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San Leandro Chiropractor

Patient’s Questions Dr. Burt’s Answers #6-#13

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Does sitting up straight really help you?

If you sit straight (back straight, legs in front of you, shoulders back) does it help you in later life? Or will you get a hunch back?

Answer:

Please read these articles. These two posts describe everything you need to know about the posture.

Why is Posture So Important and 96 Tips for a Perfect Posture

Back Pain/Lower back joint grinding?

Hello, I have a curve in my spine, and also have arthritis in my lower spine. For the last year or so I have been having really bad grinding noises in my lower back when I move my hips back and forth—if I lay on my side and stretch and move you can feel this as well. It’s kind of painful with a lot of grinding and popping. I have posted this before with no success only scams–so please any help would be great as I don’t have any medical insurance and I don’t want to go to M.D. if this is something everyone feels?!

Answer:

The symptoms you are experiencing correlate with symptoms of someone having osteoarthritis in the spine. The presence of scoliosis (curve in my spine) is most likely a contributing factor over a long period of time. I don’t know your age but is sounds that you have had it for a very long time. Lack of proper biomechanics in your lower back (lumbar spine) took its toll on your vertebral joints and proper articulations of each vertebrae. I would suggest for you to go see a specialist in your area ASAP. Doctor of Chiropractic would be the first choice – he/she has X Ray machine in the office and will be able to determine how advanced is the stage of osteoarthritis. If things went beyond the point where chiropractor can’t help your next choice should be an Orthopedist.  My advise was given on a description of the problem that was provided in your question. I hope you feel better.

Leg pain after soccer practice?

My friend has bad leg pains. In her soccer practice she kicked the soccer ball full power at the same time as someone else did (and they are the best on the team btw…) and now when she steps with it she feels a rush of pain. But when she stretches like by pulling it towards her it does not hurt as much. Do you know what the problem is??? Is it serious?!?!?

Answer:

It sounds like your friend has sprain/strain in her leg. Since you do not provides specific region of the leg I will use general terms. When she applied a weight load on her leg injured muscles and tendons react to the load by sending painful signals to the brain. Basically pain is the way your body communicates with your brain by letting you know that something is wrong and you should do something about it. When your friend is stretching she does not feel as much pain and probably she feels better after the stretch. I would have your friend to see a local Certified Massage Therapist and get several session of deep tissue massage around painful area. Massage will help to repair soft tissue fibrosis and will enhance the healing process. The sooner she does it the easier it is going to be to fix the problem. Hope your friend feels better.

Is my sprained ankle good to go?

I sprained my ankle a little over a month ago and it has been starting to feel better. It now has a full range of motion and everything but when I run and jump around on it, it still feels a little sore. The pain is definitely tolerable but I’m worried I could be making things worse. Is this normal or do I still need to give it more time?

Answer:

Hello. The last sentence of your question tells me that you did not have any rehabilitation done to your ankle after you have injured it. That is basically the cause of your pain. During sprain injury your ligaments and tendons are being over stretched. During the passive healing process the soft tissue fibrosis is forming. In basic English that means that scar tissues around injured ligaments and tendons are being formed. These fibrotic tissue is very painful and will not go away on its own without proper rehabilitation. You could see your local Chiropractor, Massage Therapist or Acupuncturist with combination of Physical Therapy modalities. Please read more here

My ankle has been swollen for months?

I suffered an inversion sprain in March and it is now 5 months later but it still looks fat. I can run, sprint, jump and all that good stuff no problem, its just the physical appearance of the ankle that confuses me. Why is it still fat?? What can I do to get rid of it?

Answer:

Most likely you have fluid retention or there is still an inflammation after your injury. I would suggest for you to go see your Family Doctor and have him/her order X Rays and  MRI of your ankle. This will help to figure what is going on with your ankle.

Another option is to try rehabilitation process. Please see an answer above with some additional information. I hope this helped to answer your question. Have a great day.

Is my hand fractured?

So earlier today I was taking my curtain down and I guess my hand came to close to my ceiling fan and the back of it got hit. It hurt so bad and now I am left with a few scars, a swollen hand and moving my fingers isn’t to easy. The one that hurts the most to bend is the middle finger. Should I go to the doctor or just keep icing it?

Answer:

Most definitely please go see a Doctor ASAP. The fact that you have difficulties moving your fingers is not a very good sign. The presence of a fracture is possible. Please see your PCP and have hand X Rayed. If you have a fracture your doc will cast it for however long is necessary. If it is not fractured please get some rehabilitation of your hand from a Certified Massage Therapist, Chiropractor or Acupunturist.

Hip pain/Lower back pain after running, playing basketball, weight training?

So last year I was playing basketball, and another teammate jumped and his butt landed on my hip/lower back. After that I could barely play. Pain went away after a few days. So I kept playing all last year and pain would come and go.

This year in another basketball tournament, after not playing for months, I played and pain was killing me, I played through pain for a game but I couldn’t handle it anymore.

Now every time I run at gym or lift some heavy weights, hip/lower back starts hurting for a couple of days. Went to Back to a Doctor. He gave me none inflammatory pills but didn’t really help.

I constantly feel a pinch in right hip after seating at work for 8 hours.

What could it be? I will be starting Police Academy in the next 6 months or so. I don’t want this to be a problem.

Answer:

Sorry about your agonizing pain. I am pretty sure you are tired of taking anti inflammatory pills as by now most likely they stopped working anyway and your pain level has gone up. It is very common to have lower back and Sacroilliac Joint being injured during sport acitivies. The fact that you teammate landed on your hip tells me that excessive force was used to misaligned your Lumbosacral and Sacroilliac Joints. You MUST go see your local Chiropractor ASAP. Have him/her adjust your entire spine, use some PT modalities and get deep tissue massage. Make sure that Chiropractor that you choose has everything in the office – I mean PT modalities and Certified Massage Therapist. Please read more about lower back pain here.

10 Little Known Secrets about Healthy Knees

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healthy knees Healthy Knees and 10 Little Known Secrets

It is impossible to keep your knees healthy and in perfect shape even when you are getting older. What’s important is that you know the secrets in maintaining healthy knees. Prevention is really better than cure so if you are still not suffering from any knee problem, you must already start to follow these tips in keeping your knees healthy.

First tip is to warm up before doing any type of activity. It is very simple and it allows the synovial fluid to flow through your joints so you won’t experience more friction while working out. Remember, as you jump or run or do squats, your knee is absorbing a lot of the force and in time, it can deteriorate.

2nd, stay in shape and maintain a healthy weight. The more weight you carry around the more your knee joints get stressed.

3rd maintain good ankle mobility. Exercise your ankles to increase its mobility as the ankle’s function affects the health of the knee. Start by standing with your feet just a short distance (a few centimeters) away from the wall then keep the heels on the ground while trying to touch the wall with your knee. Repeat this several times while stepping back a little each time. Calf stretching is also necessary if you are feeling some tightness.

4th, improve hip function. Try some glut exercises to improve your hip function as this will ease the knees. Your hips can absorb more impact thus decreasing the stress on your knees.

5th, increase hip mobility. This is similar with improving the ankle mobility. If your hip moves well, you can squat in the right position without having your knees absorb the most weight and stress.

6th, diet supplements! If you’re an active athlete or perhaps you carry weights or go to the gym, most probably you are putting more stress to your knees than normal. This can deteriorate the knees but this can be prevented by taking supplements. Fish oil supplements have great benefits and also have anti inflammatory effects on your joints. Glucosamine and Chondroitin are also great diet supplements to keep your bones and joints healthy and strong.

7th, stop when it starts to hurt.  If you’re suffering from knee pain and it hurts when you do a certain action then you should stop it. Whatever is causing you pain could further add more damage and degeneration to the knee. Try to slowly integrate the action as you figure out the problem. If you are injured, doing the action won’t do you any good but this doesn’t mean you should stop it forever.

8th, stretch! Stretching is great for relaxing your muscles after an activity. Your muscles should recover after an activity to prevent fatigue.

9th, cycling for rehabilitation. If you do suffer from knee pain or injury, cycling is a great exercise to improve joint mobility. It is a knee friendly exercise with very low impact.

10th, muscle endurance is important. By increasing the endurance of your muscles, they won’t get into fatigue quickly. Low impact cardiovascular activities would do the trick. Improving muscle endurance during knee rehabilitation will also speed up the healing process.

Question: Was this information helpful? Please leave a comment. Thank you

Injured Knee Pain, Sprained Knee Ligaments and Knee Treatment Options

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Knee pain is one of the most common orthopedic problems encountered and its rehabilitation depends on the history of its injury. The knee pain can either be chronic or caused by a sudden injury. Runners usually experience pain due to sprain after they run or jog. If it’s a sharp and sudden pain, this could be caused by a torn ligament and this needs an immediate medical response. Other times though, the injury is caused by strain and the treatment for this can start right at home. For strained knee, resting is the first step to take the strain off. Then, apply ice on the area for short intervals at a time, 15 minutes on and 45 minutes off for every waking hour. Do not apply ice for longer then 15 minutes as it could damage your skin and create a reverse effect. After icing the affected area, wrap it with a bandage for compression. Then, elevate the injured area as you rest it. These 4 steps are called the RICE or Rest, Ice, Compression & Elevation method. If following the RICE method does not work, you must see a medical professional for proper knee rehabilitation.

If the knee injury is not caused by strain, it can be caused by rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, or an injured ligament. If ever you notice stiffness after running, you may need to speak to a medical professional for a proper diagnosis. He will then perform physical examination and perhaps an x-ray or an MRI to see what’s really causing the problem.

If the pain is caused by an injured ligament, you will be prescribed to take proper rest and wearing of a brace. The knee brace is useful as it helps in preventing further injury to the knee which could definitely worsen the problem. The brace would be providing you with support that can reduce your discomfort while doing activities such as walking or while exercising for its rehabilitation. Brace is also used by professional athletes even when there’s no injury as this will prevent them from having the injury in the first place.

Osteoarthritis is unfortunately incurable. Anyone can suffer from this and it is similar to arthritis but affects the knee’s cartilage which then weakens the articulate surface. Treatment for this condition ranges from taking anti-inflammatory drugs to wearing of a knee brace and even surgery. Of course the severity of the condition is greatly considered before going to the last resort which is surgery.

Rheumatoid arthritis is not like the other forms of arthritis. This is caused by a disease in the auto immune system as the body attacks itself. Just like osteoarthritis, anyone can suffer from this, even children. It can be a hereditary disease and kids suffering from knee stiffness after running should consult a doctor. Treatments for this condition are with the use of a support and/or taking of medication.

At my clinic I use PT modalities (Electric Stimulation and Moist Heat combination, Ultrasound, Erchonia PL 5000 Cold Laser, Elastic Wrap, CMT (Certified Massage Therapy) and Manual Chiropractic Adjustment when applicable). Electric Stimulation helps to bring the pain level down in the first couple of week of the therapy and heat brings more blood to the injured area as well as allows it to be more relaxed for the next step. Next modalities are Ultrasound or Erchonia PL5000 Cold Laser. I alternate them with every other session. Next patient sees my CMT for 15 minutes only if there is mucle strain around injured knee. My massage therapist breaks the scar tissue down and moves injured knee through its natural Range of Motion. After massage I adjust knee’s patellar if tendonitis is present and wrap the knee with elastic wrap for a better support.

If you are diagnosed with any of the conditions above, your doctor would go for the most conservative treatment first. This means proper rehabilitation is the first option before they consider surgery. It is a last resort and cannot even guarantee success all the time.

Below is 3D MEDICAL ANIMATION  – It is one of the best presentatons on Youtube.

Knee joint is the most complex articulation of the human body. It supports almost the entire body’s weight, while allowing wide flexion and extension movements together with rotation when the knee is in flexion. To accomplish these functional features it has a very complex anatomical structure.

Question: What did you do when you had knee injury?  Was the treatment helpful?

Questions/Answers #1-#5

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#1 Falling asleep on arm numbness?

Lately I have been waking up just about every night with a tingling, numb arm because I have been falling asleep on it. I figure it becomes like this because the circulation is cut off. Can this be potentially dangerous or hint toward something of greater significance and severity?

Answer:

Thank you for visiting and asking a question. Sleeping for a prolonged period of time on your arm will cut-off a blood circulation to your upper extremity. As a result you will experience symptoms such as: tingling, numbness and loss of sensation. Central Nervous System (CNS – Brain) has a unique defense mechanism. When it senses that your body is in danger it will alarm you automatically. In your particular case your CNS sent you a wake up message. This is not dangerous if it happens only because of the sleeping position. You have to try to change sleeping positions and patterns and the problem should go away on its own. However, if you have something like TOS (Thoracic Outlet Syndrome) misaligned Clavicle and even Subluxated Vertebrae in the early stage, the symptoms you experience could be because of these conditions. Please have yourself checked by a local chiropractor when you get chance. Hope you feel better.

#2 My ankle is the size of a softball. Help?

Today at camp I rolled my ankle pretty bad in one of my games. It hurts so bad when I stand on it for even a second :/ What are some tips and pointers you can give me to ensure a speedy recovery? And have you ever sprained an ankle really bad before??? Your help will be greatly appreciated thank you!! 🙂

Answer:

Hello,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                The severity of your injury depends on how badly you have hurt the soft tissue that supports your ankle. From you description it sounds like it is pretty severe due to the size of the swelling you have described. At this point and time I would use ice – 15 minutes on and 45 minutes off every waking hour. This will help to keep inflammation under control. Pick up your phone and make an appointment with your orthopedist or local chiropractor. Most likely your doctor of choice will have XRAYS done on your ankle and order MRI. XRAY will help to rull out a potential fracture and MRI will help to see how sever is the sprain/strain of your ankle. When diagnosis is established you should start rehabilitation process. Assuming you did not rapture your ligaments or tendons I would recommend the following – PT modalities such as Erchonia Cold Laser PL 5000, Ultrasound, and Electric Muscle Stimulation followed by deep tissue massage from CMT.

If your tendon or ligament has severe tear arthroscopic surgery is inevitable.

#3 I thought I pulled a muscle but….?

A couple of weeks ago I was at the gym as usual running on the treadmill, towards the end of my session, I started to feel a pain which is centered on my left buttock. Since then I have not been able to run at all as it is too painful & sometimes I can feel a discomfort just walking around normal or sitting.
At first I thought i pulled a muscle but since it’s now been two weeks… I think it is probably something else.
Thanks

Answer:

From your description it sounds that you have Sacroilliac Joint (SI) misalignment. When SI joint is subluxated symptoms will get worse upon walking. The reason why pain level goes up is because SI joint plays a very important and active biomechanical role in a walking process.

You can self diagnose if your SI joint is misaligned. Stay in front of the mirror with your eyes closed and march in one place for 5 seconds. When you are done marching open your eyes and look at your – 1) ear level, 2) shoulder level, 3) hip level. If one side of your hip is higher than the other your SI joint is misaligned. An even better way is to have someone else take a digital photo of yourself with your eyes closed. You will be able to see it for yourself how the shoulders and neck compensate for your SI joint problem. I would suggest to see your local D.C. and fix the problem in a couple of sessions.

#4 A Fourth Sprained Ankle?

I sprained my ankle twice in the past year. One time I slid on ice and sprained on side in late February and then in March sprained the other side as well as the first side. During June I wore an ankle stabilizer so I would not injure it again in PE but in July the pain came back and went away in a few days. Now I can’t really walk that great on it. I told my Mom but she says it’s fine. After injuring it in Feb and March I was prescribed physical therapy but it isn’t covered by insurance unless it follows a surgery. Does anyone think I may have injured it for a fourth time??
~~~Sorry for the long description.~~~

Answer:

Most likely you have a flare up of an old injury that has never been properly rehabilitated. Weak ligaments and tendons are very easy to injure again. Post traumatic soft tissue fibrosis makes your soft tissue less elastic. Since you do not have insurance I would suggest to find local CMT get some deep tissue done on your ankle. MRI of your ankle would tell the entire story, but it is very expensive. Also Cold Laser therapy by Erchonia PL 5000 and Ultrasound will be able to get some good results. Those modalities should be available in your local D.C. office.

#5 Should I still work if I have a herniated Disc in my back?

I just had an MRI done and found out not only do i have a disc protrusion in the lumbar section of my lower back, I also have chronic arthritis in my spine and degenerative disc disease. Is it good for me to continue at a job that I have to lift heavy objects repeatedly?

Answer:

Repetitive heavy lifting will accelerate the degeneration of your lumbar disc and osteoarthritis. As a result it will cause more pain and your ability to perform Activities of Daily Living. It would be great if you could find a different place of employment that does not require repetitive lifting. You can also ask your employer to provide a modified duty for you if such is available.