Dr. Frisch

...and September rolls in.......

Fall came so quickly that I hardly had time to prepare. I'm sure that many of you have busy schedules as well and for that, I would like to thank you for taking the time each month to read my ENews.  I hope it is of benefit to your family and friends as well.

This month is all about the facet joint.  The facet joints are the small joints in your spine that allow most of your body motion to occur.  They are highly innervated with different types of nerve receptors that tell your brain about what position the body is in, how much strength you should use to lift and even how to hold your head up!  Most spinal injuries involve the facet joints.

I have also included an article on how we change sound to thought and finally, a nice fall salad from Eileen's Corner of the kitchen (That's where the title comes from. I seem to need the whole room when I cook!).

Don't forget to read and pass along the special bonus offer at the end of the newsletter.

Take Care,

Dr. Frisch

September 

September is such a unique month that I thought I would share with you some of the more interesting things surrounding the month of September.

Did you know that our current day calendar has a history in the month of September?  That's right!  The early Roman calendar was converted to the Julian calendar under Julius Caesar.  The old Roman calendar had been abused so much that January was actually falling in Autumn.  This change helped to stabilize the year and was fairly accurate, but not perfect.  The Julian year, however, wound up being 365 days and 6 hours long.  The extra added hours changed the time of the vernal equinox so that by the 16th century, it fell on March 21 instead of March 11.  It needed to be changed to be accurate.

Pope Gregory XIII changed this by suppressing 10 days in the year 1582 (and we worry about losing an hour of sleep with time changes!).  He further ordained that years ending in 100's would not be leap years unless they were divisible by 400.  This calendar was only 26 seconds from pure accuracy!  This version of the Gregorian Calendar is what we live with today.  The reform, however, was not accepted in England or the Americas until 1752.  That means that when it was July 4th in England, it was July 15th in the rest of Europe.  I'm sure that this was very confusing for both groups. 

On September 2, 1752, millions of British subjects (and us Colonials) went to bed and woke up 12 days later!  The conversion to the Gregorian calendar had occurred and we were now in sync with the rest of the world.

The Gregorian Calendar is not perfect.  It cannot be divided by halves and holidays often fall on different days of the week depending on the year.  If this seems haphazard, it can be, but it works! 

Even time is not perfect!

The Remarkable You!

There are some pretty amazing things that separate us from other animals species, like the ability to talk, walk upright, and even laugh when something is funny.

All of these things are amazing phenomenon, but I feel that the crowning glory of our 'humanness' is our ability to transform vibrational frequency into thought, and meaning.

How many of you have ever thought about how and why you really understand what someone is saying when they talk to you?  Most of us simply hear what someone says to us, understand what they mean, and then respond without ever thinking about the brain functions required for this to happen!!!  

Above is the simplest concept of how we hear, but it is quite archaic.  This picture shows sounds entering the ear and being transmitted to the brain where we understand what it means. What actually happens is much more complex and fascinating.  

Vibration frequencies enter the ear and vibrate against the ear drum (Tympanic Membrane) at the end of the canal.  The vibration of the ear drum is transmitted to the 'ear bones' (malleous, incus, and stapes), which carry this vibration to the Oval window (membrane).  From this point, it gets very interesting.  

Once inside the oval window, the signal travels through the fluid filled cochlea.  Within the canals are hair fibers that determine position, and frequency of the signal before it is transmitted to the auditory nerve, which is a cranial (brain) nerve, and that should tell you where we will travel next.

The membranes and hairs in the ear transmit the signal according to frequency and place.  This means that certain vibrational frequencies stimulate specific areas of the membrane.  The vibrational frequency fires a nerve signal (action potential) that is then transmitted to a distinct area in the brain.

The area of the brain that is responsible for interpreting thought lies just behind your temples.  It is called the primary auditory cortex.  The neuronal cells in this area  each respond to a certain tone.  This mapping of sounds allows you to understand what a vibrational frequency sounds like and means!  

People with disease or damage in this area may not be able to hear or if they can hear, they may not be able to understand what the sounds mean.

What a fantastic process!  The real hearing process is slightly more complicated than what I have overviewed, but this is the generally accepted route of transmission.  I hope that you now better understand and are just a little bit fascinated by the whole process of hearing and thought!  

I would like for you to think about this process the next time you listen to music or talk with a friend!

Why Do I Hurt?

Often times we can have pain and we wonder why it started.  "Maybe I slept wrong." or "That nap on the couch really did me in.", and many other ideas run through our minds when we have pain.  The truth of the matter is that pain is physiological.

Physiological pain means that something occurred that upset the balance of the joint capsule and small nerve receptors in the joint stimulated the muscles to spasm and protect the joint.  This process occurs whether the imbalance was due to a major injury or the result of a simple misstep off a curb.

(Facet Joint is behind the vertebral body.)

The most common injury to the spine involves the small facet joint shown above and the capsule that surrounds the joint.  Front-to-back and sideways shearing to the joint allows fibers to be torn.  The muscles that overlie this area then spasm to protect the area.  Why?  Because that's what muscles are supposed to do.  They move us around, they supports us so we can sit and stand, and they spasm to protect when injury occurs.

Those of you who have had a facet joint injury are well aware of the pain that accompanies it.  It is debilitating.  You find that changing positions and trying to stand up straight are a major accomplishment.  You find it easier to stand up from a seated position by climbing up you legs with your hands and then standing in that position to try and right yourself so that you can take your first step.  Sound familiar?  If it does then you have sustained a facet injury.

Facet joints are found on every vertebral level and are positioned in the back of the vertebra.  Most vertebral motion occurs at the level of the facet joints.  That is why they are so important when you try to hold position, change position, and then move.  The vertebral body and discal cushions lie directly in front of the facet capsule (above picture) and primarily provide support.  The important thing to remember is that the spinal cord lies between the facet joints and discs and they provide safety and protection for the spinal cord!  That is why it is so important to maintain this area of your spine.  Without proper structural balance and function of the spinal column, your cord is at risk of being impaired.  

Yes, it is that serious!

"So I injured a facet joint.  Big deal! It will heal".  You would be right to think that way.  The body is remarkable at healing itself.  It will do so without any conscious thought on your part. But, it may not heal right!

Facet joints that heal improperly will be easily reinjured.  Have you ever heard someone say that they "have a bad back that goes out on them all the time".  Sure, we have all  heard people say this.  What they likely have is a facet joint injury that healed wrong and has not regained its ability to the hold the body upright.  

Is it treatable? Yes!

Even old facet joint injuries can be helped with chiropractic care.  The Activator Instrument (see the Feb 04  Newsletter) not only allows for structural correction of the problem, but the vibrational frequency of the instrument "resets" the nerves that actually allow the facet joint to hold its position long-term.

If you look in the mirror and your hips are not level and one shoulder drops lower than the other, you likely have one or more facet joints not working properly.  They should be balanced as soon as possible, before the pain and disability begins because with time, that is what will happen!  The evaluation takes just a few minutes and will detect facet imbalance before you even know its there!

Call our office for a simple, painless facet checkup!

Eileen's Corner

This is refreshing salad for the early fall. 

Enjoy!

Eileen

Here also is a great local favorite where you might purchase some crisp fall apples!

(There's nothing wrong with having a piece of pie while you are there!)

Aamodt's Apple Farm
6428 Manning Ave N, Stillwater, MN
The megamall of local orchards--and it doesn't stop at apples.

More on Facet Joints

Now that we have discussed a bit about how the facet joints are injured, let us look further into how they really affect the cervical spine (neck) after an injury has been sustained.

The bones of your neck are supported by ligaments.  Much like how 2x4's hold your house up, ligaments support the bones of the neck so that your spine remains stable.  Damage to the stabilizing ligaments of the neck means that you will be unable to physically function without frequent, recurring pain.  This pain is often accompanied by headaches, light-headedness and dizziness.  Once the ligaments and facet capsules have been injured, the degeneration and arthritic process begins.  These joints need to be physically stabilized as soon as possible after an injury.

This picture clearly shows what a sideways impact does to your spine.  This type of impact is not exclusive to an automobile accident.  Football players and other athletes are prone to this as well.  The lateral thrust to the body actually leaves part of the spine "behind" when the impact is made.  It is this lagging of motion that causes the shearing and tearing of the ligaments and discs.  Read on for the surprise!

A recent German study (European Spine Journal, 2004), investigated the type of sideways injury shown above.  Believe it or not, few studies have ever been done on sideways shear, most studies evaluate front-to-back 'whiplash' type injuries. This study used three very low speed collisions (2.65 mph, 5.1 mph, and 7.7 mph) to evaluate what happens to the neck with sideways shear.  They used scientific human cadavers in simulated impacts with some very interesting findings.

The researchers found that head acceleration was actually double the speed of the test!  This means that a normal 10 lb. human head changes into a 70 lb. force moving rapidly to the side.  

The shear force actually ruptured the facet capsules of several of the specimens tested.  There was ligamentous injury shown at every speed tested!  This means that even the slow speed injury or low force sideways injury can cause significant injury to the neck. 

The pain may reduce with time, but the imbalance often remains until stabilized.  That is why 'old' injuries seem to haunt us.  They have healed wrong with improper positioning.  Luckily enough, this is what chiropractors treat every day in their offices.  If this sounds like you, don't be afraid, make the call and stabilize the problem.  You will be happy that you did!

Have a great month!

Dr, Frisch

* Facet pictures acquired from Body-Mind Publications