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Piriformis Syndrome – another pain in the butt

So, your but hurts?  We previously talked about how sciatica can cause a pain in the butt… but so can piriformis syndrome.

What is Piriformis Syndrome?

The Piriformis is a muscle in the rear end. In your butt. Wheusn it gets tight you can have pain in the tush.  How many more words can we find fro butt? This is fun…

Ok, Ok, so pain in the rump.  What else?  So because the sciatic nerve runs right under (and sometimes in some people it runs right through it).  Nerves don’t like being squished.  When you squish a nerve they do things like get all tingly or numb.  The sciatic nerve, if squished by the piriformis muscle can cause pain, tingling and/or numbness down the leg into the thigh, lower leg and/or foot.

What can you do about piriformis syndrome?

Several things can help with piriformis syndrome:

stretching

ice

massage

and of course chiropractic care.

 

What causes piriformis syndrome?

The piriformis muscle can become tight for any number of reasons and cause piriformis syndrome. Many things including prolonged sitting, injury, prolonged standing and repetitive strain can cause this problem.  It is really common in runners.

 

Easy stretches

One thing that you can do to help a tight piriformis muscle is the piriformis stretch.  See the YouTube video of me doing this one…  Remember to hold a stretch for 20-30 seconds at a minimum to have it make an impact and lengthen the muscle.

 

 

 

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Elbow Pain Part 1: Tennis Elbow

So did you know you could get Tennis Elbow even if you have never played tennis?

True story.

My mom got it from mowing the lawn (She tended to do that especially after my Dad cut off the tip of middle finger once upon a time after a bar mitzvah luncheon.  FYI, don’t stick your hand into a lawn mower if it gets clogged. Better idea, don’t mow the lawn after a couple of beers or three… it was the late 70s, ’nuff said.)

So, if you have never played tennis why the hell do you have tennis elbow?

Possible causes of tennis elbow

  • repetitive strain injuries
  • vibration
  • overuse

These can happen from all sorts of things including: overuse at work, prolonged computer or mouse work, heavy work such as construction and repetitive strain, mowing lawns, all sorts of other stuff and of course…. tennis.

 

Symptoms of tennis elbow

Symptoms of tennis elbow can include the following or may be just one of the following:

 

  • pain at the outside (lateral side) of the elbow just above or at the joint line
  • sharp pain when picking things up (even an empty cup)
  • heat or swelling at the joint (possible but not always)
  • forearm pain or tightness
  • pain can be in ‘strange’ places such as wrist or thumb ( ‘whaddaya mean its my elbow not my thumb?’)

Treatment of tennis elbow

So what can you do for this painful condition?  The best thing of course is to get it treated… Here is what I do for a patient I diagnose with tennis elbow:

  1. adjust the spine
  2. Post Isometric relaxation (PIR) technique for the elbow extensors
  3. deep muscle tissue release of the forearm
  4. kinesiotape application
  5. muscle care application
  6. Wrist adjustments
  7. exercise prescription
  8. Icing instructions for the patient

 

So there is a gold standard exercise for this problem is super easy but really important to do daily.  Please see the YouTube Video below for full instructions on it!

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Seaweed Salad with Yellow Peppers Recipe

So I do lunch and learn seminars.  This week a lovely lady sitting right near the front of the room was eating her lunch during my seminar and I commented on how good it looked.  She was amazing and sent me her recipe.  It is a Seaweed salad with yellow peppers.

Even more amazing she said I could share it with you!

Seaweed and yellow pepper salad ingredients

Dried seaweed (can be purchased at Korean store)

yellow pepper

Apple cider vinegar

sesame oil

sesame seeds (toasted if you wish)

 

Directions

So the lovely lady  said she makes this by feel and doesn’t really use amounts.  You need to “relive” the seaweed by soaking it first.  (about 2 handfuls is a lot she said),  Then cut up yellow peppers into bite sized chunks – use one whole pepper.  Then just add a splash of both ACV and sesame oil to taste and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Voila – amazing healthy salad.

Health benefits of seaweed

According to the Google

“Seaweed is much more nutrient dense than any land vegetables. It is an excellent source of micronutrients including folate, calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron, and selenium. More importantly, seaweed is a great source of iodine”.

https://www.google.ca/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=&oq=health+benefits+of+seaweed&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4IAGV_enCA650CA651&q=health+benefits+of+seaweed&gs_l=hp…0l5.0.0.1.1283343………..0.UiP3TTB1HRs

 

 

According to the website wellnessmama.com

“Benefits of Seaweed

The unique properties of seaweed make it beneficial to the body in several ways:

Vitamins and Minerals

Seaweed is much more nutrient dense than any land vegetables. It is an excellent source of micronutrients including folate, calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron, and selenium. More importantly, seaweed is a great source of iodine.

DHA and EPA omega-3 fatty acids

Unlike land plants, seaweed contains preformed omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA, so seaweed or algae oil can be a reliable source of omega-3 for vegetarians.

Aids with Digestion

Beans can cause gas and stomach upset for many people. This can be easily fixed by adding kombu, a particular kind of seaweed, to the beans when cooking.

Antioxidants

Seaweed contains many antioxidants. As part of a healthy diet, seaweed can help protect against oxidative stresses and prevent chronic diseases such as cancer and digestive problems.

Fiber and Prebiotics

All plants contain fiber, but seaweed also has other odd types of carbohydrates that we lack the digestive enzymes to digest. These include  carrageenan, fucan, galactan, and many more. These carbohydrates then become foods for the bacteria (see this study for a more detailed explanation).

What you eat directly influences which bacteria dominates in your gut. The types of bacteria that can feed best on the foods you choose to eat will grow better (read more on this fascinating topic here). This explains why some cultures handle different types of food better than others. In fact, scientists found that the gut bacteria in healthy Japanese people are higher in bacteria that can digest the types of carbohydrates in seaweed (source).”

She also goes over potential risks of eating too much seaweed – for more info click below:

 

https://wellnessmama.com/130117/seaweed-benefits/

 

Other benefits

This salad is apparently amazing for constipation.  This is never TMI by the way.  Good and healthy ways of preventing constipation is always welcome.  Not many things better in life than a happy poop right?

Happy pooping!

 

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Neck Pain due to ‘Wry neck’

Neck pain is a pretty commonplace daily complaint in my office.  We see all kinds of neck pain from whiplash to herniated cervical discs. But today’s topic is for that special kind that makes it hard to turn your head to one side and look over your shoulder.  Some people call it wry neck or torticollis.  Others call it ‘wtf?!?! why can’t I turn my neck?

Causes of neck pain

  • accidents (car, sports injuries, falls)
  • arthritic changes
  • muscle spasm
  • subluxation
  • disc problems
  • nerve problems
  • and a bunch more fun things…

Treatment for many forms of neck pain

  • deep tissue muscle treatment
  • scar tissue treatment
  • chiropractic adjustments
  • specific exercises
  • postural retraining
  • cervical traction
  • kinesiotaping
  • inflammatory control

Today’s special kind of neck pain: Wry neck

Ok so what is wry neck/torticollis?

Ever wake up in the morning with pain in the neck and/or near the shoulder blade on one side?  Not able to turn your head to one side? Ya, that’s the one I’m talking about there.  It is often a problem actually in the upper back and rib cage which irritates one of the muscles that goes up from the shoulder blade to the neck and base of the skull.  Although the pain feels as though it originates in the neck, it really usually starts in the upper back. So, most of the time people get treatment for their neck alone and nothing helps…

We always treat both the upper back and the neck to resolve this problem and keep it gone.  Then we like to do postural re training so we can have a chance of keeping it gone for good. This type of thing is sometimes from sleeping awkwardly and it is important to change your pillow if it has happened frequently.  Especially if you notice that it seems to happen after sleeping.

An exercise that can help

Here are some stretches that can help- that said you really should seek treatment if you have pain.  Pain is the body’s warning signal that something isn’t quite right… so do something about it!

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My (not so secret) Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin Recipe

A classic banana muffin recipe

Some of you may have had my banana chocolate chip muffin recipe already.

Some maybe haven’t  had the pleasure.

This one is an easy one that I have made so many times I can do it from memory.  The original came from a family friend, Kathy Levy, many moons ago.  I have made this one since high school and my (male) roommates in University used to ask me very nicely (ya they begged) to make batch after batch after batch…

I take these with me as promotional items when I do a talk at a company.  Two mini muffins in a bag with my card stapled to it.  People love them.  I love to bake and love that they love them.

So here is the much anticipated recipe:

Recipe ingredients

3 overripe bananas mashed

1/3 c white sugar

2/3 c melted butter * note I do not measure this and just sort of eyeball it – I would guess I go overboard on the butter but that’s what makes these so tasty… I never said these were at all healthy! Anyway, on this one I follow in the footsteps of the great Ms. Julia Child… you can never have too much butter!  (I use unsalted)

1 egg

1 tsp each of baking powder and baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 c flour

1 c chocolate chips if desired

 

Directions

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine all wet ingredients.  Add dry ingredients and mix well.  Add chocolate chips and mix.   Place in either mini muffin tins or regular sized ones.  I use silicone mini muffin tins and they work great with no liners and regular muffin trays (metal) with muffin cup liners in them.

Bake for 15 min (mini muffins) or 19 min (regular sized ones)

 

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What’s Bringing on Your Back Pain?

Back pain Back ground

This is a guest blog by a collegue Dr. Celeste McLean in Virginia Beach.  I met her in an amazing facebook group for Women Chiropractors – if you are a female chiropractor and you aren’t in this group please check out https://www.facebook.com/groups/womenchiropractors1895/

Celeste kindly offered me anything on her blog to repost.  Dad is still in hospital and it has been sometimes a bit hard to juggle everything.  Life happens – ask for help.  You will be surprised! (though I’m not anymore…).  So the following are Dr. McLean’s words.  You can find more of her amazing blog here: https://www.virginiabeach.coastalchiro.net/blog

 

What’s Bringing on Your Back Pain?

 

Many people with sudden, acute back pain think, “But gosh, I didn’t even do anything!”

Struggling to find the source of your back pain? Schedule a visit with our practice.

Man feeling base of neck.

What many folks don’t know, or understand, is that it’s not always a case of what you did five minutes ago, or what you did yesterday, or even what you did last week that’s causing the current problem; it’s more a case of “the straw that broke the camel’s back,” no pun intended!

Discovering the Cause

Sometimes it’s chronic stress that wreaks havoc on your nervous system and finally causes your back to “go out” or a “pain in your neck” because of the strain of carrying the weight of all that stress on your back and neck.

Let’s use an everyday example to demonstrate. You go to the local eatery and put your purchase on your bank debit card. All of a sudden, bells and whistles go off because you didn’t have enough money in your account to cover that charge. It’s not this charge that “broke the bank,” it’s all the money you spent before this purchase and the fact that you didn’t properly manage your account in the first place that put you in this predicament. Now, you’re faced with fees, embarrassment and the inconvenience of having to deal with the situation.

It’s the same with your health–ignore it and it will find a way to let you know you’re overlooking something.

Beating Back Pain

The best way to stay on top of things so you don’t wind up “over spent” is to stay on schedule with your chiropractic adjustments, eat healthy foods, sleep at least eight hours each night, and learn how to manage your stress.

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Paleo Brownie Bite Recipe

Raw Brownie Bites Recipe(Vegan, Paleo)

A recipe for quick and easy brownie bites that are exclusively sweetened with fruit!

Course: Dessert

Calories: 135 kcal

Author: Detoxinista.com

A word about this recipe

so this recipe comes from a colleague through the website listed above – http://www.detoxinista.com  – I found it here:

https://detoxinista.com/raw-brownie-bites-vegan-paleo/

It is essentially a no go in my house because it has nuts but not everyone is nut allergic or allergic to all nuts – this recipe uses Walnuts but any nut could be substituted – in my house we can do it with coconut I think…

 

 

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups raw walnut halves
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (alcohol free, if you prefer)
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 cup soft dates , pitted (about 10 Medjool dates)
• 1 tablespoon water
• Additional cocoa powder , for coating (optional)

Instructions

1.In a large food processor fitted with an “S” blade, grind the walnuts into a fine meal. Add in the rest of the ingredients, and process again until a sticky, uniform dough is formed. Scoop the batter by heaping tablespoons onto a plate or baking sheet lined with parchment paper, to prevent sticking. Roll the balls between your hands, and roll them in cocoa powder, if desired.

2.Store the balls in the fridge or freezer, and serve them chilled for the most firm texture.