A Tale of Chiropractors - Misaligned Joints and Muscular Issues (Part III)

I should clarify - Dr. Berkoff did not suggest that he could fix my chronic health issues in a month,  just the back issues.  During my second appointment we got to work.  The generic diagnosis for my back troubles boiled down to four issues, three of which I'll discuss in this post: (1) certain muscle groups were too weak, (2) certain muscle groups were too tight, and (3) certain joints were subuluxated (a fancy term for misaligned).  The treatment was a variant to one I had been hearing for years over my sports and hiking careers - stretch, strengthen, and wear the right footwear. Dr. Berkoff's approach included theraband strengthening exercises, bamboo stick stretching, therapeutic ultrasound, and chiropractic adjustments as briefly discussed below.

Theraband Strengthening Exercises

A theraband is a large rubber band used in physical therapy.  It either attaches to a fixed object, like a door or a wall, or to another part of your body for use in resistance training (i.e. strength training).  As a strength training exercise, resistance training using therabands or other elastic band is a widely used and well-documented practice.

Bamboo Stick Stretching Exercises

Bamboo stick stretching is exactly what it sounds like - stretching while using the aid of a large bamboo stick.  Instead of going into exhaustive narrative on how to do bamboo stick stretching, see the below videos put together by Dr. Berkoff.





Though I was unfamiliar with bamboo stretching when I met Dr. Berkoff, I have come to see it as another useful stretching tool.

Therapeutic Ultrasound

Therapeutic Ultrasound is the application of sound waves to soft tissue (muscle, tendon, ligament) for therapeutic purposes.  The proponents of therapeutic ultrasound argue that it increases blood flow to the site, reduces pain, and massages ligaments and tendons.  And there are many proponents of therapeutic ultrasound.  However, literature posted on both the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) cast some doubt as to the effectiveness of therapeutic ultrasound.

Click here to read the article posted on the APTA website discussing the debate on Therapeutic Ultrasound

Chiropractic Adjustments

Chiropractic adjustments are  manipulations of the spine to correct subluxated joints and are sound science for fixing back-related issues.

At the end of the first month using these therapies, my original back issue was slightly but not completely better and the the pain did not go away; it seemed to transition into an adjacent area - into my tail bone.  "I don't know, doc," I said during one of our chats.  "I feel like everything is related to my tight muscles - and I don't feel like I'm getting any more limber with the stretching exercises."  After considering my feedback, Dr. Berkoff acknowledged and switched tactics, emphasized stress relief in our further sessions.


Over the year that I've been consulting with Dr. Berkoff, he has become a most trusted source for advice.  If you're looking for help with a variety of issues, I highly recommend his services.  Visit Dr. Berkoff's Website here for more information.

For more on my experiences with chiropractors click the following links:

A Tale of Chiropractors - A Mixed Beginning (Part I)
A Tale of Chiropractors - Meeting Dr. Berkoff (Part II)
A Tale of Chiropractors - Misaligned Joints (Part III)
A Tale of Chiropractors - Stress (Part IV)