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How to do Garden Chores Correctly
The first thing is to make sure that you take breaks, walk around and stretch throughout the time you are gardening! The old adage of “Stop and smell the roses (or daylilies and iris)” is important to take heed of so that you don’t over stress your muscles or joints.
When you start lifting things, you should remember these rules:
- Face the thing you are picking up.
- Bend at the knees to pick things up.
- Keep things close to your body, near your center of gravity.
When weeding you should:
- Either weed on your knees or bend over with a hand or arm on one thigh.
- Don’t over reach and twist.
When digging, shoveling, or raking you should:
- Use the correct size shovel/tool for your size (women should typically use smaller tools—I personally use a ditching shovel for all my planting and transplanting chores).
- Alternate sides you are shoveling or raking from—yes, this takes some getting used to.
- Try not to twist too much.
- Use more legs than back.
 The purpose of the neck and occipital (back of the head) muscles is to support the head on top of your spine, as well as, to move the head and neck.
- The longer muscles start in the midback and shoulder regions and insert into the cervical (neck) vertebrae and the back of the skull (the occiput).
- The shorter and deeper muscles go between the individual cervical vertebrae, and also the occiput.
- When you have a cervical or occipital subluxation, your muscles become out of balance, with one side pulling more.
A simple test is to stand in front of a mirror. Close your eyes and stand where you think you are standing straight. Then open your eyes and check to see if your eyes or ears are level with each other, whether your shoulders are level with each other, whether your chin is in the midline, or whether you head is tilted or rotated. Any of those items can mean that your muscles are out of balance and that you probably have a cervical or occipital subluxation.
- Muscles that are constantly contracting, trying to pull the vertebrae back into place, or trying to stabilize the neck can be felt as tightness, may have “knots” in them, or even be felt as deep ache.
- Hot showers, ice, and massage may relieve some tightness.
- Chiropractic treatment will also help relieve and re-balance those muscles.
Neck Pain
Many people with neck and arm pain go to chiropractors to help relieve their pain. This also includes people with numbness in their hands and arms or headaches that stem from the neck.
What is the Cause?
When the cervical or neck vertebrae are misaligned or “subluxated” they can cause several different types of pain. The first is an ache from tight and stressed muscles that are trying to pull the vertebrae back into place. The second is a sharp pain from either the joints, the discs (padding between the vertebrae), the nerve roots that get “pinched” or the ligaments that are injured. This sharp pain can go up or down the spine or out across the shoulders. Thirdly, you can get numbness or tingling down either or both arms all the way to the fingers. Depending on where there are misalignments or subluxations in the neck will determine where the pain or tingling occurs.
What is the Treatment
By gently adjusting the cervical (neck) and upper thoracic (midback) vertebrae, a chiropractor can take the pressure off of pinched nerves, restoring the normal nerve impulses, taking pressure off of the discs, decreasing the pain or numbness, and helping to balance the surrounding musculature.
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The First Annual Healthy Living Day be held on April 10th from 10 am until 2 pm at Zager Chiropractic Services at 2840 Business Loop 181 N, Floresville, TX. This mini-seminar day will provide information on a wide variety of common conditions such as low back pain and headache, as well as self help topics like how to do core exercises, nutritional tips, exercises for kids, correct lifting techniques, and relaxation techniques. It is free of charge and refreshments will be provided.
Click here to sign up for the class or Call (830) 393-6554
Some of the co-existing conditions of Fibromyalgia also include:
Chronic fatigue syndrome
Depression
Endometriosis
Headaches
Irritable bowel disease
Hypothyroidism
Lupus
Osteoarthritis
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Restless Leg Syndrome
There is also some talk about whether there is a chronic, subclinical (not a full blown) yeast infection component of Fibromyalgia. People who consume lots of sugary foods (sugar, fructose, and corn syrup) are more prone to yeast infections. Yeast infections can reduce your energy, make PMS worse, and alter your digestion habits.
I also believe that there may be either thyroid and/or estrogen-progesterone imbalances that are present, but which may not be severe enough to show up on lab tests as below normal values. They sometimes show as low normals. These imbalances may be causes or simply aggravating factors.
Some researchers are now looking into the possibility that one of the things that happens is that the nervous system becomes hyperactive to pain. This means that it takes a much lower stimulus to provoke a pain interpretation in the brain. Instead of a deep pressure to evoke a pain sensation, it only takes a light pressure. Instead of a lot of a muscle activity to make your muscles feel sore – it just takes a little bit of activity. Your brain is “primed” to feel the pain.
Additionally, nerve pathways are “learned” pathways and they build reflexes or associated pathways. Just as an athlete practices and trains their muscles to respond in a certain way – your body and nerves “learn” to react in certain ways. The longer time you have pain – the body (muscles and nerves) learn to react in a particular way and develop into bad habits. We have to “re-train” both your nerves and your muscles to react in different “good” ways.
First I believe that myofascitis can turn into Myofascial Pain Syndrome and it can then turn into Fibromyalgia. There are a lot of components to Fibromyalgia and each component can become a vicious cycle in and of itself.
Researchers estimate that approximately 4% of the population has Fibromyalgia, mostly women. Fibromyalgia is probably a much higher percentage.
When you are under stress (constant or high) your muscles contract and tighten down. If they are in prolonged contraction they can build up adhesions or scar tissue between the muscle fiber and the sheath and other muscle fibers. That is the knot you feel. The knot can become inflamed and tender. As the knots stay there, they can become tender points and then trigger points where they themselves can cause pain. Your muscles can become stiff and won’t work smoothly. Remember that you have muscles everywhere: You digestive tract is one big smooth muscle, as are your arteries. You will see the connection a little later with the co-existing conditions.
Sometimes the stress that initiates everything can be from a specific injury or it can be from repetitive micro traumas. The more your muscles stay contracted, the more likely adhesions (like scar tissue) form, and then create tender points and trigger points. The longer your muscles stay that way, the more the muscle thinks that that is the correct position.
When you are in pain, you have difficulty finding a good position (non painful) to sleep in and your sleep quality goes down. When you don’t get good sleep – your muscles do not get the rest they need, nor does your body get the repair time it needs. If you don’t get good sleep for more than 2 weeks – you are heading toward sleep deprivation. Your body just doesn’t work very well, nor does your brain. A vicious cycle can and will start and any part of the body can now be affected.
Trigger Points: Trigger points are discrete, focal, hyperirritable spots located in a taut band of skeletal muscle. They are usually found as sore or tender round spots in muscles. You can usually “move” them around. Many of them are found near muscle/tendon junctions or near tendon/bone junctions. They can produce pain locally and/or in a referred pattern and often accompany chronic musculoskeletal disorders. Acute trauma or repetitive micro trauma may lead to the development of stress on muscle fibers and the formation of trigger points. Tender Points are like trigger points, but do not refer or radiate pain out.
Tender points/trigger points can be painful for several reasons. First there is inflammation or swelling around the knot, which is painful in itself. Secondly, as the muscle is in continual contraction it fatigues (painful) and waste products (lactic acid – painful) build up. Thirdly it can build neural “links” to other nerves stimulating their pain fibers. Very similar to sclerodermal pain from a heart attack is referred to your left shoulder. Fourthly, the rest of the muscle is now not working at its optimum level or ergonomics because a portion of it isn’t working in concert with the rest of the fibers. This can overburden the rest of the fibers and not make them as effective.
Myofascitis (muscle fiber inflammation): a condition where muscle fibers are inflamed. This can be either acute (a specific injury or infection of a muscle) or chronic. The chronic condition is much like Fibromyalgia. Your muscle fibers are tender or inflamed and just hurt.
Myofascial Pain Syndrome (pain syndrome of the muscle fibers): This condition is characterized by tender points or trigger points in various muscles that when pressed on are very tender and can refer or radiate pain themselves. Some experts believe that Myofascial Pain Syndrome can turn into Fibromyalgia.
Fibromyalgia (fibers of the muscles hurt): is a chronic condition where you have pain in a variety of places throughout your body, especially in your muscles, ligaments, and tendons; as well as, fatigue and multiple “tender points” or “trigger points”. The pain can be vague (more aching than sharp) and can change intensity from day to day. Most people with Fibromyalgia also suffer from fatigue and sleep disturbances.
Many people with neck and arm pain go to chiropractors to help relieve their pain. This includes people with numbness in their hands and arms. There are numerous neck and arm conditions that respond well to chiropractic care including: Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS), cervical radiculitis, brachial neuritis, carpal tunnel, neuritis, and myofascitis/fibromyalgia.
By gently adjusting the cervical (neck) and upper thoracic (midback) vertebrae, a chiropractor can take the pressure off of pinched nerves, restoring the normal nerve impulses, decreasing the pain or numbness, and helping to balance the surrounding musculature.
In addition to adjusting the spine, Dr. Zager gives each patient specific exercises to help strengthen up their muscles which in turn helps keep the vertebrae in their proper positions. She also shows you techniques to help yourself at home, including massage techniques.
If you have neck or arm pain, call today for a consultation with Dr. Zager to see if chiropractic can help you.
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