Dr Davis' Back & Wrist Pain Blog

Why Most New Years Resolutions Fail, And What To Do About It

SF Bay Area Disc Pain Treatment Center Comments:

Wow, I was just reading this article about New Years Resolutions, and how 80% of them are broken by Jan 31st. But what really got my attention was that if the New Years Resolution had to do with health and fitness (working out, losing weight, quitting smoking, etc), 90% of them will be broken by Jan15th. I know from personal experience that the gyms I work out at are always packed the first few weeks of the year. Then, they die down and get back to normal. I also know that this is when some of my friends and relatives will stop eating all the garbage that is contributing to their poor health and weight problems...for a few weeks. The bottom line is that New Years Resolutions DO NOT WORK if the only thing that happens is the date changes. Sure,  the New Year can be a great time to implement a health and fitness program that has been carefully thought out, and is for the right reasons. A great way to make sure that your new goals are achieved is to write them down. Then, break them up into smaller steps. and track your progress (on paper). An even better way (and more permanent) is to actually invest in a Life Planning System, like the Franklin Covey System, that will help you build a foundation of governing Life Principles upon which to set your goals. It's  a lot easier to just declare "I am going to lose 30 lbs by 3/1/07"  than it is to purchase a planning system, then sit down for about 4-6 hours initially (then 30 minutes per week) and work through the process of  figuring out who you are, what you stand for, and what your mission is in life. Then, choosing goals, projects, and tasks to keep you on target. I know from first hand experience that this is not easy. But, nothing in life that is worthwhile and sustainable is easy. In my practice, the patients that seem to get the best results are the patients that put the most into the treatment process. They do not expect to be able to continue doing the same things they have been doing and have the outcome be different. Sure, some will see favorable results just because they are receiving our treatment, even though they don't change anything else. But, they are just cheating themselves. To really change your health, not just feel better temporarily, you need to consider physical, mental, spiritual, and social factors. Each factor of your life needs to be nurtured on an ongoing basis. The Franklin Covey System can help you to address your needs and keep you on track. There is a store in the Financial District of San Francisco or you can purchase products online. You can also attend seminars on an individual basis or as a group. They also offer on-site company workshops. So, if you REALLY want to make  permanent changes in your life, consider some sort of Life Planning System. I also recommend that purchase "The Secret" on DVD. As always we are here to help you express your health potential in any way we can, and we are always available to discuss your goals with you, and help you achieve them.

Happy New Year :)       

Recent Study Suggest Eating Vegetables Can Help Save Your Mind

We incorporate a Plant Based Diet into our treatment recommendations at our SF Bay Area Chronic Back and Wrist Pain Centers. We do this because we believe this is the diet we were designed to eat. It is not an all or none diet. The more you do, the more you gain. We do recommend that patients with serious degenerative spinal conditions, strongly consider going all the way for 6-12 weeks. Chances are you will see dramatic changes that will encourage you to stay with the program longer. The best program in our opinion is the McDougall Diet. John McDougall M.D., and his wife Mary have spent most of their lives researching and educating millions of people worldwide on the benefits of a plant based diet. I found an interesting article in this months McDougall Newsletter about a recent study that was conducted to see if there was a connection between age-related cognitive change and vegetable consumption. Here is an an excerpt and a link to the full story:

Associations of vegetable and fruit consumption with age-related cognitive change by Martha Clare Morris from the Rush Institute of Health and Aging, Chicago, IL, published in the October 2006 issue of the journal Neurology found, “High vegetable but not fruit consumption may be associated with slower rate of cognitive decline with older age.”¹ This six-year study of 65-year and older Chicago residents found a 35% slower decline in cognitive function each year for those who ate the most vegetables.   

I highly recommend you subscribe to the McDougall Newsletter and read some of the archives. You can search by symptom or condition. There are always great recipes too. Why not make a decision to eat this way for 3 months to see how you feel. Don't be surprised if some or most of your nagging ailments don't all the sudden get better. Expect to lose those extra pounds, and have all kinds of new found energy. Its worth a shot.

Holiday Shopping Can Be Hard On Your Back

San Francisco Chronic Back Pain Center:

Walking for long distances with shopping bags is not what the doctor ordered. Bending, twisting, reaching, and lifting boxes of various weights, then carrying them up and down stairs, can be very hard on your back. In fact, any time you perform a physical activity that is out of your normal "baseline" daily routine, the body is stressed and will often times respond by becoming sore. If you have a bad back, you should be especially careful about what you do and how you do it. Even people that do not have back problems will often times develop them during the holiday shopping season.

Here is a link to an article I found in The New York Post with Eight Simple ways To Prevent Back Pain During The Holidays, by Dr. Rock Positano:

    

FDA Calls For Stronger WARNINGS On The Labels Of Common OTC Back Pain Medications

SF Bay Area Chiropractor and Chronic Back Pain Doctor comments:

I have worked with thousands of chronic (and acute) back and neck pain patients over the past 15 years at our San Francisco back pain clinics. It is amazing how many patients take over the counter (OTC) and prescription medications on an ongoing basis for their back pain. Back pain (headaches is up there too) is the most common symptom/condition that consumers purchase OTC medications for. There are billions of dollars spent each year by drug companies on commercials and magazine ads telling us how great drugs like ADVIL, TYLENOL, and MOTRIN are for us. Just pop a couple of pills and the pain goes away, and we can get on with the day. Well, as it turns out, often times these products are not so great after-all. In fact, some of the health risks associated with taking these medications are life threatening. Conditions such as liver toxicity, stomach bleeding, liver failure, cardiovascular failure, and sudden death. sure, there has been a lot of media attention to this over the past 3-5 years, but still, the average consumer does not know the health risks when it comes to OTC medications and the FDA has decided to do something about it. Here is a link to yesterdays front page article of the USA Today, which caught my attention. Anyway, one of the great things about the work that we do is that we are often times able to help patients free themselves from the dangerous trap of popping pain pills day in and day out. Not to mention the fact that when you treat a condition with a pill you are just treating the symptom. The actual problem is left uncorrected and continues to march forward. So, you still have the actual problem and you are putting yourself at risk for life threatening complications from the medications that are being used to mask the symptoms. So, educate yourself so you at least know what the risks are before you take OTC (and prescription) pain medications.      

Exercise and Back Pain

SF Bay Area Chronic Back Pain and Disc Pain Center comments:

We treat various kinds of back pain at our San Francisco and San Rafael Disc Pain Treatment Centers. Some are new and acute episodes of low back or neck pain. Some are chronic cases with leg pain or arm pain. Some are mild episodes that will resolve after a few weeks. Some are severe and debilitating (this is our specialty). Regardless of the nature of the condition, exercise should be a component of the treatment plan in one way or another. It is our job to do a proper assessment and to decide what exercises are appropriate for your condition and fitness level. Here is an excellent article I found on the various types of exercises for the back. In addition to these, we offer CORE spinal (muscles) rehabilitation on the revolutionary SpineForce machine. This is the only machine in the world that assesses and treats the 180 CORE spinal muscles. Since we treat so many disc patients, it only makes sense that we would have the most advanced exercise equipment for spinal rehabilitation. We are actually able to treat elderly patients safely and effectively with the SpineForce, as well as seasoned athletes. If you would like a demonstration or a free trial on the SpineForce, simply call our office at 415-392-2225.    

 

Herniated Disc In Neck ? Consider Nonsurgical Spinal Decompression.

Cervical Disc Herniations Can be a Pain in the Neck

San Francisco and Marin County chiropractor Dr. Eben Davis has been helping patients with herniated and bulging discs return to more normal lifestyles without drugs or surgery. Often times, traditional chiropractic, physical therapy, or anything for that matter, fails to help certain people who suffer with disc herniations. In fact, 5-10% of all back conditions end up becoming chronic and long lasting, interfering with normal activities and sometimes making life miserable. It just seems like there is nowhere to turn for some people. Well, these are just the type of patients Dr. Davis is looking for. Sure they are difficult cases, and many of them are beyond repair, but, it is amazing what the body can do if given the chance. The body created itself, it runs itself, and it re-creates itself on an ongoing basis. The body takes the food that we eat and converts it into living, thinking, breathing, flesh and blood. According to Dr. Davis, plant foods provide the best raw materials  for the body to use to re-create itself. This has been proven over and over again, most recently with The China Study. We also know that mental, chemical, and physical stresses, when out of whack, can cause our organs and bones to degenerate and lose function prematurely. The good news is, there are ways to counteract these stresses with things like meditation, yoga, exercise, and nutrition.

So, how do we deal with cervical disc herniations ? Well, we look at your x-rays and MRI films. We do a physical exam. We compare the position of your spine with benchmark normal. We grade the level of degeneration (Phase I through Phase IV), and we decide if we feel it would be safe and effective for you to undergo treatment, which may or may not include spinal decompression therapy with the FDA Cleared DRX 9000C. Spinal decompression helps the discs to rehydrate by pumping them in a safe, measured, controlled manner, which is what the spine normally does on it's own (when it is healthy). The discs are avascular, so they do not have direct blood supply. By design, the discs receive their nutrition and expel their waste products with this pumping motion. There is even a name for it, "Imbibition". So, just like a respirator helps the lungs to do what the would if they could, decompression therapy helps the spine do what it would if it could (pump the discs so they can exchange nutrients with the bloodstream). The objective of decompression therapy is to make the discs healthier, restore motion, and help remove pressure off of the anatomical structures that are responsible for many back conditions, such as the spinal nerves, spinal cord, facet joints, and spinal discs. In addition to the decompression therapy we incorporate home exercises, a plant based diet, fish oil supplementation (to reduce inflammation), yoga, meditation, and massage. Sometimes we include spinal manipulations and in house "CORE" spinal exercises on our "SpineForce" machine. The SpineForce is one of the only machines in the world that was designed specifically to assess and treat the 180 CORE spinal muscles. This process does not happen over night, and it does not work for everyone. Treatment can be from 5 weeks all the way up to 12-14 weeks depending on the program you choose. The treatment is very safe and the results can sometimes be amazing.  We like to have you do so many good things at home as far as lifestyle modifications, that if you only did those you would feel better and be healthier because of it. But, this also creates what we call fertile soil for the decompression therapy to work better. By adhering to the home care regimen, you reduce inflammation (reducing animal proteins and fish oil supplementation) which is a primary component of pain, thus making your body better able to handle physical activities, and our treatment is physical. So, if you have chronic back or neck pain you should give us a call at 415-392-2225 for a complimentary consultation. If you are a new patient, welcome aboard. If you are not local and would like  a referral to a doctor in your area, please visit www.axiomworldwide.com. Happy Holidays :)   

The Holidays and Chronic Back Pain

San Francisco Chronic Back Pain Center: There always seems to be more stress during the holiday season. This extra stress can worsen chronic back pain and intensify the feelings of frustration and despair that come from dealing with the problem, day in and day out. The good new is, the New Year brings with it opportunity to try something new and make a commitment to doing what it takes to regain lost health. Health is spontaneous when the conditions are right.  Learning what these conditions are, is time well spent. In fact, the main purpose of this BLOG is to teach you about the conditions of health, and to provide you with research, resources,  and information that you can use  to regain lost health and maintain it throughout your lifetime. This BLOG is intended primarily for our existing patients who receive written materials when they commence treatment, as well as ongoing counseling and support with regards to these principles. But,  as it turns out, because of the nature of the Internet, this BLOG is available to anyone who is interested in what we have to say. I receive positive feedback in the form of phone calls, emails, and inquiries from all over the world in response to my postings, which is nice.   So, getting back to stress, back pain, and the holidays, what do we do here ? I think the best thing to do right about now is to make a decision (that you plan on sticking with) to take massive action in 2007.  Do your homework. Find a clinic that can support you with the healing process. If you are one of our patients, re-read your home care instructions and spend an hour or so a day reading the postings on this BLOG. Learn about "Contextual Healing". Order one of Dr. Dean Black's books.  Start to eat right and lose weight (if you need to) by learning more about a Plant Based Diet. Meditate and Visualize what you want on a daily basis. I highly recommend you order the DVD called The Secret. Stick to your recommended treatment plan, and give yourself time to heal. Where you are now is the end result of everything you have done your entire life. Sure, you will probably start feeling better right away if you do all these things at once, but there is a chance you may feel worse, TEMPORARILY. Your body may be so toxic that  it needs some time to cleanse. Stick to the plan. Make your own decisions and get the job done. If you need help with anything let us know. We are here to serve. Happy Holidays :)

Recent Study Suggest "Sitting Straight is Bad For Your Back"

SF Bay Area Disk Pain Treatment Center Comments:

In my previous post we discussed the relationship between disk herniations and bad posture when sitting. Sitting with your torso flexed forward, as many people do when they work at their computer, puts tremendous stresses on the spinal disks and joints, predisposing them to disk bulges and herniations. But, since I wrote my post a few days ago, one of my team members, Sarah Palethorpe, brought to my attention a recent study conducted by British and Canadian researchers  that suggests that sitting at a 90 degree angle (which is thought to be the best position to sit) actually results in the most pressure on the spinal disks. The study referres to this pressure as "spinal disk movement", which occurs when weight bearing strain is placed on the spine. This was all measured using state of the art MRI technology. As it turns out, the position that puts the least amount of pressure on the spinal disks is sitting at a 135 degree angle with your feet on the floor. This is a little bit awkward when you first try it as I did, but you get used to it after a while. According to this study, 32% of the British population spend more than 10 hours per day on the computer. Who knows what it is here in the corporate jungle (financial district of San Francisco) between work and home. Our bodies were simply not designed to be sedentary. This combined with stress, poor diet, lack of exercise, not enough sleep, and bad habits such as smoking, drugs, or drinking, are some of the things that can make us sick. Health is spontaneous when the conditions are right. It is my job to educate you on what the conditions are, and to share with you information that you can use to adapt to the stresses of modern day living at optimum levels.

Can Disk Herniations Be Caused By Bad Posture When Sitting ?

San Francisco and Marin County Disk Pain Treatment center comments:

Most of the patients we treat at our SF Bay Area Disc and Hand Pain centers spend the majority of their work day sitting in front of a computer. Most of the retired patients we treat spent most of their work day in front of a computer when they were working. And, just about all of the working and retired patients we see spend hours and hours per day  at home on their computers. So, what does this have to do with Disk Herniations ?  Well, research is telling us that our bodies were not designed to be sitting. Sitting is the position that puts the most amount of pressure in the disks (which over time can lead to bulges and herniations). There are ways to cushion the blow by designing chairs that support the spine and learning what the best placement is for our computers and the proper height of the monitor and so forth. This is the science of ergonomics. I have fond an article by a manufacturer of ergonomic equipment that shows a chart of postures and their corresponding intradiscal pressures. It is wise to become familiar with this chart. Of course, laying on our backs (with knees slightly bent) is the least. Then laying on our sides (with a pillow between our knees). Then, when we stand up it really increases. This is why it is not uncommon for patients that have disk problems to feel the worst when they get up out of bed in the morning.  So, what do we do ? We have to work, and most of us want to spend time on-line. This is not going to change. What we can do is try to setup our sleeping and working environments for maximum resistance to the forces of gravity, as well as maximum spinal support. It's not hard. It just takes a little research, that I will help you with, and a little cash outlay to buy the right stuff, and some focus and attention. You want to get up and move around every 15-20 minutes. Maybe do some stretches or warm-up exercises (that we provide you). And, every time you do anything, think about how it is going to effect your spine. This is especially helpful if you are recovering from disk related back problems. The more you do the more you gain, and the faster you recover. In addition, the more long lasting your results will be, because you have addressed one of the main causes of abnormally high intradiscal pressure which leads to disc bulges and herniations (poor posture and ergonomics).

Herniated Cervical Disk, Bulging Disk, Ruptured Disk, and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

San Francisco Bay Area Back and Wrist Pain Center comments on the Connection Between Cervical  Disk Herniations and Carpal Tunnel Symptoms:

The San Francisco Financial District is one of the epicenters of the technological revolution. I'm sure the typical office worker spends way more than the national average sitting at a desk, working with a computer. I guess I would know, because for the past 15 years we have treated thousands of cases of repetitive stress injuries and related disorders, including carpal tunnel syndrome. In fact, during the dot-com days we would help setup facilities for hundreds of office workers and give ergonomic classes to help them get through the 12-15 hour days they were putting in. Of course, in reality, there is not much you can do to overcome the stress of working this hard. There is not enough time for the body to rest, recover, and repair itself. In a way, I see the same thing now, just not as extreme. I guess it will always be a pressure cooker down here, or as we like to call it, a corporate jungle. So, it's survival of the fittest. Those that take the best care of themselves will be in position to take advantage of what it is that they are striving for. In reality, there is nothing more important than your health. It's my job to help you to maintain it by providing you with information that you can use to get and stay healthy.  So, what's the relationship between disk herniations and carpal tunnel syndrome ? Well, the main commonality is that they express themselves the same way.  Another words, the symptoms are the same. Hand pain. Numbness & Tingling in the hands. Weakness of grip. Night pain (in the hands). Shoulder, arm, and elbow pain. Pain that radiates from the hand into the arm. Even neck pain (can result from carpal tunnel syndrome). The thing is, the nerves that exit from in between the bones in the neck, travel down the arms and into the hands. When we get pressure on the nerves from herniated cervical disks, it can cause the above mentioned symptoms, which are identical to the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). CTS is the result of pressure on a nerve in the wrist called the Median Nerve. Both of these conditions can result from sitting at a desk for long hours (without proper ergonomics or rest periods) day in and day out. I am going to direct you to a very well written article about herniated cervical disks which explains how these conditions develop. Only about 5-10% of disk herniations or CTS become chronic and do not resolve in a matter of months. It is actually this 5-10% that my practice focuses on. We are setup to treat CTS and cervical disk herniations without drugs or surgery. We have 15 years experience and use the latest technology along with plenty of hands on, and TLC. So, if you or someone you know is suffering needlessly, give us a call at 415-392-2225 for a complimentary consultation. Chances are, you will be glad you did.