A video is worth a thousand words and this brief recording we did recently helps pregnant moms and all interested in the connection between chiropractic, the bony pelvis and the baby’s descent through the birth canal, get a better visual representation of that path.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5VUjIAloeY
I recall running into one of the first editions of this book during my last year of chiropractic training ( 29 years ago…) The resource library of the school satellite clinic had that among the many great patient resources that could be checked out, along with books on stretching and the first anti-inflammatory diet. Among us intern students, it was certainly a more popular read than some of the useful, dry material of the other books, and the fodder for much chuckle and smart talk. Most of us were still in our 20s, still a wee bit green in our real world clinical experience, and certainly able to athletically engage in our amorous pursuits ourselves - in other words, very ill equipped to field questions much less give useful answers to the patients who were not.
I recall frantically looking for “the Book” after my second month in practice in Cannon Falls. A lovely 80 year old gentleman limped his way into the office that week with a very nasty, hot sacroiliac sprain. Which, he candidly described, went out on him while he was “ being conjugal” (sic) with his wife of 57 years. His problem responded to care quickly, but just as quickly came the question of what he shouldn’t do and how he should not do it in order to avoid a reinjury, as his lady was apparently quite eager to pick up where they left off. In spite of my liberal European upbringing, I felt a bit under-resourced to properly advise him on the subject.
Sexual activity is no different than doing your job, your sports, cleaning your house, and doing your favorite hobby: if you have a significant spinal injury, or a more chronic degenerative issue, you have to know how to make some modifications to make it happen safely and comfortably, so that you continue to do what is important in your life rather than give up on it all together. This is not an uncommon subject that we have to broach in the office, and beyond the basics, I have found this book to be still very relevant and informative.
https://www.amazon.com/Sex-Back-Pain-Restoring-Comfortable/dp/1879864029/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3DXFL4XVDFNCJ&keywords=book+sex+and+back+pain&qid=1645760200&sprefix=book+sex+and+back+pain%2Caps%2C126&sr=8-3
Much like in the winter we tend to have a number of fall injuries associated with slips on the ice, in the spring we see an increase number of individuals with gardening or spring cleaning related discomforts. Check out the image below for some QUICK TIPS to reduce injury risk this spring during cleaning and gardening!
https://www.wjgnet.com/1007-9327/full/v27/i43/7433.htm
I saw yet another case this week and decided that it would be appropriate to write a little bit about it, although, as we transition from COVID pandemic to COVID endemic, everyone is really sick about the bug and wants to silence any mention of it. But the lingering effects are still very real for some folks.
Prolonged COVID symptoms can take on many forms, and certain symptoms such as fatigue, brain fog, joint inflammation and breathing difficulties have taken up the most attention. Prolonged GI symptoms have been below people’s radar but I find them to be quite prevalent once you ask patients about it.
The review article in the World Journal of Gastroenterology is far from complete, and will have its share of successor articles over time as data solidifies. However the problem is real and the authors are putting forth some interesting hypothesis for the mechanism: shift in the normal gut ecology, persistent immune irritation, post viral inflammation, and damage to the intestinal lining, and autonomic nerves. To that list I would add the harmful effect of several medications used for acute COVID treatment, such as steroids and Ivermectin, both of which are known to take down beneficial bacteria.
From the experience I have had with patients in the last three months especially, there is no one size fits all approach to recovery. You need to sit down and more specifically evaluate individual symptoms to see if a pattern of GI disruption clearly emerges, and if not, run some testing. Treatment will often involve a combination of GI rest diet, identifying and eliminating irritating foods, treat continued viral and other secondary infections, restore normal microbiome and GI lining and calm down a hyperactive mucosal immune system.
Below I have a video of a simple knee tape technique I use often to assist in supporting the inside of the knee after a treatment. There are several different types of taping techniques that can be used for a wide variety of conditions. As I have discussed in previous blogs, tape types and tape applications are different per person per condition, so please don’t assume that this is the right one for you. If you give it a try and it doesn’t work, it likely isn’t positioned how you need it.
This particular condition was 7 years post meniscus surgery with dull discomforts at the medial knee with a recent increase in activity. In this case she was able to wear the applied tape for a few days post dull discomforts beginning and continuing activity in which when combined with her chiropractic treatment of an adjustment, soft tissue care, etc she was able to function with minimal to no discomfort in the matter of a few days.
For a more robust understanding of tape and different kinds, please refer to an earlier blog.
If you have any questions on we can help treat knee pain or extremity care, give the office a call and schedule your appointment today.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2690966/
I had tagged this article a few years ago already, but never got to post it for a variety of reasons. I am getting back to it now, as the topic of Alzheimer’s dementia has become more vivid in my extended family, as in many of yours.
There is still so much we do not know about this ugly disease, and meaningful drug therapies are not in the near future (if you look at the “new Alzheimer’s drugs that were approved, you can understand the controversy of the public health agency decision when you review the abysmal true beneficial effects at a price tag of 60 K per year). However we are starting to chip away at modifiable risk factors. Some are known (diet, cardio exercise), some are coming out slowly. Among risk factors that do not get the nod they need are the medications that increase the risk, especially the common daily medications that people think of as safe. We need to revisit our risk tolerance to those in light of the research, and this piece of research makes a stunning case for the fact that NSAID use in the senior population may raise the risk of developing Alzheimer’s. Take note for yourself and your loved ones and consider doing something more restorative than masking the pain with another over the counter pill.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAMbnG0lsT8
I have seen quite a few of those recently and probably a few more to come with the thaw and refreeze cycle of the month of March.
A few important items of what can go wrong-
You hit your head: you get a mild concussion sometimes, and you always get a cervical acceleration deceleration sprain. The forces transmitted to your neck when it hits the ice is like getting rear ended at 50 MPH.
You don’t hit your head, but you forcefully tuck in your chin into your head to avoid hitting it. In the process, you get a really good cervical flexion sprain. Sometimes just as bad as just hitting your head.
Your instinct kicks in fast and you manage to brake your fall partially with your arm. You get a milder neck sprain, but sometimes you completely throw off the alignment from your arm to your shoulder, and I will be treating that along with your neck.
You manage to stay upright as you hit the ground and your butt takes the brunt. You could really throw off your low back, but you will have some mysterious neck pain and headaches as well, because there is this thing called “contre-coup”, where the force gets transmitted upwards to the head and neck, the last link in the kinetic chain. I will be adjusting you, as one patient told me, from your a** to your ears.
https://studio.youtube.com/video/LiNAIcHjdDU/edit
This standing, wall supported modified ragdoll pose stretch is a practical alternative to a full ragdoll pose that is more versatile in use during daytime activities when getting on the floor is not an option.
