The shoeless runner!!!
By: Dr. Amir Mahmud
A patient recently asked me “Is it ok to run barefoot?” My response to her was “yes and no”. It is ok to run barefoot if that is how you have walked and ran for most of your life. In parts of the world people do not have access to shoes and therefore walk barefoot all day long. In these cases their central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) and bodies have adapted to the altered gait, therefore not relying on an arch support or cushioning of the shoes. On the other hand in most developed countries as soon as we can walk we are put into shoes. From the first steps that we take our brain receives signals to rely on an artificial arch support. As we start to adapt to those signals and our bodies develop we become accustomed to a certain type of gait. So what do you think will happen if you suddenly decide to take off your shoes and run barefoot OR if you put that person who has walked all his life barefoot into a pair of shoes? What happens is that you start to alter your gait – over pronate/supinate, cause abnormal stress in your foot, ankle, knees, hips, low back and all the way up the spine. As a result of this abnormal stress up the kinetic chain you are more prone to injuries that you have never had before. Injuries such as plantar fasciitis, stress fractures, ankle sprain, meniscus injuries and back pain are just a few to name. Having said all this, I am not stating that you can’t run barefooted. I am stating that in order to avoid injuries, you need the proper training to adapt to your new biomechanics. This training WILL take quit a long time and wont happen over night. So if you do decide to start running barefooted, be prepared for some aches and pains. And remember, “If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail.”
If you have any questions, would like your biomechanics/injuries evaluated, or would like an overall assessment stop by our office and we will gladly help you!!!
Dr. Amir Mahmud is a Sports Chiropractor at CSI (Chiropractic Sports Institute) in Westlake Village. Dr. Amir has vast experience working with athletes both professional and Amateur. He is the current Team Doctor for the Newbury Park HS Lacrosse team and travels with the Mobile CSI Sports Medicine team caring for athletes across southern California. He can be reached at (805) 371-0737. www.gotcsi.com
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Simple back tips for your summer cleaning.
By: Dr. Ed Green
Summer is here and it is time to clean that house and make it all
pretty for all the spectacular barbeques you are going to have. I have
seen many patients in my office over the last months with complaints of
low back pain from doing the summer clean. Mainly I get Dr. Ed all I
was doing was vacuuming the house.
I have to say that vacuuming is a big cause of back pain for people that come into the office.
Here is how you fix that problem.
Most individuals when they vacuum bend at the waist and extend there upper body and arms to vacuum. This causes your center of gravity to shift forward. With this shift your low back now has to work hard to keep you from falling over. Now with
your low back tight and unstable lets bend over and learn forward a few
dozen times while holding something heavy.
Doing this motion routinely over and over will cause your low back to
become unstable and leaves you vulnerable to straining your low back.
Most cases I see is when the cleaning is done and you have to now lift
that vacuum and put it away. So to fix the low back while vacuuming
try this. Lets turn vacuuming into an athletic event. Instead of
leaning forward and stretching the upper body, lets use our legs and
perform a forward lunge. By keeping your back straight and your core
tight, while using your legs to push the vacuum forward and back to
neutral you can help prevent low back pain. And for those of you who
have large houses with thick carpets, I would stretch first hehehehe.
Lunging while vacuuming will not only help prevent low back strains but
it will add tone and strength to your core and gluts. There are many
other little vacuuming tricks I will share so stay posted.
Shaving, brushing teeth, cleaning dishes.
The above are a few other easy ways for us to strain our low back. With
each of the above we lean over a study object and again shift our
center of gravity forward. Once again we are leaving ourselves open to
the chance to strain our backs. This is an an easy fix. BRACE YOUR
SELF. When I am either shaving or brushing my teeth and I am leaning
over the sink, I have my other hand firmly placed on the counter.
This is turn takes the pressure off my low back and into my shoulder.
By simply bracing your upper body against the counter, the mirror or a
wall, you are preventing possible low back pain. Usually the pain does
not occur when you are bent over but when you stand up. You can
prevent low back pain while doing dishes by simply standing slightly
sideways against the sink and bending directly over it.
These are a few little tricks that I hope will help prevent that pesky
low back pain from creeping up on you this summer. If you have any
questions please call the office at 805-531-1188. And if a demo is
needed please call BUT the demo does not involve ME vacuuming your house!
Dr. Ed Green is the clinic Director of Moorpark CSI, he can be reached at the above Phone number, for more information on CSI visit our website at www.gotcsi.com
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