Painful Joints and body pain in cold, wet, weather.
It’s “common” but not “normal”. Why does weather affect our joints and bodies? We have baroreceptors, like barometers, in our hearts, in our joints and throughout our bodies. These baroreceptors communicate to the body what’s happening in our environment and the brain creates a response. Damaged receptors don’t work well. If these receptors are in your knees or hips for example, the body’s response may be skewed, or may be appropriate but the joint is still dysfunctional. Either way, pain often increases. Let’s say that you have an injured knee that’s already misaligned and inflamed. When the weather is cold and damp the lubricating synovial fluid of the joint reduces in quantity. With less fluid in the joint, the misalignment and inflammation become more pronounced and the weather tips the pain “over the edge”. If your knee were not misaligned and inflamed already, this weather change wouldn’t bother your knee. If your hip joints are filled with inflammatory tenodonitis and the weather is damp and cold, these changes in environmental barometric pressure lead to an increase in inflammation in the ligaments and tendons, leading to more pain. It pushes your hips “over the top”. If your hip were in perfect...
read moreShoulder Injuries: Healing, Prevention, Optimization.
The Shoulder Injuries, Healing, Prevention and Optimization. Like with any problem with the body, it’s best to try and avoid it. Regular strength training and range of motion exercises for the shoulders will prevent problems. The shoulders are complicated joints, not because of the joint itself but because of the support system of muscles, ligaments and tendons. Most of the stability of the shoulder comes from the muscles and ligaments of the rotator cuff. The rotator cuff consists of 4 muscles. These muscles are Supraspinatus, Infraspinatus, Teres Minor and Subscapularis. The joints that comprise the shoulder are the ball and socket joint called the glenohumoral joint. The “AC Joint” or acromioclavicular joint is where the collar bone meets the shoulder. Maintaining mobility, keeping inflammation down and strengthening the muscles of the shoulder “complex” will reduce the likelihood of a shoulder injury. Common shoulder pain stems from bursitis, impingement, shoulder dislocation, ac joint separation and the dreaded “frozen shoulder”. Shoulder injuries often result from repetitive stress like pitching a baseball or adjusting chiropractic patients by hand. Traumatic injuries would be accidents like a fall down the steps or running into another football player. Rehabilitation of the shoulder with physical therapy, chiropractic...
read moreFamous Musicians Make This Face After Seeing Dr. Lou!
Musicians Love Dr. Lou – Chiropractor Guaranteed to have the focus of a master fiddler or pianist, Dr. Lou’s focus on the chiropractic adjustment is intense. Chiropractic adjustments must be performed specifically and with tremendous precision to do no harm and have the maximum positive impact on your nervous system. When top musicians travel through Maine and have issues, have had issues or need their regular chiropractic appointment, they call on Dr. Lou. Dr. Lou has over 15 years of experience working with musicians and their specific chiropractic needs. Musicians always make the same faces after their visits with Dr. Lou. Here are some examples. Musicians love Dr. Lou. Ours is a small office with a big heart. All of our patients smile after their adjustments. There’s more to healthcare than pills and scalpels. We aim to touch people’s lives in ways that go beyond just the “treatment”. Why is it important that Dr.Lou works with high profile musicians? Because his work must be flawless and in a very short time, Dr. Lou must show these performers that they can trust him to perform adjustments on them. It’s very important when choosing a chiropractor, to know that...
read moreChiropractors wish you knew these secrets.
The more you know, the more amazing your potential! Every professional, whether they are a cardiologist, a chiropractor, a lawyer or a mechanic, has learned things that they wish others outside of the profession knew. The information is important, often life altering or has the potential to help you avoid significant suffering. I’ve had a lot of time lately to reflect on what chiropractors would want you to know. Here is a list of a few of the most important things that most people don’t know but should. According to the chiropractor. The first and most important thing is that your body is a self healing, self regulating organism. This healing and regulation is the responsibility of the brain. The brain is so important that it’s encased in solid bone to protect it’s ability to perform it’s duties. It is also the master processor of your world, the nervous system (brain, spinal cord and nerves) is the system in your body by which you experience life. Pressure on nerves (“Subluxation”) interrupts communication and hurts your health and adaptability. Chiropractors remove interference caused by spinal subluxation and function improves within your master control system. That’s a good idea whether you hurt...
read moreDo you have muscle rocks? Trigger Point Therapy.
What’s a “Muscle Rock”? A muscle rock is a term coined by Dr. Lou to describe a knot of muscle that feels like a rock. Trigger points, or knots of muscles, like the ones you feel in your upper trapezius muscles (shoulder area between your shoulder and neck), are inflamed, chronically tight muscles. The muscle tissue gets this way from an accumulation of stress. The stressors that most commonly causes trigger points are physical stress, like working at a computer, and mental stress that causes you to feel your neck and shoulders tighten. Trigger points are extremely common but are not normal. Trigger points can lead to bigger problems if trigger point therapy is not performed. Some sources even link fibromyalgia to the formation of trigger points. Trigger points will often lead to different types of pain depending on their location. Trigger points in the gluteal muscles or performs muscles may lead to pain down the leg of the same side, mimicking sciatica. Trigger points in the low back may also lead to a sciatica pain syndrome and may also lead to low back pain or vulnerability to a low back “flare up”. Trigger points in the upper back,...
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