuldеrѕ tо thе knееѕ. Sԛuееzе the buttосkѕ with thе shoulders rеmаіnіng оn thе flооr. Lоwеr the buttocks tо the ground and rest for a few seconds. Hоld for thrее seconds at the tор, thеn lоwеr. Rереаt fоr 10 tо 15 rерѕ.

2. Plаnk

Anоthеr great соrе еxеrсіѕе fоr ѕtаbіlіzаtіоn is the рlаnk. The рlаnk іѕ a popular yoga pose that hаѕ сrоѕѕеd over into many оthеr areas of fіtnеѕѕ. It іnvоlvеѕ balancing fасе down on your elbows аnd уоur tоеѕ. Thеrе аrе twо main keys whеn реrfоrmіng thе plank. First, уоu should keep good аlіgnmеnt through your spine аnd еntіrе body. (you don’t want your body to sag during the plank)  And, ѕесоnd, уоu ѕhоuld contract your abdomen and diaphragm and use thе maneuver thrоughоut thе entire set.

To реrfоrm a plank: Bеgіn on thе flооr, wіth уоur wеіght on уоur elbows dіrесtlу undеr your shoulders. Extеnd your legs bеhіnd you, рrеѕѕіng іntо уоur hееlѕ. Keep уоur core tіght, contracting уоur аbѕ, whіlе mаkіng ѕurе уоur bоdу stays іn a straight line frоm hеаd to heel. If this is too difficult, you can hоld thе ѕаmе роѕіtіоn, but drop your knееѕ tо thе floor. Hоld fоr 30 ѕесоndѕ, grаduаllу building uр to a mіnutе аѕ your соrе ѕtrеngthеnѕ. Repeat thе exercise 2-3 times.

3. Lоwеr Bасk Rоtаtіоnаl Ѕtrеtсhеѕ

The lоwеr bасk rоtаtіоnаl stretch can help rеlіеvе tension in thе lоwеr bасk аnd trunk. While not as much as a stability exercise as a bridge or plank it does have a stability component. It gеntlу wоrkѕ thе core muscles to іmрrоvе ѕtаbіlіtу.

To perform the lоwеr bасk rotational ѕtrеtсh: Lie bасk on thе flооr wіth bеnt knееѕ and fееt flаt оn thе grоund. Kееріng thе ѕhоuldеrѕ firmly on thе flооr, gеntlу rоll bоth bеnt knees оvеr tо one side. Hоld thе position fоr 5–10 ѕесоndѕ. Rеturn tо thе ѕtаrtіng роѕіtіоn. Gently roll thе bеnt knееѕ over tо the орроѕіtе ѕіdе, hоld, аnd then rеturn tо thе ѕtаrtіng роѕіtіоn. Repeat 2–3 tіmеѕ оn each ѕіdе twice a dау.

These stabilization еxеrсіѕеѕ аrе ѕоmе of the mоѕt еffесtіvе уоu can реrfоrm to ѕtrеngthеn your core stability muscles аnd rеduсе аnd/оr рrеvеnt low back раіn. Try tо add a grоuр of thеѕе іntо уоur workout rоutіnе 2 tо 3 times a week to ѕtаrt.

• Dr. Alex Tauberg is a Pittsburgh Chiropractor who serves the Fox Chapel & Oakmont Areas using an evidence-based manner to get people out of pain and back to enjoying their active lifestyles. Dr. Tauberg has been certified by the University of Pittsburgh as a Primary Spine Practitioner, is a certified chiropractic sports practitioner, certified strength and conditioning specialist, and is an emergency medical responder.  He is also the team chiropractor for The Pittsburgh Vengeance.

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But we’re here to talk about the Occipital horn, aka, cell phones are making kids the devil.

Literally. 

This is quite literally called an “occipital horn” or “External Occipital Protuberance hyperostosis”.  The specific location/landmark on the skull is known as the External Occipital Protuberance (abbreviated EOP) and is the attachment for the trapezius muscle, as well as the Nuchal ligament.  What you’re looking at in that image, is actually an enthesophyte.  It’s the nuchal ligament and/or trapezius’s attachment being converted to bone, to lessen the tug of the tension on it.  People commonly get these in their feet “heel spurs” or in the pelvis at the hamstrings. 

Why does this happen?

If I pulled really hard on your finger, and didn’t stop, it would cause pain.  That pain, releases chemicals to inflame the area.  The idea is, if there is pain, the body will predictably react in a way to remove the external stimulus causing it.  However, if you didn’t remove the stimulus, those same chemicals will also act upon the structures being irritated, in an attempt to remove the irritant from the inside.  This reaction is similar to osteoarthritis.  The idea (from within your body) is that if the stimulus can’t be resolved from externally, then the body will slowly remodel to remove it from the inside.

In this case, the nuchal ligament (that is designed to resist the weight of the head from moving forward too much) and the trapezius muscle (the largest most robust muscle of the upper back, which aids in head/neck and shoulder movements) are overly irritated from holding the head in a forward manner.  As they inflame and cause pain, but are ignored, the body’s genius idea is to grow bone, so the ligament/muscle aren’t as stretched and irritated.   It’s a good idea, in theory.  Shorten the distance, lessen the irritation.  Except the body eventually will have to lay down, and these areas can cause irritation when lying on your back.  

So What’s The Big Deal With This Story?

A bunch of reports are REALLY over emphasizing this reports finding, which shouldn’t really shock anyone.  Most media sources report science as if it was magic, witchcraft, or some eldritch abomination of the two.  It would behoove most major media outlets hire someone with some kind of medical expertise, and pay them to write this stuff, because as years go by, it only gets worse, with seemingly no reason for it to.

In this case, we’re left looking at a report from “Scientific Reports”, a study from David Shahar and Mark G.L. Sayers  “Prominent exostosis projecting from the occipital squama more substantial and prevalent in young adult than older age groups”

What Did They Actually Find?

The study looked at 1200 participants, ages 18-86.  They found prominent occipital protuberances more about 5.5x more frequent in males than females.  The overly enlarged variants were referred to as EEOP or (Enlarged External Occipital Protuberance).  By measuring and utilizing statistical comparison, they also linked forward head posture to the presence of EEOP.  Having forward head posture was 1.03x more likely to “be related”.  This was seen significantly with males between ages of 13 and 43.  As age increased, and associated forward head posture increased, as did the likely hood of EEOP.

The study does identify that tablet/smartphone has been previously indicated to trigger increased activity of the trapezius, and that 68% of university staff/students assessed in a different story noted both neck pain, and increased use of handheld technology (averaging 4.65 hours per day), but as the study self-reports, this posture isn’t new.  Bike riding, sleeping with high pillows, and many other activities have been around for decades, while prevalent symptoms of this are only now emerging. 

So…..?

Occipital hyperostosis, EEOP, and Occipital spurring aren’t a new case, but why so many in this area?  As stated, forward head posture isn’t new.  Monks used to read/write A LOT. (many were conscripted to produce early books, literally for life) that would have involved a lot of sitting and leaning forward.  I guarantee, olde time people would have taken precedence against “religious” folk who reproduced Holy Scriptures, if they started growing horns while doing it.  What about elite cycling/rowing athletes who spend hours a day training, bent over?  Wouldn’t they show these same findings it it was only due to tension on the neck?  Virtually EVERY office worker in America would have had this if it was simply due to poor posture for a decade or two.

The aspects of the study that they failed to address were two major ones.  Physical activity level, and stress level.  One can be measured simply by self-reporting how physically active the participant is/was.  This one is pretty easy.  If the muscles keep moving, they inflame less, irritate the attachment less, and as a result, don’t cause osseous growth, as much.

The bigger identifier I’d like to see, is stress level.  Measure their cortisol levels.  Short term release of this is helpful to the body, but long term release is detrimental.  With extended secretion, it becomes very pro-inflammatory.  (Similar to excessive insulin secretion with Type 2 diabetics.  The body just starts to ignore its presence).  In it’s pro-inflammatory “mode” cortisol promotes cellular aging.  This will cause the cells in any overly inflamed area to repeatedly break down and regenerate poorly, as well as cells that can’t break down, to heal in the lead advantageous ways. (Securely, not effectively).

As we looked at in the osteoarthritis link above, what does the body do with repeatedly inflamed tissue, pain, and a reduced ability to heal?  Ossify.  Turn that thing that hurts into bone, so it can’t move/produce pain anymore.  This suddenly links why older people demonstrated this change (age-related) and young kids are (stress-related).

Wait.  Kids are THAT stressed?

Yes. They. Are.  Like, A Lot.

Kids are more stressed than ever, and it’s not getting better.  True to fashion, what people think is helping, isn’t.  Kids are supposed to be kids.  They aren’t supposed to have access to every kind of entertainment available, at their fingertips, they aren’t supposed to have access to everyone they know’s personal life, in real time, nor should they be sitting in classrooms forced to memorize/regurgitate information to pass tests (that no-one has really looked into whether those tests actually correlate with the lifelong success of the student).  Kids are supposed to enjoy life and learn from the mistakes of their elders.  Make mistakes of their own, that no-one will remember in a year.

If we can’t find a way to reduce the stress levels of kids, we’re going to see a lot more changes to their lives than benign skull adaptation from sitting for too long.

Especially considering elevated cortisol levels have also been linked to increased incidence of autoimmune disease.

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Did you find yourself here in search of something healthy?

Which bottle do you choose?  There are so very many to choose from.  Even if you find the bottle that is actually juice, is that the healthy option you needed?  Is juice even healthy?

The Hunt for Actual Juice

If we begin our hunt for fruit juice simply looking for cranberry juice, one of the most common juices available, there is an initial massive hurdle.  Finding ACTUAL juice.

Juice “cocktail” is a mixture of juice and sugar additives that ends up being between 5-10% juice.  This isn’t healthy by any stretch of the imagination. This is a juice flavored beverage. This is 5-10% away from being soda. (Pepsi for instance)  There is no nutritional reason for this to exist, and the shocking part is, this will be approximately 90% of the “Juice aisle”. Most of the shelf will be filled with this waste of space.

If you look hard enough, you’ll find actual 100% juice.  There are a couple of companies that produce a product that is solely fruit juice.  Hizzah! You found what you’re looking for. So now let’s look at the ingredient list and confirm that the product we’re buying is in fact, what we’re looking for.

They do in fact contain 100% juice.  However, every single variant of cranberry juice doesn’t have cranberry as the first ingredient.  The first and third example have grape juice as their primary ingredient, with cranberry being 2nd or 3rd.  The second option is supposed to be pomegranate cranberry, and the first 2 ingredients listed are pear and apple.

Is Juice Actually Juice?

So… the 100% juice claims aren’t lies, but they aren’t 100% of the juice you wanted or were looking for.  It is simply supposed to taste like 100% of the juice you wanted to buy. However, this has been routine for these types of products since I was young.  How many kids these days even know what actual juice tastes like? In farming communities, it’s fairly easy to get apple juice/cider directly from local farms, but in areas that aren’t, this won’t be as common.

What Are the Health Benefits of Juices?

It’s obvious this is done to make the juice more profitable since apple and grape juices are cheaper to produce via quantity, but the most surprising part is that given the health benefits of actual juice (and the associated nutritional contents) that juice cocktails are so predominant.  These offer nearly zero health benefits. Actual 100% juices can be quite a bit more expensive for the less common fruits. “POM” makes 100% pomegranate juice, and is quite a bit more expensive than apple, cranberry, grape juices.

Speaking of health benefits of juice, don’t be distracted by the Vitamin C content in these beverages, they sugar content is remarkably high.  For children, diabetics and anyone looking to lose weight via low carb, high-fat diets these beverages can be remarkably bad nutritional choices.

On the same topic, don’t even let the 100% juice let you believe that the juice is squeezed into a carton and sent out.  Have you ever noticed each juice company (think orange or apple juice) tastes different? When they package and prepare the juice from the fruit, it loses most of its taste.  Each company then adds its own blend of flavors to make the juice a consistent taste that most resembles what they feel that juice should taste like.  Even the 100% juice containers are not very likely to be the actual juice, without some kind of tampering.

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What Aggravates DeQuervain’s Syndrome?

DeQuervain’s may be caused by excessive gripping, use of the thumb, or use of the wrist. Activity such as tennis, racquetball, squash, bowling, excessive typing at a computer, or childcare may cause inflammation of the tendons or tissue surrounding them. These tissues are known as the tendon sheath or tenosynovium.  When these tissues inflame, they can damage the tendons and once the tendons inflame and become damaged recovery time is greatly increased. Granted, this is simply a small list of activities, because it would be impossible to list them all. Any time a person excessively has to grip something, this may result.

Why Does DeQuervain’s Syndrome Inflame?

This is a great question.  Why does it inflame sometimes, and not others?  At what point is gripping considered “excessive”?    This is going to vary person to person. Someone who has a job using a power sprayer, every day, for hours on end, will clearly have a longer duration of gripping power, than that of someone who works at a desk.  Every single person has a point where there is regular use, slight strain without damage, moderate strain with short recovery, then excessive strain with prolonged recovery. This entirely depends on the strength and conditioning of the person in question, as well as their ability to recover.  Some people that recovery period may be a day, others a month.

What’s the best treatment for DeQuervain’s Tenosynovitis

DeQuervain’s responds very well to manual therapy. Myofascial release of the muscles in the forearm, cryotherapy, low-level laser therapy (LLLT), and manipulation of the wrist all greatly aid in recovering from this condition. Recovery time can be from weeks to months depending on the level of damage done to the tendons.

Current research suggests that if the pain does not improve within 2 to 3 weeks, that the wrist should be braced and immobilized to prevent excessive strain and further aid with healing.

From a medical standpoint, studies have shown nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory therapy can also aid in relieving wrist pain and reducing recovery time, but it is necessary for this type of care to be directed by a medical physician.  Cases of DeQuervain’s rarely require surgery.

Here at Herrington Family Chiropractic, Dr. Herrington is certified in FAKTR training which is an advanced level soft tissue mobilization technique that is designed to control inflammation and improve recovery from conditions such as this.  There are very particular ways to treat this, and this is what he has been trained to accomplish.

If you have wrist pain that does not resolve, call today to schedule your appointment!  716-308-2881.

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(Which muscles aid shoulder movement?  Basically, everything pictured!)

When I say it starts slowly, I mean the initial symptoms might be as simple as weakness or quickly feeling tiredness when reaching or doing work overhead.  The rotator cuff is primarily comprised of 4 muscles (Supra/Infraspinatus, Subscapularis and Teres Major) but muscles that also contribute and aid to the function of the shoulder are the biceps brachii, coracobrachialis, triceps brachii, latissimus dorsi, rhomboid major/minor, trapezius, pectoralis major/minor, and serratus anterior/posterior.   The primary muscles that directly move the shoulder (Supra/Infraspinatus, Subscapularis and Teres Major) tend to start the problem with weakening and losing range of motion (ROM), which requires the accessory muscles to try harder to compensate for the lost strength and control.  This may not be noticed initially, but with continued neglect and/or usage of the shoulder, the muscles will continue to weaken.  Compound this weakening with the sudden need to use the shoulder, let’s say, sporadic yard work or home repair, the muscles can easily become damaged.  The scaring of the muscles that takes place would only further reduce the ROM of the joint, thus causing the accessory muscles to again compensate more.  This snowball effect will continue until the barely noticed injuries result in a remarkably reduced ability to move the shoulder with consistent pain with movement.

How is it treated?

There are many ways to treat adhesive capsulitis, the most frequently used is cortisone injections from a primary care physician.  This type of treatment works remarkably well in the short term, but should not be relied upon in the long term.  The cortisone will reduce inflammation, as is its purpose, but repeated injections in to the joint over long periods of time (years) will cause the bones to deteriorate.  This will lead to arthritis and potentially joint replacement.  This obviously is not ideal.

The best option is myofascial release coupled with physical therapy.  Not everyone is a candidate for this treatment.  If you are able to move your arm with mild to moderate discomfort, this treatment might be an excellent option.  If you can barely move your arm at all and it’s exquisitely painful, this treatment might not be ideal.   What this treatment involves is a practitioner physically massaging and stretching the muscles of the shoulder a little by little to restore proper motion.  This treatment coupled with specific at home exercises should be able to restore proper motion and strength to the joint.  The benefit of this treatment is once it is complete, there should be 100% function restored to the shoulder.  The downside is that the treatment can be uncomfortable.  The discomfort is due to the doctor having to massage and stretch the area that hurts.  This is typical of virtually all manual therapy, thought.

The last option is arthroscopic surgery.  Once this condition gets to the point where you can no longer move the joint, the only option is for a surgeon to physically cut away the parts that aren’t functioning.  This obviously changes the physical structure of the joint, and requires lengthy healing time and physical therapy after the fact.

Here at Herrington Family Chiropractic, I can not only manipulate the spine to ensure associated joints pertaining to the shoulder are functioning properly, but also administer a multitude of muscular treatments to break the adhesive scarring of the joint.  Treatment can vary from MRT, Graston, US, to cold laser therapy, and couple that with the specialized at home rehab exercises you need to ensure you get the best recovery possible, and get back on your way to being happy and healthy.   Many patients become disheartened with the slow recovery from adhesive capsulitis, but the condition took multiple years to obtain, so the recovery can’t happen in within a visit or two.  Normal treatment plans for this condition are usually 6-8 weeks depending on how well the patient recovers between visits, and how well they adhere to the recommended home exercises.

If you or anyone you know suffers from sore stiff joints, send them this information and have them schedule an appointment.  The sooner you treat yourself, the sooner you can get back to treating yourself!

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What the heck… I didn’t even do anything!!”

Many of us have experienced this situation.  You get a sudden sharp pain in your shoulder and when you feel it, it feels like there’s a golf ball stuck just above your shoulder blade.  What is going on?

Well, the lets clarify something.  You absolutely did “do something” to your shoulder.  From what I typically see with patients, what you did was a mix of repetitive strain activity, and inactivity.  To further specify, most people who will read this, don’t actively maintain their physical health by lifting heavy things.  They also have jobs where they do the same repetitive tasks, for hours at a time.  Those two habits create a perfect storm of criteria for what is referred to a trigger point.

Trigger point, muscular adhesion, “knot” are all terms used for a myofascial strain.  Between the various layers of muscles in the body, there is a layer of fascia.  I’ve discussed this substance before.  What is going on in this situation is that your body is telling you to stop doing what you’re doing.

At any particular moment, hundreds of thousands of people across America are currently sitting at a desk, leaned forward, the monitor not straight in front of them, and the phone probably off to the side of their dominant hand.  Throughout the day, you slowly lose the fight with gravity and roll your shoulders forward. (strike 1) You’ve answered your phone countless times, and while you were talking, you raised your shoulder to hold it, while you typed something out, or scrolled Facebook and tried to pay attention to the caller.   (strike 2 for the shoulder, strike 1 for the attention span)

These activities have pre-primed the shoulder to be already minorly strained.  The muscle is held in a semi-contracted state for WAY longer than it likes to be.  Across the back of the shoulder, the trapezius is mean to contract and pull the shoulder upwards.  The supraspinatus (sits just under the trapezius) acts to pull the shoulder posterior (backwards) toward the center of the spine.  Both of these actions are meant to be completed and stopped.  Not held at a “half flexed” state for a long period of time.

If this “perfect storm” was conducted once, you’d never even notice because your shoulder wouldn’t over-react…. Instead, many of us do these type of activities for hours at a time, every day.  Primary moving muscles are meant to contract and then relax.  Lift something heavy, and put it back down.  Not lift something heavy and hold it for hours.  This behavior causes damage to the muscle fibers, called myofibrils.  If these fibers break down and become damaged, they can irritate the fascia between the muscle layers.  This irritation can cause localized inflammation to increase and cause the muscle to “harden”.  Once the muscle becomes harder with fibrous scar tissue, it becomes resistant to moving in its normal pattern.  As soon as you tell the muscle to move in the manner it should, and it can’t as easily, that produces more inflammation and pain.  That pain is your body telling you something has gone wrong and you need to stop doing it.  Since you didn’t listen the first time it hurt, there’s a good chance this more significant pain will now get covered up with Over the Counter (OTC) medicine. This article isn’t recommending you do this, this is simply the habit of many people.  This isn’t wrong, but it isn’t ideal.

The problem is that the muscle hurts, but the original problem isn’t that the muscle hurts, it’s the actions that caused the muscle to hurt.  Without addressing that problem, then it will, with absolute certainty, return.

The first point that needs to be identified is the faulty movement that caused the original pain.  This pattern of thought applies to not only painful muscles, but to most major problems we face as civilized humans.  High blood pressure is a symptom.  Type 2 diabetes is a disease, but it is also a symptom.  What are they symptoms of?  Faulty eating, and poor moving habits.  Recognizing and correcting the initial occurrence solves many of the problems that will be caused down the line.

As a clinician, this typically involves resolving the primary pain generator first, but if care doesn’t extend to correcting the habits, then the care for that pain generator cannot actually end.  The pain might move, but it will always come back.

When you’re ready to address the problem, contact a health provider that addresses the source, as well as the symptoms.  Healthcare teams are ideal for your recovery.  Treating the symptom will make your life generally better, but won’t resolve the problem.  You also need a provider to treat the symptom, or the issue will remain.  Good thing you’re on this page!  Dr. Herrington is just the “source treating” doctor you’re looking for!  By practicing with a holistic method, the entire body is taken into consideration, and the source of the problem is addressed.  Call 716-308-2881 to schedule your appointment now!

The post Are You Experiencing Sudden Shoulder Pain? appeared first on Chiropractor in Amherst, NY.

Let’s go through what to expect from care at my office.

In the first Trimester, care does not vary much from the standard, unless the “bump” appears very early.  Care plans in the first 3 months are fairly, basic.  If there are any conditions that exist prior to the pregnancy, these should continue to be treated.  There is a mild consideration to avoid excessive rotation and forceful adjustments to the pelvis.  The main purpose of chiropractic treatment at this point is to resolve low back pain, keep the pelvis moving as well as possible, and to maintain/encourage as much physical activity for the patient, as possible.

Moving along to the 2^nd Trimester, this is where everyone who wasn’t previously showing a baby bump, is clearly now showing.  This is where, depending on the patient, physical adjustments are less and less necessary.  In my office, this is where treatment moves to more muscle stretching and gentle distraction.  As the mother’s body continues to grow to accommodate the child, there are a multitude of ligaments (ovarian and round ligaments predominantly) that will begin to stretch more and more.  This stretching is sometimes quite uncomfortable, and that discomfort can lead to a multitude of problems.

The slowly changing pelvis and associated abdominal muscles sometimes require consistent care (e.g weekly) sometimes just the low back is mildly uncomfortable, and requires infrequent visits (once per month).

The third trimester is where there is increasing amount of risk, for basically all things, not just chiropractic care.  The baby bump is definitely getting larger, and is going to continue to alter how the mother lives.  Walking, exercising, sleeping, working, during the final trimester, all activities of daily living can be disrupted.  As the trimester progresses, less and less adjusting is required.  The majority of the treatments required at this point of the pregnancy are strictly myofascial related, and very gentle.

Here at HFC, Dr Herrington also specializes in gentle flexion distraction therapy, with the added benefit that our chiropractic tables are easily able to accommodate patients through their 3^rd trimester.  The table has a drop away section to accommodate the growing baby bump.

By this point in the pregnancy, the mother’s body is producing increasing amounts of a hormone known as “Relaxin”.  This hormone’s purpose is to relax ligaments and tendons to further aid the pelvis in remodeling enough to pass a baby through.  This hormone has no ability to only effect the pelvic ligaments, so the result is most joints of the mother’s body are going to be able to move much easier.  All physical adjustments done at this point are very gentle, as the joints move easily enough as is.  Most mother’s seeking this kind of care require gentle myofascial work, and gentle stretching to aid in relieving lumbar and pelvic discomfort while being careful to not disrupt the growing baby.

To address to initial question?  Is chiropractic safe during pregnancy?  Yes.  As long as the style of treatment does not remain as forceful adjusting as the mother’s body adapts to the pregnancy, then there are no contraindications for treatment.  Given the hormonal effects of pregnancy, gentle care is more advised toward the end of the 2^nd trimester and through the 3^rd.

Dr. Herrington specializes in gentle, effective treatment for pregnant patients.  If you’re trying to get more fit in the expectation of a pregnancy, or are currently dealing with low back pain during a current pregnancy, Herrington Family Chiropractic, is an excellent solution to your problem!  Call today and get scheduled for your relief!

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Just how important is moving?

VERY.

Specifically, how important is it?

The general idea for why all of healthcare focuses so much on physical activity because the more active a person is, the more resilient the body will become.  This doesn’t simply apply to the physical body, this applies to, everything.  Mental stress is relieved from physical activity, blood flow increases to areas that require healing, muscles and bones become resilient to damage, and body composition can more easily be maintained.  All of these effects come from maintaining a moderate level of activity.

So what is meant by the term “physical activity”?  Ideally, any kind of activity that causes you to increase your rate of breathing, increase your heart rate and physically tires you out.  This can be sport related, physical labor (landscaping, home remodeling, etc), as well as any kind of activity above and beyond your standard requirements for life.  For instance, if you are a stay at home parent, and typically do 5,000 steps a day while maintaining the house and doing any kind of child care, an “increase in physical activity” would be above and beyond the 5,000 steps you’re already doing.  It’s very important for the body (both mind and physical body) to have self-driven activity that is physically exhausting.

If activity is important, how much activity is important?

There is consistent research posted about the importance of maintaining a regular level of cardiovascular activity (exercise).  The particular article referenced here, cited exercise in terms of a “MET” or metabolic equivalent. So, what is a “MET”?  1 MET, is approximately 1000 Calories per week of activity.

For reference:
Slow walking (2 mph) for 20 minutes burns around 86 Calories.
Fast walk (4mph) for 20 minutes burns approximately 160 Calories.

In this case, 1 MET of exercise would be walking 4 mph for 20 minutes, 7 days a week.  This would account for approximately 1120 Calories burned in one week.

This term is used to standardize the level of calories burned for all exercises, to better compare and research exercises effects on overall health.

The “gold standard” of measuring levels of activity, is to assess how much oxygen the body is using.  This is the “gold standard” because oxygen is the fuel that drives our body’s ability to function.  In high tech research facilities, athletes can be connected to machines that can monitor how much oxygen goes in and out of the body during exercise.  By comparing the amounts, you can determine how many calories were burned, via complicated math.  This measurement is the BEST, but it is also very time consuming and requires a lot of expensive equipment.  By calculating METs, we can have a “good enough” approximation, without all the expensive work required to measure VO2 Max.

(VO2 Max testing shown here)

In terms of importance of health, 2-3 METs per week of activity was correlated with 2-5x decrease in heart disease AND 2-5x decrease in all-cause mortality as compared to 0 MET (sedentary) living. This means not only are your risk of heart related conditions decreases 200-500%, but it also decreases your risk of any kind of serious health related problem.

In easier terms, walking at a fast pace, for an hour, every day, has the potential for lowering your risk of health-related death by 500%!

This benefit is further increased for women who, if they maintain a level of physical activity, every MET of activity adds another 17% decrease in mortality!

You read that correctly.  For week that engage in a fast walk for only an hour a day, there is a 5-fold decrease in your risk of health-related death.

While I reference walking, this qualifies for any level of physical activity, as long as it is above and beyond 1,000 Calories of activity.  Any tiring exercise that raises the heart rate and is maintained for a length of time, will be beneficial to one’s health.  Increased activity levels have shown to increase immune resistance, decrease body weight and increase mood promoting hormones.  Keep in mind, these benefits can be gained from as little as 1-2 METs of activity.

The largest benefit and health protection comes in at the 8-10 MET level.  While this level seems remarkably high to most people, this is the level at which the most health benefit is obtained.  MET levels less than 5 have a higher risk of CVD and all-cause mortality.  However, the largest increase in benefit comes between the lowest level, compared to the 2^nd lowest level.  Increasing your activity from 0 extra Calories burned, to burning 1-2 thousand Calories per week increases your potential health significantly from a moderately poor outlook, to a mildly good outlook.

Why does activity have to be tiring?

There’s two major reasons for regularly physically exhausting one’s self.  The first and foremost, the muscle of the body requires constant use.  We have muscle, we can’t just neglect it.  The more muscular definition is neglected, the more difficulty the body has to operate.  As jobs become more and more sedentary in the US, movement needs to be increased.  As muscles are forced to exert more and more force, the tissues around them are forced to contract and slide.  This increased activity prevents the muscles from adhering together.  This keeps the muscles loose and pliable as well as allows the joint to move freely when needed.

The second reason is the related to the how body fat exists in the body.  When we increase our energy levels, the cells that produce energy (called mitochondria) increase in activity.  If this new higher energy demand is maintained, the body is required to produce more mitochondria, thus making the body more energy on a regular basis.  (You’ll feel less tired from the same level of activity)  The main benefit here, is related to how mitochondria produce energy.  We discussed body fat once before.

(These fats)

See all those -C-‘s in the middle? Those are carbon atoms.  Once the body starts breaking these large fat molecules into smaller pieces, those carbon molecules have to go somewhere.  The place they go, is out through the lungs via CO₂.  90% of body weight lost, is lost as CO₂.  The rest of the Hs and Os are combined and used as water within the body.

Need further proof?

This big complicated picture is how the human body produces energy from sugar.  Body fat is converted to a similar form via the process known as gluconeogenesis, and processed accordingly.  See all the H₂O and CO₂?

H₂O is used to further break down other fat molecules via a process known as hydrolysis, and CO₂ is created every time a carbon molecule is broken from the main molecule.

Source: Ross, R., Blair, S. N., Arena, R., Church, T. S., Després, J., Franklin, B. A., . . . Wisløff, U. (2016). Importance of Assessing Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Clinical Practice: A Case for Fitness as a Clinical Vital Sign: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association. Circulation, 134(24). doi:10.1161/cir.0000000000000461

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While the shots do an excellent job at reducing immediate inflammation, they might be causing more damage in the long term than they are worth.

In a study conducted in 2015 (published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in May 2017), 140 patients with confirmed osteoarthritis with joint inflammation (synovitis).  The patients were divided into 2 groups, saline injections and corticosteroid injections, every 12 weeks, for 2 years.

At the end of the study, both groups had no significant difference in pain with either class, but there was significant cartilage volume loss in the steroid injection group. That point can’t be stated enough.

After steroid injections every 12 weeks for 2 years, there was no difference for pain, but there was cartilage loss as compared to basic saline solution.

While painful OA might be very troubling to deal with, the most common treatment is steroid injections, and these will only make the case worse in time.  Clearly, if you suffer from a lack of cartilage, treatments that will further destroy the cartilage are not ideal.  This statement does not undermine the use of steroid shots, but against treatments of OA that are solely steroid shots.

As I’ve previously mentioned, osteoarthritis can be maintained or slowed once it’s created.  It’s similar to rust on hinges.  Joints with frequent proper movement are much less likely to get OA, while stationary or injury prone joints are very likely to get this condition.  The best treatments for this condition are to start rehabilitating the poor muscle function or movement patterning.  Reducing inflammation is an important step in starting this treatment, as rehabilitating the poor movement that is causing OA won’t be possible with substantial joint pain.

If you’re interested in reducing the inflammatory damage of osteoarthritis, in any joints of the body (not just the knee), encompassing treatment plans are imperative.  Nutritional triggers need to be addressed, movement patterns need to be corrected, muscular strength needs to be improved and poorly functioning joints associated with the poor movement patterns also need to be addressed.  One treatment cannot resolve this issue without all causes being addressed together.

If you check the other article on OA linked above, I stated there, and here, that there is always a poor movement pattern linked to OA.  This is either in compensation (movement changes due to pain) or due to structural changes from abnormal bone growth.  This is always present, and in most cases, present prior to the boney changes associated with OA.

Here at HFC, we highly recommend an anti-inflammatory diet, spinous adjustments, rehabilitory exercises starting with core reconditioning and working outward toward the most troubled areas as well as low level laser therapy or therapeutic ultrasound (depending on which joint is being treated).  Any treatment plan that includes less than this extensive of a list, is not optimal to properly resolving arthritic conditions.

Of course, the more complicated the case, the more professionals are required to treat.  There is not one single practitioner who should be taking on all of these treatments.  As your doctor, I strive to be an integral part of your healthcare team, not the last stop you make in healthcare.

If you’re interested in having Dr. Herrington become part of your healthcare team, call to schedule your appointment today!  716-308-2881

Mcalindon, T. E., Lavalley, M. P., Harvey, W. F., Price, L. L., Driban, J. B., Zhang, M., & Ward, R. J. (2017). Effect of Intra-articular Triamcinolone vs Saline on Knee Cartilage Volume and Pain in Patients With Knee Osteoarthritis. Jama, 317(19), 1967. doi:10.1001/jama.2017.5283

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Without trying to sound like a nutritional fanatic, it can resoundingly stated, that since the 1970s, the American public has been lied to.  You’ve been duped, and collectively, our health has suffered from it.

According to a study that was just released (November 2017) research was conducted, and unpublished and said research proved that diets high in sugar (sucrose) dramatically increase the risk of heart disease and that it is a possible carcinogen.  They concluded that increased sugar in the gut promotes elevated fat in the blood and that further studies were necessary.

This study was conducted by the Sugar Research Foundation (SRF), results were found, and it wasn’t published, because it would negatively influence the profits of the companies that supported the SRF.

It also shouldn’t be surprising that the SRF also privately funded a review in the New England Journal of Medicine, one of the most referenced medical journals in the USA, to promote sugar’s benefit and to make it sound like it wasn’t a bad thing for people to consume.   This was done in 1967, around the same time they were funding their own research and finding that it was false, which they them purposely didn’t publish.

“The Sugar Association, a United States sucrose industry trade association [8] (which has organizational ties to SRF, the International Sugar Research Foundation [ISRF], and ISRF’s successor, the World Sugar Research Organisation, based in London, UK [9]), has consistently denied [10–12] that sucrose has any metabolic effects related to chronic disease beyond its caloric effects. On January 5, 2016, the Sugar Association issued a press release [13] criticizing findings from a study published in Cancer Research [14] using multiple mouse models that suggested that dietary sugar induces increased tumor growth and metastasis when compared to a nonsugar starch diet. The Sugar Association stated that “no credible link between ingested sugars and cancer has been established.”

Not only did the SRF (and associated associations) know that sugar alters gut bacteria, may cause cancer, increases the rate of disease, but they also covered this up and repeatedly released findings stating the alternative.

This is not only demonstrates a lack of integrity, but is remarkably fraudulent.  Food industries used profit to “change” science.  This all happened in the USA around the same time when foods started to change in composition.  “Low fat” and “No Fat” foods became much more popular, and the only way that is possible, is to increase the amount of sugar.  As fat content was decreased, sugar content has to increase to keep food tasting palatable.  Packaged foods increased the amount of sugar, knowing, they were increasing the amount of disease in the public… for profit.

The fact that virtually the entire food industry was altered by poor journal politics, 40 years ago, and our national health has suffered since, is infuriating to me.

Here’s what we DO know:

High sugar foods are a main contributor to chronic pain generation.
High sugar diets are the lead contributors to high blood triglycerides.
High sugar diets greatly disrupt the balance of gut bacteria.
High sugar foods cause rampant inflammation that leads to chronic disease.
Sustained high sugar diets have been linked to increased rates of cancer.

So what does all this mean?

The best quote I’ve ever heard (to which I’ve heard so often that I forget the original source now), is “You can’t out supplement a poor diet”.  The caveat to this is that not only can you not out supplement, but you can’t take medication to correct it, you can’t move enough to compensate for it, nothing replaces or correctly a poor diet, other than a routine healthy diet.

Exercise is important, but a well-rounded diet loaded with vegetables is critical for a healthy gut, a healthy body, reducing disease and promoting good health.

If you need more of an explanation or guidance as how to avoid all of this, contact my office for a consultation.

Kearns, C. E., Apollonio, D., & Glantz, S. A. (2017). Sugar industry sponsorship of germ-free rodent studies linking sucrose to hyperlipidemia and cancer: An historical analysis of internal documents. PLOS Biology, 15(11). doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.2003460

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