Archive for the ‘Dr. Erin’s Blog’ Category
Completing the Marathon
Tuesday, October 12th, 2010As some of you may know, I treat a large number of runners and triathletes for sports injuries on a daily basis. Because of this, the whole staff was well aware that the Chicago Marathon was this past Sunday (10/10/10). We feel special because we helped several patients complete their first marathon as well as help others improve on their time/performance.
Although all of us might not be able to experience the rush of completing a 26.2 run, we all have our own “marathons” that we complete in our lives. For some, it might be starting to walk 3 times a week. For others, it’s completing their college degree. Some of the moms that we treat would say that their “marathon” is keeping up with their kids!
Whatever your goal or “marathon” is in your life, it’s important to remember that you can only achieve it through small methodical steps, each one getting you closer to the finish line. When stress gets to you, take a deep breath and think about how far you have come. Reach out and get help from others who have already achieved their goal. Together we can all achieve our dreams.
Dr Erin: Breakthough Techniques for Chronic Pain
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010I am proud to announce that Graston Technique is now available at Ducat Chiropractic & Wellness Center. This remarkable procedure
allows us to detect and treat areas of “scar tissue” or adhesions in muscles, tendons and ligaments that can reduce our range of motion and cause pain. In the healing process, our body attempts to repair those areas by creating “scar tissue,” much like the scar that forms on the skin when you have scraped or banged your knee.
In time, we can have a build up of this fibrous scar tissue, particularly in the muscles, tendons and ligaments that get a lot of use. This can lead to pain and dysfunction because this replacement tissue lacks the strength and flexibility of healthy tissue (in some areas it may even mat down and entrap a nerve).
The Graston Technique® allows us to better detect and treat these areas because it uses a stainless steel instrument that glides along a patient’s muscle, tendons or ligaments, with the right amount of pressure to detect just where the scar tissue or restrictions are located.
When these knots or bands of scar tissue are encountered, both the clinician and the patient sense a restriction, almost like a speed bump or a granular feeling. The instrument can then be used to “break up” this restriction or adhesion. Stretching exercises are used to promote re-alignment of the fibers into the normal pattern of healthy tissue.
Although this technique is utilized by several professional sports teams including the St. Louis Cardinals, San Fransisco 49′ers and the New York Knicks, only a handful of chiropractic and physical therapy clinics in the Chicago area have been trained in this technique and have the Graston instruments available. If you or a friend has chronic or reoccuring pain, please call us to schedule a complementary 15 minute consultation to see if Graston Technique would be a good treatment option for you.
Dr Erin: Boost Your Immune System Naturally
Tuesday, September 14th, 2010Around this time of year, flu and cold viruses seem to come out of hiding and strike us when we are least expecting it. Although you can’t avoid viruses — we come in contact with millions of bacteria and viral particles every day — you can strengthen your own defenses to stay healthy this fall.
1. Get sleep. The average adult needs 7.5-9 hrs of sleep every night to keep their immune system strong and to stay a healthy weight. Skimp on sleep and you will be at higher risk for flu and cold bugs.
2. Stay active. Exercise boosts your immune system naturally. Make sure that you get 30 min of cardiovascular exercise 4-6 times per week (walking, biking, swimming, running) and 30 min of strength training exercise 2 times per week. Wipe down the equipment at the gym to avoid accidental infection while working out!
3. Eat right. Try to eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables each day. The vitamins and nutrients in these foods will give your body the tools that it needs to fight infection.
4. Get adjusted. Studies have shown that chiropractic adjustments increase your immune system function by stimulating lymphatic flow (the circulatory system that moves your immune system cells around your body). Adjustments are also great for opening up sinuses and decreasing congestion if you do have a cold or flu. Acupuncture is also effective at decreasing sinus congestion!
If you have other questions about staying healthy this fall, feel free to ask me at your next visit or drop me an email at drerin@ducatchiropractic.com. We’re here to help!
Dr Erin: Small Changes Now, Big Rewards Later
Tuesday, September 7th, 2010An article in this Sunday’s Chicago Tribune gave 10 tips to reduce your risk of landing in a nursing home. According to a recent study, small lifestyle changes can reap big rewards. Replacing animal fats with vegetable oils, for example, can cut the risk of heart attack in almost half. And four other lifestyle changes — stopping smoking, becoming more active, reducing blood pressure and controlling diabetes — greatly reduce the chances of a woman landing in a nursing home.
Nothing in this article is groundbreaking — we all know the changes that we need to make. The key is actually doing it. As we enter the fall season, many of my patients put off starting good habits until the first of the year. Why not start something today? It doesn’t have to be a big change — just a step in the right direction.
If you need help getting active because of pain or limitations, please let us know! We’re experts at helping patients start an exercise program safely and effectively without aggravating old injuries or issues. If you need help with your diet or other lifestyle changes, we can also point you in the right direction or help you with a referral!
Dr Erin: Is school hazardous to your child’s health?
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010Backpacks have been getting heavier every year. Your kids are having to carry big loads on their backs, even though they may only weigh 60-70 pounds themselves! Protecting your child’s back while they use a backpack is an important thing to monitor as they go back to school.
In 2001, nearly 7,000 people went to the emergency room with a backpack-related injury. According to an Italian research study, the average child carries a backpack that would be the equivalent of a 39 pound burden for the average adult man. Of those children in the study who carried heavy backbacks to school, 60% had experienced back pain as a result.
The American Chiropractic Association recommends that your child’s backpack weight to be no more than 10% of your child’s body weight and they also encourage the use of ergonomically correct backpacks. The backpack should never hang below the wasitline and they should be using both shoulder straps. Using a bag with wide, padded straps and individualized comparments also help keep the weight distributed.
If your child experiences any pain or discomfort resulting from backpack use, call us right away at 224-653-8094 and we would be glad to assist you in diagnosing your child’s injury as well as make suggestions for injury prevention. We treat patients of all ages — our youngest patient was 1 1/2 months old — and have great results with chiropractic for kids!
Dr Erin: I just had surgery — why does my back hurt now?
Tuesday, August 24th, 2010I recently had a patient come into my office for a new injury examination. She had always had upper body injuries such as neck pain, shoulder pain, neck tension etc, so I expected to be doing an upper body exam. As I looked on her patient update form, I noticed that her injuries were actually in her low back and hip this time. Under the recent medical history section, she also wrote that she had recently had abdominal surgery.
The patient was perplexed as to why she was having lower body pain for the first time in her life. She told me that she felt like she was falling apart with her past upper body injuries, the abdominal surgery and now this low back pain. Why was this occurring?
When you have abdominal surgery, the doctor must cut through your abdominal wall. No matter how small those cuts are, they still do damage to the important muscles in the abdomen that protect your low back and hip joints. As those cuts heal over, they form scar tissue that inhibits the strength of your core muscles and puts additional pressure on your lumbar spine, hip joints and other structures in the area.
Sometimes abdominal surgery, pregnancy or even rapid weight gain can be enough to disrupt the balance of your core muscles and cause you to start feeling new symptoms or injuries. I wish more surgeons warned their patients about this possible side-effect and refer them to chiropractic physicians for care. The faster these imbalances are treated with natural chiropractic & rehabilitation, the easier they resolve and the quicker your recovery begins.
If you know someone who is experiencing new pains after surgery (whether it’s abdominal surgery, foot surgery or shoulder surgery!), please send them this article. Feel free to email me at drerin@ducatchiropractic.com if you have questions or if I’m able to assist you.
Dr. Erin: Common weight loss pitfalls
Tuesday, August 17th, 2010I came across a great article in last Sunday’s tribune about common weight loss pitfalls. One of the author’s first points was that exercise burns calories, but not as much as we think it does. A recent research study showed that the government recommended 7 hours of moderate exercise a week didn’t trigger a change in weight. Think about it, that’s 60 minutes of moderate exercise per day and there was no change in weight!
For most people, the reason they can’t lose weight is because they still consume too many calories. It’s way easier to eat a package of M&Ms (250 calories) than jog for 30 minutes to burn those 250 calories off. Another common reason people don’t loose weight is because they eat instead of drinking water. The body can’t recognize the difference between hunger and thirst — and food has more calories than water. Lastly, many people who work out eat energy bars drenched in chocolate or high calorie counts. Unless you are doing serious weight lifting or distance running/cycling, consuming that much protein or “energy” after a work out is not needed.
To learn more about common weight loss pitfalls, you can check out the article by clicking here.
Dr Erin: Childhood Obesity and Flat Feet
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010Recent research showed that children that are obese have a higher incidence of having flat feet or ankles that overpronate (tip inward). This type of foot deformity has been linked to a variety of conditions including foot pain, ankle sprains, knee pain, hip pain and low back pain. Since obese children are becoming more common place, does this mean we are going to have a low back pain epidemic in 25 years?
Before you start checking your children, it’s important to know that it’s normal for your children’s feet to be flat until they get to about 6 or 7 years old. At that time, you should start to see an arch appear and their ankle should be directly over their heel when they walk. If you child is over 7 years old and does not have an arch or if their ankle appears to tip inwards, they have flat or overpronated feet that does put them at risk for various injuries.
Sometimes overprontated feet are due to genetics and lax ligaments in the foot. Based on this research study, increased weight and decreased activity levels can also contribute. There’s nothing you can do about genetics, but this is just another reason to make sure your kids are staying active and keeping their weight within healthy levels.
Once have overpronated feet, the only treatment available are custom orthotic devices that slip into your shoe and correct the lax ligaments in your foot. And no, foam, gel or flexibile orthotics from the drug store don’t work. You need a semi-rigid prescription device to control a flat foot. This is something that I routinely check during patient examinations and can also prescribe/make using our digital gait analysis or through a foam cast. If you have questions about your feet or think you may need orthotics, feel free to email me at drerin@ducatchiropractic.com.
Dr Erin: How does exercise decrease cancer risk?
Wednesday, July 28th, 2010I had a patient ask me the other day about an article that they read about how people that regularly exercise (walking, running, weight lifting, yoga) have a decreased risk of breast and colon cancer. They were trying to figure out what the connection was between exercising their muscles and cancer cells multiplying.
All of us have cancer cells that pop up in our bodies on a regular basis. When our immune system is functioning well, our body detects these abnormal cells and disposes of them. If our body doesn’t recognize that there is an abnormal cell, it will multiply and turn into cancer.
These abnormal cells become damaged by being exposed to free radicals (radiation, bad chemicals in our diet or environment or from stress on our cells from poor lifestyle choices). When you exercise, your cells become stronger and more resilient to these free radicals and therefore do not mutate as much. Exercise increases our own natural anti-oxidants.
People who exercise also tend to eat more vegetables and fruits, drink less alcohol and smoke less. All of these factors also decrease our exposure to free radicals and reduces our cancer risk. Another side benefit of exercise is that you tend to maintain a healthier weight when you are working out. This helps decrease breast cancer risk specifically because your hormones will be in better balance with a healthy weight!
For most of my patients, I suggest participating in moderate cardiovascular exercise 3 times a week for at least 30 minutes per session (walking, jogging, runnning, biking, swimming, dance). In addition, doing strength training 2 times a week for at least 30 minutes per session helps decrease your osteoporosis risk and also helps you manage your weight better. Strength training could be yoga, pilates, free weights, circuit training or traditional weight lifting.
Dr Erin: Addicted to Dehydration?
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010In the summer months, many of us start to feel fatigued, light headed and lethargic from our chronic dehyrdration. With the heat, our body finally screams out “Give me water!” Sometimes it’s easy to blame are parched state on the warm weather, our sweating and working outside. At other times, I think it’s simply our bad water drinking habits that get us into trouble.
For instance, let’s say you normally drink 2 cups of coffee, a diet coke and 2 cups of water each day. Since coffee and diet coke are both diuretics (make you urinate!), we really can’t count them as a hydration source. That means your body is operating on 2 cups of water and whatever water content there is in your food. This may just barely get you by in the winter, but as soon as you start to sweat, your body can’t handle it any more.
Most experts suggest drinking about 8 servings of 8 oz of water per day. That 64 oz or approximately 2 quarts. If you drink caffinated or alcoholic beverages, they do not count towards this total. Also if you are exercising or working in the heat, you should drink even more water than this – about 4 oz every 15 minutes.
When you first start drinking more water, you will go to the bathroom more often. That’s normal. After a few days, your body will begin to adapt and you’ll be able to go back to your urination levels. So don’t let tha keep you from giving your body the water it needs!