Dr. Judd Lowrey's Sports and Wellness Chiropractic Blog

While we’ve all had a bad boss or coworker who annoyed us to the point of causing a headache, there are many other reasons why headaches can occur at work. While stress can be one factor, poor workstation posture is more often too blame. And, this silent cause of headaches can go unidentified causing significant pain and lost productivity.

The everyday, repetitive movements that you make while sitting at a desk, such as talking on the phone or using a PC, can cause neck and shoulder pain, as well as chronic headaches. If posture or ergonomics are not ideal, these normal activities can directly result in a sore neck, stiff shoulders, and a throbbing head.

Considering that many of us sit at a desk for eight hours a day, five days a week or even longer, it’s no wonder that poor workstation posture can lead to aches and pains. An uncomfortable chair, a poorly positioned monitor, or a keyboard set at the wrong angle can all commonly cause poor posture. As well, bad habits such as hunching over or not holding a mouse correctly can impact how you feel at the end of the day.

One of the most common forms of poor posture that leads to headaches is commonly referred to as forward head posture (FHP). With eyes pulled to a computer screen, many individuals naturally develop FHP at work. Unfortunately, this position causes muscles in the neck to work far harder than they need to. By tightening the posterior cervical muscles to position our head forward, the extra amount of exertion over an extended period of time can result in muscle strain and headaches.

If you have noticed headaches coming on with some regularity while at work, you may want to take a closer look at your workstation. Here are some of the ways that you can optimize where you work to minimize aches and pains.

• Keep your computer monitor at eye level.
• You knees should be parallel with the floor while seated.
• Your chair should tilt slightly back to take stress off lower back.
• The desk height or keyboard tray should be parallel with your arms.

Besides optimizing your workstation to improve your posture, it’s also helpful to take regular breaks to stretch, breathe deeply, and change positions. A micro-break every 20-25 minutes is ideal. As well, taking a at least a half hour break every four hours to walk around and loosen muscles will further prevent muscle strain.

If you’ve noticed that you tend to hunch over at work or if you’re experiencing regular headaches or neck or shoulder pain, it’s important to know that FHP can cause long-term health consequences if not corrected. But, there is much you can do to fix the problem, and a chiropractor can help treat posture related headaches and pains. No, you probably don’t need to go to the emergency room because you’ve ended your day with a throbbing headache. However, it might be your cue to get the help you need to correct your posture and improve your work station design. Once those have been adjusted, you’ll probably find that those nagging headaches have mysteriously disappeared.

Did your last 5K run leaving you reaching for an ice pack and an ibuprofen?  Have you been telling yourself that post-treadmill knee pain is going to go away by itself?  Perhaps it’s time to consider those Active Release Techniques your chiropractor was telling you about!

What are Active Release Techniques?
ART® was created by an aeronautical engineer, chiropractor, and avid tri-athlete, Dr Micheal Leahy, and is a patented, state of the art soft tissue system/movement based massage technique that treats problems with muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia, and nerves. 

ART® is different from other forms of soft tissue therapy because it incorporates the best of other forms of treatment, movement, stretching, and pressure points.  The ART provider uses his or her hands to evaluate the texture, tightness, and movement of muscles, fascia, tendons, ligaments, and nerves.   Abnormal tissues are treated by combining precisely directed tension with very specific patient movements. The treatments are aimed at manually breaking up adhesions, the scar tissue that entraps muscles, tendons, ligaments, and nerves, making it an alternative for some to traditional medical treatments that can range from anti-inflammatory drugs to splinting and surgery.

All fully certified ART® providers learn over 500 protocols.  All providers must continue to maintain their certification each year by attending seminars. This ensures the public that quality of the application of the technique can be maintained.

Why ART® for Running Injuries?

ART® is most successful for “overuse” injuries, and not surprisingly repetitive strain injuries are the most common injury seen in runners.  Sure, you can blame it on poor running mechanics, over training, muscle imbalance, or the wrong shoes, but blame isn’t going to fix it.  Even the hardiest runner with good technique, a good training plan, and proper footwear can still suffer from repetitive strain injuries.

Repetitive stress injuries are usually a result of continued repetition of a movement and/or an overload of stress on muscles, tendons or joints over a period of time without adequate rest.  Just think about what your body does when you are running, your hips, knees, and ankles all repeat the same motion over and over again.  They flex and extend thousands of times during a long run.  The muscles have to absorb two to three times your body weight each time you land.  And most people who consider themselves “runners” do this day in and day out until the pain starts creeping in.

Scar tissue develops as a result of the repetitive stress injury, resulting in a restricted range of motion, a reduction in circulation, increase in muscle tension, and friction.  All of which, if not treated, can result in an ongoing cycle of injury.  The best treatment plan for this type of injury should include Active Release Technology.

If you are a runner, an athlete, or just interested in how you can benefit from ART®, contact us for an appointment today!

New Year’s Day has come and gone, and so have many people resolutions to exercise more, eat less, quit smoking, stop drinking and generally take better care of themselves.  While most start the year off with ambitious intentions, the reality is that 65% of new gym memberships are cancelled in the first two months.  Making health a priority takes discipline and focus, but the rewards of your efforts make it well worth it!

The payoffs from placing a priority on your health do not end immediately after a workout out or a healthy meal.  Everything works better when you are healthy.  Looking good and feeling good boosts your self-esteem and overall sense of well-being.  With this new found confidence, relationships improve, thinking becomes clearer, and you’ll have that extra energy you need to truly enjoy life. 

Why wait until something happens to your health to make a change?  You may know someone who had a recent health scare or may have seen firsthand the toll that being sick takes on your life.  Or, perhaps you saw former President Clinton change from a cheeseburger junkie to a health crusader after his recent quadruple bypass surgery.  Simply put, being sick takes over your life, being healthy is a lifestyle choice. 

Keys to Lifelong Success
Making health a priority is vital to long-term success.  It can’t be treated as a short term solution to a long term problem, or you are destined to fail.  Starting to focus on a few key areas in your life will help you along in your journey to better health.

• Eat Healthy – This does not mean diet.  Depriving yourself of a specific food or food group is not sustainable over time.  Learn about healthy food and eat it.
• Exercise – Thirty minutes a day, five days a week.  Do whatever you enjoy, but  just get out and get active.
• Stop Smoking – Isn’t it enough of an incentive to quit when you know that one out of every two smokers will die of their habit?
• Get Regular Checkups – Pick a day, the same day every year and go.  As your mother probably told you, better to be safe than sorry.  Knowing your “total health picture” will help you make better decisions about what you eat, what types of exercise you choose, and what exactly your body needs.
• Reduce Stress – Yes, this is a difficult one.  Take time for yourself, make time to do the things you enjoy with the people you enjoy doing them with, take a vacation, visit a spa, get a massage, or even take an occasional “mental health” day away from work.  Sometimes, small things work wonders.

Exercise and a sensible diet will help you enjoy the best of health well into the future. Because of its focus on the nerve system, chiropractic care can also be an important part of a wellness lifestyle. The nerve system controls the function of virtually every aspect of our lives. So, keeping it properly functioning is essential if you want to be your very best!

After the holidays have come and gone, a few inches around the waistline might have come, but not gone. There is no better time to start or return to your exercise routine. Beyond losing inches, exercise benefits every part of your body from your heart to your muscles, joints, and even your brain. Exercise can help to gain balance, stability, strength, and overall wellness. Here are a few tips to get you started:

Start out slowly: If you are unfamiliar with exercising regularly, take it easy at first. Start with a walking routine, walking for about 20 minutes every day. After a couple of weeks, increase your intensity by increasing your speed or by increasing the length of your walk. Try walking for five minutes and running for one minute to increase your endurance.

Burst training: Far more calories are burnt by training in fast, high intensity bursts rather than long, low intensity cardio workouts. Try doing sprint exercises starting with a very short distance and working your way up to longer distances, about two lengths of a gymnasium. Plyometrics are also great burst training exercises, increasing your heart rate rapidly to maximize the number of calories you burn.

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Your sciatic nerve runs from your spine down the length of your leg. It has roughly the girth of a thumb
and can cause a lot of pain and dysfunction if irritated or impinged anywhere along its pathway.
Many people are misdiagnosed with sciatica when they have general pain down the back of their leg.
However, true sciatica traces a very specific pain pathway and must be below the knee to be considered.

How does my sciatic nerve get impinged?

The most common place for sciatic nerve impingement is in the piriformis muscle, superficial to the
gluteal muscles. Anatomically, most people’s sciatic nerve travels underneath the piriformis. However,
there are some cases where the sciatic nerve exits above the piriformis, or even through it, causing
unnecessary nerve irritation. This can result in inflammation of the sciatic nerve, and burning pain
down the length of the entire leg. Irritation can also be caused by a tight piriformis muscle, which can
potentially be relieved by stretching.

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