Friday, March 28, 2014




The Virginia State Legislature adopted this house joint resolution on January 31, 2014 about Chiropractic.  "Designating the first week in October, in 2014 and in each succeeding year, as Chiropractic Health Week in Virginia."

http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?141+ful+HJ93H1

WHEREAS, Doctors of Chiropractic are physician-level providers who focus on the whole person in their conservative approach to health care and public health and who have particular expertise in the prevention, care, and rehabilitation of neuromusculoskeletal injuries and conditions; and
WHEREAS, the chiropractic profession, since its founding more than 100 years ago, promotes neuromusculoskeletal health and overall wellness by encouraging patients and the public to maintain a healthy lifestyle through good nutrition, regular exercise, and restful sleep; and
WHEREAS, Doctors of Chiropractic recognize through clinical experience and research that a sedentary, overmedicated lifestyle is especially dangerous for joint health, wellness, and longevity; and
WHEREAS, Doctors of Chiropractic are recognized worldwide for their health-enhancing, wellness-enhancing, and injury-prevention services, which help people to heal naturally without unnecessary drugs and surgery and to resume their regular activities or achieve levels of optimal functionality; and
WHEREAS, Doctors of Chiropractic, through their regular interactions with patients and their communities, and in collaboration with other health care providers, have the opportunity to teach people about the importance of regular body movement and the relevance of neuromusculoskeletal health; and
WHEREAS, a week dedicated to chiropractic health serves as a reminder that individuals can overcome pain naturally, get healthier, “Discover Chiropractic: Get Vertical,” and become active with the help of a Doctor of Chiropractic in their community; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly designate the first week in October, in 2014 and in each succeeding year, as Chiropractic Health Week in Virginia; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates transmit a copy of this resolution to the Unified Virginia Chiropractic Association so that members of the organization may be apprised of the sense of the General Assembly of Virginia in this matter; and, be it
RESOLVED FINALLY, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates post the designation of this week on the General Assembly’s website.

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Why does my back hurt?

Understanding why your back hurts is the most important thing you can do to help it.  With very few exceptions, back pain does not happen because you did something to it.  It is not because you are old either.  Back and neck pain will most often occur because you did not learn to take care of your spine and keep it in good enough shape to handle what you do to it. 
Our spines, just like every other body part, require some attention to stay healthy.  It is not that complicated once you understand some simple anatomy and physiology. 
All of us start out in life with a spine, made up of lots of moveable bones (24) with lots of other moveable joints attached to it (72+).  These joints are held together with thousands of small, medium and large muscles, tendons and ligaments.  These joints (where 2 or more bones connect) provide the potential to move just like any other joint in our body.  Just like any joint in the body, they must move to stay healthy.  Motion is essential for joint health.  Motion keeps muscles strong and coordinated, stretches tendons and ligaments, pulls nutrition and fluid in and out of tissues and the disks of the spine.  A healthy spine is one that has perfect mobility among all of these joints, muscles, tendons and ligaments with perfect balance, range of motion and coordination.  In 20 years of clinical practice, I have never seen a "perfect" spine.
When any muscle, tendon or ligament gets overstretched either suddenly of slowly over time, a sprain/strain injury will occur.  This is what an episode of neck or back pain is.  The muscles surrounding this injury will tighten up or spasm to protect it from re-injury much like a splint or cast.  These injuries can be very mild (crick or catch), moderate or severe depending on how much tissue damage occurred.  Inflammation (fluid) begins to accumulate in the tissues over 12-72 hours (never apply heat) and then the body begins to heal the tissues injured.  This healing process will always involve some amount of fibrotic and scar tissue being laid down.  Once the healing begins, the muscle spasms, inflammation and pain will gradually go away most of the time no matter what you do.  This is what at one time was called a self limiting episode of back pain. 
Today we know that calling this episode of pain a "self limiting" condition was wrong.  Today this is considered an episode in a chronic degenerative process.  The effect of the scar tissue and adhesion's that remain after the episode of pain sets off a cascade of functional problems that spread throughout the spine over time. 
Scar tissue will never go away, and since it is dense and fibrous tissue, it will limit normal motion of the tissues and associated joints. (leave a cast on your elbow for 10 years and see what happens)  This abnormal and limited motion is what causes joint degenerative arthritis over time.  Lost motion over time causes the muscles to weaken from lack of use (atrophy), tendons and ligaments tighten and get shorter.  Fluid turnover in the joint decreases because motion pumps fluid in and out of those tissues.  The disks of the spine will begin to dehydrate and ultimately, the joint will begin to develop bone spurs in an attempt to fuse it together.  Immobilize any joint in the body and this process will happen.  This is a slow, progressive, chronic degenerative process that we do not feel happening over time.  See Joint complex dysfunction. This is also known as  Vertebral Subluxation Degeneration.  Also see proprioception to better understand some of this.
The spine is made up of a chain of 72+ joints and they all move and contribute to your daily life of sitting, walking, working, sleeping, driving, tying your shoes, brushing your teeth etc.  Once one area in your spine goes through this episode, it will no longer participate in these activities normally.  The tissues and joints above or below this healed injury now try to move more to compensate which puts more stress on them.  Eventually, these tissue get the next strain, sprain injury and go through the same process.   And so goes the life of a spine.  Over our lifetime, these "episodes of pain" will typically become more frequent and more severe as we gradually lose flexibility and motion along this chain of joints.  When we are younger, these tissues above and below the injury compensate somewhat successfully until they are damaged, thus we do not notice this loss of flexibility as much.  But over time, these repetitive strain/sprain injuries add up, and we wake up one morning when we are 60 and think, what happened to me, I used to be so flexible. 
So what to do about this?  Just remember move it or lose it.  The only Doctor that is trained to identify and treat this pathology is a Chiropractor utilizing Spinal Manipulative Therapy.
Chiropractors stretch and move tissues around joints that you can not to restore normal motion.
James D. McLelland D.C.
Chiropractor
Chiroworksva.com and Physical Medicine
Chiropractor Richmond, Chiropractor Short Pump, Chiropractor Glen Allen



Author: James D. McLelland D.C.
Source: Chiroworksva.com and Physical Medicine

Friday, March 21, 2014

Inflamming and De-flamming foods

Inflaming v. De-flaming Foods


We have all heard the saying, you are what you eat. For the most part, we have come to realize that this is very true. Very few people can truly say they eat a "perfect" diet. We generally know what is good for you and what is not. Certain foods do promote a chronic inflammatory condition that supports pain, other foods reduce this inflammatory condition. My 6 year old boy said it in a very innocent but somewhat true way the other day. "Daddy, basically everything that tastes good is bad for you, and everything that tastes bad is good for you, right"?
Well, what do you say to a 6 year old. Especially when you kind of agree with him.
My patients have been asking me over and over again for a copy of a handout in my office regarding the simple list of Pro-Inflammatory foods and the Anti-inflammatory foods. This list is taken from anabolic laboratories research publication Nutritional Foundation. So to save a few trees, here it is.

PRO-INFLAMMATORY FOODS (the bad foods)

-All grains and grain products: Including white bread, whole wheat bread, pasta cereal, pretzels, crackers and any other product made from grains or flours from grains. This also includes most desserts and packaged foods.
-Partially hydrogenated oils (trans fats): found in margarine, deep fried foods (french fries, etc.) and most packaged foods.
-Seed and legume oils (inaccurately called vegetable oils) Corn oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, cottonseed oil, peanut oil, soybean oil, and foods made with these oils like mayonnaise, tartar sauce, margarine, salad dressings and many packaged foods. These oils/foods contain extremely high levels of inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids.
-Soda and sugar
Dairy and soy: when consumed as staples.
Meat and eggs: from grain fed animals.

ANTI-INFLAMMATORY FOODS (the good foods)

-All fruits and vegetables: eaten raw or lightly cooked.
-Red and Sweet Potatoes: eaten with protein such as eggs, fish, meat or fowl.
-Fresh fish: avoid farm raised tilapia, catfish, bass and bronzini. They have elevated levels of inflammatory omega 6 fatty-acids.
-Meat, chicken and eggs from grass fed animals. Eatwild.com is a website that lists producers of grass fed animals. Do the best you can to get lean cuts of regular meats otherwise.
-Wild game: including Deer, Elk, etc. Animals that feed on vegetation in the wild.
-Anti-inflammatory Omega-3 eggs and or egg whites.
-Raw nuts: such as almonds, cashews, walnuts, hazelnuts, pistachios, Brazil nuts, and macadamia nuts.
-Spices: ginger, tumeric, garlic, dill, oregano, coriander, fennel, red chili pepper, basil, rosemary. If you wish, you can add a little sea salt.
-Oils & Fats: moderate amounts of organic butter, coconut oil and extra virgin olive oil. Butter from grass fed cows is also a healthier choice.
-Salad Dressing Choices: extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar or lemon juice, mustard along with spices.
-Beverages: water, organic green tea, and if you choose to drink alcohol, red wine and stout beer are the best choices.
Good luck with all that. It is not that bad really if you develop a habit of eating as close to this as you can. Very few can do it all and be perfect, welcome to the world of relativity.
Yours in Health
James D. McLelland D.C.
Chiroworksva.com and Physical Medicine
Chiropractor Richmond | Chiropractor Short Pump | Chiropractor Glen Allen | Chiropractor Innsbrook

Myofascial Trigger Point Dry Needling

dry needling
dry needling 2
Myofascial trigger point dry needling (MFTrPDN) is a treatment to restore proper function to abnormally behaving muscles. These muscles become painful with nodules also called knots and tight bands of muscle that can be painful locally or refer pain to other locations. The muscles, which contain these abnormal areas are "locked" and can not function normally, which causes restriction of movement and chronic pain. Many methods of treatment are applied to painful muscles but none are quite as effective, fast acting or long lasting as the treatment known as MFTrPDN.
These nodules or knots develop from overuse, trauma, poor posture, lack of exercise, sleep disturbances, vitamin deficiencies, joint arthritis or nerves being physically stressed at the spine and other locations. These painful areas contain bio-chemicals that cause pain to the local nerves, have decreased oxygen flow (called ischemia) causing further pain resulting in the muscle fibers to "lock". The reason this method is so effective is that it short-circuits the vicious cycle in a very direct way that other methods can not accomplish. This treatment allows the muscle contracture to release to its normal length, the circulation to improve, swelling to recede and the chemicals to disperse, thereby removing their noxious effect on local nerves. The treatment utilizes sterile, thin mono-filiment needles to achieve its goal. The relief is often rapid with a reduction in pain and improved function.

Richmond Va Chiropractor Dr. McLelland has been certified to practice myofascial trigger point dry needling since 2010. His experience with the application of this technique often in combination with other various physical medicine treatments has achieved remarkable results for many patients who have not been able to find relief with other approaches. Dr. McLelland serves primarily patients in the Short Pump Va 23233, Glen Allen Va 23059 areas of Richmond.
Chiropractor Richmond, Chiropractor Glen Allen, Chiropractor Short Pump, Chiropractor Twin Hickory