Decompression

Decompression

Chiropractic Care Promotes Flexibility, Balance, and Coordination

Flexibility, balance, and coordination are innate human functions. These abilities add beauty to the forms of our physical actions. We instinctively admire the grace and skill of professional athletes, men, and women who have achieved very high levels of flexibility, balance, and coordination. Many of us have permanent mental images of stunning sports moments we've witnessed, when human beings have performed extraordinary feats using these inborn, yet highly trained abilities. Not all of can become professional athletes, yet we all can function at the peak of our own capabilities. Chiropractic care helps us do this. By ensuring that our central mechanism of flexibility, balance, and coordination - our spinal column and core musculature - is functioning at maximum efficiency, chiropractic care helps us achieve high performance. Overall health, creativity, and physical abilities are all enhanced by chiropractic care.

Did you know that your spinal column's spongy intervertebral discs (IVDs) comprise 25% of this segmented structure's entire length? Did you know that an adult's spinal column is approximately 24-28 inches in length? A little quick math shows that the total height of your spinal discs is approximately between 6 and 7 inches. But most of us don't get to enjoy the maximum height, springiness, or shock-absorbing capabilities of our spinal IVDs.

Why is that? Another fact known to anatomy students is that IVDs begin losing their total water content at the early age of 2. If you're a young adult, that water-losing process has been going on for 20 years. If you're older, tack on a couple of decades. But this is a natural process. Whether we like it or not, our body parts are not built to last forever. They are designed to keep us healthy and fit for about 150 years (another little-known fact). What's not natural is the sedentary lifestyle associated with living in an economy driven largely by the service sector.

Until very recently (75 years ago or so), most adults worked at jobs which required physical labor. Employment in agriculture and industry required actual work using one's body. Those jobs had a built-in exercise component, all day, every day. In contrast, 21st-century jobs require a lot of sitting. For many jobs, workers are sitting all day, every day. When you're sitting or standing in an unchanging position, the relentless force of gravity bears down on your spine at a steady, never-changing rate of 32 ft/s². The long-term result on one's spinal column is compression. Natural water-losing forces are unopposed and your spinal discs just keep getting thinner.

We need to reverse these trends. We need to find ways to pump our discs back up. We want to regain the health of our spinal discs, regain lost stature, and be able to stand up tall, achieving our full physiological height.  We need to identify and engage in decompressive activities, activities that will restore fluids to our IVDs.

Fortunately, a highly decompressive set of activities is readily available and has been in use for thousands of years. Yoga is a system of exercises that provides a broad range of health benefits including spinal decompression.^1,2,3 In fact, done correctly, all yoga exercises (known as postures, poses, and asanas) result in spinal lengthening. The key is to make the yoga posture active, constantly engaging, working, and lengthening your core muscles while you're doing the pose.

Regular yoga classes (even once a week may be sufficient) will lead to noticeable benefits, including a sense of being taller. The spinal decompression obtained through regular yoga practice will help increase your flexibility, balance, and coordination. Yoga can be done at home. The only equipment needed is a rubber mat. The long-term payoff is big, in more ways than one.

¹Jeng CM, et al: Yoga and disc degenerative disease in cervical and lumbar spine: an MR imaging-based case control study. Eur J Spine 20(3):408-413, 2011

²Williams K, et al: Evaluation of the effectiveness and efficacy of Iyengar yoga therapy on chronic low back pain. Spine 34(19):2066-2076, 2009

³Goncalves LC, et al: Flexibility, functional autonomy and quality of life (QoL) in elderly yoga practitioners. Arch Gerontol Geriatr 53(2):158-162, 2011

Conservation of Energy

Breakfast - Meal of Champions

"Eat a good breakfast!" We've heard this advice all our lives. Most of us completely ignore this ancient recommendation, rushing out the door every morning to try to avoid being late yet again for school or work.  Others, feeling guilty because they know they "should" be eating better, grab a frozen pastry or gulp a glass of orange juice as they desperately try to find where they tossed their keys last night.  In fact, eating a "good breakfast" is a sound nutritional policy. Eating breakfast restores badly needed energy to your depleted systems. Without breakfast, the needle on your internal gas tank is on "empty". you're literally "running on fumes".  Breakfast renews your resources. You have available energy to do the things that need to get done. And, it's easy to put together a good breakfast. Two pieces of whole wheat toast spread with peanut butter. Or a cup of yogurt mixed with a half-cup of cottage cheese. Or a hard-boiled egg, a stick of string cheese, and a banana.  It's so simple to eat a healthy breakfast. It takes five minutes, tops. You derive the benefits all day long.

Renewability, sustainability, and energy conservation are all over the news. Every newspaper's front page and every television nightly news program features sustainability daily. These are important issues, not only for the health of our planet but also for our physical health and well-being. 

Our physical health depends on how we maximize our available energy resources - how we use our body's stores of energy, how we replace and renew that energy, and how we practice conservation of our physical energy. 

The interaction of all the elements of human physiology is exactly analogous to the interaction of ecosystems in the global ecology. It's an interesting and powerful comparison. 

Energy resources in our body consist of nutrients obtained from food, oxygen, and stored energy in the form of sugars (glycogen) and fats. We gain energy by eating good food and balancing our nutritional choices from all the major food groups.^1,2 We gain energy by having efficient and well-toned cardiovascular and respiratory systems. We gain energy by having strong muscles. And we gain energy by getting sufficient rest. 

How we use these resources depends on instructions from the nerve system. Being able to use these resources efficiently depends on the underlying tone of our cells and tissues, which in turn depends on normal flow of information in the nerve system. 

Hyperactive nerve systems and sluggish nerve systems - due to a variety of causes - create imbalances up and down the line.³ Systems perform abnormally. Your metabolism slows down or speeds up. You don't digest your food properly. You use too many or too little resources for a given task, and the job doesn't get done properly. Muscles get tight. Joints get stiff. You have pain. You get sick. 

In these cases, you're using more energy - due to inefficient systems - than you're taking in. You're not sustaining your resources; you're depleting them. Sooner or later, your entire system will begin to break down. You have chronic pain, you're tired all the time, you toss and turn when you should be sleeping, and you're irritable during the day. 

Energy is not being renewed. Your body's out of balance, physically and metaphorically. 

Chiropractic treatment directly addresses these energy concerns. Chiropractic care is all about energy management and conservation of resources. Gentle chiropractic treatment focuses on restoring balance to nerve systems, muscular systems, and physical structure. Energy begins to flow to where it's needed most, chronic pain begins to resolve, and you begin to sleep more restfully. You have a greater focus and get done the things you want to get done during the day. Your relationships with family and friends are more enjoyable, and life itself becomes much more fun. 

Your chiropractor - your energy conservation specialist - is an important natural resource for your well-being and your family's well-being. 

¹Katona P, Katona-Apte J: The interaction between nutrition and infection. Clin Infect Dis 46(10):1582-1588, 2008 
²UNESCO, Regional Office for Education in Asia and the Pacific: Population, nutrition, and health. Bull Unesco Reg Off Educ Asia Pac 23:260-268, 1982 
³D'Melllo R, Dickenson AH: Spinal cord mechanisms of pain. Br J Anaesth April 15, 2008

Road Trip

Super-Charged Carrot Muffins

These delicious muffins are highly nutritious and packed with energy. They combine plenty of protein and carbohydrate and - with a glass of milk - make a complete small meal. This recipe makes 12 muffins. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a no-stick 12-muffin tin. 1 cup oat flour 1 cup whole wheat flour 3/4 cup wheat germ 1/2 cup brown sugar 9 TBSP plain or vanilla protein powder 3/4 TSP salt 1 1/2 TSP cinnamon 2 TSP baking soda Sift together the oat flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, and cinnamon. Combine in a bowl with the wheat germ, salt, brown sugar, and protein powder. Mix well, combining all ingredients. 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce 4 large egg whites (or 1/2 cup egg substitute) 3/4 cup 1% or 2% milk 2 cups carrots, shredded In a separate bowl, combine the egg whites, milk, and applesauce. Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients mixture. Stir well, moistening all ingredients. Gently fold in the shredded carrots. Mix well. Fill all 12 muffin cups. Bake 18-20 minutes until golden. Insert a toothpick and make sure it comes out clean. Enjoy these marvelous muffins!

The days are long, the weather's warm, the sky is blue . . . it's summer and we're ready to enjoy the great American pastime - road trips!

We want to get to wherever we're going safely - and healthily, too. A safe trip is ensured by following the rules of the road and practicing good driving habits. A healthy trip is ensured by bringing along snacks that fill us with fuel and are packed with healthful nutrients.

And a fun trip is ensured by keeping the kids entertained with plenty of music, games, and electronic gadgets.

Being a safe driver consists of continuously practicing many small habits.^1,2 Keeping your eyes on the road is a given. When you need to check how the kids are doing in the back seat, just flick your eyes to the rear-view mirror. Don't turn your head around - instead, make eye contact with them in the mirror. Your kids can read your eyes pretty well - they don't need to see your face to know what you want them to do.

Keep checking the traffic around you. Use all three mirrors to see what's going on - who's behind you and who's on your right and left. Always make sure you have enough space to stop short or make a quick lane change if needed. If you're boxed in, all you can do when confronted with an obstacle is crash.

Maintain a minimum safe distance (MSD) from the car in front of you. The MSD between two cars traveling at 65 MPH on the freeway is three seconds. Find a landmark and start counting as the car in front of you passes it. If you reach it in less than three seconds there's not enough space between you and the first car.

And of course, only use a hands-free cell phone.

What about food? On longer trips, good snacks are key - for both the adults and the kids.

Kids want to eat chips, cookies, and candy.³ The best we can do is bring along more nutritious alternatives as well and encourage our kids to mix and match. Energy bars combining 20 grams of protein and 25 grams of carbohydrate are terrific. These chocolate-coated complete small meals have only 5 grams of fat and 300 calories. Juices without sugar additives provide energy and vitamins. Bananas, apples, carrots, and celery can be sliced and carried in plastic bags for no-mess access.

Bring plenty of water. Drinking enough water keeps everyone alert and focused. This is particularly important for the driver, as well as the passengers. Drinking enough water is a subtle way to keep everyone's spirits up, ensuring a happy, fun trip.

Road trips help families bond and create life-long memories. A little preparation goes a long way toward making these family outings safe and fun!

¹Verschuur WL, Hurts K: Modeling safe and unsafe driving behaviour. Accid Anal Rev 40(2):644-656, 2008
²Donmez B, et al: Mitigating driver distractions with retrospective and concurrent feedback. Accid Anal Prev 40(2):776-786, 2008
³Contento IR, et al: Enhancing personal agency and competence in eating and moving. Formative evaluation of a middle school curriculum. J Nutr Educ Behav 39(5 Suppl):S179-S186, 2007

Surf City

CORE Exercises

Exercises specifically designed to strengthen your body's "core" have a remarkable range of benefits. Balance, strength, flexibility and coordination are all improved by these essential exercises. The main muscle trained is the transversus abdominis, a full band of muscle encircling the abdomen and lower back. This muscle has been called the body's built-in weight belt. Core training and core strengthening provide the cornerstones on which all your fitness activities are based. Yet until about five years ago, core training was a well-kept secret known only to dancers and gymnasts, who were totally unaware the routines they'd been doing all their lives were about to go mainstream. Core muscles are just that - the core of your body. And like a nuclear core reactor, these muscles are the power plant that drives the activities of everything else your body is doing. Core muscles - when trained and strong - provide a firm platform, a solid internal foundation, from which all movements and action can flow gracefully and purposefully. Three basic core exercises are torso twists (done lying on your back), the plank, and pelvic bridges.

Summertime is fun time - swimming, surfing, beach volleyball, beach barbecues, and lots of sunshine!¹

We want to be sure to enjoy ourselves all summer long and not be slowed down by the speed-bumps of sunburn, muscle aches and pains, and back strain. There's plenty we can do for prevention and to make sure we continue to have fun for the whole summer and beyond!

Sunburn first. This is now a real problem for almost everyone. More harmful ultraviolet radiation is reaching the surface of the planet, and that means it's reaching us! When we were kids, we could get away without putting on sunscreen. Now we really need protection - for children as well as adults.

Everyone needs to use a sunscreen.² These products are rated by the amount of sun protection factor they offer - the SPF. Generally, Sunburn can be avoided by using a product with an SPF of 15. Infants and children should be protected with an SPF of 30. Babies younger than six months of age should be kept out of the sun.

Both sweat and water reduce SPF protection. So if you've been in the ocean or the pool or have worked up a sweat playing volleyball or Frisbee, reapply your sunscreen right away. If you're fair-skinned or have a receding hairline, wear a hat. Protecting your lips is important too - lip balms are available with an SPF of 30.

The right kind of sunglasses is important - not all sunglasses are created equally. For proper protection, choose sunglasses that offer ultraviolet (UV) protection - helping to avoid cataracts and other eye diseases. Protection should block 99% of UVB and 95% of UVA radiation.

Getting ready for exercise is next on our summer-fun agenda. Swimming, surfing, and volleyball all require a good amount of flexibility. It's not a good idea to jump in the ocean after having spent the last six months sitting on your couch playing "Grand Theft Auto" or "World of Warcraft." The first big wave may knock you over and sprain your back!

Getting ready is important. Begin by doing daily gentle stretches for your major leg muscles - the hamstrings, quads, and calves. Stretching these big muscle groups reflexively relaxes and lengthens the muscles of your lower back.

Also, start doing abdominal exercises - leg lifts for the lower abs and crunches for the middle and upper abs. Strong abdominal muscles translates into support for your lower back.

Learning how to do a set of core exercises is very valuable.³ These exercises specifically strengthen the inner wall of your abdominals and lower back, resulting in more strength, more flexibility, and better balance. The only equipment required is an exercise mat.

Your chiropractor will be glad to provide information, guidance, and recommendations for a range of exercises and stretches that will help keep you healthy all summer long and beyond!

Dr. Dave Edenfield, "Your Jacksonville Chiropractor", and Lakewood Chiropractic offers the most advanced treatments for back pain, sciatica, neck pain, whiplash and headaches. They also treat auto accident victims with state-of-the-art technologies. Now accepting VA patients. For more information visit:

Lakewood Chiropractic
Jacksonville, Florida 32217
904-733-7020

http://www.lakewoodchiropracticjax.com/

https://www.facebook.com/lakewoodchiropractic

https://twitter.com/AskDrEdenfield

¹Holick MF: Sunlight, UV-radiation, vitamin D and skin cancer. How much sunlight do we need? Adv Exp Med Biol 624:1-15, 2008
²Moehrle M: Outdoor sports and skin cancer. Clin Dermatol 26(1):12-15, 2008
³Urquhart DM, et al: Abdominal muscle recruitment during a range of voluntary exercises. Man Ther 10(2):144-153, 2005

Erasing Migraines: An M.D. Turns to Chiropractic

Stress, sleep deprivation and fatigue have been no small component of Dr. Michael Benson’s life. As a fetal surgeon, Benson is often up for 24- to 36-hour stretches at a time looking after patients. He has little time to rest or eat regular, healthy meals. It’s no wonder he has suffered from migraines for years.
Benson is not alone. It’s estimated that 28 million Americans suffer from migraines. As anyone who experiences these intense headaches can tell you, they can be extremely debilitating. Acute pain, possible visual disturbances and nausea, as well as sensitivity to light, sounds and odors can render a person incapable of going about everyday responsibilities, much less performing complicated tasks like surgery.
In order to cope, Benson has used Ibuprofen and heat to manage the pain, but sometimes it doesn’t work. “I used to keep a pre-loaded syringe of Toradol [a strong, anti-inflammatory pain reliever] in my medicine chest,” he admits, “because once my headaches get really bad, I get nauseated and can’t take anything by mouth. It saved having to go to the ER.”
Having trained as an M.D., Benson confessed that chiropractic treatment wasn’t in his knowledge base or on his immediate list of pain-relieving measures. In fact, if he hadn’t been visiting his brother, a doctor of chiropractic, when a bad migraine hit, he may never have received chiropractic care. “The Ibuprofen didn’t work, so my brother offered to examine me and adjust my neck,” he says. “When you’re in pain, you’re willing to try anything.” Within 10 to 15 minutes of the adjustment, his migraine had disappeared.
It’s likely that Benson’s body reacts to stress by tensing muscles around the cervical joints in the neck, causing nerves in his neck to become impinged and triggering his migraines. Chiropractic adjustment alleviates this pain by relaxing muscles and promoting a full range of motion in the neck, allowing the headache to subside. And Benson’s positive experience isn’t uncommon. Recent studies at Duke University found that spinal manipulation was almost always immediately effective in relieving headaches originating in the neck and provided longer-lasting relief than commonly prescribed pain medications.
Benson’s migraines probably won’t go away completely without substantial lifestyle changes— changes that could be tough to implement with his profession. Once migraines are an established pattern, they are very difficult to get rid of, explains his brother. But he can work to minimize them with chiropractic care— a solution that doesn’t carry the potential side-effects of over-the-counter and prescription pain medication. Whenever a potentially incapacitating migraine hits and Benson gets an adjustment from his brother, “It always works,” he says.
Dr. Dave Edenfield, "Your Jacksonville Chiropractor", and Lakewood Chiropractic offers the most advanced treatments for back pain, sciatica, neck pain, whiplash and headaches. They also treat auto accident victims with state-of-the-art technologies. Now accepting VA patients. For more information visit:
Lakewood Chiropractic
Jacksonville, Florida 32217
904-733-7020
http://www.lakewoodchiropracticjax.com/
https://www.facebook.com/lakewoodchiropractic
https://twitter.com/AskDrEdenfield

Chiropractic and Aerobic Fitness

Stroke Volume

Stroke volume is not about improving your golf score. At least, not directly. :-) Physiologically, stroke volume is the amount of blood your heart pumps every time it beats. The more blood pumped per heartbeat, the less times your heart has to contract to provide the needed amount of blood. Our heart's efficiency is directly related to stroke volume. Increased stroke volume means less work for the heart. As you do more and better aerobic exercise, you are training your heart to be more efficient. Stroke volume increases over time as a result of this exercise, and you notice a number of things. First, it's much easier to walk up hills and other inclines. Stairclimbing requires no extra effort. If you're a swimmer, you can go longer between breaths and you can stay underwater longer. And, you notice your heart rate goes down. A good resting pulse is 60 beats or less per minute. Most people who aren't exercising have resting heart rates of 70 or greater, even 80 or greater. Less heartbeats per minute means less work for your heart. Aerobic exercise, done correctly, makes a person much healthier overall, positively impacting many body systems.

We think mostly of chiropractic treatment in terms of lower back pain, neck pain, and headaches. In fact, there are numerous additional wide-ranging benefits to chiropractic health care. Many of these benefits are related to getting more out of our exercise activities.

For example, aerobic exercise improves cardiovascular function.^1,2 As a result, during periods of rest the heart rate is slowed and the ability of the lungs to take in air (vital capacity) is increased. A slower heart rate means the heart is working more efficiently. Likewise, increased vital capacity means the lungs are working more efficiently. Fewer heart beats per minute and fewer breaths per minute result in reduced "wear and tear" on these critical systems. Aerobic exercise makes us healthier.

When we have stress, our muscles get tight. Sometimes this tightness is prolonged, and the normal mobility of our bones and joints is compromised. Reduced mobility of the spinal column creates a spiraling effect of tight muscles, tight ligaments, and further loss of mobility in the neck, middle back, and lower back. We experience pain in these areas as a result.³

These patterns may persist. We all know people who have frequent neck pain or lower back pain. These patterns of pain and limited mobility may result in changes to the normal curves of the spine. Normal curves may become flattened, and these changes result in further discomfort, muscular tension, and pain.

Importantly, loss of the normal spinal curvature in the neck and middle back may place additional stress on the heart and lungs. The actual physical space in which these organs function may become reduced. Maximum function may be compromised and efficiency is lost. Brisk walking used to be easy. Climbing stairs used to be no problem. Now these normal daily activities may leave you out-of-breath. You're huffing-and-puffing and don't know what's happened.

You begin doing aerobic exercises to try to improve cardiovascular function. But the potential benefits are limited by these underlying muscle, ligament, and joint problems. You spend a lot of time exercising but don't seem to be making any improvements.

Chiropractic health care may be able to restore more normal functioning. Chiropractic treatment restores mobility to spinal joints. The gentle treatment relieves stress on the spinal muscles and ligaments, which in turn improves spinal range of motion. Muscle tightness eases, pain and stiffness are reduced, and you become more flexible.

In addition, this improved flexibility allows your chest and rib cage to expand much more fully when you breathe. Your heart and lungs have more room to function, and you can now actually begin to receive the full benefits of your aerobic exercise.

Chiropractic care helps you get fit and stay fit!
Dr. Dave Edenfield, "Your Jacksonville Chiropractor", and Lakewood Chiropractic offers the most advanced treatments for back pain, sciatica, neck pain, whiplash and headaches. They also treat auto accident victims with state-of-the-art technologies. Now accepting VA patients. For more information visit:

Lakewood Chiropractic
Jacksonville, Florida 32217
904-733-7020

http://www.lakewoodchiropracticjax.com/

https://www.facebook.com/lakewoodchiropractic

https://twitter.com/AskDrEdenfield



¹Pivarnik JM, et al. Effects of maternal aerobic fitness on cardiovascular responses to exercise. Med Sci  Sports Exerc 25(9):993-998, 1993.
²Jackson EM, Dishman RK. Hemodynamic responses to stress among blackk women: fitness and parental hypertension. Med Sci Sports Exerc 34)7):1097-1104, 2002
³Petrella RJ, et al. Can primary care doctors prescribe exercise to improve fitness? Am J Prev Med 24(4):316-322, 2003

Your Nerve System and You

Your Nerve System and You

Keeping Your Nerve System Healthy

B-complex vitamins are necessary for normal functioning of the nerve system. B vitamins include thiamine(B1), riboflavin(B2), niacin B3), and pyridoxine (B6). Thiamine is necessary to prevent beriberi (causing weight loss, impaired sensation, and pain and weakness in the arms and legs). Riboflavin deficiency causes sensitivity to sunlight, glossitis (inflammation of the tongue), and swelling of the throat. Niacin deficiency causes insomnia, weakness, aggression, and mental confusion. Pyridoxine deficiency causes depression, anemia, and high blood pressure. The B vitamins work together to promote health. Good sources of B vitamins include bananas, turkey, tuna, potatoes, and beer. Vitamin-and-mineral supplements are also good sources of the daily B-vitamin requirement.

Your nerve system is your body's master communication system. Your brain - your body's central processing unit - receives information from every other system. Information on sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell is constantly bombarding your brain. Information on muscle activity, placement of your arms and legs and fingers and toes, and the positioning of your joints reaches the brain, nanosecond by nanosecond. Feedback is constantly being supplied on how many new red blood cells are being manufactured, how much acid has been secreted into the stomach to help digest your breakfast, and how much insulin, epinephrine, and other hormones is needed for healthy functioning.¹

Your brain processes information faster than the world's fastest computer², and you get to have one for free!

Remarkably, man-made computers are exactly like the human brain. How information is received, how it is processed, and how instructions are sent back out again - these activities are quite identical in both the artificial machine and the living organ.³

How is all the information transferred back and forth? Messages coming to the brain from the body and messages going from the brain to the body are transmitted via the spinal cord, the tail-like direct extension of the brain itself. The spinal cord - delicate nervous tissue - is encased in the bony structures of the spinal canal, housed within the spinal column.

Of course, all systems in the body are related. Interestingly, problems with spinal mechanics may interfere with normal activities taking place in the spinal cord. If spinal muscles are irritated and spinal ligaments are tight, pain signals from these structures will affect normal signals flowing through the local spinal nerve. Ramped-up pain signals impact levels of other signals, enhancing some and depressing others. The ultimate result is that of "wires being crossed". Systems then begin to break down and the person's health may be affected.

So, mechanical problems in the spine can lead to many other physical ailments. Tight neck muscles, headaches, painful lower backs, and even arm pain or leg pains suggest altered spinal mechanics. How may these health issues be addressed?

Chiropractic health care is specifically designed to diagnose and treat spine-related complaints. Treatment is gentle and directed toward restoring mobility, reducing pain and irritation of spinal muscles and ligaments. As these painful conditions resolve, more normal functioning within the nerve system is made possible. The result is greater health and improved well-being across the range of your body's systems.

Dr. Dave Edenfield, "Your Jacksonville Chiropractor", and Lakewood Chiropractic offers the most advanced treatments for back pain, sciatica, neck pain, whiplash and headaches. They also treat auto accident victims with state-of-the-art technologies. Now accepting VA patients. For more information visit:

Lakewood Chiropractic
Jacksonville, Florida 32217
904-733-7020

http://www.lakewoodchiropracticjax.com/

https://www.facebook.com/lakewoodchiropractic

https://twitter.com/AskDrEdenfield


¹Carpenter RHS: Neurophysiology, 4th ed. Hodder Arnold, 2002
²Moravec H: When will computer hardware match the human brain? J Evolution Tech 1, 1998 - http://www.transhumanist.com/volume1/moravec.pdf
³Lytton WW: From Computer to Brain. Springer, 2002

Chiropractic and Reducing Stress

Take a Break!  Pop quiz - how long have you been sitting in that chair? Half-an-hour? An hour? Two hours? More?!!! Or, basically, how long have you been working at the same task without taking a break? Most likely, the answer is "too long"! Everybody's in the same boat. There's so much to do and so little time. That may not be the real reality, but it certainly is our experience. We drive ahead, force ourselves to keep going, and forget to "stop and smell the roses". But "smelling the roses" is critical to our health and well-being. Taking a break, relaxing for just five minutes every hour, makes all the difference.

We certainly live in stressful times. It's not easy to assess whether our era is the most stressful, but we do have plenty of daily stress. The job, the home, the kids, the relatives, and the economy - all these stresses add up and yet we wonder why we have so many aches and pains.

So many ailments are stress-related. Americans are notoriously overweight. Overeating is a stress-coping mechanism.¹ Headaches and backaches are often associated with increased stress. There's a strong correlation between high blood pressure and stress, ulcers and stress, and even cancer and stress.

What can we do? The external stresses in our lives aren't going away. Our activity-filled lives are busy and complex - there's always going to be stress. The key is to help avoid or ease the physical effects of stress. Interestingly, chiropractic treatment can be of great assistance in reducing the effects of stress on the body.

In general, stress causes muscles to tighten. This is an unconscious reaction. Tight muscles cause a cascade of further muscle tightening, shortening of muscles and ligaments, and a resulting decrease of mobility in joints, particularly shoulder joints, hip joints, and joints of the spine.^2,3

This overall mechanical effect of stress has a number of additional consequences. All the extra unconscious muscle activity wastes precious nutritional resources and uses up energy needed for critical body functions. Lactic acid accumulates, irritating nerve endings and further increasing muscular tightness. And, importantly, the losses in spinal joint mobility lead directly to increased levels of pain. This, of course, leads to more stress.

This vicious circle of stress, muscular tightness, and pain can be relieved and reduced by chiropractic treatment.⁴ Chiropractic therapy is specially designed to improve joint mobility of the spine and pelvis. This gentle, effective treatment gradually restores maximal spinal motion. Muscle tightness is alleviated, metabolic processes begin to return to normal, and nutrients become more available to help maintain healthy functioning. Levels of pain are reduced, and we become better able to withstand the physical effects of stress.

Your chiropractor will explain the many benefits of treatment, and will provide instruction in stretching techniques and specific exercises that help maintain the positive results of therapy.

There will always be stress. We can learn how to reduce the physical effects of stress, and become stronger, healthier, and happier in the process.

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Take a Break! A few quick tips -

• Get up out of your chair or leave your workbench and walk over to an open window. Change your point-of-view. Breathe some fresh air.
• Go for a five-minute walk, either in the corridors of your building or out-of-doors.
• Call a friend and chat for five minutes.
• Close your eyes, clear your mind, and take an imaginary vacation - relaxing on a warm beach, deep-sea fishing on a beautiful yacht, or skiing down a gorgeous mountain.

These short, focused breaks will help reduce muscular tightness and physical stress, and also help your brain recharge so you can be more creative and productive!
Dr. Dave Edenfield, "Your Jacksonville Chiropractor", and Lakewood Chiropractic offers the most advanced treatments for back pain, sciatica, neck pain, whiplash and headaches. They also treat auto accident victims with state-of-the-art technologies. Now accepting VA patients. For more information visit:
Lakewood Chiropractic
Jacksonville, Florida 32217
904-733-7020

http://www.lakewoodchiropracticjax.com/
https://www.facebook.com/lakewoodchiropractic
https://twitter.com/AskDrEdenfield

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¹Marchesini G, et al: Psychiatric distress and health-related quality of life in obesity. Diabetes Nutr Metab 16(3):145-154, 2003
²Weickgenant AL, et al: Coping activities in chronic low back pain: relationship with depression. Pain 53(1):95-103, 1993
³Burns JW: Arousal of negative emotions and symptom-specific reactivity in chronic low back pain patients. Emotion 6(2):309-319, 2006
⁴Hurwitz EL, et al. A randomized trial of chiropractic and medical care for patients with low back pain. Spine 31(6):611-621, 2006