Do your knees stop you from moving?

Knees making it hard to move?

Do you know where the largest muscles in your body are, Folks?
In your legs!

Our leg muscles not only hold us up on our two feet but also help support and maintain the function of our joints.

As we age, cartilage in our knees can wear away, leaving us with pain and reduced mobility.

But as we strengthen our quads, calves, and hamstrings we build support to help our knees continue to function well. So, every time you hit leg day at the gym – know you are supporting the longevity of your joints!

Today’s chat will focus on preventing and treating knee arthritis; I am especially excited to tell you about regenerative treatments that have been helping our clients reduce pain and restore cartilage – something doctors previously believed was impossible to do.

Let’s dive in!

CONCEPT: KNEE ARTHRITIS

Knee arthritis is a condition that occurs when the cartilage in the knee joint wears down over time, leading to pain, stiffness, swelling, and reduced mobility. It is commonly associated with aging but can also result from injury, repetitive stress, or genetic factors.

Benefits of Caring for and Supporting Knee Joints:

• Reduced Pain and Inflammation: Proper care helps manage pain and swelling, improving daily comfort.

• Improved Mobility: Strong and healthy knee joints support better movement and flexibility.

• Prevention of Further Damage: Regular maintenance can slow the progression of arthritis and reduce joint strain.

• Enhanced Quality of Life: Pain-free knees allow for more active participation in physical activities and hobbies.

• Long-Term Joint Health: Supporting your knees early can delay or prevent the need for more invasive treatments like surgery.

Don't let knee arthritis hold you back. By obtaining the right treatment, staying active, and incorporating joint-friendly exercises and supportive therapies, you can prevent further damage and reduce symptoms. Start today to take charge of your knee health and protect your mobility for years to come!

ACTION 1: COMPREHENSIVE TREATMENT

Getting the right treatment for knee arthritis can significantly reduce pain, improve mobility, and even slow or reverse the progression of symptoms. In-office we offer comprehensive knee arthritis treatments, including one promising new treatment called regenerative biologics, a cutting-edge therapy that helps rebuild cartilage and restore joint health. Let’s dive into the main steps for treating arthritis!

Steps to Treating Knee Arthritis:

• Resolve Inflammation: specialized supplements and detox programs are designed to treat inflammation at its root—not with NSAIDs or cortisone, which only mask symptoms.

• Correct Mechanical Problems with Therapy: A personalized and specific approach is essential to correct mechanical issues, instabilities, or muscle imbalances. This therapy focuses on improving joint alignment, stability, and function to reduce strain on the knees.

• Try Assistive Devices: Braces, orthotics, or shoe inserts can provide added support, alleviate strain, and improve joint stability, helping to manage daily activities with less pain.

• Regrow Cartilage and Joint Tissues with Regenerative Biologics: Regenerative biologics represent the most advanced and effective approach for cartilage regeneration. These therapies, which include derivatives of stem cells (more advanced than traditional stem cell therapy), can help repair and rebuild cartilage and other joint tissues. Options also include platelet-rich plasma (PRP) for mild cases and hyaluronic acid gel injections to provide cushioning and temporary relief.

Don’t let knee arthritis limit your life. By addressing the root cause of arthritis, our treatment combinations offer hope for lasting relief and improved quality of life. Book a consultation today to explore the best treatment options tailored to your needs.

ACTION 2: STRENGTHEN SUPPORTING MUSCLES

Strong muscles absorb impact, reduce strain on the joints, and improve stability, which can help alleviate pain and improve mobility. By focusing on specific muscle groups, you can provide better support for your knees and protect them over time.

Muscles to Strengthen and How to Do It:

• Quadriceps (front of the thigh): Perform exercises like squats, leg presses, or straight-leg raises to build strength and stabilize the knee.

• Hamstrings (back of the thigh): Include hamstring curls or bridges to enhance balance and joint stability.

• Calves (lower leg): Strengthen with calf raises or seated heel lifts to improve lower leg support and mobility.

• Glutes (buttocks): Engage in exercises like lunges, step-ups, or glute bridges to stabilize the hips and reduce knee strain.

• Hip Abductors (outer hips): Try lateral leg raises or clamshells to improve lateral stability and alignment.

Don’t wait to start supporting your knees—integrate these strengthening exercises into your routine this week!

I hope you have a great leg workout this week! And if you believe your knees could benefit from a bit of extra support, click the book a consultation button below and I’ll be happy to help you determine if a treatment or certain lifestyle changes can help support your joint health!

Until Next Time!
- Dr. Peter Schulz

Detoxification and Your Health

Click the picture to read the research

Chiropractic Reduces Pain

Spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) has been proven to provide clinically significant outcomes for patients with musculoskeletal pain and more recently, has been shown to be the most cost-effective way to manage these patients.  There are two main mechanisms of action with SMT based on the portion of the nervous system that is targeted.  Traditionally, there is the peripheral nervous system, which involves the spinal facet joints and intervertebral discs.  Chiropractors have known for over 115 years that spinal manipulation also has effects on the central nervous system (CNS) which has a greater effect on balance, coordination and pain control.  People “feel better” after treatment and until recently, there were no formal reviews of studies that actually investigated the role of SMT on pain control at the CNS level.  

“The mechanism of SMT remains elusive, but SMT appears to modulate pain through both central and peripheral pathways...Additionally, subgroup analysis showed a significant effect of SMT on remote sites of pressure stimulus application further supporting a potential influence on higher levels within the central nervous system”

Being able to offer patients a cost-effective, clinically significant and safe treatment for pain control is an important part of musculoskeletal care.  Narcotic pain medication and prolonged use of NSAIDs have been shown to have negative long-term effects on body systems and their burden on society is increasing.  Chiropractors are the number one providers of spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) and their training and clinical experience with this technique far exceeds other providers.  Chiropractic care is a critical component of musculoskeletal care in the United States and will continue to modulate pain, increase function and reduce costs.

Chiropractic and Migraine

Current case studies have shown a positive impact chiropractic can have on migraine patients. Examples were taken of patients suffering from migraines and combining chiropractic assessment and treatment alongside the neurologist. Results were an increase in pain free days, improvement in pain scores, decrease use of medication, and decreased anxiety and depression. These are wonderful things for the migraine sufferer. I work with patient’s neurologist and primary care physician to help achieve these goals. Contact me if you have any questions or want more information.

Pain in the neck

Neck pain is one of the most common reasons people see a chiropractor. It can be caused by a number of different things, and figuring out what to do to help it can be difficult sometimes. There are lots of different treatments that will help decrease neck pain (at least temporarily). These things range from massage, acupuncture, manipulations, trigger point therapy, ultrasound, electric stimulation, and many other therapies. All of them help, but one thing is the most important when trying to get rid of neck pain. That is correcting the underlying mechanical dysfunction that puts the abnormal strain on the neck.

Anyone who has come to see me for treatment knows how I approach pain that starts for no apparent reason, and that is from a functional standpoint. What does that mean anyway? I might talk about your hips when you are complaining of neck pain. What do the hips have to do with neck pain? Well, if you could see yourself in the mirror while sitting in front of a computer all day, you’d know what I’m referring to. If you sit with your hips flexed forward, pelvis tucked under, low back flexed forward, and an increase in mid back forward flexion, you’ll have to strain your neck to just keep your head up looking straight. That is essentially what is causing a lot of people’s neck pain.

I often use a silly example about someone who has a headache. I ask why they might have a headache, and they say they think it’s because they get up in the morning every day and hit their head against a wall 100 times. I could recommend they take ibuprofen and ice their head. This is likely to help with the headache. The problem is that if they don’t stop hitting their head against the wall, the headache will always come back. This example sounds silly, but that is why I address things from a functional standpoint to help resolve a problem.

Low Back Pain

People often wonder why I evaluate movement in areas throughout their whole body when they come in for something specific, like low back pain. Let’s talk about low back pain, and why that happens.

Most people will experience some form of low back pain at least once in their life. When you should do something about it is a question everyone has. Studies show that low back pain which starts without any known cause and hasn’t happened before, most often will go away on its own within a certain amount of time. This is comforting, but what isn’t comforting is that it almost always recurs.

There are many different causes of low back pain, and I’ll discuss a couple of them here. The most common cause of low back pain is mechanical. That means the muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints. Other causes can be internal, which need to be addressed properly. Mechanical low back pain can stem from the low back itself, or from further away from the spine like the foot or shoulder. An example is someone who spent a lot of time in their life throwing (like a pitcher in baseball). This is a one sided move that tends to create imbalance when done repetitively for a long time. When we are young, agile, and limber, our body responds better to the work loads we put on it. This is also mostly when we are doing something like pitching in baseball. What then happens, is that we stop being as active, things stiffen up, and the imbalances we created become more pronounced. Now, a stiffening shoulder starts to pull through the low back with every arm movement. We are able to tolerate it without it causing pain, until it either becomes too much on its own, or we add one or two simple other strains to the low back. Then it starts to hurt.

Rest will likely help, but fixing the problem is important to prevent it from becoming a chronically recurring issue. A key part in evaluating for low back pain, is testing movement patterns throughout the whole body that can reveal where the actual dysfunction is coming from. That might mean looking at the shoulder, hip, knee, foot, or other area. Correcting an incorrect movement pattern in the shoulder might be the key to being able to get rid of low back pain for the long run.

Shoulder injuries

I see a lot of shoulder pain and injuries in my office from a wide variety of causes. Our shoulders have the most movement than any other joint. Most joints move a couple directions or multiple directions a little. Shoulders are the only ones that can go around in a circle. The hip is similar, but doesn’t have nearly the same range of motion. This makes the shoulder very complicated, easy to injure, difficult to diagnose, and therefore difficult to treat well. Diagnosis of shoulder injuries or pain is the most important aspect, as it is in most things, but often needs to be more specific in the shoulder. If someone has low back pain that doesn’t seem to have any cause besides mechanical strain, you can do a number of different therapies that will all help. In the shoulder, if you’re not super specific about what you’re treating, it’s very difficult to get better. A proper assessment involves a comprehensive history to determine where the pain might be coming from, orthopedic tests, neurologic tests, movement/functional evaluation, palpation (feeling around), and possibly imaging.

If you’ve had a shoulder injury, x-rays are often necessary to rule out dislocation or fracture. Most shoulder injuries, however, involve the rotator cuff. This can’t be seen with x-ray and needs to be looked at another way. Mostly, MRI has been used to look at the rotator cuff, but through modern technology and advancement in ultrasound, the rotator cuff can easily be seen. This is sometimes even better than MRI to see the injured tendons, and can be done quickly in the office. The benefit of ultrasound imaging of the rotator cuff is that you are seeing a live picture and can even evaluate movement to see if there are any tears. It also provides a tremendous benefit through the ability to easily do follow-up images to evaluate progress. Ultrasound is quick and more cost effective than MRI for rotator cuff injuries. That’s why I trained in musculoskeletal ultrasound and now provide it in my office for diagnostic purposes.

What is Chiropractic?

People generally think of chiropractors when they think of back or neck problems, but what a lot of people don’t know is that chiropractors are trained to deal with the whole body. Some focus only on the spine, but there is a wide range of specialties a chiropractor can do. I specialize in neuromusculoskeletal problems. That means anything that has to do with nerves, muscles, ligaments, tendons, joints, and the symptoms that come along with them when something goes wrong. The way to think about most problems that have to do with health is to figure out what is causing the problem. Then the solution is often obvious, although sometimes difficult. That is the way chiropractors are trained to think. I’ll give you an example. Say you’re suffering from knee pain. Could you take a medication or have an injection that could help take the pain away? Sure. But that doesn’t fix any problem that is causing the knee pain. What if you had previously sprained your ankle severely and it is mostly better but is still kind of stiff. That could be causing you to have a little hitch in your step that may not ever be noticeable unless looked at very carefully. This could be twisting your knee with every step causing pain. If you just address the knee pain by blocking it with something or even just treating the knee, it will never actually get better. The ankle has to be fixed in order to take away the cause of the knee pain. This is what a chiropractor does to help most problems get better. It sometimes takes a little time and effort, and can also be difficult for some situations because it might require some lifestyle modifications. But, it will be worth it when the problem is gone, and stays gone and you can continue living your life the way you want, pain free.

Vitamins & Supplements

Ever tried googling what supplements to take? Or “are supplements safe?” What about, “what are the best supplements?” You’ll come up with TONS of information. How do you wade through all of it? What seems to happen is that you’ll either just decide on some regular multivitamin, or decide to not bother with it at all. Here are some useful tips in deciding what supplements to take.

1. WHAT ARE VITAMINS ANYWAY? - Think of nutrition as fuel for your body. I need to put in fuel to burn, just like a car. When I don’t have good fuel, my body still wants to work so it uses what it can. Just like a car, if your fuel is bad, it causes damage and faster wear. Meeting all the nutritional needs for you body is a challenge, but very important in order to keep it working as well as possible.

2. FOOD - The best form of nutrition is through food, but it’s really hard to get everything you need because of lack of time to deal with it all day in order to make sure you eat what your body needs to operate. There is also commonly less nutritional value in food as there once was because of multiple other factors. That being said, you’ll do well for your body if you eat mostly clean, unprocessed, no additives (sugars, preservatives including sodium…), food that is mostly vegetables. You still probably will be missing some things, so, since we’re not all that perfect at eating ideally, move onto the next steps.

3. VITAMINS - I recommend people stay away from buying supplements over the counter at any store. Mostly because there is only very loose regulation on the supplement industry and many of them don’t have what is claimed on the label. There are also some potentially harmful ingredients in some of them. The form of what’s in the supplement (such as vitamin B) is also important, and many off the shelf ones don’t even have usable forms. When looking for a supplement, I always recommend getting them through a few companies that do all the self-testing and regulation of their products to ensure correct amounts, ingredients that can be absorbed, and usable forms once absorbed. I use a few companies I think do a good job, and you can click here https://www.nmachiro.com/supplements to check them out.

4. WHAT ARE SOME SPECIFIC SUPPLEMENTS THAT MIGHT BE HELPFUL FOR ME? - Well, this is a good question that can be addressed only by talking with a healthcare provider who deals with these topics. There are a few things that are useful for most everyone to take, but sometimes testing needs to be done to figure out what is helpful and necessary. An example is vitamin D. This is what our body makes by absorbing sunlight. It doesn’t come from food. When I was studying (I graduated in 2005), you still couldn’t take any form of vitamin D. It was being worked on and now you can take a precursor to vitamin D that will help your body make it. Otherwise, you need 10 minutes of skin exposure to the sun every day to maintain healthy levels. In the winter and in cold climates, people often don’t have this sun exposure, so it’s usually necessary to take vitamin D. This is just an example of what can be helpful for most people.

5. DO I ABSORB SUPPLEMENTS, OR DO THEY JUST PASS THROUGH MY SYSTEM? - This is a common question people have, and my answer is kind of complex. Referring to question 3 in this list, not all supplements are created equal. If I’m taking something that isn’t able to be absorbed, or the form it’s in isn’t usable, or doesn’t have the right combination of things in it, then it passes right through. You’ll always pass some of it, but studies have shown you can increase levels of vitamins and nutrients with supplements. That is why I really recommend a top level producer.

6. ARE SUPPLEMENTS SAFE? - While you can take too much of something, don’t jump to many conclusions when you read an article online that says you could be overdosing on vitamin C, or something like that. For the most part, it would be really hard to take too much of something, and even harder to take so much you’d have symptoms. The symptoms can be things like headaches, and are not usually dangerous. Again, I have to reiterate using a quality company when considering supplements.

We’re always available to help you through figuring out what might be useful for you.

Winter and Exercise

Being that exercise is the number one thing to improve health, getting motivated to exercise in the winter seems a lot harder than when the weather is nice. We often don’t have any plans for an event, whether it be a race, wedding, or just looking fitter. Those are usually very motivating factors. Shifting focus from looking forward to an event, to working towards establishing long term healthy habits is where our focus can lie. Anybody who is successful at being fit and healthy has been able to be consistent. Luckily, there are lots of options in Chicago for indoor exercise. Traditional gyms are good, but lots of people just find it too boring to go do the same exercises all the time. Our society is definitely becoming more health and exercise conscious and we see the effect of that through all the specialty fitness studios that are open around the city. You can go to cycling classes, yoga classes, stretching classes, boot camps, personal training studios, and many other types of exercises to keep things interesting. ClassPass is a great way to have lots of different options. Personal training can also be very useful to help with motivation.

Foam Rolling

How often should I foam roll? That’s a question I get a lot of, and I’ll talk about it a little here. If you want to know more about specifics involving your specific set of circumstances, let me know and we can figure out what is right for you.

Foam rolling can help reduce myofascial adhesions, muscle soreness, increase range of motion, and decrease pain among other things. It’s a useful thing to do on your own that can have a significant impact. As a rule of thumb, stretching and foam rolling after exercise is the best time to do it and can be done after every workout. Otherwise, if you used the foam roll every other day, it would be helpful. There are plenty of online videos with instructions of how to use a foam roll effectively, and here’s a brief description of what to do.

http://files.webexercises.com/Foam_Rolling_6.29.17.pdf

Snow shoveling

I shoveled piles of snow this morning before coming into the office, and could feel some tiredness toward the end creep into my back while trying to lift and throw the snow. I didn’t hurt myself, but over the past few years since I’ve had to shovel, I’ve had personal experience dealing with a common complaint of why someone comes to see me. The soreness I feel is akin to a workout, which is a good thing for the muscles. Had I gone a little too far, or did some lifts incorrectly, I could have very easily injured my back. One of the best ways to avoid injury is to keep your back and core fit. It’s useful to come in periodically to loosen things up and improve range of motion, but strength is key. Here’s a link to an effective 10 minute routine to help strengthen your back.

https://vimeo.com/168101650

My first blog post - Exercise

I finally decided to start writing down some of the things I talk to people about on a daily basis. I get lots of questions about different health topics as they come up during appointments, and anyone who’s come to see me knows I like to go in depth about them as much as I can. Here, I’ll try to address some of the most common, and more interesting things I discuss with people, and also different things I learn through continuing study. This post will talk about fitness, and how it helps health. I’ll also go into how and why to measure heart rate while exercising.

Think of exercise as something that makes you healthier all around. Not just by increasing strength and endurance, but it affects every system in your body. When you exercise, you make your body work by sending blood to places. This is vital for every organ and system. If your body is used to sending blood to different areas, when something goes wrong or gets injured, your body is better able to heal it.

Most people should be exercising to teach their body to burn fat as a fuel. Mostly, we just burn glycogen (sugar) stored in our muscles and liver during the day and also during exercise. In order to burn fat, we need to exercise a certain way. If you are working very hard and your heart rate is high, you aren’t touching fat. If you aren’t doing much exercise or movement during the day at all, you definitely aren’t touching fat cells. This is a description of how to teach your body how to burn fat as a fuel to gain health.

The best way to improve health is through exercise and nutrition. I’ll discuss exercise in this post. We can use heart rate to improve how our body works. Mostly, this should be done by working at a certain heart rate. You can calculate your heart rate target range by subtracting your age from 180 (ex. if you’re 40 years old, 180-40=140). This is the heart rate you should keep while doing a lot of your exercise. It might not seem like you’re working very hard, but that will come. This way, you also don’t have much risk of injury. If you work at this heart rate, you can start increasing time and effort, all while keeping your target heart rate. That is how you know you’re improving and getting healthier.

Now for the nitty gritty. When you breathe in, the lungs get full or air. Blood travels through the lungs and picks up oxygen. That blood goes to the heart and the heart pumps it to the body. When the body needs more oxygen, the heart has to pump faster and harder to get more blood out. You also take deeper breaths to increase the air in your lungs. Simple, right? Now, think of how this happens when you exercise. As your muscles need more blood, you heart pumps faster. As you improve efficiency by exercising at the target heart rate for a few weeks, you will be able to pump more oxygen rich blood to the muscles with fewer pumps. That means you can try harder, and keep the same heart rate. I’ve helped patients to do ironman races using this method. Once you build up the training effect, you can seemingly go forever.

Now, you’ve trained your body to send blood to places it needs it the most, and how to burn fat as a fuel. Besides being overall healthier, you WILL lose weight and have an overall better body composition.