by peter on August 19, 2010
Does weather affect us?
The weather has changed in Vancouver today. As a Vancouverite I’m aware that this signals the end of summer, thank you very much. It was great while it lasted. And I’m also aware that patients will be coming in to the office in droves, all complaining of aches and pains that seemed not to be there last week. I see it every time, the weather changes and everyone begins to feel their aches more. But is there scientific evidence to support this phenomenon?
As far as I can see there is no conclusive scientific research to suggest that weather changes and patterns effect us. But why then do so many patients have symptoms that worsen when the weather turns sour?
Many patients of mine firmly believe that a change in the weather, be it temperature, barometric pressure or humidity trigger joint aches or pain, set off their arthritis, cause headaches, and with my fibromyalgia patients, flare-ups.
Professor Robert Jamison and his colleagues (1995) work at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital’s Pain Management Center. There the waiting rooms of pain centres fill up with more people in damp, humid weather than on warm and sunny days. They gave questionnaires to hundreds of people (557) in cities, such as Boston and Worcester USA, that have notoriously changeable weather and also to people in cities with warm, stable weather such as San Diego. Most said that weather changes affected them. Most complained about cold, damp conditions but with the majority of patients the aggravation began before the actual weather shifts.
Jamison says, “This leads me to conclude that changes in barometric pressure are the main link between weather and pain. Low pressure is generally associated with cold, wet weather and an increase in pain. Clear, dry conditions signal high pressure and a decrease in pain.” (Harvard University Gazette, Sept 26. 1995)
The mayo clinic, says that the barometric pressure is directly related to the amount of lubricating fluid secreted in the joints. Yet another theory put forward by studies in Israel and US have pointed out that a change in weather, typically rains, is preceded by clouds of negatively charged ions which in damaged nerve endings of back pain patients can mimic pain signals and hence the patient feels an increase in pain!
What is your experience? Share with us, as clinical evidence is as significant as scientific studies.
In Health
Peter Roach, RMT, CNMT, Laser Therapist
by peter on August 5, 2010
This came to me through Facebook and I would like to share this with everyone.
“C” posted something on your Wall and wrote:
“Pete, do you have any suggestions on what to do about constantly pulling calf and hamstrings muscles? It seems to be happening to me more and more while playing soccer nowadays. I try to give them a good stretch before hand but without much success. more rest in between games maybe? help!”
Sign, C
Dear C,
Aaah my old friend, so here we are 50 years of age. This is what I see a lot in my practice these days. The hamstring/calf pulls. In my experience of 26 years of practice I have found this to be the most effective way to treat these problems.
The first thing “C” is to have someone check to see what the pelvic angles are. See my article http://bayswater.ca/2010/04/neuromuscular-therapy-pelvic-angles-for-pain-relief/ Making sure that you pelvis falls between 0-5 degrees of forward flexion (anterior rotation) is the first step. Too much forward flexion will dictate that your hamstrings are on a constant pull or stretch, and stretching them will only make matters worse. If this is the case you will need to have your pelvis adjusted so that it sits in its neutral position and that you stretch your quads, not your hamstrings despite getting the hamstring pulls. If your pelvis is forward your hamstrings are already stretched, much like an elastic band stretched to the end. Any further stretch will just cause it to pull and tear.
Next make sure that your pelvis is not projected forward. This increases your chances of pulled hamstrings AND calves. Any Neuromuscular Therapist can show you how easily it is to move back to a neutral position. Kneeling ball squeezes and quad contraction exercises will help move you back into plane. If you need more information on how to do this let me know.
Next look my article http://bayswater.ca/2010/06/world-cup-injuries-er-your-injuries/ . Welcome to 50 Mr. C! One of the biggest things I have found in practice with high hamstring pulls is bunions. The mechanics of bunions on our gait and our hamstrings is bad. If you suffer form high hamstring pulls and have bunions you need to see someone ASAP. All the stretching in the world will not help decreasing your incidence of pulls.
Low intensity laser therapy will help increase the healing time of your injuries also. What happens as we get older is that the healing time between games becomes bigger, meaning more rest between sessions. With pulls and tears of the lower limbs, the healing can’t keep up with the tear down. Laser helps to speed up this time of repair so as you are not re-tearing the same spot over and over. Call me if you need more information on the parameters to use. See http://bayswater.ca/2010/04/how-red-light-initiates-atp-synthesis/
Unless you are standing in front of me it is very hard to assess what specifically is happening with you. If you can’t get in to see me have your therapist call me and I would be happy to communicate and work out how we can get you off of the “hamstring pull” train.
Keep me up to date. You have always been an active person as far as I know, and seeing your most recent pictures you are in great shape. We just have to look after ourselves differently than we did at 25!
Feel free to call me anytime or if you are in town call me and I’ll have a look.
In Health & still your old school buddy,
Peter
by admin on July 22, 2010
This is not an actual syndrome, but I have found that office workers and the problems that evolve from sitting at your computer all day, have become a real issue. With what society requires us today, specifically with the amount of time that the average person works per week, has increased dramatically. Thus, when we take into account that we are sitting almost all the time at work, we have to wonder what kind of stress it puts on the body. Almost everyone that has worked in an office knows how important work ergonomics is. Almost everyone knows the pain that they get from working at the computer, for instance, headaches, sore low back, sore neck/shoulders, sore wrists, and sometimes pain/numbness that starts in your legs and goes all the way down to your feet. You start to wonder then “what do I have to do to make the pain stop?”. This is what I’m finding that is becoming an epidemic for office workers. So what can we do to change this?
The problem, from what I can see, is that the human body was not designed to sit for almost 12 hours. I know that most people are active is some ways every week, but activity is not the solution to the problem. What I have found is when we are sitting for so much time during our day that our structure starts to change. This change occurs not in your neck and shoulders, where most people start to feel the problem, but in your legs. When sitting down your hamstrings and adductors are in a shortened position. When you take into account the amount of time that you are sitting each day, the body will adapt to this problem. I am finding that your hamstrings will shorten in response from sitting all day. This shortening puts a constant force acting on your hips, this force will rotate your hips posteriorly. You can see this, most people have been aware of the hip rotation for a long time. You will see it when you think you have a flat butt, it’s not do to lack of muscles, it’s due to the fact your pelvis is rotated posteriorly. This rotation will start a chain reaction all the way up your body. First, you will find that the curve in lower back has increased, this will cause your lower back to hurt. Second, the curve that has increased in your lower back will lead your upper thorax/chest to tilt posteriorly. This will lead to your scapula/shoulder blades to function more on a pivot or point than laying flat along your thorax/upper chest. When the scapula are not functioning on an optimal surface, the muscles in the area have to compensate for the imbalance, causing the shoulder/neck pain. In my experiences, so far, treating the upper back/neck is great for symptomatic relief. If you are looking for longer lasting results, we have to address the shortening of the muscles and fascia in other regions, especially in the legs/hamstrings.
So, if you are suffering from constant neck/shoulder pain and you work at your office, sitting all day, you should contact myself by phone (604-761-0895) or e-mail mikeS@bayswater.ca and we can discuss your options for treatment in greater detail and to learn how to prevent yourself from developing the “Office Worker’s Syndrome”.
In the path of healing.
Michael Scottnicki
Registered Massage Therapist
by admin on July 15, 2010
Plantar Fascia
Are you finding that your feet get are sore all the time? Does it prevent yourself from doing activities? Maybe you have a condition called Plantar Fasciitis. Plantar Fasciitis happens when the fascia in the sole of your foot becomes inflamed. The inflammation starts because of repeated stress and tearing of the fascia. This inflammation causes pain that focuses on around your heel. The pain arising from the inflammation prevents most people from running and maybe even walking, depending on the severity of the inflammation. Plantar Fasciitis usually occurs after activity, and the more you try to push through the pain to continue the activity, the worse the inflammation will be. Plantar Fasciitis is most typically seen in athletes where running constitutes a large part of their training. I have seen many patients who have this condition who are not athletes. I myself have battled with this condition for years and I am far from being what most people consider and athlete to be. I have also found that this condition sometimes goes hand in hand with fallen arches in your feet. With this condition you will find that it comes and goes. You will have periods of time where the pain prevents you from doing anything and when the inflammation goes away you are good for a while. At least until the next time you run or do something else that irritates the plantar Fascia, and then your back to square one. This can be very frustrating and debilitating. So how do we treat and prevent Plantar Fasciitis?
I usually treat Plantar Fasciitis myofascial release on the sole of the foot. I Combine this with work on the muscles that contribute to structure and movement with the foot. I find that prolonged stretching also works well with this condition. Controlling the inflammation is crucial in the beginning when the symptoms start to occur. You can do this through anti-inflammatories or through hydrotherapy (Ice application to the sole of the foot), this will minimize the severity of the inflammation and therefore the time that the condition will last for. Generally, orthotics are recommended, I used to wear orthotics to help me deal with Plantar Fasciitis and popped ibuprofen to control the inflammation. I found, however, that strengthening my foot was the most important thing I did for relief from Plantar Fasciitis. If you can strengthen your foot and improve its structure, the stress on the fascia should diminish. A proper warm up of your foot is also very important to do before activities, this will make the fascia mobile and will help prevent tearing of the fascia.
If you suffer from Plantar Fasciitis you know how crippling it truly can be, I for one, know how bad it truly can be. So if you or someone you know are having problems and need some help or some advice, give me a call (604-761-895) or drop me an e-mail (mikeS@bayswater.ca) and we can go over the condition in detail.
Michael Scottnicki, RMT
