Sacramento Chiropractic

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As a chiropractor I believe in exercise, whether it’s aerobics, bike riding, or team sports. Keeping the body active keeps the body healthy and strong. However, when it comes to sports activies, it seems that sports injuries are inevitable among young and old alike. And, though many sports injuries can be very serious, I was especially happy to see that there is a current focus on concussions among young athletes who participate in school sports. The question people are asking is: Are schools doing enough to protect their student-athletes? Do you, as a parent, feel that your child is safe when participating in sports at school?  Many parents worry that their young athletes are at risk for serious sports injuries, especially concussions. In fact, the latest C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health found that nearly two-thirds of parents of young athletes between the ages 12 – 17 worry that their children will get a concussion while playing school sports.

To make matters worse, researchers have found that youth athletes are more likely to sustain concussions and to take longer to recover from concussions than adults. Furthermore, if a second concussion occurs before a child’s brain recovers from the first, there is a possibility of long-term neurologic conditions.

When surveyed, most parents indicated that they would strongly support school requirements, such as:

    * If a student-athlete sustained a concussion, he or she would need to be evaluated and cleared by a doctor before returning to sports – 84 percent

    * Coaches should to receive education about the risks of concussions

    * After a concussion there should be a mandatory period of non-participation in sports

    * A certified trainer should be on-site for practices and games

High school athletic organizations, injury prevention groups and professional sports leagues have become increasingly active in promoting policies to minimize the risks of repeat concussions among young athletes. But, let’s face it, parents are in a unique position to recognize concussion signs and symptoms that occur outside of school, and to work with coaches, trainers, and other health care personnel to ensure that their child is appropriately monitored throughout his or her recovery and return to play.

Source: University of Michigan Health System

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Chiropractors everywhere will tell you the same thing: Conservative chiropractic treatment should always be considered prior to any back surgery. In fact, an entire chapter in a newly released textbook published by Springer Science+Business Media, Surgery For Low Back Pain, is dedicated to chiropractic treatment. The book was edited by a consummate group spine surgeons from Europe. The inclusion of chiropractic methods in clinical decision marks another example of the global growth and acceptance of healing benefits of chiropractic treatment.

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I was talking with a new patient of mine, a fifty-year-old woman who’d come to my chiropractic clinic for relief from hip pain, and as we were discussing her health history, she mentioned that she “used to have” high blood pressure, but now that she was on medication, it was “normal.” She said that she was very happy that she no longer needed to worry about her high blood pressure. She was surprised when I explained to her that her medication merely “regulated” her condition, but that it did not eliminate problem. As this woman was obese, I explained to her that her weight, in addition to causing her hip pain, was also the culprit that continued to cause the high blood pressure for which she needed the medication. I told her that as a chiropractor, I could temporarily relieve her hip pain with chiropractic treatment, but that it would likely come back again unless she lost some of the excess poundage she carried around each day.

Obesity is a serious condition that causes innumerable health problems such as heart disease, risk of stroke, Type 2 diabetes, and a plethora of musculoskeletal problems that, more often than not, lead to osteoarthritis. The only prevention is weight loss. The only “cure” is weight loss. The only hope for a healthy outcome is weight loss. Pharmaceuticals may regulate the symptoms of conditions caused by obesity, and chiropractors can help to temporarily relieve the pain, but there is not a traditional or alternative therapy that can rectify obesity.

There’s no getting around it, either. Losing weight is hard work and the more an individual needs to lose, the harder it can be. And, the indisputable fact is that no one can lose weight for you. But, the health “rewards” are worth it. Just ask anyone who’s lost a significant amount of weight. Health-wise, it’s a life-changer. And, studies have shown that many people with high blood pressure problems who lose their excess weight are often able get off their blood pressure medications altogether.

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Did you know that April is Foot Health Awareness Month? As a chiropractor, I think that it is always good for us to have special days set aside to look at the various areas of our health that we might improve upon. That said, if you are someone who experiences foot pain, you are, no doubt, aware of your feet every single day, week, and month of the year, especially if you are on the run for fun or fitness. Running, though “naturally” good for us, can be hard on our lower extremities for all sorts of reasons from bad gait and poor running shoes to the surfaces we choose to run on.

The impact forces during running can be two-three times your body weight and this, in and of itself, makes your feet particularly vulnerable to injury. Add to this general vulnerability the frequent reasons for foot pain and injury mentioned above, and its no wonder that so many people suffer from foot problems. Pain-free feet are important whether you run or not, but if you’re a runner (or thinking of becoming one) it is critical for you to make sure that your feet, and the rest of your body as well, are in good shape for it. As experts in restoring and improving motion in the entire musculoskeletal system, your chiropractor can examine your feet, analyze your running mechanics, and determine if certain conditions need correction before you continue, or begin, a running regime.

With summer just around the corner, more runners than ever will be hitting the roads, parks, and tracks. If you’re planning on being one of them, whether you currently have foot pain or not, it’s a good idea to see your chiropractor, just to “run” on the safe side.

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As a chiropractor, I work with my patients to achieve overall health through regular chiropractic care, a nutritious diet, good hydration, and daily exercise. If any one of these components is missing, as far as I'm concerned, good health and longevity are at risk.

For more on this study, go to reuters.com.

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As a chiropractor who believes in the human body's ability to heal itself, often with the aid of natural, non-invasive, drug-free chiropractic treatment, I am always dismayed, but never surprised, at some of the pernicious claims and tenacious effrontery of drug companies when it comes to pain killers, in general, and the "treatment" of a number of conditions that don't get any better with drugs or are made worse by them. And, as a chiropractor  who has helped hundreds of headache sufferers not only get temporary, but permanent relief, when I read about a drug study for yet another pain med that will likely keep headache sufferers numbed to their pain, but in the process numb to the rest of their life as well, I feel like shouting from the rooftops: "Try chiropractic first!" But, today, when I read about a study, sponsored by Merck (who also makes the product), I really felt compelled to say that this particular study is shamefully playing to the fears of migraine sufferers when, in fact, the drug itself only offers "less severity" at best when it comes to a migraine headache.

The study, conducted by Dr. X. Henry Hu of Merck & Co.and colleagues, found that one in five migraine sufferers had "avoided" a work-related commitment because they were afraid of getting a migraine, while 27 percent reported canceling a work commitment for this reason, and round 28 percent said they had avoided or canceled social commitments due to fear of migraines.

 I have treated many patients who told me how much they'd "feared" the onset of a migraine and limited their activities in life because of that fear, so I do understand how devastating the fear of migraines can be. And, yet, the only "solution" this study offered?

This study is "important," said Dr. Hu, because the unpredictability of migraines could contribute to people's anxiety and fear about them and early treatment with migraine drugs called triptans can help reduce headache severity. "Because of the lack of predictability of future migraine attacks, migraine sufferers may benefit from increased education on the importance of keeping medications available at all times," he and his colleagues concluded.

My conclusion? If you suffer from migraines, give your chiropractor a call today!

SOURCE: Headache, published online March 25, 2010.

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I just read one of the most well-articulated explanations of Chiropractic that I’ve read in a long, long time. Nowadays, with so much online writing being “outsourced” and “unedited,” it is often difficult to find an intelligible comment on a blog, much less a clear, concise, and meaningful article written on a blog itself! The article on fitness goop is written by Dr. Avtar Jassal, who graduated with honors from Life Chiropractic College West in Hayward, California. Dr. Jassal currently holds the position of Representative Assemblyman for British Columbia for the International Chiropractic Association and is an assistant teacher of the Torque Release Technique in Canada.

The article beautifully explains the “self healing” and “self-regulating” nature of the human body, and how Chiropractic treatment works with this natural process by freeing the nervous system of interference so that it can function effectively. I invite you to click on the link above and discover the amazing benefits of Chiropractic Care.

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ENJOY A MORE SATISFYING SEX LIFE! Okay, now that I’ve gotten your attention, let’s talk about your health. As a chiropractor I advise my patients everyday about the need to develop and maintain a healthy lifestyle, especially as they age. An individual’s “invincible” 20s give way to a few health challenges in their 30s, and then almost exponentially an unhealthy lifestyle starts showing up frequently in the organ and musculoskeletal systems of the body. But, even given an armful of reasons to get and stay healthy, a lot of people still continue along the slippery slope of bad health choices. So, here’s a reason that will, no doubt, be put on the top of the heap, for getting and staying healthy: A new study making “breaking news” today shows that people who are in good health are nearly twice as likely to be interested in sex in middle and older age and also more likely to report having a busy and satisfying sex life.

Sexual activity has long been associated with health benefits and longevity, but these reseachers say that this is the first study to look at how general health affects the quality of sex as people age and to calculate what they call a person’s “sexually-active life expectancy.”

The researchers gathered information from more than 6,000 men and women in midlife and later life. The researchers estimated that at age 55, the average sexually active life expectancy is 15 years for men and 10.6 years for women. But, here’s the kicker. Researcher Stacy Tessler Lindau, an associate professor at the University of Chicago wrote in the journal BMJ, “Although the period is longer for men, they lose more years of sexually-active life as a result of poor health than women.”

The study found both men and women in very good health were 1.5 to 1.8 times more likely to report an interest in sex than those in poorer health. And, among those who were sexually active, good health was not only associated with more frequent sex (once or more weekly) in men, but with a good-quality sex life in men and women.

So, if you haven’t been interested in developing a healthy lifestyle, but you’re still interested in a healthy sex life, you may want to reevaluate your current diet, increase the amount of exercise you get on a regular basis, learn to deal effectively with your life stresses, and start drinking plenty of water every day. Because now you have one more good reason to get healthy and stay that way.

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The shoulder joint has the greatest range of motion of any joint in the musculoskeletal system. It is surrounded by ligaments and a group of muscles (and their tendon attachments) referred to as the rotator cuff. These muscles and tendons join your upper arm bone with your shoulder blade and, in addition, help to lock the ball of your upper arm solidly in its shoulder socket. It is this elegant arrangement that permits the significant range of motion of your shoulder joint. And, unfortunately, it is one of the most commonly dislocated joints in the body. Shoulder dislocations can happen to young and old alike. In fact, an article published in the March 2010 issue of The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS) suggests that the majority of choulder dislocations occur during sports activities and young males are at a higher risk. No surprise there. But, what is surprising, however, is that the study also reveals a high rate of shoulder dislocation in elderly women.

The shoulder joint can dislocate forward, backward or downward. The most common shoulder dislocation happens when the shoulder slips forward (anterior instability). The arm bone is moved forward and down and out of its joint. Symptoms can include pain, swelling, numbness, weakness, and bruising. A dislocation can tear ligaments or tendons in the shoulder or even damage nearby nerves. To treat the dislocation, a doctor will manipulate the arm bone (the humerus) and replace it in the shoulder socket. This stops the severe pain and allows for the injured tissues to heal.

Remember, whether you are young or an aging baby boomer, it’s important to keep your musculoskeletal system moving smoothly. Always do limbering exercises before playing a sport or working in the garden. And, never play or work into pain. If you experience shoulder pain, see a healthcare professional.

For more on this study, go to medicalnewstoday.com

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