Stand up to Sciatica

Stand up to Sciatica

The Chronicle Getting You Back on Track

“Spring Into Action By SeekingPainRelief! ” Stand up to Sciatica Do you experience pain in the buttock, leg, or even your foot? If so, you may be experiencing sciatica. Sciatica is a common form of back and leg pain that is often misunderstood by sufferers. People frequently have questions about what sciatica is, why it occurs, and how to find relief from the intense pain it can cause from the low back down to the feet. If you are suffering from sciatica, it is important to find its root cause. Many people think an x-ray or expensive MRI is first needed to figure out what is causing pain. Having a lot of tests doesn’t mean you will find its root cause. Recent studies show that nearly 1 million of MRIs done for sciatica fail to find a treatable cause. With a new imaging technique called magnetic resonance neurography, 69% of the patients were found to have a sciatic nerve trapped in the buttock by a muscle called the piriformis. It is known that in about 25% of the general population, the sciatic nerve pierces through the piriformis muscle and can be susceptible to abnormal pressure and irritation. Why Does Sciatica Occur? If there are changes in posture, muscle strength, or pelvic alignment, the nerve can be compressed, which leads to the quite common low back and sciatic nerve pains. The sciatic nerve is the longest and largest nerve in your body. It reaches all the way down to the foot, and therefore can be irritated anywhere along its path. With sciatica, the consequent ache can be felt anywhere from the base of the spine, to the buttocks, to the back of the thigh and legs. Even tingling sensations in the toes can be attributed at times to the impingement of the sciatic nerve.

The Chronicle Getting You Back on Track

“Start moving like you did inyour 20s! ”

Stand Up to Sciatica

Bad Habits Can Increase Your Pain Some seemingly harmless habits can also contribute to the irritation of the sciatic nerve. A frequent bad habit is crossing of the legs for extended periods, which puts pressure on the nerve. In addition, sitting for long periods is bad for your spine. It is possible for you to prevent or relieve sciatica simply by improving your posture. Physical Therapy Relieves Sciatica The specialists at Synergy Healthcare play a cruciol role inevaluatingand treatingsciatica,aswellasother common back problems. Our physical therapists are medicalexpertswithyearsof training toevaluateyour back problem and find the root cause of your sciatica. An individualized treatment plan is created to guide you through the recovery process and maximize your success.

When you come to Synergy Healthcare, our friendly and knowledgeable therapists spend time with you. We train you on specific and easy exercises that will relieve the pain in your back and legs. In addition, our specialized hands-on therapy helps to gently loosen tight muscles and joints in your spine and legs. Your pain is quickly relieved and your flexibility restored, so you can feel like yourself again. Our cutting-edge treatments are doctor recommended and are specifically designed for you to reach your healthcare goals. Knowingall thisshouldgiveyouaheadstart inwarding off painful sciatica. After all, it may be as simple as learning to stand tall.

Inside This Newsletter

• Staff Spotlight • Patient Success Spotlight • Referral Program • Workshop Information • Frequency Specific Microcurrent

“Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine 2005, Volume 2, Number 2. Aaron G. Filler, M.D., Ph.D.,etal.”

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Call IN & Win!

ATTENTIONALL YOGAPRACTITIONERS! Why you should add Feldenkrais to themix!

Be the first 10 to call with the misspelled word and receive a $10 GIFT CARD Call In & Win Hotline: (509) 413-1630

Whileyogaposescreateawareness, theycanbecomehabitual in the way they are practiced. Without realizing it, many are using more effort than is needed, which can lead to neck pain andbackpainduring theiryogapractice,making itamuchmore difficult and potentially painful experience. The gentle, simple, inquisitive process of an Awareness Through Movement (ATM) lesson opens and deepens your kinesthetic knowledge, paving the way for a better yoga experience. Feldenkraisemphasizessmall,enjoyable,andsubtlemovements togivemore insight into theway thatyouhabituallymove.Once abadhabit isdiscovered itcanbe retrained intoamoreefficient pattern. This can improve yoga poses and deepen the practice, guiding to you to move more smoothly and easily.

WhatFeldenkrais– “AwarenessThroughMovement”– lessons can do to help improve your yoga practice: • Increased awareness of self • Increased range and ease of motion • Help identify habitual misuse and/or overuse of self • Unify the body as a “whole” in yoga asanas • Enhance breath work • Break down asanas into smaller, slower, easier segments By slowing down, so that we can sense and feel more clearly howwearemoving,webegin toexperience theyogaposturesas dynamic, rejuvenating, and endlessly interesting. Flow, fluidity, and flexibility—supplestrengthand repose-in-action—welcome to your new yoga experience!

Calling all PTs and SLPs! We need you! We are seeking 2 very special people to bring into our team. A new Speech and Language Pathologist for our Coeur d’Alene practice and a new Physical Therapist for our Mission practice. In order to fit with our team, they need to be upbeat, enthusiastic, gracious, and thoughtful. They love to learn and are interested in cutting the edge therapies that we offer at Synergy. Do you know someone who loves to keep learning and wants to provide outstanding care? Please send them our way! Contact us at (509) 413–1630 to request an interview.

FREQUENCY SPECIFIC MICROCURRENT (FSM) FOR HEAD, NECK, AND FACE PAIN

Myofascial trigger points are a well-documented source of head, neck, and face pain. These trigger points have been mapped by Travell and Simons, and you can see maps of trigger points up on the walls in our clinic. As some of you well know, myofascial pain can cause severe and debilitating pain in the head, neck, and face, and can lead to restrictions in the normal motion of the joint. Myofascial pain can also lead to impairment of neurological function, circulation, and lymphatic flow. Other related problems may include sinus congestion, difficulty swallowing, ear pain, dizziness, tinnitus, dry cough, blood pressure fluctuations, paresthesias in the face, eye pain, blurred or double vision, migraines and tension headaches, and restrictions in cervical motion. Repeated experience of a sympathetic stress, biomechanical overuse, crush injuries, or trauma will cause predictable tissue changes; these changes result in triggerpointsdue tobiochemical changes in the muscles. Treatment of trigger points by frequency specific microcurrent: It is hypothesized that frequency specific microcurrent causes changes in fibrosis,

scar tissue, mineral deposits, inflammation, and spasms when specific frequencies are used for veins, connective tissue, arteries, and nerves. The response is frequencyspecific.An inappropriateor ineffective frequencyproducesnochange in tissue nomatterhow long it isapplied.Acorrectfrequency often produces the characteristic softening of the tissue in moments. Another hypothesis about the effectiveness of this modality is that it increases ATP production, protein synthesis, and membrane transport at a cellular level, all processes that are required for normal tissue function. Thistreatment isutilizedaspartofacomprehensive approach including specific manual therapy techniques, exercise prescription, and diet modification. We are starting to see changes in clients who have had long-standing neuropathic pain, post-concussion syndrome, migraines, and scar tissue that affects their lymphatic flow and postural imbalances. Frequencyspecificmicrocurrentasan independent modality is not covered by insurance. If utilized in treatment,weconsider the treatmentbundledwith

other techniques including manual therapy and exercise prescription.Depending on the diagnosis, recommended intervention is 2-3 times per week. We have priced non-bundled treatment at about one dollar per minute. Some protocols run 20 minutes, while some run over 80 minutes. Patientsare required tobehydrated,andareasked to drink up to two quarts of water within the two hoursproceeding treatment toget themost from it. (Excerpts from this article taken directly from “Microcurrent treatment of myofascial pain in the head, neck, and face,” Carolyn McMakin, MA, CD, with permission)

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Staff Spotlight

Shauna Burchett, OTR/L Owner

Shauna Burchett is the owner of Synergy Healthcare in Spokane Valley and in Coeur d’Alene. She graduated from University of Alberta, Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, Department of Occupational Therapy in 1993. Shauna has been in private practice since 1998. She began her career as an occupational therapist specializing in traumatic head injuries. She fell in love with that population and continues to develop her skills with post concussive injuries, strokes, and traumatic brain injuries. She describes herself as a “nose to toes” kind of therapist. She’s always up for a challenge – perhaps that’s why she is the owner. She loves craniosacral therapy, visceral manipulation, and lymphatic drainage. Her perspective on healing and recovery has been influenced by many osteopaths whose classes she has taken, but more importantly by the clients who have taught her through their injuries and illnesses.

ShaunaBurchett,OT (owner)and family

She loves the expression “If you listen hard enough to a patient they will tell you what is wrong with them, but if you listen even harder they will tell you how to fix it.” It is the framework on which she built the clinic. The perspective she tries to lead from and from which she tries to live her life is: “I think we don’t listen enough”. Shauna enjoys spending time with her husband, Robin, and three sons, Ethan, Parker, and Sawyer. She also enjoys traveling, playing the piano, and studying yoga.

CALL TODAY! (509) 413-1630

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Patient Success Spotlight

My symptoms are minimal and I am confident that my recovery will be complete!

Amy’s and Chuck’s just like the tasty icing on a beautiful cake. Today I feel 90% better than I did when I first walked into Synergy a couple of months ago. My symptoms are minimal and I am confident that my recovery will be complete. I cannot express the gratitude I feel for my therapists and how they have helped me get back to my normal, energetic self. Their knowledge, kindness, guidance and encouragement have been tremendous. Synergy is an amazingly welcoming place. I feel that the entire staff cares about me and my well-being. I am infinitely thankful to have found Synergy and I would highly recommend the clinic. I plan to return periodically to maintain the gains I have achieved.” – Marisa S.

“On August 31, 2016, in the middle of the night, I got up to take some ibuprofen for an acute pain I was having in my back. For some reason, I fainted twice and my head hit the floor both times. The result was a severe concussion, which took me completely out of commission for several months. The post-concussion symptoms I struggled with were exhaustion, upper body stiffness, vertigo, nausea, lack of appetite, and the inability to track whatever I attempted to read. I was referred to Synergy by my chiropractor, Kelly Pearson, and I first saw Chuck Depner, who did the strain-counter-strain physical therapy method and helped me relieve the tenseness held in my upper body. I also saw Amy Pemberton, who did cranio-sacral massage therapy and worked very hard to treat my vertigo and the other symptoms that were so debilitating. Currently, I am seeing Shauna Burchett, and her work has complemented

Our Goal Is to Get You Back on Track As Fast As Possible Using the Latest Cutting Edge Techniques in the Field

FRIENDS OF SYNERGY

Find out if Frequency Specific Microcurrent can help you!

“You Help Us, to Help Others”

COME TO A FREE MICROCURRENT WORKSHOP MAY 30 at 6 PM

Thanks to all those who referred a friend or family! You will receive $20 Synergy Bucks – equivalent to cash to spend on services and products at Synergy! Below is a list of our most current Synergy Buck recipients. Thanks, everyone, for trusting us with your friends and family.

12012EMissionAve SpokaneValley,WA99206 Phone:(509)413-1630 synergyspokane.com

Noelle A. Will B. Pam M. Neva K.

Kathryn S. Christina R. Ellen B. Stephanie B.

Kristin B. Lex S. Tom M. Elizabeth W.

Presented by Kevin Brick, M.S., O.T. We can only host 30 people, so if you are interested, please call today to hold your spot. You must be able to manage 12 stairs up and down.

DO YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO NEEDS OUR HELP? HAVE THEM CALL TODAY! (509) 413-1630

Sensory Processing Disorder Workshop Do You Understand Sensory ProcessingDisorder? Come and learn froma regional expert with 17 years of experience

This offer may be transferred to friends & family THIS WORKSHOP IS BEING HELD AT OUR COEUR D’ALENE PRACTICE AND IS HOSTED BY KERRI LEWIS, OTR/L 6270 N. GOVERNMENT WAY, DALTON GARDENS, ID 83815 Register now at: www.synergyspokane.com/workshop-classes/

JUNE 1 6 PM

What isSensoryProcessingDisorder? Sensory processing disorder is a condition in which the brain has trouble receiving and responding to information that comes in through the senses. Formerly referred to as sensory integration dysfunction, it is not currently recognized as a distinct medical diagnosis. Some people with sensory processing disorder are oversensitive to things in their environment. Common sounds may be painful or overwhelming. The light touch of a shirt may chafe the skin.

Others with sensory processing disorder may: • Be uncoordinated • Bump into things • Be unable to tell where their limbs are in space • Be hard to engage in conversation or play

Sensory processing problems are usually identified in children, but they can also affect adults. Sensory processing problems are commonly seen in developmental conditions like autism spectrum disorder. Sensory processing disorder is not recognized as a stand- alone disorder. We provide Sensory integration therapy for the pediatric population age 2-21 in Coeur d’Alene.

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(509) 413-1630

Exploring the Therapeutic Effects of Yoga and Its Ability to Increase Quality of Life

Yoga is a form of mind-body fitness that involves a combination of muscular activity and an internally directed mindful focus on awareness of the self, the breath, and energy. Four basic principles underlie the teachings and practices of yoga’s healing system. The first principle is that the human body is a holistic entity comprised of various interrelated dimensions inseparable from one another, and the health or illness of any one dimension affects the other dimensions. The second principle is that individuals and their needs are unique and therefore must be approached in a way that acknowledges this individuality and their practice must be tailored accordingly. The third principle is that yoga is self- empowering; the student is his or her own healer. Yoga engages the student in the healing process; by playing an active role in their journey toward health, the healing comes from within, instead of from an outside source, and a greater sense of autonomy is achieved. The fourth principle is that the quality and state of an individual’s mind is crucial to healing. When the individual has a positive mind-state, healing happens more quickly, whereas if the mind-state is negative, healing may be prolonged. In Yoga Sutras, Patanjali outlines an eightfold path to awareness and enlightenment called ashtanga, which literally means “eight limbs”. The eight limbs are comprised of ethical principles for living a meaningful and purposeful life; serving as a prescription for moral and ethical conduct and self-discipline, they direct attention towards one’s health while acknowledging the spiritual aspects of one’s nature. Any of the eight limbs may be used separately, but within yoga philosophy the physical postures and breathing exercises prepare the mind and body for meditation and spiritual development. Based on Patanjali’s eight limbs, many different yogic disciplines have been developed. Each has its own technique for preventing and treating disease. In the Western world, the most common aspects of yoga practiced are the physical postures and breathing practices of Hatha yoga and meditation. Hatha yoga enhances the capacity of the physical body through the use of a series of body postures, movements (asanas), and breathing techniques (pranayama). The breathing techniques of Hatha yoga focus on conscious prolongation of inhalation, breath retention, and exhalation. It

is through the unification of the physical body, breath, and concentration, while performing the postures and movements, that blockages in the energy channels of the body are cleared and the body energy system becomes more balanced. Yoga is recognized as a form of mind-body medicine that integrates an individual’s physical, mental and spiritual components to improve aspects of health, particularly stress-related illnesses. Evidence shows that stress contributes to the etiology of heart disease, cancer, and stroke as well as other chronic conditions and diseases. Due to the fact that stress is implicated in numerous diseases, it is a priority to focus on stress management and reduction of negative emotional states in order to reduce the burden of disease. Viewed as a holistic stress management technique, yoga is a form of Complimentary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) that produces a physiological sequence of events in the body, reducing the stress response. The scientific study of yoga has increased substantially in recent years and many clinical trials have been designed to assess its therapeutic effects and benefits. Yogic practices enhance muscular strength and body flexibility, promote and improve respiratory and cardiovascular function, promote recovery from and treatment of addiction, reduce stress, anxiety, depression, and chronic pain, improve sleep patterns, and enhance overall well-being and quality of life. While yoga is not a cure for a cancer, nor a definitive way of preventing it, yoga increases physical, emotional, and spiritual wellness, and brings about a certain peace, which many cancer patients desire. Yoga, breathing exercises, and meditation can reduce stress, promote healing, and enhance quality of life for patients with cancer. The growth of tumors and other cancer indicators are exacerbated by stress, so it is especially important for people with cancer to reduce and manage stress effectively. Several premises exist as rationale for applying yoga- based interventions with cancer patients. Research suggests that yoga can produce an invigorating effect on mental and physical energy that improves fitness and reduces fatigue. Additionally,whenpracticingyoga,a fundamental emphasis is placed on accepting one’s moment-

to-moment experiences, creating mindfulness, and not forcing the body past its comfortable limits. Having this healthy sense of acceptance is especially important for individuals dealing with life-threatening illness as it decreases the stress one experiences from unpleasant symptomology. Initially, cancer patients likely benefit from the poses themselves which are designed to exercise each and every muscle, nerve, and gland throughout the body. The postures precisely address the tension, holding, and blockage of energy in any particular joint or organ. As this tension is released, energy flows more readily throughout the body and allows patients to experience a sense of increased well-being and strength as well as a balance of mind, body and spirit. In summary, stress has a negative impact on the immune system and prolonged exposure increases susceptibility to disease and leads to physical and mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. Practicing yoga and meditation as a means to manage and relieve both acute and chronic stress helps individuals overcome other co-morbidities associated with diseases and leads to increased quality of life. As a non-pharmacological form of treatment, yoga based interventions are an alternative option for the treatment of mood disorders. Further investigation of yoga as a therapeutic intervention in depressive disorders is needed and future studies should seek to identify which of the yoga-based interventions is most effective and what levels of severity of depression are more likely to respond to this approach. Woodyard, Catherine. “Exploring the Therapeutic Effects of Yoga and Its Ability to Increase Quality of Life.” International Journal of Yoga. Medknow Publications Pvt Ltd, 2011. Web. 06 Apr. 2017.

We are proud to welcome Aiko Robidoux, COTA and certified yoga teacher to the Mission practice to help you get back on track! Call 509-143-1630