Stress - How Chiropractic can help

Stress can cause problems for you physically and emotionally. The effects of stress can cause headaches, muscle aches and pain and stiffness in your body.

There are typically three different causes of stress. The first cause is Environmental – This is what’s around you and things that you usually have no control over. You may live in an area that has high levels of pollution or high crime rates. Secondly, Physical factors may affect you such as injuries that you have incurred as a result of an accident, or it may be caused by what you are eating or from a lack of sleep. Sometimes, one of these may cause the other to happen such as an injury causing a lack of sleep due to being uncomfortable. Thirdly, Emotional factors such as worrying about our personal life, finances or fears of the unknown may cause stress leading to the undesirable effects of stress.

Due to the stress incurred by either from environmental, physical or emotional factors, our body may suffer from headaches, neck pain, and muscle aches and stiffness to name a few. High blood pressure, increased risk of heart issues and damage to your body’s tissues may also result from your body being overstressed.

In addition to doing things for yourselves to relieve stress such as exercise, stretching, yoga and deep breathing exercises, chiropractic can also help you to alleviate muscle tension and headaches. Getting adjusted positively affects your nervous system which helps ease muscle tension which then reduces the stressors in your body so you can relax and get more rest allowing the body to get relief from the stress around you.

Dr. Joelle Johnson is located at 142 Erickson Drive, Red Deer, Alberta.  www.family1stchiro .ca To book an appointment, please call 403-347-3261 

Is CranioSacral Therapy for me?

Do you struggle with pain and stress that won’t go away? Maybe you feel constantly “charged” and can’t relax enough to experience a full night of uninterrupted, restful sleep. Or perhaps you can’t dial down your stress levels or take your mind off of your physical pain and discomfort long enough to incorporate self-care into your daily life. 

Do any of these symptoms feel uncomfortably familiar to you?

-       Head and neck pain

-       Headaches and tmj dysfunction

-       Inability to concentrate

-       Chronic pain

If this is you, please know that you are not alone.  CranioSacral therapy can gently give you relief from physical pain issues and emotional discomfort, allowing you to fully experience your life in a new way.

Jeanette Raskin CST, RMT takes appointments Tuesdays, Wednesday evenings, and Saturdays.

Call 403-347-3261 to book your appointment now.

Forward Heads Increase Head Weight

Neck pain can be a recurring condition that can frustrating to most patients. The simple anatomical answer is because holding your head up is like trying to balance a bowling ball on the end of a pool cue. This presents a challenges for the neck.    

Most common answers from patients experiencing neck pain: Poor sleeping positions, poor desk posture, using mobile phones/ipads, gardening, previous motor vehicle accidents, and over head decorating.

Bottom line is that we humans have very large heads that was designed to protect our very large brains. Head position is to be held high to scan the horizon looking for food and danger. In today’s world we are now sitting far too much either at a desk, driving or texting throughout the day. This causes significant imbalances in the muscles that were designed to help hold our heads up above our shoulders. Over time this continuous strain on vertebral anatomy causing postural weakness and permanent forward head carriage.

Furthermore, for every inch the head moves forward on the shoulders. The weight of the head increases by at least ten 10lbs. So for instance, if a patient’s head weighs 10lbs, and is 3 inches forward past the shoulders. This would increase head weight to 40lbs causing abnormal leverage on the cervical spine, putting extra pressure on muscles and joints of the neck.

Due to our daily activities the body will shift the head forward away from a stiff, tender and jammed joints in the neck. Over time the cervical spine can be reduced or straightened. Causing structural changes and degeneration. Regular checkups, Chiropractic adjustments and specific neck exercises can stop this process from happening.

For more information on forward head carriage, or to schedule an appointment, please contact Family First Chiropractic and Wellness.

Dr. Elton Clemence is a Chiropractor at Family First Chiropractic and Wellness, located In Red Deer, AB 142 Erickson Dr ,www.family1stchiro.ca 403-347-3261 to book an appointment.

Treatment for Tendinitis/ Tendinosis

Last blog we discussed the differences between tendinitis and tendinosis, now we will discuss treatments. By the time you feel pain from tendinosis, your injury has been gradually building for many weeks or months. Remember that tendons heal slowly, due to limited blood supply. You will probably need to wait several months before a reasonable amount of repair has occurred, so have patience with this slow healing process. While both conditions are classically treated with conservative measures, the difference in care is absolutely critical to resolution of the problem. Conservative management stems around rest and anti-inflammatory medication for tendinitis, while conservative management of tendinosis aims to restore tendon regrowth and strength through manual therapy and eccentric exercise.

You'll need to avoid activities that cause pain, which can be a problem when some of those activities involve your work. Keep doing the normal daily activities that don't cause you pain. Treatment for tendinitis can be simply RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) to reduce inflammation and allow healing.

Braces are often used for the wrist, elbow, knee, and ankle. Some people find that braces can add stability and support during activity. Braces should not be worn all the time because you can lose strength and flexibility, but they can be helpful if worn part-time. This can be done for work or at night with wrist braces for carpal tunnel symptoms.

Stretching and strengthening with emphasis on eccentric exercise is especially helpful for tendinosis. Muscle is forced to lengthen while it contracts because it is being used as a brake or to absorb energy while doing "negative work." On the other hand, concentric exercise is when a muscle shortens as it contracts because it is acting as an engine doing "positive work." 

Correcting ergonomic problems can be very helpful in healing workplace tendinosis. Some foods and supplements, such as ginger and turmeric, can help reduce inflammation. 

 Your best bet is to maintain a healthy weight and eat a plant-based diet with plenty of antioxidant-rich whole fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, and grains, while eating minimal amounts of trans-fats, saturated fats, and simple carbohydrates.

Traditional treatments involve use of anti-inflammatories, corticosteroid injections, and/or pain medication for the treatment of tendonitis. It has been proven that these can actually further the degeneration of tendons and increase the risk of recurrence of the condition as well as increase the risk of tendon rupture. That being said, corticosteroid injections and anti-inflammatory medications have been shown to be effective in short term pain reduction for tendinitis.

Soft tissue mobilization can speed healing, restore proper collagen synthesis, strength and function. Chiropractic helps by aligning joints properly around the problem area which puts less stress on tendons. You then can break down the adhesions / restrictions and allows the tendons to heal properly. After an injury the body makes scar tissue to heal the area quickly but this must be broken down to allow proper healing of the tendon. If this is not done, tendons can weaken and rupture. I utilize soft tissue techniques such as Graston and ART and ultrasound therapy. These help breakdown adhesions/ scar tissue and stimulates collagen synthesis to heal tendinosis. If you or a loved one is having these problems call to book an appointment to get on the road to recovery. 

Dr. Stephen Kelly practices at Family First Chiropractic, 142 Erickson Drive, Red Deer, Alberta. 403-347-3261. www.family1stchiro.ca.

The World Of Tendons

A tendon is a cord or band of dense, tough, inelastic, white, fibrous tissue, serving to connect a muscle with a bone. Think Achilles tendon, which attaches your calf muscle to the heel. Damage or injury to tendons is quite common. There is two different issues-tendinitis and tendinosis. One you’ve probably heard of before. The other, probably not. While they both sound the same, in reality they are worlds apart.

Tendinitis is, by definition, inflammation of a tendon.  Tendinosis on the other hand is defined as chronic tendinitis without inflammation and implies chronic tendon degeneration at the cellular level. Basically, one is short-term with inflammation, the other long-term, without inflammation, though both are caused typically by overuse. Repetitive strain injury (RSI) goes by a lot of names – it can also be called tenosynovitis or chronic tendinopathy by doctors. Don’t let their fancy jargon scare you! It’s kind of simple – tendinitis happens when you repeat a motion frequently on tight tissues and when the rate of damage exceeds your body’s natural rate of repair. 

NORMAL TENDON Uniform, Organized, & Parallel            

 

 

FRAYED TENDON (TENDINOSIS) Unorganized, Tangled, & Random

 

      

                         

Tendinitis, the most popular diagnosis of the two, usually presents with swelling and tenderness at the sight of pain, often accompanied by stiffness, and less often by weakness. Tendinosis presents most often with stiffness, tenderness to the touch, and weakness–almost identical to tendinitis. Recovery of tendinitis lasts anywhere from days to six weeks, a relatively “quick fix.” Tendinosis recovery can last a few short weeks to a couple months or more depending on the level of degeneration. If left untreated, tendinosis often leads to “tear” injuries

Tendinitis and tendinosis, both, occur most often in the Achilles tendon (ankle), patellar tendon (knee), proximal hamstring (high hamstring), common extensor tendon (elbow), and the supraspinatus tendon (shoulder). With both of these problems being so relatively close, while treatment is vastly different, proper diagnosis is vital to the recovery process! So which one do you have? Let’s go to the research.

While tendinitis is the wildly over-popular diagnosis among general practitioners, it may not be the case. Most research coming out on this topic is now showing that at a cellular level, once believed tendinitis actually is, in fact, tendinosis.

According to Almekinders and Temple, “Most currently practicing general practitioners were taught, and many still believe, that patients who present with overuse tendinitis have a largely inflammatory condition and will benefit from anti-inflammatory medication. Unfortunately this dogma is deeply entrenched. 10 of 11 readily available sports medicine texts specifically recommend non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs despite the lack of clinical evidence.”

In light of this, chances are that if you have been diagnosed with tendinitis the diagnosis was incorrect. Furthermore, traditional, conservative treatment, of such, with the use of anti-inflammatories, corticosteroid injections, and/or pain medication may have left you worse off long term even though pain may have dissipated short term. This is because these drugs inhibit collagen repair and are designed to eliminate inflammation, not regrow tendon. As mentioned above, treatment of tendinosis should be aimed at restoring tendon function and strength. Drugs will not help solve the problem! With all this said, while we cannot assume a tendinitis diagnosis was incorrect, lingering, worsening, or reoccurrence of pain would suggest that it may in fact be tendinosis. It is recommended that treatment plans geared toward tendinitis, in these cases, be re-evaluated.

Tendinitis is one of the most commonly diagnosed injuries and all too many struggle to find relief. With the proper diagnosis and treatment plan, it doesn’t have to be that way!

The next blog will discuss treatments for tendinitis/tendinosis. Stay tuned!

Dr. Stephen Kelly practices at Family First Chiropractic, 142 Erickson Drive, Red Deer, Alberta. 403-347-3261.www.family1stchiro.ca.

Was Grandma correct about her joint pain and weather changes?

Arthritis:

Was Grandma correct about her joint pain and weather changes? Do your joints ache when a storm is coming? 

You may be convinced your arthritic pain is worse when the barometric pressure changes, but many researchers have developed headaches trying to prove this with science. The vast majority of studies have failed to establish a scientific connection between changing weather patterns and arthritis symptoms. Despite its lack of scientific support, both arthritis sufferers and Rheumatologists insist there is a great deal of clinical support for this phenomenon, citing widespread reports of weather-induced pain flare-ups.

More than 60 percent of osteoarthritis patients report that their symptoms vary with weather conditions. Fibromyalgia patients have also reported weather-related fluctuations in pain. A few recent scientific studies have begun to offer some "mild support" for what patients and physicians have reported for decades—weather may indeed be a factor in arthritis pain.

Dutch researchers tracked pain levels of hip osteoarthritis sufferers and matched their symptoms against daily weather records. They found that the participants' aches and pains indeed were a little bit worse and joints a bit stiffer when humidity and barometric pressure levels rose. These changes were too small to be considered "clinically relevant," but this doesn't mean that the pain was not real. Other recent European studies have shown similar findings, but the changes are all subtle; maybe this is the reason science has failed to demonstrate this connection until now.

Mood and daily activity may also be factors. It's possible that your pain threshold drops during cold, rainy weather, because environmental conditions can definitely affect your mood. When it's cold, many people are less likely to go outside and get the exercise that normally keeps arthritis pain in check. Another factor could be the placebo effect. That is, if you expect your pain to be worse when the weather changes, then it very well may be. After all, the pain-weather "phenomenon" is commonly accepted in Western culture.

Now that we've spent some time mucking around in the gray areas of science with respect to arthritis pain, let's take a look at what we KNOW works in terms of pain relief for arthritis sufferers. There are two types of arthritis: osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. The only thing they have in common is that they are both characterized by pain, inflammation, stiffness, and swelling of the joints—but they are very different diseases, with different causes and presentations.

Here are the principal differences:

Osteoarthritis (OA): OA, or degenerative arthritis (degenerative joint disease), typically occurs in older individuals, but can also follow repetitive stress or acute trauma.

OA usually affects the distal joints and is not symmetrical. You may have it in just one joint, or on one hand or foot but not the other.

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA): Is much more serious. RA is an autoimmune disease that causes your immune system to attack the tissues that line your joints. RA can occur at any age, but fortunately, juvenile RA is relatively rare. RA tends to be bilateral, symmetrical and is associated with joint deformities. People do die from RA so it's not to be treated lightly.

Due to the fact that both OA and RA involve joint pain and inflammation, they share common treatment modalities. Anti-inflammatory drug approaches such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) and analgesics, like Tylenol, are typically used for both types of arthritis.

The problem with these drug approaches is that regular, chronic use of arthritis drugs can result in liver or kidney damage. Use of analgesics is a very common cause of kidney disease. (Analgesic nephropathy).

Acetaminophen is actually the number 1 cause of acute liver failure! Pain control is an important aspect of treating RA. Because of its severity, rheumatoid arthritis is often treated aggressively with potentially some of the most dangerous drugs on the market.

A relatively recent class of RA drugs are the TNF-alpha inhibitors, also termed "biologic" drugs. While these drugs are enthusiastically promoted by the medical and pharmaceutical industry, there are still concerns about their safety.

Arthritis pain can be quite severe so most people benefit from some form of pharmacologic relief while waiting for the natural therapies to kick in. So if you chose to use a drug, you'll want to be sure to use the safest drugs and only when necessary. Not only do pharmaceutical agents have a range of potential side effects, but they merely suppress symptoms without doing anything to address the underlying cause. Targeting the cause of the problem is a much more effective approach for achieving long-lasting relief. Drugs for rheumatoid arthritis are among the most dangerous drugs prescribed and may cause more problems than they solve, so the sooner you can incorporate more natural treatments and reduce your reliance on pharmaceuticals, the better. If you need to take an analgesic from time to time, this is much less risky than taking them on a daily basis. The ultimate goal is managing your pain without medications.

Treating arthritis effectively with natural approaches that are scientifically sound and that address the cause of the problem, with special emphasis on the management of RA.

Rheumatoid arthritis treatment protocol has helped many RA patients go into remission, and one of the key factors is dietary modification. It is an essential component of any RA protocol. Following these general guidelines alone will go a long way toward dramatically reducing your chronic inflammation, whether it's from RA or another inflammation-based disease:

1.  Eliminate sugar/fructose and most grains (this automatically means avoiding virtually all processed foods)

2.  Optimize your gut flora by consuming naturally fermented products.

3.  Consume whole, unprocessed high-quality foods, organic and locally-grown if possible

4.  Eat a more of your food raw

5.  Get plenty of high-quality animal-based omega-3 essential fats.

Key Components of a RA Treatment Protocol:

Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) - Naltrexone is a pharmacologically active opioid antagonist, conventionally used to treat drug and alcohol addiction. However, in very small doses, it is inexpensive, non-toxic, and has immunomodulating properties widely reported by physicians as effective in getting people off of dangerous arthritis medications.

Astaxanthin: A powerful anti-inflammatory antioxidant with very powerful pain control.

Vitamin D, Exercise, Curcumin (Turmeric), Boswellia and Ginger are also help with symptoms.

If you have OA or RA, implementing some basic lifestyle changes can help quell the inflammation that causes your joints to become achy, stiff, or swollen.

Chiropractic is great for OA and can help reduce the inflammation/ pain by adjusting the spine and extremities back to their proper position. This allows proper motion/ function of joints and their supporting structures. This will help eliminate the cause of the arthritis rather than mask it with drugs. At Family First Chiropractic we have pharmaceutical grade supplements including essential fatty acids and joint health remedies. Come in and check out our great selection. Call for a consultation or treatment and find out how we can help you!

Dr. Stephen Kelly D.C.

Dr. Kelly practices at Family First Chiropractic located at 142 Erickson drive in Red Deer. Call us today to book an appointment (403)347-3261 or visit us at www.family1stchiro.ca

Chiropractic Proves better for Golf?

Can Chiropractic Improve Your Game?

· Many golfers suffer from chronic low back pain. Back pain responds exceptionally well to chiropractic adjustments, increasing mobility and range of motion.

· Chiropractic care aims to help improve posture and flexibility, two components of longer and more powerful drives.

· We become less flexible with age and immobility (working at a desk job, sitting in a car driving everyday) contributes to that as well. Swinging a golf club requires collaboration on the part of many joints from the feet up to the hands, including ankles, knees, hips, spine, elbows and wrists. Lack of flexibility contributes to many repetitive motion injuries in the joints. Chiropractic care attempts to address, correct and prevent joint injuries.

· When combined with stretching and corrective exercises, chiropractic care is a cost effective, all-natural way to improve mobility… which translates to consistency during the four – five hours it takes to play 18 holes.

Increased flexibility and mobility can certainly improve your golf score. Just ask the pros – nearly 75% of them receive regular chiropractic care while on tour each year.

To book an appointment at Family First Chiropractic call 403-347-3261. www.family1stchiro.ca