November 30th, 2011 | 
Author: Arthritis in the spine can be a very important indicator of a structural problem. Most arthritis indicates a long standing problem that has been left uncorrected following an accident or injury. The longer the problem is left uncorrected, the more bones in the spine will have arthritis and there is a definite pattern that develops as it spreads up and down the spine. There are a few things we look for:
(Pictured Below)
1. Bone spurs- you’ll see small or large spurs coming off the front of the body of the vertebra
2. Degeneration of the disc- you will notice the dark space between the bones is thinning. This indicates the disc is wearing out due to a long standing structural problem. (1A is normal, 1B is abnormal)
When people do not have any structural issues in the spine, there will be no arthritis. I’ve taken an x-ray of a 94 year old who has a perfect neck curve and guess what, no arthritis! Don’t let anyone tell you arthritis is something that is natural with aging. The older you become, the more opportunities you’ve had to injure yourself and as a result of the injury arthritis will develop (unless the structural issue has been corrected)
(CLICK TO ENLARGE)
via What Does Arthritis In The Spine Look Like? « bernerchiro.
What’s the Impact of Childhood Falls? | HealthyFamilies Magazine.
I recently watched a heart-warming TED talk in which the speaker Shawn Anchor recounts a personal childhood story. At the age of 7, entrusted to play “nicely” with his four year old sister (he suggests ‘combat’) she falls off the top bunk bed and plummets to the floor on all fours. As the shock sets in on her little face and the tears well up, young Shawn wracks his seven year old brain to save the day… “Amy, Amy wait don’t cry! Did you see how you landed? No human lands on all fours like that. Amy… I think this means you are a unicorn”.
Childhood falls and the effect on our children’s health
The story above is a reminder of just how commonly knocks and falls occur in childhood. Can you recall how many times your child has ‘fallen hard’, intentionally or unintentionally? I can’t but I know it happens time and time again, over and over.
In fact by the age of seven, a child will have fallen around 2500 times, and prior to turning three, they will have had three major falls out of a cot, off a change table, or down a flight of stairs (1). Of course the above story also says something of our children’s resilience, however as a practitioner and mother I am aware that this “bounce-back” resilience may hide subtle damage that leads to poor postural and neurological function across time.
The subtle signs and symptoms that can result from falls can go unnoticed by parents or be put down to other things, and if left unchecked, can lead to entrenched health problems. We need to keep in mind that each seemingly insignificant slip and fall our child has does add up, and that as the branch bends, so grows the tree…
Minor accidents can subluxate your child’s spine
The spine and skull generally take the brunt of knocks, bumps and falls in childhood. It has been estimated that in their first year of life, 47.9% of children will fall and land on their head (2). Researchers have found that birth to two years of age, is a critical period of brain development, and that any disruption from injury can have long-lasting or even permanent effects on the structure and function of the brain (3).
As you know, the spine and skull protect our children’s precious brain and nervous system (or their “communication highway” for thinking, feeling, and behaving). When a child’s body is suddenly jarred in an accident, muscles surrounding the spine protectively contract, including muscles that directly attach to the delicate nerve coverings themselves (4). This causes the spine to tension and misalign (subluxate) and negatively affects nervous system function (5). With a subluxated spine, our child’s communication highway is no longer working at 100%, altering the way they are able to think, feel and behave.(6)
When do childhood accidents and injuries most commonly occur?
Slips and falls are a common part of growing up and there are a number of especially common times that they may occur.
Strain during birth. Studies have shown that the birth process can lead to strain of upper neck muscles (suboccipitals) in newborns, subluxating the spine and effecting brain stem centres. Conversely, this strain may not show up as visible clinical symptoms (7). One study found that out of 1250 infants examined, 95 % had neck strain from the birth process (8). Poor handling of newborns and babies can also create spine and nerve distress as can over zealous siblings tumbling on infants etc.
Playground falls. Researcher Colin Macarthur (9) lists a number of descriptive studies demonstrating that 60% to 80% of all medically-attended playground injuries are due to falls and that in the US alone, over 200,000 children are taken to hospital each year to have playground injuries assessed.
Other likely times that our children will become subluxated include learning to walk, run, or ride a bike, sporting activities or hobbies, and minor or major car accidents.
”My child always seems fine once they stop crying!”
After the initial impact of a fall or accident, we assume most children have recovered well when they no longer complain about pain or other symptoms, but this is not always the case. Often these problems remain undetected, only to compromise our child’s health over a period of months or years with seemingly unrelated issues such as growing pains, compromised immune strength or digestive issues for example. The impact of a fall may result in:
a) Undetected subluxations
Even without obvious symptoms your child can still be subluxated. One study examined a group of apparently healthy children and found that 15.8% had cervical subluxations (neck problems) and 40% had pelvic subluxations (10).
b) Problems later in childhood
It is more common than you’d think for children to experience headache and back pain for “no apparent reason”. In fact in any given year, up to 50% of children and adolescents will experience back pain and around a third experience recurrent episodes of this pain (11) Chiropractors can often trace back the triggering event to these types of small physical impacts.
c) Problems later in adulthood
Much later as adults we may experience a health crisis that seemed to “simply happen out of the blue”. A person may bend to tie a shoelace and be unable to straighten up, or they may wake up one morning “suddenly” unable to move their neck. Years and years of tiny physical injuries have accumulated to breaking point that is costly to heal in terms of money, time and energy.
The best time to invest in helping the body heal is straight away!
Our babies and children’s health is the most precious thing in the world so it makes sense to ensure their spine and nervous system is free from subluxation from the very beginning.
The Journal of Neuroscience states that whilst “the first year of life may be a period of developmental vulnerability, it is also be the period in which therapeutic interventions can have the greatest positive effect.” (12)
Chiropractic for babies and children is evidenced to be gentle, safe and effective. (13) Babies can be checked by chiropractors very soon after birth and special techniques have been developed to carefully correct any subluxated areas. I am grateful that my four boys could be checked by my husband (a chiropractor) just moments after their birth.
Finding the right family chiropractor for you
Many chiropractors have a special focus on family health and working with babies and young children. Because so many people now benefit from regular chiropractic care, by talking to friends and aquaintances you are likely to find a great practitioner somewhere nearby. The important thing is to find a chiropractor that you personally feel a connection with, and who has a holistic perspective on strengthening the body and enhancing the vitality and wellbeing of your family.
- – – – -
WRITTEN BY:
Dr Jennifer Barham- Floreani
B.App.Clin.Sci, B.Chiropractic
Dr Kate Marshall
BSc.(Clin), BSc.(Chiro), BA(Psych)
Read more —> http://welladjustedbabies.com/whats-the-impact-of-childhood-falls/#ixzz1ZiboFKef
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Back to School Checkup: Learning Disorders and Chiropractic Care | R&D Mag.
TO EDUCATION, HEALTH, AND STATE EDITORS:
Back to School Checkup: Learning Disorders and Chiropractic Care
EDINA, Minn., Sept. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Learning
disorders are just one of many neurological problems that affect
children today. They also include hyperactivity, attention deficit
disorder (ADD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and
minimal brain damage among others.
The number of children diagnosed with these conditions is growing at a
staggering rate, as medical historian Harris Coulter, Ph.D. has noted:
These disorders have received the appellation “developmental
disabilities.” Probably the leading one is dyslexia,” also called
“minimal brain damage.” Another prominent one is “autism.” But there
are many others. Approximately twenty percent of American children -
one youngster in five – suffers from a “developmental disability.”
The Minnesota Chiropractic Association (MCA) is encouraging parents to
include a regularly scheduled chiropractic checkup in their child’s
health regime. Children under chiropractic care will experience
optimal development of the nervous system, as interference with growth
and development will be eliminated. Just as with adults, a child’s
brain and spinal cord is the power source for the entire body.
However, during childhood connections are still being formed. When the
connections are being developed we want them to be assembled
perfectly. This will allow the body to function properly from the
very beginning.
Although not a treatment for neurological disorders, chiropractic care
has given many children suffering from neurological disorders new
hope. Chiropractors, parents and school officials have reported on the
effectiveness of chiropractic care for children with many kinds of
neurological conditions including learning disorders, hyperactivity,
inability to concentrate and behavior problems.
Be sure to mark your calendar for Friday, Sept. 30, 2011 when
nationally known, Dr. Robert Rakowski will address “How to Control
Learning Disorders with a Wellness Approach to Health (Position Your
Child to Succeed).” This event will take place at the Southtown
Conference Room at 8120 Penn Ave. South, Bloomington, MN from 6 – 8
p.m. The cost for this event is $15 per person or $25 for two people.
For more information call 1(800) 864-3769 or (952) 882-9411.
To schedule an appointment with an MCA member doctor, go to the
Minnesota Chiropractic Association Website at www.mnchiro.com to
locate a doctor of chiropractic in your community or call the MCA at
(952) 882-9411.
Source: www.abundantlife-chiropractic.com
CASE STUDY ON ADHD:
Chiropractic care has been shown to help benefit children that suffer
from learning disabilities such as attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder or ADHD. This disorder affects approximately 5 million
children between ages of 4 and 17 according to the Center for Disease
Control and Prevention. Boys are 3 times more likely to be affected by
ADHD than girls.
Chiropractic care offers an alternative to help manage ADHD. Studies
have shown that chiropractic treatment that assesses motor dysfunction
reduces symptoms and enhances cognitive performance. Chiropractic has
helped, Leah, a six-year-old girl who presented to the clinic with
symptoms of more aggressive behavior, a hard time concentrating or
completing a task and could not sit still. Her mother noted that her
symptoms started around age 3 and had progressed every year since.
The mother was informed by her teacher that she was very disruptive
in school and was falling behind in school work because she could not
follow instruction. She did a lot of fidgeting with her hands and
feet and was easily distracted. She had classic symptoms of ADHD and
when tested was diagnosed with ADHD.
When doctors of chiropractic evaluate a child with ADHD, they look at
the whole child. Evaluation of past and present health revealed that
Leah had a history of ear infections and sinus issues. She was not
good at eating breakfast and her diet was the typical American diet of
less than nutritious food. On evaluation of the spine, she had uneven
shoulder and hip heights. She had abnormal motion to different levels
of her neck, mid, lower back and pelvis. This abnormal motion causes
the nervous system to malfunction. In chiropractic care, this lack of
communication of the nervous system is called a subluxation. When
Leah started her chiropractic care, her mother reported changes within
2 weeks. These changes happened when normal motion was restored to
her spine by gentle chiropractic adjustments. As chiropractic
treatment continued, her mother had made diet changes that included
less refined sugar, no dyes and she increased her fruits and veggies
as prescribed by the chiropractor. After 4 weeks, her mother started
to report that she was able to participate in small groups in school
without being disruptive. She started to read sitting by herself
without someone there to keep her on task. Her teacher reported after
3 months that she was no longer a “challenging child.” Her mother
also reported that her ability to establish friendships and interact
with other children had returned to normal and no longer was there any
aggressive behavior.
Leah went through 2 visits per week for 4 weeks and then 1 visit per
week for another 4 weeks. Her mother one year later, seeks
chiropractic care for Leah on a once every 3 month basis as she feels
Leah’s concentration starts to diminish. Her mother feels these
visits “tune her up” and put her back to optimal levels of mental
function. As her doctor of chiropractic, I am privileged to have
helped her reach her full potential. My hope is that all children
with ADHD have the opportunity to receive chiropractic care to reach
their optimum potential ..naturally.
Mary Beth Minser, D.C., F.I.P.C.A.
SOURCE Minnesota Chiropractic Association
-0- 09/13/2011
/CONTACT: Debra Hurston, +1-612-508-4895
/Web Site: http://www.mnchiro.com / CO: Minnesota Chiropractic Association
ST: Minnesota
IN: HEA EDU MTC
SU: CHI
PRN
– DC67317 –
0000 09/13/2011 08:35:46 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com
September 9, 2011 — During the 2011 Florida Chiropractic Association National Convention and Expo., held in Orlando, Fla., Howard Wasdin, DC, former Navy Seal and author of the NY Times best-seller “Seal Team Six: Memoirs of an Elite Navy Seal Sniper,” made an initial pledge to support the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress F4CP.Wasdin immediately displayed his supportive position by engaging in a presentation and book signing to publically announce his advocacy.“Chiropractic care is one of the best kept secrets in healthcare and it has become my new mission to enlighten others about the service that will inevitably rescue their health,” shares Wasdin, a graduate of Life University and currently practicing in Jesup, Ga. “My contribution and commitment to the Foundation exemplifies my belief in the impact of their positive chiropracticcampaign.”Wasdin will serve as a spokesperson to the foundation and will participate in a number of events on behalf of the organization. Following severe injuries received at the Battle of Mogadishu memorialized in Black Hawk Down, Wasdin was introduced to chiropractic, which contributed significantly to his recovery. Since then, he has found personal and professional gratification in providing patients with relief from pain and improvements in wellness.Kent S. Greenawalt, founder of the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress, expressed gratitude for the support of Wasdin. “It is an honor to have a decorated national hero supporting the Foundation, his incomparable experiences, values and pledge to chiropractic will strengthen the mission of the Foundation and provide continued growth for the entire profession.”Source: Foundation for Chiropractic Progress, www.f4cp.org
via US Navy Seal supports the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress.
August 19, 2011 — U.S. healthcare workers, especially doctors and nurses, use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) far more than do workers in other fields, according to a new study.
CAM includes diverse therapies outside the realm of conventional medicine. Overall, 76 percent of healthcare workers report CAM usage, compared with 63 percent of the general working population.
Healthcare workers use chiropractic treatment, massage, and acupuncture for conditions that conventional medicine does not address well, said study co-author Lori Knutson, executive director of the Penny George Institute for Health and Healing with Allina Hospitals and Clinics in Minneapolis. While conventional providers often treat common issues such as back pain with pain medication, holistic providers address root causes, she said.
The researchers used data from the 2007 National Health Interview Survey, analyzing responses from 14,329 working adults. Their findings appear online in the journal Health Services Research.
Among respondents, 1,280 worked in healthcare and fell into four categories:
Providers including doctors and nurses;
Technicians, for instance, sonographers;
Support workers such as nursing assistants; and
Administrative personnel not providing patient care.
The study looked at practitioner-based CAM, such as acupuncture; self-treatment with CAM, such as practicing Pilates; and any CAM usage such as following a vegetarian diet, meditating and taking certain herbs.
Doctors and nurses had more than twice the odds of having used a practitioner-based CAM method
during the prior year and nearly three times the use of self-treatment with CAM than support workers.
“As insiders, healthcare workers understand what’s missing in our medical system. They’re more educated than others about orthodox and alternative medicine,” said Joya Lynn-Schoen, MD, a psychiatrist by training who instead practices alternative medicine, offering patients homeopathy, nutrition and chelation therapies. “Mainstream medicine will say, ‘Here’s a pill’ or ‘Have an operation” or ‘There’s nothing wrong with you. You’re just tired.’
“We may be opening Pandora’s box by disclosing utilization of CAM by conventional providers,” Knutson said. “I prefer to believe that this will create an opening for both provider and patient in optimizing health for the whole person.” Knutson added that consumers ought to know that providers use CAM and that healthcare workers should know that their peers use CAM, although perhaps without discussing it.
How shocked consumers would actually be by their doctors’ use of CAM is questionable, however. The researchers used a broad definition of CAM that includes practices as commonplace as deep breathing, meditation and massage, and ones as complex as biofeedback, hypnosis and chelation therapy, which involves administration of chemicals called chelating agents to eliminate heavy metals such as lead, arsenic or mercury from the body. To discover the depth of doctors’ and nurses’ involvement with the more esoteric approaches will require further research.
Source: Health Behavior News Service, Center for Advancing Health, www.cfha.org
via Doctors, nurses often use holistic medicine, chiropractic for themselves.
Most people go to the doctor because they think they have something they shouldn’t have and want to get rid of. But over the years, we chiropractors have come to understand that the problem when you aren’t feeling well is NOT that you have something you shouldn’t have and need to get rid of; the problem is really that you have LOST something you need to be healthy and happy.
You see HEALTH (also called “EASE”) is your natural state! If you are experiencing anything other than ease, it is usually because you have simply LOST something that is necessary for you to maintain ease/health. Understanding this very simple truth will not only help you get the most out of your chiropractic care, it will also help you and your family to keep growing stronger and healthier for the rest of your lives!
Let’s begin helping you understand this by looking at how your body really works. There are three things you need to know in order to move consistently toward health, wellness and wholeness.
1) Every day, your body either gets a little stronger or a little weaker.
2) In order to get stronger instead of weaker each day, you must have a clear neurological CONNECTION between your brain and your body.
3) In order to have a clear connection between your brain and your body and keep growing stronger every day, your spine must be properly aligned and functioning normally (because of the intimate connections between your spine and nerve system).
If you understand these three things, you can also understand that if you lose normal alignment or function in your spine, you will also partially lose the CONNECTION between your brain and your body. This is very important because without proper communication, you lose the ability to purposefully ORGANIZE all of the various parts of your body to work together harmoniously and with EASE. In other words, you get a little weaker rather than stronger each day and you gradually LOSE your natural state of health/ease.
Chiropractic has only ONE GOAL, which can be summed up in what we call “The 3 R’s.” Our goal is to;
1) Help Restore and maintain alignment and function in your spine, in order to…
2) Re-establish and maintain the neurological CONNECTIONS between your brain and your body, so that…
3) You can Resume purposefully ORGANIZING all of the parts of your body to work harmoniously together and consistently grow stronger and healthier every day.
And, as you continue growing stronger and healthier every day, you will move consistently from wherever you are right now toward first regaining your natural state of health (EASE), and then keep on moving toward wellness and ultimately into what we call wholeness.
So as we said before, the problem is NOT that you have something you shouldn’t have and need to get rid of; the problem is that you have LOST something you need to be healthy and happy. HEALTH is your natural state, and if you are experiencing anything other than ease, it is usually because you have LOST your CONNECTION…and our job is very simply…to help you get it back and keep it for Life!
It’s as simple as that!
I’m quite surprised at hearing so regularly from patients that when they’ve hurt their back they may put a heat pack on, take a hot shower, or a hot bath. Why! When I ask, quite often the responses are that they were advised from a health professional or a friend or family member.
When an injury happens, there is inflammation. There’s damage to fibres within the joint which alters the axis of motion in a joint which then hinders movement of the joint. There’s also inflammation of the fibres (a little or a lot depending on the extent of the injury) and the edma (fluid from the inflammation) also decreases the motion. This is where the problem is- in the joint. There will often be muscle spasm or at least increased muscle tension which in itself may cause pain but this is supposed to happen. It’s a defensive mechanism to help prevent further injury.
I fully admit that using heat feels nicer and will help relax the muscles BUT… this only increases the inflammation further and by taking away the defensive mechanism, will often lead to a greater problem. On that note, I also hear often that an injury occurs from bending over to pick something up, the back is strained, and a hot bath or shower is taken. If they can get out of the bath then they go to bed only to find that everything is worse in the morning. There may even be radiating pain into the arms or legs.
Instead, if a back or joint injury occurs then USE ICE. Ten minutes on and ten minutes off. Repeat this 4-5 times, take an hour off with no icing, and again repeat 10 on/10 off for 4-5 repetitions (4-5 times of putting the ice on with 10min rest in between). Also, drink plenty of water. Only 72 hours after an injury should heat be used but even then it should be used in combination with ice: 10 hot, 10 cold. Repeat 4-5 times and finish on cold!
The joint also needs to be realigned so the tissues can heal properly. There are both very gentle and more firm techniques to do this but unless everything is in the right spot then proper function won’t be restored and degeneration of the joint occurs over time. This should be done only by a properly trained chiropractor.
For questions, go to www.luxchiro.com .
Scott Oliver
A landmark study was conducted in 1921 looking for a connection between segments of back dysfunction and the rate of organ disease associated with those segments. Fifty cadavers were dissected and the areas of back dysfunction were found to have an astoundingly significant connection to the areas of organ disease. Of the 50 cadavers examined, 221 organs were considered to be diseased. Spinal dysfunction was found in conjunction with the sympathetic nerve going to the diseased organ in 212 of the 221 cases. In other words, 212 out of 221 diseased organs had it’s direct spinal segment and spinal nerve root subluxated. In 8 of the 9 remaining cases, subluxations were found at either the segment above or below the area of dysfunction.
This means that areas of back dysfunction can cause organ disease at that nerve level. ‘Structure dictates function’. The study found most of the organs diseased were because nerve flow increased once a segment in the back became abnormal. If the segments are not fixed or properly cared for, the over-stimulus leads to organ disease. Therefore, the health of your back is directly related to your body’s overall health.
DR. WINSOR’S FINDINGS:
Heart Disease
All 20 cases with heart and pericardium
conditions had the upper five thoracic vertebrae
misaligned (T1-T5)
Lung Disease
All 26 cases of lung disease had spinal
misalignments in the upper thoracic area
Stomach Disease
All nine cases of stomach disease had spinal
misalignment in the mid-thoracic (T5-T9) area.
Liver Disease
All 13 cases of liver disease had misalignments
in the mid-thoracic area (T5-T9)
Gallbladder
All five cases with gallstone disease had spinal
misalignments in the mid-thoracic area (T5-T9)
Pancreas
All three cases with pancreas disease had spinal
misalignments in the mid-thoracic area (T5-T9)
Spleen
All 11 cases with spleen disease had spinal
misalignments in the mid-thoracic area (T5-T9)
Kidney
All 17 cases with kidney disease were out of
alignment in the lower thoracic area (T10-T12).
Prostate and Bladder Disease
All eight cases with prostate disease had the
lumbar vertebrae misaligned
Uterus
Two cases with uterine conditions had the
second lumbar misaligned
The subluxation is essentially what chiropractic locate, analize, and correct. There is some argument over this entity from other professions because you can’t see it on a blood test, an xray, or an MRI. However, as the term suggests, it is a complex of traits.
Kinesiopathology is demonstrated by a diminished range of motion, normally diminshed around at least 2 axis of motion. If one joint is hypomobile then normally another joint will compensate by becoming hypermobile. Misalignment can be seen on radiographs and MRI.
Neuropathology is demonstrated through abberant reflexes.
Myopathology can be felt with the practitioner’s hands and demonstrated through muscle testing.
Pathophysiology at the articulation can be seen on radiograph and MRI.
Hystopathology can be felt (inflammation and/or fibrosing tissue).
What is a Subluxation? Part 1
A subluxation is short for Vertebral Subluxation Complex (VSC). This is what chiropractors primarily locate, analyse, and correct. The VSC has 3 main components:
- Kinesiopathology: an articular misalignment causing improper mechanics.
- Neuropathology: the spinal nerve passing through the intervertebral foramin (the hole between the vertebrae) is irritated causing a change in the rate of firing of the spinal nerve. The rate will either increase or decrease. This has an effect on the nerve impulses passing from the brain to spinal cord to nerves and then to the organs and tissues and/or an effect in the opposite direction. Various neurological signs & symptoms can be associated with this such as a change in normal reflexes, weakened muscle tests, radiating pain, numbness and many more.
- Compensation pattern: In order to maintain our eyes level with the horizon (righting reflex) then there must be a compensation to a misalignment. Compensations will exhibit kinesiopathology (improper mechanics) but will not demonstrate primary neuropathology (but proprioception can be affected which is the joint and muscle input to the brain on balance and body position).
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