Dr. John Emde is passionately committed to helping patients maintain long-term structural health. He brings an exceptional, highly specialized asset to Skagit County: Dr. Emde is one of only 46 Board-Certified Chiropractic Sports Physicians in the entire state of Washington, and he is the only one practicing right here in Skagit County. His extensive academic foundation includes receiving a prestigious research award from the National College of Chiropractic for his contributions to three published clinical research articles.
Dr. Emde’s distinct expertise in sports medicine was forged firsthand during his time working on the official medical team for the Chicago Sun-Times Triathlon, as well as spending nine years coaching youth soccer and baseball. This background gives him a deep, practical understanding of advanced treatment techniques, joint mechanics, and tissue recovery. By combining traditional chiropractic care with advanced sports medicine principles, Dr. Emde ensures his patients experience an efficient, stable recovery while building stronger spinal tissue for lifelong health.
At Emde Chiropractic PS, we believe that your spinal health dictates your overall quality of life. Centrally located in Mount Vernon, Washington, our professional clinic is entirely dedicated to helping patients live active, pain-free lives without a reliance on temporary fixes. We know that structural issues and spinal misalignments can cause a ripple effect of discomfort throughout your entire body. That is why we target the root cause of your pain, providing specialized chiropractic adjustments, preventative care, and natural solutions for chronic back pain, neck pain, and recurring headaches.
Our patient-first philosophy is built on establishing honest relationships, giving transparent care recommendations, and maintaining a welcoming, compassionate clinical environment. Whether you are managing the wear-and-tear of daily stress, seeking natural posture correction, or recovering from a workplace, sports, or auto accident, we tailor every single treatment plan to fit your specific physical goals. We take immense pride in helping our neighbors throughout Skagit County regain their natural range of motion and return to the activities they love with absolute confidence.
At Emde Chiropractic PS, our vision is to improve the health and quality of life of every patient through compassionate, personalized chiropractic care. We strive to be a trusted resource for families and individuals seeking natural solutions for pain relief, mobility, and overall wellness throughout the Mount Vernon area.
So you want fresh organic vegetables but you don’t want to, or can’t grow them yourself. What are you to do? You could go to a farmers market or another alternative that has been around for a while, and growing in popularity is Community Supported Agriculture farms (CSA). I tried one last fall and it was great. You get a box of fresh seasonal vegetables that will feed 4-6 people every week, they also provide you with on line recipes on how to cook the produce. The thing I liked about the CSA is that I got a lot more information about my food directly from the farmer, and got some great tips on how to prepare the food and it turns out I love collard and beet greens. The cost is reasonable about $20-35 a week and you can choose to be part of the whole season or just the summer or fall. If you’re looking for more savings some of the CSA’s have reduced prices if you volunteer to work the fields.
If you want to get some good tips on growing vegetables and ways to fertilize and control weeds organically you can’t do any better then learning on the job. I took the information I learned and almost tripled the production of my home garden. If you are interested just type in CSA subscription farms Skagit valley in the search window and it will list some of the CSA farms in the area. Some farms like New Earth Farms offers a 6 week fall share if you would like to get started by mid October. Other CSA groups will offer other items like eggs, meats, cheese, bread and fruit.
While this condition is more common in the spring it does occur in the fall as people change their foot wear and level of activity.
Plantar fasciitis commonly causes heel pain and occurs in about 10 percent of the population. The condition does not just effects active individuals, it is just as common in sedentary adults of all ages. Plantar fasciitis is more likely to occur in people who spend most of the day on their feet, but what you may not have heard is that individuals who have limited ankle flexion are also prone to plantar fasciitis. The lack of proper ankle flexion when walking on uneven surfaces, going up or down steps or even ladders results in pain due to cumulative overload stress on the plantar ligament that originates on the calcaneus or heel bone of the foot.
Diagnosis
Most cases are diagnosed based on the patient’s history and physical examination. Patients typically present with heel pain on weight bearing, and the pain often persists for months or even years. Pain associated with plantar fasciitis most commonly presents with the first few steps in the morning or after periods of inactivity. Walking barefoot, on toes, or up stairs may exacerbate the pain.
Home therapy
Chiropractic care
I. The six nutrient classes (Visit the American Dietetics Association, and the Tufts University Nutrition Navigator.)
A. Carbohydrate
1. Functions
2. Carbohydrate consumption and glycogen storage
Key Point: Carbohydrate is the primary fuel source for most athletes and should constitute at least 50% of total caloric intake. For endurance athletes, the percentage of carbohydrate should range from 55% to 65%.
3. Carbohydrate type
4. Ergogenic properties of carbohydrate
B. Fat
1. Functions
2. Fat consumption
Key Point: The typical American diet includes a percentage of fat well above that which is recommended and that which may be essential in disease prevention and optimal athletic performance.
3. Ergogenic properties of fat
a) The use of fat for energy production can delay exhaustion.
b) Dietary attempts to elevate plasma FFA have been relatively unsuccessful.
C. Protein
1. Functions
2. Protein consumption
Key Point: In general, an appropriate amount of protein is 0.8 g per kg of body weight for adults.
3. Ergogenic properties of protein
D. Vitamins and their functions
1. Vitamin A
2. Vitamin D
3. Vitamin K
4. B-complex vitamins-essential in cellular metabolism
5. Vitamin C
6. Vitamin E
E. Minerals and their functions
1. Calcium
2. Phosphorus
3. Iron-crucial for oxygen transportation
4. Sodium, potassium, and chloride
F. Water
1. Functions
2. Water constitutes 60% of total body weight in males and 50% in females.
Key Point: A water loss ranging from 9% to 12% of total body weight can lead to death.
II. Water and electrolyte balance
A. Water balance at rest
1. Relatively constant under normal, resting conditions
2. Water loss
B. Water balance during exercise
1. Acceleration of water loss during exercise
2. Sweat production during exercise
Key Point: During a marathon, sweating and body water loss from respiration can reduce body water content by 6% to 10% even though the runner drinks plenty of fluids during the race.
C. Dehydration and exercise performance (Visit the Gatorade Sports Science Institute.)
1. Negative effects of minimal changes in body water content on endurance performance
2. Effects of dehydration on performance is less severe in shorter events.
D. Electrolyte balance during exercise
1. Electrolyte loss in sweat
2. Electrolyte loss in urine
E. Replacement of body fluid losses
1. Thirst
2. Benefits of fluid intake during exercise
3. Hyponatremia
III. The athlete’s diet (Visit CompEat it is an interesting site)
A. The vegetarian diet (Visit Adirondack Sports & Fitness.)
B. The precompetition meal
1. Glycogen stores and glucose level
2. Advantages of a liquid meal for reduction of indigestion and other digestion problems
C. Muscle glycogen replacement and loading
1. Theory regarding the greater the amount of glycogen stored, the better the endurance performance
2. Åstrand’s regimen
3. Alternative regimen
IV. Gastrointestinal function during exercise
A. Gastric emptying at rest
1. Neural and hormonal regulation
2. Potential influences
B. Exercise intensity
1. Significantly slower rate of gastric emptying during intense exercise
2. Increased rate of gastric emptying during less intense exercise (e.g., walking)
C. No change in gastric emptying rates with varying exercise duration
D. Different rate of gastric emptying with different modes of exercise
E. Intestinal absorption of nutrients
1. Delay of intestinal absorption during endurance exercise
2. Association between endurance-exercise diarrhea and emotional origin
V. Designing sports drinks
A. Carbohydrate-type drinks
B. Carbohydrate concentration
1. Slower gastric emptying of carbohydrate solutions than of water or a weak salt solution
2. Relationship between improved performance and ingestion of at least 50 g of sugar per hour
C. Re-hydration with sports drinks
D. Solutions that work best
Key Point: Various ideas have been proposed as to which solution is the best, but to date no ideal solution has been identified.
The basics:
2. Water constitutes 60% of total body weight in males and 50% in females.
Water balance during exercise:
Okay so how to make practical sense of this. There are four common heat disorders that coaches and parents of athletes should be aware of, Heat cramp, heat syncope, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke.
1. Heat cramp: most common in games and activates performed in higher humidity and when the athlete is excessively sweating With a corresponding loss of sodium.
Most common muscles affected are the calf, thigh, or abdominal muscles. Ironically, taking large volumes of water without electrolytes complicates the problem.
Initial treatment for heat cramps:
2. Heat Syncope: This is when the athlete has a sudden loss of consciousness, typically followed by a strenuous event that has caused maximal Vasodilatation, especially if the athlete is dehydrated. The blood will tend to pool in the extremities, typically the legs and the athlete will become light headed or faint.
Initial treatment for heat syncope
The next two heat disorders, in my opinion, are very important to know and understand.
3. Heat exhaustion: Is a form of shock, caused by a combination of elevated core body temperature by exercise or exertion in hot weather and fluid depletion. The onset is not necessarily sudden; it can occur over the course of a few hours or a few days. Thus, athlete doing two a day practices need to be monitored well and have proper cool down and hydration breaks.
One of the easiest ways for an athlete or an athlete’s parent to monitor risk is to use a weight chart to identify if there is a sudden weight loss followed by prolonged periods of fluid loss.
What to look for in heat exhaustion
Initial treatment for heat exhaustion
Observe for shock (athlete should be monitored and closely evaluated for other heat injuries such as heat stroke). If no response, transport for IV therapy. As in all potentially serious injury the athlete should be evaluated before returning to play.
4. Heat stroke: Of the four this is a true medical emergency.
It is important that someone that experiences heat exhaustion does not progress to heat stroke.
Heat stroke is the second leading cause in fatality in football followed by head injuries. Heat stroke is typically associated with a core temperature greater then 104 degrees Fahrenheit. A misconception of heat stroke is that the patient does not sweat, this is untrue. In at least 50% of victims with heat stroke sweating may be present. The factors that lead up to external heat stroke are a combination of external and internal conditions. Externally the humidity, air temperature, and solar radiation play a major role in athletes developing heat stroke. This is why a humidity reading should be taken before each practice to determine if it is safe for the athletes to engage in strenuous activity. Internal factors such as metabolism and muscle activity regulate how our bodies try to cool our self. If a team chooses to practice in an environment where heat injuries are possible it is suggested that a cooling station be set up with proper cover, fluids and a tub of water with coolers full of ice if sudden decrease in body temperature may be needed. Often some coaches may opt to use the local weather channel to determine if the humidity is safe to practice in. This could be a mistake if the measuring devices used by the weather station are not within a reasonable distance of the practice location as microclimates can play a role in local weather patterns.
Symptoms of heat stroke:
Treatment of heat stroke:
Call emergency medical services immediately!
If there is uncertainty whether the athlete is suffering from heat exhaustion or heat stroke always assume heat stroke and in either case seek medical assistance.
Remember it is incorrect to assume that the patient’s ability to sweat or not sweat is the primary symptom differentiating heat stroke Vs heat exhaustion.
The longer the delay in getting proper medical care increases the risk of serious injury.
As in all potentially serious injury the athlete should be evaluated before returning to play.
Point of interest:
A reduction in 1% water loss is enough to affect an athlete’s performance.
During a marathon a combination of water loss by respiration and sweat can reduce body water content by 6-10% even with taking fluids through the race.
A water loss ranging from 9% to 12% of total body weight can lead to death.
Providing quality chiropractic care with compassion and integrity.
Our mission is to deliver professional chiropractic services tailored to each patient’s unique needs. We are committed to creating a welcoming environment where patients receive honest recommendations, effective treatment, and the support they need to achieve lasting health and wellness.
Schedule your appointment today and start your journey toward better health.
