5 Surprising Conditions You Didn't Know a Chiropractor Could Treat.
As a chiropractor, most people associate us with treating back pain. However, we are trained to address a variety of conditions. Plantar fasciitis, runner's knee, rotator cuff irritation, gluteal tendinopathy and tennis elbow are five conditions you may not have realized we love to treat.
Plantar Fasciitis
Plantar fasciitis causes pain in the bottom of your foot. This pain is typically worse first thing in the morning. Many of our patients with plantar fasciitis have given up running or walking because of the pain. Even worse, the pain can last for over a year. Having to give up your exercise routine is extremely discouraging. Luckily, getting people back to the activities they love is what we love to do.
The first goal of treatment is to get your pain down. To reduce the pain, we use a combination of muscle work and fascia work to relieve tension from the bottom of your feet. Next, we increase movement in your joints with chiropractic mobilizations. Restoring motion to the joints of your feet is a crucial part of treatment, as stiff ankles and toes can often lead to plantar fasciitis. Once your foot is loosened, we give you exercises. For stubborn cases, we recommend custom orthotics to offload the fascia so it can heal with less pressure on the plantar fascia.
2. Runner's Knee
Next on our list is runner's knee, which is not just seen in runners. This is a common injury that causes pain around the kneecap. This pain is hard to pinpoint and duller than it is sharp. Although the pain is dull, it still causes many patients to give up their running or exercise routine. Even sitting for long periods can be difficult with this injury.
With runner's knee, we will brainstorm modifications so you can continue your activity, whatever that may be. Sometimes, we ask you to stop your activity for a short time only to allow the tissue to heal without aggravation. Exercise is the best medicine for this condition, but a little hands-on treatment goes a long way. Our chiropractors use a combination of acupuncture, muscle work and kinesiology taping. We start with strengthening exercises that are non-painful and then slowly increase the exercise you can do with little pain until you are back at your favourite activity.
3. Rotator Cuff Irritation
Your rotator cuff is a group of muscles and tendons surrounding the shoulder joint. You use these muscles when reaching overhead and when putting on your clothes. When the rotator cuff is irritated, these everyday activities begin to hurt and become challenging. Our female patients all say putting on a bra with rotator cuff irritation is a Herculean effort.
We treat rotator cuff irritation with various techniques, including joint mobilization and soft tissue therapy, to help reduce pain and improve the range of motion of your shoulder. Like the other conditions listed, we must strengthen our rotator cuff muscles. Not only does strengthening increase how much your shoulder can lift, but it also increases your shoulder's movement.
When prescribing exercises, we want to provide our patients with the correct dose of strengthening. Too many repetitions or an exercise that will irritate things may set you back. Even worse, an exercise program that causes irritation might discourage you from continuing your exercise program. We want your feedback on your exercises so we set you up for success.
4. Hip Bursitis (Gluteal tendinopathy)
Widely known as hip bursitis, gluteal tendinopathy is pain on the side of your hip. This pain you feel while being on your "bad side" in bed for too long or when sitting in certain positions. Women get this much more often than men. We diagnose it daily, yet no one seems to have heard of it.
For treatment, education is vital. Changing up a few things, like not crossing your legs, can be a game-changer. Soft tissue for this injury is all done away from the source of pain. It is one of those conditions where it will hurt less if you don't poke at it. Next, you can guess. We use exercise to resolve your pain and make the tendon's happy and strong.
5. Tennis Elbow
Tennis elbow is characterized by pain on the outside of the elbow. It's called tennis elbow because, in tennis, you use your forearm muscles to do a backhand swing. Tennis players will get this when they return to tennis after a period off or when they ramp up their tennis playing. Honestly, I have only treated one person with tennis elbow from playing tennis. Mainly, tennis elbow is caused by repetitive hammering, chopping or lifting.
At Restore Health and Sport, we recommend modifying the activities causing tennis elbow. We use various techniques, including soft tissue therapy and joint mobilization, to help reduce pain and improve elbow function. Of course, we will recommend exercises to strengthen the affected forearm muscles and improve grip strength.
If you are experiencing any of these conditions, book with one of our chiropractors. We can provide effective treatment options that can help reduce pain and improve function throughout the body. With our expertise in musculoskeletal health, we can help you achieve return to the activities you love and improve your quality of life.