Archives 2021

Foot Pain and Spine Pain

Foot pain is one of the more common problems that people will deal with. According to healthyaging.org, more then 87% of people will have foot pain at some time in their lives. Older adults are more likely to have foot pain but it can hit at any age. Just so you know, I don’t treat most of the problems related to the foot. I don’t treat toe nail fungus, bunions, hammertoes, ingrown toe nails and the like. I do treat the joints of the foot and ankle. Your foot will generally have 26 bones, 33 different joints, and 120 muscles that all make the foot do what it does. Then we stuff all of that into a shoe that doesn’t breathe and compresses the joints. That’s just a recipe for trouble.

Foot Joints

I treat the larger joints of the foot and ankle. Pulling on toes to get them to release is a fairly simple process and I don’t need to do that for you. Adjusting the talus, the navicular, cuboid, and cuneiform bones, now that’s where I come in. Even the metatarsals all need some tuning up from time to time. When the foot is painful the joints become swollen and really difficult to move so icing the foot is a great process. I suggest either an ice bath for the feet or ice massage for individual sore spots. A lot of the adjusting I do is with the activator but I prefer to manually adjust the foot joints when possible.

Foundation for the body

If the foot and ankle joints are messed up, the knees, hips, and pelvis all will follow. When the pelvis tilts, the rest of the spine develops a curve that then effects the nervous system. Without this cascade of events, the legs and spine all become more stable and the nervous system works better.

Feet are not my cup of Tea

To be perfectly honest, feet are not my thing. I am willing to glove up and work on feet because people get so much relief and it really changes the workings of the spine. So, I’ll adjust feet for the betterment of your spine.

If you have foot pain or know of someone who is dealing with this pain, please let them know that there’s another option for getting relief. It’s one more tool for dealing with foot and leg problems.

Knuckle Crackin’, Do it right or don’t do it

Distract don’t crack

I see kids (mostly) knuckle crackin’ all the time. Some of us have become blind to it and think it’s just what they do. There’s not really a problem with the process if done properly but most do it incorrectly. Most people become habitual crackers in a very short time, once they start, and then they will crack their knuckles 10 to 20 times per hour. Add that up through the day and you’re talking about some serious joint distress. The other aspect of this is that most people compress the joint to get the pop. This is where the arthritic changes can occur. The proper approach is to distract or pull the joint farther apart to get the pop. This can stretch the joint capsule, but at least it’s not causing wear on the bony joints. If you’re prone to knuckle cracking, limit yourself to once or twice per day or less.

Wise Guys eh?

I never thought about it when I was young but so many kids want to show me that they can do it themselves. You’d be surprised how often, when a teenager comes in, the first thing they will do is twist and “crack” their own neck. They’ll sit knuckle crackin’ about 30 times in a row, just to show me they can do it. It really doesn’t bother me but it makes it more difficult for me to get to the joint that I am focusing on. Sometimes I’ll talk to them and tell them the proper way to do it, so they are not doing damage. I care deeply about my patients and their long term health, but I’m not the thought police. Choices are choices, some are good and some are less so. I will care for you, no matter the choice and I try to give you the information that helps you move forward in a positive way. If you chose cracking knuckles as a habit, that’s your business and there could be worse things.

Here’s to happy and healthy knuckles for years to come.

Dr. Roy

Hip Pain Makes Me Stop

If your hip pain is stopping you from doing your daily activities, something needs to be done and now. People find the acetabulum an easy joint to ignore, but it shouldn’t be. It’s a big ball joint with a large socket in the pelvic bones that has a lot of joint motion. When a person ignores hip pain, the body forms a scar in the joint. Because there is so much motion, it takes a lot of scar tissue building up before the joint pain becomes oppressive. At that point, it is getting too late. The joint has already lost articular cartilage, and we start to see the bone on bone type of pain.

What causes these joints to stop working right?

Usually a new injury will change the way that the joint works. As the injury ages, micro tears of the joint capsule and the supporting muscles lead to scar tissue. When the scars form, there is a significant chance that the hip will take a long time to heal. The injury can heal, when the joint is released. Healthy ligaments replace the scar and tendons allow for full range of motion. The hip, left in the fixed state, will develop scar tissue that becomes permanent. Then no amount of work will change it. Frequently, hip replacement with mechanical fasteners are the only way to reduce pain and get full movement back.

The Chiropractic Approach

As chiropractors, we adjust joints of all types. The hip, while a really mobile joint, is a fairly easy joint to adjust. We will use several techniques to adjust the hip. A straight osseous adjustment involves a high velocity thrust with distraction of the joint allowing for an increase in motion. An activator adjustment involves a mechanical instrument that delivers a super fast thrust with low force, making the adjustment less painful. The Charette technique of extremity adjusting, that I have used for nearly 20 years is one of the more effective techniques that I have used. All restore the joint motion and can give back some degree of pain free movement.

Like I said before, the earlier we catch the injury, the easier it is to restored the joint to normal. So, athletes who are either competing or training hard should be having maintenance adjustments done occasionally to any joint that has suffered injury. This is one of the reasons to have kids adjusted, especially once they have entered competitive sports. Then keep getting maintenance adjustments 4-6 times per year as you go on. Your future, very likely, depends on it.

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Inversion Therapy can Change Your Life.

I’ve had a lot of people ask about Inversion Therapy and what it does.

What it is and What it does

If you’ve been in my office in the past several months, you will have noticed the inversion table sitting prominently inside the door. Basically, on this table, you set your height, hook your feet into the bar at the bottom, raise your arms over your head and lean back. If it’s set properly, you should have a gentle tip backwards until the bar stops you from going any farther over.

This table I have is safe for people up to 300 lbs. but some of the others I have seen only go to 250 lbs. I usually recommend no more than 5 minutes like this because of the blood pressure that goes toward the head. You will feel it and not want to stay over too much more than that. When you are done, bring your arms back down to your waist and you should slowly tip back up to the upright position. At that point, take your time and let your body get used to being upright again.

Why use Inversion Therapy?

There are a couple of great benefits.

1. It reverses the forces of gravity so muscles can stretch out and the spine can decompress. This opens up the discs and allows new fluid into them through diffusion and blood vessels. As more of the spine loosens up, the fascia can stretch slightly and loosen some of the adhesions that develop.

2. There’s a structure in the lower back called Batson’s Venous Plexus. It is a larger area where several veins come together. These veins are the only area in the body where the veins don’t have valves to help push the blood up toward the heart. Thus, there is pooling of used blood in this grouping of veins and toxins build up there. These toxins cause a lot of lower back pain and need to be drained. Inversion allows this venous plexus to drain to the heart and exchange the blood.

Warning about Inversion…

Inversion is not for everyone. If you have a lot of extra weight, it can be hazardous to invert. Those who have hypertension can have problems with it. It can be hard on the ankles, so if you have weak ankles it’s not for you. If you have a really painful lower back, definitely don’t go there. Going over doesn’t hurt but coming back up is crazy painful.

Kind of a long article, but it gives you the basics about how I feel on the subject of inversion. Here’s to your health.

Dr. Roy

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Little office device can save a lot

This little office device the story.

One of the first big cases that I had involved a gentleman with a totally messed up shoulder.  I adjusted, worked the muscles, stretched the joint but nothing seemed to work.

Shoulder Pain, mouse alternative, track ball

I started talking with him about his office set-up and his work, because something else had to be causing all these shoulder problems.  Turns out he was an engineer for a major multinational corporation and supervised several departments of other engineers. I started talking with him about his office set-up and his work, because something else had to be causing all these shoulder problems. Turns out he was an engineer for a major multinational corporation and supervised several departments of other engineers. 

He was on the computer all day long responding to emails and otherwise on the computer.  The shoulder problem was his right shoulder, his mouse arm, so I suggested a track ball. Once he started using the trackball, his shoulder pain started to ease and the joint relaxed a bunch. We could then adjust the shoulder, remove the adhesions, and relax the muscles.  Given our current circumstance with everyone working from home and on the computer all the time, I thought this information might be interesting.  There’s also an article in the news letter for February 17, 2021, about ergonomics in the office place. If this sounds familiar or you have another problem that needs solving, make an appointment or stop by for a visit and we’ll see what we can do.

Google Review

If this little office device article helped you, please write a Google review for me. I have been rewriting my website, trying to get it up in SEO rankings. Just by visiting my website and clicking on a few pages, you can help my rankings tremendously.  If you are not so inclined, I completely understand.  Here’s my wish for you… find peace, family, and hope in your day today. 

Dr. Roy

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Bald Eagle at Saylorville.

The second shot

The Super Bowl game was a no contest (really disappointing) so I thought I’d tell you about my second shot.  I got the second vaccination on Thursday morning last week at about 11:10am.  I can’t say that I had much of a reaction for the first 24 hours and I was thinking, not so bad.

Almost the instant that the first 24 hours expired, I started feeling bad.  I’d say it wasn’t the worst I ever felt, but I was not very functional either.  I got home and went straight to bed for a nap,(which everyone said would help).  It did help, but I didn’t start feeling better until about 5 hours after the symptoms kicked in.  I had headache, body aches, and brain fog.  No fever, no nausea, no other symptoms at all.  On this side of it, I’d say it wasn’t terrible for me, but I know everyone has a different experience.  

I am standing by my guns and saying – get the shots.  Covid-19 has such bad outcomes for so many that it’s worth it, even if you are an anti-vaxer, to have the shot.  The last thing you would want is to take it home to someone vulnerable like a parent or grandparent.  When it’s your time, take the opportunity and just do it.  Buck up little camper, you’ll get through it.

 Stay safe and get the vaccine when it’s your time. To make an appointment in the clinic click here.

Dr. Roy

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Play Hard the Whole Game

The Super Bowl is Sunday

The Super Bowl is Sunday and we are looking forward to a great game.  How many times though have we seen a team do really well in the first half and run up a really nice score, only to mentally go home at half time.

We are seeing some light at the end of the tunnel with this Covid Pandemic.  We’ve played a tough first half and now we’re in the 3rd quarter.  If we let down, the Covid team is going to rally and their quarterback, #19 could take the ball down the field. Ok, it’s a weird analogy, but I had to tie in the Super Bowl.

I’ve heard about quite a few people who have been doing everything right, masking, washing, distancing, and the one time that they let their guard down, they get an exposure.  Then there’s all of the defensive game that has to happen, just to turn the tide.  It’s better to stay strong, play the whole game like your life depends on it, because it may.  Stay safe, stay strong, play hard and win this game. For yourself and your family.

 Stay safe and get the vaccine when it’s your time.

Dr. Roy

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Bust a move! Exercise for health.

One of the worst things we can do to our body is become sedentary. Sitting in front of a computer for 8, 9, or 10 hours per day just isn’t good for the joints, the muscles, and even the bones. So we bust a move! and exercise for health. The body needs stress, physically.  You strengthen what you use and lose what you don’t. 

I look at exercise as a three pronged process. All are equally important.  1. Cardiovascular – you need to get that heart pumping for thirty minutes a day, at least 4 days per week. 2. Strengthening – muscles have to be worked to a certain level at least 3-4 times per week.  This should also take about 30 minutes to get through a mild strengthening program. 3.Stretching – a muscle that is not used will shorten over time.  Stretch at the same intensity as you do your strength training.  If you are pumping some serious iron, you need to spend some serious time stretching out those muscles.  If you are doing a light band workout, do some light stretching to balance things out.  Stressing the muscles also stresses the bones and joints.  Bones get denser when they are stressed but become soft and demineralized when they are not.  Joints produce lubrication through movement, so more movement means less arthritic changes.  If you need more information on any of these processes, I can help with that or there are tons of exercise programs out there.  So get out and bust a move either in the gym or on the dance floor.

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Solutions for Knee Pain

There are a lot of surgical solutions that help with knee pain. There are also tons of home remedies that may or may not work.  Here are a few things that I have found beneficial for folks over the years of practice.

Knee pain knees
man massaging knee with apparent pain

First off, have your knees checked by a licensed chiropractor.  The knee can rotate or go posterior, out of its normal juxtaposition, which can be painful. This can cause undue wear and tear. It also makes the knee more susceptible to further injury as you participate in strenuous activities.  There are a variety of adjustments that can be done. Each doctor of chiropractic will have developed their own protocol that works for them.  I have three different types of adjustments that I can perform, depending on the type of injury.  There are orthopedic tests that we can do to determine the cause of the pain and this drives recommendations for treatment

Supplements 

Some joint remedies can be helpful also.  I usually recommend a joint formula that contains Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Chondroitin Sulfate, and MSM.  Collagen supplements (i.e. shark cartilage) have been on my radar as a supplement that works also.  My suggestion is that, if you are going to try a supplement, add one, take it for several months before adding anything else.  Most of these supplements can take up to 3 months before you start seeing a difference.  Rate your pain before starting on a supplement and then at the 3 or 6 month point.  A lot can change in that time so there may be other factors for your knee pain improvement.

Sometimes, the goal of the adjustments and/or supplements are simply to be more comfortable until your condition is bad enough to be a surgical candidate. Adjustments can slow the progress of arthritic degeneration and really delay the inevitable surgery for a good amount of time.  I hope this gives you some alternatives for knee pain, besides jumping right into surgery.

Peace to your day.  Be safe, wear your mask, and wash your hands. Be a light in these dark times.

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