Posts Tagged ‘Low Back Pain New Fairfield CT’
Welcome to Chiropractic Life and Wellness Center's Low Back Pain New Fairfield CT 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 Low Back Pain New Fairfield CT for the health of it.
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by Dr. Brandon Chorney | Sep 27, 2022 | Health Articles
Fall is here! The first days of school have come and gone. Now the once excited kids bend over or strain shoulders to hold the overly heavy backpacks that contain their school books and folders. Unfortunately these over filled backpacks are heading our future generations into early back pain, neck pain, headaches and disease processes. According to...
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by Dr. Brandon Chorney | Aug 30, 2022 | Health Articles
We are in full swing of the 21st century with all its benefits but also alarming detriments. All correspondence is now primarily virtual. Interactions between humans, may it be business, casual acquaintances and worse, our more intimate partners has now become smart technology hands-free operations based. With so much time spent in our virtual world,...
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by Dr. Brandon Chorney | Aug 16, 2022 | Health Articles
Next time you are out, look to the person on your left and right or better yet look at the group of people who are just a short distance from you. What you may notice is the rolled shoulders and head forward posture. No, it is not the cell phone they have in their hands that they are staring intently into, but their now adapted postures due to those and other computer devices that have become the absolute norm of our American generation lifestyle.
Although we are way ahead in technology, unfortunately, our generation is leading the way in spinal degeneration, arthritis, and chronic illnesses. Lower back pain is now so common that it affects almost 90% of adults with the majority suffering from lumbar arthritis as a contributing factor to their lower back pain.
Let’s Examine Our Spine
The spine is composed of twenty-four moving segments, known as vertebrae, classified into three regions: cervical (neck), thoracic (mid-back), and lumbar (lower back). Between the spinal vertebrae are intervertebral discs that act as shock absorbers. Theses discs are anchored to the vertebrae by the collagen fibers allowing movement between vertebrae and the distribution of weight bearing forces from one vertebra to the next in the spine.
The intervertebral discs often lose their elasticity and hydration with age and poor posture or as the result of an injury. The loss of elasticity decreases their ability to handle all the load bearing forces of daily activity. When the discs thin, this changes the relative position of the vertebrae and the connective tissues throughout the rest of the spine. Over time, this thinning of the disc could progress to where the vertebra is effectively lying on the next vertebra. The loss of disc space often results in increased pain and decreased ranges of motion.
Ultimately, this pattern of degeneration can lead to microfractures and cartilage injury. Although the body tries to replace and repair the damage, it is often insufficient to overcome the degenerative process without assistance.
Could I Have Arthritis?
The classic symptomatology of arthritis includes joint pain, swelling, and stiffness. As with most forms of osteoarthritis, pain and stiffness are the most pronounced symptoms in the morning. As movement increases over the course of the day, the symptoms tend to subside. In general, if there is no evidence of nerve root compromise, pain from an arthritic spine is localized with possible dull aching.
If the degeneration of the spine continues into a diagnosis of spinal stenosis patients may experience numbness, tingling, or weakness in the legs due to irritation of the lumbar nerve roots.
Available Treatment Options
Lumbar arthritis and back pain is usually responsive to conservative management.
During an acute attack of back pain, relative rest that avoids activities that aggravate the symptoms may reduce inflammation. Drinking moderate amounts of water frequently while minimizing caffeinated drinks will also be beneficial in helping hydrate the discs.
For long term relief, lifestyle modifications must be undertaken. This includes weight loss when appropriate as it will have a tremendous impact on reducing back pain due to the lumbar spine bearing the weight of the upper body and weight of the head.
Exercise is also critical as it will contribute to reducing weight while increasing muscle strength to support the lower back. You should consult your chiropractic physician before beginning any exercise or diet program.
Your chiropractor and their spinal rehabilitation team may prescribe spinal decompression in combination with rehabilitative therapy. Working with a rehabilitative team to design a proper exercise regimen will be useful for strengthening core muscles and minimizing your back pain.
We Can Help!
Our team understands that long-term back pain is not only physically debilitating but emotionally exhausting. To serve our community, we have built an expert team committed to working together harmoniously to help you or your loved ones recapture the quality of life they desire – pain-free!
by Dr. Brandon Chorney | Jul 19, 2022 | Health Articles
The summer season is in full swing! As we are enjoying the warm weather, barbecues and the excitement of long awaited vacations, are you feeling red with anger, white with pain, and emotionally blue with being park-benched with low back and leg pain? If so, read on. What is Sciatic Nerve Pain? Your sciatic nerve...
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by Dr. Brandon Chorney | Apr 21, 2022 | 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.
