Snap, Crackle, Pop - Are your Gears Slipping ?

 

“Time to Get in Gear…”

When you turn your neck or twist your back does your spine snap, grind and ratchet like a bicycle chain stuck in mid gear? That grating noise could mean something's out of alignment. Your spine is made up of movable bones called vertebrae, each joined perfectly together like the links of a bicycle chain. If one or more of these joints become stuck and misaligned it can slowly wreak havoc on the mechanical integrity of your entire spine. The result – pain, stiffness and premature arthritic changes. Don't neglect the noises. Abnormal grinding (crepitus) of spinal joints may indicate early degenerative joint disease. Remember, unlike a bicycle chain, you can't replace spinal 'links' when they get damaged. Get your spine tuned up by a Chiropractor who is thoroughly trained in restoring the normal mechanics of your spine, and protect yourself from premature wear and tear.

“Symptomatic Whack-a-Mole”

The object of the carnival game Whack-a-Mole is to use a mallet to hit as many critters as possible when they pop up in random succession. Trouble is, as you hit one mole, three more pop up and disappear before you can nail them all. Whack-a-Mole is a perfect metaphor for how people are medicated today. Unfortunately in this game you end up on a ton of drugs, for a bunch of problems, with no actual improvement in your health.

According to a NCHS Data brief by the CDC, over the last 10 years the percentage of Americans who took at least one prescription drug in the past month increased from 44% to 48%. The use of two or more drugs increased from 25% to 31%. The use of five or more drugs increased from 6% to 11%. Yet despite taking all these drugs, the US embarrassingly ranks 37th among the world's industrial countries when it comes overall health.

For Chiropractors, health is not defined by how many symptoms you can temporarily 'whack away' with drugs, but how well your body can adapt to its environment and heal under its own innate abilities.

You have more healing intelligence in your little finger than all the doctors and pharmacies in the world put together. Big Pharma doesn't believe so, but Chiropractors do. Keep your Nerve System clear and you won’t have to play their failing game.

How Bumpy is Your Wellness Wheel ???

When I was young and free and

my imagination had no limits,

I dreamed of changing the world;

As I grew older and wiser I realized

the world would not change.

And I decided to shorten my sights somewhat

and change only my country.

But it too seemed immovable.

As I entered my twilight years,

in one last desperate attempt,

I sought to change only my family, those closest to me,

But alas, they would have none of it.

And now here I lie on my death bed

and realize (perhaps for the first time)

That if only I’d changed myself first, then by example

I may have influenced my family

and with their encouragement and support

I may have bettered my country, and

Who knows I may have changed the world.

Written By an Anglican Bishop

With the center of the spoke as zero and the outside edge 100%, gauge where you are at in each area of your life. Then connect the dots. Are you rolling along in life, or is it a bumpy ride??

When we look to make changes in ourselves, it can be difficult to know where to begin. Sometimes we put a disproportionate amount of energy into one area of the wheel, then, al-though that area may improve, it throws the other areas of our lives out of balance. For exam-ple, we’ve all heard of the successful executive who worked his way to the top of his field, only to find that he’d lost his family in the process. The key is to work on the out of balance areas, while still maintaining those areas where we’re doing well. Then, once we’re in fairly smooth bal-ance, taking small steps to improve each area will allow us to expand our wheel and travel farther and faster on the road of life.

This example shows us why continuing Chiropractic care is vital to health and wellness. Chi-ropractic can have a positive impact on all areas of our life, because of the far reaching affects of the nerve system. Once we’ve done the initial work to correct the subluxations, we can’t just ignore this important area of our life. People will sometimes ask, "When am I done?" As long as we live in a world where we’re subjected to physical, chemical and emotional stresses, we’ll de-velop subluxations. When subluxations are present we’re expressing less of our potential for life and health, regardless of whether or not we have symptoms. By the time we wait for symptoms to develop, our wheel has a major imbalance and we’re running on a flat tire. Regular Chiroprac-tic care allows our body and our life to express at its fullest potential.

Develop goals for each area of the wheel and begin to take steps to balance yourself out. If you keep at it regularly, you’ll be amazed at the positive changes you’ll experience.

Chiro-Works Bayside

Dr. Alan Corin

17 South Concourse

Beaumaris, Vic 3193

9589 0076

www.chiro-works.com.au © Weekly Handouts

Chiropractic Care Increases Self Perceptions Of Quality Of Life

   A study in the May 15, 2009 issue of the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research finds that workers in high stress situations benefited greatly from a short course of chiropractic care.

    The study is a follow up to a pilot (test) study in 2007 regarding the effects of chiropractic care on public safety personnel such as city, county and state police, firefighters, 911 operators and public safety administrators who perform their duties under high stress. The 2007 study found there was enough benefit to the personnel that a larger study was warranted.

    In the latest study, 32 participants, male and female, completed a little more than 5 months of chiropractic care. At the beginning of the study, in addition to a full chiropractic examination, the participants filled out a Health Related Quality of Life questionnaire (HRQL).

    The questionnaire measured how a participant perceived six different domains of their health including: Physical State, Mental/Emotional State, Stress Evaluation, Life Enjoyment, Overall Quality of Life, and a "Combined Wellness" assessment that represented a sum of all other domains. The participants also completed the questionnaire after eight and 16 visits.

    22 of the 32 (69%) participants reported significant improvements in their HRQL scores. The remaining 10 (31%) reported no or negative change. All 32 (100%) showed significant improvements in their physiological/neurological chiropractic findings.

    Interestingly, at the beginning of the study, the group that reported no changes in their HRQL scores had higher average scores than the group that reported significant change. This indicates they began the study with a higher level of perceived health and because of this didn't report a change for the better. They felt fine already even though their physical/neurological findings were not significantly better than the group reporting change.

    Commentary: The authors point out that the hypothesis in the follow up study was the same as it was in the pilot study. "That is, chiropractic care will provide demonstrable positive benefits in regard to physical/neurological state as well as self perceptions of improved health related quality of life and wellness domains among public safety personnel."

    Critics may argue that this test only proves that chiropractic care improves a person's self perception of their quality of life, that is, it only makes a person think they feel better. If there were no improvements in their physiological/neurological chiropractic findings we might agree. But, we feel the fact that 100% of the participants showed improvement in objectively measured physiological/neurological chiropractic findings represents a pretty good correlation between functioning better and feeling better. In other words, get your body working better and all kinds of good things start to happen.

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Are you blowing your fuses ?

The purpose of the fuse box in our house, our car or any other equipment or structure with electricity is to prevent an overload of the system. If there’s more demand on an area than the system can handle, the fuse is tripped and shut down before a bigger problem occurs. The same thing happens in our body.

Our spine and nerve system operate much like a fuse box. When there is an overload to the system (to our body), the fuse is tripped and subluxation occurs, altering nerve flow to an area. This is a protective mechanism the body has developed, however, if the cause of the problem isn’t detected and the switch isn’t thrown back into the proper position, the power stays shut down.

What causes the overload that blows the circuits? What causes subluxation?

Subluxations are caused by physical, chemical and mental/emotional stresses that our bodies can’t adapt to.

Physical stresses are the easiest to understand. An accident, a fall, a blow to the body can all cause an overwhelming stress and subluxation. Occupational stresses (the way we do what we do) also cause subluxation. If you’re consistently in one position for an extended period of time or if you use your body in an imbalanced way over and over again, you’ll cause an imbalance in the muscles which can cause or contribute to subluxation. Postural stresses are another major factor in subluxation.

Chemical stresses cause more overload than we realize. The quality of the food we eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe, all contribute to the state of our health. Toxins in our food, water and air overload our system and cause imbalances in the nerve system and the muscles which cause and contribute to subluxation. All drugs have some toxic effect on the body, so although they may achieve their intended result, they also create additional imbalance in the body.

Mental/emotional stresses also change our body physiology and cause or contribute to subluxation. Research tells us that when we are in a situation we perceive as dangerous, certain changes occur in our body—our breathing changes, our muscles tense, our heart rate changes, certain hormones are released. Unfortunately, the body goes through almost the same physiological changes if we are in an actual life threatening situation or if we are just imagining bad things happening to us. If we live in this "stressed out" state long enough, we overload the system.

In this day and age there are many things which overload our fuse boxes and cause subluxations in our body. Thankfully, we can reduce or eliminate this problem with regular chiropractic care. Getting adjusted on a regular basis not only throws the switches back in place when they’ve been blown, it helps our body become stronger and more resilient so the switches don’t get blown as easily in the first place.

if you wear out your body, where are you going to live ?

If you wear out your car, You can get a new one..
If you wear out your teeth, You can replace them..
But,if you wear out your body, where are you going to live ?

Life requires care and maintenance. That’s an unavoidable fact. Even those “replaceable” items in our life, need to be cared for, if we don’t want to replace them before their time. We have our car’s motor tuned, oil changed, tyres rotated, alignment checked and all the other things which will ensure the vehicle is as safe as possible and lasts as long as it can.

With our teeth, we brush, floss, have regular checkups and generally do what we can to keep our teeth in as good condition as possible. Even if teeth are replaceable, who wants dentures if they can be avoided.

When it comes to our bodies, a little prevention goes a long way. In this day of incredible advances in medical technologies, it may seem that we do have a replaceable body. Joint replacements and organ transplants are becoming more and more commonplace , yet they are still something to be avoided; will always carry risk; and will never be as good as the

original.

It all comes back to the old adage, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” For us to get the most out of our bodies, we have to take care of them, preferably before they break down.

Chiropractors have traditionally concerned themselves with prevention and wellness. Since this is the approach which pays the most dividends.

Correcting subluxations as they occur, (from the physical, chemical and emotional stresses we’re subjected to) results in the least damage to our body and health and gives us the greatest possibility to express our full potential for health and life.

This approach is very different from what we’ve been taught about our health in the past. We’ve mostly been trained in a crisis care mode. This means we ignore our health and our bodies until they yell at us. This approach gets us increasing and ever more invasive interventions, until “all that can be done”, has been done and we’re left with a failing body.

Instead, keep caring for and maintaining your body and health while you have it, with regular chiropractic checkups and adjustments when necessary. Also look at other aspects of your life and see where you can make even minor improvements in the way you eat, how you exercise, what you do to release stress and get connected to the power within yourself.

Doctors Still Give Antibiotics For Ear Infections Despite Latest Guidelines

Doctors Still Give Antibiotics For Ear Infections Despite Guidelines


In Touch Education Services

A study presented at the December 2011 clinical meeting of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists finds that doctors are still prescribing antibiotics for ear infections despite guidelines to the contrary.

The 2004 guidelines set forth by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians on the management of acute otitis media have not appreciably altered doctors' antibiotic prescribing habits.

Margaret L. Hitzeman, who is a PharmD candidate, and Donald G. Klepser, PhD, both from the University of Nebraska in Omaha say that before the guidelines were issued in 2004, 87% of physician visits for acute otitis media resulted in an antibiotic prescription being written.

The percentage dropped to 84% between 2004 and 2006, but fell back to 88% in 2007 and 2008.

"The guidelines recommended a watch-and-wait approach for 72 hours before offering antibiotic treatment, but go ahead and treat for pain with agents such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen. If the patient remains febrile, then begin high-dose amoxicillin," Hitzeman explained.

"Since the guidelines came out, a number of opinion papers have pointed out that physicians are uncomfortable not prescribing antibiotics for acute otitis media, and there is also considerable patient demand," she said.

"It will be interesting to see when the next set of guidelines is published if they stick with the initial watch-and-wait approach [because] physicians don't seem to be willing to follow the recommendation," she added.


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Ear Infections In A Nine-Month-Old Resolve Under Chiropractic Care

In Touch Education Services

The June 21, 2010 issue of the Journal of Pediatric, Maternal & Family Health -- Chiropractic reports on the case of a nine-month-old boy who experienced resolution of his recurring ear infections (otitis media) in a very short time after beginning chiropractic care.

His mother brought him to the chiropractor complaining that he had recurring ear infections every three weeks and his medical doctor was talking about the possibility of inserting ear tubes in his ears along with the antibiotics and antihistamines he was being given.

He was born via caesarian section and had no other history of head first falls. His mother stated that his ear infections began at four months of age after receiving his vaccinations. The mother took no medications during pregnancy and didn't smoke or drink alcohol. The boy was breastfed for the first three months, formula for the next three months and began solid food at six months. No cow's milk has been given to the child and there were no reported food or juice allergies or intolerances.

His initial chiropractic examination consisted of spinal thermal scans that assess skin temperature differences on either side of the spine. While equal readings are expected, unequal readings indicate areas of spinal involvement. This patient's exam revealed he had spinal subluxations in the cervical, thoracic and sacral areas of the spine as well as slight torticollis of the neck. He was placed on a program of three visits per week with an assessment every visit.

After his first adjustment, he did not sleep well that night and returned the next day for a follow-up visit and another adjustment. Two days later, his mother said he was doing better and had "slept great." He was adjusted again and sent home.

The following week, his mother reported he was not sleeping well and pulling at his right ear. Both ears were examined and were clear of fluid. He was adjusted that day and twice more that same week.

During the third week of care he was again checked and adjusted three times and by the end of the week was doing better and no longer pulling on his ears.

He was re-examined during the fifth week of care. His mother reported that he had not had any ear infections since beginning his care program and that he was taking longer naps and getting better quality sleep.

During his seventh week of care, he was re-evaluated by his ENT doctor. His ears were clear of fluid with no need for eartubes. He was no longer on the antihistamines and there was no more need for antibiotics.

His chiropractic care continues at a once per week schedule. Follow-up thermal scans reveal a persistent problem in the upper neck that is still being monitored.

Commentary: The authors list several facts supported by references presented in the study. "The most frequent reason for physician visits for children in the United States, under the age of fifteen is otitis media. Acute otitis media is the most common infection for which antibacterial agents are prescribed for children in the United States. In 1990 there were more than 20 million prescriptions for otitis media-related antibacterials prescribed and 25 million visits made to office-based physicians in the United States for this condition. Approximately 10% of infants by 3 months of age will have had an episode of acute otitis media. 50% of children by 3 years of age will have had more than three episodes of acute otitis media. The annual costs associated with the management of pediatric otitis media has been estimated at $5.3 billion.

How much pain and aggravation could be avoided (not to mention money saved) if every child, those with ear infections or not, were checked for spinal subluxations by a chiropractor as soon after birth as possible? Have you had your children checked? It's the best way to ensure they will have every chance to live a healthy life.

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