Category: Fitness

7 Tips To Prevent Golfer’s Elbow

Posted on by Ortho Cure

It is golf season!  Many of us look forward to this time of year for recreation and good times.  However, golf injuries such as “golfer’s elbow” can occur and are very painful.  Golfers elbow is also known as Medial epicondylitis or pitcher’s elbow.  It is a condition that causes pain where the tendons of your forearm muscles attach to the bony bump on the inside of your elbow.

When you use these elbow muscles repeatedly, small tears develop in the tendons. Over time, this leads to irritation which results in inflammation and pain where the tendon is attached to the bone.

Despite the name, this condition doesn’t just affect golfers. Any repetitive hand, wrist, or forearm motions can lead to golfer’s elbow.

The injury can occur from using the poor form or overdoing certain activities, such as:

  • Golf
  • Baseball and other throwing sports, such as football and javelin
  • Racquet sports, such as tennis
  • Weight training
  • Repeated twisting of the wrist

People in certain jobs may be more likely to develop it, such as:

  • Painters
  • Carpenters
  • Plumbers
  • Construction workers
  • Cooks
  • Assembly-line workers
  • Computer users
  • And more…

Common Symptoms of golfer’s elbow include:

  • Pain and tenderness. Usually felt on the inner side of your elbow, the pain sometimes extends along the inner side of your forearm or wrist. Pain typically worsens with repetitive wrist movements. The pain of golfer’s elbow can come on suddenly or gradually.
  • Stiffness. Your elbow may feel stiff and making a fist might hurt.
  • Weakness. You may have weakness in your hands and wrists.
  • Numbness or tingling. These sensations might radiate into one or more fingers — usually the ring and little fingers.

You can prevent this condition by doing the following:

  • Strengthen your forearm muscles. Use light weights or squeeze a tennis ball. Even simple exercises can help your muscles absorb the energy of sudden physical stress.
  • Stretch before and after your activity/game. Walk or jog for a few minutes to warm up your muscles. Then do gentle stretches before you begin your game Stretches at the end of the game/activity is also very important as it helps with decreasing soreness after strain full activity. Please talk to your physiotherapist to give you these stretches.
  • Correct your form. Whatever your sport, ask an instructor or your physiotherapist to check your form to avoid overload on muscles.
  • Use the right equipment. If you’re using older golfing irons, consider upgrading to lighter graphite clubs. If you play tennis, make sure your racket fits you. A racket with a small grip or a heavy head may increase the risk of elbow problems.
  • Lift properly. When lifting anything, including free weights, keep your wrist rigid and stable to reduce the force to your elbow.
  • Know when to rest. Try not to overuse your elbow. At the first sign of elbow pain, take a break. If you feel minor ache on the inner part of the elbow or forearm or weakening of the grip, if the soreness lasts more than 72 hours then please talk to your health professional before returning to the activity.
  • Stay hydrated: Always make sure that you are hydrated during the game.

 

It is important to rehab this injury by visiting a physiotherapist and following these recommendations:

  • Resting or pacing the activity which increases the symptom
  • ICE: Apply ice packs to your elbow for 15 to 20 minutes at a time, three to four times a day for several days. To protect your skin, wrap the ice packs in a thin towel. It might help to massage your inner elbow with ice for five minutes at a time, two to three times a day
  • Modalities: Your physiotherapist can use modalities like Ultrasound, Laser, IFC, etc. for pain relief and help with inflammation.
  • Stretching: Selective stretching will help you to maintain muscle flexibility and to decrease the chance of any future injury
  • Strengthening: it is important to strengthen your forearm and wrist muscle so that they can take the the strain you put during activity/game.
  • Guarding the part by brace or taping: a counterforce brace on your affected arm, which might reduce tendon and muscle strain
  • Posture education and maintenance during game or activity: Keeping proper posture during the activity/game can decrease the chances of injury significantly please talk to your physiotherapist regarding postural.
  • Gradual return to the activity: It is very important that you gradually return to activity/game as it gives time to your muscles to meet up with work demand.

Dr. Vikas Puri 

B.Sc., D.C, Toronto, Canada

President and Co-Founder of Intelligent Health Group.

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Is Your Lifestyle Hurting You?

Posted on by Ortho Cure

Parents are always telling their children to sit up straight, and not to slouch.  Good posture evokes a sense of confidence, youth, and beauty.  But did you know that studies show poor posture to be related to an increased incidence of disease and death?  It’s true!

 

Dr. Henry Winsor was the first to publish this kind of study.  He autopsied 50 cadavers and found 139 diseased organs.  Each of these organs was traced back via its nerve supply to a spinal curve distortion, most of these being minor spinal misalignments (also known as subluxations). 

 

More recently, Dr. Kado published a study in the Journal of Geriatrics that correlated accentuated mid-back curves with an increased death rate and increased incidence of heart disease.  

 

Posture is now the number one predictor of early onset of Alzheimer’s disease.  90% of the information to the brain every day comes from our posture.  In other words, the sense of where our body is in space called proprioception.  If this information is poor, caused by bad posture, our brain cells start dying at a rate of two square centimeters per year. 

 

These studies support long-standing chiropractic principles.  Our health is directly related to proper alignment and motion of the spine.  There are three parts of our spine, the neck (cervical), mid-back (thoracic), and low back (lumbar). The neck and low back have a reverse c-shape called a lordosis, while the mid-back has a c-shaped curve called a kyphosis.  These normal spinal curves must be maintained within normal ranges.  Poor posture is one of the things that alter the proper shape of our spine, leading to more strain and pressure on our spinal joints.  The result is irritation and pressure on spinal nerves as they exit the vertebral column, which creates a reduction in nerve flow and blood supply to the various organs where that nerve goes.  This leads to eventual dysfunction and disease.  Not only at the spinal level in the form of spinal decay leading to arthritis, but also at the vital organ level.  Any diseases may be linked to spinal subluxations.  For example, the most common postural faults occur at the upper back and base of the neck.  These areas connect neurologically with the heart and lungs.  Subluxations in these areas can lead to premature cardiopulmonary disease and death.

 

Poor posture has become an epidemic.  We are constantly sitting in front of our laptops and computers.  Sitting is thought to be the new “smoking”.  And “text neck”, caused by constantly looking down at our cell phones is leading to degenerative changes in our neck in young teens and adults today. 

 

Chiropractors are specially trained to correct postural distortions and remove nervous system interference before it leads to disease.  They perform computerized and other posture analysis along with x-rays and a thorough spinal examination to evaluate one’s posture.  They then perform specialized treatment, known as spinal adjustments, along with recommending exercises and orthopedic devices that begin to restore one’s natural posture.  As this happens, the amount of stress hormone in the body decreases, muscle tone improves and neurological improvements are noted.  As this happens, our overall health and vitality improve.

 

Preventative medicine is the best medicine.  Everyone should visit a chiropractor regularly for spinal “tune-ups”.  Maintenance prolongs life.    We do it for a car so why not for ourselves?  And remember, sit up straight, it could save your life!

 

Dr. Vikas Puri 

B.Sc., D.C, Toronto, Canada

President and Co-Founder of Intelligent Health Group.

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WINTER ACHES & PAINS

 

Winters are around the corner, bringing relief from the scorching hot summers and leading towards this year’s festive season. The festive season starts with Dusshera & Diwali and continues till Christmas & New Year’s Eve. Most people have various events and activities to plan during this time which requires a lot of recreational work like cleaning the house, office, new decoration, etc. All these activities require a lot of physical work like lifting heavy bags, moving furniture, continuously moving upstairs and downstairs, etc. All these strenuous activities most of the times result in physical stress and end up in chronic aches and pains. These activities also make people prone to muscle injuries, joint pains, and physical wear and tear. Most people ignore the initial symptoms which result in chronic pain and injuries sometimes resulting in minor or major surgeries.

Orthocure Clinics provides a range of services in physiotherapy which not only answers to most of these problems but also advice on how to avoid such physical stress in day to day basis.  Our Physical Therapist Dr. Meenal Sharma talks about how cold weather impacts your joints and muscle pain and how to address it on a day to day basis. A snapshot of the interview with Dr. Meenal Sharma is provided below:

 

Is it common to feel aches and pains?

Dr. Meenal Sharma- First of all, to address aches and pain we need to focus more on the causes of such pains. One of the major causes of such pains is the wrong posture for carrying out day to day activity. Most of the people in winters are packed with a lot of woolen clothes and they tend to clench themselves to preserve heat. However it is important to preserve the heat but

on the other hand, most people don’t understand that with a lot of clothes, people also need to correct their posture for day to day activity. In general, we observe people in winter hunched, shoulder raised, forward head, chin jotting, which results in the tightening of muscles, leading to cramps and pain. With the cold weather kicking in people also get a bit lazy and forget to undertake their regular exercises, leading to increased inactiveness. Aches and Pains only hit people who are more sedentary and don’t carry a good posture.

 

 

 

How does this occur?

Dr. Meenal Sharma- In winters, our joints have less elasticity and the blood supply to our muscles is also less than regular because of the cold environment overall. Besides, inactiveness adds on to muscular weakness and poor posture. To address this we have to keep our body warm and bring a regular movement of joints so that blood supply can be improved. Also, we need to regularly stretch our body and do exercises- both flexibility and strength training.

 Can winters results in weakness of muscles?

Dr. Meenal Sharma – Definitely YES!! But not because of its cold weather, although it is due to increased inactiveness resulting in muscle weakening. The more the movement of the muscle/joints the less will be the problems!! So the idea is to KEEP MOVING!

 

What type of exercises are helpful?

Dr. Meenal Sharma – Staying active in general is helpful. The problem is when it aches we tend to avoid exercises and move as little as possible. But you can avoid it by exercising. You can do any form of exercise which can be as simple as

 

  • Going for a regular WALK,
  • Taking staircases most of the times,
  • Doing some YOGA especially at night which can ease aches and pains and help you sleep better and in general, It is gentle and relaxing.
  • Be sure to STRETCH. Stretches are good to keep you warmed up. Now its time to recall the winter posture which I talked about previously! We have to just do the opposite of that in our stretch regime. A SIMPLE TECHNIQUE- Pulling your body up, lengthening your back, pulling belly muscles in, squeezing your shoulder blades a little bit together to try and maintain better posture. Be in each position for some time and it results in stretching as well!
  • STRENGTH training has to be done 3 times a week to keep your muscles strong. In the winters when the world is hibernating our bodies still have to be ACTIVE. The stronger your body is the healthier it will be and more likely you will overcome winter aches and pains.
  • General mobility Exercises like pumping of ankle and foot, squeezing of hands and making a fist and opening It for better circulation.
  • DRINK more of lukewarm water.
  • Do HOT FOMENTATION twice a day or even can have a bath with Epsom salt hot water to rush that blood flow and soothe your muscles and joints.
  • In case of any swelling still, COLD PACKS are applicable.
  • EAT LIGHT but some days can be cheat days too! You can have chocolates, cakes, watch Netflix, sit back and enjoy winters too!!
  • If you want to stick to an exercise program that boosts strength, increases flexibility and gives you a cardio workout, you can’t beat SWIMMING. It’s easy on your joints and limbs and gives you a full-body workout and stretches out your body relieving aches and pains.

 

Do I need to see a Doctor?

Dr. Meenal Sharma – Do try exercising for at least 15-20 days and be active. If these home remedies aren’t helping and the pain persists, then don’t confuse it with normal winter aches and pain and SPEAK TO YOUR DOCTOR.

 

 

Dr. Meenal Sharma

Physiotherapy Head and Senior Spine Therapist

BPT, MPT, CDNT, CKTT, FOMT, COMT

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How MEDX Work On Core Muscle Strengthening.

As we are talking about muscle strengthening the first question that comes in mind is “what is muscle strengthening and what does it do for me”. Strengthening exercise is technically known as “progressive resistance “exercise.For the Strengthening exercise to be effective, the amount of weight lifted must be sufficient to exhaust the muscle within a 60 to 90 seconds window of time. A muscle is exhausted when it reaches a point where it is momentarily unable to move the weight.

Exhausting the muscle triggers the strengthening process, which occurs over the next couple of days as the muscle recovers.  As the muscle gets stronger, the weight must be progressively increased to accommodate the muscle’s new level of strength; thus, the name “progressive resistance”.

There is often confusion on the speed of movement for strengthening exercises, but the research has proven that slow, deliberate speed is required to strengthen the entire muscle. Physics dictates: the faster the weight is moved the more momentum is created, as momentum builds less work is required of the muscle, thus reducing your results.  Rapid weight lifting or jerking weight is also what causes injury when performing strengthening exercise. Eliminate the speed and injuries are eliminated. The slow movement has added the benefit of producing faster results.

 

MedX is the abbreviation for Medical Exercise. Disorders and functional impairment of the spine represent the most common and costly problems of modern health care plans. Approximately 60-80% of the population suffers from temporary problems associated with the spine, while 20-30% suffers chronically.

Under the direction of Michael Pollock, the former president of the “American College of Medicine” in Gainesville and Vert Mooney, MD from the University of California at San Diego, 14 teams were involved in the technical implementation of the computer-based diagnostic and therapeutic procedure of MedX. The results of this research project were remarkable. Almost all patients with back pain demonstrated weaker deep back extensor muscles than healthy people. The lumbar extensors are primarily responsible for the stability of the spine.

 

Highlights of the MEDX Machines:The load movement or “Strength Curve” of the muscle is precisely calculated. The muscle remains above the tension threshold throughout the entire motion, from full stretch to complete contraction. This prevents and corrects intramuscular imbalances.

A two-dimensional motion is performed. “Wrong” movements are almost impossible and therefore the risk of injury is close to zero.

The isolation of the targeted muscles is accomplished through the padding, supports, and structure of the machines. These features make it easier to achieve a cross-sectional stimulus

Training on the machines does not require any coordination. The movement does not have to be “learned” allowing the trainee to be “productive” from the beginning.

The training progress achieved with the machines represents pure strength gains, not a mixture of strength and coordination gains.

 

This is where Medx therapy is beneficial

First, the muscles are tested to reveal any functional deficits the patient may have. Next, a program is developed for therapy and the treatment is documented to measure effectiveness. To perform a functional analysis of the spinal muscles, the following prerequisites must be fulfilled:

  • Isolation of the lumbar extensor muscles by pelvic fixation
  • Elimination of gravitational pull on the body and upper body mass
  • Measurement of soft tissue tension and the net muscle force
  • Isometric testing over the entire range of motion (ROM)
  • Muscle fiber typing by exhaustion reaction This extensive diagnosis provides the basis for the patient’s treatment plan. MedX therapy aims to restore the function of the spinal column in areas of strength, agility, and endurance.

 

MedX spinal strength testing is indicated for patients who meet any one of the following conditions;

1)    Back pain that has lasted longer than four weeks,

2)    No longer responding to conventional treatment,

3)  Recurrent episodes of back pain/disability or chronic low back pain.

Leading Back Pain Treatment in Gurgaon

According to a survey, about 80% of people experience back pain due to some reason. Lifestyle and posture are the major culprits behind the increasing incidence of back pain among common population. In end of this article, we will go through how Orthocure can help in lower back pain treatment in Gurgaon.

The root source of lower back pain can be either mechanical or soft tissue injury with varied repercussions like muscular imbalance, disc herniation, postural misalignment, hypo-mobility of joints or nerve root compression.

It is not a disease but our lifestyle plays a vital role in it. Back ache is one of the consequences of our lifestyle. It can happen to anybody at any age irrespective of the size and gender of an individual. It can be due to prolonged sitting in a wrong posture, sleeping in an uncomfortable position, lifting heavy weights, overuse of certain muscles, lack of physical activity and in-equivalent distribution of weight while standing. The reasons can be uncountable.

Lifestyle is one of the primary reasons for back ache. For instance, individuals working for IT establishments have to maintain awkward static postures for prolonged duration repetitively. Their wrong postures and prolonged sitting will inevitably result in back pain.

Similarly, house-makers who over stress their muscles most of the times while performing household chores predispose themselves to this condition.

Further, elderly people have increased chances of back pain due to degenerative disorders and decreasing strength.

The entire back, starting from the base of the head till the tail bone is one unit and pain can affect any specific component of the mammoth unit due to infinite reasons.

Quicklinks

Structure of Back Pain

The human back has a complex structure of muscles, ligaments, tendons, bones, and disks. All these parts work together to enable the human body to work and support the body posture.

The spine is made up of vertebrae and in between the vertebrae there is a gel like substance called the “disc “which acts like a cushion and shock absorber against forces on our spine. Any damage to the disc can lead to backache.We should always take care of a few things like correct body posture, proportionate weight bearing on both feet, avoid over straining muscles etc.

What are the Symptoms of Back Pain?

  • Discomfort in the back leading to pain that can further radiate to the legs and feet
  • Uncomfortable to sit or stand-up straight properly.
  • Numbness or tingling in legs.
  • Pain may increase due to prolonged sitting.
  • Tenderness over certain points
  • Pain while taking sides, stiffness while getting up from bed in the morning
  • Increase in pain on bending, walking, prolonged standing or lifting
  • Difficulty in carrying out activities of daily living
  • Loss of sensation and urinary incontinence in severe cases

You should consult the doctor when the above symptoms become chronic.

Initially, people prefer to use pain relief sprays, pain killer medications or hot oil massages but this might or might not help to alleviate the root cause of pain.

What are the Causes behind Back Pain?

Back pain may be caused due to several reasons like structural, mechanical or soft tissue problems. Let’s know about these causes one by one:

Disc Injury

Discs are the shock absorber gel like cushions between each vertebra and generally, disc injury can be the major reason for back pain.

Arthritis

If there is damage or loss in the cartilage of joints in the lower back may lead to back pain.

Sciatica

If you are suffering from pain in the leg or numbing or tingling, this can be due to the pressing of a nerve by a bulging disc which is known as Sciatica.

Osteoporosis

Thinning of bones or loss of bone density makes bones very weak and brittle leading to severe back pain

Slipped or ruptured disc

It can compress any nerve from its root while it exits from the spinal cord leading to pain in the course of the nerve

Scoliosis

When spine curves to a side in an unusual way it may result to back pain.

Poor posture & Activities 

Back pain can also trigger from everyday activities and poor postures like

  • Bending awkwardly
  • Inappropriate sleeping mattresses that harm our spine
  • Carrying or lifting heavyweights
  • Overstretching and muscles strain
  • Sitting in a wrong posture for long duration

Twisting at a certain angle along with bending forward or backward

MEDICAL CONDITIONS

Referred Pain

Acidity or stomach ache can also mimic pain in the upper back. Similarly, presence of kidney stones or any renal infection refers pain to the lower back

Tuberculosis of the Spine

Medically known as Pott’s disease also symptomizes as localized back pain, muscular spasm along with tenderness.

Cauda Equina Syndrome

This condition refers to the damage caused to the bundle of nerves at the end of spinal cord. This produces low back pain which radiates to the legs and can even cause bladder and bowel incontinence.

What Factors Trigger Back Pain

The sedentary lifestyle always has its side effects on our health. Poor physical fitness and medical conditions can develop back pain. Other factors are

  • Old age
  • Overweight/obesity
  • Physical Inactivity
  • Various diseases like arthritis etc.
  • Improper way of lifting weights
  • Smoking

In the case of women, pregnancy may be a factor. Stress, anxiety, mood swings due to hormonal changes may cause backache.

People should always consult or take medical care if the condition gets chronic before any serious illness.

Diagnosis of Back Pain

After asking the symptoms and physical examinations diagnose the cause of back pain. Other methods to detect the actual cause behind the symptoms are

X-Ray

Detects any misalignment of the bones, presence of degenerative changes, broken bones

MRI

If the issue is related to muscles, torn ligaments or tendons, nerve compression, disc bulge; MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) helps to detect the actual cause.

EMG

This is often used to check the electrical activity of the muscles in cases of neuro-muscular abnormalities.

How different Medical Experts Diagnose and Cure Back Pain

Osteopath

Target the whole body as one unit by focusing on bones, muscles, fascia, joints and spine holistically.

Physio-Therapist

By doing physical examinations and manual tests a physiotherapist will diagnose the root cause behind the pain. A physiotherapist might choose various modes of treatment depending upon the condition of the patient ranging from conventional physiotherapy techniques like Ultrasound therapy, TENS, IFT to advanced maneuvers like dry needling, myocardial release etc.

Chiropractor

Usually treat the mechanical disorders in the musculus skeletal system by manual mobilization techniques and making adjustments.

You must take a proper X Ray before you visit a chiropractor.

Other Treatment Methods

  • Generally, back pain at initial stages can be relieved by using pain relief gels, ointments, and Anti-inflammatory drugs like NSAIDs.
  • Subsequently, when pain becomes severe then Cortisone injections can be used to reduce/relieve back pain.
  • Acupuncture which is a natural process to reduce pain in the body. By pressing pressure points on the body pain can be reduced.
  • We all know the benefits of Yoga. Many Yoga poses/exercises like Spinal twist,child pose, etc help to reduce pain and strengthen muscles. Yoga is very beneficial for a healthy body and mind. We should include “yoga” in our daily life.
  • In some rare cases, surgery is required. In that case, the patient should consult a surgeon.

But as back pain mostly mechanical in origin, a combination of treatment offered by a physiotherapist and chiropractor produces best results.

Important Points to Remember

(a)       Make habit of doing yoga and exercise daily to keep your body fit and fine.

(b)       Take a healthy and nutritious diet.

(c)       Keep your body posture correct especially while you are sitting or sleeping.

(d)       Take care of your spine.

(e)       Body weight is another factor for back pain so try to maintain your weight.

 

NOTE: For Chronic Back pain always consult the doctor before taking any medicine. And do exercise under the supervision of the expert.

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