Tag: Chiropractic

Posted on

6 Tips For Establishing a Health Routine

healthy routine

The key to maintaining optimal health is follow through. Start with something small like stretching each morning. And then follow through. If you succeed at an easy one, it will actually strengthen your willpower, thereby improving your ability to succeed at the next, more difficult one.

Once you have a series of successes under your belt, you will be better able to tackle the really tough ones, like changing your diet or working out. Here are 6 tips to get you started on creating a health routine that works for you:

1. Make a List, Check It Twice. List making is a good organizational strategy. Make a list as part of your daily health routine the night before. When you make a list of the things you’ll do the next day, such as going to the gym, attending that meeting, picking up vegetables for dinner in the evening, you’ll be clear about at least 80 percent of your day. Knowing what to expect can help you hit the ground running when the sun comes up.

2. Do The Most Important Thing First. Early in the morning (after your coffee of course), you’re likely to have the most energy, and the fewest distractions. Start your day by focusing without interruption on the most important or challenging task you can accomplish that day.

3. Set Goals and Limits. If goals are excessively restrictive or vague, you will be less likely to rise to the challenge. Establish clear nutrition and health goals (dessert two times a week; a half-hour walk five times a week, etc.). Consistency is key to success with anything in life but especially when it comes to your health. Keep track of the foods you eat each day for free with My Fitness Pal.

4. Stick to Your Plan. It’s important to have a habitual routine – and to follow through with it – so you can streamline your schedule. Do the same things in the same order at the same time each day. Try out a routine for a few days to see what works best for you. Keep up with your workouts and chiropractic adjustments, and develop a consistent routine for healthy eating. Once you experience how great your body is designed to feel and function – you will feel sluggish and unsettled if you start missing your adjustments, workouts or eating unhealthy – which in itself is a strong incentive to get back on track.

5. Focus Your Positive Energy. One great way to start your new morning routine is by taking a few quiet moments after you wake up to focus your positive energy for the day. You can achieve this through meditation, thinking positive thoughts, doing affirmations, or practicing visualization exercises. Studies have shown that regular meditation may lower blood pressure, boost the immune system, and help relieve stress and fatigue.

6. Stop worrying. “The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.” You can’t fully appreciate today if you worry too much about tomorrow. Realize that tomorrow is going to happen whether you worry about it or not. And since worry has never accomplished anything for anybody, redirect your mental energy elsewhere.

Posted on

“I Can Adjust Myself”

good_idea_bad_idea

“I don’t need a chiropractor. I can adjust myself.” If you had a tooth ache would you break out your Black and Decker drill and fix it yourself? It makes the same noise as a dentist’s drill – crazy right? It is even crazier to think that you or anyone other than a licensed chiropractor knows how to examine and specifically adjust your spine without hundreds of hours of specialized training.

Chiropractors themselves go to other chiropractors to be adjusted on a regular basis because we know that the nervous system and spine are way too important to play around with. And yet we are always running into people who proudly say, “I don’t need a chiropractor, I pop my own back!” or “My osteopath knows how to pop my back.” or “My physical therapist does it for me”, or “My wife walks on my back”. (There are even videos on Youtube on adjusting your own neck – scary.)

More importantly, a chiropractic adjustment has very little to do with simply getting your spine to pop or “crack”. The popping noise is incidental (at best) to a thorough chiropractic examination and specific adjustment of only those segments of the spine that are actually misaligned and shifted. With care for not disturbing those vertebrae that are in proper alignment, the chiropractic adjustment respects the spine for good reason – your spine protects the nervous system which controls everything in your body. 

Trying to “adjust yourself” or letting anyone other than a chiropractor adjust your spine, is a lot like drilling your precious teeth with a family drill; it’s a very bad idea. Safe and specific care of your spine and nervous system is a chiropractor’s only business and we take it seriously.

Posted on

If You Could Live to 100, Would You Want To?

long life

If you knew you’d live to be 100, what would you do differently today?

Whether we like it or not, Americans are living longer than ever before. For example, an American male born in 2008 can expect to live to the age of 75, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. For girls, it’s 80. Back in 1960, it was 67 for boys and 73 for girls, on average.

Unfortunately, many of today’s generation of seniors and Superseniors are not experiencing the health or the joy of their extended years. Too many of them are rotting away in nursing homes unable to capitalize on their golden years. Their plight has skewed our view of aging giving many of us trepidation and fear about the reality of our extended life span.

NPR recently ran a story which further cements this point. The Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project, who asked more than 2000 Americans how they feel about this extended life span. A majority (56 percent) say they aren’t interested in medical treatments that would let them live to see 120. Thirty-eight percent think it’s a fine idea. Continue reading “If You Could Live to 100, Would You Want To?”

Posted on

Why Is Alignment Important?

True Health starts with an aligned spine

The human body craves alignment. We work most efficiently when we are aligned. Ideally our bones should be supporting our weight (not our muscles) but when we lose normal alignment – the muscles pick up the slack which results in muscle strains, sprains, and tears. When we lose proper alignment we see joints begin to break down or wear out – due to uneven weight distribution.

Anyone who has ever driven and maintained an automobile for an extended period of time has likely dealt with an alignment problem. The effects of a simple curb nudge, fender-bender or direct collision may create a misalignment that is not immediately obvious. Our bodies are very much like automobiles – and we may not realize that our own alignment is off until an ankle sprain leads to knee trouble or the occasional ache develops into chronic pain or worse yet – we need a knee or hip replacement.

As chiropractors, we understand the human body is better able to deal with stressors when there is balance in the spine – allowing the nerve system to work free of any structural interference. The focus of chiropractic care is to keep the bones of the spine (vertebrae) in their proper relationships with each other, which enhances the function of the spine and nerve system in order to allow the body to fully express its maximum potential and work optimally. Continue reading “Why Is Alignment Important?”

Posted on

Chiropractic and Digestion

chiropractic and digestion

The symptoms of abnormal digestion are becoming increasingly more prevalent in our society. Americans spent $13 billion on acid stopping medications in 2006. Nexium, the most popular, brought in $5.1 billion alone – making it the second highest selling drug behind Lipitor. More than 60 million prescriptions for GERD were filled in 2004. Fortunately, there is a growing body of research that shows a connection to your spine and nervous system.

The nervous system controls digestive function from several different regions. The vagus nerve which courses out of the brain stem and runs near the atlas bone innervates all the major organs of digestion and functions to stimulate the digestive process. Other major areas controlling the pace of digestion include the sympathetic nerves coming out of the thoracic & lumbar regions and the sacral parasympathetic nerve fibers. Spinal misalignment in any of these regions can lead to neurological compromise and altered digestive function.

Chiropractors search for the location of such spinal misalignments termed subluxations. A specific chiropractic adjustment realigns the altered regions and restores nerve supply. It is important to not that chiropractic care is NOT a treatment for digestive issues – however – restoring nerve supply to areas that control digestion can have a dramatic effect on a person’s digestive troubles. Continue reading “Chiropractic and Digestion”