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My patient could not get an answer to his low back pain symptoms that he was having.

May 28, 2019 Leave a Comment Written by ptnuser

So my patient was having a problem. Pain in the morning within his low back especially in the AM hours when he woke up. The pain was described as “intolerable”and “stiff” and this prevented him from sleeping more than a few hours a night without waking him up. He was having a hard time dressing, biking, and spending time with his kids. The low back pain became so intense that his ability to work became increasingly difficult.

The patient had been to his primary care and orthopedic doctor who had diagnosed him with arthritis at the L3-L5 vertebral levels. He was told to take prescription steroids and rest so that is what he did. He was also given a prescription to see a physician who specialized in spinal injections.

But…after the bout of oral steroids the patient felt worse with increasing pain that was getting worse. He was not sure how to proceed and was not given any other direction.

The patient looked on the internet and had stumbled upon the PTN website. After seeing the blog on 4 Tips for Managing Low Back Arthritis in Pittsburgh, PA the patient began performing the exercises and immediately started having relief. Knowing that if a few simple exercises and other treatments could potentially reduce and/or eliminate his low back pain, he was definitely willing to try anything natural.

The patient then called our office and set up an appointment. He was not aware that he could have come in directly without a referral. He was also not aware that his insurance would pay for most of the therapy.

After about an hour of a detailed examination of the patient’s low back he received a biomechanical diagnosis that included improving certain segments of his lumbar vertebrae, increasing the flexibility of his hamstrings and hip flexors, avoiding certain postures, and activating certain muscle groups. The work would take a few weeks.

The patient was amazed that this process made him 100% pain-free and restored his ability to play with his children, exercise to his previous ability, and to work without limitation. The patient learned that his lifestyle could become drastically better even with the arthritis diagnosis. The result was achieved by a sequence of specific events that required repetition.

To this day the patient hasn’t needed our help again for this condition and this is exactly what we were planning to achieve. Most of the time there is a “right” conservative solution to low back pain that has not been explored.

Defeating Low Back Pain Naturally with these 3 tips

So if you have low back pain similar to this patient please ask yourself: How long has low back pain been affecting your livelihood? Are there things in your life that you enjoyed but can no longer do? I know that my patient no longer had the ability to walk with his son, and certainly was unable to exercise or even perform household chores. He literally became a prisoner to his low back pain which continued to hold him hostage. But there was a way to gain his life back that was right in front of him. If you would like to have a conversation about your low back pain and if there are long lasting options besides shots and surgery then click this link and let’s have a free 15 minute conversation to find out if we can help you.

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These reasons are why you are having serious shoulder pain.

May 14, 2019 1 Comment Written by ptnuser

Shoulder pain is quite common in our society and interesting enough the symptoms of shoulder pain remind me of a light switch.

Your symptoms are either “on” and you most likely experience pain in the shoulder with an inability to raise your arm in the air properly, or “off” with no shoulder pain and complete function to raise your arm any way that you choose.

In fact, one day you could be playing with your kids or playing a sport without any difficulty and hours later have no ability to lift your shoulder which is completely debilitating.

At PTN we handle the diagnosis and treatment of a wide variety of shoulder problems, and all of them are different. There are no two shoulder problems that are the same just like no two finger prints are the same.

We get a lot of questions asked like: “Why can’t I swing my golf club without shoulder pain anymore?.” “Why does it hurt to throw a baseball?”, “Do I need to stop lifting weights?”. ” Do I need surgery?” These are typical questions that we are asked every day.

In order to explore how to completely eliminate shoulder pain naturally without the need for medication and surgery, let’s take a look at the top 5 reasons that people develop shoulder pain.

#1) Rotator cuff weakness– A lot of problems begin with the lack of internal and external rotation strength. Basically, these are the muscles that hold the ball in the socket. When they get de-conditioned, they get weak and the ball doesn’t move around too much in the socket. This leads to the pinching of nerves and damage to tissue that is used to hold the shoulder in place.

There are a lot of people who exercise with a personal trainer who also come into one of our 4 orthopedic clinics. They continue to have shoulder problems and they will ask: “You know, I work my delts, I work my back. Why am I still getting shoulder pain?” “Is this something that is different than all the muscles that I normally work with my trainer?”

The answer is: Absolutely, yes! Basically, when you work out in the gym and you see a lot of people doing shrugs, overhead presses, even bench press but they still have shoulder pain that may seem to be getting worse and worse. The reason for this is the big global muscles in your shoulders are being strengthened but they can not do the job of the smaller muscles (rotator cuff) that lie deep beneath the bigger muscles. What we’re after here, especially in therapy, is to prevent pain and dysfunction through strengthening the stabilizer muscles and creating the proper movement of these little muscles, that lie underneath those big trophy looking muscles you have.

#2) Scapular instability– There are two flat large bones located on your back that aide in moving the shoulder upward and outwards. The muscles that control these bones may become weak and may overstretched. As they pull your shoulders forward and downward they put stress on the shoulder pinching off nerves and the rotator cuff muscles. So then every time you go and try to move your arm up and down, you get pain and pinching of these delicate structures.

#3) Posture -If you have poor posture you often find yourself in a position where your shoulders are rounded and forward. This would be expected if you’re sitting at a desk, hunched over a computer. When your shoulders are rolled forward this creates limited rage of motion for your shoulder when you’re lifting your arm up overhead. As you try to lift your arm up this way, some of your rotator cuff muscles get pinched between bone. When those muscles get pinched, they become very tight, inflamed and very irritated.

#4) Overuse syndrome-Definitely number four would be overuse, repetitive use. We have a lot of tennis players, young, old, all ages, all skill levels, really. A lot of baseball players. A lot of overhead athletes, and even swimmers perform the same motions over and over creating stress at the muscles and the shoulder joint leading to increased pain and discomfort.

It would be fair to say, that even if you are not immediately experiencing shoulder pain you may have some structures that are tight, and some that are loose, like in a swimmer with that forward rolled shoulder position. You may not have pain right away but when those muscles are imbalanced you are likely to develop an overuse injury. That is when it is too late and when pain symptoms begin.

#5) Cervical spine problems–Number five, believe it or not, actually isn’t coming from the shoulder at all. It’s really coming from your neck. Neck problems are probably, well definitely one of the biggest causes of shoulder problems that I see in the clinic. People will come in after a car accident, after a football injury or anything, even just sleeping wrong. They’ll start to have pain down their shoulder, into their arm muscles, or even down into their fingers. Although this pain is presenting as shoulder pain, it can be coming from nerve entrapment at the neck. So a detailed assessment of the neck has to be considered in an overall strategy of resolving shoulder pain.

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Could you benefit from Orthotics?

April 22, 2019 Written by ptnuser

There is a lot of debate about when to use orthotics. In our practice we have observed successful use of orthotics when certain criteria are met. Most of the time orthotics are considered to be a good option after changes in someone’s body can no longer be corrected with a combination of stretching, strengthening, joint mobilizations, and functional training. One misconception about orthotics is that they are just for correcting the feet. We have been very successful with eliminating knee, hip, low back, and even shoulder pain due to correcting postural or improving faulty biomechanics.
As mentioned above we never recommend orthotics until natural changes in the body occur first. But there are times where structural deviations warrant orthotics as the first recommendation.

So you might be a good fit for orthotics if you fit into these quidelines:

First, the right orthotic should be comfortable and fit correctly. Every person has an individual orthotic fit. The price of the orthotic does not always play a role in the fit. At our offices we are able to accomplish creating good custom orthotics without hassle, waiting for molds, or making many corrections.
More importantly the orthotics are very durable, cost friendly and accomplish changing the unfavorable foot biomechanics that we are looking to resolve.
Lastly, all orthotics need to fit the lifestyle of the person or the intended activity use of the orthotic. If a person is a high level tennis player they would need a completely different orthotic then someone who is using their orthotics for a 9am to 5pm job in an office.

Regardless of the orthotic the underlying condition of the individual must be considered first. If you would like to have a free 30 minute conversation about whether orthotics might be right for you then click here.

If you would like more information about how to end low back, neck, shoulder, or knee pain without medication, shots and surgery then please feel free to click on our free e-books or visit our other blog posts.

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3 Top Exercises for low back pain

March 9, 2019 Written by ptnuser

There are many exercises for low back pain and sciatica for those suffering from these conditions in and around Pittsburgh but there are 3 that tend to help in a general sense.

Now, doing a few exercises WILL NOT cure your low back pain and sciatica because the only way to eliminate your problem is to schedule a comprehensive exam to find out a diagnosis and establish an individualized treatment plan for you.

There are so many times that people are given exercises with the expectation that when they do the exercises your pain will be reduced and this will take care of their problem. This couldn’t be further from the truth. In other blog posts we have talked about how each person is like a snowflake, no two are alike. The same goes when someone is experiencing low back pain sciatica.

Someone who has the same diagnosis as another person will not have the same symptoms, will not responded the same treatments, and is completely different than someone else. There is no “one-size-fits-all”. This is why it is imperative to be seen specifically for your condition.