CHIROPRACTIC…NOT JUST FOR BACK PAIN

If you tell the average person you have back pain, he or she will probably tell you to go to a chiropractor. If you say you have high blood pressure, most people won’t think of a local chiropractor right off the bat. It’s a fact, though, that chiropractors can help with other ailments besides back pain, although most people don’t know that. Chiropractors are trained in many areas of diagnosis and treatment, including pediatrics, nutrition, orthopedics, and sports medicine, and they can be a valuable part of your health care team.

Here are a few conditions chiropractors can treat that you might not know about.

Pregnancy pain. Pregnant women have many aches and pains, and some of them are because of improper alignment of the pelvis. Chiropractic treatment can assist with balancing the pelvis, which alleviates these aches and pains. The benefit is that this type of treatment does not require any medication, which is a good thing for an expectant mother and her baby. Studies have shown that 75 percent of women who received chiropractic care during pregnancy reported relief from pain.

Digestive problems. Because chiropractic treatment deals with nerves in the chest and abdominal region that are linked to digestion, it can be helpful in treating digestive ailments. Some research shows that herniated discs can cause chronic abdominal pain. Warrington PA. Chiropractors are experts at treating herniated disc issues, so in cases like this they can certainly help alleviate abdominal pain.

High blood pressure. Blood pressure is best controlled with diet, exercise, and medication, but don’t leave out chiropractic as part of your package of medical care. Some studies suggest that misaligned vertebra in the neck play a role in high blood pressure, and that regular chiropractic adjustments can help to lower your blood pressure.

GET YOUR EXERCISE AT YOUR DESK

If you work in an office you probably spend a lot of time sitting at your desk. The best local chiropractor now says that too many hours of sitting each day are detrimental to our health, and increase the risk of obesity, back pain, cramps, lead to poor posture, muscle tension, boredom/fatigue and many other ailments. The body needs exercise to maintain an optimum level of health, and recent studies shared by a local chiropractor have shown that 50% of U.S. adults admit they don’t get enough exercise they need.  But how can you get your exercise when you have a sedentary job? The good news is that you can build fitness into your office routine very easily, by modifying some common exercises slightly. Here are a few to start with. The only equipment you’ll need are two five pound weights.

Leg Extensions. Sit at a sturdy desk chair, and position a five pound free weight between your feet. Tense your thigh muscles while holding the sides of the chair, and slowly lift the free weight up with your feet, till your legs are parallel with the floor. Hold for two seconds while tensing your abdominal muscles. Repeat 15 times.

Tricep Dip. While sitting in a chair, place your hands next to your thighs, with fingers pointed forward. Slowly move your body off the seat and dip your hips toward the floor. Support your body with your arms, until your elbows are at a 90 degree angle. Once you reach this position, slowly push yourself back up to the starting position. Your arms are doing all the work in this exercise. Repeat a dozen times.

Shoulder Press Jumping Jack. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, and hold a five pound weight in each hand. Now, do a jumping jack — move your feet quickly to the side while at the same time raising both hands over your head. Without stopping, bring the hands and feet back to the starting position. Doing these jumping jacks continuously for 60 seconds.

If you would like more information on how to stay fir while you sit, go to this website, and the office will be sure to contact you to set up an appointment or answer any questions you may have.

BACK PAIN WHEN YOU’RE UNDER 40

Millions of people suffer from back pain, but there’s a misconception that this ailment is most common in people in who are 60 or older. Many young people have back pain too, although theirs is usually from a different cause. Here is a rundown of common causes for back pain in people under 40.

Minor muscle strains. Sometimes known as “weekend warrior” strains, they often occur when you strain a muscle that’s not used to being worked. They can be painful and limit your ability to move in the short term, but they usually heal within a few days. A chiropractic adjustment within the first two weeks of a muscle strain can speed up the healing process. If you are getting these types of injuries on a frequent basis you should see the best Doylestown chiropractor to figure out what’s causing the problem.

Disc Herniations. If you have frequent events where you throw your back out from something as simple as leaning over to pick a pencil off the floor, you may have a disc herniation. This happens when a disc in your spine pinches the sciatic nerve and causes pain, numbness, or tingling in the back or leg. This is a situation where you need to get evaluated by a Doylestown chiropractic physician. The chiropractor can figure out the extent of the injury and prescribe the correct physical therapy to deal with the pain.

If untreated, the sciatica caused by a herniated disc can worsen, and it can weaken certain leg muscles. In some cases you will need surgery to fix a herniated disc, but in others a combination of therapy and medication can work wonders. If the pain doesn’t let up, you may need cortisone injections in your back. If surgery is needed, the surgeon will remove the herniated portion of the disc to release the pressure on the nerve.

Spondylolisthesis. Another cause of back pain in younger people has to do with a tiny fracture of their vertebrae. It comes in two forms: spondylolysis (a fracture) or spondylolisthesis (a fracture that moves, or slips, forward). This condition is more common among certain types of athletes, such as gymnasts. However, a weekend warrior can do the same thing if he or she overextends the back in the course of a game or workout. This condition can be treated by wearing a back brace to avoid any extreme extension, and also by therapeutic movement and medication.   

Remember, back pain is not something exclusive to older people. If you’re under 40 and you have back pain on a regular basis, you owe it to yourself to get a diagnosis!

 

ARE YOU A WEEKEND WARRIOR? CHIROPRACTIC CAN HELP THAT

More and more people are recognizing that exercise is a key factor for achieving a long, healthy life, and that’s a good thing. However, the demands of a job and family, among other responsibilities, make it hard for people to exercise as much as they’d like to. This results in the “weekend warrior” syndrome, where people try to make up for a week’s worth of inactivity by exercising vigorously on the weekends. Some exercise is always better than none, so in theory there’s nothing wrong with getting your exercise even two days a week. However, the reality is that some people overdo the weekend exercise, and this can be a problem, especially as the years go on. Waking up on Saturday morning and running five miles, or playing in a fast-paced basketball or tennis game, can sometimes result in injuries, especially if you don’t stretch properly before the workout.

The good news is that chiropractic care can help you recover from many of these weekend athlete injuries. Chiropractic adjustment returns spinal segments to their normal mobility. Aided by massage therapy to help the supportive tissues (muscles, tendons, & ligaments), chiropractic physicians allow the injured areas to heal and return to normal function. Along with some rest to help the healing process, weekend athletes will usually be able to return to their activities in a short time. A good Doylestown chiropractor will also be able to show you better strategies for exercise and stretching, so that you avoid these kinds of injuries in the future.

CHIROPRACTIC IS PART OF THE SOLUTION TODAY

These days people are more educated than ever before about health, and they take a more active role in choosing which kind of treatment they want to receive. Alternative therapies are becoming more accepted as people investigate other options besides the traditional medical solutions of prescription drugs and surgery for many medical conditions.

Chiropractic care is one of those alternative therapies. There was a time when many in the medical profession looked down on chiropractors, and in fact the American Medical Association lost a federal antitrust lawsuit in 1987 because it was falsely claiming that chiropractic was harmful. Today, chiropractic is recognized as a viable alternative to surgery for spinal conditions. In fact, the general recommendation from the National Institute of Health is six weeks of manual therapy before any kind of spinal surgery is pursued. There have been numerous studies in the last decade that have confirmed what Doylestown chiropractors have known all along: that the various systems of the body and mind are much more interconnected than we realize, and problems in the spine and nervous system are often manifested in other areas of the body.

There are still some people in and outside of the medical profession who scoff at alternative methods like chiropractic. However, their numbers are decreasing daily. The smart people these days realize that traditional medicine and alternative therapies like chiropractic can work hand in hand for effective solutions to a host of ailments. Even insurance companies are realizing a health care system that harmonizes both approaches is best for everyone. In the long term, it saves businesses health dollar costs. It also keeps employees well, they perform better, and they’re more satisfied and happier.

TREATING THE “DOUBLE CRUSH” OF CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME

Mention “carpal tunnel syndrome” (CTS) and most people will immediately think of a condition that affects the wrist. It’s an increasingly common ailment in the computer age that affects some people who type at a keyboard. Many CTS sufferers have so much pain in their wrists that it’s difficult for them to use a keyboard at all.

Healing CTS, like many physical ailments, is not a simple matter of isolating one part of the body and treating it. A study reported in the Orthopedic Clinics of North America journal found that in 75 percent of carpal tunnel syndrome cases there is also a nerve in the neck that is affected. This is called the “double crush” effect, because the nerve is getting pinched, or crushed, at both ends of the arm. Treating the nerve only at the wrist, the way some physicians do, does not solve the problem.

A Doylestown chiropractor, who takes a more holistic, whole body approach, has been effective at treating the double crush syndrome. Their methods treat the entire nerve, and they also give lifestyle and postural advice, correcting the patients’ tendency to lean forward while they are using a keyboard. Many patients are convinced that they need surgery for CTS, but in fact more holistic methods have at least as good a record of success.

Carpal tunnel syndrome can be a very painful condition, and can wreak havoc on someone who uses their wrists and hands in their daily work. Rather than adopt the radical approach of surgery, it is definitely worthwhile to consult a chiropractor in Doylestown or other holistic practitioner to see if there are less invasive methods for treating this painful condition.

Avoid Back Pain With Good Posture

One of the most common causes of joint and muscle pain is poor posture. Slouching, slumping, and other postural bad habits create imbalances that in the long term can cause pain and discomfort.

The problem is that poor posture is something most of us don’t even notice. We’re so used to it that we can actually be surprised when someone points out that we’re slumping, or when we catch a glimpse of ourselves in a mirror and see the curvature of our spine.

There’s no magic formula that will give us good posture says a Jamison chiropractor. It’s just a question of reminding ourselves to practice good posture many times throughout the day. Here are a few tips to help you.

. Sit correctly. Most of us spend hours sitting every day, and this is why sitting with good posture is crucial. A Jamison chiropractor says you should sit as though your head were being pulled up on a string, and you should not dip your head forward. Keep your feet flat on the floor and make sure your knees are bent at a 90 degree angle.

. Avoid heels. High heels may be attractive, but they’re not good for your posture. According to a local chiropractor, standing in heels makes a pronounced curve in your lower spine, putting more pressure on that area. Sitting in heels makes it impossible to get the 90 degree knee bend you need for good posture.

. Stand tall. Proper standing posture is similar to sitting, in that you should keep the head aligned at the top of your spine. Also, your feet should be shoulder width apart, with the weight evenly distributed.

Remind yourself to follow these posture rules every day, and before long you’ll establish healthier posture habits.

A Good Alternative To Surgery

Studies have shown that approximately 70 percent of people will have back pain at some point in their lives. With many people the pain becomes so debilitating that they need treatment in order to get relief. A study by McMorland, Suter, Casha,du Plessis, and Hurlbertin 2010 found that over 250,000 patients a year undergo elective lumbar discectomy (spinal surgery) for the treatment of low back disc issues in the United States.

However, there is another way to treat low back problems. Chiropractic treatments have been shown to be effective in many cases. That same study cited above looked at thousands of patients who had distinct one-sided lumbar disc herniations as diagnosed through MRI studies, along with associated radicular (nerve root) symptoms. These were all patients who were candidates for surgery based on the authors’ review of available MRI studies. The conclusion was that 60 percent of the patients who got chiropractic care instead of surgery reported a successful outcome. The other 40 percent ended up getting surgery in order to get rid of their back pain.

What these percentages reveal is that the people who elected to get chiropractic treatment from a Doylestown chiropractor had a 60 percent chance of getting better without surgery, so it was a smart decision by them to try the chiropractic approach before going under the surgeon’s knife.

A more recent study showed that patients with acute lumbar herniated disc pain felt 80 percent better after two weeks of chiropractic treatment from a Doylestown PA chiropractor, with an improvement of 95 percent in three months.

These studies show that for acute lower back pain, chiropractic care is a very good alternative to surgery in many cases, and it’s certainly worth investigating before a patient submits to a surgical procedure.

Doylestown Chiropractor Offers Posture Tips For Technology

According to Dr. Jeff McQuaite, a Doylestown chiropractor, it’s not uncommon for the average person to use electronic devices hundreds of times a day, between our phones, laptops, tablets and desktop computers. These devices have improved our productivity and efficiency, making our lives better in ways we couldn’t have dreamed of 20 years ago, but they’ve also come with drawbacks.

For one thing, they can cause health problems. We can get blurred vision from staring at a computer screen too long, carpal tunnel syndrome from typing on a keyboard that’s not properly positioned, and backaches from sitting in the wrong type of chair.

Another problem is neck and spine pain. A recent study by New York Spine Surgery & Rehabilitation Medicine found that tilting your head forward just 15 degrees to use your smartphone or tablet places 27 pounds of pressure on your spine. If you bend your neck 60 degrees the pressure increases to 60 pounds! That’s a lot of stress on the neck, and we do it many times every day.

What should you do to avoid putting so much stress on your neck? One remedy is to engage in frequent posture checks during the day. Every time you use your phone, try to remember not to tilt your head forward. If you make it a habit to stand up straight when your phone rings, you’ll also have better posture. It’s true, however, that it’s nearly impossible to remember to stand up straight every time you’re on your phone.

That is why you should have regular chiropractic checkups with your Doylestown area chiropractor. With all the stress modern technology puts on the spine, it makes sense to go to the professionals who know how to treat spinal problems.   For more information, call our office or go to our website, www.mcquaitechiropractic.com.

Doylestown Chiropractor Celebrates National Get Fit, Don’t Sit Day

It’s something we do every day, but the American Diabetes Association says sitting can lead to chronic illness — that’s why they are starting National Get Fit Don’t Sit Day on Wednesday, May 6, 2015.

The ADA calls it the new smoking: sitting in the office chair for more than 90 minutes at a time could slowly start to chip away at your health.

A recent analysis published January 2015 in the Annals of Internal Medicine suggests that a sedentary lifestyle is linked to a 91 percent increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

The culprit is the eight to 13 hours a day we work uninterrupted at our desks, socialize on our computers, watch television and drive our vehicles. Those who exercise see slightly less risk, but exercise does not eliminate the impacts of prolonged sitting. Bottom line: sitting for hours every day creates serious health risks.

“Our bodies are not really prepared and not built to sit. We are not built to be bent all day,” says Dr. Jeff McQuaite.  “If you must sit”, Dr. Jeff said “a balancing ball is a good idea to help use those core muscles. It can even help increase your lung and heart capacity.”

According to the Association’s Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes 2015: “Evidence supports that all individuals … should break up extended sedentary time at least every 90 minutes.”

The solution: get out of your chair, stand and reach, stretch at the printer, refill your water bottle at the cooler down the hall, walk at lunch — every 90 minutes get your body moving.

“Recent estimates project that as many as one in three American adults will have diabetes by 2050 unless we take steps to Stop Diabetes®,” said Janel Wright, JD, Board Chair for the Association. “If we prevent these cases from ever developing by implementing simple changes in our work and lifestyle that will benefit millions and save billions in healthcare costs.”

“Research continues to show that maintaining a more active lifestyle helps combat serious health issues such as diabetes, heart disease and poor circulation, yet many work settings offer few alternatives to a sedentary existence,” says Dr. McQuaite, a Doylestown chiropractor.  “By introducing simple modifications to the workplace organizations can create more active environments that are more productive and healthier for their employees.”

Here are just a few ways you can do it:

At Work:

Take the stairs instead of the elevator at the office and in the parking garage

Get up once an hour while you are at work and take a quick walk around your office

Stand up and stretch at your desk

If you go out for lunch, walk to the restaurant

If you take public transportation to work, get off a stop earlier and walk the rest of the way to your office

Use a speaker or mobile phone so you can pace around your office during conference calls

Try some chair exercises during the day while at your desk

Fidget (when appropriate) – tap or wiggle your foot while working at your desk

At Home:

Take the dog for a walk around the block

Do your own yard work such as mowing the lawn or raking leaves

Do your own housework such as vacuuming, dusting, or washing dishes

Play with the kids – play catch or throw the Frisbee around

Walk in place during the commercials of your favorite television show

Carry things upstairs or from the car in two trips instead of one

Walk around the house or up and down stairs while you talk on the phone

While You’re Out and About:

Park at the far end of the shopping center lot and walk to the store

Walk down every aisle of the grocery store

If you are at the airport and waiting for a flight, walk up and down through the terminal

When on a road trip, stop every few hours to stretch and walk around.

For more information, please contact the office:

McQuaite Chiropractic

295 Logan Street

Doylestown, PA 18901

267-247-7000