How do you know if you have an unhealthy spine?

Symptoms such as headache, neck or back pain, numbness, tingling or other health problems can often be caused by spinal misalignments (called “subluxations”).

These misalignments can be caused by ordinary movements or by intense trauma to the spine (such as a car accident or other injury).  Because these misaligned vertebrae can affect the function of the spinal cord and nervous system, it is vital that the spine be checked for misalignments.

Some of the obvious symptoms of spinal misalignments include:

• Your heels wear out unevenly
• You have headaches, back aches, neck pain, stiffness or soreness in muscles or joints
• Your foot flares out when walking
• You are often fatigued, have poor circulation, low resistance to disease or infection
• You can’t turn your head or hips equally to either side
• You feel stiff getting out of bed each morning
• Your posture is not correct

Many spinal misalignments however give NO warning signs, like a cavity before it becomes painful.  Even though you can’t feel them, they can adversely affect your health.  For this reason I recommend to my patients in Livermore to bring in their family members including their children to get checked before the warning signs set in and the problem has gotten out of control. For more information on getting your spine checked contact us.

Why suffer with foot pain when there are natural solutions available?

Plantar fasciitis is a diagnosis often given to patients who have pain in their feet and a thickening of the tendons on the bottom of their feet.  It is a general diagnosis  but the treatment protocol from M.D.s are to rest, ice, take anti-inflammatory drugs, possibly cortisone injections and physical therapy.  Sometimes this protocol will work for a period of time but most often, I see patients who have had this condition for years without significant improvement. At the end of it, their condition is at a cost to their quality of life.  Many don’t run any more, exercise or walk for long periods because of their condition that they become accustomed to. 

The good news: other treatment options do exist that are in many cases MORE EFFECTIVE! And yes, without drugs and without surgery!  The feet are indubitably the foundation to our bodies. The 26 bones that make up each foot can mis-align, pull on tendons and ligaments and cause irritation and pain.  An effective treatment option in my office with my patients is the following:

When a patient comes in complaining of pain in their feet, ankles, knees hips and/or lower back pain, we examine the arches of their feet. There are three arches that make up the feet and when they are all present that tells us that the foot is moving properly allowing the joints above (ankle, knees hips, etc.) to also move correctly.  When an arch is lost or too pronounced, the biomechanics of the body will shift as the ligaments, muscles and tendons will move differently and since everything all connects together it will cause improper motion of joints and things can/will misalign and cause pain and irritation.

Once the actual shift of the bone, loss of arch or exact cause of the pain is determined after an evaluation, we will focus on re-aligning the bones of the foot correctly, support the feet with custom-made orthotics (if necessary) reset the tendons and work out the scar tissue that has developed in the ligaments that has in some cases caused significant loss of motion of the foot and extreme pain. The results are that the patient will regain proper movement of their feet and joints above and resume a happy motion-filled life again!

Know someone who has been suffering with foot/ankle pain? Have them contact us for evaluation and possible treatment at our office.

The close relationship to the jaw and head creating problems for a patient in Livermore, CA

Quite often, when a new patient comes into my office in Livermore complaining of chronic headaches they will admit to having clicking and/or pain in their jaw also.  Most of these patients are surprised that I ask about their jaw and are usually puzzled when I tell them that the two can be connected.   The jaw bone connects into the skull right in front of the ear.  The jaw is made up of the bone and a disc of fluid which helps with all the shock absorption required with the hundreds of thousands of times we open and close our jaw. 

The amount of stress we put into our jaw increases as we grind our teeth or clench our teeth as stress levels increase.  As the force of the jaw joint increases, it also transfers force into the temporal bones of the skull and all the other bones that make up the head.  What this equals are HEADACHES! 

Part of the treatment process with headache and/or migraine sufferers in my office is to also address the jaw joint and relieve any tension in the joint by stretching it, providing muscle therapy and also re-aligning the joint as often times it is mis-aligned. 

A few tips I offer my patients for jaw and head relief are the following:

Open the jaw as wide as you can and let the muscles stretch

Open the jaw half way and pull the jaw to the left

Open the jaw half way and pull the jaw to the right

Open the jaw straight down to get a final stretch

Avoid chewing gum and candy

If you have been suffering from chronic headaches and/or migraines, it might be helpful to have your jaw examined by a chiropractor as it might be the culprit.

For more information contact us at info [at] haquechiropractic [dot] com

People with back pain and injuries continue working out with Chiropractic in Livermore

My husband Don Parker and I joined our businesses, Lifestyle Fitness and Haque Chiropractic in 2009 because of the close relationship of our businesses. What I mean by that is we both had our own separate businesses prior, but we were referring clients/patients back and forth so that people could get healthy from the inside out. Many of his clients who were doing personal training and getting results would have aches and pains that would come in and see me so that we could address their aches and pains and have them continue forward on their workouts and therefore their results. Similarly, I had several patient cases that could not hold their spinal adjustments and correct their spinal injuries without strengthening their muscles so I would send them over to Lifestyle Fitness so they could maximize their results and get healthier. The body is such a complex organism. When you think of the all the organ systems, organs, muscles, ligaments, spinal structure, tissues, cells and atoms that makes us a complete human being, it takes a combination of eating right, staying strong by exercising, having a healthy nervous system and functioning joints to make us feel good and function optimally. Now, being in the same building, the right combination of strengthening, cardiovascular training, chiropractic, massage, physical therapy and nutritional counseling allows our patients and clients to work out, get fit, feel good and at the same time function better so they can continue to get healthier so they are in a positive health cycle. 

For more information on working out and getting rid of back pain contact us.

Neck pain relief from painting in Livermore, CA

This week, I had a patient come into my chiropractic office in Livermore  with severe pain in her neck, shoulders that was shooting into her right arm.  When I asked her what happened, she told me that she had been painting her home and noticed that she was feeling “stiff” but was trying to “fight through it” so she could get her room painted.  Luckily shortly after beginning her care, she has had enormous relief and is back to sleeping at night and moving around and using her right hand. I had suggested that instead of “killing herself” trying to paint her own home and causing injuries to herself, she should hire a good reputable painter to do the job.  Yes, it might save some money to do the job yourself, but when you factor in the cost of the possible injury and then the cost to try and take care of it, as well as what your time is worth, it would actually be more cost effective to have someone else who is trained to do so do it for you.

After speaking to a business associate of mine, Sharon Evans from Fresh Coat Painters, I told her about my patient who came in hurting after painting (which by the way she didn’t get to finish because of her pain) and she told me how so many people who are not trained appropriately try to pain their own homes and not only because of lack of training are they not happy but they don’t have the equipment that helps professionals to get the job done quickly, correctly and without injuries.

For more information on neck pain relief or fresh coat painters contact us.

Haque Chiropractic and Lifestyle Fitness in Livermore provide FREE health information at the annual Honey Wine Festival

The day is windy, but luckily sunny!  People are walking around with their wine glass or beer shot glass in hand ready to enjoy the beginning of summer.  Today we have decided to open up our doors and provide people with free spinal check-ups, massages, information on exercise and better health. It may seem ironic to talk health this weekend to those who are drinking alcohol and eating hotdogs but we know from our patients and from previous years that it is these types of festivals that educate our community on having fun and enjoying good health too. 

So far, we have met several people with neck pain, back pain, headaches, pain from being pregnant and people who have wanted to lose weight and are frustrated that they are not getting anywhere on their own.  As such, we are providing free health screenings and discounts for those who need an appointment.  

Come by, if you are walking around this weekend and try our pull-up contest, get your spine checked, get a massage and see our facility. We’d love to meet you and your family.

For more information www.haquechiropractic.com or www.donslifestyle.com

Pull weeks and not your back in Livermore, CA

This week in my office had several patients who came in complaining of back pain after working outside in their garden.  Although pulling weeds and planting a garden is eco-friendly and can be a good workout, it can also be dangerous to your back if you don’t do it properly.   This week’s blog features tips on keep your back strong and feeling good while tending to a beautiful yard or garden.

It’s also a good idea to warm-up and cool-down as if you were performing a sport as it can be one!  And most importantly, if you are feeling aches and pains from gardening and the pain persists, consider visiting a doctor of chiropractic.

Scoliosis Treatment and Posture awareness for Kids in Livermore

Many times, I have patients who come to my office in Livermore complaining of chronic back pain, neck pain, headaches, hip pain, shoulder pain and the list continues. In many cases, the aches and pains are in more than one area and seem to affect one another.  Once we examine them thoroughly and take x-rays, scoliosis is the terrible diagnosis. Scoliosis is a condition of the spine that is in many cases hereditary where the spine has an abnormal curvature. 

From the side view of the spine there should be three curves-one in the neck (cervical lordosis), the mid back (thoracic kyphosis) and low back (lumbar lordosis). These curves from the side are ABSOLUTELY normal and NECESSARY.  These are the curves that we talk about when we address posture!  Now scoliosis curves are visible on x-ray when looking at the spine from either the front or back view.   When these curves develop they irritate nerves, muscles and in many cases affect organ function.

When adult patients present with scoliosis, I always tell them that getting their spines straight is not a huge possibility unless they were still growing vertically! That is why I always recommend they bring in their children to be checked for scoliosis so it may be corrected and prevent future problems in adulthood.  Most scoliosis tests done by the school nurse or by pediatricians are not sufficient.  The traditional quick test is to ask the child to bend forward at the waist and touch their toes. If the shoulder blade pops out then scoliosis is suspected. This vague test cause many cases of scoliosis to be undiagnosed until symptoms appear later on in life.

For this reason, we at Haque Chiropractic are dedicating this month of April to check children for scoliosis and postural problems.  And during the week of April 11^th through April 15^th we are doing it at no charge!

For more information on this event or to schedule an appointment for your children contact us.  And remember, and ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Foot pain solved at Haque Chiropractic

Plantar fasciitis is a diagnosis often given to patients who have pain in their feet and a thickening of the tendons on the bottom of their feet.  It is a general diagnosis  but the treatment protocol from M.D.s are to rest, ice, take anti-inflammatory drugs, possibly cortisone injections and physical therapy.  Sometimes this protocol will work for a period of time but most often, I see patients who have had this condition for years without significant improvement. At the end of it, their condition is at a cost to their quality of life.  Many don’t run any more, exercise or walk for long periods because of their condition that they become accustomed to. 

The good news: other treatment options do exist that are in many cases MORE EFFECTIVE! And yes, without drugs and without surgery!  The feet are indubitably the foundation to our bodies. The 26 bones that make up each foot can mis-align, pull on tendons and ligaments and cause irritation and pain.  An effective treatment option in my office with my patients is the following:

When a patient comes in complaining of pain in their feet, ankles, knees hips and/or lower back pain, we examine the arches of their feet. There are three arches that make up the feet and when they are all present that tells us that the foot is moving properly allowing the joints above (ankle, knees hips, etc.) to also move correctly.  When an arch is lost or too pronounced, the biomechanics of the body will shift as the ligaments, muscles and tendons will move differently and since everything all connects together it will cause improper motion of joints and things can/will misalign and cause pain and irritation.

Once the actual shift of the bone, loss of arch or exact cause of the pain is determined after an evaluation, we will focus on re-aligning the bones of the foot correctly, support the feet with custom-made orthotics (if necessary) reset the tendons and work out the scar tissue that has developed in the ligaments that has in some cases caused significant loss of motion of the foot and extreme pain. The results are that the patient will regain proper movement of their feet and joints above and resume a happy motion-filled life again!

Know someone who has been suffering with foot/ankle pain? Have them contact us for evaluation and possible treatment at our office.

Frozen shoulder is a diagnosis that is often given out to patients who begin to have difficulty moving their shoulder.  Often times there isn’t a specific injury that causes the shoulder to become painful and difficult to move.   There is a lot of speculation on what the cause may be including repetitive strain of the tendons to hormonal influence in women who are going through menopause.  Regardless of the diagnosis, the condition impacts the lives significantly of people as it affects daily activities such as getting dressed, combing their hair, lifting groceries and sleeping.

Treatment options are slim in the medical world and usually include anti-inflammatory medications, ice and cortisone injections.  Although these options may be helpful, there are of course side effects too. Another safe option is myofascial release, stretching, range of motion exercises and shoulder adjustments.  This is the approach I take with patients in my office in Livermore.  When I see patients who have rotator cuff injuries including frozen shoulder, we bring back motion to the shoulder gently with simple movements, stretching and exercises. In most cases after a few weeks of treatment and exercises the range of motion will improve by more than 70% and pain will decrease significantly.

In many cases, I will refer the patient to one of our trainers at our gym, Lifestyle Fitness, so they can safely strengthen the shoulder muscles so that my patient can regain 100% motion and function of their shoulder and resume to their lifestyle.

One of my favorite stretches to prevent shoulder problems is the door way stretch.  It is easy to do and works great! Just stand in a doorway and place your hands on the door frame so that the elbows and forearms are 90 degrees. Then let your body fall forward so that you feel a great stretch in the front of the chest muscles. This stretch helps to relieve the stress on the shoulder and should be preformed twice daily for 30 seconds to be effective.

For more information on shoulder tendonitis, frozen shoulder or rotator cuff injury treatment options, contact us.