What is Active Release Technique?

Many people suffer from soft tissue damage due to overuse, trauma, or sports injuries.

When tissues in your body become injured, they may develop adhesions, which are areas that stick together abnormally. As part of your body’s healing process, scar tissue may form in muscles , tendons or ligaments. Over time, this can cause inflammation, restricted movement, impingement of nerves, pain and stiffness.

Active Release Technique is an intensive manual therapy that breaks up scar tissue to relieve pain and other symptoms. It was developed in the 1980’s by a chiropractor, Dr. Michael Leahy, and has become a valuable tool in wide use among chiropractors, physical therapists, and other health professionals.

ART releases the tissues that are stuck together, allowing joints and muscles to move freely. This reduces inflammation, relieves discomfort and restores mobility.

Symptoms and Conditions that ART May Help

You might have scar tissue that responds to ART if you have conditions such as:

• Pain during exercise
• Limited mobility and flexibility
• Pain or stiffness in your back, neck, hands, elbows, or knees
• Numbness, tingling or pain in your fingers or other areas
• Inflammation in joints
• Reduced strength
• Tension headaches
• Sharp pain in the foot, such as from plantar fasciitis
• Sciatica
• Fibromyalgia
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Tennis elbow
• Bursitis
• Shin splints
• Shoulder problems, such as frozen shoulder

How Your Chiropractor Performs ART

With Active Release Technique, your chiropractor feels the affected area and diagnoses any areas of painful scar tissue. He then manually applies deep pressure to release the adhesions. At the same time, under his instructions, you actively move your muscles to assist in breaking up the scar tissue most effectively.

Areas that can be treated to restore mobility and relieve pain include:

Ligaments and tendons. Your ligaments connect your bones to each other, while tendons attach muscles to bones.

Fascia. These connective tissues support your organs and muscles. When they’re inflamed, they can become very painful and stiff. Plantar fasciitis is an example of fascia inflammation causing pain in the foot.

Major muscles. Damage from trauma and repetitive motion can lead to pain and lost mobility in your major muscle groups.

Benefits of Active Release Technique

ART promotes healing by increasing blood flow to the treated area and breaks up scar tissue that restricts muscles and nerves.

The result: relief from stiffness and pain, plus a better range of motion and flexibility.

Active Release Technique can help athletes or anyone with pain and mobility problems return more quickly to a fully active life.

Set Up Your Free Consultation at Eastern Oklahoma Chiropractic

We’re here to answer any questions you may have about ART and other treatments. Call our Broken Arrow office at 918-940-4630.

The post Active Release Technique with Chiropractic Care for Pain Relief first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.

Cold Weather’s Effects on Your Joints

Even fairly mild winter weather causes physical changes that can lead to stiffness and pain.

Medical science isn’t clear on exactly why this happens. One possibility is that as barometric pressure changes with the weather, muscles and tissues around joints expand, causing pain and swelling.

Winter joint pain is especially common for people with arthritis or other chronic pain problems. It can also affect those with conditions like depression or seasonal affective disorder, which often make pain feel more intense.

Common Wintertime Injuries

Risks in winter include:

• Slipping and falling on slick surfaces
• Winter sports, such as skiing, snowboarding, and ice skating
• Snow shoveling and other outdoor chores
• Car accidents

Slippery, high-speed, and/or physically demanding winter activities may cause:

• Back injuries, such as muscle strain and spinal compression fractures
• Shoulder damage, including torn rotator cuffs caused by repetitive motions
• Sprains or strains of ligaments and muscles in areas such as the neck, knee, ankle, elbow, and wrist
• Broken bones, especially wrist and hip fractures
• Head injuries, such as concussions
• Whiplash injuries to the upper spine

Why a Strong Core is Essential

Your body’s core, including your spine, is the central command center that controls the quality and safety of all your movements.

A strong, flexible and well-aligned core gives you better stability and balance, helping to prevent falls and injuries. Exercises and treatments that strengthen and align your spine promote good posture, reduce strain on your spine and relieve pain.

Chiropractic Care to Prevent and Mitigate Injury

Without treatment, winter injuries often lead to chronic back and neck pain. Being proactive with chiropractic treatments can help you prevent injuries or recover from them more quickly, by:

• Aligning the spine to promote faster healing and recovery
• Improving stability, balance, range of motion and flexibility
• Relieving muscle tension

Your chiropractor will help you manage any pain effectively, by treating the underlying source rather than masking it with medication.

Tips to Help You Avoid Injuries

Whether you’re headed to the ski resort or just facing an especially cold, icy day, here are some ways to protect your joints and muscles:

• Warm up and stretch before winter chores or sports.
• Dress in layers to keep muscles warm.
• Wear proper safety equipment for winter sports.
• Quit when you get fatigued. Many skiing injuries happen at the end of the day when people go for one last run.
• Wear shoes or boots with non-slip soles in icy conditions.
• To avoid falls, don’t rush.
• When shoveling, push the shovel, rather than lifting. Take frequent breaks.
• Get regular exercise and stay at a healthy weight to reduce stress on joints.
• Eat a balanced diet and get plenty of sleep to boost your overall health.

Being proactive about your safety and health will help you stay strong and pain-free all year round.

Schedule a Complimentary Consultation at Our Broken Arrow Office

To begin your journey to better health, contact Eastern Oklahoma Chiropractic at 918-940-4630 today.

The post Chiropractic Care and Protecting Yourself from Wintertime Injuries first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.

So, it’s no surprise that we help a lot of patients with osteoarthritis at Eastern Oklahoma Chiropractic. Although OA can’t be cured, you can do a lot to minimize symptoms and enjoy a good quality of life.

What is Osteoarthritis?

Your joints have a layer of cartilage that provides a cushion for the ends of your bones. In osteoarthritis (“osteo” means “bone”), this protection is wearing down. The cartilage deterioration causes damage to the bones and inflammation in nearby tissues.

Most people with OA are over age 50, but the disease begins to develop silently years earlier.  OA may also show up in younger people, usually due to an injury to the joint.

The condition tends to get progressively worse, causing people to have pain and stiffness in their joints, most commonly the knees, spine, hands, and hips.

Factors that May Put You at Risk

Osteoarthritis develops for a variety of reasons, which include:

• Heredity—OA can run in families
• Age—your risk goes up the older you get
• Diseases, such as diabetes, that can damage joints
• Gender—females have a higher risk
• Injuries and repetitive stress on joints
• Birth defects of the joints or cartilage
• Being overweight

Symptoms of OA

People develop symptoms in their joints gradually, such as:

• Pain, aching or tenderness
• Limited range of motion
• Stiffness
• Swelling
• Clicking or crackling sounds when bending a joint
• Weakness or instability
• Bone spurs, especially on finger joints

Help for Osteoarthritis Symptoms

Consult your healthcare providers, including your chiropractor, about beneficial treatments and lifestyle changes.

Practicing healthy habits can help to relieve symptoms and reduce or eliminate your need for medication.

Keep moving. Stay physically active to preserve mobility and reduce inflammation.  Aim for 150 minutes of exercise per week. Include strengthening, stretching, aerobic and balance exercises. Make sure to warm up before and cool down after you exercise.

Achieve a healthy weight to reduce pain, inflammation, and damage to joints.

Eat a healthy diet. Avoid excess sugar and processed foods. These raise blood sugar, which stiffens cartilage and increases inflammation.

Reduce stress that causes muscle tension by getting enough sleep and finding ways to relax, such as meditation.

Chiropractic Treatments for Better Joint Health

Chiropractic care provides a variety of therapies and exercises that improve the overall function of your muscles and joints, enhancing the communication between your spine and nervous system.

If an arthritic joint is too inflamed for direct treatment, your chiropractor can treat the surrounding area, helping to reduce pain and improve mobility.

People with OA sometimes have weaker muscles and balance problems, increasing their risk of falling. Chiropractic care may help you avoid medications that can cause side effects, like dizziness, that lead to falls.

Making use of all the tools your chiropractor has to offer will help you to live your most pain-free and active life.

Schedule Your Free Consultation at Eastern Oklahoma Chiropractic

We’re here to support you in living a healthy life with OA.  Call our Broken Arrow office at 918-940-4630 today.

The post Osteoarthritis and Chiropractic Care: Protecting Your Joint Health first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.

The model reflects human biomechanics. The most important structures in the body contain arcs. The human spine comprises the most importance arches of all. The spine requires three important curves (as viewed from the side) for optimal health. The curvatures make the spine stronger and more durable. Losing curves in the spine alters function in the body and predisposes the bones and discs to unnecessary wear and tear.

Loss of spinal curves usually occurs slowly over years or decades due to poor posture and ergonomics. Spinal curves also reduced due to trauma such as whiplash or other forms of natural or unnatural impact. Abnormal spinal curves create cosmetic changes which affect appearance and posture but the most harmful result of losing curvature degrees comes from the damage done to nerve and blood flow. Loss of neck curve alone associates with decreased vertebral artery hemodynamics. This means a loss of appropriate neck curve reduces blood flow to specific parts of the brain and body.

Patients entering Chiropractic or medical offices with a loss of neck curve experience greater risk for increased spinal cord and nerve tension, pain, disability, poor health, and lowered quality-of-life. The increased stress points stemming from a reduced spinal curvature lead to increased vertebral stress, providing the basis for vertebral compression, osteoarthritis, and even bone spur formation. The muscles and soft tissue which supports the neck must work harder to compensate for biomechanical instability. Soft tissue weakness and damage eventually begin to materialize and amplify the original problem.

Chiropractors pay close attention to the health of spinal curves by evaluating the structure and range of motion of the spine. X-rays prove valuable in locating trouble spots and assessing the need for care. Most Chiropractors specialize in evaluating and correcting spinal curvature and motion to restore proper nerve and blood flow. Clinical trials show that correction of the cervical curve improves a vast array of symptoms and conditions. A 2019 study utilized Magnetic Resonance Angiogram (MRA) to measure cerebral blood flow before and after taking steps to improve the neck curve. Decreased neck curvature also reflected decreased blood flow on MRA reports. Correction of the neck curve resulted in an immediate and significant increase in the amount of cerebral blood flowing to and from the brain. The results proved consistent with the notion that biomechanics influence physiology.

Scientific evidence continues to emphasize the value of Chiropractic care for those with or without the manifestation of negative health symptoms. Proactive care for the spine and nervous system prove essential to long term health care. The curves in the spine play an important role in spinal health, spinal longevity, and whole-body health. Every spine in every person deserves the care and attention needed for a vibrant future full of life and health.

The post Improvement in Neck Curve Increases Brain Blood Flow first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.