Athletes: Auto Accidents - Why Do People Suffer So Much?

Athletes: Auto Accidents - Why Do People Suffer So Much?: "In many of my previous articles I’ve described the how soft tissue injuries begin. Mainly, injuries begin when the muscle inability..."

Auto Accidents - Why Do People Suffer So Much?

In many of my previous articles I’ve described the how soft tissue injuries begin.  Mainly, injuries begin when the muscle inability to absorb force allows that force to exceed the limits of the area and travels to a localized joint (i.e., neck, knee, shoulder).  So, when a force is put into the body greater than the ability of that body is to turn on the muscle fast enough to contract and absorb that force that force will continue traveling until it causes damage….which is usually a joint.

In sports this happens all the time.  Most athletes do not understand how to properly train to neurologically turn on the muscles fast enough to absorb force from their competition.  As a result, injury occurs.

In motor vehicle collisions (car accidents) the force is usually so over whelming that the body can’t absorb the force even it wanted to.  The speed in which the force is delivered is faster than the neurological system can turn on in the body.  This leads to injuries such as whiplash, neck sprains, shoulder strains, lower back pain and a whole host of various ailments.  The muscles of your body are just like the shock absorbers of your car. They are designed to absorb the incoming force that can potentially cause harm to your body.

Here is an example.  Let’s take a 8 year old playing in the back yard.  You and I stand there and watch while little Johnny runs around, jumps over things and climbs up the family tree.  Once he gets up the tree he has to get down so what does he do?  He jumps.  He falls to the ground and his feet hit the grass first, his knees bend and he may or may not roll onto the ground.  Pretty normal, wouldn’t you say?  But what if we put a 60 year old up that tree and had him jump down?  If he was trained properly nothing would happen but if he wasn’t trained properly his inability of his muscles to turn on fast enough would not allow his muscles to properly absorb the impact or force of hitting the ground.  That force would then travel up with to the knee, the hip or the lower back possibly causing a lot of damage.

What is the difference between the 8 year old and the 60 year old….okay, don’t say 52 years.  The difference is that the 8 year old's body is working the way it was designed to.  The muscles turn on and turn off properly allowing him to keep that force away from the joints.  The neurological system is fast enough to send the signal to the muscle to turn it on fast enough to absorb that force preventing any injury or damage. The 60 year old most likely wouldn’t have the ability to turn on fast enough - having that force produce damage in one or more of his joints.

In an auto accident the force is so fast, so overwhelming that that force causes damage in multiple areas in many cases.  When you end up going to your doctor what do they do to help you?  They most likely will give you some sort of pill to help with the pain.  The problem is that you have damage to the soft tissue and joints which needs more than masking the pain with a chemical.

What I do when I see a patient that has been involved in an auto accident is to find where the origin of the damage is coming from.  You see, many times where you point to where the pain is, is not necessarily where the damage is.  Many times the area in which you point to signaling to where the pain is, its where the pain ENDED UP! Through special testing I will search for the area where the damage began, helping turn on the neurological system turn on the muscle allowing them to support the damaged area better by slowly reducing the pain.  In almost every single case I am able to speed up the healing and relieving pain by 75 to 95% as compared to conventional treatment.

There is no real difference between the professional athletes that I treat and the patients that I see in auto accidents (except for their pay checks) when it comes to healing…a body, is a body, is a body.  The difference between myself and conventional treatment is that I first begin to work on the neurological system then the fascia then the muscles providing excessively fast results. Others many treat at the point of pain which in the majority of cases is not where the true damage began.

This treatment also works incredibly well for people who have been suffering with long lasting chronic pain. In fact, we have lawyers send us referrals after the patients have seen many other doctors and therapist and continue to experience pain. Don't give up if you have pain there is an answer and you can be feeling like your old self once again.

Health Update

Weekly Health Update Week of: Monday, December 13th, 2010 Courtesy of: Malcolm Conway, D.C. (570) 287-7070 "I'm an old man and I've had many troubles, most of which never happened." ~ Mark Twain

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Mental Attitude: TV Makes You Fear Sickness. Watching TV and its heavy dose of medical content in news and drama  can lead to more concern about personal health and reduce a person's  satisfaction with life. Millions watch medical shows such as Grey's Anatomy and House. Evidence has shown the mass media is powerful in disseminating  health knowledge and changing health attitudes and behaviors through such programming. This may lead people to think they are more likely to suffer from the maladies presented on TV. Previous research showed TV viewing  can cause people to be less satisfied with their lives because it makes  them more materialistic and causes them to overestimate other people's  possessions compared to their own. Mass Communication and Society, September 2010 Health Alert: BPA Levels In Food. The amount of Bisphenol A (BPA) in fresh and canned food as well as food wrapped in plastic packaging, were almost 1,000 times higher than the "tolerable daily intake" levels set by the EPA. BPA is associated with cardiovascular disease and diabetes in exposed workers, and food is a major exposure source. We know of no studies reporting BPA in US fresh food, canned food, and food in plastic packaging in peer reviewed journals. American Chemical Society, Nov 2010 Diet: Beet On The Brain. Drinking beet juice can increase blood flow to the brain in older adults,  which could help decrease the risk of dementia. High concentrations  of nitrates are found in beets, as well as in celery, cabbage and other leafy green vegetables, like spinach and some lettuce. When you eat high-nitrate foods, good bacteria in the mouth turn nitrate into nitrite.  Nitrites help open blood vessels, increasing blood flow and oxygen. Nitric Oxide: Biology and Chemistry, November 2010 Exercise: Energy Drinks When Exercising? The US is the world's largest consumer of energy beverages by volume,  and consumption is primarily among the ages 11-35. The most common  ingredient is caffeine, which ranges from 50-500mg per 16-ounce serving. "One energy beverage during exercise is safe for most healthy individuals. Excess consumption and consumption with other caffeine-containing  beverages or alcohol may lead to adverse effects and possibly death, " reports John Higgins, MD, author University of Texas Medical School  in Houston. Mayo Clinic, November 2010 Chiropractic: Pain And Itching. Researchers found the nerve cells that are active when we experience  heat pain are also associated with itching. Extreme itching is a common  complication following operations and burns. Eczema and other skin  disorders can also lead to itchiness. Greater knowledge of the underlying  factors paves the way for developing new forms of treatment for itching,  for example, activating pain fibers to reduce itching. Neuron, Nov 2010 Wellness/Prevention: How Much Sleep For Kids? Newborn baby, up to 18 hours; 1-12 months of age, 14-18 hours;  1-3 years of age, 12-15 hours; 3-5 years of age, 11-13 hours; 5-12 years of age, 9-11 hours; teenagers, 9-10 hours. Annals of Internal Medicine October, 2010

Groin Pull

If you are an athlete you've either experienced a groin pull or you know someone on your team that has.

Muscles are made up of tiny muscle fibers and when they are stressed past their normal length those fibers will be damaged causing pain and inflammation.  In severe cases, tiny blood vessels break causing the area  to turn color...black & blue. 

There are three types of strains of a muscle.  Grade 1 is a very simple type of strain that caused more discomfort that pain.  Grade two strain is a strain of considerable damage but the muscle is left in tact.  Grade three is a complete tear of the muscle tissue which is most likely a surgical situation.

If you look at the picture to the left you will notice that the red portion to where the arrow is pointing is the muscle and the white tissue that connects the muscle to the bone is called the tendon.  Most times complete tears occur at the tendon and some times the muscle will roll up like a fruit roll up.  Damage to the tendon or ligament is called a sprain.  This normally occurs before the a strain in most instances.

Both sprains and strains can be painful.  But here is were I separate myself from the norm.  Most doctors, therapists think that the pain generated by the strain or sprain is due to the muscle, ligament or tendon.  Through our research we have found that in many cases this type of thinking is wrong.  We have found that what is actually causing the pain is the disruption of the fascia.

Fascia is a tissue that covers everything in side the body.  To picture it, think of the transparent film you see on a chicken breast.  Well, this tissue covers every muscle, tendon and ligament (as well as every organ and space in the body) and when it disrupts in any way will lead to intense pain, inflammation and loss of motion.

By assisting this fascial tissue back to its original placement the pain immediately will go away along with the inflammation and the motion will be instantly restored. That is what we use at the my office - a technique protocol that eliminates this disruption that can have you pain relief after the very first treatment.  If you have been dealing with chronic pain or even a new injury call today 570-287-7070 for your appointment.

Why Do You Lift Weights

For ever athletes have been doing some type of strength training of some sort or another.  But have you ever stopped to ask why?  Looks, power, strength, explosion, health?  If you ask the average athlete they will  have no idea why they are lifting weights.

Every person involved in sports now train to some extent for their sport. Do they really know why...I again submit the average person has no idea not only what they are doing but more importantly why they are doing it.

Sports training is a development cycle for the athlete to train their body for the rigors of their particular sport.  Depending on your sport will depend on the amount of training you will need.  Well....maybe.  You see the body of a football player is the same as a baseball player as a track athlete.  There is no difference between any of them except for the 'demands' of their particular sport.

Every athlete must be able to do the 'basics' of every motion.  That begins with walking correctly using the muscles in the proper order.  I can't tell you how many people coming into my office that can't walk properly. Many times it's because of compensation of the muscles but many times it comes down to the fact that they learned on themselves incorrectly and continued with that motion into adulthood.  Now when they are attempting to train for their sport they wonder why they can't run as fast as they would like to.  (You can't expect to run fast if you can't walk correctly.) They've wired into their brain the wrong use and timing of the contractions of their muscles. That starts at the neurological system before the muscles.  Now that you want the muscles to move as fast as possible - the muscles won't respond because the central computer (brain) was programmed wrong.

Some coaches say to the athlete that you need to get into the weight room to get stronger.  Really?  Do you really think that by lifting weights that you will correct a neurological programming issue.  I think not. 

It begins as early as infants when attempting to move.  You start off on back and over time you figure out that you can roll over to your belly.  The next step is getting up on your forearms eventually progressing to crawling.  This allows for a the brain and nervous system to develop the proper neurological patterns needed for the muscles to respond properly. If you confine an toddler to a jump seat or to a crib not allowing them to crawl it will slow the maturation process of the neurological response to the muscles.  If this sheltered life contiues, not allowing the young child the advantage of out door activity including running, climbing, skipping, jumping, it will deaden the reponce of the neurological development to the muscles.  In the long run the child that isn't allowed to explore, fall, fail at certain attempts of movement will be behind the athletic curve in development.

Please understand that in order for the muscle to do its thing....turn on (contract) turn off (relax) it needs a nerve supply, just like your computer needs an electrical supply to work properly.  If I've said it once I've said it a thousand times...."if big muscles made great athletes, then body builders would be our best athletes."

So now you want to to the gym to lift heavy pieces of metal "to get into shape."  If you have restrictions in your muscles you will begin to "strengthen your weaknesses."  The key to training is learning first how to get the muscles to properly hold position.  Once there is a clear and direct neurological message being sent to the muscle the muscles will working in the order that they were designed to eliminating the compensation patterns that were developed in the past.  Once you can get past this point then you can begin to develop generating power and explosion.  As a part of developing this the muscles will automatically get larger and more dense creating even more power.  This is a process and it takes time to develop but if you really want to improve as an athlete you have to pay the "proper" price before expecting the adulation's and awards from your sport.

Are you looking in becoming a bigger jock....or a elite athlete?  The choice is up to you....

Top 5 Sports Injuries

Top 5 Sports Injuries

Have you ever wondered what are the most recurring sports injuries?

1. Sprained Ankle – which is a twisting or stretching of the ligaments and the tendons of the ankle. Many times this injury can be very painful causing swelling and discoloration.
2. Muscle Pull- This can occur anywhere in the body but the more popular sites are the hamstring, quad, shoulder and groin.
3. Shoulder Pain – There are many different type of shoulder injuries resulting from sports that range from a simple strain to more complex injury such as a dislocation. Muscles that support the shoulder are called the rotator cuff which is probably the main muscle injury of the shoulder.
4. Shin Splints – This is an irritation of the lower leg. This is an inflammation of the tendon that attaches to the tibia (shin bone). Shin splints are usually as a result of mechanical problem from the foot. When the foot doesn’t land properly when running the tension is put onto the tissue of the shin which begin to inflame and causes pain.
5. Knee Pain – There are many different type of knee symptoms including stains of the ligaments, damage to the cartilage, muscle weakness and ligament tears. The is one area that is put under a lot of pressure during sports and when if begins to weaken many of these type of problems can occur.

There many different ways in treating sports injuries.  Most people treat injury with different types of medication which for the most part just covers up the pain.  Understand that most injuries are as result of a muscle or a group of muscles that are not working correctly.  Unless these muscles are corrected the problem will continue to persist or return.  Covering up the pain is the key to success...total correction is the key. New treatment protocols can have you out of pain and back playing faster than you ever thought possible. Think out of the box to find relief much faster to get back to normal.

Why So Much Lower Back Pain?

Lower back pain is one of the leading symptoms that have many people heading to see their family doctor. For many, medical doctors included, low back pain is a mystery. Many people in recent years have chosen an alternative for their lower pain pain treatment.

Lumbalgia, commonly known as lower back pain, is described by many as a tightness, squeezing pain, takes your breath away, searing pain, vice grip pain and too many more to go on.  I've heard them all and I understand the type of situation and pain that they are in.

Back pain begins with the spinal supporting muscles losing their electriacal supply from the spinal nerves that allows for these muscles to shorten. This can come on from repetitive poor posture, trauma, lifting weight exceeding the strength of your back or prolong standing or walking. 

When muscles shorten they lose their ability to absorb force.  Muscles are designed to absorb force in the same way the shock absorbers of your car are designed to absorb force from the road. Let's say for example that I take your shock absorbers off of your car while you are at my office. You'll still be able to drive your car home but its going to be a rough ride.  But lets say that you have to drive across the country. Without the ability to absorb the constant force something is going to break down in your car. It breaks down because of the constant force being thrusted upon the cars frame. The same goes for your lower back. Once your muscles stop properly absrobing force, that force is then transferred to the bones. Aberrant movement begins between the spinal bones which leads to inflammation, which lead to pain. Spinal bones (vertebrae) begin to misalign causing the large muscles to pull and tighten and eventually leading to full spasm. From there, the misalignment of the spinal bones can lead to pressure on the spinal nerves as well as the disc setting it up for a disc bulge or herniation.

Now here is something to think about. Have you ever met an 8 year old with back pain?  How about a 10 year old...? Why?  Because their body works correctly. The muscles turn on and off when they are suppose to which allows for the absorption of force and the protection of the spinal bones and nerves.

On the whole it's easy to protect your back.  But you have to work at it because once you let the muscles go it will take you some time to learn properly how to get them back to where they can properly protect you. I have seen thousands of patients with lower back pain and there have only been a hand full that were so bad that I couldn't help them. Trust me,  I am totally against lower back surgery only for the fact that the results shown through "medical" studies has shown to be extremely poor. The majority of lower back cases can be helped without surgery and without taking hands full of mind numbing drugs.

If you have questions about your lower back or a friend or family member feel free to email me at drc@conwayclinic.com and I will be happy to give you my opinion.

When is Arthritis Not Arthritis?

Joint pain is one of the leading symptoms that many doctors see throughout the country.  Pain on movement, swelling, deep joint pain and muscle aches make up the many symptoms that ends up being diagnosed as arthritis. Many patients end up taking medications for many years to help control the pain and inflammation.

If you have continued joint pain (knee, hip, ankle, shoulder etc...) your doctor may order an X-ray to see the inside of the joint.  If they see any types of change within the joint most times they will diagnosis it as arthritis. The doctor will say that due to the degenerative changes of the joint that is the reason for your pain.

 
Here is the problem, even though there are degenerative changes seen on the X-ray that isn't necessarily the origion of the damage.  I submit to you that this is where the damage ended up and not where it began.

Let me explain...

When force is introduced into the body the muscles are designed to act as shock absorbers and absorb the force.  Just like the shock absorbers on your car they are made to take the shock away from the body.  When there is a subtle breakdown of the muscles the muscles lose their ability to absorb force and that force (walking, running, twisting, jumping etc...) will then be transferred to the joint.  At the joint, the ligaments, tendons, cartilage and bone are not designed to absorb that force.  When this happens excessive 'joint play' begins which causes the bones to wear and inflammation to begin resulting in pain.

The pain in the joint, belive it or not, DID NOT START IN THE JOINT...it started in other areas where the muscles were not working properly.  You see, the joint pain is where the damage ENDED UP, not where it began.  So by carefully testing the surrounding muscles for inhibition and restriciton we can correct the muscle breakdown and then train it to properly absorb force thus taking all of the pain away.

Here is an example of a real life patient who came into my office with ongoing hip pain.  He explained that he was experiencing chronic hip pain for years and so they decided that he needed a hip replacement. They completed the hip replacement and he continued to suffer with pain.  He attempted to go back and play golf and he reported that if he played one round of golf he would be laid up for three or more days afterwards.  He went back to the doctor and told him his problem and he was told that there was nothing wrong with his new hip.  He went to get two other opinions and both doctors told him that his hip was fine.  In fact, the last surgeon told him that the pain that he was experiencing wasn't coming from his hip but from his lower back.  They scheduled him for spinal fusion surgery.

A friend of his recommended that he come and see me to see if there was anything that I could do to help him avoid another surgery.  I consulted and examined him and told him that yes I feel that I can help him not only avoid surgery but eliminate the pain in his hip.  After carefull examination I found the problem to be in his lower quadracep (thight muscle) and hamstring (back of your upper leg).  These muscles were not turning on fast enough to absrob the force and that force was being transferred to the hip area.

Treatment began to locate and eliminate the site of the muscular breakdown.  In three weeks he was 90% out of pain and we began teaching him the proper exerciese needed to strengthen that area. The 10% of discomfort that he was experiencing was due to the lack of strength in his hip and his upper legs. He returned to golf playing in a few three-day tournaments without any problems.  He continued to do his exercises and reported being pain free.  Now, I tell this story not to boast about my unique treatment methods but to show you that they were going to put rods and screws in his lower back to "take the pain away."  What do you think would have happened if he went along with this?

If you have been dealing with chronic joint pain or mild pain that seems to be getting worse don't settle for the old arthritis diagnosis.  You can get rid of it and lead a pain free life.  For more information contact www.ConwayClinic.com

Football: Bigger, Stronger, Faster May Lead to Fatality

     For the past several years both college and professional football has been growing both in attendance and physicality.  Players are becoming much bigger, much stronger and much faster at every position.  Physics dictates that a object in motion will stay in motion unless altered by another equal or opposite force.  When this happens if either player can't properly absorb that force - something will breakdown.  In the majority of instances the breakdown results in injury to soft tissue or bone. 

    Concussions are becoming more prevalent in the sport of football.  We need to take a closer look at the mechanism of impact to reduce the incident of trauma.  In my opinion, I can't fully understand why we can't put a thin layer of force absorbing material on the "outside" of the helmets.  It only makes sense to me that if we can develop high intensity materials for space travel, automobiles, and other items. There is no reason why we can't develop a material that can withstand impact to protect the athlete.

    The game of football is a rough sport with players developing way past the point in which the game was originally developed.  It started with no helmet that was leather in nature.  They then added plastic to protect the head and eventually added a bar across the face.  They have tried putting air inside the helmets and then water.  They've attempted to build up the jaw area to prevent impact to the TMJ area  (the area that can accelerate a concussion).

    So why with all the changes on the inside of the helmet why the hell aren't we attempting to change the outside of the helmet.  You can't tell me that by adding a force absorbing material on the outside of the helmet won't take the changes of concussion down by a considerable amount.  Please don't tell me that we are doing it because of money.  Division I football is making plenty of money from the direct activity from the student-athletes.  The NFL is the most solvent sports organization in the world.  So please, please don't tell me that we can't afford to add something to the outside of the helmet.

    Football needs to change with the times because as we develop from decade to decade the players continue to develop just as fast.  The equipment hasn't changed in many years except for the rib protection for quarterbacks.  It's time to modify the uniform and equipment just like every other sport has including golf, tennis, and the shoes in basketball.  We need to take a closer look at what materials are protecting our young athletes.  Innovation is the backbone of America and we need to let the spirit of our inventors help change the game while preserving the sport that we all love.

    We also have to take a closer look in the way we train our athletes.  Bigger and stronger has definitely changed the game but have you looked at the weekly injury report?  Yes players are bigger and stronger but they are getting injured at an accelerated rate.  It's not how you will get injured...it's when.  Why is it that every football team needs to carry two quarterbacks?  They all know that sometime during the year the starting quarterback will go down with injury.  The game has developed to the point that we all know that most, if not all quarterbacks will not make a full season without injury.  We need to begin to train all athletes to properly hold muscular position.  That will allow the body to better absorb force or impact. 

    If larger muscles were the total answer then every body builder would be our best athletes.  We need to train the muscles to properly lengthen and become more dense to be able to absorb force keeping it away from the joints, ligaments and tendons.

    Let's build the sport support the player and not to support the companies bottom lines of profit.  I'm all for making a profit but quality should be first and foremost be put on the front burner to develop a safer way for the athlete to participate in football.
   

Weekly Health Update

Mental Attitude: Can't Stop Thinking About Cigarettes. Blocking thoughts of cigarettes helps reduce smokers' intake... at first. However, smokers soon experience a behavioral rebound, the phenomenon where trying not to think about something leads to an increase in the behavior. These findings have implications for individuals seeking to give up smoking, overeating, drinking and other excessive behaviors. 
Psychological Science, August 2010

Health Alert: Obesity Rates Decline, Disparities Worsen! Obesity rates have started to decline and level off for many adolescents, but continue to increase for certain racial and ethnic minorities. The prevalence of high body mass index (BMI) scores among Hispanic, non-Hispanic white, Asian, black, and American Indian adolescents in California from '01-'08, reveals obesity rates at the 95th percentile declined or stabilized among many groups. Obesity continued to climb for black and American Indian girls, reaching 23%. These two groups were more than three times as likely as white girls to be severely obese, with a BMI at the 99th percentile. Pediatrics, September 2010

Diet: Food Choices Decrease Risk Of Heart Disease. Women who consumed two servings per day of red meat compared to those who ate half a serving per day had a 30% higher risk of developing coronary heart disease. Compared to one serving each day of red meat, women who substituted other protein-rich foods experienced lower risk of coronary heart disease: 30% lower with nuts daily, 24% lower with fish daily, 19% lower with poultry daily. The Annals Of Internal Medicine, August 2010

Exercise: Headaches Tied To Overweight, Smoking And Lack Of Exercise. Teens with all three of these negative lifestyle factors were 3.4 times more likely to experience frequent headaches. Those with two negative factors were 1.8 times more likely to have frequent headaches. Frequency of  headaches: Overweight teens 40% more likely, smokers 50% more likely, exercised less than twice a week were 20% more likely.
American Academy of Neurology, August 2010

Chiropractic: For Headaches. "Spinal manipulative therapy is an effective treatment for tension headaches. Four weeks after cessation of treatment . . . the patients who received spinal manipulative therapy experienced a sustained therapeutic benefit in contrast to the patients that received amitriptyline therapy."
Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, 1995

Wellness/Prevention: Stay In Shape And Sleep Better. The worsening severity in sleep-disordered breathing is primarily attributable to increases in obesity. For every unit increase in Body Mass Index, sleep-related breathing disorders increased by 5.5 events per hour for men, and 2.8 events per hour for women.
Medical Journal of Australia, Aug 2010

Quote: "Health is more than the absence of illness; health is the presence of aliveness, energy and joy."  ~ Unknown .

Healing in Half The Time

A young male football player entered my office with pain and disability from a post-surgical ACL reconstruction operation.  The young man injured his knee while playing football.  He was scheduled to attend a local rehabilitation facility however his mother chose to come to my office knowing we has a more cutting- edge approach to his rehab.


His mother told me that he was scheduled for up to six months in rehab according to the surgeon.  She asked me if I was going to follow his prescription for rehab and I politely told her no.  I explained to her that if everything goes right I will be able to release him back to training for football much quicker than what was prescribed. We began his rehab that day using a combination of a treatment that I co-developed called MyoFascial Disruption Technique and the use of the the ARPWave.  The combination of these two treatments allowed for this young many range of motion to double in about a week and with consistent hard work he was jogging without pain in about three and a half weeks.  We continued with his daily work and at the seventh week we tested him.  His test consisted of 30 12 yard sprints up to 100%, jumping off of plymetric boxes and running laterally to test his stability from side to side.  He passed with flying colors and was released from active treatment.


There is new technology that most doctors don't fully understand let alone the average patient. There are many different injuries that you can have relief from even thought you've been told that you may have to live with it.  What type of pain or symptom have you been dealing with that you thought that you had to "just deal with?"  You don't have to put up with that type of pain or chronic nagging discomfort.  When the damage is properly located you can have relief from that pain in many instances the very first day!
If you're interested in reading more go to www.ConwayClinic.com.

Knee Pain

For most people over the age of 30 they've experienced pain in and around one or both knees. What bothers me the most about our health care system is that most doctors are going to diagnose the condition with a term of "arthritis." This pretty much tells me that the doc isn't up on his musculo-skeletal treatments. Now of course there are other diagnoses but how many people do you know that have been told that they have arthritis?

How it works....
The muscles are designed to first move bones and there second job is to absorb force. Day to day movement produces various forms of force....some of it intense and some time light. Either way, that force should be absorbed by the muscles. If the muscles can't absorb the force then that force will continue to travel to the joint. When that happens it puts all sorts of stress on the ligaments, the tendons and the joint itself. The ligaments, tendons and the joint isn't designed to absorb force so stress is produced which brings about inflammation. As time goes on that stress continues and now the bones begin to adapt to that stress which will show on a X-Ray as degeneration or arthritis.

You see, where you are feeling the pain ISN'T where the damage is - it's where the pain ended up! The damage is in an area away from the pain spot - the knee pain that we are using here as an example is where the pain ended up not where it began. So if you can find the area of damage and where it began you can take away the pain in the knee.

Short circuit....
The muscle begins to break down when it doesn't get a true nerve stimulation (electrical supply)
and the muscle slowly begins to shorten. Once the muscle shortens it loses it's ability to absorb force not only can it set you up for injury in that muscle but also in a nearby joint.

A muscle once gets its nerve supply will only "turn-on" or "turn-off." If it can't turn on fast enough it loses its ability to absorb force.

Because this example sets you up for inflammation most medical doctors will give you an anti-inflammatory medication. Do they work....heck yea, but they only work until the chemistry stays in the body which is about 4 to 6 hours. Then you have to start it up all over again.

So if you are on medication for knee pain for arthritis do yourself a favor and find out where the pain is coming from. Once identified and properly treated the pain will go away.

If you have interest in learning more feel free to go to www.ConwayClinic.com to read more about how you can be helped.

Wimbledon

Now that Wimbledon has come and gone for another year its time to begin the preparation for the NFL season. In another few weeks many of the camps will be opening up and injury is surely to follow. In the advent of players getting bigger, faster, and stronger most people don't realize that the injury rate has risen faster than some wide receivers forty times.

I have gotten to really appreciate tennis in its grace, speed and difficulty. Until you've been on the court with a top 100 player in the world it's hard to understand how good these athletes really are. To hit a ball in the rise at 120 miles per hour is as difficult as Michael Jackson keeping his lunch tray even on his lap while watching recess. Returning someone serve traveling at 140 miles per hour is enough for anyone to lay down and cry at the mere fact that a ball can travel that fast - let alone have the ability to hit it on the rise.

As with any professional sport that I work at it's eire to know that most of the sports and the athletes are alike. The athletes are young, naive, and full of piss and vinegar. They all want the coveted ring, trophy or cup that comes with their particular sport. They all have the perception that if they don't make it to the very top of their sport than everything else has been a waste of time. They've put in thousands of hours of practice and conditioning that rival a deep southern chain gang and to come up short is more than disheartening.

Injury has been something that has been over looked in many professional sports. Injury in the way that most people don't think about. Minor injuries and restrictions of the body begin to accumulate which slowly diminish the athletes abilities - slowly but surely to the point of major injury. This is why so many athletes that have the ability to win slowly self destruct. Injuries can alter any athlete at any level. That's why its so important to be able to have a specialist who is trained to see what part of the body is breaking down and to be able to correct it before it turns into a major injury.

ACL Surgery

Recently a young many entered my office with his mother reporting that he recently had complete ACL reconstructive surgery of his right knee. He began with rehab at a local center but both the young man and his mother were upset with the way they were going about his rehab. He was told that he would have to be in rehab for a minimum of 6 months before he could return to football.

I accepted the case to begin to rehab this young mans knee however it was explained to the patient and his mother that I would be doing it my way as opposed to the rehab that was outlined by his orthopedic surgeon. Having witnessed other work that I've done with other athletes they agreed and we began his rehab.

Using new treatment protocols that consisted of MyoFascial Disruption Technique (MFDT) and using the ARPwave the young man was able to perform a slow jog in three weeks of beginning his rehab. This young man was determined to get better and worked very hard to get back to playing his favorite sport football. With continued treatment and advancing him into a strength program we were able to set him up for a stress test of his knee to see if he was able to properly absorb first. He was tested with running at first at 50% of his normal sprint speed. Eventually taking him up to 100% for 15 - 15 yard sprints. The young man reported no pain, full range of motion and was able to recover without any muscle soreness.

I released this patient from active treatment at 7 weeks of care with instructions to return to his conditioning for football. Following up with this athletes after four weeks there was no report of any pain or disability.

If you are dealing with chronic pain of any kind its well worth your time to find out how you can be helped with the latest technology in sports injury treatment. Our state-of-the-art treatments can have you feeling much better in a much quicker time that you thought possible.