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Fibromyalgia and Chiropractic Care

February 14, 2011 by drburt

Fibromyalgia is a disabling and epidemic myofascial condition. The patient afflicted with this normally complains about feeling pain all over his/her body, feels tired all the time, depressed and sleeps poorly. People suffering from this condition often find it difficult to achiev a lasting cure from medical doctors and have tried different kinds of therapy with a few success stories.

Researches have shown that Fibromyalgia affects the central nervous system causing abnormalities in the chemical compounds of people that are needed to transmit nerve impulses. FM wasn’t recognized by the American Medical Association until they started to diagnose it officially in 1987, although healers have been reporting it and treating its symptoms as early as 16^th century. Today, because there are not specific treatment procedures and tests to determine if an individual has contracted fibromyalgia, conventional medical doctors are still denying its existence and are merely attributing its symptoms as a result of psychological and emotional causes.

However, Chiropractic care has been proven the past few years to have played a significant role in treating people with this condition. Fibromyalgia patients respond better to chiropractic therapy via spinal adjustments and nutritional support. Fibromyalgia and chiropractic care has gone hand in hand in the treatment of individuals for more than a decade now.

Chiropractic, since its main purpose is to prove the theory of how the central nervous system balances and controls the over-all health of an individual serves as an ideal treatment method for those suffering from this debilitating condition.

Fibromyalgia often goes unnoticed and undiagnosed by medical doctors and sometimes it takes as long as five years before an individual suffering from it becomes aware of the fact of the existence of this condition. A good chiropractic will diagnose this condition through good communication with the patient. The holistic approach of a chiropractic helps greatly in easing the way for the diagnosis this painful disease.

After diagnosis, the chiropractor will then make the necessary adjustments to the entire spine. Spinal manipulations are also done using the hands, which consists of sharp, short thrusts that always produces a popping sound, which is caused by nitrogen gas release from a vertebral joint capsule. The aim for these adjustments to the spine is to correct a subluxation that has occurred in the spine. Once the patient’s spine is properly aligned, the pain and other symptoms of fibromyalgia will be greatly reduced together with the other difficulties such as fatigue, weakness and difficulty in sleeping.

Herbal and homeopathic treatments are also encouraged by the chiropractors to their patients, coupled with a change in lifestyle, sleep habits and engaging in a healthy diet. Individuals afflicted with fibromyalgia will feel better in no time.

In reality, there is still no definite cure for those suffering from this painful condition, but with the help of chiropractics, patients suffering from it have reported a sharp decrease in symptoms and have improved their quality of life. Chiropractic is definitely helping people with fibromyalgia enjoy life to the fullest by almost eradicating its numerous symptoms.

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Chiropractic Care, Golf and Back Injury

January 21, 2011 by drburt

Most everyone who plays golf has a greater chance of low back injury. Recent study shows that about 35% of amateur and 22-24% of professional golfers susceptible to lumbar spine injuries. Collectively, the incidence of lower back pain in the male golfer is 25% to 36% and 22% to 27% in the female golfer. Many just want to learn how to hit the ball as far as possible and forgetting the basics of soft tissue trauma prevention. Below is the list of the risk factors that could cause lower back pain:

Arthritis, disc injuries or stress fractures
Weak abdominal musculature
Poor muscle trunk stabilization and strength
Poor warm up and flexibility
Overuse or repetitive stress from technique
Improper swing or technique
Poor posture or scoliosis
Age
Overweight and general poor health
Previous history of back pain or injury

What Is the Mechanism Injury of Lower Back While Playing Golf

Lumbar Spine consists of the following structures: vertebral bodies, IVD – Inter Vertebral Disc, Ligaments, Muscles and Tendons. Lower back injuries are the most common golf related injuries followed by, elbow, wrist and shoulder injuries. Occasionally golfers suffer from hip and knee pain as well. The most common mechanism of injury is the twisting and pulling that takes place during the golf swing against a spine that is not moving through its full range of motion. During golf swing the spine is exposed to extra load and tensile movement. It is estimated that during the swing phase the soft tissue of the lumbar spine is exposed to a force eight times of the body weight. Prolonger standing, twisting, and bending are the contributing factors for stress accumulation on the supporting structures of the lumbar spine. When the force dissipates through the vertebral body, muscles, discs and ligaments can be damaged and be the cause of low back injury.

Preventing Low Back Injuries from Golfing

Less than 5% of amateur golfers fail to adequately stretch or warm up before the game. A proper warm up will provide the following benefits to the spine:
Increasing circulation
Increasing the range of motion
Preparing for increased loading and stress
Below is an example of good warm up activities:
light jog or brisk walk, stretching the larger muscles or major muscle groups, swinging a club in both directions to mobilize the trunk muscles and increase circulation, Fluid, gentle practice swings preparing the relevant structures of the spine and muscles groups for the activity.

Improve Muscle Strength and Tone and Flexibility

Strengthening the abdominal and lower back muscles will help to stabilize the spine during the swing phase and in turn produce more powerful, longer shots. Strong quadriceps, buttock and hamstring muscles are another important key factor that should not be neglected. Here is link to a “Two Stretching Exercises for Golf Back Pain.” Pilates for Golfers (affiliate link) has been a very popular technique in preventing back injuries and elbow injuries while golfing. Pilates for Golfers is a step-by-step guide to identify and correct golf swing faults using the Pilates Method.

Consult Your Personal Chiropractor or Medical Professional

If you injured yourself while golfing, you must do the following in order to prevent farther injury:

Discontinue any activities that aggravates the pain
Apply ice to injured area ASAP – 15 minutes on and 45 minutes off
After 72 hours you can switch to heating moist pads for increased blood flow
Do not lye in bed for a prolonged period of time
Force yourself for light activity
Avoid Heavy Lifting
Avoid Prolonged Sitting
Avoid Prolonged Bending
Suspend Golfing Activities

A visit to your local chiropractor would be a great benefit to your lower back pain. Make sure that your local chiropractor has physical therapy modalities such as, electric stimulation, moist heat, ultrasound, cold laser and certified massage therapist as a staff member. Spinal Chiropractic Adjustment can do wonders to your spine and overall well being.

Patient Asks and Dr. Burt Answers the Question #19-#24

January 10, 2011 by drburt

Question: Are there cures for plantar fasciitis?

Answer: There is a great treatment protocol that I have used on my patients with great success. It takes somewhere between 10-12 sessions in order to get a desirable results. An object with a round edge would be a perfect tool for this task and also a good massage lotion. I direct gliding force is applied along the plantar musculature. Most likely you will feel a lot of pain during the procedure. About 5 minutes would be more than enough. After the procedure your plantar musculature will be very swollen – which is what we want. During this inflammation process macrophage will destroy the calcified particles that were accumulated during the treatment. An ultrasound therapy would be a plus. It is important that you get this done every other day of the week for the best results.

Question: What are the symptoms and treatments for the sciatica nerve?

Answer: Hi, You would probably want to read this post: “Sciatica Pain Relief and Chiropractic Treatment.”

Question: Whiplash injury questions please? I was in a car accident back about 8 years ago and I was wondering what is the proper treatment after the whiplash? Is it possible for the pain to increase many years later like a flare up? I’m experiencing horrible pain and I looked up whiplash injury and those are some of my symptoms

Any advice?

Thank you

Answer: All of your answers are in this post: “What is Whiplash?” Please read related posts below as well as they will provide all of the answers to you question. I hope you find a local doctor who will help you to resolve the complaints after your whiplash injury.

Question: Do the home ultrasound machines really work on torn MCL?

Additional Details: Doctor told me there was nothing he could do for me. I just have to let it heal. He said I should be back to “my normal” around spring time but I have to take care of two puppies and laundry downstairs so I’m looking for something that will help.

Answer: It is better to have Home Ultrasound units and apply it to your injured MCL than not having any therapy at all. The outcome will greatly depend on the severity of the tear. Your doctor should have sent you for MRI and at least physical therapy, instead of just letting it heal on its own till spring. I would highly recommend for you to get a second opinion ASAP.

Question: Do I have a herniated disk? I bent over yesterday and I got sudden pain in my lower back. It continues to hurt today. This has happened to me a couple other times, but over a year ago. I’m only 19 so it’s not like it’s an old age thing. My mom has had the same problem and she called it a slipped disk, or herniated disk. Is that what’s wrong? Why is it happening at my age?

Answer: Pain in your low back does not necessary mean that you have herniated disk. You could simply have a vertebral subluxation in your lumbar spine and that could be the cause of your problems. Pick up the phone and have your mother pick up the phone have her call your local chiropractor. You can also read this post – “Low Back Pain and the Wonders of Chiropractic.” This article will help you to understand of what is going to happen when you go see your local chiropractor.

Question: What’s wrong with my ankle? I hurt it last night during my basketball game but I do not know exactly what happened. There is little to no swelling and slight bruising. The pain is mostly targeted on the outside top of my ankle. I can slightly put my weight on it.

Answer: If you cannot bear weight on that leg, it could be a significant injury.
You need immediate medical attention. Could be any number of problems, hairline fracture is a possibility. You MUST get X-RAY of your ankle ASAP.

Good Luck.

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Heart Attack or Thoracic Outlet Syndrome ?

January 3, 2011 by drburt

Today’s post is about real case that have treated on Friday. I saw this patient over a year ago for severe neck pain and headaches. Patient’s problem was resolved with very good results. This morning patient’s husband calls and asks me to see his wife today as an emergency visit because she has numbness in her left upper extremity, loss of temperature in that extremity, and shooting pain. Over the phone he explained to me what has happened couple of days ago.

He took his wife to a near by Hospital Emergency Room suspecting that she had a heart attack. She had severe shooting pain in her left upper chest and shooting pain down her arm. In a Hospital medical Doctors performed a complete check up, including laboratory test and fancy CT- Scan diagnostic. After numerous hours they found nothing wrong with his wife and discharge her home with some pain medications. She was not very happy with an outcome since the symptoms were still there even with pain medications.

This morning I performed my examination and was trying to figure out what was wrong with this lady. First off all she always carries her heavy bag on her left shoulder with her belongings and belongings for her two young kids. That was a first sign that the problem was mechanical in nature and something was compressing her arteries and nerves. Her intercostal muscles between first and second ribs were extremely painful. Her left clavicle (look at the picture on a left) was out of alignment and did not have any movements during passive and active range of motion. Both of her rhomboid major and rhomboid minor muscles were very sore as well.

My Solution to This Problem:

I have diagnosed this lady with TOS. The first procedure was the electrical stimulation and moist heat. I used electrical stimulation on PAIN and CONSTANT settings for 15 minutes. Two pads were placed on her first and seconds intercostal spaces and two pads were placed around rhomboid major and minor muscles. Moist heat pack was placed in the same area for 15 minutes as well. Next, my massage therapist worked on her tight muscles for about 20 minutes or so. My CMT has informed that her entire left side is completely out of balance. Muscles were tight and patient was guarding during the massage which made her job a bit more difficult. But she got it done. After the massage I have performed full spine Chiropractic Adjustment ( that included cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine) and I have adjusted her first rib and clavicle on the left side.

I have called later on today to follow with this patient. Patient has informed me that she did not feel any pain since I saw her this morning. She has also informed me that she felt wave of heat coming into the left side of her body and left upper extremity.

The moral of this case: – please carry your heavy bags on both shoulders if you have too. Make sure that your kids’ backpacks are not too heavy and they carry them on both shoulders as well. Let’s start 2011 with a healthy habit.

Happy New Year !!!

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