Blog Posts

Neck pain and posture

7/11/2024

Neck pain will affect 7 out of 10 people in their lifetime and can be quite painful. The most common types of neck pain include:

muscle pain or spasm
nerve pain
bone or facet joint pain
referral or radicular pain

If you have neck pain, you might have been diagnosed with any of the following:

herniated disc or prolapsed disc
spinal stenosis
degenerative disc disease or bone spurs
osteoarthritis
whiplash
facet syndrome
fibromyalgia

It's important to remember that the diagnosis doesn't tell us what caused the problem or how to fix it. Let me explain...

Lets say you have neck pain and were diagnosed with a herniated disc. That's great information to have, but it doesn't tell you what caused the herniated disc. You can treat the herniated disc, but if you don't find and fix the underlying cause of the herniation you're just kicking the bucket down the road.

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Plantar Fasciitis and Plantar Fasciosis

7/11/2024

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Plantar Fasciitis and Plantar Fasciosis are two commonly diagnosed foot issues in people who have foot and heel pain. Plantar fasciitis means inflammation of the fascia of the bottom of the foot. Plantar fasciosis means degeneration of the fascia of the bottom of the foot. Fascia is a connective tissue that permeates the entire body including muscles, bones, nerves, and organs and helps provide structure and support to the tissues of the body. The plantar fascia is the connective tissue that runs along the bottom of the foot from the heel to the toes. The plantar fascia or plantar aponeurosis is a thick and strong band of connective tissue that helps support the arch of the foot both allowing normal pronation and supporting normal supination during gait and other movements.

When the foot is pointed straight ahead and moving as designed, the plantar fascia will be pain free and healthy. However, when the foot isn't aligned correctly and/or the foot isn't moving optimally, these dysfunctional movement patterns can create stress, pain, and damage to the plantar fascia.

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Does a joint replacement surgery fix the problem?

7/1/2024

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Joint replacement surgeries are growing in number every year with the most common surgeries being total knee replacement followed by total hip replacement. Surgeons will also perform shoulder joint replacement, elbow joint replacement, wrist joint replacement, and ankle joint replacement. When a joint, that most likely has osteoarthritis along with joint space narrowing and osteophytosis, is replaced in surgery, the joint might be new but reason why the joint became arthritic is not addressed. Joint replacement surgery treats the symptom of joint damage but not the underlying reason for the joint damage.

Osteoarthritis, joint space narrowing, osteophytosis, swelling, stiffness, and pain are all symptoms of a joint that is not aligned and moving as it was designed. Every joint in your body from your ankle to knee to hip to spine to shoulder to elbow to wrist etc is designed to align and move in a certain way. When the bones that form a joint are aligned as they are designed and can maintain that alignment as they move, the joint will stay healthy and maintain smooth cartilage and pain free movement.

However, when the bones that form a joint are not aligned correctly, they will not be able to move correctly, and this misalignment will cause wear and tear of the joint surfaces over time which can lead to osteoarthritis and pain. Posture alignment therapy is effective at helping you realign your bones and joints to decrease the wear and tear and pain you experience. Whether you are considering a joint replacement or have already had a joint replacement, posture alignment therapy is a must if you want to function and feel your best.

Contact me for a free posture evaluation on Zoom today.

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Knee osteoarthritis and posture

7/1/2024

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Knee joint osteoarthritis affects 365 million people worldwide and is the knee is most frequently affected joint. Symptomatic knee osteoarthritis affects 13% of women and 10% of men over 60 years old. Knee osteoarthritis typically features joint space narrowing, osteophytosis, pain, stiffness, and disability. Knee osteoarthritis most commonly occurs in one knee and not both. Knee osteoarthritis typically gets worse over time, often progressing from mild to severe over a period of 10 years.

The key to both preventing knee osteoarthritis and slowing down or stopping the progression of knee osteoarthritis is to address the postural and movement imbalances that are causing it. Posture simply means the alignment of bones and joints in the human body. The human body has eight major load joints that are designed to align vertically and horizontally with each other. When the joints of the body are aligned as designed, the joint surfaces are also aligned as designed. This means as we stand, walk, run, and jump the force of gravity is distributed evenly and optimally across the knee joint and cartilage. All movement in this case strengthens the cartilage of the knee and protects the knee from damage.

If the load joints are not aligned there will be increased pressure, friction, and stress placed on a certain portion of the knee joint which will lead to wear and tear of the cartilage over time. This wear and tear is what leads to osteoarthritis, joint space narrowing, osteophytosis, stiffness, swelling, and pain. The only way to stop the wear and tear is to realign the load joints of the body.

Posture alignment therapy is effective at restoring proper load joint alignment, muscle strength and flexibility, and movement patterns. As postural alignment is restored, knee pain will decrease and function will return.

Contact me for a free posture evaluation on Zoom today.

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SI Joint pain and how Posture Alignment Therapy helps

6/21/2024

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The sacroiliac joint is a common site of lower back pain, especially if your lower back pain is on one side of your lower back. Sacroiliac joint pain is sometimes referred to as sacroiliac joint disfunction, sacroiliitis, or SI joint pain and you might have been diagnosed with synovitis, capsulitis, or enthesitis or may have been told your SI joint is stuck or hypermobile.

You may experience it as lower back pain, typically on one side, that is a sharp pain, a dull ache, a stuck feeling, or feelings of numbness, tingling, or tightness of the lower back and pain in your buttock, groin, or inner thigh. Movement or prolonged sitting or standing might increase symptoms and you may feel like your leg/hip is going to give out due to weakness, instability, or pain.

The SI (sacroiliac) joint is the joint where the bottom of the spine, the sacrum, meets each side of the pelvis, or ilium.

You have two SI joints, one on each side of your lower back where the bottom of your spine, the sacrum, meets your pelvis, or ilium.

SI joint pain is almost always experienced on one side of the lower back at a time. Any SI joint pain or dysfunction is due to an imbalance in the position or movement between your two hips or sides of your pelvis. Correcting this imbalance with posture alignment therapy can eliminate your SI joint pain.

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Sciatica - what causes it and how you can eliminate it with posture alignment therapy

6/13/2024

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Sciatica is literally a pain in the butt (and down the leg). If you've had sciatica you know how painful it can be, and I've had it and it hurts.

The great thing about sciatica is that it's pretty easy to figure out the cause and to fix it. Most sciatica is only on one side of the body, which means it is caused by a hip disparity.

(If you have sciatica, you are often diagnosed with a bulging or herniated disc, ruptured disc, degenerative disc disease, stenosis, scoliosis, or piriformis syndrome. These are all symptoms of your body not moving correctly, and if you are experiencing sciatica from any of these problems, the underlying cause is still a hip disparity.)

A hip disparity basically means one hip is in a different position than your other hip, or one hip is moving differently than your other hip. This can show up in several ways:

elevation - one hip or side of your pelvis is higher than the other
rotation - one hip or side of your pelvis is rotated forward compared to the other
tilt difference - one side of your pelvis is tilted forward or backward more than the other side
range of motion difference - one hip has more or less range of motion in flexion, extension, or rotation than your other hip
stability - one hip is more or less stable than your other hip

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How to make 2023 your best year yet!

1/2/2023

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What if there were a couple super simple and easy things you could do to make this year your best year yet?

Well, you're in luck because that's exactly what this blog post is about!

Here are 10 things that will help make 2023 your best year yet:

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Do You Really Want To Live An Injury Free Life?

8/29/2022

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Is it possible to live a life without injuries?

Maybe. Limiting risky behaviors and activities. Maintaining strength and joint range of motion. Being very careful in everything you do. Only doing things you're 100% prepared for and 100% sure are safe and doable. Never spontaneously taking part in a sport or adventure. That might be the injury free life, but that isn't the life I'd want to live.

The moments in life where I feel the most alive and that I remember fondly are often big adventures where I've really pushed myself to the edge and challenged both my physical body and mind. Those adventures where you're not really sure whether you'll be able to complete it and often where there's some risk involved.

If you picture an amusement park, think about the different types of rides. There's a carousel, Ferris wheel, bumper cars, things like the Scrambler, and then roller coasters. You can play if safe and just ride the carousel and Ferris wheel, or take a little more risk and do the bumper cars where you'll experience a little more emotion (which will implant a stronger memory) and a better story to tell afterwards. Or take a bigger risk and ride the scrambler or the super fast, twisting, looping, and swooping roller coaster. You might be screaming the entire time, but that's a ride you'll remember for years to come.

When I think about some of my favorite memories in life, many of them involve taking big risks and had unknown outcomes when I took them on. Some of these ended with me feeling great and being injury free, but some ended with injuries.

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What causes injuries?

7/26/2022

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The cause of injuries has been debated for centuries with the blame often going to:

bad luck
old age
overuse
genetics
overtraining
not wearing supportive shoes
running or jumping on hard surfaces
nutritional deficiencies
poor technique
not cross training
incorrect warm-up

In cases not involving blunt trauma, injuries and pain are caused simply by dysfunctional joints. Healthy or functional joints maintain joint centration during movement and return to a neutral starting point immediately after movement.

Joint centration is another way to saying optimal joint alignment. This is the most beneficial or optimal alignment of the joint surfaces to properly support the body and external forces and allow the desired movement. Joint centration allows balanced distribution of loads on the joint surfaces and supporting structures.

Injuries are prevented, or at least minimized, by maintaining healthy joints. How do you know if you have healthy joints?

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Happy April Fools Day!

4/1/2022

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Laughter is good for our health and since today is April 1st, I thought an April Fools Day Newsletter would be appropriate. I'm hoping you caught on and laughed at all my ridiculous jokes rather than thinking I'd lost my mind! If you didn't receive the newsletter, here are some highlights with commentary below each article:

NOTE: April Fools Day Newsletter is all fake and contains false information! Read for enjoyment; don't follow this advise; keep doing what you're doing. :)

Nothing could be further from the truth, as real research shows us that good posture has many benefits and slouching has none.

This is false. Stress actually causes many negative health effects including high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, headaches, loss of sleep, depressed immune system, muscle pains, and many other undesirable things. Keep practicing your stress deduction techniques!

Yes, muscles still do move bones, just as they always have. And no, there is no "red fat" and I would recommend keeping your muscles, they are good for you!

This has some truth to it: the Egoscue Tower does cause drastic improvements in posture. Please keep your Tower and continue to use it as your posture and body will thank you. The Tower is a key ingredient in the recipe for a pain free and active life.