1st and only Chiropractic Peeps Diorama

Dr. Diane thought it would be fun for us to create out own Peeps Diorama. After brain storming and a mad run to the store for Easter Peeps we finished with something we are very proud of. Note the yellow bunny getting a therapeutic massage and Dr. Diane adjusting a peep bunny on the right.

 Everyone had a blast creating this mini version of our clinic. We threw it together during lunch and set it up in the lobby of the clinic. Stop by and see our Peeps while they are still fresh.

 

 

Your cardiovascular system may also adversely be affected by ibuprofen.

Cardiovascular System Side Effects

 

 

 

Your cardiovascular system may also adversely be affected by ibuprofen. This occurs because ibuprofen can interfere with the chemical signals that are related to your heart and blood vessels. According to Drugs.com, ibuprofen may affect your heart and cause chest pain and shortness of breath. In addition, this medication can affect your blood vessels and cause swelling or rapid weight gain. All of these symptoms are serious and may be caused by ibuprofen or another serious medical condition. Therefore, prompt discontinuation of ibuprofen and early medical treatment are important to prevent further complications.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/108644-bad-side-effects-ibuprofen/#ixzz2OwlcTvTG

Why is Ice Better Than Heat for an Acute Back Injury?

Question: Why is Ice Better Than Heat for an Acute Back Injury?

Ice is usually recommended for acute injuries, while heat tends to help out more with chronic problems involving muscle spasm. Why is ice better for an acute back injury, and how does ice do its job?

 

Answer: Ice works by narrowing the space inside the blood vessels, which limits blood flow and decreases the metabolic requirements of your soft tissues. The limited blood flow also reduces the amount of irritating chemicals that are delivered to the injury site. While these chemicals are a natural and useful response to inflammation, they must be kept in check to avoid swelling, and excessive formation of scar tissue at the site of your back or neck injury. Ice also acts as an anesthetic to reduce the pain of injury.
For back strain, the rule of thumb is ice  for the first 48 to 72 hours. Heat increases the inflammation, and it is not a good idea to use it during the inflammatory phase. After those first few days you can use ice or heat, based on your preference. 

Dietary Strategies to Kick a Cold or Flu

Dietary Strategies to Kick a Cold or Flu

The first thing you want to do when you feel yourself coming down with a cold or flu is to avoid ALL sugars, artificial sweeteners, and processed foods. Sugar is particularly damaging to your immune system -- which needs to be ramped up, not suppressed, in order to combat an emerging infection. This includes fructose from fruit juice, and all types of grains (as they break down as sugar in your body).
Ideally, you must address nutrition, sleep, exercise and stress issues the moment you first feel yourself getting a bug. This is when immune-enhancing strategies will be most effective. Foods that will help strengthen your immune response include:

Raw, grass-fed organic milk, and/or high-quality whey protein	Fermented foods such as raw kefir, kimchee, miso, pickles, sauerkraut	Raw, organic eggs from pastured chickens	Grass-fed beef	Coconuts and coconut oil
	Organic vegetables	Garlic. Ideally consumed raw and crushed just before eating	Turmeric, oregano, cinnamon, cloves	Mushrooms, especially Reishi, Shiitake, and Maitake

Make sure to drink plenty of pure water. Water is essential for the optimal function of every system in your body and will help with nose stuffiness and loosening secretions. You should drink enough water so that your urine is a light, pale yellow.
As for chicken soup, yes, it can indeed help reduce cold symptoms.
Chicken contains a natural amino acid called cysteine, which can thin the mucus in your lungs and make it less sticky so you can expel it more easily. Processed, canned soups won't work as well as the homemade version, however. For best results, make up a fresh batch yourself (or ask a friend or family member to do so) and make the soup hot and spicy with plenty of pepper. The spices will trigger a sudden release of watery fluids in your mouth, throat, and lungs, which will help thin down the respiratory mucus so it's easier to cough up and expel.
 

Read More: Mercola.com http://bit.ly/12oN4Yu 

Too Much Sitting Linked to Chronic Health Problems

People who spend hours each day without getting up and moving around should take heed: A new study suggests that the more people sit each day, the greater their risk for chronic health problems, such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease.

Researchers from Australia and Kansas State University said their findings have implications for office workers, truck drivers and other people who regularly sit for long periods of time. To reduce the risk of chronic disease, the study authors concluded that people should sit less, and move more.
"We know that with very high confidence that more physically active people do better with regard to chronic disease compared with less physically active people, but we should also be looking at reducing sitting," Richard Rosenkranz, assistant professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University, said in a university news release.

"A lot of office jobs that require long periods of sitting may be hazardous to your health because of inactivity and the low levels of energy expenditure," he explained.
The study involved over 63,000 Australian men from New South Wales, ranging in age from 45 to 65. The researchers questioned the men about whether or not they had various chronic diseases. The men also reported how many hours they spent sitting down each day.

The study revealed that the men who sat for four hours or less daily were much less likely to have a chronic condition -- such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease or high blood pressure -- than those who sat for more than four hours each day. And the men who sat for at least six hours daily were at significantly greater risk for diabetes, the researchers noted.

The number of chronic diseases reported increased along with sitting time. This was true even after the investigators took the men's physical activity level, age, income, education, weight and height into account.

"We saw a steady stair-step increase in risk of chronic diseases the more participants sat. The group sitting more than eight hours clearly had the highest risk," said Rosenkranz.

"It's not just that people aren't getting enough physical activity, but it's that they're also sitting too much," he said. "And on top of that, the more you sit, the less time you have for physical activity."
The study authors noted it's not entirely clear if sitting time leads to the development of chronic diseases or if it's the other way around: "It's a classic case of, 'Which came first: The chicken or the egg?'" Rosenkranz pointed out in the news release.

The study was published online recently in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity

TMJ SYNDROME AND DYSFUNCTION

TMJ SYNDROME AND DYSFUNCTION

The Temporomandibular Joint

If you place your fingers in front of either ear and open your jaw, you'll feel changing shapes beneath your fingers. You are feeling the joint where the temporal bone of your skull attaches to your mandible (jaw)-the joint that is called the temporomandibular joint or TMJ. This fascinating joint connects your jaw to your head. Ligaments, cartilage, fascia, an articular disc, muscles, nerves and blood vessels run in, around and through the TMJ.

Symptoms Of TMJ

TMJ dysfunction or syndrome occurs when the joint is misaligned or malfunctioning in some way that subjects it to excess pressure. The condition was first identified in 1934 by an otolaryngologist, J. B. Costen.

Among the most common symptoms of TMJ dysfunction are the inability to open the mouth wide and a clicking or popping sound when the mouth opens or closes. In some cases, the jaw can even temporarily lock up.

Other TMJ symptoms can be severe headaches; loss of hearing; tinnitus (ringing in the ears); the sensation of an object in the throat; facial swelling; shoulder, cheek or jaw joint pain; neck ache; tic douloureux (facial nerve pain); pain in or under the ear, the eye or upon swallowing; tooth pain; migraine: nausea; blurred vision and dizziness.

Some researchers have even linked TMJ dysfunction to throat infections, sinus congestion, ear infections and asthma. Others have linked the syndrome to heart, stomach, intestinal, respiratory and emotional disorders.

Who Gets TMJ?

According to John D. Laughlin 111, president of the Holistic Dental Association:

Up to seventy-eight percent of the general public (over 175 million) have some amount of TMJ dysfunction. This condition can begin during the birth process... One of the primary causes can be poor nutrition. TMJ affects more women than men, with high stress "superwomen" being very prone to it.

Causes Of TMJ

TMJ may be caused by trauma: a child may fall on its sacrum and in time, through the adaptive body mechanisms, the pelvic imbalance can affect the TMJ, head and neck. According to Dr. Gerald Smith, a specialist in the field of structural dentistry, dental work specially improperly fitting braces or orthodontia-is the cause of many TMJ problems:

Chronic headaches, scalp tenderness, pains behind the eyes, muffled ear sounds, ringing, hissing or other ear distortions, balance problems, nausea, facial tightness, cervical or lower back pain or restriction of neck motion should all be thoroughly investigated for possible implication in cranial distortions, especially if they appear within days after braces are placed.... These same symptoms may surface within a period of six months to several years.

According to Dr. Daryl Curl, who holds degrees in both dentistry and chiropractic, orthotics (braces, crowns, etc.) may contribute to or worsen a patient's head-pain complaint?

Sometimes the head pains caused by ill-fitting dental work can be quite intense. One (very!) dramatic example of the lengths to which dental patients can go to relieve poor-fitting dental appliances is recounted by Dr. Smith:

Periodically we hear reports of bizarre orthodonticpatient behavior. These are the individuals who have forced orthodontists or general dentists to remove their braces at gun point. Pain and spasm of the neck have been shown to cause many symptoms that mimic TMJ dysfunction, among them facial pain, spasm and inflammation of the face.

TMJ may be caused by trauma of many kinds, not only those directly affecting the head and jaw and not only those of recent origin.

The Standard Dental/Met

Some of the standard approaches to TMJ and related conditions are muscle relaxant drugs; painkillers: oral appliances, such as a night guard to control bruxism (grinding of the teeth); heat massage and a soft diet to ease the pain of chewing. Biofeedback or psychological counseling is used to combat stress and anxiety, which appear to affect TMJ pain. Other treatments are orthodontics, restorative dentistry to build up the bite, bite plates and physical therapy. In severe cases, surgery has been performed to enter the joint and end the discomfort, yet this drastic step should be taken only after more conservative approaches have failed. According to Dr. Smith:

Surgery should not be done until chiropractic and proper dental support is provided prior to the surgery with the exception of a tumor, fracture or seriouslbint pathology.

The Chiropractic Approach :

A properly aligned spine helps the TM joint. Spinal and TMJ problems are often found together.

Chiropractic care, especially in the area of the upper cervical spine and skull, often relieves pressure on the spine and the cranial bones.

Sitting in a dentist's chair and keeping your jaw, head, neck and lower spine in an unnatural or uncomfortable position can cause TMJ and spinal damage. It is therefore strongly recommended that if you undergo dental care follow it up with a visit to your chiropractor.

Often a chiropractic spinal adjustment can greatly benefit someone suffering from what had been thought to be only a TMJ problem. Conversely, an unhealthy skull/jaw alignment can put great stress upon the spinal column. There are documented cases of dental problems that, once corrected, have helped chiropractic patients to better hold their spinal adjustments.

Source : Koren Publication
korenpublications.com

MENSTRUAL HEALTH AND PMS

MENSTRUAL HEALTH AND PMS

Can chiropractic help premenstrual syndrome (PMS)? Can chiropractic help the cramping, pain and bloating of menstruation (dysmenorrhea)? Can chiropractic help those going through menopause-the period of change that arises when menstruation ceases? Millions of women with these conditions have visited chiropractors-why?

Your Spine, Nerves & Hormones

The female sexual organs-the ovaries, oviducts (tubes), uterus, cervix, vagina, glands and related structures-all need a healthy nerve supply from the spine to function properly. Doctors of chiropractic help see that the sexual organ/spinal column relationship is a healthy one. Let's discuss some of the common conditions associated with the female reproductive system.

The Chiropractic Approach

Though not a treatment for gynecological troubles, the chiropractic approach has been a blessing to countless women with such problems. Chiropractors correct the vertebral subluxation complex (a dangerous condition in your spine that interferes with the nervous system and causes a state of "dis-ease" or reduced health and wholeness) that can lead to disease.

"The Hysterectomy Hoax"

Hysterectomy, the amputation of the uterus, which may also include the removal of both tubes and both ovaries, is done to over 600,000 American women a year. Many are performed on women under 30. "These operations are almost always unnecessary," says Nora W. Coffey, president of the HERS (Hysterectomy Education Resources and Services) Foundation. The pelvic and hip bones gradually widen; within the first year after a hysterectomy; women wear one or two sizes larger in pants and skirts as a result of the pelvic bones moving and broadening... this changes the alignment of the entire skeleton, often resulting in lower back, hip, and knee pain.

As Stanley West, M.D. has written in The Hysterectomy Hoax: "More than 90 percent of all hysterectomies are unnecessary. Worse, the surgery can have long-lasting physical, emotional, and sexual consequences that may undermine your health and well-being." Doctors are not taught the true damage hysterectomy can cause: "I was taught that castration (removal of ovaries) does not affect a woman's sexuality, but women tell quite another story"

Hysterectomy Damage

Hysterectomized women experience a profound loss of stamina, libido (sex drive) and sexual response, urinary incontinence, bowel problems, diminished blood flow resulting in icy feet and toes, diminished tactile sensation from the waist down, bone and joint pain, memory loss, depression and many other problems. Too few doctors warn their patients about these too-common side effects. As Ms. Coffer states: The HERS Foundation has referred sixteen thousand women to gynecologists who specialize in the conditions for which they had been told they needed hysterectomy. As a result, 98% of those women were told they did not need hysterectomy. They were treated either medically or by reconstructive surgery, and quite often no treatment was needed.

The Dark Ages?

Hysterectomy may be necessary in cases of severe infection of the reproductive organs, necrotic (dead) tissue in the uterus and cancer that will not respond to more conservative care but most women who are told they need a hysterectomy may not. By the time a woman reaches age 65 the chances are 50 percent that she will have had one of these operations. "Hysterectomy should have been abandoned in the Dark Ages," says Ms. Coffey

Menopause

Many doctors consider menopause a disease instead of a normal physiologic state. Because of this attitude, women are often subjected to drug therapies that may cause dangerous side effects. As Robert Mendelsohn, M.D. has stated: Since medical treatment for hot flashes (for) over five decades has proven to be more dangerous than the disease (what disease?), and since the latest non-hormonal treatment are no less frightening than their predecessors, my best advice to women with hot flashes is to stay away from the doctor. Talk to plenty of other women. Read books on the subject by women who are not doctors. If you must go to a doctor, remember that you are receiving experimental drugs whose side effects become more visible year after year.

Spinal Care

It is no coincidence that many who suffer from menstrual cramps also suffer from neck or back pain. In one study of 122 dysmenorrhea sufferers, most had lower back problems and spinal displacements. Perhaps that is why many women who initially visited a chiropractor for neck or back problems experienced beneficial effects on menstrual cramps, pain and other gynecological problems. There are, however, many women who suffer from menstrual problems and other health conditions who will not go to the chiropractor because: "If I don't have a backache, why go to the chiropractor?" Because of this misperception that chiropractors are "backache doctors" many never receive the true benefits of chiropractic care. Many organs other than the sexual ones are responsible for reproductive health. For example, chemicals produced by the ovaries and adrenal glands that are essential for reproduction are broken down by the liver. If the liver isn't working properly, these chemicals can build up to unhealthy levels and cause fibroid tumors in the uterus (leiomyomas), which, although benign, account for at least one-third of all gynecological admissions to hospitals.

The Spine/Pelvis Relationship

For over a hundred years, many women who have suffered from a wide variety of pelvic and gynecological conditions-from pain to PMS-have discovered the natural benefits of chiropractic care. Patients have also observed that menopausal symptoms including depression, hot flashes, back or joint pain, irritability, headaches or fatigue have been reduced from chiropractic spinal care. Dr. J. E. Browning is a doctor of chiropractic who has written extensively on the chiropractic management of patients with pelvic problems. His clinical observations have led him to state that, "Various disturbances in pelvic organ function have been successfully managed by chiropractic ... symptoms [include] bladder, bowel, gynecologic, and sexual dysfunction ..."

Conclusion

Many patients have found protection from unnecessary surgery, useless medication and needless suffering when they started to read drug product inserts; books on their condition; got second and third opinions; and, whenever possible, explored alternatives to hysterectomy and drug therapy. Remember, a healthy spinal column is essential for the health of the female reproductive system and it is vital for women with gynecological problems to have routine spinal checkups by a doctor of chiropractic. A chiropractic spinal examination could make all the difference between sickness and health.

Source : Koren Publication
korenpublications.com