Raymond Chiropractic & Sports Injury Center

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Raymond Chiropractic & Sports Injury Center

Welcome to Raymond Chiropractic & Sports Injury Center.

We offer an integrated approach to the treatment of musculoskeletal problems, utilizing the best from the worlds of chiropractic, soft-tissue therapies, and rehabilitation. We have built our reputation on providing superior, individualized service and by obtaining results quickly and effectively. We set the bar high but have the services to back it up:

Sports Oriented Chiropractic
Active Release Technique®
Individualized Rehabilitative Exercise Programs
Instrument Assisted Soft-Tissue Mobilization

Our promise to all patients is simple and straight-forward: We will do the best we can to help you find and fix the source of whatever problem is preventing you from achieving your goals.

02/08/2022

INJURY SPOTLIGHT: HIP FLEXOR TIGHTNESS

A common complaint we hear from folks is that their hip flexors are tight, even amongst those who regularly stretch. While it's true that many people have tight hips from our modern, sitting-centric lifestyle, there is another aspect to this problem that is much less recognized: hip flexor inhibition.

Inhibition refers to when a muscle becomes neurologically ‘turned off’ and can’t contract fully. Muscle inhibition can happen anytime there is a joint issue at or near a muscle’s attachment. As an example, research has shown that if you have a swollen knee joint your quads tend to become inhibited.

When one muscle is underactive due to inhibition, the neighboring muscles tend to become overactive, or facilitated, as they attempt to compensate. One way to think of this is that if you had a basketball team with five players and one of them quits mid-game, the other four would have to work extra hard and would eventually start complaining. Frequently it is these other facilitated muscles that become tight or inflamed and cause symptoms that you feel. In fact this scenario is one of the most frequent underlying causes of overuse injuries.

There are two main hip flexors: the psoas and iliacus. Additionally there are several other muscles that assist hip flexion: the re**us femoris, sartorius, and TFL. Of these, the psoas is the most likely to suffer inhibition (due to the numerous joints in the lower back where it attaches) and one or more of the other hip flexors become facilitated and tighten.

Unfortunately when muscles are in this facilitated state, they don’t respond normally to stretching or traditional therapies; as long as they are continuing to compensate for the inhibited muscle they are going to want to stay tight. People will often get stuck in a pattern where stretching provides temporary relief, only to have things tighten back up again within a day or two.

We’re big on getting to the root cause of injuries. In the case of tight hip flexors (and the injuries they can be involved with) it is essential to screen for and treat psoas inhibition, its causes, and its facilitating effect on the other hip flexors. After accomplishing this, people often report their constant need to stretch resolves to a more normal level (i.e. once or twice a week.) While stretching is great, it's even better when you don’t have to!

09/07/2022

We treat a lot of non-spinal related concerns in our office and one of the most feared diagnoses is shoulder pain due to the rotator cuff. It’s not uncommon to have heard something like “my friend had a rotator cuff tear and can’t move her arm now” or to associate it with surgery. For active folks, the words “rotator cuff” can be scary, but it doesn’t have to be.

Pain or restricted motion in one’s shoulder is quite common in adults, especially those that have active lifestyles or manually demanding jobs. Recent and even past trauma, repetitive motion tasks, as well as “weekend warrior” syndrome are all frequent reasons for shoulder pain.

The rotator cuff consists of the ‘SITS’ muscles: the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor, and the subscapularis. While decreased range of motion, pain with movement, or weakness can indicate damage to the cuff muscles, a far more common (and innocuous) reason for shoulder pain involves “mechanical” reasons: tightness, restricted joint motion, fluid congestion, etc. When shoulder pain is mechanical in nature it means the problem is likely fixable without surgery, which is a good thing.

In addition to the four SITS members, there are numerous others to consider, such as the pecs to the scalenes to the serratus anterior. Frequently in fact, the root of the problem lies in one of these other neck or scapular muscles and is referring to the cuff muscles. Overall, understanding where the problem originates is crucial, to differentiate that from the reaction of other soft-tissues and articulations.

An example would be someone who fell off their horse or on the ice in the past and bruised their ribs. The resulting scar tissue subsequently restricts scapular and rib motion, which then feeds tension out into the infraspinatus. The problem is not truly in the rotator cuff (or in exercises that provoke the pain such as side planks), but rather at the site of the original rib injury. Unless you find and address the root cause, people often get stuck in a pattern of therapy that provides temporary relief, only to have the pain return again when they resume full activity.

After an examination and ruling out structural issues such as a rotator cuff tear, the initial focus of care is to see change/improvement in the health of the myofascia (muscle, tendons, ligaments and general fascia) of the upper extremity, shoulder and spine. I’ll typically begin this with deep soft-tissue release of the arm, shoulder, and spinal anatomy. You’ll also be involved in your recovery by rebuilding strength and ROM with home exercises.

If there is a structural issue and you aren’t progressing within a reasonable timeframe, we’ll help you take the next steps of imaging (x-rays or an MRI) and/or a referral to orthopedics. The majority of time however it doesn’t come to this and we are able to resolve shoulder complaints with the combination of treatments outlined above. The benefits of starting a rehabilitation protocol sooner than later will pay off in shorter recovery and less time missing out on the things you love to do.

David Metcalf, DC

12/08/2020

Raymond Chiropractic will be closed August 10-14 and will resume normal business hours on Monday, August 17th. Have a great week!

16/03/2020

Dear Friends,

A quick update on our office’s response to the coronavirus. We are monitoring and following the CDC’s recommendations on a daily basis. At this point we are still keeping the office open, however this could be subject to change as the situation unfolds. We will call you if we decide to close and you have a scheduled appointment. In the meantime:

- We ask you to refrain from coming to our office if you have any COVID-19 symptoms (especially fever.)
- If your problem is not particularly urgent, we ask you to consider postponing it for now.
- There will be no fees associated with canceling appointments, even last minute. (However we would appreciate a phone call letting us know you’re postponing your appointment.)
- We will be taking every precaution to maximize disinfection and minimize contact. Please note this will have some bearing on our treatments.

Sincerely,

Jamie Raymond, D.C.
Trevor Bevans, D.C.
Raymond Chiropractic & Sports Injury Center

05/02/2020

Wow! Thank you! It’s an honor to serve our community!

01/06/2016

If you missed us at Pineland you can still check us out at Fleet Feet's Global Running Party tonight from 6:00 to 7:30'ish. They are hosting a party at the store to kick off the weekly Back Cove 5K series and Dr. Bevans and I will be there offering free examinations of running injuries.

You may have heard of us from your friends, and tonight is a great opportunity to check us out. We'll be doing a slightly abbreviated version of what we do at the office: getting to the bottom of where injuries come from, and offering tips on how to get them fixed.

Plus you check out the goings-on and grab a beer with other runners. We promise not to drink any until after all the exams are done!

23/05/2016

Dr. Bevans and I will be at the upcoming Salomon Trail Running Festival at Pineland Farms this Saturday, May 28.

I always thought it would be fun to set up a booth at a race and 'Diagnose Your Running Injury in 10 minutes or Less.' Actually running injury diagnosis often isn't hard: ITBand and Plantar Fascitis are pretty easy to spot. The tough part is getting to the bottom of why the injury is happening.

For me one of the funnest parts of the job is putting the injury puzzle together for each individual, tracking down the factor(s) that led to the injury in the first place. Just treating where it hurts rarely works long-term. You really have to delve deeper and isolate the imbalances, weaknesses, muscle turn-offs, and over-compensations that typically create 'over-use' injuries. The source of these imbalances can range from other, older injuries to a lack of adequate strength training to more structural issues like leg length or scoliosis. The list is endless. Everyone and every injury is a puzzle, and the more pieces we can put together the more likely we are to succeed.

With the kids running on Saturday this seemed like a good event to try it out. Whether you've had a stubborn injury that's not getting better, or just want to know why one hamstring is always tighter than the other, we may have some (free) answers for you. Hope to see you there! -Jamie

18/04/2016

Best of luck to all our Boston runners today!!

Address

611 Brighton Avenue
ME
04102

Telephone

+12077734651

Website

http://www.raymondsportschiro.com/

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