Is it a Misconception To Think The Pros Get The Best In Sports Medicine???

by Miami Beach Chiropractic Sports Physician, Dr. Todd M. Narson

2008 AVP - "South Beach" Miami Beach, FL

I came across an article this morning about The Minnesota Vikings and their athletic training staff.  It's a nice article - building up their athletic training staff with all their accolades and experience. But something both bothered me and pleased me at the same time; It was this paragraph:

 

"The entire athletic training staff are Performance Enhancement Specialists through the National Academy of Sports Medicine. During the 2010 off-season, the Vikings staff was trained in Graston technique, a patented form of instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization that works to effectively break down scar tissue and fascial    restrictions"

Realistically, there's nothing wrong with that paragraph. It's absolutely 100% accurate. They took the courses, did the training and yes, Graston Technique(r) does all those things (and more)... It makes me happy to hear about people advancing their education and skill-set, especially when it comes to improving the health of other people. 

So what's my problem???

Well, what bothered me is here we have a group of medical professionals that have been behind the curve for quite a while, especially for being at the ultimate level in sports competition - The Pro's.

Working on a chronic post surgical knee using FAKTR technique (2006)

I've been certified in IASTM (Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization) and specifically Graston Technique since 2002...both M1 & M2 certification levels as well as the more advanced IASTM concepts of FAKTR.  Most of the public sits back, watches the games and when their player suddenly gets hurt they rest assured that their getting the best of the latest and greatest technology out there when it comes to sports medicine.  Now it seems that may or may not be true.

Why am I being so harsh on them?

Graston Technique Represented a quantum leap in the technology of treating pain related soft tissue  injuries - a paradigm shift in the way we treat soft tissue injuries.  But this paradigm shift started back in 1994, not 2010.  I first found out about Graston Technique(r) when at a continuing education convention in 2001 and was walking around some of the vendor booths during a break with my friend and sports medicine mentor Dr. Tom Hyde.  This was the first time we encountered it.  Within a year I was sitting in a Graston Technique(r) course. Tom had taken the first course he could find and was already certified and preparing to teach it.  But if you know Tom, well, that's Tom.  He's a walking talking functional sports medicine encyclopedia. If there anything effective and worth while, he dives in head first..learns everything there is to know and ends up teaching the rest of us.

Same thing, just a close up (still 2006)

It took some time to become proficient in the technique and after mastering it, it eventually it became one of my main tools when treating various pain syndromes - especially long term chronic ones.  Conditions like chronic hamstrings strains, I.T. band syndrome & plantar fasciitis in runners and triathletes, rotator cuff injuries in swimmers and "throwing" athletes, bicipital tenosynovitis (what most people call bicipital tendonitis), Post surgical adhesion pain as well as other pesky aches and pains that don't seem to respond to typical physiotherapy, stretching, exercise, pain/anti-inflammatory meds or chiropractic care.  With Graston Technique as a base and FAKTR I was helping conditions that were extremely difficult to treat that took months and months of treatment previously. Now in as little as a few treatment sessions or only a few weeks. 

So why am I explaining this to you? Why does this "press release" erk me so much?  Because I use to think just because they work with the Pro's they were automatically the best. However it turns out you can often find (at least) the same quality physicians, trainers and therapists as the professionals use, right in your neighborhood.  And... you don't have to be a pro athlete to be treated like one.  It's taken over a decade for the Vikings to adopt this wildly successful technique, but I bet there's an advanced IASTM provider right in your neighborhood who is more experienced and more proficient.  

Team Jamaica's Orthopedic Surgeon Assisting Me With IASTM

Want to find a great chiropractic sports medicine physician right in your neighborhood?  Click here to begin your search 

'nuff said

Dr. T

Below are some great resources to find physicians and therapist with advanced degrees and certifications in sports medicine and/or advanced soft tissue treatment techniques like Graston Technique and FAKTR:

1. American Chiropractic Board of Sports Physicians(r) 

2. ACA Sports Council

Dr. Narson is a 2-term past president of the Florida Chiropractic Association’s Council on Sports Injuries, Physical Fitness & Rehabilitation and was honored as the recipient of the coveted Chiropractic Sports Physician of the Year Award in 1999-2000. He practices in Miami Beach, Florida at the Miami Beach Family & Sports Chiropractic Center; A Facility for Natural Sports Medicine.

#chiropractormiamibeach #MiamiBeachChiropractor #SportsInjuriesFixedHere #DrNarson #ToddNarson #Narson #TriDoc #TriathlonDoc #ChiropracticSportsMedicine #ACASC #SportsMedicine #SportsChiropractor #MiamiBeachSportsMedicine #SportsMedicineMiami #MiamiSportsMedicine #MiamiChiropractor #Triathlon #Running #Ironman #IFixPeopleInPain #TrainWithoutPain #MiamiBeachChiropractor #GrastonTechnique #FAKTR #IASTM #Chiropractor #FootPain #Narson #NarsonBodyMechanic #NarsonTool #DACBSP #CCSP #ACBSP #BackPain #NeckPain #ShoulderPain #RotatorCuff #ITBandSyndrome #runnersKnee #PlantarFasciitis #Plantarfascitis #AchillesTendonitis #AchillesTendonosis #GettingAthletesBackInTheGame  #MiamiBeachChiropractor #MiamiSportsMedicine #MiamiBeachSportsMedicine #WeFixPeopleInPain #TrainWithoutPain #ChiropracticSportsMedicine #ACASC #ProSportChiropractic #FunctionalMedicineMiami #DrNarson #BackPainRelief #NeckPainRelief #SportsInjuriesFixedHere #LaserTherapy #RockTape #KinesioTape #KTTape #Nutrition #21DayPurificationProgram #DetoxProgram #PaleoDiet #PaleoDoc #FunctionalNutrition #Chirooractor #Chiropractic #ChiropracticPhysician #DoctorOfChiropractic #USATriathlon #USAT #TeamUSA

Blackberry Thumb

Blackberry thumb is an irritation of the opponsnes & adductor pollicis muscles and tendons at through the large pad at the base of the thumb. It is a rapidly growing condition as more people use thumb-operated gadgets such as Blackberries, iPhones, Nintendo, X-Box and PS Gaming systems.

Symptoms of Blackberry thumb

• Pain: At the base of the thumb which may continue even when the thumb is not being used
• Ache: In the thumb web space or base of thumb joint
• Muscle tension: In the web space between the thumb and index finger

What causes Blackberry thumb?

The muscles and tendons of the thumb are quite strong but are not designed for the type of intense-repetitive activity associated with many of today's handheld communication devices. Muscle fatigue, excessive muscle tension & repetitive mis-use can cause pain, irritation & inflammation of the muscles & tendons resulting in pain with use and when the condition worsens, pain at rest. Basically, this condition is a tendonitis. If not corrected and resolved, it can turn into a long term chronic tendonosis.

What can I do about it?

• Rest: Stop doing what makes it hurt. This important phase allows the body to start healing.
• Ice: Applying an ice compresses helps to reduce inflammation, reduces the hypersensitivity of the associated nerves causing a reduction in pain. When applying ice, always apply a thin towel layer like a handkerchief on the skin first to protect the skin from an ice burn. In this area, 10-12 minutes of ice, 2-4 times per day should suffice, however check with your DC, MD, DO, ATC or PT for your specific needs.
• Gentle stretching and massage: Reducing muscle tension will improve flexibility and resolve the achy sensation. Less muscle tension means less force on the tendons and less chance of developing tendonitis.
• Balancing of muscle strength: Strengthening weak muscles and loosening tight muscles is crucial to achieving full recovery.
• Commitment: It will take repetitive applications over the course of several days or several weeks for this condition to resolve. The more you continue to use your blackberry, the longer it will take to resolve. If it doesn’t resolve, go se your local sports chiropractor, athletic trainer or musculoskeletal medicine specialist such as an orthopedist or physiatrist.
• CHRONIC CASES are best treated with a combination of the above along with Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization(IASTM).
  

Dr. Narson is a 2-term past president of the Florida Chiropractic Association’s Council on Sports Injuries, Physical Fitness & Rehabilitation and was honored as the recipient of the coveted Chiropractic Sports Physician of the Year Award in 1999-2000. He practices in Miami Beach, Florida at the Miami Beach Family & Sports Chiropractic Center; A Facility for Natural Sports Medicine.

LASER Therapy, Pain & Sports Injuries: Does Your Doctor See The Light?

First conceptualized by Albert Einstein in 1916, laser technology has been around since 1965 and has been fascinating us whenever or where ever we've see them ever since. In the past couple of decades, laser technology has made some extensive advances and with that, has shed some new light to a new therapeutic approach to treating sports injuries (and many other injuries and conditions).

You must understand that our bodies use light energy in a similar way that plants do. I’m sure you remember photosynthesis from high school biology and how plants turn the sun’s energy into food that the plant survives and thrives on. Well, we have some of that ability too. Like plants, when our body’s tissues are stimulated by specific wavelengths of light, research has shown that our body will have the following physiological effects:

 

1. Decreased pain levels
2. Reduced inflammation
3. Increased tissue proliferation & regeneration
4. Accelerated soft tissue and bone repair
5. Increased tissue tensile strength
6. Enhanced nerve regeneration & function
7. Increased cell metabolism
8. Increased enzymatic responses
9. Increased cell membrane potentials
10. Increased microcirculation & vasodilation
11. Increased lymphatic flow
12. Increased collagen production
13. Enhanced angiogenesis (creation of new blood vessels)

So what does this mean you ask??? It means biostimulation of damaged tissue with LASER will cause tissues to heal faster and heal-stronger-faster. It means it can stimulate the regeneration of tissue, reduce inflammation and pain. What does this mean for an injured athlete or the victim of a car accident? Not only faster relief of symptoms, but faster healing of the damaged tissues as well. Not bad for a super-duper flashlight on steriods.

Understand there are 2 basic camps in the laser world; hot lasers and cold lasers. Hot lasers are the kind used for surgery; they cut, they burn, they get hot. Hence the name. Cold lasers (aka LLL or Low Level Lasers) generate laser light which can be in the visible or invisible spectrum but do not generate heat. The cold lasers don’t actually get cold either, they’re only called cold because they don’t get hot. Cold lasers (what I like to call therapeutic lasers) are used to increase the rate of healing damaged tissues, reduce inflammation, reduce pain, increased blood flow and in the case of some therapeutic lasers and red lasers are known to also reduce infection.

Sounds too good to be true right? What are the side effects? Well, there really are none. Just don’t shine them in your (or anyone else’s) eyes because they can burn the retina and blind you; so, always wear safety glasses. Don’t use the laser over the thyroid, nor over a developing baby in the womb during the 1st trimester of pregnancy. Lastly, since therapeutic laser helps increase the rate of tissue healing, do not use it over cancerous growths as it can speed up the rate of the cancer’s growth. Outside of these very specific things; Let There Be Light.

What are the down sides? There has been no research to date that shows cold lasers can hurt any condition. At worst, they’ve only shown that over exposure to cold laser therapy causes a plateau in the rate of improvement. Otherwise, doctors who do see the light are getting incredible results from this simple tool that simply stimulates the body to heal faster. So next time you’re enjoying the Pink Floyd Laser Light Show on a Friday night, ask yourself if your feel any better when you wake up Saturday morning.

So, does your doctor see the light? I know I do.

For more information, you can visit the following:

USA Laser
www.NAALT.org
Laser World

References:

Jan Tuner, Lars Hode; The Laser Therapy Handbook

William Prentice, Therapeutic Modalities in Sports Medicine, Chapter 10, pp 215-238

DocT

Dr. Narson is a 2-term past president of the Florida Chiropractic Association’s Council on Sports Injuries, Physical Fitness & Rehabilitation and was honored as the recipient of the coveted Chiropractic Sports Physician of the Year Award in 1999-2000. He practices in Miami Beach, Florida at the Miami Beach Family & Sports Chiropractic Center; A Facility for Natural Sports Medicine.