It’s been a fun-filled summer of traveling, hiking, and getting ready for Fall. While I am not fully ready for Fall, it is my favorite time of the year, so I will take the cooler mornings and evenings if I have to!
I wanted to share with you some of my health issues to see if they resonate with anyone and my journey of figuring out the how and why of my issues. The feedback I have gotten from patients in the past is it helps them understand an issue or condition, helps them share with friends and family who may be suffering from similar or the same issues, and you get to read about my failures and learnings…on myself!
Quick Updates from Our Office
Summer is over and everyone is back in the office, ready to help as your school schedules take shape and to help you re-establish your chiropractic care needs. A lot of people take the “summer off” so to speak, but if any past issues or new things are cropping up, we can help you take care of it all.
Dr Rachel Hetherington
Doctorate in Chiropractic
If you haven’t been in since August, we have a new face here, Dr. Rachel Hetherington, DC. She is a recent graduate who is giving us the pleasure of caring for patients of Advanced Sports Chiropractic. She is doing a fabulous job, and I think you all will love her.
Don’t worry, I am not gone, and still available, but if you need something fast, and I can’t get you in, please give her a chance. She has great skills and a shining personality!
Personal Updates: How I Hurt Myself Again
Let’s talk shoulders, calves, and core/low back issues.
At the start of the new year, I was doing a lot of gym work, and my warm-up consisted of pull-ups, push-ups, squats, and lunges. It took me 20-30 minutes to get through several sets, and I started to have anterior shoulder pain that just wouldn’t go away.
It took me about 4 months to fully realize that my so-called “warm-ups” were really hard, and overusing my shoulders. I developed bilateral bicep tendonitis!
As much as I love pull-ups, I had to back off big time and get treatment by chiropractic, massage, and instrument-assisted soft tissue therapies like Graston and ART. I had to modify my behaviors, and here’s one of the big ones…rest. Damn, I hate to slow down, but I really had to shift and alter my workouts to not involve movements that caused this issue to flare up.
It is now September, and I think I can do so much more now with all of this care and rest. As I get back to the gym more, I am reflecting on the how and why I hurt it, and am actively shifting to movements that preserve this part of my shoulder. So far, I am winning! Wish me luck.
Calf Injuries
Oh, my calves.
This one was harder to figure out from last year, but I think I got it now. I do a lot of mountain hiking in August, September, and October, steep, un-trailed adventures, and one of my favorite training tools is my backpack with 70 lbs in it. I will take it to Taylor Stairs and walk stairs for 30-60 minutes, go hiking in the Chuckanuts for 1-2 hours, only to have my calves get very tight, and the bottom of my feet will burn, ache, and get tight after sleeping.
Once up and moving, it isn’t too bad. One of the main tenets of training (which I ignored), is to start slow, add 10% effort per week, and slowly build to not overload your system/muscles. Well, I can tolerate a lot, so I pushed through my calves getting tight, sore, staying tight for weeks, then foot pain and burning feet, to finally realize that I have created what I believe is an Exertional Compartment Syndrome of my calf muscles. It isn’t like Plantar Fascitis in several ways, which is what made this tricky to figure out.
Treatment
Applying chiropractic, massage, yoga-like stretching, ice, and – there it is again – rest, I have slowly started to limp my way out of this one. I hiked all weekend and climbed to the summit of 7,000 ft. Ruth Mountain, and down to camp, around 12 miles, all in a day.
My feet were tired, but actually better with all the walking. Hiking out was much better also, so I am on the mend and determined to use a multi-tool approach to healing my issue. This approach is what I do with everyone when they come in, as no one health issue is the same!
Low-Back Injuries and Treatment
Lastly, my low back. You all know I have had two back surgeries, and a disc injection that has helped a lot, but this is my weak spot. So what do you do with weak spots?
Give it something to get stronger.
Now, my pre-workouts are front and side planks, hip drops, ab wheel rolling, med ball twists, chiropractic care, and massage. And what has it done? I am getting stronger and have less low-back issues. Not a real big surprise, but I thought I was doing good until I started doing better. Again, a multi-step approach to health care really does wonders!
Conclusion
If you have questions about me, what I do, how I do it, and how I could help you, your family, your friends, or your co-workers, we work mostly off of referrals from past and present patients, and we give each person the quality care that I would give my mother. It has always been an honor to work with you, even if I haven’t seen you in months or years, for just a tune-up or a new issue.
Our primary goal is (I hope) that we are serving you better than any other chiropractor in town, offering you the most value for your time and money, and getting you back to the life you want, as best as possible.
Please share this article with anyone you feel is interested, or give us a shout if we haven’t seen you in a while. We are trying to grow our practice with the new addition of Dr. Hetherington, so please consider our clinic for any of your healthcare needs. We look forward to serving you, and have a wonderful Fall!
Make A Chiropractic Appointment
Call (360) 671-5706 to schedule a visit at Advanced Sports Chiropractic & Massage