Whats the deal with paracetamol?

Many of our patients have reported that they have been taking paracetamol for their back pain, and it has not helped.  A report this month in the British Medical Journal has endorsed what we have known for years, and it is good that now that is being acknowledged by the wider scientific community.  26 million people in this country suffer from back pain every year (nearly half the population!) and the treatment they have been using is ineffectual.  Chiropractors have for years been encouraging their patients to get and keep active, and that is now the current recommendation, but if your back hurts how do you get active?  That is where we come in.  Our gentle adjustments release spinal and pelvic joints, increasing flexibility and reducing pain. Exercise then becomes possible and more comfortable and the vicious cycle is broken.  Call us in Bradford on Avon on 01225 862140 or Devizes on 01380 729103 and we can help you ‘feel the difference’.

Check out the BBC article here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-32132377

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New years resolutions… What’s the point?!?

The time of mince pies, mulled wine and general over indulgence is over, and that can only mean one thing… new years resolutions and the guilt that comes with them are just around the corner!! Its only natural that with a new year, we want a fresh start, and all suddenly jump in the gym to start loosing all that christmas weight expecting to be tanned and toned in time for the summer. Sadly, as I’m sure we’ve all experienced at one point or another, making a new years resolution is a good deal easier than keeping one!

The problem with new years resolutions is that, for most people they are a short lived thing, and they rarely result in long term change for the better. This is the case with most dramatic life changes…. ever started the atkins, 5:2 or any other fad diet, only to find that two months later you are sat eating pringles straight out of the tube, wondering “where did it all go wrong?”. The other problem is that crash dieting, as most of you probably know, generally ends up with us putting on more weight in the long term than we lose in the short term. Ad to this the fact that most people eat more when they start exercising, and you haven’t exactly got the perfect recipe for that tanned toned body you had promised yourself!

So what, should we just not bother? Well I bet most of us have something we know we should change. But the best way is not to decide “from today I’m going to run 10 miles each day and eat nothing but grapes!” because this is obviously never going to happen. Instead try to make small incremental changes which can realistically become part of your daily life for good. Take walking- its great exercise, good for the joints, good for the heart and definitely good for the head. When it comes to preventative medicine there isn’t much that tops increasing the amount of walking you are doing. So why not try to take a 20 minute walk in your lunch break three times a week? Or take a nice long walk with the family each weekend? Throw a few hills in there and you will start to get your heart rate up as well.

When it comes to food, don’t try and drastically change everything, because you will just end up beating yourself up when you eat that inevitable biscuit with your mid morning cup of tea. Instead try including more greens in each meal. Make a wrap or a salad for lunch rather than buying a sandwich. Or simply try to cut out mid meal snacks or cut down portion sizes. You may not see the same dramatic weight loss as you might going on the raw food diet, but equally your body wont think its being starved and go into shut down mode, conserving every single calorie it takes in. It is this which makes people pile on the pounds when they go back to eating their regular diet after a crash diet.

Finally, and most importantly, when it comes to exercise choose something you ENJOY!! If you don’t like going to the gym, then at some point or other, you will stop going… whether its a week, a month or a year, it wont last if you don’t enjoy it. So why not try mountain biking, hiking or climbing. If you get the bug for something, then it stops being a chore and starts being something you look forward to. So get out there and get active, and see how much of a difference it can make.

Simple exercises to increase spinal movement.

Movement is key to staying pain free, as when joints stiffen, they become painful. At this point, it hurts to use them, so our natural reaction is to stop using them. This only makes them stiffer. As such it is really important to keep moving, and particularly as we age, everyone should have a short routine to perform every day, just to get them moving in the morning, and shake off the stiffness from lying still all night. The following exercises take five minutes to complete, and can help to keep pain at bay and keep you moving well.

Firstly, sit on the edge of the bed, in a chair or on the arm of a sofa. Ideally you want your thighs either level to the floor, or pointing slightly downwards. Lift your knee as far towards your chest as it will go, then tuck your chin in, so that your forehead touches your knee (if it doesn’t go all the way, don’t panic, just take it as far as is comfortable, with a bit of a stretch). Then relax and repeat on the other side. Perform this ten times with each leg, alternating side to side.

Then stand up, place your feet a little apart, bend down to the right, making sure not to move forward or backwards, or to twist. As you bend, allow your hips to swing slightly out to the left, and your head to come all the way over to the right, your body should make a nice smooth curve at the end of the movement. You should imagine you are standing between two panes of glass whilst doing this movement, as you want it to be purely a side to side movement.

Performing these exercises in the morning and the evening, can be a very effective way to keep you moving, keep you pain free and to help you stay active as a result.

NB: This is for information only, and does not constitute medical advice, if you are in any doubt, please call 01225 862140 to speak to a chiropractor. These exercises may not be appropriate for everyone.

To stretch or not to stretch… that is the question!

For a long time, everybody has believed that stretching before exercise is a must to avoid injuring yourself. But now things appear to be changing. Any one remember the 2005 ashes series (of course you do!!). Freddie Flintoff somehow managed to avoid injuring himself despite being right at the end of his international career, and having suffered countless injuries leading up to the tour. One of the things this was attributed to was the fact that he stopped stretching as part of his warm up when preparing for a spell bowling. To understand the theory behind this, we first need to understand a little of the science.

The Anatomy

Muscle fibres are made up of microscopic segments called sarcomeres (see diagram bellow). There are millions of these in each muscle fibre, and the function of them is to shorten the muscle fibre- resulting in contraction of the muscle. To do this, the “Z lines” in the diagram must come closer together, so the thick filaments must slide along the thin filaments. They do this using tiny little “hook and lever” type proteins called myosin heads. These heads come from the thick filament, and attach onto the thin filament, and then the lever swings, causing the two filaments to slide past each other.

So whats wrong with stretching??

When you stretch, you lengthen the muscle fibre, meaning the Z lines are further apart. This in turn means that there are fewer myosin heads connecting the thick and thin filaments. As a result, when you then powerfully contract the muscle, it is more likely that the myosin heads might “lose their grip”, resulting in a muscle tear.

A recent study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that when weightlifting, those who did not stretch before training were able to lift more weight than those who did. It also found that those who stretched before training reported feeling more unstable than those who did not.

It is important to note three things when considering this: firstly, the stretching I am talking about is static stretching ie. stretching a muscle until it hurts and then holding it for a set period of time. This is very different from dynamic stretching which involves contraction of the stretched muscle, and is generally a much more effective way of stretching anyway! Secondly, I am only talking about stretching before exercise… stretching afterwards is a very different kettle of fish, and generally is much more worthwhile. Thirdly, I am only talking about stretching, NOT warming up… warming up is still key both to avoiding injury, and protecting your cardiovascular system, as well as making the most out of your workout.

And finally, heres a video clip to reinforce the point!! (Rule #18 always limber up!!)

What do chiropractors treat??

So, people generally know that we treat backs, necks and most things in between. But how many people actually know exactly what it is we do and why it works… our clinical experience suggests not many! I often ask new patients what they know about what I do, and the most common answer is usually something along the lines of “well you crack bones don’t you!”

Depending on the chiropractor you see you could get one of a hundred different explanations, but here is my attempt at explaining what we do, from the cause of your pain, to the treatment, all the way down to what actually makes that “clicking” sound.

So… What causes back and neck pain??

To fully understand this, we need to look at the anatomy of the spine:

This image shows two lumbar vertebrae, but the idea is very much the same throughout the spine. The “Facets” or “Facet joints” guide and control the movement of the spine, whilst the intervertebral disc is the “shock absorber” of the spine. The gap in the middle is where the nerve roots leave the spine, sending signals down the legs and arms. It is pressure or irritation of these nerve roots which causes Sciatica and arm pain coming from the neck.

“Normal” or mechanical low back and neck pain without referral of pain into the arms or legs is usually caused by irritation and/or stiffness of the facet joints (or the pelvic joints). In acute pain this is usually caused by over straining one of these joints, causing a slight displacement or misalignment of the joint. This causes irritation and inflamation of the joint capsule and the ligaments surrounding the joints, which in turn causes sharp pain whenever you try to move the affected joint. To protect against this pain and immobilise the joint, surrounding muscles go into spasm which causes further pain in the area.

In the case of chronic pain, stiffness can develop over years. The mechanism within the joint is fairly similar, however with prolonged stiffness, wear and tear can develop. This results in a narrowed joint space and a decrease in lubricating fluid within the joint.

And what can we do about it?

Chiropractors use a variety of techniques including stretching and soft tissue therapies as needed, however the primary technique we have at our disposal is joint manipulation, or the chiropractic adjustment. This involves a high speed, low amplitude thrust applied specifically to the joint or joints which are not moving. This frees up the movement within the joint without damaging the joint itself, taking the pressure off the affected structures and decreasing muscle spasm. It is usually not painful, and most patients feel more mobile and less in pain when they leave the clinic. Often the joint which is painful is not the core of the problem, rather a symptom of overuse and compensation due to a long term stiffness or dysfunction elsewhere in the spine or body. As such, by adjusting other levels of the body (for example the pelvis and feet) we can effectively decrease pain levels while simultaneously providing protection against further relapses of pain.

So whats all this “bone cracking” you’ve heard about?

A common accompaniment to the adjustment is a clicking or popping sound. This is not your bones cracking, but rather bubbles of gas releasing from the fluid in the joint. To explain this, we need another diagram:

As the joint gets opened up, the volume of the space between the joints increases. The articular capsule (or joint capsule) creates a sealed environment within the joint, so as the volume increases, the pressure rapidly decreases. The synovial fluid within the joint has gasses dissolved in it. Because fluids do not easily expand, this rapid decrease in pressure causes the gas within the joint fluid to quickly evaporate, creating a bubble. It is the formation of this bubble which causes the cracking sound (this is exactly the same as the process when people crack their knuckles). This process is certainly not harmful when performed by a chiropractor, and has strong therapeutic benefits.

Chiropractic in Elite Sport

Watching the British Grand Prix last weekend it was interesting to see Fernando Alonso being adjusted by one of his team in that spell after the accident on the second lap.  Thoroughly sensible, and what was most gratifying was that the commentator, David Coultard, commented on the fact that he was receiving Chiropractic.  He was right of course, and Chiropractic has become a permanent fixture of the F1 circuit with Red Bull among others employing a Chiropractor to travel with the team.  The pressures on the bodies, and specifically the necks, of F1 drivers are immense and management of the mechanics of the spine is essential for them to maintain peak performance.

(Mark Webber receiving a chiropractic adjustment at the brazilian grand prix)

Usain Bolt, the fastest man on earth, regularly has Chiropractic treatment; indeed he will not contemplate competing in a championship without a Chiropractor in attendance.  Before him the high hurdler Ed Moses also insisted on Chiropractic treatment before he competed, and he won four consecutive Olympic gold medals; no mean feat as that means a career spanning 16 years at the top of his sport (I don’t think he was beaten in over 12 years).  Indeed in nearly all professional sport, from Golf to Rugby and Cricket to Gymnastics, there are high profile examples of Chiropractic helping to maintain individuals at the top of their game.

In the modern era, the difference between a medal and fourth place, or winning and coming second, is measured in milli-seconds and fine-tuning the body to make that difference is something that we are really good at.  In the London 2012 games I was part of the medical team looking after the sailors in Weymouth and saw first hand what a difference we can make.  When the two weeks of competition started the Chiropractors were largely spectators as the Physios saw most of the athletes that needed treatment.  We were the new kids on the block and it was the first time that Chiropractic was available to all of the competitors.  Then, as word got around that there were Chiropractors in the Polyclinics we became busier and busier.  The same happened at Eton with the rowers and in London. The Athletes sought us out to give them the edge, and Chiropractic is now becoming a regular feature in many of their careers.

FICS, the Federation of International Sports Chiropractic has, for a long time, championed the role of Chiropractic in sport, and in elite sport in particular.  We are now setting up an international foundation to raise much needed cash to fund research to further investigate, and report Chiropractic’s effectiveness in enhancing performance, and recovery from injury.  The more it is talked about the better, and the fact that it was recognised and commented on at an event as high profile as The British Grand Prix can do nothing but good.

But it is not just elite athletes that can benefit form Chiropractic care.  It is a simple message but: keeping active keeps us healthy.  We all need to keep mobile, and therefore our joints need to function properly, and I can assure you that after visiting a Chiropractor you will feel the difference.

Whether it is climbing one rung up the squash ladder in your club, turning out for the odd game of cricket on the village green, taking the dog for a good walk or simply doing a bit of light gardening, if your back is hurting you will not enjoy it and that may stop you doing it.  Don’t give in, something can be done to help.

For more information call Dixon Health on 01225 862140 or visit http://www.dixon-health.com

Migraines

Migraines affect a huge number of people to varying degrees. Many people suffer regular migraines for years, and this can have a serious effect on quality of life. They can impact your physical and emotional well being, as a direct result of the pain. Along side this, the debilitating nature of some migraines can have secondary effects, such as regular absences from work or school.

Here at Dixon Health, we have found chiropractic can be of great help to those suffering with migraines. The reasons for this are multifactorial: Firstly many migraines are related to dysfunction of the neck, especially the upper vertebrae. Chiropractic manipulation to the affected levels, as well as other techniques, can alleviate this dysfunction and the symptoms that accompany it. It has also been found that many people find stress to be a trigger or aggravating factor for their migraines; chiropractic treatment as well as targetted health and lifestyle advice can have a beneficial effect on stress levels.

Find out more by booking an appointment or calling for a no obligation chat on 01225 862140.