Social Media, Chiropractic, Twitter and Lewis Howes Experience.

October 11, 2010 by drburt

This is a story about my personal experience in a blogosphere world. It is a true and amazing live event that opened my eyes on possibilities with Social Media and how one can integrate it into his or her business.

I found out about Twitter existence on April 15^th, 2010. Some of you might laugh, and wonder why I was missing out on this wonderful platform for such a long period of time. Some of you are probably still wondering what Twitter is all about. Now I don’t feel so bad.

The official opening date for my blog was on August 1^st, 2010. That was the time where I took things to a different level with Twitter, FaceBook, LinkedIn, and YouTube Channel. I personally think that these four channels are the most important channels in Social media, and your blog is the center of it. But this story is not about my blog. This story is about my Social Media experience using Twitter, meeting Lewis Howes and providing Chiropractic service to a legendary American Football Player and coauthor of LinkedWorking book.

I found out about Lewis Howes via Jeff Bullas’s blog who is a huge Social Media expert, based in Australia. His entire blog is dedicated to Social Media evolution, research and news. In one of the posts, “10 Simple Steps To Increase Your Digital Influence” he mentioned that Lewis is the master of LinkedIn – which is the largest professional Social network in the world. I clicked on the www.LewisHowes.com and read his entire blog, followed him on Twitter and ordered his book.

On September 24^th, of this year I got up around 5am to have a drink of water and automatically checked my Twitter updates on my Iphone. Lewis was letting all of his followers know that he is heading to San Francisco. I replied back by saying: “It is 5am here.” Lewis replied by asking if I have any openings. I was thinking to myself: “Am I actually going to meet this guy.” To make a long story short Lewis made an appointment. The last time he saw a chiropractor was about three years ago and his spine and old wrist injury were way overdue for some good Chiropractic Rehabilitation.

A little bit of History about Lewis’s injury. This comes directly from his book “LinkedWorking”.

In the spring of 2007, I had an opportunity to fulfill a childhood dream. After a highly successful career in high school and college football, I earned a spot on an arena football team. This is simply football played indoors during the spring and summer months and serves as a training or proving ground for those vying to play in the National Football League.

During the second game of the season, I dove to catch the football. Unfortunately, however, I slammed into the walls that surround the playing surface in arena football and severely broke my wrist.

I finished out the season with my hand taped, at the end of the season I took the team doctor’s advice and had surgery. The surgery turned out to be more complicated than anyone imagined. They literally had to take a piece of bone from my hip and fuse it to my wrist bone.

What was only supposed to be a few weeks in a cast turned into over six month in a cast, and then another six months of rehabilitation.

After initial spine and wrist examination, I have set up Lewis for Electric Stimulation and Moist heat. These two procedures would allow me to reduce the tension in his paraspinal musculature and therefore perform a deeper chiropractic adjustment. I have also added deep tissue massage that was performed by my CMT who is one of my staff members. During Chiropractic adjustment his 6’6” frame made some really laud sounds. Right after adjustment I worked on his injured wrist. Lewis had really bad case of postsurgical fibrosis (scar tissue) in his injured wrist. The ROM (Range of Motion) was very minimal and extremely painful at the end range. I used special tools to break down the adhesions in his wrist. I don’t think he really enjoyed that part – very painful procedure. After five minutes of breaking down postsurgical fibrosis, I have asked him to move the wrist and both of us saw immediate improvement in ROM with less pain. The side effect was redness and swelling which is what I wanted to achieve – breaking down calcification will cause an inflammation process which will activate Macrophage and will facilitate the destruction of Calcified particles. Next procedure was Erchonia Pl 5000 Cold Laser for about 5 minutes on his injured wrist.

After therapy we had lunch at Top Thai Restaurant – Lewis is big fan of Thai Cuisine. My three and half year old son, who calls himself Dr. George every time someone asks his name, joined us as well. During lunch we both talked about Social Media experience. My guest has informed me that he has met many interesting people via Twitter, who he would not get a chance to meet otherwise. This story is a primary example, not so much for Lewis, but for me. It was a pleasure to make a new friend.

Next morning I have asked Lewis via Twitter How he was doing. Here is a small script of our conversation.

Patients Questions and Dr. Burt’s Answers #14-#18

October 8, 2010 by drburt

Do you think I have a concussion?

I was at cheer practice yesterday, and we were staging, and I guess I got hit in the face somehow. I don’t remember any of it. I barely remember anything that happened yesterday afternoon. I don’t remember the incident, or any of the rest of practice. It hurts a lot. I was knocked to the ground, I was told, and the next thing I remember is sitting on the ground holding my head.

It is still swollen a little, I’ve been dizzy since it happened, and it has been about 29 hours later, I still have a bad headache, even though I am on numerous ibuprofen, and I keep saying bazaar things. I am mixing up words, and saying things that don’t make any sense. I feel really dizzy still, and it is hard to concentrate, and I have a lack of motivation to do my work (when normally I used to do everything to the dot and on time. all a -student.) but now, I am irritable, and I feel confused. But I don’t know about what.
My mom won’t take me to the doctor, even though my coach thinks I have a concussion. She thinks “ill be fine”.

What should I do?

Answer:

In my professional opinion I think you most likely had a concussion. The only way to find out how serious is to go to a Hospital and get CT Scan done of your brain. Your mother must take your complaints seriously. If she does not listen, you must go to your school’s nurse and have her evaluate you. If necessary she will refer you out to a specialist. Dizziness, difficulty concentrating, confusion are all signs of a concussion. Please do not delay seeing a specialist ASAP.

I have a migraine, how do I get rid of it ?

Hello , I have a painful migraine . I got it today around 5:30 pm , it is now 7:52 pm where I live its not as painful anymore , now it feels like a regular headache but it still hurts and I want it to go away. We have no Advil or Tylenol in my house & my mom cant get any because she is sick as well .
Do you have any home remedies? or what ?
My birthday is Friday & I would hate for me to still have one .
I remember I had one migraine that lasted a whole week when I was little 🙁 & I hope it doesn’t happen it again .

So any home remedies ? Or what should I do?
Thanks.

Answer:

Since your mother is sick I assume she will not take you to a local Chiropractor to have your neck checked. At this point and time I would recommend you to educate yourself about migraine headaches – taking into consideration that it is migraine and you can use some stretches that will help to reduce the stress in the musculature of your cervical spine. Please read the following

1. Exercises For Cervical Strain

2. Headache Secrets Revealed and Chiropractic Care

3. C1 Vertebral Level and Chiropractic http://bit.ly/aIqkiQ

4.C2 Vertebral Level and Chiropractic http://bit.ly/cVFc8r

How To Get Better Sleep?

Every time I wake up, I always have a stiff neck. I have tried to lessen the amount of pillows…same result, even if I sleep with 10 pillows it is still stiff in the morning. I have also tried icing it down while I sleep. Please help. Thanks a lot!

Answer:

This is an advice that I usually give to my patients who have similar problem. Your pillow width must match the width of your shoulder base. In plain English – junction of your neck and shoulder and junction of your upper extremity and a shoulder. The width of your of a shoulder base must match the width of the pillow width after you place your head on it. This will insure that your cervical spine is in neutral position all night long. Neutral position of the cervical spine will insure that you don’t have a sore neck in the morning or during a sleep. It would be a great idea if you could go see a local CMT for your strained muscles

How to get rid of constipation?

I am always constipated and its really annoying because I always feel like I need to go but can’t 🙁 I’m fed up of it now…I spoke to my doctor about it recently and she said that it is because of the pills I have taken but basically she didn’t care & just told me take a laxative. but I don’t really want to take them anymore because I was constipated for about a month not long ago and I took them everyday for about 1-2 weeks and they didn’t even work as well as they should have. It’s really embarrassing as well because every time I go my belly makes these really loud rumbling sounds *sighs. I eat so healthy I could never squeeze in anymore salad & veg but I also eat a lot of take always help?
Oh and I heard that drinking water helps is that true because barley drink more than a can of diet coke a day.

Answer:

First of all you need to stop drinking diet coke. Diet coke contains Aspartate (Artificial Sugar) which is known as damaging neurotransmitters in your central and peripheral nervous system. Plain water is the best way to go.

You must go see you local chiropractor and have your L1 Vertebral Level Checked. When the peripheral nerve at this vertebral level is not functioning properly one of the symptoms is constipation. Just remember there is a cause to every problem. Laxative is not a solution. Please read this post for better understanding of your problem –

Relationship of The Nervous System And Spine To Organs … read more

What is wrong with my ankle?

Ever since Saturday (it is now Wednesday) my ankle has been really swollen. I’m a runner and run anywhere from 3-5 miles daily. It also feels creaky when I try to roll it around, what is wrong? I’ve had lactic acid build up in the past, but it wasn’t like this, could it be the lactic acid again? Should I stop running on it? Because I was told that you should keep exercising when you have lactic acid build up…

Answer:

Swollen ankle usually indicates that there is sprain or strain of the soft tissue in your ankle. It usually happens to runners. I would suggest that you go see a local Chiropractor who has Physical Therapy modalities and Certified Massage Therapist as a staff member.

Please read this post – Ankle Injury and Rehabilitation Options …read more

Cycling – Lower Back and Neck Pain

October 6, 2010 by drburt

Your body contacts the bicycle in three areas; your hands, your seat, and your feet. The relative positions of feet, seat and hands determine your comfort and efficiency on the bike. There are several variables that determine these positions; crank length, distance from crank center or bottom bracket to saddle, saddle angle, seat tube angle and saddle offset, distance from saddle to handlebar, relative height of saddle and handlebar width, and handlebar drop on road style handlebars. When these measurements are not taken seriously into consideration, pain and fatigue is inevitable during the ride.

Lumbar and Cervical spine pain is experienced very frequently by cyclists, and it can have numerous different causes. The most common cause of any type of biking ache is owing to an improper bike fit. After having your bike professionally fit which can be completed at professional bike shops and some chiropractic offices, use the following guidelines to create any essential adjustments:

1.Moving your saddle backwards could aid to reduce lumbar spine and knee pain but might increase neck and shoulder tension.

2.Handlebar height reduction could improve lower back and hamstring muscle stress nevertheless may trigger increased neck and shoulder stress, and hand numbness.

3.When the saddle is set too high, cyclist becomes unstable and the hips might rock slightly from side to side, placing a strain on the muscles that stabilize rider’s lower back. A leg length difference could produce a comparable kind of dilemma, which can be detected during a chiropractic exam.

Another cause of lower back pain is the tension placed on your spinal discs, joints, and muscles because of the continuous forward Position of cyclist. To neutralize these postural stressors, appropriate stretching prior, throughout, and following riding is very important. Standing up during prolonged riding, as well as alternately bending forward and arching backwards, will help to relieve lower back stress. Tilting your head from side to side will aid to stretch out your neck muscles while riding, but keep your eyes on the road at all times!

The 3rd major cause of neck and lower back pain in cycling is due to the “Multiple Micro Whiplash” syndrome trigerred by the ROAD SHOCK of the constant jarring forces experienced during riding. The following recommendations will assist to reduce these potentially injurious forces:

•Increase your cycling work out slowly to appropriately condition your body.

•Use a wider tire with less of inflation to decrease road shock.

•Change your hand positions regularly and unlock your elbows.

•Use padded gloves and a light helmet.

Question: Was this review helpful?

TMJ Dysfunction Treatments Options

October 4, 2010 by drburt

Home Treatments for TMJ Dysfunction

You can perform self-care treatments at home for TMJ dysfunction. Most often, the Temporomandibular joint dysfunction does not develop into a full disorder and the symptoms would disappear after it is able to recover and have enough rest.

Pain medications such as aspirin, ibuprofen or acetaminophen can ease the pain suffered due to TMJ dysfunction. Since chewing can be quite painful for sufferers of TMJ dysfunction, it is advised to eat soft foods during this time. Apply ice packs on the injured area when the injury is still present. Rest your jaw as this could help in healing your TMJ.

Warm compress application is also advised to be put on the area where you feel pain. 20 minutes after applying the warm compress, you can try home therapy exercises such as opening and closing of the jaw moving from side to side. Repeat this up to 5 times a day at five minutes per session for 2 to 4 weeks. Make sure you don’t open your mouth wide while doing this exercise.

Medical Treatments for TMJ Dysfunction

Conservative medical treatments may also be necessary. The doctor may ask you to perform gentle stretching for the muscles on your jaw. He or She may also require you to perform relaxation exercises. Stress can be a factor that will affect TMJ treatment thus stress-reduction techniques that manages the stress will help the patient relax his or her jaw alongside with the rest of his or her body.

A bite plate or splint may also be used. This is like a mouth guard that will help in reducing the teeth grinding or clenching especially when the patient sleeps at night. This will also ease the muscle tension on the jaw. However, if using the splint will increase the pain, the patient must stop using it.

If conservative treatments won’t work, a doctor may require you to go a step further and consider some of the invasive techniques to treat TMJ dysfunction.

Cortisone injection can be quite helpful in relieving the pain and inflammation of the jaw. Another procedure that would help in relieving the pain quickly is done at the doctor’s office and under local anesthetics. The doctor would insert 2 needles in your TMJ for washing. One of the needles would be connected to a syringe that has a cleansing solution and it exits through the other syringe. Sometimes, aside from cleansing agents, the doctor may also inject pain medication this way as well.

If these still won’t work for the patient, surgery may be necessary though this is already considered as the final option. Artificial implants may be used as a replacement to the jaw joints. This is an irreversible method and must be avoided if other options are still available.

Chiropractic treatment for TMJ Dysfunction

This is a protocol that we use in our office: Electrical stimulation is used for 15 minutes on effected side. Deep tissue massage of the masseter muscle bilaterally. Using rubber gloves on one hand perform a deep tissue massage of internal lateral pterigoid muscle (very painful but very useful and effective procedure). 5 minutes of Erchonia Cold Laser PL 5000 in the painful side of a TMJ. Upper cervical chiropractic adjustment.

Do take note that most of the cases of TMJ dysfunction cannot be cured as it is most often a cyclic disorder. Modifications in lifestyle and proper treatment could improve the patient’s life without any limitation in function or pain.

Questiom: Was this information helpful? What kind of therapy have you had for your TMJ Dysfunction?