What is an Annular Tear and How Can You Find Relief?

Have you been told you have an annular tear on one of your spinal discs and it's causing you back pain? 

In this article, we'll explore what an annular tear is, how long it takes to heal, and what are some of the best treatment options.

Most commonly these tears can occur in the lumbar spine at L4-L5 and L5-S1, which is part of your low back or lumbar spine.

Annular Tear Causes

Annular tears happen to your spinal disc. The discs of your spine are located between the bones of vertebrae; like a sandwich. The discs are designed to act as small shock absorbers and disperse the impact or load of gravity as you move your body throughout the day. 

Every single segment of your spine moves a little bit in each directly- forward (flexion), backward (extension) and side to side (lateral bending and rotation). The cumulative result of each segment moving a little bit is our full range of motion! 

 But as we age and encounter injuries, sometimes small micro tears can happen on the outside of your spinal discs. Those outside rings of your spinal discs are called the annular fibrosis, and that's why a tear in that portion is called an annular tear. 

When annular tear happens, it does not mean that all the fluid inside your disc immediately gets push out. The inside portion of the disc, called the nucleus pulposus is more like crab meat and less like water. 

Your discs are pretty tough but when a tear occurs it often results in immobilizing, debilitating pain. Many patients that I've spoken with just feel their back lock up when the tear happens, and they're unable to move. That can be really scary. But usually, after a few days, you can slowly get back to their normal patterns of life.

Annular Tear Treatment

Controlled careful motion actually helps heal your discs after a micro-tear happens. Medications or injections for torn discs can sometimes take away the pain, but they don't really promote actual healing. That's why conservative measures like chiropractic care, light exercise, and sometimes even light traction can be a great way to keep your spine mobile and improve your healing. 

Using LinkedIn to Grow Your Chiropractic Practice

LinkedIn can sometimes get a bad rap. We all have had our inboxes flooded with marketing "experts" who guarantee new patients leads every month. This type of marketing is exceptionally annoying and rarely results in a productive conversation.

But, there is a way to use LinkedIn as a platform to market your practice in a way that is effective and professional. 

For instance, LinkedIn is a professional level platform with thousands of other chiropractors engaged. So don't hesitate to connect with other docs. If you are a student, the sooner you begin building the bridge and build your network, the better opportunities will await you down the road.

When you're looking to move back home, or even somewhere entirely new, you might already have a connection there, which will be invaluable as you start your practice. 

Also, be sure to utilize LinkedIn groups, such as the Chiropractic Professionals group that has 20,000+ members. I have found LinkedIn groups are vastly underutilized and can be a great way to distribute your message and content.

Similar to Facebook, the groups offer a place to get more reach for your posts and drive more engagement. 

And remember, LinkedIn is a professional level platform, so don't be afraid to get technical. Topics that are over the head of your audience on Facebook may be just right for LinkedIn. Going deeper on nutrition, adjusting technique, how an adjustment works, radiology,  and advanced imaging and all great topics for LinkedIn posts. 

Connect with me on LinkedIn!

LinkedIn currently has over 500 million active users (up from 450 million just a few months ago).

The reach of over 500 million month active users is why every chiropractic marketing plan needs to have a LinkedIn strategy.

It's highly likely that most of the business leaders and influences in your community on active on LinkedIn. 

Education, entertainment, and engagement. If those three words get you excited, then LinkedIn may be the perfect platform for you to build an audience. 

Can a Chiropractic Adjustment Make You Stronger?

Did you know that a chiropractic adjustment doesn’t just help reduce your pain levels it enables you to get stronger? It’s true.

Researchers measured the electrical activity in the arms and legs before, during and after a chiropractic adjustment. What did they find? An increase in cortical drive post chiropractic adjustment. That’s science-speak for more strength.

Why it Matters:

Stronger is Better¦ better stamina, better balance, better coordination, better performance in every area of your life. What will you do with more strength?

• Your brain powers your movements and your strength through your nervous system
• Adjustments have been shown to increase your cortical drive, which helps make your stronger
• While one adjustment may not make you a champion powerlifter, this exciting new research is important for all of us who want to live an active lifestyle

Next Steps:

Pay attention. That’s right, consider being more mindful of where having more strength can be more positive in your life.

Science Source:

Impact of Spinal Manipulation on Cortical Drive to Upper and Lower Limb Muscles. Brain Sciences. 2017. 7,2

3 Simple Steps to Grow Your Chiropractic Facebook Page

3 Simple Steps to Grow Your Chiropractic Facebook Page

1) Post daily

Consistency is absolutely crucial on Facebook. They continuously change their algorithms and interface, but consistency never gets old or phased out of production.  

Back in my day (cue old man voice) you were able to get a 100 percent reach. That means if I had a thousand people follow The Evidence Based Chiropractor and I put out a post; all thousand people saw it. 

Those are what we refer to as the good old days because now 8%, at maximum, see a post. So if you have an audience of 1000 people and you make a post, maybe 80 people are seeing it. So does this mean you shouldn't bother posting? Of course not! It means you need to post consistently!  You do not want to go two weeks between posts because at the end of the month your overall reach might look like 20 people, which is unlikely to make an impact. So how are you going to come up with enough content to put out consistently? That's where curated content comes into play.

2) Curated Content 

You don't have to create everything yourself. Curated content is content that you haven't personally created, but rather excellent content that you found, that impacted you, and you are sharing with your audience. You may share stuff that's cool, that's interesting, that's controversial. It really whatever you want to do. 

3) Use Facebook Live (video) 

Video reigns supreme. The algorithm on Facebook current favors video over text, pictures, and links. Basically, a video post reaches MORE of your audience. You may choose to create your own video, go Live, or even share someone else's video (see curated content above). There are two painfully simple things to keep in mind when shooting video- lighting, and audio. Making sure your space is well-light, and that your sound is loud and clear are the two most important aspects of shooting watchable video. 

But as with everything moderation is best. Mix it up a little bit. Create some of your own content, share the most impactful things you find, and don't hesitate to turn the camera around and tell your story via video. That's what the Facebook algorithm likes to see and how you can grow your chiropractic Facebook page. 

Reducing Tension Headaches Caused by Poor Posture

Ergonomics is the study of posture and positioning of your body. It sounds pretty boring until you consider that millions of people are suffering from headaches every day related to their posture! Whether it’s an assembly line, typewriter, computer, tablet, or phone, you are likely spending a lot of time looking down.

Research has found that up to 20 pounds of pressure is placed on your neck for every inch your chin extends forward or down. This increased pressure can irritate the tissues of your neck leading to everything from premature degenerative changes to chronic headaches.

Maintaining a healthy posture can not only help reduce the stress and pressure on the spinal joints of your neck- but it can also help dramatically reduce headaches. The first step in regaining a proper posture is to establish normal motion. This is why chiropractic adjustments are likely to become your new best friend.

Chiropractic care is focused on finding the areas of your spine which aren’t moving correctly and gently helping them regain their normal range of motion. After we have worked with you to restore proper movement, then we can focus on strengthening the muscles supporting your neck and back. This personalized type of care is how we have been able to help many people just like you establish better posture and reduce the frequency and severity of their headaches.

• Every inch of forward head posture places up to 20 lbs of pressure on your neck
• This pressure can contribute to tension headaches
• Research has shown chiropractic care can dramatically improve your posture and reduce your headaches  

Take a look around your workstation the next time you are at the office. Is it set up in a way that's ergonomically correct? If not, or if you're not sure, just let your chiropractor know. They would be happy to set up a time to come to your office, evaluate your workplace, and provide specifics recommendations for improvement to help keep you and everyone you work with feeling great!  

Science Source:

Evidence-Based Guidelines for the Chiropractic Treatment of Adults with Headache. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics. Volume 34, Number 5. 2011

Efficacy of Manual and Manipulative Therapy in the Perception of Pain and Cervical Motion in Patients with Tension-Type Headache: A Randomized, Controlled Clinical Trial Journal of Chiropractic Medicine. (2014) 13, 4-13