So-called pinched nerves are more usually just irritated or inflamed because the bones, joints or muscles of the spine are not in their proper position, or not moving correctly. This condition is the aforementioned “subluxation”, which the doctor of chiropractic specializes in correcting.

Those times when nerves do genuinely become “pinched” include Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Sciatica and Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. These involve an injury, spasm or inflammation that causes the surrounding muscles and connective tissue to compress the nerve, resulting in pain. These conditions are called “tunnel syndromes”, and although the chiropractic treatment of these is more complex than dealing with a simple spinal subluxation, they usually respond very well, especially when combined with exercises, stretching, and massage, etc.

Trigger points are very small and tight “knots” in the fibers of the muscle that form when the muscles become chronically overworked or injured. Pain from trigger points is very often referred to other parts of the body that may seem wholly unrelated to the source. Trigger points can be successfully treated by a combination of chiropractic care, stretching, and a precise deep tissue massage known as “trigger point therapy”.

Pain of any sort must be properly diagnosed before it can be effectively treated, especially when it is the nerves that are affected. Otherwise the nerve may end up being permanently damaged. Being told by your doctor that you have a “pinched nerve” should not be viewed as a diagnosis; only as an indication that further investigation by a doctor of chiropractic is required as soon as possible.

Participation in sports or exercise is an important step in maintaining your health. Exercise strengthens your heart, bones, and joints and reduces stress, among many other benefits. Unfortunately, injuries during participation in sports are all too common. Often, these injuries occur in someone who is just taking up sports as a form of activity, doesn’t use proper safety equipment, or becomes overzealous about the exercise regimen.

The more commonly injured areas of the body are the ankles, knees, shoulders, elbows, and spine. Remember that you should discuss any exercise program with your doctor of chiropractic before undertaking such activities.

Strains and Sprains

Although bones can sometimes be fractured with acute sports injuries, the most commonly injured structures are the muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Tendons attach muscles to bones, and ligaments attach one bone to another.

An acute twisting or overextension of a joint can lead to tears of muscles and tendons, called “strains,” and tears of ligaments result in “sprains.” These tears range from mild to severe. In mild injuries, just a few fibers are torn or stretched. Severe injuries, where there is a tear through the full thickness of the structure, are most often considered unstable injuries and frequently require surgical intervention. The intervertebral disc, a ligament between the vertebrae of the spine that works as a shock absorber, can also be torn, resulting in a disc bulge and/or herniation.

Ankle sprains most often involve tears of one or more of the ligaments along the outside of the ankle. Knee ligaments, including the larger external supportive ligaments and the smaller internal stabilizing ligaments, can also be torn. The cartilage on the back of the patella (knee-cap) can also become eroded from overuse, leading to a condition termed chondromalacia patella.

Tendinosis

In those who are training too much, overuse of a particular joint or joints in the body can result in pain and dysfunction. These injuries are called “overuse syndromes.” A common overuse injury is tendinosis, also called tendinitis. In this condition, the tendon becomes inflamed from repetitive use. In the shoulder, the rotator cuff (a complex of muscles that stabilizes and moves the shoulder) becomes inflamed, resulting in rotator cuff tendinitis. Tennis elbow is another form of tendinitis that occurs along the outside of the elbow, most commonly in tennis players. In golfer’s elbow, the tendons on the inside of the elbow are affected.

Stress Fractures

Some athletes may experience a stress fracture, also called a fatigue fracture. This type of fracture occurs when an abnormal amount of stress is placed on a normal bone. This might occur in a runner who rapidly increases the amount of mileage while training for a race. Stress fractures also occur in people who begin running as a form of exercise but overdo it from the start, rather than gradually progress to longer distances.

One final common injury is worth mentioning, and that is shin splints. This overuse injury is caused by microfractures on the front surface of the tibia (shin bone). This is most often seen in runners, although other athletes can also be affected.

Diagnosis and Treatment

Sports injuries are most often diagnosed from the history of the activity that brought on the pain, along with a physical examination. In some cases, x-rays are necessary to rule out a fracture. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diagnostic ultrasound are also used in finding soft-tissue injuries, like tendinitis and sprains.

Fractures require the application of some stabilizing device, such as a cast, after the bone is put back into position. Rarely, surgical intervention is required. There is a relatively standard treatment protocol for most of the other overuse types of injuries. This protocol involves the following:

Rest

Generally no more than 48 hours of rest and/or immobilization is needed, depending on the severity of the injury. In most cases, the sooner the person becomes active after an injury, the more rapid is the recovery. In fact, long-term immobilization can sometimes be harmful to recovery. Your doctor of chiropractic will guide this process, as too early a return to activity, choosing the wrong type of activity, or excessive activity can be detrimental.

Ice or heat

Ice or heat can be helpful with pain reduction and tissue healing.

Compression

Compression of the area may reduce the amount of swelling from the injury. Your doctor of chiropractic will determine if this will be beneficial in your case.

Elevation

Elevation of the injured arm or leg above the level of the heart is thought to be helpful in reducing swelling.

Pain relievers

Recent research has demonstrated that some nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs may actually slow the healing process by restricting the body’s natural healing mechanisms, so they should be used sparingly.

Joint manipulation

Recent research has shown us that, in some cases, joint manipulation can be helpful with pain reduction and more rapid recovery. Your doctor of chiropractic will determine if this procedure will be helpful in your case.

A Word about Prevention

In many cases, sports injuries can be prevented. Proper conditioning and warm-up and cool-down procedures, as well as appropriate safety equipment, can substantially reduce injuries. Understanding proper techniques can also go a long way toward preventing injuries. Sufficient water intake is also an important preventive measure.

As the state of the spine affects the nervous system, gentle chiropractic adjustments are one suggested course of action, and babies with colic treated by chiropractic frequently show improvement as the spinal irritation eases. Given the traumatic experience of child birth, it is not surprising that babies may experience spinal subluxations that cause problems with their delicate nervous systems. Colic is also seen to provoke an increased need for attention in babies, and more sensitivity to the world around them, both of which suggest a neurological cause.

Colic may also be the result of the diet of both mother and baby. Cow’s milk and other dairy products are one of the chief offenders in the development of colic. Human milk and cow’s milk are not at all interchangeable, and cow’s milk is not a suitable substitute. Cow’s milk contains the sugar lactose which is difficult for newborn babies to digest, plus many proteins that are detrimental to a young digestive system.

Similarly, the food that a baby ends up absorbing from natural breastfeeding may cause colic if the mother is indulging in unsuitable foods, such as those that are spicy or dairy-based. It hopefully goes without saying that alcohol and tobacco should be totally out of the question for a breastfeeding mother. The best diet is one that is quite bland, and high in (non-dairy) protein, at least for the first three or four months of breastfeeding.

If your baby suffers from colic, here is some helpful advice:

• Seek regular chiropractic treatment for your baby, especially in the first 4 months
• A warm water bottle on your baby’s stomach is soothing, as is a warm bath
• Rock your baby in a chair or cradle, or take them out in a car seat for a drive
• Gently rub your baby’s stomach
• Smaller, more regular feedings may help
• If using baby formula, avoid dairy or soy-based products

A healthy spine is an often overlooked and essential part of a healthy lifestyle. People who suffer from back pain, particularly if it is long-term, are generally less healthy than those who do not. In fact, back pain costs are staggering not only financially, but also in terms of lost time from work and because of psychosocial problems that arise during the healing process associated with long-term back pain.

Unfortunately, approximately 80-90% of the population suffers from spinal pain at some point. People who are overweight or obese, and who smoke, lift heavy objects, or had a previous episode of back pain, are more likely to experience back pain.

Because so many people suffer from spine pain, it’s important for you to try to keep your spine as healthy as possible. Following simple posture, lifting, and healthy lifestyle guidelines can help you keep your back in good shape.

The American Chiropractic Association recommends the following spinal health tips:

Standing

• When standing, keep one foot slightly in front of the other, with your knees slightly bent. This position helps to take the pressure off your low back.
• Do not stand bent forward at the waist for prolonged periods of time. The muscles in your low back become deconditioned in this position, which may lead to pain.

Lifting

• At all times, avoid twisting while lifting. Twisting is one of the most dangerous movements for your spine, especially while lifting.
• If the item is too heavy to lift, pushing it is easier on your back than pulling it. Whenever possible, use your legs, not your back or upper body, to push the item.
• If you must lift a heavy item, get someone to help you.

Sitting

• Keep your knees slightly higher than your hips, with your head up and back straight.
• Avoid rolling your shoulders forward (slouching).
• Try to maintain the natural curve in your low back.

Reaching and Bending

• When reaching for something above shoulder level, stand on a stool. Straining to reach such objects may not only hurt your mid-back and neck, but it can also bring on shoulder problems.
• Do NOT bend over at the waist to pick up items from the floor or a table.
• Instead, kneel down on one knee, as close as possible to the item you are lifting, with the other foot flat on the floor and pick the item up.
• Or bend at the knees, keep the item close to your body, and lift with your legs, not your back.

Carrying

• When carrying objects, particularly if they are heavy, keep them as close to your body as possible.
• Carrying two small objects—one in each hand—is often easier to handle than one large one.

Healthy Diet and Exercise

• While the proverbial jury is still out, we suspect that extra weight puts undue strain on your spine. Keep within 10 lbs. of your ideal weight for a healthier back.
• “Beer belly” is likely the worst culprit, as it puts unwanted pressure on the muscles, ligaments and tendons in your low back.
• The most efficient and effective way to reduce weight is by eating a sensible diet and exercising regularly.
• Consult with your doctor before beginning any exercise program, particularly if you have a health condition.

Sleeping

• Sleeping on your back puts approximately 50 pounds of pressure on your spine. Other positions may be better.
• Placing a pillow under your knees while lying on your back cuts the pressure on your spine roughly in half.
• Lying on your side with a pillow between your knees may also reduce the pressure on your back.
• Never sleep in a position that causes a portion of your spine to hurt. Most often, your body will tell you what position is best.

Quit Smoking

Smokers have more spine pain than nonsmokers, and they also heal more slowly when they have an episode of back pain because the chemicals in tobacco smoke restrict the flow of blood to the tissues in and around your spine.

While following these instructions is no guarantee that you’ll be free from back pain for your entire life, it can certainly reduce your risk of developing it. These simple steps will help you keep your spine in good shape, making you a healthier, happier person.

The sideways curve in the spine of a scoliosis sufferer takes an “S” or “C” shape, and is possible because the vertebrae can rotate at the thoracic level of the spine, causing a hump near the rib cage and making the waist or shoulders uneven. A curve of more than 60 degrees is considered serious, and, unlike with the normal forward-back curvature of the spine, working to correct your posture will not help this sideways curvature.

Degenerative diseases of the spine related to age can also sometimes cause scoliosis. In the case of osteoporosis, the softening of the bones in older people can cause the vertebrae to bend out of shape, creating either a scoliotic curve or kyphosis (round back). Proper and prompt treatment for scoliosis is essential, because if left to progress, it can cause severe back pain, deformity, and difficulty breathing.

Chiropractic and Scoliosis

Chiropractic care is helpful in improving scoliosis. Your doctor of chiropractic will assess your overall health, lifestyle factors, examine the state of your spine, and discuss symptoms. A medical history will be taken to identify any events that may have triggered the condition, or that may be making it worse.

Assessing scoliosis usually involves the Adam’s Forward Bending Test, which is used by many schools in physical education classes. Chiropractors also use this, which simply involves the person bending at the waist as the spinal alignment is checked. Any abnormal prominence or hump is a sign something is amiss. Leg length is also measured to determine if they are even, and a range of motion test measures mobility at the waist. If needed, other medical professionals will be called in to help with treatment.

It is important that regular chiropractic visits are made so that the progression of the condition can be observed, and the appropriate treatment options applied in timely fashion. Specific exercises are often a very useful tool to increase muscle strength and mobility.

Since I started care the results were almost immediate.  The migraines stopped and I broke through new levels in athletic performance in amateur boxing.  My back pain was nearly non-existent; my speed, strength and power were all markedly improved with the proper energy flow through my newly aligned spine.  A year later I went 4-0 in the Chicago Golden Gloves and won my division.

I would recommend Peak performance to anyone looking to maximize their potential either in athletic endeavors or in life in general.

After seeing the benefit of Chiropractic and after much research into Chiropractic education I plan to enter into Chiropractic school, after my career as a Derivatives Trader.  I look forward to helping people as much as Dr. Arculeo has helped me.”

-Lawrence Dunning

Stress has become a fact of life, and for some, the daily norm. Although occasional stress can help improve our focus and performance, living with chronic stress can backfire by causing anxiety, depression, and serious health problems.

Understanding who we are, knowing our major struggles, putting them in perspective, and taking action can help us deal with stress. The following strategies can also improve stress tolerance and help lessen the effects of stress on our health.

Think Positively

“Adopting the right attitude can convert a negative stress into positive,” said Hans Selye, author of the groundbreaking work around stress theory. When optimism is hard to muster, cognitive-behavioral therapy, which trains people to recognize negative thinking patterns and replace them with more constructive ones, can also help reduce the risk of chronic stress and depression.

Get Out and Enjoy Nature

While modern civilization has made our lives more convenient, it has deprived us of an essential source of stress relief: our connection with nature. Studies show that interacting with nature can help lessen the effects of stress on the nervous system, reduce attention deficits, decrease aggression, and enhance spiritual well-being.

“Smell the Roses” for Better Mood

Aromatherapy, or smelling essential plant oils, recognized worldwide as a complementary therapy for managing chronic pain, depression, anxiety, insomnia, and stress-related disorders, can help you unwind. Orange and lavender scents, in particular, have been shown to enhance relaxation and reduce anxiety.

Relax with a Cup of Tea

During stressful times, coffee helps us keep going. To give yourself a break, however, consider drinking tea. Research shows that drinking tea for 6 weeks helps lower post-stress cortisol and increase relaxation. Habitual tea drinking may also reduce inflammation, potentially benefiting your heart health.

Laugh It Off

Humor relieves stress and anxiety and prevents depression, helping put our troubles in perspective. Laughter can help boost the immune system, increase pain tolerance, enhance mood and creativity, and lower blood pressure, potentially improving treatment outcomes for many health problems, including cancer and HIV. Humor may also be related to happiness, which has been linked to high self-esteem, extroversion, and feeling in control.

Build a Support System

Relationships are also key to health and happiness, especially for women. Women with low social support, for example, are more likely to increase blood pressure under stress. Loneliness may also contribute to stress in both men and women, also leading to poorer outcomes after a stroke or congestive heart failure. On the other hand, active and socially involved seniors are at lower risk for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Social support also helps cancer patients to boost the immune system and maintain a higher quality of life.

Employ the Relaxing Power of Music

Music, especially classical, can also serve as a powerful stress-relief tool. Listening to Pachelbel’s famous Canon in D major while preparing a public speech helps avoid anxiety, heart rate, and blood pressure, which usually accompany public speaking.

Singing and listening to music can also relieve pain and reduce anxiety and depression caused by lowback pain. Group drumming also showed positive effects on stress relief and the immune system. Music therapy can also elevate mood and positively affect the immune system in cancer patients and reduce fatigue and improve self-acceptance in people with multiple sclerosis.

To help people deal with stressful medical procedures, music can help reduce anxiety before surgery. When played during surgery, it can decrease the patient’s post-operative pain. Aiding recovery, a dose of calming music may lower anxiety, pain, and the need for painkillers.

Calm Your Mind

In recent decades, many forms of meditation have gained popularity as relaxation and pain relief tools. Focusing on our breath, looking at a candle, or practicing a non-judgmental awareness of our thoughts and actions can help tune out distractions, reduce anxiety and depression, and accept our circumstances. In cancer patients, meditation-based stress reduction enhances quality of life, lowers stress symptoms, and potentially benefits the immune system.

Guided imagery, such as visualizing pictures prompted by an audiotape recording, also shows promise in stress relief and pain reduction. Based on the idea that the mind can affect the body, guided imagery can be a useful adjunct to cancer therapy, focusing patients on positive images to help heal their bodies.

Enjoy the Warmth of Human Touch

Just as the mind can affect the body, the body can influence the mind. Virginia Satir, a famous American psychotherapist, once said that people need 4 hugs a day to help prevent depression, 8 for psychological stability, and 12 for growth. While asking for hugs may not work for some, massage can help us relieve stress and reduce anxiety and depression. Massage has also been shown to reduce aggression and hostility in violent adolescents, to improve mood and behavior in students with ADHD, and to lead to better sleep and behavior in children with autism.

Massage has other therapeutic properties, as well. Regular massage may reduce blood pressure in people with hypertension and may lead to less pain, depression, and anxiety and better sleep in patients with chronic low back pain. Compared to relaxation, massage therapy also causes greater reduction in depression and anger, and more significant effects on the immune system in breast cancer patients.

Give Exercise a Shot

To get the best of both worlds, affecting the mind through the body while getting into good physical shape, try exercise. In one study, a group of lung cancer patients increased their hope due to exercise. Exercise can also reduce depression and improve wound healing in the elderly. Tai chi, which works for people of all ages, may enhance heart and lung function, improve balance and posture, and prevent falls, while reducing stress.

No matter what stress-relief methods you choose, make it a habit to use them—especially if you feel too stressed out to do it. As someone once said, the time to relax is when you don’t have time for it.

Causes of herniated discs

Discs can herniate due to various factors that decrease their strength and resilience. This can include certain lifestyle choices such as smoking, lack of exercise, and poor nutrition. Discs are further stressed by daily wear and tear, poor posture, from injury or trauma, or incorrect lifting or twisting. A weakened disc can sometimes herniate from something as simple as a single everyday movement or strain, such as coughing, sneezing or bending.

Signs of a Herniation

You are more likely to suffer a herniated disc between the ages of 30 and 40, and you may not even know it when it happens as it may not cause any pain. The most common symptom, though, is pain in the herniated disc that may radiate out into the hips or buttocks, or pain or numbness radiating down the leg to the ankle or foot. A large herniation may cause weak extension of your big toe and trouble putting pressure on your toes or heels when walking. Severe cases may even prompt changes in bowel or bladder function, and/or sexual function.

Treatment of a Herniated Disc

Chiropractic care, stretching, and exercise therapy are often sufficient to treat mild to moderate disc herniations. More serious cases will often require chiropractic care be coupled with some form of spinal decompression, such as traction or mechanical decompression.

As a last resort, surgery may be needed when a herniation is severe and all other treatment options have failed to bring improvement, or if the spinal cord or nerves are too badly compressed.

My Medial doctors took blood samples, gave me Imitrex for my migraines and told me to take Excedrin or Aleive to relieve my back pain.  Imitrex would make my migraines go away, but they would always come back.  My blood tests were all good and the Aleive did nothing to relive my back pain. Doctors just couldn’t find out why I was having so many problems.

Since participating in Chiropractic care and Physical Therapy at Peak Performance I have had less headaches, migraines and back pain.  I also have not experienced any dizzy spells in about nine months. My back pain isn’t as severe as it use to be and I am able to work longer and drive without pain.   I haven’t spent a penny more on medication since starting Chiropractic and physical therapy care and I am really thankful for this because of other problems medicine can cause/create in the long run. I  now am receiving tips on how to relieve pain naturally, which has been really helpful.

Meeting the peak doctors at the Run for the Zoo was the best thing that could have happened to me.  My health and spirit have been better and I am positive about life now.”

-April Richardson