Full Service/Acute Care: 5927Route 981, Suite 5 Latrobe, PA 15650 (724) 539-1633 - Valentine Chiropractic Blog

Spine Care

1/28/2017

Donald Valentine, DC, MSW
5927 Route 981, Suite 5 | Latrobe, PA 15650 | (724) 539-1633 [email protected]

The spine is a wonderful part of your body! It is your neck and back supporting your whole body. In addition, the spine allows for your motion and promotes the forces or energy for walking, standing, sitting and lifting.

Spine pain, spasms, and stiffness can happen to you because of an injury, stenosis, disc herniation and arthritis that intereferes with the healthy function of your spine. The key to feeling better is a proper diagnosis and treatment plan. Dr. Valentine provides this level of excellence in caring for you and relieving your pain that, in the end, supports your overall health and well-being. Be well and move well!

Neck Pain

1/25/2017

Ongoing mental/emotional stress may cause neck pain and impaired immobility.
Dr. Valentine can help relieve your pain and teach you preventative stretching exercises as
well as a mindfulness relaxation practice.
Contact his office at (724) 539-1633 [email protected]

Health and Safety More than just tired!

5/16/2016

Nurses, employers should work together to reduce fatigue, it effects your mind...impaired problem solving and creativity, reduced comphrehension, reduced memory, and impaired sleep...(Susan Trossman, RN)...read more; The American Nurse, January/February 2015

Pain in Motion: Neck Pain Caused by Sternocleidomastoid Imbalance

5/16/2016

When SCM becomes dysfunctional as a result of myofascial trigger points, whiplash-type injury, impact trauma in sports, or poor sleeping habits, it can wreak havoc on the movement system of the body.........Perry Nickelston, DC.............read more; Dynamic Chiropractic, February, 2015

The Joy of Food

5/16/2016

Food is more than survival. With it we make friends. court lovers, and count our blessings. What is it about eating that brings us closer?
The sharing of food has always been part of the human story. From Qesem Cave Tel Aviv comes evidence of ancient meals prepared at a 300,000-year-old hearth, the oldest ever found, where diners gathered to eat together. Retrieved from the ashes of Vesuvius: a circular loaf of bread with scoring marks, baked to be divided. "To break bread together," a phrase as old as the Bible, captures the power of a meal to forge relationships, bury anger, provoke laughter. Children make mud pies, have tea parties, trade snacks to make friends, and mimic the rituals of adults. They celebrate with sweets from the time of their first birthday, and the association of food with love will continue throughout life..........(Victoria Pope).............read more; National Geographic, December 2014

Chiropractic Care for Your Body

5/16/2016

Oh Weather Outside is Frightful; Tips to Protect Your Back This Winter Season

Donald Valentine, DC, MSW

As the snow begins to fall, you know you’ll have to get back into the annual routine of shoveling your driveways and sidewalks. How can the process of removing something so naturally beautiful, soft, and fluffy cause so much chaos in our bodies? Maybe it’s the weekend warrior approach, or maybe it’s the git’ er dun mentality that drives us up to and through any pain we feel? Or is it simply the monotony of push-lift-throw for a few hundred repetitions (multiple days in the week…I hope not this year) performed by an inadequately prepared body?

Each winter season people suffer from muscle fatigue, low back strain, vertebral disc damage, and even spinal fractures. Remember that shoveling can be as demanding as weightlifting or running on a treadmill. And as an interesting fact, according to a study at Cornell University on the Ergonomic Design of the Snow Shovel, the L5/S1 disc is the weakest link in the body motion chain during the task of lifting a heavy snow shovel. By the way, L5/S1 is the last disc at the base of your spine and it’s the one associated with dreaded sciatic pain. The point to make here is that the most severe injuries and pain incurred by snow shoveling are most likely to occur in the back region.

Now you are talking in my language. Chiropractors are back region specialists who can offer natural pain relieving treatment without the use of drugs or surgery. Anyone with low back pain should seek treatment options from a licensed chiropractor. The main method of treatment is hands-on work or manipulation of the spine, muscles, or soft tissue structures associated with the presenting complaint. I’ll save that for a later discussion.

But I digress, this article is about protecting backs from the burden of shoveling snow. Here are a few helpful tips to prepare you for the inevitable snow shovel routine:
• Warm Up: Muscles that are prepared to work are far less likely to get injured. Take some time to stretch your shoulders, legs, and back to prepare yourself for activity.
• Good Posture: Stand tall, think good posture. Avoid leaning forward and bending at the waist when lifting. Lift with your legs and maintain the natural curves in your spine!
• Choose Good Shovel: A push shovel is relatively safer than one designed for lifting. Choose your shovel size based on your strength. Choose plastic- it may not be as durable, but it is lighter that aluminum or steel. The ergonomic handles are a good choice. Snow can weigh over 20 pounds per shovel when compact and wet.
• Body Position and Leverage: Place your hands far enough apart to easily lift the shovel. Lift and dump the snow in front of you. Do not twist or throw over your shoulder.
• Pace: Move and shovel at a safe pace. Pay attention to how much you sweat and how hard you are breathing.

This list is by no means exhaustive, rather, it should highlight the broader goal of preparing your body to do hard work with less or no injury. And in the event that pain finds your body during this Winter season, do not hesitate to consider chiropractic as a natural remedy.
For more information or to set up an appointment
please contact S’eclairer. Phone: 724-468-3999

Wisdom, Growth, and a Snickers Bar

5/16/2016

Another Spring season is right around the corner. You know, more daylight, warmer weather, and the beauty of nature showing its dance of life one more time. For my family, Spring means a lot of things. For my wife, it means getting all the vegetable seeds organized in preparation for her garden. For my children, it means more carefree outdoor play time. For my dog, it means a chance to explore beyond the back porch steps without becoming frozen or consumed by the snow. And for me, Spring means a return to bicycling. Consider for a moment what changes you will experience this Spring. Will you garden, play, explore, or get active? Do you have any plans to do new things?

Have you ever considered how the human body deals with change? The human body brilliantly maintains a balancing act that we call homeostasis. In other words, the body builds, remodels, increases, or decreases thousands of internal processes to maintain a working being. It adapts to stressors that we encounter, internal and external to our bodies. When the body is balanced, we feel healthy and vibrant. If internal and/or external stressors overwhelm our balancing act, we will feel a symptom, such as discomfort, hunger, anxiety, and pain, to name a few.

Here’s a short bicycling story to illustrate becoming acutely out of balance and finding recovery in wisdom, growth, and a Snickers bar. Almost a year ago to date, my cycling friends and I decided to take advantage of a mild March day and ride twenty-five or so miles. I saw it as a great primer for the season. I bundled up and off we went. I felt great riding the relatively flat parts of the course. The hills presented somewhat of a different experience. I felt my legs burn as we climbed the Laurel countryside. I paid close attention to how I peddled, pushing and pulling, or just pushing to get the wheels rolling. I also felt my heart pounding and lungs gasping for air on certain occasions. Just how much weight did I gain over the winter? It was all good, only a few more miles back to home. But along the ride, we encountered another cyclist who suggested that we follow him up a mountain climb, just for the fun of it. This was a free-will decision that would make or break me. I said, “okay, let’s go”.

The four of us started the climb. First to lead was the new guy who had the bright idea, then my friends, in single file order, and me in the back. The climb was roughly four miles in duration and I lost sight of everyone within the first three quarter mile. I was solidly in a regretful state of mind for a poorly planned endeavor. I felt my legs slowly begin to lose power, I could not pull and push at the same time on the pedals simply because it was too taxing on my body. I searched every pocket hoping that an old Snicker’s bar or energy gel forgotten from last year could be found. No such luck. Even with the temperature at forty degrees and dropping, I began to shed my coat and unzip my jersey. I was on fire and sweating profusely. I was only moving at four to five miles per hour, so I took off my helmet which became like an oven on top of my head. I hung it on my handle bars as I kept moving. Only for a moment did I examine my thoughts of what the passing motorists were thinking as they saw this display of human stubbornness climbing the mountain.

I muttered my saving grace phrase, “it can’t last forever” over and again and kept crawling up the road. As I approached the final half mile stretch, I could see the summit. And that’s where my body’s balancing act completely fell apart. I began to see those spots and swervy lines in my vision. Yep, I was bonking, a term that otherwise means spent, exhausted, overused, out of fuel, empty, need help, bring food quickly. Bonking is the end result of low glucose levels needed to keep not only muscles moving, but the brain in working order. If you’ve ever experience this, then you know what I’m talking about.

I did a quick environmental assessment of which snow pile I should pass out in, but talked myself out of that line of thinking. I did make it to the top and eventually to a restaurant conveniently located there. Once inside I saw my two friends smiling and looking at me in somewhat of a surprise. They thought I turned around and gave up. No time for discussion, I drank a root beer and ate a Snickers bar or two. I was alive again, and even better it was all downhill to my home.

Take it from me that you are a resilient being. Had I only been mindful of my own balancing act, this story would have described very different experiences. My point is that there were many choices that could have helped my body maintain balance and ultimately maintain my wellbeing. We are all faced with these choices each and every day, not just when your life depends on a Snickers bar at the top of a mountain. The key is knowing when you are approaching that mountain in your life and how you will find your way safely home.

Doctor Valentine can be reached at S’eclairer. Call 724.468.3999 or 724.539.1633

Talking About Pain: Naturally

5/16/2016

Whether a pain is a mild irritation lasting just moments or severe and lasting for weeks, months, or years, there is an inner instinct to seek a remedy for pain symptoms. As a natural healthcare practitioner, I must keep in mind that pain is an indicator, not a condition in itself. Think about it! The pain is the signal of some problem in one or more tissues in the body. The solution is determining what tissues, organs, and/or body systems are at fault and finding the most appropriate way to help it heal. If pain itself is managed alone, then the problem is never addressed.
Medical management of pain plays an important role when the pain affects the quality of life—basic self care, temperament, and regular daily activities. In this light, treating pain as a component of the condition is straight-forward.
As a chiropractor, I seek to solve the underlying prob-lem causing the pain by understanding the source. Once that is understood then, hands-on, manual therapies can safely begin. Treatment is an organized approach that can include one or more modalities that facilitate many levels of motion and healing processes, such as, traction, stretch-ing, trigger point therapy, deep tissue, myofascial, mobi-lization/ manipulation, exercise, and nutritional support.
The ultimate goal is safe, natural healing and to be vibrantly aware of our body’s capabilities versus having anxiety or dread over the mystery of pain. Discover the medicine of motion through chiropractic care!
Research confirms that services provided by chiroprac-tors are not only clinically effective but also cost-effective. In a recent article in JAMA, chiropractic care was suggested for the treatment of low back pain. To learn more about the benefits of chiropractic care, contact Donald L. Valentine, DC, MSW at S’eclairer by calling 724-468-3999.
Ref JAMA, Patient Page, April 24, 2010, Vol 309, No.16 Fam. Med.: 2013, Nov-Dec, 11(6) 527-35, http;//www.acatoday.org/press_css.cfm?CID=5185

The Healing Touch

5/16/2016

The healing nature of touch has been realized for hundreds and even thousands of years as evidenced, for example, in ancient Greek, Chinese, and Hindu writings dating back as far as 3000 BC. From ancient times to present day, millions of people have and continue to seek the right kind of healing touch to relieve pain and illness. How does touch work to reduce pain and help the body heal? To answer this question we must first figure out what touch is. Touch is a form of stress. And its effect on a target tissue is a form of strain. The amount of strain depends on how hard one touches, in what direction the force is applied, and how much time the force is applied on a given tissue. Common stresses (aka touches) seen in manual therapy include joint manipulation, percussion, light contact, deep pressure, stroking, passive stretching and vibration. Just as healthy activity and exercise stretch and deform soft tissue structures, all forms of therapeutic touch appear to create physical changes in cellular structure consequently stimulating a cellular response mechanism. The target cell membranes can detect the mechanical forces and respond by altering cell shape, behavior, and produce chemical signals that can aid the target tissue (1). But what is even more interesting is that not only does the target tissue respond to the touch stress, but neighboring tissue cells outside of the touch field respond in a similar fashion through an intracellular communication pathway.

We now know that too little (or too much) movement can cause disorganization in collagen, loss of healthy cell structure, and on a macro level, muscular/tendon/ligament weakness and fibrosis. Ultimately the end result can be cell death if we do not move, or move too much (2). It appears we have yet another balancing act to manage. However, this intracellular connection and its requirement for movement and physical stress is why we need to stay active as much as we can.

Finding the exact form of therapeutic touching necessary for optimal tissue repair has not been an exact science as of yet. Some studies indicate a light touch whereas other studies suggest deep, aggressive methods. I think it is fair to say that there is an art to touch in the healing realm in that not every person can tolerate the same pressures as indicated in some techniques. In these cases, the practitioner must weigh the appropriateness of the procedure and apply the next effective approach. The bottom line though is that our bodies need physical movement to survive and that touch is and effective natural and nurturing intervention to facilitate our vitality.

1. Langevin HM, Bouffard NA, Badger GJ, et al. Dynamic fibroblast cytoskeletal response to subcutaneous tissue stretch ex vivo and in vivo. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol, 2005;288:C747-56.

2. Falanga V, Kirsner RS. Low oxygen stimulates proliferation of fibroblasts seeded as single cells. J Cell Physiol, 1993;154(3)506-10.