Archive for structural correction

DO YOU HAVE THE STRUCTURAL ADVANTAGE?

Posted in health and wellness, Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , , 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.

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ARE YOU SHRINKING?

Posted in health and wellness, Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 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.

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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

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ARE PROLONG PERIODS OF SITTING, INJURING YOUR BACK?

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 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).

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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.

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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.

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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.

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CAN A STRUCTURAL ABNORMALITY CAUSE ASTHMA?

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 14, 2014 by chiropracticdouglasville

First, what is asthma? Asthma is a chronic lung condition that inflames and narrows the airways within the respiratory system, which can cause wheezing, chest tightness, shortness of breath, coughing, and pain. Asthma can occur in all ages, but we are going to focus on the adolescent population.

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Studies show that about 1/3 of all asthma patients within the United States are children, it has been shown that parents with asthmatic children lose over $1 billion by staying home from work to care for their children. According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), there is no “cure” for this condition. Traditional doctors treat the cause of asthma with medications that the children must be on for life to control the symptoms; these medications are estimated at $1 billion annually. However structural chiropractor’s main focus is on finding the cause of the patient’s asthma.

What we do as structural chiropractors is analyze the spine, checking for any structural abnormalities. Using a series of examinations which includes digital structural radiographs, structural analyzer, and palpation we check the patients spine. It is known that the nerves coming from the mid-back in the spinal column go directly to the lungs and airways, according to Francis Adams, M.D. astructural misalignment present in those areas can be a reason for asthma and breathing difficulties. Also Structural abnormalities in the upper part of the neck cause a back-up of the lymphatics and problems with the tubes draining the middle ear.

So how do structural chiropractors correct these interferences? If the examination shows a structural misalignment in the spine, the structural chiropractor will use corrective adjustments to correct the structural misalignment(s), once these structural corrections are made the nerves leading to the lungs are now free of interference and therefore working at an optimal level. When information optimally flows from the brain to the lungs and airways that were once interfered with, they can now properly function. This leads to a decrease in the inflammation and to the expansion of the narrowed airways, which in turn leads to reduction of the asthma like symptoms. The correction of the child’s spine restores the structural imbalance allowing for the proper drainage in the middle ear.

There have been many case studies in chiropractic dealing with asthma in children. Ages range from 6 months to 10 years old all with positive results. These results include all ofthe following, less asthma attacks, no asthma attacks, reduction in medication use and the complete cure of the condition. In a case study by Dr. Fedorchuk D.C  A 6 year-old girl presented to his office with uncontrolled asthma for three years, the patient was on several medications which she took daily with no help. The patient was under structural chiropractic care and after 30 days was off all medications, and x-rays revealed an increase in lung volume.

Another recent study which was published in the Journal of Pediatric, Maternal & Family Health in 2011. The research done at Planet Chiropractic in Douglasville, Ga clinic, reported on improvement in a 20 month old girl undergoing structural chiropractic care and revealed that structural chiropractic may play an important role in managing children with respiratory syncytial virus and ear infections.

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Can Heart Disease Be Reduced With Corrective Chiropractic Care?

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , on December 2, 2013 by chiropracticdouglasville

In the past most people believed that the only way to reduce Cardiovascular (Heart) Disease was through diet, exercise, sleep, not smoking, and getting regular cholesterol and blood pressure checkups. The latest advances in research and science have revealed that  Corrective Chiropractic Care has a  more dominant impact than previously thought in the reduction of heart disease.

The studies indicate an overwhelming YES!!! to the question, can Correcting structural abnormalities in my spine help to  improve heart function?

According to current research, structural abnormalities in the spine may be a significant factor in a number of disorders. The lack of a proper Spinal foundation can aggravate a person’s nervous system and lead to a variety of different dysfunctions. According to Dr. Nate Blume, “The body’s homeostatic mechanism is thrown off.” Dr Blume was the chief officer of a major breakthrough study that focused on two areas: the relation between blood pressure, and heart rates. Chiropractic research from other doctors has also supported his findings. Repeatedly the researchers found that Structural Correction helped to lower heart rates in patients suffering with above average heart rates.

The main reason thought to be the basis for this finding is that Corrective Chiropractic Care has a therapeutic effect on the nervous system, which has a direct effect on heart rate variability. Researchers have also proposed that Corrective Chiropractic Care does relieve pain that may have caused an increase  in heart rates.  Stress was another factor that was considered.  Pain leads to increased stress, which in turn can cause an elevated heart rate. Thus Corrective Chiropractic intervention directly addresses the cause of the problem.

Another  related study investigated the connection between “systolic and diastolic blood pressure” and anxiety levels, and quantified the changes after subjects received Structural Correction through Corrective Chiropractic Care. Results showed a lowering in not only blood pressure, but also anxiety, again showing evidence that cardiovascular disease can be reduced with Corrective Chiropractic Care.

In a more recent case study, a man at age 54 pursued chiropractic care and his lipid panel normalized following the recommended regime of the health program he followed. Only Corrective Chiropractic Care – not traditional care – was applied in his treatment.  The authors are hoping to expand studies like these and quantify their results.

Dr. Matthew McCoy, published and conducted the above case study,  he stated that all of these findings make sense:

If you damage, compress, or otherwise interfere with the neurological structures in the spine this can have far-reaching implications on the functioning of the body. We are finding that structurally correcting the misalignment or abnormal motion associated with these spinal problems reduces the nerve interference.

McCoy explained that removing  nerve interference is the key to reducing problems related to cardiovascular disease, which is what was experienced by the patient in the above mentioned study.

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These Boots Were NOT Made For Walking!

Posted in health and wellness, Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on November 1, 2013 by chiropracticdouglasville

Foot in high heel x-ray

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.

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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 , , , , , , , , , on October 2, 2013 by chiropracticdouglasville

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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!

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THE RISE OF THE ‘TEXTING’ EPIDEMIC

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 9, 2013 by chiropracticdouglasville

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Everyone is doing it. Look at a crowd and you can easily see several people looking down at their phones and rapidly moving their thumbs. The newest research is indicating that people are texting more than calling each other. The habit of texting is much higher amongst the newer generations but everybody is texting more and more. A person texting is usually sitting with their phone in their lap. The head is bent forward and down while the eyes focus on the phone. The average person will also roll in their hips and sit in a slouched position.

The recent research by Business News Daily reports that we Americans are spending more than 12 hours a week texting. The position of the body and the time spent in that position is creating an epidemic is our society. The epidemic is ANTERIOR HEAD SYNDROME (AHS). A Structural Chiropractors, concerned with the Human spine being in a normal range of alignment, are having to correct AHS more than ever before.Image

As science and technology are advancing, we are able to determine normal ranges of many things in the body. There is a normal range for Blood pressure, Heart rate, Liver and kidney function etc. The research and years of clinical data has also determined the ideal norm for the spin and a range within which the human body functions at an optimal level. The normal for the spine is completely straight, looking from the front and having three curves when looking from the side. In Anterior head syndrome the person starts to lose the curve in their neck as the head juts forward. The primary condition of AHS has many secondary conditions that start surfacing over time. One secondary condition is bad posture with the head moving forward causing a hump to develop in the upper back region. Other secondary conditions include pain, numbness, tingling in the neck and going down the arm and the hand. Long periods of looking down and texting causes a rapid degeneration and arthritis.

Imagine a bowling ball weighing about the average weight of the human head, about 15 pounds. If you were holding the ball on top of your shoulders you could balance it easily. Now extend your arms out while holding this ball. What happens within seconds is you feel the pressure from the ball in your entire Spine. You would start to feel that way just by holding the bowling ball for few seconds with texting you would be doing it for much longer periods of time. The body would start to misalign itself into an abnormal range. It is obvious why there is  huge concern about the time spent texting, the spine and the health of the person who has developed Anterior head syndrome.

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