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Is cracking your own back bad?

 You either do it yourself or know someone who enjoys the relief they get from popping their own neck or back to relieve the tightness in their spine.  The intense stretching followed by the popping sound is so satisfying for a lot of people. This usually gives them temporary relief from the tightness and soreness in their neck and back.  You ask, what is the popping sound and does it cause you harm? The answer is yes and no.

When you crack your back, you are not actually cracking your bones. The popping sound with joint manipulation is simply a gas being released from the joints. To understand what your body is going through the adjustment, I will explain the physiological zones. The physiological zone describes both the passive and active range of motion until a soft, elastic end feel is felt. The para physiological zone occurs after the physiological zone but before tissue disruption occurs in the pathological zone. This is the zone where manipulation of the joints takes place. The para physiological zone occurs just past the passive range of motion, where a quick force in the joint produces the audible pop that is heard with adjustments. Trauma or too forceful of an adjustment can put a joint in the pathological zone, causing injury to the surrounding tissues.

In chiropractic care, we focus on the joints that are not moving well, (hypo mobile joints).  When we adjust the hypo mobile joints, this helps them move properly again. Self-adjusting typically affects the hypermobile joints. In hypermobile joints, the ligaments gradually develop laxity allowing the joints to move to easily. In response to the hypermobility, the muscles surrounding the joints tighten up to help stabilize the area. When the muscles are tight, this creates the need to crack the joint over and over again. This creates a temporary relief for the joint, but creates the need to keep popping the joint.

A chiropractor is a trained professional that use a physical exam and x-rays to make a specific diagnosis before performing an adjustment. If you are feeling the need to crack your back, it may be sign that your spine is out of alignment and that you need to see your chiropractor. In short, occasionally self-adjusting your back is not bad. The long term cracking can cause hyper mobility in the joints.

For further information on chiropractic care contact Northwest Wellness in Federal Way, WA  2539270660.

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Chronic Headaches

If you suffer from chronic headaches, you are not alone. Nine out of ten people suffer from headaches.  Regular chiropractic care, with the combination of active and passive exercises, and regular massage therapy, is often used for headache management and prevention. 

Headaches can have many triggers, including foods, noises, light, stress, insomnia, blood sugar changes, etc.  There are different types of headaches: tension, migraine, cluster headaches.  The majority of headaches are caused by muscle tension in the neck.  Today, people engage in more sedentary activities, such as sitting in front of the computer.  This prolonged posture can cause joint irritation, muscle tension in the neck and upper back.

Headaches can also be caused by pain referred to the head either from bony structures or soft tissue. This type of headache is referred to as a cervicogenic headache, meaning it originates in the neck, (cervical spine).  Treating the joint dysfunction can help decrease the pain and restore proper function to the cervical spine. 

Chiropractors are experts in the spine, muscles, and nervous system. Chiropractors are trained to diagnose the underlying cause of chronic headaches.  They perform a comprehensive history and examination to determine whether the symptoms are coming from joint dysfunctions in the spine or surrounding muscles. Chiropractors can also rule out possible causes and refer to the appropriate medical professionals.

Chiropractic treatment for headaches usually includes spinal adjustments, soft tissue therapy, and prescribed rehab exercises to help correct your posture. If you are suffering from chronic headaches, don’t hesitate calling us. We are here to help you get out of pain fast!

For further information on chiropractic care contact Northwest Wellness in Federal Way, WA  2539270660.

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The Main Culprit in Low Back Pain

If you have ever had low back pain, often times one of the main culprits is a tight Psoas muscle. The psoas muscle is the primary hip flexor muscle, and is the largest, thickest muscle in the body. The psoas is the most powerful hip flexor. The psoas muscle originates at the lower vertebrae of T12 and inserts on the posterior of the femur. 

How do you Release a Tight Psoas

Move: Prolonged sitting causes the psoas muscle to tighten due to having the hips in a constant state of flexion. A muscle that shortens and stays that way, will tend to stay that way. If a person sits for long periods of time at a desk or vehicle, their legs are bent toward their chest. This causes the Psoas to be contracted and shortened. When a person stands up after having been sitting, the tight psoas muscle has to lengthen. This causes it to pull on the low back vertebrae and discs, creating stress to the spine. Often, this is felt as tightness across the lower back, stiff hips or even outright pain. Over time, the tight psoas muscle can cause serious structural problems. If you work at a job that requires you to sit at a desk for long hours, make a point to get up and move routinely through the day. Stop at least once an hour and stretch.  Also, invest in a standing desk to give your hips a break from standing for long periods of time.

Sit with good posture: Practice sitting comfortably with your back against your chair and your feet flat on the ground. Try not to lean forward which causes flexion at the hip and shortening of the psoas muscle.

Avoid Sleeping on your Stomach: Sleeping on your stomach causes hyper-extending of your low back, which can make the problem worse.  

Chiropractic Care: As I mentioned earlier, a tight psoas pulls forward the lower vertebrae, causing an anterior tilt to the pelvis, causing the lumbar spine to be hyperlordotic. This puts extra pressure on the intervertebral discs of the spine, which can cause degeneration, lack of motion, and increase pain. A Chiropractor can help re-align the spine and put motion back into a fixed joint.

Massage Therapy: A massage therapist can work through you abdomen to loosen up your psoas muscle. This move can be uncomfortable and painful, but is extremely effective in releasing your psoas muscle.

Stretch: There are a variety of good psoas stretches. Here is a description of one of my favorite psoas stretches. Begin by standing upright next to a table. Place your table side leg and torso on the table with your foot hanging off the edge. Press up through your arms until you feel a gentle stretch in front of your leg that is on the table. Hold this position. Make sure to move into the stretch slowly and avoid arching your back during the exercise.

Strengthen your glutes: When the hip muscle is being overworked, the opposing muscle, which is the glutes is weak. This is known as reciprocal inhibition. When the psoas muscle is constantly contracted, the glutes become inactive and do not contract the way that they should. To reverse this action, we strengthen the glutes which will inhibit\relax the psoas. A great strengthening exercise for the glutes is the bridge. Lying flat on your back with both knees up, the key is to keep a straight line with your body from your knees all the way to your shoulder.  Don’t let your low back arch too much, or allow your butt to dip.  Focus on only contracting your glutes to lift your body.  Squeeze them at the top and hold this position for 10 seconds, slowly lower.  Repeat 10-15 times, once or twice a day.  When this gets to be too easy, move on to one-legged bridging.

At Northwest Wellness we have Chiropractors, Physical Therapist, and Massage Therapist that can help get to the root of your tight Psoas and prescribe the appropriate care plan.

Northwest Wellness is located at:

37430 Pacific Hwy S.

Federal Way, WA 98003

Phone: (253)-927-0660

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Mind Body Best Practices

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Pros and Cons of Steroid Injections

Injections for pain relief have been growing in popularity. Corticosteroid injections are the most popular usually used to decrease pain. In this blog I will dive deeper into the pros and cons in getting steroid injections.

Steroid Injections

The Positives

• Down-regulate immune function through the reduction of inflammatory cells and mediators.

• Decrease pain caused by inflammation

The Negatives

• Increase protein catabolism, decrease type 1 collagen and glycosaminoglycan syntheses, and therefore slow the healing process.

• Inhibition of collagen repair leading to accelerated joint degeneration.

• Bone loss, breakdown, and potential fracture.

• Over utilized in cases of tendinosis

Common Applications

• Intra-articular injection for conditions such as osteoarthritis

• Short term, quick symptom pain relief.

Conclusion

When considering injections, first ask yourself the intent of the injection. Steroids should be used sparingly for pain relief. The majority of research shows that steroids are only useful for short term pain relief. The injection is short lived and the symptoms often return. Also, steroids delay the tissue from healing, which can lead to an extended period of disability.

Resources:

https://chiroup.com/injections-for-pain-relief-pros-vs-cons-2/

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Benefits of getting Extremities Adjusted

Most patients come in for care from subluxations of the spine, but extremities can also get subluxated.  Extremity joints include hips, knees, ribs, shoulders, TMJ, elbows, wrists, hands, ankles, and feet. Basically, any joint outside of the spine. When extremities become subluxated, they can also cause swelling, loss of function, pain, and scar tissue formation. Some common conditions that can benefit from extremity adjusting include: frozen shoulders, rotator cuff injuries, tennis elbow, carpal tunnel syndrome, knee pain, meniscus injury, chondromalacia patella, ankle sprains/strains, and plantar fasciitis.  Adjustments of the extremities can be done in a variety of different ways. Some techniques do manual manipulation of a joint where others use a handheld adjusting instrument. They can also include other therapies such as Graston technique, rehabilitative exercises, and custom orthotics. Regardless of the technique, the goal is to get motion back into the joint to help restore function to the extremity.      

Benefits of extremity adjustments include:

·         Better Flexibility

·         Better joint movement

·         Reduction of the arthritic processes occurring in that joint

·         Decreased pain

·         Prevent the likelihood of injuries to the extremities

When spinal and extremity adjustments are combined, patients experience less pain and better nervous system function, and injuries heal faster.  Don’t hesitate making an appointment with us if you suffer from any extremity pain!

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Plantar Fascitis

Plantar fasciitis is inflammation of the fascia. Usually the pain is felt where the fascia attaches to the heel.  This causes the bottom of your foot to hurt when you walk or stand, usually a sharp and stabbing pain.  It is the most common cause of heel pain and especially effects people who spend long periods of time standing.

            Chiropractic treatment, in conjunction with physical therapy and massage, can help manage and treat plantar fasciitis. They can help speed up the healing, provide relief, and better mobility.  Chiropractic adjustments allow for better communication between the brain and nerves, allowing the central nervous system to function more effectively.

Your body posture is a huge contributing cause of plantar fasciitis.  Walking around with bad posture can contribute to plantar fasciitis by creating weight that is unbalanced across your feet.   A chiropractor can help realign and balance body so the weight is distributed more evenly and not dominantly on foot versus the other.  This will allow the affected foot to heal more quickly.

            When a person is in a lot of pain, due to their plantar fasciitis, they often adjust their gait to avoid the pain.  By altering their gait, they put stress on other parts of their body, which can lead to low back pain, strained muscles, and sore joints. Chiropractic adjustments help realign the body so they can stand and walk properly.

            Chiropractic adjustments also reduce the amount of stress in the tissue.  The ligament is inflamed and stressed and chiropractic adjustments made to the heel and foot take the pressure off of the plantar fascia, allowing it to relax. When the stress on the plantar fascia is reduced through chiropractic adjustments, the foot can begin to heal.

            Plantar fasciitis can take several months to heal, but adding chiropractic, physical therapy, and massage  treatments to your recovery plan, can make you feel better faster and help manage your pain.

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Preventing Falls

Falls in elderly people can be preventable. Chiropractic care with the combination of balance exercises can help improve balance and reduce falls in elderly patients.

You may of thought the chiropractic adjustment was just about back pain, but the adjustment also changes the way your brain uses information. The chiropractic adjustment can also help improve position sense.  Each joint of the spine has lots of sensors that tell the brain the position we are in. The adjustment activates these sensors and sends a flood of information to the brain. This flood of information helps the position sense and can help to improve balance.

In combination with chiropractic adjustments, balance exercises are also crucial for helping to prevent falls. As we age we tend to have more problems with balance due to loss of muscle mass, decreased joint stability, and the overall deterioration in our senses like vision and proprioception.

The following are some exercises to help improve balance and prevent falls.

·        Balancing on 1 Leg: Practice balancing on 1 leg for 1 minute on each side. Once this becomes easy, try adding a challenge like closing your eyes.

 ·        Use a Wobble Board or BOSU Ball: By balancing on an unbalanced surface you force your body to adapt.

 ·        Squats: Squats can be done either single or two legs. Squat help train your body to adapt to different movements.

 ·        Single Leg Ball Toss: While standing one leg, have a partner toss a ball back and forth. This will help challenge and train different muscle groups while trying to remain balanced.

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Pinched Nerves

The nervous system is interconnected throughout our bodies, allowing organs to function properly and a person to respond to stimuli.  The nervous system runs from our head to our toes, and if a vertebra is out of alignment, the pain can be felt in another area of the body.  When someone suffers from a pinched nerve, it means that a nerve is compressed and in an abnormal position. Pinched nerves can be caused by improper posture, lifting heavy items, trauma, or reaching for something in an awkward way.

A subluxation is a misalignment of a spinal bone that puts pressure on a spinal nerve that comes out and controls and coordinates different parts of the body. Subluxations can cause pain or different types of muscle spasms.

The spinal disc is the cushion between the bones that functions like a shock absorber. With degenerative disc disease, a disc starts getting thinner and loses its height. The hole that the nerve exits through is called the intervertebral foramina and the degeneration causes it to get smaller. It allows less room for the nerve to exit and it puts pressure on the nerve.

When a disc herniates it pushes up against the nerve and irritates the nerve which comes out and shoots down into the arms, legs, and different body parts.

The chiropractor will examine the patient’s spine and note any misaligned vertebrae, also known as subluxations, when these vertebrae are out of place, they can put intense pressure on the nerves in the spine, pinching a nerve.

Once noting any subluxations, the chiropractor will prescribe a treatment plan, involving spinal adjustments. The adjustment can be done using the hands or an instrument, and are gentle, non-invasive ways to put misaligned vertebrae back where they belong. Once the spine is aligned, nerve blocks are removed allowing blood to bring oxygen and other nutrients throughout the body. The improved circulatory function can help relieve pain and boost the immune system. Regular visits may also help a pinched nerve heal faster and prevent future damage. When left untreated, pinched nerves can cause pain, reduced mobility, and inflammation.

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New Year's Resolutions

It is New Year’s resolution time again. Here are 6 healthy commitments to consider in 2022.

1. Get enough sleep:   Restful sleep is essential for a fully functioning mind and body. Few people get the recommended seven-to-nine hours of sleep, and we know that lack of sleep has been linked to problems ranging from fatigue to cancer. What's the best way to keep this resolution? Stick to a sleep schedule: Go to bed and get up at about the same time every day. Avoid caffeine, alcohol and sugary snacks around bedtime.

 2. Quit smoking, once and for all:  This is clearly the single most important thing someone can do for their health. If you smoke, stop in 2022. The American Cancer Society has a great program called Quit-ForLife.

3. Eat well, but don't set unrealistic diet goals:  Obesity and excess weight is a huge issue in this country. We hear it again and again. Stick to the basics; avoid saturated fats, simple sugars and highly processed foods, eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day, minimize red meat and run from anything deep fried. Begin simply by avoiding any drink with calories (i.e. soda, juice, or cream in your coffee).

 4. Stay hydrated:  There's been a trend recently for "experts" to belittle the importance of drinking water. Let me tell you it’s NONSENSE! Adequate water intake prevents dehydration, cleans out the body, and promotes healing. You've probably heard the "8 by 8" rule - drink eight 8- ounce glasses of water per day (2 quarts). Keep a cup of water next to you at your desk and a travel bottle for the road. If you don't like the taste of water, try adding lemons, limes or flavoring to your water.

 5. Exercise, exercise, exercise!:  An ideal combination includes aerobic exercise, weight-training and stretching. Get exercise during your regular daily activities by walking at lunch and taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Look for healthy recreational activities, such as dancing and swimming.

6. Keep your body "tuned up":  If you've not been to our office recently, it's probably time to schedule a "tune-up". Let us help you keep your body aligned and functioning at its best. Small misalignments can cause wear and tear on your spine and joints- this leads to painful problems.  Call today to make sure these problems don’t keep you from enjoying 2022!!

Reference: Chiroup.com

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Sciatica

           Doctors of Chiropractic regularly treat sciatica. Chiropractic treatments are a healthy, non-surgical and drug free option for sciatica. Sciatica is characterized as a pain that starts in the lower back or buttocks and travels down one or both legs. It will vary in terms of frequency, severity, or it may be constant.

The symptoms of sciatica range from feeling sharp, dull, and achy, pins and needles, or electric shock. Sciatica may also be associated with numbness, burning or tingling. Some of the conditions that cause sciatica are: herniated disc, pirformis syndrome, spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, and general wear and tear of the lower spine.  The root of the problem is often a misaligned vertebra in the spine.  The sciatic nerve starts in the lower back and runs all the way down to the lower leg.  The pain can be felt anywhere along this nerve.

Chiropractic adjustments bring relief to patients with sciatica by realigning the spine, which takes pressure off of the nerve.  Once the pressure is off of the nerve, the body can begin to heal itself. Several adjustments will likely be needed, especially if sciatica is a chronic problem. Exercises will also most likely be recommended to strengthen the muscles in the back to help prevent sciatica from recurring, and massage therapy to help reduce muscle tension and swelling.

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Basic Nutrition Advice

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Tips on Healthy Sleep

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Cycling with Comfort and Safety

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Healthy Cell Phone Use

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Healthy Sleep Positions

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8 Reasons to see a Chiropractor after a car accident

With the rainy season upon us, we start seeing more patients in our clinic from car accidents. Chiropractors are very skilled at treating injuries from motor vehicle accidents, especially whiplash. The following are 8 reasons why it is important to get chiropractic care after your accident.

1.       Reduce Inflammation: Increased pain and inflammation are common after an accident due to the micro-tears in the ligaments. Chiropractic adjustments not only realign the spine, but also release an anti-inflammatory substance that lowers pain and inflammation in your body.

2.       Treat Injuries:  Chiropractors treat a variety of injuries after motor vehicle accidents. These injuries include: whiplash, headaches, pain throughout the spine, dizziness, and extremity soreness. Sometimes, it can take many hours to a few days before the symptoms arise. That is why it is very important to see your chiropractor immediately to avoid long term pain.

3.       Receive Non-Invasive Treatment: Chiropractic is very a gentle technique that decreases pain and promotes healing by re-aligning the spine.

4.       Reduce Scar Tissue: After a car accident, scar tissue starts building up in the muscles. This results in stiffness and discomfort. A combination of chiropractic treatment and massage will help break up the scar tissue instead of letting it heal on its own. This will help you heal faster and feel better sooner.

5.       No Medications: Pain killers can temporarily take the edge of the pain, but they do not fix the problem. Some medications can be highly addictive too. Chiropractors will get to the root cause of the injury, and not just mask the injuries with medication.

6.       Restore Range of Motion: Range of motion is decreased after an accident. Chiropractic adjustments help mobilize the spine and restore the spine’s normal range of motion.

7.       Decrease Pain: Chiropractic adjustments not only target the pain in the affected area, but also help decrease pain throughout the entire body. Chiropractic adjustments release a hormone that helps reduce pain.

8.       Provide Long-Term Benefits: When you see a chiropractor immediately after a car accident, you help prevent minor issues from becoming serious long-term issues.

 Reference: https://chambersmedical.com/benefits-of-chiropractic-care-after-a-car-accident/

For further information on chiropractic care contact Northwest Wellness in Federal Way, WA  2539270660.