health

Stay Healthy During Summer

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Staying healthy during the summer months requires more than just eating the right foods. Here is a partial list of things to do that will help you stay cool and healthy during the hot summer months:

1. Drink plenty of water. It is very important to drink water. Your body needs water to prevent dehydration during warm summer days. Take special care to make sure infants and toddlers drink enough water. They can become dehydrated much more easily than adults.

2. If you have asthma or other respiratory problems, keep a careful watch on the daily air quality reports. Also, don’t forget to take your inhaler or other medication with you when you go out.

3. Take a rest or nap. Don’t push yourself beyond your physical limits.

4. Wear Sunscreen. Sunburn is painful and unhealthy. Use a sunscreen that is right for your skin.

5. Stay Cool. Wear light, loose-fitting clothing to help you stay cooler.

6. Wear Sunglasses. Sunglasses protect your eyes from the sun’s UV rays.

7. Maintain your energy levels by limiting your intake of fat and sugar; focus on carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables.

8. Before leaving for vacation pack a few items (calamine lotion, baking soda) that will help with itchy or painful insect bites.

9. If you have allergies and plan to be traveling/vacationing, find out which plants will be pollinating in your vacation spot.

10. Know your body. If you are feeling ill, see a doctor. An average of 120 people dies in Toronto each year due to extreme heat.

Also, seeing a Chiropractor regularly during the summer months can also help boost your immune system.

Chiropractic Helps Athletes Recover from Ankle Injury

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Many professional and amateur athletes depend on chiropractic care to improve performance and assist in recovery. For instance, all 31 NHL teams and all 32 NFL teams have chiropractors on staff to help their players perform at their best, and over 150 chiropractors were at the recent Olympic games in PyeongChang to work with US and Canadian athletes. Professionals know that chiropractic works, and we see that every day in our Prescott clinic.

A small trial study from Sweden confirmed this by working with 19 female handball players who were recovering from an ankle injury. The athletes were randomly assigned to receive either chiropractic adjustments or a sham treatment for three weeks. By the end of treatment, the chiropractic patients had significantly better improvements in vertical jumping height.

In recently published research case studies, a 13-year-old, female, avid recreational soccer player presented to a clinic with ankles that would spontaneously invert during various inconsistent points in the weight bearing gait cycle, sometimes with acute pain or sprain to the ankle. No intervention was attempted prior to her entry to the chiropractic office. A 17-year-old male avid skate- boarder and snowboarder whose left ankle routinely “gave out” into inversion upon mundane weight bearing activity, usually with pain and with dependence on wearing an ankle support when skateboarding to lessen ankle pain. The patient had used an ankle support prior to seeking chiropractic care.

In both cases, high velocity, low amplitude chiropractic manipulative therapy was applied to the spine, pelvis and extremity joints was the primary intervention in both cases, with particular focus on the ankle. Other procedures used included taping and orthotics, but not before the manipulation effect was noted. In both cases, subjective and objective improvements were noted in ankle stability and sports performance.

Conclusion

High velocity, low amplitude chiropractic manipulative therapy to the spine, pelvis, and extremities, particularly at the ankle, should be considered when managing young recreational and professional athletes with functional chronic, recurrent, ankle inversion sprains.

Although further research is warranted to expand on these findings, these results show that chiropractic plays a role in recovering from ankle injuries.

Treating Whiplash-Associated Disorders with Intramuscular Stimulation

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Trauma to the neck can cause acute pain. Chronic pain and dysfunction from such injury is called “whiplash-associated disorder” (WAD). WAD is a very common complication to people who were involved in a Motor Vehicle Collision. The Quebec Task Force [QTF] classified WAD severity. The key points of QTF are as follows:

• Whiplash is the most common injury associated with motor vehicle accidents and a major cause of disability and litigation.

• Whiplash-associated disorders (WAD) can be classified by the severity of signs and symptoms from Grade 0 to 4.

• Patients usually complain of neck pain and stiffness in the acute phase, with the majority recovering within 3 months.

• Depression, anxiety, and mood disorders are common in patients with chronic whiplash.

• Reassurance, early mobilization, simple analgesic, and physiotherapy are recommended in acute whiplash (WAD I–III).

• In chronic WAD, multidisciplinary pain clinic referral followed by cognitive behavioural therapy and cervical radiofrequency neurotomy plays an important role.

Although there are many treatment approaches to a whiplash injury, one study was able to specifically demonstrate the efficacy of treatment using intramuscular stimulation therapy.

In this study Forty-three (43) people accepted intramuscular stimulation therapy. They had pain and abnormal physical signs such as allodynia, trophedema, muscle knots, and limited range of motion. With treatment, twenty-nine achieved long-term improvement.

In an IMS treatment, when the needle enters, the muscle will ‘grab’ the needle and a deep, cramping sensation is felt. Once the muscle grabs it then typically will ‘reset’ itself and begin to relax. When the tight muscle relaxes, a decrease in pain typically follows. IMS is now being recognized and used by physiotherapists and doctors around the world to treat chronic pain of musculoskeletal origin.

Conclusion

The whiplash disorder symptoms were due to abnormal function of the central nervous system. Most subjects improved subjectively and their abnormal physical signs resolved. Such direct clinical evidence of benefit is clearly meaningful.

Keeogo for Spinal Cord Injury

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Spinal cord injury (SCI) is the injury of the spinal cord which can occur anywhere from head to lower back as a result of compulsion, incision or contusion. The most common causes of SCI in the world are traffic accidents, gunshot injuries, knife injuries, falls and sports injuries. There is a strong relationship between functional status and whether the injury is complete or not complete, as well as the level of the injury.

The results of SCI bring not only damage to independence and physical function, but also include many complications from the injury. Neurogenic bladder and bowel, urinary tract infections, pressure ulcers, orthostatic hypotension, fractures, deep vein thrombosis, spasticity, pulmonary and cardiovascular problems, and depressive disorders are frequent complications after SCI.

SCI leads to serious disability in the patient resulting in the loss of work, which brings psychosocial and economic problems. The treatment and rehabilitation period is long, expensive and exhausting in SCI. Whether complete or incomplete, SCI rehabilitation is a long process that requires patience and motivation of the patient and relatives. Early rehabilitation is important to prevent joint contractures and the loss of muscle strength, conservation of bone density, and to ensure normal functioning of the respiratory and digestive system. An interdisciplinary approach is essential in rehabilitation in SCI, as in the other types of rehabilitation. The team is led by a physiatrist and consists of the patients’ family, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, dietician, psychologist, speech therapist, social worker and other consultant specialists is often necessary.

A recent technological breakthrough has allowed patients with SCI to expedite the lifestyle improvement process. Without the KeegoTM device, patients with SCI had a difficult time moving their legs, had to stop when taking stairs from exhaustion, had a difficult time picking up objects from the floor, exerted strenuous effort, when getting up from a chair to walk down the hall. These same patients wearing a KeegoTM device were able to achieve much more fluid movement patterns during several clinical trials. These same patients were able to move quicker from one location to another, were able to promptly walk up or down the stairs, picked up objects from the floor with little effort, and were able to easily sit down, and get up from the seat without propping themselves up with their hands.

Got hemorrhoids? Some natural health solutions

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Even though they can ruin your life, nobody wants to talk about hemorrhoids, a condition in which the veins in the anus and rectum become swollen and inflamed. Although the internet is full of miracle hemorrhoid remedies, it’s best to address the underlying cause to keep them away for good.

Hemorrhoids can occur inside or outside the anal cavity. Symptoms include bleeding, feeling the urge for a bowel movement, and acute pain, itching, and irritation around the anus. Although hemorrhoids during pregnancy are normal for many women, in other cases they can indicate problems with your gut health, your diet, or even your brain function.

Constipation and hemorrhoids

The most common cause of hemorrhoids is constipation due to a diet low in fiber; the average American or Canadian eats less than half the recommended dietary intake. If this is the cause, it’s an easy fix that requires eating ample amounts of vegetables and low-glycemic fruits (such as apples, cherries, dried apricots, strawberries and peaches). Get used to including vegetables in most every meal—think veggie omelets for breakfast, salads with lunch, sautéed vegetables for dinner, and raw carrots and celery with snacks. When you increase your fiber intake, make sure to stay hydrated by drinking plenty of filtered water. Regular exercise also helps keep things moving along to prevent constipation.

Benefits of increasing your dietary fiber intake go well beyond preventing hemorrhoids. A high-fiber diet has also been shown to reduce the risk for heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, and some gut disorders.

Could your brain be causing your constipation and hemorrhoids?

Sometimes constipation is not just diet related and hemorrhoids persist. Constipation may be caused by poor brain function, which Dr. Kharrazian discusses in his book Why Isn’t My Brain Working? A large nerve called the vagus nerve runs between the brain and the gut. If brain health is suboptimal, the brain will not adequately fire into the vagus nerve. Due to diminished communication from the brain, gut function declines and can cause symptoms that include constipation and hemorrhoids. This helps explain why gut function suffers after head injuries, with dementia, or in children with autism.

Fortunately, it is often possible to improve function of the vagus nerve with exercises such as gargling vigorously and frequently, singing loudly, or stimulating the gag reflex.

Take care of gut health to prevent hemorrhoids

The anus and rectum are part of the digestive tract and hemorrhoids can be a sign digestive tract health is compromised. Common disorders of the digestive tract include inflammation, overgrowth of yeast and bacteria, and leaky gut, a condition in which the intestinal walls become overly porous and allow undigested foods and bacteria into the bloodstream. It’s important to address overall gut health if you have hemorrhoids.

There can be several ways of approaching this. One is to reduce inflammation of the gut by eliminating sugars, junk foods, and foods to which you are intolerant, such as gluten or dairy. For instance, many people have found relief from hemorrhoids by following a gluten-free diet.

Addressing yeast and bacteria overgrowth and following a leaky gut diet can further improve gut health and potentially relieve hemorrhoids. You can further support gut health with specific nutritional compounds—ask my office for advice that is specific for you.

A variety of factors can cause hemorrhoids, however it’s always important to address diet and the health of the digestive tract when looking to manage the underlying cause.

How to slow aging in less than five minutes a day

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Americans and Canadians spend billions of dollars every year on supplements, therapies, and procedures in an attempt to slow the aging process. But did you know you can stay younger longer in just a few minutes a day?

According to Dr. Datis Kharrazian in his book Why Isn’t My Brain Working?, reaching maximum heart rate for just a few minutes a day can release several anti-aging chemicals in your body, including human growth hormone (HGH).

HGH enhances vitality, healing and recovery, optimal hormone levels, bone strength, fat burning, brain function, cardiac health, and blood sugar levels. It’s no wonder Baby Boomers are enticed by the promises of HGH treatments—our levels of HGH decline as we age. However, HGH treatments are expensive and may be risky.

Instead, you can raise your HGH levels naturally by reaching your maximum heart rate for just a few minutes a day. Studies show spending time in your maximum heart rate releases a cascade of natural feel-good chemicals, including HGH.

These bursts of intense exercise trigger the release of not only HGH but also opioids, chemicals that produce that “exercise high.” High intensity exercise also triggers the release of chemicals that improve blood flow, dampen inflammation, and support healthy brain function—all great anti-aging benefits.

How to exercise to release anti-aging chemicals

You do not have to exercise long at high intensity. Just a few minutes a day at maximum heart rate can trigger the release of these chemicals. In fact, overtraining will work against you by increasing inflammation, exceeding your body’s antioxidant capacities, and taxing your adrenal glands.

First, determine your maximum heart rate. To do this, simply subtract your age from 220. For instance, a person who is 47 years old will have a maximum heart rate of 173. This is the zone you want to try to stay in for at least two to five minutes once a day to release your body’s feel-good, anti-aging, and anti-inflammatory chemicals.

Examples of how to boost your heart rate include doing squats to fatigue, push ups to fatigue, jumping jacks, jump roping, sprinting, jumping on a trampoline, jump squats, jumping or stepping onto a platform, burpees, and more. Many find doing this within the first half hour of waking can help them become a “morning person.”

Although just a few minutes a day can go a long way to release anti-aging chemicals in your body, don’t confuse this protocol with an actual exercise regimen of longer duration. If you’re able, you should still add in longer sessions of strength and aerobic training throughout the week without overdoing it.

Be cautious and smart by not overdoing it

Not everyone will be able to do the few minutes of maximum heart rate exercise. Some people are simply too sick and too fragile. Others may need to work up to it over time. Be smart and listen to your body as over exercising can inflame and deplete your body, causing setbacks in your health recovery.

According to Dr. Kharrazian, you know you’re doing it right if it makes you feel good and gives you more energy. You know you’re overdoing it if you “crash,” and it takes you a while to recover.
You can also support your body’s release of anti-aging chemicals by adding in specific nutritional compounds before and after your morning exercise to improve blood flow, maintain electrolyte balance, and dampen inflammation.

Retirement may be bad for your health

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Many people look forward to concluding a lifetime of work with retirement, but retirement can lead to a drastic decline in health. Research shows that although retirement may initially reduce stress, it significantly increases the chances of depression, physical illness, and the need for medication while reducing overall health. The longer one is in retirement the more the risks increase. Why? Turns out the body and brain need regular activity and social interaction to stay healthy, and retirement robs some people of those necessary influences.

Retirement can increase loneliness

Regular social interaction has been shown to be vital for health and vitality. In fact, social isolation has the same health risks as smoking, obesity, and physical inactivity, and regular social activity has been shown to prevent dementia.

If someone’s social life happened primarily at work, taking that away can suddenly launch them into isolation and loneliness, keeping company with the television. If someone is living alone because they lost a spouse through divorce or death, the risk of depression increases.

Retirement can decrease physical activity

Another risk with retirement is a sudden decrease of physical activity. Even if a person worked a fairly sedentary job, they were at least getting themselves to and from work and perhaps walking to lunch with coworkers.

When it comes to preventing disease and dementia and slowing the aging process, exercise is a magic bullet. Although a combination of strength training and high-intensity interval training are ideal ways to prevent disease and dementia, simply going for a walk every day is also highly preventive.

Retirement can decrease mental stimulation

The brain is like a muscle—use it or you lose it. Regular mental stimulation is vital to keeping the brain healthy and active, which helps lower the risk of depression, illness, and dementia. Working keeps the brain regularly engaged, especially if the job places higher demands on thinking skills. In retirement many are susceptible to spending days in front of the television, which does not stimulate the mind like reading, learning new things, and doing crossword puzzles and other games.
Stay healthy after retirement

The key to staying healthy after retirement is to maintain a lifestyle that includes regular physical activity, mental stimulation, and social activity. Volunteering, learning something new, setting new goals and challenges for yourself, and working in some capacity are ways to avoid the increased risk of physical and mental decline after retirement.

Acupuncture for Jaw Pain Relief

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During the past twenty years, a multidisciplinary approach to the management of jaw pain disorders has been advocated by many pain practitioners including physicians, dentists, physical therapists, chiropractors, and acupuncturists.

One technique often overlooked in the treatment of temporomandibular (jaw) disorders and the resultant painful symptoms is acupuncture. Acupuncture and acupressure have long been utilized by the Chinese and Japanese for the relief of pain in the temporomandibular regions.

Although acupuncture initially was used for disease management, its use has evolved as a pain control modality. Late in 1997, the National Institute of Health (NIH) released a consensus statement supporting the use of acupuncture as part of a comprehensive treatment plan for some conditions. Some researchers specifically recommended acupuncture for the facial pain of trigeminal neuralgia (tic doloreux) and of TemporoMandibular Joint (TMJ) dysfunction. This modality is most successful when the cause of the pain is neuromuscular rather than due to joint damage. The NIH panel pointed out that acupuncture is associated with a lower risk of adverse events than those associated with drugs or other medical intervention.

Possible Mechanisms

The stimulation of specific sites on the body surface exerts a marked inhibitory influence on pain. The acupoints have been known to the Chinese for many years. Their validity in pain control has been verified by numerous researchers.

One experimentally well-documented mechanism for pain relief by acupuncture is the modulation of endorphin levels. Myofascial pain is relieved primarily by inactivating the source of pain. According to one research article, acupuncture alleviates the awareness of pain.

Additionaly, multiple studies of acupuncture verses splint therapy have been reported in the literature. These studies show the comparative effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of temporomandibular disorders.

In the study by Johansson, et al, forty-five individuals with long-standing facial pain or headache of muscular jaw origin were randomly allocated into three groups. The first group was treated with acupuncture, the second group received an occlusal splint, and the third group served as controls. Both acupuncture and occlusal splint therapy significantly reduced subjective symptoms and clinical signs. No differences between these two groups were found with regard to treatment effects. It was concluded that acupuncture is a great alternative method for individuals with craniomandibular (jaw) disorders of muscular origin.

In a different study by Raustia and Pohjola, acupuncture seemed to be a useful early form of therapy in patients with TMJ disorders. Acupuncture could well be complimentary to stomatognathic treatment — either preceding or following — to achieve full neuromuscular rehabilitation, to ease the treatment, or to eliminate other possible contributing factors.

Additionally, Rosted wrote an article to review the scientific validity of published papers on the efficacy of acupuncture in dentistry based on pre-defined methodological criteria. Acupuncture, in 11 out of 15 studies, proved effective in the treatment of TemporoMandibular Dysfunction (TMD) and as analgesia. Rosted concluded that the use of acupuncture in treating TMD and facial pain seems real and that acupuncture could be a valuable alternative to orthodox treatment.

Chiropractic is beneficial for Senior Citizens

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Neck pain is one of the most common symptoms we see in Polyclinic Rehabilitation Institute. Often, neck pain results from auto injuries, but sometimes the origins of the neck symptoms might not be related to trauma. No matter what the cause, we find that our chiropractic approach really works for our patients and they agree!

A recent study from Spine Journal confirms what we’ve seen in our office: chiropractic works for treating neck pain.

In this study, researchers looked at 241 patients who were over 65 years old and who suffered from chronic neck pain. The patients were divided into three groups: one group received chiropractic adjustments with home exercises, another group received supervised exercises with additional home exercises, and the third group just did home exercises.

After 12 weeks of treatment, over 60% of chiropractic patients had at least a 75% improvement in pain, compared to approximately 25% of the patients in the supervised exercise group, and nearly 20% of the home exercise-only group.

This study was very important, because it showed that staying active as we get older is so important for our physical and mental health. And it showed that chiropractic provides a way to keep your spine healthy and flexible.

Another recent study found that chiropractic care is great at helping us keep moving as we get older. In this study, researchers set out to discover the difference in outcome for seniors who engaged solely in medical treatments versus those who received chiropractic care over a year’s time. Their participants were 65+ year old Medicare recipients with at least one claim resulting in a diagnosis of a musculoskeletal disease, dislocation, sprain, or strain.

Each participant’s functional outcomes were measured according their ability to bathe, sit in or get up from a chair, dress, eat, and walk across a room. They were also asked to assess their level of difficulty with specific activities such as lifting, reaching, stooping, and walking.

Individuals were also assessed regarding their self-reported health status on a scale of one to five, as well as their level of satisfaction with the care that they received (with included happiness with both treatment and cost). Once all of this information was obtained, the study participants were differentiated between those who had used any chiropractic services during the course of the year and those who did not and opted strictly for medical care instead.

What researchers found is that the individuals who engaged in some form of chiropractic care had fewer functional limitations, less difficulty engaging in activities such as lifting and walking, and a lower number of MD doctor’s visits and hospitalizations. They concluded that chiropractic had a sort of a “protective effect,” safeguarding them against physical deterioration.

Furthermore, patients of chiropractic were also more satisfied with their care during initial treatment as well as follow-up, the cost out-of-pocket, and the information provided to them about their condition. Therefore, this study suggests that engaging in chiropractic care, offers many benefits to seniors with spinal conditions, allowing them greater function and happiness as a result.

Text Neck Pain & How to Prevent it

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The sharp increase of handheld communication accessibility in the last decade has caused a cultural shift. Suddenly, the way people communicate has changed. Now, much of our conversations occur more in the virtual world and less in the real world.

Everyone has a different opinion nowadays on the effects of social media and instant communication.
Some people think that the ability to instantly get in contact with someone increases individual safety, while others think it makes communication less valuable.

But did you know that frequent cell phone use can be detrimental to your health?

What is “Text Neck?”

How much time do you spend looking down at your phone or tablet, checking emails, texting friends, and browsing the internet? Would you say a few hours a day or more altogether? If so, you’re far from the only one.

“Text neck” is caused when someone looks down at their mobile device so often that it causes chronic neck and back pain.

The craned-neck posture that people often hold as they’re looking down at their phone eventually results in the deterioration of the cervical spine, the part of your spine that supports your neck and head.

The full prognosis of text neck remains to be seen until the generation that grew up with such accessible technology grows old.

It’s impossible to know right now what the lifelong effects are of straining your neck and back in such a way, though some professionals speculate that text neck can trigger an early onset of arthritis of the neck.

However, text neck is already proven to cause a variety of health problems, including severe chronic upper back pain, neck and shoulder muscles spasms, and pinched cervical nerves.

Children and teenagers are most susceptible to these ailments because they typically are exposed to this technology at an earlier age than adults of today.

How to Prevent “Text Neck?”

You don’t have to stop using your electronic mobile devices to keep yourself from getting text neck. All it takes to save your neck and back is to be mindful of your posture and how much you’re looking down at your phone.

If you have to look at your phone, laptop, or any other electronic, keep it eye-level so that you’re not straining your neck or back. Set specific times during the day to check your email. You can also dedicate a period of the time during the day when you take a break from your mobile device.

As long as you’re not craning your neck or slouching, you’re not putting unnecessary and damaging stress to your back and neck.

At PRI, we’re keenly aware of “Text Neck” and we teach you and your loved ones specific exercises that you can do on your own, in your spare time to help prevent any ailments associated with that condition.
We also have great chiropractors, physiotherapists, and massage therapists on site that will professionally realign your spine from head to pelvis, to help you gain fast relief from “Text Neck”
So as you can see, “Text Neck” can have a significant impact on your overall health can lifestyle.

Look after your neck and your back – it has to last you a lifetime.

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