Children and adults are the same but different. Most kids want to play all the time, but they also are required to go to school. Most adults would prefer to play all the time – relax, go to the gym, read a book, watch TV, or get together with friends – but most adults need to go to work at least 5 days a week. Interestingly, what most young people don't know about adults, especially older adults, is that they think of themselves as much younger than they actually are chronologically. For example, long ago, when a reporter asked the great golfing champion Arnold Palmer how he felt about turning 60, he famously replied that "it doesn't matter to me, I think of myself as 27." Thus, speaking broadly, kids and adults share similar primary goals. Regular chiropractic care can enhance the quality of life for both young and older people by helping make possible the attainment of high levels of overall health.
Young people and adults share identical physiological systems that are distinguished by age and experience. For example, a child's nervous system and immune system grow and develop over time, acquiring training and additional features as the young person proceeds through childhood, preteen years, and the teenage period. The cardiorespiratory system has full capability at birth and achieves strength, resiliency, and adaptability as the child grows. Similarly, the gastrointestinal system is fully capable at birth, but must be trained to digest and otherwise process a wide variety of foods over the first several years of the newborn's life. The skeletal system of young men and women achieves maturity in the late teens and early twenties.
The commonality among all physiological systems, at any age and at any stage of development, is the requirement for optimal control by the nerve system, the body's master system. The nerve system establishes a highly sophisticated feedback system between its components, that is, the brain, spinal cord, spinal nerves, and peripheral nerves, and the numerous other physiological systems. The brain sends instructions via the nervous system to other cells functioning in other systems, and the cells report back to the brain via the nervous system, providing information on their current status and metabolic requirements. In this feedback system, the spinal nerves are the central intermediary between the brain and spinal cord and the rest of the body. The presence of nerve interference can disrupt the flow of information between the brain and all the other physiological systems, resulting in system malfunctions that are apparent in the form of pain, symptoms, and disease.
Nerve interference is the result of spinal vertebral dysfunction, that is, suboptimal biomechanical functioning of the spine and its segmental components, the spinal vertebras. Spinal dysfunction causes painful limited motion of the neck and/or lower back, headaches, tight muscles, and possible radiating pain and/or numbness and tingling in the arms and/or legs. As importantly, spinal dysfunction irritates local spinal nerves and causes nerve interference that creates a host of other problems. Regular chiropractic care detects and corrects causes of nerve interference, enabling your body to function at peak effectiveness, as it was designed to function. In this way, regular chiropractic care helps people of all ages, young and old, obtain high levels of health and well-being.
Concussions are becoming increasingly common, especially among school-age athletes. It has been estimated that there are up to 3.8 million sports-related concussions in the United States each year. Concussions are problematic as, by definition, a concussive injury involves some degree of trauma to the brain. A concussion injury literally jolts the brain, causing this precious organ to bounce against the bony walls of the skull. The violence of the blow directly determines the degree and extent of brain cell damage. Importantly, any person can experience a concussion from having sustained a blow to the head. Falls are commonly implicated in a concussion history, especially in those who run or walk for exercise and may trip over a crack in the sidewalk or a hidden tree root on a trail, as well as in the elderly.
In 2013, the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) issued its latest update on the Evaluation and Management of Concussion in Sports. The update, representing a summary of evidence-based guidelines, referenced several standardized symptom checklists including the Standardized Assessment of Concussion and the Post-Concussion Symptom Scale/Graded Symptom Checklist, both of which had moderate to high sensitivity and specificity in identifying sports-related concussions when administered soon after a suspected concussion. In 2013, the AAN also published Concussion During Sports Activities, a summary of evidence-based guidelines for patients and their families. The AAN documents note that concussion symptoms include headaches, dizziness, double vision, confusion, sensitivity to light or sound, and nausea and vomiting. Signs of a concussion that others can observe include slurred speech, changes in balance and coordination, a blank stare, and behavior and personality changes.
Concussion resolution may be evaluated by use of standardized checklists and return to age-matched normative values regarding cognitive performance and physiological function, as well as neurocognitive testing. An athlete who has sustained a concussion should not return to play/practice until her or his physician has assessed that the athlete is asymptomatic, the concussion has resolved, and the athlete is off medication.
Once a patient's concussion has resolved, chiropractic care can provide substantial assistance. A blow to the head necessarily involves trauma to the neck vertebras (cervical spine) and regional muscles, tendons, and ligaments. As well, an injury significant enough to cause a concussion can also cause damage to the spinal nerves in the neck. Such trauma can cause nerve irritation and interfere with the normal motion of the cervical spine. Spinal dysfunction and nerve irritation/interference can then cause a range of pain symptoms and altered physiological function, not only in the neck and shoulder region but also in other locations and other systems such as the gastrointestinal, immune, and endocrine systems.
By beginning or continuing regular chiropractic care once concussion symptoms have resolved, a post-concussion patient can obtain treatment that will help ensure that her or his spinal column and nerve system are functioning at peak capacity. In this way, regular chiropractic care helps post-concussion patients achieve and maintain optimal levels of health and well-being.
In the depths of winter, adults, as well as children, exert themselves to engage in enjoyable outdoor activities that will keep them warm and provide both excitement and entertainment. Cross-country skiing, downhill skiing, sledding, ice hockey, figure skating, and speed skating all have their enthusiasts.
Many people are proficient in multiple winter sports. Others have no discernible degree of skill, yet persist owing to the exhilaration and good feelings that are obtained by asserting oneself in the face of freezing temperatures. Even in Southern California, where the winter temperatures are laughably warm compared to those registered in places where it gets authentically cold, residents feel the bite of winter. Even in warmer areas, children and anyone young at heart can visit ice rinks in neighborhoods malls and get a sense of what it's like to skate on frozen water.
Importantly, participation in winter sports may often lead to injury, owing in large part to the physical momentum involved in skating, skiing, and sledding. Although injuries are often random and result from unfortunate circumstances, we can take many protective measures to help prevent an injury, despite having sustained a hard fall on the ice or a rough tumble downhill.
Proper preparation for any winter outdoor activity includes making sure that your body is up to the task. We get ourselves ready for sports-type engagement by participating in regular physical exercise. When we do aerobic exercises, we're training our heart, lungs, and circulatory system to increase their efficiency. Over time, we become better able to breathe more deeply, providing increased amounts of oxygen to power our muscles and other metabolic processes.
When we do strength-training exercises, we're developing the ability of our muscles and bones to support and maneuver with increased mechanical loads -- abilities needed for skiing and skating and other winter sports. Additionally, cardiovascular and strength-training exercises enhance the capabilities of our proprioceptive system, a network of nerve endings that help our bodies make instantaneous decisions regarding balance and position in three-dimensional space, subconscious skills that are critical to the successful enjoyment of winter activities.
Regular chiropractic care is a key component of our winter sports planning. Regular chiropractic care detects and corrects sources of nerve interference and restores and supports optimal mechanical function of the spinal column, our body's mechanical center. By making sure we are getting regular chiropractic care, we help ourselves get the most out of our exercise programs. In this way, regular chiropractic care helps us stay healthy, avoid injury, and have outdoor fun all winter long.
Being a Change Agent
For most of us, change happens slowly, if at all. But as the recent holiday season fades into the distance, many of us wish to be increasingly proactive this year and take real action on the numerous New Year's resolutions that we made in regard to our health and well-being.
Back in December, many of us formulated resolutions such as "I'll start going to the gym" or "I'll lose weight" or "I'll go for a walk every day". Although these are worthy aspirations, in order for us to actually make progress in the areas of health and wellness, quantifiable and measurable goals are required. By declaring what we intend to accomplish and by when, we are providing instructions to our internal goal-accomplishing mechanism that will make all the difference.
By creating specific targets such as "By February 1st, I will begin a strength-training program and workout at the gym for three 45-minutes sessions each week" or "By February 1st, I will begin a daily 2,000-calorie weight optimization program including consuming five servings of fresh fruits and vegetables a day" we provide our subconscious mind with specific goals. Just as an automobile driver needs to know precise directions in order to reach the destination safely, our internal steering mechanism will assist us in fulfilling our goals, based on specific directions and instructions.
For example, once oriented toward accomplishing good health, our subconscious mind may bring to our conscious attention the healthy opportunities around us. We begin to recognize and focus on matters of importance regarding health and wellness such as new offerings at your local fitness center or specials at your nearby organic market. Without being an agent of change, this information would have never penetrated our selective perception and awareness.
As well, our renewed focus on overall health may point us in the direction of obtaining regular chiropractic care. Regular chiropractic care helps us achieve and maintain optimal functioning of our spinal column and other major components of our musculoskeletal system. By focusing on spinal wellness and optimizing performance of the nerve system, our body's master system, regular chiropractic care helps ensure that we are reaching maximal levels of health. In this way, regular chiropractic care supports and reinforces our intentions of achieving increased health and wellness for our families and ourselves.
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In early winter, whether we're celebrating Hanukkah or Christmas, both or nothing at all, families and friends gather to share food and drink and give thanks for a year successfully completed. We send up a rousing holiday cheer and share delicious holiday cheer in celebration of our accomplishments and to honor our cherished relationships. It's also useful to take a few moments to ponder and examine the many factors contributing to our ability to navigate the twists, turns, and surprises that daily life has to offer. Foremost among these factors is ongoing good health throughout the year.
As we proceed with our self-inquiry, we begin to understand that work is required to maintain our personal optimum levels of good health. Such work includes engaging in various health-promoting lifestyle activities, encompassing regular vigorous exercise, eating a nutritious diet, consistently getting sufficient hours of restful sleep at night, and having a positive mental attitude. But none of these healthy lifestyles is obtainable without intention, planning, and effort. In a very real sense, we have to make room in our busy lives for the activities that will help to keep us healthy and well.
Consistency and habit are the keys to adopting and maintaining healthy lifestyles. If one is not eating a nutritious diet or not doing 30 minutes of vigorous exercise at least 5 times a week, it may seem impossible to get these things done. Inertia holds sway and it's all too easy to believe that it's just too much trouble. But from the perspective of efficiency and utility, as well as from the perspective of health and wellness, the benefits of spending time now to engage in healthy lifestyles far outweigh the multiple costs of having developed a chronic illness later on. The good news is that as you begin to perform daily lifestyle activities, the successes you begin to achieve build upon each other and you instinctively want to continue doing the things that are making you feel healthier. This reinforcement helps establish consistency and helps establish healthy lifestyle habits.
Regular chiropractic care helps us accomplish all our healthy lifestyle activities. By detecting and correcting sources of nerve irritation, regular chiropractic care helps ensure optimal functioning of your nerve system, your body's master system. As your nerve system controls all the physiological functions of your other body systems, regular chiropractic care helps ensure that your body as a whole is working at peak efficiency. In this way, regular chiropractic care helps your body put all your lifestyle activities to good use, and helps you and your family achieve long-term health and wellness.
Healthy knees require continuous motion. However, our generally sedentary lifestyles are at odds with the maintenance of robust knee joint architecture. Left motionless throughout large portions of the day, over time knee cartilage will break down and knee ligaments will become lax. These chronic changes are frequently associated with other degenerative alterations in knee joint architecture often resulting in pain in one or both knees. Increasing discomfort may cause a person to become even more inactive, creating a feedback loop of lower levels of activity and higher levels of knee pain. Paradoxically, the solution to many of these knee problems is to begin a program of progressive and rehabilitative activity that incorporates repetitive knee motion.
Continuous passive motion is a primary modality used in rehabilitation of knee mechanics following total joint replacement. Importantly, similar rehabilitative concepts may be applied in the management of many painful knees. The primary principle followed by such rehabilitation is "use it, or lose it." Healthy knees require a continuous flow of synovial fluid throughout the joint structure. This lubricating substance provides oxygen and nutrition to the knee joint, aids in shock absorption, and reduces joint friction. Inactive knees have diminished flow of synovial fluid throughout the joint structure, ultimately resulting in deterioration of joint surfaces and painful arthritis. Thus, surprisingly, chronic knee pain results from insufficient physical activity.
As is the case with every physiological process, activity creates a demand for nutrients. Biomechanically, increased motion increases blood flow, which provides oxygen and nutritional building blocks that are required for bearing weight and movement. Increased circulation also facilitates removal of metabolic waste, the byproducts of physical work. The entire process increases the robustness of the local system. Specifically, in the case of knee joints, increased workloads improve the capacity of the knees to do work, creating a new, positive feedback loop. As your knee joints adapt to increased activity, the physiological momentum shifts, in a sense, from a trend toward painful arthritis to a trend toward improved function, greater tolerance for physical loads, and diminished pain.
Beginning a daily walking routine will launch this entire process of knee rehabilitation. Start gradually, at a slow, comfortable pace, and walk for 10 minutes. After a few days, your body will begin to adapt and you will be able to gradually increase the duration of your walks. Add a minute or two every few days until you're walking a total of 30 minutes. Then gradually increase your pace, over a period of 3 or 4 weeks, until you're able to walk briskly for 30 minutes. Doing a brisk 30-minute walk 5 times per week will provide you with a substantial baseline from which to begin to pursue additional forms of exercise. Overall, for most of us physical activity is the best method for returning to good health.
Regular chiropractic care will provide significant assistance in your return to peak levels of health and physical performance. By detecting and correcting sources of nerve irritation and spinal joint dysfunction, regular chiropractic care helps ensure that your body is functioning at maximum capacity and protects your ability to get the most out of your exercise activities. In this way, regular chiropractic care helps you and all the members of your family obtain and enjoy ongoing health and well-being.
Sources:
Fransen M, et al: Exercise for osteoarthritis of the knee. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2015 Jan 9;1:CD004376. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD004376.pub3
Ferber R, et al: Strengthening of the hip and core versus knee muscles for the treatment of patellofemoral pain: a multicenter randomized controlled trial. J Athl Train 50(4):366-377, 2015
Gilbert AL, et al: A randomized trial of a motivational interviewing intervention to increase lifestyle physical activity and improve self-reported function in adults with arthritis. Semin Arthritis Rheum 2017 Oct 5 doi: 10.1016/j.semarthrit.2017.10.003
When Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes applied himself to a difficult case, he famously utilized his powers of deduction. Holmes assembled and examined the facts before him and employed a scientific method of analysis to arrive at a solution that took into account of all the elements of the case. The great fictional detectives who followed in his wake including Agatha Christie's Miss Jane Marple and Hercule Poirot, and G.K. Chesterton's Father Brown, all utilized Holmes's painstaking attention to detail and his inimitable, relentless logic.
Your chiropractor, as well, employs methods similar to Holmes’ in their search for the causes of your health issues and the keys that will provide access to abundant wellness and well-being. On the first office visit with a new patient, your chiropractor obtains a thorough health history, including current and past problems, past surgeries, medications, and everything else that is important to understanding your present health circumstances. Next is the physical examination, in which your chiropractor gathers objective findings such as the ranges of motion of your neck, lower back, and various extremities. The strength of key muscle groups is determined, reflexes are tested, and sensory patterns in your arms and legs are assessed.
Additionally, your chiropractor examines the mobility and overall function of the joints of your spine, especially in the cervical (neck) and lumbar (lower back) regions, to identify locations of spinal joint dysfunction and nerve interference. Finally, based on your health history and the physical examination findings, as well as information derived from X-rays and other special tests, if needed, your chiropractor deduces the likely source of your health complaints and devises a program of treatment that will help restore and maintain good health.
By utilizing a comprehensive process of deduction, your chiropractor ascertains the primary spinal regions of joint dysfunction and nerve irritation that are interfering with your ability to express optimal health and well-being. Treatment is directed at correcting these biomechanical problem areas by use of manual chiropractic methods and instruction in rehabilitative exercise routines. Your chiropractor may also help you to set-up a healthy eating program that works for you, as well as provide information on establishing nighttime habits to consistently obtain sound, restful sleep.
Regular chiropractic care is important for all of us, from the youngest members of our families to the oldest. By detecting and correcting sources of nerve interference, our chiropractors help us to demonstrate high levels of health and wellness, now and into the future. Habits of good health can spread throughout a neighborhood and a community. As a result, in the long run, everyone benefits.
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Whether we're driving a car, riding a bike, or trying to record a spare at our local bowling alley, our musculoskeletal system bases its decision-making on past history, that is, what it has learned before. Drawing on years of experience, recorded deep within our muscle memory, we're able to avoid an unexpected obstacle in the middle of the road, or adapt quickly to a slip on a slick spot on the bowling lane. The history embedded within our physiology immediately directs our actions in the present moment. We don't have to think about these things. We react — and act — instantaneously, and more often than not, the right result just happens.
Similarly, with a different type of training, a child soon learns not to touch a hot stove and not to pull the cat's tail. A few years later, when the child begins school, she or he starts to acquire the skills that will lead to the critical accomplishments of being able to read, write, and do arithmetic. If learned properly, these capabilities become lifelong resources. In adulthood, if we're appropriately motivated, we continue to learn. Among the primary fields of such learning is the realm of taking care of one's health.
In the area of health care, we learn that if we don't eat right, get enough vigorous exercise, or obtain sufficient restful sleep, then the good health we took for granted will begin to fade away, to be replaced by problems, symptoms, and diseases. Some of us had parents who encouraged a healthy lifestyle and demonstrated by example, others played high school sports and continued their fitness activities into adulthood, and yet others never had these advantages but understood that the demands of adult life required them to be able to function at their peak.
In other words, being healthy is a learned behavior. Our personal history teaches us that we need to do certain things to keep being healthy and well. The good news is that if we haven't been leading a healthy lifestyle, it's usually not too late to start. Regular chiropractic care provides great assistance for all of us, adults and children, who are or want to be on a healthy path. Regular chiropractic care detects and corrects sources of nerve interference and helps restore and maintain full function in our spine and all the other components of our musculoskeletal system. In this way, regular chiropractic care helps our bodies to function at maximum levels of good health, and helps us achieve our goals of ongoing health and well-being for our families and ourselves.
If you are ready to learn some new healthy behaviors, contact us for an appointment and we will help you in reaching your health goals.
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Mindfulness programs and practices frequently describe a process of locating your "center." One's center may be conceived as a focus of energy, both spiritual and physical, by which all activities may be grounded and from which all activities flow. Similarly, ballet teachers and gymnastics instructors enjoin their pupils to "work from your center," meaning that the student's spins, leaps, kicks, and other choreographed movements should emanate from a central region of power. As well, coaches of many sports disciplines, including baseball, football, and basketball, encourage their athletes to "stay focused" and "see the ball going through the net." All of these injunctions are designed to remind players to reconnect to their center -- their focus of disciplined strength, quickness, and coordinated activity.
But you don't have to be a highly trained athlete or a master of meditation to be able to derive power, strength, and grace from your personal center. Each one of us has these capabilities. The first requirement for demonstrating and enhancing these qualities is having awareness and focusing attention on your center itself. One person may locate his center in his heart. Others may locate their centers in their spine or in their solar plexus, that is, the lower abdominal region. One's core musculature may also be identified as one's center. The key is not so much the perceived anatomical location of one's center, but rather maintaining the concept of, the focus on, the center.
The metaphor of a center may be extended to include a center for health. From a chiropractic perspective, your center for health is your nerve system and spinal column. The nerve system, the body's master system, transits information regarding healthy functioning from the brain to all the cells of the entire rest of the body. This information coordinates activities of the body's tissues and organ systems, and the free flow of information from the brain to the body and back again results in good health. The spinal column houses and protects the spinal cord and the roots of the spinal nerves, the main nerve trunks that send nerve branches to your arms, legs, hands, feet, and every other physical location.
Regular chiropractic care helps support your body's center for health by detecting and correcting sources of nerve irritation and by helping to maintain the durability and flexibility of your spinal column. In this way, regular chiropractic care helps ensure the ongoing health and well-being of everyone, including individuals, families, and communities.
Comparisons between the inner world and the outer world have been frequently drawn by philosophers, nature writers, and visual artists. For example, "seeing the universe in a grain of sand" is a well-known aphorism. The number of neurons in your brain has been compared to the number of stars in the Milky Way. The golden ratio (1.618), derived from the Fibonacci sequence, is demonstrated in flower petals, pine cones, nautilus shells, and human DNA. In this same manner, another comparison may be made between wildfires and our internal system of fires known as inflammatory processes.
These inflammatory processes are unleashed by the immune system in response to a real or perceived attack by foreign cells and foreign proteins. This response includes destroying cells that are recognized as "non-self," such as microbes but including malignant cells and virus infected cells. Additionally, the immune response involves the release of cell signaling molecules (cytokines) that facilitate cell-to-cell communication. This signaling network modulates the immune response, heightening or diminishing the course of inflammation as needed. Problematically, certain inflammatory processes may be extended unnecessarily or inappropriately, as in anaphylactic shock. Such out-of-control inflammation may be likened to destructive forest wildfires.
Inflammatory processes may also affect joints of the neck, low back, hip, knee, and ankle. Inflammation of a joint is termed osteoarthritis, a painful disorder which also may cause redness, increased warmth, and swelling. Joints affected by osteoarthritis tend to develop limited mobility and use of these structures may become quite difficult over time owing to pain and decreased motion.
Osteoarthritis is not necessarily abnormal and may occur as a result of daily physiological weight-bearing forces. But, as osteoarthritis may cause pain and debility, we could and should employ preventive measures to counter these degenerative processes (processes involving breakdown of tissues). One of the most effective proactive and protective methods to prevent or delay the onset of osteoarthritis is regular vigorous exercise. Physical activities including walking, running, biking, and strength training teach the body how to handle mechanical loads. By training the musculoskeletal system and other connective tissues, physical activity helps to build up "resistance," in a sense, to the degenerative forces of osteoarthritis. In this way, regular vigorous physical activity helps us to continue to be healthy and well over the course of a lifetime.
Additionally, regular chiropractic care supports our long-range goals of vibrant good health. Regular chiropractic care helps our nerve system to be free of interference and function at peak levels of performance, and helps to optimize our spinal mechanics. By providing these benefits, regular chiropractic care helps us get the most out of the time we spend exercising and achieve greater good health today and into the future.
