Archive for the ‘Health Articles’ Category
Welcome to Chiropractic Life and Wellness Center's Health Articles 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 Health Articles for the health of it.
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by Dr. Brandon Chorney | May 13, 2021 | Health Articles
Let’s live healthier and more active longer. That alone has become the motto of our generations who may have reached our embracing years of our thirties and older. Our ability to want to play full out is fabulous as long as we maintain and take care our health and our bodies along the way. One such joint that has an extreme amount of wear and tear and can put us on the sideline quickly is our knee joints. Remember even old injuries to our knees that may have happened when we were in our twenties can come back to haunt us in our retirement years.
At the moment there is no time machine that can transport us back in time to avoid the injury, but there are some things we can do to help keep our knees from being prone to injury and keep us kicking strong for years to come.
Start Strong Knee Tips
1. Wear Proper Shoes – If your feet tend to roll to the inside or outside, or if you have fallen arches, it can affect not only your knees, but your hips and back. A proper assessment will determine if orthotics may be a suitable option for you. Orthotics should be properly fitted and customized to your needs.
2. Exercise Intelligently – This can be a particular problem with “weekend warriors” who feel they must fit in as much exercise as possible over the weekend because they don’t have time during the week. This can contribute to an overloading of the muscles, tendons and ligaments of the knee that are not accustomed to regular exercise, leading to an injury or even micro-tears that may not show up immediately, but could over time.
3. Lose Unhealthy Pounds – Any high-impact activities are extra hard on the knees if you are overweight. If you are overweight, running and other sports that have great impact on the knees should be avoided until you have achieved a normal weight. Practice other forms of exercise in the meantime that take the pressure off the knee, such as walking, swimming, and/or cycling.
4. Increase strength and flexibility – Concentrate on stretching and strengthening the hamstrings, quadriceps, hip flexors and the vastus medialis oblique (VMO) muscles, as these provide the greatest support to the knees and ensure that the knee tracks properly. Women are especially prone to improper tracking, which places more stress on the ligaments of the knee. This misalignment creates a popping or grinding sound when you bend the knee, often accompanied by pain. Incorporate Yoga and Pilates as they are a good way to keep the muscles, tendons and ligaments of the leg and knee strong and flexible.
5. Add Safe and Natural Chiropractic Adjustments and Rehabilitation– If your spine or hips are misaligned, the stress your knees have to bear is much greater. Sacroiliac and lumbar misalignments can make one leg shorter than the other, so your gait is not straight. Studies have shown that people who had knee pain due to muscle tightness showed there was a significant improvement of the condition in all subjects after having a chiropractic adjustment to the sacroiliac joint. Regular chiropractic care can help keep excessive strain off your knees and increase range of motion.
Futurepace Your Healthcare Solution!
Our expert team would like to be part of your future healthcare solution. We will address not only the areas that are affected by pain but help restore function to help your body obtain better long lasting overall health and strength naturally.
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by Dr. Brandon Chorney | May 6, 2021 | Health Articles
For decades, arthritis was considered an inherent part of the aging process and a signal to a patient that it’s time to slow down. But not anymore. Surprisingly recent research points out that people much younger can develop rheumatoid arthritis pain but the best news is that people no longer need to suffer needlessly from...
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by Dr. Brandon Chorney | Apr 29, 2021 | Health Articles
April showers bring May flowers, but what can May flowers bring? That's right - possible back pain. As springtime gets under way, we head outside into the warm weather and begin the spring clean in our garden. We are invigorated by the warmth and begin tackling the garden in Gung-ho style. Although gardening can provide...
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by Dr. Brandon Chorney | Apr 22, 2021 | Health Articles
Our society for the most part lives for the exhilaration of endorphins that we release as we strive for the goal line of victory. We simply love winning. Our addiction will often be the force that drives us to the next challenge. We know that our win is never based on “good luck” but our preparations meeting opportunities for victory. But as with all athletics there is also an inherent risk of injuries not based on “bad luck” but other unfortunate circumstances.
If A Sports Injury Happens
At the time of injury most often we are upset with ourselves, the circumstances and want answers to our questions:
- When can I start exercising again?
- When can I get back to my sport?
- What can I do to prevent this from happening again?
The answers to these questions are relatively straightforward. But for some, injuries continue to happen. Which leads us to our next key question:
- Why does this keep happening to me?
This question is the hardest to answer. Some athlete’s injuries may occur even when they are doing the things that they are supposed to be doing. Although challenging, it is imperative to continue to try to discover the underlying causes to better prepare and build strength for the next opportunities for greatness.
The “Why”
If we dig deeper, we’ll find that there are three primary sources of training injuries: (1) under-preparation, (2) over-training, and (3) lack of focus.
Training sounds pretty simple on paper. Just eat right, sleep well, and lift a little bit more weight every workout. But every workout takes place in real life, and real life can make training pretty hard. Optimal training only occurs when daily life doesn’t get in the way.
Training like an athlete while working a full-time job or going to school is not easy, but fixing weak points in your habits and lifestyle can help avoid training setbacks and plateaus.
The first training injury most often experienced is under-preparation. Under-preparation means doing things you’re not ready to do. For example, people who have never done aerobic exercise go out and try to run five miles, or people who have never done strength training go to the gym and try to lift weights that are too heavy. These exercise patterns can be dangerous, physically, and may directly lead to injury.
Remember a 16-year-old teenager has some leeway and can get away with making a variety of training errors. This leeway may even be true for those who are in their mid-20s, but persons who are older need to train on a trajectory. Sound principles include starting slowly, starting with the basics, and making sure to include rest days in your training program. Build up your strength and stamina. Doing more than you are ready for will send you straight to your chiropractor’s office or even to the hospital.
Remember exercise can cause muscle and joint pain. The severity of the soreness and how long it takes to recover depends on diet and lifestyle, as well as the kind of exercises performed.
Could I Be Over-Training?
The second most often cause for injury is over-training.
Over-training means doing too much. Most of us are guilty of this. For example, you love to run, you build up your weekly mileage to a good level, but then you keep piling on the distance. Then all of a sudden you’ve got a stress fracture in your leg or a severe strain of a calf muscle.
The key is to train smart and to be aware of the possibility of over-training. The temptation to do more is always there, but the result is never good. The short-term gratification is completely outweighed by the frustration and loss of conditioning resulting from injury-enforced down-time.
Clear the Mechanism
Many injuries happen during regular training because the person’s mind has wandered off from a life distraction or lethargy.
When people pay more attention to the TV or their incoming text messages than they do to the equipment they’re using or the weight they’re lifting, the result can be an injury, sometimes a bad one. In fact, you’re very unlikely to sustain an injury during normal training if you’re completely focused. Maintaining focus should be a central part of the discipline of training.
But what about lethargy and fatigue?
The occasional all-nighter won’t have a long-term effect on performance, but consistently poor sleep will. To ensure laser focus in mental acuity aim for six to ten hours of sleep every night and follow these guidelines for a healthy sleep environment:
A healthy sleep environment is:
- A slightly cool room tends to facilitate sleep.
- Turn off electronic devices. Smartphones and tablets just before bed will disrupt melatonin secretion, leading to a more difficult time falling asleep.
- Ears don’t close as eyes do. Even if you sleep through the night, loud noises can still impair sleep quality.
- Caffeine-free. Avoid any compounds that impair sleep and lower sleep quality.
- Where you sleep and how long you sleep for should be the same from night to night.
Ready to Learn More?
A big part of our sports performance and rehabilitation process is the acquisition of knowledge. In the realm of exercise and fitness, some personal knowledge of biomechanics can go a very long way toward preventing injuries.
Our expert team has been designed to help not only rehabilitate sports injuries through Chiropractic and other rehabilitative care but to help you learn more about human biomechanics and how to achieve your optimal physical performance.
by Dr. Brandon Chorney | Apr 15, 2021 | Health Articles
As we get older, we begin to find signs of age. Our skin is not as firm. We are not as flexible. We slow down and actually acknowledge we are in pain. But what happens when our joint pain begins to become so excruciating that we are limited in our day to day activities?
Unfortunately many choose the most invasive option first – surgery.
Alarming Statistics For Joint Replacement Surgeries
Over the last few decades, the number of total hip and knee replacement surgeries have been rising at an alarming rate. In the United States total hip and replacement, surgeries have increased more than 50% and 170%, respectively. Europe is also seeing similar rises for these procedures with some northern European countries reporting alarming statistics of between 170% and 500% increase over the last decade alone.
Many suggest that the increase in statistical numbers is primarily related to the increasing age of our population combined with accessibility and advancement of surgical procedures.
Of course, for those with unrelenting, daily pain these radical surgeries can appear to be a blessing. However with the level of risk associated with the procedures themselves combined with the fact that the occurrence of nosocomial infections is continuing to rise it is essential that we start taking actions today to help prevent these types of surgeries from continuing to grow in popularity.
When is Surgery An Option?
Most replacement surgeries are done when a patient reaches the point of severe and unrelenting pain caused by degenerative joint disease, which is also called osteoarthritis.
The hips, knees, and ankles are all weight bearing joints. These joints are big and strong and have many surfaces on which to distribute the substantial mechanical loads which are placed on them throughout the day. Unfortunately, these joints may not last forever and similar to many living systems when their age starts to show they begin breaking down. If this breaking down process progresses, the joint can become necrotic at which point a replacement is almost inevitable. However, there is significant research to suggest that this breaking down process can at the very least be slowed down and in many cases, it can be reversed.
One Step Forward – Two Back
By far the best way forward are the old reliable: regular exercise, as vigorous as is reasonably possible; a healthy diet containing plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables; and sufficient rest on as consistent basis as possible. Regular chiropractic care can also be a key component of helping to keep your weight bearing joints in peak condition and improve poor posture. Unfortunately, our health is often affected by our good habits which we do just a few more times less often than our poor lifestyle habits.
One is the ability to place our bodies in a poor posture for extended lengths of time. Chronic poor posture is a significant factor that results in abnormal movement patterns in these large joints and leaves them susceptible to degeneration. Unfortunately, our body doesn’t come with an instruction manual. So as time goes on, the inefficient habits we develop as children and teenagers can become permanent. We slouch, let our abdominal muscles sag, stand with all our weight on one leg, and noticeably our heads stick out in front of our shoulders rather than being centered over our chests. As a result is our neck, shoulders, and lower back muscles are chronically tight and painful. The domino effect is that the uneven distribution of the weight of the body ultimately causes restricted movements and degeneration of our hips and knees.
The second significant factor is poor dietary habits. You may not know this, but these large joints produce their own lubricating fluid. However certain nutritional deficiencies can result in essential nutrients not being available and thus poor production of the lubricating fluids. Lack of proper joint lubrication leads to osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis leads to pain in the joints when used for exercise. Lack of regular exercise inhibits normal joint motion, nutrition, and lubrication, resulting in the development of degenerative joint diseases. So when you add up faulty biomechanics, lack of a healthy diet, and lack of proper exercise, the result is a prescription for chronic hip and knee problems.
Ready To Help!
The best time to start addressing these issues is when you’re young and have healthy joints. That doesn’t mean that you at any age can’t get started, it just means that starting healthy lifestyle habits is easier to achieve when you are younger. But no matter if you are 9 or 90 the best time to begin making healthy changes is right now.
Call today and find out if we have a solution for you that could avoid surgery and help your body to adapt, restore function, recover faster, and continue better health from this point onward.
by Dr. Brandon Chorney | Apr 8, 2021 | Health Articles
Fabulous Spring is here! At this time of year, we should be in full swing and enjoying the benefits of the sun and outdoor activities. Unfortunately many of us are sitting on the bench or taking medications to play through our neck pain and what is described as a "frozen shoulder". What Exactly is...
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