Chiropractors can play a key role in maintaining healthy joints by adjusting them to improve joint mechanics, stimulate the muscles, and restore range of motion.
Are there any early warning signs that a joint might not be healthy or function properly?
Dr. Luke Stringer: Absolutely. A prerequisite for a healthy joint is full range of motion. So if you are moving a joint, so that could be your spine, your neck, your lower back, and/or an extremity, shoulder, knee, and that joint isn’t moving in full range of motion, well, that is going to create pain and dysfunction incrementally over time. Now, not only should joints move well, they should obviously be stable while moving. So again, if we’re moving a joint, your neck, your lower back, your shoulder, your knee, your hips, and that joint is moving, but it’s creating pain and dysfunction, then obviously that pain is an indicator that joint’s not moving well and there’s an issue within the joint.
Pain can vary, right? It could be stiff, tight, could crack and pop. It could literally create pain. So when we’re seeing those symptoms that start with limited range of motion, “my shoulder pops and cracks when I lift my arm”, or “my knee is really stiff after sitting by my desk for a while”, that is indicating that that joint isn’t moving well. It has increased stress and tension within the joint, which incrementally over time, that stress and tension is breaking the joint down by limiting your range of motion and starting to drive some form of a symptom.
How does chiropractic care both maintain and improve the health of a joint?
Dr. Luke Stringer: Great question. Chiropractic care essentially is all about getting joints, if that is in the spine or the extremity, moving again. Essentially by moving, improving joint range of motion. A prerequisite of a healthy joint is full range of motion. So it may be in the spine, but remember you have your axial spine, your spine, you have your AP distal spine, so foot and ankle, wrist, elbows, so chiropractors are versed in adjusting and addressing joint mobility in every joint, head to toe. If it moves, chiropractor or reputable chiropractor who has done the work is going to be able to get that joint manipulated and moving.
So motion is literally lotion. In the spine, in between those vertebrae we have discs. Well, when we sit all day, for example, our corporate athletes, we all sit too much in flexion, leaning forward, it increases disc pressure, so not only is it increasing disc pressure, then those joints lock up, they don’t move well due to sedentary activity. Well, those discs start to degenerate, they get subsequently dehydrated. The collagenous tissue that keeps the disc fluid in the central part of the disc starts to get all brittle and starts to break down.
So, by seeing a chiropractor and getting your spine adjusted or an extremity joint adjusted, if we’re focusing on the spine, by getting the joint moving, it actually creates stimulation within the joint, which creates osmosis, which gets the discs full of fluid, which can create healthy discs. We need healthy discs to absorb gravity, the shock-absorber of the spine. And by getting adjusted, not just once, repetitively, you can improve joint mechanics, improve health within the disc, stimulate all the postural muscles in the spine. So in our office, motion is literally lotion. We’re built to move. So physically move and also get your spine, your joints moved by a chiropractor through a spinal manipulation.
Which joints, and what type of joint injuries are most treated by chiropractors?
Dr. Luke Stringer: Great question. Everyone thinks chiropractors are just focused on the spine and that is our bread and butter, right? We are spinal specialists. The number one cause of disability in America is low back pain. It’s neck pain, it’s headaches, that’s our wheelhouse, right? Musculoskeletal pain, it’s in the neck, the upper back, the shoulders, the head, the lower back, the pelvis.
However, our practice is downtown, so you have a lot of corporate athletes who love to be active. So we treat a lot of patients with hip pain, knee pain, foot and ankle pain, shoulder pain, elbow, wrist. Essentially, if that joint moves the chiropractor, the reputable chiropractor is going to be able to evaluate it and treat it, to take care of it.
How do joint misalignments lead to pain or compensation in other areas of the body?
Dr. Luke Stringer: Great question. So a joint misalignment is technically called a subluxation. There are eight forms of a subluxation. So if we focus on individual subluxation within the spine or an extremity, essentially the joint is stuck, it’s aberrant in its motion, it’s not moving well. So if the joint doesn’t move well, the muscles that cross that joint, who are simply there and designed to move that joint, have to work harder. So if a muscle is working harder than it should, then it’s obviously going to break down faster. But when it breaks down, it gets filled up with something called adhesion. It’s glue in a muscle. So it’s our body’s natural healing response to micro traumas and/or big traumas.
Once we get adhesion in a joint, we’re now on what we call a hamster wheel. So, you’ve got poor joint function through sedentary activity, which increases the stress and tension in a joint, that’s when you’re sedentary, sitting at work and/or when you’re out exercising. Well, if that joint doesn’t move well, it increases stress within the soft tissue and increases stress the most in joints or the muscles, ligaments, tendons and the soft discs have to work harder. While muscles work harder, they break down faster, which creates more adhesion. And then we’re back on that hamster wheel, adhesion, limited range of motion, increased stress and tension. So essentially by having a joint that’s stuck, it’s out of line, it’s not moving, it can create pain in that area, but also it can affect other areas.
So for example, if your left hip joint is really jammed up and it’s not moving well the knee might compensate, it might have to shift inwards, or shift forwards, or might have to move too much. So then that can create knee pain. Poor knee function can create foot and ankle pain and/or vice versa. So, the kinetic chain, the lumbar pelvic spine down or the cervical thoracic spine, shoulders, the neck, head, and upper back, they’re all units who work together. So as a reputable chiropractor, anyone who is coming in with joint pain, you always have to look above and below the joint to figure out exactly what is driving the pain and dysfunction.
What does a chiropractic exam and treatment plan look like for someone looking to improve their joint health?
Dr. Luke Stringer: Great question. So, in our practice we’re extremely thorough. It’s obvious we’d start off with a consultation around what brought you in. Typically, people are coming in to see a chiropractor for pain, musculoskeletal pain, low back pain, neck pain, headaches, all things you’ve been speaking on over the last few podcasts. And then we need to figure out exactly what’s going on. How long has it been present. How often is it present, are there any traumas involved, previous traumas, what is your occupation? Are you required to sit all day? What have you done to try and correct it? Have these helped? What makes it feel better? What makes it feel worse? Where are you limited?
We put some goals in place. Then evaluate the said area, so evaluate it for joint function. Are we subluxated, tissue tone, are we facilitated, are muscles stressed out, working too hard? Orthopedic exam, are the muscles, ligaments and tendons doing their job? Functional exam, take them through a range of motion exam, create stress within muscles, ligaments and tendons. Figure out is there any dysfunction within the soft tissue and/or the joint complex? And then take some x-rays. To see is to know. It’s like you and I are building a house; you’re not going to build a house without blueprints.
Once we get all the clinical information, that allows us to make good clinical decisions. From there, we’ll supplement the patient’s goals. Then we will be establishing the consult and then create a roadmap to get them from pain to function. In our office it typically involves spinal adjustments, spinal traction, soft tissue therapy, physical therapy. This blended approach addresses the four key pieces, which is good joint function through the adjustments, good spinal alignment through spinal traction, healthy muscle tissue through soft tissue therapy, and then balanced muscle strength through physical therapy. And when you blend that together, you can create really great, objective results that correct a patient’s conditions, both in the short and long term.
If you are interested in speaking with Dr. Luke Stringer visit www.southloopchiropractor.com or call (312) 987-4878 to schedule an appointment.
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