Synergy Healthcare: Herniated Discs

Synergy Healthcare: Herniated Discs

The Chronicle Getting You Back on Track

RELIEVING PAIN FROM HERNIATED DISCS The Best Way to Relieve Your Pain Is to Find the Source!

Do you suffer from back or neck pain? At times, this pain can radiate, indicating a potential problem with the discs. The bones in your spine are called the vertebrae. The vertebrae are held together and in place by ligaments and small discs that act as shock absorbers. These control your spine’s range of movement and flexibility, and keep the spinal cord safe fromdamage. However, when a disc is damaged, the inside can squeeze out of place and either bulge or herniate, leaving the spinal nerves susceptible to damage. When this occurs, the result is called a “herniated disc”, “slipped disc”, or “ruptured disc.”

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The Chronicle Getting You Back on Track

RELIEVING PAIN FROM HERNIATED DISCS The Best Way to Relieve Your Pain Is to Find the Source!

Inside This Newsletter • Staff Spotlight • Patient Success Spotlight • Is the Source of Your Pain in Your Thighs?

A herniated disc in the neck can be just as painful as a herniated disc in the back. Arm pain from a herniated neck disc is one of the more common neck conditions treated by our spine specialists. Although a herniated neck disc may start from injury to the spine, the symptoms, including arm pain, commonly result frompoor posture or muscle strains.The armpain from a herniatedneckdiscoccursbecause theherniateddiscmaterial “pinches”or presses on a nerve, causing pain to radiate along the nerve down the arm. Our specialized physical therapists are trained to examine your spine and movementtofindtherootcauseofyourproblem.Thenweworkwithyouand your doctor to put together a plan that helps you achieve optimum results.

A herniated disc can be incredibly painful and can cause great limitation on the body’s movement, thus hindering a person’s movement and overall ability to perform day-to-day tasks. A herniated disc can cause a variety of symptoms, including radiating pain down the arm or leg, depending on whether the herniated disc is in your neck or low back. Bulging discs are the beginning phase of herniated discs. Very often people have a bulging disc and don’t even know it. Only when the outside of a bulging disc becomes irritated and affects the surrounding tissue does it begin to cause back ache, generally in the same area and not down the leg.

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IS THE SOURCE OF YOUR PAIN IN YOUR THIGHS?

Mark is passionate about sharing what he learns in all things pediatric with parents and patients. He is certified in Developmental, Individual-differences, Relationship-based model (DIRFloortime-Basic) and has training in reflexology through Rhythmic Movement Training International (RMTi). He blends reflexology techniques and child-led methodologies into most of his treatment sessions. As a father of two pre-Kindergarten children and a baby boy expected May of 2018, he enjoys practicing these methods and other pediatric techniques on his children during the evening and weekend hours. He is grateful to work in a healthcare setting that empowers others to participate in family, school, and community activities. When Mark is not in the clinic, you can find him activating his senses (touch, smell, taste, hearing, seeing) by tinkering in his shop, barbecuing, enjoying the outdoors, and gardening. He enjoys initiating the powerful (vestibular and proprioceptive) senses by hiking, snow-skiing, and riding a bike with his daughter. He is looking forward to building a tree house and other backyard activities this summer. Staff Spotlight Mark Swain, MOTR/L, Occupational Therapist Irritation of the nerve root in the spine gives a quite different pain, which is sharp and specific to an area of your leg. Nerve root pain usually radiates to the foot or toes. Patients often describe the pain with sensations such as pins and needles or numbness. It usually affects one leg only and is greater than the pain one has in the back. Nerve root pain is much less common than referred leg pain. Furthermore, if you have back pain alone and no leg pain or nerve symptoms, a nerve root problem is very unlikely. If you do have leg pain, then your legs should be examined by a physical therapist for signs of nerve irritation or nerve compression. synergyspokane.com One of the most common mistakes is to assume that all leg pain is sciatica, and must be due to a disc in the back pressing on a nerve. In fact, most leg pain is not pain from the nerve in your spine, and has nothing to do with a herniated disc. There is much confusion about the term sciatica. The term sciatica is defined as pain running down the leg in the path of the sciatic nerve. It is best to understand the difference between referred leg pain, which “refers” from another area, and nerve root pain, which begins in the spine. In referred pain, irritation of any of the tissues of the back can cause pain down one or both legs. Seventy percent of patients with back pain have some radiating pain to their legs. This referred pain can come from the tissues, muscles, ligaments, joints, discs, or other back structures. It is usually a dull ache that spreads into the buttocks and thighs. It may affect both legs; however, it usually does not go much below the knee. Referred pain is not due to anything pressing on a nerve, and it is not sciatica.

Diagnosing nerve irritation depends on tests that stretch or press on an irritated nerve root to cause pain. Our physical therapists at Synergy Healthcare perform different tests for nerve irritation. A common test is raising the leg straight in the air and looking for radiating pain with limitation. Discover how our therapy transforms your back pain from a pressing problem to a distant memory, allowing you to live a happy, active, and pain-free life.

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All About Kids The Newsletter About Taking Care of the Ones That Matter Most

WHAT IS RHYTHMIC MOVEMENT TRAINING INTERNATIONAL (RMTI)?

RMTi is based on the work of Kerstin Linde, a Swedish movement training specialist, who developed movements based on her observations of how infants are meant to move. The movements in Rhythmic Movement Training International are based on replicating the movements that infants naturally make. In RMTi sessions, we work at using these movements to integrate the reflexes so that learning, communication, behavior and emotional and general well-being can be given the opportunity to be accessed and developed. Licensed RMTi Consultants may use RMTi movement and integration techniques by themselves or can use these movements in conjunction with other techniques and modalities. There is usually an assessment of the active reflexes, and then a series of activities given to help the system change from stressed posture to a more natural and easy way of moving. This promotion of easy learning and whole brain-body development has been effective with people all over the world. There have been many instances of positive shifts and change as these reflexes integrate and we form a proper basis for moving and learning. The movements are easy to learn and parents find that they are straightforward to use at home. Children like them and find them beneficial. Adults also find them easy to remember to do.

WHAT ARE RHYTHMIC MOVEMENTS? Rhythmic movements are gentle rocking and reflex integration movements that stimulate neural pathways and promote learning, emotional balance, and ease of movement. RMTi is an effective way to help with symptoms of ADD/ADHD, learning challenges, autism, and behavioral/emotional imbalances without the use of drugs.

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synergyidaho.com 6270N. GovernmentWay DaltonGardens, ID83815 (208) 666-0611

SPECIALIZING IN : Sensory Integration/Processing • Listening Therapies • Gross Motor & Coordination Skills Development • Play Skills • Fine Motor/ Visual Motor Skill Development • Oral Motor/Oral Sensory Development • Speech/Articulation Development • Expressive-Receptive Language Therapy • Literacy & Cognitive Development • Social Language Skills

All About Kids The Newsletter About Taking Care of the Ones That Matter Most

WHAT IS RHYTHMIC MOVEMENT TRAINING INTERNATIONAL (RMTI)?

(continued from front) Rhythmic Movement Training International (RMTi) explores the role of babies’ natural developmental movements during various stages of development: • Before birth • The first six months after birth • As they get up on their hands and knees • As they learn to walk These movements are crucial for laying down the foundations of neural network pathway growth and myelination in the brain. They are also important for establishing head control, muscle tone and posture, the basis of our ability to move through life with ease and choice. RMTi works to integrate the retained, or underdeveloped, infant reflexes (also called primitive reflexes or neo-natal reflexes) that are involved in learning challenges such as ADD/ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, writing problems, focusing and comprehension challenges, co-ordination difficulties, and Asperger’s Syndrome. It has also been successful in working with people with anxiety, panic, emotional imbalances, behavioural problems, schizophrenia, Parkinson’s, psychosis, PTSD, and general overwhelm. Rhythmic Movement Training International provides the basis for optimizing our ability in all areas of life. It is beneficial for all no matter what age or skill level. The movements are effective for reflex integration, whole-brain learning, optimizing skills, reducing stress, eliminating learning blocks, and living well.

For many people the changes experienced when doing rhythmic movements seemmagical; however, RMTi is not a quick fix, and for many people the program lasts for a year or more as the various stages of development are revisited and experienced.

https://rhythmicmovement.org/rmt-explained

synergyidaho.com 6270N. GovernmentWay DaltonGardens, ID83815 (208) 666-0611

SPECIALIZING IN : Sensory Integration/Processing • Listening Therapies • Gross Motor & Coordination Skills Development • Play Skills • Fine Motor/ Visual Motor Skill Development • Oral Motor/Oral Sensory Development • Speech/Articulation Development • Expressive-Receptive Language Therapy • Literacy & Cognitive Development • Social Language Skills