San Leandro Chiropractor

Proper Chiropractic Care for Low Back Pain in Young Athletes

May 27, 2011 by drburt

Proper Chiropractic Care for Low Back Pain in Young Athletes

I have recently had patient in my San Leandro Chiropractic clinic, traveling all the way from San Francisco. This is a young male in his early thirtieth with severe lower back pain which debilitating his activities of daily living every day. He has difficulty performing his duties at work as a financial advisor for one of the major banks in San Francisco Bay Area. Most of the day he has to stand around his desk, because both of his feet get numb and the pain gets unbearable. Taking pain medications during working hours does not do him any good as he can not concentrate on his tasks. He had this pain and numbness for the past seven months

He used to play hockey game with his friends. As you all know hockey is a very aggressive and contact sport. This physical activity requires maximum endurance in a short period of time. Many players fall and have multiple sprain and strain injuries that often times being ignored. My patient was not able to play a single game since the beginning of the first symptom.

During this seven months period he has seen a variety of different medical care practitioners. Medical Doctors were only able to prescribe pain medications and refer to other medical doctors such as Orthopedists and Neurologist. From his own words: “It seems like the Medical Doctor do not have any training at all for musculoskeletal conditions.” Physical therapists were trying to strengthen his injured muscles. His Gluteus Maximus and Medius as well as Psoas Major and Tensor Fascia Latae (TFL) were super tight and painful during deep tissue massage. It is counterproductive to strengthen injured musculature. One must heal it first and balance it out, then strengthen it.

During examination I have discovered that his right Sacroilliac Joint is about two inches lower then the right one. His shoulder level and ear level were unequal as well. Basically shoulders and head were compensating SI joint imbalance. All of the muscles mentioned above were not functioning properly. I have advised this patient two weeks of rehabilitation which includes electric simulation and heat for specific injured musculature, Gonstead Specific Manual Adjustment to the entire spine, and deep tissue massage from my CMT. I will publish another post after two weeks period about the results. So far, he informed me that the first session held up much longer then any other therapy he has received so far.

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Left Sided Lower Back Pain

May 20, 2011 by drburt

It is very common that some people will experience left sided back pain more frequently than the right side. This kind of pain can last for days, weeks and sometimes months. The location of this pain is usually below the ribs and around the side of the torso. This dull like and aching pain is usually more intense during particular hours of the day. Some people are very sensitive to touch in that area and some are sensitive to the dietary changes. Exercises, deep breaths and bowel movements can affect the pain on a left side of the lower back as well.

Many patients get frustrated because many times all of the tests come out negative. Prescription medication for pain might not be the solution to a problem. Some doctors will not have enough experience figuring out the cause of the pain. Ask your physician to refer you over to a specialist who has more experience with that kind of pain.

Here is a list of conditions which can cause lower left side back pain:

Ectopic pregnancy: A woman with a developing ectopic pregnancy may not display any signs or symptoms of being pregnant. Symptoms include lower abdominal pain, vaginal bleeding, cramping or stabbing pain around the pelvic area, dizziness and felling lightheaded.

Endometriosis: Symptoms may include pain in the pelvis, abdomen and lower back. Heavy flow of vaginal bleeding may accompany these symptoms.

Hypochondrial pain: Symptoms include pain under the rib cage, which can be referred from the colon or spleen.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS): Also known as spastic colon, IBS may be accompanied by abdominal pain, diarrhea, headaches, low back pain and chest pain.

Gastroesophageal Reflux Disorder: Symptoms may include heartburn, chest pain, back pain, difficulty swallowing or dry cough.

Pancreatitis: Symptoms that are chronic may include indigestion, abdominal pain, back pain, weight loss and steatorrhea (stool that is appears oily and foul smelling).

Peptic Ulcer: Symptoms may include a burning pain in the chest, nausea, vomiting, weight loss, change in appetite and back pain.

Gastrointestinal bleeding: Common causes include esophageal varices, stomach ulcer, erosions of the esophagus, duodenum or stomach; duodenal ulcer, abnormal blood vessels, colon cancer, anal fissures, colon polyps, diverticulosis, inflammatory bowel disease, internal hemorrhoids and inflammation of the large bowels.

Celiac Disease: Symptoms of celiac disease may mimic those of other conditions such as anemia, parasite infections, irritable bowel syndrome, gastric ulcers and skin disorders. Symptoms may include joint pain, weight loss, back pain, weakness and fatigue, bone disorders such as osteoporosis, diarrhea, abdominal cramps and anemia.

Radicular pain: This occurs when there is irritation or compression along the nerves exiting the spine. Symptoms include pain that is accompanied by weakness, numbness or a tingling sensation. Causes of radicular pain can be due to injury, trauma, soft tissue, disc herniation, facet syndrome or bony changes to the vertebral column.

Kidney stones: Symptoms include pain below the ribs, pain around the torso and back pain. It is also common to experience pain radiating into the lower abdomen and groin region. Other symptoms include pain during urination, nausea and vomiting.

Gallstones: Symptoms may include pain between the shoulder blades, pain in the center and upper right region of the abdomen, back pain and pain into the right shoulder. Additional symptoms may include abdominal pain after eating meals.

Problems with the adrenal gland: Common symptoms include headaches, dizziness when standing up or changing positions quickly, sensitivity to bright lights, low back pain.

New Orleans Lifestyle for a Health Conscious Individual

May 16, 2011 by drburt

This post is going to go live on Monday while I will be somewhere in the air flying Southwest Airline back to San Francisco Bay Area. My recent trip to New Orleans had filled my brain cells with lots of great traveling experience. It is definitely a great city to visit with its rich history. French Quarter is an amazing place to hang out. It has a great variety of different tours. To name a few: steam boat ride along the Mississippi River, Bus Tours, Vampire Tours, Swamp Tours, Carriage Ride and many others. The city is intermixed with French, Spanish and American roots. You can see it in architecture of buildings – which are absolutely beautiful and something that you will only be able to see in New Orleans.

During a boat tour along the Mississippi river I found out that Domino Sugar Refinery is producing six millions pounds of sugar a day. The Port of New Orleans is at the center of the world’s busiest port complex – Louisiana’s Lower Mississippi River. Its proximity to the American Midwest via a 14,500-mile inland waterway system, six Class One railroads and the interstate highway system makes New Orleans the port of choice for the movement of cargoes such as steel, rubber, coffee, containers and manufactured goods.

I am not going to bore you any longer with a history and facts. The purpose of this blog post is to describe my experience about health consciousness of this historic town. The number one thing that was really unpleasant that restaurants are allowing smocking inside. It is really unpleasant experience for someone who does not smoke and really a huge turn off for someone who travels with kids, which was in our case. Many Southerners are chain smokers. People are smoking everywhere here, and smoking a lot. Many individuals are overweight. I guess it has to do with too much heat, humidity and unbalanced diet. People just don’t have a chance to get out for a walk during spring and summer time as it is getting really hot in here. When we ate out the menu choices from different restaurants were not very healthy. With few substitutions we were able to manage to get a semi healthy meal. Very famous beignets from Café du Monde were a huge disappointment. After eating one I felt like my organs were shutting down one by one. It is just deep fried flower and covered with a ton of powdered sugar. The place is packed 24 hours a day and is one of the busiest tourist attractions. I guess it is one of the few things a visitor must experience, which I did.

Dinner at Irene’s Cuisine was absolutely fabulous and healthy but was discovered by speaking to a local resident. If you are in French Quarter of NOLA I highly recommend it to you, comes with a price and long wait. That was the lightest and healthiest food I have eaten in the past five days being here. Breakfast at Bistreaux of Maison Dupuy Hotel was another healthy alternative and excellent service.

Overall my family and myself have enjoyed the stay and everything this beautiful city has to offer. I personally think it should be on every ones bucket list. Hopefully you have enjoyed this semi negative review about my trip to NOLA.

Personal Injury Case and Arbitration

May 11, 2011 by drburt

Today’s post is not so much about health but about personal injury case, arbitration and insurance company which does not wish to compensate injured patient after he was involved in a car accident. I had an opportunity to present the case for one of my patients against insurance company which is not willing to compensate him for pain and suffering post motor vehicle accident. Besides my patient and me, the plaintiff attorney was in the room and neurologist who helped to manage the care when the pain level was unbearable for my patient. On the other side was a defense attorney and defense orthopedist (insurance company is using this orthopedist deliberately for reporting purposes only – about this later). The last person was a gentleman who was in the middle of this madness – the Arbitrator.

The arbitration process is not as serious as a deposition or a trial for personal injury cases. The process began by cross examining the patient from defense and plaintiff sides. I was not allowed to be present in the room during this process. The second cross examination was for a neurologist who was co managing the care for this patient. Again I was not allowed to be present in the room during this process. I was a third person to be crossed examined by both sides. Plaintiff attorney began asking me questions about pre and post health condition of this particular patient. The main complaint of the patient was persistent lower back pain which radiated down his left lower extremity. The questions were very specific and were leading to a specific conclusion – that this particular injured individual has never had shooting lower back pain prior to this accident. My thorough documentation has proved that this was the case. When the time came for a defense attorney to cross examine me, that person completely relied on an orthopedist’s report, which was obviously geared towards the benefit of the insurance company. The problem is that the defense orthopedist spent perhaps at the most thirty minutes with this patient and can not possibly know everything about his health history. Some anecdotal studies and examples were included in the report which had no supportive values for defense attorney and insurance company. Orthopedist does not have much of a clinical experience and is specializing in report writing only. This doctor was called for cross examination right after me.

The third party has wasted thousands of dollars on defense work instead of simply compensating the injured person. I am pretty sure that arbitrator will award this man a proper compensation for his pain and suffering.