For some women, their monthly period is no big deal. For others, it’s a grueling journey through depression, anxiety, irritability, pain, and more. If you think premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is too awful to be natural, you’re right — PMS is a symptom of a hormone imbalance often caused by too much stress.
Although a variety of factors can cause hormonal imbalances and PMS, one of the more common is low progesterone caused by long term chronic stress.
Low progesterone symptoms:

Depression
Mood swings
Changes in weight or appetite
Insomnia
Anxiety
Crying easily
Irritability
Poor focus and concentration
Fatigue
Frequent or irregular menstruation
Low sex drive
Migraines

How stress lowers progesterone
Chronic stress causes pregnenolone steal, a situation that causes progesterone deficiency and hormonal imbalances. Pregnenolone is a precursor hormone used to make progesterone and the stress hormone cortisol.
The body can only make so much pregnenolone. This means that if stress is always high, it “steals” pregnenolone from progesterone to make cortisol in order to meet the demands of stress. This causes an imbalance between progesterone and estrogen.

Factors that cause pregnenolone steal
Progesterone cream use can further skew hormones. It’s better to address the causes of low progesterone, which is typically stress-induced pregnenolone steal. Causes of pregnenolone steal and PMS include:

•Sugar and sweeteners, excess processed carbs — rice, pasta, bread, pastries, etc.
•Excess caffeine
•Food intolerances — gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, corn, nuts, grains, etc.
•Digestive issues — bloating, indigestion, diarrhea, constipation, leaky gut, pain, etc.
•Lack of sleep
•Inflammation — joint pain, chronic pain, skin rashes, brain fog, fatigue, etc.
•Autoimmune disease (such as Hashimoto’s)
•Overdoing it; over exercising
•Feeling constantly overwhelmed
•Poor nutrition
•Reverse pregnenolone steal to soothe PMS

Ways to reduce pregnenolone steal include an anti-inflammatory diet, restoring gut health, and managing autoimmunity.
A variety of compounds can help soothe PMS, such as omega 3 fatty acids and gamma-linoleic acid (GLA—evening primrose oil, borage oil, or black currant oil.

Supporting serotonin, a brain chemical that promotes well-being, may help with PMS mood symptoms — tryptophan, 5-HTP, St. John’s Wort, and SAMe.
This is a broad overview. Ask our office for more advice on using natural therapies to alleviate PMS and support healthy hormones.
We look forward to helping you out.

Tel: (416) 477-1101
E-mail: reception@priclinic.com
Web: www.priclinic.com

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder, which leads to progressive deterioration of motor function due to loss of dopamine-producing brain cells. The cause of PD is unknown but researchers speculate that both genetic and environmental factors are involved; some genes have been linked to the disease.

Primary symptoms include:
Tremor
Stiffness
Slowness
Impaired balance
Shuffling gait later in the disease

Secondary symptoms include:
Anxiety
Depression
Dementia

Most people with Parkinson’s disease are diagnosed when they are 60 years old or older, but early-onset Parkinson’s disease also occurs.

Several staging systems for Parkinson’s disease exist.
The Parkinson’s Disease Foundation supports 5 stages, which include:
Stage 1 Symptoms are mild and do not interfere with the person’s quality of life.
Stage 2 Symptoms worsen and daily activities become more difficult and take more time to complete.

Stage 3 is considered mid-stage Parkinson’s disease. The individual loses balance, moves more slowly, and falls are common. Symptoms impair daily activities, for example, dressing, eating, and brushing teeth.
Stage 4 Symptoms become severe and the individual needs assistance walking and performing daily activities.
Stage 5 is the most advanced stage of Parkinson’s disease. The individual is unable to walk and will need full time assistance with living.

With proper treatment, most individuals with Parkinson’s disease can lead long, productive lives. The life expectancy is about the same as people without the disease.

Lifestyle Management
While the medical community still tries to figure out which therapy works best to cure IBM, a recent technological breakthrough called KeegoTM , allowed patients with PD to achieve a remarkable improvement in their lifestyle and overcome feelings of guilt and fear. Without the KeegoTM device, patients walked slowly, 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. Patients with PD wearing a KeegoTM device were able to achieve healthy movement patterns during several clinical trials. The same patients were able to walk about quickly, had no trouble walking 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.

If you suffer from PD, please see a specialist at the PRI clinic. They are specifically trained to properly introduce your body to the KeegoTM device, which will allow your body to achieve a remarkable improvement in your lifestyle. We’ll be more than glad to help you when you call or follow these links.

Tel: (416) 477-1101
E-mail: reception@priclinic.com
Web: www.priclinic.com

Check Yourself, Before You Wreck Yourself
Ah, yes, Tis’ the holiday season again! The following top 7 tactics will help get you through the holidays without disaster.

1. Bring your own.
Potluck dinners make the perfect opportunity to “sneak” in a healthy veggie dish or that new chicken recipe you’ve been dying to prepare. Better yet, become the host, which gives you hands-on abilities to make succulent yet healthy dishes that even your most carbohydrate-crazy friends will enjoy.

2. Eat before you go.
Think about your last dinner party. It probably started an hour late, which meant you felt famished by the time the salad arrived. Take control and go to your next social function pleasantly full. You can still enjoy the food but you’ll bypass the temptation to devour stale fruitcake cookies as you wait for dinner.

3. Wear fitted clothing.
Elastic waistbands have no business at holiday social functions. If nothing else, they give you permission to indulge in second helpings of cranberry-walnut stuffing. Instead, wear your most fitted little black dress or the slimmest (and slimming) top and skinny jeans you can find. You’ll think twice before devouring that gooey cinnamon-raisin bread.

4. Have a serious bathroom talk.
You’ve reached an excruciating dilemma: go for that second apple cinnamon pasty or respect yourself in the morning. Proceed to the bathroom or nearest private space immediately. You’re going to need to have that talk with yourself in the mirror: are you going to let a wimpy pastry be your undoing? Hopefully in your purse or your wallet you have your mission statement and that picture of who you want to look like (Just position your head on a picture of your ideal body). Time for some tough love: pull those out and talk your way through this temptation.

5. Bring your best friend to call you out.
Speaking of tough love: nothing like a tell-it-like-it-is friend to give you the “oh no you don’t!” look when you’re about ready to nose dive into the turtle cheesecake or smell the wonderful waft of cinnamon buns in the mall. Face it, even the best of us lapse in judgment sometimes, and brutal honesty from a friend or family member can be your best defense against succumbing to a pear-cranberry streusel.

6. Keep my 3-bite rule.
A world-renowned pastry chef has catered your office party with his dark chocolate petites fours. Have 3 polite bites – (we’re talking how you would eat it on live TV, not in your living room) – of dessert and step away. You’ll appease your sweet tooth without coming off as a wet blanket. Just be warned: not every baked good your co-worker brings in and other holiday indulgences constitute the 3-bite rule. Choose judiciously.

7. Go for the healthy stuff first.
Holidays are synonymous with buffets and endless potluck dinners. Just because you have an all-you-can-eat invitation doesn’t mean you need to do so. One trip through the line and call it quits. Fill up on lean protein and leafy greens and you’ll be less likely to crave the candied walnut sweet potato casserole.
This holiday season let’s engage in mindful indulgence. Afterwords, make sure to do a checkup with your chiropractor. Chiropractic works to restore the health of your central nervous system, so your entire body can reap the benefits. To experience the perks of regular chiropractic care, schedule an appointment with PRI today!

Tel: (416) 477-1101
E-mail: reception@priclinic.com
Web: www.priclinic.com

Some people mistakenly think that people who are overweight or obese would never feel hungry—after all, they have all that extra fat to burn. But in a cruel twist of metabolic trickery, carrying excess fat can actually make you hungrier thanks to a phenomenon called leptin resistance.
What is leptin?

Leptin is a “satiety” hormone secreted by fat cells that tells the brain when you have had enough to eat. Eating causes the secretion of leptin, which signals that the stomach is full and it’s time to stop eating. Between meals or during long periods without food, leptin levels drop, triggering hunger and motivating you to eat and replenish the body’s energy stores.

Leptin resistance causes you to always feel hungry
Because fat cells secrete leptin, overweight and obese people should never feel hungry. Unfortunately, the reverse happens. Excess fat secretes too much leptin, bombarding leptin receptors on cells. Eventually these cells become overwhelmed and shut down their leptin receptors to protect themselves. This is called leptin resistance—leptin can no longer get into the cells to deliver their message that the stomach is full and it’s time to stop eating.
Hence the leptin-resistant person always feels hungry and is prone to overeat, even if she or he is carrying plenty of fat. In addition to causing chronic hunger, leptin resistance doubly vexes the overweight person by promoting fat storage and making it tough to lose weight.

Leptin serves other roles beyond hunger and satiety. It is also important for fertility, libido, and puberty. Leptin resistance could explain why obese girls are 80 percent more likely to start puberty earlier than girls of normal weight.
High triglycerides block leptin.

High triglycerides have been shown to block leptin. Diets high in alcohol, sugars and carbohydrate-rich foods, such as breads, pasta, rice, and potatoes, raise triglycerides considerably. High triglycerides have been shown to block the ability of leptin to pass into the brain to tell it you’re full.

Diet can reverse leptin resistance and chronic hunger
The key to unwinding leptin resistance is to adopt a diet that will restore leptin sensitivity. The eating habits that typically lead to being overweight or obese—overeating and eating too many sweets and starchy foods, processed foods, and foods fried in industrialized fats—also lead to leptin resistance, high triglycerides, and hence the feeling of always being hungry.

To restore leptin sensitivity, diminish chronic hunger, and release excess fat, consider the following leptin facts and begin making the changes you need to your own diet and lifestyle.
•Regular exercise, particularly strength training and interval training, lowers leptin.
•Sugar, corn syrup, and high fructose corn syrup found in sweets and sodas make the brain resistant to leptin. Sweets also raise triglycerides so leptin can’t reach the brain.
•Healthy fats activate leptin’s satiety switch. Eat coconut oil, coconut butter, olive oil, avocado, salmon, etc. as part of a lower-carb diet.

•Omega-3 fatty acids regulate leptin sensitivity. PRI can help you choose an omega-3 fatty acid that is best for you.
•Overeating causes leptin resistance. Ditch the sodas, sweets, processed foods, and high-carbohydrate foods, which trigger cravings in many people. Healthy fats and sufficient protein curb cravings.

If you feel you are suffering from leptin resistance, please call and make an appointment so that a nutritionist at PRI can discuss a plan that would best benefit you.

Tel: (416) 477-1101
E-mail: reception@priclinic.com
Web: www.priclinic.com

Chiropractors work with the nervous system. Therefore, the scope of chiropractic goes far beyond just neck and back pain. Although many chiropractors and those they serve tend to focus on disorders associated with the physical body, it is obvious that abnormal nervous system function may also affect emotional and psychological health.

According to B.J. Palmer, “D.D. Palmer was the first man to discover that insanity was caused by displaced cervical vertebrae, that by replacing them the patient could be restored to normal condition.” B.J. also described his expert testimony in a case where he stated, “If an atlas is subluxated it makes abnormal the functions of the brain” In answer to the question, “What is to be done in insanity?” he admonished his reader to “Go back to cause. Adjust that and return that brain to its normal capacity and capability.”

Several inpatient mental health facilities were established, where chiropractic adjustments were the dominant clinical service provided. Two of these were located in Davenport. In 1922, the Chiropractic Psychopathic Sanitarium was established. The facility was later known as Forest Park Sanitarium. North Dakota Judge A. W. Ponath noted that at the North Dakota state mental hospital, the “cure and discharge rate” ranged from 18-27%, compared to 65% at Forest Park. The second facility, Clear View Sanitarium, was established in 1926. In 1951, Clear View was acquired by the Palmer School of Chiropractic. Dr. W. Heath Quigley, who directed the sanitarium, described the clinical protocol: “Each day, each patient was examined with the neurocalometer (NCM). If the clinician interpreted the NCM to indicate nerve impingement, the patient was adjusted.” Quigley reported that the rooms were “sunny and bright,” and that meals included “large servings of fresh vegetables…from a garden.”

The 1970s saw a renewed interest in chiropractic care and mental health issues. In 1973, Dr. Herman S. Schwartz, a chiropractor, published a book titled “Mental Health and Chiropractic: A Multidisciplinary Approach.” In 1949, Dr. Schwartz had published a preliminary report of 350 patients afflicted with a “nervous or mental disorder” and reported that the majority of them showed improvement under chiropractic care.

Everything we experience is processed through our nervous system. When our perception of the world is distorted by nerve interference, it compromises our ability to respond appropriately. In addition to damaging our physical health, it could result in impaired psychological and emotional function as well. When this happens to a significant number of people in a society, a sick society results. So, what’s the solution? To locate and correct the cause of that interference!

At PRI, we have a dedicated training facility and a team of trained chiropractors, who will check your nervous system for interference and help improve your Well-being game. We look forward to helping you out!

Tel: (416) 477-1101
E-mail: reception@priclinic.com
Web: www.priclinic.com

A lot of competitive swimmers spend many years getting up at the early hours of 4:30am to get to the pool on time to start training. To most people that might seem like one of the big drawbacks to being a swimmer, however many athletes would concur that, the hardest part would include being out of the pool, when injuries prevented athletes from training and competition. Although the pool is a non-weight bearing environment, some people are unaware of the high number of injuries there are associated with the sport. In fact, a study revealed that between 40-91% of elite swimmers age 13 to 25 reported at least one episode of shoulder pain.

THE SHOULDER
The shoulder offers unrivalled mobility due to its structural advantage, which is classified as a ball and socket joint. It creates the greatest amount of forward propulsion during your stroke, which is most apparent through the use of internal rotation and adduction. Consequently, training aims to push athletes to their limits, which in swimming can lead to fatigue across several areas including the rotator cuff, upper back, serratus anterior and pectoral muscles. When these muscles become exhausted the shoulder has decreased stabilization of the humeral head.

Considering that one training session can involve thousands of shoulder revolutions, it’s easy to understand how this can manifest in to an overuse injury from repetitive micro trauma. If this dysfunctional movement and associated damage goes untreated, it can lead to injuries such as articular impingement of the anterosuperior labrum, rotator cuff tendonitis, bursitis and damage to the glenoid labrum and surrounding ligaments.
What can WE do for you at PRI?

1 – Identify early signs and symptoms of shoulder injury with orthopaedic and functional assessment.
2 – Provide you with manual therapy to return shoulder and spinal range of motion back to normal with adjustments, mobilizations and muscle releases
3 – Restore scapular control with activation and strengthening exercises.
4 – Rehabilitation and conditioning of the shoulder by strengthening the rotator cuff
What can YOU do?
1- Tell your coach, trainers, PRI therapist of your shoulder pain so you can closely monitor your condition.
2 – Change your stroke; go back to bilateral breathing patterns,
3- Have more postural changes eg, switching to backstroke to reduce the load through the front of the shoulder and strengthen scapular stabilizers
4 – Avoid crossing your hands past your body’s mid line with hand entry and underwater pull phase
5 – Reduce the use of hand paddles, which create extra load through the shoulder capsule
6- If there are any signs of inflammation or pain, simply follow the RICE protocol of Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation over the affected area for 20mins, every 2hrs.
For more helpful ideas on how to keep your shoulders strong and prevent shoulder injuries, please reach out to PRI specialists:

Tel: (416) 477-1101
E-mail: reception@priclinic.com
Web: www.priclinic.com

Groin pain is an umbrella term encompassing a great range of pathologies in the inner hip region. It may not prevent you from participating but rest does not seem to settle it.
The hardest question to answer is: where is it coming from? A systematic history is essential to firstly exclude non-musculoskeletal drivers of pain.

Davies et al. (2012) dissected cadavers and found that the adductor longus (one groin muscle) and the rectus abdominus (your six-pack) fuse together. The adductor brevis and gracilis (two more groin muscles) also fuse together. So it is not as simple as individual muscles working in a team.

A clinical examination will investigate whether the pain is related to the adductors, abdominals, hip flexor, the individual architecture of the sacroiliac and/or femoroacetabular joint (such as bone stress or labral tears) or even an abdominal hernia.

Palpation is key.

Once a diagnosis is established, an appropriate program can be built to challenge deficits in strength, flexibility, control and movement strategies.
To find what is responsible for your groin pain and to book an assessment, please reach out to:

Tel: (416) 477-1101
E-mail: reception@priclinic.com
Web: www.priclinic.com

What is Intramuscular Stimulation (IMS)
Intramuscular Stimulation (IMS) is an approach for the diagnosis and treatment of myofascial pain syndromes of neuropathic origin. IMS, developed by Dr. Gunn in the 70’s is based on Western medical science and the radiculopathic model of pain.

Radiculopathic pain or neuropathic pain occurs when nerves in the peripheral nervous system malfunction and become super sensitive following minor irritation. These supersensitive nerves then misinterpret harmless signals from the body as exaggerated pain. This leads to chronic ongoing pain without any physical signs of permanent injury or inflammation. These supersensitive nerves also cause contracture of the muscles they supply and/or pass through.

How IMS works
IMS treatment utilizes small fine solid acupuncture needles to specifically target shortened muscles. The point of insertion of the acupuncture needle is usually at the epicenter of taut, tender muscle bands. They can also be inserted at the spine, where the nerve root may have become irritated or supersensitive. Penetration of the normal muscle by the needle is painless, however, a shortened ‘supersensitive’ muscle will ‘grasp’ the needle in what can be described as a ‘slightly painful, cramping sensation.’

With the insertion of the needle, 3 main things are accomplished:
1. A stretch receptor is stimulated in the muscle, which produces reflex relaxation and lengthening of the affected muscle
2. Inserted needle causes micro-trauma in the tissue, which in turn causes a release of Platelet Derived Growth Factor (PDGF.) PDGF stimulates synthesis of collagen and proteins which acts as healing agents that help repair damaged tissues and nerves.
3. The treatment creates an electric potential in the muscle which causes the nerve to start functioning normally.
Treatment Frequency
Patients are usually treated once a week, to allow time for the body to heal itself between treatments. The number of treatments required depends on several factors. These include the duration and extent of the symptoms, presence of scar tissue, and the person’s individual rate of healing.

Benefits of IMS
As the neuropathic muscle shortening is released by the IMS treatment, supersensitive nerves and the areas that they serve become desensitized and return to normal function. As normal muscle length is restored, pressure and irritation around the nerve is alleviated.
Therapists at Polyclinic Rehabilitation Institute have over 20 years of combined experience performing IMS treatments and have a high success rate in resolving many clinical issues in less than 8-treatments. Treatments can be scheduled by contacting our office.

Phone: (416) 477-1101
E-mail: reception@priclinic.com
Web: www.priclinic.com

If you’re still feeling knackered from the recent time shift, you’re not alone. Changing the time throws a kink in the fragile and sensitive human biological clock, leaving many people feeling continuously jet lagged for a few weeks.
An hour might not sound like a big deal, but if you or your friends and coworkers are any indication, it makes for some groggy and grumpy days, bouts of insomnia, and feeling generally off.
It’s not just a hunch — scientific studies have demonstrated various ways in which the bi-annual time change messes with our health.

The body has genes that flip on and off to keep us in a steady rhythm of sleeping and waking. When we throw those genes off beat by artificially changing the time, the effect extends into the rest of the body, including muscles, the skeleton, the pancreas, etc. The disruption is felt body-wide.
This disruption dulls the brain and throws the body’s systems off, resulting in serious and even fatal consequences for some people.

For instance, past studies have shown driving fatalities, workplace injuries, and heart attacks go up after the spring-forward change in time. An Australian study found that even suicides increase after the time change.
Unsurprisingly, work productivity goes down as well, causing losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Night owls, people who naturally are more inclined to stay up late and sleep later in the morning take the longest to recover.

Worst of all, some studies suggest our bodies never really adjust to time changes. We’re designed to sync with natural changes in light throughout the year, not artificially inflicted ones.
How to recover from shifting clocks?

Although people complain and we see a spate of news stories every spring bemoaning the change in time, we’re nevertheless stuck with it until politicians add it to their to-do list.
Understanding the effect of the time change on your body can help you better know how to ease the transition into suddenly waking up an hour earlier.
Avoid overdoing it for a while. Because you know your whole body is struggling to adjust to being thrown out of whack, don’t expect too much from yourself. Avoid scheduling high-risk or energy demanding activities the week after the time change. And be extra careful driving.

Schedule in some naps and restful mornings. If you’re like most people, you’ll be sleep-deprived for a week or two. Take a lunch nap in your car at work, let yourself rest on a weekend morning, and be extra disciplined about getting to bed early enough.
Wear orange glasses at night. Wear some orange safety glasses a couple of hours before bed to shield your eyes from artificial blue light from light bulbs, the TV, and computer and phone screens. This facilitates production of sleep hormones and will help ease you into the new schedule.

Get some sunshine during the day. Our bodies were designed to wake and sleep according to the light of the seasons, not an industrialized schedule. Get as much natural light as you can during the day and avoid artificial sources of blue light (computer, TV, smart phones) in the evening.
For more bright ideas that will benefit your health, please contact our office.
We will gladly help you out at:

Tel: (416) 477-1101
E-mail: reception@priclinic.com
Web: www.priclinic.com

Most people are aware of the fact that chiropractic care can help ease back pain. However, there are some benefits of visiting your Toronto, ON chiropractor consistently that are less well-known. These advantages may just make your life better and healthier.
Perks of chiropractic medicine entail:
1. It stimulates natural healing. While most other treatment plans involve the use of medications and potentially surgical procedures or injections, chiropractic care supports your body in repairing itself naturally.
2. It reduces kid’s ear infections. Many boys and girls suffer from regular ear infections, and are often prescribed antibiotic drugs. Some kids have a decrease in otitis media after getting consistent chiropractic care.
3. It can ease stress. Chiropractic neck adjustments have been shown to reduce stress hormones and alter how the body processes pain, so you can walk out of our Sunnyvale office feeling better.
4. .It can ease digestive difficulties If you have a hard time with digestion, repeated chiropractic visits can often reduce symptoms.
5. You get a better night’s sleep. When you’re not sidelined with back or neck pain, your standard of sleep improves, enabling you to feel more focused and full of energy.
6. It can lower your blood pressure. If the spine is misaligned, things like your blood pressure are not maintained properly, putting you at risk of these types of health issues.
7. It can improve your balance. The more durable and healthy the spine is, the less difficult it is to balance, potentially preventing a injury due to a lack of stability like a slip and fall.
Chiropractic works to restore the health of your central nervous system, so your entire body can reap the benefits. To experience the perks of regular chiropractic care, schedule an appointment with PRI today!

Tel: (416) 477-1101
E-mail: reception@priclinic.com
Web: www.priclinic.com

Works Cited
Ogura, Takeshi and Manabu Tashiro, Mehedi,Shoichi Watanuki, Katsuhiko Shibuya, Keiichiro Yamaguchi, Masatoshi Itoh, Hiroshi Fukuda, Kazuhiko Yanai. Cerebral metabolic changes in men after chiropractic spinal manipulation for neck pain. Alternative Therapies. 2011, November/December; 17 (6): 12-17.
McMasters KL, et al. Blood pressure changes in African American patients receiving chiropractic care in a teaching clinic: a preliminary study. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine 2013; 12(2): 55-59.
Knutson G.A. Significant changes in systolic blood pressure post vectored upper cervical adjustment vs resting control groups: a possible effect of the cervicosympathetic and/or pressor reflex. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapy 2001;24(2):101–109.