As a chiropractor I treat many people who suffer from arthritis, and I also help individuals who have sustained sports injuries. With the former, I use chiropractic adjustments and with the latter, in conjunction with the adjustments, I often use kinesio taping. Now, it appears that athletic tape can also be beneficial in treating patients with arthritis. Read on…

Athletic Tape May Relieve Certain Arthritis Pain

via Current Arthritis News and Research

 

Athletic Tape

Researchers in Australia have found that athletic tape can be used to improve pain from patellofemoral osteoarthritis, a form of osteoarthritis found around or behind the kneecap.

 

This was a small study, to be sure, involving only 28 people, 14 with and 14 without patellofemoral arthritis. Yet the findings may provide another therapy option for people with this knee pain. This finding may also benefit people with chronic patellofemoral pain, which is relatively common in runners and can oftentimes be related to a misalignment in the knee joint.

The researchers from the University of Melbourne enlisted the 28 participants, all adults with an average age of 57. The researchers took MRI scans of the participants knees and discovered that the arthritis sufferers had a higher incidence of misalignment of the knee joint, including an inclination for the kneecap to be positioned toward the outside of the leg.

Using athletic tape to wrap the patient’s knees, the researchers were able to improve that misalignment. This contributed to improvement in reported pain during a squatting exercise.

According to lead researcher, Dr. Kay M. Crossley;

“Our results confirm that patellar taping is an excellent technique which can be recommended for people with (patellofemoral arthritis).”

The tape must be applied correctly to achieve the benefit, and not to worsen the condition. The researchers indicated that a physical therapist would be the most appropriate to wrap the knee, but that with instruction and practice, the patient would be able to successfully tape their own knee.

Using tape may not be the best solution for everyone with patellofemoral pain. Many people may require other forms of therapy or a combination with taping. Dr. Crossley stated that she and her colleagues are currently conducting a clinical trial which is studying the outcomes of knee taping with other treatments.

The results of the taping study were published in the journal Arthritis Care & Research.

 

Posted via email from chirohealthnews’s posterous

However, before you decide to add an extra cuppa to your morning ritual, let me add that also on the website, under “Related Stories,” were at least two articles reporting on studies that showed the negative effects of caffeine, “Morning Jolt of Caffeine May Mask Serious Sleep Problems,” and “Coffee Consumption Linked To Increased Risk Of Heart Attack For Persons With Certain Gene Variation.”

Nearly every point of view, from my experience, especially when it comes to age-related health issues, can be affirmed, or at least given credence, by a number of specific studies. The “yin-yang” of caffeine benefits-deficits certainly aren’t, of course, the only ones. But, it did get me to pondering about the probability that there will not ever be any “one thing” that will absolutely aid we, humans, in living longer, healthier lives. We are dynamic, biological creatures. We aren’t raised in unnatural confinement We are actively engaged in life. And, let’s face it, though Alzheimer’s disease may be on the rise, obviously no one has been “artificially induced to develop symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease,” therefore caffeine isn’t entirely the “one thing” that is going to reverse or prevent it.

The human body is a splendid, involved system that is based on homeostasis or balance. Consequently good health is about a healthy, balanced approach to living, instead of our being momentarily convinced by the latest health study and “doing” or “overdoing” one specific thing under the illusion that it will reverse all of the other immoderate and unwholesome things we have done to our bodies.

I believe, as a doctor of chiropractic, that every moment of the day we have an opportunity to make decisions that will assist us to live longer, healthier lives, healthy choices for our body and mind. We know what genuinely “feels” beneficial and what doesn’t when it comes to what is good for our body. So, the next time you reach for that extra cup of coffee or that second glass of red wine, I hope that you’ll think about this. Neither one of those things is the “one thing” that will do “everything” for your good health.

Technorati Tags: age-related health issues, caffeine, Chiropractor, health, longevity, red wine

A recent survey by the NPD Group, a leading market research firm based in Rosemont, Ill., indicates that about 62% of men and women and 34% of adolescents are overweight or obese. The ubiquitousness of arthritis escalates with growing weight. Research indicates that maintaining a healthy weight lessens the risk of developing arthritis in the first place and may slow degenerative progression. A loss of just 11 pounds can decrease the occurrence (incidence) of new knee osteoarthritis and would do wonders to decrease back pain as well.

In order for a person to get rid of their back pain, knee pain, and joint pain in other regions of the body, a good diet and regular exercise is definitely required.  Although this fact likely doesn’t seem like anything new, it really is the only solution for you to get out of pain and regain your life. 

First of all, we’ll address the dieting issue.  There are many different ways to diet and the majority of them are effective only as a Band-Aid.  Shamefully, the diet industry is not interested in having you lose weight permanently because consequently they would eliminate you as a customer.  If you’re interested in losing weight efficiently, you need to eat a healthy diet and also to cut your calories so that you use more calories than you take in.  Don’t attempt to lose 20 pounds every week because that is a limited and dangerous fix. A good goal is to lose about 2 pounds every week in order to have positive results.

As far as exercise is concerned, research has proved that physical activity lessens pain, augments function, and slows down disability. Make sure you get at least one-half hour of moderate physical activity at least 3 days a week. Even at 10-minute intervals such movement is beneficial.

Along with the good your joints will experience from exercise, chiropractic adjustments are a highly beneficial way to get mobility back in the joints of your spine and other places in your body. A spine in alignment makes exercise and physical activity a lot easier and will slow down arthritic degenerative changes. The Annals of Internal Medicine published the results of a survey of 232 people who had arthritis and were under a rheumatologist’s care.  Of those people, 63% responded to the survey by stating that they were utilizing some type of “complementary care” as named by the study.  Of those individuals, 31% were trying chiropractic. Likely the most notable statistic was that 73% of those utilizing chiropractic found it effective.  Explaining why they’d tried the non-medical chiropractic care, those surveyed gave a number of reasons: 1) to control pain, 2) they’d been told that it helps, 3) they felt certain that it is safe, 4) it had aided someone they knew, and 5) because their prescription medication wasn’t stopping the pain.

Chiropractors, also called doctors of chiropractic, have been assisting people suffering from back pain due to arthritis and other arthritic problems for over a hundred years. Not only can arthritic pain and degenerative changes in the spine be produced by the misaligned vertebra that your chiropractor will correct, if left unchanged misalignments can decrease resistance and immunity, which can lead to new health problems.

It is always a good idea to see a health care professional to talk about diet and exercise. Your chiropractor is an experienced resource for advice on the kind of lifestyle changes that you will find necessary to aid you in managing your arthritis. Moreover, in addition to correcting any misalignments in your spine, your chiropractor will evaluate any faulty gait patterns or posture irregularities that may be adding to your arthritic pain.

Technorati Tags: arthritis, chiropractic, Chiropractor, weight loss