In some ways, pain is actually a good thing. Pain lets us know that there is something wrong, and that there are problems that need to be addressed.
If your brain and body sense pain and/or injury, you can easily imagine how your body responds with compensatory movements to avoid the injured tissues.
Most repetitive strain injuries, such as tendonitis, are minor, reversible conditions… but only if you have the right information and take the appropriate action before the problem gets worse.
If you ignore the symptoms, you risk starting the invisible cycle of pain and damage that can turn a minor injury into a chronic problem.
Just be aware that the damage can be accumulating for years, before the symptoms get bad enough to make you take action.
Take Action Today!
Dr. Kintaro Oku can be reached at (702) 737-0022.
What is Frozen Shoulder?
Frozen shoulder results from the gradual loss of movement in the shoulder (glenohumeral) joint. The shoulder joint consists of a ball (the humeral head) and socket (the glenoid). Normally it is one of the most mobile joints in the body. However, when the shoulder becomes frozen, the joint has become stuck and its movement is limited.
What Causes Frozen Shoulder?
It is not known exactly what causes this condition. Immobilization of the shoulder (after an arm injury), inflammation of the muscles and/or tendons, as with rotator cuff tendinitis or bursitis, and cumulative trauma disorders can cause the shoulder joint to become frozen. Frozen shoulder can also be caused by diabetes, thyroid problems, and heart or lung conditions due to an autoimmune reaction in which the body’s defense system (which normally protects the body from infection) mistakenly begins to attack parts of the body.
Although many shoulder diseases involve pain and loss of motion, frozen shoulder is most often caused by inflammation (swelling, pain, and irritation) of the tissues surrounding the joint. The tissue that envelops the joint and holds it together is called the capsule. Normally the capsule has folds that can expand and contract as the arm moves into various positions. In a frozen shoulder, the capsule has become inflamed and scarring or adhesions develops. As the capsule’s folds become scarred and tightened, shoulder movement becomes restricted and moving the joint becomes painful. This condition is called adhesive (scarrng) capsulitis (inflammation of the capsule).
How is Frozen Shoulder Treated?
Active Release Technique® (ART®) has been shown to be very effective in the treatment of Frozen Shoulder. Rather than just addressing just one area, ART® restores unimpeded motion and function to all soft tissues in the shoulder’s kinetic chain including the muscles, tendons, fascia, nerves, and the surrounding soft tissues. Chiropractic adjustments restore unimpeded motion and function to the Acromioclavicular (AC) Joint, Sternoclavicular (SC) Joint, Glenohumeral (GH) Joint, and Scapulothoracic (ST) Joint.
Treatment with Dr. Kintaro Oku, DC at Advanced Chiropractic Specialists bases treatment on an evidence-based approach incorporating “best practices” into my recommendations. Best practices include treatment based on three important concepts: (1) the best available scientific evidence, (2) clinical decision-making, and (3) patient values.
Incorporating a best practice model into daily practice insures that my patients are treated in not only a scientific manner, but in a trustworthy manner. My patients, and the physicians who refer to my clinic, can rest assured that if I feel I can assist in the advancement of a patient’s health in a manner consistent with the scientific literature, I do. But if a referral is necessary for either further diagnostic tests, or second opinion evaluations, I do not hesitate.
Adhesions (scar tissue) is a dead fibrotic tissue that forms mostly in muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia, and joints.
Scar Tissue occurs as a result of injury, surgery or repetitive motion. When a muscle, tendon or ligament is torn (strained or sprained) or nerve is damaged, healing occurs in three stages called the inflammatory response: acute inflammation, repair, and remodeling. In acute inflammation, redness, swelling, heat and pain occur. This phase lasts approximately 72 hours. After the inflammation recedes, repair begins. The damaged tissues heal with adhesions or scar tissue formation rather than the formation of brand new tissue.
When a muscle tightens up – through a repetitive motion such as typing, or after it has been injured – swelling occurs, and it restricts the oxygen supply to the muscles and connective tissues (hypoxia). The lack of oxygen also causes scar tissue to form.
That scar tissue can adhere to muscle fibers, preventing them from sliding back and forth properly. It can adhere to connective tissues, limiting the flexibility of a muscle or joint. And it can adhere to nerve cells, leading to carpal tunnel syndrome, chronic back pain, and other conditions.
Scar tissue can bind up many layers of muscle and connective tissue, causing varying degrees of limited movement and pain.
Research has proven scar tissue to be weaker, less elastic, more prone to future re-injury and as much as 1000 times more pain sensitive than normal, healthy tissue. Chronic pain is the result, pain that could remain for years after the initial injury.
To avoid the formation of adhesive scar tissue after an injury, surgery, or excessive muscle’s overuse, healing must take place in the presence of a full range of movement.
Take Action Today!
Dr. Kintaro Oku can be reached at (702) 737-0022.
The best way to explain what ART does is to use the Paintbrush Analogy.
Start off by saying…
“Imagine yourself painting with a paintbrush. The bristles on the paint brush represent your muscle fibers – they glide and move smoothly next to each other without anything on it. You paint, leave out the paintbrush overnight, you wake up in the morning and the paintbrush is all stuck together. The dried paint represents your scar tissue. Dr. Oku is like the paint thinner or turpentine for your body.”
In essence, what I do is to break down or release the scar tissue adhesions that form between the muscle fibers when they get irritated or injured.
Take Action Today!
Dr. Kintaro Oku can be reached at (702) 737-0022.
Release Your Pain by Dr. Abelson provides you, the reader, with an informative, easy-to-read introduction to the real causes of repetitive strain injuries, it shows how Active Release Techniques can quickly resolve most Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) cases, describes illuminating case studies, and best of all, provides effective exercises to prevent the condition from re-occurring.
In most cases, by receiving treatments with Active Release Techniques, you can see substantial improvements after just 6-8 treatments. By applying the focused and powerful exercises in each chapter, you can learn to become pain-free, and prevent these conditions from re-occurring.
- It is the only book in the market that talks about the popular, powerful, and effective Active Release Techniques method for resolving repetitive strain injuries.
- It is endorsed by Dr. Michael Leahy, the developer of Active Release Techniques. Dr. Michael Leahy wrote the foreword for this book.
- It contains detailed descriptions about each major RSI condition, and describes the pros/cons of both traditional and new methods for resolving these problems.
- It includes interesting and inspiring case studies from people who have found resolution for their RSI problems.
Active Release Techniques® can be used to treat the following soft tissue injuries and conditions:
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Which sports do you play?
Injuries are a part of life when it comes to being an athlete. Choose from the list below to see which common conditions often affect athletes in their respective sports:
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What’s your profession?
The Value of Active Release Techniques® Soft Tissue Management Program is to shift the paradigm to ART® treatment as the first line of care for soft tissue, repetitive strain conditions, and work-related injuries.
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Take Action Today!
Dr. Kintaro Oku can be reached at (702) 737-0022.
Treatments can feel uncomfortable during the movement phases as the scar tissue or adhesions “break-up”. This discomfort is temporary and subsides almost immediately after the treatment.
It is common to feel a duplication of your pain symptoms during the treatment (a good indication that the problem has been identified).
Patients report that “It hurts good”.
Take Action Today!
Dr. Kintaro Oku can be reached at (702) 737-0022.
Every ART® session is actually a combination of examination and treatment. The ART® provider uses his or her hands to evaluate the:
- texture
- tightness
- and movement
of muscles, fascia, tendons, ligaments and nerves. Abnormal tissues are treated by combining precisely directed tension with very specific patient movements.
ART® is unique in its systematic approach to within patient and tissue tolerance because the patient can control the active movement during treatment. These treatment protocols – over 500 specific moves – are unique to ART®. They allow providers to identify and correct the specific problems that are affecting each individual patient. ART® is not a cookie-cutter approach.
Treatments take about 8-15 minutes for each area being treated. A condition may require two to ten visits before full functionality is restored. Chiropractic manipulation is frequently carried out in conjunction with ART® to increase treatment effectiveness.
Whenever possible we have our patients perform active movements during the treatment process. Active motions stimulate neurological pathways in the spinal cord that help to reduce pain during treatment. Motion also help to reproduce the stresses the patient will actually be under during normal active motion.
Take Action Today!
Dr. Kintaro Oku can be reached at (702) 737-0022.
Muscles become shortened due to injury, from trauma, or from repetitive strains that cause micro-tears. The scar tissue that forms at the injury site is less elastic and more fibrotic than normal tissue, and cause muscles to gradually lose their stretch component.
Short, tight muscles are weaker, more prone to injury, and play havoc with body movements. Usually, more than one muscle is involved.
The body lays down fibrous adhesions between these muscles, which restrict the muscles ability to slide freely past one another, disrupt joint mechanics, and cause muscles to feel tight.
Shortened muscles and tight joints, all combine to impair coordination, reduce power, and result in further injuries. This cycle will repeat itself unless restrictions are released.
Take Action Today!
Dr. Kintaro Oku can be reached at (702) 737-0022.