As we are in a fetal position for about nine months before we’re born, our spine initially has just one curve.  Then, as we begin to hold our head up, our neck forms a forward curve.  As we move on to the next stage of development and begin to crawl, our belly drops down, and a forward curve forms in our lower back.  This entire process lends itself to the creation of a strong structure for us to be able to stand, walk and run.  A side view of a person’s posture reveals this structure, as the ears line up directly above the shoulders, and the shoulders line up above the hips.  From the front, correct posture means the ears are level with each other, as are the shoulders and the hips or pelvis.

As we continue through life, gravity isn’t the only stress on our bodies.  A number of other stresses, from physical, to mental, to chemical and social stresses, take their toll on our bodies and our spines.  The stresses we experience can cause the bones of our spines to move out of place, and the muscles surrounding the spine to tighten or even spasm.  This movement can then cause our posture to be pulled out of its natural position.  The result of this change in posture is often manifested as the nerves of the spine become irritated, which can lead to a reduced state of function and overall health.

Because every function of the body starts as a nerve signal in the brain and travels down the spinal cord, if the spine is pulled out of its natural, neutral position, the body’s entire communication system becomes disrupted, leading to impaired bodily functions.

So you can see how important proper posture is to your overall health – not just your back.  For this reason, practicing proper posture throughout your day, from using a chair with the right amount of support to using correct form when lifting or exercising, is critical.  Even while you’re sleeping your posture is affected, so a supportive mattress and proper pillow are also important.

If, as often happens, even when we’ve taken every precaution, your spine does move out of its neutral position, the joints of the spine cannot correct themselves.  That’s where a trained chiropractor comes in.  We are able to detect and correct spinal misalignment, which restores normal nerve flow and improves overall body function.

So if you have the feeling your posture isn’t as it should be, or if you have symptoms indicating that any bodily function is not operating optimally, it’s time to give us a call.  Get a hold of our office today, and we’ll get you in to evaluate your posture and make the necessary corrections to get you on the road to feeling great again!

Furthermore, many children diagnosed with ADHD may simply have difficulty learning certain subjects, or a teacher might have difficulty with students who have a different style of learning, but the system, as it is currently constructed, often prompts school officials to encourage parents to have their children diagnosed with ADHD, according to Dr. Scott Bautch, past president of the American Chiropractic Association Council on Occupational Health.

So the “bad news,” in a nutshell, is that the condition known as ADHD is often misdiagnosed, and then it is too often treated with drugs that are dangerous and ineffective.

So what’s the good news?

The good news is that parents are becoming leery of some of the traditional medical treatment methods for ADHD.  As a result of media attention, ongoing studies, and (thanks to the Internet) the ease with which parents can connect with others who have similar experiences, people are waking up to realize that meds are often not the best answer, and that non-drug treatments can be not only safer but often more effective.  Many have found that doctors of chiropractic offer promising results with treatments that focus on postural muscles, nutrition, and lifestyle changes that affect brain activity.

Whereas traditional medical diagnosis of ADHD is based largely on a questionnaire, and so is largely a cookie-cutter approach, doctors of chiropractic are interested in dealing with underlying causes more than labeling a disease.  For this reason, our non-drug, non-invasive treatment alternatives for ADHD target those underlying problems, not just the symptoms.

While chiropractors and chiropractic neurologists have found success in treating ADHD by providing the necessary brain stimulation and spinal adjustments, we also recommend nutrition and lifestyle changes that may help correct or prevent biochemical imbalances that cause ADHD.  For example, parents are encouraged to remove as many food dyes, sugar, preservatives, and additives from their children’s diets as possible.  Avoidance of pesticides, and other chemicals is also recommended.

Chiropractors are trained to identify neurological problems and determine individual treatment plans, based on each patient’s needs.  As we so often discuss, we’re concerned with treating the whole person and the causes of diseases and issues, not just the symptoms.  So if you or someone you know is struggling with the challenges that come with having a child diagnosed with ADHD, or if you suspect your child might have such a disorder, get in touch with our office today.  You’ll be happy you did.

As is so often the case with our bodies and in nature in general, one of the most critical steps we can take toward good health is also one of the simplest – to ensure we’re well-hydrated.  It’s a fact that some of the most common physical complaints for which people seek medical advice are the results of some degree of dehydration.  And the kicker is that these folks often do not feel thirsty.  In fact your thirst is unfortunately a poor indicator of hydration. If you lose as little as 3% of your body’s fluids, your thirst can become unreliable.

So what’s the deal with water anyway? How much do we really need, and what does it do for us? There are a lot of misconceptions about water, so let’s look at the facts:

It’s often stated in the media and other unreliable sources that our bodies are 70% water, just like the Earth.  The fact is, we start out as infants at about 60% water, and get into the 40% range as we get older.  Most adults hover around the 50% mark.  One of the reasons keeping our bodies in the higher end of the range is important is that chronic dehydration can lead to loss of intervertebral disc space, which is one reason people often get shorter with age.

It’s also often believed that when you buy bottled water, you’re drinking water from a fresh mountain stream.  The fact is, unless it says “purified by distillation” or “reverse osmosis”, it’s basically tap water, with a picturesque image on the label.  For more information on this, take a look at the movie, “Tapped.”  It’s a little controversial, but it does spell out the truth about bottled water.

Another common tendency is to think that if you’re sweating a lot, because of heavy activity or being out in the sun, you need to drink as much water as possible. This is kind of a tricky one. While it’s true that we lose water at an amazing rate when we’re out sweating in the heat, we can’t absorb it as quickly. The problem is that when you take it in too fast, it stays in your intestines, and this can cause you to get cramps, diarrhea and dangerously low sodium levels. The bottom line is that no matter how hard we sweat, we can absorb no more than 22-28 ounces per hour. So, don’t go under or over this amount when out in the heat.

Thirsty for more information about water? Here are some helpful tips to keep in mind:

1. Urine color is the simplest indicator of hydration. Here’s a handy picture depicting urine colors. 1-3 represent good hydration, and higher numbers mean you’re dried out.  Throughout the day, adjust your water intake based on your results when you urinate.  After a while, you’ll know how much you need in a day to get the desired results.

2. Purified water is best for day to day use. Be sure filters are changed at least twice each year or per schedule.  And use stainless steal or glass containers when consuming this water. Avoid plastic. Trace amounts of plastic residue have been shown to promote breast and prostate cancer, cause thyroid disease and disrupt male and female fertility.  Also avoid tap water for cooking and making drinks.  In all cases, purified water is best.  So invest in a good home water filtration system.

3. Not all liquids are good hydrators. Caffeine is a diuretic, which means you pee out more than you get, and sugar makes fluid absorb poorly.  So if you’re drinking coffee and soda to re-hydrate, you’re doing more harm than good.  On the other hand, herbal teas and soups can help your water intake.

4. Run your water for 30 seconds before showering. Wastes concentrate in your water lines when they sit overnight.

Now you know the facts about water.  It’s an incredible substance, and one we don’t appreciate enough.  So what are you doing still reading this? Go drink a glass of water!

For example, one method, employed by a few popular programs, advocates restricting calories to lose extra pounds.  While caloric intake is one factor to consider when dieting, what’s more important is picking the right kinds of foods.  Many of these programs don’t address what you eat on the diet, as long as you stay within a specified daily calorie count (or ‘points’).  It doesn’t take a trained dietitian to see that restricting calories with no regard for the nutritional content of the food you’re putting into your body is not only unsustainable, but potentially unhealthy.

Other popular programs attempt to control what you eat by providing the food for you.  These package foods are certainly convenient, but a look at the label will reveal that the food is highly processed, loaded with artificial colors, hydrogenated oils, preservatives, and sugar.  The food provided by these programs is often very high in carbohydrates too, following the ‘old school’ high carb, low fat diet approach.  This type of diet has been shown in numerous studies to spike insulin levels and ultimately make losing weight much harder.  Also, followers of these programs notoriously gain back all the weight they lost and then some because of this outdated methodology.

The bottom line is that dieting is a complex issue with factors that are not often taken into consideration by fad diet programs that are more interested in making a quick buck than in the long-term health of people desperate to lose weight.  A good diet program should offer specific nutritional recommendations and be easy enough to follow long term.  There really is not a single diet that’s right for everyone.  There are, however, certain steps everyone can take to improve their health and control their weight at the same time.

As a chiropractor, I am concerned with your health as a whole, not just your back, as so many assume.  If you’re ready to take steps to improve your overall health and well-being, contact our office today to set up an appointment.  You’ll be glad you did!

Photo credit: Alan Cleaver

You may be wondering how it is that chiropractic care can help with emotional disorders. When the body goes into a state of high anxiety, or panic, it triggers a series of physical reactions in the body, including raised blood pressure and hormone levels, as the sympathetic nervous system goes into “flight or fight mode.” This causes a rush of adrenaline, which speeds up the heart and has a host of other effects. If you have ever suffered from a panic attack, you know that your body feels shaky and sweaty when these attacks occur. Other unpleasant effects, including nausea, headaches, light-headedness and disorientation are also common.

These physical reactions and side-effects can be controlled. Although some people are more prone to anxiety than others, anxiety may become elevated by a physical problem such as a pinched nerve. A person suffering anxiety might not even realize that causes such as this could be behind their problem, and think that their anxiety is “all in the head,” when often anxiety may actually be caused, or worsened, by misalignments of the spine.

People often turn to anti-depressants to cope with anxiety and panic disorders, but chiropractic care is a safe and natural alternative to medication. Chiropractors are able to correct nerve problems associated with these disorders by adjusting the spine. Often, when the spine is misaligned, nerves become twisted and caught in the wrong places, leading to problems such as nervousness and anxiety. Chiropractors are able to adjust the spine, freeing up the nerves to function properly. In fact, chiropractic care has proven time and again to have beneficial effects on men and women suffering from the physical effects of anxiety disorders. Many patients have reported a great reduction in anxiety levels, headaches, stress and other associated symptoms following a course of chiropractic adjustments.

If you are suffering from anxiety, a simple chiropractic screening could be the answer you are looking for, as we can correct the spinal problems that may be causing difficulties with the nervous system. And seeing a chiropractor is a good alternative to anti-depressants and other medications that can have unwanted, severe side effects. In other words, chiropractic care is a natural way to deal with anxiety and panic disorders.  If you or someone you know is facing these types of challenges, contact our office for an appointment.  You’ll be glad you did!

Arthritis is a very general term which actually encompasses many different types of conditions. Although the most common types of arthritis are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, there are actually more than 100 different types. Although there is no single cause for the many different varieties, arthritis generally occurs when joints aren’t moving or working properly. That is where chiropractic care comes in. Chiropractors take care of the musculoskeletal system by adjusting and manipulating joints, as well as the spine. This means that a good chiropractor will be able to help alleviate much of the pain and discomfort caused by arthritis.

Arthritis is a condition which only gets worse if it is left alone. The worse the pain in your joints becomes, the less you move, and the more mobility you lose. Unfortunately, arthritis affects the young nearly as much as the elderly so it is something which is better dealt with sooner rather than later. Even young children can suffer from arthritis, and even people who have very active lives can become stricken with joint soreness and stiffness.

Chiropractic care is a natural, painless procedure. If arthritis has caused your joints to “lock up,” a chiropractor is a natural and safe way to correct the joints. Chiropractors are carefully trained and highly skilled professionals. We know exactly which joint requires care and attention, and we will also know when to refer you on to a further specialist. We’re also able to offer advice to you about how you should care for your arthritis pain at home. Chiropractors offer you support as well as clinical care.

The biggest advantage of seeing a chiropractor to care for your arthritis is that the process builds on itself, having a cumulative effect. If you make a regular appointment to see a chiropractor, you will start to improve your joint mobility and reduce further stress. This means that your arthritic discomfort will actually decrease and you will be less dependent on treatment, as long as you keep to a regular schedule of appointments.  So if you’re one of the millions suffering from the pain and discomfort of arthritis, contact our office right away for an appointment!

The most common indications of fibromyalgia are widespread pain, extreme fatigue, and disturbed sleep patterns.  Most often, pain is described as intense in the regions of the neck, back, and legs.  Because people often think of chiropractors for pain relief, sufferers of fibromyalgia are increasingly coming in for adjustments to see if it helps at all with their condition, and most are very glad they did.

Current research suggests that fibromyalgia is a disorder of the central nervous system. People with fibromyalgia appear to have abnormalities in the chemical compounds (neurotransmitters) that transmit nerve impulses. They also have, on average, four times as much nerve growth factor as people without the disorder. This suggests that fibromyalgia is a problem of central nervous system hypersensitivity. Because chiropractic medicine is based on the theory that an individual’s health is controlled by the state of his or her central nervous system, chiropractors, who are experts in this area, are especially well suited to help patients reduce their fibromyalgia symptoms.

Chiropractic makes adjustments to the alignment of the neck and the spine, thus reducing pain significantly throughout the body. It is proven that regular spinal manipulation treatments will help fibromyalgia sufferers to enjoy a better quality of sleep as well as experiencing less pain and reduced fatigue. In fact, a 2009 study found that chiropractic adjustments resulted in an instant relief of pain in fibromyalgia patients.

If you’re suffering from fibromyalgia or think you might be, don’t let it control your life.  Chiropractic care might be able to help you live a normal life.  If you or someone you know suffers from fibromyalgia, get in touch with our office today to set up an appointment.

For more information on fibromyalgia, check out www.fibromyalgia-symptoms.org.

What should be done if a whiplash injury occurs?

There are a number of treatment options for whiplash, ranging from “traditional” medical attention, almost certainly resulting in nothing more than being advised to take over-the-counter or prescription drugs, to chiropractic treatment, where we seek to treat the cause of the problem, rather than simply mask it.  Are we biased toward chiropractic care for whiplash?  Of course, but it’s not just due to personal opinion.  The opening statement of a recent research study (by a leading orthopedic medical journal) on the topic stated “Conventional [meaning medical] treatment of patients with whiplash symptoms is disappointing.”

The study went on to state its findings, which showed clearly that chiropractic care is highly effective for patients suffering from whiplash.  The study consisted of evaluating 93 patients who suffered from various forms of whiplash.  The average time from injury to first treatment was 12 months, and an average of 19 treatments over a 4 month time frame was utilized.  The results of the study were that 72% of those patients who had experienced neck and upper shoulder pain, accompanied by loss of neck range of motion (ROM) reported improvement, and a full 94% of those with neurological problems (arm/hand numbness and/or weakness) plus neck pain and ROM loss saw improvement.

This study is significant for a couple of reasons.  First, it illustrates how effective chiropractic care is for patients suffering from whiplash injuries.  Perhaps more importantly though, we can safely assume that while these patients received chiropractic treatment a year after their injuries, they likely took medication immediately upon feeling the headache, muscle pain, and stiffness that occurred after their accidents.  This further demonstrates the point that drugs are merely a short-term, “band-aid” treatment for symptoms, whereas chiropractic care treats the underlying issue, and is therefore a lasting solution.  Imagine if these patients had sought chiropractic treatment immediately following their accidents.  They might very well have forgotten all about their pain well before the one-year anniversary of their injuries.

The moral of the story? If you’ve been in a collision, give our office a call right away.  We’ll get you in for an evaluation and make sure you’re well cared for – the natural, chiropractic way.

It’s not all bad news though.  The good news is that heart disease can be prevented.  When we call it “lifestyle-related” that means you have a choice.  It’s not like a contagious disease that you can catch by chance, and while there might be hereditary factors involved, you aren’t by any means doomed to contract heart disease just because your father had it.  Taking proactive steps to control factors that contribute to cardiovascular disease, like high blood pressure, can provide a good defense and head it off before it starts.  That way you won’t have to decide whether to take potentially harmful drugs later on.  To help, here are three drug-free steps that can make a big difference:

1. Get your omega-3s. Omega-3 oils, like those found in certain fish, flaxseed, and several other foods, have been shown to lower fat levels in the blood, which makes your blood less viscous, allowing it to flow more easily.  Whether you’re going to eat more fish or use fish oil supplements, it’s important to do a little research first.  You’ve probably heard of concerns about levels of toxins in certain fish, and you of course want to avoid those as much as possible.  The last thing anyone wants to do is cause another problem while trying to solve one.

2. Get a heart-rate monitor – and use it! A great way to combat heart disease is through regular exercise.  It’s important that you’re engaging in proper aerobic activity though, and using a heart-rate monitor is a great way to ensure this.  The difference between aerobic exercise and anaerobic exercise makes a big difference in the benefits to your cardiovascular system.  Tracking your exercise with a heart-rate monitor will help you make sure you’re burning fat to lower cholesterol and fight heart disease.

3. Get to your chiropractor! As highlighted in a recent post, a recent study by the University of Chicago Medical Center showed that chiropractic adjustments to the atlas vertebrae at the base of the skull actually lowered patients’ blood pressure as well as taking two blood pressure drugs in combination.  This is surprising for some, but it makes sense.  Proper nerve flow to organs controlling blood pressure is crucial to keeping the body in balance, and that’s exactly what chiropractic care accomplishes.

Don’t become part of the grim statistics about heart disease.  These simple steps can help you avoid this serious health issue, and save you the further health concerns and expense of prescription medications down the road.  Ready for that spinal adjustment to keep everything in balance? Contact our office today, and we’ll get you set up and answer all your questions!

When you think about it, it’s no surprise that work stress relates to problems in your spine.  Just look at all the people whose most stressful part of the day is the morning commute, when they’re sitting in one position for hours on end battling traffic.  Another eight or more hours in a typically non-ergonomic office chair with scheduling deadlines, demanding bosses, and maybe even screaming customers – followed by another stressful drive – all adds up to a “well, duh” moment when we begin wondering why our backs hurt.

In fact, studies have shown that our bodies have an amazing ability and innate intelligence that allows them to adapt to stress.  For most of us though, we need to approach stress from two angles.  First, dealing with stress properly and learning to turn potentially stressful situations into less stressful times is key.  The more we can avoid stress in the first place, the less we’ll feel its effects on our bodies.  That’s not always as easily done as said though, so the second part of the equation is coping with the effects of stress.

That’s where chiropractors come in.  Once stress-induced subluxations have occurred, there really is only one reliable way to deal with them, and that’s to go to the chiropractor for an adjustment.  “But even though I’m stressed, my back feels fine,” you might say.  And that’s very typical.  You won’t usually feel subluxations in your back.  Instead, they typically manifest as other problems throughout the body.  Remember, the core of your nervous system runs down the length of your spine, so a misalignment in your spine can have consequences that manifest anywhere in the body, not just in the back.

So if you’re feeling tired or rundown, having trouble sleeping, noticing changes in your appetite, suffering from colds and other ailments, or noticing aches and pains, including headaches, it’s time to get your spine checked out. Get a hold of our office to answer your questions or set up an appointment.  We’ll take great care of you and help you deal with that stress that’s got you down!