Pain has a thousand changing faces.

It can be in one spot, multiple spots, appear to move or even be everywhere.

Pain can appear different at different times. Pain can be sharp, intense, dull, constant, electric, heavy, pulsing, numbing, tingling, grabbing, radiating, restricting, sudden, intermittent or aching.

Pain comes in many forms: stiffness, weakness, imbalance, sleeplessness, restricted movement and much more.

You may have one or more of these variations, but all are resolved within the ReCAPS System™.

What is Ergonomics and why is it important for you?

If you were looking at Wikipedia you would get a statement like this “a standard definition is the study of designing equipment and devices that fit the human body, its movements and its cognitive abilities”.

Unfortunately, this is how most people look at ergonomics. We look at it differently. Our definition of ergonomics would be “How can you correctly, comfortably and easily make small adjustments so that YOUR body fits in all the varied furniture and work environments, so that you do not end up with a variety of conditions from sciatica to neck pain to carpal tunnel syndrome”. In short, we can show you how to ergonomically adjust to your real and constantly changing environments.

Much as the manufacturers of ergonomically designed furniture would like you to believe, there is no way furniture can be designed that can correctly fit all the different body shapes and types, to all the different workspaces.

Actually, relying on that label can cause a lot of problems. You sit on many types of seats at (work, home, restaurants, friends, cars etc), have different work environments (job, home, business associates, libraries, coffee shops} and sleep on different beds (home, friends, relatives, hotels and doghouse). The key is knowing when something is not right and how to adjust yourself to make it right.

The reason for the need to know how to sit, sleep or work with the most comfort and the least amount of strain on your body is obvious since you can’t take that one chair that fits that one work environment with you everywhere you go. But you always take you, with you.

This is why ergonomics is important to you and why this is an integral part to our ReCAPS System™.

Stand up straight … Stand up straight … Stand up straight … an echo most of us still remember from our childhood. But do we stand up straight, can we stand up straight or do we even know if we are standing up straight? Do we care? Actually the answer to these questions is much more important than most people know. And the sad truth is that we usually don’t care, but as I will show you we should care, and care a lot.

The body is very complicated and very simple. The body wishes to maintain homeostasis: both internally and externally. Homeostasis is the body seeking and maintaining a condition of balance. let’s say your mean internal temperature should be 98.6. If it goes to 102.1 the homeostasis mechanisms work to bring it back to 98.6; if it goes to 97.1 the homeostasis mechanisms work to bring it back to 98.6. Externally homeostasis wants to maintain a tonus of balance, efficiency and function.

Standing up straight is not about holding yourself in a rigid, ramrod position {which is, by the way, incorrect). It is about health, wellbeing and efficiency of movement.

Unfortunately where homeostasis falls short is in the simplification. It uses a short term memory. If you woke up this morning and were functioning it pats itself on the back and says great job. We must have done it right yesterday, lets to the same today. This thought process goes on each day as the body gets just a little further from where you need to be to have good health, well-being and efficiency of movement.

The word insidious should be as feared as osteoporosis. Insidious changes affect everyone. Insidious means having a gradual and cumulative effect. We don’t even notice something is changing or how much it has changed.

An example would be to look at someone before, during, and after they have had to use a walker for several months. They usually go from a correct posture or a posture that is only a little off to an extremely bent-over posture, and finally when they no longer need the walker, they appear to be unable to stand up or, of most importance, they are unaware that they are not standing up. The worse of this is they think they are straight. Their perception of where they are in space has changed and they do not realize they are bent over.

Another example would be when our head starts to move forward of the correct position. The head is very heavy. If it is one inch forward, the head doubles in weight-force that the muscles in the neck and upper back must pull back on because they think that you are falling over If the head moves two inches forward the weight-force is 4 times the original weight of the head. It grows exponentially. No wonder so many people have neck pain.

Probably the most common postural distortions come from the effect on our posture from sitting incorrectly.

There is so much to be said on this subject because of the effect on your health but I know that you did not plan to read a book. Suffice to it say that if you have a posture that is even slightly compromised from where it should be, then the following starts to happen. The abdominal organs do not have enough room and are pushed up into the diaphragm. When you go to take a breath the diaphragm cannot drop far enough for a full breath and you start to have a more shallow breath. The stomach is pushed up against the esophagus and it is more difficult for food to enter the stomach and it is easier for the food to be pushed back into the esophagus (acid reflux).

This is just the tip of the iceberg caused by the insidious changes from an incorrect posture. Have you ever seen a person that is not overweight but has a roll of fat protruding around the middle or a pushed-out tummy? Well, many times this will be corrected when the posture is corrected.

Now for the good news. Many times the problem is not with the discs, but even if you do have a problem with your vertebrae or your discs, there is so much that can be done. The fascia and muscle pull, push and add pressure against the spine. You do not need to buy something to wear to make or force changes in your posture. They rarely works and usually make everything worse. With correct evaluation and myofascial release techniques, both parts of the ReCAPS System™, this problem can be resolved. Every day we change incorrect posture to correct posture, and show our patients how to easily maintain these changes, until these changes become the new normal. So, if you are Still in Pain this component of the ReCAPS System™ will make you be able to say, “I am no longer Still in Pain”.

This is really just another name for Sciatica.  It just clarifies where the problem is originating from, which is the piriformis muscle deep in the hip.  Most of the time, when a physician refers to Sciatica, they believe that the problem is originating from either the spinal root nerves and/or spinal disk compression.

The piriformis is almost always involved when sciatic nerve pain is demonstrated, and that is why the piriformis must always be treated when there is sciatic pain.

The piriformis is a small muscle very deep in the hip that attaches from the sacrum to the greater trochanter of the femur, making a connection from the lowest part of your back across your hip to your leg.

The piriformis is a lateral hip rotator so when you turn your leg outward or laterally you see it at work.  It also acts as an abductor of the leg (thigh) such as when you sit with one ankle crossed over the other knee.  It also has importance in walking as it shifts the weight to the opposite side of the foot being lifted which keeps us from falling.

The sciatic nerve usually runs right along side of the piriformis muscle, but in 17% of the time something different happens.  The sciatic nerve pierces the piriformis and runs through it or the sciatic nerve can split and run on each side of the piriformis.

When a nerve is thought of, the picture of a body with lines running all over it appears.  Some lines are bigger than others but none all that big.  Well the sciatic nerve has been known to be larger than two of our fingers at its thickest.  Pretty impressive indeed, but for many with Sciatica or Piriformis Syndrome it has felt like something very big has been causing them a lot of pain.

The problem with the piriformis and the sciatic nerve is that there are no empty pockets of space in the body.  Like a closet that is full with a place for everything and everything in its place.  It you were to go into that closet and decide to increase the amount of clothing by 40% and not remove anything you already had in the closet, what would happen?  Besides now looking like most closets, all the clothes would be compressed or crushed.

This is exactly what happens to the sciatic nerve when the piriformis contracts and does not release.  The muscle size can increase up to 40% from the resting size and it compresses or impinges what it near it. Ah, the sciatic nerve.

When the nerve is irritated it will scream, causing unrelenting pain, numbness and tingling.  It will also disturb function such as restricting the ability to move or causing weakness and disrupting your ability to sleep, sit, walk, think, you name it and it is probably disrupted it.  Sciatic compression or impingement is not quiet.

Well, after all of that it’s time for some better information and that is that the ReCAPS System™ can totally resolve this problem.  This can be a complicated condition and must be addressed from many different aspects, which is exactly what ReCAPS™ does. So, if you are Still In Pain, now is the time to contact us.

Peripheral Neuropathy is a long and complicated subject.  This is damage to the nerves that carry the signal from the hands and feet (the peripheral nervous system) to the spine and brain (the central nervous system). Did you just step on something?  Is that too hot?  These are things that we normally know clearly and immediately.

In advanced cases a person may not know if they cut their foot or burned their hand, but we will not discuss the advanced conditions in this article.   In the beginning stages or in a mild case a person may feel numbness, tingling, pricking sensation or muscle weakness.

It is important to note that these are the same symptoms of nerve impingement as opposed to actual long term nerve damage.  A nerve can be impinged by bone, muscle, fascia or swelling.  Release of the impingement will alleviate the symptoms.  An example of this would be carpal tunnel syndrome, which can be resolved non- surgically with the ReCAPS System™.

Even if the cause is nerve damage the symptoms can be lessened if not resolved.

A nerve just likes to do its’ job and does not like to be bothered even a little.  Take the ulnar nerve.  We all know whoever came up with; ‘did you hit your funny bone’ missed on all counts because it’s not funny and it’s not a bone it’s a nerve.  But this tells us a lot about nerves though.

The job of the ulnar nerve is to get your attention and get it fast.  It is there to keep you from fracturing your elbow and it does a great job.  It has no protection other than skin as it lies across our elbow.  If it is touched even to the slightest degree incorrectly, it has you jerking away from the stimuli in no time flat.

The peripheral nerves are long and fragile, if there are impingements, damage or even pressure from the way we sit or sleep these nerves will send the message to get us to stop.

If we ignore these messages, or do not get the burden off the nerve, then the problem continues, and eventually gets worse.  With the ReCAPS System™ you can get relief from these symptoms.

It can be called OA, degenerative joint disease, the wear and tear arthritis, inflammatory arthritis, or cervical spondylosis, and more, but they are all generally the same thing.  This arthritis destroys the smooth outer covering (articular cartilage) of the bone.  This leaves the bone exposed to the damage of bone on bone irritation and inflammation, bone spurs and more.

These examples are localized even it you may have it in many places, as opposed to Rheumatoid Arthritis which is systemic in nature, affects the joint lining, tissue and even organs.

Arthritis refers to any painful inflammation of the joints.

Age plays a part in this condition as would seem obvious with a name like the wear and tear arthritis.  And after fifty years of age arthritis becomes very common.  But injury or trauma can cause arthritis at much younger ages.  Injuries like a rotator cuff tear, a fracture, a fall, or even a dislocation of the shoulder and especially contact sports like football can all open the door for arthritis.

With arthritis you have pain in the joint during movement and after, joints are swollen and creaky, there may have a grating feeling, loss of strength in the fingers, or loss of range of motion in any joint.

There is no cure for osteoarthritis and it is degenerative in nature.  But among all this gloomy news there is good news and that is the ReCAPS System™.

The ReCAPS System™ can make a huge difference in your current condition.  As the joints move more freely, with less irritation, your condition will improve.  ReCAPS™ reduces inflammation, reduces swelling, and increase flexibility and movement.

You may not be able to do anything about the fact that you have arthritis, but the ReCAPS System™ can do a lot about what arthritis does to you.

This topic can cover many things, from being able to lift your arm, to bending over, or turning your neck.  What we are not discussing here is when immobility is due to a paralyzing nerve condition or a stroke.

When a complaint is first voiced about how hard it is to lift my arm, the first comment you hear is that you need to build up your strength and you need to be in an exercise program.  Not that either one of these things is bad, of course not, they are excellent.

It’s just that strengthening may not be what’s needed at all; in fact it just may be the worst thing to do this time.

Let me give you a few examples.  A woman was cleaning her closet and she was lifting boxes and carrying clothes.  The next day she was sore and it hurt to lift her arm so she decided to just rest it and compensated by moving differently.  A few weeks go by and now she can only lift her arm halfway up.  Is the answer to say she does not have enough strength, so she needs to be on a strength building program or is it to find out what is pulling her arm down that makes it so hard for her to lift her arm up?

A young man is in an auto accident and gets whiplash.  He can hardly move his neck in any direction.  He is soon started on a strength building program for his neck because it is too weak.  Did whiplash suddenly make all of his muscles weak?

It is noted that a woman has a forward head posture and rounded shoulders; she is told that she needs to strengthen her back.   But is her back weak or is it strong since her back muscles have already been fighting to keep her upright?

In these cases and most others you must release what is restricting the mobility before any other consideration, especially strengthening.  Every case is different, and with the ReCAPS System™ every case is addressed specific to the person, how the problem began, in addition to the perpetuating factors.

And this is exactly what ReCAPS™ does, resulting in considerable change quickly.

Understanding how the lymphatic system works helps to understand what happens when it no longer functions well.  An easy way to think of the lymph system is as the garbage removal system, while the venous system is the grocery delivery system.  Protein-rich lymph fluid seeps from the blood vessels into the body’s tissue at a rate of 1-2 liters of fluid per day.  Your body uses the protein that it needs and the excess proteins, along with the lymphatic load (dead cells, bacteria, toxins) are removed by the lymph system.

This removal takes place by the action of the lymphatic vessels which pull the used fluid and load into the vessels and then push the fluid to the lymph nodes (where there is filtering) and finally dumps it all into the vena cava (the largest vein in the body).   It now leaves the body through the kidneys or is filtered and circulated back through the body.

There are two kinds of lymphedema: Primary and Secondary.  They both involve a problem with the removal of lymph fluid and differ only in the originating cause of the problem.

Primary is usually caused by a lymphatic system that has fewer lymphatic vessels or lymphatic nodes than the body needs to remove the lymphatic fluid from the tissue.  This can be severe and immediate and show itself at birth (congenital), but most likely it will appear at puberty or have an adult onset.  When the system is inadequate it will go along until something changes to overwhelm it, at that point lymphedema appears.

Secondary is caused by an outside disturbance such as surgery, injury, infection, tumor or radiation.  By far, the most common cause is the removal of lymph tissue and lymph nodes during surgery.

Lymphedema cannot be cured.  It can be managed and it should be managed as it can continue to get worse.

The most important thing that you can do is to protect your arm or affected limb.  Most people have been given the basic information on care.  Do not be timid…do not let anyone take your blood pressure or puncture your arm with a needle for blood work.

One of the major triggers for onset that we have seen is taking a flight.  I cannot count the number that there was no problem until that flight.  Once the genie is out of the bottle it cannot be put back in.  Do not fly without compression on the affected limb and hand or foot.

To correctly treat lymphedema the therapist needs to be properly trained.  The Vodder School of Austria is world renowned for its extensive and exacting training program.

Our therapists have been trained by the Vodder School of Austria.  I was one of the first 100 therapist (1994) trained in this technique that worked in the United States.  I am the only therapist in Jacksonville that has been doing this work since that time.

Reducing the edema is only part of the work; we reduce your pain and increase your range of motion, and teach you what you need to know to protect yourself.  We also work on the scar adhesions, fibrosis, or cording that can complicate the problem.

There is more to be said about this condition, treatment and care but each case is unique and can only be given after an exam.

Some knee injuries occur and they are devastating.  Off you go to immediate surgery.  You go through exercised based physical therapy and usually you are happy with the results, except in some cases, when the pain continues, and continues. You are discharged and the pain continues.  This is just one of the problems that lead patients to us and the ReCAPS System™.

In most cases knee pain comes with no real name, no torn meniscus or ACL, no fractured patella.  So, the pain is then put into a common category such as bursitis (inflammation of the bursae – fluid-filled sacs in the knee) or osteoarthritis.  End of story but not the end of the pain.

The knee of course does not stand alone, the upper and lower leg are as much a part of the knee and what happens to it as the ligaments that bind it or the patella that effaces it. The hip, ankle and foot complete the unit.  These all affect your gait and the incorrect gait will affect all you joints.

It is this unit working correctly together that makes the knee move smoothly and painlessly.  If just one area is treated the problem with reoccur and probably even be worse than before, because the cause was not resolved – just the immediate symptom.

The vast majority of pain and function problems are insidious in nature (slow onset that you are not even aware of).  Most of time the injury is waiting to happen and just the weight of a straw triggered the occurrence.

If the pain does not go away there are perpetuating factors that are keeping the problem going and until these problems are resolved, the pain will not be resolved.

With the ReCAPS System™ you are treated as a whole person not just a knee joint and all the factors of the knee pain are addressed.  Many times we hear, “How did you make such a difference, it feels as if my knee has been greased, it moves so smooth.”  You will have the same changes.