"STOP TEXTS STOP WRECKS"

03/30/2016 

From the desk of Dr. Christopher Renne, Chiropractic Physician

Hey everyone! Because I see so many people here in Jacksonville walking into my office every day with back and neck pain thanks to car accidents, car safety is a big concern of mine! And a big danger on the road these days are DWIs: Driving While In-TEXT-icated! Drivers who are distracted by their phones are a serious problem. In 2011, cellphones were involved in 23% of all car accidents in the US, and the numbers have doubtless only gone up since then.

But the group that is most at risk from driving while distracted by their phones are teens. A full 13% of teenagers ages 18-20 who were in car wrecks admitted talking on or texting with their phones at the time of the accident. Yet many young folks don’t see their smartphones as a problem. 55% percent of young adult drivers claim that it is easy to text while they drive!

In fact, the average time that a texting driver’s eyes are off the road is five seconds, during which a car traveling 55 mph can travel a quarter of the length of a football field. Too much can happen during that amount of time, friends! As teens are texting more than ever, they are more distracted than ever behind the wheel, and that spells D-A-N-G-E-R.

Fortunately, at least one teenager recognizes the problem and is taking steps to do something about it! T.J. Evarts, a 19-year-old inventor, has created something called the “SmartWheel.” The SmartWheel is really cool. It is a cover that goes onto your steering wheel. This cover contains smart sensors that detect when a driver is paying attention and when they are not - and it also has a big green light that will flash red when it detects its driver is “driving distracted.”

But the SmartWheel doesn’t just stop at a flashing light. It can also connect to a smartphone and give teens real-time statistics for them to review on how they are doing with staying focused while driving - after they get safely home, of course! And in the future, Evarts hopes to add simple touch features to the SmartWheel that will help people to do simple tasks on their phones without taking their hands off the wheel or their eyes off the road. For teen drivers who are frequently distracted, this could be an incredibly valuable tool.

T.J. Evarts and his SmartWheel are already making big waves. He’s been on the TV shows Shark Tank and Innovation Nation, and he was invited to demonstrate his invention to the President and the US Secretary of Transportation!

Unfortunately, you can’t buy the SmartWheel yet, but I highly recommend you check out the website and watch the video for it at SmartWheelUSA.com. We need more teenagers who understand the perils of distracted driving. With great ideas like the SmartWheel, we may yet make our roads safer!

In the meantime, if you have teens of your own, talk to them about the importance of putting down the phone and keeping their eyes on the road. The life they save could be their own.

Yours in health,

Christopher B. Renne, D.C.

Chiropractic Physician

www.activechirocenter.com

New CDC recommendation issued for Pain Management

Happy St. Patrick's Day, laddies and lasses!

Dr. Chris Renne, D.C. here reaching out from Jacksonville, Florida where our season has flipped from winter to summer on a dime. This, paired with the daylight savings time change usually signals the weekend warriors to hit the gyms and backyards with zeal. It also leads to a lot of back and neck pain as a predictable consequence. 

Doctor's offices like ours will soon be fielding the calls of the hurt and injured. And we will be ready to answer these with conservative solutions. Before you reach in to the medicine cabinet for that left over bottle of pills, please read the following edict from the Centers for Disease Control regarding pain management guidelines. 

"According to new proposed guidelines for opioids and chronic pain set forth by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the CDC is recommending conservative forms of pain management for those suffering from chronic pain as an initial treatment option, such as chiropractic care. The side effects associated with opioid usage for chronic pain can be severe and at times even deadly. Thus, the CDC is now advising physicians to first recommend conservative care in the treatment of chronic pain(1). Fortunately, chronic pain associated with the back, neck, spine and extremities can often times can be managed very successfully through safe, natural chiropractic care when delivered by a licensed doctor of chiropractic. If you are suffering from chronic pain, we urge you to call your local doctor of chiropractic today and schedule a no-obligation consultation to see if chiropractic care may be able to help, without all the negative side effects associated with drugs and surgery." So, my advise to you is simple. When attempting to management the aches and pains of life, think conservative first. Ice, rest, over the counter anti inflammatory medications, topical pain ointments and compression supports.  Get more aggressive from there. You will always have the option to ramp up the level of your care choices. But, conversely, if you start with the bazooka, i.e., narcotic medications, where do you go from there? And, will this choice leads to other unwanted and dangerous consequences. Always, when in doubt, consult a trusted physician when you are ailing and need help. If the springtime chores beat you up too much, feel free to contact me for help. Thank you and be well, all! Christopher Renne, DC Chiropractic Physician (1)Source: Proposed 2016 Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain, online 12/9/15 Copyright: ProfessionalPlanets.com LLC 2016

Stand up and be HEALTHY!

Hey there everyone, Dr, Chris here checking in from warm and sunny Jacksonville, Florida. Today I wanted to talk with you about your posture. Specifically, your posture when you’re doing what way too many of us spend our day doing: sitting at a desk! We’ve talked before about how sitting at a desk isn’t very good for you, but sometimes there’s just no way you can avoid it. You’re stuck behind your desk for hours a day, working at your computer and answering phone calls. Well, you still don’t have to accept poor posture! In fact, that is more reason than ever to fight against it! Here are some desk chair solutions that can help you combat ‘sitting disease’!

The stand-up desk

More people than ever are trying stand-up desks these days, and that’s great because it means they are getting easier and cheaper to find! Now you may be thinking, “That’s great doc, but there’s no way I can stand at a desk all day!” Are you sure? People say that it is easier than you expect! A good stand-up situation won’t leave you flat on your feet, either. If you have a foot rail, you can put one foot up and shift your weight from one foot to the other. Leaning against a tall stool can help too. But people report feeling more energized and productive when they stand, so you may find that you don’t want to lean on anything!

Adding a podium to your regular desk

If you aren’t ready to make the leap to a full stand-up desk, encourage yourself to at least stand up more frequently. One way to do that is to put a podium or raised stand on part of your desk that will encourage you to stand up for some tasks, for instance, when you are making phone calls. Changing up the position you are in can greatly enhance your postural health!

Walking desk

If you are the kind of person that likes to read or do other activities on the treadmill at the gym - why not work on a treadmill too? This is a more expensive and difficult setup to achieve, and it certainly isn’t for everyone, but there’s question that walking all day while you work would be terrific for your spinal health!

Exercise ball

The benefit of sitting on an exercise ball is that to stay balanced, your body has to be constantly making tiny adjustments. This results in a workout just from sitting which engages your entire core: your abs and your lower back. As a bonus, the fact that there is no back to this ‘chair’ discourages slouching. Make no mistake, though, an exercise ball chair is a real workout, and you need to ease into it! You can start by sitting on it for just an hour a day. Putting less air in the ball will make it easier to balance on early on. Eventually, you should be able to work up to sitting on the ball for several hours at a time.

Balance stool

Balance stools work on the same general principle as exercise balls, but they have one big advantage: they won’t go rolling around your office every time you stand up! They bounce up and down and wibble and wobble from side to side, making sure you work out those core muscles maintaining your balance. They cost $200 and up.

Kneeling chair

Kneeling chairs help your posture by taking the pressure off your spine and putting it on your knees and shins. You still sit on a seat, but there is no back, and your legs are angled downward. Your knees and shins rest against a pad for support. For many people, this setup is terrific, as these backless chairs encourage them to sit upright and maintain correct posture. For those who have knee problems, this kind of chair might not be the right choice, however.

Recliners

If ergonomic comfort is what you want in your office chair, what is more comfortable than a recliner? The ability to lean back eases pain for all kinds of people with spinal problems. Get a lap tray and put a wireless mouse and keyboard on it, and it will be just like you are parked at your desk. Even better, a recliner is not much more expensive than a top-of-the-line ergonomic office chair - and sometimes way cheaper. The only downside is that a recliner may be too comfortable - if you’re snoozing instead of working, that’s a problem!

Wrap-up

I want to stress that no matter what your desk setup is that you should change it up often. Get away from your desk, walk around, and do some stretches. If you need to, set a timer to remind you to do these things! No matter what your posture is, being stuck in the same position for long periods of time is hard on your spine. So take regular stretch breaks and work out those kinks!

If you have concerns or ideas about your own desk posture, I’d love to talk to you about it. Schedule an appointment with my office today. The phone number is (904) 398-4860.

Yours in health,

Christopher B. Renne, D.C.

4111 Atlantic Boulevard

Jacksonville, FL 32207

www.activechirocenter.com

What is this "Manual Therapy" you speak of?

March 1, 2016

What in the world is “Manual Therapy” ?

Hello again, Jacksonville and friends beyond.  Dr. Chris here today reaching out via the Worldwide Web to describe a therapy that has probably been around as long as man and pain have been.  Perhaps you have even recently heard the advertisements for therapies such as manual therapy, myofascial release, the Graston technique, the Niel Asher technique of manual trigger point therapy, and who knows what else.  In my office, we employ many types of physical therapy modalities many which are very common throughout physical medicine practices.  You may already be familiar with electrical muscle stimulation, ultrasound, hot and cold packs, exercise therapy, and possibly massage therapy. 

What you are likely not quite as familiar with would be “manual therapy” which is typically a specialized form of physical medicine/physical therapy delivered by the hands as opposed to by a passive device or machine.  In some cases such as the Graston technique, a specialized smooth metallic instrument is utilized to render this form of therapy.  In that sense, manual therapy patients receive hands on muscle tissue manipulation which is rendered in an attempt to decrease aches and pains caused by traumatic muscle strain, joint sprain, and other musculoskeletal conditions. 

Here in my office manual therapy is typically rendered by a specially trained licensed massage therapist or a licensed chiropractic physician such as myself.  What is most important to understand, is manual therapy is not the same as massage therapy that you may have experienced at a local Massage Envy or a private massage therapist.  Massage therapy is also a form of soft tissue therapy but it typically involves less intense, less invasive stroking type techniques of effleurage, petrissage, or taponment.  Manual therapy by contrast, involves restoring mobility of stiff joints and reducing muscle spasm in order to return a patient to more natural, pain free joint movement.  Manual therapy techniques aim to  relax tense back muscles and restricted joints in order to decrease pain, increase flexibility, increase muscular endurance, and to remove fibrotic scar tissue and adhesions with muscle. Scar tissue and fibrosis of the muscle, left untreated, can lead to chronic pain but can also lead to premature spinal degeneration.  In a more specific post to follow, I will highlight specific forms of manual therapy techniques that you may find beneficial in treating some of your chronic aches and pains, or healing from an acute injury or trauma.

As always, I thank you for your time and attention and wish you a happy and healthy day!

If you feel that you may be a candidate for a session of manual therapy, please feel free to email jaxchiro@gmail.com and I will help put you in touch with someone that can get you all fixed up. 


Be well,

Christopher B. Renne, DC
Active Medical & Chiropractic