Wednesday

Chiropractic Care Can Change Opinions of the Healthcare System

It’s no surprise that the majority of people are unhappy with the current healthcare system, not only in the U.S. but also around the world. People want better care and better outcomes for a lower cost, and for many people that seems like an impossible goal. However, a study published in 2007 that compared different medical care options proved that this isn’t the case.

The study analyzed numbers and statistics between patients who used chiropractors as their general care provider (PCP) and those who used medical doctors as their PCP instead.[1] It found that people using chiropractors experienced:
  • 60% Less Hospital Admissions
  • 59% Less Days Spent in the Hospital
  • 62% Less Outpatient Surgeries
  • 85% Less Costs on Pharmaceutical Drugs[2]
It’s easy to see how people who experience these things would have an improved quality of life and a better overall view of the healthcare experience.

When all is said and done, one of the biggest differences between chiropractic care and traditional medical care is that chiropractic focuses on being proactive versus reactive. We work to restore and maintain your body’s natural healing processes and its ability to keep you vital and healthy. We don’t depend on prescriptions, surgery, or other temporary fixes that might leave you feeling better in the short-term but actually do very little to keep you healthy in the long run.

If you know anyone who’s upset with their current medical care, whether because of the high costs, the disappointing outcomes, or any other reason, I’d encourage you to tell them about chiropractic care and what it can do for them. Chiropractors and their patients should take pride in educating others about the benefits of chiropractic and how different it is from any other healthcare you may have had before.

Working to restore GOD’s perfect design in you!





[1] Corrective Chiropractic. June 5, 2017. <http://www.correctivechiropractic.net/saveonhealthcare/>
[2] Id.

Friday

Back Problems = Brain Problems

If asked, most people would say that they would prefer to have a back problem rather than a brain problem. The assumption is that back problems create fewer health risks overall, but what people fail to understand is that the back and the brain work together to optimize health.

The brain and the spine combine to create the nervous system, and the nervous system regulates the body as a whole. As we’ve covered in previous blog posts, the benefits to chiropractic care are numerous and can include everything from improved sleep, digestion, breathing, reproductive health, immunity, energy, and heart health.

In 1895, the first chiropractic adjustment took place and restored a man’s hearing.[1] Even Mahatma Gandhi saw his blood pressure issues subside after being treated with chiropractic care weekly for a few months.[2] These are just a couple of examples of the benefits achieved through chiropractic; science and research are being constantly updated to prove that chiropractic care is useful for so much more than just the relief of neck and back pain.

Working to restore GOD’s perfect design in you!





[1] Corrective Chiropractic. October 17, 2016. <http://www.correctivechiropractic.net/its-all-about-the-brain/?goal=0_35f4bfc1d7-3f273c36ba-119316205>
[2] Id.

Tuesday

Another Wellness Blog to Read


I would like to encourage anyone who is interested in chiropractic and general health-related topics to check out Dr. Mercola’s blog, which can be found at the following link:


Dr. Mercola is an osteopathic physician who is also a New York Times best-selling author and was voted the top Ultimate Wellness Game Changer by the Huffington Post in 2009. His blog posts are enlightening and cover a wide range of topics.



Wednesday

Usain Bolt: The Fastest Man on Earth and a Chiropractic Patient

Usain Bolt is a household name today, with 9 Olympic gold medals and various other world championship wins. But this extremely talented athlete from the small island of Jamaica has faced severe physical challenges in his life. Although many people don’t know it, Bolt suffered from scoliosis as a young man.

He has said that when “[he] was younger, the scoliosis wasn’t really a problem. But you grow and it gets worse. My spine was really curved bad. The early part of my career, when we didn’t really know much about it, it really hampered me because I got injured every year.”[1] Rather than turning to surgery to fix it, Bolt instead sought chiropractic treatment. Now, he not only uses chiropractic to help heal injuries but also to enhance his performance when he’s healthy.

The Jamaican Olympic Team’s chiropractor, Dr. Michael Douglas, has worked with Usain Bolt and his teammates since 1996, combining traditional chiropractic techniques with sports injury rehabilitation.[2] And their team isn’t the only one benefiting from treatment: Sean Atkins, PhD Exercise Physiologist, has estimated that “at least 90% of world class athletes use Chiropractic on a regular basis to prevent injuries and to improve their performance.”[3] So, whether you’re aiming for an Olympic gold medal or just like to participate in sports activities for fun, chiropractic care can make you stronger, healthier, and can prevent and treat injuries. What are you waiting for?

Working to restore GOD’S perfect design in you!








[1] Dr. Aaron Martin. “How Chiropractic Care Has Helped Me: Introducing Usain Bolt.” November 4, 2013. <http://patch.com/iowa/ankeny/how-chiropractic-care-has-helped-me-introducing-usain-bolt>
[2] Id.
[3] Chirobeans. “The Fastest Men on Earth Receive Chiropractic Treatment.” <https://chirobeans.wordpress.com/2012/08/02/the-fastest-men-on-earth-receive-chiropractic-treatment/>

How Spinal Health Can Help with Fibromyalgia


Over 6 million people in the U.S. suffer from fibromyalgia, “a disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain accompanied by fatigue, sleep, memory and mood issues. Researchers believe that fibromyalgia amplifies painful sensations by affecting the way your brain processes pain signals.”[1]

As I’ve discussed in various blog posts, the brain and spinal cord are directly connected, and the health of one undoubtedly affects the functioning of the other. So, it makes sense that some of the symptoms of fibromyalgia (which starts in the brain) can be alleviated with chiropractic care.

In 2014, Rehab Research and Practice conducted a study on sufferers of fibromyalgia and ended up finding a “direct link between the severity of fibromyalgia and the health and function of the spine.”[2] It turned out that spinal adjustments improved the quality of life and severity of symptoms in the study participants, aiding their pain, sleep quality, mood, and depression, among other symptoms.

The study continued to provide chiropractic care to these patients once per week for 23 weeks in a row and found that it “decreased pain and positively influenced components relating to chronic illness and functional health capacity.”[3] This is yet another example of how interconnected all parts of the body are, from the brain and spine to overall health and wellness. Although fibromyalgia has no cure yet, chiropractic is a safe, beneficial alternative to many of the drugs that are prescribed to treat it currently.

It’s important to remember that the purpose of chiropractic is to remove interference between the brain and nervous system, not to treat specific symptoms or act as a “Band Aid” approach. It is the removal of this interference that leads to symptom and pain relief, as seen in the fibromyalgia study. Through regular maintenance of the spine, patients can experience health and wellness like no drug, surgery, or other healthcare can provide.

Working to restore GOD’S perfect design in you!






[1] Mayo Clinic Staff. “Definition: Fibromyalgia.” September 8, 2016. <http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/fibromyalgia/basics/definition/con-20019243>
[2] Connective Chiropractic. “Fibromyalgia & the Proven Role of Chiropractic Care.” September 6, 2016. <http://www.correctivechiropractic.net/fibromyalgia-relief-chiropractic/?goal=0_35f4bfc1d7-d644d01711-119316205>
[3] Id.

The True History of Genetically Modified Plants

Genetically engineered food is created when genes from one species has been combined with another, even when these combinations wouldn’t be possible in nature.[1] These genetically modified crops can either be herbicide-tolerant (they live even when sprayed with lots of heavy chemicals) or pesticide-producing (they have internal pesticides that kill bugs when they attempt to eat the crop).

A company called Novartis received approval to grow the first genetically engineered corn (Bt176) to be used for animal feed in the United States in 1995.[2]  Bt176 is an example of a pesticide-producing crop. Before introducing Bt176 to large numbers of animals, Novartis only conducted one feeding test on four cows for two weeks.[3]  One week into the test, one of the cows died due to electrolyte and mucosal issues. Because researchers weren’t able to find a scientific cause of death, the cow was simply removed from the study.

People should know that animal feeding trials such as this aren’t required prior to the release of a genetically modified organism. If they are done at all, they are often very small and conducted over a short period of time, like this one was.

Since 1995, farmers have fed Bt176 corn to their livestock for longer stretches of time with serious consequences, including fatigue, kidney and mucosal issues, inability to yield milk, irregular heart function, general abnormal behaviors, and even death.[4]

Genetically engineered plants such as Bt176 are created with properties that enable them to kill insects, so how can we expect that these properties can just be washed off before humans eat them? The simple answer is that they can’t be. When we eat Bt plants and genetically engineered foods, the pesticides and toxins are “not destroyed when passing through your digestive system, and…can bioaccumulate in your body.”[5]

With the current food labeling laws and requirements, it’s not always possible to know whether the food you’re ingesting is genetically modified or not. If you’d like to avoid these products and eat foods that are truly natural (not just marked “organic”), you can visit these websites for more information:

http://www.eatwellguide.org
https://www.farmmatch.com
http://www.localharvest.org/redlands-ca
http://www.westonaprice.org/get-involved/find-local-chapter/

Working to restore GOD’s perfect design in you!





[1] Dr. Mercola, “Investigation Reveals First Commercialized GMO Maize Was Toxic to Farm Animals.” February 9, 2016. <http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2016/02/09/gmo-maize-toxic-to-animals.aspx?e_cid=20160209Z1_DNL_art_1&utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20160209Z1&et_cid=DM97543&et_rid=1350229846>
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.

Monday

Why Should Your Child Get Chiropractic Adjustments?

The main reason why you should bring your child into the office for an adjustment is because it helps their brain development. The brain and spinal cord work together as the master controller of the body, and “the majority of brain research now demonstrates that optimal movement and function of the spine is what keeps the brain healthy.”[1]
 
Brain activity is directly connected to the nerve sensors around our body, mainly those that are in the spine. That’s why we’re all constantly encouraged to have good posture, stretch, and stay hydrated: if you take care of your spine, you’re taking care of your brain simultaneously.

Communication errors between the brain and spine can lead to all kinds of problems, and this is true for infants and children as well. In children, communication errors can result in “colic or irritability, an inability to suckle and breastfeed, poor sleep patterns, developmental delays, digestive problems, asthma, behavioral issues, low energy, lack of concentration, and a whole host of other problems – the list is endless.”[2]

For adults, spinal subluxations occur from various lifestyle stressors. But even before we’re born, nerve irritation can occur from awkward positioning in the uterus, restriction of movement, and exposure to toxins. In addition, long or very fast labors, the use of forceps or cesarean delivery, and even drugs during labor can create subluxations.

Rest assured, when adjusting children the chiropractic techniques are gentler and geared specifically towards them. Even babies soon after birth can be adjusted safely and effectively, as I did with my own children.

The following are just some of the important benefits to be gained by getting chiropractic care for your child:

·      To encourage good neural plasticity (brain and nerve development).
·      To support their child’s overall health and wellbeing.
·      To help strengthen their child’s immunity and potentially reduce the incidence     of colds, ear aches and general illness.
·      To assist with colic and Irritable Baby Syndrome.
·      To help with asthma, breathing difficulties and allergies.
·      To encourage good spinal posture.
·      To help improve their child’s ability to concentrate.
·      To assist with behavioral disorders.
·      To help alleviate digestive problems.
·      To assist with bed-wetting and sleep issues.

Working to restore GOD’S perfect design in you!



[1] Corrective Chiropractic. “10 Reasons Your Child Should Get Chiropractic Adjustments.” June 8, 2016. <http://www.correctivechiropractic.net/10-reasons-your-child-needs-chiropractic-adjustments/?goal=0_35f4bfc1d7-e1e97d7e4e-119316205>
[2] Id.

Wednesday

A Discussion of Wellness Chiropractic – How Chiropractic Care Can Help With More Than Just Getting You Out of Pain

I strongly encourage you to visit the following link to read an in-depth discussion by medical professionals on the benefits of chiropractic.


There is an accompanying video of their talk, if you would prefer to watch it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHRRS3QAxpI

As I’ve said countless times before, chiropractic care is beneficial for so many reasons other than just relieving patients of pain. If it isn’t already, chiropractic should become a part of your usual health routine.


Working to restore GOD’s perfect design in you!

The Vaccination Industry: Who Really Benefits from It?

Every successful industry begins with either the need for something or the invention of a need.  In the second option, people begin to believe they need to fill the void for that invented problem. The vaccination industry is guilty of doing this. Fear is an extremely easy way to get people to buy into something, and the vaccination industry has created fear of so many potential illnesses that people believe the threat is too real to ignore and that they must be vaccinated.  

The recent emergence of the Zika virus is a prime example. Prior to 2016, many people hadn’t even heard of the virus, and now it is being blamed for birth defects and deaths with no solid, scientific causal relationship being proven. Already, government health organizations, big pharma companies, and even wealthy businesspeople are tapping into this industry and seeking to profit from the research and creation of a Zika vaccine.

And why wouldn’t they? The vaccination industry has very little liability for any issues or fallout from vaccinations, so why wouldn’t they seek to constantly create new vaccines and make exorbitant amounts of money in the process? Even when they are proven not to work, like in the case of the mumps outbreak at Harvard this year (41 reported cases by the end of April, even among students who’d been vaccinated), people continue to believe that vaccinations are the answer.

It’s important to know—and remember—that the vaccination industry is just that: an industry, and a very profitable one at that. Regardless of its efficiency or its intentions, it will not go away until it ceases to be profitable, and it shows no signs of stopping any time soon.


Working to restore GOD’s perfect design in you!

How To Reduce Your Risk of High Blood Pressure

It is a frightening thought that approximately one in three American adults have high blood pressure (AKA hypertension), which can lead to heart attack, stroke, congestive heart failure, end-stage kidney disease, and many other health issues.[1] Fortunately, we now know that elevated insulin and leptin levels often cause hypertension, and there are ways to normalize these high levels to get healthy again.

First off, if you have high blood pressure and are overweight, you should consider intermittent fasting. This is all about “eating your calories during a specific window of the day, and choosing not to eat food during the rest.”[2] Our bodies react to eating by elevating our insulin and leptin levels, so if you’re constantly snacking on or drinking sugary foods, those levels will remain high. Intermittent fasting has been found to be a very effective way to normalize blood pressure, even though it’s not a diet in the traditional sense.

As is the case with most health problems, many issues arise as a result of an unhealthy and unbalanced diet. Those with hypertension should avoid processed food, which include sugar/fructose, processed salt, trans fats, and vegetable oils full of omega-6.

Get plenty of vitamin D through sun exposure to relax stiff arteries and to allow your blood vessels to relax. If sun exposure isn’t a viable option for you, you may take a vitamin D supplement instead (just make sure it’s D3, not D2).

Last but certainly not least, exercise regularly. When combined with a healthy diet (eaten at the right times) and a good combination of vitamins, these relatively simple and common sense lifestyle changes can prevent or decrease your risk of hypertension.

Working to restore GOD’s perfect design in you!







[1] Dr. Mercola, “Strategies to Prevent Hypertension.” June 9, 2014. <http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/06/09/hypertension-prevention-treatment.aspx?e_cid=20140609Z1_DNL_art_1&utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20140609Z1&et_cid=DM46353&et_rid=548174110>
[2] Id.

The 4 Phases of Our Spinal Restoration Care Program


So, what’s the answer to spinal subluxation and its harmful effects? Spinal Restoration Care, including adjustments and the proven techniques of Chiropractic BioPhysics we use at Living Well Family Chiropractic. Through our process of spinal restoration, we can restore your spine to its ideal position, get you out of pain, and set you on your way to a healthier, happier future.

Each time you get a spinal adjustment, the pressure on the brain, spinal cord, and nervous system is reduced. But despite this improvement, one or a few adjustments simply aren’t enough. Think about it: your spinal cord’s misalignment has resulted from a lifetime of falls, poor posture, bad sleep habits, stress, hard work, accidents, sports injuries, and endless other factors. If we adjust your spine just once, it will return to the position it held before. Your ligaments, muscles, and tendons are like elastic; they snap right back to what they’re accustomed to. It’s our job to retrain them so that they can adjust to a new, ideal spinal position and stay there.

Each of your adjustments will be timed and scheduled in such a way that your spine will not have the opportunity to go back to its prior bad habits, so it’s important that our schedule is followed as closely as possible. Think of each adjustment as building on the last. Between your home exercises, our traction system, and regular adjustments, you will be feeling better before you know it, and you will also be increasing the quality and longevity of your life.

Restoring the spine is a long-term process that varies from one patient to another. Your care plan will depend upon the level of correction that is needed and previous traumas, as well as our findings from your x-rays.

  • First is the Intensive Care Phase. In this phase, our main priority is relaxing your muscles, getting all of your joints moving again, and getting you out of pain. 
  • Remodeling Phase. During this phase you will be provided with Mirror Image Exercises to do at home on a daily basis, which strengthen your weakened back muscles. In our office, you will receive Mirror Image Adjustments for neuromuscular re-education—essentially, to teach your muscles to go back to their ideal position. You will also do Mirror Image Traction while you’re in the office, which lengthens your soft tissue.  Think of the Remodeling Phase like braces; we are gradually aligning your spine to reach its ideal position, even when you are no longer necessarily in pain. This is also when we begin to focus on restoring the ideal shape of your spine using our E.A.T. program.
  • Stabilization Phase (e.g. retainer). The Stabilization Phase is analogous to wearing a retainer after braces. It lasts the same duration of time as the Remodeling Phase but your office visits are reduced to once per week.
  • Maintenance Phase. Finally, the Maintenance Phase comes after everything else. It’s important to remember that, as great as you might feel, you’re not Superman. We are still living in a world that has changed more quickly than we have changed genetically; thus, we were not designed for it. As such, we need to make a conscious effort to maintain all the positive changes we’ve made during the prior phases of your chiropractic care. This is where the Maintenance Phase comes into play.
The frequency of visits during the Maintenance Phase can be once a week or once every few months depending on many factors, including your activity levels. If you experience any macro or micro traumas during this time, we will immediately start a new Intensive Care Phase but should not require a new Remodeling Phase if corrected right away.

Please feel free to ask questions if you’re a new patient or are considering treatment with us, and remember: these are our recommendations, not the only treatment possible. And some chiropractic care is better than none at all!

Working to Restore God’s Perfect Design in You!

Using Physiological Laws to Remodel Your Spine

The body responds to the forces placed on it. There are anatomical laws that support this statement. Wolff’s law, for instance, states that “bone in a healthy person or animal will adapt to the loads under which it is placed. If loading on a particular bone increases, the bone will remodel itself over time to become stronger to resist that sort of loading.”[1] Davis’ law refers instead to soft tissue and says that if tension is placed on ligaments or soft tissue, the tissue will elongate. If soft tissue remains in a relaxed state for a long enough time, it will shorten. Our techniques at Living Well Family Chiropractic, which include a traction system, act to stretch damaged (shortened) soft tissue and maintain proper function. Lastly, the Hueter-Volkmann Law states that “compression forces inhibit growth and tensile forces stimulate growth [of cartilage].”[2]

Keeping these laws in mind, it is easy to see how spinal degeneration can occur when the biomechanics of your body are faulty. And the longer you live with an unhealthy spine, the worse your overall health may become.

Our proprietary E.A.T. Program, which stands for “Exercise, Adjust, and Traction,” makes use of these physiological laws to remodel your spine. Exercise, of course, strengthens your muscles. Chiropractic adjustments reset muscle spindles, sensory organs found within your muscles. Muscle spindles are the only sensory organ in the body that can be reset. Adjustments also relieve muscle tension. Traction stretches your soft tissue by “creep,” a property of our tissue that allows it to be lengthened if force is kept on it over time.

Traction’s—and the entire E.A.T. Program’s—goal “is to create a deformation force that will return the spine and spinal tissues to normal alignment and resting length.”[3] Because of the elasticity of your ligaments, “a sustained force is necessary to get past the elastic range and into the permanent deformation range of plasticity.”[4] In other words, it takes a certain length of time in traction to undo the abnormal posture your body has gotten used to over months, years, or even decades.

While physical therapy is excellent for dealing with issues in extremity joints, muscles in the spine span across a range of greater than one or two vertebrae. Because of this structure, it is impossible to target the specific joint that’s causing issues through exercise alone. This is why physical therapy or physiotherapy alone is not the most effective approach when dealing with the spine; these therapies don’t remove the fixation or subluxation, but only create ways for the body to compensate.

Peer-reviewed protocols suggest that trying to perform a spinal correction with exercise alone or with chiropractic adjustments alone has a lower success rate than with 36 visits of our E.A.T. program. We want you, your spine, and the quality of your treatment to be above average, which is why we continue to use this program.

Check back next time for the 4 phases of spinal restoration we use at Living Well Family Chiropractic!

Working to Restore God’s Perfect Design In Yo




[1] Wolff J. The Law of Bone Remodeling. Berlin Heidelberg New York: Springer, 1986.
[2] Orthopedic Journal, Volume 11 Spring 1998, Pages 27-35
[3] Harrison DE, Harrison DD, and Haas JW. CBP Structural Rehabilitation of the Cervical Spine. Harrison Chiropractic Biophysics Seminars, Inc. 2002, Page 118
[4] Harrison DE, Harrison DD, and Haas JW. CBP Structural Rehabilitation of the Cervical Spine. Harrison Chiropractic Biophysics Seminars, Inc. 2002, Page 118

The Importance of Posture (and X-Rays)

“Posture is the key to life.” – Mark Twain

“For every inch of Forward Head Posture, it can increase the weight of the head on the spine by an additional 10 pounds.” – Kapandji, Physiology of Joints

Did you know that 90% of our brain’s energy is used for posture alone?[1] That number indicates just how important posture is for our bodies, not just in terms of the spine but also for overall health.

Understandably, poor posture greatly affects your spinal health. This includes not only poor posture while sitting, but also while standing and even while sleeping. Subluxations do not only have physical causes; they can occur as the result of emotional and psychological stress as well. At every moment of every day, you participate in a range of activities that can strain your spine and create subluxations. It is our job as chiropractors to make you more aware of these activities and how you can improve your habits to avoid pain and damage to your body.

Apart from spinal health, “Deviations in the body’s center of gravity [cause] poor posture, which result[s] in intestinal problems, hemorrhoids, varicose veins, osteoporosis, hip and foot deformities, poor health, decreased quality of life, and a shortened life span.”[2]  

These research findings were confirmed again in a 2005 study that showed “abnormal trunk deformity (posture) groups tended to score lower than the normal group with regard to subjective healthiness and life satisfaction measures, including subjective health condition, every day feeling, satisfaction with human relationship, satisfaction with economic condition and satisfaction with present life.”[3]

People with postural problems tend to be more depressed than others, experience chronic pain, may have more issues with relationships, and may even earn lower incomes. Postural distortions and a weaker spinal structure can have a major impact on a person’s overall strength and health, which can have an effect on their earning potential. These distortions can cause accelerated aging and may make you feel older than your chronological age because there is interference in the life-giving nerve supply to your organs. 

Posture is a chiropractor’s “window” to see how close you are to the ideal spine model without even using x-rays. Beyond that, good posture can increase physical attractiveness to others and reflects self-confidence—and who doesn’t want that?

Don’t forget about X-Rays!

Though posture is a fast and relatively simple method that can be used to judge a patient’s spine, chiropractors go beyond that by providing x-rays. Once we have done your x-rays, we can more easily compare your alignment to the ideal spine, which—as discussed earlier—is based on peer-reviewed research.

Spinal x-rays act as a map of your spine’s structure. Imagine you’re driving somewhere unfamiliar. Wouldn’t it be much more efficient to drive with a map versus without one? In the same way, chiropractors use x-rays to discover the area(s) of your spine in need of treatment so that we can focus on fixing your structure and getting you out of pain.

My next post will discuss the various reasons why your spine might differ from the Harrison Spinal Model, so be sure to check it out!

Working to Restore God’s Perfect Design in You!





[1] Dr. Roger Sperry (Nobel Prize recipient)
[2] Freeman JT; “Posture in the Aging and Aged Body.” JAMA 1957; 165(7): 843-846
[3] Takahashi T. Osteoporosis Int. 2005; 16: 273-279