Can Chiropractic Help Prevent a Hamstring Injury?

12 Jul

Sports that require rapid acceleration and deceleration, cutting left and right, agility, jumping, and bending pose a unique risk for injury to the lower limbs. Hamstring injuries are the most prevalent injury in Australian rules football, afflicting 16% of players, causing an average of 3.4 missed matches per injury, accounting for the most time lost due to injury, and having the highest recurrence rate once players return to the active roster. Moreover, a player’s performance can be highly diminished by hamstring injuries.

In a 2010 study, researchers randomly assigned 57 male Australian football players to either a control group that received the current best practice medical and sports science management or an intervention group that received the same care with the addition of a sports chiropractic manual therapy injury prevention program that included manipulation/mobilization and/or soft tissue therapies to the spine and lower extremities. Both groups received a minimum of one treatment per week for six weeks, one treatment every two weeks for three months, and one treatment per month for the remainder of the season (three months).

At the close of the season, the researchers found that the group receiving the chiropractic injury intervention program reported significantly fewer primary lower-limb muscle strains and weeks missed due to no-contact knee injury than the other group. Though lower-limb injury prevention was the primary focus of this study, the players in the chiropractic group also experienced fewer episodes of back pain.

Because dysfunction in one area of the body can place added stress elsewhere, it’s important to examine the whole patient in order to identify other issues that may either be the cause or contribute to the patient’s chief complaint. Likewise, preventative care focused on maintaining proper motion in the joints throughout the body can lead to a reduced risk for injury, as was demonstrated by this study.

 

This information should not be substituted for medical or chiropractic advice. Any and all healthcare concerns, decisions, and actions must be done through the advice and counsel of a healthcare professional who is familiar with your updated medical history.

The Most Important Principles for Staying Young: Don’t Hold It In!

9 Jul

Our basic premise is that your body is amazing.  You get a do over. It doesn’t take that long, and it isn’t that hard if you know what to do.  In these notes, we give you a short course in what to do so it becomes easy for you and for you to teach others. We want you to know how much control you have over both the quality and length of your life.

When it comes to Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, the reality is that scientists have conducted over 1,000 clinical trials and none of the drugs tested seem to have any major positive effects on changing the course of the disease. However, researchers have found that lifestyle choices that you can make now—such as eating a healthier diet, making sure you get enough sleep, managing stress, getting regular exercise, maintaining social connections, avoiding toxins, and keeping your mind stimulated—can keep your brain healthy, delaying or even preventing cognitive decline.

Here is a weird one that you may not have thought can affect your brain: don’t pass a bathroom up. Yes, Manny did it behind the Green Monster while playing left field for the Boston Red Sox. LeBron has taken himself out of the game for it. Michael Phelps did it in the pool. “Every single athlete has to deal with this,” reports U.S. women’s national hockey team forward, Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson, “No one ever talks about it.”

It? Coping with the need to pee.

Uber-hydrated athletes often have to confront the urgent feeling, but on a long drive or in an intense meeting, chances are you’ve had to decide, should I excuse myself or just hold it in?

Medically speaking, urologists say it’s always better to respect nature’s calling. But the truth is, before the age of 50, you have the ability to hold urine in for about eight hours and that’s okay to do as long as you don’t do it all the time.

However, some professions, such as a nurse, teacher, surgeon, or truck driver seem to demand that you hold it in frequently. In those cases, you’re risking infections, long-term damage to your bladder, and even possible damage to your kidneys.

Dr. Peter Snyder, a neurologist from Brown University, notes that there is another drawback to holding it in: it impairs higher-order cognitive functions on a level similar to drunken driving. Snyder found that the longer study participants avoided the bathroom, the higher their self-reported pain levels increased, which led to worse performance on cognitive assessments. We do not know if this has long-term effects, but I imagine that bouts of pain can cause destruction of neuronal connections in your brain.

So when nature calls, it’s okay to hold it in for a little while but avoid making it a habit or one day you may lose the ability to hold it in at all.  And when you find that urge to pee relieved, vow to and develop a plan to immediately implement some lifestyle choices that preserve and increase brain function. Because when it comes to your brain, an ounce of prevention is really worth a ton of non-effective cures.

 

Next month, we’ll talk about another choice that keeps you young.

Thanks for reading. Feel free to send questions to: AgeProoflife@gmail.com

Dr. Mike Roizen

PS: Please continue to order the new book by Jean Chatzky and myself, AgeProof: Living Longer Without Running Out of Money or Breaking a Hip

 

NOTE: You should NOT take this as medical advice.
This article is of the opinion of its author.
Before you do anything, please consult with your doctor.
You can follow Dr Roizen on twitter @YoungDrMike (and get updates on the latest and most important medical stories of the week).  The YOU docs have two newly revised books: The patron saint “book” of this column YOU Staying Young—revised and YOU: The Owner’s Manual…revised —yes a revision of the book that started Dr Oz to being Dr Oz.  These makes great gifts—so do YOU: ON a Diet and YOU: The Owner’s Manual for teens.  
Michael F. Roizen, M.D., is chief wellness officer and chair of the Wellness Institute at the Cleveland Clinic. His radio show streams live on http://www.radioMD.com Saturdays from 5-7 p.m. He is the co-author of 4 #1 NY Times Best Sellers including: YOU Staying Young.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Sports

5 Jul

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the most common and well-known entrapment neuropathy, or pinched nerve in the extremities. Many people think that carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) affects only computer workers or assembly-line workers, but that is far from the truth. Though CTS can affect anyone, it’s quite common in athletes. Surprised? Let’s take a closer look!

Many sports—including golf, tennis, cycling, and baseball—require a firm grip, high repetition, and little to no rest time, which can exceed the capacity of the soft tissues in the wrist. Over time, this stress can build and place pressure on the median nerve, resulting in the symptoms of pain, numbness, and tingling that are often associated with CTS. Additionally, trauma to the wrist from a sports collision can lead to the rapid development of CTS symptoms.

The diagnosis of CTS is typically made by combining a group of findings rather than by one definitive test. The patient’s history and symptoms coupled with the results from several provocative tests, which are easily performed in the office, are typically needed to arrive at an accurate diagnosis. Because CTS can co-exist with other conditions, of which several mimic similar signs and symptoms of CTS, an electromyography and/or nerve conduction velocity test can be extremely helpful.

In addition to therapies such as mobilization and manipulation to the wrist and other anatomical locations along the course of the median nerve (the elbow, shoulder, neck, for example), treatment by a doctor of chiropractic often includes the following non-surgical methods: wearing a wrist splint, primarily at night; using anti-inflammatories such as ginger, turmeric, and bioflavonoids; making modifications to the sport (if possible); managing vocational and avocational factors that place stress on the wrist; working with other healthcare providers to manage conditions like diabetes, hypothyroid, or certain types of arthritis that can cause or contribute to CTS; and training the patient in specific exercises that can be interspersed throughout the day.

It is very important to stress that EARLY INTERVENTION for CTS typically yields the best outcomes. So please, DO NOT WAIT before seeking care when you experience pain, numbness, or tingling in the wrist, hands, or fingers!

This information should not be substituted for medical or chiropractic advice. Any and all healthcare concerns, decisions, and actions must be done through the advice and counsel of a healthcare professional who is familiar with your updated medical history.

Low Back Pain: Spinal Manipulation vs. NSAIDs

2 Jul

Low back pain (LBP) is the single greatest cause of disability worldwide and the second most common reason for doctor visits. Overall, LBP costs society more than $100 billion annually when factoring in lost wages, reduced productivity, and legal and insurance overhead expenses.

Studies regarding the use of spinal manipulation(SM)—a form of treatment offered by doctors of chiropractic—for LBP are plentiful and have led to the strong recommendation that SM should be considered as a FIRST course of care for LBP. The American College of Physicians and the American Pain Society both recommend SM for patients with LBP who don’t improve with self-care.

In 2010, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) reported that SM is an effective treatment option for LBP – EQUALLY effective as medication in reducing LBP and neck pain.

A 2013 study compared SM and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and found that SM was MORE effective than diclofenac, a commonly prescribed NSAID, for the treatment of LBP. Patients in the SM group also reported NO adverse side effects. More importantly, a 2015 study found that NSAID use can actually slow the healing process and even accelerate osteoarthritis and joint deterioration!

Doctors of chiropractic utilize SM as many conditions, including LBP— more than any other healthcare profession including osteopathy, physical therapy, medical doctors, and others. Chiropractors also combine other synergistic forms of care, such as patient-specific exercise training, to help patients learn how to self-manage their LBP, as recurrence is such a common issue.

This information should not be substituted for medical or chiropractic advice. Any and all healthcare concerns, decisions, and actions must be done through the advice and counsel of a healthcare professional who is familiar with your updated medical history.

Are Probiotics Necessary? (Part 2)

25 Jun

As discussed previously, probiotics can benefit patients with gut complications such as enteritis, constipation, and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Probiotics may also help decrease allergic inflammation, treat nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and fight immune deficiency diseases. Ingesting probiotics can improve calcium absorption and bone calcium accretion to treat osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. They may even have a role in the management of obesity and type-2 diabetes.

Most probiotics are oligosaccharides and can be synthesized or obtained from natural sources including asparagus, artichoke, bamboo shoots, banana, barley, chicory, leeks, garlic, honey, lentils, milk, mustards, onion, rye, soybean, sugar beets, sugarcane juice, tomato, and wheat. Foods rich in probiotics include kefir, kimchi, yogurt, sweet acidophilus milk, miso, tempeh, sauerkraut, aged soft cheese, and more.

Some probiotics include an ingredient called a “prebiotic.” This is a non-digestible carbohydrate that acts as food for both the probiotic and the good bacteria already residing in the gut. Prebiotic stimulates the growth and/or activity of one or a limited number of genus/species in the gut, making the probiotic more effective and longer lasting.

Here are some of the various types of probiotics…

  1. Lactobacillus naturally occur in our digestive, urinary, and genital systems and can treat a wide variety of diseases and conditions.
  2. Bifidobacteria are found mostly in the colon. They help improve blood lipids and glucose tolerance and can alleviate IBS and IBS-like conditions such as pain, bloating, and urgency.
  3. Saccaromyces boulardii is the only yeast probiotic. It’s used to treat C-Dif (an antibiotic complication), traveler’s diarrhea, acne, and more.
  4. Streptococcus thermophilus helps prevent lactose intolerance.
  5. Enterococcus faecium supports the intestinal tract.

Are there side effects? Generally, side effects are rare and if they occur, they tend to be mild and usually relate to the digestive system and include symptoms such as gas or feeling bloated.

This information should not be substituted for medical or chiropractic advice. Any and all healthcare concerns, decisions, and actions must be done through the advice and counsel of a healthcare professional who is familiar with your updated medical history.

Whiplash Injury – A “Must Read” About Important FACTS!

21 Jun

Whiplash-associated disorders (WAD) is defined as “an acceleration-deceleration mechanism of energy transfer to the neck.” WAD may result from rear-end or side-impact motor vehicle collisions (MVCs), diving and other sports-related injuries, as well as from falls, assaults, and more. Because many bones and soft tissues may be involved in WAD, there are a variety of clinical signs and symptoms associated with the disorder.

In 1995, the Quebec task force coined the term WAD and broke it down into five divisions: WAD 0 includes no pain or exam findings; WAD I includes neck pain, stiffness, or tenderness as the only complaint with no exam signs; WAD II includes pain, stiffness, or tenderness with exam findings such as decreased range of neck motion and/or point tenderness of the neck; WAD III includes all of WAD II plus altered nerve function (sensory deficits and/or muscle weakness or altered deep tendon reflexes); and WAD IV includes fracture or dislocation with or without spinal cord injury.

WAD is usually seen in rear-end, low-impact collisions with about 90% of cases occurring at speeds of <14 mph. In a rear-end collision, the trunk of the body is initially forced back into the seatback followed by hyperextension of the neck and head, which then recoil forwards—all within about 600 msec, which is much faster than the 1,000 msec needed to voluntarily brace our muscles.

Studies support that the source of neck pain arises more often from injured joints than injured muscles. In about 60% of cases, neck pain is due to injury of the small facet joints, which are located on the sides of the neck, especially at levels C2-3 and C5-6. This can give rise to upper neck pain and/or headache (from C2-3), and/or lower neck pain radiating to the shoulder blades (C5-6) or worse, into the arms.

Fortunately, most acute WAD injured patients recover within three months. Unfortunately, about 40% do not improve and are then classified as having “chronic whiplash” (cWAD). Risk factors for WAD developing into cWAD include the following: 1) rapid and severe onset of neck pain and stiffness symptoms; 2) neurological deficit with arm pain (WAD III); 3) headaches; and 4) when urgent hospital admission is necessary. Older patients, those with pre-existing neck or low back pain, and individuals with slender necks have an elevated risk for a poor recovery. Depression, anxiety, and mood disorders are common in those with cWAD as well.

This information should not be substituted for medical or chiropractic advice. Any and all healthcare concerns, decisions, and actions must be done through the advice and counsel of a healthcare professional who is familiar with your updated medical history.
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