Dorsiflexion is a important movement that occurs in the ankle. Dorsiflexion the ability for the ankle to bend upward towards your head. We need a minimum of 10 degrees to have good functioning ankle. Its common to lose this motion. Pointing our toes down is called plantar flexion. Look at this patient feet. The left ankle lost its dorsiflexion.
I want to thank the patient for lettings me use these pictures.
Loss of range of motion can be treated with with adjustments and home exercises. Look at how much better the ankle bends after an adjustment to the foot and ankle. This patient responded very well. He is young and the problem was not going for too long so he responded super well.
Patient was also given one strengthening exercise as well as a stretching to do at home to help him heal faster.
We treat ankle pain all the time here at Sikorsky Chiropractic. If you’re experiencing any pain or an injury to your ankle give the office a call!
“Obesity is associated with a higher risk of tendinopathy, tendon tear and rupture, and complications after tendon surgery than non-obesity.”
Medial epicondylitis: odds ratio (OR) 1.9
Achilles tendinopathy: OR 3.81
Patellar tendinopathy: OR 1.10
Plantar fasciitis: OR 2.97
Rotator cuff tendinopathy: OR 1.25
Rotator cuff tear: OR 2.35
Rotator cuff rupture leading to tendon surgery OR 3.13 – 3.51
Photo by Joenomias–2512814
Macchi M, Spezia M, Elli S, Schiaffini G, Chisari E. Obesity Increases the Risk of Tendinopathy, Tendon Tear and Rupture, and Postoperative Complications: A Systematic Review of Clinical Studies. A Publication of The Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons®| CORR®. 2020 Apr 14. Link
Having good running form is another way to prevent running injuries. There are many nuances to running form. We’ll discuss the big three. They are Cadence, Posture and Foot placement.
Cadence (Stride Length)
The amateur runner may not put much thought into their running beyond putting one foot in front of the other, however, if you are finding yourself with consistent pain in your shins or recurring lower leg injuries the way you run may be playing a role. New research has demonstrated that when you take a longer stride as you run, the ground reaction force on your legs will be increased. This increased force can lead to more injuries and micro traumas that can lead to chronic injuries and discomfort.
With Cadence think quick feet. A faster stride will reduce the amount of time you spend on the ground and decreased ground-reaction force. This reduces the impact on your body gets hitting the ground.
If you think that this may be affecting your ability to run pain-free, try taking some shorter runs and actively think about taking shorter steps while running. Your legs will have to move faster to maintain the same pace as before. It will take some time to retrain your brain to alter your running pattern, but with some regular training, you should be able to make the transition.
Photo by sasint–3639875 See how long her stride is? If the foot is landing far in front of you, your cadence is most likely low.
Posture
Good posture will help you run with less pain and prevent injuries. Basically good posture will create good running posture. Your head should be over your ribcage and your rib cage should be over you pelvis and pelvis over your feet. This posture will let you run using less energy. If your posture is good it will be easier to fill your lungs with air. Next is to engage your core and build midline stabilization.
Foot Placement
Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. This is a very stable position. Now stand with one foot in front (heel to toe). That’s harder right? Standing this way or running this way takes a lot of balance and energy. We’ll call this cross over gait. When we run we should land with our foot under our knee and our knee under our hip. This will support your center of mass better. Think leaning tower of Pisa, the top is not over the bottom making it unstable.
Photo by John-Silver–3202135 The base would be the foot and the hip would be the top.
Take a look at this runner. His foot is on the midline of the body. The leg is not stacked The hip is not stacked over knee or foot. Can you see the pelvis dropping on the left side as well?
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio Can you see the cross over gait? The foot is midline, the hip once again is not stacked over the knee and foot. Look at her stomach muscles. Can you see the twisting? Here’s an example of the core not being engage and lack of midline stabilization.
If you are new to running or experienced and need help we are here! Please call the office to set up an appointment.
Running has become one of the most common forms of physical activity in today’s society. It can be a community building activity, a personal challenge and most importantly a great work out. It is a sport that everyone can participate in; all you need is a good pair of shoes and a little motivation. That being said running can be extremely hard on your body, especially when you are just starting. We are finding that injuries among runners are very common. From shin splints to rolled ankles, no one is immune from getting hurt; however, here are some tips to keep you healthy and on pace.
Photo by RUN 4 FFWPU
Do not do too much, too fast
When runners are just starting and begin to make progress, they tend to push their limits. Although this is a great way to challenge yourself, it is important that you understand your body has a threshold that when exceeded results in injury. Your mileage should be tracked on both a daily and weekly basis. If you have never done much long-distance running, then your weekly mileage should begin quite low. It is important that as you improve your mileage increases gradually. A consensus among the running community is the rule of 10%. Do not increase your mileage by any more than 10% on a week to week basis. For many runners and new runners specifically, 10% may even be too much of a jump. This is why when preparing for a distance race, whether it is a 10k, half marathon or a marathon it is recommended you start as early as possible. Could you train and complete a half marathon in 6 weeks? Maybe, but the toll it could take on your body and the injury risk you are exposing yourself to are likely not worth it. A recent study showed that runners who only increased their mileage by 3% a week had a much higher rate of success in their upcoming races than runners who ramped up their mileage quicker.
So how do you know where to start? First, start with walking. If you can walk an hour a day with out any injury you may start running. As a new runner, start with short runs and accumulate miles over the week. It is important to understand how far you have been running, so I recommend using an app on your phone such as “Map My Run” to help track each run. Personally I have a Garmin GPS watch , that links to Garmin connect. Garmin connect is an app. Most GPS watches can be linked to an app.
Photo by Mateusz Dach
Do not run through significant pain
As runners, we all understand some discomfort is a part of the sport. Your legs and feet will likely be sore after a long run; however, if you begin to notice significant pain or discomfort while running consider taking a break. Breaks are one of the hardest things to convince a runner of doing, but it could save you from more severe injury. Aside from the odd rolled ankle, very few running injuries are acute and traumatic. Far more commonly runners ignore the pain and “tough it out” when they begin to feel discomfort.
This can result in a cumulative injury cycle. What is that you might ask? It means if you continue to stress an injury by running, you will continue to make it worse and it can become a much more significant issue. Sometimes all it takes is an extra day off when symptoms are minor to allow your body to recover. This is important because if you have an injury, it is very common for your body to adapt by altering your gait (running pattern).
This may lead you to be less efficient, develop bad habits or in a worst-case scenario cause an injury elsewhere in your body. Remember, everything is connected, so if you are running with a limp the biomechanical stresses will be placed on a different part of your body. Give your body a chance to recover and if you think that an injury is nagging have a medical professional look at it. It is much more beneficial to have an injury taken care with a couple of sessions of treatment rather than letting it persist and having to deal with it when it is much more serious, and your recovery time is extended.
Photo by RUN 4 FFWPU
Call the office if you’re having pain. Do not tough it out! It could only get worse. We work with a lot of athletes and help them return to activity. Athletes looking to prevent injuries or perform better see us.
New research published in Frontiers of Pediatrics found that children and adolescents who spend most of their time barefoot develop motor skills differently from those who habitually wear shoes. 👟 Further, they found the habitually barefoot children had noticeably better jumping and balancing skills compared to those who wore shoes habitually.
Walking barefoot not only has influences on developing proper biomechanics, but also has great influences on the brain 🧠. Walking barefoot allows for greater sensory afferentation to the brain, from the feeling of grass between their toes to balancing on pebbled sidewalks.
Try to give your young children enough time without shoes!
Zech, Astrid, et al. “Motor skills of children and adolescents are influenced by growing up barefoot or shod.” Frontiers in pediatrics 6 (2018): 115. https://doi.org/10.3389/fped.2018.00115
Chiropractic can help headaches! Thru my 20 years of practice I have helped a lot of patients with headaches. It’s nice to see the research is backing up what I and many of my patients have known for years. Chiropractic can help headaches.
Here’s a nice study form Harvard showing that.
1. Researchers from Harvard Medical School, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, and Palmer College of Chiropractic performed a systematic review of the effectiveness of SMT for migraine. They concluded: “We observed that spinal manipulation reduced migraine days as well as migraine pain intensity.” (5)
2. A BMJ study encompassing nearly a quarter-million LBP patients compared initial and long-term opioid use with choice of initial provider. The study concluded: “Patients who received initial treatment from chiropractors or physical therapists had decreased odds of short-term and long-term opioid use compared with those who received initial treatment from primary care physicians.” Drilling beyond the abstract, the data demonstrated that between PT’s and DC’s, chiropractic patients had significantly lower initial and long-term opioid use (0.10 vs. 0.15). (6)
In this study they found that hip weakness was linked to knee pain. I treat a lot of runners that have knee pain, and most of them have weak hips.
“Women with Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome had 33% lower hip abduction peak strength. They also had significant 70% lower knee extension force steadiness and 60% lower hip abduction force steadiness than pain-free women. Evidence-based treatments aiming at improving force steadiness may be a promising addition to PFP rehabilitation programs.“
Below is a helpful exercise to strengthen your hips. As always, if you need any guidance do not hesitate to call the office!
Ferreira AS et al. Knee and Hip Isometric Force Steadiness Are Impaired in Women With Patellofemoral Pain. J Strength Cond Res. 2019 Jul 22. Link
What happens if you don’t have pain or you are a casual runner that is just looking for a new pair of running shoes?
The research shows that selecting running shoes based on comfort is the best.
The best way to know if they are comfortable is by trying them on and run at least a quarter-mile. If the shoe feels good then that is the right shoe for you! That’s it, pretty easy, right? If the sneaker feels good, that’s the one to buy.
Keep it simple! Your body knows what it needs.
Below is a nice summary of shoe research.
If you missed my other posts on running shoes click here! And if you need help with shoes or running in general please give us a call!
People that come into our chiropractic clinic for treatment after lumbar disc herniation or disc bulging frequently have a history of pain which is worse in the morning and then improves after they’ve been up moving around for a bit.
Often they have some questions about what exercises and stretches they can do in the morning to make them feel better. We learned more about morning back pain in a disc – injured patient after the research of Michael Adams in the 1980s.(1,2) Adams referred to the “diurnal behavior of the disc” which mostly refers to the tendency for the discs to absorb moisture from the tissues around them overnight.
The discs soak up the fluids from the tissues around them while a person is recumbent in bed overnight. So in the morning when they wake up the outer layers of the disc are under a bit more tension, which we refer to as hydrostatic pressure.
In turn, the disc becomes a bit more plump, adding pressure to nerves and surroundingstructors.
So what should you do? Once you get out of bed you should not bend over right away. Try to keep your back straight or try stretching backward .
Next, use your hips to bend over the sink to brush your teeth.
A straight back using my hips to bend over.Bending at the lumbar spine causing lots of pressure on the lumbar discs
The above picture is a great way to cause sharp shooting pain in the morning.
Try to sit up straight or use a back support in the small of your back like in the picture above.
Sitting with a more normal curve in the lumbar spine helps take the pressure off of the lumbar discs and helps decrease pain.
A wrong way to sit
Sitting like this cause more disc pressure causing disc irritation. It can cause the disc to bulge more.
Discs are fatter in the morning because the absorb fluid overnight. So think of a jelly doughnut if the doughnut has more jelly its more likely to shoot out if you put pressure on it.
So remember back straight, stomach tight will help prevent lower back pain and help you heal if you have pain.
