Posts by Skylar Pond

This 5 Movement flow is a staple for my shoulder rehab patients lately.  I have this flow down pat and run through it quickly before EVERY workout that I do as part of my warm-up.  I recommend that you do the same for 2-6 weeks.  Your scap will thank you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38DMbZEl0iI?rel=0

Hey everyone,

Here’s a mobility that is especially useful for those readers of mine who are employed, as sitting at keyboards shortens the pec minor and internally rotates the shoulders.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8QDSPlNF-M

Here’s a new mob that I came up with yesterday.  It combines two of my favorites:  Scapulothoracic Motion & aggressive Pec Minor pin and stretch.

I talk to the MMA crowd here and say “scapula blade” dozens of times, but this is an essential mobility for desk jockeys and gymnasts alike.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOT10sx9LvE?rel=0

Sport Chiropractic Seattle

One thing that sets this clinic apart from other sport chiropractic clinics in Seattle is the emphasis we place on sport specific rehabilitation.  We strive to blur the line between rehab exercises, strength exercises and sport specific movement.  In this installment of “Around The House Kettlebell” I demonstrate how to use a dowel or broom handle to recreate the shoulder stability demands of a  Kettlebell move called: 1/2 Turkish Getup Return with Windmill.  This light weight version is used here in the clinic as a stepping stone to the weighted kettlebell version.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bUeCITBJvQ?rel=0

Clinic Tour Video

If you are seeking Sports Chiropractic in Seattle, please do not make the mistake of assuming that a chiropractor with athletic hobbies is your answer.  Sports Chiropractic is not regular chiropractic performed by an athlete.  Sports Chiropractic is a style of practice that requires an additional skill set which is not typically taught in school.  It requires the right tools, the right education and a lot of hands on experience.  When you assume that a practitioner with athletic hobbies is a sports medicine chiropractor, you may be disappointed to find yourself on a 64 visit treatment plan to correct the alignment of your neck subluxations, especially when you are there for your knee pain!

Sports Medicine Northwest is in fact owned and operated by competitive athletes but that is not what makes us an effective sports medicine clinic.  We are effective by design.

Dr. Pond has the post-graduate degree of Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician.  We use a combination of soft tissue techniques including Graston Technique and Orthopedic Massage.  Our patients benefit from personalized and challenging home care in the form of exercises and self mobilizations.  These are tools that last a lifetime.  We are constantly updating our rehab tool kit with tapes, bands, balls, cups, compression etc.  We also perform extremity and spinal manipulations as well as acupuncture.

We built this space, selected the equipment, designed the treatment protocols and hired the right staff to achieve the goal of being the best option in Seattle for sports chiropractic.  We built this place for you.  If you are an athlete in pain seeking an alternative to rest, ice, NSAIDs, and more rest, please come see us and find out what we can do for you.

Dr. Pond is the Team Physician of the Old Country Iron Club.

Everybody knows the classic piriformis stretches of Thread the Needle and Pigeon pose. More modern/ trendy versions involve elevating the front leg onto a box before leveling the hips into a pigeonesque pose. These moves do a good job of targeting piri and the gemellus muscles but they often fail to help with hip pain that results from volume squatting. If that sounds familiar, try this squat specific version out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSLbXbrT6p0?rel=0

This is a modification of the Ido Portal Flow where I emphasize scap protraction, change the order of movements and add a banded pull-apart. Use this daily for 8 weeks particularly as a warm-up. As a warm-up do one set with 10 reps each. As a strengthening routine to be used 2-3x/ week hit 3 consecutive sets.

I posted a vid on the broomstick arm bar years ago but it’s buried pretty far back on the blog so here’s an update.

You might be asking yourself “Can I transition this broomstick arm bar into a broomstick TGU? Then can I work that into a broomstick windmill and TGU back down into another set of arm bars?” The answer is yes. Yes you can. I’ll post it in a few.

Kettlebells are useful tools for creating and overcoming instability at a joint.  The problem is that when I teach patients kb moves in the office they are rarely continued at home for want of proper equipment.  This series will bridge that gap by substituting kettlebells with around the house objects such as books, brooms and balls.

A big thanks to Tony, Schmollywood and the others up there at CrossFit Alaska for supplying one of my new favorite shirts as seen in this clip.  If you’re running low on shirts with pictures of men punching bears, here’s your link.  RDD

I recently had to take my ten year old son’s treasured stuffed animal “Lavender Buns” away from him. I’m having his lavender taken out, having him laundered, and refilling him with mint and chamomile- a full lavenectomy.  For the moment, my son is a mess. How do you explain to your son that his treasured friend and lifelong security blanket may block his androgens and make him grow boobs?

A patient of mine brought this to my attention several weeks ago.  Her child, a nine year old male began to show signs of  prepubertal gynecomastia (breast growth in prepubescent males.)  Gynecomastia is generally attributed to conditions that disrupt sex-steroid signaling pathways, resulting in increased or unopposed estrogen action on breast tissue.   When she brought her son to her primary care physician, the first question that he asked was “Does you son have contact with lavender or tee tree oils?”  This seemed like an odd way to begin the history until she saw a hormonal specialist who began the history with the very same query.

The reason for their concern is an article published in The New England Journal of Medicine which documents three cases of young males ages 4-10 years who presented with acute onset gynecomastia.  All three had normal hormone levels and no genetic links to hormone imbalances so environmental factors were suspected.  All three were using shampoos or soaps that contain both lavender and tee tree oil.   In all three cases, all signs and symptoms of gynecomastia resolved within months of removing the soaps and salves with lavender and tee tree oil as active ingredients.

These somewhat anecdotal findings prompted the researches to conduct an in vitro study isolating lavender and tee tree oils with certain cells with receptors for estrogenic and anti-androgenic activity.  Their isolated study confirmed that lavender and tee tree oil exhibit characteristics that contribute to an imbalance in estrogen and androgen pathway signaling.

Conclusion/ What to do:

Do as I did. Find a crafty friend to re-stuff your kid’s lavender pillows/pets.  The soap and shampoo issue can be trickier.  Lavender is everywhere.  Almost all kids’ shampoos and soaps use lavender as an active ingredient.  This logically points out the fact that everyone who contacts lavender is not susceptible to estrogenic effects.  We found a product called Yes To Carrots.  It’s easy enough to find on Amazon, or in local stores in the skincare and shampoo sections.

The Buns