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ARE PROLONG PERIODS OF SITTING, INJURING YOUR BACK?

Posted in Uncategorized with tags anterior head syndrome, arm pain, back pain, CHIROPRACTIC, compressed disc, compressed nerve, damaged disc, degenerative arthritis, dowager's hump, ergonomics, granny's hump, hand pain, health, hump, leg pain, neck pain, numbness, pinched nerve, posture, sciatica, sitting, spinal structure, structural correction, tingling on March 14, 2014 by chiropracticdouglasville

Long hours of sitting over time can lead to many health conditions; including Arthritis, degenerative changes in the spine and pinched nerves. These lead to many other diseases caused by lack of activity including weight gain, heart disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes. The diseases usually take years of prolonged sitting to develop, however, in the meantime, warning signals of damage develop such as neck and back pain, headaches, fatigue, problems in the arms and hands, and lack of concentration.

When we sit all day, we place a lot of stress on our spines. Improper sitting to look at the computer screen, phone or TV all day causes our heads to move forward, and our backs to hunch over. The bad position leads to structural shifts in the spine causing the development of ANTERIOR HEAD SYNDROME (AHS).

Did you know that every inch our head moves forward from of our shoulders, 10 extra pounds of stress is placed on our spine? So a person that has an AHS of 3-5 inches is putting 30-50 pounds of extra pressure on their spine. Within 2 weeks of developing AHS our spines start to deteriorate. A deteriorating spine directly affects our nerves, compromising the messages that travel from the brain to the different parts of the body. All communication from the brain to the body happens through the nerves so AHS disrupts total body function.

It is very important, in order to avoid AHS that we practice proper ergonomics especially if we are going to be sitting for long than 30 minute periods.

Proper sitting ergonomics include the following, the head should be straight and NOT in a down position most of the time. The back should be straight or tilted 10-15 degrees. The arms should be at 90 degree angles and the wrist should be slightly flexed. The legs should be either right under the knees or a few inches forward. It is a bad habit to tuck your feet under the chair.

Due to fact that most people have not practiced proper ergonomics, they have already developed structural shifts in their spines. It is the primary purpose of a Structural Chiropractor to locate these structural abnormalities. Once a structural problem has been found, Correctional Chiropractic Care specializes in restoring normal structure and function to the spine and to all the nerves that control the rest of the body. The correction of the underlying problem causes many of the structural abnormalities that sitting all day have caused to be resolved and the entire body functions at an optimal level. When the spine and nervous system are working better, the rest of the body will also work better.

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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PATCH IT OR FIX IT?

Posted in Uncategorized with tags back pain, carpal tunnel, compressed disc, compressed nerve, damaged disc, neck pain, numbness, pinched nerve, sciatic, sciatic pain, spinal structure, Structural Chiropractic, tingling on July 10, 2013 by chiropracticdouglasville

One of my favorite educational games for our patients is the ‘rubber band’ game.

The way this game works is that I tie a rubber band around your finger. We now wait and see what happens. Within a period of time the skin starts to change its color and the fingers starts hurting. What would happen if we left the rubber band on the finger for the next hour, day month or longer? Of course the finger would keep getting worse and eventually will have irreparable damage.

At this time I ask the patient, from the solutions I give them, which one would you fix the problem with the finger and which solution would just patch it.

One of the solutions might be to exercise the finger. This might make the finger feel better but it does not correct the cause of this particular problem? No

A person can massage their finger to make it feel better. This can offer temporary relief but again in this situation because it does not fix the underlying cause, the finger keeps getting worse.

Another solution is to put some pain relieving cream or medicine on the finger. Does this help temporarily relieve the finger? Yes, but does it fix the problem? No

Finally we can cut the finger off, it might alleviate the symptoms but the person has permanent damage in their body.

The only right answer is to remove the rubber band. This is the only true fix.

A Structural Abnormality in your spine is very similar. Especially because it puts pressure on the nerves just like the rubber band on the finger. Consider looking at what you are doing with this abnormal health condition that you might have. Many people keep patching up their symptoms and not actively pursuing a fix. In my office we see many patients that have been previously trying to patch up the issues they have with their spine, consequentially because the problem is not getting fixed the spinal condition, just like the finger, keeps getting more damaged. What separates me from the traditional doctor is that we look for the underlying cause of the problem and apply Structural Correction to fix it. The correction of the structural abnormality is how we can remove the pressure of the nerve and stop it from coming back.

So, in your daily life are you pursuing a fix or a patch?

LOSS OF STRUCTURE AT BIRTH

Posted in Uncategorized with tags allergies, babies, birth, children, colic, ear infections, family, health, infants, respiratory syncytial virus, rsv, spinal structure, Structural Chiropractic, sudden infant death syndrome on June 12, 2013 by chiropracticdouglasville

Many infants and children suffer from secondary issues caused by mis-alignments in their spinal structure. Most commonly infants suffer misalignments in the upper cervical bones of the neck due to birth trauma. These secondary issues include, but are not limited to: Allergies, colic, crying, depressed immune response, fever, fussing, hyperactivity/ADHD, feeding problems, sleep disruptions, RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), reflux, ear infections, depressed respiratory functions, and in unfortunate instances sudden infant death syndrome. Planet Chiropractic’s own Dr. Awais Butt is a nationally published author and researcher regarding infants and children involving misalignments in spinal structure. These secondary issues are caused by the primary problems in structural alignment. These infants do not exhibit the typical secondary symptoms of neck pain and muscle tension seen in adults, yet continue to suffer from secondary symptoms. These secondary issues are due to the primary cause which abnormal spinal structural alignment is creating abnormal nervous system communication between the brain and the rest of the body resulting in abnormal function of the infant’s vital organs (Heart, lungs, digestive organs, immune system, hormone balance, elimination etc.) Sometimes when there is a misalignment infants are comfortable feeding on one side, but not the other side because they can’t turn their head easily in both directions. The technique for adjusting infants is different than the technique used to adjust adults; there is no “popping” associated with the gas release of the joints, instead the technique utilizes a more gentle pressure resembling a light touch. Some babies even sleep through their adjustment! At Planet Chiropractic we treat the entire family, providing optimal structure and performance for a healthier and more fulfilling life!

—
Always Faithful,
AWAIS BUTT : STRUCTURAL CHIROPRACTOR
OPTIMAL STRUCTURE IS OPTIMAL IMMUNITY

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