Knock Out Pain

Tips to Prevent Back Pain When Gardening or Working in the Yard – Part 3

It’s that time of year, when we spend a lot of time in the yard or garden.  My book, “Knock Out Pain: Secrets to Maintaining A Healthy Back”, gives great details to help you prevent back pain during these activities.

Here are some of the tips:

1. Lifting
When lifting bags, keep your back straight and bend with your knees. Lift with your legs.

Avoid bending at the waist.

2. Avoid twisting
When raking, avoid twisting your back and stand with your feet shoulder width apart, one foot in front of the other. Try to keep your back straight.

3. Take Breaks
Taking a postural break makes it less likely that injuries will occur.

4. Ice.
Use ice for sore muscles. Ice will Decrease muscle spasms.

I hope these tips are helpful.

Write me at info@knockoutpain.com and let me know if these tips were useful.

Also, please remember to sign up for our monthly tips on our homepage.

If you live in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth Suffolk, or Hampton Roads and are suffering from back pain, our physical therapists, pain management doctor, and spine doctor can help you.

Please contact our nonsurgical doctor in Norfolk or Chesapeake at 757-333-3360 or by clicking here. Together We Strive to Knockout Pain®

More about our spine doctor
Our pain management center and spine doctor provides excellent care in the diagnosis and non-surgical treatment of spinal and orthopedic pain resulting from injuries and other painful conditions such as:
• Spinal Stenosis
• Degenerative Disc Disease
• Herniated Disc (Sciatica)
• Post-Laminectomy Syndrome (failed back syndrome)
• SI Joint Dysfunction
• Facet Syndrome
• Tennis/Golfer’s Elbow
• Myofascial Pain
• Osteoarthritis (hands, knees, hips, shoulder)
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
• Rotator Cuff Tear
• Rotator Cuff Tendonitis

For more than two decades, we’ve successfully served patients in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk, and Hampton Roads. Our back doctor and her staff of physical therapists are widely known for treating all musculoskeletal problems from the neck to the foot. Knocking out back pain, chronic neck, shoulder pain, hip pain, knee pain and other health issues is why our patients say these great things about us.

Tips to Prevent Back Pain When Gardening or Working in the Yard – Part 2

It’s that time of year, when we spend a lot of time in the yard or garden.  My book, “Knock Out Pain: Secrets to Maintaining A Healthy Back”, gives great details to help you prevent back pain during these activities.

Here are some of the tips:

1. Variation
Change your gardening tasks. Do a little pruning, raking, and mulching. Avoid performing any particular activity for a prolonged period.

2. Avoid bending
When weeding or doing other activities, avoid bending at the waist for prolonged periods. Repetitive bending will increase the likelihood that your muscles will ache. Keep your gardening tools close at hand.

3. Avoid leaning
When mowing, avoid leaning forward as you push the lawn mower. This can strain your back. Be sure to maintain proper posture and push with your arms and legs instead of your back.

Stay Tuned for Part 3 on Gardening Tip Next Weeks

Also, please remember to sign up for our monthly tips on our homepage.

If you live in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth Suffolk, or Hampton Roads and are suffering from back pain, our physical therapists, pain management doctor, and spine doctor can help you.

Please contact our nonsurgical doctor in Norfolk or Chesapeake at 757-333-3360 or by clicking here. Together We Strive to Knockout Pain®

More about our spine doctor
Our pain management center and spine doctor provides excellent care in the diagnosis and non-surgical treatment of spinal and orthopedic pain resulting from injuries and other painful conditions such as:
• Spinal Stenosis
• Degenerative Disc Disease
• Herniated Disc (Sciatica)
• Post-Laminectomy Syndrome (failed back syndrome)
• SI Joint Dysfunction
• Facet Syndrome
• Tennis/Golfer’s Elbow
• Myofascial Pain
• Osteoarthritis (hands, knees, hips, shoulder)
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
• Rotator Cuff Tear
• Rotator Cuff Tendonitis

For more than two decades, we’ve successfully served patients in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk, and Hampton Roads. Our back doctor and her staff of physical therapists are widely known for treating all musculoskeletal problems from the neck to the foot. Knocking out back pain, chronic neck, shoulder pain, hip pain, knee pain and other health issues is why our patients say these great things about us.

Tips to Prevent Back Pain When Gardening or Working in the Yard – Part 1

It’s that time of year, when we spend a lot of time in the yard or garden.  My book, “Knock Out Pain: Secrets to Maintaining A Healthy Back”, gives great details to help you prevent back pain during these activities.

Here are some of the tips:

1. Shoe wear
Yard work can put a lot of strain on your feet and legs. Good foot and arch supports can stop some of that strain from affecting your back.

2.  Warm-up
Before you begin any tasks in the yard or garden, always take a few minutes to warm -up your muscles by doing some warm-up exercises. These include walking around the yard briskly for a few minutes or doing jumping jacks. Do a few back and hamstring stretches as well.

3. Drink Lots of Water
To help prevent muscle cramps, spasms and dehydration, adequate hydration will allow your muscles to work efficiently.
LIKE our page and follow me for additional tips next week.

Stay Tuned for Part 2 on Gardening Tip Next Week

Also, please remember to sign up for our monthly tips on our homepage.

If you live in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth Suffolk, or Hampton Roads and are suffering from back pain, our physical therapists, pain management doctor, and spine doctor can help you.

Please contact our nonsurgical doctor in Norfolk or Chesapeake at 757-333-3360 or by clicking here. Together We Strive to Knockout Pain®

More about our spine doctor
Our pain management center and spine doctor provides excellent care in the diagnosis and non-surgical treatment of spinal and orthopedic pain resulting from injuries and other painful conditions such as:
• Spinal Stenosis
• Degenerative Disc Disease
• Herniated Disc (Sciatica)
• Post-Laminectomy Syndrome (failed back syndrome)
• SI Joint Dysfunction
• Facet Syndrome
• Tennis/Golfer’s Elbow
• Myofascial Pain
• Osteoarthritis (hands, knees, hips, shoulder)
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
• Rotator Cuff Tear
• Rotator Cuff Tendonitis

For more than two decades, we’ve successfully served patients in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk, and Hampton Roads. Our back doctor and her staff of physical therapists are widely known for treating all musculoskeletal problems from the neck to the foot. Knocking out back pain, chronic neck, shoulder pain, hip pain, knee pain and other health issues is why our patients say these great things about us.

Take The Time To Laugh

Did you know there are health benefits from humor and laughter?

Take the time to laugh to get these 7 Health Benefits from Laughter:

1. Laughter diminishes Pain by triggering endorphins, which provide you with some pain relief. It also brings your body and mind back into balance.

2. Laughter relaxes the whole body. A good, hearty laugh relieves physical stress and tension, leaving your muscles relaxed for up to 45 minutes afterwards.

3. Laughter boosts the immune system. Laughter decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving your resistance to disease.

4. Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins help to promote an overall sense of well-being.

5. Laughter protects the heart. Laughter improves the function of blood vessels and increases blood flow, which can help protect you against a heart attack and other cardiovascular problems.

6. Laughter burns calories. One study found that laughing for 10 to 15 minutes a day can burn about 40 calories—which could be enough to lose three or four pounds over the course of a year. Yes, you still need to go to the GYM (LOL)

7. Laughter may even help you to live longer. A study in Norway found that people with a strong sense of humor outlived those who don’t laugh as much. The difference was particularly notable for those battling cancer.

My prescription for good health: Seek more opportunities for humor and laughter so we can improve our emotional health, strengthen our relationships, find greater happiness—and even add years to our lives.

©2017 Winifred D. Bragg, MD. All Rights Reserved.

Five Tips To Avoid A Total Knee Replacement

By Dr. Winifred Bragg, published by The Wellness Network

Many people come to me with osteoarthritis of their knees. When they ask about joint replacements, I remind them that pain is the primary reason for joint replacements of both the hip and knee.

It is important to pay attention to your knees and hips. By paying attention to your joints, you can avoid joint replacement surgery.

If we can get rid of the pain, we can get rid of the need to have joint replacement surgery.

Osteoarthritis can cause your joints to become stiff and can result in significant pain, thus limiting your function. By restricting one’s mobility, it is often difficult to perform your activities of daily living.  Sometimes joints can become so painful that negotiating stairs and getting into and out of the bathtub can become very difficult.

Unfortunately, joint replacement surgeries can also be taxing on the body. There is no guarantee that you will regain the mobility you once had following a joint replacement.   Your pain may also persist after surgical intervention.

Most of the time, surgery for joint pain is elective and can be avoided.

Here are five tips to help you avoid a total knee replacement:

1. Get Rid of Excess Weight. Obesity is considered one of the top causes of damage to the joints in the lower extremity.  Being overweight puts excess stress on the joints which can cause the cartilage to break down more quickly than normal. Before joint replacement surgery, you might want to consider losing weight.

A recent study of more than 38,000 patients in Australia found that there was a direct correlation between weight loss and the need for joint replacement. The correlation was especially strong for knees.

Excess weight puts extra pressure on the painful joint. There is also evidence that excess weight increases the rate at which cartilage is lost from the knee.  Extra weight can make a person more prone to develop osteoarthritis. This can cause the disease to progress more rapidly.

Even a small weight loss can be beneficial. Being 50 pounds overweight puts 250 pounds of additional pressure on the joints.  Therefore, losing 3 pounds can subtract 6 pounds of pressure.  Losing as little as 5 percent of your body weight can relieve some of this pressure. The weight loss will help patients to reduce arthritic symptoms.

Some physicians say it is estimated that six to eight times your body weight is experienced through the knee. Therefore, every 10 pounds loss means 60 to 80 pounds less pressure. Additional weight can lead to a greater risk of developing arthritis.

To avoid joint replacement surgery focuses on weight loss. Losing weight will not replace cartilage; but it will help to reduce the stress on the joints.

2. Exercise Regularly. Stay as active as possible. Limiting physical activity can actually make joint damage worse. The less you move, the stiffer you get. When you get stiff, it hurts more to move.

Inactivity leads to loss in the cartilage between your bones.  Without cartilage, you get bone-on-bone and this is very painful.

Exercise also helps because it stimulates the release of synovial fluid.  Synovial fluid is released the more you move your joints.  Synovial fluid bathes the cartilage and helps to loosen the joints.

Physical therapy is often recommended to facilitate a good exercise program.  Doing aerobic exercises at least 3 times a week can be helpful. Strength training is also helpful in maintaining joint health.

With regular exercise, one should be able to maintain a healthy weight which can prevent further joint damage. Low-impact workouts such as using the elliptical trainer, a recumbent bicycle, walking and swimming are best. These exercises help to provide cardiovascular benefits without loading the joints.

Maintaining your range of motion is very important. Therefore, remember to work on extending and flexing your knees regularly. Daily stretching of your quadriceps and hamstrings is important.

A well-trained physical therapist can perform deep tissue massage to help relax the muscles to increase blood flow to the joints. This will supply the joints with more nutrients and can help to reduce swelling thereby reducing pain.

3. Joint Injections. Injections with cortisone or hyaluronic acid are other non-operative treatments to help reduce knee pain.   Knee pain may also be treated with regenerative medicine treatments such as platelet rich plasma therapy.  Platelet rich plasma therapy may protect existing cartilage and possibly help to produce more cartilage.

Cortisone injections may also be effective for hip pain.  These injections are best done under fluoroscopy.

4. A Knee Unloader Brace.  An unloader brace unloads the painful side of the knee, and shifts the stresses to the side with minimal arthritis. These can be used very effectively in treating patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. Unloader braces will help to reduce pain and therefore increases mobility. I prescribe these often to patients who want to consider an effective non-surgical solution to treatment osteoarthritis of the knee. These braces help to increase mobility and can help you to perform your activities of daily living. Many patients use these braces to participate in sporting activities as well.

I have patients who use these braces to play racquetball and to golf.

5. Medications and Supplements. The use of  supplements like glucosamine and chondroitin can have beneficial effects on osteoarthritis. Opioid analgesics can be given for severe pain if there is no response to other treatments.

These non-surgical options depend on your commitment to make behavioral modifications through weight loss and exercise.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEBSITE?
You can, as long as you include this complete statement with it: Winifred Bragg, MD, is the author of Amazon Best Seller  “Knockoutpain®: Secrets to Maintain a Healthy Back” and the Creator of the Bragg Factor, a system that  provides a blueprint to help you Turn Pain to Power  and reach your maximum potential in your personal or professional  life.  Get free tips to reduce your physical pain at www.knockoutpain.com and  success tips to lead  a more productive life  at www.drbraggspeaks.com.

7 Health Benefits of Expressing Gratitude

Today our lives are fast paced, and we all experience some stress at times. Over the years, I have found that patients who are grateful deal more effectively with the stressors associated with living with chronic pain, which is pain that has lasted more than three months.

Gratitude is the act of being appreciative of what we have rather than feeling bad about those things we don’t have. The positive attitude that patients with gratitude show is a positive asset in the treatment process. These patients are usually willing to try numerous treatment options.

Rather than expressing bitterness they get involved in their treatment and they continually focus on trying to get better. These patients are willing to set realistic goals and they focus more on well-being and less on pain.

Life’s challenges can cause us internal conflict, and these internal battles can increase stress and cause us to waste energy. Therefore, each of us must learn how to cope with the stressors of everyday life. With gratitude we find joy in our daily lives.

An attitude of gratitude can enhance our lives in numerous ways. People who are grateful tend to be happier, healthier and more fulfilled. Being grateful can help people cope with stress. Therefore, it is essential to practice giving gratitude on a daily basis.

7 health benefits of Gratitude:

1. Grateful people take better care of themselves. This results in improving their overall health, because they pay attention to what they eat, and how much they eat.

2. Grateful people exercise more regularly.

3. Gratitude reduces stress, which can help to reduce heart disease.

4. Gratitude boosts the immune system; therefore, you are less susceptible to disease. Negative feelings, however, can weaken the immune system.

5. With stress reduction, you are calmer, therefore you think more clearly and you have more concentration.

6. When you maintain the feeling of thankfulness for as little as 15 to 20 seconds, breathing becomes deeper, increasing the oxygen level of your tissues.

7. Gratitude helps to restore a positive mood, and decreases depression.

Research has demonstrated several health benefits of gratitude. With positive feelings and optimistic views, stress is reduced and blood pressure is better controlled. With better-controlled blood pressure, the risk of heart disease is reduced.

Whether one expresses gratitude is a choice.

However, isn’t it worthwhile from a health standpoint to take the effort to get rid of negative thoughts and start enjoying the benefits of gratitude?

One way to ensure that you remember to express gratitude is to start making the effort to give words of gratitude to those who you love today.

Each morning look for people or things throughout the day for which you are grateful, and take the time to appreciate them.

Remember to say “thank you” to the special people in your life.

Get rid of negativity and let your acts of gratitude change your attitude.

Happy Holidays!

Dr. Bragg

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEBSITE?
You can, as long as you include this complete statement with it: Winifred Bragg, MD, is the author of Amazon Best Seller  “Knockoutpain®: Secrets to Maintain a Healthy Back” and the Creator of the Bragg Factor, a system that  provides a blueprint to help you Turn Pain to Power  and reach your maximum potential in your personal or professional  life.  Get free tips to reduce your physical pain at www.knockoutpain.com, and  success tips to lead  a more productive life  at www.drbraggspeaks.com.

Sports season is here … avoid back pain with these tips

Football season is back, and so are a bunch of other great sports in our schools and recreation leagues.  Whether you’re young or getting older, if you play sports I encourage you to click on the below photo for an article I was recently featured in.  It provides some great tips on avoiding back pain.

If you run into a problem, I hope you’ll come see us at the Spine & Orthopedic Pain Center to get you back in action as quickly as possible.  Good luck this season!!!

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEBSITE?
You can, as long as you include this complete statement with it: Winifred Bragg, MD, is the author of Amazon Best Seller  “Knockoutpain®: Secrets to Maintain a Healthy Back” and the Creator of the Bragg Factor, a system that  provides a blueprint to help you Turn Pain to Power  and reach your maximum potential in your personal or professional  life.  Get free tips to reduce your physical pain at www.knockoutpain.com and  success tips to lead  a more productive life  at www.drbraggspeaks.com.

How to Avoid the Super Bowl Flu

When the Super Bowl airs on February 7, millions of Americans will spend a minimum of four hours in front of their TV sets watching the two best NFL teams compete. They’ll have their lucky hats on, their favorite alcoholic beverages, their preferred easy chair, and snacks aplenty as they gear up to watch the longest football game of the year, complete with extended half-time show and pre-game coverage.

What they may not realize is that they could be setting themselves up for low back pain (or aggregating existing back pain) that could cause them to miss work the next day — and lead them to frantic calls to a doctor’s office for pain relief. Back pain is the second leading cause people give for scheduling doctor visits.

Coincidentally, it has been estimated that one million Americans call in sick the day after the Super Bowl, with the so-called Super Bowl Flu.

Below are some tips for avoiding the Super Bowl Flu:

• Watch the Super Bowl commercials while standing.
• Put a lumbar roll—or rolled up towel—behind your back as you watch the game.
• If you have one, sit on a stability ball instead of the couch.
• Keep snacks in another room. Get up to have one every 30 minutes or so.
• Choose healthy foods because obesity compounds back pain.

Enjoy the game!!

If you have any questions about your back, please call us at (757) 333-3360.