It's Been A While

Wow! It's been months since my last post. But it's time to get back on board

A lot has happened since my last post. Here's a re-cap:

We have started offering a free posture evaluation to participants in the free yoga classes on Sunday mornings at the Lululemon Athletica store on Grant Ave. We go once per month, on the first Sunday, and offer evaluations to anyone who is interested. Lululemon has been very gracious, and excited to have chiropractors in their store. A special thanks to Meghan for helping us out so much!

I went to a seminar on Women's Hormones and Aging that was really great. The speaker was Dr. Lani Simpson. She was very informative. I had attended hoping for a magic answer to the symptoms women experience during menopause. While she was unable to provide that (not really that much of a surprise) she did talk a lot about Vitamin D and bone health as it relates to osteoporosis and aging. It was really interesting and helped me to help more of my patients, especially those at risk for osteoporosis. I am hopeful that my new knowledge will help to prevent some future hip and wrist fractures in my patients as they age.

Our office has taken on a Massage Therapist names Sawanee. She has a lot of experience with sports massage, which is a great fit for our office. As of now, she is with us two days per week, but we are hoping to increase that as her practice grows. The patients have given us good feedback for her, and that is always nice to hear.

Our AIDS Lifecycle Riders did awesome this year. No one came back with a new injury, which is always a plus, but even more than that, they all did really WELL. All of the riders we treat were able to ride either more or better than they have in the past years, and we are very proud of them. Go going, guys!

This month in our office it's Foot Health Month. We are focusing on making sure our patients know the important of proper footwear and biomechanics, as well as re-evaluating their orthotics, if needed. Just this morning as I was walking to work I saw a woman whose feet were so over-pronated, I was cringing. Her knees must be killing her. I really wanted to approach her and ask if she saw anyone for her feet, but San Franciscans don't respond well to strangers talking to them, so I let her go. Rest assured, though, that no patient will ever walk out of my office with feet and shoes like that!

Proper foot biomechanics are so important to the health of the entire body, it's a wonder people don't talk about their feet more often. When your feet are improperly aligned or poorly supported, their ability to absorb the impact of your body weight when you walk or run is significantly diminished. Be evaluating the mechanics of the foot and correcting them, we can help resolve pain in the feet, knees, hips and spine, in addition to helping to prevent future injury. Can you imagine how much more likely you are to get a stress fracture when your feet are not absorbing force properly? Proper foot support is a simple thing, but it has big benefits.

There are a few shoe stores our office works with that we trust to treat our patients well. Their staff is knowledgeable, and one even has an orthotic lab right in the store. For runners, I usually recommend they see the people over at Metrosport on Fillmore. For walkers, office workers and anyone else with a unique foot problem, I send them to Shoes N Feet on Lombard. Both stores offer discounts to our patients, which is always nice.

In honor of Foot Health Month, we're offering complimentary foot evaluations to anyone who wants one. Please give us a call at 415-546-1461 to set up an appointment.

Our New Website

It's Finally Here!!!

We have a new website for our practice that we are really excited about. You can check it out and let us know what you think. It comes with some really fun features like a memership option that allows you to get practice updates and health tips emailed to you, and a way for people to refer others to the site.

We are hoping the new site serves both our current and future clients even better. We are also excited that the site will be providing us a new format for our monthly newsletters. Our old newsletter was my baby: The Chiro-Health Currently. It was fun to flex my desktop publishing muscles once per month, but it was very labor-intensive and I found it harder and harder to get the newsletter out on time. Now I know our newsletters will be sent out on time without me having to worry about it, and that is a great feeling.

Also, we have a better email system that will allow me to send out email updates to our patients when we have some office-specific news to share. Our previous email system only allowed 17 receipients per email, and with almost 800 patients, updating everyone was always a laborious process!

Speaking of new things in the practice, we will be having a massage therapy intern joining us very soon. Stay tuned to find out when her hours will be so that you can book your next one hour massage! I have already had her work on me and she is great! She is still in school, but she is eager to learn and we know our patients will be happy to help her.

So check out our new site, and check back in here in a week or so for updates on the massage!

Love Your Body

Hey Everybody! Happy 2009! This is the perfect year to form a new relationship with yourself. Take some time and think about what your body and your mind truly need to be happy and healthy. In our office, it's Love Your Body month. Yes, Valentine's Day is fun for some, but we want everyone to love themselves.

Our bodies are amazingly adaptive organisms. They can help us survive even extremely damaging conditions, or just the daily commute to the office!

But they can do so much more! Give the right care and attention our bodies can help us THRIVE instead of just survive. That's why we're encouraging everyone to take some time for their bodies this month. Get an adjustment, a massage, a personal trainer, or just drink more water.

In our office, we're encouraging everyone we see to remind their friends, family and co-workers of the importance of taking care of ourselves.

Visit our website at www.chirohealthsf.com to learn more about how to help your body.

Core Strength and Chiropractic

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Core strength is important to your spinal health. But why? Why should we care? The answer is in the natural balance of your body. The core muscles are the deep intrinsic muscles of the trunk, including the transverse abdominus, the abdominal obliques and all the tiny muscles that support the joints of the spine. When these muscles are weak, we tend to let our belly hang forward and let our low backs have increased curvature. This position puts more stress on the joints of the low back, causing increased risk of arthritis and facet syndrome AND it puts more pressure on the intervertebral discs, increasing the risk of disc derangement and herniation. When the core muscles are strong, however, they allow the spine to be well supported. Because the spine is well supported, it is better able to respond to other stresses, such as the positions maintained while engaging in sports or working. This means that the well-supported spine is less likely to be injured. In addition, the well-supported spine holds chiropractic adjustments better than a spine with weak core musculature. This translates into fewer office visits and faster healing for chiropractic patients, both when they are on maintenance care and when they have a new injury.

With this in mind, we hope you will all re-consider the importance to your core. Please ask us for advice if you are unsure as to the appropriateness of your core workout. We are here to help you and your joints be the best they can be!

Case Study: Toe Pain

Patient: 45 year old male construction worker

Complaint: Right first toe pain, especially with running.

The patient presents with a chronic, intermittent complain of right first toe pain. He reports that the toe does not hurt if he avoids running, but that when he does go for a run the toe pain comes on in the first few minutes of the run and will last for several days afterward. The pain is local, and he denies and sharp, shooting or electrical pain.

Upon examination, observation reveals the right first toe's metatarsal to be hypertrophic, with excessive bone formation at the proximal end. This causes a bump on the dorsal surface of the patient's foot. Palpation of the joints and muscles reveal a hypertonic adductor pollicus and decreased joint motion at the metatarso-cuneiform joint.

Discussion: This patient is suffering from a very common condition: Osteoarthritis. Through no real fault of the patient, his joint has begun to degrade with the forces of time and stress. This causes his toe's joints to not move as well, which in turn causes muscles to become tense and painful. When he runs, he aggravates the condition by putting further stress on an already-stressed joint.

Treatment: We will focus on pain control. The current deformation of bone from the arthritis is nearly impossible to reverse, but we can slow any further progression of the disease. We will massage the adductor pollicus muscle to help it relax and then adjust the toes, foot, knee and hip as needed to make sure the entire limb is moving as best it can. Then, we will make sure the patient's sure are providing the proper foot support. In this case, the patient's high arches need to be considered and orthotics are recommended.

Happy October!

We LOVE Halloween in our office, so we celebrate all month long. Dr. Mazgaloff's birthday is the 31st, which makes it extra special! We've got bats on the bulletin board, ghosts on the white boards and pumpkins on the windows, and, to top it all off, it actually is cool enough to feel like fall today!

In honor of this kid-friendly holiday, I'd like to remind you all that your kids need chirorpactic, too. Not to say that most kids need to be adjusted all the time, but people of ALL ages benefit when their body is properly aligned.

In our office, we recommend kids get checked if they have had a big fall, or if they are complaining of nagging pain.

A great way to keep your kids out of the doctor's office in the first place is to make sure they exercise. Specifically, exercise in a smart way: train for balance! Training for better balance is something anyone can do, no matter how "out of shape" they may be. It can be as simple as standing on one leg, sitting on an exercise ball, or using a rocker board. And the whole family can benefit from balance training!

When we have good balance, we have improved feedback from our feet and legs to our brain. When this happens, the muscles in the legs and feet function better, allowing them to help support you in any situation. People who train in balance are much less likely to injury themselves when they stumble, because their muscles are strong enough to catch them before they fall.

So try it with your family today! The average healthy adult should be able to stand on one leg with their eyes open for 10 seconds without wobbling. If that's too easy for you, try closing your eyes - careful! Make sure you have something you can grab onto in case you need to steady yourself.

Have fun with this, and remember that balance is something that lasts a lifetime. From childhood falls to elderly mis-steps, improved balance can mean the difference between a band-aid and a trip to the doctor's office.

School's back in session

Well, you can tell school is back in session because our office is packed! Most chiropractic offices experience a lull around the time that school starts again, but not ours. We treat so many families, they all want to be at their best for the new school year. So, they come see us:) Of course, there's also the occasional summer injuries that finally make their way in...we've had several surfers with whiplash this year. Be careful our there, folks!

This post, I want to talk to you a bit about Lupus. The official name is Systemic Lupus Erythematosis. Also called SLE, or more simply, Lupus, it is a condition that can go unrecognized for years. Lupus is a chronic, inflammatory, auto-immune condition. It causes the body’s own cells to attack themselves, resulting in tissue damage in joints, the skin, the kidneys, the heart, the lungs, blood vessels and the brain. It typically affects women (all races are affected, but most commonly African American) between the ages of 15 and 45, though all ages and both sexes can be affected. The cause of Lupus is unknown, and there is no known cure. Because of its effect on the vital organs, Lupus can be fatal.

Interestingly, in the literature, the characteristic of Lupus most often mentioned is a malar or "Butterfly" shaped rash on the face, where two wing-like red areas cover the patient's cheeks. However, because this disease is less common in Caucasians, the likelihood of the rash being present is significantly diminished. We need new markers to help doctors diagnose this condition more accurately. Without them, doctors often treat a variety of symptoms for years before finally diagnosing Lupus.

In our office, we help Lupus patients cope with their illness by reducing joint and tissue inflammation and swelling. By using gentle massage and chiropractic adjusting, we can help our patients’ joints move as freely as possible. We often co-treat Lupus patients with a variety of other healthcare professionals, from rheumatologists to acupuncturists to general practitioners. When we work together as a team, the patient always wins.

Our office works in conjunction with the Alliance for Lupus Research. Please visit their website to learn how you can help. They hold a walk every year, and are able to provide valuable insight for patients who have been struggling with the disease.