Health Update: Neck Pain

What Is This Pain in My Neck!

“When I woke up this morning, I couldn’t move my neck!  Every time I try to move it, I feel sharp pain on the left side of the neck shooting down into the shoulder blade.  It just came out of nowhere!”

Chances are, you are suffering from a common condition called torticollis, which literally means, “twisted neck” after the Latin terms of “torti” (twisted) and “collis” (neck).  The common name for this is “wry neck,” and it’s basically a painful muscle spasm, like a “Charlie-horse” but located in the neck muscles.  Usually, a person wakes up in the morning with this and the cause is often related to sleeping with the window being open or a fan or air conditioner blowing on you.  It can also relate to a “cold settling in the muscle” after a cold or flu virus.  Trauma such as falling or a car accident can also cause torticollis. However, most of the time, patients with torticollis are not sure what caused the abrupt onset of symptoms.

Usually, torticollis will gradually improve over a 2 week time frame. However, it only takes a few days to a week (at the most) if you receive chiropractic adjustments.  Most importantly, without treatments, the sharp pain can last a week and can severely limit your activity, often prohibiting work as well as your desired “fun” activities.  Hence, most people prefer having this treated as opposed to “waiting it out.” In some cases, it can last longer than a month and in rare cases even longer, so getting this treated is highly recommended.  Also, try to get in for a treatment immediately before the muscle spasm really sets up.  We find this to be the most effective approach.

Here are a list of symptoms and treatment suggestions for torticollis:

Acute Torticollis Symptoms
Muscle spasms
Neck and shoulder pain 
Neck and spine contortion (neck twisted to right or left side of body)
Pain Relief Treatments for Acute Torticollis
Chiropractic neck and spinal adjustments
Analgesics
Heat packs
Muscle relaxants
Rubs and ointments (Icy Hot, BioFreeze)
Massage with essential oils
Acupuncture
Sleep / Relax
Supportive cervical collar


If you, a family member or a friend require care, we sincerely appreciate the trust and confidence shown by choosing our service.  We are proud that our conservative care has consistently scored the highest level of satisfaction when compared to other forms of health care provision and we look forward in serving you and your family presently and in the future.

FOR A FREE NO-OBLIGATION CONSULTATION CALL
732-984-9597 OR VISIT US AT ADVANCED-WELLNESS.NET

Health Update: Carpal Tunnel

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome & Chiropractic

“When I try to thread a needle, button my shirt, or crochet, I can’t seem to feel my finger tips.  I’ve also noticed when unscrewing jars, my grip feels weak.  In fact, I almost dropped a cup of coffee the other day.  I wake up 3-4 times a night and I have to shake my hand and flick my fingers to wake them up.  Gripping the steering wheel is becoming a challenge and I have to change hands frequently while I drive. I’ve had this off and on for the last 5 years but this last year it seems to be getting worse.  I’m really getting concerned.  Can you help me?”

 
If this history sounds familiar, you may be suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome or CTS.  It’s a very common disorder affecting millions each year.  Its also one of the biggest problems for certain types of industries such as meat packaging plants, textile manufacturers, and virtually any job that requires fast, repetitive movements commonly used on assembly lines in many lines of work.

CTS is the result of pinching of the Median Nerve as it travels from the neck into the arm, through muscles in the forearm and into the hand through the carpal tunnel.  Pressure on the nerve at any of these locations can create the symptoms of CTS. This tunnel is quite small in size and included inside the tunnel are 9 tendons, blood vessels, and the median nerve. When the muscles of the forearms and hands are overworked, they inflame and swell.  Because the carpal tunnel is normally so tight, the increased swelling inside the tunnel pushes and pinches the median nerve creating the classic pain, numbness, tingling, and sometimes burning sensations often described by people suffering with CTS.

Certain situations make people more vulnerable or prone to develop CTS.  CTS is more common in woman than men by 3 or 4:1.  This is partially because women’s bone structure is smaller and therefore their Carpal Tunnel is smaller too.

Women also experience fluid retention or build up during menstruation leading to symptoms like swollen fingers and swollen and painful breasts. Swelling in the already tight, confined space of the carpal tunnel will increase their susceptibility for developing CTS.  Another hormone related cause or contributing factor is the use of birth control pills (BCPs).  Since there are many different types of BCPs and each woman is unique and different, finding the BCP with the “right balance” of hormones where the swelling side effect is minimized is very important and should be discussed with the doctor who prescribed the BCPs.

Age (>50 years) is also a risk factor and with our aging work force, this is becoming a big issue.  Other conditions like hypothyroid, diabetes, certain types of arthritis, and hypertension / congestive heart failure where an increase in fluid retention occurs can also increase the chance of developing CTS.  Obviously, occupation type plays an important role as previously mentioned.  Many jobs today require the use of computers and we’re finding the position of the monitor, the keyboard and mouse, are very important.

Conservative management of CTS includes wrist, forearm/elbow, shoulder and neck adjustments, corrective exercises, acupuncture and the use of night splints, and an anti-inflammatory diet. Also, correcting the “ergonomic factors” or, job-related causes is of utmost importance.  This is why a physician who treats all of these areas and has the specialized knowledge about CTS is the perfect choice of health care providers. If you, a friend or family member require care for CTS, we would be honored to render our services.


FOR A FREE NO-OBLIGATION CONSULTATION CALL  732-984-9597 
OR VISIT US AT ADVANCED-WELLNESS.NET

Health Update: Low Back Pain

Why Does My Back Always Hurt?

Low back pain is a very common problem affecting 80-90% of all of us at some point in our lifetime.  Why is that you ask?  There are many reasons. One of the biggest reasons is that we are 2-legged animals carrying 2/3rds of our weight above our waist.  Studies have shown deterioration or arthritis occurs much sooner in us vs. our 4-legged animal counterparts. A 180 lbs man carries roughly 120 lbs above the waist.  This means, every time he bends over, in order to stand upright, he needs to lift 120 lbs PLUS whatever he is lifting.  Hence, the argument of, “…but I only bent over to lift a pencil and my back went out,” seems on the surface as impossible but in reality, the man in our example is lifting the pencil plus 120 lbs. Now, let’s add to that the point that a 5 pound weight equals 50 pounds when held out in front with the arms stretched out straight.  Now, if that’s not bad enough, now, let’s assume all of this is happening from a bent forward position, with a twist at the waist, with out stretched arms, while lifting a 20 pound object.  Get the idea?  It’s amazing our back doesn’t get injured every day as we lift 2 bags of groceries into the far end of a car trunk, or, when lifting our 30 pound child in and out of a car seat, height chair, or when they are screaming and pushing away from us as we try to lift them!


In order to further appreciate why the lower back is so vulnerable to injury, some basic understanding of anatomy is needed.  When we’re born, the back is made up of 33 segments of which 5 fuse by the time we’re about 18 years old to make up the sacrum (bottom of the spine) and 4 fuse to make up the coccyx (tail bone), leaving 5 lumbar (low back), 12 thoracic (mid-back) and 7 cervical (neck) vertebra.  These are stacked up on top of each other like building blocks and are connected to each other by a shock absorbing disk in the front and two smaller facet joints in the back, acting like a tripod.  In the low back, we’re supposed to bear about 80% of our weight in the front and 20% in the back but, if our abdominal muscles are a bit out of shape and the pelvis rotates forwards, the curve in the low back increases and overloads the back of the vertebra (facets) making them vulnerable to injury.  The disk becomes injured when we bend/lift/twist. This can tear the outer tough fibers of the disk, allowing the central more liquid-like material to leak out.  If this happens, the leaking or "herniated disc" can put pressure on the nerve that exits the spine and travels down our leg.  If the pain pattern includes the back of the leg, it’s commonly referred to as “sciatica.”

OK, enough about anatomy.  What can we do to reduce the chances of having periodic low back pain? Obviously, staying in shape is very important. Certain muscles of the body must be tight to keep us upright or standing.  These muscles need to be stretched on a regular basis. For example: the hamstring muscle.  We’ve all had to perform hurdler types of exercises and remember how tight they feel!


We realize that you have a choice in where you choose for your healthcare services.  If you, a friend or family member requires care for low back pain, we sincerely appreciate the trust and confidence shown by choosing our services and look forward in serving you and your family presently and, in the future.  

FOR A FREE NO-OBLIGATION CONSULTATION CALL  732-984-9597  OR VISIT US AT ADVANCED-WELLNESS.NET

Health Update: Low Back Pain

I Slipped a Disc – What Is That Exactly?

“I was digging a hole in my garden and hit a rock with the shovel. After clearing the dirt from around the rock, I bent over and reached into the hole. I couldn’t get a good grip on the rock and had to twist my body to get my arm under it. As I started to move the rock, I felt something ‘give out’ in my low back and felt immediate low back pain, but it wasn’t terrible. Like a fool, I gave it another try but this time, the pain in my back was really sharp when I twisted to reach under it. Then, it felt like a knife stabbing me when I tried to stand up. Since then, I can’t stand up straight and pain is shooting down my left leg.”

The intervertebral disk is like a shock-absorber located between each vertebra in our spine extending from the tail bone to the upper neck. When healthy, your disks truly do function as shock absorbers. There are two parts to the disk – the inner part (called the nucleus) which is the liquid-like center and the outer part (the annulus), which is tough, laminated and rubber-like whose job is to hold the nucleus in the center of the disk. The annulus has concentric rings which look similar to the rings of an oak tree trunk and the strength of these laminated rings is due to the fibers crisscrossing, creating a self-sealing, secure border for the nucleus center. In spite of this great anatomical structure, our disks degenerate and can crack or tear allowing the more liquid-like nucleus to leak out of the annulus creating the classic “slipped disk” (technically referred to as a herniated or ruptured disk). When the herniated disk presses into the nerve that goes down the leg, pain is felt along its course and can radiate all the way to the foot. There are five vertebrae and disks with a pair of nerves that go into each leg and depending which disk ruptures, pain will follow a different course down the leg, which is why we ask you if you feel the pain more in the back or in the front of the leg. When the disk tears prior to both disk herniation and leg pain, low back pain occurs because the nerve fibers that are normally only located in the outer third of the disk grow into the central portion of the disk, making it generate more pain.

So now for the important question, “…what can I do for it?” When you visit our office, we will ask you about how you injured your back. Often, the cause of a herniated disk can be the accumulation of multiple events over time. It certainly can happen after one major event, like our example of lifting a rock out of a hole, but that is usually the “straw that breaks the camel’s back” and not the sole cause. Many researchers have reported it is rare for a healthy disk to herniate. Rather, disk degeneration with tears already present sets up the situation where a bend plus a twist, “…finishes the job.” The orthopedic and neurological examination will usually clearly identify the level of herniation. Chiropractic treatment often includes traction types of techniques, some form of spinal manipulation or mobilization, extension exercises, physical therapy modalities like electric stimulation, low level laser, or ultrasound, and ice therapy. Core / trunk strengthening and posture management are also commonly applied and, proper bending/lifting/pulling/pushing techniques are taught. We realize that you have a choice in where you choose for your healthcare services. If you, a friend or family member requires care for low back pain, we sincerely appreciate the trust and confidence shown by choosing our services and look forward in serving you and your family presently and, in the future.

YOU MAY BE A CANDIDATE FOR CHIROPRACTIC CARE FOR A FREE NO-OBLIGATION CONSULTATION CALL 732-984-9597