Dr. Schafer's Backpack Safety Checklist: One of the fundamental pieces of any back to school ensemble is, of course, the backpack. Although they’re practical, backpacks are a leading cause of back and shoulder pain for millions of children and adolescents. As students head back to school, the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) offers parents advice on preventing unnecessary backpack pain and injuries. The ACA offers the following checklist to help parents select the best possible backpack for their children: Is the backpack the correct size for your child? The backpack should never be wider or longer than your child’s torso, and the pack should not hang more than 4 inches below the waistline. A backpack that hangs too low increases the weight on the shoulders, causing your child to lean forward when walking. Does the backpack have two wide, padded shoulder straps? Non-padded straps are not only uncomfortable, but also they can place unnecessary pressure on the neck and shoulder muscles. Does your child use both straps? Lugging a heavy backpack by one strap can cause a disproportionate shift of weight to one side, leading to neck and muscle spasms, low-back pain, and poor posture. Are the shoulder straps adjustable? The shoulder straps should be adjustable so the backpack can be fitted to your child’s body. The backpack should be evenly centered in the middle of your child's back. Does the backpack have a padded back? A padded back not only provides increased comfort, but also protects your child from being poked by sharp edges on school supplies (pencils, rulers, notebooks, etc.) inside the pack. Does the pack have several compartments? A backpack with individualized compartments helps position the contents most effectively. Make sure that pointy or bulky objects are packed away from the area that will rest on your child's back, and try to place the heaviest items closet to the body. Dr. Schafer and the ACA both recommend that parents or guardians help children pack their backpacks properly, and they should make sure children never carry more than 10 percent of their body weight. For example, a child who weighs 100 pounds shouldn’t carry a backpack heavier than 10 pounds, and a 50-pound child shouldn’t carry more than 5 pounds. In addition, parents should ask their children to report any pain or other problems resulting from carrying a backpack. If the pain is severe or persistent, seek care from a doctor of chiropractic or other health care professional.

What's goin on?

For anyone interested, we are working on 2 or 3 classes that we will be offering at EGR recreation department. 1. Yoga for low back pain 2. Yoga for barefoot runners and possibly 3. Stretch and strengthen with elastic bands. Stay tuned for more information.

New Years Resolution Mistakes

Happy Holidays! Now that we all have had our fill of eggnog and fruitcake, it’s time for: New Years Resolutions! Which brings me to my next blog post. As a former personal trainer, I cannot help but observe my fellow exercisers mistakes at the East Hills Health Club and Michigan Athletic Club. I do refrain from giving my advice when it is not asked, but there is no reason I shouldn’t post my observations for your benefit. I would also like to add that the personal trainers there are top notch, and I have never witnessed trainers employing any improper techniques at either gym. This is by no means a scientific review of existing literature, but rather a personal observation from someone who has worked in 5 different gyms and health clubs, and has frequented dozens more as a customer. Here are some of the most common mistakes:

1. Working out on the Stairmaster or Elliptical machine while leaning your weight on the side bars. I fully realize that leaning like this makes it easier, but it certainly does not make it better. It would be better to use your “core” muscles by supporting your own body. If you can’t do this, maybe you should switch to a seated stationary bike or recumbent bike. 2. Performing abdominal crunches by the hundreds, but not doing any low back (erector spinae) exercises. Consider anything around your mid section as core. This includes rectus abdominus, transverse abdominus, obliques, quadratus lumborum, and erector spinae,. Personally, I feel that gluteal and hip musculature should also be considered as core. I also think that if you need to do more than 40 reps of any exercise to get a good workout, you need to switch to a more difficult exercise.

3. Performing the “lat pull down“ behind the head. Yes I know that sometimes that is what the picture says on the machine shows. What happens is that the exercise becomes more a biceps and shoulders movement, and not the “lats” or latissmus dorsi. If you pull the bar down to your chin rather than the back of your neck, you will get a much stronger latissmus contraction. Also avoid bring it down past your shoulder level, as again this recruits entirely different muscles. 4. Squatting on the Smith Machine. It may seem like a safer alternative to free weights, but the Smith Machine travels along a fixed straight line, whereas the natural path for a squat is more of an arch. There is also a natural benefit to free weights, as you need to recruit more muscles to balance and stabilize the weight. It also mimics normal lifting movement patterns, thus enhancing “muscle memory” and reinforcing good lifting form outside of the gym.

So now that you are better informed- have at it! And please try to persist past the second week of January.

Mark your calendars! Because on September 18th, chiropractic turns 117. It was on this day back in 1895, from his office on the second floor of the Ryan Block building in Davenport, Iowa, that D.D. Palmer delivered his first adjustment — an adjustment that not only changed the life of his patient, but the lives of millions that would follow the birth of this new profession of chiropractic. So, just what did the first chiropractic patient complain of? Well, it may surprise you, but it wasn’t back pain, neck pain, or even headaches. No it was — get ready for this — deafness! His patient, Mr. Harvey Lillard, explained that for the past 17 years he had been unable to hear out of his left ear after an incident in which he exerted himself while working in a “cramped, stooping position,” when something gave way in his back — immediately bringing on the deafness. Palmer wrote that Mr. Lillard was so deaf that he couldn’t hear the ticking of a watch or the racket of a wagon on the street. Upon examining the gentleman’s spine, Dr. Palmer found what appeared to be a misaligned vertebra in the mid back region. Hypothesizing that this misalignment could be the cause of the hearing problem, he persuaded his patient to allow him to realign it. And align it he did! Almost immediately following the adjustment, Mr. Lillard could hear again! Chiropractic, a cure for deafness? Palmer probably thought so at first. But the fact is, chiropractic is not a cure for anything — not even back pain. Chiropractic, as D.D. Palmer would soon find out, was a way of simply allowing the body to work better by removing nervous system interference due to structural misalignment or dysfunction of the spine. Mr. Lillard’s deafness happened to have a structural component to it. Not every condition has a structural component, and certainly not every time. As far as deafness goes, a structural malposition of a vertebra is not by any means commonplace. Thankfully it happened to be on that September day in 1895. For it was this incident that encouraged Palmer to study further and later learn that by optimizing one’s spinal function and position, greater health would come about and maladies tended to disappear.

Backpack Misuse Leads to Chronic Back Pain

Back pain is pervasive among American adults, but a new and disturbing trend is emerging. Young children are suffering from back pain much earlier than previous generations, and the use of overweight backpacks is a contributing factor, according to the American Chiropractic Association (ACA). In fact, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that backpack-related injuries sent more than 7,000 people to the emergency room in 2001 alone. This new back pain trend among youngsters isn't surprising when you consider the disproportionate amounts of weight they carry in their backpacks - often slung over just one shoulder. A recent study conducted in Italy found that the average child carries a backpack that would be the equivalent of a 39-pound burden for a 176-pound man, or a 29-pound load for a 132-pound woman. Of those children carrying heavy backpacks to school, 60 percent had experienced back pain as a result. Preliminary results of studies being conducted in France show that the longer a child wears a backpack, the longer it takes for a curvature or deformity of the spine to correct itself. The question that needs to be addressed next is, 'Does it ever return to normal?'" The results of these types of studies are especially important as more and more school districts - many of them in urban areas - remove lockers from the premises, forcing students to carry their books with them all day long. The problem has become so widespread, in fact, that the California State Assembly passed legislation that would force school districts to develop ways of reducing the weight of students' backpacks. Similar legislation is being considered in New Jersey as well. The ACA believes that limiting the backpack's weight to no more than 10 percent of the child's body weight and urging the use of ergonomically correct backpacks are possible solutions. What Can You Do? The ACA offers the following tips to help prevent the needless pain that backpack misuse could cause the students in your household. • Make sure your child's backpack weighs no more than 5 to 10 percent of his or her body weight. A heavier backpack will cause your child to bend forward in an attempt to support the weight on his or her back, rather than on the shoulders, by the straps. • The backpack should never hang more than four inches below the waistline. A backpack that hangs too low increases the weight on the shoulders, causing your child to lean forward when walking. • A backpack with individualized compartments helps in positioning the contents most effectively. Make sure that pointy or bulky objects are packed away from the area that will rest on your child's back. • Bigger is not necessarily better. The more room there is in a backpack, the more your child will carry-and the heavier the backpack will be.

A New Paradigm: Nik Wallenda walk

A new paradigm is needed in the realm of foot dysfunction. As stated earlier there is about one quarter of the population that is born with very low arches, aka "flat-footed". These people can be found in professional sports of all kind. Should these people be considered "defective?". A better viewpoint is to look at them functionally. Do their feet function like others? Speaking from experience, sometimes yes, sometimes no. Another paradigm shift needs to occur in orthopedic research. The vast majority of experts in gait analysis still divide it into: heel strike, stance position, toe off. Why is this flawed? There are 2 major deveopments we need to consider when looking at gait and footwear. Only in the recent past of humans(in the history of humankind) have these 2 things occurred: 1. We developed cushioned heels on our shoes. 2. We developed flat paved roads and flat surfaces in all of our buildings. These 2 changes have made our feet lazy. How? We can be relatively certain that when we step forward, the road will be flat and our feet will be cushioned when they hit the ground. Thus, we land heel first. Close your eyes and imagine you are on a path of large rocks that traverse a small river. The rocks are all different shape and slightly wet. Now imagine your first step onto these rocks. Will your heel hit first? Not likely. Your toes or the balls of your feet will. The forefoot is much more effective at sensing the surface and making the appropriate adjustments as you move. Look at the recent footage of Nik Wallenda crossing the Niagra Falls on a tightrope. He would certainly not get very far walking heel-toe, heel-toe. To sum things up, if you have foot pain, knee pain, hip pain , or low back pain, it is worth your while to go see a health professional who is looking at your feet structurally, functionally, and with an open mind.

Copernicus and feet

In 1543 Nicolaus Copernicus, a polish astronomer, published "On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres", proposing the idea that the earth revolved around the sun. For years, decades and even centuries following, this idea was fiercely debated by philosophers and scientists. In 1992 the Pope finally admitted this to be true, officially making it the Catholic Church's beleif. Certainly most people accepted this theory much earlier, but this demonstrates how new ideas take time to become accepted into the mainstream. Personally, I like to test new theories as they arise and therefore my thinking may change along the way. If you had asked my 5 years ago about barefoot running I would have said it's crazy. Most chiropractors and podiatrists still advise against it. My own running style has changed recently as a result of the trend in thinking. I switched to a less supportive "minimal" style running shoe. I do run barefoot on occasion, but only as a traning tool. I have, however, changed from a heel-striker to a midfoot/forefoot striker depending on the speed I run. I also recently attended as chiropractic seminar on physical therapy that proposed less importance of human biomechanical structure, and more importance of biomechanical function. These two new ideas initially made no connection, but as I run and move differently, it becomes apparent that there is a direct relationship. What your feet are doing now, i.e. pronating or supinating or inverting or everting, is not as important as which muscles activate properly and are effective at stabilizing the foot, and hence the whole human frame. Not to disregard structure entirely, but to use it as a guide to detecting a functional problem. A review of the literature indicates that 20-30% of the population is born flat-footed. Should this be considered "defective"? Many of these people have gone on to become professional athletes. It all boils down to one thing: reconnecting with your body. Regardless of your structure, your body can and will adapt to find a way to do what your body is telling it to do. To be continued.