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Dynamically Treating Back Pain with Flexion-Distraction
Tailoring a treatment to your specific back pain
Your back pain is completely unique and your treatment should be too! This should not be such a radical statement to read but it is at odds with the idea of allopathic treatment, where the same drugs and the same surgery is used to treat every case. The truth is, every diagnosis is different, so we take a different approach that detects the underlying cause of your condition and follow it up with a multi-dimensional plan for treatment that seeks to improve your body’s ability to heal itself without the necessity for surgery or pharmaceutical aid.
Herniated Disc from Auto Accident
Because of their shock-absorbing role in the human body, one of the structures most vulnerable to injury during an automobile accident is the intervertebral disc. The net force generated by a car collision is often enough to create a bulge or tear in the annulus fibrosus, resulting in a herniated disc. The discs most likely to suffer injury are the bottom two discs in the spinal column. We have a wealth of experience rehabilitating herniated discs sustained from auto accidents. The most common symptoms that point us toward investigating a herniated disc are stiffness and pain in the local area and a reduced range of motion.
For all but the most severe of herniated discs, the body will usually heal itself if given the proper time and attention. This is where we come in: our plan for your injury will be implemented in phases: our first priority is to reduce your pain. Chiropractic adjustment restores mobility to the joints and alleviates direct pressure to the nerve, allowing you to move without the usual limiting pain. We utilize hands-on techniques that boost blood flow in the region and help heal muscles that may have become strained.
Our office will document all of your injuries and establish a treatment plan that gets you back to health as quickly as possible. Call our office in Houston (713) 520-9330 to schedule an appointment. The smallest comfort we have to offer is knowledge of what happened to your body during the accident.
Atherogenic Inhibition: A Chiropractic Approach to Healing
Atherogenic muscle inhibition is common after a joint injury
As you move through the rehabilitation process after a joint injury, it is common to notice dysfunction in the muscles which surround the joint capsule. While there is no actual damage to these muscles, they are often unable to contract fully. This is a purposeful reaction by the body, which aims to prevent further damage to the joint by limiting the degree of movement and muscular contraction that can occur surrounding the injury. However, it is problematic because it further limits the range of motion, which is a crucial factor in the successful rehabilitation of any joint injury.
A Protein-Rich Vegetarian Diet
The importance of protein
No matter who you are protein is important. To keep hair looking healthy and nails growing strong; to maintain, repair, and build muscle; to make important body chemicals; protein is an indispensable building block. For athletes, the importance is twofold: without protein, your muscle-building efforts will be seriously hampered. And with the foods highest in protein falling mostly into the carnivorous category, many vegetarians struggle to get enough protein in their diet. But no need to fear: with enough attention to your diet, you can get the protein you need depending on your level of activity.
How much protein should I be consuming?
For the average male or female during a sedentary day, you want to consume about .36 grams for each pound of body weight. This looks something like 56g for the average male and 46 for the average female. When you are working out, you need to scale this equation up: active people should aim for between .4 and .6 grams per pound.
How can vegetarians get their recommended daily amount of protein?
Here are some good meat-free ideas for getting more protein in your diet: all values are given for a 100g serving.
- Lentils: 9 grams
- Garbanzo beans: 19 grams
- 1 egg: 6 grams
- Quinoa: 13 grams
- Almonds: 21 grams
- Yogurt: 10 grams
- Peas: 9 grams
Protein from a chiropractor’s perspective
If you are putting in the work to build muscle through physical activity, you may as well not defeat yourself with your diet. Muscle building is important for just about every aspect of well-being; from supporting your spine to maintaining range of motion and preventing injury, protein is an integral part of a healthy lifestyle. Give our office a call to schedule an appointment today.
Are your Hips Contributing to Lower Back Pain?
Why does tightness in the hip flexors matter?
A less thought of factor when it comes to back health, the hip flexors can play a crucial role in the presence of back pain. When we sit for long periods of time, or pursue activities such as cycling or even jogging, the muscle complex in our hip flexors can tighten and create a pull on the front side (anterior) of the pelvis.
A microcosmic portrait of muscular imbalance with tight hip flexors and weak glutes
More commonly known as anterior pelvic tilt, this altered posture encourages your body to use the gluteus maximus less, creating a muscular imbalance that is a perfect recipe for back pain. Pain can often develop at a local level- that is, in the hip flexors themselves, because an overused muscle is prone to painful spasms, while weakness in the glutes will contribute to instability in the lower back.
What can I do about overly tight hip flexors?
We have a plan for releasing tight hip flexors, thereby making good posture easier to achieve and reversing the muscular imbalance that has occurred. We begin by releasing the muscle spasms which have accumulated in painful trigger points. We then focus on static hip flexor stretches to increase range of motion and focus on negating the anterior pelvic tilt to establish good posture as your norm. We are movement specialists and you can begin the process of releasing tight hip flexors by calling our office to schedule an appointment today!
The Challenges of Sleeping at College
Sleep is your ticket to success at college
By allowing your body to rebuild and repair, and preparing all your major internal systems for another day of activity and mental application, 8 hours of sleep is never more important than in college. But it is also the time when we see our young adults face sleep problems the first time. The struggle is to find balance and keep stress at a minimum so that you can get to sleep and stay asleep at night.
The Therapeutic Effect of Floating
Water is spinal therapy
Floating in water is the closest we can approximate to suspending gravity within the earth’s atmosphere. By immersing yourself in water, the downward force of gravity is greatly mitigated, which means that the near-constant compression of your spine is also reduced. If you are suffering from back pain, it is worth considering taking a trip to the pool in order to experience the pain relief that comes when the pressure is taken off your spinal joints and bones.
How we Help Athletes Stay Ahead of Injuries
What defines a high-impact sport?
Even running can be considered high impact. From a chiropractic perspective, “high-impact” refers to any sport that causes excessive shock to the joints of the body. Sports such as football, rugby, and even basketball and soccer put athletes at risk for injuries including sprains and strains, ligament injury, and damage to the neck and spine. Are you one of these athletes? Read on to find out how we protect your body against the dangers of your sport.
Leave Back Pain out of your Sleep Life
Sleep and chronic back pain don’t mix
And while chronic back pain obviously prevents people from sleeping, the lack of sleep feeds back into chronic pain by heightening stress levels and preventing the body from getting the rest it needs to fortify itself against chronic pain in the first place. Once chronic pain starts to invade on your sleep life, it can feel like there is nowhere left to go.
Chiropractic for Joint Pain Conditions
Chronic joint pain is a drain on quality of life
Joints are the workhorses of the human body; they are the structures where bone meets bone, providing the functions of range of motion and shock absorption. As an office of chiropractic, a set of joints we treat on a regular basis are the facet joints. Facet joints, of which there are two in every spinal motion segment, allow for stable articulation between the vertebrae. They are small and, because they are so often used, they are frequently injured.
Facet Joint Syndrome is a common cause of back pain
Each facet joint is encased in a joint capsule filled with synovial fluid, the lubricating material that contributes to joint health. This capsule is covered by hyaline cartilage and the overall role of the entire structure is to stabilize the spine- to prevent damage from occurring due to excessive motion. When damage occurs to the joint capsule, whether due to acute injury or repetitive trauma, back pain, swelling and inflammation is a natural result. Most instances of FJS will heal themselves within a 6 week time period, but chiropractic helps to empower your body to heal quicker and prevent the injury from recurring.
Chiropractic is effective at healing Facet Joint Syndrome
A chiropractic examination can determine whether your back pain may be caused by FJS. If so, we proceed with a dynamic plan for treatment including conservative methods for empowering your body’s ability to heal. These include:
- Chiropractic adjustment to align the spine and re-hydrate the facet joints.
- Lifestyle adjustments to account for your injury.
- Decompression therapy including manual and instrument-assisted traction to open up space between the vertebrae.
- Advice on posture and diet to help support the healing process.
If you suspect you may be suffering from Facet Joint Syndrome, give our office a call to schedule an appointment and speed up the healing process today.