Soft Tissue Care- Part I

Recently I have been asked more and more about the soft tissue care I do here in the office. Here is a little introduction into that. The different instruments I use include a few different stainless steel options that I use for Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization as well as either some silicone or plastic cups for cupping. Thanks to Micheal Phelps and the 2008 Olympics most people have seen what static cupping can look like, however most of my cupping is done with some motion, either by the cup or by the soft tissue underneath. I personally am a FAKTR (Functional and Kinetic Treatment with Rehab)- certified provider, meaning I use their methods. Feel free to visit FAKTR to read yourself or take a peak of a few pieces I have included:

“What conditions can FAKTR treat?

FAKTR can treat a wide variety of musculoskeletal conditions including tendinopathy, sprains, strains, entrapment syndromes, fascial restrictions such as plantar fasciitis, ITB syndrome, myofascial pain syndromes, adhesive capsulitis, shin splints and post-surgical recovery.  This list of conditions that can be treated with FAKTR protocols are too numerous to list here!”

Vitamin D, How Much?

Vitamin D is on people’s minds a lot lately. There is always a renewed interest in the subject with the migration toward fall and winter, but this year, with the added concern over supporting the immune system through the COVID pandemic, and especially with uncertainty surrounding the return to school, it’s raising a lot of questions at the office. So here is a brief collective response.

How much to take for prevention? There is no one size fits all since people have various intake, sun exposure, and fat soluble vitamin metabolism. The more important question is : What is my target blood level ? There is some variation in the research but optimum is somewhere between 35-50 for healthy individuals. Some folks in health care push for higher levels for the average population, but in another blog I will share research that shows why that is not optimal for most people. It can take anywhere from 2000 IUs to 8000 IUs to achieve that level. My recommendation is to start between 2000 to 4000 IUs per day and test your blood levels after 6 weeks and adjust the dose accordingly. Be aware that there is an annual fluctuation with levels lowest around March for those of us in the Northern climate. Patients with active auto-immune illnesses or chronic inflammation do better is the blood level is somewhere in the 50-60 range.

How much to take during acute illness or when there has been a suspected infectious exposure? My recommendation is to take 10,000 IUs for the duration of the illness or for 7 days if asymptomatic.

What kind should I take? The active form of the vitamin, vitamin D3 is preferred over D2, but it needs to be taken daily for most people. Vitamin D3 is readily available everywhere and quite inexpensive, however you want to look for a brand that has as little added ingredients like fillers as possible. Vitamin D3 is a fat soluble vitamin and is best taken with a meal that has some healthy fats for optimal absorption. The liquid forms are easy to take for a lot of people, especially kids, and are pretty tasteless. When using vitamin D3 for immune support, especially mucosal immune support, taking it along straight vitamin A (not beta-carotene), and some essential fatty acids, is ideal. Since fat soluble vitamins control several metabolic processes as a group, I also recommend vitamin K2 along with vitamin D3 for patients who have reduced dietary intake (patients on strict dairy free diets who cannot have any aged cheese, or patients who do not eat fermented food on a regular basis). At the office I tend to use the liquid Apex vitamin D3 (2000 IUs per drop), and the Ultra D complex for the added vitamin A and DHA, and over the counter cod liver oil from a good brand (Carlson’s Nordic Natural) is a good option.

Chiropractic and Yoga, Part 1

September is Yoga Awareness month, a good reminder to chat about a topic that has been on my to-do list for a while.

To be exact, what most of us refer to as yoga is the physical practice of yoga, also referred to as asana, distinct from the spiritual practice. Going forward I will use the word yoga to mean the asana physical practice, as the method of interest for our chiropractic care application.

Yoga is enjoying a robust and well deserved popularity in the West, as a complete form of physical activity. For myself I first started discovering the benefits of yoga about 15 years ago, and have come to realize that along with my other recreation, dancing, it is going to be a continued learning curve.

I saw the benefits of using yoga in my chiropractic practice quite early on, but did not feel comfortable incorporating any elements of it until I had more experience several years later. Yoga practice, among many great options for rehabilitation, offers several distinct benefits:

• Yoga focuses on the strength and stability of a whole body area and a particular function / movement rather than an isolated muscle group. This mimmicks more closely what we do in real life.

• Yoga incorporates balance and lengthening with strength building

• Yoga builds all movement and transitions with the unit of breath

• Yoga practice can target autonomic nervous function

• Yoga require little to no prop beyond a mat, and optional strap and blocks

One caveat of yoga practice that is often overlooked is that it is a complex skill that, in my clinical opinion, should not be acquired without early supervised training before you start practicing on your own. While I am by no means an expert, I still cringe at a lot of what I see in popular group classes. Not only is the technique (or lack thereof), displayed by my fellow yogis not beneficial, it can be outright harmful and a source of injury. I strongly encourage all prospective yogis to work in a small group class with a dedicated instructor for a couple of months before joining a larger class or practicing remote.

FRUITS AND VEGGIES- MORE MATTERS MONTH (SEPTEMBER)

Recently I have tried to completely revamp how I address veggies in my daily routine. I grew up where vegetables were just something on the plate you had to eat with dinner and that was pretty much it. That had led to a long battle with vegetables I am most definitely not winning, but it is getting better. While pregnant with little man, Lee I had difficulties with high TSH levels and gallstones. These are things that really should have been addressed prior to pregnancy, but they were unknowns to me as I never experienced gall stone pain (to my knowledge) and was always told my TSH was “within normal limits”, which I don’t think is completely true, but regardless here we are.

I was told I needed to get on medication through the remainder of my pregnancy, long story short we tried alternatives (different blog for another day), didn’t work out, ended up on the medication. Now, 4 months postpartum, labs have been drawn again (I have also since stopped taking the medication) and thankfully TSH has come back down, but we still have some room for improvement.

Here is the good part. DID YOU KNOW THAT VEGGIES CAN HELP SUPPORT THE ENDOCRINE SYSTEM! THE SYSTEM THAT LITERALLY CONTROLS THE HORMONES THROUGHOUT YOUR BODY. Yeah, yeah Kaila, everyone knows fruits and veggies are good for you. STOP, please, because they are not just “good for you” they are like really really good for you. So, find ways to make eating them easier and fun because you need them, like bad.

Organic vs Non organic- find the dirty dozen on THE ENVIRONMENTAL WORKING GROUP page where they discuss the “dirtiest” fruits and veggies, these are ones you will want to consider purchasing organic (again, we can get more into this another time).  This group also discusses and verifies beauty products and has been a household friend of our - I actually have the ranking number on a bunch of our products in the house. Beauty products are also a huge endocrine disruption and has played a role in switching up for better products in order to naturally regulate hormone levels.

If you’re trying to get more fruits and veggies into your daily routine, you can try introducing some Dynamic Fruits & Greens by NUTRIDYN while finding ways to cook and consume actually fruits and vegetables as the real thing is almost always better, sometimes it just isn’t realistic to consume enough. This should be taken as a supplement to enhance your fruits and veggie intake rather than try to completely be supported by.

This blog post does not replace visiting a provider that can best serve your health needs.

Chiropractic and Infantile Colic: 1 Hour and 12 Minutes Less Crying

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6844054/#CR26

Babies come and go in waves at the office, we have a lot of full bellies waddling in and out these days, so a new crop is about to arrive. Moms and dads to be are mostly thinking about delivery, but we manage to squeeze in a little conversation about the bundle of joy that will be a new resident of their household as well. And sometimes, the little bundle can be very unhappy and be quite vocal about it.

I was listening to a research podcast on my drive home last week. Infantile colic is one of those health problems that really, REALLY matters to the parents but for which conventional medicine is largely hands off , with the idea that the baby will outgrow it in time. That is little consolation to child and parent. The munchkins must be feeling really quite miserable to cry themselves into exhaustion and the parents feel on edge and powerless.

Colic is a complicated set of possible triggers to unpack, however chiropractic care has time again shown to be worth exploring and really safe. The research article focuses on evidence for various integrative approaches to infantile colic. Manual therapy showed on average 1 hour and 12 minutes less crying per day in infants receiving chiropractic care. One of the podcast commentators was wondering how much of a quality of life impact these 72 minutes of daily screaming would have. The other commentator is heard bursting out laughing. Obviously not a question anyone would ask who has ever been in that situation.

NATIONAL TRAIL MIX DAY- AUGUST 31ST

NATIONAL TRAIL MIX DAY

AUGUST 31, 202

TRAIL MIX- SO SIMPLE, YET SUCH A TASTY SNACK AND WHEN DONE RIGHT PACKED WITH HEALTH BENEFITS. MANY INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES SEEM TO HAVE A HARD TIME FINDING HEALTHY SNACK OPTIONS, THIS IS A GREAT “GO TO” TO HAVE ON HAND!

THE FOLLOWING IS A FEW OF THE CLASSICS FOUND IN TRAIL MIX AND SOME OF THEIR BENEFITS-

-          Walnuts:

o   Promote both brain and heart health.

o   High in omega 3 fatty acids *2.5g/1 serving

o   High in protein *5g/1oz

o   High in vitamins & minerals *Copper, folic acid, phosphorus, vit B6, manganese, vit E

o   Great source of antioxidants and fiber

-          Almonds:

o   High in unsaturated fat

o   High vit E *7.27mg/1oz (nearly half of daily requirement)

o   High protein *6g/1 oz

o   Good source of calcium *76.3mg/1 oz

o   Great source of iron *1.0mg/1 oz

o   Great source of manganese *0.6mg/1oz (almost half of daily requirement)

-          Pecans:

o   Heart healthy

o   Improves digestion, fiber packed *2.7g/1 oz

o   Anti-inflammatory, magnesium packed *1.3mg/1 oz (over half of daily requirement)

-          Dried Cherries:

o   High in antioxidants

o   Source of melatonin (help with sleep)

o   Source of natural fiber *1.6g/100g

o   Source of natural potassium *173mg/100g

o   Source of natural copper *0.104mg/100g

o   Source of natural protein *1g/100g

o   Source of natural iron *0.3mg/100g

o   Source of natural carbohydrates *12g/100g

o   Vitamin source- vitA *1,283IU/100g, vitC *10mg/100g, vitE *0.07mg/100g (boost immune)

-          Cashews:

o   Heart healthy

o   Bone health

o   High copper *622mg/1oz

o   High protein *5.17g/ 1oz

o   Source of calcium *10mg/ 1oz

o   Vitamin source- vitC & vitB

-          Coconut flakes:

o   High protein *3g/80g

o   High manganese *60% daily value (DV)

o   High copper *44% DV

o   High fat *27g/80g (about 90% unsaturated)

o   High fiber *7g/80g

-          Dark chocolate chips:

o   High antioxidant

o   May improve blood flow to the brain

o   May reduce heart disease risk

What are your favorite trail mix ingredients?

NATIONAL GOLF MONTH- AUGUST

National Golf Month

Golfers & Back Pain

Golf is a fantastic way to keep moving and exercise with sport of the summer. Well, in honor of national golf month coming to a close, were going to discuss a bit with golfers and low back pain.

Most Americans usually experience some back pain at some point in their life (fun fact- there is a reduced chance of needing spinal surgery when the first point of contact for back pain is a chiropractor!) weather it be from a muscle strain, filamentous sprain, disc derangement, stenosis or something different. Back pain is arguable the most common injury in golfers. If the pain is severe, please go and visit a provider first to evaluate the symptoms and provide the appreciate care and recommendations based on your specific needs. As posted in an earlier blog, the mobility/stability continuum indicating alternating portions should be mobile vs stable. If there is a lack of mobility in the thoracic spine or the hips (they should be mobile) then the low back may be compensated and become mobile when it needs to be stable. A couple of exercises that can be tried may include cat/cow to keep some mobility in the pelvis while the dead bug exercise will improve core contraction and activation to help with stability through back and fore swing.

Yoga Blocks for Ergonomic Modification and More-

I wish I had run into this earlier podcast by Chris Masterjohn 4 months ago. At the time, we were fielding a lot of emergent questions from patients trying to find the most comfortable way to work from home on a short notice, often with nothing more than a laptop and an old kitchen chair. The low low tech retrofits I was proposing (old books, shoes boxes), were definitely doing the trick, but Masterjohn’s use of the two simple yoga blocks in endless possibilities of propping, elevating, and lowering is quite brilliant.

The fall of 2020 is looking more and more like a lot of people are going to continue working from home - quite possibly joined by school age children on a part or full time basis. As such, every one in the house needs to be able to modify work and study surfaces to fit their individual needs, and everyone needs to be able to switch positions on a frequent basis. The blocks may be the easiest and cheapest way to achieve that, and as an added bonus, less aesthetically disruptive than many other solutions.

https://chrismasterjohnphd.com/podcast/2016/05/03/the-daily-lipid-podcast-episode-7-many