Low Back Pain and Heat

One of the worst things a person can do when they have low back pain...or any pain for that matter...is to put heat on it. Heat causes an increase in swelling and inflammation which increases pain levels. Ice decreases swelling and inflammation so should be the first choice when pain is an issue. At Perry Hall Chiropractic and Physical Therapy we always suggest ice used for a half-hour every hour. Just remember to put a light cloth between you and the ice pack to avoid frostbite. You don't need more problems!

Headache and Sleep Position

After seeing a 31 year old female patient this morning who has been having headaches daily for many years the importance of asking about sleep position was once again brought to my attention. The chiropractic care she had been receiving at our office was working great for headache relief but when her headaches returned it was always in the morning when she awoke.

I asked if she was sleeping on her belly which is a known factor in morning headache occurrence. No, she was not sleeping on her belly. Then I asked if she was lying on her side but leaning half way toward sleeping on her belly. Yes, was her reply.

I knew immediately this may be a factor in the occurrence of her morning headaches. After discussing how she could alter her sleep habits by simply hugging a pillow to her chest to keep her straight up and down on her side the occurrence of morning headaches stopped. 

Sometimes chiropractic care alone is not enough to stop headaches from occurring even though chiropractic care has been shown to be the answer for approximately 80% of headaches of all types. In the more difficult cases some good old fashioned detective work will reveal the answers...if you know which questions to ask!

Sports Injuries and Your Young Athlete

Youth Athletes: Overscheduling is a Risk Factor!

This is a great article that relates to sports injuries and the lack of recovery from "over-scheduling" I see this everyday with parents and youth athletes having way to much on their plate to professionals with way to many projects and commitments and this can lead to fatigue and that can lead to injury.

Sports-Related Injuries in Youth Athletes: Is Overscheduling a Risk Factor?

by Luke, Anthony; Lazaro, Rondy M; Bergeron, Michael F; Keyser, Laura; Benjamin, Holly; Brenner, Joel; d'Hemecourt, Pierre; Grady, Matthew; Philpott, John; Smith, Angela

Objective: To examine the association between “overscheduling” and sports-related overuse and acute injuries in young athletes and to identify other potential contributing factors to create a working definition for “overscheduling injury.”

Design: Survey. Setting: Six university-based sports medicine clinics in North America. Participants: Athletes aged 6 to 18 years (13.8 ± 2.6) and their parents and pediatric sports medicine-trained physicians. Interventions: Questionnaires developed from literature review and expert consensus to investigate overscheduling and sports-related injuries were completed over a 3-month period.

Main Outcome Measures: Physician's clinical diagnosis and injury categorization: acute not fatigue related (AI), overuse not fatigue related (OI), acute fatigue related (AFI), or overuse fatigue related (OFI). Results: Overall, 360 questionnaires were completed (84% response rate). Overuse not fatigue-related injuries were encountered most often (44.7%), compared with AI (41.9%) and OFI (9.7%). Number of practices within 48 hours before injury was higher (1.7 ± 1.5) for athletes with OI versus those with AI (1.3 ± 1.4; P = 0.025). Athlete or parent perception of excessive play/training without adequate rest in the days before the injury was related to overuse (P = 0.016) and fatigue-related injuries (P = 0.010). Fatigue-related injuries were related to sleeping ≤6 hours the night before the injury (P = 0.028).

Conclusions: When scheduling youth sporting events, potential activity volume and intensity over any 48-hour period, recovery time between all training and competition bouts, and potential between-day sleep time (≥ 7 hours) should be considered to optimize safety. An overscheduling injury can be defined as an injury related to excessive planned physical activity without adequate time for rest and recovery, including between training sessions/competitions and consecutive days.