Sitting Is The New Smoking

There has been a lot of poignant information that has come out that has viewed sitting for periods of time to labeled as the "new smoking". I believe this is scaring a lot of people and causing a lot of misinformation. I think the main point is that sitting for long periods of time is obviously not healthy, but are nowhere near as dangerous as smoking. Sitting, while not the optional position to carry out long days is far better than other activities. It can be said it's not sitting which is the exact problem it's more like how you are sitting that causes problems. In recent studies it was been found that the optimal position for sitting is 135 degrees, reclining back. The worst position it has been found was the slouched over position making your spine less than ninety degree. The angle of ninety degree is where your spine is at a right angle, while this is better than slouched over reclining is the better position. Don't sit for more than one hour without getting up and taking a five minute walking break. Just do these easy objectives to help make your sitting not so strenuous.  

Plano Chiropractors Have New Tools To Help With Spinal Corrections

Many people we find in our Plano Chiropractor office have, of course, issues with their spine. The patient usually wants to know a few things, can we help them, how long will it take, and how much will it cost. While all of these are excellent and important questions, we are always trying to improve the model in which we correct spinal alignments. We are always going to try and do it fast and better, with less visits. As of late technology has allowed us to do this. We have recently purchased new tools that will facilitate the healing process. The ArthroStim puts a gentle impulse of between 12-14 thrust a second into the vertebral segment in question moving it. Since the sensory motor cortex is on the same 12-14 frequency the ArthroStim sends the signal to the brain where the proper alignment is due to where the force is applied. The Vibracussor is another tool that allows muscle spasms to decrease and spreads out inflammation which allows it to be re-absorbed easier, which helps decrease overall pain levels. We are help to have these tools in our office, which many other chiropractors do not have, to help you get better sooner and keep you healthier long.      

What Causes Numbness?

Many people feel numbness or numbness like symptoms and they can be very annoying and aggravating. We treatment many patient who have numbness, but numbness is usually not their only symptom. Their numbness is usually accompanied by neck pain or lumbar spine pain. Numbness can also be called transient sensory neurapraxia, which is the scientific name. The point is numbness usually does not happen unless there is nerve involvement, meaning a nerve is injured or is pinched. Most of the time in chiropractic we find that a patient has spinal dysfunction which causes the nerve to be irritated, injured, or pinched. When the nerve is affect where ever that nerve goes to is going to be equally effected with numbness or symptoms.

As chiropractors, we can find out what is causing the spinal dysfunction and also find what is causing the numbness. More often than not if the spinal dysfunction is alleviated then the numbness usually clear up when the nerve heals. Numbness can also occur out of the spine as well, although we find the spine to be most common area. The problem is that nerves are all throughout the body and sometimes they have to travel near the skin and have to go through little holes in the bone called foramina, there is a possibility the problem can arise from these area as well. The good news is that chiropractors are well versed in finding where the nerve is injured at and where to fix it. If you have numbness and it's driving you crazy, check out Twisted Spine and Joint Center in Plano to see if they can help.

Can My Chiropractor Help Me With My Sprained Ankle?

Ankle injuries can be quite bothersome and can have a reoccurring theme to them. Injuries to the ankle are most common during a traumatic event, for example an auto accident or stepping off a curb. The most common traumatic injury associated with the ankle is an ankle sprain. The tissues that are effected the most during a sprain are the lateral ligaments of the ankle joint. The ankle is prone to undergoing inversion during trauma thus stretching the lateral ligaments, more specifically the anterior talofibular (ATF) ligament. When the injury to ATF happens the tissues are stretched to a point of damage where some fibers are torn and some fibers are painfully stretched. This torn and stretched pathology in a certain combination grades the sprain in a class between one and three, with three being the worst.

Once you have an ankle injury, visiting a chiropractor is very important not only to diagnosis a sprain ankle but also to treat it. Chiropractors are very skilled at not only diagnosing musculoskeletal conditions but also rehabbing said conditions as well. The reason why rehabbing an ankle is very important is because the tissues need to lay ligamentous tissue and not scare tissue. If scare tissue is laid down in place of normal tissue the patient will be troubled with future sprains of that same ligaments as well as being prone to an unstable ankle. Scare tissue is not nearly as strong or pliable as regular ligamentous tissue therefore injury reoccurrence is almost a certainty.

Once the chiropractor diagnosis the injury as a ligamentous sprain the first method of treatment should be to decrease inflammation and trying to halt the inflammatory process. The inflammation process can be stopped by ice baths and cryotherapy. Cryotherapy and electric muscle stimulation can also concurrently help with decreasing the pain level. If a grade three sprain is ruled out and tissues have decreased in inflammatory exudate and pain has decrease to a workable level, the facilitation of the rehab phase can take place. The rehab phase first should include the promotion of health ligamentous tissue being laid down where the injury occurred, this could be done in the form of cross friction massage or light Graston therapy. The first day after the rehab phase there will be pain, word of warning but that should subdue with time. Once the chiropractor is successful with the rehab phase then the strengthen phase can start to be ushered in. The strengthen phase is perhaps the most important one, using strengthen and proprioception exercise to restore the ankle to proper function.

The rehabilitation of the ankle can take some time but it is totally worth it, you don't want to always worry about your ankle at the most inopportune times. It only takes one injury with the improper rehab to cause life long weakness or problems. If you or someone you know needs help with ankle injuries be sure to visit our Plano Chiropractic office website.