Archive for the 'Conditions & Treatments' Category

What is Torticollis?

Published
by
Dr. Edward Gould
on August 6, 2011
in Baby Boomer Issues, Cervical Brachial Syndrome, Cincinnati Chiropractors and torticollis
. 0 Comments

Torticolles

Torticollis (Wry Neck)

A person with torticolles typically enters my office with his head tilted to one side and is able to turn his head in one direction but not the other. The pain initially is mild but becomes intense as time passes. This can actually happen at any age. Some people are born with it. Torticollis usually has an insidious onset. Sleeping funny or having your head turned to one side for a prolonged period of time. In fact, initially most people think they just have a crick in their neck.

The problem in the majority of cases begins at the spinal joints or facets. When the spine is put into rotation for a prolonged period of time, this causes the affected spinal joints to separate. This separation causes the capsule to stretch. As the spinal joint surfaces get pulled apart, the surrounding capsule can be pulled into the joint due to a negative pressure. Once this occurs, the joints are now able to “pinch” the capsule. This pinching in turn causes the muscled that cross that joint to go into spasm which causes more pinching. This in turn causes more spasm. This is why the pain tends to spread over time and is always on one side. Warning: Get this treated ASAP.

I hope this post has been helpful.

Yours in Health, Naturally!

Dr. Gould

Cincinnati Golf Injuries & Prevention

Published
by
Dr. Edward Gould
on April 18, 2011
in Cincinnati Chiropractors, Golf Injuries, Lower Back Pain, Mid Back Pain, Neck Pain & Stiffness, Sacroiliac Pain and Sports Injuries
. 0 Comments

Golf is an interesting sport that requires the coordination of all parts of the body.  Hitting a golf ball only requires a small amount of time, however, in that small amount of time the golfer’s body will undergo massive amounts of stress.  Because of this,  injuries occur on a regular basis.

A fluid swing requires maximum-joint-function throughout the body.  Any reduction of  joint function, will not only increase the chances of injury but will also change the characteristics of the golfer’s swing, which will contribute to a loss of swing velocity and improper impact position.

Many golfers overlook the obvious, they eagerly spend thousands of dollars on clubs and lessons, yet they ignore the most important component in their game, their body and its ability to move properly.

As we age “all” of our golf swings change.  Anyone that follows golf knows that Tiger Woods has been relentlessly working on a new swing.  Yes, even Tiger is susceptible to the aging process.  His mechanics are amazing but they are changing.

Common complaints and injuries in order of prevalence from playing golf:

  1. Sacroiliac pain
  2. Lower back pain
  3. Mid back pain
  4. Neck pain
  5. Shoulder pain
  6. Elbow pain
  7. Knee pain

If you are suffering from any of the above or you just want to maximize your body’s function, call me before your next tee time at 513-791-8110.

Yours in Health, Naturally!

Dr. Gould

Cherries found to control Inflammation

Published
by
Dr. Edward Gould
on April 12, 2011
in Aging, Cincinnati Chiropractors, inflammation and Sports Injuries
. 0 Comments

Cherries Fight Inflammation

Cherries are important for their ability to control inflammation.  A growing body of scientific research indicates that inflammation contributes to diseases such as heart disease, arthritis, and obesity. Sweet or tart, cherries are a powerhouse of anti-inflammatory nutrients. A study from University of California at Davis found that regular consumption of cherries for 28 days produced a decrease in biochemical signs of inflammation in blood, including a 25 percent reduction in C-reactive protein CRP, the most widely studied marker of inflammation.  Elevation of CRP in blood is associated with an increased risk of heart disease and stroke.

Cherries Better Than Aspirin for Pain?

According to research done at Michigan State University the anthocyanins that make cherries red could also help relieve pain more effectively than aspirin. The study found that anthocyanins were potent antioxidants that could prevent oxidative damage and also inhibited enzymes called cyclooxygenase-1 and -2 Cox 1 and 2, which is similar in the way anti- inflammatory drugs seek to reduce pain.  The study appeared in the Journal of Natural Products published by the American Chemical Society. Lead researcher Muralee G. Nair, Ph.D., Professor at Michigan State University College of Agriculture & Natural Resources, noted about this cherry effect “It is as good as ibuprofen and some of the nonsteriodal anti-inflammatory drugs.”  Nair said that his lab results indicate that consuming 20 tart cherries could provide anti-inflammatory benefits. Finding a natural way to reduce pain is important, given the serious side effects from common pain relievers called NSAIDs, examples of which include Advil, Motrin, Aleve and aspirin.

Cherry Juice for Workout Recovery

A presentation at the American College of Sports Medicine Conference found that drinking tart cherry juice helped reduce pain after exercise for long distance runners. This research,  from the Oregon Health & Science University,  indicated that cherries could act like medications that runners use to reduce inflammation after workouts.Publishing their findings in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, the researchers explain: “Considering the natural anti-inflammatory and antioxidant capacity of tart cherries,  it is plausible that cherry consumption before and during strenuous exercise may have a protective effect to reduce muscle damage and pain. “For most runners,  post-race treatment consists of RICE rest, ice, compression and elevation and traditional NSAIDS non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs,” said Kerry Kuehl, M.D., a sports medicine physician and principal study investigator, who added: “But NSAIDS can have adverse effects — negative effects you may be able to avoid by using a natural, whole food alternative, like cherry juice, to reduce muscle inflammation before exercise.” Please see References below for the link to the full text of this interesting study.

Cherries and Gout

Another study from the University of California at Davis found that a single dose of cherries reduced the blood level of uric acid in healthy women. Excess uric acid causes gout, a very painful type of arthritis. The use of cherries to prevent gout is well established in Western folk medicine. You can enjoy the benefit of cherries all year round with unsweetened cherry juice, unsweetened cherry juice concentrate, or frozen organic pitted cherries, which make a delicious snack or dessert. And don’t forget about incorporating anti-inflammatory foods like cherries into daily life.

via Leo Galland, M.D.: Cherries for Health: Better Than Aspirin?.

Whiplash Injuries

Published
by
Dr. Edward Gould
on February 1, 2011
in Cincinnati Chiropractors, Conditions & Treatments and Whiplash Injuries
. 0 Comments

Crash DummyIt’s surreal, one moment you are stopped at a red light. The next moment you hear screeching tires, you look up into your rear view mirror and immediately feel the impact. You have just been involved in an accident. Within moments a policeman taps on your window to ask if you are okay… You move around a bit and much to your surprise, you feel fine, other than feeling a bit anxious. Two days later however, you cannot lift your head off your pillow and your body feels like it has been beat up.

How can this be? You feel okay immediately after the accident but with 48 to 72 hours you feel absolutely miserable. I’m always asked this question, “Doc, I felt fine right after the accident, why do I hurt so badly now?” A quick anatomy lesson will help here. It is all about blood supply. Tissues that have a good blood supply swell quickly after an injury. Tissues that have a poor blood supply swell slowly after an injury. There are several things that are significant about this. Not only does a poor blood supply delay the onset of pain, it also significantly increases healing time and in some cases healing outcomes.

Properly treating this type of injury is critical. Left alone, improper healing can occur leaving the individual with chronic pain for the rest of their life. We all know people like this. I have been treating whiplash injuries since 1988. If you live in the greater Cincinnati area and have been in an auto accident, call me and set up an appointment to be examined. The sooner treatment begins the better the outcome.

The Causes of Disc Problems

Published
by
Dr. Edward Gould
on January 17, 2011
in Cincinnati Chiropractors and Disc Problems
. 0 Comments

Everyone knows someone that has a disc problem. At parties people often come up to me with questions about this topic. I usually turn it around and ask them a couple of questions to find out how much knowledge they have on the topic. Usually, their knowledge is very limited.

Below are some of the characteristics or facts about our discs.

• If it weren’t for our discs, we would all be roughly four inches shorter. Have you noticed your parents or grandparents getting shorter? This is why that happens they are simply losing disc height. By the way, Chiropractic care can help prevent disc height loss.

• Our discs act as shock absorbers, keeping the vertebra separated and also allowing our spine a wide range of movements. When we are young are discs are very resilient. As we age, they lose much of that resiliency which predisposes us to having disc problems.

What are the primary causes of disc problems?

From the time we are born, up to our later teens, each of our discs has an excellent blood supply. Like the rest of our body, there are arteries that take oxygenated nutrient rich blood to the disc and there are veins that take deoxygenated blood and waste away from the disc. For some “unknown” reason, the arteries and veins disappear (they become atretic) causing the disc to become avascular by our late teens. As you can imagine, this is not a happy time for the disc. A good analogy would be… The groceries stop being delivered and the sewer backs up.

Because of this, the disc is left with tunnels (where the vein and artery once resided) in the ligamentous outer rings of the disc called the annulus. These tunnels act as conduits for the “putty-like” center of the disc called the nucleus pulposus. This putty-like substance finds these conduits and can actually ooze through them during periods of high stress (lifting improperly, auto accidents, sports injuries, sneezing and coughing) which can lead to bulges, herniations and sequestered discs.

Because the direct blood supply in no longer available, the disc now relies on segmental motion to pump nutrients in and waste products out. To do this, the disc employs a process called imbibition. Imbibition can be explained by watching someone play an accordion. When an accordion is pulled apart, air rapidly is pulled into the bellows of the accordion. As the accordion is squeezed, air is forced through and out of the instrument to make the sound. That same motion occurs in a disc. When we bend backward the disc is elongated causing nutrient rich fluid to be pulled into the disc from the top and bottom of the vertebra that it is attached to. Conversely, when we bend forward the disc is compressed causing waste products to be forced out of the disc into the ends of the vertebra. This process happens hundreds of times each day. As long as there is normal motion at each disc level this pumping action is adequate to keep the disc healthy.

Misalignments or subluxations are the true enemy of the disc. When your spine becomes subluxated the disc’s normal pumping motion is reduced or in severe cases, completely eliminated due to loss of motion. If the subluxation is not corrected, degenerative processes begin leading to osteoarthritis. Once this happens, the areas above and below the affected area have to compensate for the osteoarthritic area. Over time these areas will begin to become problematic also.

I have successfully treated many individuals in the Greater Cincinnati area that had disc problems. Like most neuromuscular problems, it is best to seek out treatment early. The longer you wait the more difficult your case becomes.