Newsletter’s
Shoulder instability
An injured or inflamed shoulder is often subsequent to injuries/falls on the shoulder or an outstretched arm in young people. In middle aged (age 30 -50) people most of these problems are due to vigorous overuse repetitive activities such as lifting, painting, shoveling, throwing and reaching. In the elderly, rolling over in bed can be enough to tear or inflame the shoulder.
Symptomatically, you may have pain while lying on the affected side, reaching overhead, reaching behind your back, reaching into the back seat of the car, driving or attempting to lift with the arm out away from the body. This type of pain is generally labeled as tendonitis or bursitis.
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Buttock trigger points
Buttock and Leg Pain is most commonly caused by joint dysfunction (abnormal motion) of the joints of the low back, pelvis and hips. Restoring the function (normal motion pattern) eliminates the pain. Functional problems are called syndromes. They are correctable because disease and pathology are not the cause of the pain.
Dysfunction of the muscles (myofascial trigger point pain syndromes) that attach to and move the joints of the low back, pelvis and hips can also cause low back, buttock and leg pain. Each dysfunctional muscle has a characteristic area of enderness, tightness and referral pain pattern. You will note from the examples below that there is a huge overlap of muscular referral pain patterns so the pain pattern alone is not enough to make a diagnosis.
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Vertigo
Vertigo is the illusion of a spinning or rotational movement. This sensation is similar to the feeling that follows doing rapid pirouettes, getting off a rotating chair or a merry-go-round. You can feel as if the environment is spinning around you or that the spinning movement or rotation is within your head. It is normal to experience vertigo when you get off a merry-go-round but it is not normal to experience vertigo when you look up or rotate your head and neck to look behind you or when you roll over in bed.
Vertigo maybe associated with other symptoms as dizziness, light headedness, nausea, vomiting and sweating. While vertigo may be incapacitating and result is lost productivity and quality of life it is generally treatable and rarely the sign of a life-threatening or serious disorder.
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TMJ dysfunction syndrome
TMJ Dysfunction
Temporomandibular joint = jaw joint or TMJ for short. TMJ dysfunction = abnormal function mastication (chewing); (motion pattern) of the jaw with or without pain.
With normal mandibular (jaw) motion the mouth opens and closes smoothly in a straight line and the upper and lower teeth line up in the center – normal occlusion, Figure 1. The normal mouth opening span is wide enough to accommodate three fingers inserted between the incisor teeth Figure 2.
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Short Leg Syndrome
Short Leg Syndrome is a diagnostic term referring to pain and disability as a result of having one leg shorter than the other. 90% of the population has one leg 5mm or more shorter than the other. In one study, 2/3 of the people with a leg length inequality (LLI) of 5+mm had a history of low back pain. The greater the LLI the more likely the individual will experience low back pain or notice that they need to get the length of their trousers hemmed to different lengths. LLI is one of many causes of scoliosis, a lateral curve of the spine, figure 1. A scoliosis due to LLI is called a postural or a pelvic tilt scoliosis.
There are two types of leg length inequalities: functional and structural. Functional leg length inequality means the leg bones are the same length but one appears shorter than the other and the body functions as if one leg is short. Functional leg length inequalities are commonly due to pronated feet or a twisted spine subsequent to injury.
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