Why world class athletes seek chiropractic care

With it being the week of the Super Bowl, I decided to write this particular blog about the benefits of chiropractic care with athletes. In previous blogs, we have discussed the numerous benefits of chiropractic care when it comes to pain relief, injury prevention and general overall health. Now, we get to discuss a topic that most of us will never get to experience.

Elite athletes are much different than the rest of us. They push their bodies to the absolute limits each and every day. Whether they are trying to gain speed, strength or agility, elite athletes are required to get every ounce of ability out of their bodies in order to achieve greatness.

For example, let’s just take a look at the Olympics. Many events at the Olympics are decided by tenths, hundredths, or even thousandths of a second. Think about that for a minute. Once every four years, an athlete has one single opportunity to earn a Gold Medal in a sport that they have worked their entire lives to earn. And that medal will be awarded to an athlete that ran a race in .001 second faster than the guy who finished second.

When we look at how chiropractic care will help these elite athletes, we have to examine what it actually does. Chiropractic care is really designed to make your body function as well as your body can function. Does it help people with pain? Yes. Does it help people avoid injury? Yes. None of these are the reason that elite athletes use chiropractic care.

By adjusting the spine (and extremity joints), chiropractors are helping the body to function to the best of its abilities. When the bones of the body are properly aligned, movement is fluid and natural. The body doesn't have to strain or work harder than it should in order to move. There is no wasted motion or wasted energy when the body functions properly.

Now, to you and me this really doesn't matter much. Does it really matter if you can stand up from a chair in .001 second faster than someone else? Does it matter if you can wash dishes just a little faster than someone else? Does it matter if you exert a little more effort picking up that bottle of water?

To elite athletes, these things are HUGE!!! Fractions of a second can mean the difference between a Gold Medal and no medal at all. Or, it can mean the difference between making the game-saving tackle or missing the runner and allowing the TD. It can mean the difference between a home run and a lazy fly ball. Or, it could mean the difference between a 300 yard drive and a slice into the woods.

When you get into the world of professional and world class athletics, fractions of a second could literally mean millions of dollars are earned or lost. Fame and fortune vs. failure and loss. This is the reason that elite athletes use chiropractic care.

~ Dr. Michael Hill

Can Your Foundation Be Your Source Of Pain?

Susan came into our Sugar House clinic discouraged and totally frustrated, looking yet again for another chiropractic physician. For the last 12 years she had been to Chiropractors, M.D.'s, Family Practitioners, Orthopedic Specialists, Neurologists, and even a Psychologist. She had received x-rays, MRI's, been probed, blood drawn, examined, and given many other exotic tests administered by the best that modern medicine had to offer. Nevertheless, they could not find anything physically wrong with her. There was no disease or pathology present. The final diagnosis: “The pain was psychosomatic.” In other words, it was all in her head. She was subsequently prescribed some medications to dull the pain and given even more to reduce her anxiety and to counter the side-effects of the first medications. Susan was slowly being poisoned by the medicines she was taking. This was her life now. Yet she knew “deep down” that something WAS wrong. So, partly out of desperation and partly lead by her intuition, she showed up at The Joint hoping to get “just a little relief.”

I’m often asked, “What is the most common condition I see as a chiropractic physician.”   Well, usually most chiropractors would say it’s headaches, neck pain and back pain. But, I have to confess, I believe those to be symptoms of a more sinister problem.  The problem I see most often – is that of a pelvic foundation being “off”.  Allow me to explain.

A healthy spine is straight from back to front; with three curves when viewed from the side (Cervical, Thoracic, and Lumbar.) These curves provide strength and mobility. [picture spine.png] A perfectly balanced body also has five foundations (your feet, knees, pelvis, diaphragm, and shoulders). Whereas stress is a normal function of life, excessive stress will alter those curves and affect those foundations. So when stress becomes problematic, our body begins to protect itself. Thankfully, our bodies have a remarkable ability to change. This change (compensation) can be caused by a number of factors and be expressed in many ways, but the first step in self-protection and self-preservation is to compensate (and not always for the best.)  

How often have you felt tense or tired after a days work or activity? Have you ever been mentally off and not on your “A-game?” Are you getting sick more often, or is it you are just feeling run down? These are all different types of compensations, i.e., your body trying to protect itself BEFORE you get the headaches or neck and back pain. Unfortunately, many doctors stop looking after they find the first symptom and never ask, “Why is the body compensating? What's the underlying factor?”

One of the body's first lines of defense is to tighten or contract the muscles and connective tissues. This is why many people run to the massage therapist to loosen the muscles, not realizing they are actually working against the body’s defense mechanism.  Now, I'm all for massage and body work; there is a time and place for it. However, if your symptoms continue, or return soon afterward, then there may be an underlying cause that needs to be addressed. 

Muscles are connected to tendons which pull on the bones. This sets up a cytokine inflammatory response in the muscles, tendons, bones, and joints. In other words, they get overworked and sore. Your body is uncomfortable, more compensations, more soreness, more compensation, more soreness... it becomes a vicious cycle until… PAIN. The body tells you “something” is wrong. “OUCH!”

While all the above is happening, your joints are also trying to reduce the pressures placed upon them. This could be a joint in your neck (cervical), upper back (thoracic), or lower back (lumbar). One of the major joints affected is the Sacroiliac joint. This is the joint between the sacrum

(tail bone) and your ilium (hip bone). [picture: si_joint.jpg]  Think about it: ALL of your body weight above your legs goes through these two joints. They are normally under a lot of pressure.

When these two joints get stressed they compensate by rotating. One hip bone goes back and the other goes forward. It's like a dish-rag twisting to tighten up. Now seated between the two ilium is the sacrum. [Picture:SacralBase.jpg] When the ilium twist (to tighten up the foundation) the sacrum is caught in the middle and is scissored and pinched. It compensates by rotating forward and off to the side.  

Here's where things get interesting. The top of the sacrum is the foundation for your spinal column. As the sacral base changes, the spine follows. The lowest vertebra rotates and your spine leans off to one side – just like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. [picture: Pisa.jpg]

However, we are not the Leaning Tower of Pisa; we are living human beings and don’t walk around with our head off to one side over our shoulder. No, we compensate further, by twisting our neck and upper backs – which brings our head vertically over our tail (pelvis).  (Basic physics demonstrates that when a curved object is twisted, the curve straightens out and is weakened. This is why bridges are arched (curved) and not straight.)

NOW, we are experiencing symptoms! 

HEADACHES (our head is not centered). NECK PAIN ( our necks are twisting). UPPER BACK PAIN between our shoulders (our thoracic spine is twisting). LOWER BACK PAIN (our foundational vertebra are rotating). And HIP PAIN (we have a twisted pelvic foundation). You may not experience all of these symptoms at once, you may only be experiencing a loss of mobility or what others call “normal back pain” (What's normal about pain?) Nevertheless, if your pelvis is “off” – you have compensatory symptoms that are getting worse!

Imagine what would happen if while under this kind of stress you bent over to pick up your child? Or to tie your shoe? Or just tried to get out of the car? Pow! Your back “goes out” for no reason (or is there?) Did you ever hear of the straw that broke the camels back? (Sorry, bad pun intended.)

When Susan came to our clinic, I did a brief but thorough examination. I was looking for symmetry and function, not symptoms. I was looking for the root cause of her pain. And I found it – her foundation was not only off, but way off! Susan left our clinic shouting our praises. After 12 long years I had finally found the cause of her pain and fixed it – bringing a much sought after relief. Susan continues to receive regular chiropractic care at The Joint in Sugar House and happily shares her story and new found joy with others.  

-Dr. Michael Lindstrom

Chiropractic Physician

Chronic Pain Relief

Many patients have asked about natural treatments for chronic pain and would love to be less dependent on pain medication to manage their pain. Here is a list of treatments and activities that may help you relieve your pain and feel more in control of your life.

1.                  Release your inner Endorphins.  Endorphins are the body's natural pain killers. These natural chemicals help block pain signals from reaching the brain.  They also help control anxiety, stress and depression.  The body produces and releases endorphins during exercise which gives you the “runner's high” sensation.  Chiropractic adjustments have also been shown in the research to release endorphins after a treatment.

2.                  Heat and Ice.  For general muscle soreness that has lasted longer than 3 weeks, use a hot water bottle or make your own moist heat by microwaving a damp towel for 2 minutes.  Apply to the area of pain for 10-15 min.  For acute joint pain, apply an ice pack for 15-20 minutes until numb then remove, repeat after 30 minutes.  Alternating heat and ice also is effective in reducing painful inflammation.

3.                  Stretch the Soft Tissues.  Almost everyone can benefit from stretching muscles, tendons and ligaments.  Your back is designed for movement, and if your motion is limited it can make your back pain worse. If you suffer from chronic back pain, you may find it takes weeks or months of stretching to loosen up your spine and soft tissues, but you will find that meaningful and sustained pain relief will follow the increase in motion. Our chiropractors can teach you several stretches and exercises designed to target the areas that need more strength or flexibility to help relieve your chronic pain.

4.                  Enjoy the outdoors. People who got the recommended daily 400 to 800 IU of vitamin D experienced less pain than those who didn’t, according to a Boston University study of 221 men and women with knee osteoarthritis. Researchers surmised that Vitamin D helps relieve pain by aiding in the absorption of calcium, which is needed for bone growth and repair. Other research shows vitamin D may directly help soothe pain. 93% of 150 people with unexplained sources of pain were recently found to be deficient in Vitamin D levels, according to recent research at the University of Minnesota. About 15 minutes of sun exposure on your face and hands a day is enough to get your daily dose of D, or a 200-IU supplement of Vitamin D and as much calcium as is found in two glasses of milk.

5.                  Imagine yourself to be in a better place. Guided imagery allows you to hear and internalize therapeutic suggestions that help you feel better. In one study of 28 women with osteoarthritis pain, half of the women listened to a 10 to 15 minute recorded script twice daily that guided them through muscle relaxation techniques. On average, women in the guided imagery group reported that their pain eased by 18% and that their mobility improved by 13%; vs. those in the control group who experienced a 16% worsening of pain and a 2% decrease in mobility. Guided imagery can be learned with a practitioner or on your own using audiotapes or CDs.

6.                  Realign your energy flow. The mechanism of action for the ancient Chinese healing technique of acupuncture is still not completely understood, but it has been proven in medical trials to reduce certain types of chronic pain, including back pain.  I've always maintained that 5000 years of practice can't be all that bad. P.S. the needles are super-thin and are usually not painful.

7.                   Eat cookies. Research shows that eating sweet foods like cookies, chocolate or ice cream, helps reduce the sensation of pain. Or just bake the cookies. Enjoying a smell that is both sweet and pleasant has been shown to reduce the perception of pain.

8.                  Natural Supplements.  Many nutritional supplements have been shown to have safe and effective long-term results in reducing pain and inflammation.  Some of the best include: Omega-3 fatty acids (from fish oil, flaxseed oil or borage oil), Curcumin (Tumeric), Arnica, Devil's Claw, Cetyl Myristoleate (CMO), MSM (Methylsulfonylmethane), and Menthol.

9.                  Get enough restorative sleep. Getting enough sleep is critical to healing and pain management, so it’s important to employ a variety of sleep aids to help you get a healthy amount of sleep. Regular exercise that physically exhausts the body is the best way to promote deep sleep. Visualization, meditation, and other psychological techniques can also help you get to sleep and stay asleep. And don’t forget the power of naps.

Chiropractic Adjustments.  Finally, don't forget the power of consistent, regular spinal manipulation.  Not only does it release the beta-endorphins as mentioned above, but it improves the motion of the spinal joints that aids in reducing mechanical and biochemical irritation of the pain nerves.  Let the experienced chiropractic physicians at The Joint help you restore your proper motion to relieve your pain.

~ Dr. Brad Hendricks

Barefoot Running

As spring approaches, many people are anxious to get off the treadmill and head outside to resume their trail and street running. There has been a lot of hype about barefoot running and the subculture that caters to that movement has been growing, and you may be thinking of adopting this new style of running. Many of you may be aware of some of the controversy surrounding barefoot running with one camp proclaiming that it is much more natural to run barefoot and another claiming that it will cause injury. As a chiropractor in Salt Lake City, I was naturally curious.  I would like to report on a couple of recent studies that tried to address this issue.

The first study was done in 2010 and was led by Harvard professor of human biology Daniel Lieberman and was published in the journal Nature. This study suggests that runners who don't wear shoes have a significantly different foot strike that minimizes structural impact compared to those who wear shoes. Lieberman, et al., analyzed the running styles of adult U.S. athletes who had always worn shoes; adult U.S. runners who had grown up wearing shoes, but now run barefoot; Kenyan athletes who had never worn shoes; and Kenyan athletes who had grown up running barefoot, but had switched to running with shoes. They found that the barefoot runners tended to point their toes when landing, putting the impact at the middle or front of the foot instead of on the heel and making the runners less prone to repetitive-stress injuries.

Other research out of Harvard has demonstrated that the foot-strike pattern associated with barefoot runners is significantly more economical for running, meaning runners use less energy to run the same distances as runners wearing traditional shoes and striking with the heel.

The second study was published in February 2013 in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. This trial raises questions about whether barefoot running is really advantageous or simply contributes to the development of a different set of running injuries. Thirty-six recreational, experienced runners participated in the study. Each participant had, until the beginning of the trial, run between 15 and 30 miles a week wearing normal running shoes. Both groups received a pre-participation MRI of their feet to ensure no pre-existing injuries were present.

Half of the participants were used as a control and told to continue their running routine using the same mileage in the same shoes for the duration of the study. The other runners were given barefoot-style shoes and told to incorporate them into their runs according to the recommendations provided at the time by the manufacturer: a single short 1-2-mile run in the shoes the first week and two 1-2-mile runs in the shoes the second and third weeks. After the third week participants were encouraged to add miles as they felt comfortable.

Following 10 weeks of training, both groups received follow-up MRI studies. Neither group showed injuries or tissue changes to any of the structures in the lower leg, but over half of the participants wearing barefoot-style shoes had developed increased bone-marrow edema in the tarsals and metatarsal bones.

The radiologists rated the severity of the edema on a scale of 0 to 4, with 0 indicating no edema and 1 indicating the slight edema of a normal response to training. The control group showed average level 1 edema levels in the bones of their feet, while the majority of the barefoot-running group had developed edema levels of at least 2. Three of the barefoot runners had extensive level 3 edema and two displayed full stress fractures of their calcaneus or metatarsals with associated level 4 edema. By the end of the test period, almost all of the barefoot-style runners were running fewer miles due to pain and soreness.

The takeaway message from this is that barefoot running does indeed limit the heel strike gait that can cause repetitive-stress injuries; however, if you decide to make the switch, the researchers recommend that you take enough time to transition so that your bones and muscles have time to adapt.

Whether you decide to continue with your regular running shoes or change to a more minimal, barefoot style shoe, let the chiropractors at The Joint in the Salt Lake city area evaluate you and adjust not only your spine but your feet and ankles also ensure that you are functioning at your optimal level.

Dr. Brad Hendricks

The Joint Cottonwood Heights

1. Lieberman DE, Venkadesan M, Werbel WA, Daoud AI, D'Andrea S, Davis IS, Mang'eni RO, Pitsiladis Y. Foot strike patterns and collision forces in habitually barefoot versus shod runners. Nature, 2010;463:531-5.
2. Ridge ST, Johnson AW, Mitchell UH, Hunter I, Robinson E, Rich BS, Brown SD. Foot bone marrow edema after 10-week transition to minimalist running shoes. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 2013 Feb 22. 

Helpful Hints for New Year’s Resolutions

It is that time of year when most of us start thinking about getting healthy and we start making goals around diet and exercise. Many times those goals become too lofty and we stick to them for just a short time and then abandon them in favor of the status quo.

I’d like to suggest a simplified health and wellness program that is perhaps a bit easier to maintain and continue working all year long. It combines eating healthier, getting more exercise and Utah chiropractic care.

1. Diet

It really is not hard to clean up the average diet. The following program is aimed at the average person. It does not take into consideration people with special needs, diseases, food allergies or food hypersensitivities.

The standard American diet (SAD) contains too many calories; too many simple carbohydrates (sugars); too much fat (especially saturated fat); too much processed food, and too many chemicals (preservatives, colorings, stabilizers and other additives) that have no nutritional value. This diet helps contribute to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity, and a host of other disorders.

The rate of these diseases can be slowed - even reversed - by eating more fruits; vegetables; legumes (beans); unprocessed grains; and by drinking more pure water. When a person eats more "good" food, they ingest more vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and fiber.

There are 21 chances per week (seven breakfasts, lunches and dinners) plus snacks to give your body fuel. For breakfast, eat a high-fiber hot or cold cereal. If you need sweetener, make sure to measure carefully and not liberally pour. Nonfat milk, soy milk or protein powder are optional, depending on your level of activity and weight loss concerns. Add the optional calories for high activity, and skip them if you need to lose weight.

For lunches and dinners, eat seven vegetable-based meals and seven animal-protein-based meals. Thus, either for lunch or dinner each day eat a vegetable-based meal, such as a large salad. This should consist of a dark green with four to five colors of vegetables and one legume (pinto; kidney; black; white; red; garbanzo; navy; lentils; or soy). Use a spoonful or two of olive or canola-oil-based dressing. If that is not enough flavor, you can add vinegar or very-low-calorie dressings to suit your taste. Other options for your vegetable meal would be a large plate of steamed vegetables (again, shoot for at least five colors) or a bowl of vegetable soup.

For the seven animal-protein-based-meals, I prefer fish, chicken or turkey with a nonstarch vegetable side dish. For people with high activity or growth with no weight loss, starches such as pasta, potatoes, rice and bread may be added.

Unfortunately, many people only eat a few healthy meals per week. The goal of this plan is to eat 15 healthy breakfasts, lunches, and dinners each week. A habit of 15 healthy meals per week puts most Americans way above average and still allows flexibility and indulgence. Compared to the normal American diet, this plan is higher in both soluble and insoluble fiber, vitamins and minerals and is lower in saturated fats, sugars, empty calories and chemicals. It is also high in phytochemicals and yields over 10 servings of fruits and vegetables per day. By putting healthier food in your body, you will feel better now, and reduce your chances of serious illness later.

2. Exercise

For some people, life seems just too hectic to meet the recommended 30 continuous minutes per day of aerobic exercise. The American College of Sports Medicine and the Centers for Disease Control have changed the previous exercise guidelines to meet the demands of an increasingly busy society. A more practical approach: 30 minutes of total moderate physical activity - continuous or intermittent - should be performed most days of the week. The effectiveness of these new guidelines was recently tested, with particular emphasis on cardiovascular fitness and weight loss.

The study, which appeared in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, compared the effects of

variations of a 30-minute exercise program on aerobic fitness and weight loss in college women. Forty-eight overweight women were divided into four groups: no exercise; 30 minutes of continuous exercise per day; two 15-minutes sessions of exercise per day; and three 10-minute sessions per day. Measures of fitness, weight loss, skinfold thickness, and body circumference were taken initially and after three months of exercise training on a stationary bicycle.

All three exercise groups demonstrated significant fitness improvement, weight loss, and decreased body measurements at the end of the study. The results were similar between all three exercise groups. The nonexercise group did not show any significant changes.

Exercise may have similar effects on weight loss and aerobic fitness, whether performed in one long bout or several cumulative short sessions. It also promotes pain relief from the back and neck. If your schedule doesn’t allow for a long block of time to get in an effective workout, now you have an alternative to stay fit.

3. Chiropractic care

The proper function of the spine is a vital part of overall health and wellness, with Utah chiropractic care playing a major role. If you are serious about improving your health with diet and exercise, regular spinal adjustments will keep you more limber and stable and allow you to continue whatever exercise program you choose, contributing to back and neck pain relief. Additionally, improving nerve flow and function will optimize your organ function. So you can see that if you are providing your body with the proper nutrients from a better diet, and keeping your spine aligned, all the trillions of cells in your body will be able to perform their functions to their fullest.

Here at the Joint, we are committed to helping you reach your goals of a healthy and happy new year.

~Dr. Brad Hendricks