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DO YOU HAVE THE STRUCTURAL ADVANTAGE?

Posted in health and wellness, Uncategorized with tags anterior head syndrome, back pain, compressed disc, compressed nerve, damaged disc, degenerative arthritis, dowager's hump, health, neck pain, Structural Chiropractic, structural correction on July 11, 2014 by chiropracticdouglasville

With all the excitement of the World Cup, we get to witness some of the greatest athletes in the world performing and competing with each other. Many of us watching on TV, witness these world class players get the most out of their bodies to win the game. The average athlete that gets to play in these world class games has to be functioning at their optimal levels. With so many skilled players competing any single advantage can mean placing on the team or staying home.
The structure of the body can make huge positive or negative differences in performance for a top athlete and also for the general public that is going about their day working hard and living life. A great example is a car. At the competitive level performance cars are constantly checked for alignment. When winning and losing can be determined in milliseconds, having a structural advantage is something that the pit crew at a race is deeply concerned about. The Structural advantage is very important to professional car racing but the same applies to people driving around everyday. The alignment of your car affects the performance (daily function). If the alignment of the car is off than certain areas (tires, shocks, brakes…) will start to age and breaks down faster than normal. I see this with patients that have certain areas of their body that are wearing down and deteriorating faster than others. Many of such patients have been told, “you are just getting old”. I usually comment with “how old is the rest of Understanding-web

your body and why is it not aging as the area that is bothering you”. After laughing at my comment, most people do recognize that abnormal wear or tear can be because their structure has gone outside of the normal range. The abnormal structure equates to abnormal pressure on the body and this process will deteriorate certain areas faster than the rest.
The misaligned car burns more gas even though it is performing worse costing more too.
This equates for a person that feels they have less energy and gets tired much faster than they used too. For a top athlete all these factors are important to be placed and playing or not. For the average person their structure is also very important for everyday living. At work energy and job performance can equal a raise or getting replaced. This applies to a person’s relationships with their family too. It is hard to keep up with the family and kids if your energy is low and your body is performing like it should. This also applies to fun hobbies and activities. There is no doubt that the average person that is functioning below their body’s abilities is missing out on all that life has to offer. The structural advantage affects all parts of life and allows for a life lived at your full potential.

ARE YOU SHRINKING?

Posted in health and wellness, Uncategorized with tags anterior head syndrome, arm pain, arthritis, back pain, CHIROPRACTIC, compressed disc, compressed nerve, degeneration, degenerative arthritis, dowager's hump, health, LOSING HEIGHT, neck pain, osteopenia, osteoporosis, sciatic pain, shrinking height, Structural Chiropractic, structural correction on June 16, 2014 by chiropracticdouglasville

Is it true that you lose your height as you age? Is this something that is unavoidable?

You can observe that many people start to shrink over time and although this is a common thing to happen, it is absolutely not normal.

To fully understand why the height changes, we first need to understand how a spine works. There are normal ranges for most systems in your body. There are normal ranges for blood pressure, body temperature and, indeed, the spine too has a normal range. A normal spine is straight from the front and from the side there are three curves. These banana shaped curves are in the neck, mid-back and low back. The whole spine is made up of 24 individual bones (vertebra). In between each bone is a cartilage pad called a vertebral disc. When the spine is within the normal range it has the average height of 71 cm.

There are many different types of stresses that cause a person’s spine to go out of the normal range. A few of these include the birth process, fall, traumas, accidents, and job hazards including, but not limited to, sitting for long periods in front of a computer, driving for long periods, manual labor, etc.

The people with a shrinking spine and structural abnormalities will experience many secondary conditions such as neck and back pain, disc bulges, radiculopathy,headaches, arm or leg pain, muscle spasm…. People with these issues are at a greater risk of experiencing height loss.

Although most traditional doctors have focused on treating the secondary conditions, a Structural Chiropractor’s first concern is to examine if the issues are coming from a structural abnormality. This is done by a thorough examination that includes Digital Structural Radiographs, Bilateral Digital Weight distribution analysis, Functional movement analysis and a Neurological exam. The examination determines if the person’s has structural abnormalities and, if so, recommends a structural corrective care plan to stop the shrinking process

These Boots Were NOT Made For Walking!

Posted in health and wellness, Uncategorized with tags back pain, health, heels, hyper lordosis, natural drug free, prevention, shoes and back pain, spinal structure, Structural Chiropractic, structural correction, subluxation, women on November 1, 2013 by chiropracticdouglasville

There can be an absolute correlation between your high heels and developing structural abnormalities in your spine.

The recent research from the Institute of medicine (IOM) shows that more than 116 million Americans are suffering with chronic pain. That basically says that 1 out of 3 in our community are suffering and has been suffering for awhile. With this sad and alarming statistic it is a must to look for and avoid situations that will have a negative affect on your spine. A spine that is STRUCTURALLY within the NORMAL limit is, straight from front and has three curves from the side. The curves are in the neck, mid back and the low back. The normal curve in the neck also causes a person’s head to be positioned over their shoulders. The head positioning can be observed from the side as the a person’s ear and top of the shoulder should be aligned.

The normal alignment of the spine develops as the baby starts to grow inside the mother. The research shows that a newborn baby should have the proper spinal positioning from birth. The proper structure of the spine is as important as the foundation under the house, the alignment of your car, etc….if these structures are not in the proper position than those objects will start deteriorating and get permanently damaged. If the foundation of your house is not properly aligned than the doors will not close properly, the windows do not work properly, the roof develops cracks…If your car is not properly aligned than the tires and the parts wear down. The same is happening with an person that has structural abnormalities in their spine. Some of the major secondary conditions cause by a properly that is not aligned spine include degenerative arthritis, pains, pinched nerves, muscle spasms…

So how do these misalignments take place? The simplest answer is because of STRESS.

Stress can be categorized into three different categories. Physical, Chemical and Emotional stress. In this article we will focus on physical stress as it pertains to wearing high heels. High-heels give a women a taller and more slender appearance, and make women’s legs look thinner and more shapely. However, we should be aware that elevated heels will cause your lower back to accentuate its curve. Although there is a normal curvature in the lower back, the heels are increasing the amount of curve beyond the normal limits. This will predispose the person to stress on their joints and misalignments leading to chronic pain overtime. High-heels can be especially aggravating and harmful if you already have a misaligned spine. This increased curvature in the lower back, commonly referred to as hyper-lordosis, will narrow the opening between the vertebrae where the nerve root exits thus causing compression of the nerve roots within that opening (neuro-foraminal compression). It may also cause enough additional disc stress to result in further disc bulging (herniated disc) and subsequent sciatica (pain down the leg) due to nerve root compression.

If a structural abnormality is already present from pervious stress or traumas, than the hyper-lordosis that is made worse from high-heels will have multiple affects. Some of these are:

Facet glide with probable facet syndrome, Nerve root compression within the neuro-foramen (pinched nerves), Further disc stress and degeneration, Possible increase in disc herniation or bulging, Contribute to or aggravate sciatica, Contribute to or aggravate piriformis syndrome.

It is risky to wear high-heels and even down-right destructive if you already have structural abnormalities. This is more probable especially if you wear high-heels on a frequent basis.

HOW DO I KNOW IF THERE IS A PROBLEM

If your not sure high heels cause back pain in your case, the sound advice to follow would be to listen to the voice within. NO PAIN;NO GAIN does not apply to wearing heels.

If pain is increased with high heel use or you feel more back pain the next day or so after their use, then it would be prudent to avoid wearing high-heeled shoes. If your lower back pain seems aggravated by the use of high-heels a negative heel shoe, or what is known as an earth shoe, may be beneficial and should be tried as a possible remedy.

Using negative heeled shoes alone will probably not cure your lower back condition but it could go a long way in helping you manage it. Along with other action steps most importantly to be checked and analyzed by a Structural Chiropractor, this could very well be an important treatment ingredient.

Whether, your high-heels and low back pain go together or not, high-heels do and will put your lower back in an abnormal posture and alignment. This will aggravate an existing lower back pain problem.

If you don’t already have a lower back pain condition the chance are great that regular use of high heels will sooner or later cause or contribute to the development of one.

You need to decide for yourself if wearing high-heels is worth it

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DID YOU GET YOUR FLU ADJUSTMENT YET?

Posted in health and wellness, Uncategorized with tags children's flu, CHIROPRACTIC, flu, flu season, flu shot, flu vaccine, illness, sneezing, structural correction, vaccinations on October 2, 2013 by chiropracticdouglasville

Every year there is a debate about whether to get the flu shot. The question is what if there is a better way to protect ourselves and families from the influenza virus that we are not being told about? In a recent article by the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research titled “Flu Vaccine: Sorting Fact from Fiction” the same question was posed. The overall consensus is that the vaccine is not beneficial and that other options are more beneficial. Many studies have showed the connection between chiropractic, the nervous system, and immune function. This is what the article reported.

Studies in Ontario Canada to determine whether the incidence of influenza there has decreased following the introduction of their Universal Influenza Immunization Campaign in 2000, have found that there is no decrease in the mean monthly influenza rate following the introduction of their campaign. In another study from the Archives of Internal Medicine reported that there has not been a decrease in mortality rates in any age group since increasing their vaccinations and that the benefits of flu vaccines are overestimated. Another study has shown that there is an increased likelihood of death unrelated to the flu in people between the ages of 65 to 74 who receive the flu vaccine.

Here is the insert from FLULAVAL ( flu vaccine) and it says, “There have been no clinical trials adequately demonstrating a decrease in the Influenza Disease after vaccination with Flulaval”

To add to all this, the majority of the influenza vaccines in the United States contain the methyl mercury based preservative, which has been linked to autism, Alzheimer’s, and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).

The National Vaccine Information Center gives the following ideas to avoid getting the flu or to quickly fight it off:

1. If you have the flu, stay home until you are well

2. If you know a person sick with the flu, avoid contact until they are well

3. Wash your hands frequently

4. Drink plenty of fluids, especially water

5. Get adequate rest

6. Eat a wholesome diet rich in vitamins and minerals, especially foods containing vitamin D3

7. Spend a few minutes a day in sunlight to help your body make and store vitamin D.

8. Consider Structural Corrective Chiropractic Adjustments for healing and maintaining health.

9. Exercise regularly when you are well.

10. Lower stress through meditation and other healthy lifestyle changes.

Although all of these are great ways to stay healthy, the most important to consider is the Structural Corrective Chiropractic Adjustment. The adjustments have a positive effect on the immune system function. According to the famous Nobel Laureate, Dr Hans Selye, “The beginning of the disease process begins with Structural Abnormalities”. Structural Correction based Chiropractors correct structural abnormalities that result in interference of the nervous system by affecting the function of the nervous system. Since the beginning of chiropractic, chiropractors have insisted that microbes and viruses do not affect each of us the same, and rather a healthy immune system allows us to fight off attacking microbes.

During the influenza epidemic, which brought death and fear to many Americans, it has been estimated that 20 million people died throughout the world, including about 500,000 Americans. It was chiropractic’s success in caring for flu victims that led to the profession’s licensure in many states. Researchers reported that in Davenport Iowa, out of the 93,590 patients treated by medical doctors, there were 6,116 deaths — a loss of one patient out of every 15. Chiropractors at the Palmer School of Chiropractic adjusted 1,635 cases, with only one death. Outside Davenport, chiropractors in Iowa cared for 4,735 cases with only six deaths– one out of 866. For more information go to the National Vaccine Information Center’s website or download the original article!