Blog 35
According to WebMD sneezes can reach up to 100mph and generates huge forces in the body equivalent to one eighth of an orgasm (!). Struggle as I do to remain on topic, the change in weather and the massive increase in coughs and colds that patients are coming in with, makes me think of all of the injuries caused by people getting ill at this time of year. It may be surprising to note that not only is autumn full of football and rugby injuries but one of the most common cause of sprains and strains in these dark, grey and generally wet months is actually sneezing.
Yes, sneezing. If a nice healthy sneeze doesn’t simply make you crash your car as you go around a roundabout causing good old fashioned whiplash, then it could, even more easily, strain your low back. Honestly I have had 3 patients with painful bulging discs (that we confirmed on MRI) that the symptoms started when they had a sneezing or coughing fit in the last month! It seems that the violent forces involved in sneezing and even coughing is enough, if you are unlucky and in a poor posture, to cause serious low back problems. It may be that the disc was on the verge of going anyway and the sneeze was just the last straw.
It doesn’t have to be as serious as a disc problem, it could just cause low back, chest or even neck pain. A very common side effect of repetitive coughing is a sprained rib. These present with varying symptoms that include pain between the shoulder blades, shoulder pain, neck pain and chest pain that can be so bad that it mimics a heart attack style pain. These are often easily treatable with chiropractic but please if you think you may be having a heart attack please go to A&E!! Coughs and sneezes have even been known to break bones in the elderly.
To add to the usual colds, a bout of stomach bugs seems to be doing the unpleasant rounds. Now these can hurt you in a different way. The hours spent lying in bed or on the sofa isn’t good for us. We are designed to stand, walk and generally move about. Slouching, sitting and even lying down for hours on end leads to inevitable back pain. The good news is that chiropractic, physiotherapy and sports massage is a great reliever for these problems and we have the best therapists in town!
I got more than one email this month from the Mollyettes complaining that I haven’t let you know how she is for ages. I thank you for your thoughtful inquisitiveness, as many of you have been there as I have described Jen’s pregnancy to, and in slightly less detail, her birth and watched her grow over the last 2 and a half years. I am pleased to announce that she is potty trained. To save time and effort I even got her this cool set of integrated steps and baby toilet seat that enables her to use the actual loo, saving us all time and effort! She is now old enough to make herself heard and give us the run around. She loves her younger 11-month old brother Harry to death…it’s been close but we have managed to stop her killing him…so far…#stoppingattwo
Personally, life is well as we gear up for another rock and roll Christmas at home and in the clinics. I can absolutely say that life is never dull.
