HEALING TAKES TIME

One of the oldest principles propagated by the healing arts and eastern philosophy is that “there is no process that does not require time.” Yet in today’s fast paced society where tasks have to be done yesterday, it can be frustrating when things do not heal as fast as we hope. When it comes to health problems, the principle of time is applied no differently. In our youth, health issues come and go but as we move forward in years, these issues linger around longer and longer. This is because our adaptive capacity when we are younger is better, but as we get older our systems get bogged down by stressors such as work, poor dietary habits and lack of movement.

Example of the degenerative changes that can occur in the cervical spine over the years.

If these issues are not addressed, our bodies lose touch with the inherent capacity of self-healing and we begin to mal-adapt and hence begins the disease processes that solidify over time. It could be decades later that we start having symptoms of a disease or a disorder. In order to minimize frustration for the suffering patient and the doctor, remember that just like the disease was a process that took time to develop, so is the healing… a process that may take time.

The best way to accelerate this is by allowing the body to work at its optimal capacity, free from nervous system “clutter” through chiropractic adjustment, proper diet and exercise. After that, all that is required is patience and a constant reminder that healing takes time!

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Heavy business, this snow.

 

 If you shovel it, pay attention to your body

Here it is again. Winter. Snow. And lots of it.

We want to get out there, shovel the stuff out of our way, and get on with life. But that could be a bad decision.

According to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS), it’s better to shovel often, as the snow falls, and not after it sits there in a big heavy lump.

Although it’s a good exercise for people who are physically fit, snow shoveling can be very bad news for anyone who is not. It’s hard on the heart and the back. It’s strenuous and can even be deadly.

CCOHS (www.ccohs.ca) suggests these tips:

• If you’re older, overweight, and not used to exercise or have heart or back issues, let someone else do the shoveling.
• Invest in a snow blower.
• Do some warm-up exercises before you begin shoveling.
• Drink plenty of water.
• Dress in layers.
• Wear boots that are warm, water-proof, and provide good traction.
• Make sure your gloves are warm and flexible.
• Wear a scarf over your mouth on very cold days.
• Always wear a hat.
• Use a lightweight shovel.
• Push the snow. Don’t lift it. If you must lift, take it only in small increments. ·
• Never throw the snow over your shoulder or to the side.
• Take it slowly. Go at a steady pace.
• Be especially mindful of your lower back.

Chiropractic Matters, Volume 4-1

 

DON’T LET A MIGRAINE GET YOU DOWN

Every year, millions of North Americans suffer from migraines. A migraine is a severe form of a headache that is throbbing in nature and can accompany visual disturbances, nausea, vomiting and sensitivity to lights and sounds. Migraine attacks can be severely debilitating with little or no relief from medication. The current research says that migraines occur when constricted blood vessels in the brain enlarge suddenly, leading to a rapid increase in blood flow to the brain. This causes the intensity of the headache that most migraine sufferers are familiar with. Other theories suggest that a chemical imbalance in the brain causes certain triggers in the environment to essentially ‘turn on’ the cascade of the migraine headache. There is growing research that shows that migraines can be caused by the irritation of a pain sensitive region in the brain stem. Chiropractic care has been shown to help significantly in migraines caused by this process. Migraines do not always have to be debilitating and there are solutions for relief. Ask your Chiropractor whether chiropractic care could help your friends and family members with migraine headaches.

The sunny hero: Vitamin D

 

It helps us live longer and better

You know the truth about the sun. You know the risks of skin cancer and ultra violet rays. You wear your sunscreen and a hat and you stay in the shade.

But scientists are telling us we desperately need the Vitamin D that the sun so generously provides.

Not only that, but Vitamin D is emerging as a powerful defense against cancer in post-menopausal women.

According to The Associated Press and CBC radio-television recently, a prominent American Vitamin D researcher says the latest findings herald a breakthrough with a huge impact on cancer prevention.

Most guidelines say 200 to 600 units of Vitamin D, depending on a person’s age, are important for healthy bones. But researchers gave 1,179 women (average age 67) 1,000 units of Vitamin D.

The results ultimately showed a 77 per cent “markedly-reduced risk of developing the serious deadly cancers.” (The story quotes Dr. Michael Holick of Boston University Medical Center.)

Not only Vitamin D is in the limelight these days.
Exercise, fruit and vegetables share the stage in the prevention of breast cancer in particular. Women are being told if they eat at least five servings of fruit and vegetables every day and exercise at least 30 minutes a day, they can expect a 50 per cent risk-reduc- tion in dying from breast cancer.

This seems to be the case no matter when a woman begins to exercise. Although she may have been inactive all her life, if she begins an exercise program (for instance, walking half an hour a day) when she’s older than 50, 60, 70 or beyond, she has a much better chance of avoiding breast cancer in her lifetime.

It just goes to show you: get your vitamin D, eat lots of fruit and salad and cooked veggies, put on your running shoes, and get moving.

 

A simple glass of orange juice

It’s easy to find this life-preserving B vitamin

Question: What is as useful at the beginning of your life, even before you’re born, as it is in your “twilight” years?

It’s folic acid, the B vitamin well known by pregnant women but also proving to be helpful in preventing heart disease. Research shows it is a factor in blocking the accumulation of too much homocysteine, an amino acid. Homocysteine is formed when your body breaks down protein. If you have a high level of it in your blood, your risk of heart attack, stroke, and blood clots in the leg are high as well.

According to Science Daily (www.sciencedaily.com), homocysteine is similar to the risk of
high cholesterol, only it’s easier to control — with folic acid.

However, a story in BBC News (www.news.bbc.co.uk ) said too much folic acid could upset the balance of a person’s vitamin B12 intake and warned against rushing out to buy supplements.

Women who wish to get pregnant are often advised to consume folic acid before pregnancy and then to increase it during pregnancy. Many medical professionals and the National Women’s Health Information Center in the United States say it can help prevent major birth defects of a baby’s brain or spine.

It’s simple enough to make sure folic acid is part of our diets. Breakfast cereals often contain it (read the labels to be sure); so do broccoli, asparagus, bananas, oranges and grapefruit, peas, nuts and seeds, whole wheat bread, liver and other organ meat, and poultry. According to Go ask Alice! (www. goaskalice.columbia.edu ), half the folic acid you need daily is in a cup of orange juice. She warns food processing destroys much of the folate in foods, however, and it’s best therefore to eat raw foods and lightly cooked vegetables.

It may be the easiest path to health we can take – from beginning to end.

Muscles make you mighty

Lift that barbell. Do those chin- ups. Pull those bands. Work those weight machines.

These are the keys, experts say, to strength, power, and endurance.
For women, especially, they’re critical to bone development and to the growth hormone that builds muscle.

Men rely on the male hormone testosterone for muscle building.

Women need growth hormone, and this is stimulated by exercise – particularly if it’s resistance or weight-based.

According to CBC news (www.cbc.ca ), which recently reported on findings in the American Journal of Physiology- Endocrinology and Metabolism, growth hormone is important in the female body’s fight against tissue breakdown. It improves metabolic function and helps prevent fractures. This is especially important to women at risk for osteoporosis.

Resistance training is the kind of exercise women should do regularly, researchers from the University of Connecticut say. They stressed that women must do moderate to heavy regimens and not shy away from weight work- outs.
Fitness experts say exercised muscles must rest for at least two days between sessions, so although aerobic exercises are healthy every day, resistance training should only happen every second day.

A pack on the back

It starts simply with schooldays… and potentially damaged spines.

You wash their clothes. You pack their snacks. You find their shoes. You gather their books. Maybe you throw in a pencil case, and something for Show-and-Tell.

School-age children have so much stuff to take with them, even when they’re only going to Kindergarten. The older they get, the more they drag along.

Of course, all this stuff needs a backpack. Most chiropractors are worried about this. They say overloading little backs can cause terrible stress to developing spinal columns, necks, arms, joints, and muscles.

Chiropractic associations warn the contents of an elementary-school child’s pack should not be more than 10 per cent of the child’s own weight. Teenagers are all right with loads up to 15 per cent. But the contents in both cases must be distributed evenly.

You have probably seen how kids and teens just sling those back-packs over their shoulders. The Ontario Chiropractic Association tells us this causes damage to their posture. They say students must wear them using both straps and close to their bodies.

In a story in the London Free Press, Woodstock Chiropractor Donna Meyers explains that worn incorrectly, backpacks hurt the brachial plexus nerves and cause muscle spasms in the shoulders and neck.

And a piece in the New Jersey Courier-Post instructs students how to put on their backpacks: Face the back-pack before picking it up. Bend at the knees. Lift with the legs and not with the back. Put on one strap at a time.

The British Columbia Chiropractic Association tells parents to buy back-packs with padded, adjustable straps so the backpack can fit the child’s body without digging into shoulders.
Backpacks are an important part of a child’s life at school. But the health of their spines is forever.