Plantar fasciitis is a common condition that affects the section of soft tissue on the bottom (plantar surface) of the foot.  It is considered a stress irritation to the sheath (plantar fascia) of elastic (connective) tissues running nearly the entire length of the foot.  These connective tissues provide the primary support for the undersurface of your foot.

If the three arches of your foot drop too far or collapse (through time and stress), the plantar fascia becomes abnormally pulled and  stretched out.  This pulling can lead to inflammation and pain in your heel, your arch, and even in your forefoot.  The level of discomfort can range from mild to severe.  In severe pain cases, a burning sensation can be felt going across the bottom of the foot, and walking would be very painful and difficult.  For some the pain is felt every time they stand up.

By the age of 20, nearly 80% of us has some kind of foot problem, and by age forty almost all of us do.

http://www.footlevelers.com/conditions/foot_problems.php

The most common cause of plantar fasciitis is excessive pronation, which is considered the most common of all foot problems. In excessive pronation, some of the bones of the foot drop to a less stable position due to a structural weakening and misalignment of the foot arches and bones of the foot. The arches themselves may be unnaturally stretched causing a flattening of the feet.  This results in abnormal stress on the entire foot, which leads to abnormal biomechanical stress on the ankle, knees, hip, sacroiliac, and spine.

From the time you learn to walk, your feet assume three crucial functions: they support your body whenever you stand, walk, or run; they assist you in achieving movement from one place to another; and they help protect your bones and soft tissues from damaging shock stress as you move. Being overweight, having minor structural defects in the feet, or injuries — all of these factors can contribute to additional foot and body stress. So even though one-quarter of all the bones in your body are in your feet, having to perform these three strenuous tasks day after day can (and often does) lead to some type of foot and/or body problem. It’s not too surprising to learn, therefore, that by the age of twenty, nearly 80% of us have some kind of foot problem, and by age forty almost everyone does.

http://www.footlevelers.com/conditions/foot_problems.php

If plantar fasciitis or excessive pronation aren’t treated, they can lead to progressive development of foot malfunction and discomfort. Your feet can become “tired and achy” or you may experience burning pains.  Your walking may begin to feel “clumsy” as you try to move your foot in a way that avoids further pain.  Left untreated for a long time can result in the formation of a heel spur.  Heel spurs are small deposits of bone-like calcium on the heel bone (calcaneus), usually on or near the bottom of the foot where the long tendons of the arches (plantar fascia) insert into the bone.

Some experts believe that a spur is the body’s attempt to strengthen its foundation. Being overweight, having abnormal foot biomechanics, or running regularly on hard surfaces can cause excessive stress on the foot, which may lead to the production of a spur. Other authorities contend that spurs are a normal part of the aging process: some studies have shown that calcaneal spurs are more frequently found in people after age 50. The best data currently available projects that between 11% and 16% of the population have heel spurs. It is also interesting to note that spurs occur almost twice as often in adult females as they do in adult males.

http://www.footlevelers.com/conditions/heel_spurs.php

Foot pain means that you should make an appointment to be evaluated in our office right away.  But most problems of the feet are symptom-free (painless).  Even if your feet don’t hurt, the structural imbalance and weakening of your foundation can have a serious impact on the rest of your body. If you are currently having pain in your knees, hips, low back or neck, the reason may be because you have excessive pronation.  Your feet may not be properly supporting the rest of your skeleton.  The abnormal stress will work its way up into the rest of your of your body.

If you are having pain in your ankles, knees, hips, back or neck, contact our office to discover if your feet could be a contributing factor.

We follow a very effective  treatment strategy based on the letters ASR.  They stand for:

• A - Adjust (whole-body adjustment techniques)
• S - Support (spinal pelvic stabilizers and other joint supports)
• R - Rehabilitate (targeted exercise therapy/physical rehab)

You have to check out our new page on Chiropractic research.  It’s located in the “Get to Know Us” section on the left side bar.  The research articles cover topics such as validating chiropractic treatment, cost effectiveness of care, your doctor’s education, and more.  Great info for skeptics or for those who just love to learn.  I’m planning on keeping current with the latest chiropractic research and making frequent updates to the research  page.

It’s amazing to think that we have been at our “new” office location for over three years now! We’d like to thank you for your support through it all.

We know that you’ve been enjoying benefits of our integrated practice – receiving chiropractic care along with therapeutic massage for some time now. And we’d like that to continue even though the current insurance climate (regulation changes, increasing co-pays, huge deductibles, delayed payments, etc.) has forced us to change our billing procedures…

As of June 1, 2009 we will no longer be able to bill your insurance for massage services performed by our therapists. Therefore, you will be responsible for our office charges for any massage services you receive.

But as you know, we’ve always tried to provide affordable services. To that end, we’ve designed very reasonable massage plans that allow you to enjoy 30-minute sessions for as little as $19.50! For details about our massage plans check out our posted fee schedule, shoot us an email, or give us a call and we’ll be happy to speak with you.

We feel honored for your continued trust in us for your natural health care. We hope to see you soon and are looking forward to continuing to work with you for many years to come.

Our family is giving another go at gardening this year.  We are hooked on the square foot gardening (SFG) method.  Last weekend we took advantage of the few hours of sun we had on Saturday and I was able to build the boxes and, with the help of Laura and the kids, set them into our garden.  The boxes are made from four 2×6’s nailed together.

We dug out approximately 6 inches deep (putting the soil on a tarp) and leveled the beds.  We then laid down a weed block cloth and positioned the boxes on top.  We prepped the soil on the tarp by mixing it with compost, humus, and vermiculite.  Check out my home made composter made from standard Rubbermaid trashcan!

This weekend I spent a few hours to build a chicken wire cover for one of the boxes.  It should repel any of the bunny invaders that seemed to plague us last season.

Our indoor plants are growing slowly, and we are going to get them outdoor and into their new SFG home soon.  Can’t wait to see and taste fresh home-grown and sun-warmed produce!

We ended up with 3 boxes in our SFG, which should produce a sizable yield of fresh food for our family.  Working in the garden has also given Laura and I many opportunities to educate our kids.  Give it a try!

I’d like to thank everyone who gave generously and participated in our 2009 Food Drive… making it a success!  Your kindness is greatly appreciated.  We were able to collect a significant amount of canned and jarred food that will be donated to the food pantry at Calvary Chapel Philadelphia (located on Philmont Ave. in NE Philly).  I’d also like to thank Christine and Linda for their hands, and for their help in organizing the food drive.  And lastly, I’d like to thank our family “ham”, Joshua, for posing for the picture.

Maybe you’ve never heard of subluxations before. That’s okay.  If you’re a chiropractic patient, you probably have.  

A subluxation is a condition where a joint (the place where two bones meet) becomes jammed.  The bones become stuck and don’t move right, which causes nervous system interference.  This interference distorts the communication between your brain and your body, and can cause all kinds of health problems.

Subluxations causing nervous system interference can occur at any joint in the body. The core of your body (the spinal joints or vertebrae) frequently subluxate.  Subluxations are also common in the extremities.  The foot, knee and hip joints can subluxate.  The hand, wrist, elbow, and shoulder joints can subluxate.

The body is complex.  A subluxation doesn’t just involve two bones and some nerves.  Muscles can become abnormally tight or weak.  Pain patterns develop.  Connected discs, ligaments, and other tissues can become damaged and inflamed.  Over time, degenerative changes can occur.  Bone spurs, arthritis, and other forms of decay can set in.

Subluxations are serious!

Joint subluxations are caused by three basic factors:  physical stress, chemical stress, and emotional stress.  Physical stress includes slips and falls, car accidents, repetitive motions, sprains and strains, sports injuries, improper lifting, and the like.  Emotional stress includes mental stress, anger, fear, unforgiveness, and the like.  Chemical stresses include smoking, alcohol, drugs, pollution, poor diet, and such.

You can have subluxations and not even know it.  Like tooth decay or cancer, subluxations may be present before any warning signs appear.  How can you know if you have a subluxation?  The best way to know is to be evaluated at our office by myself (or by another chiropractor).  

I use several different evaluation techniques to determine the presence of subluxations.  I check bone and muscle symmetry, test joint motion, and use a series of other indicators to evaluate each patient.  The results of a thorough examination can reveal the location and severity of subluxations you may have.

Chiropractic doctors (like myself) are the only licensed health care professionals dedicated to the detection, reduction, and prevention of subluxations.  I use a highly effective whole-body adjusting approach to improve joint biomechanics and reduce nervous system interference.  

Learn More About Dr. Ken Goldman’s Techniques

We are now offering massage gift certificates at an incredible discount of 50% off! For only $32.50 you can give the gift of a one-hour stress-relieving massage.  This 50% off special will only be available through May 10th (Mother’s Day).  So don’t delay, and treat your mom to a one-hour pampering massage session.

Your mom can choose a relaxing Swedish massage, an invigorating sports massage, the power of a deep tissue massage, or a heavenly hot stone massage. Whatever she chooses, we promise to treat her with the highest level of skill, respect and care.

What a great gift idea for Mom!

I Want To Learn More About Massage

If you wonder how much your lifestyle affects your health, you have to read this article.  According to this latest research, diet appears to be the most influential factor in regards to cancer.

LONDON (Reuters) - Healthier living could prevent about a third of the most common cancers in rich countries and about a quarter in poorer ones, international researchers said on Thursday.

Better diets, more exercise and controlling weight could also prevent more than 40 percent of colon and breast cancer cases in some countries, according to the study which urged governments and individuals to do more to cut the number of global cancer deaths each year.

“At the time of publication, roughly 11 million people worldwide are diagnosed with cancer and nearly eight million people die from cancer each year,” said Michael Marmot, who led the study from the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research.

“However, cancer is mostly preventable.”

The study involved 23 experts who analyzed both the incidence of 12 common cancers across the world and data on diet, exercise and weight to see how these factors contributed to kidney, mouth, lung, gallbladder and the other cancers.

The researchers found that healthier living would prevent 43 percent of colon cancer cases and 42 percent of breast cancer cases in Britain, and 45 percent of bowel cancer and 38 percent of breast cancer cases in the United States.

The findings follow the same groups’ study in 2007 that showed how quickly people grow and what they eat are both significant causes of cancer.

They recommended — in line with what health experts, including governments and the U.N. World Health Organization, have long been advising — that people follow diets based on fruits, vegetables and whole grains and go easy on red meats, dairy products and fats.

The team also looked at China and Brazil as representatives of low- and middle-income countries, respectively.

Overall improving diet, exercise and weight would in the United States prevent more than a third of the 12 most common cancers — which also included stomach, womb (uterus), prostate, pancreas and esophagus tumors.

This amounted to 39 percent of the cancers in Britain, 30 percent in Brazil and 27 percent in China.

“This report shows that by making relatively straightforward changes, we could significantly reduce the number of cancer cases around the world,” Marmot said in a statement.

“On a global level every year, there are millions of cancer cases that could have been prevented and this is why we need to act now before the situation gets even worse.”

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE51P2P920090226

The lesson here: if you want to have superior health, you must have a healthy lifestyle, which should include a whole-food plant-based diet.  A healthy lifestyle also should include regular moderate exercise, stress management, and getting sufficient rest among other things.

Many of our patients include regular chiropractic checkups and massage therapy as part of their healthy lifestyle because they know that it contributes to their health and well-being!

This past Saturday, Christine and I had the privilege of participating in a local health & wellness expo at Lower Moreland High School.  I arrived with Christine at around 8:00 am and we had our table setup and equipment ready by 9:00.  We were accompanied by many other vendors.  There were health club reps, massage therapists, a raw food chef, personal trainers, weight loss consultants, health food stores, martial arts schools and more.

I was told that hundreds of runners showed up for the annual 5K run.  After the run, many curious energetic and people filled the school gymnasium.

I provided free spinal/scoliosis screenings and digital foot scans/posture analysis.  Christine did a great job as a greeter and kept very busy providing free 5-minute massages.

We worked practically non-stop from 9:00 am - 1:00 pm, and were able to meet people of all ages from the community.  We really stirred up a great deal of interest with the digital scanner technology.

It was a real pleasure to spend time one-on-one with so many people curious about their health.  I performed around 30 digital scans on the young and old.  Several of the runners from the 5K run were concerned about the condition of their feet.  Using the digital foot scanner and some pictures, I was able to explain the direct relationship between the biomechanical condition of the arches of their feet and the rest of their skeleton.

Please let us know if there are any health expos or health fairs in your community… we’d love to help out!  Until then, we’re looking forward to the next one!

Thanks to all friends, family, and patients who supported us.  We greatly appreciate you!

Our team at Spectrum Wellness Center has had the honor of being invited to participate in a local Health & Wellness Expo on April 25th, 2009.  We accepted and are looking forward to helping make this event a success.  

It will be held in the Lower Moreland High School at 555 Red Lion Road, Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006.  The Expo is scheduled to run from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm.  And there’s no cost for admission! 

We have the privilege of being able to set up a table, offer our services, and share our practice mission (Promoting Superior Health Through Natural Therapy) with the community.  We will be conducting free spinal checks, scoliosis screenings, posture evaluations, and massage.

At the same time, we will helping support the Community Links 10th Anniversary 5K Walk/Run and the Lower Moreland Community Links program, which benefits non-profit community groups in Lower Moreland, Bryn Athyn, and the surrounding areas.

This event will feature Dr. Mehmet Oz’s Healthcorps - Highway to Health, and Jami Appenzeller Yancey and her team at Philly Fit Magazine.  There promises to be many vendors, activities, and great tips on how to live a life filled with Health and Wellness.

We welcome you to join us and are looking forward to seeing you there!