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Gravity is a constant force on the body if we like it or not. Every day that you get out of bed, the pull of gravity is acting as a stressor on your body. It pulls on the joints, the ligaments, the muscles, tendons, organs…every part of your body. As we get a little older this stress starts to take its toll on the body, especially the joints. One name that we put on the consequences of this stress is arthritis.

As we look at how gravity can create huge stress to our system it is vitally important to remove any and all dysfunction in the spine. Dysfunction can be a misalignment of the bones and joints or even poor movement in how those bones and joints move. A misalignment in the spine can create pain, weakness, and even leave you prone to falls!

If you are a baby boomer and are suffering from any joint or muscle problems you need to be seeing a Bellevue chiropractor. A Bellevue chiropractor can relieve the stress from improperly working joints and muscles of the body, to allow you to move at your very best!

One way that we can look at how this whole gravity thing works is to look at our bodies like a car. If the front end alignment of my car starts to go “off”, my car starts to pull to one side, it wears down my tires faster, and is very hard on the frame of my car. The same is true of your body in that if there is misalignment in the frame of your body (the spine) then it will wear you down much, much faster. Take a look at the bottoms of your shoes for a second. Is there any wear? If so this may be a good sign that you are misaligned and in major need of a realignment.

Don’t let gravity dictate how you feel. If you had any wear in your tires (shoes) call your local Bellevue chiropractor today to schedule a consultation.

It’s that time of year again, when the snow is falling and accumulating on the sidewalks and driveways of Bellevue homes. That means that it’s also the time of the year when we have to break the shovels out to get rid of the snow. It’s important for us to talk about how to shovel snow properly to avoid injury to the low back. If snow is not a problem where you live this information can also be used in your gardening activities, digging, or any other guard related activities.

Why is back pain so common when we shovel?

1. When we bend at the waist, two thirds of our body weight is being held up and lifted and that’s not to mention what your arty lifting. Now this means that 180 pound man has to lift 120 pounds of body weight every time he bends over.

2. A 5# weight equals 50# to our back when it is held out in front of us – consider the 10-20# weight on the end of a shovel!

3) Our legs are much stronger than our back and arms. If a person can bench press 300#, they can usually leg press 500# – almost 2x more weight. Yet, most of us use our arms, not our legs, when shoveling.

4. Technique is a vital component to understand when shoveling. Most people do the three worst things for the back when they shovel, which are, lifting with their arms and back, bending and twisting, and rapidly extending and twisting the back when throwing the snow from the shovel.

5. To make it all worse we do the same things over and over and over again, with bodies that are not in proper shape to be doing the activity in the first place. So, what do you do about it?

I suppose hiring the neighborhood kid to do our shoveling makes the most sense but we’re not that smart! We can’t change the fact that most of our body’s weight lies above our waist so that one we’re stuck with and, we’re not going to lose weight in time for shoveling. But, we can certainly put less material on the shovel so the load on our back is less. It’s important to squat down using our strong leg muscles while keeping our back as vertical/straight as possible- DO NOT BEND OVER. Try sticking out your fanny (to keep an inward curve in your back), lift the shovel / load of material straight up with your legs, maintaining that arched back / butt out position. Keep your arms / elbows straight and walk the shovel load over to the dumping location – DON’T try and throw the load a distance by twisting your body. Take multiple breaks and switch sides so you don’t “beat up” the same muscle groups repeatedly.

If you do at any point injure your back it is vitally important to give it plenty of time to heal. If your back starts to hurt after shoveling, take a break, rest, ice, and then do some gentle stretches- DO NOT go back out and start shoveling again! Some other tips for back health while shoveling is to warm up before the activity, stay in “shoveling shape” through out the year to avoid vulnerability, and get plenty of rest after the activity.

Many times when I ask the community of Bellevue what chiropractic is, the answer is that it is for back pain. While chiropractic is very helpful at many things, back pain tends to be most peoples introduction. Back pain can radically change the way that you live your life, interfering with home and work. If you have back pain you are not alone. Here are some facts about back pain…

Back pain is the number one disability for those under age 45.

In the United States of America, there is an expected 31 million people with lower back pain at any given time.

Back pain runs second, after only the common cold, as the top reason for visiting a healthcare provider in the United States of America.

Experts place the likelihood of any person to experience some type of back problem in their lifetime at about 80%. That’s four out of every five people!

Over $50 billion are spent per year in the pursuit of clearing up cases of back pain.

Around 30% to 40% of all workplace absences are due to back pain.

Approximately one quarter of U.S. adults reported having low back pain lasting at least one whole day in the past three months, and 7.6 percent reported at least one episode of severe acute low back pain within a one-year period.

One-half of all working Americans admit to having back pain symptoms each year.

Approximately 2 percent of the U.S. work force is compensated for back injuries each year

Lower back pain accounts for two thirds of all back pain-related cases.

More than two-thirds of back strains are caused by lifting and other exertions like pulling and pushing.

Most cases of back pain are mechanical or non-organic-meaning they are not caused by serious conditions, such as inflammatory arthritis, infection, fracture or cancer.

The key to proper treatment of back pain is to understand the cause. Pain is nothing more than a warning sign of something deeper going on in the body. Chiropractors are experts in assessing the root cause of your back pain and putting you on the right course to recovery.

Some people think chiropractors only treat back pain, but actually they are specialists in the entire musculoskeletal system. They do focus primarily on the spine and surrounding tissues, but the spine is intimately related to good functioning of the whole body. Chiropractors may treat back pain and spasms, sports injuries, headaches, and pregnancy pain. They are trained in a variety of non-invasive techniques and believe in the most natural healing possible.
How do you know if a chiropractor is right for you? Here are some conditions for which chiropractic treatment has been shown to be particularly effective.

1. Joint pain. Pain in the back and other joints is one of the most common health complaints and causes the greatest number of missed work days for health reasons. Chiropractors specialize in treating back pain and have a wide variety of techniques to treat pain anywhere from the feet and ankles up to the neck.

2. Headaches. In particular, migraine headaches can often be effectively treated by a chiropractor. While the exact origin of migraines remains a mystery, spinal manipulation has been shown to improve symptoms as much as a common prescription drug known as amitriptyline.

3. Athletic injuries. Chiropractic adjustments are a common treatment for plantar fasciitis, a typical running injury, and it is commonly administered by a chiropractor. A soft tissue therapy known as the Active Release Technique is a popular treatment offered by chiropractors that can treat long-standing injuries to muscles, ligaments, tendons, nerves and fascia.

4. Pregnancy. A somewhat sudden addition of around 30 pounds to the average woman adds stress to the body, from the back to the ankles, knees and feet. It also results in greater spinal curvature in the lower back and changes to the pelvis. Spinal adjustments, soft tissue therapy and therapeutic exercises have been shown to be effective in reducing pain during pregnancy, particularly lower back and groin pain.

5. Whiplash. Whiplash is a common injury sustained after a motor vehicle accident. It results in pain in several areas of the body, as well as headaches and vision problems. Chiropractic treatment has been shown to be effective in treating whiplash through the use of spinal adjustments, soft tissue therapy, and specific exercises for the affected areas.

Other things to consider when choosing the type of care you need for your injury is that chiropractors use drug-free approaches without surgery. They are a good option for many kinds of pain and won’t steer you towards drugs or operations, which should be last-resort treatments because of the risks involved. At the same time, chiropractors are not “anti-traditional medicine” and often collaborate with allopathic doctors as well as other health professionals such as acupuncturists and massage therapists in order to design the most effective treatment plan for their patients.

Resources
• http://www.bcliving.ca/self/how-know-if-you-need-chiropractor
• today.com/articles/200606/migraines-and-the-chiropractors-touch

Its that time of the year again in Washington! Now that the sun has finally come out again its time to get back in to the garden. Bending, twisting, pulling, and stooping are a big part of gardening, yet rarely do we think of gardening as a physical activity. “Many people think gardening as an innocuous activity, but it puts the body in positions it hasn’t been in for months-bending, sitting on the ground, stooping, working on all fours,” says Dr. Hancock, DC of Chicago.

To prevent gardening injuries, Dr. Hancock recommends thinking about gardening as you would going to the gym. “To warm up, walk for five to 10 minutes to get your heart rate up While you garden, divide your activity into thirds- (movements affecting the body) below the waist, between the waist and shoulders, and above the shoulders, doing each for 10 to 15 minutes,” he says.

Before and after your gardening activities, Kathi Casey, ERYT, CPI, a health coach and trainer recommends a routine of short stretches for the spine. “Sit tall in a straight chair with your feet on the floor. Inhale deeply as you slowly arch your spine; then exhale slowly as you curl. Avoid straining your neck,” she says.

Last week I had a patient who injured his back while moving a heavy boulder out of his yard. For those bigger yard projects, Debbie Mandel, MA, a fitness and stress management expert and author of Addicted to Stress: A Woman’s 7-Step Program to Reclaim Joy and Spontaneity in Life, recommends doing some strength training to prepare. “To strengthen upper extremities, she prefers triceps extensions and wrist curls with dumbbells. To strengthen shoulders for overhead movements, use two dumbbells in a military press and shoulder raises. “Remember to hold your abdominals in tightly to support your back and recruit core strength, and to exhale on exertion,” she adds.

All in all, make sure that you are physically prepared to garden this summer. I have seen far too many gardening injuries and would like you to stay strong and healthy this gardening season.

Did you know that back pain will affect 80-90% of every single one of us in our lifetime? That is a staggering number if you think about it. Why is this? Well,there happened to be many reasons. One is the simple fact that we carry two thirds of our weight above her waist. Many studies have shown that degeneration or arthritis can occur much sooner in two legged mammals versus four-legged mammals. A man who weighs 180 pounds carries roughly 120 pounds above his belt line. So, every time he bends over, and then straightens up, he lifts 120 pounds plus whatever it is he is lifting. This is the reason why most back injuries occur by simply bending over to pick up a pencil. It doesn’t seem possible that a pencil could injure your back, but in reality it’s a pencil +120 pounds.

Next lets do a little physics. If you are to take a 5 pound weight and stretches out in front of your body with your arms the force of that 5 pounds is now equal to 50 pounds. Now let’s assume that you are picking up that 5 pound weight up off the ground. Now that 5 pounds is equal to lifting 170 pounds in the example used before. If you add a bend in a twist in the waste your complicating the problem tenfold. That’s actually quite amazing that we don’t injure our backs more. The mother lifting the bag groceries out of the trunk while holding her child is a recipe for disaster.

As if these two factors worked enough the majority of you reading this live and work in Bellevue Washington and have jobs we sit for long periods of time at a computer or a desk. Being in the seated position leaves the low back in a very vulnerable position creating even more problems when you become active. Sitting puts the back in a flexed position, or a slouch position, and is one of the worst possible postures we can put our bodies into, and we do it for hours upon hours.

In order to further appreciate why the low back is so vulnerable to injury, some basic understanding of anatomy is needed. When a human being is born the spine is made up of 33 individual bones. At the age of 18 five of those bones fuse to make up bone called the sacrum, which becomes the base of the spine and 4 of them for fuse to make up the coccyx, or the tailbone. This leaves five lumbar, or low back, 12 thoracic, or mid back, and seven cervical, or neck vertebrae. 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. If we look at what normal should be the low back should carry roughly 80% of our weight in the front and 20% in the back. 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 shock absorbing pads called disks become injured when we do combinations of bending, lifting, and twisting. 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” disk can put pressure on the nerve that exits the spine and travels down our leg.

Now that we’ve given you an anatomy lesson let’s talk about some of the things that you can do to reduce the chances of entering your low back. Probably the most important thing that you can do to protect your low back is to keep yourself in shape. There certain muscles that must maintain their strength to keep the low back and it proper position. The muscles not only need to be strong but they also need to be flexible, and therefore stretching is very important.

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.

Are you searching for a bellevue chiropractor for your spine? Call Donna atus atus today 425-635-0495 to set up an appointment with Dr. Weir.

Cervicogenic Headaches are complications in which the pain originates in the neck and cervical spine. It is medically outlined as discomfort which is existing in the head but originates in cervical backbone region. Neck ache and pain generally take place together. This kind of complications are often the end result of neck injury, whiplash, or due to weak postural muscles.

Car accidents are one of the major causes of cervicogenic headaches. You have 20 tiny muscles, 8 nerves, and 7 bones in your neck and in a whiplash injury from a car crash all of these small structures are thrown every which way creating a ton of damage! All this damage creates pain, and if it happens just right it will shoot the pain into your head, creating a headache.

Typically when you get a cervicogenic headache you also get other signs and symptoms. Nausea, a throbbing ache, stiffness in the neck, discomfort in the backs of your eyes, etc. Depending on who you are, how long the problem has been going on and how severe the damage is will depend on how severe these headaches will be. Most of my patients note that their pain is generally worsened when they move their necks into certain positions.

Treating Cervicogenic Headaches:

I always tell my patients that if there is something that can be done to eliminate their pain you why would you not do it? So we are going to look at a few ways to help you get rid of your headache symptoms.

1. Chiropractic Care- As a Bellevue chiropractor Im specialize in diagnosing and helping neck dysfunction. Headaches that originate in the neck are one of the conditions that I get the best results with. Research over the last 20 years has proven over and over that chiropractic care is one of the best treatments for headaches that there is.

2. Therapeutic Massage- I have found that massage therapy is one of the best ways to help relax spasmed, tight muscles. Knowing that muscles spasms are a big part of causing cervicogenic headaches, it is imperative to relax those muscles! Not only does it help deal with your headaches, massage feels good too!

3. Posture- A study was done recently that showed that if you keep your body in a certain position for 40 minutes it will stay in that bad position. Guess what? You may be doing this every single day at your job, while on your computer. Most people have very poor posture while sitting at the computer, and this can be one of the big causes of cervicogenic headaches! Your bellevue chiropractor can advise you on how to fix these issues.

Aside from the already mentioned remedy techniques, you will need sufficient rest. There are several workouts to strengthen neck muscle tissue. Doing this kind of workout routines often can be beneficial in getting rid of cervicogenic headaches as very well as preventing them from re-occurring in future. However you require to consider the suggestions of an skilled ahead of starting such exercises.

What do low back pain and balance have to do with each other? Well, a lot! First (and most obvious), poor balance can lead to falling, which is the number one cause of injuries after the age of 70 (which includes low back pain). Unfortunately, as we age, we lose both balance AND bone density – a double whammy when it comes to falling as this combination can result in fractures of the vertebra which commonly occur in the lower back region. Below is a chart that shows what the “normal” length of time we should be able to stand on one foot (eyes open and eyes closed):

As this chart illustrates, over time, we rapidly lose our ability to balance, especially when we close our eyes. In fact, many of us cannot stand on one leg with our eyes closed for more than a few seconds well before the age of 59! Try it! Stand up in a corner of a room or in a doorway where you can grab onto the wall or door jams if you lose your balance. (We certainly do not want you to fall during this test!) Look at your watch or a clock with a second hand and count out loud in time with each second on the clock, “one thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three, …..”– you get the idea. Once you have the rhythm down, try counting first with your eyes open for up to 30 seconds and then try it again but with the eyes closed. Quite different, isn’t it? Now switch legs and try it again – eyes open first and then eye closed counting in time with the passing of each second. If you’re not pleased with you performance, try it over again a few times. If you’re like most of us, you may feel a little inadequate right now. Most of us need to start including some “balance exercises” into our daily routine.

So, why is it that we lose our balance so easily as we age? This is mostly because we become less active or, more sedentary as we advance in age, partially because we’re not interested in doing activities that require balance, but also because of fears, like of falling down. Remember, when we were young(er), we romped around and bounce off walls and fell all the time. It was “routine” to come home from school with grass stains on our knees and backyard sports always resulted in falling, sometimes pretty hard! Rolling down a hill to purposely getting dizzy was quite attractive to us as kids – but certainly not now! In fact, getting on the floor to play with the grandkids usually leaves us sore for at least a few days. Now, I’m not suggesting we all run out and start rolling down hills, jump up and down or purposely fall down but, including active “balance” exercises into our daily routine should be THE LEAST we should do. So, go for a brisk walk or a slow jog, ride a bike, walk in the park on uneven ground – it’s good for our “proprioception!”

For more articles like this visit Dr. Weir’s blog at www.DrMichaelWeirBlog.com

by guest contributor, Steven G. Yeomans DC, FACO

I can’t tell you how many times a day this question is asked! Obviously, there are MANY causes of low back pain (LBP) but you may be surprised about some of the following:

1. Trauma: Let’s start with the easy one – falling down, over lifting, twisting, pushing, pulling, bending over, sporting activities, work activities, sex, sneezing, raking, shoveling……OK, I could fill the page with possible injuries that can cause LBP so I’ll stop here. We’ve all sprained an ankle or a finger and based on statistics, most of us have also suffered from LBP as a result of a single event injury. These types of injuries include sprains (ligament injuries), strains (muscle/tendon injuries), disk injuries (tears, ruptures), and include many possible findings including subluxations (areas where vertebrae stop working well together or have shifted from their proper location). When there is radiating leg pain that travels below the knee, a pinched nerve may be involved, often caused by disk pressure or a combination of things.

2. Insidious or, “I don’t know what I did!”: Believe it or not, this is probably the most common cause of LBP we see as the majority of people can’t recall anything as causing their LBP. The “cause” in these cases often stems from a series of events that accumulate to a point where pain/swelling occurs, often hours or even days after several over-use activities may have been performed. Thus, more investigation into the activities that preceded the onset of LBP needs to be considered. We can usually uncover several possible culprits but we can’t ever be 100% certain that we’re right about the cause(s). In some cases, people will wake up with LBP, while others don’t have it until they’ve been active.

3. Biomechanical causes: This category might be involved in the 2nd category discussed but deserves a separate discussion because of the many possibilities. First, we are 2 legged / not 4 legged animals and that by itself puts a lot of pressure on our lower backs. In fact, 2/3rds of our weight is carried from the waist up and as a result, just bending over for a pencil can, “…throw the back out.” For example, a 180# person lifts about 120# of body weight just by bending forward! Another common problem is one leg being shorter than the other. It has been reported that 87% of us have unequal leg lengths and when the shift measures 7-9mm (about ¼ inch), the probability of back, hip, or sciatica pain is 2x greater. When the difference is 16mm, there is an 8x greater chance of having back trouble. The “fix” in this case can be quite simple as using heel lifts in the short leg shoe. Flat feet and ankle pronation can also create an unstable pelvis and can contribute to LBP so foot orthotics can also be very helpful in the management of LBP. Obesity (body mass index >30) has been identified as a risk factor for a lot of conditions including LBP and a weight management program can be highly effective.

4. Dangerous loading activities: It has long been known that jobs where 50-100# is lifted or carried, especially if frequently handled, have an increase in occurrence of LBP. Using proper lifting methods is very important in jobs like this!

Note from Dr. Weir: If you are in search of a Bellevue chiropractor to help you with your low back pain, please feel free to call my office and request a consultation. We can sit down and discuss your health needs.

What if I had told you 40 years ago that you would be able to see a dentist with no pain? Or, if that one day a doctor would be able to perform surgery by watching a TV? You most likely would have laughed at me! Now that we are in the year 2010 all of these things and so much more are a reality. Even in the field of chiropractic technology is advancing patient care.

Technology and computers now allow a select number of chiropractors to deliver the chiropractic adjustment in a comfortable upright position with out any other quick movements or jerks involved. This technology is called the Proadjuster. The Proadjuster is advanced computer and engineering technology that is being used by a select number of chiropractors today to treat musculoskeletal pain.

Chiropractors have always diagnosed joint fluidity, motion and or rigidity which is one of the major causes of pain in the back and neck, as well as headaches, sciatica and even TMJ. The Proadjuster uses the advancement of the piezeoelectric sensor to achieve this same diagnosis, but with extreme precision and accuracy. This allows the doctor to find out specifically find out what is wrong with you and exactly how your treatment needs to be delivered.

The next step is for the Proadjuster system to take the information that was gathered by the piezeoelectric sensor send it through its complex computer system for interpretation. This interpretation is used to find the perfect treatment that is needed to correct the dysfunction in your body and spine.

With the use of the same diagnostic tool the doctor can then deliver a treatment based on the computer determination. This treatment is an oscillating force which is uninterrupted until the piezeoelectric sensor feels the joints mobility increase. This is an extremely comfortable process in which I have even had a few patients fall asleep during. In every field it is important to utilize the advances in technology. The Proadjuster has allowed chiropractic to advance as technology advances.