Chiropractors across the country have been seeing an alarming trend.  We have been treating younger and younger patients with chronic headaches, neck pain, shoulder pain, and back pain. 

The technology that has connected millions of people is also starting to cause pain in many people that have overused these modern advances.  The internet, texting, hand held games, cell phones, and anyting with an i in front of it, when used for too long can have a negative life long effect on the body.  The effects usually start off with mild symptoms such as headaches, tight shoulders or a burning sensation in the upper shoulders.  These can progess to chronic headaches, cervical spine degeneration, and arm numbness and tingling. 

Does this look familiar?  Take a moment and evaluate yourself or even a co worker.

Notice how foward his head is in relation to his shoulder.  This is what we call forward head posture.  Staying in this position for too long can increase the pressure on the cervical spine and musculature that supports the head.  This can lead to muscle tension or knots, achey shoulders, and eventually headaches.  Overtime as the shoulders also start to round forward a patient can develop arm numbness or tingling. 

Here is a comparison of Normal posture vs. Forward posture

We are seeing this happen at younger and younger ages and if it goes uncorrected will lead to future health problems that typically aren’t seen in middle aged individuals. 

The treatment is rather simple.  The first step is to be aware of the problem and hopefully these photos can show you what to look for.  After that it is mostly a question of giving your body a chance to rest.  Children along with adults should break up the time they spend in front of a computer and staring down at their cell phone as much as possible.  Just taking a minute to stand up and walk around your desk is a great start.  By doing some light shoulder rolls and head rolls you can ease alot of the tension in your upper back and shoulders.  If you are already experiencing more severe symptoms or have noticed that your posture is starting to suffer than it is time to contact your chiropractor for a more detailed analysis and treatment plan. 

In Health,

Dr. Chris

The easiest way to explain how the body reacts to continued stress is to imagine driving your car with only fumes in the tank and a major oil leak.  You really have no idea how far you are going to make it and only pray that you can reach your destination in time before your car quits on you. 

Must students experience this during finals week.  They study, cram, and stay up all night to pass their exams and then crash and burn after, usually succumbing to some mild form of the flu, aches and pains, or headaches simply because they burned out their engines.  Adults deal with the same thing, just that their finals week is usually alot longer since they are dealing with work, family, and a home. 

Stress can be defined as:  a physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and may be a factor in disease causation.   It is important to understand the different physiologic effects that stress plays on the body so we can better counter the damage.  

One of the first systems that is effected by stress is the nervous system.  When stress is perceived the nervous system fires rapidly stimulating adrenal glands to release adrenaline and cortisol.  These hormones raise your hear rate and blood pressure, increase blood glucose levels, and alter your digestive rate.  Your cardiovascular system reacts by dilating blood vessels to allow for more blood to flow to muscles and tissues.  The digestive system can be affected in different way.  Usually the digestion process slows down and remaining food is eliminated via diarrhea or vomiting.  A feeling of nausea or “butterflies” may persist. 

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Sleep is one of the most important activities the we do everyday.  I call sleep an activity because our bodies do more things  at night while we sleep than during the day. 

Sleep, is the time when our bodies recharge themselves.  The body focuses all of its energy on healing wounds, fighting off viruses, restoring energy supplies by burning fat tissue,  restoring joint fluid, and many other complex biological activities. 

Any college student or new parent can attest to what being sleep deprived feels like.  When someone doesn’t get enough sleep they feel like they are walking around in a constant haze, disoriented, headaches, achy all over, bowel problems, memory loss, you name it!  Many new conditions like Fibromyalgia, Irritable bowel, Restless leg Syndrome, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome can be partially linked to a disruption in the sleep cycle. 

The human body is extremely environment driven.  Many things can interrupt our natural sleep cycle.  Light, sound, and  stress are the most common sleep disruptors. 

Light is the primary component that stimulates our sleep cycle.  When the sun goes down, chemical reactions in the body prepare the body for sleep and when the sun rises the light stimulates our awakening.  In today’s world we are bombarded with artificial light from every source imaginable.  Even our alarm clocks with those big flashing numbers can prevent us from a good nights sleep.  Even those little green and red LED lights are enough to prevent the body from entering a real deep sleep.  Make sure that your bedroom is void of any kind of light pollution by removing or covering up any light sources.

Sound pollution can interrupt and prevent the body from falling into a deep sleep.  Traffic noise, creaky floors, noisy heating or cooling ducts, and a snoring partner can be sources of noise pollution that would affect your sleep.  Your bedroom should be a sanctuary for sleep so do what you can to reduce the amount of noise pollution.  Sleep machines produce and ambient background noise that can help.  That would be an example of a static sound and can help someone relax as opposed to the random BINGS!, BANGS!, PINGS!, and BUZZS! that constitute noise pollution.

Stress is another major disruptor of sleep.  Who hasn’t laid in bed thinking about a big test, interview, bills, or family problems.  Find healthy ways to deal with stress and don’t even bother going to bed until you have dealt with issues and are ready to sleep.  Lying there not sleeping just gives you one more thing to stress about.  

Getting a good nights sleep is one of the first steps to take to living a healthier life.  All the exercise, studying, good nutrition, supplementation, good hygiene habits mean nothing if the body cant process it all and sort it out at night. 

 For more tips on better sleep check out this site: http://www.chiroflow.com/en/sleep_tips.html

Good Night and Sweet Dreams! 

In Health,

Dr. Chris

Headaches are  a lot more than just a nuisance for some people, they can range from the annoying tension headache to the full blown debilitating migraine.  As a population we spend billions just on over the counter medication, billions on doctors visits, and billions are lost yearly in the form of production loss from the workforce.  Headaches continually rank among the top five reasons why people miss work and anyone that suffers from headaches can attest to the amount of time they have missed from family, friends, and leisure activities. 

The medical community has made tremendous improvements in the treatment of headaches.  They have come along way from drilling holes into people’s heads to relieve the “demons” they thought were causing peoples migraines.  There are many medications both prescription and non that have helped millions deal with the symptoms associated with headaches.  However I know that we can do better and there is a better approach to dealing with headaches. 

Rather than dealing with just treating the symptoms we need to identify the various causes of headaches and address those as a means to prevent headaches from occuring.  Any condition rarely has one specific cause and is usually complicated with multiple causes and headaches are no exception to the rule.  Headaches have a physical, chemical, and mental trigger associated with them.  To properly treat headaches you have to identify and address all the causes. 

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“The Preservation of Health is easier than the Cure for Disease” BJ Palmer, DC

Before I begin delving into specific conditions or any other health concerns people may have, I want to further explore the issue of traditional healthcare vs. wellness healthcare.   Traditional healthcare is reactionary in that patients and doctors wait for a symptom to arise before care is given.  Whereas wellness care takes a proactive approach in identifying potential risk factors that may present an opportunity for a problem to arise.

A cornerstone of traditional medicine is the germ theory, which states that microorganisms are the cause of many diseases.  There is no debate regarding the existence of microorganisms like the various bacteria and viruses that we are exposed to on a daily basis.  The question is are they the primary cause of disease? 

Imagine two garbage cans.  The first one is brand new and squeaky clean.  The second one is filthy with rotten food caked in it.  My first question is which one would attract the flies, the clean one or the dirty one? My second one would be did the garbage cause the flies or the flies cause the garbage?

The germ theory was revolutionary and changed the way medicine was practiced leading to better hygiene practices and sterile hospital settings.  However in focusing on killing the various bacteria and viruses we have forgotten about the dirty garbage can that attracts them in the first place.

The dirty garbage can is the perfect environment for flies (germs) to inhabit so the answer to the first question is the dirty can.  The second question should be even more obivious the neglect of the second garbage can lead it to become filthy and attract the flies (germs), so the garbage attracted the flies.

Our next issue is how do we get rid of the flies (germs).  Would you rather be Mr. Miyagi with chopsticks trying to catch all the flies as they are continually attracted to the dirty can or would you rather take a garden hose and clean out the dirty can preventing the flies from ever being attracted to the can in the first place?

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Good health is defined as a state of complete physical, mental and social well being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.  In other words  being in good health is more than merely not being sick.  Healthcare reform is a hot topic these days and unfortunately they never discuss ways to make our population healthier.  Instead we continue along the same road of traditional medicine or sick care.  The only problem with this path is that health is not taken into consideration until it is lost to a sickness.  Anyone that has ever suffered chronic pain or infections or feels like once they have recovered from a cold they are sick again can relate to this model of healthcare.  Their care is always focused around treating their current symptoms and illness rather than making them Healthier.

Through this blog I look forward to sharing with everyone a different approach to the healthcare model, a switch from playing defense to playing offense.  Everyone knows that they should moderate their unhealthy behaviors but very few know where to begin when it comes to healthy behaviors.  Wellness  Care goes beyond the traditional model of healthcare  and focuses on these healthy behaviors that promote true health.   Wouldn’t it be nice to not be sick all the time, have less pain, fewer headaches, and more energy?  Imagine all the that you could accomplish.

So please feel free to comment or contact me with any questions and lets take the first step on the path to A Healthier You!

In Good Health,

Dr. Chris