Expert Orthopedic Care, Exceptional Service
  • About
  • Info
  • Blog
  • Videos
  • Testimonials
  • FAQ

Car Symptoms

10/6/2020

0 Comments

 
If neck, mid, back, or shoulder blade symptoms are worse with driving or after driving, it’s worth considering your car posture. The same applies to symptoms anywhere in the head, face, shoulder or arm, all the way to your fingers. (The lower portion and bottom seat can play a role in low back and leg problems.) Most cars put the mid back in flexion and the neck in flexion and/or protrusion. In other words, the mid back joints are rounded and the joints of the neck are either bent forward or pushed forward.
​
If a posture has no effect on symptoms while you’re in the position nor after, and if your movement ability is not negatively affected, then there’s no problem. For a lot of patients with upper body complaints, though, posture in the car does warrant discussion. Many patients note driving is exacerbating and many patients spend a fair amount of time in their cars. The good news? With all of the patients’ cars I’ve assessed, adjusting the ergonomics of the car is easy and inexpensive. The theme is usually (if not always) to get the upper body straight, not flexed. The hardest part is for patients to get used to it - but that beats symptoms! -- Laura
0 Comments

Your "Mechanical Diet" Likely Matters

7/3/2020

0 Comments

 
If you fix a medical problem by eating well for a month, it's silly to expect the improvement to stick if you return to eating crap. The same applies to mechanical, or orthopedic, problems. Consider movement (and sustained positions) your “diet” when it comes to mechanical problems. There are certainly some mechanical problems that never have to pay attention to diet again. But for most, it matters. There’s no hard and fast rule; each patient’s case is unique, and is understood during the treatment process.

If nothing in a person’s life changed except she bought a new sports car, used it a lot, noticed lumbar stiffness getting out of the car she never had before, and a week later she had an L5 radiculopathy to her big toe, there’s a great chance that position is a factor. Let’s say that point is confirmed during treatment. Meaning, sitting in the sports car now exacerbates leg symptoms and/or obstructs low back movement. After resolving the patient’s low back derangement, does that mean she can never use that car again? Probably not. But it’s likely she’ll do much better long-term if she adjusts the car’s seat, or does her corrective exercise before and after car rides over 30 minutes, or makes sure to check her low back motion after being in the car. In this scenario, resuming her old “diet” of just hopping in her sports car - and adopting that specific mechanical seated position - without thinking twice will likely lead to recurrence. -- Laura
0 Comments

There Is No One Perfect Position for a Lumbar Roll

6/17/2020

0 Comments

 
The perfect position is the position that reduces, abolishes, or prevents symptoms. And if a lumbar roll doesn’t reduce, abolish, or prevent symptoms, then it is not indicated. A roll may make symptoms worse initially, but, as therapy progresses, it becomes helpful. Or it may only be tolerated for 20 mins but eventually is useful for long stretches. Its use should always be assessed, not recommended without reasoning.

When it comes to prevention, often that looks like a person who doesn’t have symptoms in sitting but has trouble rising, especially with straightening his low back. Or it may look like a person who has no pain all day sitting at work but then pain in the evenings at the gym. If using a lumbar roll all day prevents pain later at the gym, then it is indicated. 

Lumbar rolls can be extremely effective as can any decent lumbar support built into a chair. The point is usually to reduce prolonged spinal flexion or enhance extension. Lumbar rolls can be easily added, adjusted, and removed. They can come in the form of a rolled up sweatshirt, household pillow, or something purchased. I’ve had patients support their low backs with water bottles and purses. I myself used my wallet while driving once. Their low cost and ease of use make them potent tools for helping those with musculoskeletal complaints. -- Laura
0 Comments

Chair Backs

3/29/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
I do not preach sitting 100% upright 100% of the time, but I believe that the majority of sitting time should be in the upright position. A chair like this in which the back slopes backward makes it difficult to attain upright posture since there is no upper mid back support in the upright position. Without that support or tactile feedback you are (much) less likely to sit upright - nothing is cueing, reminding, or helping you to do so. (It’s not as though we commonly lean back and therefore need this slope anyhow.)

A good work chair does not have to be expensive. In general, I prefer a straight back that comes up to the shoulder blades, a comfortable bottom portion, depth that fits your femur, arm rests that allow you to navigate your desk, and a lumbar roll that can be added and removed. --Laura
0 Comments

    Orthopedics Blog

    Learn more about the world of diagnosing and treating orthopedics here!
    McKenzie Method


    ​Categories

    All
    Abdomen
    Achilles
    Aging
    Ankle
    Arthritis
    Assistive Device
    Athletes
    Bending
    Biking
    Car
    Centralization
    Chairs
    Core
    Degeneration
    Diagnosing
    Directional Preference
    Discs
    Ear
    Elbow
    Ergonomics
    Exercise
    Extremity
    FABER
    Foam Rolling
    Foot
    Glutes
    Hamstrings
    Hand
    Headache
    Hip
    Imaging
    Immobilization
    Impingement
    Inflammation
    IT Band
    Joints
    Knee
    Lumbar/Low Back
    McKenzie Method
    Medication
    Meniscus
    Mobilization
    Modalities
    Morton's Neuroma
    Muscles
    Neck
    Nerves
    Numbness
    Obesity
    OST
    Osteoarthritis
    Outcomes
    Pain
    Palpation
    Performance
    Piriformis
    Plantar Fasciitis
    Podcast
    Posture
    Prevention
    Prognosis
    Proprioception
    Quadriceps
    Range Of Motion
    Rehabilitation
    Repeated Movement
    Running
    Scar Tissue
    Shoulder
    Shoulder Blade
    Sinuses
    Sleeping
    Spine
    Spondylolisthesis
    Sports
    Stenosis
    Stiffness
    Strain
    Strength/Strengthening
    Stress
    Stretching
    Surgery
    Swelling
    Tendon
    Testimonial
    Thoracic
    Tightness
    Tingling
    Verbal History
    Volunteering
    Walking
    Wrist

    Archives

    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016

    RSS Feed

  • About
  • Info
  • Blog
  • Videos
  • Testimonials
  • FAQ