Stekel Chiropractic » Lower back pain

Why Athletes are having more injuries today

admin — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 14:15:22 +0000

Why Athletes are having more injuries today
The athlete today is far more advanced than 30 or even 20 years ago, however the longevity of an athletes body today is significantly less. Many athletes wind up on the disability list due to injuries of their lower back, shoulders, knees, necks, and other areas which could have been prevented by diet and water consumption. The issue is acidity in the body. When an athlete is expending energy, lactic and pyruvic acid builds up in the body. Since we try always to maintain a certain PH of blood, around 7.35, if an athletes going in to an acidic state through the extreme physical exertion on a regular basis without alkalizing to offset the acid build up, his body will begin to leach minerals from the soft tissues to buffer the blood. This bicarbonate buffering eventually causes ligaments, tendons, and muscles to become vulnerable to injury. What should have been a normal pitch for a pitcher becomes the straw that broke the camels back. On top of this, most athletes drink sport recovery drinks in the belief that they will rehydrate, and replenish with electrolytes. The problem continues to be exacerbated by these drinks that contain high amounts of sugars in the from of high fructose corn syrup, and other sources of sugar. These drinks are highly acidic and can continue the downward spiral leading to an injury. With alkaline ionized restructured water, the water is able to hydrate the body bringing all the inert minerals to life through the ionization process of electrolysis. So when an athlete is in need of hydration, essential minerals such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium already present in the water supply become readily available to the athlete. In doing so the athletes body doesn’t need to scavenge itself for those buffering mineral to alkalize the blood and organs. Kangen water is in my opinion an excellent source of hydration, and minerals. Depending on how “hard” your water supply is, the harder it is the more minerals available for the ionization process. The kangen machines attach to your faucet, and alkalizes water from the tap creating this water. Kangen water is six times more hydrating than normal water. If you have any questions about your health, feel free to contact me at .
Dani Stekel D.C (212)581-3331
250 West 57st., Suite 930, New York, NY 10107
DrStekel@gmail.com

Healing your back pain through an alkaline diet

admin — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 12:55:55 +0000

A few years back I took a course for continuing education as a chiropractor. Having opened my office back in 1998, these courses had become over the years a helpful tool to revitalize my office, and getting excited about the wonderful profession that I’m very thankful to be in. The course back in 2009 which I took was called the anti-inflammatory diet. The instructor taught how over acidic diets can unlock genetic propensities for sickness in the body, and lead to disease. He recommended a diet high in alkaline fruits and vegetables, cutting out most grains including wheat, eating only grass fed meats, and fish, using spices, and taking omega fish oils for supplementation. For snacking, he recommended only eating alkaline dried fruits, raw nuts and seeds, and dark chocolate that came from non high fructose corn syrup. He was very realistic that it takes pounds of green vegetable consumption to keep an alkaline environment. I decided to try the diet, however after only a few weeks I went off course. I continued to bounce on and off of this beneficial diet, but in the end it was just hard enough to keep me from staying on it consistantly. I noticed that when I’d stick to the diet, the stiffness in my lower back would ease up considerably…If you didn’t know this, being a chiropractor is very physical work. Along with my chiropractic adjustments that I received on a weekly basis, I stayed on this diet as much as I could.

In 2010, I came across Kangen alkaline ionized restructured water. The water, came in 8.5ph, 9.0ph, and 9.5ph. Normally water is at neutral 7.0, or acidic below 7.0 on the ph scale depending on the source. The Kangen was exponentially more alkaline than regular water. Within a month of drinking the kangen water, I noticed that my spine was so much more flexible than it had been in years. I learned that the alkalinity of this water was highly anti-inflammatory, and few cups of kangen water a day would alkalize my body more than were I to eat those pounds of vegetables that I had been really working hard to take in every day. Kangen isn’t a cure for any sickness or disease but I began to feel great. My energy increased considerably and would stay with me through long days of working with my patients. I had always been low energy since my childhood, but the water also gave me a significant boost that stayed with me throughout the day.

Consider alkalizing your body through diet, and alkaline ionized water for greater health.

If you have any questions on alkalinity, feel free to contact me at:

Dr. Dani Stekel

DrStekel@gmail.com

(212)581-3331

250 West 57st.

Suite 930

New York, NY10107

Stretching for Your Back

admin — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 17:51:58 +0000

As a chiropractor in private practise since 1998, I’ve worked with many patients suffering from lower back pain. Recently, I began working with a patient who was post surgery for lower back disk herniations. It had been a few months since her surgery, and she still was undergoing lower back pain. Her fear was that she’d always have this lower back pain and that the surgery was a failure. Following a detailed examination, I began chiropractic adjustments on her lower back, and used mechanical traction. A stretching routine of knee to chest stretches were performed on her, and I advised her to continue doing the same at home.

By her next visit, she was feeling a measurable reduction in pain. We continued with her adjustments, traction, and stretching over the next month and she has continued to improve weekly.

Although her chiropractic adjustments and mechanical traction on her lower back helped, I believe, in her case, the stretching of her glutes, hamstrings, and lower back spinal erector muscles is what allowed the adjustments to hold, and help her continue the process of healing she needed from the spinal surgery.

I really love knee to chest stretching.

Of course consult with your chiropractor or MD prior to beginning any stretching program when you’re in pain. However, once you have, try knee to chest stretching. Lay on your back, and bending your leg, grab one knee with both hands. Keeping your other leg resting extended, hold the bent leg and slowly bring it toward your chest. Make sure to only bring it to the beginning of the stretching feeling at first to avoid overdoing it. Slowly release the leg keeping your hand on your knee. When you finish feeling the stretch, perform another 5-10 repetitions slowly breathing as you bring your knee to your chest.

This can help tremendously with minor lower back pain. This is just one of numerous stretches that can be helpful for lower back pain. For more serious lower back pain, anything over a 4 level on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the most pain, I highly recommend you consider chiropractic treatment. Chiropractic brings your body back in to alignment, and with proper nutrition and hydration, keeps it performing at its best.

If you have any questions on how to heal from back pain, feel free to contact me at:

Stekel Chiropractic

(212) 581-3331

Healing Low Back Pain with Chiropractic

admin — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 00:27:00 +0000

Lower back pain is one of the top reasons for lost productivity in America. Many people who suffer from low back pain fail to make it in to work. Too many become addicted to pain relief medications in the hopes that the lower back pain will eventually diminish. Most people, however, fail to receive the necessary help from medication alone. Lower back pain can be attributed to a number of causes. The pain can be due to muscle spasms, misaligned vertebrae, disc protrusions or herniations, muscle weakness, poor posture, not receiving the proper nutrition, and even can be an indirect sign of other serious diseases. Lower back pain can be felt in many different pain patterns. Some people experience lower back pain localized in one area, others may feel the pain shift from one area to another as they move. Lower back pain can even radiate down a leg causing pain as far as to the toes.

When a new patient comes in to our chiropractic office, our first priority is taking a full history. We want to find out as much information as possible about our patients past. Have they had lower back pain before, what about any serious illnesses or diseases. Have they been experiencing any flu like or cold symptoms recently, what about any previous hospitalizations or surgeries. We also want to find out if the patient’s parents, siblings, or other family members have had or currently have similar symptoms. How long has the lower back pain been going on for, has it gotten worse or better, has the pattern shifted in any way. What activities of daily living are being interfered with, do they have trouble working etc. Once we’ve taken a full history, we then perform a comprehensive chiropractic exam which includes range of motion of the person. How far can they bend forward, backward, to the sides, or twist their body. Is there lower back pain when they perform these movements. Following the range of motion exam, which is measured by an instrument, we perform a series of orthopedic examinations to help narrow the possible cause of the lower back pain. We then perform a limited neurological exam, to determine if the person has normal sensitivity of dermatome, or skin patches, which correspond to different spinal levels, and we have the patient perform different exams to determine whether the possibility exists of an upper or lower motor lesion.
Following all these exams, and dependent on what we’ve found so far, we may send the patient to have x rays of their spine. The radiological films of the lower spine can help determine if there is any pathological, degenerative, or traumatic reason for the lower back pain. The films also help show us the structural integrity of the spine, if the normal lordotic curve is present in the spine, or if there is any scoliotic curve.
Once we’ve gathered all this information, we can come to a diagnosis, determine if chiropractic care can be of help, and how long the patient can expect to remain in care. Whether the pain is acute, or has been a chronic problem for the patient, will be a determining factor in how quickly the lower back pain will recede. It is fairly normal for lower back pain to diminish quickly under chiropractic care, however our goal is to better the integrity of the lower back so that the pain doesn’t recur. Following our recommendations, being consistent with care, and our recommended exercise and nutrition suggestions helps our patients get better quicker.
Dr. Dani Stekel, a New York City Chiropractor, has been in private practice helping people with their low back pain since 1998
250 West 57th St. Suite 930
212-581-3331