Archive for Chiropractor
How Does Chiropractic Help Headaches?
There are six randomized controlled scientific studies showing chiropractic care is beneficial for headache sufferers. But, the average person may not understand exactly how it works.
There are three main ways that chiropractic helps headaches. First, chiropractic treatments relax muscles. Muscle tension is one of the main causes of headaches. Tense muscles in the neck and upper back can refer pain up into the head as shown in the pictures below. You may notice the areas of pain depicted in the drawings, correspond to your painful areas. Relaxing these muscles, can help relieve your pain.
The second way chiropractic helps headaches is by relieving pinched nerves. If a nerve in the upper part of the neck gets pinched, you can get pain that runs up into your head via a nerve called the greater occipital nerve. You can see the area it affects in the drawing below. Taking the pressure off the nerves, by re-aligning the bones of the neck, will relieve the pain.
The third way chiropractic helps is by improving your posture. By improving your posture, the muscles of the neck do not have to contract as hard to hold up your head. It also makes it less likely that a nerve will get pinched. Improving your posture, will give you lasting relief of symptoms.
If you are suffering from headaches, you can get relief. For more information check out other articles on www.painfree-greatposture.com. Or, call Karen or Pat at 262-251-8306 and set up a Free No Obligation Headache Solution Evaluation with local headache treatment expert, Dr. Paul Kramer. He will discuss your situation with you and perform a non-invasive surface EMG test to see if you might be a candidate for treatment. This test will pin-point the areas where you are having trouble and give Dr. Kramer information he needs to determine if he can help. The test is painless and free. Just call 262-251-8306.
Chiropractic-Fast Relief For Back Pain
Chiropractors have been treating back pain for over 100 years. The profession has been growing and helping millions of patients.
If you are looking for a chiropractor, you should know that they aren’t all alike. Chiropractors vary in their technique depending on where they went to school, what they studied, the conditions they like to treat, or their own physical characteristics. Some use their hands to align spines, some use instruments.
The bottom line is this: Chiropractic should give you relief from your back pain. If you aren’t feeling better, you might not be seeing the right chiropractor.
After your treatment, you should feel relief of pain, improved movement and better posture. If you don’t, the treatment is not right for you, plain and simple.
You probably won’t get better in one treatment. It usually takes a course of treatments for you to get long lasting relief. But you should feel improvement after each visit.
Here are some examples of what your body should look like after it is re-aligned. All these before and after pictures, are of people standing relaxed on the same day. Notice how they stand straighter. They are doing this without effort!
For more information on how we treat back pain, log on to: www.newbackpainreliefinfo.com
Is Yoga Good For Your Spine?
I am often asked if Yoga is beneficial to the spine. Its one of those questions where I have to be the bearer of bad news.
Yoga is not good for the spine. It causes many injuries and it is particularly injurious to the lower neck.
When I tell patients this, they are very surprised or skeptical. Everyone says that Yoga is good for you. Well, take a look at this article by a Yogi fromIndia. He tells many people not to do Yoga. He says that Yoga is meant for people with healthy joints, not as a means for unhealthy people to get healthier. That’s how I feel as well.
Also, the light-headed feeling you get after doing the spine stretches, that some Yoga instructors say is the “chakras” opening up, isn’t that at all. It is an effect of having the spinal cord stretched. Unfortunately, that feeling doesn’t always clear up on its own and can leave you with dizziness and balance problems. Take a look at the article for more in depth information.
If you are suffering from injuries that you think might be related to Yoga, the good news is, you can be helped. Call Pat or Karen at our office today and set up a free no obligation consultation. Call 262-251-8306.
How To Get A Good Night’s Sleep
Sleep is really important for your health. Lack of sleep has been shown to cause blood sugar problems, heart disease, poor work performance and increases in musculoskeletal pain. Along with many other health problems.
When you sleep, your body repairs itself. If you aren’t sleeping well or long enough, the body tends to get broken down. You also have more pain when you haven’t slept enough.
Here are some keys to a good night’s sleep:
- Get your body adjusted. Body alignment problems can irritate your nervous system, causing it to be overstimulated. You will feel uncomfortable or unable to wind down enough to sleep. Getting chiropractic care relieves nervous tension and helps you to sleep.
- Make sure your mattress and pillows are correct. A firm mattress is necessary to support your spine along with a pillow set at the proper height. This is a BIG key to getting comfortable and waking up without pain. If you wake up with pain, something is wrong with how you are sleeping. If you sleep on your back, be as flat as possible. If you are on your side, use a higher pillow. Stay off your stomach.
- Don’t eat too much sugar. Eating sugar can cause your blood sugar to drop in the middle of the night. This is a big reason why people wake up in the middle of the night and can’t get back to sleep.
The best company to get a mattress from is called Chiromatic Sleep Systems. You can check them out at www.chiromatic.com. The Mattress model we like is the 5842 for adults and the 5840 for kids. They have a 15 year warranty, which is un-heard of in the industry. Most mattress warranties are 5 years. They have a 30 day sleep warranty, you can sleep on it for 30 days and if you don’t like it, you can send it back. They also come to your house to deliver it and they haul the old one away.
The prices are very comparable to mattresses you would get at other mattress stores. The 5842 goes for $999.00 twin, $1299 full, $1499 queen and $1799 king. The 5840 goes for $799 twin, $899 full, $1099 queen and $1399 king. You can contact our office for more information on ordering. Call 262-251-8306.
If you like taking a short nap, check out www.powernap.com. They have a CD I use and really like. It’s like getting 3 hours of sleep in 20 minutes. I like it a lot and it works really well. They also have a product called Fibronap which is helpful for fibromyalgia sufferers who need to enhance different sleep cycles. I like the products, and they are cheap and easy to use. All the data is on their site.
For more information on how I treat fibromyalgia and back pain log on to www.stopyourfibronow.com or www.newbackpainreliefinfo.com
United Healthcare (UHC) Navigate Plans
In April 2012, United Healthcare will introduce a new insurance product called United Healthcare Navigate. A significant feature of this new insurance product is the requirement that your care be directed by a “primary care provider”. This is a medical doctor who will take care of your basic needs and refer you to specialists when necessary.
Primary care providers can be beneficial in dealing with your health needs and in managing the cost of your insurance. If your employer switches to a UHC Navigate plan, you will be required to obtain a referral from your primary care physician before you see a specialist. The UHC Navigate plan provides either no benefit coverage or reduced benefits if you do not receive this referral.
Under Wisconsin’s unique chiropractic anti-discrimination laws, patients do not need to have a referral from their primary care provider to see a chiropractor .
The UHC insurance information covers this, but only in the “small print” which says that you do not need a referral for any service “for which applicable law does not allow us to impose a referral requirement”. That gibberish means that as long as your plan is covered under state law, you never need a referral to see a chiropractor – in or out of network.
With study after study confirming that chiropractic is the best clinical and most cost effective choice for the treatment of many health care conditions, we are very pleased that you have chosen chiropractic as part of your plan for optimum health.
If you have any question as to whether or not care at our office is covered by your insurance, call us at 262-251-8306 and we can help you to determine what type of benefits you have.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Learning
You may have heard that fish is “brain food”. It turns out that the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish may be very beneficial to the brain. Taking omega-3 fatty acids may have a beneficial effect on cognition, mood, learning, child development and even ADHD.
Research that appeared in the Journal of Child Health Care measured omeg-3 fatty acid levels in children with ADHD and in children with ADHD coupled with a learning disorder. Researchers found that children with learning difficulties have lower DHA (omega-3 fatty acid) levels than children without any learning difficulties. Students with high levels of DHA tended to have less anxiety, better reading, spelling ability and word recall.
Other research that appeared in Psychology and Behavior found a relationship between low omega-3 and problems with learning and health in general. Children had more colds and higher anti-biotic use when omega-3 was low.
It is very important to include high omega 3 foods like fish, flax, walnuts, olive oil and chia into your child’s diet. (And yours too) Supplementing with good quality omega-3 supplements is a great idea, especially if you or your child is having difficulty with memory, concentration, learning, mood or behavior disorders.
We are hear to help. For more information about my practice, log on to www.painfree-greatposture.com. We can help by giving you the nutritional direction you need. Call Jennifer, Karen or Pat at 262-251-8306 for a free no obligation consultation.
Physical Therapy for Back Pain- Debunking the Top Ten Myths
Many people seek out physical therapy for their spine care. Some of the care is good, some of it not so good, some of it is down right detrimental. Here are some ideas physical therapists use when treating you, that will get you into trouble. I call these the top ten myths.
- Muscles stabilize joints- muscles only stabilize joints when they are in a pathological state. In the spine, if a vertebra is misaligned because of a sprain, the muscles surrounding the area tighten up. The tight muscles stabilize the joint until it heals. If it heals properly, the muscles will relax. If someone does procedures to loosen the joint before it heals, the bones will tend to move further out of alignment. In the spine, the bones can contact nerve tissue and cause bad, bad problems.
- Posture is held in place by muscles- your body is held upright by muscles when bones are misaligned in a way the body cannot self correct. When bones are not misaligned the body remains upright without muscular effort. Strengthening muscles to try and correct posture only makes the body tighter.
- Weak muscles cause bad posture- weak muscles don’t help posture, but they aren’t always the cause. Strengthening muscles around the spine is only a tiny part of what is necessary to correct posture.
- Strong muscles cause good posture- If this were true, body builders and swimmers would have great posture. 95% of them don’t.
- Back pain comes from weak muscles- Weak muscles don’t help, but it is a tiny part of the puzzle. The research on back pain points to discs, ligaments and nerves as the primary tissues involved in back pain. Treating the muscles does not treat the cause.
- Exercise helps pain- Exercise only helps when the exercises are given at the right time and in the right way. Exercising during the acute (early) phase of an injury only aggravates it.
- Stretching is good for you- This one blows people away. Google search “stretching and athletic performance “ Try and find an research article that says stretching enhances athletic performance. You can’t. They all say it doesn’t help. In fact, most say it is detrimental to athletic performance. But, here’s the kicker, all of them say, you should do it any way ! Yikes. Stretching may give temporary relief to a tight muscle, but the question you should ask yourself is “why is that muscle tight ?” If you fix the reason the muscle is tight, the muscle loosens up on its own.
- Bending forward to stretch your back muscles- Bending forward does stretch the muscles along side the spine. It may feel temporarily better, but the tightness will come right back. The question is “why are those muscles tight ?” If those muscles are tight because they are protecting the L5 vertebra from sliding forward and coming into contact with nerve tissue, stretching is going to be harmful. In fact, I have seen many, many cases of sciatica aggravated by forward bending exercises given to patients in PT.
- Heat, diathermy and ultrasound help back pain. The scientific literature on back pain is pretty clear. Inflammation of the ligaments and discs are the primary cause of back pain. Why on Earth PT’s use therapies on back pain patients that increase heat (inflammation), I have no idea. Yet I see it done on PT patients every day and the results aren’t pretty. Heating modalities are a quick way to make someone incapacitated by extreme pain. Always use ice.
- Chiropractic doesn’t help. The research is filling up with articles showing the effectiveness and safety of chiropractic spinal manipulation. It helps when other therapies fail. Physical therapists that say chiropractic is ineffective or dangerous are uninformed. Usually these statements are made to try and convince the patient to stay in PT instead of going to a chiropractor. Sad but true. I hear it all the time.
For more information on how I treat back pain, log on to: www.newbackpainreliefinfo.com
Can Chiropractic Treatment Make You Stand Straighter?
The answer to this one is a little complex. It would take you years of study to understand everything that is going on when it comes to the biomechanics of good posture. What I’d rather do is let you watch some demonstrations so you can see some things for yourself.
Most chiropractic techniques involve pushing down on someone’s back. While it works well in relieving some pain, pushing down on the spine does not help posture. This first video, shows the effects of pressing down on someone’s back.
You can see that this doctor immediately started to slump.
This next video shows two chiropractors who have been getting standard chiropractic adjustments for years. Notice how slumped their postures are. Notice how they stand after ABC style posture correction treatment.
This type of result can be produced consistently and predictably by ABC methods. Not only does it relieve pain, but it leaves you standing upright, breathing better and moving like you did years ago.
For more information on how I treat patients, look around this web-site or if you have one of the following conditions, log on to:
Scoliosis and Chiropractic Care
The average reduction of thoraco-lumbar scoliosis was 17.2° and was maintained for 24 months.
Function improved 70% and pain was reduced by 60%.
According to the Mayo Clinic (2009), ” Scoliosis is a sideways curvature of the spine that occurs most often during the growth spurt just before puberty. While scoliosis can be caused by conditions such as cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy, the cause of most scoliosis is unknown. Most cases of scoliosis are mild, but severe scoliosis can be disabling. An especially severe spinal curve can reduce the amount of space within the chest, making it difficult for the lungs to function properly. Children who have mild scoliosis are monitored closely, usually with X-rays, to see if the curve is getting worse. In many cases, no treatment is necessary. Some children will need to wear a brace to stop the curve from worsening. Others may need surgery to straighten severe cases of scoliosis” (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/scoliosis/DS00194). They go on to say that signs and symptoms of scoliosis may include, uneven shoulders, “Signs and symptoms of scoliosis may include: uneven shoulders, one shoulder blade that appears more prominent than the other, uneven waist, [and] one hip higher than the other” (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2009, http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/scoliosis/DS00194/ DSECTION=symptoms).
“If a scoliosis curve gets worse, the spine will also rotate or twist, in addition to curving side to side. This causes the ribs on one side of the body to stick out farther than on the other side. Severe scoliosis can cause back pain and difficulty breathing. Go to your doctor if you notice signs or symptoms of scoliosis in your child. Mild curves can develop without the parent or child knowing it because they appear gradually and usually don’t cause pain” (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2009, http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/ scoliosis/DS00194/ DSECTION=symptoms).
According to Lou et al. in 2010, three-dimensional lateral curvatures of the spine affect 2-3% of the adolescent population. According to ACT Youth who utilizes the 2000 US Census Bureau statistics, the number of adolescents in the United States is 41,747, 962. Averaging 2.5% of all adolescents having scoliosis equates to 1,043, 699 children facing issues as result of scoliosis. Lou et al. (2010) continue, “Brace (orthotic) treatment is recommended for growing children with curves of 25–45°. Surgery is the final treatment option for curves greater than 45° and its goals are to obtain safe correction, to produce a solid spinal fusion of the curve region, and to bring the spine and body into a more balanced position (p. 292). However, they conclude, ” Although brace treatment for scoliosis has been used for more than fifty years, its effectiveness is still debatable… Most studies used the amount of curve progression (as measured by the Cobb angle) to determine the effectiveness of brace treatment. Some defined success as 5° or less curve progression” (Lou et al., 2010, p. 292).
While allopathic medicine is still entrenched in the debatable practice of bracing and eventually surgery with the eventual progression of scoliosis, there are proven solutions. A study performed in 2011 concluded that as a result of chiropractic spinal manipulation, a thoracolumbar curvature (scoliosis) averaged a 17.2° reduction that was maintained for 24 months. (The length of the study) Across all spinal groups, an average of 10° reduction was obtained that persisted for 24 months. (The length of the study) It also concluded that pain scales reduced by 60% at 24 months and function improved by 70% while respiratory capacity increased 7%. Although this was a limited study with 28 patients, it is the first scientific conclusion that documents and reflects the results of what chiropractors have been realizing in their offices for over a 100 years.
The real issue is that if adolescents have their curvatures reduced by 10°-17.2°, then bracing and surgery are not an option because they will not be indicated. As bracing has been deemed “highly questionable” in the literature and now the literature reflects chiropractic as a highly effective modality, the standard of care across professions should be chiropractic care for scoliosis as first line treatment and should be standardized in every discipline.
For a Free No Obligation, Scoliosis Correction Without Bracing or Surgery, Consultation, Call Jennifer or Pat at 262-251-8306.
Log on to www.Painfree-Greatposture.com for more helpful information.
REFERENCES
1. Retrieved fromhttp://www.mayoclinic.com/health/scoliosis/DS00194
2. Retrieved fromhttp://www.mayoclinic.com/health/scoliosis/DS00194/DSECTION=symptoms
3. Lou, E., Hill, D., Hedden, D., Mahood, J., Moreau, M., Raso, J., (2010). An objective measurement of brace usage for the treatment of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Medical Engineering and Physics, 33(3), 290-294.
4. Retrieved from http://www.actforyouth.net/health_sexuality/demographics/
5. Morningstar, M. (2011). Outcomes for adult scoliosis patients receiving chiropractic rehabilitation: A 24-month retrospective analysis. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine, 10(3), 179-184.
Some Lower Blood Pressure With Chiropractic Visit
That headline comes from a May 6, 2010 feature story on the Pittsburgh, PA, TV News station KDKA. The story starts off by noting that millions of people have high blood pressure. And they note that if left untreated it can be deadly.
Most people treat blood pressure with medication. However, the story notes that some people are turning to chiropractic for help. As a result, these people are seeing improvement in their blood pressure numbers.
The story focused on Dr. Michael Vactor who stated in an interview that, “Basically, one in four adults inAmericahave some form of high blood pressure.”
The article also quoted Bill Bird, a patient who is now sold on chiropractic. Bill has a very stressful job selling cars resulting in high blood pressure requiring prescription medication. After a few visits to the chiropractor, his blood pressure had improved to the point where his medical doctor cut his medication in half. Looking to the future, Bill optimistically stated, “30 to 45 days of my blood pressure staying at the levels it is, I’m going to be off it 100 percent.”
In spite of the fact that studies have now shown that chiropractic can help lower blood pressure, some in the medical profession are still skeptical. Dr. Vactor noted, “If we can get somebody’s blood pressure to be lowered without medication, it’s amazing because most doctors you talk to will tell you it can’t be done.”
The article also interviewed Dr. George Bakris, a medical doctor whose expertise is high blood pressure, and who conducted a blood pressure study involving chiropractic on 50 patients at the University of Chicago Medical School. “We saw miraculous changes in blood pressure,” said Dr. Bakris. “We saw 12 to 13 millimeter reductions in blood pressure.”
In the conclusion of the article, Dr. Vactor noted that in spite of the medical approach to treat high blood pressure, chiropractic could have a unique answer. He states, “We’ve never been able to find a drug or a medication that can lower blood pressure that fast with no side effects.
For a FREE consultation regarding your blood pressure, call Jennifer or Pat at:
262-251-8306 and see what chiropractic can do for you !
