Health Tips For Low Back Pain During Pregnancy in Pottsville, Schuylkill County

February 28, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Pottsville, Schuylkill County: We have treated many patients that have suffered from pregnancy low backache. About 66% of pregnat women suffer from it. One of the first questions asked is…

What’s causing my back pain?

Most likely blame your growing uterus and hormonal changes for your aching back. Your expanding uterus shifts your center of gravity and stretches out and weakens your abdominal muscles, changing your posture and putting a strain on your back.

The extra weight you’re carrying means more work for your muscles and increased stress on your joints, which is why your back may feel worse at the end of the day. Your growing uterus may also cause back and leg pain if it’s pressing on a nerve.

Hormonal changes during pregnancy loosen your joints and the ligaments that attach your spine to your pelvis.  This can make you feel less stable.  Because of this you may develop pain when you walk, stand, sit for long peroids, roll over in bed, get out of a low chair or tub, bend, or lift things.

What does pregnancy low back pain feel like?

Typically, there are two common patterns of low back pain in pregnancy:

  • Lower back pain
  • Buttock pain that may travel down your leg.

Some women have symptoms of both types of low back pain.

The low back pain may be similar to the back pain you may have experienced before you were pregnant. You feel it over and around your spine approximately at the level of, or a little above, your waist.  You might also have pain that radiates to your legs. Sitting or standing for long periods of time and lifting usually make it worse, and it tends to be more intense at the end of the day.

Buttock pain is even more common.  You may fell it deep inside your buttocks, on one or both sides, and sometimes down the back of your thighs.

Positions in which your hips are bent — such as sitting in a chair and leaning forward while working at a desk — may make the pain worse. Women with buttock pain are also more likely to have pain in the front of their pelvis over their pubic bone.

Could it be sciatica?

When low back pain radiates into the buttocks and thighs, it’s often confused with sciatica — a condition that’s actually relatively uncommon. True sciatica, caused by a herniated or bulging disk in the lower part of the spine, affects only about 1 percent of pregnant women.

If you have sciatica, your leg pain will usually be more severe than your back pain.  You are also more likely to feel the pain below your knee.  It may also travel to your toes.  Sciatica may also cause feelings of tingling or pins and needles in your legs, sometimes numbness.

Who is most likely develop low back pain during pregnancy?

Not surprisingly, you’re most likely to have low back pain if you’ve had this kind of pain before, either before you got pregnant or during a previous pregnancy. You’re also at higher risk of back pain if you have poor flexibility and weak back and abdominal muscles.

What can I do to get pain relief?

Pregnant women suffering from low back pain should:

  • Take it easy. Don’t let yourself get too fatigued. (But don’t take to your bed for long periods, either, since bed rest is generally not helpful in the long run for low back pain and may even make you feel worse.) Avoid activities like vacuuming and mopping that require you to bend and twist at the same time. If there’s no one else to do these chores, move your whole body rather than twisting or reaching to get to out-of-the-way spots.
  • Wear comfortable shoes and avoid high heels. As your belly grows and your balance shifts, high heels will throw your posture even more out of whack and increase your chances of stumbling and falling.
  • It’s equally important to avoid standing for too long. If you need to stand all day, try to take a midday break and rest lying on your side while supporting your upper leg and abdomen with pillows.
  • To get a good night’s rest, try sleeping on your side with one or both knees bent and a pillow between your legs. As your pregnancy advances, use another pillow or wedge to support your abdomen.
  • Listen to your body. If you find that a particular activity makes your back hurt, then avoid doing it!
  • Learn relaxation techniques. They may help you cope with the discomfort and may be especially useful at bedtime if your back pain is just one more thing that makes it hard to get to sleep.

When should I tell my doctor or midwife about my back pain?

You should always let your caregiver know that you have back pain. Studies show that although women complain about back pain, they infrequently tell their caregiver.

Although not required for treatment, we have received patient referrals from doctors and physician assistants for treatment of pregnancy backache.

Studies have shown that the type of hands on treatment we provide is safe and effective pregnancy backache.

If you, a family member or a friend require care, we sincerely appreciate the trust and confidence shown by choosing our services.

Want To Know More?

Doctors’ Choice Physical Medicine and Rehab

Dr. David Novatnak

Glee Pascual, Physical Therapist

Pottsville, Schuylkill, PA

This information is solely advisory, and should not be substituted for medical or chiropractic advice. Any and all health care concerns, decisions, and actions must be done through the advice and counsel of a health care professional who is familiar with your medical history.

Filed Under: Health Tips, Pregnancy Back Pain Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Whiplash and Muscle Weakness: What Pottsville Residents Need To Know

February 21, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Pottsville, Schuylkill County: Whiplash from a rear end car accident involves the stretching of nerves, muscles, and ligaments. The forces are so great during even low speed collisions, that the muscles cannot resist the forces. 

chiropractor pottsville Whiplash and Muscle Weakness: What Pottsville Residents Need To Know

Whiplash injury produces inflammation to repair the damaged tissues.  During this time, fast movements of your head and neck will result in pain, so most patients become overly cautious and move their neck very little. 

Unfortunately over time, because of the lack of muscle use, these muscles become weak.  This sets up the difficult combination of both damaged ligaments and weak muscles.  Now there is little strength and support for the neck.  This may make you very vulnerable to a future injury. 

Even slight movements can produces flare-ups when the muscles are too weak.  You may feel that your head is too heavy.  Sometimes patients’ injuries from car accidents can be so severe that dizziness develops due to the unbalanced and uncordinated muscle and nerve activity.  This is called cervicogenic vertigo. 

If you get dizzy when you move your head, then you may have this condition.

While it may seem obvious that addressing weak neck muscles is important to a full recovery from a car accident. However there are some muscles that are now overactive.  Specific muscles need to be strengthened in a way that does not cause further damage to the ligaments.  The overactive muscles need to be relaxed and stretched.  This can be done with deep tissue massage or trigger point therapy.  This can help to decrease pain.

But the most important thing you can do on a daily basis is to keep exercising.  Both stretching and resistive exercie.  Studies have shown this to be effective in whiplash treatment. 

 A specific exercise program can be prescribed by a chiropractic physician.   

The key is to find out what muscles need strengthening and what muscles need lenthening.  We have testing equipment at our office to help find the weak (stretched and torn) and overactive (spastic) muscles.  Only in this way, will the treatment be effective and not risk further trauma.

Exercises such as rolling the head around the shoulders should be avoided since the neck is not a ball and socket joint like the shoulder.  In some directions, your neck will have excessive laxity and the muscle exercises should be done in the neutral position versus at the end range or limit.

Because the ligaments are so badly damaged in whiplash from a car accident, it’s important to maintain the supporting muscles (both strong and flexible), to keep the spine stable and pain free.

Want To Know More?

http://www.chiropractorpottsville.com

Doctors’ Choice Physical Medicine and Rehab

Dr. David Novatnak

Glee Pascual, Physical Therapist

Pottsville, Schuylkill, PA

This information is solely advisory, and should not be substituted for medical or chiropractic advice. Any and all health care concerns, decisions, and actions must be done through the advice and counsel of a health care professional who is familiar with your medical history.

Filed Under: Car Accidents, Neck Pain, Whiplash Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Chronic Low Back Pain in Pottsville, Remarkable Treatment Results

February 10, 2010 by 1 Comment

Pottsville, Schuylkill County PA: Do you have chronic low back pain?  Were you told that you have weak back muscles?   

 

How do you know if that statement is true? 

 

Has the strength of your back muscles ever been tested?

 

Pointed questions, almost no one can answer these questions affirmatively.

 

Would you like to know what 629 chronic back suffers found out about the strength of their back muscles and the difference it made in their suffering?

 

In this study, of 895 chronic back pain suffers were chosen to participate in a testing and treatment program.  Over 100 never started and others dropped out for a variety of reasons.  629 were still in the program and completed the study at the end of one year.  Our focus will be on them.   

 

The testing and exercises were performed on MedX lumbar extension rehabilitation equipment.  MedX equipment been shown to be valid and reliable.  We have this testing and exercise equipment at our office in Pottsville.  In fact, we have to only machine in the area. 

 

The Chronic Back Pain Sufferers Were Previous Multiple Treatment Failures

 

These patients were tough cases!

  • Average duration of back and/or leg complaints was 26 months (range 3 months to 30 years).
  •  The patients on average had seen three previous providers.
  • 14% had previous surgery for the complaint.
  • The patients had tried an average of 6 different types of treatments.
  • 89% had already failed a “supervised exercise program”.
  • 47% tried and failed chiropractic.
  • The patients low back extensor strength was about 40% to 45% weaker than established norms.
  • Range of motion was about 18 degrees less than normal.

The Treatment

 

The treatment involved progressive, resistive exercises of the isolated lumbar spine on the MedX lumbar extension machine.  The patients also did aerobic exercise and strength training of other muscles at each visit.

 

Treatment was discontinued when either of the following occurred:

 

  • The patient was pain-free or nearly pain-free and objective functional levels were at or near normal.
  • The patient was no longer making objective gains in spinal function.
  • The patient refused to cooperate or give a good effort.

The average number of treatment required to complete the program was 18 but ranged between 4 and 35.

 

A home exercise program was instituted when treatment goals were reached.

 

The Results

 

Static and dynamic strength and range of motion all increased significantly to normal or near normal levels.

  • 64% reported a substantial decrease in low back pain; in some cases, it was dramatic.
  • 12% reported no change and 3% reported worse.
  • Patients with leg pain 62% reported a substantial improvement.
  • 71% reported a substantial improvement in perceived ability to perform the activities of daily living.
  • The diagnosis did not significantly affect results.
  • Psychosocial factors did affect the results, however many patients who originally showed signs of symptom exaggeration no longer showed those signs at the end.

The 13 Month Follow-up

  •  94% with initial treatment results of good to excellent maintained their improvement.
  • Compliance with the home exercise was less than 50%.
  • 70% of patients who completed the program obtained substantial relief for at least 1-year vs. 29% of the control group. 

The Conclusions of the Study

  • The presence or absence of leg pain did not affect the results.
  • The failure of a supervised exercise program does not preclude a patient from a specific lumbar exercise program.  In fact, this study suggests that much of the exercise done without complete pelvic stabilization is worthless for these type of patients.  This includes the use of Nautilus and Cybex exercise equipment, equipment found in a gym.
  • Specific isolated lumbar extension exercises are effective for chronic low back pain regardless of the underlying condition.
  • Many patients, by their own report, were able to avoid surgery.
  • This study supports the use of specific intensive exercise for chronic back pain patients on the MedX lumbar extension machine.

Our Recommendations

If you are a chronic back pain sufferer, do not give up hope.  Odds are you may not have to “live with it”.

 

These results are typical of the results we have seen in our office, both for chronic back and neck pain.  We also have a MedX cervical extension machine for neck problems.  Our office is the only facility that has the MedX equipment in eastern Pennsylvania outside of York, Lancaster, and Philadelphia.

 

If you’re ready to start living again, give us a call.

 

http://www.chiropractorpottsville.com

Doctors’ Choice Physical Medicine and Rehab

Dr. David Novatnak

Glee Pascual, Physical Therapist

Pottsville, Schuylkill, PA

 

Source:

 

If you would like to read the entire article, it is available at: http://medxonline.com/downloads/articles/focusonthespine.pdf

 

Filed Under: Back Pain, Work Injury Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Weird Car Accidents That Were Covered By Auto Insurance In Schuylkill County

February 9, 2010 by 4 Comments

Pottsville, Schuylkill PA: As you know not all car accidents are the same.  Some have multiple cars.  Other accidents involve two cars.  Some accidents are only one car crashes.  Would you believe some car accidents don’t involve a crash?  Weird, right?

During the past year, we treated a few patients that had such non-crash car accidents.  At first, the patients didn’t believe that their car insurance was responsible for their medical bills.  Yep, 100% of their medical bills.  No deductable, no copays.  Insurance rates did not go up.  Here are a few of their stories…

Changing The Car Battery

The non-crash injury occurred when the patient was removing the battery from his car.  He was standing on a stool to pull the battery out.  The stool kicked out from underneath his feet.  His head and upper body went forward slamming on the engine.  He then fell backwards onto the pavement.  Ouch! Yep an auto accident.

The Junk Yard Accident

This occurred when the patient was removing a wheel from a car at a junk yard.  As he lifted the wheel off the hub, he twisted his back.  The interesting thing to note is that he hurt his back not taking the wheel off his car, but a junker.  Another covered auto accident.

Vacuuming The Car

A third non-crash auto accident occurred to a woman while she was cleaning her car.  She was contorted in the front passenger area vacuuming the carpets getting ready for vacation.  As she attempted to move to another position, she twisted and hurt her back.  The back injury canceled her vacation.

The Run-Away Truck

Another involved a father and daughter.  The dad was out in the brush with his two young daughters.  He put both of the kids in the truck and went to load some material in the truck bed.  He believes somehow the youngest daughter moved the truck into neutral and the truck started rolling down the hill in the field.  The one daughter bounced around in the truck most likely hitting the steering wheel with her chin.  The dad chased the runaway truck.  He caught up to the runaway truck, grabbed the handle, and opened the door.  As the door opened, it threw him to the ground-rolling end over end.  The young daughter presented with neck pain and headaches.  The dad presented with injuries to his chest, left back, and left shoulder.  Both the dad’s and daughter’s were covered under thier auto accident policy.

No Tennis Today

Another covered auto accident occurred when a patient reached inside his car to get his tennis racket.  He reached in through the window and as he was withdrawing, he bumped his head on the window frame.  He presented with neck pain and tingling traveling down his arm.

Coverage Denied!

We had another patient that hurt her back taking groceries out of the trunk.  Her car insurance carrier denied this claim.  It seems loading and unloading a motor vehicle is not covered by car insurance.  As far as I know, neither is just getting in or out of the car a covered auto accident.

What To Do

If your injury involves a motor vehicle in any way always tell the doctor.  It is easier to get the accident history and paperwork right the first time.  If you or your doctor submits the medical bills from the car accident to your health insurance company the health insurance typically issues a questionnaire.  They want to know if the injury was related to a work and car accident.  In the instance of a car accident, your health insurance claim will be denied because the car accident injury is not a covered expense under your medical insurance.

In Pennsylvania, the least amount of “medical insurance” coverage in your car insurance policy is $5,000.00, but it may be much more.  It depends upon the policy you bought.  Since Pennsylvania is a “No Fault” state, if you are injured in a car accident, your medical expenses from the injury is paid by your car insurance.  No deductable, no copays.  I have never known a car insurance rate to go up from a no-crash injury.

This article is not written to give medical or legal advice.  You should always consult your medial or legal professional.

Want To Know More?

http://www.chiropractorpottsville.com

Doctors’ Choice Physical Medicine and Rehab comment

Dr. David Novatnak

Glee Pascual, Physical Therapist

Pottsville, Schuylkill, PA

This information is solely advisory, and should not be substituted for medical or chiropractic advice.  Any and all health care concerns, decisions, and actions must be done through the advice and counsel of a health care professional who is familiar with your medical history.

Filed Under: Back Pain, Car Accidents, Headaches, Neck Pain, Whiplash Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Schuylkill County: Hand Pain, Tingling, and Numbness

October 30, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Pottsville PA: Do you have hand problems that have their cause from pinched or irritated nerves?  Arthritic pains from joints occur with these symptoms.  Sometimes there is no hand pain at all, just tingling and numbness.  Many patients think they may have poor circulation.

When hand pain strikes, it can be a difficult problem to deal with since we use our hands for so much: our work, our play.  It can also be distressing psychologically to have a part of your body not working as it should.

Carpal tunnel, Thoracic Outlet, or a Pinched Nerve in the Neck?

Hand pain can be a difficult thing to diagnose since there are many causes of hand pain. One familiar cause is a carpal tunnel syndrome. This is where the bony tunnel in the wrist is narrowed, pinching or irritating the nerves that pass through and go into the hand.

Another cause for hand pain is a thoracic outlet syndrome. The thoracic outlet can be compressed in the shoulder girdle region causing hand pain.  Many times raising your hands above your head can bring on the symptoms.

Another problematic area to consider with hand pain is in the neck.   This could be a disc lesion compressing the nerves in the neck causing referred or radicular (nerve root) pain into the hand. 

All of these problems have very similar symptoms in the hands.

These three problems can independently cause hand symptoms or they can all co-exist to varying degrees.  You are entitled to more than one cause, correct?  Getting a proper diagnosis is the first key to a full correction of a problem.  If your hand pain is being treated with an anti-inflammatory, there may be a reduction in symptoms but pain medications cannot release a pinch or irritated nerve.

You might also want to consider that pain or tingling is a signal.  The problem that is causing the symptom should be your focus.  When the fire alarm goes off at home, do we think to turn off the fire alarm, or put out the fire?  Pain or a symptom is the fire alarm, not the fire.

Find the Cause of the Problem

Recent research (Nord KM, et. al. False positive rate of thoracic outlet syndrome diagnostic maneuvers. Electromyogr Clin Neurophysiol 2008;48:67.) has shown that differentiating between these three unique disorders with clinical tests can be problematic, since false positive tests are more a rule, rather than an exception. Patients with carpal tunnel syndrome were one of the most frequently misdiagnosed groups of patients.

You may also need special x-rays views of your of your wrist and neck region to fully get at the cause of your hand pain or symptoms and determine the best course of action.  Sometimes more advanced tests like Electromyograms and Nerve Conduction Velocity Studies (EMG and NCV) are necessary.

Conservative Care Before Surgery   

All of these three problems respond well to conservative care, like chiropractic and physical therapy, is an often-overlooked form of care.  At our office, we use a type of stretching device to stretch the shortened ligament at the wrist.  It carries very low risks.  This type of therapy should be a first option for anyone who is considering wrist surgery.  We have helped many people avoid carpal tunnel surgery.

We may be able to help.  Check out or blog on this website for more information.

http://www.chiropractorpottsville.com

Doctors’ Choice Physical Medicine and Rehab

Dr. David Novatnak

Glee Pascual, Physical Therapist

Pottsville, Schuylkill, PA

 

 

 

Filed Under: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,