Just May Be From The Way You Sleep!

Sleep and work are the two consistent activities that consume most of our time.
If you are suffering from neck and shoulder related problems think about the way you sleep at night.

Side sleepers typically do not lie directly on top of the shoulder. The side sleeper position pushes the shoulder forward which forces sleeping on the shoulder’s back portion. The “up” arm is resting across the body in a hugging manner. The next 6 -8 hours both shoulders are in a forward presenting position. Prolonged exposure to this aberrant motion creates an inflammatory condition because the brain perceives that there is something wrong with the joint. When joints are in a particular position for extended periods of time the muscles that attach to these joints will shorten. Neutral joint position should be the resting position.

Our joint’s physiology requires motion to stay healthy. When a joint is in a position repeatedly the body creates inflammation that brings in cells to heal. “Smart self-healing system is the body!” If joint mobility does not return to its normal homeostatic (neutral) position the inflammation will begin to affect the tendons and other supportive tissues causing tendonitis. Further shortening of the pectorals, biceps, and anterior deltoids will ensue. And then pain. This is the process that will lead to bone spurs, frozen shoulders, and eventually a shoulder surgery down the road.

All of this is avoidable if you recognize this condition is beginning. If you are one already suffering, here is the remedy.

1. When you go to bed lay on your side as you usually do. Take another pillow and lay it down in the vertical position on the bed behind your back. Roll back up against the pillow. Now both shoulders are in a neutral position. Your head will naturally roll to the down side. This is great position for all of you that snore.
2. When you wake up in the morning, do some 360 degree arm wheels. 6 forward and 6 backwards. This will help tear out any myofascial scarring that develops overnight.
3. Get in a doorway and do a one-arm pectoral stretch for 20 seconds in each direction.
4. See your Chiropractor who does extremity adjustments. Dr. John does excellent extremity work, ‘wink, wink.’ The adjustment to the shoulder joint will put the humerus in the correct position.

Habit is the cause of our problems. The daily routines, 365; 24/7 is what creates our issues. Take action and reap the rewards.

An answer to an age old question with new twist.

General rule after an injury is immediately apply ice on the affected area for 20 minutes. The benefits are to reduce pain and swelling. Pain reduction occurs via slowing the neuro pathways and swelling reduction is vasoconstriction which decreases of blood flow. Ice is widely used up to the first 72 hours after the injury.

Heat reduces pain and swelling with the same neuro pathway as ice. Heat creates vasodilation, increased blood flow, which decreases swelling thus reducing pain. Heat has the added benefit of reducing muscle spasm when used for 20 minutes.

A word of caution just because heat feels good longer applying heat more than 20 minutes can actually increase swelling .

THE NEW TWIST:
Some specialists are using heat immediately following an injury, BUT only for 5 – 10 minutes. The vasodilation increases blood flow which brings cells to heal the injured area. This typically is followed immediately with ice for 20 minutes.

Educating you in better health,
Dr. John

I believe there should be a new trend in exercises using movements we use daily. Functional exercises train your body for real life and these are for everyone at any age.

Think about the following scenarios; putting a box in the closet by pushing the box over your head, pulling up a bag of softener salt close to your torso, bending to pick up a child or heavy objects off the ground. Choose exercises that will mimic those movements from our daily lives.

Many people hurt themselves by doing exercises that are not functional. We have all seen or even done this exercise: sitting at a weight machine you pull the weight only using your torso all while twisting and keeping your feet planted. This screams disc injury waiting to happen. The type of isolated weight training we do at a gym can strengthen muscle groups, but it doesn’t train your muscles to work together, that’s the key to functional exercise.

The first step can be to gain balance and control over your body weight. Try these to gain strength and balance:

Practice doing one legged squats. Balance on one leg and perform a standard squat.

Do step ups. Place one foot up on a chair, or step and stand up on one leg. Repeat 10 times each side.

Do push-ups or getting off the ground without using your hands.

Think about your exercise movements and make it functional.
Can I get an Amen?

Dr John Bouma

I was asked about Kinesio Taping from a recent post. Here is an excerpt from “How Stuff Works” describing how Dr. Kase, the inventor of Kinesio Taping, uses this taping.

Foot, ankle, knee, and pelvic pain may be attributed to fallen arches within your feet.
Ligament laxity, sometimes called loose ligaments, may occur in the arches of your feet.
The ligaments that support your arches are not contractile tissue therefore cannot be trained to form an arch.
Once ligament laxity is present your arches are forever gone.

Constant biomechanical forces are creating dysfunction within the feet, ankle, knees, hips and pelvic regions. This is one of the main reasons we need knee and hip replacements later in life. Remember there does not need to be pain when there is dysfunction; pain is a symptom of tissue destruction.

Supporting and stabilizing the arch with a custom orthotic designed specifically for you can lessen the impact of the biomechanical forces.

For men it is easy they really only wear 2 – 3 pair of shoes that they can rotate the orthotic from shoe to shoe.

Women, let’s face it shoes do make the outfit! Women have several shoes all different shapes, and heights, this calls for an orthotic that can worn in every shoe.

Check out this link to our orthotic supplier who has a large line of footwear that your custom orthotic can be built into and see the new Naot sandals with built in orthotics.

Allow our team at Premier Chiropractic Center to custom fit your needs.

Happy Feet,
Dr. John Bouma

Sore heel? You might have plantar fasciitis, and I can correct it.

The plantar fascia is the flat band of tissue (ligament) that connects your heel bone to your toes. It supports the arch of your foot. If you strain your plantar fascia, it gets weak, swollen, and irritated (inflamed).

There are many causes of plantar fasciitis. Running, exercise, obesity, fallen arches, and age. Pain is created in the bottom of the foot within the arch and heel when you you stand and/or walk.

This condition can progress into the formation of heel spurs if the plantar fascia (ligament) swelling is not reduced. This is known as Wolff’s Law: “Bone adheres to areas where there is more stress”. The thickening of the ligament at it’s insertion site will become calcified at the location of the heel = heel spur.

Treatments
Treatment considerations will vary per your physicians. First and foremost, treat yourself. Put ice on your arch. Icing for at least 20 minutes per session and at least 3x per day will help to reduce pain and inflammation. Use a frozen water bottle and roll the bottom of the foot over the bottle, this will help reduce inflammation. You should feel the following sensations (Cold, Ache, Burn, and finally Numbness). Numbness is the desired effect.

Orthotics / Custom Arch Supports
Orthotics will support your arches and relieve stress on the plantar fascia ligament. You can purchase the OTC (over-the-counter) orthotics or have custom made and more effective orthotics made by your Chiropractor or Podiatrist. There are 2 types of custom orthotics, Rigid and Functional. Most podiatrists make rigid orthotics.

Chiropractors make Functional Orthotics
Functional Orthotics move with every step you take and spring back to support your arches and they help to create ankle, knee, hip and spinal alignment. Just as the frequent stress being applied to areas of the foot creating the breakdown of the tissues, the same holds true to the other surrounding joints of the lower extremity when they are not aligned correctly. It is in my professional opinion, functional orthotics are superior to the rigid form of orthotics.

Golf Ball Treatments
Golf ball treatments on the bottom of the foot can help break up pockets of inflammation near the insertion sites of the heel. Place the golf ball on the ground and put your foot on the golf ball while in a seated posture. Apply pressure down on the ball for 5-7 seconds. You are looking for a deep hot pain sensation when the pressure is applied. After 7 seconds move slightly following the areas of irritation (burning). If you apply pressure down into a area and it is not creating the “hot” pain, do not work this area. This type of trigger point work should only be done for approx. 3-5 minutes per foot and only 2-3x per week. Following treatment, use the ice water bottle to help remove the swelling to the foot.

Last but not least, see a Chiropractor who excels in extremity adjustments.
Biomechanical evaluation and adjustments to dysfunctional joints within your feet can be a huge cause and/or complication of the plantar fasciitis and compensation of your gait due to pain. Better motion creates less pain, better gait, and will help you return back to your activities with confidence.

Dr. John Bouma of Premier Chiropractic Center is the author of this article. He is passionate about providing excellent Chiropractic Care and empowering people to change their lives with his unique hands on approach, expertise, and philosophy. If you have a similar condition as this article describes or any other condition that you would like him to evaluate, please contact the office to schedule an appointment.

Yours in Health,
Dr. John Nolan Bouma
Premier Chiropractic Center

Earaches are some of the most excruciating pain we experience. And it needs to be taken care of quickly!
Remember: “Simple problems have simple solutions. Look to the cause of the problem, not the symptom.”

Earaches in children are a familiar occurrence in today’s society. The use of antibiotics and definitely the use of tubes placed into the ears are becoming far too common practice in the pediatric world of medicine. There are simple solutions in combating recurring childhood ear infections. The function of this paper is to be informative, and to be used as a practical guide to help your children with this condition. Let’s break it down.

There are two types of ear infections:
Inner ear (otitis media) and outer ear (otitis externa) infections.
The less bothersome of the two is an outer ear infection. This is commonly caused by some irritant within your child’s ear. Maybe the child stuck something within his/her ear and it got wedged into the ear or even scraped the tissue of the canal and it became infected, swollen, or irritated. This is very likely. Another form of otitis externa is swimmer’s ear. This is when water gets into the canal and sits in the canal and irritates the canal tissue linings. This can be very painful.

The second and most common type of ear infection that we see among children is otitis media, or inner ear infection. This means that there is fluid behind the eardrum. This fluid can be pus, serous fluid, or even blood. The only way to tell is by observing the eardrum and describing what it looks like through the transparent eardrum, also known as the tympanum. The infection can be caused by bacteria or a virus.

Anatomy of the Ear
In order to understand how we get earaches, we need to learn about the anatomy of the ear itself. Then we can understand how it becomes infected and this helps us to understand how to treat the ear infection.

The ear is broken into 2 parts, the inner ear and the outer ear.
The eardrum (tympanum) separates the inner and outer ear from one another. You have to remember the eardrum has 2 functions:
o The eardrum vibrates when causes the 3 bones within the inner ear to pump. Our brain perceives this vibration and hydraulic pumping as sound and interprets into speech and noise.
The eardrum acts as a barrier, like Saran Wrap. The inner ear is a sterile environment. The eardrum creates a barrier from the outside, non-sterile environment, to the inside of the ear.
The inner ear is drained by a cartilaginous and muscular tube known as the Eustachian Tube. The Eustachian Tube drains into the same open passageways as the nose, sinuses, and throat. (That is why there are specialists in this area; ENT’s (Ear, Nose, and Throat doctors).
The ear is supplied with messages from the brain by several nerves that control, communicate, and react. The nerves that supply the ear are cranial nerves. The cranial nerves attach to the structures of the ear and enter into the spinal cord. This completes the circuit between the ear and all of its components and the brain, the master computer. The cranial nerves then travel down through the spinal cord and exit between the 1st and 2nd vertebrae within our neck. (The 1st vertebrae within our neck, sits just under your ear lobe.)

How the inner ear can become infected
Now that we have gone through the anatomy of the ear and all of its connections it is important to see how the inner ear can become infected.

If a child has a sinus infection, or a sore throat, 6 out of 10 times, that child will develop an inner ear infection. The reason being is that they all share the same passageway. Infections spread.

So let’s say that your child has an inner ear infection. The function of the Eustachian Tube is to drain the inner ear into the throat. Why is it not draining? This is the question that medical doctors need to ask themselves. This is the cause of the inner ear fluid. Doctors should treat the cause of the problem, not the symptom of the problem, like pain.

The Eustachian tube when irritated can become swollen and narrowed. Once narrowed, this will restrict fluid flow from the inner ear. Also, when the nasal passages and sinuses become filled with mucus, what do most kids and adults do to clear the passages? They snort or snuff to get the mucus up and then spit it out. This causes mucus to be forced up towards the Eustachian Tube and creates the negative pressure within the inner ear, much like a vacuum. The Eustachian Tube is a muscular wall and cartilaginous tube. Is the muscle in spasm because it is not communicating properly, due to interference of the nervous system by way of a misaligned spinal bone, causing pressure/irritation to the nerve that tells the muscular wall of the tube what to do? Or is the tube closed off due to irritation of the surrounding tissues? Or there is stagnant lymph drainage of the chains near the ear. All of these are possible causes of inner ear infections.

We need to start thinking in simplistic terms again. Not just in pills to blanket symptoms. Symptoms will return if the cause of the problem is not fixed.

Now what do we do about correcting the problem of the inner ear infection?
First, get your child to a Chiropractor. Have the doctor look into the ear to see if it is an ear infection, and what type it is.

Second, have the Chiropractor check the child’s spine for misaligned bones especially the 1st and the 2nd neck bones.
Have the Chiropractor adjust your child. Child adjustments are completely safe, gentle, and a better alternative to medications or tubes being surgically put into the ears. Child adjustments are quick and painless. The adjustments are quick, pain-free, and frankly almost all children love coming to see a Chiropractor rather than the medical doctor. The treatment should be followed up with a massage of the muscles of the front portion of your child’s neck. The Chiropractor will do the massage first, and then show the parent how to do this at home. Continue the massage at home at least 4-5 times per day. The function of the massage is to create drainage of the lymph nodes behind the muscles of the neck. The child should be re-checked within 2 days to make sure that the infection, misaligned bone, and pain are being reduced. Only continue this type of therapy for 2 weeks. You should see improvement within 3 days.

Remember, the purpose and philosophy of Chiropractic is to remove the interference from the nervous system and allow the body to heal itself. Are medications necessary? Yes, that is why we have them, but they are prescribed and used much too often. They do not work as fast and are not as safe, as natural methods, such as Chiropractic.

One of the last resorts…
One of the last resorts to combating recurring ear infections is to put tubes within the ears. Remember, kids that have this surgery have been on antibiotics for at least 6 months to 1-½ years continuously. Obviously, the antibiotics are not helping. So let’s drain the inner ear, if the medication will not clear up the problem. Wrong, Wrong, Wrong!! What is the function of the eardrum? Conducts sound and acts as a barrier. I do not care what any ENT says about tubes not scarring the eardrum; IT SCARS THE EARDRUM! Scarring of the eardrum causes hearing loss to some degree. Once you put a tube into the eardrum you now have opened a door between the sterile inner ear and the unsterile outer ear. This is a surgical procedure that requires anesthesia. The tubes, in which you spent $2,500 per ear, fall out within 3 years. Many children have to have the tubes placed back within the ear a second time.

Out of all of the children that I have seen in my office for recurring ear aches, even ones that were scheduled for tubes to be put in, only 3 of them have gotten tubes in their ears. The several other children all went to their last check up before surgery and all of the surgeries were cancelled. Parents are a vital portion of this success. They have to do the massage for their children at least 4-5 times per day.

And in closing…
Chiropractic is based on simple principles. The nervous system controls and communicates with the body and all of its smallest to largest parts. There are no exceptions to this rule. There is no such thing as a living being without the nervous system. This is what Chiropractic is based upon. Simple problems have simple solutions. Look to the cause of the problem, not the symptom. As the “Father of Modern Medicine”, (Hippocrates) said, “Look well to the spine for the cause of all disease.” This is how I leave you.

I hope that you have found this article very informative. It is a subject very near and dear to my heart. I will never do unto any person what I will not do to my own child. I live, eat and breathe what I do for a living. I feel that I have been chosen to carry the torch for my profession. I will continue to help as many families that I come in contact with. If you feel that this article could help someone that you know to better understand what it is that Chiropractic can do for someone, please ask us for a copy.

Yours in Health,
Dr. John Nolan Bouma
Premier Chiropractic Center