Have you ever injured your back by sneezing? It’s getting cooler here in Central Florida, and with colder weather comes cold and flus, right? People are packed inside more with other people who are sick and then they in turn get sick. You actually don’t get sick from being outside in the cold. A lot of times you get sick because your immune system is lowered, and you are around people who have all these other sicknesses and conditions. And then along with that comes sneezing, right? I’d like to talk a little about sneezing because everyone out there has sneezed and sneezing is an incredible source of lower back pain. When you sneeze, there’s a right way to sneeze and a wrong way to sneeze. We’re going to talk about the wrong way first and what it...
Slept Wrong? Here’s How to Fix It Something I hear a lot in the office is: “Hey doc, I need to see you because I slept wrong.” I see this all the time, and everyone always says just like that, “I slept wrong.” It’s almost like a rite of passage, right? You turned 40, I just turned 40 and all the sudden it’s like, yep, I just sleep wrong. I had to be literally tackled by another human being to get back pain a couple of decades ago. But now, nope, my bed won that round. You know? I guess we’ll try again tonight. And so, I want to talk about it in the context of sleeping on the couch first, because this is something that you can avoid. You need to avoid sleeping on the couch, because this...
I get a lot of questions from patients about pain relief options. I addressed over the counter pain relievers in a recent blog post, and now I’d like to talk about what natural options I prefer. To avoid the dangerous side effects of NSAIDs and acetaminophen, I reach for natural cures instead. Here are a few of my favorites: turmeric, ginger, and fish oil. You’ve probably heard of turmeric before: it’s a spice. It’s going to be stored in your pantry, not in your medicine cabinet. Turmeric is a powdery spice from Southeast Asia, and when you put it on your food, it’s kind of orangey and yellowy in color. It’s going to make your food taste spicy, like ginger or garlicky, maybe, so I don’t necessarily like putting it into my food. But I love turmeric because turmeric...
Here at Nightlight Chiropractic, we get a lot of questions from patients about which over-the-counter pain medication is best for neck pain, back pain, and headaches. If you think about your medicine cabinet at home, it is chock-full of all kinds of substances. How do you pick which one you take? Is it just trial and error? Is it based on what your mom told you to do or what one of your parents told you to do a long time ago? Is it based on what your friends say is best to treat pain or certain conditions? We can clear this up for you, but first, let’s review what your different options are and discover why they might be the good or bad choice for what you have going on. When we’re talking about over-the-counter pain relievers, all...
Primary care medical doctors often refer their patients who have been suffering from upper back and shoulder pain to us. Many of those patients describe their symptom as “pain under my shoulder blade.” Doctors who are trained to analyze musculoskeletal complaints will refer these cases they label “rib fixation.” What that means is the inflammation of the muscles and nerves in the area where the joint, which connects the rib to the spine, is not moving properly. This condition can transfer pain into the arm if it begins to affect the group of nerves that transition nerves from the neck to the arm (the brachial plexus). So how does a rib fixation occur and what can be done to fix it? Rib head fixations happen when there is abnormal biomechanical stress put onto the upper back (thoracic spine) and...
Do you wake up every morning with excruciating pain in the bottom of your foot? If so, then you are among the nearly 10% of people who will experience heel pain at some point in their lives. Our Orlando staff regularly treats patients with musculoskeletal conditions and one of the most common diagnoses we see for foot conditions is plantar fasciitis. Though this may be a term you’ve heard before, it’s important to understand the differences between fasciitis and a similar-sounding condition called fasciosis which has a dramatically different treatment. Plantar fasciitis (pronounced: fa-SITE-iss) The plantar fascia is the web-like structural ligament connecting the heel to the bones near the ball of the foot and toes. This ligament or tissue provides structural support to the arch of the foot and is prone to injury with overuse and decreased circulation....
I get a lot of questions from patients about pain relief options. I addressed over the counter pain relievers in a recent blog post, and now I’d like to talk about what natural options I prefer. To avoid the dangerous side effects of NSAIDs and acetaminophen, I reach for natural cures instead. Here are a few of my favorites: turmeric, ginger, and fish oil. You’ve probably heard of turmeric before: it’s a spice. It’s going to be stored in your pantry, not in your medicine cabinet. Turmeric is a powdery spice from Southeast Asia, and when you put it on your food, it’s kind of orangey and yellowy in color. It’s going to make your food taste spicy, like ginger or garlicky, maybe, so I don’t necessarily like putting it into my food. But I love turmeric because turmeric...
Primary care medical doctors often refer their patients who have been suffering from upper back and shoulder pain to us. Many of those patients describe their symptom as “pain under my shoulder blade.” Doctors who are trained to analyze musculoskeletal complaints will refer these cases they label “rib fixation.” What that means is the inflammation of the muscles and nerves in the area where the joint, which connects the rib to the spine, is not moving properly. This condition can transfer pain into the arm if it begins to affect the group of nerves that transition nerves from the neck to the arm (the brachial plexus). So how does a rib fixation occur and what can be done to fix it? Rib head fixations happen when there is abnormal biomechanical stress put onto the upper back (thoracic spine) and...
Do you wake up every morning with excruciating pain in the bottom of your foot? If so, then you are among the nearly 10% of people who will experience heel pain at some point in their lives. Our Orlando staff regularly treats patients with musculoskeletal conditions and one of the most common diagnoses we see for foot conditions is plantar fasciitis. Though this may be a term you’ve heard before, it’s important to understand the differences between fasciitis and a similar-sounding condition called fasciosis which has a dramatically different treatment. Plantar fasciitis (pronounced: fa-SITE-iss) The plantar fascia is the web-like structural ligament connecting the heel to the bones near the ball of the foot and toes. This ligament or tissue provides structural support to the arch of the foot and is prone to injury with overuse and decreased circulation....