These painful ‘knot spots’ are known to produce a sore ache and tightness even after just a few hours of working on the computer or being seated at your desk…even if you have one of those fancy ergonomic super chairs. You know you have a ‘ergonomic super chair’ if it has more than seven levers and only one of which you actually use – makes chair go up and down. It has the one you KNOW not to pull – makes backrest forcefully fly forward, placing you into an uncomfortable knees to chest position, and of course the other five, none of which return the back rest to upright.

Anyway, the point is we all know there is no lever for an actual comfortable position…so what’s going on with these painful knots? And why won’t my body just sit in that chair for 9 hours a day and not bother me?

The problem is Trigger Points. This term refers to specific spots within muscle tissue that trigger a painful response when palpated. Physiologically trigger points are small groups of muscle tissue that are diseased, or what chiros love to say, “dis-eased”.

The muscle tissue has so much stress placed upon it the actual circulation of blood flow in and out of the tissue is altered. The inability for the tissue to circulate the waste products of cellular metabolism, or metabolites, out of the tissue causes a buildup of toxins in and around the tissue. The restriction of healthy blood flow essentially results in oxygen starvation, leading the muscle tissue to be in a state of constant contraction and spasm. The trigger point responds to this emergency by sending out pain signals.

Some trigger points are so severe that they refer pain to other areas of the body. Trigger point referrals are thought to be the primary cause of pain in about 75% of all instances and are almost always involved in every musculoskeletal condition. They can be the source of pain in joints that are often mistaken for arthritis, tendinitis and bursitis in the shoulder, hip, knee and ankle. Trigger points can also cause various symptoms such as dizziness, ear aches, nausea, and sometimes tingling or numbness in the hands and feet.

Trigger points are easily identified and differentiated from other conditions with an exam by any of the docs in our offices. These can be treated with a few specific therapies, most commonly trigger point therapy administered by the chiropractor, massage therapist, or physical therapist.

For additional information or questions, feel free to shoot me an email, or make an appointment to come in for a consultation.

I have heard numerous times from individuals who are “healthy” and active that they wouldn’t need chiropractic care because their back does not hurt or because they “don’t have any problems.”

The problem with that logic is that popular exercises (i.e. running, tennis, biking, golf) are either repetitive use exercises or one side dominant exercises which tend to lead to issues like tendinitis, stress fractures, and general wear and tear on the body.

Chiropractic care, by definition helps to improve the function of the body and can be a huge benefit to an active individual. Because chiropractic care increases neuromusculoskeletal (nerves, muscles, and joint) function, it can help an athlete perform better and recover faster. The unfortunate trend of using performance enhancing drugs in professional sports has put the focus not only on steroids, but also on drugs which supposedly help athletes recover faster. Chiropractic is essentially a safe and effective performance enhancer.

It has been shown that a chiropractic adjustment improves muscle flexibility, spatial awareness, and balance. It can also help to reduce soreness and help the musculoskeletal system generally recover more efficiently. Acute and chronic injuries are often less prevalent in chiropractic patients who consequently lead an active lifestyle with fewer injuries. Elite athletes and active individuals also often have trouble with the stress of their activity making their immune defense weaker, but one of the most powerful results of consistent chiropractic care is a healthy immune system.

As chiropractic care becomes more accepted and recognized for its benefits, it has started to gain traction at elite levels of sport and performance. Arnold Schwarzenegger has long been a proponent of chiropractic care, the United States Olympic team brings a chiropractor to the games, chiropractors have become more involved in the medical staffs of professional sports teams, and the US military utilizes chiropractors in their VA hospitals to help soldiers recover more quickly from both their physical and mental injuries.

The fact is, chiropractic is an ideal complement for those who already seem healthy and very often enhances physical performance and overall health.

For additional information or questions, feel free to email me or make an appointment to come in for a consultation.

Image by hans s

So for my ladies, read up and spread the word; and for the gentlemen, impress your lady with “the research” you did on how to help her ease the physical and mental stress of pregnancy.

The Breakdown

During the first trimester of pregnancy the body releases a powerful hormone called relaxin. Its sole purpose is to allow the ligaments supporting the joints in the body the ability to become more elastic or flexible. This allows the body, mainly the pelvis, the ability to accommodate the baby as it grows.

Totally amazing, right?…but on the downside this increase in joint mobility causes more frequent bouts of joints moving out of alignment, or what chiropractors call subluxations.

This is what causes the majority of the low back discomfort associated with pregnancy, subluxation of the sacroiliac joints, yep that’s a fancy word for where the last part of the spine connects to your pelvis.

As the baby grows, and subsequently momma’s belly, the body’s center of gravity shifts forward. This places additional strain on the lumbar spine and pelvis, causing further misalignments.

Chiropractic throughout pregnancy helps maintain the alignment of the sacroiliac joints, reducing the inflammation and pain associated with these misalignments. These gentle alignments or adjustments are safe throughout the entire pregnancy and can even aid in reducing the time of labor and delivery.

Many women report, in addition to pain relief during pregnancy, that chiropractic can help control the symptoms of nausea and provide a more restful nights’ sleep.

The American Pregnancy Association also reports chiropractic can potentially prevent a potential cesarean delivery. That’s a pretty big deal. So spread the word that there is gentle, effective and safe ways to help with the discomfort that is commonly associated with pregnancy.

For additional information or questions, feel free to shoot me an email, or make an appointment to come in for a consultation.

Medical massage therapy combined with chiropractic care is a synergistic and effective way to alleviate and manage pain. With this non-invasive method, licensed massage therapists apply pressure to the muscles and soft tissue to a patient’s tolerance so as to increase blood flow to the muscles and break up connective tissue adhesions that shorten muscles.

Through medical massage treatment, the tension and stiffness in your muscles is reduced, decreasing your need to rely on medication to treat pain. Chronic pain sufferers of lower back pain, shoulder and neck pain, migraines, and tension headaches have noticed an improvement in their immune systems, circulation and range of motion, as well as a reduction in joint stiffness, as a result of massage therapy.

If you are interested in adding medical massage to your wellness plan, your chiropractor will evaluate the type and frequency of medical massage best suited to treating your condition, and then refer you to a massage therapist.

Here are Liberty Wellness & Chiro, we offer half hour and hour long sessions of massage therapy at our Upper East Side and Wall Street locations. Our office has several licensed massage therapists, all of whom work under the direction of our team of doctors, and we look forward to helping you choose the specialist whose technique is best for you!

In future blog posts, we will cover different types of massage such as Thai, Pre-Natal and Deep Tissue.

Make an appointment today for a medical massage session and experience the healthy benefits!

Most Americans spend the majority of their waking hours at work, and as the workplace is often a breeding ground for neck pain, back pain and wrist pain, it is important to know how to prevent these postural distortions.

Here are a few simple daily tips you can incorporate into your work routine to keep your day pain-free (at least physically speaking)!

1.  No slouching

Sometimes a long day at work makes us want to do nothing more than slump down in our chairs and bang our heads on our keyboards.

While slouching may be a temporary relief from sitting up straight all day, continuous slouching causes a loss of the normal curvature in the neck and mid and lower spine ultimately leading to a permanent forward head posture and rounded shoulders. This is a major cause of significant neck and shoulder pain and long term degeneration of the spinal structures in the neck and thoracic spine.

Whenever you start to feel your posture weakening at work, take thirty seconds to reduce the tension by doing semi-circular neck rolls. Start out looking to the left at eye-level, and slowly roll your neck forward in a semi-circular motion until you are looking to the right at eye-level. Do not do a full neck roll, because extension of the cervical spine can exacerbate neck problems.

Another helpful exercise is to roll your shoulders backward and downward toward your waist achieving a lengthening of your neck.  Next, squeeze your scapulae (shoulder blades) together while bringing your head straight back until you visualize that your ears are directly above your shoulders if you were viewing yourself from the side.

This is accomplished by lightly pushing your chin straight backward with your index finger without raising or lowering your head. Practice in the mirror at home. You’ll know you’re doing it properly when you see you’ve caused a double chin.  This will help guide your upper body back into its best-performing posture.

2.  Keep moving

Several studies have found that sitting for extended periods of time is bad for your health, leading to higher incidences of diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.

In fact, people who spend most of their days at their desks are advised to stand up every 20 minutes for a brief period of movement. Depending on your career, these frequent breaks may be unrealistic or even impossible.

To ensure that you get the blood flowing during the workday, take a phone call standing up, or answer an email on your phone on the way to the kitchen or the printer.

If you know you will be stuck in a long meeting or have a busy week ahead of you, add a few blocks of walking to your commute, or take fifteen minutes of your lunch to take a walk around the office. Every little bit can help!

3.  Give your wrists a rest

Most chiropractors would agree that keeping your forearms in line with your hands is the best way to prevent against carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), a painful condition caused by median nerve compression by the bones of the wrist that can seriously impede your ability to be productive at work.

The goal is to keep your wrist flat, and there are three good ways to do this.

1. Place your elbows on an armrest,
2. Place your palms rather than your wrists on a wrist rest, and
3. Tilt your keyboard slightly forward.

Together, these three modifications to the work station will prevent you from placing too much pressure on your wrists.

Remember, if you start noticing pain after a long day of work, it’s a good idea to consult with your chiropractor so you can identify the root of the problem.

Check back next week for more for more tips on how to remain pain free at work!

1. Once you start, you can’t stop

Chiropractic care, like most things, is often most effective when viewed as a long-term solution rather than a quick fix, but this does not mean you will reverse all of your progress if you choose to end your treatment.

After your first few chiropractic visits, you may notice your pain is better managed with the frequent appointments. In the aftermath of an injury, it is likely that your chiropractor will recommend more consistent visits. However, once your condition or injury is on the mend, you can work with your chiropractor to come up with an overall wellness plan that will enable you to strengthen and maintain your level of health, which may or may not involve continued chiropractic visits.

Many patients find that even in the absence of chronic pain, their body begins to function better with adjustments because of the increased efficiency of movement and function of the bones and joints. However,  while you may wish to continue these regular “tuneup” visits as a preventive measure as you would with a dentist or dermatologist, this is a choice only you can make, and “stopping” your treatment will not have any harmful effects.

2. Chiropractors only treat back pain

While many people are under the impression that spinal manipulations performed by chiropractors only target lower back pain, chiropractic care is much more comprehensive and thus not limited to that one region.

When a chiropractor adjusts your spine, the goal is to impact neuromusculoskeletal function.   What this means for those of us in pain is relief of headaches, neck pain and carpal tunnel syndrome, as well as treatment of shoulder, elbow and hip pain.

Your chiropractor can also treat knee and ankle injuries, often while working along with a physical therapist or an acupuncturist, as we do at Liberty Wellness and Chiro. It is amazing what regular spinal manipulations can do in the way of pain relief!

3. Chiropractors are not “real” doctors

All licensed chiropractors have received a Doctor of Chiropractic degree, and are primary health care practitioners in the United States. To earn their degree, chiropractors must master the same hard science requirements that medical doctors do, such as human anatomy, microbiology, and organic chemistry, before going on to receive their master’s degree in their field of spinal manipulation.

It is true that chiropractors are not doctors of medicine and therefore cannot  prescribe medication. However, the chiropractic approach is to seek to return the body to its highest performing state through natural and non-invasive means, rather than to rely on medication for their patients’ healing process.

And if your chiropractor feels he is not the best fit to treat your particular condition, he will refer you to a specialist who can, whether it be a physical therapist or a surgeon.

Your chiropractor’s ultimate goal is to help you manage and alleviate your pain, even if another type of care is better suited to your needs.

So relax, your bones (or neuromusculoskeletal system) are in good hands!  

Go ahead and make an appointment today!

However, not all exercises are created equal. Despite breaking a sweat, you may be doing your body more harm than good.

Here are some exercises you should avoid, especially if you are already coping with neck or back pain.

1. Sit-ups

This exercise increases in popularity as bikini season approaches every year. While a favorite of all those looking to tone their tummies, conventional sit ups (unlike crunches) actually work the hip flexors more than the core abdominal muscles.

Crunches are preferable in that you intentionally tuck your pelvis as you partially bring your torso toward your knees with arms crossed over the chest.

This rounding of the lumbar spine allows vertebral flexion which enables the focus of the work to be on the abdominal and pelvic floor muscles (core) rather than the hip flexor muscles.  This reduces the strain on your lumbar spine and strengthens the muscles that balance and support the lower back.

2. Overhead presses

The overhead press may be an exercise in Herculean strength, but your back could suffer as a result of it. Many trainers and health care providers debate whether the overhead press actually causes damage to the cervical and/or thoracic spine.

It is generally recommended that you use dumbbells rather than a straight bar when doing this exercise as lifting a straight bar locks your shoulders into an unnatural, linear motion and doesn’t allow for the normal arc-like motion of the scapula.

3. Standing toe touches

While a standing toe touch is not an exercise, it is a repetitive movement we all perform regularly when picking something up or lifting an object so we include it here. It is one of the simplest indicators of flexibility and can help loosen up your low back and hamstrings, but it can do so to the detriment of your low back when lifting something. Bending forward at the waist puts unnecessary pressure on your spine and hamstrings unless they are sufficiently flexible which can lead to muscle, tendon and ligament strain in the lower back.

When lifting heavy objects, you are advised to bend your hips and knees with feet apart, while keeping your spine perpendicular to the ground at a 90 degree angle, rather than bending at the waist.

This may save you a trip to the chiropractor and a week walking around bent over to one side.

Don’t take this list of what not to do as an excuse to assume the couch potato position–even with a “bad back”, it’s still important to stay in shape.

Speak with your chiropractor or physical therapist to come up with an exercise plan that is right for you and that will strengthen your spine rather than weaken it!  

Image by velvettangerine

Most people enjoy the occasional knuckle crack, but when it comes to getting your back cracked, those who have never met with a chiropractor may feel hesitant.

Unlike trips to most doctors’ offices, however, most people actually look forward to their weekly chiropractor’s visit! Find out why!

What is chiropractic care?

In its most basic form, chiropractic care is hands-on treatment; the term is derived from the Greek words cheir (hand) and praktikos (concerned with action).

Chiropractors give their patients adjustments (known in the medical world as “manipulations”) as a way to manipulate the various bones and joints in your body to return to their best-performing position after the daily wear and tear they endure.  During the first chiropractic appointment, your chiropractor will ask you about your occupational and lifestyle habits to get an idea of your level of activity, and will also ask you where you are experiencing pain. Then, he or she will put together a personalized chiropractic care plan meant to target your specific “problem areas”.

At Liberty Wellness and Chiro’s Wall Street and Upper East Side locations, we also offer licensed massage therapy, physical therapy, acupuncture and orthopedic care to complement the chiropractic care you receive.  

Would chiropractic care benefit me? 

Even if you don’t suffer from specific neck, back or joint pain, you may be surprised at how much better you feel after seeing a chiropractor. According to the National Institutes of Health, the most common ailment that plagues Americans is headaches.

9 out of 10 Americans suffer from headaches in their lifetime.

One of the most common types of headache is a cervicogenic headache, which is caused by pain originating in the bone, muscles, or nerves of your neck. A weekly adjustment of your neck and spine will help mitigate and eventually eliminate that pain you feel, and it will also improve your posture!

While the healthcare system in the United States lends itself to a more “don’t fix it til it’s broke” philosophy, the rationale behind chiropractic care is to make it a consistent part of your life so as to prevent the problems before they arise.

Schedule your first appointment today, and start adding “years to your life and life to your years!”

Just when it feels like you’ve made some progress, you forego the quinoa in favor of a quesadilla or skip the gym because your favorite movie is on Showtime.

We make these choices because they’re easier and more convenient in the moment, but this sort of reasoning creates more work for ourselves down the road, since we’ve pushed back the attainment of our goal even further.

With this wellness blog, our goal is to inspire readers to take small and manageable steps to improve their own wellness. Wellness is the trifecta of physical fitness, mental health and good nutrition.

Ensuring that you get enough sleep, and dedicating time to exercising, eating well, and relaxing are crucial steps to reaching your own wellness potential. You won’t completely change your habits all at once, but by prioritizing your needs, you’ll start to feel healthier and happier!

We hope that this blog will help you start out, or continue, on your own wellness journey.

Tell us in the comments section below if there are any topics you are interested in, and we will do our best to cover them.

We can’t wait to get started!