I wanted to share one with you in particular, below is the actual email from Dan. His son, Mark, was having issues; and it hurt his sports performance. I was so happy to be able to him. Please take a moment to read what Dan has to say.

Dear Justin,

Mark Phillips & Jessie Leuenberger, celebrating a goal in the state semi-finals.

Thanks for your help getting Mark back to match fitness in time for the high school playoff games. You helped turn around a disastrous situation as Mark recovered very quickly and enjoyed some experiences which will last a lifetime. Please feel free to pass this result along to other prospective patients.

During a fast break in a game in October a goalkeeper intentionally kicked Mark in the left thigh. He went down hard, had a dead leg and sat out the second half of that game. The following week he injured the adductor in his right thigh in a manner I thought had to have been from overcompensating for the sore left. The second injury looked similar to others that have taken six weeks or longer to heal. The high school season had less than a month to go so a recovery that long would end his season, including playoffs. So starting Sunday, October 23rd, we sent him to you for therapy. He went three times total and religiously did the exercises you prescribed. He also kept the athletic tape on his leg as long as possible.

The injury made him miss three games including the first District playoff. Fortunately Bear Creek won so he got to play in the next elimination game against their biggest rivals, Tacoma Baptist. He scored twice and they won that game 3-2. Bear Creek played the semi-finals and consolation finals the following weekend and Mark scored two in both of those games. The ultimate outcome was not what the team wanted as they ended up 4th in state (2-3 both games), but Mark got to contribute and helped his team come within 4 minutes of a big upset against the defending state champs.

From the time of the injury, October 22nd, to the last playoff game, November 19th, less than a month passed. Given how much he was limping in late October I did not think the odds were good for him to play at all, much less be effective. And even though the team did not take home the trophy, Mark got a couple of consolation prizes. Going into the playoffs he had all but given up on winning the Golden Boot award as his missed games meant his rival went six goals up on him. His team held that striker scoreless and eliminated the team, though, so his 6 playoff goals were exactly what was needed to close the gap. So he ended up tied for the Golden Boot Award and was also named First Team All State for his third time.

Kelley and I appreciate your help and hope others can have the same type of experience.

Warm Regards,

Dan Phillips

I know I’ve said it before. But I want all my patients to know; your testimonials give my work great meaning. I thank all my patients and hope to help each and every one to the best of my abilities. Have a happy, healthy and prosperous 2012!

Justin Lee, DC

Our bodies are made up of various tendons and nerves and these are all channelled into various areas of the body – in this case the hand. The carpal tunnel is situated at the bottom of the palm near the wrist and it is basically there to protect (and keep in place!) the nerves that make our fingers move.

When there is a build up of pressure within the tunnel through fluid or tissue pressure, the median nerve that runs through the tunnel is compressed and this can cause various symptoms to whoever has contracted the condition.

As the median nerve is the main nerve that controls the movement, flexibility and feeling in the hands and fingers, this can be the main reason that there are various symptoms that accompany carpal tunnel syndrome, some of these being numbness, pain, and a tingling sensation.

Although the numbing, alongside the feeling of pins and needles, and pain are the main carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms, there are others to look out for as well. The mild tingling that you may have originally have felt can develop into a much stronger feeling like an extremely uncomfortable pins and needles or a strong burning sensation.

The numbness also can develop into a more serious form of itself too, where hypoesthesia can make your hands less sensitive to touch. Other carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms may also include an extension of the pain you felt at first, where your hand and sometimes the rest of your arm can begin to ache or feel uncomfortable.

Sometimes dry skin can develop around the affected area too, or the skin on the hand may change colour. The muscles in the hand and thumb may also become weak and flexibility of the fingers may become restricted if you do have CTS.

Another of the carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms can also include loss of strength in the hands and can often make you lose your agility. This can often make simple tasks like making a meal or a drink very difficult.

If you recognise any of these symptoms as your own, it is vital to keep your hand active by loosely shaking it out. If symptoms persist, you will need to speak to a professional who will recommend various treatments to suit your specific needs which could range from the use of wrist splints to surgery.

Unlike other back pains you may have experienced in the past, sciatica sends your body pain signals from the lower back and through your buttocks into your legs. Whether it is a mild discomfort of severe pain that you are experiencing, sciatica is not a pleasant ailment to have and often a feeling of weakness in the above mentioned areas could be one of the symptoms you notice.

As with all problems, speaking to a professional who can diagnose you is always the best solution. Getting professional help means that you know whether you need treatment or not.

If you have sciatica for a short amount of time (less than 6 weeks for example) then this is known as ‘acute sciatica’ and will not need treatment. If your symptoms of numbness, tingling and muscular weakness continue however, this is when you know you need to get treated.

Pain in the sciatic nerve can often be caused by infection, injury, a slipped disc or change in the spine due to age. Although there are various causes, it usually only affects people over 40. Regardless of this however, there are plenty of sciatic nerve treatments that can help ease the pain if you are suffering from the condition.

Acute sciatica can be treated by taking painkillers as this can take the edge of the pain away. Although this will not totally treat the problem, if you are suffering a mild discomfort from the condition, the painkillers can take away the worst of the pain from the affected area.

Remaining stationary can lead to your back seizing up so it is always essential to stay as active as you can. It doesn’t have to be very strenuous exercise – just gently stretching, walking and keeping mobile is enough for the nerve to relax a little more. Hot and cold compression packs are also a good way to help relieve pain.

Chronic sciatica can be improved with similar treatments as acute sciatica. Sciatic nerve treatment when the pain is more severe however means that painkillers usually have to be subscribed to the patient – stronger pain relief may be needed if the symptoms are constant for a long period of time.

Physiotherapy is recommended to those who suffer from painful sciatic nerves too. Regular yet gentle exercise will mean that your muscles around your painful areas can support your back. Physiotherapy can explore these exercises further.

In the most extreme cases, surgery could be the answer to chronic sciatic nerve treatment. This is usually used as a last resort however and all other methods should be tried before turning to any question of surgery.

As many personal fitness trainers will testify, lower back exercises for men are vital in creating a good supporting structure in your body to allow you to lift heavy objects. Yoga has been recommended by various professionals, and although it is not considered a very challenging sport to those who don’t know what it is, it’s a great way to strengthen your core and improve the strength in specific areas of your body.

Exercise 1: The yoga position ‘The Cat’ is a great exercise for stretching out the spine. Beginning on your hands and knees, you start with a straight back (ensure your abs are tucked into help with this) and then slowly arch your back whilst lowering your neck. Doing a few repetitions of this once or twice a day will help strengthen the lower back.

Exercise 2: Another great lower back exercise for men is to sit with a good posture on a firm chair and place one ankle on the knee of the other leg and bend forward. This should be held for about 60 seconds, and then you can come back up and repeat with the other ankle to the other knee. You should do about 10 repetitions of this easy exercise and you will soon see the benefits.

As men’s bodies tend to be stiffer and less flexible in comparison to women, it is important to keep doing lower back exercises to improve stability, no matter how old you are. Exercise equipment like a Swiss ball can be especially helpful in building strength in the lower back.

Exercise 3: Start by lying flat on your back and place your calves on the Swiss ball. Next, raise your right arm and straighten your left leg over the ball. After a few seconds, lower both your right arm and left leg and repeat the movement, this time with your left arm and right leg. This should be repeated about 10 times and can be done every day.

Lower back exercises are so vital for both men and women that it is important to remember that daily lower back exercises are crucial in developing lower back strength. Although most training requires a couple of days rest per week, lower back exercises are one of the things that you can do without resting in between – that’s how important they are!

Men who play golf, train with heavy weights or lift heavy objects on a day to day basis should always do lower back exercises to not only strengthen their backs, but also as a method for relieving lower back pain and overall creating great stability in the base of the back.

As with every condition that you get, prevention of the condition itself is the best way of treating it. By stopping it occurring in the first place, you are eliminating possibilities of other problems in later life. Exercise and stretching are two of those every day things that everybody should do to prevent lower back pain.

A great exercise for stretching out your lower back is to lie on your back and both feet flat on the floor. You then need to cross one leg over the other and gently pull the lower leg towards your chest using your hands that should be clasped around the lower leg’s thigh. Hold for 30 seconds and repeat with the other leg. If there is a problem area in your lower back, you may feel more of a stretch when using one leg more than the other.

Often, lower back pain can be associated with tight hamstring muscles. Tight hamstrings make it harder to sit upright, which inadvertently means that keeping a good posture is difficult. If you can’t keep a good posture, then you are of course more likely to experience lower back pain. Therefore stretches for lower back pain don’t just have to stretch out the back, they can also stretch out other muscles (such as the hamstrings) to give your lower back more mobility.

To stretch out your hamstrings and make movement easier for you, try lying on your back with the soles of your feet flat on the floor. Hold your leg underneath the knee and gently pull it toward you until your back and leg are at a 90 degree angle. Slowly try to straighten the leg to increase the intensity of the stretch. When doing this stretch, try not to point your toes, instead flex them to get the maximum stretch you can in your hamstrings.

Stretches for lower back pain don’t have to be strenuous; in fact putting more strain on an already painful back is not going to do any good at all. Know your limits and experiment with stretches for lower back pain to see which suit you and improve your movement. Repeating stretches for lower back pain will result in much more mobility and more freedom of movement.

If you are still unsure if stretches for lower back pain are right for you, speak to Dr. Justin Lee, your Issaquah chiropractor and we’ll be sure to point you in the right direction of more exercises you can do to stretch out your lower back and ease any discomfort you might be experiencing.

I just wanted to let everyone know how proud I am of my son and his team! These kids work so hard, and display an immense passion and love for the game as well as sportsmanship. I just wanted everyone to see this article written about them. Enjoy!

Strengthening exercises need to be done whole-heartedly and at a steady pace. If you try to rush through them, you could either not feel any benefit at all, or worse, damage a muscle that you are trying to repair.

Back strengthening exercises don’t need to be overly energetic or complicated – take the shoulder blade squeeze for example. All you need to do is stand and bend your elbows so that your arms are level with your shoulders and your hands and facing forward. You then squeeze the shoulder blades together. You can repeat this 5 times and then repeat the set once or twice, depending on your experience with the exercise. If you repeat the exercise three to four times a week, you’ll soon notice a great difference in the strength at the back of your shoulders.

An abdominal block is another of the back strengthening exercises that can improve the versatility of the back’s movements. While shoulder blade squeezes works your upper back, an abdominal block is great for working the lower back. Stand upright with a good posture. Tighten your abdominal muscles whilst still breathing normally and bring your stomach in towards your spine. Hold for three seconds, relax, and then repeat between 25 and 50 times.

Back strengthening exercises don’t just have to be done standing up either – a pelvic lift can be done by lying down on your back with your feet flat on the floor. With your arms by your side and feet shoulder width apart, slowly raise your hips and hold the position for five seconds, ensuring that your back doesn’t arch. Then repeat the movement five times.

There are a variety of back strengthening exercises available that work specific parts of the back, so it is best to decide which part of your back you need to strengthen before doing the exercises. If you don’t have any back problems at all but just want to improve your overall back strength, first of all – good for you! Second of all, make sure that you do a mixture of exercises that will strengthen not just one area of the back, but several.

Back strengthening exercises should be done slowly, and with controlled movement, not quick and jerky movements which could injure you. Doing back strengthening exercises on a regular basis will not only improve your muscular strength greatly, it will also improve your posture and make you a lot less likely to incur injuries – it’s a win-win situation! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Dr. Justin Lee, your Renton chiropractor.

Pinched nerve in shoulder is not usually caused by the nerve in the shoulder being ‘pinched’ as such; instead it is made by the muscles on the shoulder area being compressed. Due to nerves running from your spine to various areas of your body, the pain that you would feel if you had a pinched nerve in shoulder comes from C6 and C7 nerves of your spine/ lower neck.

The C6 and C7 are at the base of your neck which is where the nerves lead from the top of your spinal cord to the shoulder blades. A pinched nerve in shoulder can be very painful and although it may be the first time you have ever felt any discomfort in your shoulder, it could be the first sign of underlying shoulder problems.

A pinched nerve in shoulder doesn’t mean that it has to be focused pain, where the painful area is on one specific point on the shoulder; it also can be all over the shoulder too. The C6 and C7 nerves lead from the top of the neck to the thumbs and middle fingers. Due to the nerves running down the arms, and the fact that nerves can control your muscular strength, it can often mean that a pinched nerve in shoulder also causes weakness in the arms too. Lifting things can become difficult if you have the condition.

As well as feeling weak and experiencing pain in the shoulder, another symptom of pinched nerve in shoulder is numbness. A tingling sensation or loss of feeling in the shoulder can be another sign of needing treatment – especially if it causes you discomfort.

To prevent yourself getting a pinched nerve in shoulder, you need to make sure you have a good posture. Sitting properly at a computer or even whilst watching TV means that you are less likely to cause your shoulder harm, thus preventing you from getting any pinched nerves.

Chiropractor services are here to help with muscular treatment, so try not to do too much if you don’t know whether the shoulder problem is serious or not. A massage from a trained chiropractor is so much safer for you if you are worried about damaging your nerves further.

Heat packs can relieve tension, as can the application of various creams. But in general, relaxing your arms and shoulder until you have seen a professional about your condition is much safer than trying to deal with it yourself. Ask Dr. Justin Lee, your Bellevue chiropractor any questions that you need and we’ll be able to suggest even more treatment options.

During our sleep, our bodies are given the chance to revitalize, and most importantly, rest. Finding the best mattress for back pain is not easy because there is not just one type of mattress that is the best type. Many companies may claim to have the best mattress for supporting your back, but the reality is that it is down to each individual.

You should never purchase a mattress without shopping around first. If you buy the mattress online, it may be convenient and it may have saved you a journey to the bed store, but it is ultimately wasting your time if you discover is not the right mattress for you and you have to send it back after a few nights of uncomfortable sleep.
Lying down on mattresses in the middle of a bed store can admittedly seem a bit strange, but it is the best way of trying out different styles of mattress and deciding which one is right for you. Some mattress designs have flaws in so be wary of mattresses that have a button decoration all over the surface, although this may look good in the show room, imagine trying to sleep on the buttons -not very comfortable at all.

Remember that the sales people in mattress shops are there to help you, ask them as many questions as you need to and ask for recommendations too. There are so many mattress types that some of the features offered might be a little overwhelming, so if there is any mattress terminology that the sales people use and you don’t quite understand, ask them to explain this too.

There are various amounts of springs that are placed in different mattress styles, so this is another thing you will need to consider before you buy – try mattresses with many springs, and ones with fewer and see which is the more comfortable at supporting your back.

Explaining to a sales person that you suffer from back pain could mean that they introduce you to a range of mattresses that are specifically designed to help your needs. You will need to look for a mattress that supports your body’s natural contours and spreads your weight evenly across the surface as you sleep. If you are properly supported on your mattress, you will not suffer from aching muscles during the night or when you wake up in the morning.

Although firm mattresses are good for supporting the back, something with a little more ‘give’ can ensure you a sound night’s sleep with the right support for your back. Finding the best mattress for back pain doesn’t need to be hard – you just need to shop around!