Top Chiropractor in San Leandro, CA

San Leandro Chiropractor

Sciatica Pain or Subluxated Sacroilliac Joint Pain

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sciatica painLast month I had two patients who came to my clinic because they thought they had sciatica pain. One of the patients has self diagnosed himself and the other patient was diagnosed by a medical doctor. Both of these patients had excruciating pain in their lower back, which radiated down to a lower extremity. It is very common that many patients will wait for their pain to go away with rest, anti-inflammatory and pain medication. As a result, pain symptoms will get worse and get to the point where pain medications will stop working.

The first patient was a male in his early 60’s. He came to my clinic on his crutches. The pain level was so intense that he was not able to support his upper body. The pain would shoot all the way down his right lower extremity past the knee level but did not effect his toes.  After thorough examination it was evident that his right SI (sacroiliac joint) was about 2 inches lower than the left SI joint. All of the nerves that were exiting from sacral foraminas (openings) were very irritated and inflamed. Every time this gentleman would place a load on his legs he would cry and I could see tears of pain on his face. After three sessions of full spine chiropractic adjustment, physical therapy (moist heat and electrical stimulation) and deep tissue massage from my CMT (Certified Massage Therapist) he was completely free of pain. I have recommended him to stop by once or twice a month for maintenance care in order to avoid future flare up and pain.

The second patient was a female in her early 50’s. She has had very similar symptoms as the patient I have mentioned above. Her medical Doctor diagnosed her with sciatica and prescribed her pain medications, which eventually stopped working. The examination finding were very similar to a patient I have mentioned above, except the part that the pain symptoms were on a left side. The pain intensity was so great that it would wake her up at night. The treatment parameters were the same  with addition of stretching to her lower back and some dietary changes. She was also advised on taking more frequent brakes from prolonged sitting that her job required. After 4 sessions she was pain free and was advised on a once a month maintenance care.

Sciatica Pain and Misaligned Sacroiliac Joint are two conditions that can be misdiagnosed or misunderstood by patients and other medical care providers. It takes much longer for a patient with Sciatica nerve entrapment to respond to a care. Often times Sciatic Pain is presented in athletes with intense training. In conclusion I would like to say that it is important to treat the cause of the problem instead of masking it with pain killers and anti-inflammatory medications. The sooner the cause is fixed the faster the road to recovery is.

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Teenager, High Blood Pressure and Lack of Sleep

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LACK OF SLEEPCase Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, has conducted a research which concluded that sleep depravation could be the cause of high blood pressure in healthy adolescents. These associations couldn’t be explained by being overweight, socioeconomic status, sleep apnea, or known co morbidities. About 238 teenagers ages 13 to 16 were participating in this study which provided an important data about relationship between lack of sleep and high blood pressure. All of the participants of this study were without any known health issues.

This study was published in a Journal of the American Heart Organization. Young adults were observed 3 to 7 nights about the sleep duration at their homes. Special digital wrist recorder was designed in order to record a motion, sleep and wake up patterns. Special laboratory was used for one night and the blood pressure was measured nine times during that night over two days period. In the research facility, an overnight polysomnography was also made; according to Wikipedia, a polysomnography “is a multi-parametric test used in the study of sleep”, and the test outcome is termed a polysomnogram.

Those young adults who had less than 6.5 hours of sleep a night were 2.8 times to have elevated blood pressure levels, compared to those teenagers who had more hours of sleep. Those with low sleep efficiency, on the other hand, were 4.5 times more likely to have prehypertension. Sleep efficiency might be broadly defined as sleep quality. It took into account factors such as having difficulty dropping off to sleep or staying asleep.

Scientific data was adjusted for gender, body mass index and socioeconomic status. Pre hypertension risks were 2.5 times higher for lack of sleep and 3.5 times higher for low sleep efficiency. Youngster with sleep deficiency had 4mm Hg higher systolic blood pressure than those who had good night sleep.

According to the NHLBI’s Your Guide to Healthy Sleep, children of school-going age and adolescents need at least 9 hours of sleep every night. According to the guide, hormonal influences during puberty tend to affect the biological clocks of adolescents. They are thus more likely to go to bed later at night, and want to sleep in longer in the morning.

 The Implications 

If the young ones are often having problems falling asleep, getting up several times or for long periods during the night, having sleepy spells during the day, or having difficulty concentrating, then it is possible that they are not having enough sleep, or are having poor sleep.

And, compared with twenty or even ten years ago, teenagers today have even more reasons to stay awake late into the night. Decades ago, there were no computers, no internet, and very small, if any, late night television. Add to that the stress and pressures of increased workloads in school, as well as the nutritional fiasco which is our modern diet of refined foods, and the issue gets a lot bigger.

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Prescription Medication Overuse

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PRESCRIPTION MEDICATION OVERUSEPrescription Medication Overuse.

Americans spend about $300 billion a year on legal drugs. Not millions but billions a year. Pharmaceutical companies probably love these numbers. I am wondering how much people are spending on illegal drugs in this country. Most likely it would easily support the economy of a small country or California State budget deficit which is now over $25 billion.

What is surprising that majority of the revenue does not come from  research or scientific data but from advertising campaigns. Many patients come to see Medical Doctor and already know what kind of drug they want for their particular health problem. Why do we need Doctors then? Watch TV advertising of the particular drug and take it till you drop dead or may be fixing the health problem. Well pharmaceutical companies need Medical Doctors for one simple reason so they can prescribe medications to the masses. Only small percentage of general practitioners actually treats the body as a whole.

One of the studies from New England Journal of Medicine provides facts that doctors and hospitals spend a lot of money to treat patients who have Medicare. There is no correlation on how much or little they spend on a particular patient. The study has found that in areas with higher per-capita medical spending, patients were more likely to receive “riskier” (and presumably higher-priced) drugs.

Another study from the same journal found that low Medicare reimbursement for certain drugs change the doctor’s mind about prescribing those drugs. What is interesting when reimbursement rates were higher, doctors were more likely to prescribe – and they were doing inappropriately or unnecessary.

It is a known fact that pharmaceutical companies make billions every year on selling drugs to a public. As population of the world is increasing so is the revenues of these companies will increase in the coming years. These companies spend more on advertising than on research for finding more effective drugs. Health care costs and medication side effects skyrocket as we become a nation of pill-poppers. Certainly not how Thomas Edison envisioned it – “The doctor of the future will give no medicine….” Do not be shy to ask your Primary Care Physician intelligent questions about your treatment options and the kind medications he or she will prescribe to you.

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Diet and Pain Management

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DIET AND PAIN“Changes in the modern diet are largely responsible for the increasing incidence of essential fatty acid (EFA) imbalances and deficiencies.”

“The ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats has changed dramatically due to the widespread use of vegetable oils (mostly n-6 fats) in cooking and to the processing of oils to alter omega-3 fats to improve shelf life and eliminate their stronger taste (just think of the distinctive tastes of cod liver or flax oil).”

“Historical estimates place the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 oils at nearly 1:1 for prehistoric humans.”

By the turn of the century (1900), the ratio had increased to about 4:1. The current American ratio is about 25:1.

“The sharp rise is due to increased vegetable oil consumption: from 2 lb. per year in 1909 to 25 lb. per year in 1985!”

“Many of the chronic inflammatory conditions that accompany EFA imbalance are currently treated with symptom-specific pharmaceutical drugs such as steroids, prednisone, aspirin, and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), sulfasalazine, and colchicine.”

“The problem with such drug therapies is that they prevent the formation of ‘good’ anti-inflammatory eicosanoids, or they shift the production of one type of eicosanoid to another.”

“For effective, long-term management, eicosanoid production should be modified through dietary changes (balancing dietary intake of specific fats) and controlling insulin levels in the circulation.”

“Maintaining a proper balance between the various families of dietary fats may be one of the most important preventative measures a person can take to reduce the likelihood of developing one of the chronic diseases of modern civilization, such as diabetes, heart disease, obesity, irritable bowel syndrome, and autoimmune disease.”

“And for patients who may already have one of these diseases, EFA testing and therapy has been demonstrated to reduce both morbidity and mortality associated with these diseases.”

Source: American Academy of Pain Management – Weiner’s Pain Management – A Practical Guide for Clinicians