Foot pain may be easily fixed with a visit to your Chiropractor. Conditions like plantar fascitis, bunions and hammer toes are signs of foot dysfunction. High arches and flat feet need to be addressed.

Our Chiropracticvoffice specializes is addressing the relationship back pain and foot pain. We examine the foot and see which of 24 foot types you are. Then we fit you for an orthotic.

There are several types of orthotics which we carry in this office ranging from off the shelf to semi-custom to custom. Each has their place and can make a significant difference in your pain. Contact our office at 860-620-9523 for more information.

You may remember the public health slogan, “Vitamin D helps build strong bones”. This message could be seen on colorful school posters and heard on radio and television programs as early as the1950s. Getting enough Vitamin D was a major health issue, primarily for its role in preventing childhood rickets – “softening of the bones”.1

More recently, and quite dramatically, vitamin D has been strongly associated with reduced chronic diseases such as cancer risks, preventing autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, preventing cardiovascular disease, and even helping to prevent diabetes. Vitamin D seems to be a one-stop shop for helping combat many serious chronic diseases, and yet vitamin D deficiency is common in the United States.3 Very few foods are natural sources of vitamin D. The primary source of vitamin D for humans is sunlight – sunlight causes cells in the skin to produce vitamin D.

But most of us don’t spend enough time outside to get sufficient sunlight to provide us with our normal daily requirement of vitamin D. Supplementation is needed, in the form of fortified foods such as milk and in vitamin/mineral tablets. Interestingly, meeting our vitamin D and calcium daily requirements is only one step on the road to healthy, strong bones. Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium from the intestinal tract. Also, vitamin D helps bone cells utilize calcium to build new bone. But – in adults, new bone will only be built if there’s a need for it. Mechanical stress causes the body to produce new bone – and the best source for this kind of bone-building mechanical stress is exercise.

Yes, the E word. It’s not enough to passively swallow a bunch of supplements every day. We need to exercise regularly to get the most out of the nutrition we’re providing our bodies. When we exercise – particularly when we do strength training and other gravity-resisting activities such as running, walking, and bicycling – our bodies react not only by building new muscle but by building new bone as well. This response follows a physiologic principle known as Wolff’s Law – bone remodels along lines of physiologic stress.

In other words, bone responds to mechanical challenges by building more bone. The result is more dense, stronger bones. Such bones are significantly less likely to fracture. And. logically, exercise helps prevent loss of bone mass, a primary cause of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women and older adults. Chiropractic health care helps provide assistance to these metabolic processes. All of our metabolic activities are directed by signals from the nerve system. Our nerve impulses tell our cells when to start and when to stop these complicated biochemical processes. Chiropractic care helps ensure proper flow of information throughout the nervous system, helping us maintain optimal physical health and well-being.
Your chiropractor is an expert in nutritional health and will be able to recommend a program and plan that will be right for you.

In my Chiropractic office I see a lot of the number one health problem in the work place, low back pain. Up to 30% of all on the job injuries are based on this type of pain. A study was done in 2001 and published in the American Journal of Public Health which discussed the risk factors in developing low back injury. The biggest risk factors consisted of shear forces coupled with compression.

So what kinds of activities combine shear and compression and cause that number one health problem?  When you lift an object (compression due to gravity) and turn (shear) at the same time injury can occur. By holding the object out in front of you, increases the effect of that weight even more than what the actual weight is. Chiropractors are always telling their patients the proper way to lift. Bending at the knees and waiting to turn until after the lift is complete will protect the back. This may take an extra second but it is worth it.

This compression and shear forces are also present in recreation activities which cause low back pain and cause you to come into my Chiropractic office. Bowling and golfing for example are big culprits in back injury. Think about it…In bowling, you lift the ball and bring it back which causes a twisting motion while in a bent forward position. Then you twist in the opposite direction while thrusting the ball forward right before the release. With golf, again you address the ball in a flexed posture. You twist with the backswing and then twist in the opposite direction after hitting the ball. This is pure shear motion. Many golf professionals have chiropractors along with their trainers to address and correct the damage that these positions done repetitively do.

One way for people to prevent these injuries is to wear back belts for support if doing repetitive lifting work. Another study was published in 2001 in Spine which discussed the use and effectiveness of these belts. The study showed that left twisting and right lateral bending were “significantly reduced” in subjects lifting large boxes. Bending forward and to the side and extending were also reduced when lifting large and small boxes. In other words, wearing a brace results in slower lifts, proper squatting-lifting technique and reduced torso extra motions.

One challenge that as a chiropractor I see with braces however is that if worn continually, the back muscles may get weaker from disuse. It is important to balance injury prevention with the use of the belt and muscle weakness. Specific exercises should be given to the worker to maximize muscular strength in the back, buttocks, quadriceps and hamstring muscles. Feel free to contact our office to have me review some of these exercises with you.

Remember, it only takes a second to injure yourself with a bad lift at work or at home. If you recall from previous articles, it can take months to years to fully recover from that one wrong move. It is more fun to do what you enjoy than to have pain and go to the chiropractor or therapist for treatment. It is cheaper in the long run to prevent injury than to treat it. So, lift right and enjoy life.

We are very excited to announce that our Chiropractic office is adding a new weight loss program which is safe, fast and healthy.  The program is called Take Shape for Life and is part of the Medifast system of weight control.   The challange for weight loss is staying motivated and the best way to do that is to see results.  This program is designed to do just that. 

The second challange is any weight loss program is keeping it off.  This program has a fabulouse transitioning program which I, as your personal weight loss coach, will help you with that.  My chiropractic office will guide you, call you, motivate and educate you on how to keep the weight off.

Go to our weight loss website at www.drcarolgrant.tsfl.com and find out about this great program.  Then call me at 860-620-9523 and get started today.

A 48 year old patient came in to my Chiropractic office and told me that she was just diagnosed with osteoporosis.  She was quite concerned and wanted to know if she has arthritis.  I realized that many people get the words osteoporosis and osteoarthritis mixed up.  Both are common conditions and both will cause pain, but they require different treatments. 

Chiropractors treat both Osteoarthritis and Osteoporosis.  The word “osteo” means bone so in both osteoarthritis and osteoporosis we are concerned with the condition of the bones.  The word “porosis” is like porous, having pores or holes, like a sponge.  Bones, which are living, actively growing tissue have two kind of cells in them.  One are the cells which make the bones grow.  These cells are very active during childhood when we are growing.  The other cells break down old bone and make the material available to the bone building cells.  As adults, these two cells should be in balance so the bones stay the same density.  When that balance breaks down, or the material the bones need to build are not available, the bones will develop pores.  Bones that have pores in them are not strong and tiny, microscopic breaks can occur causing pain.  Eventually, larger breaks can occur causing the hump seen in elderly ladies, or broken hips etc.  It is critically important to strengthen the bones to prevent these problems.

This patients medical doctor had prescribed a bone building medication, Actinol (Fosimax is another type) which slows down the cells which break down bone.  She was also advised to take 1500 mg of Calcium and 800 mg of Vitamin D.  I added 1,000 mg of magnesium and digestive enzymes to improve the absorption.  We also discussed a weight bearing exercise program which will stimulate bone building activity.

Osteoarthritis also deals with the bones but the word arthritis can be broken down into “arthr” which means joint and “itis” which means inflammation.  Osteoarthritis is an inflammation of the joints of the bones.  It can be caused by previous trauma, years of overuse or aging and involves the deterioration of the cartilage of the joint causing more friction and wear.  Joint replacement is the extreme form of treatment but many alternative forms can help slow the degenerative process.

Glucosamine sulfate with chondroitin is well researched and has been shown to repair damaged cartilage.  Primrose oil can control pain and swelling as does the herb feverfew.  Omega 3 fatty acid (found in cod liver oil) is also excellent to decrease inflammation.  Also avoid red meat, sugar products, citrus fruits, green peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, potatoes, paprika, cayenne pepper, tobacco and salt.  These foods contain substances which interferes with certain enzymes and can increase arthritis pain. 

I have also found that Chiropractic manipulation can help arthritic joints by increasing the joint mobility.  Joint that can move will pump away any swelling and the stiffness is reduced.  This decreased stimulation of the pain nerve fibers in the joints making the patient more comfortable.  Exercise is also very beneficial to maintain mobility.  One of the newest forms of treatment for osteoporosis is whole body vibration.  If you would like more information on this, call our office.  We will send you articles and studies on its benefits.

There are many other nutritional suggestions and well as other treatment suggestions.  Discuss these ideas with your doctor or call our office for other ideas.

I came across a great article by Angela Kargus in the American Chiropractic Journal in January which discussed Sciatica.  Many of my patients here at Grant Chiropractic Health Center suffer from this and perhaps you do to. 

Although Sciatica is a relatively common form of low-back and leg pain, the true meaning of the term is often misunderstood.  Sciatica is actually a set of symptoms, not a diagnosis for what is irritating the nerve root and causing the pain.  There are many causes of the symptom of persistent pain felt along the nerve root from the low back, through the buttock and into the lower leg.  It usually occurs as a result of general wear and tear on the structures of the lower spine and not as a result of an injury although it can.

The symptoms of sciatica can vary from a mild tingling, a dull ache or burning sensation all the way to a pins-and-needles sensation most often in the toes or foot or numbness or muscle weakness in the affected leg or foot.  It can also be a sharp, lancinating electric like shock sensation. 

In my office, we diagnose sciatica (or more precisely, the cause of the sciatica), by taking a complete history.  We then perform a complete orthopedic, neurologic and chiropractic examination.  We test the reflexes, muscle strength and frequently take x-rays of the low back and pelvis.  Conservative treatment is very effective for the majority of patients.  We have many gentle techniques that work for 80-90 percent of the population.  Go to our web site by clicking the link to the right of this column.  We have several videos which show how we treat patients using very gentle methods.  Call our office at 860-620-9523 to see if we can help you.

Chiropractic care is more than just adjusting the spine as we treat many conditions from top of the head to the bottom of the foot and heel.  I love treating athletes and I saw a runner recently with heel pain that responded well to my care.  She was a cross country runner logging 60 + miles per week.  She was noticing a change in her gait which was starting to affect her back.

Chiropractors are trained to examine the extremities and we looked at her heel, foot, her knee, hip and back.  There was definite foot issues with her foot rotating inward causing her arch to fall.  This caused her to walk abnormally which aggravated her knee and hip making her low back tight.

We supported her foot with orthotics, adjusted her knee, hip and lowback.  Her heel pain improved quickly and in short order she was back running and came back in for prevention of future problems.  To find out more about our custom made orthotic program, click on the link on the right to our website or call our office at 860-620-9523.

As a chiropractor, I see a lot of people with colds and flue and I frequently suggest that they take Garlic to help avoid this illness.  Garlic contains a phytochemical called allicin which has been shown to boost the immune system.

Chiropractic care can also boost the immune system by making sure the nervous control of the immune system is working properly.  Any pressure on the nerves decreases the function of the organ by 40% or greater.

Please go to our website to further evaluate this information.  Click on the link to the right of this column.

The number one health problem in the work place is low back pain.  Up to 30% of all on the job injuries are based on this type of pain.  A study was done in 2001 and published in the American Journal of Public Health which discussed the risk factors in developing low back injury.  The biggest risk factors consisted of shear forces coupled with compression.

So what kinds of activities at work can cause low back pain?  In other words what activities combine shear and compression?  When you lift an object (compression due to gravity) and turn (shear) at the same time injury can occur.  By holding the object out in front of you, increases the effect of that weight even more than what the actual weight is.  Chiropractors are always telling their patients the proper way to lift.  Bending at the knees and waiting to turn until after the lift is complete will protect the back.  This may take an extra second but it is worth it. 

Low back pain from compression and shear forces are also present in recreation activities.  Bowling and golfing for example are big culprits in back injury.  Think about it…In bowling, you lift the ball and bring it back which causes a twisting motion while in a bent forward position.  Then you twist in the opposite direction while thrusting the ball forward right before the release.  With golf, again you address the ball in a flexed posture. You twist with the backswing and then twist in the opposite direction after hitting the ball.  This is pure shear motion.  Many golf professionals have chiropractors along with their trainers to address and correct the damage that these positions done repetitively do. 

One way for people to prevent these injuries is to wear back belts for support if doing repetitive lifting work.  Another study was published in 2001 in Spine which discussed the use and effectiveness of these belts.  The study showed that left twisting and right lateral bending were “significantly reduced” in subjects lifting large boxes.  Bending forward and to the side and extending were also reduced when lifting large and small boxes.  In other words, wearing a brace results in slower lifts, proper squatting-lifting technique and reduced torso extra motions.

One challenge that as a chiropractor I see with braces however is that if worn continually, the back muscles may get weaker from disuse.  It is important to balance injury prevention with the use of the belt and muscle weakness.  Specific exercises should be given to the worker to maximize muscular strength in the back, buttocks, quadriceps and hamstring muscles.  Feel free to contact our office at 860-620-9523 to have me review some of these exercises with you or click on the link on the right to visit our website. 

Remember, it only takes a second to injure yourself with a bad lift at work or at home and it can take months to years to fully recover from that one wrong move.  It is more fun to do what you enjoy than to have pain and go to the chiropractor or therapist for treatment.  It is cheaper in the long run to prevent injury than to treat it.  So, lift right and enjoy life.