Questions About Neck Manipulation?

Chiropractic is widely recognized as one of the safest drug-free, non-invasive therapies available for the treatment of back pain, neck pain, joint pain of the arms or legs, headaches, and other neuromusculoskeletal complaints.

Although chiropractic has an excellent safety record, no health treatment is completely free of potential adverse effects. The risks associated with chiropractic, however, are very small. Many patients feel immediate relief following chiropractic treatment, but some may sometimes experience mild soreness or aching (similar to what they experience after some forms of exercise), headaches and tiredness.

Some articles in the media have linked one of the therapies that doctors of chiropractic, osteopaths and physical therapists provide--neck manipulation (also known as cervical manipulation)—with a certain rare type of stroke that results from a vertebral artery dissection (a tear in one of the arteries located at the base of the skull). A neck adjustment is a precise procedure, usually applied by hand, to the joints of the neck--your doctor of chiropractic has received extensive training to perform this procedure. It is important for health care consumers to understand  that the largest research study on this issueshows there is no cause-and-effect relation between neck manipulation and stroke, and that patients visiting a doctor of chiropractic are no more likely to experience a stroke compared with patients visiting their primary care medical doctor.

While we don’t know the actual incidence of stroke associated with high-velocity upper neck manipulation, the occurrence does appear to be extremely rare, and on the order of one incident in several million treatments, based upon clinical reports and scientific studies.

If you are visiting your doctor of chiropractic with upper-neck pain or headache, be very specific about your symptoms, so that he or she can provide the safest and most effective treatment, even if it involves referral to another health care provider. Doctors of chiropractic are trained in a wide variety of treatment methods, and depending on your clinical condition, joint mobilization, therapeutic exercise, soft-tissue techniques, and other therapies  maybe recommended. If the issue of stroke concerns you, do not hesitate to discuss it with your doctor of chiropractic.

Benefits and Risks of Neck Pain Treatments

Neck pain will affect about 70% of the population at some point in their lives and is a common reason many individuals seek help from a health care professional. A particular episode of neck-related problems can be mildly irritating, or it could be seriously debilitating.

While recent scientific studies have found that there are useful treatments for many neck-related problems, no one treatment has been shown to be effective in all cases. Commonly used physical treatments for neck pain include spinal manipulation, mobilization, massage, and therapeutic exercises. Common pharmaceutical treatments include acetaminophen, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), muscle relaxant medications, and narcotic (opioid) pain medications.

All of the commonly used neck pain treatments carry some risk. Most of these risks are mild, but some can be serious. Click here for more information about the benefits and risks of common neck pain treatments, including neck manipulation.

SOURCE: http://www.acatoday.org/content_css.cfm?CID=5381

Injury Prevention Is An ART

• By Mackenzie Lobby
• Published Jan. 3, 2014
• • 
    
  • The treatment of soft tissue injuries will never be the same.
    Endurance athletes are among the healthiest human beings on the planet. You eat right, exercise, and work hard to get adequate rest. Despite the fact that your cardiovascular system may be in top-notch condition, your muscles are well toned, and body fat is minimal, injuries still accrue. Over months and years, intense training is bound to cause underlying injuries, especially in the soft tissues. Although you may be doing your body good by exercising year-round, small micro-tears and adhesions occur, which, over time, can become an athlete’s Achilles heel.
    This is where active release technique (ART) comes in. A movement-based treatment for the soft tissues, this technique began to gain in popularity in the elite running and triathlon crowds in the early aughts. Dr. Scott Duke, a chiropractor and ART expert based in New York City, explains the therapy more specifically, saying, “ART involves a manipulation of the muscles, ligaments, fascia, tendons and nerves using a manual contact for tension and motion of the affected tissues to produce changes in their texture, tension, movement and function.”
    As a result of the scar tissue that builds up over time through the repetitive stress of training, injuries and performance deficits often occur. ART helps to break up that scar tissue and restore normal function. “By allowing the muscles to function more efficiently, the athlete becomes more limber,” explains Duke. Indeed, ART has become a staple for the elite and sub-elite runners toeing the line at the New York City Marathon. Even if they aren’t injured, many of them rely on the technique to improve performance.
    It is the specific contact and active motion of the athlete that distinguishes ART from other therapies. Usually performed by chiropractic sports physicians, it involves manual pressure applied by the practitioner to work out underlying adhesions. If a nagging IT band is the main issue, the athlete will lay on her side as the practitioner works up the quad to examine the flexibility and texture of the soft tissues. When an abnormality is detected, the athlete is instructed to move the leg in a running motion while the practitioner manually breaks up the scar tissue.
    As the technique has quickly gained notoriety, says Duke, competitive and recreational athletes alike are clamoring for ART availability at events across the country. “From the New York City Marathon to Ironman Hawaii, all kinds of events are asking for volunteers trained in ART to come to their events,” says Dr. Duke.
    Since endurance athletes hate to be slowed down, regular physical maintenance and injury prevention is an important aspect of the lifestyle. “ART is definitely preventative medicine,” says Duke. He explains that along with the technique, a dynamic movement plan and regular post-run stretching will keep you up and running. “By having a monthly plan that includes ART and these other measures, you’re taking good care of yourself and staying healthy.”
    
    Read more at http://running.competitor.com/2014/01/injury-prevention/injury-prevention-is-an-art_46294#hwqRU5cdW3w6J0kG.99

What Running Can Do for the Heart

By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS

An ingenious new study of marathon runners and their non-running spouses should reassure anyone headed for a spring marathon that prolonged training doesn’t damage the heart, a concern that has been raised in previous research. At the same time, becoming fit as a marathoner doesn’t seem to protect the heart to the extent you might expect, although it may have unexpected benefits for your spouse.

While we all know that exercise is healthy, some research has begun to raise questions about whether it’s possible to overdo a good thing. A few studies have found that long-time endurance athletes can have a heightened risk for abnormal heartbeats, andeven for scarring of the heart muscle. Likewise, experiments with lab animals have found possible links between prolonged, extremely strenuous running and undesirable changes in the structure and function of the heart.

But the actual incidence of runners having a heart attack during a marathon race is vanishingly small, a finding that seems to suggest that marathon training can’t be excessively hard on hearts or there would be greater, obvious consequences.

Such inconsistencies in the data about prolonged endurance exercise and heart health prompted researchers to wonder if perhaps past studies had been too imprecise. It’s difficult to isolate the risks associated with strenuous exercise from other lifestyle factors, said Beth Taylor, an assistant professor in the health sciences department at the University of Hartford who led the new study, which was published last month in BMJ Open. Runners whose hearts seemed to have been affected by their exercise habits might also have smoked, gorged on junk food or otherwise imperiled their hearts, separately from how much they worked out.

So Dr. Taylor and her colleagues decided to better control for such factors by studying marathon runners along with their domestic partners, who presumably would be sharing their lifestyles if not their physical exertions. If cardiac health differed among these couples, the scientists felt, they could reasonably conclude that training had played a role, since so many lifestyle factors would be the same.

With that idea in mind, Dr. Taylor and her colleagues contacted a slew of runners who had qualified and signed up for the 2012 Boston Marathon, inquired if they had non-running spouses or partners, and asked if both would be willing to have their hearts scanned and cardiovascular disease risk assessed.

Forty-two of the runners said yes, along with their spouses or partners. Half of the runners were women. Their ages ranged from 33 to 59, although most were in their mid- to late 40s. Their partners were around the same age but considerably less active, averaging fewer than two sessions of moderate exercise per week. Many did not formally exercise at all, although most reported frequently walking, gardening or undertaking other types of moderate activity.

The day before the 2012 race, the racers and their partners visited a makeshift lab next door to the race expo, where they filled out questionnaires about their exercise and health histories. Scientists then drew blood to determine the volunteers’ cholesterol and triglyceride profiles and measured their height, weight, pulse rate, blood pressure and other vital signs. Finally, each volunteer underwent a noninvasive heart scan to reveal the buildup of arterial plaques, an indication of heart disease.

Not surprisingly, the marathon runners were significantly thinner than their partners, although few of the partners were overweight. The runners also generally had lower blood pressure, heart rates, bad cholesterol and other indicators of cardiac health.

But running did not insulate the racers altogether from heart disease, the scientists found. Some of the racers, particularly the oldest ones, carried large deposits of plaques in their arteries, a worrying sign. These older racers also tended to have the highest tallies on a numerical assessment of heart attack risk called theFramingham risk score, which considers medical and lifestyle factors that, along with genetics, can contribute to the development of atherosclerotic plaques.

In essence, the scans showed that marathon training did not cancel out the depredations of age, longstanding bad health habits or a family history of cardiac problems, Dr. Taylor said.

On the other hand, the scientists found no relationship between the number of hours the runners trained or how fast they ran and the levels of plaque in their arteries, indicating that marathon training had not directly damaged any of these racers’ hearts.

Over all, Dr. Taylor said, the study’s data suggests that if you’re training for a marathon or otherwise doing frequent and prolonged endurance exercise, you’re probably not hurting your heart and are likely strengthening it. But you should be aware of your past health habits and family history and monitor any symptoms, such as shortness of breath, that could be a sign of potential heart troubles.

Perhaps the more surprising takeaway of the study, Dr. Taylor said, is that marathon training’s cardiac benefits may be transferable. “The spouses of the runners were quite healthy, too,” she pointed out. More so than many people, they walked and moved around frequently, and had generally robust cardiac risk profiles. Dr. Taylor’s conclusion: if you want improved heart health but can’t be a runner, marry one.

SOURCE: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/12/what-running-can-do-for-the-heart/

Trainers, Doctors Share Importance of Staying Active While Aging

aMarch 17, 2014 10:40 am by Marissa Harshman

David Williams has always been an active guy. But when the 61-year-old could no longer hike on hunting trips without huffing and puffing and stopping to rest, Williams realized he had let his physical fitness slip away.

"If I want to enjoy the things I really enjoy, I have to be in the physical condition to do so," Williams said. "Otherwise, I can watch, but I can't participate."

If Williams wanted to enjoy hunting or alpine skiing, if he wanted to be able to keep up with his active, teenage godchildren, he had to make his physical fitness more of a priority. So about three years ago, Williams started going to the gym and working out with Brian Stecker, a personal trainer who specializes in fitness for baby boomers.

About a year ago, Williams began a weight-loss program that required a diet overhaul and gym dedication. Since then, Williams has lost more than 100 pounds, going from about 320 pounds to 216 pounds. Now, he's wearing the same size pants he wore as a junior in high school, and he's keeping up with the younger guys and gals.

"There's absolutely no comparison to then and now," said Williams, who lives in Hockinson.

Staying physically active isn't always a priority as people age. But, health experts argue, it should be.

As people grow older, their bodies change. Their functional ability declines, and body fat increases, said Dr. James Tan, a family physician at the Kaiser Permanente Orchards Medical Clinic.

In addition, women begin to lose muscle mass and their metabolism slows. For men, declining testosterone levels lead to a loss of lean tissue, said Stecker of Boomer Fitness.

"Exercise slows down all those things," Stecker said. "It's the fountain of youth."

Exercise has been proven to increase basic metabolic rate, bone mineral content, good cholesterol and cognitive function. Exercise also improves the cardiovascular system and leads to more lean body mass and fewer fat deposits, Tan said.

The hormone boosts people get from exercising will also improve mood, and active lifestyles can help prevent chronic diseases, such as Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, Stecker said.

But jumping into a fitness routine shouldn't be done with haste. People who live largely sedentary lives should consult with their physician before beginning an exercise regime, Tan said.

"Most physical activity is quite safe, except when you've been a couch potato for years," he said.

Tan recommends people ease into their routine and listen to their body. The first few days of exercising, the body will likely ache. But if the ache or pain persists, listen to the body and make changes, he said.

Stecker encourages people to start with vigorous walking and daily stretching to build the range of motion needed to exercise. From there, they can add in more challenging activities, he said.

Ultimately, Stecker recommends at least 30 minutes of cardiovascular activity six days a week. In addition, he suggests 30 to 50 minutes of strength training three or four days per week and daily stretching.

"Long-term sustainable health comes from exercising six says a week," Stecker said.

Like Williams, many of the baby boomers Stecker trains are trying to achieve long-term health after realizing they can't enjoy the things they used to. After focusing on careers and families, they realized they've let their own health slide, Stecker said. Some are watching their parents struggle with various ailments and medications and want better for themselves, he said.

"They're starting to see the reality of the aging process and saying, 'I need to make a change,'" Stecker said.

What began as a necessary lifestyle change for Williams has turned into a passion.

"I'm addicted," Williams said. "If I don't go to the gym, if I don't work out, I kind of suffer from withdrawals. I get anxious."

And Williams has noticed more and more older people making the gym a priority.

"It's fun," he said. "Going to the gym, there's a lot of old boys that go to the gym, guys in their 70s and 80s. ... When I was a kid, they went to the coffee shop."

That's exactly what advocates for active aging want to see.

"You're never too old to get started," Tan said. ___

(c)2014 The Columbian (Vancouver, Wash.)

Read more: http://medcitynews.com/2014/03/trainers-doctors-share-importance-staying-active-aging/#ixzz2wMfwACPi

Pull Your Weeds, Not Your Back, When Gardening

As springtime approaches, weather warms up and leaves turn green, many people will spend more time outside planting bulbs, mowing the lawn and pulling weeds. Gardening can provide a great workout, but with all the bending, twisting, reaching and pulling, your body may not be ready for exercise of the garden variety.

Gardening can be enjoyable, but it is important to stretch your muscles before reaching for your gardening tools. The back, upper legs, shoulders, and wrists are all major muscle groups affected when using your green thumb.

A warm-up and cool-down period is as important in gardening as it is for any other physical activity," said Dr. Scott Bautch of the American Chiropractic Association's (ACA) Council on Occupational Health. "Performing simple stretches during these periods will help alleviate injuries, pain and stiffness."

To make gardening as fun and enjoyable as possible, it is important to prepare your body for this type of physical activity. The following stretches will help to alleviate muscle pain after a day spent in your garden.

Garden Fitness Stretches

• Before stretching for any activity, breathe in and out, slowly and rythmically; do not bounce or jerk your body, and stretch as far and as comfortably as you can. Do not follow the no pain, no gain rule. Stretching should not be painful. While sitting, prop your heel on a stool or step, keeping the knees straight. Lean forward until you feel a stretch in the back of the thigh, or the hamstring muscle. Hold this position for 15 seconds. Do this once more and repeat with the other leg.
• Stand up, balance yourself, and grab the front of your ankle from behind. Pull your heel towards your buttocks and hold the position for 15 seconds. Do this again and repeat with the other leg.
• While standing, weave your fingers together above your head with the palms up. Lean to one side for 10 seconds, then to the other. Repeat this stretch three times.
• Do the "Hug your best friend." Wrap your arms around yourself and rotate to one side, stretching as far as you can comfortably go. Hold for 10 seconds and reverse. Repeat two or three times.

Finally, be aware of your body technique, body form and correct posture while gardening. Kneel, don't bend, and alternate your stance and movements as often as possible to keep the muscles and body balanced.

When the Bulbs Are Planted...
If you already feel muscle aches and pains and did not complete the warm-up and cool-down stretches, there are ways to alleviate the discomfort. Apply a cold pack on the area of pain for the first 48 hours or apply a heat pack after 48 hours, and consider chiropractic care.

SOURCE: http://www.acatoday.org/content_css.cfm?CID=70

Is Chiropractic care too expensive?

In our office, we believe in prescribing a 3(4) step treatment plan for patients experiencing pain symptoms.  Step one is relief.  This phase is to help the patient get RELIEF from the symptoms that brought them in to begin with.  Step two is CORRECT.  While the symptoms you are experiencing are your main concern, we must make sure we fix the underlying problem that is CAUSING the symptoms.  In phase three, we aim to STABILIZE the problem.  This is so that we will get longer lasting results.  Once these phases are complete, comes a phase of care that is just as important if not more important, MAINTENANCE.  This phase usually requires monthly visits to our office.  It allows us to monitor your spine health, maintain all the efforts of the first 3 phases, catch problems at their onset, and helps prevent future problems of pain and immobility.

We do it this way because IT WORKS, and because we believe in laying it all out for the patient to see so that they know exactly what to expect.  Because of this, you likely will see a plan lasting as long as 12 months, and also see the total investment of you, your insurance, or a combination of the two.  Typically, these visits are going to range from $0 (awesome insurance) to $50 per visit.  While I understand that these numbers can add up quickly, and many people are working on a tight budget, I have a hard time sometimes helping patients realize what a great investment this is to your body.

If you don't address pain symptoms or take care of your spine now, you will likely have worse problems later.  That's not a scare tactic, it's a fact.  Another fun fact; the longer you wait, the longer it will take to fix the problem!  A problem that started 6 months ago takes a fraction of the time to fix than one that started 20 years ago.  And the long term financial costs of addressing pain without actually fixing it can add up too:  doctors visits (only to get a prescription that will mask the pain but not fix it), prescription costs, sick days from work due to pain, expensive injections, god-forbid a surgery, and even the opportunity cost of losing out on life events due to not feeling up to it.

Which brings me to the point of today's blog, Is Chiropractic care too expensive?  Absolutely not.  It baffles my mind the way some people prioritize expenses.  The same lady that has a brand new manicure and designer purse, balks at the idea of spending a $30 copay on maintaining her spine and decreasing pain.  The same guy who goes to crossfit multiple times per week (upwards of $150/month) to maintain muscle mass, does not understand why A) the pains he is getting from crossfit are due to his spinal misalignment and pelvic imbalance, and B) why it would be equally important to make sure his spine is strong and balanced to get the best workout without pain. 

Bottom line, it is an investment in your body, one that will payoff both short term and long term.  Don't put off what you need to do, prioritize your body and health so you can reap the return on investment later!!

Yours in health and wellness,

Dr. Taylor

Stop Dreaming About Quality Sleep and Do Something!

An old Chinese proverb states, "Only when one cannot sleep does one know how long the night is." Anyone who's ever experienced an occasional bout with insomnia—and that's most of us—can relate to this all too well.

In fact, surveys have shown that between 40 and 60 percent of the general population has trouble sleeping. Daily stress and worries, pressures from job and family, body aches and pains caused by uncomfortable beds or pillows, and a host of other issues can keep a person from getting enough quality sleep.

Sleep is critical to good health and functioning, so lack of it is a serious matter. "Sleep is one of the most important functions of the brain," says Frederick R. Carrick, DC, PhD, president of the American Chiropractic Association's Council on Neurology. Through it, our bodies recharge and renew for the next day's challenges.

As wellness experts, doctors of chiropractic can provide patients with a different approach to their sleeping problems— without the use of sleeping pills, which leave many people in a mental haze the next morning. To start, here are a few helpful tips they would recommend for the sleepless in Seattle (or any city, for that matter):

• Exercise regularly. Exercising in the morning is best, but if you must exercise in the evening, do so at least two or three hours before bedtime. Any later, and your increased heart rate can interfere with your sleep.
• Limit your intake of caffeinated beverages such as coffee, colas and tea—try to avoid them altogether late in the day and near bedtime. In addition, for each cup of caffeinated beverages you drink each day, drink an equal amount of water.
• If you have trouble sleeping and then get thirsty, drink tap water at room temperature (cold water may disturb the digestive system).
• Eat an early dinner. Eating after 6 p.m. may interfere with sleep as your body works to digest the food you’ve eaten.
• Go to bed at the same time each night and get up at the same time each morning. The routine will help your body know when it is time to rest.
• Keep your bedroom at a cool, comfortable temperature and try to make it as dark as possible when you’re ready for bed.

Creating a comfortable place to sleep by choosing the correct mattress and pillow is also essential to getting the quality sleep that your body needs to function at its best.

A mattress, for instance, should support the body’s weight evenly and allow the spine to stay in its natural alignment. Choosing the right one is a personal matter.

“There are a wide variety of comfort preferences. It’s very subjective,” says Brian Darcy, operations manager for Springwall, the manufacturer of premium-quality Chiropractic® sleep sets that ACA has endorsed for the past 38 years.

But regardless of whether you like your mattress firm or soft, give it a good trial run before you buy. Darcy recommends lying down on a mattress for a minimum of three to five minutes to get a good feel. Sitting on it simply won’t do.

Useful mattress facts...

• A mattress should provide uniform support from head to toe. If there are gaps between your body and your mattress (such as at the waist), you're not getting the full support that you need.
• If you do have back pain and your mattress is too soft, you might want to firm up the support of your mattress by placing a board underneath it. But do this just until the pain goes away; such firmness is not good for "routine" sleeping.
• Every few months, turn your mattress clockwise, or upside down, so that body indentations are kept to a minimum. It's also good to rotate the mattress frame every so often to reduce wear and tear.
• If you're waking up uncomfortable, it may be time for a new mattress. There is no standard life span for a mattress; it all depends on the kind of usage it gets.
• Be aware that changes in your life can signal the need for a new mattress. For example, if you've lost or gained a lot of weight, if a medical condition has changed the way you sleep, or even if you have changed partners, it could mean that it's time to find a new mattress that will accommodate those changes and help you sleep more soundly.
• If you're not in the market for a new mattress, and your current mattress is too firm, you can soften it up by putting a 1- to 2-inch-thick padding on top of it - usually available at mattress and bedding stores.

Next, pillow talk...
After investing in a quality mattress, don't forget to choose an equally supportive pillow, advises Peter Mckay, DC, who is in private practice in San Diego and also works as a consultant for Innovative Choices, the maker of the Therapeutica Pillow-another ACA-endorsed product. "People will spend thousands of dollars on a mattress and then skimp on a pillow that doesn't support their head and neck properly," he observes. A good pillow will keep the cervical (neck) section of the spine aligned with the thoracic and lumbar (chest and lower back) sections. "[The sections] move together and should be supported together."

• When choosing a pillow, be selective. When lying on your side, your head and neck should remain level with your mid and lower spine. When lying on your back, your head and neck should remain level with your upper back and spine. In other words, your pillow should not be so thick that it causes your head and neck to be propped up or angled sharply away from your body.
• Be wary of pillows that are made out of mushy foam materials. The weight of your head can displace this kind of foam, leaving little support. Choose firmer foam and materials that press back and support the head.
• If you find yourself sleeping on your side with one hand propped under your pillow, that's a clue that you're not getting the support you need from that pillow.
• There is no such thing as a universal fit when it comes to pillows. Find one that is consistent with the shape and size of your body.

Chiropractic Care Can Help...
If you continue to experience pain and discomfort at night or have difficulty falling asleep, visit your doctor of chiropractic. Doctors of chiropractic are trained to treat spinal problems that can interfere with a restful night's sleep. They can also offer nutritional and ergonomic advice that can help improve the quality of your sleep.

Download the Better Sleep GuideThe Better Sleep Council's Better Sleep Guide provides simple solutions that can help improve the quality of your life by improving the quality of your sleep. Find out why you should make sleep a health priority, how much sleep your body needs and how your bedroom and mattress affect the quality of your sleep. Click here to download a PDF copy of the booklet.

SOURCE: http://www.acatoday.org/content_css.cfm?CID=88

It's Sleep Awareness Week 2014

Sleep Awareness Week™, which takes place March 2-9, 2014, is an annual public education and awareness campaign to promote the importance of sleep. 

The week begins with the announcement of the National Sleep Foundation's Sleep in America poll results and ends with the clock change to Daylight Saving Time, where Americans lose one hour of sleep. 

The Foundation's Sleep Care Center members host events in their local communities throughout the week, providing sleep education and screening to the public. 

Read more: http://www.sleepfoundation.org/primary-links/how-sleep-works