Foot Pain

Turf Toe

~ Dr. Robert Speirs DC ~ Leave a comment

What is Turf Toe?

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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.

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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

~ Dr. Robert Speirs DC ~ Leave a comment

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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

~ Dr. Robert Speirs DC ~ Leave a comment
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.

Trigger point massage.

~ bryancobb ~ Leave a comment

Myofascial trigger points are contracted knots in muscle tissue. They are one of the most common causes of pain in the body. Most people will experience pain from trigger points at some point in there lives. Trigger point pain is usually felt as a deep achey pain. This pain may be refered In a specific pattern to other areas of the body. For example, trigger points in your hip can refer pain all the way down the leg into the foot. Trigger points will also mimick joint pain leading to misdiagnosis of arthritis. Trigger point massage therapy targets the knots specifically with focused deep work to release the area and allow the muscle to heal. Visit http://www.triggerpointmassagetherapy.info or http://www.aberdeenchiropractic.com for more information.

What are trigger points.

~ bryancobb ~ Leave a comment

What is a Trigger Point?

Trigger Points (TP’s) are defined as a “hyper-irritable spot within a taut band of skeletal muscle. The spot is painful on compression and can evoke characteristic referred pain and autonomic phenomena.”1

Put into plain language, a TP is a painful knot in muscle tissue that can refer pain to other areas of the body. You have probably felt the characteristic achy pain and stiffness that TP’s produce at some time in your life.