Babies and Chiropractic

When my husband threw his back out years ago, he started receiving chiropractic adjustments regularly to treat the inflammation and pain around his spine. Although he still kept his appointments with our regular family doctor, every time he saw his chiropractor he always left feeling more flexible and a lot less pain.

Seeing a chiropractor regularly can also improve other problems in your body that may seem unrelated to the spine. For example, if you have chronic migraines, sleep difficulties or attention problems, keeping your spine in a healthy alignment may help these issues improve over time. Think of your spine like a motherboard connected to all the nerves in your body. When your spine functions properly, all the other areas in your body will work better, too!

But, chiropractic care isn't just for grownups anymore. More parents are taking their babies in for regular treatments. According to the American Chiropractic Association, a 2009 survey data indicated that the percentage of chiropractic patients younger than 17 years old had increased by 8.5 percent since 1991. If your little one suffers from colic, had an especially difficult delivery, suffers from chronic ear infections or has special needs, chiropractic care could help them.

Baby Chiropractic Treatments and Benefits

As a parent, you might worry that if you take your baby to a chiropractor that someone will start pressing down really hard on your baby's delicate back. Seeing someone working on the spinal column of your little baby without understanding the process could trigger your protective instincts. In actuality, chiropractic care for babies and children involves using a very gentle type of treatment that carefully manipulates your baby's spine without causing injury or harm. Chiropractors often use specialized adjustment instruments in a mild and soothing way while targeting specific areas along your baby's spine that appear abnormal. Your chiropractor will not treat the cause of your baby's health problems but will simply help reduce stress caused by a misaligned spinal column so that your baby's body can function properly and heal more quickly.

According to the American Chiropractic Association, Sherman College of Chiropractic , chiropractic treatment may benefit children who suffer from:

• Constipation

• Bed wetting

• Chronic ear infections

• Immune deficiency issues

• Difficult or medically induced birth

• Birth defects

• Failure to thrive

• Weak latch and other nursing issues

• Asthma and Allergies

• Breathing difficulties

• Trauma or injury

• Recovery from an illness

Lifting Weights As You Age Cuts Your Risk Of Early Death By 46%

The secret to a longer life may be a barbell: Strength training as you age reduces your risk for death, according to a new study from Penn State College of Medicine.

Researchers surveyed people age 65 or older about their exercise habits and then tracked them for 15 years. Nearly a third of the study participants died during that period.

Click Title to read the full article.

Ice or Hot Tub?

Low Back Pain: An Ice Pack or the Hot Tub?

Many patients perform some self-care when they first hurt their lower back, hoping this will keep them out of a doctor’s office. While home remedies can sometimes make the pain go away, sometimes they don’t. It just depends on what you try. When the back is first hurt, it’s often a sprain/strain type of injury with accompanying muscle spasm.

When a nerve in the low back becomes pinched or irritated, the body will protect the delicate nerves by keeping you from moving and risking further nerve injury. The easiest way for the body to do this is to cause the back muscles to spasm in the injured area.

Muscle pain can be quite severe, and heat can sometimes soothe the pain. For this reason, many patients take to the heating pad or to the hot tub to try and get some relief.

Another choice with an acute injury is to ice the area, but this also needs to be done with some caution. The simplest ice pack is ice cubes placed in a plastic bag. While effective, you can cause a frostbite injury if you leave the pack on for too long. When you first ice the area, you will go through several phases before some pain relief is achieved. At first, the pack will feel cold. The next phase is a burning sensation and the ice will almost feel hot. This is followed by an aching or throbbing sensation. Just before the area is numbed, a very sharp pain will be experienced followed by the relief you desire. It can take between five to ten minutes to go through all of the phases.

Once numbness is achieved, the pack should be removed. You should most definitely not fall asleep while the pack is on.

If this simple procedure does not solve the problem, it’s best to get your spine checked by a doctor of chiropractic.

Chiro-Trust.org

Is It My Low Back Or My Hip?

When patients present with low back pain, it is not uncommon for pain to arise from areas other than the low back, such as the hip. There are many tissues in the low back and hip region that are susceptible to injury with have overlapping pain pathways that often make it challenging to isolate the truly injured area. Hip pain can present in many different ways.

When considering the anatomy of the low back (lumbar spine) and hip, and the nerves that innervate the hip come from the low back, it’s no wonder that differentiating between the two conditions is often difficult. Complaints may include the inside, outside, front, or back of the thigh, the knee, the buttocks, the sacroiliac joint, or the low back and yet, the hip may truly be the pain generator with any of these presentations. To make diagnosis even more complex, the hip pain patient may present one day with what appears to be sciatic nerve pain (that is, pain shooting down the back of the leg to the knee if mild or to the foot if more severe) but the next visit, with only groin pain.

When pain radiates down a leg, the almost automatic impression by both the patient and their healthcare provider is, “…it’s a pinched nerve.” But again, it could be the hip and NOT a pinched nerve that is creating the leg pain pattern. Throwing yet another wrench in the works is the fact that a patient can have more than one condition at the same time. So, they truly MAY simultaneously have BOTH a low back problem AND a hip problem. In fact, its actually unusual to x-ray the low back of a hip pain patient without seeing some low back condition(s) like degenerative disk disease, osteoarthritis (spurs off the vertebrae), or combination of these. So, how do we differentiate between hip vs. low back pain when it is common for both low back and hip pain to often coincide?

During our history, we often ask the question, “…what activities make your pain worse?” If the patient replies that weight bearing activities like standing, walking, getting up from sitting, etc., provoke the pain (and they point to the front or side of the hip), a hip-related diagnosis is favored but it STILL may be arising from the low back or both! If they say, “…crossing my right leg over the other hurts in my groin,” then that’s getting more hip pain-specific as hip rotation is frequently lost before the forward flexion motion.

When we ask the hip pain patient to point to the area of greatest discomfort, they usually point to the front of the hip or groin, and less often to the inner and/or anterior thigh or knee. Non-weight bearing positions like sitting or lying are almost always immediately pain relieving. When there is arthritis in the hip, motion loss is often reported and may include a shorter walking stride and pain usually gets worse the longer these patients are on their feet. Initiating motion often hurts, sometimes even in bed when rolling over. During the chiropractic examination, with the patient lying on the back with the knee and hip both bent 90°, moving the bent knee outwards or inwards will almost always reproduce hip/groin area pain. Pulling on or applying traction to the affected leg usually, “…feels good.” Knee & ankle reflexes and sensation are normal but muscle strength may be weak due to pain. Bending the low back into different positions does not reproduce pain if the pain is only coming from the hip.

Though sometimes challenging, doctors of chiropractic are well-trained to be able to differentiate between hip and low back pain and will treat both areas when it is appropriate.

Chiro-Trust.org

What Are Cervicogenic Headaches?

Cervicogenic = caused by or coming from the neck

Headaches are a very common problem that can have multiple causes ranging from stress to trauma.  To make matters worse, there are MANY different types of headaches. One such type is the “cervicogenic headache” (others include migraines, cluster headaches, etc.).

The main distinction between the symptoms associated with cervicogenic headaches and those associated with migraine headaches are a lack of nausea, vomiting, aura (a pre-headache warning that a headache is about to strike), light and noise sensitivity, increased tearing with red eyes, one-sided head, neck, shoulder, and/or arm pain, and dizziness. The items listed above are primarily found in migraine headache sufferers.   The following is a list of clinical characteristics common in those struggling with cervicogenic headaches:

·      Unilateral (one-sided) head or face pain (rarely is it on both sides).

·      Pain is localized or stays in one spot, usually the back of the head, frontal, temporal (side) or orbital (eye) regions.

·      Moderate to severe pain intensity.

·      Intermittent attacks of pain that last hours to days.

·      Pain is usually deep, non-throbbing, unless migraines occur at the same time.

·      Head pain is triggered by neck movement, sustained awkward head postures, applying deep pressure to the base of the skull or upper neck region, and/or taking a deep breath, cough or sneeze can trigger head pain.

·      Limited neck motion with stiffness.

Infrequently, the cervicogenic headache sufferer can present with migraines at the same time and have both presentations making it more challenging to diagnose.

The cause of cervicogenic headaches can be obvious such as trauma (sports injury, whiplash, slip and fall), or not so obvious, like poor posture. A forward head posture can increase the relative weight applied to the back of the neck and upper back as much as 2x-4x normal. In summary, the upper three nerves innervate the head and any pressure on those upper nerves can result in a cervicogenic headache. Doctors of chiropractic are trained to examine, identify, and treat these types of potentially debilitating headaches.

Chiro-Trust.org

How does chiropractic work?

Many people seek chiropractic care when their back goes out or their neck tightens up. But how does this form of care actually work? What are the benefits of receiving chiropractic care for nerve dysfunction compared with other healthcare options? Let’s take a look!

First, let’s discuss how the nervous system “works.” We have three divisions of the nervous system: the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems. The central nervous system (CNS) includes the brain and spinal cord, and it’s essentially the main processing portion of the nervous system. The spinal cord is like a multi-lane highway that brings information to the brain for processing (sensory division) and returns information back to the toes, feet, legs, and upper extremities from which the information originated (motor division). For example, hiking on a mountain trail or simply walking requires constant input to and from the CNS so we can adjust our balance accordingly and not fall. These “sensory-motor pathways” are essential and allow us to complete our daily tasks in an efficient, safe manner as information is constantly bouncing back and forth between the brain and the rest of the body.

The peripheral nervous system (PNS) includes a similar sensory/motor “two-way street” system relaying information back and forth from our toes/feet/legs and fingers/hands/arms to the spinal cord (CNS). And if this isn’t complicated enough, we also have “reflexes” that, for example, allow us to QUICKLY pull our hand away from a hot stove to minimize burning our fingers.

Reflexes allow the information to “skip” the brain’s processing part so quicker reactions can occur. The autonomic nervous system (ANS) includes the sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions that basically “run” our automatic (organ) functions like breathing, heart rate, digestion, hormonal output, and more. There is constant communication between the ANS, PNS, and CNS that allow us to function in a normal, balanced way… unless something disrupts them.

There are obvious conditions that interfere with this communication process that include (but are not limited to) diabetes (with neuropathy), frost bitten or burned fingers, peripheral nerve damage from conditions like carpal/cubital tunnel syndromes, thoracic outlet syndrome, and/or pinched nerves in the neck, mid-back, low-back spinal regions, as well as conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS), Guillain-Barre Syndrome, after a stroke (spinal cord or brain), and after trauma with resulting fractures where nerve, spinal cord, and/or brain damage can occur. These are “obvious” reasons for delayed or blocked neurotransmission.

There are many other less obvious injuries or conditions that can result in faulty neuromotor patterns and nerve transmission of which chiropractic services can benefit. The “subluxation complex” is a term some chiropractors use to describe the compromised nerve transmission that may occur if a nerve is compressed or irritated due to faulty bone or joint position along the nerve’s course. Reducing such nerve compression typically allows for a restoration of function. A good illustration of this is a patient who suffers from a herniated disk in the neck with numbness and tingling down the arm to the hand. The goal of treatment (for all healthcare professionals) is to remove the pinch of the nerve.

To realize this goal, doctors of chiropractic utilize spinal manipulation and mobilization in addition to other non-surgical, non-drug approaches that may include exercises, nutritional advice, home-care such as a cervical traction unit, and other anti-inflammatory measures (ice, modalities like low level and class IV laser, electric stimulation, pulsed magnetic field, and more). Given the minimal side-effect risks and well-reported benefits, it only makes sense to try chiropractic FIRST and if you’re not satisfied, your doctor will help you find the next level of care.

Chiro-Trust.org

NFL

Chiropractic Care Can Help NFL Players Get Ready for Their Season

Many people look to professional athletes when they are trying to develop a health and fitness plan. After all, it is easy to admire these individuals because they have to be in top condition in order to play their chosen sport. For some people, professional football players represent the hallmark of fitness. These men take and receive hard hits during a game and need to be agile and quick on the field.

While it is easy to just emulate the workout routine and dietary preferences of NFL players, you have to look far beyond that if you want to be truly healthy. For instance, football players have to make sure that their entire body is in game-ready condition. This includes their spinal column.

Chiropractic Care Is Available

Did you know that all 32 NFL teams offer chiropractic care for their players? This might shock you, especially if you remember the lawsuits that came about after players blamed the league and teams for pushing narcotics to keep them on the field despite injuries. The lawsuits led some players to look for ways to control pain that didn't involve drugs of any sort. Some of them turned to chiropractic care.

Kinesiology is important to these athletes. The mechanics of body movements that are at the center of this focus come from a variety of systems in the body, almost all of which are connected to the spinal cord. Without a properly aligned spine, there is a good chance that the body isn’t going to function optimally.

Part of Comprehensive Care

The availability of chiropractic care doesn’t mean athletes are foregoing traditional medical care. Instead, they are using chiropractic care to address issues before they develop into medical issues. Chiropractic care can help prevent some of the most common game-related injuries that football players experience, such as neck and back issues that come with crouching down and tackling.

Tackles can be especially dangerous since they can compress the cervical spine, which can cause catastrophic injuries. However, chiropractic care can help align the spine so that it isn't impacted as severely when it is hit.

Football players who receive chiropractic care report less soreness and fewer aches and pains. Jerry Rice, for instance, an NFL Hall of Fame and official spokesperson for the Foundation of Chiropractic Progress, has remarked on several occasions about how adjustments have helped him both on the field and off.

Mr. Rice is in good company. Joe Montana, a former quarterback, also touts the effects of chiropractic care. Even if you look at more recent NFL athletes, you will find many who espouse the benefits, such as running back and Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush. “I look at chiropractic care as important to keeping me healthy and at the top of my game,” Bush has said.

A Growing Practice

Since the “no pain, no gain” train of thought has dissolved since the end of the 1970s, chiropractic care has boomed in the NFL. There is now even a Professional Football Chiropractic Society. With this in mind, it is easy to see why other athletes are following suit by making sure to include chiropractic care in their arsenal.

It is important to note that chiropractic care isn’t limited only to the playing season. In fact, even in the offseason, an NFL team’s chiropractors stay busy. Players know they need to stay in top shape, which includes taking care of the spinal column year-round.

Chiropractic care has a cumulative effect on the body. As regular adjustments are made, the body will begin to hold the spine in place, which will increase the effectiveness of the treatments and help the body function in the best way possible.

Golf and Chiropractic

Chiropractic Care Addresses Some Common Golfing Complaints

Golf is the chosen pastime for many adults and some young people who want to enjoy time outdoors and get some exercise. While it might look like an easy sport, golf is very tough on the body. Anyone who golfs, whether for recreation or competitively, must make sure that they are taking care of the areas of the body that are under pressure during the game.

Chiropractic care can help to address some of the injuries that occur during the game, but it is also valuable for helping to prevent those injuries from occurring in the first place. Using a comprehensive approach to spinal care can help golfers to fare better on the links.

The quest for the perfect swing

In order to have a game that is at par or better, you need to perfect your golf swing. Working to perfect it is very hard on the spine. With each swing of the golf club, the spine is subjected to a compressive pressure that is 10 times greater than normal. This pressure can lead to injuries, soreness, and a misaligned spine.

Not only will you have to deal with the pressure on your spine while you are playing, you also have to deal with stress in the other areas of the body. This is especially true for the hips, which twist with each swing. The shoulders and elbows are also subjected to stress during a swing. This is why so many golfers suffer from “golfer’s elbow.” Wrist issues are also possible since golfers often use the “hit it where it lands” rule for playing.

Chiropractic care to address issues

Before injuries occur, chiropractic care can help to keep the spine properly aligned. This reduces the risk of injuries because it enables the entire body to work as it is intended to work. By doing this, you can lessen the chance that you will suffer from pinched nerves and similar conditions.

An injury on the green is a sure sign that you need to make a trip to the chiropractor. You’d be surprised by how many injuries are actually the result of the pressure that is on the spine altering the alignment. Sciatic nerve pain from hip movements, shoulder pain or elbow pain from swinging the golf club, and back injuries of all sorts can all be addressed through spinal manipulation at your chiropractor’s office.

Heartburn

Chiropractic Care Can Help Treat Heartburn and Related Conditions

Living with heartburn can make your life miserable. Some people might be willing to try anything just to get rid of the discomfort that comes with this condition. For many, including pregnant women, some options aren’t really feasible, and most people don’t want to eat a bland diet for the remainder of their life.

There is one option that some people might not have considered yet that can help to relieve their heartburn – chiropractic care. Since the spinal cord plays a role in every bodily function, it is understandable that a reputable chiropractor could help you find the relief that you need.

Focusing the Adjustment

When you visit a chiropractor and have heartburn or related conditions like GERD, you need to let the doctor know so that you can receive an adjustment that could help. The spinal cord nerves work with the muscles in the digestive tract to move food along. They also send signals telling the stomach when to secrete digestive acid and when to stop.

One of the causes of heartburn occurs when the food doesn’t move through the digestive tract properly and stomach acid backs up into the esophagus. This can lead to the heavy and full feeling, along with the burning sensation that comes with heartburn, and acid reflux. The other cause could be the stomach not getting the message to turn off the acid secretioin.

Continuing Care

Getting relief from heartburn can occur in only one visit to the chiropractor, though often times it takes more visits. The reduction many people feel is substantial.

The good news is that with more visits to the chiropractor, the spine will become properly aligned and remain that way over time instead of continually reverting back to the misaligned position. With the spine properly aligned, the spinal cord and nerves will be able to function properly without being compressed, pinched or impeded. This can help to provide long-term relief from heartburn.

You will start to notice that you aren’t getting heartburn as often once you have a few adjustments. As you continue the treatment, the frequency and severity should lessen. Of course, there is a good chance that a spicy taco dinner or ghost chili buffalo wings will still trigger a heartburn attack, but overall, you will experience marked relief from the debilitating condition.

Sources:

https://idealspine.com/chiropractic-care-and-acid-reflux-disease-gerd/

http://www.spinalhub.com.au/what-is-a-spinal-cord-injury/your-bowel-and-spinal-cord-injury/your-digestive-system-the-facts

https://www.babymed.com/blogs/jaclyn-stewart/chiropractor-might-be-cure-heartburn

http://www.spinalhub.com.au/what-is-a-spinal-cord-injury/what-happens-to-the-spinal-cord-after-injury/spinal-nerves-up-close

Fibromyalgia and Chiropractic Care

Fibromyalgia and Chiropractic Care

If you have fibromyalgia, you need to be very careful about all your activities. As you know, strenuous activity and even firm contact can cause a lot of pain, excruciating at times. What may not realize is that chiropractic care might be part of your solution.

Purpose of Chiropractic Care for Fibromyalgia

The pain of fibromyalgia may be due to pinched nerves and misalignments as well as chronic stimulation of your body’s “fight or flight” response. Your adrenal glands could be fatigued or exhausted, your body chemistry and nutrition could be completely out of balance. All of these issues may be helped by your chiropractor.

The relief from chiropractic care is cumulative. You might not receive the full benefits of the care on the first adjustment, but as the treatments continue you should feel better and better. Of the 20 percent of Americans who have visited a chiropractor for care, 80 percent report that they experienced significant pain relief and an increase in function.

Part of a Comprehensive Plan

After your chiropractor does a consultation and exam, he or she will have an idea if they might be able to help. Other things might be suggested such as stretching or strengthening exercises, nutrition, or massage. Keeping the ultimate goal of the plan in mind can help you determine what you want to do about each aspect of your care.

As far as the chiropractic adjustments go, it is important to focus on the entire spine. You might not have a full spine adjustment all in one visit, but over time the entire spine will be addressed. The chiropractor will usually start with the area of the spine that is causing you the most trouble. From there, you can discuss your symptoms and the chiropractor will determine how to help you with those.

People with fibromyalgia who have dealt with this note that the decrease in pain and increase in the range of motion are well worth the investment of time that it requires.

Sources:

http://www.fibromyalgia-symptoms.org/fibromyalgia_chiropractic.html

https://www.webmd.com/fibromyalgia/guide/natural-therapies-and-alternative-treatments-for-fibromyalgia#1

https://fibromyalgianewstoday.com/2017/03/03/chiropractic-adjustments-are-they-worth-the-flares/

Chiropractic Care for Infants

Many people think of chiropractic care as an adult only thing. But the truth is chiropractic can be extremely beneficial to many infants and help out with some of the common conditions that can cause fussiness in babies.

It is not for certain that your baby needs chiropractic care, but that is what the chiropractor will determine after a consultation and exam of your baby.  Generalized fussiness and incessant crying might be signs that something is wrong.

Chiropractic care for newborns is gentle

The care that a newborn will receive from a chiropractor is much different from the high-velocity adjustment that is usually portrayed on television. Instead, the adjustments feature such a light touch that it is unlikely that it will wake a baby who is sleeping.

When a baby visits the chiropractor, the doctor will examine the baby. This is done slowly and gently. Parents who are with the baby can ask for a demonstration on themselves that will show how light the adjustment will be.

Reasons for chiropractic care

While childbirth is a natural process, there is some stress on the baby during the journey. In some cases, a pinched nerve might occur. This can cause significant pain and might even cause neck weakness, but the baby can’t say what is wrong. He or she will just cry because of the discomfort. Chiropractic adjustments can help with things like pinched nerves, colic, ear infections, acid reflux and some feeding difficulties.

Because the cause of newborn fussiness isn’t always easily ascertained, it might take multiple visits to see the full effects of what chiropractic care can do for a baby. It is important to pay close attention to the baby after each visit so that you can let the chiropractor know how the baby handled the adjustment when you return for a follow-up visit.

Sources:

http://www.parenting.com/article/baby-chiropractic-trend-or-lasting-treatment

https://www.acatoday.org/News-Publications/ACA-News-Archive/ArtMID/5721/ArticleID/165/Safety-and-Effectiveness-of-Pediatric-Chiropractic

https://keeperofthehome.org/our-experience-with-newborn-chiropractic-care-and-why-you-should-consider-it/

Hip Problems

Hip Problems and Chiropractic Care

Hip pain can range from minor to debilitating, but the need for relief is a constant that binds all hip pain together. There are many different ways that you might try to handle pain in the hip area. Some people turn to Western medicine, but others choose to try chiropractic care for this.

The Cause of the Pain Matters

More than 150 techniques are involved in chiropractic care. The cause of the pain can help to determine which types of adjustments you will need. Unlike what you see on television and in the movies, chiropractic care doesn’t involve only high-velocity adjustments. Instead, there are many gentle techniques that can be beneficial for people who have hip pain.

Oftentimes, it’s a misalignment of the spine or pelvis that causes the hip pain. While this is something that can occur because of an accident, it can also occur because of arthritis or years of overuse or abuse. In all of these cases, chiropractic care can realign your spine getting things back to how they need to be so that you can feel some pain relief.

Treatments May Include More Than Adjustments

Chiropractic care includes more than just adjustments. These professionals may also recommend stretching and or strengthening exercises, and maybe massage. These options can help to loosen up tight muscles that might be contributing to your hip pain.

As part of your treatment plan, you might also be given other instructions and lifestyle changes to focus on. For example, men might be warned to stop sitting on a wallet when driving. A wallet causes the body to be tilted, which can lead to significant problems. It can also cause the hips to be misaligned even when the wallet isn’t in your pocket.

The Relief Is Cumulative, Not Instant

You likely won't get full relief for your hip pain in a single visit. In fact, the first few visits might make you stiff. This is to be expected. As the treatment plan continues, you should feel more and more relief. If you do experience anything more than just stiffness, let the chiropractor know so he or she can determine if there are other issues that need to be addressed.

Sources:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3110407/

https://www.webmd.com/pain-management/guide/chiropractic-pain-relief#1

http://www.arthritis.org/living-with-arthritis/treatments/natural/other-therapies/chiropractic-medicine.php