Foot Pain

Put the shovel down and read this!

~ Dr. Robert Speirs DC ~ Leave a comment

Your low back consists of 5 individual vertebrae stacked on top of each other. Flexible cushions called “discs” live between each set of vertebrae. A disc is made up of two basic components. The inner disc, called the “nucleus”, is like a ball of jelly about the size of a marble. This jelly is held in place by the outer part of the disc called the “annulus”, which is a tough ligament that wraps around the inner nucleus much like a ribbon wrapping around your finger.
Your low back relies on discs and other ligaments for support. “Discogenic Low Back Pain” develops when these tissues are placed under excessive stress, much like a rope that frays when it is stretched beyond its normal capacity. Most commonly, disc pain is not the result of any single event, but rather from repeated overloading. Your lumbar discs generally manage small isolated stressors quite well, but repetitive challenges lead to injury in much the same way that constantly bending a piece of copper wire will cause it to break. Examples of these stressors include: bad postures, sedentary lifestyles, poor fitting workstations, repetitive movements, improper lifting, or being overweight.

Approximately one third of adults will experience pain from a lumbar disc at some point in their lifetime. The condition is more common in men. Most lumbar disc problems occur at one of the two lowest discs- L5 or L4. Smokers and people who are generally inactive have a higher risk of lumbar disc problems. Certain occupations may place you at a greater risk, especially if you spend extended periods of time sitting or driving. People who are tall or overweight have increased risk of disc problems.

Symptoms from disc pain may begin abruptly but more commonly develop gradually. Symptoms may range from dull discomfort to surprisingly debilitating pain that becomes sharper when you move. Rest may relieve your symptoms but often leads to stiffness. The pain is generally centered in your lower back but can spread towards your hips or thighs. Be sure to tell your doctor if your pain extends beyond your knee, or if you have weakness in your lower extremities or a fever.

Repeated injuries cause your normal healthy elastic tissue to be replaced with less elastic “scar tissue.” Over time, discs may dehydrate and thin. This process can lead to ongoing pain and even arthritis. Patients who elect to forego treatment and “just deal with it” develop chronic low back pain more than 60% of the time. Seeking early and appropriate treatment like the type provided in our office is critical.

Depending on the severity of your injury, you may need to limit your activity for a while, especially bending, twisting, and lifting, or movements that cause pain. Bed rest is not in your best interest. You should remain active and return to normal activities as your symptoms allow. Light aerobic exercise (i.e. walking, swimming, etc) has been shown to help back pain sufferers. The short-term use of a lumbar support belt may be helpful. Sitting makes your back temporarily more vulnerable to sprains and strains from sudden or unexpected movements. Be sure to take “micro breaks” from workstations for 10 seconds every 20 minutes.

Effective Plantar Fasciitis Treatment with Class IV Laser

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What is it?

Plantar fasciitis is inflammation of the thick tissue on the bottom of the foot that connects the heel to the toes and creates the arch of the foot.

Symptoms

The most common complaint is pain in the bottom of the heel. The heel pain may be dull or sharp. The bottom of the foot may also ache or burn. This can be painful and make walking more difficult.
The pain is usually worse:

  • In the morning when you take your first steps
  • After standing or sitting for a while
  • When climbing stairs
  • After intense activity

The pain may develop slowly over time, or suddenly after intense activity.

What Causes Plantar Fasciitis?

Plantar fasciitis develops because of repeated small tears to the flat band of ligamentous tissue that connects your heel to the bones of your toes. These tears weaken the arch that supports the foot. As the arch of the foot weakens, increasing strain is placed on the deeper ligaments and tendons of the foot and lower leg. Over time, Plantar Fasciitis can result in Chronic Pain, Heel Spurs and Degenerative Joint Disease (Arthritis).
You are more likely to get plantar fasciitis if you have:
• Foot arch problems (both flat feet and high arches)
• Long-distance running, especially running downhill or on uneven surfaces
• Sudden weight gain or obesity
• Tight Achilles tendon (the tendon connecting the calf muscles to the heel)
• Shoes with poor arch support or soft soles
Plantar fasciitis is seen in both men and women. However, it most often affects active men ages 40 – 70. It is one of the most common orthopedic complaints relating to the foot.
Plantar fasciitis is commonly thought of as being caused by a heel spur, but research has found that this is not the case. On x-ray, heel spurs are seen in people with and without plantar fasciitis.

Signs and tests

The health care provider will perform a physical exam. This may show:
• Tenderness on the bottom of your foot
• Flat feet or high arches
• Mild foot swelling or redness
• Stiffness or tightness of the arch in the bottom of your foot.

Physicians typically treat Plantar Fasciitis with anti-inflammatory drugs and steroid injections. These medications temporarily reduce the pain associated with Plantar Fasciitis but do not treat the cause of the problem. Traditional methods can usually take between 9 months to two years to resolve this condition.

Class IV Laser Plantar Fasciitis Program 

Our program utilizes the latest class IV Lasers, and combines them with other therapies to help reduce the pain, strengthen the muscles around the foot and ankle joints, and increase range of motion. The Class IV Laser is at the heart of our treatment program. It provides a safe, effective, non-invasive, painless solution for plantar fasciitis. Patients generally respond exceptionally well to treatments and usually notice significant pain relief after just a few treatments.

Permanent correction of Plantar Fasciitis requires two procedures.

1. Heal the Damaged Fascia

Ending the pain caused by Plantar Fasciitis requires stopping the cycle of inflammation. This is critical because chronically inflamed tissues block the flow of needed nutrients and oxygen to surrounding muscles and joints. The advanced CLASS IV LASER restores the flow of nutrients and oxygen to the inflamed tissue allowing the cells to repair themselves at an accelerated rate.

2. Correct the Foot and Gait Mechanics

Most cases of plantar fasciitis are resolved very easily with Class IV Laser Therapy alone; however, if the condition has become chronic this can lead to alterations in the gait that will have to be addressed. This could involve stabilizing the arch with orthotics  or implementing a simple series of specific strengthening and stretching exercises.
Plantar fasciitis when treated early has an exceptionally good prognosis with our protocol. We encourage those with Plantar Fasciitis to seek our help right away. The longer one suffers with this painful condition the more likely it will cause other conditions in the knee, hip and spine.

Turf Toe

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What is Turf Toe?

Photo by Meruyert Gonullu on Pexels.com

Turf Toe is a sprain of the ligaments and irritation of the joint capsule in the big toe following forced and repeated extension movements.

This condition often occurs in athletes using soft sports shoes on a synthetic turf playing surface and accelerating while running.

The severity of the injury can range from a mild stretching to a complete rupture of the capsule and surrounding ligaments. In some cases, this condition can lead to damage to the muscles that flex the big toe. It may also be associated with a small bone tear at the muscle attachment site of these muscles.

Turf Toe can produce, but is not limited to, pain, joint stiffness, difficulty with impact activities such as running, and sometimes localized big toe edema.

Plantar Fasciitis

~ Dr. Robert Speirs DC ~ Leave a comment

Plantar fasciitis is a lesion that generally occurs during significant and repetitive stress on the plantar fascia.

It can occur in people who perform activities or sports that involve jumping, running, or sprinting.

Typically, this injury occurs during a period in which training intensity or volume has been increased too quickly with inadequate recovery. The practice of a new activity, a change of training surface, and a rushed transition to another type of shoes can be risk factors.

Plantar fasciitis can produce, but is not limited to, pain on weight bearing and sometimes edema under the arch of the foot near the heel.

The pain is often characterized as a needle-like sensation. Symptoms are usually present upon waking up, particularly during the first few steps.

Treatment of plantar fasciitis consists of Class IV Laser Therapy, management of any biomechanics stresses in the area and exercise rehabilitation to address any weaknesses that can be putting undue stress on the area. 

#LaserTherapy
#footpain
#Winnipeg
#Chiropractic
#LegInjury

Heel Spurs

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The heel spur is a small bony point that forms at the insertion of the plantar fascia on the heel. It is generally associated with plantar fasciitis secondary to significant and repetitive stress on the plantar fascia.

Obesity and frequent wearing of high heels are important risk factors. Athletes are also at risk if their training is excessive.

Treatment of heel spurs consists of Class IV Laser Therapy, management of any biomechanics stresses in the area and exercise rehabilitation to address any weaknesses that can be putting undue stress on the area. 

#LaserTherapy
#FootInjuries
#Winnipeg
#Chiropractic
#PlantarFasciitis
#Arthritis
#FootPain

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Hallux Valgus (Bunion)

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Hallux valgus is defined as a deformity that occurs at the base of the big toe, which deviates towards the other toes.

This condition, commonly called a bunion, is often associated with joint stiffness. It usually causes pain and in some cases an alteration of the normal biomechanics of walking.

Wearing narrow, pointy shoes, such as high heels, can cause this condition to develop over time.
Also, a limitation of the extension of the ankle is often compensated by a walk with rotation of the foot towards the outside. This induces lateral pressure on the big toe which, over time, can contribute to the appearance of hallux valgus. Structural foot abnormalities such as flat feet or increased hallux length can also contribute.

Treatment of bunions consists of Class IV Laser Therapy, management of any biomechanics stresses in the area and exercise rehabilitation to address any weaknesses that can be putting undue stress on the area. In a worst case scenario, surgery is often considered but only after all conservative options have been exhausted. 

#LaserTherapy
#FootInjuries
#Winnipeg
#Chiropractic
#ToeInjury
#Arthritis

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Bullet Proof Feet

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Photo by Alicia Zinn on Pexels.com

SO many low back, knee and ankle issues stem from feet that can’t withstand the day to day stresses that are out through them. Many time these ailments can be avoided or minimized with a simple maintenance routine like the one below.

Running through this routine 3x a week will help you keep those feet moving smoothly and help avoid the common injuries associated with ongoing foot weakness and instability.

What to do about your Stress Fracture

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Stress Fracture

Continuing on from yesterday’s stress fracture information, today we look at what to do and what to avoid with a stress fracture.

Relative rest is a good way to protect your bone against further damage. Initially, limiting pain-provoking activities is necessary. Then, progressive return to weight-bearing during your activities of daily living, non-painful light cardiovascular exercises and therapeutic exercises will allow better recovery.

In the presence of a stress fracture, it’s important that physical activities, such as training, for example, are performed below the pain threshold.

Follow your practitioner’s advice. It will help you manage the different phases of the recovery process and will increase the likelihood of successful rehabilitation. Your practitioner will assist you during your rehabilitation program in order to regain your normal range of motion, strength and endurance, balance and pre-fracture functional status.

As per the principles of rehabilitation for stress fractures, reducing impacts is one of the main elements of functional recovery. In most cases, temporarily modifying training to focus on non-weight-bearing activities such as biking or swimming can help maintain your training level while allowing optimal bone recovery.

Avoid returning too quickly to running or activities that caused the fracture. A stress fracture can lead to a more important fracture if pain signals are ignored. People that reduce the volume of high-impact activities typically recover faster.

Why trigger point therapy?

~ bryancobb ~ Leave a comment

People often think of a massage as a relaxing experience, something they might do occasionally, or give as a gift along with a trip to the spa. Trigger point massage therapy is another kind of massage used to treat pain and physical dysfunction. Trigger points can develop in people from all walks of life. They can affect people of all ages, office workers and labourers, elite and weekend athletes, post surgical patients, people with acute pain from injury and people with chronic pain. Trigger point massage therapy can treat a wide variety of physical conditions such as:

– Migraines

– back pain.

– sciatica

– Carple tunnel syndrome

– achy persistent pain

– pain from Fibromyalgia

– post surgical pain and scarring

– soft tissue injuries related to sports

– TMJ dysfunction

Myofascial trigger points and pain.

~ bryancobb ~ Leave a comment

TP’s were first brought to the attention of the medical world by Dr. Janet G. Travell. Dr. Travell, physician to President John F. Kennedy, is the acknowledged Mother of Myofascial Trigger Points. In fact, “Trigger Point massage, the most effective modality used by massage therapists for the relief of pain, is based almost entirely on Dr. Travell’s insights.”2 Dr. Travell’s partner in her research was Dr. David G. Simons, a research scientist and aerospace physician.

Trigger Points are very common. In fact, Travell and Simons state that TP’s are responsible for, or associated with, 75% of pain complaints or conditions.1 With this kind of prevalence, it’s no wonder that TP’s are often referred to as the “scourge of mankind”.

Trigger Points can produce a wide variety of pain complaints. Some of the most common are migraine headaches, back pain, and pain and tingling into the extremities. They are usually responsible for most cases of achy deep pain that is hard to localize.

A TP will refer pain in a predictable pattern, based on its location in a given muscle. Also, since these spots are bundles of contracted muscle fibres, they can cause stiffness and a decreased range of motion. Chronic conditions with many TP’s can also cause general fatigue and malaise, as well as muscle weakness.