El Cajon Chiropractor - Is texting ruining our kids posture?

Notice the forward head & shoulder position

Twitter, texting, & video games.  What do they have in common?  Well, our kids’ posture is being destroyed by them.  If you’ve ever watched kids during a texting frenzy, you would’ve seen the classic posture: head down, neck craned forward, and shoulder rolled in toward the front of the body.  A recent study published in the Journal of School Health found that 38.3% of children had poor posture.  An even more interesting number was that at 7 years old, the % of children with poor posture was only 33% while 11-year-olds were found be at 41%.  As the children get to the age where they are trusted with cell phones, their posture gets dramatically worse.  The most common complaints amongst the poor posture group were headaches, neck pain, & low back pain.  As Chiropractors, we have seen an increase in neck and back symptoms in a younger group. 

Notice the forward head
& shoulder position

The posture plague may have begun when schools eliminated lockers back in the early 1990s.  Kids were required to haul around backpacks with up to 6-8 books in them and these backpacks began to increase in weight up to 50 lbs.  This forced the kids to pull their heads & shoulders forward to handle the load.  Who exactly thought it was a good idea to put a 50 lb. backpack on a 60 pound child?  After this came the hand-held video game craze which took kids with forward head and shoulder posture, and kept them in this posture long after their school books had been cast aside for the day.  The next big thing was texting.  The average teenager sends 60 texts per day.  That adds up to 1,800 text messages per month.  A study found that while texting, children’s heads sit 4-1/2 inches in front of neutral.  This is a lot of spent in a “buzzard posture” after spending even more time with the video games and carrying the heavy backpack.  Add on top of this facebook & homework on the computer it seems that kids are only out of this poor posture when they are lying on their backs in bed!

A buzzard with buzzard posture

A kid texting in buzzard posture

So what’s the big deal if you have bad posture?  Anterior head carriage as it’s called, can produce up to 30 lbs. of additional pressure on the neck.  That’s like walking around all day with a cinder block on top of your head.  Imagine doing that 5, 10, or 20 years.  This can lead to degenerative arthritis in the neck at younger and younger ages.  Also, symptoms most influenced by poor posture are spinal pain, headache, mood, blood pressure, pulse, and lung capacity.  On top of that, older adults with increased curve in the midback, called hyperkyphosis, have a higher rate of mortality.

Hyperkyphosis

What is being done about this?  Well, more schools are going to 2 sets of books (1 for school, 1 for home) and some are even using digital books.  This should help some with correcting posture, but not the lion's share.  Let’s face it folks, texting, twitter, video games, backpacks, facebook, & homework are going to be here for a while.  Why not bring your child in for a Chiropractic consultation so that they don’t grow up to suffer with the same health problems that you have endured?

Dr. Dennis Barker DC is a Chiropractor in the Community of Fletcher Hills serving the cities of El Cajon, La Mesa, Santee and all of San Diego County.

Visit us at www.fletcherhillschiropractic.com and www.facebook.com/fletcherhillschiro

El Cajon Chiropractor - Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Chiropractic

Would you believe me if I told you that the pain, numbness and tingling in your hands could be coming from your neck?  In fact, when I have a new patient in my office complaining of these symptoms, I typically don't even give an adjustment to these areas until I've adjusted the neck first.  Sounds crazy, right?  Well, here's the explanation.  Carpal tunnel syndrome is defined by Wikipedia as "... an entrapment median neuropathy, causing paresthesia, pain, numbness, and other symptoms in the distribution of the median nerve due to its compression at the wrist in the carpal tunnel".

Entrapment means trapping or compression
Median is referring to the median nerve (I'll explain this later)
Neuropathy is a loss of nerve tone or function
Paresthesia means tingling

The carpal tunnel is literally a tunnel where the median nerve and the muscle tendons going to the hand pass through.  There are a total of 9 tendons which join the median nerve in the tunnel.

Close up of the carpal tunnel

The tunnel has rigid walls created by the transverse carpal ligament and the carpal (wrist) bones on the back of the wrist.  The transverse carpal ligament is what creates the tunnel and is the part of the tunnel closest to the surface of the skin on the palm side of the wrist.

So, that being said, it seems obvious that the problem is still in the wrist, right?  Well, follow me on this one.  The median nerve is part of what is called the brachial (arm) plexus (group) of nerves.  The brachial plexus begins at the neck where 5 nerves exiting your spinal cord at your neck join together.  They then travel down the arm all the way to the hand. The median nerve travels through the carpal tunnel and is responsible for touch sensation to the palm side of the thumb, index, middle, and part of the ring fingers.

The median nerve gives touch sensation  to the thumb side of the palm

These  particular nerves exit your spine at the level of the lower neck.  Any trauma to the neck (car accident, slip and fall, sports injuries, etc.) can cause long lasting, chronic nerve compression or irritation.  These injuries often cause of a loss of the natural curve of the neck.  This narrows the opening in the spine where the nerves coming off of the spinal cord exit and go down the arm all the way to the hand.

The brachial plexus exiting the neck and traveling down the arm

 When the nerves are irritated or compressed at the neck, the effects are often felt at the location furthest from the spinal cord, in this case the hand.  In some cases, you may not have significant symptoms in your neck, only in your hands.  This is why 1 person doing the same job as another may have problems, while another doesn't.  The worker with carpal tunnel likely has neck issues.  This is also why some patients have a recurrence of symptoms after having carpal tunnel surgery.  Because their problem was not in their wrist, it was at the source, at the neck. I like to compare this to a car with a bad front-end alignment.  The symptom is tires that wear unevenly.  You can replace the tires a hundred times, but it doesn't ever get rid of the problem.  Until you align the front end, you haven't fixed the problem at its source.


Seeing your Chiropractor will get your neck in proper alignment.  This will open up the paths for nerves exiting the spinal cord at the neck and help them to heal.

Dr. Dennis Barker DC is a Chiropractor in the Community of Fletcher Hills serving the cities of El Cajon, La Mesa, Santee and all of San Diego County.

Visit us at www.fletcherhillschiropractic.com and www.facebook.com/fletcherhillschiro

El Cajon Chiropractor - Plantar Fasciitis, Running and Chiropractic

Plantar Fascia

Plantar fasciitis is inflammation of the connective tissue that travels on the bottom of your foot from your heel to your forefoot.  It can also be known as a heel spur although they’re not necessarily the same.  You may experience pain in your heel or in your arch, usually worse first thing in the morning, that gets better once you take a few steps.  The pain may come and go throughout the day.  So what's causing this?

Our tendency is to locate the source of pain and then - rub it, poke it, heat it up, cool it down, inject it, or cut it out.  While any of these may be effective, they are treating the end result, and not the source of the problem.  This is akin to replacing your right front tire of your car every 3 months because it keeps wearing down.  The problem is that your front end is misaligned and the worn out tire is the outward symptom.

Pelvic subluxation making legs uneven

The most common cause of plantar fasciitis is a subluxation (mis-alignment) of the joints in the lower half of your body.  Now I know that the first thing you thought of was "the bones of my foot are misaligned?".  Ah, ah, ah...We need to go further up the chain.  Although the source of the misalignment may be in your foot, it is significantly more common for this to be occurring in the low back or pelvis.  When your low back or pelvis become subluxated, it alters your gait (walking or running pattern).  This causes 2 things: leg-length differences leading to muscle-length differences.  This leads to excessive pull on the plantar fascia due to the altered mechanics.  One leg becomes longer, there is reduced dorsiflexion (bringing foot up towards shin) in the leg, the achilles tendon becomes tight, the arch of the foot begins flattening, this creates increased distance between the forefoot and heel and increased tension on the plantar fascia.  If this added tension on the fascia is not lessened, the body begins to change the soft tissue of the fascia into stronger tissue - bone.  Voila!  A heel spur develops on the front of the heel bone because this is where the fascia inserts and is its weakest link.  A heel spur can not be removed except by surgery, so it is imperative to receive proper treatment at the onset of symptoms to prevent spur formation.  

The major medical treatments are surgery and cortisone injections.  I don't need to tell you the complications associated with surgery.  Cortisone, on the other hand is a steroid.  As with any steroid, continued use can lead to high blood sugar, diabetes, osteoporosis, personality changes such as anxiety or depression, and increased chance of illness or infection.  Cortisone is also used to suppress the immune system.  In fact, it works so well that it is often used following an organ transplant to prevent rejection of the organ.  It works by beating down the immune system to the point where it can form an attack against the foreign organ.

Here's what to do if you start to feel the symptoms of plantar fasciitis:

1. Get adjusted – if your pelvis or low back is out of alignment, you’re putting increased stress on the foot, you may not have proper nerve supply to the muscles of the foot and leg, and your walking/running biomechanics can be off.  This step is critical because it gets to the cause of the problem and doesn't just mask the symptoms.
2. Fill a small water bottle (the standard 16.9 oz. size) with water and freeze it.  Then, take it out and roll it under the bottom of your foot, front to back.  This does 3 things: it breaks up the scar tissue which has formed and the ice reduces inflammation & and decreases the pain.
3. Take omega-3 oils – Fish or krill oil are nature’s greatest natural anti-inflammatory.
4. Get a gel heel cup – This gives your heel some cushion and raises your heel slightly which takes tension of the plantar fascia.  If you know you already have a heel spur (from a previous x-ray), get a U-shaped heel pad which puts a small gap between the center of the heel and your shoe.
5. Try a natural topical analgesic – 4X/day.  Something with menthol works great, like Sombra or Biofreeze.
6. Stretch the plantar fascia – Do this by bending your toes back towards your shin.  First, while sitting, second while standing, if symptoms persist you made need a brace that will do this while you sleep.
7. Stretch the achilles tendon.  Do this by putting your foot in a toes up position against a wall or cabinet then leaning forward until you feel a stretch in your calf.  Alternate with your leg straight and with your knee bent - this works both muscles in the calf.

Plantar fascia stretch

Calf stretch

And remember as always - This stuff works folks!

Dr. Dennis Barker DC is a Chiropractor in the Community of Fletcher Hills serving the cities of El Cajon, La Mesa, Santee and all of San Diego County.

Visit us at www.fletcherhillschiropractic.com and www.facebook.com/fletcherhillschiro

El Cajon Chiropractor - Neck pain: Chiropractic vs. Pain killers

A recent study published in The Annals of Internal Medicine compared the effectiveness of Chiropractic care against over the counter pain killers and narcotics in treating neck pain.  The results? Of the 272 study participants, 82% of those receiving Chiropractic adjustments reported significant pain relief vs. only 69% in the medication group.  Here's the best part...the results were similar after 6 months and 12 months AND the Chiropractic patients reported greater satisfaction and overall function.  But that's not all...call now and you can relief from your neck pain with NO harmful side effects.  If you didn't already know, acetametophen has been tied to kidney damage with extensive use and narcotics are addictive.  So stop suffering needlessly with an achey neck and see your local Chiropractor. This stuff works folks!

Dr. Dennis Barker DC is a Chiropractor in the Community of Fletcher Hills serving the cities of El Cajon, La Mesa, Santee and all of San Diego County.

Visit us at www.fletcherhillschiropractic.com and www.facebook.com/fletcherhillschiro

El Cajon Chiropractor - Dr. Wayne Dyer and Chiropractic

Watch this video on the current state of our nation's health and the future of Chiropractic.

Dr. Dennis Barker DC is a Chiropractor in the Community of Fletcher Hills serving the cities of El Cajon, La Mesa, Santee and all of San Diego County.

Visit us at www.fletcherhillschiropractic.com and www.facebook.com/fletcherhillschiro

El Cajon Chiropractor - How much is your health worth?

I was recently reading an article in Time mageazine regarding how much the average American spends on certain items each year.  Read it here.  It made me think about how many times my patients told "I can't afford to come in this week" or people in agonizing pain telling me "I wish I could come and see you, but I just can't afford it.  Here are some great ways for you to save a little money to put towards your chiropractic care.

Average amount spent each year on:
Coffee - $1,092
Christmas gifts - $700
Cell phone (average) - $606
Cell phone (iPhone) - $1,900
Electricity - $1,419
Health insurance - $15,073
Pet (dog) - $1,542
Pet (cat) -  $1,183
Shoes - $370
Soda - $850
Watching sports - $100
Total for these categories - $24,835

Now obviously, I'm not asking anyone to go without health insurance or electricity nor am I telling you to take your pet to the pound.  An office visit at my office is $45.00.  If you buy a package of 12, you get a 20% discount.  Therefore for you to come into my office once a month for a year, to make sure that your nervous system was functioning at 100% of its capacity to help your body function at its full potential, it would cost you $432.  Now, if you bring your spouse, and you bring in your children on kids free day, it would cost you $864 for the year.  That means your whole family could have monthly checkups for an entire year.  So how much would you have to cut back you ask?  3.5%.  That's it.  Now I ask you, isn't it worth finding a way to cut back just 3.5% in these 11 categories to help your family be well?

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" - Benjamin Franklin

Stay healthy San Diego!

Dr. Dennis Barker DC is a Chiropractor in the Community of Fletcher Hills serving the cities of El Cajon, La Mesa, Santee and all of San Diego County.

Visit us at www.fletcherhillschiropractic.com and www.facebook.com/fletcherhillschiro

El Cajon Chiropractor - Headaches and how Chiropractic can help

I know what you're thinking - "My back doesn't hurt, what the heck is a Chiropractor going to do for my headache?"  You may not know that Chiropractors, just like medical doctors, are trained for diagnosis and treatment of common conditions such as headaches.  Chirorpactors are trained how to perform a myriad of techniques to adjust the body and put it into its best form to take care of itself.  Let's take a closer look at the most common headaches.

There are 5 main types of common headaches:

• Tension headache - Often felt either on both sides of the head like a headband squeezing the head or at the base of the skull and back of the upper neck.  These headaches can last anywhere from 30 minutes to nearly non-stop for a week.  Tension headaches are caused by tight muscles around the head and neck.



Sub-occipital muscles

• What your Chiropractor can do - Chiropractic adjustments to the neck will release muscle tension in the head and neck especially the sub-occipital muscles at the base of the skull.
• What you can do - These headaches are common in people who are in a static position all day such as sitting at a computer or driving.  Stretch your neck and go through all ranges of motion once every hour or so.

• Migraine headache - Can be on one or both sides and are usually felt as throbbing.  These can last from a few hours to 3 days.  You may also experience sensitivity to light or sound and can also experience nausea and vomiting associated with the headache.  These are usually caused by a decrease in blood flow to the brain.

• What your Chiropractor can do - The vertebral artery supplies blood to the brain.  Its course is straight upward through holes in the vertebrae of the neck.  When one of these vertebrae gets out of position, it can cause a kink in the hose so to speak, decreasing blood flow to the brain.
• What you can do - Feverfew is a medicinal herb from the Chrysanthemum family and is available over the counter at health food stores.  It has been used for centuries to treat headaches and had been helpful by numerous users.  Also, consult with your Chiropractor and get your neck adjusted.

• Cervicogenic headache - May or may not have accompanying neck pain.  The muscles around the neck are usually sore if pressed upon.  These headaches are commonly confused for migraine headaches as they can have an almost identical presentation including sensitivities to light or sound.  Many of these headache sufferers have had previous trauma to the neck like a car accident but this is not always the case.  Cervicogenic headaches are caused by irritation of the nerves coming from your spinal cord at the level of your neck and traveling to the head.

Pain referring from the neck muscles to the head

• What your Chiropractor can do - The nerves of your spinal cord exit through openings created by the bottom of one vertebra and the top of the one below it.  When the vertebra of your neck are misaligned, this opening is narrowed causing irritation or compression of the nerve exiting at that level of your neck.  Chiropractic adjustments are safest and most effective way to return these vertebrae to their proper position.
• What you can do - Loss of the natural cervical curve is extremely common, especially in those who have had previous neck trauma such as a car accident.  Chiropractic care as well as therapeutic stretching and strengthening can help return this natural curve.

• Sinus headache - Felt in the face and often, but not always, have accompanying congestion.  Pain feels like pressure between the eye brows or along the sides of the nose.  These are caused by congestion of the sinuses.

Areas of pain with sinus headache

• What your Chiropractor can do - Adjusting the neck will normalize nerve function of the nerves traveling to the face and sinuses.  Also, your Chiropractor can recommend supplements to help regulate your histamine levels and dry out your sinuses. 
• What you can do - Over the counter saline solutions or a neti pot will get saltwater into the sinuses and help to dry up the mucous.  Sinus infections can lead to serious complications, so they must be taken very seriously.

 

• Cluster headache - Felt on one side, usually around the eye.  Cluster headaches may last from 15 minutes to 3 hours and can come and go multiple times throughout the day.  The pain is sharp and boring and can be associated with runny nose, watery eyes, and redness of the eyes.  These headaches are caused by irritation of the nerves which travel to the face and eyes.

• What your Chiropractor can do - The trigeminal (tri-gem-in-al) nerve exits your brain from the brain stem.  The brain stem is located just behind the first two bones in your neck.  Getting a neck adjustment can help normalize nerve function and calm down irritated nerves going to the face.
• What you can do -Avoid alcohol as it is a big-time trigger for cluster headaches.  Stress is another trigger, so find some time to relax and take some time for yourself.

Dr. Dennis Barker DC is a Chiropractor in the Community of Fletcher Hills serving the cities of El Cajon, La Mesa, Santee and all of San Diego County.

Visit us at www.fletcherhillschiropractic.com