Recurring Foot Cramps

As experts in caring for the musculoskeletal system, we at Kosak Chiropractic in Fairfield often help patients to recover from recurring muscle cramps. Our methods are safe and non-invasive, but as a practice devoted to maintaining wellness, we want our patients to understand how to avoid the causes of cramps, as well. In the summer, people are especially prone to developing foot cramps, and if these go unaddressed, they could throw off the balance of the whole body.

A foot cramp, or charley horse, occurs when a muscle in the foot contracts and won’t release. Some foot muscles travel up the calf, and it’s possible for a constriction to be related to something elsewhere in the lower limb. If the cramp occurs while the patient is lying down, they are advised to put weight on the affected foot by pressing it against the floor. If the cramp occurred while they were active, they can gently stretch their leg out while massaging their calf and pulling their toes toward their face. A heating pad may also be helpful, but should only be applied for fifteen minutes at a time.

People should always stretch before exercising. If you frequently get foot cramps while playing sports, you may need to review whether your warm-ups are adequately increasing blood flow to your lower limbs. If your foot cramps occur at night, the problem may be that your shoes are too tight. Dehydration also plays a role in muscle cramps, which is why they happen more in the summer. If stretching, better footwear, and hydration aren’t enough to stop the cramps from coming back, we may examine the patient for signs of a nerve compression in their hip or lower back. A chiropractic adjustment or therapeutic massage may help to relieve pressure from the peripheral nerves. As providers of lifestyle medicine counseling, we may also advise patients to increase their intake of potassium, calcium, and magnesium.

Kosak Chiropractic is located at 1252 Travis Blvd., Suite G, Fairfield, CA, 94533. To schedule an appointment, visit Kosak Chiropractic online or call 707-426-1111.

 

Leg Pain and Back Problems

As a chiropractic office, Kosak Chiropractic in Fairfield offers holistic treatments for problems in the musculoskeletal system. The nerves to the rest of our bodies emerge from the spine, and many muscles in the lower body connect to the pelvis or lower back. Since leg pain and back pain are often intertwined, let’s take a look at how they may play into each other and how we treat them.

The nerves to the legs emerge from the lumbar region of the spine, or lower back. They pass through the muscles of the pelvis, and compression in these nerves could cause a shooting pain, tingling, or numbness. The compression could occur at the point where they emerge from the spine as a result of a herniated disc, a bone spur, or the dislocation of a vertebra. There might also be swelling in the piriformis muscle, which links the lower back to the leg, in the sacroiliac joints, which connect the pelvis to the base of the spine, or in the bursae that lubricate each hip. Swelling and constriction in the leg muscles might also cause them to pull on the hips or lower back.

These are not the only causes of leg pain, but they are among the most common and the most responsive to noninvasive treatment. We work to reduce inflammation and set joints back in the right place by performing gentle, manual adjustments. These adjustments can release pressure on compressed nerves and allow the body to continue its natural healing process. We may also perform massage therapy and electric muscle stimulation to relax tight lower back muscles and allow blood to flow in and out more easily.

Kosak Chiropractic is located at 1252 Travis Blvd., Suite G, Fairfield, CA, 94533. To schedule an appointment, visit Kosak Chiropractic online or call 707-426-1111.

Cervicogenic Headaches

If you frequently suffer from headaches, the problem may be in your neck. As experts in musculoskeletal care, we at Kosak Chiropractic are happy to assist people suffering from blockages in the cervical spine. But many people are unaware of how this may be able to relieve pain ranging from their lower jaw to the top of their head, which is why we wanted to explain what cervicogenic headaches are and how chiropractic can combat them.

Sensation in our faces comes from the trigeminal nerve. It emerges from the cervical spine, or neck region, and branches off to the eyes and forehead, maxilla, and mandible. If there is a compression in the cervical spine, pain may be referred to the trigeminal nerve and we would call it "cervicogenic." Compression could be due to swollen muscles, a herniated disc, or dislocated facet joints, among the more common reasons, and is often the result of whiplash. Pain may also radiate to a shoulder or arm, but will usually be limited to one side of the body.

Although whiplash is the most common cause of cervicogenic headaches, people who work with their heads down, such as hair stylists and craftsmen, and people who have bad posture while typing also risk straining their neck muscles. We’ll use manual examinations, range of motion tests, and imaging scans to determine whether a headache could be cervicogenic. If it is, we may employ chiropractic adjustments of the neck, which use gentle, controlled force to stretch the neck muscles and correct the position of the joints. We will also recommend therapeutic exercises that will strengthen the neck muscles to better support the spine and become less vulnerable to fraying.

Kosak Chiropractic is located at 1252 Travis Blvd., Suite G, Fairfield, CA, 94533. To schedule an appointment, visit Kosak Chiropractic online or call 707-426-1111.

Back Pain in Teen Athletes

Although teenagers don’t suffer from back pain at as high a rate as adults, they’re not immune to it. There are several health conditions that could predispose a teenager to developing back problems, and the teenage years are when athletes usually begin to incur a risk of overuse injuries. At Kosak Chiropractic in Fairfield, we’re happy to help teens learn about wellness and what they can do to exercise safely and recover effectively.

Usually, when teenagers suffer back pain due to overuse injuries, the damage is limited to their muscles. In such cases, they may want to apply ice for fifteen minute intervals immediately after the injury and gradually work their way back to normal activity. If pain is recurring, we can provide electric muscle stimulation and cold laser therapy. But without a professional diagnosis, it may be difficult to tell the difference between muscle sprain and a dislocation of the spinal column. These could include spondylolisthesis, in which one of the vertebrae slip forward past the others, a fracture in the facet joints, or, less common in adolescents, a herniated disc.

Chiropractic adjustments can be helpful while recovering from a spinal injury, but we also offer lifestyle counseling, including physical therapy and nutrition. Teenage girls, in particular, are vulnerable to osteoporosis, and need both regular calcium and strong core muscles to prevent back injuries. Scoliosis is also more common in girls, and teenagers need to be examined for it at regular appointments. They may be able to reduce its severity through physical therapy and bracing.

Kosak Chiropractic is located at 1252 Travis Blvd., Suite G, Fairfield, CA, 94533. To schedule an appointment, visit Kosak Chiropractic online or call 707-426-1111.

Exercises for Healthy Hips

Keeping your muscles strong and flexible is essential for keeping your skeleton in alignment. Whether you’re recovering from an injury or just trying to stay healthy, it's a good idea to be stretching regularly. At Kosak Chiropractic in Fairfield, we help patients to devise individualized therapeutic regimens that fit their needs and are safe for them. But there are a few strategies for maintaining strong hips that work for most people, so let’s explore the basics.

We need to be cautious about forms of exercise such as jumping that subject the joints to repeated impacts. While in recovery from an injury, it’s often better to start slowly with range-of-motion exercises, such as hip circles. This means standing on one leg and slowly rotating the other in the air. Another exercise is the knee-to-chest stretch, in which a person lies on their back with their legs straight, and lifts one knee toward their chest and holds it before switching to the other leg. Side leg raises, in which a person lies on their side and lifts their leg while keeping it extended, are also a good way of strengthening the glutes.

As a person recovers, they’ll be able to do more complicated stretches and higher-stress exercises, such as lunges. The keys to avoiding overuse injuries are to ramp up intensity slowly and to maintain a varied work-out routine. Strong core and hip muscles will allow runners and other athletes to better withstand the jostling their joints are subjected to when their feet strike the ground or they have to change direction suddenly. We can also help athletes to recover faster by providing electric muscle stimulation, which increases blood flow by contracting the muscles, and by adjusting dislocated joints that may be putting extra strain on the hip and lower back muscles.

Kosak Chiropractic is located at 1252 Travis Blvd., Suite G, Fairfield, CA, 94533. To schedule an appointment, visit Kosak Chiropractic online or call 707-426-1111.

Hip Bursitis

When there’s a problem in the biomechanics of their hip, a person is at greater risk of developing bursitis. This kind of inflammation could cause them further pain and make it difficult to move their leg. At Kosak Chiropractic in Fairfield, we provide a variety of treatments to reduce inflammation and correct biomechanical problems, and are happy to help patients determine whether bursitis could be behind their discomfort.

A bursa is a cushioning sac of fluid surrounded by a membrane made of a tissue called synovium. Bursae secrete lubricant, and they may be found in several parts of the body including the front and side of the hips. The bursae on the sides of the hips are the ones that get injured more often. Known as the trochanteric bursae, one is located on the outward-facing side of the top of each thighbone. They may suffer acute injuries or become inflamed due to stress put on them by overly tight connective fascia and tendons, although degeneration of those tissues could be painful even without inflaming the bursae.

Pain from hip bursitis is usually worse when a person has been at rest, and it may interfere with them moving their leg past the midpoint of their body. The pain may also radiate from the side of the hip to the lower back or thigh. We’ll determine whether a patient is suffering from biomechanical problems along their lower limbs that might be throwing off the alignment of their pelvic joints and contributing to excessive pressure on the bursae. Treatment options include joint adjustments, stretching and physical therapy to improve the flexibility of the hip tendons and ligaments, and therapeutic ultrasound to improve blood flow.

Kosak Chiropractic is located at 1252 Travis Blvd., Suite G, Fairfield, CA, 94533. To schedule an appointment, visit Kosak Chiropractic online or call 707-426-1111.

Process of Disc Degeneration

A herniated disc can be a big problem. Besides being sore, it may cause pain or numbness to radiate to other parts of your body and contribute to further dysfunction in your spinal column. But there is a difference between a disc that becomes herniated due to an injury and degenerative disc disease. At Kosak Chiropractic in Fairfield, we provide holistic, low-risk treatment for both, but we want to focus this week on the importance of managing disc degeneration.

The spinal discs are shock absorbers and supply much of the spine’s height. They are interspersed between the bodies of the articulated vertebrae, with the exception of the top two vertebrae. Spinal discs consist of an inner ring of gel called the nucleus pulposus and an outer ring of fibrous material, called the annulus fibrosus. One of the common problems with aging is that the nucleus pulposus loses water, causing it to become less springy and putting the annulus fibrosus at greater risk of developing small tears. As the annulus fibrosus degenerates, it becomes deformed, creating a risk that the disc will bulge outward and compress nearby tissues. It also releases proteins that trigger inflammation, restricting the patient’s movement.

A herniated disc can cause a throbbing ache, and if it’s compressing a nerve root, the patient may also feel a shooting pain along that nerve. In those cases, we can provide chiropractic adjustments to put the discs and vertebrae back in the right place and use therapeutic massage to reduce inflammation. It’s not clear why the nucleus pulposus loses water with age, but musculoskeletal maintenance can help keep pressure off the spinal discs. Therapeutic exercises will keep the back muscles strong and flexible, and our nutritional counseling will help patients maintain a healthy weight.

Kosak Chiropractic is located at 1252 Travis Blvd., Suite G, Fairfield, CA, 94533. To schedule an appointment, visit Kosak Chiropractic online or call 707-426-1111.