Heels: Not Food for The Sole

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“Do the best you can until you know better – then when you know better, do better.”

“Beauty is pain” has been a saying among the female population for a long time but does it have to be? An individual does not have to experience a traumatic event to cause back issues. Spinal issues can be caused simply by wearing poor daily footwear such as heels, flip flops, and flat shoes. The Spinal Health Institute reports that 72% of women wear heels.  When it comes to heels, the human foot is not equipped with the right biomechanics to wear heels consistently that are over an inch high, and it is a frequent cause of back pain in women as well as causing issues in the knees and hips.

Wearing heels causes one’s weight to shift to the balls of their feet initiating unnecessary pressure in the foot joints not allowing proper motion in the foot. Our joints are meant to be mobile and lubricated so when they are in a fixed position, let alone an unnatural fixed position, issues will begin to occur in the foot. When wearing heels, the pelvis can be tilted forward applying stress in the calves, quadriceps, and glute muscles as well as increasing the curvature of the lower spine which decreases proper biomechanics of those spinal joints leading to pain and discomfort down the road. There’s a time and a place for heels but wearing heels less often to allow the body to operate how it is supposed to would be beneficial in

Flat shoes are no stranger to causing issues as well. Since there’s no arch support in flat shoes, the plantar fascia which contributes to arch support can lead to plantar fasciitis. If flat shoes are worn often enough, the knee joints can become affected and lead to arthritis. Flat shoes as well as flip flops can cause internal rotation of the legs which creates misalignment of the hips.

Know better, DO BETTER!! Get checked and stay healthy!

https://www.avogel.co.uk/health/muscles-joints/back-pain/why-shoes-could-be-responsible-for-your-back-pain/
https://www.everydayhealth.com/news/best-worst-shoes-back-pain/

Sports Performance With Chiropractic

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                Neuromuscular fatigue aka exercise-induced muscle weakness and reduced power are not only detrimental to athletic performance but also increases the risk of sports-related injuries. These factors are brought about by neuromuscular mechanisms in which our brain and spinal cord control how much our muscles contract and reflex responses or how fast our muscles respond to something. By optimizing these factors, athletic performance is likely to be improved.

                Lucky for athletes receiving chiropractic care it has been shown that chiropractic adjustments alters many of the brain functions that control muscle reflexes, muscle endurance, muscle strength, and “muscle memory” (creating muscle patterns). (Herzog et al. 1999; Niazi et al. 2015; Kelly et al. 2000; Lersch et al. 2005; Haavik Taylor and Murphy 2007; Hillermann et al. 2006; Botelho and Andrade 2012).

                In a study performed by Lykke et al., 11 elite Taekwondo athletes were evaluated on muscular strength. In the study, the force during the push-off phase of walking was evaluated and following an adjustment this force was increased. In the control intervention, in which the participants did not receive an adjustment, their force decreased over time. Following the adjustment intervention force increased!

                This study supports the growing research that indicates chiropractic adjustments impact motor control and training. Chiropractic care can benefit patients by improving muscle performance which then affects sports performance, strength training, and other activities.

Chiropractic Care & Reaction Times

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How quickly do you react when someone pulls in front of you when you’re driving, or when a ball comes your way on the sporting field, or when you have a slip and need to catch yourself before you fall?Are you accident prone or a ninja warrior? If you’re accident-prone, how can you bring out your inner ninja warrior?

We all react to these day-to-day challenges at different speeds. Some of us react slowly and some of us react really quickly. How quickly you react to a situation can actually be really important in many ways, from helping to prevent accidents on the road, to reaching your optimal potential on the sporting field.

How quickly we react to a stimulus or situation is called our reaction time, and will depend on how fast our brain can sense what’s happening around us, then process that information, come up with a reaction plan, and then perform the appropriate response.

As you can see from this description, your reaction time depends on how efficiently your brain and nervous system are working. So, what can you do to help improve the efficiency of your nervous system? This is a really interesting question that chiropractic researchers have been trying to help answer. The reason that chiropractors are interested in reaction time is that chiropractic care aims to improve the communication between your brain and your body so you are better able to react and respond to your environment.

When your brain can accurately perceive what is going on inside and out, it can better control your body for the situation at hand, and move your muscles in the right order and at the right speed.1-3

Researchers have now published a number of studies that have shown that chiropractic care can actually make a difference to your reaction time.

One of the first really good studies to look at how chiropractic care affects reaction time was published back in 2000.4 In this study, the researchers asked a group of students to look at a computer screen that had a letter ‘R’ on it and to hit a key on the keyboard to show whether they thought the ‘R’ was the right way around or back to front. To make it tricky, the researchers rotated the ‘R’ to lots of different angles, that way the student being tested had to mentally rotate it back in their head to really work out if it was the right way around or not.

The researchers then got a chiropractor to either adjust the person or have them lie down on a chiropractic table, without doing an adjustment, as a control intervention. What the researchers found was that after an adjustment the study subjects improved their reaction time much more than the subjects who were in the control group. They concluded that the chiropractic adjustments may have affected how quickly their brain processed the information they were seeing, which was a really interesting finding.

In 2016, another group of researchers published a study that looked at how quickly a group of older people could take a step on a platform that had 4 panels that could light up.3 When a panel lit up, they’d have to stand on it as quickly as they could.

Being able to take a fast step is really important because scientists have shown that people who are quicker at taking a step are less likely to fall.5-6 In this study, they tested the older people before, during, and after receiving 12 weeks of chiropractic care or receiving their usual medical care. What they found, was that after 12 weeks there was a dramatic, significant improvement in the chiropractic group’s step time. The improvement seen in reaction time in this study was actually 2 and a half times greater than a large clinical trial that looked at the effects of 6 months of exercise on the same stepping task.7 This might be really important when it comes to someone stopping themselves from having a fall if they trip or slip.

In another study that was published recently, what they found was that after 12 weeks there was a dramatic, significant improvement in the chiropractic group’s step time. The improvement seen in reaction time in this study was actually 2 and a half times greater than a large clinical trial that looked at the effects of 6 months of exercise on the same stepping task.8

Eight researchers tested a group of special operation forces military personnel to see whether chiropractic adjustments improved how quickly they could react and touch a set of panels on the wall in front of them that would light up at random. What they found in this study, was that when these elite soldiers were adjusted, they were quicker at reacting and responding to the lit panels than if they had no adjustment. This is a really significant finding because just imagine how important reaction time could be to a soldier!!

So, you can see that researchers are discovering that chiropractic care really does seem to have an impact on how efficiently your brain can accurately perceive what is going on around you and react to it. And maybe this could help you to move from being accident-prone to a ninja warrior.

If you want to get your ninja warrior on, why don’t you consider having your spine checked by your family chiropractor?

References

  1. Haavik & Murphy. J Electromyogr Kinesiol 2012;22(5):768-76.
  2. Haavik & Murphy. J Manipulative Physiol Ther 2011;34(2):88-97.
  3. Holt et al. J Manipulative Physiol Ther 2016. 39(4):267-78.
  4. Kelly et al. J Manipulative Physiol Ther 2000;23(4):246-51.
  5. Lord et al. Phys Ther 2003;83(3):237-52.
  6. Lord & Fitzpatrick. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2001;56(10):M627-32.
  7. Lord et al. J Am Geriatr Soc 2003;51(12):1685-92.
  8. DeVocht et al. Trials 2019;20(1):5-5. doi: 10.1186/s13063-018-3133-2. © 2020 Haavik Research Limited

Acknowledgments

  • Dr. Heidi Haavik – BSc(Physiol) BSc(Chiro) PhD
  • Dr. Kelly Holt – BSc, BSc(Chiro), PGDipHSc, PhD
  • Dr. Jenna Duehr – BChiro, BHSC (Nursing), MHSc

Spinal Braces… Why They Should Stick To Teeth

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Spinal bracing- these two words should not be used together in the same sentence unless you have sustained a major accident, injury, or trauma to the spinal region that was life threatening.  In that case then yes.  For the other 99% of the population bracing should only be acceptable when dealing with the teeth.  The spine is supposed to be freely movable due to the fact that it interprets all of your external and internal data via spinal nerves through movement.   

 When a subluxation (misalignment within the spinal column) exists within the spinal column it applies pressure on a spinal nerve thus creating a chronic state of fight or flight. Not only does the subluxation create dysfunction within your body it also creates inappropriate movement patterns.  Your body enters into a state of survival and fortunately/unfortunately people can learn to live this way.  The body can learn to live in a chronic state of dis-ease (which means your body is not at ease). This is, in part, due to your adrenal glands firing off more than they should be due to the inability to adapt to the stressor placed upon yourself in the spinal column.

Anyone who has had braces on their teeth knows how long it can take to move teeth. That perfect smile doesn’t just happen overnight, an orthodontist slowly applies pressure to move the teeth over many months. Chiropractic care uses the same approach with correcting spinal subluxations. It takes time for a spine to become subluxated, and it also takes time to retrain the body to get back to proper alignment.  The best way to take care of the future is to take care of the present moment. The most important project you’ll ever work on is yourself. 

Balance Your Stress By Balancing Your Health…From The Inside

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Balance your stress by balancing your health. Your health begins and ends within the spinal column, the central nerve system.  Recent research has demonstrated decreased adaptability of the nerve system in those who suffer from depression – Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2019. To understand the importance of the central nervous system is to understand this phrase. “You live your life through your central nerve system, every human experience you have is coordinated, processed, and controlled via your nerve system.” 
A calm mind brings inner strength and self-confidence, so that’s very important for good health -Dalai Lama. 

 Your stress creates fight or flight. What kind of stress are we talking about? Bills, driving to work, politics, religion, depression, public speaking…etc…etc.  Break it down this way.  Have you ever felt stressed before?  Everyone should say yes. When you feel stress you typically “feel” it along the spinal pathway and the feeling comes from what the nerve controls, that being muscles, tissues, ligaments, and soft tissue. When your body has a stressful thought that continues for even a short period of time the fight or flight response is activated and the small, yet drastically important, muscles along the spinal column are basically put to sleep. This is due to the fact that specific muscle groups that are larger are required for instances of fight or flight. 

When fight or flight becomes a chronic nature in your life due to the stress that you place upon it the nerves that are supposed to be controlling the tiny muscles along the spine send insufficient messages and the central nerve system is unable to properly control the body. The subluxation (misalignment in the spine creating pressure on or around a spinal nerve) ensues and creates constant dysfunction within your body.  

The number one reason that people will visit a Chiropractor is due to their inability to adapt to the emotional stressors that they place upon themselves.  The good news is that after a specific adjustment a bombardment of afferent neuro-receptors flood the brain with positive activity.  Particularly to the pre-frontal cortex of the brain, which actually should be called your executive functioning sector.  The more you are able to influence the pre-frontal cortex the happier you are and the better able you are to adapt to the stressors placed on you internally and externally.  Your body is intelligent.  That’s why we work with the design of your body to improve its function. 

Disc Disc Disc, The Importance Of The Disc Within The Spine

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Disc Disc Disc, The Importance Of The Disc Within The Spine

Let’s talk about disc spacing and why it often gets left out when discussing spinal hygiene.  A disc acts as a cushion between each single vertebra and is your shock absorber for every action that you encounter in life.  Think gravity!  Not only does it function as a shock absorber, it allows proper spacing between each spinal bone to form a canal in which the spinal nerve exits through.  This canal provides protection and open communication for the spinal nerve to be a two way communicator from the brain to the body and the body to the brain.  This makes it vitally important to your overall health.

Understanding the disc space comes from utilizing x-ray analysis.  As a Gonstead chiropractor we study and analyze the x-ray films to calculate and adjust “through” the disc space.  It is the analysis of the disc and the changes it undergoes that gives the most reliable information for locating the subluxation.  To judge the level and condition of the subluxation is to access the surrounding disc space.  When a subluxation occurs it creates a displacement within the spinal column which will place stress upon the disc.  As a result the disc will produce undo stress upon the spinal nerve exiting through the canal.  This in turn will create health problems.

Subluxations that remain uncorrected will cause calcium deposits and bone spurs to occur.  Nerve and soft tissue damage will ensue.  The subluxated vertebrae will become rough and uneven on the surfaces compressing the disc and resulting in the loss of its natural cushioning.  The process accelerates causing the disc to collapse and fusion begins.  The final stage of disc degeneration from an uncorrected subluxation is when the bones are fused together creating immobility and even more severe health problems.  Keep the disc space alive and mobile with specific adjustments and you keep the channel open for the nerve to express your life through.  Happy disc = happy nerve = healthy you.

Crisis In Healing…Why Natural Healing Is Still Growing

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Crisis In Healing…Why Natural Healing Is Still Growing

There is an age old conflict between treating the disease itself vs. the patient as a whole.  These opposing viewpoints have not changed, relatively, since 460 B.C….why? The current trend in emphasizing the disease puts our money, time and energy in the magic pill.  While this might be efficient for some in times of a crisis, the magic pill does not heal the body as a whole. How about utilizing the most non-invasive form of healing on your body?  Natural healing.

The Science Of Natural Healing

In chiropractic, we utilize inductive reasoning.  Neuroanatomy and neurophysiology has everything to do with the cause of disease.  If you disturb the structure of the human frame, you disrupt the nerve system. We deny that disease “just happens”.  The disease process must have a cause and chiropractic seeks that cause. The cause is attributed to a disturbance (subluxation) in the normal flow of neural communication.   The chiropractic profession is pretty advanced and continues to make more advancements to understand the reasoning of subluxations. These disturbances create a anatomical dis-relationship with the rest of the body, a.k.a dis-ease.

It’s In The Literature

Show me your evidence of natural healing.  Research has and always will provide insight on how the body heals.  The truth is that the day to day action of the body and what it is capable of is research within itself.  In Collected Papers Of Mechanico-Therapeutics, Dr. Edgar Cyriax  states “Every displacement of a vertebra changes the normal condition of pressure, tension, shape, size and length of the surrounding structures.  If nature is able to set up compensations, no evil effects ensue.” This statement means that subluxations will create dysfunction and produce symptoms of the body relating to the visceral (internal organs) or non-visceral.  Eugenics, Dr. Herman Rubin, M.D. – ” It may never occur to them (medical colleagues) that the headaches, stomach trouble, neuritis or nervous irritability they are attempting to cure may be due to nothing more serious than a displaced vertebra which any competent chiropractor can restore in ten seconds.”

New 406 Article Is Out

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New 406 Article Is Out

Check out our latest article on balancing the Brain-Gut Connection.  So much information is out there about avoiding this, supplementing this and so on and so on.  What about understanding the basic fundamental principle that you live your life through your central nerve system, if you have a negative experience “blame” your central nerve system.  With a healthy spine you will have a healthy developing child.  Read on to learn more.  Click the link to follow pages 51-53.  Click Me.

Be Wary Of The Man Behind Curtain… The Cover-Up

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Be Wary Of the Man Behind the Curtain… The Cover-Up

Nowadays in our society we are told about cover-ups, patches, and band-aids that manly just do just that…cover up the problem.  The man behind the curtain relates to our so-called “health care” system.  The two truths that will always remain the same in our lives are time and health.  Unfortunately these truths can become blurred with false promises from the man behind the curtain, or our health care system.  The only way for our patients to clarify what time and health mean to them personally, is to go back to the fundamental truths.

The Truth

Health was created by you!  The very first entity that was developed and created was brain cellular tissue.  Then the brain was BORN!  Boom!  Next, the brain made a body, and it accomplished this development and creation via a “construction” highway called your spinal cord.  Collectively, the brain and spinal column is deemed your central nerve system.  You were born healthy.  “Look to the spine for the cause of disease,” -Hippocrates.  Taking care of your spine via spinal check-ups is advertently taking care of your health.

The Man Behind The Curtain

The man behind the curtain is the taste of things that “muddy the waters”.  What do we mean by this?  In our society the man behind the curtain will get you to believe that time and health are easily bought.  Fundamental truth number 1: You live your life through your central nerve system.  Every human experience you have is processed, coordinated, controlled, and CREATED by your Central Nerve System.  If you neglect your spinal hygiene, then any other therapy, pill, lotion, potion or external stimulant will be lesser or produce no benefit whatsoever.  Biased?  No.  Just the truth.  This is not a law that we make up, this is nature’s law.  Don’t get caught up in what the man behind the curtain says…listen to your body’s innate intelligence.

Get To Work

Time and health cannot be bought.  The super groin stretch that fixes your spine, the super diet pill, the 5 minute exercise burn that eliminates 20 pounds… it does not work.  We are not truth-seekers or whistle blowers.  Just use your mind and THINK.  We understand that we were born to be healthy and health is created from the inside out and from the top down.  Taking care of the fundamental truth will give you the best time that you have on this earth while providing the health to have the time.