Sunday, August 29, 2010

Simple back tips for your summer cleaning.

By: Dr. Ed Green


Summer is here and it is time to clean that house and make it all
pretty for all the spectacular barbeques you are going to have. I have
seen many patients in my office over the last months with complaints of
low back pain from doing the summer clean. Mainly I get Dr. Ed all I
was doing was vacuuming the house.

I have to say that vacuuming is a big cause of back pain for people that come into the office.

Here is how you fix that problem.

Most individuals when they vacuum bend at the waist and extend there upper body and arms to vacuum. This causes your center of gravity to shift forward. With this shift your low back now has to work hard to keep you from falling over. Now with
your low back tight and unstable lets bend over and learn forward a few
dozen times while holding something heavy.

Doing this motion routinely over and over will cause your low back to
become unstable and leaves you vulnerable to straining your low back.
Most cases I see is when the cleaning is done and you have to now lift
that vacuum and put it away. So to fix the low back while vacuuming
try this. Lets turn vacuuming into an athletic event. Instead of
leaning forward and stretching the upper body, lets use our legs and
perform a forward lunge. By keeping your back straight and your core
tight, while using your legs to push the vacuum forward and back to
neutral you can help prevent low back pain. And for those of you who
have large houses with thick carpets, I would stretch first hehehehe.
Lunging while vacuuming will not only help prevent low back strains but
it will add tone and strength to your core and gluts. There are many
other little vacuuming tricks I will share so stay posted.

Shaving, brushing teeth, cleaning dishes.

The above are a few other easy ways for us to strain our low back. With
each of the above we lean over a study object and again shift our
center of gravity forward. Once again we are leaving ourselves open to
the chance to strain our backs. This is an an easy fix. BRACE YOUR
SELF. When I am either shaving or brushing my teeth and I am leaning
over the sink, I have my other hand firmly placed on the counter.
This is turn takes the pressure off my low back and into my shoulder.
By simply bracing your upper body against the counter, the mirror or a
wall, you are preventing possible low back pain. Usually the pain does
not occur when you are bent over but when you stand up. You can
prevent low back pain while doing dishes by simply standing slightly
sideways against the sink and bending directly over it.

These are a few little tricks that I hope will help prevent that pesky
low back pain from creeping up on you this summer. If you have any
questions please call the office at 805-531-1188. And if a demo is
needed please call BUT the demo does not involve ME vacuuming your house!

Dr. Ed Green is the clinic Director of Moorpark CSI, he can be reached at the above Phone number, for more information on CSI visit our website at www.gotcsi.com

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

H-wave- it’s not your mammas muscle stimulation!

By: Dr. Terry Weyman


I am known on the Sports circuit as the “Doc with all the cool toys”. However, it’s not about the quantity of “toys”, it’s about picking the right “tool” for the right job. My job is not only to improve athletic performance but also to get the body to recover faster than it can by itself. Ask the Top Amateur Motocrosser how important tissue recovery is when he is laying in the hospital the day before the National Championships with a back injury, or a Pro Golfer the day before the Masters down with a knee injury, or a 20 year old football player the day before the Combine down with a hamstring pull. How important is tissue recovery? VERY.

So, one of my tools is the H-Wave electric stimulation machine. No, this is not your typical E-Stim or Tens unit. This is much more and its part of my regular treatment protocol for getting our athletes back to the field as fast as possible. The H-wave was established for treatment of dental related issues from TMJ to providing anesthesia for those not wanting to take medication. Doing a paradigm shift, we now use it for much more than pain control or overall healing. Now, it is looked at as a machine that can speed up the bodies ability to heal itself and the surrounding tissue to get the athlete back on the field faster than expected. H-wave is unique in that it has the ability to stimulate on both low and high frequencies, at the same time! Now you can aid in pain control to reduce muscle guarding while you work on tissue effusion to maximize healing. What a concept. Once your Doctor or therapist grasps these concepts, the treatment combinations and results are limitless. This is the only machine I know of that can either heal an injury or allow the body to naturally recover faster for next day competition. How do each frequencies work and why do you need both? Well let’s look at each form of stimulation and explain why each form is important.

Ultra Low Frequency Stimulation
Development and protocols for H-Wave were based on the well-established facts that fluid shifts and pressures are essential for tissues to heal and to create homeostasis in an injured area. The H-Wave device was specifically designed to improve circulation and enhance fluid shifts; thereby, addressing the inflammation that is so often the causative factor in pain and disabilities. The goal of H-Wave is never to mask symptoms, but rather to speed recovery and/or manage chronic symptoms to allow the body to increase in normal cellular production and integration. Published research has shown that the specific technology of H-Wave represents a paradigm shift in electro-therapeutic treatment and produces the optimal non-fatiguing stimulation for fluid shifts.

High Frequency Stimulation
Some conditions require additional pain relief that fluid shifts don't entirely address. This is why H-Wave has a secondary mode that is focused entirely on shutting down pain and breaking the pain cycle similar to TENS, however, with a longer lasting effect. Again, in this setting H-Wave is not intending to mask pain while the device is on, but rather create a strong anesthetic affect with significant and lasting relief after a 30 minute treatment. The H-Wave device is so unique and capable of shutting down pain that we have FDA clearance for electrical anesthesia in the field of dentistry. If it can take away the pain from oral surgery, how do you think it will work in the world of athletics when used right?

As I have said, the H-wave is a tool, when used in the correct settings and for the correct purposes, can change the athletes recovery rate and increase their chances for success.

Dr. Terry Weyman is the owner of Chiropractic Sports Institute and travels the world caring for top athletes. He also works for Pepperdine University in their Athletic Training room and for The Factory, a high level training facility. He can be reached at www.gotcsi.com

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

FUEL FOR A TEEN ATHLETE

By: Terry Weyman D.C., C.C.S.P.

Male or female, teen or adult, athlete or non-athlete, we have all seen magazines, movies and television shows equate “the perfect look” with being thin. Sometimes we even believe it. But any healthy person, especially an athlete, needs to remember that the scale is not the guide to follow. Athletes need the proper fuel to achieve and maintain their goals. We cannot judge or compare what goes into our bodies with what goes in (or doesn’t go in) to the bodies of non-athletes.

A recent study estimated that the amount of energy expended by a typical female adolescent athlete could be as much as 5000 to 6000 calories per day. Teens involved in athletics require proper nutrition (fuel consumption) to perform at their optimum level. The teen athlete needs to consume enough healthy foods to also accommodate the maturation process. If not, the athlete will impair their growth and strength potential. They will also notice that their energy reserves will be depleted for that extra effort in the final minutes of “game day.”

According to Lisa Kimona, RD, Kaiser Permanente Hospital, the athlete should “consume enough calories (measurement of energy when food is converted) to maintain your weight through your sports season. Most of the calories eaten should come from a carbohydrate source (such as starch, pasta, rice, fresh fruits and vegetables). A moderate amount of protein is necessary (such as meat, chicken, fish, cheese and dried beans). Though you should keep fat-intake low, fat serves some very important roles. Fat is a carrier for the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. It is also an important part of all cell membranes, and is the preferential energy source for all heart muscles. In addition, fat cells protect vital organs and nerves, and are an excellent energy source for skeletal muscles in endurance events.”

For those of you who are concerned about how much you eat, this is an example of a 2400-calorie diet.


SERVINGS SERVINGS
FOOD GROUP PER DAY FOOD GROUP PER DAY

Milk (low-fat) 3 cups (8 oz) Juices 2 cups

Dark green or ½ cup Breads, cereals, 12 servings
deep yellow starches
fruits or vegetables
(Vitamin A)

Citrus foods ½ cup Protein: meat, fish 2 servings
(Vitamin C) poultry, egg, dried
beans or peas

Other vegetables 1 cup Fats, salad 3 servings
(or less)
Dressings, nuts,
seeds

Other fruits 1 cup Desserts, candy 1 serving
(or less)

A sizable amount of food? NO, if you’re an athlete. This was an example of a diet consisting of only 2400 calories, well below the 5000 or 6000 calories teenagers are capable of expending. One important fact to remember is that when participating in sports, your caloric intake must match your caloric expenditures. When in doubt, don’t judge yourself off of a magazine cover. Ask what you want your body to do and provide the fuel necessary to complete the task. If you have any questions do not hesitate to contact your health care provider or nutrition counselor.

Dr. Terry Weyman is a Sports Chiropractor in Southern California, you can gain more information at www.gotcsi.com