Category: Uncategorized

So do you or someone you know have sore aching knees?  There are tons of potential knee problems out there and obviously I cant diagnose them over a blog – nor should you try to diagnose yourself by reading one!

But…

If this sounds familiar – intermittent or constant aching pain in the front or sides of the knees that came on for no apparent reason (no injury you can remember), pain on going up or down stairs or with prolonged sitting, nothing seems to help, the doctor can’t really find anything wrong even after imaging (Ultrasound, MRI or CT scan), you tried physio and strengthening exercises and it didn’t really help, you tried arthroscopic surgery and it didn’t help…. this post is for you.

If you have a combo of these symptoms or even if you have one of these symptoms you may have irritation to the coronary ligaments of the knee and fascial scar tissue.

Ok bringing that back a little bit – the coronary ligaments are little forgotten about thingies that hold the menisci (much more popular with orthopaedic surgeons and surgery) on to the tibia (lower leg bone). I wrote a paper about these once – it got published – you can Google it if you feel like it.  These suckers are pretty good little pain generators and all they want is a tiny little bit of attention and they will settle down.

Additionally if you have ever injured your knee (or anything anywhere) you will have scar tissue.  Just a fact of life.  Ok, so fascia. What the hell is that?  …. did you ever skin a chicken?  when you peel the skin off of the muscle do you remember seeing that little saran-wrap-like layer? That’s fascia. When I went to school eons ago we didn’t really even learn about it much – they didn’t think that it did much of anything then. Boy were we wrong.  Now it seems the fascia is an important part of our anatomy allowing muscles and bones to slide past each other easily and it even has contractile properties and moves a bit on its own. It is also a good pain generator because as soon as you get an injury there is bleeding and swelling and mess in the area and which causes fascia to stick to itself (kinda like saran wrap).  That is scar tissue and it can cause an altered movement to the surrounding area and a strange pull on the tissue – which in turn cause pain.

Ok, so that is what is going on in your knee maybe… what do we do?  Luckily with deep tissue work, instrument assisted fascial massage and adjustments to the knee, foot and hip these things are actually manageable.  Even if you have had this problem for years.

I have seen patients with this problem go back to playing tennis or skiing after getting themselves treated even if they haven’t gone and done these sports for a long time (years).  I have had patients carried in to the office or come in on crutches that could walk out after treatment – all because of these amazing little pain generators – because the great thing about them is that they just want a tiny little bit of attention and then a lot of the time they quiet down again…. call me if you have any questions!

This is a recipe from the old country I thought was my Grandmother’s – and it was originally, but my Mom (at my Dad’s prompting) modified it to make it even better.

Penny Hounsome (trainer extrodinare and wellness coach)  were talking about this on a Facebook Live post this week so this one is for you Penny!

Some of the benefits touted of bone broth soup are as follows (from Google): Bone broth is one of the most beneficial foods to consume to restore gut health and therefore support immune system function and healthy inflammation response. Collagen/gelatin and the amino acids proline, glutamine and arginine help seal these openings in the gut lining and support gut integrity.

This soup came about because nothing NOTHHING used to be wasted and sometimes food was scarce especially after the WWII in Europe.  Now bone broth soup is all the rage for it’s health benefits.  I have made it for years with people exclaiming “yuck” (if they weren’t of European or Asian descent and were used to these things).  I make it because it reminds me of childhood and is delicious.  It’s actually Healthy and Keto friendly too? SWEET.

It’s actually really easy.  Throw all the ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil then let simmer for 2-3 hours- perfect for a rainy or snowy Sunday afternoon.  The marrow amazingly can be spread on rye toast with a bit of salt (please someone point me to a keto bread before I make this again!) – we fought over this part as children.

Ingredients:

4-5 beef bones (cut) – they have these at most grocery stores – ask the butcher/meat counter

1 package of chicken giblets

Liquid Chicken Broth

Water

Salt to taste

1-2  carrots peeled but whole

1 onion quartered

That’s it really – toss it all in a pot and make sure the liquid covers all of the meat and bones with a bit of room at the top (say an inch or two – this is an old country recipe which means there is no recipe really so I’m guessing)

When you serve the soup you can serve the giblets in it (I love them – another item we kids fought over – look up giblets and make sure it doesn’t gross you out – perfectly healthy to eat just some of our non old country sensibilities may be offended).  The soup bones can be fished out and the marrow plopped on toast, spread and salted… super yummy.  AAAANnd you can eat the ‘chewy stuff’ off of the outside of the bones – this grossed my mother out entirely but again fought over by kids and dad this time…

I hope you like it ! I will add a picture when I make it next!

Sinuses.  When they don’t bother you, you don’t even notice them.  When they are stuffed full of fluid they make you miserable.  Sinus Congestion is a multi million dollar industry – how many commercials can you think of that talk about sinus congestion advertising some kind of decongestant or a stuffy, sniffely cold medication? Commercials ain’t cheap so it’s safe to say they make money on selling these things.  That’s because there are few things less comfortable than sinus congestion.

Pressure, pain, headaches, dizziness, post nasal drip and coughing are just a few symptoms of this super fun problem.  Sinus congestion can result from a cold or infection and can continue for ages especially if you have a chronic type of sinusitis (Inflammation of the sinuses).

So why is a chiropractor talking about sinus problems now?  Can I treat sinus infections? No. I don’t treat the infection directly at all (though adjustments do boost the immune system for sure this is not my focus in this article at all).  What I can do is some activation of pressure points and adjustments to release some of the muscles surrounding the sinuses, relax them so to speak, and help them drain.  Sinuses that drain heal faster and guess what … you breathe better. All good all around.

Here are a couple of cases I saw recently:

1. Patient came in for a regular adjustment on the way home from work because she had severe throat pain and ear pain from a concurrent throat infection.  She was already taking antibiotics and saw her family doc again just before she saw me who told her there was nothing more to do and she had to wait it out.  She was seeing me for a completely unrelated problem but told me this because she was in so much pain.  We decided to try some sinus draining techniques while she was there and about half way through she said to me “Wait, what are you doing?” – I froze…. ‘um why?’ I asked?  “My throat isn’t sore anymore!!!” she said (remember she was going home from work because of this pain).  Ok, cool… she then called me a sorcerer – which I enjoyed very much.
2. Patient came in from out of town as she was visiting family. She had had dizziness daily for 2 years since the birth of her child.  Had seen ENT specialists and several doctors, tried several medications to no avail.  We decided to do some exercises that are specially designed for her type of dizziness, sinus draining treatment and some adjustments.  She then went to the cottage with family for a week and returned to me. She reported having her first few days in 2 years with no dizziness.  Amazing. (I’m still amazed but not surprised when these things happen)

This also works for people who have chronic sinus headaches and other sinus related issues.  Of course every case is different and this may not be the solution but it is pretty easy to give it a shot and very low risk and non-invasive.

So there are really easy, non invasive things that we can try if you have a whole bunch of congestion you can’t seem to get rid of or even if it is new and you are really uncomfortable.   Give me a call if you have any questions

I LOVE SOUP

Here is a quick and easy one that is so SO tasty I make it a ton every winter.

This soup recipe came from my aunt Tante Christl.  She loved it so much she made it all the time and would eat the whole pot on her own as she lived alone.  My Tante Christl is gone now. I miss her a ton.  She was an amazing woman and she loved me so when I make this soup all the time it makes me think of her.  One of the most amazing things about her is that she walked.  Well she called it walking but it was hiking.  This was years ago when she was into her 70s and before I started running at all… she had a walking group she was part of and regularly walked 10-15 km. At the time I couldn’t fathom walking that far… since then I have run a few half-marathons, I wish she had been around when I did that or that I could have gone on some of her walks.  She used to take beautiful photos on her walks of plants and flowers and make cards from them.  I still have some.

I love to cook as you guys may know.  When I do recipes from loved ones who are gone I like to imagine them with me – maybe they are guiding my hands making it taste better.  Maybe not but it makes me happy to think that way so there you go.

So here is her recipe – amazing Carrot Soup that I too can eat the whole pot of on my own over the week… It seems to come from a cookbook but all I have is this copy she gave me just like this with her sticky note still attached to the top.  Wish I could reference it properly (if you know where it comes from please tell me so I can).

As I type this I realize that I seem to have modified the original version over the years…

Carrot Soup

2 Tbsp butter

1 very large onion chopped

14 young carrots scraped and cut into pieces (I use a bag of regular carrots)

2 large potatoes peeled and cut into chunks

1 small bouquet fresh parsley

8 cups water

2 Knorr chicken bouillon cubes

1/3 cup whipping cream (I NEVER use this and neither did my aunt – skip it!)

cayenne pepper and salt to taste (I rarely add any – the bouillon cubes are salty enough and I don’t find it needs the cayenne)

In a large sauce pan, melt butter and add chopped onion and gently sauté for 15 minutes. Do not brown -NOTE: I skip the onions as they tend to make my husband and I have more gas than we would like – TMI? too bad, my blog, my rules 🙂 Add carrots, potatoes, water, bouillon cubes and parsley. Boil and reduce heat to gentle boil for around 30 minutes or until veggies are really tender.  Remove parsley.  Transfer remaining in batches to blender to puree until very smooth.  Here you can add the extra salt or cayenne and garnish with a little cream and fresh parsley.

Yeild is about 8 cups (seems much more to me usually)

Hope you enjoy!