Atreides,
That is an impossible question for me to answer, as I have no knowlege of the specifics of the injury or surgery.
I would say that your ortho doc should be able to give you those answers.
Sorry I can not be of more help.
Where in Ohio do you live? What doc did you see?
I grew up in Marion/Waldo,OH.
Hi, Dr. Ryan - thanks for taking the time!
I am planning on going to my primary care doc soon for a check-up. My baby turns 1 soon and I’ve been eating right and working out for a few months now. It’s been a few years since I’ve had a checkup and I want to get all my levels and things checked out. What exactly should I ask for? hormones? cholesteral? thyroid? nutrients?
I am very inflexible and am noticing this more and more as I’m getting fitter. Once I reach my goal weight (15 more lbs to lose), I think I should focus on increasing my flexibility. Doing some stretching and yoga seem like no-brainers, but I’m not sure the best amount, time, etc. and ways to incorporate it into my weightlifting routine. Any suggestions for books or videos or any other thoughts?
Thanks again!
Massif,
While disc problems can be problematic, they do not have to be . Saying you have a disc problem is really not all that specific. Discs can have minor bulging/tears or be rupture completely with the gel fluid extruding into the spinal canal. They can be focal or broad and they can go straight back, forward, left or right.
Depending on the type, the treatment, recommendation will vary.
Regarding your training, the hypers and rvs hypers are good. You need to be careful with the power cleans and pulls. You need to maintain the lumbar spine lordosis throughout the movement. If the Lsp is sufficiently flexed during these lifts you are asking for trouble.
You are correct in your assessment that the closer your chest comes to your knees, the more pain you get. That position places the spine in a flexed position, which increases intradiscal pressure while placing the outer disc fibers under stretch. This is the most common position that discs are injured in.
I am in the process of writing an article regarding low back injuries and rehab. Hopefully it will not take to long to finish.
boonville410,
I love ‘THE’ universities 
I don’t know if they still have the internship or not. I did mine in 1996.
Larry Weir and Gretta Ayers, supervised the program. They are in Gilruth center on the LBJ Space Center campus, but I don’t have the number handy.
If I find it, I’ll PM it to you.
[quote]Dr. Ryan wrote:
Massif,
While disc problems can be problematic, they do not have to be . Saying you have a disc problem is really not all that specific. Discs can have minor bulging/tears or be rupture completely with the gel fluid extruding into the spinal canal. They can be focal or broad and they can go straight back, forward, left or right.
Depending on the type, the treatment, recommendation will vary.
Regarding your training, the hypers and rvs hypers are good. You need to be careful with the power cleans and pulls. You need to maintain the lumbar spine lordosis throughout the movement. If the Lsp is sufficiently flexed during these lifts you are asking for trouble.
You are correct in your assessment that the closer your chest comes to your knees, the more pain you get. That position places the spine in a flexed position, which increases intradiscal pressure while placing the outer disc fibers under stretch. This is the most common position that discs are injured in.
I am in the process of writing an article regarding low back injuries and rehab. Hopefully it will not take to long to finish.
[/quote]
Thank-you for your reply. I bet you didn’t expect so many questions so quickly when you signed up for this.
Cheers.
The Indestructible,
What kind of symptoms are you having?
Where is the pain located?
If it is in the back, off center and possibly running around the side, then you might have some irritation to the costotranverse or costovertebral joint.
These can be very painful and give you pain with the movements that you mention.
If that is the case, then I would find a good chiropractor in your area, one that treats sports injuries and is used to dealing with athletes. Adjusting the area will often help relieve the problem, and then stretches and postural relief activities can be used to help keep it from getting reaggravated.
What kind of positions are you in all day? If you sit or do a lot of desk work, check out the “Get on a Roll” Cool Tip in the archives and use the towel roll when you sit. This helps to take some of the pressure off the T-spine/rib area.
Let me know what symptoms you have and I will give you more info.
Take care,
Ryan
[quote]Dr. Ryan wrote:
I grew up in Marion/Waldo,OH.[/quote]
Did you attend Elgin or River Valley High School?
Well it’s been fun. If I didn’t get a chance to answer your question,check in tomorrow, I will try to anwser them then.
Take care,
Ryan
[quote]Dr. Ryan wrote:
I would say that your ortho doc should be able to give you those answers.
Sorry I can not be of more help.
[/quote]
I already have Jeff’s answer, thanks.
If someone has low test levels (borderline for HRT) will Alpha Male, ect be of any real effect? Or would I be throwing away money?
Atreides,
River Valley, class of '91.
I hope your recovery is going well.
Marinecadre,
I would think that Alpha Male would be a good choice.
If you have bloodwork already, try Alpha Male for a couple months and get it re-checked. Make sure they check both total and free test.
Cy would be able to give you more specifics regarding Alpha Male, but it is my understanding that it should work well in the situation that you laid out.
Take care,
Ryan
Yes Dr. Ryan my friend does take ADD medicine as well in conjuction with the Welbutrin and Zanax, i actually did some searching on here and found someone taking similiar things in conjuction with the Zanax, also take allergy medicine for his allergies, the doctor says they wont intefere, and what i had read from a previous post is if the Zanax is removed will help out, but he just takes it on occasion for the anxiety or panic attacks.
he takes Adderall for the ADD said he took Strattera before thaty but the side affects were so bad got real dizzy, im just worried they interacting and tell him to get off of them, but i realize that some just cant get off cold turkey, any other thoughts would be great
Most of the pain does come from the anteriod delts on my right shoulder, reaching up movements hardest on it, but i have been dealing with it, the hardest thing is staying on consistent workout routine because most of the programs on here make it hurt it more and some dont, so i just use my exercise knowledge to work around the pain
trailer36,
Depending on the degree of scoliosis and the location, it could definitely play a role in the LBP you are describing.
Of course all of the exercises that you mentioned can place a great deal of stress on the low back, so it would be difficult for me to say that the scoliosis is the main cause. You need to make sure that your form on those exercises does not break down. The lumbar lordosis needs to be maintained throughout the lift to avoid placing the discs/ligaments at risk.
Most DOMS type muscle pain does not “take your breath away” although with certain movements it can produce a very strong pain.
I would have someone watch your form on the lifts paying particular attention to the position of the low back throughout the movement. Do a search on the site for articles dealing with proper form/performance of these lifts for a refresher if you need one.
Make sure that you warm-up and stretch out the entire kinetic chain prior to performing these exercises to make sure that you can get in the proper position for the lift.
Ice the area after lifting and if the problem persists have it checked out by someone in your area that can evaluate the problem and give you some further advice.
Take care,
Ryan
Dr. Ryan,
I have been reading some info suggesting that to maximize benefits of fish oil it needs to be taken with GLA. Is this true? If so what dosage would you recommend?
Thanks,
-Yustas
Got another one for ya Doc:
I seem to be having some strange problems with my legs. I?m an avid mountain biker; I have been doing this for about 5 years now. However, this spring I seem to be having some real lactic acid build up in my quads. It feels like it is mostly my vastus medialis that feels like its on fire. I can?t for the life of me figure out what the deal is. I am in the best shape of my life, and I never remember such a burn in my legs like I do now, not even the first few rides of the year before my leg muscles ?remember? the hell I put them through.
Is there something nutritionally I can do? Maybe a movement I could try to work this muscle more (do the quad muscles work in unison?)? Thanks
Would receiving chiro. adjustments before or after a workout be better? (After is my guess)
Is there any way to get the adjustments to hold longer?
The visits are the result of having been in a car accident.
If Doc Ryan is still around:
I tore my left hip flexor 2 years ago and it still gives me trouble from time to time. I had a ultrasound and some other stuff done about 6 months ago and they said its all healed but I still get pain.
What kind of rehab can I do or exercises to strengthen my hip flexor/increase flexability. I mostly get tightness when I do squats and sometimes it just gets painfull if I twist or turn the wrong way throughout the day.
Jillybop,
Regarding bloodwork I would say start off with a a complete blood count w/ differential (CBC w/diff), a comprehensive metabolic panel, lipid panel + homocysteine, thyroid panel to include free T4, free T3 not just total T4 and TSH. A female hormone profile including LH/FSH and DHEA.
This should give you a pretty good work-up. There are some more specific nutrient tests (Spectracell) and hormone profiles that can be done, but the above would be a good place to start.
Regarding flexiblity, I don’t have a recommendation for any specific program. There is a stretching book by Anderson, that has been around for years that has some pretty basic stretches. If you have any specific muscle group you are interested in, I could tell you what I usually have patients do.
Take care,
Ryan