There is a lot of discussion about why StemWave is referred to as the “stem cell machine”. StemWave and SoftWave are amazing technological advancements that been allowed for use by the FDA for pain and inflammation reduction and more. However, do the electrohydraulic shockwaves produced by StemWave and SoftWave influence stem cell function to aid in regenerating tissue? It’s not enough to simply say it does. As doctors, we owe it to our patients to understand and educate how to best understand how this technology works. Continue Reading →
30
Jan 2024
2
16
Aug 2022
SoftWaves for Plantar Fasciitis Work!
Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT) is cleared by the FDA for use on a few conditions, one being plantar fasciitis. This is very exciting as plantar fasciitis is the most common form of heel pain and it can be quite debilitating condition. Podiatrist, orthopedists, PTs, and sports chiropractors all work with patients who suffer from plantar fasciitis, and we are always looking for more and better ways to help these patients. When a proper diagnosis is made (and this means being quite sure to R/O calcaneal stress reaction), the faster we can address a problem and the faster we can fix it. Continue Reading →
15
Oct 2021
Regenerative Medicine Step 1: Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Please note that you do NOT need to be a patient to benefit from Hbot. You can simply call and set up an appointment to experience the benefits of Hbot. This also applies to NormaTec and SoftWave.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy, or Hbot, is healthy for us in many ways. We usually consider the greatest effects to be for those who have inflammation/swelling following trauma or for those wish to use it for a recovery tool after strenuous exercise. It is also used to aid those who get altitude sickness as enriching the blood with oxygen helps to reduce the effects of reduced oxygen at high elevations.
A new study, Hyperbaric oxygen therapy increases telomere length and decreases immunosenescence in isolated blood cells : a prospective trial , published by Hacho, et. al. in 2020, has shown that Hbot goes further than common uses in that it actually has direct, anti-aging, and regenerative effects. These effects are due to its ability to elongate telomeres.
Telomeres are nucleotides that are found at the end of chromosomes. They serve to maintain DNA stability. Telomeres shorten during replication (mitosis) as well as due to disease processes, lack of physical activity, obesity, cortical thinning of the brain, diabetes, stress, smoking, inflammation, vitamin deficiency, and oxidative stress (think free radicals). Being most of us are not functioning at optimal health, it’s easy to see that our telomeres tend to shorten far faster than they should and this process leads to an earlier death. Telomeres are measured in kilobases, and they tend to be 4-15 kilobases in length. We lose 20-40 bases per year just due to aging. However, the aforementioned conditions drastically decay the telomere length. When telomeres reach a ‘critical length’, cell replication cannot occur and this leads to further cell death. Studies have shown that adults with shorter telomere lengths have increased mortality rates. Simply put: the faster your telomeres shorten, the sooner your death. Continue Reading →
02
Oct 2017
Femoroacetabular Impingement and What Is Done About It
Femoroacetabular Impingement (FAI), or hip impingement syndrome, is a painful hip condition that limit a person’s activities and can inhibit an athlete’s ability to perform. Many times people can function just fine with an FAI, depending on their activity, but many times it’s necessary to get surgery to correct the problem. After surgery though, proper rehabilitation is necessary so as to reduce scar tissue buildup in the hip joint region. There are 3 types of FAI and each one can cause significant problems. Continue Reading →
22
Jun 2017
Elbow Pain…What The Heck Is The Issue?
The elbow…well, it certainly isn’t the ‘funny/crazy bone’ when we hurt it.
The elbow…when it hurts, it certainly isn’t so ‘funny’ or ‘crazy’.
We treat a LOT of elbow problems in our office. Why is this? Well, we have an active patient base and most all we do affects the musculature in our elbows. It used to be that when you had medial, or inside, elbow pain, that would be called ‘golfer’s elbow’ and when the pain was on the lateral side, or outside, that was called ‘tennis elbow.’ Well, needless to say, times have changed and people in many sports get medial and lateral elbow pain and they certainly are not playing golf or tennis. For that matter, not all golfers get medial elbow pain and tennis players lateral elbow pain anyway…sometimes, it’s the opposite. As as far as that ‘funny bone’ issue we’ve all heard about, that occurs when we bang a certain part of the elbow that the ulnar nerve runs through. The sensation we feel is irritation to the nerve and the distally affected tissues feel ‘funny.’ Continue Reading →
06
Feb 2017
The Dreaded DCO and What It Means To You and Your Shoulder!
DCO, or Distal Clavicular Osteolysis, is a rather bad shoulder condition that all too many athletes suffer from.
DCO occurs when we have damage to our AC (acromioclavicular) joint and it goes unattended to for a period of time. More-so than that, additional damage is done with further activity and the bones that make up the joint get significant damage.
The AC joint is made up of where the distal clavicle bone meets the acromion process of the scapula (see photo below). A sprain of the AC joint tends to involve a macrotrauma (one significant injury) such as a bad fall or other form of side shoulder impact. The AC joint tends to get hypermobile (or move too much) easily as it is not a very stable joint to begin with. When the joint is injured, or sprained, care is needed to stabilize the joint and allow for it to heal. In-office treatments can significantly reduce recovery time and this is important as a healing AC joint sprain is susceptible to further injury. Continue Reading →
09
Jan 2017
Dr. Manison is now Selective Functional Movement Assessment (SFMA) Certified
Doctors learn how to assess and treat based on their specialization. Chiropractors are taught how to diagnose neuromusculoskeletal problems and how to properly treat them. If a patient presents with a condition that a chiropractor cannot handle, then an appropriate referral should be made.
Dr. Manison has acquired skills in most of the highest level treatment approaches in his field. In fact, he now teaches part of the Certified Chiropractic Extremity Practitioner (CCEP) program nationally. This program, developed by Dr. Kevin Hearon, is regarded in the field as the highest level program on the assessment and treatment of extremity injuries. Continue Reading →
20
May 2016
Slouching Population Part 2 of 3: Good Posture and Children
Have you recently witnessed a child sitting hunched over with their head down staring at a smartphone, ipad, or tablet on a table or on their lap? I would venture to guess that you see this picture multiple times per day if you have, or are around, children. I would also go as far as to assume that most, if not all, children have been told multiple times to “sit up straight” by teachers, parents, and/or grandparents. However, even with the constant reminders, it seems that kids have been slumping more and more with the passing of each decade. One of the worst postures I have seen to date is a preteen who developed a point in his mid-back where there should be a smooth curve.
What is causing our youth to have worsening poor posture? Are they having an undeclared slouching contest with the previous generation, are they trying to be cool, or are they just a product of their environment with the vast surge in the use of technology? I get it. Even we adults need to be told to sit-up properly, especially when we are working at a computer, texting, or using a tablet. And you know what? Children hate being corrected as much as we do. With that said, it is hard enough to get adults to follow instructions, so how do we get children to change their habits, and understand the lifelong repercussions of sitting and standing in bad posture? Continue Reading →
16
Feb 2016
Slouching Population Part 1 of 3: Good Posture Goes Beyond Just Looks!
Over the weekend, I met some new friends, and the topic turned to posture very quickly once they found out that I was a chiropractor, and when I found out that they were IT specialists. They began to make fun of themselves about the ridiculous positions in which they sit while working at the computer. Until that moment, I had just visualized poor posture as sitting with the head forward, rounded shoulders, and hunched upper back. After speaking with this group, a new picture popped into my head regarding bad posture. One demonstrated leaning so far back in his chair with his leg propped up on a waste basket he may has well have been lying down. Another was slanting to the side and turning in a way that only a contortionist could have achieved. How you position yourself with your posture, comfortable or not, you may be taking years off your life….or just making those years a bit more painful. Continue Reading →
06
Jul 2015
Dry Needling Support Models (4 of 4): Central Model and Studies That Prove the Efficacy of Dry Needling
We have covered a lot of information about Dry Needling in our last 3 blogs. We discussed the Radiculopathy Model, the Trigger Point Model, and the Spinal Segemental Sensitization and Pentad Model. Already, we can clearly see how Dry Needling can help to break down myofascial trigger points (MTrPs) and reduce pain. The fourth model will discuss another reason as to why Dry Needling can help you.
Central Model
Our final model, the Central Model, covers information about how Dry Needling and other physical interventions (including manipulation, massage, mobilization, etc…) affect the spinal cord and brain. This is a rather basic but powerful model. The premise is that input stimuli will affect tracks in the spinal cord that will carry that information up to the brain. The deeper the treatment, the more information that will be conveyed. The hypothalamus will then take the stimuli and communicate with the pituitary gland and affect other endocrine functions.
In regards to the hypothalamus, it has three primary functions: 1. It supplies input to the brainstem, thus affecting autonomic regulation, 2. It controls endocrine function, and 3. It exerts influence on posture and locomotion.
With the Central Model, MTrPs along the spine will likely cause more autonomic issues (please click to read more about autonomic issues on the Trigger Point Blog). Dry Needling causes an anti-inflammatory response that emanates from the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. This is deep stuff!
If we assume that the hypothalamus is directly or indirectly adversely affected by MTrPs, then we can conclude that such MTrPs create autonomic and endocrine problems in addition to postural and movement issues (this means it affects the way you work inside and outside). Certainly, we would want to rid our bodies of such noxious stimuli, and since Dry Needling can eliminate such MTrPs, then this makes it a great option for restoring proper function of not only the musculoskeletal system, but also the autonomic and endocrine functions that are affected by an improperly functioning musculoskeletal system.
Any way you slice it, Dry Needling can help you to function better. From simple pain and dysfunction to autonomic concomitants, Dry Needling offers a viable option for the treatment of trigger points and pain due to musculoskeletal causes.
Let’s take a look at some studies supporting the application of Dry Needling…there are a few here but many more in print:
We will start with the grand-daddy of them all…the landmark study performed by Karl Lewit, MD published in 1979. This study broke down the effects of trigger point injections to determine if the analgesic/steroid that was the agent that helped the patient, or was it the needle alone that contained all the magic! Please read study, and if you would like the full study (versus just the abstract), please let us know.
The Needle Effect In The Relief of Myofascial Pain
And the other studies…
Dry Needling Having Anti-Nociceptive (anti-pain) Effects
Probable Mechanisms of Needling Therapies for Myofascial Pain Control
The Influence of Dry Needling of The Trapezius Muscle on Muscle Blood Flow and Oxygenation
Dry Needling and Exercise for Chronic Whiplash – A Randomized Controlled Trial
Management of Shoulder Injuries Using Dry Needling in Elite Volleyball Players
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