Many of our patients experience temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain and dysfunction. It can be debilitating, chronic, and can significantly affect quality of life. Eating some of your favorite foods can become painful and limited. TMJ pain can radiate into the neck and even cause headaches. Often, it can feel that TMJ problems will never go away. So, what is TMJ? …
Is Your Shoulder Pain an Illusion?
First things first: Is your pain coming from the shoulder or the neck? Shoulder pain affects millions of people each year. According to population surveys, shoulder pain affects 18-26% of adults at any point in time [1–4], making it one of the most common areas of pain. So if you have shoulder pain you are not alone–your pain is not …
What is the best way to warm up?
Evidence Based Warm Up Before Your Run It’s the time of year that we want to spend more time outside, and runners might be signing up for their races. As the weather is warming up, we are excited to share some rising research on what is recommended for how you can warm up before your run to reduce your risk …
Why won’t my pain go away?
Why do I hurt? When it comes to pain, how an injury was sustained provides valuable information as to what may be going on. In the case of a car accident or sports injury, the cause is more easily identifiable and gives clinicians insight to what tissues may be involved. When a clear reason for one’s pain is not available, …
Joint Discomfort with the Cold Weather
Feeling it in your bones Do you feel that you have more joint discomfort with cold weather? A study performed at Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston found that changes in ambient temperature and barometric pressure can increase joint pain. This has been investigated more so in individuals with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Barometric pressure can vary greatly depending on …
Lowering blood pressure without medication
Hypertension, or high blood pressure, was a primary or contributing cause of death for nearly 500,000 people in the United States in 2018 (1). Hypertension is defined as systolic pressure greater than 130mmHg or diastolic pressure greater than 80mmHg. The increased pressure forces the heart to work harder and places additional strain on arteries and veins. This puts you at …
Knee Troubles
Knees are needed Knee pain is a common issue that affects people of all ages. The knee is a hinge joint providing our body with flexibility, support, and a wide range of motion for our legs.(1) This weight-bearing joint is exposed to significant stress as we perform our usual routines. It also serves a large role during activities such as …
Understanding Pain: Why do we “pick the scab?”
Back pain is the #1 cause of disability globally, with 50-80 percent of the adult population experiencing back pain at some point in their life (1). This means there is a high likelihood you will, at some point in your life, experience an episode of back pain. To many, back pain can seem mysterious. It can be difficult to comprehend …
The Adverse Effects of Blue Light
Screens and Sleep Don’t Mix A recent study of 1,500 Americans found that 90 percent of adults use an electronic device within 1 hour of bedtime at least a few times per week. And while many factors can contribute to one’s sleep quality, devices may be an important contributor to insomnia because of the short-wavelength-enriched light that is emitted from …
All About Sleep
Oxygen, water, food, and sleep. These are four essentials to life. Without them peoples’ health suffers. Sleep is an important factor that heavily influences our performance at work, our risk for chronic disease, and our overall quality of life. Sleep researchers, however, aren’t clear on the exact reason why humans even need to sleep. From an evolutionary perspective sleep would …