Have you ever met a health nut? Are you a health nut? You know who i’m talking about. It’s the type of person who eats super healthy and exercises just for the sake of eating super clean and exercising. 

They aren’t doing it because of health problems. They aren’t overweight, they aren’t in pain. They aren’t training for an upcoming event. They just exercise and eat healthy because they want to be healthy and be at their best.

When it comes to the pains we feel with overuse or bad technique one of the best at home therapies is turning out to be heat as opposed to ice.  Now if heat makes it feel worse switch over to ice instead.  When heating the affected area, we recommend focusing the heat on the muscles more than the joints, typically heating for 20-30 minutes at a time.  The big rule to follow while heating is don’t burn yourself.  Other options instead of sitting with a heating pad can include topical heating products as well as the various patches that are on the market.  When using topicals avoid using the products shortly after taking a shower as the skin pores are open and the intensity of the creams can be amplified.  If needing to use ice instead of heat typically use the ice for 10-15 minutes or until the area numb.  You can often do this 3-4 times a day if needed.
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With the rise in popularity of Pickleball we are also seeing an increase in Pickleball related injuries.  The most common injuries we are seeing are ankle injuries and shoulder injuries.  With this we wanted to talk about ways to rehab after your Pickleball injury and we also want to address ways to try and prevent injuries (hint: often the exercises and stretches we do for rehab are good at helping to prevent injury as well).

In this post we will be focusing on the ankle injury of which the most common is the inversion ankle sprain.  This is the classic “I twisted/rolled my ankle”.  Most people will experience a certain amount of swelling with the injury, and we often find it feels better when we ice it and elevate it to try and reduce the swelling.  From a chiropractic standpoint we often find that there are some misalignments/fixations that take place and by adjusting these points we can often speed up the recovery time.  The main fixations we find are of the fibula (the small bone on the outside of the lower leg) as well as some of the ankle bones (calcaneus, talus, and navicular in particular).  On top of this there also can be injuries to the tendons (attach muscle to bone) and/or the ligaments (attach bone to bone).  The injuries that occur to the tendons and ligaments often do well with bracing/taping in the short term to help increase stability and reduce the likelihood of re-spraining the ankle while the injury is still fresh.

Have you ever been stuck on a long car ride and couldn't stand up all the way straight once you got out? These stretches can help alleviate some of the tension as we move into road trip season. The hip flexors are a deep muscle group lying on the front of the spine and attach on the front of the hip (femur). Because of their location, they can refer pain into the low back and even create some tingling of the front of the thigh when really tight. Prolonged sitting while driving or working at your desk are the most common causes of tightness in this region. Therefore, we want to do the opposite and open up the hip while standing or lying as illustrated in. 
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​Please contact our Chiropractors if you have any questions about the best stretches for you.

Part 2 in a series of articles featuring recommended stretches by our Chiropractors. 

Low back pain can arise from multiple causes including prolonged sitting, standing, incorrect lifting mechanics, and many more! Whether you are suffering from chronic low back pain or a new acute flare up, these stretches could be beneficial. Multiple muscle groups cross the region of the low back, so we have shown a variety of stretches to get relief depending on which muscle group is tight. We have also included some stretches for the glutes/hips since these muscles also tend to tighten up while sitting or performing certain movements. Releasing the tension in the glutes can improve mobility in the hips and reduce tightness in the low back. In order to get some relief during your day please see the options that can be performed seated or standing.

​Please contact our Chiropractors if you have any questions about the best stretches for you.