Protect your ears and feet this summer!

Why does a chiropractor concern himself with ears and feet? Well, I'll tell you.
First, ears are something I see the back of all day as patients lie down on my adjusting table. The ears are one of those areas that people neglect, and I often catch lesions developing early. Many of my patients have had to get early pre-cancerous spots removed and the ears are a frequent removal sight. The ears are hard to see in the mirror because they are on the side of the head, sometimes elsewhere depending on the shape of your dome. Ears stick out even when a hat is worn. Sun hits the ears all the time and due to this, many people will develop skin lesions on the ears over time. Protect yourself all the time, but especially this summer, with a little sunscreen on the ears. Avoid future problems with a little prevention. While you're at it, apply some on your nose and cheekbones if not your whole face. These are areas that are always exposed to harmful rays.
Second, feet are frequent victims of summer abuse as people take off their regular shoes and either don some sandals or go barefoot. I do not have a problem with this, but I do have some suggestions. The feet are typically weak due to a winter of being stuck in supportive shoes. Based on this weakness, spend the first couple of warmer weekends strengthening the feet. Instead of endless hours spent barefoot or in sandals, alternate between supportive footwear and less supportive versions or nothing at all. Lately, sandal manufacturers have stepped up their support technology, so if you can find a nice pair that have some arch support, spend the extra money on those and protect your feet. Going barefoot will strengthen your feet, but start off in shorter spurts so that your feet adapt to not having support versus going a whole weekend without shoes and injuring yourself.
As a chiropractor, I adjust feet and ankles all the time due to biomechanical problems people develop due to injuries, bad shoes, etc... The feet and ankles support the entire body so if they are out of whack, the rest of you will not move normally and problems will occur. So, support your feet and protect them so that the rest of your body will be supported properly and you'll have a great summer.

Time to heal?

This topic is a tough one for many. How long until normal activities are resumed? I care for many athletes and/or physical people that get a lot of enjoyment from their respective activities, whether it be gardening or running. It is very difficult, being an active person, to tell someone that they need to take a break from their favorite physical activity, especially if they earn a living doing it. I have an extremely hard time slowing down when I am personally injured, but one learns after several injuries that it is essential to take time easy or completely off from particular activities to ensure that injuries heal properly. Also, to ensure that new injuries are not created due to compensations created by working around current injuries.

I use a 90 day rule... your body will heal and regenerate tissues over a period of 90 days. There are many stages of healing that occur during this time. The initial period should be a time of zero or low activity, depending on injury severity. Modern rehab protocols are pushing for light activity, soon after injury, to ensure that tissues such as ligaments or muscles heal in a proper alignment. Scar tissue is hard to rid oneself of, especially if it is not in the same alignment as the original fibers it is filling in for. Light activity, depending on the injury, could be as simple as flexing/extending one's knee while lying facing down. As healing begins, activity might progress to easy walking or pedaling a bike. Trying to rush back quickly from injury will only prolong the healing process, which can be very frustrating.

The gist of injury recovery is listen to your health practitioner, give your body to mend, and don't rush the healing process because ample time is needed for your body to recover.

As a chiropractor, I aim to re-align bony joints and restore normal mechanics. By doing this, normal nervous system function is restored to the affected areas so that normal information flow is re-connected allowing the affected areas to heal properly. I also make recommendations for home therapy, such as proper icing and/or compression, stretching and/or strengthening. My recommendations compliment my in office adjustments to ensure your injuries heal properly so that you can come back stronger and more balanced than ever.