Snowboarders Need Adjustments Too!

Stiff and Sore Ankle Assessment and Treatment

Old Injuries.

Ankles are commonly an area of recurrent injury. After multiple sprains and strains, the soft tissue around the ankle begins to become stiff. This leads to a range of motion loss and can lead to all sorts of problems upstream with the knee or hip.

Do I need to improve ankle mobility?

You are able to assess where your ankle dorsiflexion on your own. All you need is a wall. Start with your toes about an inch from the wall and see if you can tap the wall with your knee (this should be fairly easy). Then continue to move the foot away from the wall and glide your knee forward to tap the wall. Once you reach the point where your heel begins to lift off the ground you have your baseline. The further away from the wall your foot is when you finish, the more ankle dorsiflexion you have. If you didn’t make it at lease 2 inches, it would be a good idea to work some ankle mobility into a workout routine.

Ankle Adjustments Are Key.

Sometimes soft tissue stretches are not enough. Sometimes the ankle joint itself needs to be adjusted. This type of joint is supposed to have a combined motion of a hinge and a translation. The type of adjustment shown in this video helps reintroduce a coupled motion effect that typically is lost in ankles with limited dorsiflexion. In this case, a board athlete needs the ability to flex the ankle to be stable on a feature like a rail.

There is more to come on this topic in the future. If you enjoyed this, share it with a friend that may need this type of care!

Neck Adjustment

Never had a seated neck adjustment?

Neck pain can be scary, so can cracking and popping. This is just ONE of the ways we address pain and dysfunction in the neck and upper back.

Play by play: First we palpate or feel where the lack of motion exists. Then assess the rest of the joints in the neck. Sometimes the sore areas or joints are NOT the ones that need to be adjusted or mobilized. Once the main restricted joints are located, then the adjustment follows. Adjustments help restore normal range of motion and function of the joints in the spine. This can relieve different types of symptoms like neck pain, head aches, jaw or TMJ problems and much more.

If “cracking, popping, or snapping” isn’t for you, we use other types of mobilizations that help get your joints moving with out the scary part!

Setting up an Ergonomic Home Office

Setting up your home office for ergonomic’s can help prevent problems and pain later on. With ongoing stay at home orders and an indefinite end to work from home recommendations it’s more important than ever to prepare your space for good posture throughout the work day.

Ergonomic home office screen placement

The middle of screen should should intersect with your eyes. It’s important to ensure that you are not looking too far up or down as you work.

Laptop users may find screen placement as a challenge and obtaining a secondary monitor and keyboard setup may be the best solution for ensuring proper placement without adding strain on your spine. If a second monitor is not an option, consider using boxes to properly position the monitor in a way to keep your neck properly positioned throughout the day.

Ergonomic home office keyboard and mouse

Your keyboard should be no higher then an inch above your elbow. Hands should fall softly onto your keys and should not be reaching upwards throughout the day as you type. Avoid having the mouse positioned too high or low as you use it. it’s important to keep a straight angle from your elbow to the items on your desk.

Ergonomic home chair

Most likely you’ll spend a large percentage of your day seated. You should have a nice comfortable chair that is neither overly soft or low.

Knees should be positioned at a 90 degree angle and hips should be a 90 degree angle from your pelvis. Sitting position is an important part of how your feel after spending hours in front of the computer. It’s important to avoid sitting on your feet while you work, or leaning legs too far forward under the desk.

Feet should remain positioned directly below the knees or one foot in front at a time.

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Working towards a proper posture can feel initially unnatural, but being aware of your positioning will prevent pain in the long run.