Santa Barbara Chiropractor Explains How Chiropractic Treatment Can Frequently Relieve Vertigo
Posted on 18. Dec, 2009 by admin in balance problems
What does the term, “vertigo,” mean? Vertigo is a term for the dizzy disturbance that a person feels within a stationary environment. The feeling is as if the outer world is tilting or spinning. Vertigo can be sudden and short-lived or chronic. Whether acute or chronic, however, the exact cause of vertigo should be addressed and the necessary treatment obtained.
Vertigo has a number of origins. One kind of vertigo, Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo, can be caused by an inner ear condition that can take place after an individual has incurred a head trauma or after a severe cold. In addition, this type of vertigo can be age related. But, generally, the cause is unknown. Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo is a wordy diagnosis, but it describes perfectly this non-progressive affliction that is generated by, as its name implies, an abrupt change in head position. Such episodes are usually unexpected and variable.
To understand what causes the frequently incapacitating symptoms of this type of vertigo, it is useful to note the function of the inner ear. The brain senses movement and maintains balance through the medium of the fluid contained in the inner ear. Also within the inner ear are small calcium carbonate crystals, known as otoconia. When these crystals are dislodged, they then float in the inner ear fluid. As the crystals strike against the sensitive nerve endings in the inner ear, they cause the symptoms of Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo or BPPV.
Fortunately chiropractic treatment can relieve the symptoms of BPPV fast and effectively using a technique known as the Epley maneuver. Through the use of this technique, your Santa Barbara chiropractor slowly turns the head of a BPPV sufferer into several different positions, letting gravity move the calcium carbonate crystals away from the nerve endings and into an area of the inner ear where they won’t generate further dizziness.
Your Santa Barbara chiropractor has treated hundreds of individuals suffering from Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo using the Epley Maneuver technique. Often, with just one treatment the majority of patients no longer suffer from dizziness. Call your chiropractor today!
Athletes Warned Against The Misuse Of NSAIDs
Posted on 18. Dec, 2009 by admin in Santa Barbara Chiropractor
Athletes’ superstitions and rituals can help them get psyched up for contests, but when these rituals involve non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which many athletes gobble down before and during events, they could be causing more harm than good.
“These agents are treatments for the symptoms of an injury, not the injury itself,” says Stuart Warden, whose research at Indiana University focuses on musculoskeletal health and sports medicine. “They may allow an athlete to exercise or train at a certain level, but pain occurs for a reason. It is basically the body’s mechanism of saying, ‘Hang on, you’ve got some sort of injury that should not be ignored.’”
Natural Herbal Products to Stock in Your First Aid Kit
Posted on 15. Dec, 2009 by admin in Santa Barbara Chiropractor
from Alternative Medicine and Natural Health Information
Keeping a first aid kit around the home and carrying one around during outdoor excursions such as camping and hiking is a smart idea. While many over-the-counter conventional remedies are standard in a first aid kit, you should not discount adding a few natural herbal products as well. In some instances, the natural herbal remedies actually speed healing and reduce infection risk.
Natural Herbal Products in your First Aid Kit
Your first aid kit will always carry the basics such as sterile gauze, adhesive bandages, sterile needles, tweezers, scissors, thermometer, sterile water and even hot and cold packs. However, your medicines for scrapes, cleaning wounds and bruise treatments can easily be treated with natural herbal remedies. Here are some handy products to consider:
- Lavender Oil – Lavender has antiseptic properties. If you have minor cuts, scrapes or even bug bites, applying lavender oil to the affected areas can help them heal, sometimes twice as fast as treating them with a conventional method.
- Honey – Honey has antimicrobial as well as anti-inflammatory properties. After rinsing a minor wound or burn with water, you can apply honey directly onto the affected area and cover with a bandage.
- Tea Tree Oil – Tea tree oil is a powerhouse herbal remedy because it has antifungal, antibiotic and antiseptic properties. You can treat a wound, rash and insect bite with tea tree oil.
- Cayenne Pepper – This spicy pepper not only opens nasal passageways and lower blood pressure if consumed, it also has the power to stop bleeding and reduce pain in a wound such as a cut, abrasion or scrape. Sprinkling the cayenne pepper straight onto the affected area may sound strange, but the throbbing pain will lessen and bleeding stops quickly.
- Calendula – Tincture made from calendula oil can be effective and safe for skin rashes, cuts and abrasions. It helps alleviate the pain, swelling and stinging sensations of a wound.
- Comfrey –A powdered form of comfrey can be mixed with distilled water to form a paste which could be applied directly to wounds. Comfrey contains a compound called allantoin which speeds the healing process as well as reduce swelling and inflammation. This herbal concoction has both antifungal and antibacterial properties.
- Vinegar – Containing natural antiseptic properties, vinegar can be used to cleanse wounds by mixing it with water. Vinegar also soothes rashes and insect bites. Sunburns are also soothed by a rag or bandage soaked in vinegar and then applied to the affected area.
- Yarrow – Powdered yarrow leaves can be mixed with a little distilled water to form a paste which can be applied to cuts and other minor wounds. The yarrow stops bleeding and even disinfects the affected area.
If you use an herbal essential oil for your first aid kit, be sure to pack a carrier oil such as almond oil, olive oil or coconut oil. You typically have to mix a few drops of essential oil with the carrier oil to prevent skin irritation. With the basics along with some or all of these natural herbal products, you have a solid first aid kit that can handle virtually any minor emergency.
How to Get Your Kids to Eat More Fiber!
Posted on 10. Dec, 2009 by admin in Santa Barbara Chiropractor
Getting your kids eating their fiber is important. Here are a few suggestions to sneak fiber into your kid’s diet. Try these tips and avoid the struggle!
(By Shannon Clark for Bodybuilding.com)
Of all the nutrients that your kids need to be taking in, one of the biggest ones that often gets neglected is dietary fiber. In today’s world where most lunches consist of a sandwich, a pudding, some type of ‘fruit bar’, and a soda, fiber is not something that’s found.
Likewise, as soon as they get home they’re quick to go straight for the cupboard and reach for some variety of convenience snack that’s jam packed with simple processed carbohydrates that do nothing for overall weight control.
Getting your kids to eat their fiber, while an extremely challenging goal, is important. It’s going to help keep their digestive system healthy, keep them regular, and also help prevent them from snacking needlessly, filling up on empty calories that contribute to a growing weight problem down the road. Read more…
Santa Barbara Chiropractor: Are Extra Pounds Putting Your Joints on Overload?
Posted on 08. Dec, 2009 by admin in Where:Santa-Barbara-CA
It is no secret that carrying around excess body weight, especially as we age, can cause a number of health problems from cardiovascular diseases and diabetes to back and joint pain. Too much body weight puts extra stress on organs, like the heart, and on joints in the low back, hips, and knees. Recent studies have revealed that more than half of the adults in the U.S. (62 percent) are overweight or obese. That is a very significant number and an enormous problem (no pun intended).
The human body was not designed to carry around extra weight in the form of body fat. Only an additional 20 or 30 pounds can put the musculoskeletal system literally on overload. Weight in the belly, for instance, causes the body to compensate (counterbalance the weight) by tilting the pelvis forward. This produces compression in the joints of the low back. Joint compression constricts nerve activity and produces painful inflammation. Weight-bearing stresses can cause a pinched sciatic nerve or create misalignments of the spinal column that impinge nerves. This is the reason that most overweight individuals suffer from low back pain. Misaligned vertebra can not only cause new arthritic changes in the spine, but can continue to irritate the degenerative changes that have already taken place over the years.
You may be wondering how chiropractic can help. First of all, to be clear, a healthy body weight is a necessity in order for the musculoskeletal system to perform the way it is meant to. That said, in addition, chiropractic treatment relieves nerve impedence in the spine and helps to restore mobility back into the joints of the musculoskeletal system, like in the low back, hips, and knees. A spine in alignment and joints that have healthy movement make exercise and physical activity a lot easier. Exercise will not only help with weight loss, but it can actually decelerate degenerative changes as a person ages.
It is always best to discuss diet and exercise with a healthcare professional, like your chiropractor. Chiropractors not only help individuals get pain relief from back challenges and joint inflammation due to arthritis, but in addition they offer highly knowledgeable advice on the kind of lifestyle changes that can aid an individual in staying healthier and more active through the years. Arthritis and immobility as we get older do not have to be inevitable. The human body was meant to move, to walk, even to dance, without pain, for a lifetime.
So, if you’ve been throwing your weight around and all you’ve been getting in return is back and joint pain, your chiropractor can help relieve your suffering. Make an appointment today!
Urine Sample May Reveal Sleep Disorder in Kids
Posted on 07. Dec, 2009 by admin in Santa Barbara Chiropractor
Procedure could negate need for more complicated testing, expert says
MONDAY, Dec. 7 (HealthDay News) — A simple urine test could be developed to detect whether a child has obstructive sleep apnea, U.S. researchers say.
Such a test "would alleviate the need for costly and inconvenient sleep studies in children who snore, only about 20 to 30 percent of whom actually have OSA," or obstructive sleep apnea, Dr. David Gozal, a professor and chairman of pediatrics at the University of Chicago, said in a news release from the American Thoracic Society.
An estimated 3 percent of children younger than 9 have OSA, which can lead to cognitive, behavioral, cardiovascular and metabolic problems. Read more…
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