Hello Everyone,

We have all heard the phrase, "Lift with your legs, not with your back."  When I say this to patients, the general response is, "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah."  We hear it all the time from many sources, but why is it important.

Your back muscles are designed to allow us to do what no other creature can do quite like us.  Stand upright!  (Don't say monkeys, because in general, they are still knuckle draggers.)  Our spines and back musculature are meant to be upright .  They are built for endurance, not heavy lifting.  When erect our ligaments and discs are not under any damaging strain.  When bent forward our ligaments tense and our discs are under pressure, squeezing them back toward our nerves.  

It usually isn't a one time move or lift that ruptures a disc; Rather, repetitive stress and strain is most common.  Lifting and twisting is the number one way to injure your disc.

The upsetting part of all this is that we learn laziness.  Most wild creatures, and our own young instinctively protect themselves, biomechanically speaking.  If you have ever been around a toddler or young child, observe their motions.  They are guarded and deliberate.  Children instinctively squat down to pick things up from the ground.  Take a look at my children as they Easter Egg hunt.  Both kiddos use their legs to squat keeping their bottoms toward the ground.  I didn't have to teach them this.  Children's back musculature is still developing, so nature tells them to use their strong leg muscles to lower themselves.

As adults, we know better than to lift with our backs, but often we do it anyways. Your chiropractor is happy for the business, but I would hate to lose you to a back surgery over something silly like picking up the newspaper without bending your legs.

So, with all of that said.  Be safe out there, and "Lift with your legs, not with your back!"

Thanks,

Dr. Eric Fierro, D.C.

Hello All,

I would like to address a topic that has come up a lot over the last week.  

Trigger Points.  What are they? Why are they? and How can Joint Effort Chiropractic help?

Trigger points or muscle knots are areas of hypersensitive soft tissue.  These areas are often expressed as a painful nodule or band of muscle.  Your doctor or therapists finds these points manually via palpation of the muscle.  Palpation of these points reproduces the patient's pain and symptoms.  These areas of sensitivity are often separated into two categories.  Active and Latent.  Active trigger points are tender to the touch and radiate or refer pain to other locations of the body, often along neurological paths.  Latent trigger points are often tender to the touch, but they do not refer pain.

Doctors and therapists do not often agree as to the actual cause of trigger points.  Through experience, I can tell you that poor posture, repetitive stress (both physical and psychological), and poor nutrition all make you more prone to trigger point.  These issues result in local contraction of the individual muscle fibers.  In turn this contraction pulls on muscle and eventually ligaments and tendons.  This presents as a decrease in range of motion, weakness, and tenderness.

There are various methods for treating trigger points.

There are many more treatments that are used, but these are some of the more common.  I put the options available at Joint Effort Chiropractic in bold.

IASTM is a very effective procedure involving the use of hand tools to strip the muscle and cause irritation to the sight.  While that doesn't sound desirable, it results in healing and resorption of unwanted scar and collagen tissue.  

Kinesio Tape is a flexible tape, that when applied properly by a trained professional, results in the inhibition of tight muscle as well as sensory input that relaxes the irritated area.

For more information on trigger point therapy or our techniques, please contact us at 432-336-8860 or email to [email protected]

Thank you for your time,

Dr. Eric Fierro, D.C.

Hello again friends and followers,

 

I would like to spend some time today talking about our current state of affairs as a species.

 

As a young student I always found the idea of evolution fascinating.  The thought that dinosaurs are the genetic ancestor of our modern birds, and that we share a very close genetic relationship with chimpanzees just blows me away. Thousands of years of survival have molded us into the beings that we are today!

 

Over the course of time, animals adapt to their surroundings, making the species better able to survive its environment.  The adaptations can take many forms; changes in shape, color, behavior.  Think of animals that have developed camouflage like the polar bears of the arctic, or animals that have developed defense mechanisms like a porcupine's quills.  Humans have developed these tricks too; we just don't think about them that often.  Skin tone is an adaptation based on the region you live.  Sickle Cell Anemia is thought to be and adaptation to protect those in areas where malaria is particularly bad.

 

But... what happens if a species starts surviving in spite of its lack of adaptation? What happens if our health industry gets so good at saving us from ourselves, that we begin to neglect the most basic tenants of our survival?

 

I will get to my point.  Humans are so smart, that we are causing our own health problems.  We have so much technology and health care advancements, that we are no longer promoting a stronger, fitter species. 

 

Examples:  Conditions such as diabetes, obesity, cancer, and cardiovascular disease are on the rise.  We have bad backs and necks in large part due to our constant slumped sitting posture.  (sofa, car, desk, etc.)

 

Our cavemen ancestors were hunters and gatherers.  There was very little sitting.  They were upright.  Their jobs required movement, climbing, reaching, walking, and running.  As a result, they had toned back and core musculature.  (No gym membership required.)

 

Cavemen would be blown away by the idea of going on a diet.  Food was scarce and the foods that they ate did not make them fat.  They ate animal protein and fat, fruits, vegetables, seeds, and nuts.  They did not eat sugar, grain, and dairy. 

 

When I bring up these points, usually someone says, "Well why do we have a longer life span than they did if they were so healthy?"  My answer to that is:  They died of the hardships that came with their lack of sanitation and shelter.  They did not die of diabetes, obesity, cancer and cardiovascular disease. 

 

Look around at the animals of today.  Wild animals do not die of these conditions either.  They are always moving, and they eat what they are genetically designed to.  Our domesticated animals on the other hand are dying of our diseases, because we are feeding them our "food,"  and they are on the couch with us! 

 

I like to use the words we and us, because I include myself in a population that is behaving with disregard for our well being. 

 

Let's stop the devolution of our species.  Let's get fit and take care of our bodies.  

 

I chose to write this blog after a few days of self-reflection.  I am choosing to make a change for the better today.

 

Who's with me?

 

Dr. Eric Fierro, D.C.