Tag: Adjustment

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It’s Not The Load, It’s The Way You Carry It

posture__health
“It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.” – Lena Horne

Our body is an architectural masterpiece – designed to do extraordinary things when functioning optimally. As a Structural Chiropractor, my focus is on the design of your spine. When the spine’s structure matches the blue prints from your DNA, then it is designed to handle the stresses of gravity and a healthy level of activity. However, when the spine loses its proper structure, then those stressors (gravity and activity) can suddenly reveal its weakness. In this post, we’ll focus on the cervical spine (your neck).

Structure Determines Function

The presence of a curve in your neck allows for smoother motion of each of your neck vertebra. It also plays a key role in distributing force throughout the discs of the cervical spine. In essence, a C-shaped curve in the neck can and will prevent early breakdown and degeneration of your spinal joints. As the discs and joints begin to breakdown, it can create the environment for inflammation to build up around the nerves, or even lead to disc protrusions and disc bulges.

When the head shifts forward, it causes the shoulders and thoracic spine to round. When left there over time, the facet joints of the neck stop moving smoothly and lock the head in that forward position. This shifting of the spine can also advance the age of your spine through degeneration. However, when this head forward movement is corrected, the rest of the spine will often shift back into a normal position again and reduce the rounding on its own.

How Do We Correct This?

Postural corrective exercises can be performed to strengthen the upper back and neck. Massage therapy can be performed to address the muscular dysfunction and trigger points resulting from this shift. However, if the shifting of the spine is not addressed – then a correction will often not occur. In our office, we use specific adjustments to correct Structural Shifts allow your body to make Structural Corrections naturally and to the extent that is capable for you.

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How Do You Know If Your Baby Needs an Adjustment?

How Do You Know If Your Baby Needs an Adjustment

DID YOU KNOW that structural shifts in the spine can happen from the birth process?

A typical birth can place 60-90 lbs of force onto an infant’s head and neck. While most children are okay, these shifts have been associated with colic, constipation, sleep issues and trouble feeding. Early check ups can help prevent structural shifts from becoming a chronic problem.

So why would a baby need an adjustment? It all starts with our modern birth process. You see, for thousands of years – the vast majority of children brought into this world were done so without the need for intervention and induction. That doesn’t mean that every birth was perfect and non-complicated – but it does mean that 40% or more of them did not end with drugs, anesthesia, and surgical tools. Unfortunately, in our present society – the birth process can often times be the first injury to a baby’s upper neck, cranial area, and spine. In my experience, the greater the amount of intervention during the birth process (induction, forceps, vacuum, C-section, etc.), the greater the likelihood of a significant shift in a newborn’s spinal structure.

When there is strain, tension, pulling and stress placed on the child’s head and neck during the birth process, it very commonly leads to a structural shift. This shift has three parts – misalignment, fixation (“stuck”), and nerve interference/irritation. This will often times lead to secondary conditions (colic, constipation, difficulty feeding) that we see resolve when these misalignments are corrected in infants.

The following are physiological signs of a structural shift in newborns, infants, and toddlers that parents can be on the lookout for:

Cervical spine (neck):
  • Baby always has head turned one way (head tilt)
  • Difficulty rotating head or restrictive neck motion in one or more directions
  • Apparent discomfort or resistance when touching muscles at base of skull (sub-occipitals).

Hips/Pelvis (sacrum):

  • Forward rotation of a hip when holding baby up under arms
  • One crease of buttocks higher than the other (deviated gluteal crease)
  • Arching of back
  • Unequal crawling

Skull (cranial bones):

  • Aysmmetry of cranial bones
  • Flattened occipital bone (back of head)
  • Uneven eye orbits

Pediatric Chiropractic care is gentle and safe. Only light force is needed when adjusting an infant or child’s spine. Imagine the pressure needed to press your pinky finger into a ripe red tomato. It’s important to note that not all chiropractors check and adjust children. I recommend using the ICPA’s website to find a pediatric chiropractor in your area that specializes in dealing with prenatal care, pregnancy, and children.

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You Are As Old As Your Spine

aging spine

Aging is not just the number of years you’ve inhabited planet Earth, but rather the degree of wear and tear your body, brain, and vital organs are expressing at a given point in time. – Ronesh Sinha, MD

A spine with too much, too little, or improper movement directly affects the wiring and firing of nerves that come from your brain and travel down your spinal cord. Your brain and spinal cord act like the world’s most powerful computer chip which requires a proper information and power supply to work properly. Movement of the spine dictates how information is received in the brain through tiny little nerve ending’s called mechanoreceptors. The spine also houses critical nerves, arteries, and veins that carry food and waste in and out of the brain and spinal cord.

This is why – regardless of disease or symptoms – a healthy, properly moving, aligned spine is so essential to our health. By restoring motion to the spine (via the chiropractic adjustment), changes will begin to occur, such as: decrease in stress signals and stress hormones, decrease inflammation, and pain (if present) will subside. Most important of all, it results in a healthy body-brain neurological communication which is essential for overall health.

When it comes to your spine – the things we do on a daily basis are either moving us towards a healthy spine or away from health and towards a degenerating spine. Research shows that a joint (aka your spine) that has lost a degree of its normal movement will begin degenerating at a rate measurable within one week of onset. It’s important to realize that this degenerative process will continue, often painlessly, until significant degeneration has occurred. This is a big reason why you don’t need to be in pain to have chiropractic care in our office.

The following are the good and bad in keeping your spine as young as possible:

The Good

  • Periodic chiropractic checkups – Regardless of symptoms, the research shows we are much healthier with a properly moving spine than without.
  • Stretch regularly – Consider how inflexible most people are – how do you think they got that way? Muscles abide by the “use it or lose it” principle. Avoid this fate by isolating key muscle groups and giving them a good daily stretch (Patients in our office receive customized stretches based on their individual needs).
  • Proper hydration – Your spine and its supportive structures work best when they’re hydrated. Most people will not drink enough water to replace their original fluid deficit, and this problem is exacerbated with age.
  • Daily exercise – Ideally we should be spending a good portion of our days walking, standing and moving in general. If we don’t our bodies rebel and health declines. Do some form of exercise that significantly raises your heart rate for 30 minutes at least four times a week.
  • Supportive sleep environment – Your bed and pillow should both help keep your body in natural alignment. Dated and flimsy mattresses stress your hips, pelvis, and back, which inevitably lead to chronic pain. Buy a quality pillow that keeps your head level, and use a good mattress that firmly (yet comfortably) prevents your spine from dipping or sagging while you sleep.
  • Be mindful of your posture – This applies to whatever you’re doing, whether you’re at work, home, in the car, at the gym, or simply standing up. Good posture has benefits; poor posture has consequences.
  • Proper nutrition –  A nutrient-rich diet with a diversity of plants, healthy proteins and high quality, healthy fats actually feed and nourish your genes, slowing the degenerative process.

The Bad

  • Poor general posture (slouching) – With proper postural awareness, you can save years of wear and tear on the spine, and maintain full function of the delicate nervous system.
  • Sedentary lifestyle – A study done in over 2,000 identical twins who carry the same genetic material showed that the more active twins had longer, healthier telomeres than their genetically identical siblings.  The most active twins had genes that appeared 9 years younger than their inactive siblings. Spend less time on your computer/phone and move daily.
  • Stress – Chronic stress promotes inflammation and oxidative damage that is inflicted upon DNA, which increases disease risk and accelerates aging.
  • Sleeping on your stomach – Having your head and neck turned to one side while sleeping can significantly strain the muscles and ligaments of the spine. Repeatedly doing so every night for years slowly adds pressure to the joints and nerves, contributing to spinal degeneration and allowing for the development of a variety of health problems.
  • Neglecting your spine by not getting periodic chiropractic checkups – By restoring motion and removing nerve interference – you can begin to function how you were designed to.
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Optimal Structure = Optimal Function

Optimal Structure = Optimal Function

The design of any structure dictates what the function of that object will be. Have you ever looked at the structure of the human frame? The spine is truly an incredible feat of engineering. Each piece is placed in a specific way for a specific function. When the spine’s structure matches the blue prints from your DNA, then it can handle the stresses of gravity and a healthy level of activity. However, when the spine loses its proper structure, then stress of gravity and activity can suddenly reveal its weakness.

As a structural chiropractor, it’s my job to detect structural and functional abnormalities of the spine before they become major problems. In humans, structure is dictated by your spine and function is dictated by your nervous system. The nervous system is responsible for the function of every system in the body. When the nervous system has a hiccup, then muscles, organs, or glands may overreact or under react leading to a wide variety of problems called Secondary Conditions.

What Is A Structural Shift?

A structural shifts occurs when a segment of the spine shifts and disrupts the spinal nerves and spinal cord, which can create many different secondary conditions or symptoms. The reason these are called secondary conditions is because they are a result of the primary structural shift, or the underlying cause. This shift will distort the signals going in and out of the brain. As the spine shifts, the spinal cord and spinal nerves will misfire into the brain. This misfiring causes the muscles of the spine to tighten and spasm, and create dysfunction to anywhere where those nerves travel.

The location of the structural shift and where the nerves are being disrupted will give us an idea about your secondary conditions. A structural shift may produce local pain, but this may also have an effect elsewhere in the body. For example, according to a recent study in the Journal of Neurosurgery, deformities in the neck affect the alignment of the hips and pelvis.

What You Can Do About It

The good news is that these problems are almost always preventable. With proper exercise and proper postural awareness, you can save years of wear and tear on the spine, and maintain full function of the delicate nervous system. As with anything else, it’s always important that you protect the parts of your body that you hold most dear through routine check ups. Your spine is no exception.

Reversing structural abnormalities using specific customized chiropractic care gets to the underlying cause of many conditions. The best thing about someone with Normal Structure is that it allows their spine to be stable. When the structural alignment of someone’s spine goes back to normal and it is stable, secondary conditions will often resolve and the nervous system can function optimally.

At True Health Family Chiropractic, we are focused on delivering a full structural correction to the spine. We use structural x-rays, digital structural analysis, and neuromuscular scanning tools to assess the full nature of your problem.

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Why Are We So Allergic Now? (And What to Do About It)

Why Are We So Allergic?

Spring is finally here, and for most of us, that’s a big relief. For many others, however, this means the return of sneezing, coughing, wheezing, itching – better known as spring allergies. Research shows that more kids than ever before have allergies, and it seems every year we’re told it will be the “worst spring ever” for allergies. According to the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI), 23.6 million Americans were diagnosed with hay fever in the last year. The prevalence of allergies is surging upward, with as many as 30 percent of adults and up to 40 percent of children having at least one allergy.

Why are more kids than ever before allergic and/or have asthma? The difference is not the pollen, the difference is how our bodies react to the pollen. An allergic response happens when the body’s immune system overreacts to allergens such as dust and pollen. The response is that the body overproduces neutralizing chemicals such as histamines to correct the problem. Why is this happening more and more with each passing spring?

Let’s look at some growing trends in our society to figure out why childhood allergies have become so severe and so prevalent. Continue reading “Why Are We So Allergic Now? (And What to Do About It)”