Diet, exercise, stay active and healthy is the key! Chiropractic care can keep your spine Active and Healthy!

I read a news about type II diabetes recently. It is shocking to know that in 2030 one in 10 adults could have diabetes. Diabetes can affect many parts of your body like eyes, kidney, blood circulation, and nervous system. It causes heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, blindness and more. Diet and exercise have been proven a good way to prevent type II diabetes. It is crucial to develop a healthy life style and eating habits to prevent the disease before it is too late. Just taking medication is not enough.

As a chiropractor, I think proper spine health can help you achieve a healthy life style. Chiropractic care is a safe and natural way to keep you body more balanced and stress free. It keeps your nervous system function better and you feel better. When you feel better you can do more exercise and stay active. When you are more active and keep a good healthy diet, your body will be more healthy. Therefore, the chance for you to get diabetes is much less. Be proactive about your body. Don't wait until it's too late. Prevention is the key to good health and we can help you!

Please go to the link below for the news:

Diabetes forecast to hit one in 10 adults by 2030

Active Spines Chiropractic Keeps Your Spine Active and Pain Free! You can contact Dr. Shao-Hao Cheng at 425-818-0086 or info@activespines.com

Chiropractic contributes to success of St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco Giants

Chiropractic care can keep your spine active and healthy. Recently I read an article on Chiropractic Economic proves that again. Lots of professional athletes utilize chiropractic care to keep them in the game or back to the game faster. With a more balanced spine, you can bring your performance to the next level.

At Active Spines Chiropractic, we focus on proper alignment of your spine and proper muscle function. Besides chiropractic adjustment, proper rehab exercise for your neck, mid and low back are also very important. That is why we also have you do exercises in office. With this comprehensive chiropractic plus sports therapy care, you will become active and healthy before you know it!

You can find out more from Chiropractic Economic below:

Chiropractic team doctors Ralph Filson, DC, of the Cardinals, and Michael Gazdar, DC, of the San Francisco Giants, explain that regular chiropractic care provides baseball players with proper spinal function and balance to reduce the risk of spine-related injuries, enhance recovery time, and improve overall performance.

http://www.chiroeco.com/chiropractic/news/11929/52/chiropractic-contributes-to-success-of-st-louis-cardinals-san-francisco-giants/

Active Spines Chiropractic Keeps Your Spine Active and Pain Free! You can contact Dr. Shao-Hao Cheng at 425-818-0086 or info@activespines.com

Something new and interesting: QR codes

Today I read an article about QR code (quick response code). I had two made to test the water and see how it works.

This is our website address.










This is to our Yelp page. Interesting!











Active Spines Chiropractic Keeps Your Spine Active and Pain Free! You can contact Dr. Shao-Hao Cheng at 425-818-0086 or info@activespines.com

Ankle sprain treatment: PRICE and more!

Ankle sprain/strain is a very common injury among athletes or the regular population. The most common ankle sprain is that your ankle rolls outward and your foot turns inward (inversion). This results in over stretching, partial tear or complete of the lateral side of ankle ligaments such as anterior talofibular lig, calcaneofibular lig. or posterior talo fibular lig depending on the severity of the injury. Grade I over stretch ligaments and Grage II partial ligamentous tear respond very well to traditional physiotherapy, manual therapy and chiropractic adjustments.

After detail examination ruling out contra-indication of conservative care, PRICE is the first step of treatment. "P" stands for protection. Protect the injury site from second injury. "R" stands for rest. Proper rest can prevent the condition from getting worse and allow the body to heal. "I" stand for icing. Ice your ankle 15 minutes on and 15 minutes off is very critical for the first 24 to 48 hours. You have to repeat 3 to 4 time at least. "C" stands for compression. Besides icing it is important to compress the injury side with elastic bandage. Don't wrap too hard. You can check your toes' circulation to make sure it is not too tight. "E" stands for elevation. Make sure your ankle is above your heart when lying down. This will help your body absorb the extra fluid due to inflammation. What else need to be done after PRICE?

1. When the swelling is going down, it's time for some active therapies to help your body healing in the right direction.
2. Besides icing and compression, it is important to use Kinesio Tape over the injury site to promote lymphatic drainage.
3. Gentle manual therapy to mobilization ankle joints is also important. This will help restore range of motion and promote healing.
4. I would also include some cross friction massage over the injury site depending on patient tolerance and conditions. One effective technique is using "Gua Sha." You can read more about this in my previous blog. Once a week for this would be sufficient.
5. Ankle stretching exercises: stretch your ankle in dorsiflexion, plantar flexion, inversion and eversion for 10 seconds and 3 repetitions.
   
6. Chiropractic adjustment for the ankle low back and pelvis. This will help realign and balance the pelvis, and lower extremities.
   
7. Proprioception training and strength training: using a BAPS board or a vestibular disc is a good way to help patient regain balance and proprioception over the injury foot. Without proper proprioception training ankle sprain will likely to happen again.
   

The procedures above are some basic treatment protocol that we use in our clinic. Please consult your health care provider before doing these on yourself.

Active Spines Chiropractic Keeps Your Spine Active and Pain Free! You can contact Dr. Shao-Hao Cheng at 425-818-0086 or info@activespines.com

4 Effective shoulder pain treatments and related problems

A group of researchers published a study on JMPT June 2011. They did a systematic review on manual and manipulative therapy (MMT) for common shoulder pain and disorders. The result shows that it is effective to treat shoulder complaints with manipulation, soft tissue techniques, exercises and other therapy.

Personally I have found that this is quite an effective approach for treating common shoulder related issues such as rotator cuff injuries (grade I and II), frozen shoulder, shoulder impingement syndrome, poor posture( inward rotated shoulder), and other chronic soft tissue problems as well.

What to expect for the first visit? After a thorough chiropractic, orthopedic, physical and neurological check up over shoulder, neck and upper back region, we can identify the cause of the problem. From there we know if this is something we can help. Generally speaking there will be 3 phases for treatment of care. First is to decrease pain and symptoms. Second is promote pain free range of motion over shoulder, neck and upper back area. Third phase is to restore proper proprioception, stability, strengthening the shoulder girdle and proper posture.

What are the treatment protocols? First step is the mobilization and adjustment of the shoulder, neck and upper back to restore proper joint motion. Once there is proper motion over the shoulder region the next step is to relax and loosen up the tight muscles in those area. There are many techniques for that and one I found very effective is "Gua Sha". This works very well to break up adhesion and promote healing.

Third step is to start with some cervical, thoracic and shoulder joints active range of motion exercises and also stretch out major muscles around it. This has to be done at home daily to promote healing and maintain proper mobility.
The last part is to the stabilization and strengthening of the shoulder joint itself. A very effective and easy way to do is to use Thera Band for exercises. Patients can do it at home or clinic. Proper instruction and direction is needed before start doing this at home. By strengthening the rotator cuff muscles, and stabilizing the shoulder joint, it can prevent future flare up and you can enjoy life more~

Active Spines Chiropractic Keeps Your Spine Active and Pain Free! You can contact Dr. Shao-Hao Cheng at 425-818-0086 or info@activespines.com

Referrence: Manipulative therapy for shoulder pain and disorders: expansion of a systematic review.

What to do after car accident? Is Chiropractic care right for you?

Life is stressful enough. Getting into a car accident is the last thing everyone wants. It is not fun. It will give you more stress since you have to deal with the insurance company, get your car repaired, settle the car accident claim and seek medical attention. There are lots of things that need to be taking care of but there is not much time left from your busy life. With these little things stress adds up even more, you feel not only miserable but also suffering aches and pains. So what should you do next?

But the good news is chiropractic care might be able to help you! Do I need to see the doctor if I am not bleeding, if I do not have broken bones, cuts or bruises? Yes! You should definitely have a check up by a doctor who is specialized in treating ligametous musculo-skeletal injuries (soft tissue injuries). Un-diagnosed or treated post motor vehicle injuries tend to lead to future chronic aches and pains. Study shows even 40% of patient who under gone treatment develop chronic long term problems. Therefore even though you only feel slight discomfort over your neck or back, you should still get checked out by a chiropractor.

Neck pain after car accident? You might have whiplash injury. Study have shown that a trauma to the cervical spine may accelerate normal age related deterioration of the discs[1]. The cervical intervertebral discs may be at risk for injury during whiplash because of excessive disc strain[2]. In the previous studies, the most common site of disc injury was C5-C6. During a rear ended impact, even at low speed, your spine undergoes deformation during the early part of whiplash acceleration [3]. This happens before your neck muscles start to contract and protect your neck. As a result your neck and/or back joint get jammed and sprain. This will not only damage the joint, capsule, but cause early degeneration of cervical disc. Therefore it is imperative to see a doctor who is familiar with treating post auto accident injuries.

Area of concern after automobile accident: wrist (carpal tunnel syndrome), elbow, shoulder (rotator cuff injuries), neck (whiplash), upper back, low back, chest, hip, knee, and foot (fallen arch syndrome). A detail chiropractic, orthopedic, physical and neurological exam will be done for the first visit. We also have onsite x-ray for diagnostic imaging study especially for the cervical region. We use multidisciplinary treatment protocols for whiplash related injuries such as chiropractic care, massage, traction, heat or cold therapy, manual therapy, exercise therapy for the neck, shoulder, knee and back. Massage therapy is very effective in helping your body recovering from car accident injuries. Our massage therapists are specialized in medical therapeutic massage.

Besides comprehensive chiropractic, rehab and massage treatment in our clinic. We also coordinate care with other health care providers during your treatment. We work closely with your family doctor, acupuncturist, physical therapist, physiatrist, neurologist, and radiologist to name a few. Multi-specialty care will make sure that you have a speedy recovery without surprises. Delaying check up or treatment can lead to long term problem. I am sure that is not what you want. Call us at 425-818-0086 right after your car accident. We are here to answer your questions and help you get back to your normal life!

Active Spines Chiropractic Keeps Your Spine Active and Pain Free! You can contact Dr. Shao-Hao Cheng at 425-818-0086 or info@activespines.com

1. Pettersson K, Hildingsson C, Toolanen G, et al. Spine, 1997 Disc Pathology After Whiplash Injury; 22(3):283-288
2. Panjabi M, Ito S, Pearson A, et al. Spine 2004 Injury Mechanisms of the Cervical Intervetebral Disc During Stimulated Whiplash; 29(11):1217-1225.
3. Tencer A, Mirza S, Bensel K. Spine 2001 Response of Human Volunteers to Rear-End Impacts; 26(22):2432-2442. November 15, 2001

Posture Pump neck exercise for neck pain and posture problem

Posture pump exercise is one of the many spinal rehabilitation protocols that we do in our clinic. Once your condition is under control with chiropractic adjustments and neck rehabilitation exercises, which means you are feeling better and the pain level is going down, posture pump exercise will be a good addition to your spinal health. You will usually do this for about 10 plus minutes prior to your chiropractic treatment. Who is a condidate for this therapy? This is good for someone whom is on the computer long time, dirving long time, poor psoture, after car accident, or someone with lots of shoulder neck tension. What can this therapy do for you?

1. Correct poor posture.



2. Increase joint flexibility and mobility.



3. Make you feel taller!

Last please talk to your health care provider before doing this therapy.

Active Spines Chiropractic Keeps Your Spine Active and Pain Free! You can contact Dr. Shao-Hao Cheng at 425-818-0086 or info@activespines.com

Top 5 Thoracic Spine Exercises for neck pain, upper back pain and poor posture

Total Spine Rehabilitation(TSR)is our spinal rehabilitation protocols at Active Spines Chiropractic in Bellevue. This is going to be a 3 part series! We will focus on 1. cervical, 2. thoracic and 3. lumbar regions!

In this article we will focus on thoracic exercises done in Active Spines Chiropractic. Please consult your health care provider first before doing these exercises! Because I want you to do it correctly! You do not want to develop bad habits! Let's begin:

TSR(Total Spine Rehab) for the thoracic (upper back):

1. Thoracic (upper back) stretching exercises: When it come to stretching exercises for the upper back some of the key muscles that needs to be stretched out: trapezius muscles, rhomboid muscles, levator scapular muscles, rotator cuff muscles, lats (latissimus dorsi), pecs (pectoralis muscles) just to name a few. You want to stretch each muscle group at least 3 to 5 times with 10 to 15 seconds holding. Make sure you breathe in and out slowly while doing this. This will help your muscle to relax and loosen up. It is a good way to prevent upper back pain, soreness, tightness and stiffness.


2. Shoulder roll exercise: By rolling your shoulder in a circular motion this will increase blood flow over your upper back and neck region, reset your muscle tone, maintain mobility over your shoulder and upper back. Roll your shoulder backward 20 times and 3 sets. You can also roll your shoulder forward. I recommend rolling backward more. This helps correcting slouching posture.


3. 
   3.Wall Angel shoulder-scapular exercise: this is another good exercise to increase the mobility of your shoulder blades (scapular). Do this 10 repetition and 3 sets a day will be a good maintenance home upper back exercise.

1. 4.Bruggers Relaxation Exercise: this is a good exercise to correct poor posture. This is a combination of chin-tuck exercise and squeezing your shoulder blades together. This is quite beneficial for people who's in front of the computer all day. You can also start with a 15 seconds holding for 3 to 5 repetition and doing this through out the day.

5. Thoracic foam roller exercise: this is a good exercise to maintain mobility of the thoracic spine and rib cage. You can lie on the roller and move up and down 5 to 10 times and 3 sets. You can also roll side ways to mobilize the rib heads. Proper neck and core muscle strength is needed for this exercise.


Last, please follow up with your chiropractor and have your spine check is the essential step of proper spine health! Having a good spine alignment is like a building with good foundation. You will enjoy life more when your spine is in good health!

Active Spines Chiropractic in Bellevue WA Keeps Your Spine Active and Pain Free! You can contact Dr. Shao-Hao Cheng at 425-818-0086 or info@activespines.com