And a fine Friday it is today, although the sun has been hiding and the breezes are so much cooler than we are used to in the ATL!! I had to dig around and find a sweater to wear today!! This really IS football weather now, isn't it?
Speaking of football, I'd like to talk a bit about injuries that football players sustain. The news lately has been so full of injury reports....and some of these injuries have progressed into amputations and even deaths. I'm talking about high school age players here....NOT the pro's!! How awful when a young person gets so injured that it affects the rest of his life, or even dies, leaving loved ones and friends that mourn for a long, long time.
This does NOT have to happen, folks!! If you have a young person who is on a sports team or even know of one, it's vitally important that each and every one of these youngsters is armed with the BEST possible structure in their spines that they can get. The spine is the FOUNDATION of the body, and when parts of it are misaligned, the body's nerve flow is disrupted, muscles and connective tissues are weakened, the immune system is weakened, and injuries that the body could shake off much easier if the spine were properly aligned turn out to be more serious than they really need to be.
THE ANSWER: Call your chiropractor and get that young person (and the rest of your family as well as yourself) in to be examined and have the spine evaluated and properly adjusted. Let me make this clear: NO OTHER DOCTOR IS AS SPECIALIZED TO DO THIS. A chiropractor's overall knowledge of anatomy makes him or her uniquely suited to provide this type of examination and treatment....WITHOUT harmful drugs that have harmful side effects, WITHOUT surgery - and you must know that ANY surgery produces scar tissue and other tissue damage (that is why surgeons always weigh the benefits versus the drawbacks of surgery before rendering an educated opinion). Besides a superior knowledge of overall anatomy, especially spinal anatomy, a chiropractor spends hours upon hours learning and practicing proper adjusting techniques. It's not enough to get a "pop" out of an adjustment....a proper adjustment is carefully evaluated so that the chiropractor can deliver an adjustment that has the proper line of drive, tissue pull, torque and force necessary for the adjustment to have maximum benefits for the patient and to not hurt the patient. ONLY A CHIROPRACTOR HAS PROPERLY LEARNED TO DO THIS. Other doctors may spend a weekend at a seminar or a class designed to teach them to "manipulate" bones, but I will tell you that proper technique is NOT something that can be learned in a weekend, a month or even a year. It takes almost FOUR YEARS for the making of a good chiropractor.
Hopefully, your favorite high school teams will play well and the players will not sustain any serious injuries. BUT....as they say....an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!! GO TEAM!!
Friday, September 16, 2011
Friday, September 9, 2011
TGIF, right?? As we enjoy this gorgeous weather in the ATL (that's Atlanta, Georgia, to those of you who aren't familiar with that term), I am reminded of how these beautiful weekends bring out the "weekend warrior" in so many of us.
Here's what happens: Beautiful weather + desire to get out and DO SOMETHING FUN + weakened muscles and joints + misaligned spine = RECIPE FOR INJURY AND DISASTER!! On Monday, the "weekend warriors" frantically call my office or just hobble on in, unable to move properly or at all, hurt and a bit scared that the pain just won't ever go away, and just plain CONFUSED as to why they are hurting in the first place.
Healing takes time, although PROPER HEALING can take a MUCH SHORTER period of time. That's why it's very important to seek help as quickly as possible after the injury happens and the pain settles in. There are many things I can do to figure out exactly what has happened and to give the proper treatment.
Case in point: Greg (names have been changed for confidentiality purposes) came into my office on a Monday morning, bent over at the waist and completely unable to stand up straight. He reported his pain level at 10+ on a scale of 10. Greg had gotten together with a few of his buddies over the weekend, and a rough game of backyard football ensued, complete with full-body tackling without pads. Greg caught a beautiful pass and was sprinting for the goal line when a guy from the other team and almost twice his size slammed into Greg, and they both fell hard to the ground, with Greg on the bottom. Greg's spine took a hard hit on the right side of his body, and the fall to the ground with this giant on top of him ripped the fibers of one of the discs in Greg's low back. The jellylike substance inside the disc (called the nucleus pulposus), started to poke out of the disc (this situation is called a disc herniation). The nucleus pulposus that was poking out of the disc began to press on the large nerve root coming off Greg's spinal cord at that level in his spine. Coupled with swelling at the site brought on by the injury, the nerve root was almost completely compressed (or "pinched" as some folks say) and, as a result, Greg experienced extreme pain in his low back. Greg was hurt and scared that the pain would never go away, or worse - it would increase. After an examination and some testing, I affirmed that Greg's problem was a herniated disc, and I proceeded to treat it. The protocol for treating a herniated disc is much different than the treatment for less painful spinal misalignments, as the swelling at the injury site must be addressed and dealt with. My main goal on Greg's first visit was to get him out of pain. It took the better part of an hour to get Greg on his feet and walking upright with minimal pain on that first visit, but we did it. I saw Greg again that afternoon, repeating the treatment done that morning. He felt much better when he left that afternoon. Greg came in 2x a day for the next few days, feeling better after each visit. After dealing with the swelling in the low back, I put Greg on a very light exercise regimen designed specifically to ease the pain in the low back and strengthen the low back muscles to prevent future injury. Greg continued to see me 2x a week over the next 2 weeks, then we moved him to 1x a week for the next 6 weeks. My purpose after getting Greg out of the worst of his pain was to properly align the bones of the low back and pelvis so that his adjustments would HOLD for longer periods of time. 2 months after Greg first came in, a re-examination was done, and both Greg and I were pleased with his exam results. His ranges of motion were much better and freer, his pain level was at a 1 or lower on a scale of 10. I put Greg on a maintenance schedule of 1x/month, then we adjusted that to 1x/2 months as his spine improved. Greg is now on a maintenance schedule of 1x/6 months. Greg is happy with his now-stronger spine and is relieved to know that his chiropractic care not only helped to get him out of pain very quickly, but also strengthened his spine and lower back muscles so that this type of injury is less likely to happen again. Good going, Greg!!
Here's what happens: Beautiful weather + desire to get out and DO SOMETHING FUN + weakened muscles and joints + misaligned spine = RECIPE FOR INJURY AND DISASTER!! On Monday, the "weekend warriors" frantically call my office or just hobble on in, unable to move properly or at all, hurt and a bit scared that the pain just won't ever go away, and just plain CONFUSED as to why they are hurting in the first place.
Healing takes time, although PROPER HEALING can take a MUCH SHORTER period of time. That's why it's very important to seek help as quickly as possible after the injury happens and the pain settles in. There are many things I can do to figure out exactly what has happened and to give the proper treatment.
Case in point: Greg (names have been changed for confidentiality purposes) came into my office on a Monday morning, bent over at the waist and completely unable to stand up straight. He reported his pain level at 10+ on a scale of 10. Greg had gotten together with a few of his buddies over the weekend, and a rough game of backyard football ensued, complete with full-body tackling without pads. Greg caught a beautiful pass and was sprinting for the goal line when a guy from the other team and almost twice his size slammed into Greg, and they both fell hard to the ground, with Greg on the bottom. Greg's spine took a hard hit on the right side of his body, and the fall to the ground with this giant on top of him ripped the fibers of one of the discs in Greg's low back. The jellylike substance inside the disc (called the nucleus pulposus), started to poke out of the disc (this situation is called a disc herniation). The nucleus pulposus that was poking out of the disc began to press on the large nerve root coming off Greg's spinal cord at that level in his spine. Coupled with swelling at the site brought on by the injury, the nerve root was almost completely compressed (or "pinched" as some folks say) and, as a result, Greg experienced extreme pain in his low back. Greg was hurt and scared that the pain would never go away, or worse - it would increase. After an examination and some testing, I affirmed that Greg's problem was a herniated disc, and I proceeded to treat it. The protocol for treating a herniated disc is much different than the treatment for less painful spinal misalignments, as the swelling at the injury site must be addressed and dealt with. My main goal on Greg's first visit was to get him out of pain. It took the better part of an hour to get Greg on his feet and walking upright with minimal pain on that first visit, but we did it. I saw Greg again that afternoon, repeating the treatment done that morning. He felt much better when he left that afternoon. Greg came in 2x a day for the next few days, feeling better after each visit. After dealing with the swelling in the low back, I put Greg on a very light exercise regimen designed specifically to ease the pain in the low back and strengthen the low back muscles to prevent future injury. Greg continued to see me 2x a week over the next 2 weeks, then we moved him to 1x a week for the next 6 weeks. My purpose after getting Greg out of the worst of his pain was to properly align the bones of the low back and pelvis so that his adjustments would HOLD for longer periods of time. 2 months after Greg first came in, a re-examination was done, and both Greg and I were pleased with his exam results. His ranges of motion were much better and freer, his pain level was at a 1 or lower on a scale of 10. I put Greg on a maintenance schedule of 1x/month, then we adjusted that to 1x/2 months as his spine improved. Greg is now on a maintenance schedule of 1x/6 months. Greg is happy with his now-stronger spine and is relieved to know that his chiropractic care not only helped to get him out of pain very quickly, but also strengthened his spine and lower back muscles so that this type of injury is less likely to happen again. Good going, Greg!!
Thursday, September 8, 2011
HELLO AND WELCOME TO MY BLOG!!
WELCOME to the Blue Ribbon Chiropractic Blog!! I am Dr. Donna B. Goodwin, the doctor and owner of Blue Ribbon Chiropractic. My office is conveniently located in Milton, on the north end of Alpharetta, very close to the Grasslands Area, about a block north from the Highway 9 and McFarland Road interchange.
I have been in this location for a little over a year now, having come from a clinic I ran in Sandy Springs, inside a fitness center. I am happy to be in the Milton area where I live, although my time in the Sandy Springs gym gave me a lot of experience with working on athletes of all body types, ages and sports.
Blogging will give me a great opportunity to talk to you about many things, such as how chiropractic care can help with conditions not usually associated with chiropractic, sharing success stories with you, responding to your questions and comments, and being more of a "hands-on" practitioner who is more readily available to you via the internet.
My goal is for you to learn more about chiropractic and more about me as a Doctor of Chiropractic, so that you can make a more informed decision about whom you choose to be your own chiropractor. More and more people in need of a chiropractor for their health care needs are doing research on the internet, and I would very much like to be one of those you are considering. I am dedicated, professional, very capable and understanding about many different situations and issues; I have helped a long list of people, and I am looking forward to helping many, many more.
I have been in this location for a little over a year now, having come from a clinic I ran in Sandy Springs, inside a fitness center. I am happy to be in the Milton area where I live, although my time in the Sandy Springs gym gave me a lot of experience with working on athletes of all body types, ages and sports.
Blogging will give me a great opportunity to talk to you about many things, such as how chiropractic care can help with conditions not usually associated with chiropractic, sharing success stories with you, responding to your questions and comments, and being more of a "hands-on" practitioner who is more readily available to you via the internet.
My goal is for you to learn more about chiropractic and more about me as a Doctor of Chiropractic, so that you can make a more informed decision about whom you choose to be your own chiropractor. More and more people in need of a chiropractor for their health care needs are doing research on the internet, and I would very much like to be one of those you are considering. I am dedicated, professional, very capable and understanding about many different situations and issues; I have helped a long list of people, and I am looking forward to helping many, many more.
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