GOT BACK PAIN? TRY THIS BEFORE GRABBING THOSE PAINKILLERS!

The 2017 Canadian Guideline for Opioids for Chronic Non-Cancer Pain and the American College of Physicians suggest trying various treatments or therapies that can be offered by chiropractors, like spinal manipulation, exercise, and other non-drug therapies. These alternatives are non-addictive and can even be more effective in reducing your pain and getting you back to your regular life!

Consider chiropractic as your first line of defence against pain. Here are just some of the treatment options chiropractors may provide:

1. It’s time for an adjustment 

Spinal Manipulation: Chiropractors deliver precise adjustments to the vertebrae of the spine to help you get moving smoothly and feel less tension.

2. All hands on deck 

Multidisciplinary Rehab: Pain can affect us in many ways, and the starting point isn’t always clear. Work with multiple health care providers to address the physical, psychological and social or occupational factors contributing to your pain. Check out our team at Synergy!

3. Movement is Key 

Exercise: Chiropractors can prescribe exercise to help improve function and reduce your pain. Once the initial pain subsides, specific exercise programs may help you avoid future flare-ups!

4. Change your focus 

Mindfulness Based-Stress Reduction: Reduce your stress by changing how your brain processes pain. Meditation, breathing exercises and body awareness techniques can help you change the way you experience pain.

5. Pinpoint the issue 

Acupuncture is a technique where fine needles are inserted into specific areas of the body to address pain and function. Dr. Jennifer Corey is trained to offer acupuncture along with a variety of other treatment options.

If you’re looking for pain relief without putting yourself at the risk of opioid dependence, visit synergywellnesscentre.com and book an appointment with Dr. Clemenhagen and the Synergy team!

Building Your Core, So Your Back’s Not Sore

 

You often hear about the importance of strengthening your core. This is true and important, but it is recommended for many reasons over and above just achieving your dream body.

Many people have back pain and this can sometimes be caused by weak abdominal muscles. In fact, developing strong abdominal muscles may actually help prevent back pain by enabling proper spinal alignment, making you less prone to back injuries. Your abs anchor your frontal core, and if they are weak, the other structures supporting your spine, such as back muscles, will have to work harder. By developing stronger core muscles, you’ll be less likely to injure or strain your back muscles.

Below are three exercises that help build your core, so your back’s not sore.

Rope Climb

Sit on the floor with your legs extended in front of you and feet turned out, toes pointed. Contract your core muscles and roll your shoulders forward creating a curve in your back. Lift and move arms in succession as if you were climbing a rope, twisting your core slightly with each reach. Repeat 20 times.

Circle Plank

Start in a plank position with abs tight. Pull right knee in and circle it clockwise, then counterclockwise. Keep the rest of your body stationary. Repeat five times and then switch legs.

Oblique Reach

Sit with knees bent and feet on floor. (A) Straighten right leg. Roll spine into a C-curve. Place left hand behind head and extend right arm. (B) Twist body to the left, roll back a bit more (and hold for one count), then come up. Do five reps and then switch sides.

Try these exercises to help tone your core, three to four times per week for about 15 minutes. Your back will thank you.

Sources: 

• http://www.spineuniverse.com/wellness/exercise/building-core-strength-reduce-back-pain

• http://www.realsimple.com/health/fitness-exercise/core-strengthening-exercises-00000000054969/

Rotator Cuff Injuries and Active Release Technique (ART)

The rotator cuff is made up of four major muscles and their tendons: supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor, and the subscapularis. These muscles:

·         Are used to generate torque for shoulder movement

·         Act as dynamic stabilizers of the shoulder joint

·         Help to lower and provide stability to the humeral head (the end of your arm bone) that fits into the shoulder joint

Rotator Cuff (Shoulder) injuries can be caused by a variety of factors, including acute trauma, repetitive motions and muscle imbalances. In most cases of Rotator Cuff Tendonitis or Tendonopathy, the muscle has sustained micro-tears as a result of repetitive strain and over use. This is known as a Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI). Rotator Cuff Injuries are commonly found in repetitive overhead activities like tennis, pickleball, swimming, paddling, baseball and house cleaning.

Our bodies are amazing at adaptation and so, to compensate for the stresses placed upon our muscles and joints, the body lays down fibrous adhesions between the muscles. We call these fibrous adhesions ‘scar tissue’.

This scar tissue is less stretchy and more fibrous than normal tissue and causes the muscles to gradually lose their ability to stretch. This, in turn, leads to weaker muscles that become more prone to injury. These scar tissue adhesions also restrict the muscles ability to slide freely past one another resulting in a disruption of proper biomechanics at the joint. Shortened muscles and tightened joints combine to impair coordination and reduce power – leading to further injuries. We call this the Cumulative Injury Cycle.

So what can you do about it?

Rotator Cuff injuries are traditionally treated with anti-inflammatories, ice, rest, stretching, electric modalities, exercises, surgery, steroid injections and ultrasound with varying results. There can be problems that often accompany these traditional treatments. Repeated use of steroids weakens tendons, which results in further biomechanical imbalances in the shoulder. Most traditional treatments provide only symptomatic relief from the pain and do not remove the restrictive adhesions that are the true cause of the problem. This means that while you might feel better in the short term, your rotator cuff pain is likely to return. This is where Active Release Techniques can really shine.

Active Release Techniques (ART) is a hands-on soft-tissue (muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves) technique that is based on a strong understanding of anatomy, physiology and biomechanics. ART alters the tissue structure by breaking up scar tissue adhesions and restoring normal function to the affected areas.

ART treatments typically last about 15 -30 minutes depending on the number of areas of being treated and involve the practitioner using hand and thumb pressure over the area’s affected by scar tissue to break up the adhesions. This aids in restoring the muscle’s ability to stretch and glide resulting in healthier muscle tissue and a return to proper joint mechanics. For complete rehabilitation of the shoulder, once the adhesions have been removed, your health practitioner will prescribe specific exercises to strengthen the rotator cuff and restore proper muscle balance.

Synergy Health and Wellness Centre is one of the few clinics in Collingwood that offers ART treatments. Our Chiropractor, Dr. Laura Clemenhagen, would be happy to speak with you about whether ART would be a good treatment option for you. 

Chiropractors and pregnancy - chiropractic care can help with low back and pelvic pain

Many woman report suffering from low back and pelvic pain during pregnancy. In fact, so many woman report these symptoms that they are often considered a ‘normal’ part of pregnancy! What makes these conditions a potential concern is their high prevalence, their effect on quality of life and the common link to general back pain post-pregnancy.

Whether you are pregnant or past partum and breast feeding, your options for pain control are severely limited. This is where chiropractic care can play a huge role in pregnancy and postpartum care.

A recent study published in 2014 looked at the outcomes of pregnant patients with low back pain undergoing chiropractic treatment. The most important finding of this study was that no serious adverse events were reported with chiropractic care – this means that chiropractic care is very safe for pregnant women. The other important findings of this study were that it suggested that a large proportion of pregnant patients with low back pain or pelvic pain reported clinically relevant improvement in symptoms with chiropractic care throughout their pregnancy and up to one year after delivery.

One week into the study, over half of the patients reported clinically relevant improvement in their pregnancy related low back and pelvic pain. At one year after delivery, 85.2% of patients were “happy” or “very happy” with their chiropractic care!

As someone who had chiropractic care throughout my entire pregnancy and who continues to seek chiropractic care at 10 months postpartum, I know that it has helped me have a (relatively) pain free pregnancy and good recovery outcomes.

In my practice, I have supported many women through their pregnancies and their postpartum period. In conjunction with physiotherapy to rehabilitate the pelvic floor and your birth professional (ob/gyn, midwife, doula), a chiropractor can be an integral part of your health team.

Call today for more information and to book your complimentary ‘Meet the Doctor’ visit to see if chiropractic care is the right fit for you!

References:

Peterson CK, Muhlemann D and Humphreys BK, ‘Outcomes of pregnant patients with low back pain undergoing chiropractic treatment’; Chiropractic & Manual Therapies 2014; 22:15