Text Neck and Chiropractic Care

What is “Text Neck”?

Text Neck is the pain many people experience in their neck, upper back, and shoulders areas most commonly stemming from long periods of using handheld electronics. As a whole, our society has drastically increased the amount of time we spend on our phones, tablets, and handheld video game devices. 

It is estimated that many people spend at least 2-4 hours every day texting, checking social media, sending and reading emails, and using apps. That can equal up to 1,460 hours a year with your head shifted forward and tilted down in the SAME position. The numbers look even worse for teenagers who seem to be permanently attached to their smartphones. Teenagers may be spending over 5000 hours/year looking down at their laps!

Bad Posture is the Cause of Text Neck 

Fun Fact: The average human head weighs around 10-11 pounds. However, the further you tilt your head down and forward, the greater the stress placed on your neck and upper back. By the time your head is at 30o, the stress and pull is equivalent to having a 40-pound head! Being in this position for hours at a time is not something your neck was designed to handle.

In the case of text neck, the strain placed on the neck pulls against the natural curvature of the neck, changing it to completely straight, and eventually to a forward or reversed curve. As the head pulls the neck forward, it also strains the soft tissues in the neck, weakens the muscles, and causes the shoulders to start to round forward. This repetitive stress on the spine can cause many problems, including vertebral subluxations(misalignments), herniated discs, and even pinched nerves. Your spine protects your nervous system as the nerves run down the center of the spinal column. These nerves exit the spine between each vertebra. When you have the conditions listed above, the nerves do not have a clean exit, and they get irritated, inflamed, and pinched. This leads to problems and reduced function to the areas of your body that the nerves supply and control.

The nerves (C0 – T5) in the cervical spine (neck) and upper thoracic spine (upper back) will be impacted the most. These nerves are responsible for the functions of your neck, jaw, throat/trachea(windpipe), balance/equilibrium, your heart and lungs, and upper extremities. When nerves are pinched, their effectiveness is diminished. In the C1 – T5 section of the spine, this can cause various types of pain, headaches, problems with chewing/swallowing, high blood pressure, thyroid problems, and many more.

With the forward rounding of your shoulders, you also reduce your lung capacity, which reduces the amount of oxygen circulating in your body and reaching your brain. The lack of oxygen also weakens your immune system and slows down healing.

*Try taking a deep breath while sitting up straight and then trying it again with your head facing the ground.

Go ahead, I’ll wait.

Now, think about the thousands of breaths you take each day and how that could have long-term effects on your health!

Physically you will start to develop a “hunched over” appearance as your shoulders will start to roll forward and your upper back rounds. Your posture will continue to get worse and your back muscles will get weaker.

Protect Yourself from Text Neck

Hopefully this article should be a wakeup call to maintain proper posture while using your smart phone or electronic device. Simply lifting the phone or device to eye level will help significantly.

Secondly, make sure to stand up and move around for at least 5-10 minutes of every hour. We already sit much more than we are designed to and sitting too much has its own share of problems. 

Third, anyone that does a lot of texting or any activity that has your head in a downward position should see a chiropractor so that the vertebrae in your neck can have their proper motion restored. Spending time with your neck in a bad position is guaranteed to cause subluxations (misalignments) in the neck that will need to be corrected or degeneration will accelerate faster, causing future problems to arise much sooner than expected.

Chiropractic Care and Text Neck

Chiropractors are specialists of nerve, muscle, and joint pain, especially when it comes to the spine. Therefore, we are the most qualified doctors to correct text neck and its problems. Since text neck pain is caused by misalignment of the vertebrae in the neck, it is only natural to see to a chiropractor who has specialized training to make sure the vertebrae in your spine are moving properly and can educate you on tactics to improve your posture and lifestyle factors that contribute to text neck.

Here at Functional Performance Institute, we will be able to show you exactly what problems you have, and how far your text neck may have progressed. Then, we design a treatment plan to eliminate your pain, restore function back to your neck, and strengthen the muscles to prevent this condition from returning. Chiropractic care is one of the best means of wellness and preventative care. Having your neck and back properly checked on a consistent basis will stop a lot of problems before they even begin. We know that texting in a head down position is going to cause subluxations (misalignments) in the neck — sooner or later — at any age. And then it is only a matter of time before you start to feel pain, experience headaches, and other problems associated with text neck. Take steps NOW to prevent text neck.

Contact Functional Performance Institute at 858-215-4485 and arrange for a consultation with Dr. Korne. Text Neck is a problem we can correct. If you or someone you know is suffering from text neck pain, please recommend this article to them to help them better understand the likely cause of their pain!

Top 9 Best Sleep Practices for Maximum Recovery

Overview

We all know we need to sleep “better”. What we fail to realize is the consequences of not prioritizing this necessary recovery tool. Lack of sleep affects us in different ways. It can have a negative effect on behavior, emotions, attention, social relationships and school/work performance. This not only applies to adults, as studies have shown that up to 40% of children and teenagers have sleep problems.

Therefore, here are some simple tips to help optimize both the quality and quantity of your sleep.

Establish Routines

1. Keep regular sleep and wake times 
Your body likes and adapts to patterns. If you haven’t heard of circadian rhythms, the main thing you need to know is that it’s a cycle of sleep/wake times that your body follows. Adjust the times to your preference/needs, and then stick to that time. If you are feeling slow/sluggish because you are busy with other tasks, you may be further contributing to this by having an irregular sleep cycle. Sometimes, it’s best to save that last task to the next morning so you can get to bed at your usual time and wake up feeling refreshed and ready to get that task done first thing in the morning.

For kids, start grooming this pattern young, especially when they have a consistent school schedule. This includes removing any distractions around bedtime that could keep them awake past their bedtime.

2. Daytime Naps can be good, or bad
For Adults, this can be beneficial if you are lacking on sleep from the previous night, or you simply feel sluggish in the middle of the day. Post-prandial naps after lunch may seem “necessary” for some, but for others it could simply be a result of the quantity and/or quality of foods you are eating for lunch. A simple adjustment in this could save you from that “unavoidable crash” around 2pm. Lastly, if you must nap, keep the nap under 30 minutes, and try to keep it as close to the “middle” of your awake period as possible.

If your child is five years or older, try to avoid daytime naps. Daytime naps longer than 20 minutes can make it harder for children over five to get to sleep at night, to get into deep sleep, and to wake up in the morning.

3. Shut it Down before bed 
For most of us, this consists of avoiding all electronics within at least 1 hour of bedtime. As we all have heard, the dreaded “blue light” tricks our brain into thinking that it is still daylight, which has been linked to circadian rhythm disruption. In a perfect world, we should be able to wind down with a book or something less mentally stimulating. This allows the brain to wind down before falling asleep. However, life is almost never perfect. If you must stay up late to work on projects, I recommend a pair of Blue-Light filtering glasses to reduce this exposure. It helps, but doesn’t completely solve your problem. If you have to work on projects, I recommend getting everything done before your nightly routine (dinner, shower, brushing your teeth, etc.)

A regular bedtime routine of bath, teeth brushing, story and bed help younger children relax and feel ready for sleep. Older children might like to wind down by reading a book or listening to gentle music. Turning off electronics an hour before bed will also help your child relax and fall asleep.

4. Prepare for the next day 
If you have a busy morning routine, I recommend part of this “wind-down time” at night be used to complete morning tasks, such as getting clothes ready for the next day, packing your lunch, or getting any necessary paperwork together for your first task of the day.

It’s never a bad idea to start teaching these habits to your kids, as they can learn these routines to help make their(and more importantly YOUR) mornings easier.

Check Your Sleep Environment
5. Think, Cave

A dark, quiet, private space is important for good sleep. This includes loud music, mobile phone screens, computer screens and TV. Good tips include: putting your phone on “Do Not Disturb” before bed, putting your phone screen facing down, and turning off the TV before you fall asleep. You not only avoid light disturbance but keep your mind off of miscellaneous distractions or “unfinished work” from the day, allowing you to get into a more relaxed mental state at bedtime. If these can’t be avoided, a simple sleep mask and ear plugs may suffice, especially if your significant other snores.

Make sure your child feels safe at night. If your child feels scared about going to bed or being in the dark, you can praise and reward them whenever they are brave. Avoiding scary TV shows, movies, computer games or books can help too. Some children with bedtime fears feel better when they have a night light. Yes, this can also apply to you, too.

Practice Good Health and Nutrition

6. Eat the right amount, at the right time
Make sure you and your child have a moderate meal at a reasonable time before bed. Feeling hungry or too full before bed can make the body more alert or uncomfortable. This can make it harder to fall asleep and have good quality sleep.

7. Opt Outside

Kids usually have an easier time with this, but unfortunately we end up putting our child’s health before ours. Try to find activities that both you & your child can do together before it gets dark outside. This will help your bodies produce melatonin at the right times in your sleep cycle. A healthy breakfast also helps to kick-start the body clock.

8. Watch your caffeine clock
Caffeine intake should be reserved for the first half of the day and is recommended to be avoided within 6 hours of bedtime to prevent restlessness.

9. Get Moving
Physical activity and exercise help you sleep longer and better. But if you or your child is having trouble getting to sleep, discourage active play and sports late at night. The stimulation and increase in body temperature can make it harder to go to sleep.

In conclusion, try to use these tips like dietary recommendations: Take one thing at a time to try and implement. Find what works best for you. Focus on those specific things. Prioritize sleep today, and you will reap the rewards tomorrow. 

Top 5 Tips for Post-Exercise Low Back Pain

You felt great after that workout. Until you didn’t.

We’ve all experienced the endorphin rush following a great workout. Whether you were in the gym pushing for that extra rep, you just got off the bike after a brutally competitive ride in the hills, or you simply weren’t feeling that great but felt like you needed to get some exercise in anyway. You usually feel alright after the workout: breathing hard, wiping the sweat off your face, feeling proud of yourself for “getting through that”. Suddenly, you feel your back start to tighten up.

For some, it happens the moment they bend down to pick up their gym bag on the way out, and for others, it doesn’t really set in until later that day when they’re sitting down on the couch and just “can’t seem to get comfortable”. The latter seems to be more common, but they both end up with a similar result: your back ends up becoming so tight that you’re walking around like you have a steel pipe taped to your back. You try to ignore it, but after it doesn’t seem to go away, you try some stretching, some foam rolling, or maybe even some ice or other anti-inflammatories. You start to worry about whether you’ll be able to work out again the next day, or for others, if they’ll even be able to get out of bed the next morning. No matter, your frustration sets in, because you really want to get back to your favorite activity, but have a fear of “hurting yourself again”.

I’m here to give you 5 tips to educate you on how to recover faster, and hopefully reduce your risk of reinjuring your back again.

1. This is a normal phenomenon for discogenic low back pain.

Your low back is tight for a reason. The muscles are going into spasm because they’re trying to PROTECT you, more specifically, your spinal column and its related elements. Therefore, if your muscles are trying to keep your back straight/stiff, then LET IT DO ITS JOB. They are trying to avoid further irritation to the structure in your back that you initially injured.

HOWEVER, just like any injury (i.e. cutting your finger, getting something “stuck in your eye”), if this initial inflammatory process continues for more than a few days, it can start to create long-term problems. You want to allow the initial phase to take place, and then slowly get moving again in a safe manner that will avoid aggravating the affected structure while its healing. I call this the “Don’t Pick the Scab” phase. I don’t expect you to put a cast on your finger for 4 weeks for a paper cut, but I don’t want you handling scissors for the next 2 weeks, either.

2. Stop Stretching It

At least, initially, that is. If you have a cut on your finger, you wouldn’t keep tugging at the skin around the cut, because then the wound can’t properly heal. So if your back is in the tight, protective phase, then stop trying to stretch it to “loosen it up”, as you are likely doing more harm than good.

The same goes for nerves and nerve irritation. If your “sciatica” is flaring up, then stop stretching your hamstrings to try and loosen up that nerve. You will likely feel some mild relief for a few minutes, but the pain will usually come back, and sometimes come back worse because you re-irritated the nerve.

3. Find a direction of preference

If you are experiencing pain with forward bending, but extending backwards provides relief, then you likely have found the direction that your back prefers to move in. Most often, the discs in our back undergo repetitive Forward Bending, which causes them to bulge, or “herniate” towards the back. Think about a Jelly Donut. Now stay with me, but think about smashing the front of that jelly donut, and imagine where the jelly would go. Exactly, now if we start to GENTLY extend the back towards a backward bend, we hope to push that jelly back into the donut.

Now enough donut talk, you gotta get back in the gym soon! But how?

4. Get Moving, Slowly

Just like any injury, there needs to be a “return to sport/play” protocol that needs to happen. It means scaling back the weight and intensity initially, while being mindful of your positioning and activating the correct muscles during a workout. Its not our faults, as with many injuries, the body likes to “turn off” (or decrease neuromuscular facilitation to, for all you nerds) certain muscles as a protective mechanism. So the goal is to initially begin reactivating the core muscles in a “neutral-spine” position. Simply put, focus initially on core exercises that involve a straight back to avoid picking the scab. Be patient, move slow, and focus on engaging the correct muscles. This is where step #5 comes in.

5. Go see a qualified professional if you’re unsure of what to do from here, or if what you did is not changing your condition

Again, this guide is to serve as Medical Information, but this does not mean that this is Medical Advice for YOUR condition. Our job is to help coach and guide you through this process, and progress you back to your sport/exercise as soon as safely possible. If you have any questions or concerns during any step of this process, DO NOT hesitate to call and schedule a consultation. I am happy to help you, and the sooner YOU get in, the sooner YOU can start getting YOU better!

Why & How to Build a Strong & Resilient Neck

I recently treated a patient named Linda who was having recurring issues of neck pain. Linda has had a couple of Chiropractors in San Diego over the years, and even went to PT on a Workers Compensation Claim for her neck pain when it started to radiate down her arm. 

The PT care gave her mild relief with some stretches and muscle stimulation, but that didn’t completely resolve her pain. The chiropractor was giving her good relief, but only if she maintained a regular schedule of adjustments of at least 2x/week. However, Linda is a very busy Mother of 3 and was having trouble making it to her regular adjustments.

Linda was referred over to our Kearny Mesa clinic by her coworker who mentioned the added benefits of exercise in combination with her chiropractic care, and that sparked Linda’s interest.

Cervical Anatomy

I’m going to cover a brief overview of the neck anatomy, but for more information, read our article “Chiropractic Care for Neck Pain 101”.

There are many delicate structures in the neck, and they are often sensitized due to repetitive or abnormal stresses placed upon them.

• Repetitive Stress often comes in the form of “bad posture” from being in one position for too long. (i.e. Text Neck and Chiropractic Care)

• Abnormal Stress comes from trauma like car accidents or injuries from falls. It can also come secondary to repetitive stress, as the body tries to compensate for an initial injury and creates a new one in the process. For example, headaches are often caused by chronic muscle tension in the neck as a result of poor posture!

Benefits of a Resilient Neck

Ok, so I like to say “Resilient Neck” instead of a “Strong Neck” because of the immediate assumption that I want you to look like this:

I can assure you that I don’t think many people would ever aspire to look like this. It’d take some serious weightlifting and some serious “performance enhancers” to look like this.

However, the benefits of improving your neck strength are extremely important and I’ve listed a few here:

1. Improved Overall Functional Strength & Appearance

A strong neck will contribute to overall functional strength. Additionally, toned neck muscles can improve your overall physique. Great for those low-cut necklines - who wants to wear polo-necks and scarves all the time?!

2. Improved Posture

Poor posture, awkward sleeping positions, and age-related stiffness can lead to muscle imbalances and stiffness in the neck and shoulders, which can lead to pain or headaches. Whilst it is primarily important to maintain a good posture at all times, especially whilst seated at a desk, building a strong neck will help prevent pain and injuries that can occur as a result of poor posture (as well as train your body to adopt and maintain a better posture). 

3. Protection from injuries

A resilient neck will also protect you against injuries that can result from lifting heavy objects overhead (e.g. reaching for things above your head in cupboards and on shelves) or accidental impact. Your neck serves as the shock absorber between your body and head.

Consequently, if you are involved in a car accident, building a stronger neck can reduce the chance of serious concussion by spreading out the damaging forces that can be generated by an impact to the head.

4. Improved Sports Performance 

Damaged, weak, or fatigued neck muscles can affect nerve impulses running from the brain through the spinal cord. This can diminish both static and dynamic balance as well as basic locomotive actions. A stronger neck can thus improve balance and locomotion, both of which are important aspects of every sporting and fitness activity you can think of, whether its mountain biking or even just playing with your kids and grandkids on the playground.

Exercises for a Resilient Neck

The following exercises are meant to strengthen the neck and its surrounding muscles. A word of caution, the neck is very sensitive and can be injured/re-injured very easily. If you are currently dealing with neck pain, you should consult with a chiropractor or qualified therapist before beginning these exercises. Also, please reach out to me directly if you need more advice on how to perform these.

Note: The recommendations I have provided emphasize benefits to those who want to build general strength in their neck. If you have a more sport-specific demand (i.e. football player or mixed martial arts fighter), please consult with a qualified trainer in regard to that training.

1. Isometric Neck Exercises

These are excellent especially for those who spend long periods in one specific position (desk jockeys and cyclists) and want to develop more tolerance to maintain good posture for longer periods.

Pro Tip: Planks and Side Planks are excellent for strengthening both the neck AND core simultaneously!

2. Chin Tucks

“But you just told me that these exercises would make me look better,

why do you want me to have a double chin?”

There are many answers I have for this, primarily being that good posture is more attractive, and a neck injury can sideline you from ALL exercise, thereby ruining any progress you have made to try and improve your physique!

3. Upper Back Strengthening

Imagining the neck as the trunk of a tree, we all know the strength is in the roots. 

That’s where the shoulders come in.

That’s why I recommend strengthening the upper back with exercises like the Banded Face Pull.

As always, form is KEY. 

By implementing these exercises for Linda, she was able to increase the strength and support of her neck to help give her LASTING relief for her neck pain! She was so happy to be able to go WEEKS without any pain or stiffness in her neck, and her time between treatments has only INCREASED since.

Are you tired of only getting short term relief? Are you apprehensive about what exercises are right for you? Give us a call at 858-215-4485 to set up a consultation or book an appointment online to get the relief that you’re tired of waiting for!

Top 6 Tips For Using Standing Desks

We all know that our posture could use some work. We also may have noticed an increase in standing desks around the office, or at least heard stories of forward-thinking tech companies offering these “modern” workstation options to their employees. Well, these companies understand that the importance of your daily work posture is critical to your health!

However, while they do offer standing workstations as an option, often times they do little else to train you on proper usage of it. Most often patients come into the clinic reporting an increase in their symptoms as a result of getting a standing desk and using it for 8 hours straight on their first day with it. You may now see where the problem arises. 

Many try to push through aches and pains because they think they’ll “get past it”. Those are signals that your body is trying to tell you it is not ready to stand all day. You may be asking yourself, “Well then why get a standing desk in the first place?”

To begin with, many standing desks offer the ability to go from sitting to standing. This is a great feature as it allows you the freedom to alternate between sitting and standing throughout the day. Therefore, take incremental steps to adapt to this change. 

Set time goals each week and track your standing:sitting ratio.  If you’re at one hour a day, great. Keep working at it! There are also many ways you can add to your standing experience other than simply switching back to sitting. Therefore, we have curated a list of our best pieces of advice in relation to using a standing desk!

Top 6 Tips

1.    Set a stopwatch on your phone or desktop, so that you can track how long you are able to sit or stand before you notice discomfort.

2.    Set timers on your watch/phone to regulate your standing:sitting ratio. This will help you avoid the aches and pains of standing for too long without adapting to it.

3.    Understand that this may change as you become accustomed to standing more often.

4.    Try getting a footrest for which you can prop one foot on at a time or stretch your calves on.

5.    Use a golf ball, tennis ball, or lacrosse ball to mobilize the bottom of your foot (barefoot if your colleagues are ok with it!).

6.    Try out an anti-fatigue mat (they even have ones shaped like a topographical map that allows for many postural changes.  For example: http://ergodriven.com/topo/ 

Movement is your body’s nutrition!  These often-subtle position changes are what your body craves! Though I would prefer you didn't have to stand or sit at a desk all day, that is not an option for many of us. Sit to stand desks can be a great help for improving your body’s posture and health, but you have to stay on top of it and not get stuck in one position for too long. Like many activities, you’ll get much better the more proactive you are. 

It is not simply for your aches and pains either. There are multiple studies on how sitting affects your circulatory system, blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar just to name a few. According to Dr. James Levine, the co-director of the Mayo Clinic, for every hour you sit your life expectancy drops by 2 hours.  Though this can be quite shocking, he also notes that 90 seconds of standing activates the muscular and cellular systems that processes blood sugar, triglycerides, and cholesterol thus reducing your risks of diabetes and obesity.  So please, get up and get moving!

Pro Tip: Your Chiropractor can write you a recommendation for a standing desk at work!

Need more advice? Give us a call at 858-215-4485 for a FREE 15-minute Phone Consultation, where we can discuss your workstation pains and help you make this transition easier!

Should I Use Ice or Heat?

This seems to be one of the most common questions I hear in my clinical practice, and it’s important that I try and share this information with a larger audience so I can hopefully lay to rest this ridiculously popular age-old question. Before I begin, I want you to pay close attention to the information and exact wording in this article, and then I want you to share it with as many people as possible. Again, I’m not saying my advice is 100% correct, but I’m going off of the latest research that we have in the medical world today.

I would like to answer this question in two parts:

A. It Depends.

In a rough sense, the common thought is to use Ice for Acute Injuries. This is usually within the first 24-48 hours, and it’s primarily to moderate pain and swelling. After that, you want to use heat to promote more blood flow into the injured area and improve mobility. Of course, there are some special exceptions to this.

• This article does not apply to surgery or major trauma (fractures, open wounds, etc.). That would be entirely dependent on the type of surgery/trauma and what the surgeon or physician have recommended based on the factors surrounding that. Consult with them.

Ice has been used classically to “decrease inflammation”. What most people don’t realize is that, while often painful, inflammation is a very normal part of the healing process. The swelling, redness, and pain is a response by the body sending cells to the injured area to begin the healing process. If we apply a large amount of ice to an area for a prolonged period, we are limiting the body’s ability to send those repair cells to the site of injury. Even Dr. Gabe Mirkin who originally coined the term “RICE” recanted his 1978 statement in 2015, now stating that “Subsequent research shows that rest and ice can actually delay recovery. Mild movement helps tissue heal faster, and the application of cold suppresses the immune responses that start and hasten recovery. Icing does help suppress pain, but athletes are usually far more interested in returning as quickly as possible to the playing field. So, today, RICE is not the preferred treatment for an acute athletic injury.” (1)

So we just want to heat everything? While heat can help to improve blood flow to a certain area, the massive surge of inflammatory cells is not always the most comfortable. If you have an acute injury and it is still actively swollen/red/painful, I probably wouldn’t recommend heat as it can increase the pain level. However, for chronic aches and stiff muscles, heat can usually help to loosen those tight muscles and help us to get moving.

Which leads to the most important thing: GET MOVING. In Gary Reinl’s book, he instead replaces the RICE acronym with ARITA - Active Recovery Is The Answer. “Active Recovery” (aka general low-intensity movement) has demonstrated the best results when compared against ice or heat in clinical trials. By actively moving our body and more specifically the area of injury, we are stimulating blood flow and helping to shuttle the excess lymph (white blood cells associated with inflammation and immunity) and stagnant blood out of the injured area. This in turn will help to cycle fresh fluids into the area. All of this helps to naturally reduce swelling, pain, and improve mobility. I use the famous quote “Take the garbage out, bring the groceries in”.

• For example, instead of icing your knee pain, try going for a brief walk or cycling on a stationary bike with no resistance for 10 minutes.

Now for the long-awaited part B answer to the question: Drumroll please

B. It Really Doesn’t Matter.

The research has shown that neither Ice nor Heat have any significant clinical effect on the healing process. Ice has been shown to temporarily slow the healing process (2), and heat on an acute injury has been shown to temporarily increase pain. However, outside of skin irritation or damage by prolonged application or applying it at extreme temperatures, you really aren’t going to do much to change the healing process.

Lastly, some people just generally don’t respond well to one or the other, regardless of what type of injury or what stage of healing you are in. Therefore, I would recommend not using it at all or trying the alternative if one doesn’t work for you.

In conclusion, if ice helps to take the edge off temporarily with an injury that is roughly less than 48 hours old, then it might be suitable. However, prolonged periods of icing are really just for your pain tolerance and are probably going to cause a minor delay in your overall healing time. As for heat, I recommend it solely to help warm up a muscle group to get you MOVING. If there is anything you can take away from this article today, I would like you to remember ARITA: Active Recovery Is The Answer! (1)

If after all of this you STILL aren’t satisfied, then contact me personally for your specific condition and I would be happy to set up a Consultation to guide you further through your healing process!

In Good Health,

Dr. Colton Korne, DC

858-215-4485

References:

1. Reinl, G. (2013). Iced! The Illusionary Treatment Option, 2nd ed. United States of America: G. Reinl

2. Mirkin, G. (2015, September). Why ice delays recovery. Dr Gabe Mirkin on Health. Retrieved from www.drmirkin.com/fitness/why-ice-delays-recovery.html.

3. Mika, A., Oleksy, Ł., Kielnar, R., Wodka-Natkaniec, E., Twardowska, M., Kamiński, K., & Małek, Z. (2016). Comparison of two different modes of active recovery on muscles performance after fatiguing exercise in mountain canoeist and football players. PloS one, 11(10). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0164216

What's the Most Ideal Time to Exercise?

Do you tend to sit for most of the day? Do you generally lead a sedentary lifestyle? Are you looking to improve your health and longevity? Then you will definitely want to set aside some time to exercise.

That doesn’t mean you have to join an intense bootcamp class or buy into the latest workout trends. But it does mean including time to exercise in your already busy schedule.

Which begs the question: When is the best time to exercise?

Just like with your “diet”, the best time to exercise is any time that you can consistently attend to it. If you’ve found a time of day that’s working for you, then stick with it!

Others disagree. They think the “best” time of day to exercise should be determined by your circadian rhythms. Circadian rhythms are the body’s “internal clock.” They control blood pressure, hormones, appetite, sleep cycles, body temperature and countless other details. Your circadian rhythm is what gets out of step when you cross multiple time zones and experience jet lag. 

Researchers have found that body temperature is an important variable in determining the quality of one’s exercise performance. Body temperature is at its lowest during the one to three hours before you awaken. When body temperature is low, muscles are tight and blood flow is reduced. This can make an early morning workout more sluggish. Plus, it increases your chances of injury.

However, many report that an early morning workout makes them sharper and more productive during the day. If an early morning workout is the most ideal time you can fit in a workout, take extra care in warming up before hitting it hard.

On the other hand, early afternoon and evening workouts tend to be more productive for some people. That’s because we’re generally more alert, our body temperature is higher, our muscles are warmer and more flexible. Working out after a tough day at the office is also a great way to release stress, but exercising too close to bedtime can make it difficult to fall asleep.

In conclusion, consistency is the key. Pairing exercise with consistent healthy eating habits, proper sleep, and routine care is the foundation for health and longevity. Chiropractic is no different than going to see your dentist and primary care for regular check-ups to ensure you are keeping your body in tune.

Have you had a Chiropractic Check-Up recently?

Chiropractic Care for Neck Pain 101

Are you dealing with neck pain or know someone close to you who is battling with neck pain? Well I can assure you; you are far from alone. In fact, it is estimated that acute or chronic neck pain affects anywhere from 16-75% of people in some areas of the world. (1) 

In America, the most common causes of neck pain stems from our sedentary and technology-heavy lifestyle. Most of us sit all day and look at computer screens or mobile devices for the majority of our days. Then we go home and look at television screens or spend more time on phones and tablets. If you’re having hard time visualizing this, take note of how your head and neck posture is while reading this. You probably just sat up a little bit taller, didn’t you?

WHAT CAUSES NECK PAIN?

Your neck, also called the cervical spine, begins at the base of the skull and contains seven small vertebrae. Your cervical spine supports the full weight of your head, which weighs about 12 pounds on average. Because the neck is very flexible and can move your head in virtually every direction, it is highly susceptible to pain and injury.

Some common causes of neck pain include:

·      Pinched nerves

·      Osteoarthritis

·      Herniated discs

·      Bone spurs

·      Worn joints

·      Muscle strains, often from postural deviations

·      Prior Injuries, such as from sports or auto accidents

CAN CHIROPRACTORS TREAT NECK PAIN?

Chiropractic neck adjustments, called cervical manipulation, are utilized to increase the mobility of the joints of the cervical vertebrae in the neck. This can reduce pain caused by pinched nerves, muscle spasms, strains and other contributing factors. It also improves our sense of proprioception (awareness of our position in space) of the neck and head, which can improve our balance and coordination.

Most neck pain is associated with poor posture combined with age-related wear and tear. 

Chiropractors use their hands to manipulate the neck and place the vertebrae back into alignment, combatting the effects of posture and other factors.

Sometimes, neck pain isn’t just local. Discomfort from causes such as pinched nerves can radiate throughout the shoulder and down the arm. Chiropractors can help relieve these pains by repositioning the bones, relaxing the muscles, and reducing the pressure on nerves.

In conjunction with your chiropractic treatment plan, continual stretching and home exercises can ensure your neck pain stays at bay. Soft tissue massage can also loosen muscle knots in the neck and shoulders to relieve pain. The right combination of these therapies prescribed at the right time, can deliver the best results at reducing pain and restoring natural function in the neck.

IS CHIROPRACTIC SAFE FOR NECK PAIN?

Licensed chiropractors can safely administer spinal adjustments to the neck. Routine chiropractic care can provide you with a safe, non-invasive, non-addictive alternative to prescription medications or over-the-counter pain medications (OTCs), which are commonly prescribed to patients to help them manage their pain.

Chiropractic adjustments reduce joint restrictions or misalignments in the spine and other joints in the body, which can reduce inflammation and improve function of both the affected joint and nervous system. This gives your body the ability to better manage the discomfort in the neck.

Research shows that patients with chronic neck pain enrolled in clinical trials reported significant improvement following chiropractic adjustments. As part of a literature review published in the March/April 2007 issue of the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, researchers reviewed nine previously published trials and found high-quality evidence that patients with chronic neck pain showed significant pain-level improvements following spinal manipulation. Additionally, all groups showed positive changes up to 12 weeks post-treatment. (2)

HOW LONG DO I NEED TO SEE A CHIROPRACTOR FOR NECK PAIN?

Your chiropractic treatment plan will always depend on your particular situation. Patients who experience neck pain due to auto accidents, sports injuries or arthritis may need long-term care, whereas patients who experience neck pain from postural issues or a pinched nerve may only need short-term care. One of the most common determinants of care is length of time with symptoms, and history or prior injuries. These

The obvious way to determine this is to have a quality, thorough evaluation and consultation with a qualified Chiropractor. This usually involves a detailed history, physical examination, and potential imaging (often via an X-Ray or other Advanced Imaging).

After this, your chiropractor should explain all of the findings and results with you to help you understand WHY you are experiencing pain!

If you experience neck pain, discomfort or stiffness, call us at (858-215-4485) or request an appointment online here!

Resources:

1.     https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15999284

2.    https://www.jmptonline.org/ 

4 Simple Injury Training Modifications

One of the most common things I hear in my practice when asking patients about exercising with injury is “Well, I just won’t do (insert exercise that injured them/causes pain) anymore. Sadly, these are often exercises or movements that they enjoy doing, but are worried that they will be causing themselves more damage by continuing.

Exercising while injured/in pain can be difficult, but it’s not only a necessary part of the process, it can be vital for improving both physical and mental health. Whether you were consistently training, or just getting started again after a lot of time off, it’s extremely frustrating to feel that you’re losing progress and potentially going backwards.

I’m here to show you some simple tweaks that can be fundamental in getting you back moving safely and effectively. These 4 things can be applied to virtually ANY exercise/movement to slowly re-expose your body to those movements which scare you the most.

The important things to note are that we are trying to modify as LITTLE as possible, thereby keeping the exercise as close to it’s original intensity as we can tolerate. If you modify all 4 things at once, you may not be challenging yourself enough, so it’s up to you to determine the right modification for you. You may start to experience some of your original discomfort/pain as you are testing the exercises out, so make sure to progress accordingly at the beginning while you self-assess.

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Modification #1: Load

This seems like a simple one. If you are performing resistance training, reduce the amount of weight you are trying to move. But here is the trick, you want to find the HEAVIEST weight that you can move with good technique and does not significantly trigger your pain (often times, a little bit of discomfort is ok).

Modification #2: Volume

Maybe the weight isn’t the problem. Often times, after a certain amount of repetitions, we feel the fatigue set in and that’s when the pain starts. This is often due to our form and technique breaking down under fatigue and our body compensating with less-than-optimal form. At this point, I recommend not to change the load, but just decrease your volume slightly and come back later that week for more.

Modification #3: ROM

This one can be a bit more tricky and is dependent on the exercise, but I often see this as the most effective modification to make a difference. If we look at a squat for example, most people have pain towards the bottom of the squat. I recommend only squatting 3/4 of the way down, or utilizing a box squat to limit the range of motion. We can train these positions and get stronger while slowly increasing the range of motion.

Modification #4: Tempo

This one is common as the final modification I make in a recovery phase, especially with tendon/ligament injuries. Often times the movement can be performed pain-free if we slow the speed of the movement, but the tissue needs time to adapt to more explosive movement. Slowing the movement down also allows us to focus more on our form and technique, thereby improving muscle memory and mechanics at the faster speeds.

In closing, just remember that these modifications are always meant to be short-term while you’re both healing and getting stronger with the modifications. If you are struggling to implement these on your own, I recommend contacting us to get an evaluation where we can help guide you through this process. Our goal is always to get you back to doing what you love as efficiently and effectively as possible!

Can Chiropractic Care help with Auto Accident Injuries?

Auto injuries can cause various detrimental effects on the body. These range from minor muscle strains and aches, to serious bodily injury with lifelong consequences. However, many do not realize that the symptoms can sometimes be delayed after the accident. Not seeking care immediately after an accident can lead to many conditions.

These include early formation of abnormal scar tissue, changes to our normal body mechanics, and eventually unconscious compensation patterns. All of these can lead to a delayed onset of pain or lead to the development of pain in other areas of the body as a result of the initial injury. Addressing the initial problem early can significantly reduce your chances of having repeated flare ups in the future and lower your risk of developing other conditions later on.

Common Car Accident Injuries

Whiplash is one of the most common injuries sustained during car accidents—and often one of the hardest to treat. Nearly 300,000 whiplash injuries occur each year, many at low speeds. It takes only a 2.5 mile-per-hour change in speed to injure the neck.

Although half of all whiplash injuries are the result of rear collisions, they can occur from an impact in any direction. Frontal crashes account for 30 percent of motor vehicle neck injuries.

When a part of the body is whipped back and then forward beyond its normal limits, micro-tears can develop in the surrounding ligaments. Yet many accident victims don’t notice any pain at first. It isn’t until the micro-tears start to swell that the symptoms set in, including but not limited to:

·               Neck Pain/Stiffness

·               Headaches/Migraines

·               Blurred Vision/Dizziness

·               Shoulder Pain

·               Arm Pain/Numbness and Tingling

·               Hip/Leg Pain

·               Low Back Pain

·               Fatigue/Difficulty Concentrating

·               Anxiety/Depression

Soft-tissue injuries like whiplash can take a long time to heal. One study found that more than 70 percent of people who visited the emergency room after a car accident were still in pain six weeks later. Other researchers have noted that nearly half of whiplash sufferers continue to experience symptoms three months later, while 25 percent remain symptomatic for six months.

Without proper treatment, some injuries can continue to cause pain for years. As soft tissue injuries heal, they develop scar tissue. This scar tissue can affect the mechanics and movement of the tissues it attaches to. If the tissue attaches directly to the spine, it can ultimately inhibit normal functioning and even lead to spinal degeneration.

How Chiropractic Care Helps

Using a variety of drug-free techniques, from spinal adjustments to manual muscle therapy to rehabilitative exercises, chiropractors can:

1.    Relieve Pain: Soft-tissue injuries may take months to fully heal, but a chiropractor can often provide pain relief much quicker than that. Some car accident victims report up to an 80 percent reduction in discomfort after just a few weeks of chiropractic care.

2.    Restore Mobility. The soreness and stiffness from a motor vehicle injury can inhibit movement. Chiropractors work with patients to help get them moving again as quickly as possible so they can regain full range of motion before scar tissue develops.’

3.    Support Long-Term Healing. The muscle weakness resulting from a car accident can leave patients vulnerable to re-injury. Chiropractic care often involves rehabilitative exercises that improve flexibility and strengthen the muscles surrounding the spine.

Visiting a Doctor of Chiropractic as soon as possible after an auto accident can boost a patient’s chances of making a fully recovery—without resorting to prescription drugs.