June 2012 Newsletter
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Article of the Month
Graston Technique for Tennis Elbow

  

The Graston Technique is related to the more commonly-known
Active Release Therapy, and is based on the same fundamental idea.  When people work out, their muscles and tendons sometimes tear without properly re-healing, leaving a mass of painful and inflexible scar tissue behind.  This mass is sometimes also referred to as an adhesion.  These treatments seek to break up those masses of scar tissue, allowing the soft tissue underneath to heal properly.

 

What makes the Graston Technique different is its use of specialized tools to aid the massage therapist.  These tools, made of custom-crafted stainless steel, allow the practitioner to be able to feel beneath a patient's skin and muscles with more accuracy than just their hands allow.  This, in turn, makes it easier to locate the tissue adhesions, as well as providing a precision tool for breaking them up.

  

About Tennis Elbow   

Tennis Elbow is the common name for a condition otherwise known as lateral epicondylitis or lateral epicondylalgia.  The condition is a repetitive motion injury, caused through overuse of the elbow in a swinging motion.  It is most commonly seen among players of tennis and other racquet-based sports, as well as people in professions that involve repetitive lifting such as table-waiting or construction.   

The most common cause of tennis elbow is an accumulation of unhealed tears on the extensor tendon which controls extension of the elbow.  These tears form adhesions, limiting both the range and the strength of the tendon, inhibiting movement.

 

Tennis elbow is usually expressed simply through moderate-to-severe pain when the patient attempts to extend their arm fully.  There is also usually tenderness around the elbow itself.  It can also lead to wrist pain during activities such as pouring a jug of milk, or lifting items with the palm facing down.  There may even be pain during gripping actions, like shaking hands or turning a doorknob.  Left untreated, tennis elbow can turn into a chronic condition that degrades a patient's quality of life.

 

How Graston Technique Can Help Tennis Elbow

Generally, a Graston Technique practitioner will attempt to break up the adhesions using what is known as a "cross friction" massage technique, rubbing against the grain of the muscle.  This lateral force helps break up the adhesions, and also increases blood flow to the affected muscle area.

This application of the Graston Technique is then combined with massage and stretching activities aimed at restoring range of motion to the affected tendon.  Since those suffering from tennis elbow tend to favor their arm, the condition can be complicated by a lack of activity in the tendon.  Restoring blood flow and stretching it out allows the tendon to resume a more normal level of activity more quickly.

 These procedures are followed across several sessions, generally two per week, until the adhesion is fully eliminated.   

 
Optical Illusion of the Month

 

In the Ponzo illusion the converging parallel lines tell the brain that the image higher in the visual field is further away therefore the brain perceives the image to be larger, although the two images hitting the retina are the same size.

 

 

Recipe of the Month
Barbacoa

Ingredients
  • For the first round of cooking
  • 1.5-2 lbs Grass Fed Beef Rump Roast, trimmed of extra fat (if you'd like)
  • 6-8 garlic cloves, peeled
  • 2-4 bay leaves
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 cup vegetable broth
  • 1 yellow onion, roughly chopped
  • 1/2 red onion, roughly chopped
  • 1 tablespoon cumin
  • 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, roughly chopped
  • 1 tablespoon adobo sauce (from the can of chipotle peppers)
  • 1 container of chopped mushrooms (optional)
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • For the second round of cooking
  • 1 16oz can tomato sauce
  • 1 12-16oz can green chiles
  • 1 tablespoon chipotle chili powder
  • 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
  • 1 teaspoon ground red pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
  1. Pull out your crockpot.  
  2. Add to your crock pot: garlic cloves, bay leaves, apple cider vinegar, broth, chopped onions, cumin, chipotle peppers and sauce, mushrooms, salt and pepper, and rump roast. Mix ingredients around to help coat the rump roast.
  3. Cover and let cook for 6 hours on high or 8 hours on low. Run a fork along the rump roast at the end of cooking to make sure it is done and easily shreddable
Once the roast is done cooking:
  1. Use a couple forks to shred the meat in your crockpot.
  2. Discard the bay leaves.
  3. Add in tomato sauce, green chiles, and spices. Mix thoroughly
  4. Let cook on high for 30 minutes-1 hour.

 

 

Dr. Hessam Khatami is certified in various soft-tissue techniques and is working toward his Chiropractic Sports Physician Certification.  He provides certified treatments in the areas of sports injuries, difficult cases of spine pain with numbness and tingling, migraines and more.
   

His office is located in Atlantic Grove in Delray Beach, FL, and can be reached at 561-455-4850 or email him at

[email protected].

 

 

We hope you enjoyed our newsletter this month. Please visit our website at: www.atlanticgrovechiro.com for more information.

 

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Sincerely,
 dr k pic
Hessam Khatami, DC
Atlantic Grove Chiropractic & Rehabilitation

 

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