Obesity: A National Epidemic?
Posted on 15. Jun, 2010 by Santa Barbara Chiropractor in blog, health
As a chiropractor and healthcare provider, I would be remiss if I didn’t address the vital issue of excess weight and how it negatively affects every part of the human body. I explain the health challenges to my overweight patients and hammer away on the subject in my blogs because in addition to the cardio-vascular diseases caused by obesity, much of the back pain, hip pain, and knee pain that people experience is influenced by the undue stress excess weight puts on the joints of the body. And, though it may not surprise you, an expert panel in a report out just today said that people in this country must slash their calories and increase physical activity because the obesity epidemic is “the single greatest threat to public health in this century.”
We all know that dieting isn’t easy, but the advisory committee for the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans gave this clear-cut advice: “People in this country need to cut the calories they consume from added sugars and solid fats (butter, marbled meats) and start eating a more nutrient-rich, plant-based diet.”
The report called for many changes in the food environment. To read more, go to: http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/weightloss/2010-06-15-
If You Suffer From Hip Pain, Your Corona Chiropractor Offers Chiropractic Management That Can Help You Get Out Of Pain Now!
Posted on 08. May, 2010 by admin in blog, hip pain
Your Corona Chiropractor offers a highly successful non-invasive, drug-free approach to relieving hip pain and often getting rid of it altogether. Whenever possible, surgery should be seen as a final option. Therefore, before you schedule a surgery to replace that hip, ask yourself the following questions: Is it out of the question for you to get a good night’s sleep because your hip pain wakes you up at night? When you arise in the morning, and/or when you step out of your car, are you stiff and do you find it initially hard to get your legs moving sufficiently? Do you feel pain whenever you rotate or twist them or when you cross your legs? If you’ve answered “yes” to any or all of these questions you probably have imbalances and alignment problems in your lower extremities that are not only causing your hip pain, but can eventually lead to degenerative joint disease in your hips if not treated. The good news is that whether or not degenerative changes have already started, chiropractic treatment can help!
You may be getting older and it may be true that your hip joints aren’t what they used to be. Nonetheless, are you aware that your hip pain and related problems, which normally point to age-related degenerative conditions, may not actually be generated by osteoarthritis? That’s right. In fact, as opposed to being the root cause of your problem, osteoarthritis of the hip joint is typically the consequence of a prior injury (or injuries) to your hips.
Frequently, hip problems have to do with asymmetry or imbalance when you are in motion, as in the case of walking. If you tend to walk “pronated” with your toes pointing away from your body (like a duck), eventually you will feel pain in your hips as a result of the asymmetrical tension on your hip joints as your body attempts to compensate. Thankfully, you can learn to correct your gait pattern at any age, and your chiropractor in Corona can show you how to do it.
Furthermore, you may have developed gait changes as the result of an ankle sprain or knee strain, and since “the knee bone’s connected to the hip bone,” these biomechanical accommodations produce pain in the hip(s). Of course, if not remedied, your hip joints will suffer further consequences, like wear and tear that produces degenerative changes.
Other activities that can occasionally impact the hip joints are starting a new job or beginning a new sport that requires you to move your body in uncommon ways. Also, ferrying a child (or grandchild) on one hip can create hip pain. Even your sitting position or driving for prolonged periods of time on a regular basis can cause hip injury and pain.
So you can see that not every pain is caused by “old age,” although we may suffer from more pain as a consequence of the progressive capacity of untreated injuries.
In addition to your adjustments, as an integral part of your chiropractic management, your Corona Chiropractor will suggest special rehabilitative exercises that include gentle muscle stretching and strengthening, and will also analyze your gait and may suggest simple pattern changes.
Your hip pain won’t disappear by itself. Hip pain is a sign that there’s a condition that requires correcting. If ignored, there is a good possibility that at some point you will require that hip replacement surgery. So, don’t put off until tomorrow, what truly needs to be done today. Your Corona Chiropractor can get you out of pain, get your body back into balance, and help you get to back to enjoying your life again!
Your Santa Barbara Chiropractor Can Help Ease Your Age-Related Back Pain
Posted on 07. May, 2010 by admin in arthritis, back pain, blog
You know what they say, “Growing old isn’t so bad when you consider the alternative.” However, it’s no joke if the aging process is creating pain in your body! As a chiropractor in Santa Barbara, I give care to quite a few people suffering from age-related challenges that likely would not have occurred if the exacerbating cause had been taken care of earlier in life, especially when it relates to musculoskeletal breakdowns. Poor posture, improper gait, and repetitive overuse frequently produce undue stress in the back, neck, hip, knees, and even the feet that can result in painful conditions over time. If we only knew then how our aging body would feel today, eh? However, as they say, “hindsight is 20-20.”
As you can see from the list of complaints above, there are plenty of musculoskeletal conditions that can, and frequently do, take place as we age, but painful back problems are one of the most prevalent. Back pain that is age-related is generally produced by spine osteoarthritis, or Spondylosis, a degenerative disorder.
Spinal osteoarthritis is caused by prolonged erosion and weight-bearing force on the spine that, over time, undermines discs, joints, and surrounding ligaments. The area of the body and rate of the degenerative process of spondylosis is individual, varying from person to person. It is likely to affect the cervical (neck), thoracic (mid-back), or lumbar (low back) regions of the spine. Spondylosisi symptoms very from person to person and depend on the severity of the degeneration, and can range from low-amplitude pain and numbness to severe sensory loss and muscular atrophy.
Repetitive stresses negatively affect the cartilage surrounding the joints and can induce calcium to deposit in the tissues around the vertebrae. Adjacent nerves, blood vessels, and soft tissue can be constricted by these calcific deposits, also called bone spurs. This type of compression is at the root of Spondylosis.
Regular chiropractic care and overall chiropractic management is beneficial in significantly slowing age-related degeneration of the spine whether or not you are suffering from spondylosis. It may be true that “you can’t un-ring a bell” or “turn back the hands of time,” but it isn’t too late to give your spine the good treatment it deserves. Chiropractors are experts when it comes to treatment of the spine. See your Santa Barbara Chiropractor today, for the health of your spine.
Santa Barbara Chiropractor: "No Pain, No Gain?" Not When It Comes to Getting Older
Posted on 26. Nov, 2009 by admin in arthritis
If you’re over forty years old you know that as we age our body doesn’t feel or respond the same way as it did when we were younger. It hardly seems fair that as our mind appears to improve and become more “inventive,” our body seems to become less “cooperative.” We’re stiff when we get out of bed; certain activities during the day make us sore at night; and, if we’re not mindful, even something as simple as turning too fast or bending over to pick up a dropped object, can cause our back or some other muscle group to go into spasm. The good news is that there is natural treatment for us, “boomers,” that can not only slow down the aging process of the body, but help us to avoid some of those problems altogether.
Take arthritis for instance. In point of fact, barring pharmaceuticals, conventional medicine fails to take care of this age-related affliction. What is the reason? It is because most medical professionals treat the symptoms of arthritis. Chiropractic care, on the other hand, not only is beneficial in relieving the pain of arthritis, naturally, without drugs, but it finds the origin of the affliction and eliminates it. For more than a hundred years, chiropractors, like your Santa Barbara Chiropractor, have been treating people suffering from back pain and other conditions created by arthritic changes in the musculoskeletal system.
Arthritic changes occur as your body ages because, over time, wear of particular joints takes place as a consequence of repetitive stresses, as well as years of incorrect gait, improper posture, and insufficient movement. Chiropractic treatment restores motion back into your joints and reduces pain, and it readjusts any vertebral misalignment that may be causing irritation and restriction. In addition to causing arthritic changes in the spine and increasing pain, did you know that misaligned vertebra can also lower your resistance and immunity? It’s true, and this may be one of the reasons why it may seem to you that as you get older you experience more health problems and that it often takes longer for you to feel better again. Studies have shown that older individuals who are under chiropractic care stay healthier. In fact, you could say that, as you get older, chiropractic treatment is good for what ails you!
Chiropractors are highly proficient when it comes to the health of the musculoskeletal system, from the small, growing frame of an infant to the full-grown body of a mature adult. Your chiropractor is experienced in working with the aging process of the body and has special observational and diagnostic skills that assist in finding spinal misalignments and joint problems. In fact, a chiropractic examination can frequently reveal certain age-related changes before they’ve begun to create noticeable pain. Furthermore, your Santa Barbara Chiropractor can check your posture and analyze your gait to determine if there are any faulty patterns that could create further arthritic changes.
So, if feeling your age has become a painful experience, make an appointment with your Santa Barbara Chiropractor today!
Santa Barbara Chiropractor Offers Alternative Care for Arthritis Pain
Posted on 17. Apr, 2009 by admin in arthritis
Your Santa Barbara chiropractor treats hundreds of arthritis sufferers. There are a number of treatment options from which you can choose when it comes to your back pain and pain in other parts of your body because of arthritic changes. Quite a few men and women who are experiencing painful arthritis and back pain think that they should go to a medical doctor as the best way to find a cure for their problem. But, it may surprise you to know that only a small number medical doctors are able to help individuals prevail over the problem of back pain due to arthritis. Rather than being disciplined in finding and treating the reason for the pain you are undergoing, medical doctors generally treat only your symptoms, and more often than not, through medication. And, while some medications may ease the symptoms of arthritis, there is much more that you can do not simply for pain relief, but to genuinely slow down arthritic changes in your body.
Visiting a chiropractor is truly one of the smartest things that you can do to gain relief from your arthritis and back pain. Chiropractors are doctors who practice entirely in therapies relating to the muscular and skeletal system, and arthritis is a joint affliction. Chiropractic care has helped many people to slow the process of arthritis by helping their joints to move. Movement is crucial for joint health. A good chiropractor is extraordinarily competent in treating back pain, even when it is caused by arthritis
If you have never gone to a chiropractor before, you might be a little bit concerned about what is going to go on once you are in the office. Here’s a a moment about what you can expect. You will will be given the opportunity to discuss your medical history, which will probably include a family history of arthritis. The chiropractor will want to know about your current lifestyle and may offer distinct alterations that will be very helpful in the reduction of inflammation due to arthritis. And, finally, you will receive a thorough examination. After the examination is finished, the chiropractor will let you know if chiropractic management can help your back pain, as well as relieve your painful arthritic symptoms. At the end of your visit!Then you will be told about the exact treatment you will require.
A chiropractic adjustment relieves pain gently and naturally, and it is a painless process. And, the paramount aspect of going to a chiropractor for your back pain and arthritis is that you can feel assured that the reason for your pain is being addressed, and that the relief you experience is not masking the symptom of pain, but actually taking care of the origin of your condition.
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