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Welcome to Chiropractic Life and Wellness Center's Archive. Here you can learn more about Chiropractic Life and Wellness Center, Chiropractic, and Dr. Brandon Chorney, today's choice for Chiropractors in New Fairfield, CT. Read Dr. Brandon Chorney's Chiropractic for the health of it.
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by Dr. Brandon Chorney | Sep 17, 2013 | Health Articles
According to a recent report, cardiovascular disease takes more lives worldwide than any other disorder. Diseases of the heart and blood vessels, are accountable for just over 4 million deaths in Europe every year and nearly one-third of all deaths worldwide. In the United States, coronary artery disease claims responsibility for nearly 20% of all...
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by Dr. Brandon Chorney | Sep 12, 2013 | Health Articles
Chronic injuries require rehabilitation programs that cater for the specific needs of the injury and a long-term approach. Patience is required for these rehabilitation programs and it is essential to remember that the problem has developed over a period of years and will not be fixed in a matter of weeks or months. Progress should be reached in the short-term, but such situations usually require consistent, ongoing attention to achieve the long-term solution.
Applying the appropriate rehabilitation program to chronic injuries is critically important and chiropractic care can be of great assistance in achieving the maximum rewards out of your rehabilitation. Regular chiropractic care can improve the mobility of your spinal column and remove nerve interference which may cause tight, inflamed muscles. The end result is an optimized body for good health and full function. By enabling the maximum mobility of the spine and maximum function of your nerve system, regular chiropractic care can help to maximize your body’s ability to recover from chronic injury.
Degenerative Disorders
As we get older, years of mechanical stress can lead to the deterioration of joints, ligaments, and tendons. This degenerative process, more commonly known as arthritis, primarily affects the weight-bearing joints in the body such as the hips and knees and those found in the lumbar spine. The shoulder, too, is also prone to undergo arthritic changes due to its extreme mobility. The extensive range of motion at the shoulder is built-in to the design of this structure, but the sacrifice for this is major instability.
Degenerative disorders of the shoulder joint typically involve the rotator cuff. This broad, flat structure is made up of the muscle-tendon units of the four rotator cuff muscles: the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, subscapularis, and teres minor. The thick covering of the rotator cuff surrounds the head of the arm bone and gives support and strength to the shoulder joint. But due to the shoulder’s inherent instability contrasted with its great mobility, the soft tissues of the rotator cuff constantly undergo repetitive stress and strain. Ultimately, degenerative changes may occur, leading to the two prominent symptoms of pain and restricted range of motion.
Chronic Pain and Rehabilitation
An entire orthopedic sub-specialty focuses on treatment of chronic shoulder pain and includes long-term use of anti-inflammatory medication, corticosteroid injections when medications cannot, or do not provide sufficient relief, and eventually surgery to repair tears in the various rotator cuff tendons.
The good news is that in many of these cases, a more optimal approach is available, one that utilizes the body’s own natural recuperative powers. For many people, chronic shoulder pain can be reduced and chronic loss of mobility can be improved by engaging in certain activities and by applying a specific rehabilitative program. The goals of these rehabilitation programs are to increase the shoulders range of motion and build up its strength. As these goals are accomplished, the likely results are a reduction of intensity and frequency of occurrence of shoulder pain.
Your Rehabilitation Program
Engaging in an overall strength training program is an important approach to managing chronic shoulder pain. Strength training should be completed progressively, starting with lighter weights and progressing to heavier weights over time. If a person has experienced an acute shoulder injury, early rehabilitation should precede rehabilitative strength training. Early rehabilitation includes pendulum exercises and finger-walking up a wall in both forward-facing and side positions.
Your chiropractor is experienced in injury rehabilitation and will be able to help you design an effective flexibility and strengthening program for improved shoulder function.
by Dr. Brandon Chorney | Sep 10, 2013 | Health Articles
“Dowager’s Hump” can affect any person who spends a lot of their time hunched over or has a severe case of osteoporosis. The professional term for Dowager’s Hump is hyperkyphosis, which is an increase in the forward curvature of the lower cervical and upper thoracic spine. It is a condition that can either be relatively painless or can cause a great amount of pain and discomfort.
Dowager’s hump is a lot more common in people with osteoporosis and is usually due to what is called a wedge fracture. This happens when the front part of the vertebra (the side facing your chest) collapses. This causes the vertebra to tilt forward, which forces the back to curve and the head to stick out in a forward direction. In some cases the curvature is so severe that it forces the head to look downward. It can turn into a domino effect, with the collapsed vertebra tilting and putting pressure on the one below, causing them too also fracture and tilt. In advanced osteoporosis, the bones of the vertebrae can become so porous that they can fracture as a result of simple tasks, such as lifting something or coughing and sneezing.
Hyperkyphosis Relief
A wedge fracture does not necessarily cause the person pain, and the first signs can be a loss in height or an obvious rounding of the upper back. Other people generally tend to see it before the person suffering from the disorder, as we do not usually view ourselves from the side. A person with hyperkyphosis can also experience neck pain, breathing difficulties, rib pain and loss of appetite. Symptoms can get worse when coughing or sneezing and may be relieved when lying down.
Those people suffering with mild cases of hyperkyphosis may be able to find some relief by participating in yoga. A study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society showed that elderly women with Dowager’s Hump who participated in yoga classes three times a week for six months, had a reduction in the curvature of their spine. In some cases where Dowager’s Hump is more severe and is causing a lot more pain, there are more invasive treatments available. The surgical treatments vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty consists of an injection of cement into the vertebrae to restore and regain their height, reduce their pain and restore their proper spinal curvature.
Prevention is the Best Form of Treatment
The most desirable treatment is prevention, this involves the strengthening of the bones as much as possible and preventing the loss of bone by eating a healthy diet and trying to achieve the minimum requirement of regular weight-bearing exercise (30 minutes a day, 5 times a week). Maintaining the correct posture is also very important, as habitual slumping eventually causes imbalances of the muscles, and the muscles and ligaments that support the spinal column are weakened, putting additional pressure on the vertebrae, which allows them to slip out of place. Regular chiropractic adjustments can help to keep the vertebrae aligned, along with regular exercise to strengthen the supporting muscles.
by Dr. Brandon Chorney | Sep 5, 2013 | Health Articles
Chiropractic care can assist us on the path to smart exercise. We want to complete our work, making gradual progress towards an increase in strength and cardiovascular fitness. But even if we're really doing smart exercise, injuries can still occur. Chiropractic care can help to prevent unexpected injuries and help to decrease the recovery time...
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by Dr. Brandon Chorney | Sep 3, 2013 | Health Articles
When National Hockey League (NHL) superstar Sidney Crosby suffered two concussions within days of one another, he looked for help from his chiropractor, Dr. Ted Carrick, a Chiropractic Neurologist who treats Crosby and many other players in the NHL and NFL. Carrick says, “In professional hockey alone, there are more than 50,000 hits annually, and...
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Chronic injuries require rehabilitation programs that cater for the specific needs of the injury and a long-term approach. Patience is required for these rehabilitation programs and it is essential to remember that the problem has developed over a period of years and will not be fixed in a matter of weeks or months. Progress should be reached in the short-term, but such situations usually require consistent, ongoing attention to achieve the long-term solution.
