Will You Have to Go to Santa Barbara Chiropractic “Forever”?
Posted on 22. Mar, 2010 by admin in Santa Barbara Chiropractor
As a Chiropractor in Santa Barbara, I commonly hear this question asked by those considering chiropractic care: “If I start going to a chiropractor, will I have to always go?” I often wonder why this particular question doesn’t come up for someone who goes to a general medical practitioner. Think about it: How strange would it be if someone asked, “If I go to Dr. Smith for a general checkup and he gives me a prescription for a temporary condition I might have, will I have to see him ‘forever’?” The answer is “Of course not.” You don’t have to see Dr. Smith again, but you probably will for your yearly or bi-annual checkup and, naturally, in between if you’re not feeling well.
The same is true when you go to see a chiropractor. Most of the time, individuals go to see a chiropractor because they’re in pain (not feeling well). After the chiropractor has treated them and gotten them out of pain (a ‘prescription,’ so to speak, for a temporary condition), the chiropractor will probably suggest maintenance care (a general checkup even when you’re feeling okay). The only difference is that a chiropractor will likely suggest that you come in monthly. Why? Because chiropractors are all about preventative care whenever possible. Maintenance care is like a “tune up” that not only helps your body to maintain the “crisis” treatment you received when you were in pain and keeps you healthier and stronger so that you can avoid future injuries, but during your maintenance visit your chiropractor can make sure that you don’t have a “temporary condition” that needs to be corrected before it becomes “crisis” treatment.
Cumulative effects of awkward sitting posture, bad work habits, incorrect lifting, lack of regular exercise, and other unhealthy lifestyle-related influences can produce pain, often excruciating pain, in your back, neck, shoulders, hips, knees, etc. Getting “checked out” and “readjusted” on a regular basis keeps small conditions from becoming big problems.
So, to the question “If I start doing to a chiropractor, will I need to go “forever”? The answer is “No, but you may want to, for your health’s sake!”
"Will I Have to See My Santa Barbara Chiropractor 'Forever'?"
Posted on 22. Mar, 2010 by admin in Santa Barbara Chiropractor
As a Santa Barbara Chiropractor, I often hear a common question asked by those considering chiropractic care: “If I start going to a chiropractor, will I have to always go?” I often wonder why this particular question doesn’t come up for someone who goes to a general medical practitioner. Think about it: How strange would it be if someone asked, “If I go to Dr. Smith for a general checkup and he gives me a prescription for a temporary condition I might have, will I have to see him ‘forever’?” The answer is “Of course not.” You don’t have to see Dr. Smith again, but you probably will for your yearly or bi-annual checkup and, naturally, in between if you’re not feeling well.
The same is true when you go to see a chiropractor. Most of the time, individuals go to see a chiropractor because they’re in pain (not feeling well). After the chiropractor has treated them and gotten them out of pain (a ‘prescription,’ so to speak, for a temporary condition), the chiropractor will probably suggest maintenance care (a general checkup even when you’re feeling okay). The only difference is that a chiropractor will likely suggest that you come in monthly. Why? Because chiropractors are all about preventative care whenever possible. Maintenance care is like a “tune up” that not only helps your body to maintain the “crisis” treatment you received when you were in pain and keeps you healthier and stronger so that you can avoid future injuries, but during your maintenance visit your chiropractor can make sure that you don’t have a “temporary condition” that needs to be corrected before it becomes “crisis” treatment.
Cumulative effects of awkward sitting posture, bad work habits, incorrect lifting, lack of regular exercise, and other unhealthy lifestyle-related influences can produce pain, often excruciating pain, in your back, neck, shoulders, hips, knees, etc. Getting “checked out” and “readjusted” on a regular basis keeps small conditions from becoming big problems.
So, to the question “If I start doing to a chiropractor, will I need to go “forever”? The answer is “No, but you may want to, for your health’s sake!”
Santa Barbara Chiropractor Offers a Choice of Chiropractic Treatment Plans to Meet Your Individual Health Care Goals
Posted on 28. Jan, 2010 by admin in Santa Barbara Chiropractor
Your Santa Barbara Chiropractor, Dr. Jamie Phillips, wants you to know that there are quite a few chiropractic treatment plans that can be efficacious when caring for the musculoskeletal system, from focusing on explicit muscular disturbances to addressing overall health concerns. After a thorough examination and discussing your concerns, she will advise you as to which strategy would likely be the most effective for you personally. As your Chiropractor in Santa Barbara, she will supply you with a range of treatment options from which you can select in accordance with your current health crisis as well as your long term health goals.
It may be useful for you to have some concept, in advance, about the range of chiropractic treatment plans your chiropractor will provide.
Relief Care is the type of chiropractic program offered to people who are experiencing almost any pain or uncomfortableness, no matter what the reason for the challenge. The intention of this type of therapy is to offer you fast pain relief. The length of the treatment process is likely to fluctuate as the treatment depends completely on the scope of the condition or dysfunction sustained by the person and how fast it can be corrected.
Corrective Care generally is a “more advanced” type of chiropractic treatment. It is for individuals who have suffered from spinal issues over a long time period, that is to say, for those who have a chronic condition that has evolved into a more difficult situation caused by not getting specific intervention. Remedial treatment oftentimes extends over a longer period of time. How long treatment is necessary is based on the extent of the progressive breakdown and how effectively the person responds to the treatment.
Maintenance Care, as the name indicates, is intended to maintain or sustain any kind of treatment previously administered to a patient. On many occasions, chiropractic care is extended only after the initial treatments have proven to be effective. The aim of this type of chiropractic care is to minimize the possibility of the original issue coming back and to avoid degenerative changes in the future.
Wellness Care is extended to individuals who are not challenged by acute discomfort, but wish to strengthen their overall health. Routine chiropractic treatment increases the circulation of blood and oxygen inside the body, increases muscle flexibility, assists in discouraging work and play injuries, and boosts an individual’s total sense of well-being.
It doesn’t matter if you are presently experiencing pain or you would like to increase your overall health, chiropractic care can help! Call your Santa Barbara Chiropractor today!
Santa Barbara Chiropractor Discusses the Health Benefits of Chiropractic Care
Posted on 14. Jan, 2010 by admin in Santa Barbara Chiropractor
Do you know that chiropractic therapy has been increasing in popularity for years and that it is continuing to increase yearly as the favored healthcare choice for many individuals? As a Santa Barbara Chiropractor, I am very excited that people are making a choice on chiropractic care due to the many added advantages that such therapy can provide. No other medical method is less invasive to the body and, at the same time, is able to promote the body’s innate ability to heal itself instead of masking symptoms with pills.
Let’s face it, wherever there’s a musculoskeletal structure, such as within the human body, there is the possibility of musculoskeletal dysfunction such as upper back pain and neck pain, pain in the shoulder, elbow, hip and knee joints, and ankle and foot pain. No one is immune from misalignment of the spine and joint inflammation, even though numerous health issues are often the effect of sports injuries, accidents, and the aging process. Regardless of the source, just about any type of movement on a traumatized area of the body can not just result in pain or suffering, but temporary disability. And, needless to say, certain musculoskeletal dilemmas, if left untreated, can lead to permanent disability.
It has been said of chiropractic treatment that its “many benefits surpass” merely correcting a specific problem. And, though fixing a particular condition is excellent, in point of fact, someone who comes in to see a chiropractor for lumbar pain, for instance, not only benefits from specific pain relief, but also enhanced circulation, a lowering or elimination of lactic acid, easier travel of oxygen and nutrients within the body, more flexibility, much less general pain and soreness, faster recovery time, a more tranquil feeling, and the reduction of future injuries! Is it any wonder why chiropractic care has become the treatment of choice for so many people?
In combination with offering expert musculoskeletal care, chiropractors also include education and counseling when it comes to improving your total health and wellness. Chiropractors are well aware that in order for you to become healthier and stay that way, it is important for you to decide on a natural, healthy way of life, including consuming plenty of water to keep the body hydrated, following a nutritiousl diet program, and creating a consistent stretching and exercise routine.
Chiropractic care doesn’t exactly work “miracles, ” but it can come pretty close in many areas that may possibly surprise you. For example, chiropractic care helps women that are pregnant give birth more easily. It can strengthen developmental abilities of babies, particularly increasing motor skills, and it can frequently stop scoliosis. Chiropractic adjustments for children will help lessen asthma conditions, ear infections, and even bed-wetting. Along with the positive factors just stated, consistent chiropractic management can help adults to feel more vital and full of energy, which in turn accelerates productivity and life enjoyment. And, ultimately, for aging baby boomers and the growing senior population, not only can chiropractic care assist in lowering age-related disorders and keep seniors more active in later years, it can decrease the balance problems that all too commonly end up in critical injury from falls.
If you are already visiting a chiropractor, that’s great! You have no doubt already experienced most of the added benefits mentioned above. If so, why not enlighten a pal about chiropractic? Don’t let somebody you care about fall victim to the sort of misinformation pertaining to chiropractic care that can keep them from living their life more fully. If someone you care is living with pain, tell that person about your chiropractor in Santa Barbara today! She can help and your loved one will thank you!
Vitamin D Plus Calcium, a Supplemental Plus?
Posted on 13. Jan, 2010 by admin in Santa Barbara Chiropractor
Okay, I know that all of us are secretly looking for a “silver bullet” that will guard against everything from cardiovascular disease and cancer to bone fractures and sagging skin. But, the truth is that there will likely never be just one thing to “fix” any one problem, much less one thing to fix all the problems at once! As a case in point, I offer the results of a recent study about a wonderful vitamin, Vitamin D, and calcium, both of which shouldn’t be neglected, but aren’t “the answer” either.
Vitamin D Plus Calcium Guards Against Fractures
But the vitamin alone doesn’t offer significant protection, researchers say
(HealthDay News) — Daily supplements of calcium and vitamin D reduce the risk of fractures in women and men of all ages, even if they’ve suffered previous fractures, but vitamin D supplements alone don’t offer significant protection, a new study has found.
Researchers analyzed data from 68,517 people, average age 70, who took part in seven studies that looked at the effect vitamin D or vitamin D plus calcium had on reducing fractures.
The analysis revealed that vitamin D given alone in doses of 10 micrograms to 20 micrograms per day doesn’t prevent fractures. However, calcium and vitamin D given together reduce the risk of hip fractures, total fractures and possibly vertebral fractures.
The study, published online Jan. 12 in BMJ, called for additional studies of vitamin D, especially vitamin D given at higher doses without calcium.
There’s a growing consensus that a combination of calcium and vitamin D is more effective than vitamin D alone in preventing nonvertebral fractures, Opinder Sahota, of Queen’s Medical Center in Nottingham, England, wrote in an accompanying editorial.
Further research is need to determine the most effective dose, treatment duration and method of taking the calcium/vitamin D combination, Sahota said.
More information
The U.S. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases has more about calcium and vitamin D.
How Did You Sleep Last Night?
Posted on 07. Jan, 2010 by admin in Santa Barbara Chiropractor, Where:Santa-Barbara-CA

Getting enough sleep is an important component for a healthy life. Many people work too many hours, enjoy a “demanding” social life, and have lots of commitments with their families. Worries, to do lists, arguments, and forgotten tasks creep into their minds when it is time to wind down at the end of the day, keeping them from getting a restful nights sleep. Getting enough sleep is essential for a healthy immune system. It also helps to reduce stress, is necessary for the body to make repairs, and makes you more alert. If you are are one of the many who are lacking enough rest, make a New Year’s resolution that will impact your whole life. Get to bed!
Some tips for getting a night of rest that will make you feel your best:
1. Make your bedroom a place where you either sleep or have sex. Don’t bring work to bed with you, stop checking your Blackberry, and turn off the TV!
2. Reduce caffeine; have your higher caffeinated drinks earlier in the day and don’t have any 7-8 hours before bed.
3. Give yourself a bedtime. If you know what time you have to rise, set the clock 8 hours before that and give yourself no more than 30 minutes to get in bed.
4. Take a hot shower or bath and use essential oils like lavender that help induce sleep.
5. Figure out if exercise energizes you or makes you tired and decide when you should incorporate your routine into your day.
6. Try Dr. Andrew Weil’s breathing exercises. Calming the mind to reduce the internal chatter will do amazing things for your bedtime routine. How are you sleeping at night? Do you have any tips for the chronic insomniacs? Please share your comments at Integrative Nutrition.
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…
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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