Do We Really Need to Take Vitamins and Supplements?
There is a lot of controversy as to whether taking vitamins and supplements are really necessary and beneficial. According to a recent survey conducted on behalf of the American Osteopathic Association, more than 86% (4 out of 5) American adults take vitamins or supplements. Certainly in an ideal world, it is best to get our nutrients in the form of good quality food, and not have to rely on supplements. However, even in an “ideal” world where we all get plenty of sleep, stay properly hydrated with water, eat adequate amounts of fruits and vegetables, and consume a whole food diet that incorporates the proper nutrients, there are still some valid reasons to include whole food nutritional supplements in your daily regimen. I will reiterate-there is no magic pill or replacement for the nutrients we get from good quality food sources, but there are some reasons why turning to good quality supplements can be beneficial to overall health and wellbeing.
FARMING PRACTICES AND SOIL DEPLETION=DEPLETED NUTRIENTS
To begin, chances are good that some, if not most of the food we eat comes from soils that have insufficient mineral content. When foods are grown in the same soils again and again, the mineral content of that soil becomes depleted over time. Organic farming practices include “crop rotating” which prevents soil depletion from occurring. However, like most things, consuming organic food is not “fool proof,” and does not always mean foods are going to be 100% superior. Organic soil can also get depleted, but it is more often than not a healthier choice. Many times (of course not always) the foods you buy in grocery stores are picked weeks and even months before they are placed on store shelves. Many fruits and vegetables are shipped from other countries, and once they are placed in stores for sale, they are past their peak ripeness. This places an unknown challenge in obtaining maximum nutrition from the foods we are buying. 90% of people are not getting the recommend amounts of nutrients from food alone.
POOR DIETARY AND LIFESTYLE HABITS=NUTRIENT DEPLETION
In addition to depleted soil, factors like strict diets, poor nutrition habits or appetite, processed foods, high fat and sugar-laden diets, or changes in dietary needs can also contribute to nutritional gaps in the diet. Sometimes laboratory testing will even show these deficiencies of certain vitamins and nutrients. Supplements cannot replace a poor diet, but it can help prevent and support some of the detrimental effects poor eating habits are causing.
PESTICIDES, CHEMICALS, AND POLLUTANTS=FREE RADICALS
To piggyback from the above mentioned farming practices, often times pesticides and other chemicals are used in farming our foods, and also contribute to the need to use supplements. Ingestion and exposure to pesticides, chemicals and other pollutants not just from our foods (which we can never really fully avoid) increases the production of free radicals in our bodies (which we know cause damage to living cells and tissues). Supplementing with antioxidants might be a good option to consider.
EXERCISING AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY=EXPENDED ENERGY AND NUTRIENTS
Exercising, being athletic and engaging in physical activity is another reason to consider supplementation. Certainly, exercising and staying active is highly encouraged and makes a huge different in overall health and outcomes. However, during exercise and physical activity, our bodies use up energy and stored nutrients. The proper supplements can help replenish the used nutrients (in addition to the proper nutrition to fuel exercise), and can be very beneficial in not only contributing to more efficient workouts, but also contributing to better recovery.
PREVENTION IS KEY
Lastly, prevention is key! It is certainly better to be in a position of preventing illness than treating it! Along with an overall healthy lifestyle (including but not limited to, good nutrition, good hydration, exercise, adequate sleep, stress relief and other self care practices), proper supplements and vitamins may also help keep us healthy and prevent future health issues. Of course this leads to the question-what supplements should I take? Much like anything else, not all supplements and vitamins are created equally. First and foremost, I recommend consulting with a trusted doctor, practitioner or professional that will be able to guide you and recommend vitamins and supplements that are best suited for you before buying or taking just “anything” from the local health food store or pharmacy.
Article from Dr. K
risten Poe – www.poeholistichealth.com
Dr. Poe’s mission is to help people find alternative means to improve their lives using NATURAL, NON-INVASIVE, and HOLISTIC methods.
Chiropractor or Doctor – Who Should I See If I Have Been In A Car Crash?
Whether you drive a car, truck or motorcycle, you may be involved in a vehicle collision when you least expect it. Car and motorcycle crashes cause numerous types of painful injuries, which tend to linger for mon
ths or longer after the crash occurred. Injuries are fairly common in Massachusetts. In fact, there were 1,727 car accident injuries and 1,635 motorcycle injuries in 2016 alone. If you’re hurt in an accident, the pain, stiffness, and soreness can make it difficult for you to work or to participate in your day to day activities.
Injuries that are caused by a vehicle collision include whiplash, headaches, neck or back pain. It’s important to be evaluated by a medical professional in order to get treated as soon as possible after a vehicle crash. With that in mind, what type of medical professional should you see?
Seeing a Chiropractor After an Accident
Many injuries that you might suffer from after a car crash can be effectively treated by a chiropractor. This is particularly true for injuries that involve trauma to the back and neck. Whether or not there are any visible cuts or wounds, you may still have injuries to your musculoskeletal system. Soft tissue tears in your ligaments and muscles won’t show up on an x-ray but still need to be treated.
Discomfort and pain should be evaluated as soon as possible. This can help ensure that your vehicle crash-related injuries can be diagnosed and treated.
Three Areas Chiropractic Care Can Address
When you have pain and discomfort in your back or neck, a chiropractor may be able to help. Chiropractic care can address:
- Pain and inflammation – These symptoms shouldn’t be ignored. Inflammation that isn’t treated can lead to scar tissue, but a chiropractor may be able to provide relief in a very short amount of time
- Mobility problems – If you have trouble performing simple tasks because of mobility challenges shortly after an accident, a chiropractor may be able to create a specialized treatment plan for you
- Prevent further damage – By stabilizing and strengthening injured muscles in and tissues in your spine and neck through alignments, chiropractic care can help prevent injuries from getting worse
When You Need a Doctor
Severe or life-threatening injuries need to be treated immediately by your primary care doctor or by physicians in an emergency room or urgent care center. Difficulty breathing and damage to internal organs are examples of severe injuries that need to be handled immediately by a doctor.
In some cases, a doctor may be needed to treat a severe injury immediately after an accident, but you might need to see a chiropractor for ongoing treatments after your initial emergency room or urgent care center visit.
Get Medical Attention
After you’ve been involved in a vehicle wreck, be sure to get expert medical attention immediately. Either a doctor or a chiropractor can perform imaging tests and evaluate the extent of your injuries.
As time goes on, if you’re still experiencing pain or if new symptoms develop, you may want to have your doctor or chiropractor reevaluate your treatment plan. The most important thing is not to ignore your discomfort and to follow the instructions given to you by your doctor or chiropractor.
Interested In Receiving Attention For Your Injuries?
The chiropractors at inBalance Chiropractic & Wellness can help you recover from acute or chronic injuries related to accidents in Massachusetts. Since 1985, our chiropractors have helped provide vehicle collision victims with the utmost care. With offices located in Watertown & Shrewsbury, we serve Shrewsbury, Watertown, Worcester, Westborough, Grafton, Northborough, and the Boston Metropolitan Area. Contact us today to speak to a chiropractor about your injuries.
Guest Blog by Ventura Law Firm.
Athletic Care at inBalance
At inBalance, we utilize several techniques to make athletes stronger, faster, and more resilient.
Those techniques include Chiropractic, Active Release Technique, Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization, and massage.
We offer chiropractic care that works by placing your structure in the proper position and allows the body to heal itself. Adjustments can reduce stress placed on your immune system and free up energy for disease prevention. It will help you better think, move, and perform.
Active Release Technique is another tool that we use. It is a type of soft tissue therapy that helps relieve chronically tight muscles and nerve trigger points, greatly reducing joint stress or muscle pains. This is a hands-on procedure to treat naturally, conditions that can occur in your muscles, tendons, ligaments, and connective tissue. This technique restores normal mobility and glide between muscular tissue and nerves.
We also offer instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization. This is performed to detect and treat fascial restrictions and helps to minimize tissue fibrosis, inflammation and adhesions.
Massage is very important to the body. Not only used for relaxation; a massage at inBalance will help you to improve circulation, assist in pain and injury rehabilitation, and improve athletic performance and muscle tone.
Our goal is your goal, to help you be the best athlete that you can be. In addition to these areas of expertise, we also offer advice on nutrition, gait analysis, and how to keep your whole body – structurally, chemically, and psychologically—well.
Common Injuries Treated by a Chiropractor
Many individuals do not realize that chiropractors can be a very beneficial treatment option for many different conditions and injuries. There are many reasons you should visit with an experienced chiropractor such as the Chiropractor Gaithersburg MD locals trust. The idea behind chiropractic practice is that the proper alignment of the human body’s skeletal structure will help the body to heal by itself without any surgery or medication. Chiropractors are taught to use a hands on healing method where they manipulate your spine along with other treatments to correct alignment and help restore the mobility to your joints that may have had restricted movement because of a tissue injury. These chiropractic interventions may ease the pain in your muscles, connective tissue, and joints. Many injuries like whiplash, herniated discs, and hamstring sprains can cause pain in these specific parts of the body.
- Sciatica is the condition by which your sciatic nerve becomes inflamed. The sciatic nerve runs from your lower spine all the way down into your thigh and foot. Symptoms typically include pain starting in the lower back region or buttocks and traveling into one or both of your legs. This is a very common neurological problem that chiropractors can treat.
- Strain of the hamstring is also a common injury treated by chiropractors. Because it is a sports injury, chiropractic treatment may include stretches to fix any tightness your joints. Recurring hamstring injuries could mean muscular imbalances and a chiropractor can check for this.
- Lower back pain and strain can be fixed by chiropractors making adjustments to increase your range of joint motion and reduce your pain. Lower back exercises can also help with back pain.
- Chiropractors also help with neck pain by stimulating and relaxing your muscles. Neck pain is typically caused by a cervical sprain, which is a soft tear in the tissue. It can also be a direct result of whiplash.
- Scoliosis affects around 6 million individuals in the United States. It is a lateral curvature of over 10 degrees in the spine, and a chiropractor will have to do a physical examine to determine if you have it. Spinal manipulation is the most common treatment for this.
- Carpal tunnel syndrome is a condition in which there is numbness in the median nerve in your wrist and hand. Chiropractors can stretch muscles in your wrist and hands to help alleviate pain.
- Unbeknownst to most, rotator cuff injuries occur in individuals that do not play sports as well. It is found in individuals who play baseball and football to people who paint and do carpentry for a living. Helping stretch out the muscle is a treatment by chiropractors to help fix this.
A special thanks to our authors at Pain and Arthritis Relief Center for their insight into Chiropractic Care.
10 Signs You May Have A Food Sensitivity
You may have a food sensitivity if you experience moodiness, brain fog, headaches, fatigue, heartburn, joint pain, acne, gas, bloating, and constipation.
At inBalance, we can test you non-invasively for food sensitivities.
A food allergy causes an immune system reaction that affects numerous organs in the body, whereas an intolerance or sensitivity has less serious symptoms and are often limited to the digestive system. At inBalance, we test you for sensitivities to beef, brown rice, corn, dairy, eggs, gluten/wheat, oats, peanuts, soy, sugar, and tomatoes; however, any item can be tested using applied kinesiology and manual muscle testing.
During the course of your examination, the doctor will test a muscle and then have you hold a nutritional item. We will then re-test the same muscle; sometimes there will be a remarkable muscle strengthening or weakening. What the doctor is doing is stimulating nerve receptors or otherwise adding or subtracting energy in different centers. If a muscle weakens when you are introduced to a nutritional item, then you have sensitivity to that item.
A food sensitivity could be part of a larger problem such as leaky gut syndrome. Leaky Gut syndrome is when you have intestinal permeability, or when tight junctions in the gut, which control what passes through the lining of the small intestine, don’t work properly. That could let substances leak into the bloodstream.
Plantar Fasciitis and Heel Pain
Our September condition of the month is heel pain and plantar fasciitis. Your foot has 26 bones in it and the largest of these bones is the heel. The human heel is designed to provide a rigid support for the weight of the body. When we are walking or running it absorbs the impact of the foot when it hits the ground, and springs us forward into our next stride. In the majority of cases, heel pain has a mechanical cause. It may also be caused by arthritis, infection, an autoimmune problem, trauma, a neurological problem, or some other systemic condition (a condition that affects the whole body).
Sometimes patients see pain above the heel, in the Achilles tendon or under the heel, plantar fasciitis, or inflammation of the plantar fascia. The plantar fascia is a strong string-like ligament that runs from the heel bone to the tip of the foot. When the plantar fasciitis is stretched too far its soft tissue fibers become inflamed, usually where it attaches to the heel bone. Sometimes the problem may occur in the middle of the foot. The patient experiences pain under the foot, especially after long periods of rest. Some patients have calf-muscle cramps if the Achilles tendon tightens too.
Chiropractic care can help alleviate and mitigate the symptoms of heel pain. The benefits include improved posture, as well as adjusting your weight balance. This is particularly helpful with heel pain since when we strike our heel to the ground it typically takes an impact of 1.25% of our body weight, and 2.75% when we are running; if our weight is not balanced these numbers can rise dramatically. By balancing our weight equally on both feet, pressure is taken off of the problematic heel allowing a quicker healing time.
Additionally, chiropractic care can eliminate aches and pains in your back, neck, and shoulders, helping you feel more positive about your health and life in general, which can in turn encourage you to follow through with simple exercises that will help you heal more quickly from plantar fasciitis.
If you struggle with heel pain, set up a consultation with one of our doctors today to discuss how we can further help you gain optimum health.
Head, Shoulder! Knees and Toes?
When a person hears of chiropractic, they immediately think about back and neck pain, and the adjustment of these areas to relieve headaches, pains in the back, among a variety of other conditions. Chiropractic is much more than that though. Did you know that we can adjust your extremities as well? If you are a current patient, you are saying to yourself, that all of your adjustments included adjustments on your arms and legs as well. At inBalance, that is true; however, many chiropractors charge extra for extremity adjustment, if they perform it at all.
Symptoms of injuries in the extremities include pain, numbness or weakness in the arms or legs, stiffness and trouble moving the joint or locking of the joint. Extremity adjustments can help heal frozen shoulder, tennis and golfer’s elbow, runner’s knee and plantar fascitis, and it all starts with a thorough examination to determine the cause of your symptoms and any misalignments in your spine and extremity joints.
Our professional, certified chiropractors can adjust:
- Hands
- Feet
- Wrists
- Ankles
- Elbows
- Knees
- Shoulders
- Hips
- Ribs
- Jaw
- Neck
- Head
- Spine
You can see that chiropractic doesn’t deal only with neck pain, but with all joint pain. We have joints all over our body, in all of our extremities, i.e. arms and legs. Our ankle is a joint, our knee; even our toes have joints in them. To keep our body in optimal health, these areas must also be adjusted for maximum mobility. Go to our conditions page, to find out what types of conditions we can help with.
Secrets to Melting Fat
Many times in healthcare one item can be utilized for a specific disorder or symptom for years, but also have underlying affects that help a person’s body in other ways. For example, one health item has been used as an effective treatment for epilepsy since the 1920s and is now being studied as a therapy option for conditions like Alzheimer’s and autism. Do you know what it is? It is the Ketogenic Diet, the newest trend in dieting. Ketogenics works by removing the sugar from your body and forcing your body to use fat for energy, instead of sugar. This process is called Ketosis, and is very normal. It is a genetic predisposition to ancient times when food was scarce.
Many people have endorsed this diet such as Mark Hyman, author of Eat Fat, Get Thin. Ketogenic diet supporters are happy with the diet for anti-inflammatory effects on the GI system and the ability to increase energy levels and muscle mass while decreasing hunger pangs and total caloric intake. Celebrities like Lebron James and Kim Kardishan have been rumored to use this diet not only to lose weight, but to increase athletic performance and to slow neurological processes that may occur later in life. Of course, check with your doctor before you change any of your current eating habits and exercise.Six Super Easy Weight Loss Tips (2/28/2017)
If you have been trying to lose weight permanently, then these six weight loss tips may be just what you need to kick start your weight loss program. You may have heard some of them before, but if you make them a part of your core goal, you will not have as much difficulty achieving your weight loss goals.
1. Include exercise in your lifestyle
If you want to achieve long term weight loss, you must not only be careful of what and how you’re eating, you must get off your bum and exercise. It has been reported that 80 percent of those who lose for the long haul make changes to their diets and make exercise a part of their lifestyle.
2. How much are you really eating?
Americans are really guilty of this – supersizing our meal portions. It’s not what you eat but how much you eat. By eating smaller portion sizes you can eat whatever you like, because you are not overeating.
3. Sneak in this super easy exercise
Walking is one of the easiest ways to sneak exercise into your daily life. It is easy to do and requires no equipment except your own body. To make walking even more effective, park your car further away from your destination, walk up hills, use the stairs, and alternate walking with brief periods of running. Get in as many steps as possible each day to rev up your internal calorie burning machine.
4. The best no calorie drink in the world
Substituting water for those artificially sweetened diet drinks and sugary has many advantages. First of all, it has no calories. Plus it’s great for your skin and hair. And drinking water before and during meals helps to stave off hunger and fill you up more quickly. Be careful of those liquid calories in other drinks – they can really add up.
5. Eat more frequent smaller meals
When you eat more frequently (4 to 6 small meals a day), it helps to keep hunger at bay and stabilize your blood sugar levels to keep from zapping your energy. And when you eat, you will be less inclined to stuff yourself like a pig.
6. Your weight loss goal is not achieved overnight
Nor is it achieved in two weeks or one month. In order to really drop weight, you must realize that there is no quick fix. You must dedicate yourself to making lifestyle changes that will help you reach your goal. Believe me, your body will thank you and you will be happier in the long run.
5 Tips to JUMPSTART your New Years Weight Loss Resolution (1/5/2017)
Published November 16, 2015
1) SLEEP!
Chances are you’re already sleeping on a regular basis. Great! Now get more of it. Sleeping just an hour or two more each night can speed up weight loss. Sleep helps the body heal from injuries, recover from sicknesses, balance hormones, and regulate mood. So sleep for longer, and when you fall asleep, make sure you’re getting the best sleep possible.
2) EAT THE RIGHT KIND OF FAT
It sounds crazy, but you need to eat fat to lose fat. But you’ve got to be selective. Not all fats are created equal! The wrong kinds of fats will NOT give you sustainable energy, NOT provide you with the nutrients you need, and NOT support healthy brain functioning. Yikes! Eat essential fatty acids instead. EFAs are the right kind of fat that improve heart health, help your gut function, and reduce stroke risk. Most of all, they increase the enzymes your body needs to BURN FAT. You can start by taking a fish oil supplement to increase your amounts of Omega-3 – an EFA. To get it in your food, replace vegetable oils with coconut oil, grapeseed oil, or olive oil. Getting more of the right kind of fat will help your brain, heart, and waistline!
3) SWEAT!
Sweat is the body’s amazing system to eliminate toxic substances. Sweating gets your metabolic system going and even improves your skin. Of course, sweat should usually come from exercise. Moving your body will increase fat loss. There are other ways to sweat too! Visit a steam or infrared sauna. Soak in a hot, herbal bath.
4) SPICE THINGS UP!
Spicy food can often cause you to sweat. But even the herbs and spices that aren’t hot can help you lose weight. Herbs and spices when used liberally can improve the immune system and reduce inflammation. Helpful spices include turmeric, ginger, clove, cinnamon, oregano, and garlic. These herbs – along with many others – have been used as medicine for thousands of years. When combined with spicy foods like jalapeno and cayenne peppers, they can stimulate the metabolism. These spices can stimulate stubborn fat to move! Spice things up, and combine eating with sweating!
5) COUNT CARBS
Carbohydrates are an important part of the human diet. Unfortunately, our society eats way too many! Grains, bread, sugary juices and fruit are all high in carbohydrates. We consume far more carbs than our early ancestors, and our organs can’t keep up. Carb-heavy foods cause the pancreas to produce too much insulin. Over-consumption of carbs causes fat storage, unregulated blood sugar, and eventually diabetes. The effects of too many carbs are killing us. Eating sugar – not fat! – is what makes you fat. Control the sugar (carbs) and you will change your body and your life.
Article by Dr. Green of Greenlife Chiropractic and Wellness
8 Rules for Healthy Holidays (12/20/2016)
First of all, before anything else is said, let’s agree on a couple of things.
Sharing good times with friends and family is part of what the holiday season is all about. When these groups get together, it is often in the presence of delicious, scrumptious food. This food tends to be available for snacking all day. Personally, I would immediately call the Vatican and nominate anyone for sainthood who could truly enjoy all the festivities and be awash in the total ambiance of all the season inspires while ignoring the lavish plates of goodies while walking around munching on a stick of celery.
Oh yeah! You’re going to sample Aunt Millie’s mincemeat pie, Uncle Bob’s specially prepared fried turkey, and probably a glass of Alka-Seltzer or something similar.
Unfortunately, I am here to remind you of a few things; you are on a diet, you want to lose weight, all that stuff that is so tempting is fattening, and this is the hardest time of the year to be good. So, let’s just pick up on a few rules to help you get through the season.
Rules For Healthy Holiday Eating:
1. Forgive yourself in advance and give yourself permission to have a good time: You are only human, and you are here to have a good time! One of the reasons you want to lose weight, or keep it down, is so that you can enjoy life, and this is one of the most enjoyable times of the year. So, as they say, live a little. Whatever happens over the next few days will not kill you, and whatever damage you do manage to do can be rectified.
2. Fill your first plate with veggies: Uncle Steve is two hours late and Grandma Jean insists on waiting for him to arrive to serve the main course. Instead of munching on the bread, butter, cheese and cracker appetizers go for the veggie dish or salad. Choosing healthier choices first can help you fill up. There will be less room for the sweets and fatty foods. If you do cheat make it smaller portions and understand the holidays are only a couple of days: Okay, for some families, it may be a couple of weeks…twice… Who you are in terms of health, fitness, and weight loss is determined by the overall accomplishments of the year, not by a few weeks in the fall.
3. Stay with your program: You will definitely minimize the effects of all the dinners, cookies, and snacks if you can still get in your walks, aerobics, weight training, or whatever else you have been doing. During the holiday season, it can be difficult to get everything done the same as in the rest of the year, but two days of exercise this week, while not as good as three or five, is still better than none. Simply knowing you have not abandoned your plan will help you get over any depression you might have because of your holiday eating, and will help reduce any negative effects from all the delicious, gooey calories you have “accidentally” consumed. If you cannot stay on a formal program, squeeze in a walk, even if it is a high-speed shopping trip through the mall.
4. Remain in touch with reality: You will hear people speak of “mindful eating”. Be aware of what you are doing. Have you ever heard someone say, “That is so good, I just have to have some more.”? Of course, YOU and I never say things like that! Well, the truth is that you DON’T have to have some more, and, if you do, it doesn’t need to be right now. Just because the food is there right now doesn’t mean it has to be eaten right now. You know what’s good for you and what isn’t. One piece of pie today is not going to kill you or destroy your weight loss resolution, but do you have to have that pie? Isn’t there a healthier treat you could have, or could you just wait until the meal has settled, or after you take a walk to rev up your metabolism and burn off some of what you already ate. Why not take a piece home with you and have it as a treat for later…when you aren’t as full as a tick.
5. Food is not love: Many people tend to equate food and eating with love. You cannot change the others, but you can change your own attitude. Refusing seconds of Grandma’s turkey does not mean you don’t love her. If she is hurt because you normally stuff yourself and this year you’re not doing her food “justice”, just say that you are stuffed but will have more later. Take control of YOUR life. Others will have to take control of their own.
6. If you are the cook: Choose healthy dishes prepared in a healthy manner. You can make a big salad and bring it with you to wherever you go. If you have found a new diet-friendly food that you enjoy, share that with others. This will give you one more healthy dish to select your own meal from.
7. Alcohol: If you enjoy wine, beer, egg nog like my Uncle Wilbur liked, or other drinks containing alcohol, just slow down and cut back. Try slipping in a glass of water between drinks. Drinks containing alcohol are sneaky, they do nothing for you nutritionally, but they do have a lot of calories. A few drinks with friends can give you more calories than a Big Mac…and you probably have these drinks while snacking or eating a meal! Oh well! At least if you are a beer drinker, you can try some light beers. It will give you an excuse to sample.
8. Be happy to be where you are, doing what you are doing, with the people you love: If you fall head over heels off the wagon, have fun. What you do throughout the year will have more effect on your weight and health than what happens between Thanksgiving and New Year’s.
Onward and Upward: Living a Life Uncommon (10/4/2016)
“Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, Or what’s a heaven for?” —Robert Browning
Wouldn’t it be nice to be perfect? To have a perfect mind, a perfect body, a perfect life? To enjoy perfect health, perfect relationships, a perfect job? To accomplish every goal we set? To get everything we want?
Dream on. I’ve often thought that as human beings, our job is to hold perfection up as an ideal, an objective to be pursued, though never realized. As Union Army general Carl Schurz once said, “Ideals are like stars…you choose them as your guides, and following them, you reach your destiny.”
I’m a firm believer in lifelong learning. If I couldn’t read, take seminars and classes, and listen to personal and professional growth programs, my life would be pretty empty. Although it’s probably true that we’re all doomed to failure when it comes to achieving our full potential, I think we have to try. We owe it to ourselves, to the people we care about, and to our world. Ultimately, the purpose of life is to grow…and to help others grow, as well.
It’s apparently not enough to just learn, however— maybe because it doesn’t fulfill our need to matter, to make a difference. I recently heard a seminar speaker say the following maxim: “Information without implementation leads to depression.” For me, those words have the telltale ring of truth.
There’s a song that always inspires me and lifts me up when I’m down. It’s called “Life Uncommon,” by the singersongwriter Jewel. Here’s the chorus, to give you a taste of how it goes:
Lend your voices only to sounds of freedom No longer lend your strength to that which You wish to be free from Fill your lives with love and bravery And you shall lead a life uncommon
The Power Within
There exists in each of us a perfection that is very real—one that lies deep inside the very core of every person, and indeed, every living thing. It’s something that D.D. Palmer, who founded chiropractic in 1895, described as “Innate Intelligence.”
Dr. Palmer chose the term “innate” to convey the idea of something we’re born with, something that’s part of our “inner essential nature.” In Dr. Palmer’s day, the word could also be used as a verb, meaning “to cause to exist” or “to call into being.”
Try to think of yourself as just a ball of light, filled with pure, intelligent energy. In truth, that’s exactly what we are. Our bodies are simply a place for us to live, and we’re continually renewing and re-creating them from one instant to the next.
The purpose of chiropractic care is to release the “imprisoned impulse” between our inborn, innate intelligence (the pure potential that is our inner essential nature), and its physical expression in our lives. That unseen connection between what we appear to be and what we truly are is the key to our health, our happiness and indeed, our evolution “onward and upward.” It’s the secret to living a life uncommon, allowing us to truly become all we were meant to be, and to transform ourselves and our world into a reality that even Robert Browning would be hardpressed to imagine.
Written by Frank Bowling, DC
Oh, My Aching Head! (9/6/2016)
Whether they’re moderately uncomfortable or throbbing like a jackhammer, headaches afflict people of all ages. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), close to 50% of adults worldwide have experienced a headache within the last year. Missed work and school days often result when the pounding pain prevents sufferers from attending to their daily tasks.
As the most common type of a headache, tension headaches can result from stress, anxiety or tight muscles in your shoulders or neck. Other common types include migraines, sinus headaches and cluster headaches.
Though prescription or over-the-counter medications can provide pain relief, they don’t address the cause of the pain. Those looking for a natural alternative may find relief through precise chiropractic adjustments to reduce nerve interference. You may experience the release of muscle tension, which in turn can provide relief from headache pain.
If you’re seeking relief from headaches, give our practice a call.
Exercise Ideas (7/26/2016)
Can’t get into those yoga positions? Weight lifting just isn’t your style? Want to get some cardio in all while staying at home? Twist and Shout!
Research recommends that we get 30 minutes of moderately intense activity daily. Did you know you could burn between 200-400 calories in just thirty minutes of continuous dancing? So stay home, save money and set the stage for an invigorating dance session:
• Dance around the living room with your kids to everyone’s favorite songs.
• Watch YouTube videos or put in a dance DVD to learn new moves with your friends or family.
• Home alone? Dance and sing like no one’s watching!
Burn calories. Reduce stress. Increase blood flow. Reduce the risk of osteoporosis. Feel Great. Have Fun.
Questions about other ways to get cardio in at home? Give us a call or stop in for some suggestions.
Are you experiencing stress? (7/19/2016)
Anyone exposed to too much stress knows that eventually it shows up in the body.
Common symptoms? Upset stomach pain, anxiety, headaches, and shortness of breath – the list goes on and on.
Come see us for help with your stress management.
Stress is the body’s reaction to a real or imagined danger. It doesn’t matter if a bear or a debt collector is chasing you, the chemical change in your body is the same. That reaction can be helpful in the right circumstances, but can be damaging when it is not.
Physical, chemical and emotional stress can overload your nervous system. Like a chain that breaks at its weakest link, stress tends to show up where we are most vulnerable. Our neck. Low back. Between our shoulders. Stress can increase the frequency of headaches and compromise other aspects of our health.
While regular chiropractic care can’t eliminate stress, it’s likely to help you resist, dissipate and accommodate stress better. Give us a call to find out how we can help you with your stress! (508) 425-3304.
Want a healthier mind, body, and spirit? (7/12/2016)
Promote movement that heals
Many times words can inspire us to improve our health and serve others:
“The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will instruct his patient in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease.” – Thomas Edison
“What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” – Napoleon Hill
“I will not let people step on my mind with their dirty shoes.” – Gandhi
“I will not be consumed with what is wrong in the world because I will be saturated with the good in the world.” – Dr. James W. Parker
“Preach the gospel at all times and if necessary, use words.” –Saint Francis of Assisi
“Let us relish life as we live it, find joy in the journey, and share our love with friends and family.” – Thomas S. Monson
“There is a vast difference between treating effects and adjusting the cause.” – D.D. Palmer
Pregnancy Doesn’t Have to Be a Pain (6/29/2016)
While exciting and life-changing, pregnancy can also be a pain in the derriere, literally. Pregnancy often reveals spinal distortions or pre-existing weaknesses in the spine brought on by the developing baby pressing on the sciatic nerve– the largest in the body. Sciatic pain can be felt in the lower back or buttocks, down the leg and into the foot. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to decrease the discomfort. Dr. Jackie specializes in the Webster Technique. The Webster Technique, and chiropractic care in general, is an important option to maintain freedom of movement and optimal nervous system function during pregnancy. Subluxations corrected before and during pregnancy can improve the neuro-biomechanics of the pelvis, and keep the mother’s nervous system and innate intelligence free to flow. Baby will likewise receive clear messages from mother and within their own being to help promote optimal nervous system development.
During pregnancy, try to avoid lifting heavy objects and reduce the amount of time you stand. When lying down, try the side that’s not affected. Swimming and other exercises that increase circulation may help, while massage therapy, offered at inBalance, can prove to be a great option as well.
Many of our pregnant mothers report that chiropractic care is a natural way to alleviate pressure and ensure their nervous system is functioning optimally. Spend more time preparing for your bundle of joy and less time in pain! If the mother has a balanced body and clear nervous system, stress load for both her and the baby is decreased, which typically allows for an easier and more comfortable pregnancy and birth process. Call us today to see how we can help you! Phone: (508) 425-3304.
ADHD and Chiropractic (5/27/2016)
WebMD (2016) defines Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as a disorder that affects children and teens and can continue to be difficult to overcome into adulthood. ADHD is the most commonly diagnosed mental disorder of children. Children with ADHD may be hyperactive and unable control their impulses or they may have trouble paying attention. These behaviors interfere with school and home life.
Psychiatrist Peter Breggin wrote, “Hyperactivity is the most frequent justification for drugging children. The difficult-to-control male child is certainly not a new phenomenon, but attempts to give him a medical diagnosis are the product of modern psychology and psychiatry. At first psychiatrists called hyperactivity a brain disease. When no brain disease could be found, they changed it to ‘minimal brain disease’ (MBD). When no minimal brain disease could be found the profession transformed the concept into ‘minimal brain dysfunction.’ When no minimal brain dysfunction could be demonstrated, the label became attention deficit disorder. Now it’s just assumed to be a real disease, regardless of the failure to prove it so. Biochemical imbalance is the code word, but there’s no more evidence for that than there is for actual brain disease.” [1]
The widely accepted form of treatment for kids with ADHD is through pharmaceutical paths. In fact, Adderall, Strattera, and Ritalin are the most commonly prescribed drugs for this disorder and the United States is responsible for 90% of the world’s use of these drugs. The production of Adderall and Dexedrine, also used to treat ADHD, has risen 2,000% in nine years.
However, it is important to note that there are alternatives to placing these chemicals in your children. Chiropractic care has shown to be a very successful alternative treatment method.
A study published in 1975, compared chiropractic care with drug treatment in children with learning and behavioral impairments due to neurological dysfunction. It was reported that chiropractic care “was more effective for the wide range of symptoms common in the neurological dysfunction syndrome in which thirteen symptom or problem areas were considered.” The author also reported that chiropractic care was 24% more effective than commonly used medications. [2]
Giesen at al conducted a study involving seven subjects. All subjects were of school age and had clinical findings evidencing vertebral subluxation complex. Following chiropractic care, 57% showed an improvement in chiropractic radiographic findings; 71.4% showed a reduction in overt behavior activity; 57% showed improvement in level of autonomic activity, and 57% showed improvement in parental ratings of hyperactivity. [3]
Every child with a subluxation needs care by a chiropractor for correcting nerve interference; function is improved, with greater expression of human potential. At inBalance, we like to say that negative messages are adjusted into positive ones, helping your body work better. Many parents have reported terminating drug therapy, and seeing the personality, will, and soul of the child unfolding.
The side effects of some ADHD medications are withdrawal symptoms (such as depression, suicidal thoughts, or other mental/mood changes), and may cause abnormal drug-seeking behavior. The side effects of Chiropractic care – happiness. Bring your child into inBalance Chiropractic today so we can see what we can do to help them be successful in the classroom and at home.
References
[1]Breggin PR: “Toxic Psychiatry.” St. Martin’s Press. New York. 1991. Chapters 12 and 13.
[2]Walton EV: “The effects of chiropractic treatment on students with learning and behavioral impairments due to neurological dysfunction.” International Review of Chiropractic 1975;29:4-5:24-26.
[3]Giesen JM, Center DB, Leach RA: “An evaluation of chiropractic manipulation as a treatment for hyperactivity in children.” JMPT 1989;12:353-363.