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Alternative Health News
Happy New Year 2015 Gong Hoy Fat Choi
Welcome to the year of the sheep! We begin a new year guided by the sign of a quietly and creatively organized animal.
Environmental Toxins: Cause of Modern Illness, Part 2
In Part I of this article, we detailed the variety of environmental toxins assaulting our bodies. These include pesticides and herbicides; plastics; preservatives; cosmetics; gasoline additives, solvents and glues; and heavy metals.
Ringing in the Billing New Year
What are the new modifiers that replace modifier 59? Will they allow doctors of chiropractic to be paid for 97140, manual therapy, when done with chiropractic manipulation?
The App Advantage: Get More for Less
You may have noticed the list of "app-exclusive" articles in the directory on the front page of the print issue and in the Table of Contents on page 4. You can't find these articles in print or even in our online archives.
The Static Postural Pelvic Exam
I include a static postural analysis in my evaluation routine whether you are a patient in pain or an elite-sport athlete in training. In my day-to-day practice, I require patients to stand still while I "just look" at them.
AWB Makes a Difference in the Yucatan
We are in the sleepy town of Izamal, located about an hour from the Merida airport where our group arrived last night. Later that morning, on a bus winding through the dusty roads of the Yucatan, fourteen acupuncturists, two facilitators from AWB and two tour guides make their way to the small rustic town of Popola.
Three for One: The Cervical Distraction Test
Taking the time to do an exam is important, but it is time spent. The exam serves as a way to physically validate your clinical impression following a history and clinical consultation.
The Way of Zen Performance Enhancement
Working with elite athletes and implementing various techniques to keep athletes focused and at their optimal performance for a sustained period of time includes incorporating various meditation techniques that counterbalance their sport-specific physical and mental demands, which is an important element of success throughout the years.
Professionalism and Evidence-Based Health Care
Today's chiropractors are facing a conundrum with the Affordable Care Act and its health care reform requirements, including evidence-based practice and health technology assessment.
Taking the Freeze Out of Adhesive Capsulitis
Adhesive capsulitis or "frozen shoulder" is a relatively common condition resulting in severe shoulder pain and global loss of glenohumeral joint range of motion. Incidence of the condition is approximately 3 percent in the general population.
Fight Colorectal Cancer With Folic Acid
CRC is the second most common cause of cancer mortality in the U.S. and Canada. Although genetic susceptibility plays a role in the etiology of CRC, dietary factors, including certain vitamins, have also been shown to influence the development of the disease in various studies.
Acupuncture and its Place in the Integrative Healthcare Practice: The Need to Move from Modality to Profession
Acupuncture and oriental medicine (AOM) has grown and flourished from its inception thousands of years ago in China. In surrounding regions of Asia, AOM developed as a response to differing cultural, pathological, health and wellness care needs.
Helping to Create the Healthiest Generation
The imperative to create the "Healthiest Generation by 2030," envisioned by the American Public Health Association (APHA), was in full force at the APHA's 142nd Annual Meeting held in New Orleans from November 15-19, 2014.
We Get Letters & Email
Rethinking Our Approach to Immunization; Coming Together for the Good of Our Patients.
The Conscious Evolution of Healing: Importance of Opening the Sensory Portals in Classical Chinese Medicine
The Chinese medical classics are not just clinical guides. They give advice; ways we can awaken more fully into conscious awareness.
News in Brief
While indignation may be your immediate reaction to H.R. 5780, the Protecting the Integrity of Medicare Act of 2014, the American Chiropractic Association suggests the legislation is just what the chiropractic profession needs.
Movement Assessments: The DC's Sphygmomanometer
I think back to when I was going through chiropractic school outpatient clinic. I was embarrassed to have my family and friends come in for treatment because initial evaluations took three hours to complete.
I Felt it in My Fingers First
I'm not afraid to say it. Massage therapists make better acupuncturists. I'll tell you how I know, but first I have a question: What do a microcurrent device, a laser and a hippie massage therapist have in common?
Age and Fertility: Why We Should Worry Less About Age and More About Overall Health
Recently, on one of the acupuncture alumni forums, the topic of age and fertility came up when a practitioner posted a question regarding a patient that was about to turn 40-years-old.
Show Up and Show Respect
I was recently asked about my chiropractic philosophy. My answer surprised my questioner.
Two for One: The Cervical Distraction Test
In today's healthcare system, diagnoses and treatment plans follow a western medical model - especially if you work with attorneys or insurance companies.
Animal Acupuncture Gaining in Popularity
We have just finished the year of the fire hoarse and now it is time to spend some time alone, daydreaming and thinking outside the box in terms of where our profession is headed. The sheep person is well organized and creative so this should not be difficult to do.
Chiropractic Research in Review
Occupational LBP in Primary- and High-School Teachers; Treating MVA Complications With Chiropractic Care; Neck Pain: Immediate Effects of Active Scapular Correction; Taping Benefits Stride, Step Length in Fatigued Runners.
Trouble Down Under: San Zhen Therapy for Lower Jiao Issues
In the last several columns, I have discussed many clinical options for utilizing San Zhen or Three Needle Therapy. In this installment, I will continue this trend and discuss several foundational patterns which can be found in several very common clinical presentations.
How to Use Online Video as a Tool to Market Your Practice
Health care practitioners, including chiropractors, should consider online videos as a key element of their Internet marketing strategy. In the next three years, videos are expected to account for nearly 70 percent of all consumer online traffic, according to Cisco.
Right Back Where We Started?
More than 25 years after Judge Susan Getzendanner issued her historic opinion in the Wilk v AMA anti-trust case, evidence suggests that despite increasing collaboration between doctors of chiropractic and their allopathic medical counterparts, when it comes to organized medicine, we may be right back where we started.

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Massage Today
September, 2002, Vol. 02, Issue 09

Sharp Anterior Medial Knee Pain

By Ben Benjamin, PhD

Question: Where is the medial quadriceps expansion?

Answer: At the medial side of the patella.

The quadriceps muscles join together into the quadriceps tendon just above the patella.

The tendon then passes over the patella in the form of an aponeurosis (or flat-sheet structure) and envelops the kneecap, tucking slightly under the medial and lateral aspects of the patella, fitting like a shower cap. It then continues down to attach to the tibial tubercle. This section is called the patellar ligament.

Illustration of medial quadriceps expansion. - Copyright – Stock Photo / Register Mark Medial quadriceps expansion (arrow B). Most therapists have never heard of this important structure. It is the cause of frequent knee pain when negotiating stairs, walking up hills, or engaging in more vigorous activities such as running, biking or racket sports. The nature of the pain can be achy but is often very sharp, especially when the adhesive scar tissue is in the inferior medial corner.

Illustration of resisted extension of the knee. - Copyright – Stock Photo / Register Mark Resisted extension of the knee. Resisted extension of the knee is usually the assessment test that verifies the presence of this injury. However, because this tendon is so strong, this assessment test will often not show a positive result unless the activity that causes the pain is done immediately before the test is performed.

Treatment is usually fairly straightforward. With the client lying supine, the therapist forcefully pushes the patella medially with the thumb of one hand and applies friction therapy with the index finger of the other hand. The finger is placed under the medial side of the patella and pressure is applied anteriorly (toward the ceiling). The direction of the friction movement is from head to foot.

Click here for more information about Ben Benjamin, PhD.

 

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