Nerve System vs Immune System – It’s that time of year!

By | ADHD, Allergies, Asthma, athletes, Benefits of Chiropractic, Chiropractic Myths, depression, Ear Infections, emotions, energy, fibromyalgia, kids chiropractic | No Comments

Fear and stress weaken the immune system faster than anything else.” -unknown

Who has become ill and not gone to the chiropractor because they think the office does not want sick people to come in to get checked and adjusted? I would have to assume it is a fair amount of people who think that is the case but could not be further from the truth. We want sick people in the office! Like we’ve said before, we live our life through our nerve system. Sickness is the lack of adaptation of our bodies because a component of our body is not performing correctly, hence the immune system because of an interference within our nerve system. Proper messages cannot be sent to our immune system to function at its best when there is an interference. It is out of every chiropractor’s scope of practice to recommend medication or not recommend medication such as antibiotics but we will say antibiotics eliminate the pathogen immediately, not giving our bodies the chance to fight it off on its own. The reason this is crucial is because the body has a memory system.

Once there has been an exposure of a pathogen, the body will recognize it the second time and fight it off more quickly and effectively because our bodies have seen it before. We are about maximizing your health and focusing on preventative care and therefore getting less sick in the future or being able to make a quicker recovery. With these stressful times of our economy, the nerve system is under attack as well as our immune system. Know better and do better! Be pro-active and not re-active when it comes to your health! We focus on function, not feeling!

Do your body a favor and get checked to stay healthy this season!

Gravity: The Undercover Force

By | Benefits of Chiropractic, chiropractic adjustment, Chiropractic Myths, depression, Ear Infections | No Comments

Gravity: The Undercover Force

“It’s only when gravity starts to take over, you begin to think about your body.” – David Soul

When we think of causes of subluxation, we usually focus on the three T’s: Thoughts, Traumas, and Toxins. Thoughts can be any sort of mental or emotional stress especially with inflation nowadays, financial stress would be a common stress which wreaks havoc on the nerve system. There is also intense mental stress such as events causing PTSD. Traumas are usually anything to do with the physical realm such as falling down the stairs or falling off a ladder. Any type of external force on the body is going to cause our nerve system stress and take time to process that stimulation overdrive. Toxins are another cause of subluxations and those can vary from the consumption of medications, vaccines, processed foods and the preservatives that are within them. Our bodies are continuously meant to have natural ingredients and therefore the reasoning for a significant amount of side effects that are consistently stated when it comes to vaccines or medications.

What keeps us grounded on this earth? GRAVITY! This force is necessary or else we would be floating around and our muscles would begin to atrophy because if you do not use it, you lose it. With that said, the constant forces of gravity can be detrimental on our musculoskeletal system as it is continuously pulling down on our bodies and compressing our joints as well as the discs in between our vertebra. This force contributes to misalignments of the spine and degeneration of those intervertebral discs. When one claims they don’t need chiropractic because they don’t feel pain is like saying their engine doesn’t need oil since their engine has not been ruined yet, it does not make sense. One does not wait until their teeth are rotting to go to the dentist. It is all about being preventative with pro-active care rather than re-active care. Our spines and therefore our nerve system need maintenance because we live our life through our nerve system.

Get checked, stay healthy!

https://capecoralfamilychiropractic.net/blog/1128700-the-greatest-stress-on-the-planet-gravity
https://www.piercechiropractic.net/blog/gravity-got-you-down#:~:text=That’s%20what%20Chiropractic%20care%20helps,equally%20across%20your%20skeletal%20system.

Thou Shall Not Self-Manipulate!

By | Benefits of Chiropractic, chiropractic adjustment, Chiropractic Myths, gonstead chiropractic | No Comments

Thou Shall Not Self-Manipulate!

“The more specific we are, the more universal something can become. Life is in the details. If you generalize, it doesn’t resonate. The specificity of it is what resonates.” – Jacqueline Woodson

Most things require some form of specificity and if a general method is applied, usually the results are non-satisfactory. The same goes for our spine, our spines and therefore our nerve systems need specific attention, not general adjusting to cause the cavitations (noise made from the adjustment). There are specific problems that need specific solutions to get to the root of the issue.  Self-manipulating compensations is not the answer for the correction of actual problems.

When self-adjustments are made or should I say self-manipulations because they are not specific adjustments, the popping noise (cavitation) is the release of nitrogen gas from bubbles in the synovial joint fluid in the joint space. At the same time, endorphins are released which is a natural pain killer so even though it may feel relieving, it is more than likely causing harm than good. Furthermore, the residual from endorphins is short-term because the main issue is not corrected and that is the reason people can continue to perform that manipulation for months to years since the compensation is addressed, and not the primary cause. When there is a subluxation or a misalignment of the spine, the joint is fixated meaning it’s not moving like it should and the body responds by compensating and makes the vertebra above or below hypermobile (increased movement) and it is the hypermobile vertebra that is being self-manipulated. Self-manipulation increases the laxity of the ligaments which decreases their ability to do their job by helping to hold bones in place.

When you feel the urge…RESIST! Do not cause unnecessary harm and stress to your spine. Avoid the temptation by doing better because you know better! Get checked and stay healthy!

https://www.ameriwellclinics.com/why-self-adjustment-is-a-bad-idea/
https://ianthechiro.com/blog/self-chiropractic-adjustments-risks-safe-alternatives
https://www.wellnesschiropractor.com/blog/116920-the-bad-habit-of-self-adjusting

Subluxation Nation!

By | Benefits of Chiropractic, Chiropractic Myths, energy, gonstead chiropractic, kids chiropractic | No Comments

“To get rich, never risk your health. For it is truth that health is the wealth of wealth.” -Richard Baker

What is Chiropractic? What is the essence of why we do what we do? A true chiropractor seeks to find and correct vertebral subluxation and “A subluxation is the condition of a vertebra that has lost its proper juxtaposition with the one above or the one below or both; to an extent less than a luxation; which occludes an opening, impinges nerves and interferes with the transmission of mental impulses” (Stephen’s Chiropractic Textbook).

 Let’s break that down, so loss of juxtaposition is the misalignment of the vertebra in the spine, an occlusion of an opening is the narrowing of the intervertebral foramina which are the black holes that are seen on the lateral or side view of the spine on an x-ray. These black holes are responsible for nerve transmission meaning that hole is the exit for a spinal nerve root that comes off the spinal cord. When a subluxation is present, impingement on the nerve is involved meaning pressure and when there is pressure on the nerve, there is going to be an interference of that nerve, therefore the interference is going to decrease the function of wherever that nerve goes whether it be a muscle or organ etc. And let me tell you, it does not take much to decrease the function of a nerve…. the weight of a dime….A DIME will decrease a nerve’s function by 60%. It’s also not the bone itself that is putting pressure on the nerve causing interference of the brain and body communication but the surrounding tissue such as fat tissue, connective tissue and blood vessels.

What is the function of the nerve? It is to transfer information from our brain to our body by way of something called mental or nerve impulses which contains an electrochemical energy current and information that the brain needs to send to the rest of the body to operate properly. In essence, chiropractors restore the ability of the brain to send the mental/nerve impulses to the body by removing subluxations of the spinal column that cause interference. Stay healthy and get checked!

Stephen’s Chiropractic Textbook

Chiropractic Philosophy, Strauss.

Debunking Myth Part 3: Chiropractic Kids

By | ADHD, Allergies, Benefits of Chiropractic, Chiropractic Myths, Ear Infections | No Comments

“Truth is only harsh if you’re unable to face it.” -Stewart Stafford

We are going to continue our journey of chiropractic myths! Most people think chiropractic is just for adults, but again, that could not be further from the truth. Infants/kids not needing chiropractic care is the next myth we will discuss. Chiropractic is publicly known as the profession which focuses on back pain, but that myth is such a disservice to the wellness of every citizen. When a child is born, the contact point is the head, but with that contact point, there comes the twisting and torqueing of the neck. So, none of us stood a chance since birth because we more than likely came out of the womb subluxated (misalignment of the spine). Most people don’t think babies or children need chiropractic care. I am here to tell you with the utmost confidence that your little ones should not only have chiropractic care, they need it! When it comes to adjusting babies or toddlers, there is no thrust involved, it is simply a sustained contact on their atlas (C1) or a vibratory contact. The baby stage is so crucial since they are so new to life and development.

Adjusting the atlas on your little one will help with immune function giving their body the best chance at combating illnesses, ear infections, calming colic, brain develop as it restores that communication from the brain to the body since the atlas contributes to 35% of vital organs, increasing blood supply, and improving behavior. “The power that made the body heals the body”- BJ Palmer. We have an innate intelligence that was built into us that is always operating at 100%. Just to show how crucial this miracle segment is, I know two different true stories where children were in comas for months to years and when the chiropractor on site adjusted their atlas’s (C1), both those children woke up in the chiropractor’s arms! “Nature needs no help, just no interference.”-BJ palmer

Give your little one the best chance at thriving and developing throughout their life. They will thank you!

https://www.drchrisharlan.com/5-benefits-of-infant-chiropractic/
https://wellhealthcenters.com/7-reasons-why-chiropractic-care-benefits-infants

Debunking Myths

By | athletes, Benefits of Chiropractic, Chiropractic Myths | No Comments

Debunking Myths!

“The truth is still truth, even if no one believes it. A lie is still a lie even if everyone believes it”. – unknown

What was your first thought when thinking of a chiropractor? It probably went one of two ways: Either you love chiropractors or dislike them immensely due to a poor experience. People have pre-conceived notions about everything new that enters their life. It’s okay to question things and their validity but sometimes “herd mentality” isn’t always the most effective method for legitimacy. We’re going to discuss a variety of myths associated with chiropractic that have had a hard time exiting the public mind.

The first myth we’ll cover is “self manipulation” . There is an epidemic of people who think “self-adjusting” is harmless and relieving, not realizing how detrimental it can be to their spine. That popping or cracking people hear or feel when they turn their neck or body a certain way is called a cavitation and what takes place is the release of nitrogen gas from the joint which provides temporary relief and sort of a euphoric feeling. The discomfort comes right back because the main cause of the issue is not corrected. When there is a subluxation or misalignment of the spine, that area is fixated decreasing the proper biomechanics. To compensate for that fixation, the body will make regions above or below that subluxation hypermobile to create more movement. When people “pop” or “self-manipulate”, they are not correcting the issue but instead are manipulating the compensation rather than the root of the cause. If that is continued and left unchecked, it can cause degeneration of the vertebral disc and arthritis in the joints involved. In other words, one is creating self-destruction without realizing it.

The next myth is “I’ll have to keep going forever”. Like all things, the body needs maintenance. We don’t stand a chance because we are constantly fighting the forces of gravity without realizing it. It does not take just a fall to become subluxated. We can acquire subluxations through the three T’s: Thoughts, Traumas, and Toxins. Thoughts are the emotional stress that most of us undergo daily whether it be financial stress or grieving the loss of a loved one. Traumas is the most obvious to the public because it is so sudden and easy to correlate where the issue initiated from. For instance, if you fall of a ladder and feel pain instantly or shortly afterwards, it’s a fair assumption the cause of pain was falling off the ladder. Toxins include medications we put in our body along with processed foods and preservatives we intake daily which are not meant to process and usually have difficulty processing.

Debunking myths will be continued! Be PROACTIVE, NOT REACTIVE! Get checked, stay healthy!

Digestive Health: Do you have that “Gut” feeling everything is functioning?

By | Benefits of Chiropractic, Chiropractic Myths, gonstead chiropractic, immune system, inflammation | No Comments

Digestive Health: Do you have that “Gut” feeling everything is functioning?

“A healthy gut is the gateway to a healthy body and mind.” -Dr. Mark Hyman

What do you think of when pondering gut health? We’ve always been told garbage in, garbage out which is true because based on what you put in your body is how your body is going to utilize that food for energy and immune function. Making food our medicine is not so easy these days due to all the processed foods and preservatives.

So how else can we combat the battle of maintaining a healthy gut? Our nerve system controls every aspect of our body. Specifically, there are spinal nerves that come out from our spinal cord in our low back which innervates our stomach and intestines/colon so ensuring there is no interference of those nerves is pinnacle. If lack of communication is occurring to the stomach and intestines from the brain through the nerves, it can lead to constipation, gas build-up, cramps, heartburn, and diarrhea along with malfunction of other organs. Most of the nutrients from our food when it is broken down is absorbed in our small intestines, it then enters our bloodstream, and then it is carried by proteins to our cells, so we definitely want the function of our small intestines to be optimal.

 I’m going to share a scenario about how powerful the body can be when communication between the brain and the body is restored. I witnessed a patient who came in with severe constipation, so severe that this patient could only pass a bowel movement once a week for the last 18 years and experienced 4-6 kidney stones a year for the last 16 years. Other doctors could not figure out the issue and claimed this patient had to live with it. The patient’s L2, which is top of the low back, was adjusted three times. On the third adjustment, the patient went home, experienced immediate relief and has consistently had a bowel movement every day since then. Furthermore, the kidney stones ceased as well. Due to the build-up of feces in the colon, it began to put pressure on the kidneys which caused them to malfunction causing the kidney stones.

To the best of our ability, let thy food be thy medicine as well as getting checked so the body is functioning!

https://www.atlanticchirofl.com/blog/172877-chiropractic-and-gut-health

Healing: The Long Game

By | Benefits of Chiropractic, chiropractic adjustment, Chiropractic Myths, depression | No Comments

Healing: The Long Game

“Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity”. – Hippocrates

Healing is a process which cannot be rushed, the body’s innate intelligence to handle issues takes time. There is no one hit wonder adjustment that operates as a “magic pill”, especially with years of damage and neglect. If the issues are not dealt with, they are more than likely to reoccur and increase frequency as well. 

After an injury takes place, the body first vasoconstricts (narrows) blood vessels to regulate swelling, then vasodilation (blood vessels expand) occurs causing plasma proteins to escape the blood vessels which leads to swelling. Swelling and edema are the bodies response to stabilize the joint and prevent the joint from unnecessary movement to initiate the healing process. If swelling is not dealt with, it could delay healing and cause scar tissue to be deposited as well as putting pressure on a spinal nerve. When the body is under pain for long periods of time, central sensitization occurs which causes the pain fibers to be bombarded with unnecessary stimulus not allowing the body to adapt efficiently to the stresses of life and heal properly.

In chiropractic, there are phases of healing. In the beginning, the goal is to remove the interference and restore function back in the joint as well as alleviate any pain present.  This usually takes 4 weeks, but it depends on the person since everyone is different with how their body responds. The next phase is the corrective phase to train the body to correct the misalignment and stay corrected restoring the communication between the brain and the body by repairing the integrity of the nerve system. This phase is usually more extensive. The last phase is stabilization which is meant to strengthen the correction of the misalignment. By this phase, frequency of visits has decreased to at least once a week, once every two weeks or once a month. Lifetime care is recommended because our bodies are constantly under attack by thoughts, traumas and toxins we experience daily. The “function” of the body is the name of the game. 

We live our life through our nerve system! Don’t neglect it! Get checked, stay healthy! 

Chiropractic and Mental Health

By | Benefits of Chiropractic, chiropractic adjustment, Chiropractic Myths, energy, fibromyalgia, gonstead chiropractic, gut problems, High Blood Pressure, immune system, inflammation | No Comments

Chiropractic and Mental Health

Research supports that vertebral subluxations may result in altered autonomic nervous system activity. How does this affect mental health and behavior? We will look specifically the vagus nerve “fight or flight” response and “rest and digest” response. The vagus nerve is a major component of the HPA-axis which coordinates neural, behavioral, endocrine, and immune/inflammatory responses. This is why we check heart rate variability in the office to gauge how well your vagus nerve is functioning, therefore how well your HPA-axis is functioning.

There is a theory called the Polyvagal Theory (PVT) that was proposed by Porges in which nervous system regulation affects our emotional expression, communication, and social behavior. Or in other words the neural pathways supporting behavior are involved in maintaining health.

In a study by Williams et al, “There was some evidence that spinal manipulation improved psychological outcomes compared with verbal interventions.” A different study by Holder et al, looked at patients who received instrument assisted adjustments, the test group who received adjustments showed a significant decrease in anxiety compared to the control group.

Chiropractic care a whole is concerned with totality of the human experience. By correcting subluxations, patients are more optimally able to adapt to the world around them and build resilience. When an adjustment is delivered, a patient’s nervous system immediately responds by altering the body’s ability to function at it’s fullest potential again.

Holder JM, Duncan Robert C, Gissen M, Miller M, Blum K (2001) Increasing retention rates among the

chemically dependent in residential treatment: auriculotherapy and (in a separate study)

subluxation-based chiropractic care. Journal of Molecular Psychiatry 6.

Williams NH, Hendry M, Lewis R, Russell I, Westmoreland A, et al. (2007) Psychological response in spinal

manipulation (PRISM): A systematic review or psychological outcomes in randomized controlled

trials. Complementary Therapis in Medicine 15:271-283.

Chiropractic Care for Babies with Colic

By | ADHD, Allergies, Asthma, Chiropractic Myths | No Comments

Chiropractic Care for Babies with Colic

Aside from being stressful, tiring even heart-breaking for parents, infant colic can cause both physical and psychological symptoms in parents and can lead to marital tension, social disruption and child abuse.1 The causes of infantile colic are still unknown and traditional medical intervention is often ineffective.1

The traditional medical management for colic involves prescribing drugs such as simethicone drops or proton pump inhibitors. However, systematic reviews have consistently shown that these interventions are no more effective than placebo.2

What is colic? When a baby cries inconsolably for more than three hours per day, more than three days per week, for longer than three weeks this is known as ‘infantile colic’.2 Colic affects up to 40% of children worldwide.1,2

Why try chiropractic? Chiropractic is a safe and effective choice for even the smallest members of society.3-5 In one study researchers showed that babies who received chiropractic care cried significantly less than those who did not receive care.6 Because so many high-quality clinical trials have shown chiropractic care helps babies with colic cry less – up to 50% less – it’s worth giving it a go!

Over recent years the safety of chiropractic care for children and infants has been investigated by many researchers.3-5 The results of their studies suggest that chiropractic care can be safely provided to even the youngest members of our society. Adverse events in children after chiropractic care are rare and usually don’t require further care.3-5

It’s every parent’s nightmare – your beautiful newborn is in obvious distress, and you can’t figure out how to console your little monkey. The suffocating array of parental advice may be leaving you confused. So, what do you do when your baby has colic?  We have summarized some of the latest research on infants with colic. We hope to bust some myths and put your mind at ease.

A study conducted in the UK looked at the effectiveness of chiropractic care in affected children.6 The researchers observed 104 babies who were randomized into three groups. The first group of babies was given chiropractic care and their parents knew they were seeing a chiropractor. The second group also received chiropractic care, but their parents didn’t know whether their baby was receiving the care or the control intervention. And the third group didn’t get checked by the chiropractor; instead, they received the control intervention.

Parents were asked to complete a 10-day ‘crying diary’. The findings from this study suggest that even without chiropractic care crying time reduced. However, babies under chiropractic care cried up to 3 hours less compared to those who did not receive care.

Interestingly, the parent’s awareness of whether their baby was receiving chiropractic care, or the control did not matter. This confirms previous studies that have also shown babies with colic responding well to chiropractic care.4 It suggests that the child’s improvement is probably due to chiropractic and not parent bias or parent placebo effect.

Further, this study found that excessively crying babies were (at least!) 5 times less likely to cry if they received care, compared to not receiving care. So it’s very likely that chiropractic care really does help at least some babies who are suffering from colic.
Remember that the chiropractor isn’t directly trying to treat the colic. Instead, they’re trying to improve spinal function with the aim of improving your child’s brain’s ability to process what’s going on in their body. And for some kids, this seems to result in less crying time! This has to be a good thing for the whole family!