The Wellness Blog
Guide to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: Tips and Advice for Athletes and Office Workers
Carpal tunnel syndrome, which can be painful and debilitating, affects people from all walks of life and lines of work. It can be caused by repetitive motions that strain the wrists, such as weightlifting or even typing with badly positioned hands. It’s estimated that carpal tunnel syndrome can cost a worker around $30,000 in medical bills and sick leave. What Is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome? The carpal tunnel is a narrow conduit in your wrist through which nine flexor tendons and the median nerve enter your hand. Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) manifests as pain, numbing, and tingling in parts of the
Continue ReadingCould Better Shoes Help My Back Pain?
The Right Shoes Can Make a Huge Difference The feet are the foundation of your body — and of your posture. The way your weight is distributed on your feet while you walk, stand, and run can contribute to knee pain, ankle pain, and lower back pain, as well as painful conditions of the foot such as blisters, bunions, and even stress fractures. In a sort of domino effect, your body forms a “kinetic chain” and how the feet are positioned and supported can positively or negatively impact the rest of your muscles and joints. Providing the right support for
Continue ReadingHow Do We Know How Healthcare Is Performing?
Healthcare is a hot topic right now on the political landscape, especially as election season accelerates and gains traction. With all the talk of healthcare it does beg the question, how does the healthcare industry collectively and objectively assess its current performance and areas for improvement? The best way to tackle this important topic is to ask those who matter most in the healthcare system—patients themselves. The Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) agenda is a program of the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality designed to collect data related to patients’ experience with individual healthcare providers. Participation
Continue ReadingIs It Bad to Crack Your Back?
There are varying opinions about whether people should crack their knuckles, back, or other joints in the body. Many people wonder about the cracking noise that occurs during a chiropractic adjustment, and some claim that having a friend apply force to “crack their back” can produce the same effect. But what actually happens when your back cracks? And how is it different than treatment from a chiropractor? Let’s take a look. What Causes Your Back to Crack? A recent MRI study published in April 2015 in the journal PLOS ONE illustrates what happens when you crack your fingers: Your joints are
Continue ReadingBack-to-School Wellness Guide
From unhealthy school lunches to heavy backpacks, kids and parents face a variety of challenges to maintaining health and wellness during the school year. As summer draws to a close and classes begin, this back-to-school wellness guide can help you and your children navigate these challenges. Lighten the Load On the first day of school each year, kids comes home with new classmates, new teachers — and a heavier backpack. A heavy load can cause chronic back pain in children, so to avoid side-effects from weighty textbooks, encourage your children to leave their books in lockers or at home whenever
Continue ReadingIs Your Diet Contributing to Your Stress?
Comfort Foods Aren’t So Comforting in the Long Run Stress can cause us to turn to comfort foods — and drinks. But consoling ourselves with these carbohydrates, fats, salt, and caffeine can do more than tip the scales: Eating foods that boost cholesterol and sodium levels can increase the risk of heart attack or developing diabetes. Fatty, salty foods are not the best choice. There are healthy alternatives that actually reduce blood levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, while providing the comfort we crave during stressful periods. Which Foods Should You Avoid? When you consume comfort foods like chocolate or
Continue ReadingPartnering with Jen for Health, Happiness, and High Kicks
One of the highlights of working in healthcare is the opportunity to develop relationships with patients from all walks of life. Every patient that walks into one of our 11 Tuck Chiropractic locations has a unique story to tell. At our Bedford location, Jen is one of our regulars, seeing Dr. A.J LaBarbera to maintain a happy, healthy spine and joints. What initially began as a single chiropractic visit eight years ago, to treat sinus problems and lower back pain, has transformed into a long-lasting relationship. Not only are we able to consistently help her maintain overall joint and back
Continue ReadingStudy: Chiropractic Reduces Lower Back Pain in Pregnant Patients
A study published in April 2014 in Chiropractic and Manual Therapies found that after six months of chiropractic treatment, 90 percent of pregnant patients with lower back pain reported clinically significant improvement. The study was led by researcher Cynthia Peterson, a professor of chiropractic medicine at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. Researchers recruited 115 patients who were pregnant and experiencing lower back or pelvic pain who were eligible to receive manipulation therapy. Patients had been referred to a chiropractor by a gynecologist, who then recruited them for the study. Information was collected on how long each patient had been
Continue ReadingThe Benefits of an Anti-Inflammatory Diet
Inflammation is a part of your body’s natural defenses against disease. But sometimes it can cause more problems than it solves. Excess inflammation can cause heart disease, diabetes, stroke, vascular dementia, and other health problems. Your immune system responds to bacteria and other stimuli by creating inflammation, which can include symptoms like redness, heat, swelling, pain, and loss of function. When someone suffers from pain in their neck or low back, it is often a result of inflammation caused by injuries to the ligaments and muscles around the joints of the spine. In fact, the level of inflammation is usually
Continue ReadingChiropractic May Help Elderly Patients Avoid Falls
An overview of current research, published in the Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association, shows that chiropractic care may have a role in helping prevent falls in elderly patients who suffer from mechanical neck pain or dizziness. Elderly patients often experience nonspecific dizziness and chronic neck pain at the same time. Both of these symptoms are risk factors for falls, the leading cause of fatal and nonfatal injuries in adults 65 and older. Falls can result in increased morbidity and complications. In the United States, one in three elders experiences a fall each year. Dizziness tends to increase with age. The
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