Chiropractic - The Gift That Keeps On Giving

By Dr. Dave Edenfield

Tis the season to be jolly.  What could be jollier than giving yourself or someone you love the gift of better health?  We as a nation spend more on healthcare than just about any other country on the planet.  And like it or not, this amount goes up every year.  This is due in part to the fact that Americans are paying more out of pocket for healthcare than ever before.

In fact, the latest New York Times poll reported that just 5 percent of all Americans stated that their cost for health care has moderated.  Half of the respondents claimed that their costs have been rising at a faster rate than ever before.

“The percentage of Americans enrolled in a health plan with a deductible of at least $1,000 has climbed to 38 percent in 2013 from 18 percent in 2008, according to a recent survey by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. And over the same period, the average deductible has increased to $1,097 from $735.” http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/19/us/growth-in-us-health-care-spending-slows-but-out-of-pocket-costs-rise.html?_r=0

This is one reason that so many in this country are shifting the way they think about health care.  Instead of going to the doctor only when they are sick, more Americans are spending both time and money in health maintenance.  Indeed, everything from structured diets and workout classes are for the taking.  The problem is that too many Americans are still overweight and out of shape.  How can this be?

Quote from the Huffington Post, “If you added up the cost of your gym membership, equipment and the additional cost of classes, you may be losing a lot more money than pounds.”

That is not to say that exercise and workout routines are not important in the effort to lose weight and stay fit. It’s just that all the enthusiasm in the world won’t work unless you continue to use the memberships and attend the classes.  One of the reasons that many people drop out of most workout regimens is due to either routine aches and pains or injuries.  The mantra of “No pain, no gain,” is all well and good for athletes and young people who bounce back quickly from stress to the system.  It’s another matter altogether when you are beyond your fortieth birthday.  Due to the fact that most people well into middle age or beyond lead less active lifestyles and are more prone to injury, it isn’t at all unusual for them to take a once bitten, twice shy attitude toward resuming regimented workouts after an injury.

Instead of throwing in the towel, what I recommend to many baby boomers is that the best thing they can do before they sign up for a membership is to consult their chiropractor.  After all, chiropractors are trained in everything from exercise to nutrition.  They also realize that there is no on-size-fits-all when it comes to working out.  What may work for one person could be dangerous for another.  Plus, if you haven’t worked out in a while, then you would be wise to get familiar with stretching routines and simple isometric exercises before you jump into a gym and start pumping iron. 

If you are looking to lose weight and/or become more serious about exercise or sports, your chiropractor can also provide guidance into the foods and supplements that can help you accomplish your goals without overtaxing your body.  They can also recommend treatments that can make your workouts less likely to overstress your joints, muscles and soft tissue.  (There’s nothing better than a massage after you finish a workout.)

Best of all, by availing yourself of chiropractic care you will also achieve a number of other benefits, such as improved immune response, increased vitality, better sleep cycles, lower blood pressure and reduced stress.  Add to this the fact that if you do sustain an injury, your chiropractor offers a number of treatments that can reduce discomfort, speed recovery and get you back on track to maintaining peak performance.

So if you are looking give yourself a way to better control the high cost of healthcare while improving your lifestyle, give chiropractic care a try.  It’s the gift that keeps on giving.

Dr. Dave Edenfield is part of the team of doctors and therapists at http://lakewoodchiropracticjax.com who are dedicated to helping you and your family lead a healthier, happier and pain-free life.

Nothing to Lose Sleep Over

By Dr. Steven Warfield

You toss, you turn and suddenly you lie there wide awake in the middle of the night.  Unable to get back to sleep you try counting sheep.  Or worse, you reach for the bottle of pills by the side of 

the bed.  Anything to get a few hours of shut eye before the alarm goes off and you are forced to head back to work.  For some people, the underlying cause of the condition could be the stresses of everyday life or something that didn’t agree with them after dinner last night.  For others, insomnia is an all-too-familiar way of life.

What many people don’t realize is that insomnia affects more than half of all adults.  While the underlying triggers for this condition can include everything from stress and depression to alcohol or coffee, many people’s lack of sleep can be traced back to spinal misalignments that can block nerve impulses.  That’s right, insomnia can be caused by subluxations which are ultimately treatable.

Along with many other factors, the central nervous system controls the hormones and brain chemicals that regulate sleep.  Therefore anything that interferes with the sending or receiving of nerve signals can cause malfunctions in the body that may not only trigger insomnia but many other underlying problems including stress, depression and indigestion.  (Restless Leg Syndrome which can also keep sufferers up at night can in many cases also be attributed to subluxations.)

Far from dealing with these symptoms, many medications actually amplify the underlying causes.  Anti-depressants (like Zoloft and Prozac) and anti-anxiety medications (such as Valium and Xanax) have been known to cause such things as heartburn, constipation, headache among other side effects.

Not only can insomnia be caused by many different factors, but there are actually three different types of insomnia: Acute, Chronic and Transient.

1.      Acute Insomnia: This type of insomnia is classified as lasting for more than one week but less than one month. It is indicated by difficulty in going to sleep or staying asleep. When sleep does occur, it is characterized as fitful.

2.      Chronic Insomnia: This type of insomnia persists for more than one month. The effects of chronic insomnia can include mental fatigue, muscle fatigue and hallucinations. Sufferers of chronic insomnia may feel like everything is moving in slow motion.

            3.      Transient Insomnia: This type of insomnia lasts             for less than one week. It can be caused by                       other health conditions, alterations in your sleep               environment or changes to the timing of your                     sleep. This condition routinely occurs twice per               year when we reset our clocks.

The worst thing about insomnia is that it can have a profound effect on everything else in our lives, including performance at work or how we relate to friends and family.  By ailing to get a good night’s sleep, many sufferers find themselves dozing on the job or behind the wheel, neither of which is conducive to a healthy lifestyle.

In a study conducted by the Division of Health Sciences at Murdoch University, Perth, Australia  221 patients who suffered from insomnia were given chiropractic treatment.  Of those, 154 patients reported their sleep pattern was immediately improved and all but one patient reported some improvement during the course of treatment.

The Journal of the American Chiropractic Association states, “Many patients do not tell their doctors that they suffer from sleep disorders, but it is very common for patients to advise their chiropractors that they sleep much better after being treated for a variety of conditions not usually associated with sleep deprivation. Chiropractic treatment in general is a good alternative for those individuals who do not feel rested and who do not wish to take prescription drugs to assist them in obtaining quality sleep.”

While sleeping pills may provide a short term solution to insomniacs, these medications produce a number of side effects including the suppression of breathing, which can be dangerous to asthmatics.  While many of the latest advances in sleeping pills claim to be less habit forming, common side effects of prescription sleeping pills such as Lunesta, Sonata, Ambien, Rozerem, and Halcion may include:

·         Burning or tingling in the hands, arms, feet, or legs

·         Changes in appetite

·         Constipation

·         Diarrhea

·         Difficulty keeping balance

·         Dizziness

·         Drowsiness

·         Dry mouth or throat

·         Headache

·         Heartburn

·         Stomach pain or tenderness

·         Unusual dreams

Chiropractic treatment on the other hand produces no discernible side effect since it uses no drugs.  It is safe for children and the elderly.  More importantly, it is designed to correct the underlying conditions that are known to interfere with the optimal operation of the central nervous system.  So if you or anyone you know suffers from insomnia make an appointment to see a chiropractor right away.  After all, this is one condition that’s nothing to lose sleep over.

Dr.’s Steven Warfield and Dave Edenfield offer 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.  For more information visit http://endyourpain.org or http://chiropractor-jacksonville-fl.com

Fall Back to Perfect Health

By Dr. Dave Edenfield

Ah yes, Autumn, that time of the year when the leaves start to change color in North Florida.  A time when we detect a snap to the air as the endless summer at long last reaches its inevitable conclusion.  However, it is also the time of year when we are forced by edict to fall back one hour as we change our clocks from Daylight Saving Time to Eastern Standard Time.  While many people are grateful to have an extra hour to enjoy the weekend when we change our clocks in the Fall there are a number of clinicians that think that the damage done to our body’s internal clock by this semi-annual tradition does more harm than good.  Add to this the fact that the Autumnal change coincides with the fact that every day we see less and less of the Sun and this can lead to much more than a simple time differential.

Whose Idea Was DST Anyway?

English: Text: "You can't stop time... but you can turn it back one hour at 2 a.m. Oct. 28 when daylight-saving time ends and standard time begins." (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

While Ben Franklin has been credited with the creation of Daylight Saving Time, this is not historically correct.  While Franklin did pen an essay which claimed that if Parisians awoke at dawn  they would save their country $200 million per year in candles alone, it was actually an Englishman, William Willett who published a brochure in 1907 entitled “The Waste of Daylight.” He proposed that the British should set their clocks ahead eighty minutes between April and October.  However, the British Parliament did not agree with the idea and it wasn’t until the outbreak of WWI that Germany became the first to adopt DST on April 30, 1916 in order to save electricity.  Weeks later the UK followed suit.  The US didn’t actually adopt it until two years later.

While there are approximately 70 countries around the world that currently observe Daylight Saving Time, it isn’t as universal as most people believe.  In fact, there are two states in the US, Hawaii and Arizona that do not alter their clocks away from Standard Time, along with several US territories, including Guam, Puerto Rico, America Samoa, the Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands.  Far from conserving electricity, studies have indicated that increased recreational activities that necessitate driving a motor vehicle and air conditioning actually account for a net energy loss during DST.

No Time Like the Present

But still we fall back every year.  Scientists are still trying to determine if the changes to our clocks also affect the body’s circadian rhythms.  It seems that time change can be linked to everything from cluster headaches to sleep disorders to bouts of depression labeled as Seasonal Affective Disorder. 

According to a recent article in the New York Daily News, Dr. Shelby Harris, Director of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx stated that, "Any time you (change) the body's clock even by an hour it really throws off all the hormones in your body. Our biological clocks are so well set that even an hour's difference in light exposure" can create changes in the body.”

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/daylight-saving-time-ends-fall-back-healthy-article-1.1503957#ixzz2kSRs8uU6

Even if you don’t suffer from tension headaches, DST can mess with your head.  Just like jet lag, any alteration in a person’s normal routine has proven ultimately disruptive to sleep schedules.  Everything from a difficulty in falling or staying asleep to sleep apnea has been attributed to changes in people’s daily routine.  Other symptoms including daytime drowsiness, lack of attention and irritability can also be brought on by time disruptions.  While springing forward seems to trigger the most mayhem, including an uptick in auto accidents and heart attacks, falling back comes with its own laundry list of calamities, including a decrease in worker productivity and depression.

To accelerate the rate at which your body adjusts to time change, there are a number of things that you can do, including:

1.      Consuming more fruit, vegetables and whole grains

2.      Taking Omega 3 and vitamin C

3.      Including evening activities such as walking or biking

4.      Drink more fluid

5.      Take a hot bath before bedtime

Just like death and taxes, most citizens have to inevitably deal with the twice yearly shift to their clocks and their routines.  The question comes down to whether you are prepared to spring forward to increased stress or fall back to perfect health.

Dr. Dave Edenfield  and Dr. Steven Warfield are part of the team of doctors and therapists at http://chiropractor-jacksonville-fl.com and http://endyourpain.orgwho are dedicated to helping you and your family lead  healthier, happier and pain-free lives.  

Take Care of those Bones this Halloween.

By Dr Dave Edenfield

When it comes to your musculoskeletal system, the years can create tricks that come as no treats.  Through either occupational hazards such as lifting heavy objects incorrectly, or sports-related stresses (yes, playing golf counts in this category), normal wear and tear take their toll on those bones that can add up to pain.  The problem is that most people don’t realize how much damage is done until pain is already present.  But is there a better way to detect any looming problems before pain rears its ugly head?

How Scary is Your Posture?

One way is to stand sideways in front of a mirror and look to see how others see you.  (You can also use a camera with an auto-timer to take a profile snapshot.)  When you look at yourself in profile, does your back and neck have a graceful curve?  Is your head on a level plain with your shoulders, or is it hanging down?  Can you draw a straight line that bisects your hips, shoulders and head? And is the line perpendicular to the floor or at an angle?  It always amazes patients when I show them their x-rays that prove how out of whack their posture has become. 

Poor posture not only affects the spine, it can also adversely affect the entire body.  Since everything from movement to our immune systems are regulated by the central nervous system, any structural anomaly has a tendency to disrupt the spinal nerves that transmit signals to the body.  This can lead to a number of maladies including everything from headaches, to sleep disorders, to digestive imbalances, to nervous disorders.

Areas of distribution of the cutaneous branches of the posterior divisions of the spinal nerves. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Another exercise you can try to test your frame is to stand upright and turn your head to 

the left as far as it will go and then to the right. Then tilt your head forward and back as far as it will go.  Does it move smoothly, or does it start and stop? Do you hear popping noises as you turn or tilt your head?  Does it turn farther one way than the other?  These can all be signs of spinal sublaxations that beg to be corrected.

Structural imbalances such as these not only alter the natural curvature of the spine, they also lead to degeneration of the discs and other problems such as sciatica and arthritis. They can also make sufferers more prone to injury.  Believe it or not, many people who are deemed “accident prone” may in fact have postural anomalies to blame for this condition.

One last exercise that can help you get a bead on structural issues is to do a squat thrust.  When you lower yourself down to the floor and then stand back up again, do you hear any creaking or groaning sounds emanating from your joints?  Is the motion smooth or does it tend to start and stop?  Do you have any difficulty in either the downward or the upward portion of the exercise?  If any of the above happens to you, these are also signs that your body is under inordinate stress and may have been for some time.

The bad news is that once begun, postural abnormalities create a kind of domino effect that causes the brain to try to compensate by telling the muscles and other soft tissues to alter their tension in order to compensate.  This causes yet more stress and imbalance which if left unchecked can result in tingling in the extremities, loss of motion and pain.  The good news is that by visiting your local chiropractor, he or she can diagnose the problem and begin treatment that can correct the anomalies, eliminate the pain and ultimately return you to health.

So when it comes to taking care of your bones this Halloween, if you detect anything amiss, treat yourself to a chiropractic exam that can start you on the road to recovery. 

Dr. Dave Edenfield  and Dr. Steven Warfield are part of the team of doctors and therapists at http://chiropractor-jacksonville-fl.com and http://endyourpain.orgwho are dedicated to helping you and your family lead  healthier, happier and pain-free lives.  

Fall Back on Chiropractic Basics

By Dr. Steven Warfield

This is the time of year when the long, hot Florida summer begins to give way to autumn, a time when the leaves start to turn color, a time when the kids go back to school.  So what better time to get back to the basics of chiropractic care?  While modern chiropractic medicine utilizes everything from ultrasound to laser therapy, at the heart of chiropractic therapy beats a heart of old fashioned hands on treatment.

Historical accounts of the medical use of spinal manipulation can be traced back more thousands of years to the Chinese.  The “Father of Medicine” Hippocrates used similar techniques in ancient Greece, as did the Egyptians at a time when they were building the pyramids. (Talk about a job that could give you an aching back.)  So the basis of chiropractic care is nothing new.

In the US, chiropractic medicine got its start on September 18,1895 when Daniel  Palmer gave the world’s first chiropractic adjustment to Harvey Lillare. At its heart, chiropractic healing concerns itself with the treatment and prevention of neuromuscular disorders.  Therapies include joint adjustment and manipulation this is designed to correct any anomalies in the spine known as subluxations.  

At its simplest, a subluxation occurs when one or more spinal vertebrae move out of their correct position and in so doing produce pressure that can irritate nerves and cause the muscles and other soft tissue to become imbalanced.  Since spinal nerves radiate from every vertebra, this pressure can cause irritation that can cause these nerves to malfunction, thus interfering with the signals that travel over the nerves.  Since the central nervous system controls and coordinates virtually every function of the body, any interference with nerve function creates pain or dysfunction in various parts of the body.

Chiropractors undergo years of training in order to be able to correct subluxations.  To treat this condition, the chiropractor will manually manipulate the spine, applying a precise amount of directed pressure either by hand or by using a specialized instrument such as the ArthroStim. (See video below)  This manipulation is designed to restore normal position to the vertebrae thus eliminating the subluxation and restoring balance to the spine.

When the spine gets out of alignment, not only does this affect our posture, it also starts a kind of domino effect as the brain tries to restore balance by causing the muscles, tendons and ligaments to compensate by radically altering their tension.  This not only produces more stress on the system, but it can also cause yet more spinal complications that can result in pain.  Tissue injury can be caused by a traumatic event such as an accident or through repetitive stresses caused by everyday wear and tear on the body. Manual manipulation not only restores the spine to balance, it also restores the soft tissue to its intended tension, thereby alleviating both pain and muscle tension.

While most people seek chiropractic care for back pain, the fact of the matter is that a number of other maladies can be caused by spinal subluxations including the following:

   

·        Autoimmune Dysfunction

·         Clinical Depression

·         Computer Neck Syndrome

·         Emotional Problems

·         Migraines

·         Tendonitis

If you or anyone you know is experiencing any of the symptoms above, I urge you to make an appointment with your local chiropractor.  He or she can help you correct the underlying issues associated with these conditions in order to restore the spine to its ideal function and in so doing regain control of your life.

 Dr. Steven Warfield and Dr. Dave Edenfield are part of the team of doctors and therapists at http://endyourpain.org and  http://chiropractor-jacksonville-fl.com who are dedicated to helping you and your family lead  healthier, happier and pain-free lives.  

Picture Perfect Posture

By Dr. Dave Edenfield

Most of us are born with perfect posture.  However as the years go on and life takes its toll, it isn’t unusual for our posture to start to suffer.  Think of it as a kind of reverse evolution.  As the posture slowly devolves, with it can go our health, since the spine is the nexus of our central nervous system that signals all of our limbs and organs to do what is required to maintain the body.  If these signals become blocked, this can start a domino effect of problems and pain that if left unchecked can curtail our enjoyment of life.  That’s the bad news.  The good news is that with proper treatment and training, we can restore picture perfect posture.

The Deadly Duo

The problem for many of us is that we spend far too much time sitting down.  Worse yet, we spend too much time sitting in front of a computer.  If you work in an office you undoubtedly spend hours at a time sitting behind a desk staring at a computer screen.  If your monitor is positioned flat atop your desk, or you use a laptop or a tablet then this forces you to tilt your head forward to look at your screen.  In time this can lead to a head forward posture that can cause everything from pinched nerves to degenerated discs.  The cure for this scenario is to raise your monitor at least a foot off the desktop. (If you have a laptop you can plug in an external monitor to accomplish this.)  By raising the level of the monitor, you will defeat the tug of gravity that causes your head to move forward. 

Beware the Chair

Lumbar lordosis refers to the hollow in your back which is a natural feature of the spine.  It is also one of the first areas to be adversely affected by poor posture brought about by hunching when we sit.  For many people the guilty culprit is most often their office chair.  Many people do not even realize that the backrest on most office chairs is adjustable.  Turn your chair around and look for a knob directly behind the backrest that can be turned right and left.  This knob is designed to move the backrest in and out.  By twisting the knob clockwise the backrest should move forward and vice versa.   By making the proper adjustments your spine will receive the support it craves.  If your chair is not adjustable you can always purchase a lumbar roll or even roll up a towel to better support the lower back. 

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

Another way to determine if your posture is less than ideal is to stand sideways and look in the mirror.  If you can see that your head is tilted, your shoulder or hips are not level, or your arms or feet are flared, this is proof positive that your posture is anything but perfect.  When I make patients aware of their poor posture, many are surprised that this is at the root of their problems.  Just as an astronaut in orbit gets used to zero gravity, over time our bodies will adjust to imperfect posture. 

More than just an aesthetic dilemma, poor posture can lead to everything from lower back pain and muscle pain, to leg weakness, sciatica, circulatory problems and immune system issues, just to name a few.  Poor posture makes it difficult for the brain to transmit commands.  If you have ever had a computer crash then you can relate to this problem.  Like a computer with a balky cpu, a stressed brain can’t perform its tasks efficiently.  Add to this the fact that your brain, in its effort to correct poor posture, will instruct the muscles, tendons and ligaments to apply added pressure and stress. Since these soft tissues can only give so much, this causes a cascade of failures that quickly add up into either pain and/or dysfunction. 

If you suspect that your posture is not at its utmost, the best thing to do is schedule a chiropractic examination before things get out of hand.  By analyzing your spinal curvature, movement and alignment, your chiropractor can identify and correct the issues that are at the heart of poor posture.  More importantly he or she can create a plan of action to realign your spine, straighten out your frame and help you once again attain picture perfect posture.

Dr.’s  Dave Edenfield and Steven Warfield offer 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.  For more information visithttp://chiropractor-jacksonville-fl.com or http://endyourpain.org 

Does Your Child's Schoolwear Make the Grade?

by Dr. Steven Warfield

It's that time of year when the weather starts to cool, when football becomes a major source of conversation and the kids are back in school.  For many parents, this is also the time of year when their children start coming down with colds, along with any number of other physical complaints that are simply shrugged off as a rite of passage.  But what most parents do not realize is that the reason that many school age children wind up at home in bed instead of in the classroom has to do with a number of issues that can adversely affect their wellbeing.

If the Shoe Fits...

As far back as the 1990's shoe companies were in the habit of marketing shoes that were patently unhealthy

for children.  Playing on parental emotions as well as peer pressure from other children, the footwear industry continues to use such things as celebrity endorsements to sell footwear to a public that is unaware of the potential health hazards that can occur down the road due to inadequate shoes for their kids.
In the first place, the kind of shoes that are right for adults do not work well for children.  Believe it or not, going barefoot is actually the healthiest way for our children to be.  Since their linbs are still forming, shoes with arch supports or stiff sides can actually interfere with a child's gait or even deform the child's feet, both of which can lead to permanent problems down the road.

According to a report commissioned by Dr. Steve Maffetone, called Ticking Time Bomb: "During the first year following the acquisition of independent walking, most of the child’s gait activity, in particular, the neurological memories—the communication between brain and body—becomes well established. During this time, if the feet are not allowed to develop well, gait and balance disorders begin to occur. In many children, these irregularities are often subtle (the “clumsy kid”) while others more serious such as increased vulnerability to physical injury and various neurological imbalances anywhere in the body, including those associated with eye movement. When a shoe becomes absolutely necessary, it should be lightweight, flexible, shaped more or less quadrangularly, and should not have arch supports and stiff sides.

Backpack Blues

Another area of concern to school age children are backpacks.  While backpacks have evolved over the years to be more orthopedically correct, the problem is that most children do not don them correctly.  They also tend to overload them, which also causes stress on the shoulders, neck and spine.  If your child uses a backpack, the first thing you need to do is make sure they are being worn properly.  This means that the backpack needs to be on both shoulders, not simply slung off to one side.  More importantly, the waistbelt needs to be engaged, since this allows most of the weight to be carried on the hips as opposed to the shoulders.  Last but not least, you should take their fully laden backpack and place it on a bathroom scale.  The maximum weight that a child should be allowed to tote in a backpack should be 15% of the child's weight.

Also of concern to adults should be any of the following warning signs exhibited by their children:
Aching back or shoulders
Stooped posture
Tingling arms
Cold Feet
Persistant stumbling

If your child exhibits any of these symptoms or any foot-related condition, then I urge you to contact your chiropractor to take corrective measures before more serious problems occur.  The spine controls many functions in the body, all of which can be adversely affected by spinal misalignment.  If you want to help your kids succeed in school, then make sure that their attire doesn't get a failing grade.

Dr.’s Steven Warfield and Dave Edenfield offer 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.  For more information visit http://endyourpain.org or http://chiropractor-jacksonville-fl.com

The Next Shiny thing

By Dr. Steven Warfield

When it comes to maintaining our health we are all guilty of looking for the next shiny thing that promises to provide a quick fix.  Anything that will reduce or better yet eliminate the tedium of actually doing work in order to receive the desired benefit is all we crave.  Let’s face it, instant gratification is so ingrained in the American psyche that it’s practically incorporated into our DNA.  So for today’s blog I thought I would take a few minutes to review several popular “quick remedies” that seem to be all the rage to see if they have any medical efficacy.

Can Titanium Necklaces Enhance Sports Prowess

For the past few years a number of prominent sports stars have touted the game enhancing attributes bestowed upon them by wearing titanium necklaces.  Created in the 1980’s by Yoshiro Hirata, his Phiten Company is one of the world leaders in manufacturing titanium infused products.  According to the company’s literature, titanium necklaces and bracelets supposedly work by stabilizing the flow of electricity used by nerves to communicate signals to various parts of the body.  While a number of sports stars swear by them, to date there is no scientific evidence that can support Phiten’s claims.  In a quick review of review sites, there were those who gave credence to the effectiveness of this technology along with just as many who reported no noticeable benefits.  Without scrupulous scientific study, any reported benefits of wearing titanium could be just as likely the result of the placebo effect as it is of any real medical benefit.

Good or Bad Vibes?

Vibration-based exercise equipment has also shown a surge in popularity as of late, touted as a revolutionary way to add muscle tone.  The developers of the devices also claim that the use of these devices can also cut down on workout time.  Unlike titanium necklaces, this technology has been the subject of several medical studies, including one sponsored by NASA.

“A 2009 study by the University of Antwerp in Belgium and Artesis University College seems to show that vibration plates do work. In the study, obese women who followed a healthy diet and exercised using vibration plates lost more weight long-term, including more hard-to-lose belly fat, than women who followed a healthy diet and conventional exercise.

The group who used vibration plates performed basic moves such as squats, push-ups, calf rises, lunges and ab crunches on the machines. They performed each type of 10 exercises for 30 seconds each, and gradually built up to 60 seconds each.

They followed this program for 6 months. The group using vibration plates lost an average of 11% of their body weight, compared with a 7% body weight loss for the group using conventional exercise methods. The group using vibration plates also lost the most belly fat. Additionally, the group using vibration plates maintained their weight loss 6 months after the initial 6-month study ended.”

As for the NASA study, their goal is not to buff up their astronaut corps.  Their main goal is to stop prevent 

bone loss that occurs in the weightless environment of space.  Currently, astronauts in orbit spend an average of two hours per day working out with some fairly complicated devices that are resistance based.  The problem is that this still has not stopped the muscle atrophy and bone loss inherent to everyone who ventures into space.  A NASA funded study suggests that having astronauts stand on a vibrating plate for 10-20 minutes each day could slow bone loss.

"The vibrations are very slight," notes Stefan Judex, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, who worked on the research. The plate vibrates at 90 Hz (1 Hz = 1 cycle per second), with each brief oscillation imparting an acceleration equivalent to one-third of Earth's gravity. "If you touch the plate with your finger, you can feel a very slight vibration," he added. "If you watch the plate, you cannot see any vibration at all. Although the vibrations are subtle they have had a profound effect on bone loss in laboratory animals such as turkeys, sheep, and rats.” http://science1.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2001/ast02nov_

Despite these studies, the verdict is still out, since some researchers remain unconvinced, feeling that vibration equipment can lead to back pain and cartilage damage.  Either way, vibration equipment is by no means a panacea, since it is used in conjunction with exercise.  It doesn’t replace it.  Even using the equipment properly should be done under the supervision of a professional.  As one trainer in the FitDay article noted, “If it’s easy, you aren’t doing it correctly.”

Can Kinesio Tape Fix That?

Most people first took note of this product during the 2008 Olympic Games, when athletes started showing up for competition replete with multiple strips of colorful tape affixed to their torso, abdomen, arms or legs.  Called Kinesio Tape, it was developed in the 1970’s by Japanese chiropractor Dr. Kenzo Kase.  At the time he was dissatisfied with sports taping methods then in use to combat joint pain.  He theorized that in order to stabilize the joint, it was necessary to tape around the muscle to achieve joint correction.  Unfortunately the sports tapes available at the time were too stiff and had a tendency to immobilize the joint.  Therefore he started to experiment with tapes, trying to develop a product that had the same elasticity as muscle.  Two years later he came up with a tape that was flexible enough to do the job.  Thus was born Kinesio Tex Tape.

While less restrictive than traditional sports tapes, the real question is whether it can live up to the claims of its inventor.  Several studies have been published:

“Kinesio taping improves pain, range of motion, and proprioception in older patients with knee osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled trial.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25706053

“A little elastic for a better performance: kinesiotaping of the motor effector modulates neural mechanisms for rhythmic movements.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25309355

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/sportsdoc/Kinesiotape-vibration-machines-and-more-do-they-REALLY-work.html#j5j8A86a64W3HZ2w.99

Despite all the evidence, many athletes still swear by the product.  

Far from being simple to apply, devotees must be trained in how to properly apply the tape. 

Kevin Anderson, managing director of Kinesio UK, admits that, "There's nothing magical in the tape, it certainly can't improve your performance or make you into Superman, but the way people use the tape is to lift the skin, reduce the pressure and that helps relieve pain and swelling."

Other recent sports fads include such things as Strength Shoes (which make wearers look as though their tennies have blown a flat), Compression Sleeves (which make it look as though you are nursing a broken arm), and Breathe Right Nose Strips (which were originally developed to curb snoring).  The bottom line is that when it comes to keeping the body in top physical shape, while sports fads come and sports fads go, nothing enhances physical prowess more than practice, practice, practice.

Dr.’s Steven Warfield and Dave Edenfield offer 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.  For more information visit http://www.lakewoodchiropracticjax.com/