Adhesion Archives | Apollo Soft Tissue and Spine

Thinking about getting a Cortisone shot? You may want to reconsider.

Dr. Drew Ruebbelke — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 09:00:05 +0000

Cortisone Shots: Only a short-term gain for long term pain!

In 1949, the discovery of cortisone was considered a medical landmark and breakthrough. Since that time, there has actually NEVER been a study to prove the long term benefits of these injections.

Studies have proven time and time again, that while most cortisone injections may provide temporary pain relief, often around 3 to 6 months, patient clinical outcomes after a year were WORSE than those that did absolutely NOTHING! Think about that for a second…..People who did NOTHING for a year were actually better off than the patients trying to fix their problem with a cortisone injection!

Cortisone shots are frequently recommended by orthopedic specialists for muscle and joint pain. These shots wipe out inflammation and hopefully your pain. Your ortho is busy, and these shots are fast and easy. Sounds good right?

Not so fast.

Is inflammation or pain the problem?

Nope.

Inflammation and pain are the effect of your problem! When a tendon, muscle, or joint gets overloaded and injured, it will become swollen or inflamed. If you want proper healing, you actually need inflammation. If the inflammation is removed, the next steps in the healing process cannot occur. So your injured tendon, muscle, or joint never recovers. And it gets worse…

Removing inflammation leads to a bigger problem. You take away the warning that lets you know something is wrong. Your pain!!! Your problem is not your pain. Your problem is your injured body part. The purpose of your pain is to stop you from beating up your body. Pain serves as your body’s check engine light, or alert system. A reminder that “Hey buddy, something is broken and it needs to be fixed.” If you aren’t getting this warning, you keep damaging the area, and your problem escalates. This is why your pain often comes back even stronger, your orthopedist recommends another injection, and the vicious cycle continues…

Is this the only problem with cortisone?

No way!

Cortisone actually eats away at your cartilage. So if you get an injection into your joint, that joint will be further damaged by the exact thing that is supposed to help it.

Another big problem is with treating an injured tendon. The injection weakens the tendon and can even cause it to tear. An injection should never be done directly into a tendon.

Some other possible side effects you probably don’t want might include:

Joint infection
Nerve damage
Thinning of skin and soft tissue around the injection site
Thinning of nearby bone (osteoporosis)
Weight Gain
Easy Bruising
Elevation of Blood Pressure
Acne (steroid acne)
Whitening or lightening of the skin around the injection site
Increased blood sugar levels in diabetics
Bone Death (osteonecrosis)

The ONLY person who should be getting a cortisone shot is a pro athlete that has a huge competition in the near future, after they’ve accepted the long term consequences of the injection.

You probably aren’t that person.

So what should you do if you’re thinking about getting a corisone shot, or have had one before?

Schedule a visit with us at Apollo Soft Tissue and Spine. You need a long term solution. The only way to get that is by first finding the true cause of your injury, followed by advanced treatment to fix it. We hope you have found this post helpful. If you or someone you know is considering a cortisone shot, we recommend sharing this, pumping the brakes, and coming to our office for a second opinion.

Drs. Drew Ruebbelke and John Appleman specialize in finding and fixing the true cause of your muscle and joint pain. To schedule an appointment, call (720) 593-2047. It’s time for you to finally Live Pain Free.

The post Thinking about getting a Cortisone shot? You may want to reconsider. appeared first on Apollo Soft Tissue and Spine.

6 questions to help solve your low back and neck pain.

Dr. John Appleman — Mon, 27 Jun 2022 09:00:05 +0000

Chronic Low back or Neck pain

If you’re reading this, you most likely suffer from some sort of chronic low back or neck pain. Ask yourself these following questions to help solve the problem:

Is your pain worse in the morning?
Does the pain get better after waking up and moving around?
Have you had multiple or previous episodes of moderate to severe pain?
Does the pain usually last 2-10 days before going away?
Trouble sitting or standing prolonged periods of time?
Are movements “guarded/protected” or noticing decreased range of motion?

If you answered “yes” to a majority or all of these questions, you most likely are suffering from a disc injury whether you have been diagnosed with it or not. Internal Disc Derangement (IDD) accounts for upwards of 40% of all low back pain and the majority of neck pain!

Disc injuries are often made worse by the presence of adhesion. Adhesion is the most common cause of pain and decreased range of motion in the body. Adhesion acts like glue in muscles and restricts movement. Restricted motion causes more load on injured discs, leading to more pain and long term problems such as disc bulging or disc herniation.

The good news is that a large majority of disc injuries do not require surgery if you seek out an expert to help restore full range of motion and take pressure off of the disc. Disc injuries respond well to conservative management and treatment. By fixing and removing adhesion, range of motion is restored and discs are essentially “decompressed” and unloaded. Leaving you with little to no pain and able to return to regular, daily activity.

We are 2 of only 3 providers in the Denver Metro Area certified to provide you with a proper diagnosis and provide the treatment your neck or back problem needs, even if other practitioners have missed it. Our treatment has helped many people looking for answers to their pain. We have helped patients prevent surgery and those still suffering with pain after surgery. If you answered “yes” to most or all of the questions above, chances are we can help! Call Apollo today at 720-593-2047.

The post 6 questions to help solve your low back and neck pain. appeared first on Apollo Soft Tissue and Spine.

Is your shoulder pain a result of an injured rotator cuff?

Dr. Drew Ruebbelke — Sun, 26 Jun 2022 09:00:50 +0000

Rotator cuff injuries are common but not normal. Let’s understand which muscles makeup the rotator cuff and how they contribute to your pain. The rotator cuff is made up of 4 muscles, which are more specifically known as the Supraspinatus, Infraspinatus, Teres Minor, and Subscapularis. These muscles work together to stabilize the shoulder, which is arguably the most unstable joint of the body.

As long as these muscles are relatively strong and healthy, they act in conjunction to balance the movements of the shoulder and our shoulder works perfectly. This allows us to do all the things we take for granted such as: drive our car, open and close doors, blow dry our hair, get dressed, etc.

When these muscles become damaged through trauma, overuse or simply from being alive for more than 20 years they develop muscle adhesion. Muscle adhesion (scar tissue) disrupts the balance between the rotator cuff muscles compromising stability of the shoulder and we experience pain, crunching or popping noises in the shoulder when performing everyday tasks. The muscles, once injured, are past the point where trying to fix it yourself will work. Furthermore, if left untreated, this scar tissue leads to increased wear and tear on the cartilage, ligaments, tendons and attachments of these rotator cuff muscles. The result? Degeneration, arthritis, damaged cartilage, torn rotator cuff tendons and increased pain.

You maybe wondering if you have muscle adhesion, here are a few indicators. If you have: limited mobility, function and pain when using the shoulder or have been diagnosed with degeneration, arthritis, damaged cartilage or a torn rotator cuff? Then you likely have muscle adhesion in your rotator cuff muscles and it is contributing to your shoulder pain.

Drs. John Appleman and Drew Ruebbelke are experts in the diagnosis and treatment of muscle adhesion. They are 2 of 3 doctors certified in the Denver Metro Area to properly diagnose and treat shoulder problems. If you or someone you know is suffering from shoulder pain and other treatments have failed to provide lasting results then call us at 720.593.2047 or visit Apollosofttissue.com to schedule an appointment.

The post Is your shoulder pain a result of an injured rotator cuff? appeared first on Apollo Soft Tissue and Spine.

3 Reasons stretching is NOT fixing your hamstring tightness

Dr. Drew Ruebbelke — Fri, 24 Jun 2022 09:00:26 +0000

Remember the days when you didn’t have tight hamstrings or maybe you’ve had them your whole life?

One of the most common statements we hear from patients in our clinic is: “My hamstrings are really tight, I haven’t been stretching much lately, I think that’s why they’re so tight.” Contrary to popular belief, hamstring tightness is not because you don’t stretch enough or haven’t been sticking to your stretching routine. Stretching can actually cause the issue to get worse. Tightness in muscles is to protect a problem that is overloading a damaged tissue or injured joint in the body. Below are the most common reasons for hamstrings feeling “tight.”

Muscle Adhesion in the Hamstrings/ hips/ Adductors: Adhesion is the most common condition of the body, and it acts like glue in these areas. This increases pressure and stress in the hips, low back, and hamstrings, which in turn decreases your range of motion. With movement being reduced, the joints are more prone to injury in the future such as cartilage damage, disc injury, and further degeneration. The hamstrings help in protecting these joints by engaging earlier and reducing range of motion.

Nerve Entrapment of the Sciatic Nerve: Nerve entrapment is extremely common, especially around the sciatic nerve. The nerve has to glide and slide between, through and alongside other tissues from the low back to the foot. Overuse can cause adhesion to form, an glue the nerve to other structures irritating the nerve and causing it to be unhealthy. When the nerve can’t fully glide and slide past tissues, it will contract the hamstrings sooner and cause tightness. Another common symptom of Sciatic nerve entrapment is weak hamstrings.

Disc Injury: When a disc is injured, any bending of the lower back and flexion of the hips places more pressure and stress on the injured disc. If you do have an injured disc and you bend forward the hamstrings will contract to protect your disc so that it doesn’t experience an increase in load or pressure to the damaged area (disc).

If these dysfunctions persist and aren’t fully corrected, your range of motion will decrease, the hamstrings will remain tight, pain will increase, athletic performance will decrease, and degeneration in the joints will accelerate. This is why stretching isn’t helping your tight hamstrings, stretching doesn’t get rid of adhesion, it doesn’t fix your disc injury and it makes trapped nerves worse. So it is imperative that you receive an expert diagnosis and treatment for your condition.
Free Yourself From Pain and Show Your Body Some Gratitude!

Drs. Drew Ruebbelke and John Appleman specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of the above three causes. Call 720-593-2047 or visit Apollosofttissue.com to schedule an appointment.

The post 3 Reasons stretching is NOT fixing your hamstring tightness appeared first on Apollo Soft Tissue and Spine.