Posts Tagged ‘Back Pain New Fairfield’
Welcome to Chiropractic Life and Wellness Center's Back Pain New Fairfield 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 Back Pain New Fairfield for the health of it.
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by Dr. Brandon Chorney | Apr 18, 2013 | Health Articles
Scoliosis is a spinal condition which affects between five and seven million people in the US alone, most often adolescents between the ages of 10 and 15, and more commonly girls, although it can affect any age. Over half a million visits to the doctor are made each year to either evaluate or treat scoliosis....
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by Dr. Brandon Chorney | Aug 16, 2012 | Health Articles
Even if you love fashion, you must know that it’s a pretty fickle beast. What’s in one day is passé the next. You spend hundreds on an item in March, and then wouldn’t be seen dead with it in May. But the worst of it is the toll it can take on you physically. No one said fashion had to be practical or comfortable, and those considerations are the last things on a fashion designer’s mind.
The truth of fashion is that it caters to a world that doesn’t really exist. Who’d walk out onto the street in a six-foot high hat and eight-inch heels? But even many of those toned-down items that make it into the high street stores aren’t really suitable for everyday wear. All it takes to cause pain and potentially long-term problems is to venture out too many times in high heels with a heavy bag slung over one shoulder. The legs, the back, the shoulders, spine and neck can all suffer in your pursuit of fashion.
High heels are the worst culprits in the line-up because they so badly alter a person’s natural balance, throwing all sorts of stresses and strains into vulnerable parts of the body. It is not just the feet that suffer in high heels. The dynamic equilibrium enjoyed by a well-balanced body is ruined by high heels, and unnatural compensations take place in the body, with new movements, alignments and restrictions.
In a nutshell, high heels increases the normal forward curve of the spine and also tip the pelvis forward. The body’s center of gravity shifts as a result. Standing bare foot allows a person to be perfectly balanced, as nature intended, with the hamstrings supporting the pelvis as they should. High heels, on the other hand, encourage the hamstrings to shorten.
It is the same with clothes that are too tight; movement is restricted, changed, and the body has to compensate. But second in the guilty line-up is heavy bags, purses, backpacks or briefcases, and the people who load into them far too much stuff. A bag that weighs more than 10% of your body weight causes the body to become imbalanced, especially when it is carried over one shoulder or in one hand, because the natural tendency is to lift up the carrying shoulder and lean the body to the opposite side to compensate. The legs and arms then become less coordinated and the spine curves towards the weight-bearing shoulder.
Less serious is the practice of carrying a hefty wallet in your back pockets. Less serious perhaps, but more insidious in the fact that many people will not even give it a second thought. However, this can cause discomfort over a day, especially if you are sitting on it for part of the time because the muscle will be dented by the article, causing pain.
It may be hard, but you need to forgo certain fashions for the sake of your health, where those fashions are detrimental to your health. Keep in mind the following when choosing clothes, shoes and accessories.
- Choose comfortable shoes. When you go out in high heels, try and take a pair of flats with you to swap into if you become uncomfortable. If you want to wear high heels at work and you walk to work, take the heels in a bag and walk in flat shoes instead.
- If a shoe feels uncomfortable when merely standing, walking in it will be infinitely worse.
- Choose supportive shoes that have sufficient cushioning to make walking easy.
- Whatever shoes you are wearing, take regular breaks from sitting to stretch out the hamstrings.
- Don’t wear clothes so tight that they restrict your physical movements.
- Select a bag that allows you to carry it distributed evenly on your body, rather than over one shoulder. The strap should therefore be padded and long enough to place over the head.
- If the bag is on one shoulder or in one hand, swap it frequently from one side to the other to share the burden.
- Remove any unnecessary items from your bag to make it lighter.
- Keep often-used items to hand rather than in your back pocket to prevent having to twist to get them.
- Remove your wallet from your back pocket when sitting or driving for any length of time.
- Suit your clothes to your everyday activities.
Remember that you can be stylish and healthy at the same time, and that shunning the latest fashion to protect your health is actually the coolest thing you can do.
by Dr. Brandon Chorney | Jun 19, 2012 | Health Articles
A Chiropractic-based research project is being used to study the effectiveness of Chiropractic care and it’s relation to the general health status of patients. Data was collected from 311 patients for the project using the RAND Health Survey and a global well-being scale. X-rays of pre-adjustment and post-adjustment were also reviewed for the study. Participants...
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by Dr. Brandon Chorney | May 17, 2012 | Health Articles
Scoliosis is a condition that affects 5 to 7 million people in the United States, most often adolescents between the ages of 10 and 15, and more commonly girls, although it can affect any age. Over half a million visits to the doctor are made each year to either evaluate or treat scoliosis. As the condition can be inherited, a history of it occurring within a family, or current cases, should lead to evaluation of all the children by an appropriate professional.
What is scoliosis?
Scoliosis is a lateral (sideways) curvature of the spine where that curvature is greater than 10% from the vertical. Less than 10 degrees may simply be the result of postural changes. Although the nervous system works to keep your spine straight, problems can occur. Scoliosis may not exist in isolation, and lordosis (abnormal curvature toward the front) or kyphosis (abnormal curvature toward the back) may also be present. The vertebrae are also often rotated.
80% of the time, the cause of scoliosis remains unknown, and this is called idiopathic scoliosis. In the other cases, the condition will be the result of some form of trauma, neurological disease, tumor, or similar. Where postural problems, muscle spasms, or leg-length inequality cause the condition, it is known as functional scoliosis, and can often be corrected. Structural scoliosis, on the other hand, is not reducible with postural changes.
Scoliosis symptoms
Scoliosis can cause pain, and impair lung function or heart function. It can also lead to psychological problems such as poor self-esteem, especially because it so often happens at an age when peer pressure is at its most powerful.
With 4 out of 5 scoliosis sufferers, the spinal curvature is less than 20 degrees, and this is not normally visible to the untrained eye. Provided these cases do not appear to be worsening, there is no great cause for alarm. However, as children and adolescents have bodies that are still growing, mild curvatures can bend by a further 10 degrees or more in a matter of months. For this reason, evaluations should be made frequently.
Scoliosis evaluation
Scoliosis is evaluated by conducting a detailed family history and a physical examination that includes postural analysis. If a curvature is detected, further investigation is required to establish if there is any obvious cause of the problem, such as a birth defects or any prior injury
X-rays are a useful tool when the curvatures are pronounced, to check more thoroughly on the structure of the spine, and if the scoliosis is impinging upon anything else. The wrist is also often x-rayed because this is used to assess the patient’s skeletal age, as a barometer of where that person is in relation to the accepted norm, and for monitoring the progression of the condition. X-rays may be needed anything from once every 3 to 4 months, to once every few years, depending on the doctor’s feelings about the possible rate of progression.
A device called a Scoliometer can be employed to monitor progression once diagnosis is certain. This measures changes in the rib humps that are linked to scoliosis, and is painless, being a non-invasive technique.
Progression in scoliosis
The vast majority of scoliosis cases are mild, non-progressive, and there is no need for treatment. This is not true for one category, though, which is young girls with a curvature of at least 25 degrees, who have not yet menstruated for the first time. As there is relatively fast growth in the year before the first period, it follows that any curvature will also progress quickly. After the first period, this slows down.
Scoliosis treatment
Traditionally, scoliosis is treatable in three ways: observation, bracing, and surgery. The first option is the most common and is not really a treatment because nothing is actually done to the sufferer, for the reasons outlined above regarding its usually non-progressive state. Bracing is normally only applicable to children whose skeletons have not fully matured whose curvatures are between 25 and 45 degrees. In progressive cases beyond 45 degrees, and/or if the function of the heart, lungs, or other vital organs may be affected, surgery becomes an option.
Today the treatment option which is showing the most promise is a combination of spinal adjustments or manipulation, therapeutic exercise, and electrical muscle stimulation. These can be especially helpful to anyone whose scoliosis is causing them spinal pain such as lower back pain, neck pain and also headaches. A general piece of advice, exercise is both advocated and well-tolerated for patients with scoliosis. Most importantly, it should be remembered that most people who have scoliosis lead their lives no differently to anyone else, however, as their spine is exposed to increased levels of strain mechanically it is important to ensure that extra efforts are made to help keep the spine healthy. Chiropractic care is a great method of ensuring spinal health.
