Advanced Wellness Center

When shopping for backpacks there is more to consider than just fashion and durability. Our kids are carrying more than ever,  and not just back and forth from home and school.  Many students at the middle and high school level, carry their book bags with them all day.

We have seen an increase of lower back, shoulder and neck pain in young patients.  This new back pain trend among youngsters isn’t surprising when you consider the disproportionate amounts of weight they carry in their backpacks – often slung over just one shoulder. Common issues from wearing heavy backpacks for extended periods of time could be anything from simple irritation to diminished nerve capacity, ultimately limiting the muscles’ ability to respond to the brain’s signals, inhibiting movement of the hand and the dexterity of the fingers.

Consumer Report conducted a survey and found that kids from Kindergarten to Fourth Grade carry approximately 5 pounds of homework, by the time they reach 6th grade that number can reach up to 30 pounds. Of those children carrying heavy backpacks to school, 60 percent had experienced back pain as a result.

What Can You Do?

ACA ofers the following tips to help prevent the needless pain that backpack misuse could cause the students in your household.

• Be sure to bring your school age children in regularly for posture assessments to ensure damage isn’t being done by the use of backpacks.  Having your child adjusted regularly to keep the pathways between the nervous system and the brain open and free to communicate will also reduce the risk of injury.
• Make sure your child’s backpack weighs no more than 5 to 10 percent of his or her body weight. A heavier backpack will cause your child to bend forward in an attempt to support the weight on his or her back, rather than on the shoulders, by the straps.
• The backpack should never hang more than four inches below the waistline. A backpack that hangs too low increases the weight on the shoulders, causing your child to lean forward when walking.
• A backpack with individualized compartments helps in positioning the contents most effectively. Make sure that pointy or bulky objects are packed away from the area that will rest on your child’s back.
• Bigger is not necessarily better. The more room there is in a backpack, the more your child will carry-and the heavier the backpack will be.
• Urge your child to wear both shoulder straps. Lugging the backpack around by one strap can cause the disproportionate shift of weight to one side, leading to neck and muscle spasms, as well as low-back pain.
• Wide, padded straps are very important. Non-padded straps are uncomfortable, and can dig into your child’s shoulders.
• The shoulder straps should be adjustable so the backpack can be fitted to your child’s body. Straps that are too loose can cause the backpack to dangle uncomfortably and cause spinal misalignment and pain.
• If the backpack is still too heavy, talk to your child’s teacher. Ask if your child could leave the heaviest books at school, and bring home only lighter hand-out materials or workbooks.

Preparing for the new school year is always bitter sweet.  As parents, saying goodbye to the lazy days of summer is tough but going back to a routine and watching our kids reach new milestones is something to look forward to.  Sadly, you can’t return to school without the germs that come with it.  Pink Eye, Hand, Foot, and Mouth, Colds and flu are just a few things we can anticipate being exposed to. Here are a few tips on how to help prevent your child from becoming a walking petri dish.

ADJUSTMENTS

EXCERCISE

A strong body can fight off infection.  Keep your kids active after a long day at school, whether it be a sport or time at the park.  Being outside and moving will make for a healthy kid.

SLEEP

Kids from 6-18 need anywhere from 8-12 hours of sleep.  Getting to bed early and keeping a bedtime routine that removes screens at least 30 minutes before bedtime is essential to achieve restful sleep.  Adequate sleep on a regular basis leads to improved attention, behavior, learning, memory, emotional regulation, quality of life, and mental and physical health.

SUPPLEMENTS 

Vitamin D3: Since you get less sunlight during the school year this helps to keep your Vitamin D up. Take 1,000-3,000 IU’s daily.

Echinacea:  To help boost the immune system.  Supports stress. Take 1x a day.

Immuplex: Helps support immune system health. Supports the body’s normal inflammatory response function. Provides antioxidant activity. High in antioxidant vitamin C and E. Take 2-4 daily depending on age and weight.

 

It’s important to know ALL the facts before running to your nearest grocery store to get a flu shot. First, the statistics for flu related deaths have been exagerated for the fear affect. The CDC combined pneumonia and flu deaths for the stats which when you separate the two illnesses the numbers go from 36,000/ year to 1800/ year. Big difference. Also they fail to mention the other complications involved in such deaths. Secondly, the flu vaccine is derived by using the strain of flu in Asia the year prior to the vaccine being released. “They” assume the strain will be the same by the time it reaches the U.S. in the fall.

Take notice, anything that is pushed on people this hard such as 50 signs in every drug store and grocery and commercials with scare tactics, there is big money behind it all! People need to know that the flu vaccine is far more harmful than getting the actual flu!

Know what your putting in your body!

How is the Flu Vaccine Made?

This is another area that many people do not understand or take into consideration before getting a seasonal flu shot.In January or February of each year, health authorities travel to Asia to determine which strains of the flu are currently active. Based on their findings in Asia, they assume that the same strains of viruses will spread to the U.S. by fall.At this point, U.S. vaccine manufacturers start making that season’s flu vaccine, which will contain the strains found in Asia. However, if the viral strains circulating in the U.S. that season are not identical to those in Asia, the vaccine you receive is a complete dud.And to add insult to injury, you’ve just been injected with a laundry list of harmful ingredients.

What’s in the Seasonal Flu Vaccine?

The flu strains selected are cultivated in chick embryos for several weeks before being inactivated with formaldehyde, which is a known cancer-causing agent. Then they’re preserved with thimerosal, which is 49 percent mercury by weight.Even many health care professionals are confused about this and are not aware that the preservative thimerosal is mercury. As a quick side note, one of my chief writers told me that, “the doctor’s office told me the vaccine does not contain mercury, just something called thimerosal.“Please, don’t be fooled by this incredible ignorance. If you have carefully studied this issue there is a great possibility you may know more than your physician about this topic. Don’t back down if they tell you something you otherwise know to be true. According to the CDC, the majority of flu vaccines contain thimerosal. Some contain as much as 25 mcg of mercury per dose. This means that it may contain more than 250 times the Environmental Protection Agency’s safety limit for mercury. By now, most people are well aware that children and fetuses are most at risk of damage from this neurotoxin, as their brains are still developing. Yet the CDC still recommends that children over 6 months, and pregnant women, receive the flu vaccine each year.In addition to mercury, flu vaccines also contain other toxic or hazardous ingredients like:

• Aluminum — a neurotoxin that has been linked to Alzheimer’s disease
• Triton X-100 — a detergentPhenol (carbolic acid)Ethylene glycol (antifreeze)
• Betapropiolactone – a disinfectantNonoxynol – used to kill or stop growth of STDs
• Octoxinol 9 – a vaginal spermicideSodium phosphate

Just to name a few!

To read more go to http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/09/26/Flu-Vaccine-Exposed.aspx

Our advice for preventing the Flu:

• Get adjusted, as it is proven to increase the immune system by 200%
• Drink water, 64-70oz. per day
• Eat fruits & vegetables
• Wash your hands regularly
• Exercise 30 min daily to boost your immune system
• Take probiotics daily (5-15 billion count)
• Take good multivitamins daily
• Take 3,500-5,000 IU’s of Vitamin D3 daily during the winter. When feeling symptoms- avoid sugar, increase hydration and take 5,000-10,000 IU’s of Vitamin D3.

So many times after beginning Chiropractic care we find sleep is an issue for the patients healing. If your not sleeping well then your body isn’t healing well. Our brain and body performs 70% of their regenerative and restorative process during sleep. So this is where your mattress can play a huge roll in your overall health.

If you can’t remember how long you have had your mattress, it’s time for a new one! And if your mattress was in your parents home before yours then it’s definitely time for a new one!

If you feel like Goldielocks every time you go shopping for a mattress you’re not alone. It’s an important decision and one that effects 7-8 hours of your life every single day. So take this purchase seriously. Save money on a car or TV but don’t skimp on your mattress.

We get asked regularly what we recommend so here are some suggestions. Personally we have a Tempurpedic brand mattress which we LOVE!! Everyone in our family, parents, brother, sister-in-laws family…everyone has a Tempurpedic mattress and swear by them! And most of them are Chiropractors so I think that says a lot.

What we like about the Tempurpedic is that is truly keeps your spine, hips and shoulders in the best alignment possible while sleeping. Even if you are a wild, rolling, topsy turvy sleeper, this mattress supports your joints and alignment incredibly well. The rumors that you get too hot with this brand has never been an issue for us or anyone we know who uses them.  There are many styles within the Tempurpedic line so depending on what you like you have several options. But even the most basic, original Tempurpedic is amazing!

Another one we recommend is Sleep Number beds. They’re completely adjustable to your comfort level for support which is nice as our body’s needs change. We always recommend going more firm than soft with any mattress as it provides better alignment and support.

We hope you sleep tight….

The birth process is pretty stressful for the newborn and the mom. The most normal vaginal birth method is to rotate the newborns head 180 degrees to the right and the left as they pull the baby from the pelvis. This can cause a lot of strain on their first vertebrae (atlas) during the birth process. Especially if any further methods such as forcepts, vacuum or C-section are performed.

The atlas (C1) provides protection around the brainstem and upper nervous system. It is critical that there is no misalignment causing pressure in this area of their spine. Many times symptoms such as difficulty getting the infant to breast feed on either side, colic, ear infections, hard or few bowel movements, spitting up, difficulty sleeping or even sickness are a result of subluxation (nerve pressure) at their C1 vertebrae.

It takes a tiny, gentle and specific adjustment to correct the alignment in their spine and allow them to heal. Infants’ bodies are remarkable and so pure that they respond immediately. Innate intelligence is what created them.  Chiropractic alllows that innate intelligence to continue to flow helping them develop into healthy, vibrant children without unnecessary drugs and side effects.

What an incredible start for a new life to be expressed fully! This is where true prevention happens.

This has been a huge debate for several years. A patient recently told me that a local company was informing their employees of the risk of stroke and Chiropractic so (of course) the company is no longer going to cover Chiropractic care in their insurance plans…. In my opinion it’s another low and dirty way to get out of covering alternative health care that has helped millions of people.

But let’s talk about the facts and get it all out there.

First of all, every study or case regarding stroke and Chiropractic are with manual manipulation ONLY.  The safest technique with no record of contraindications to adjusting a patient with vascular disease is an Activator Certified physician. You know, like us:)

As they say bad news spreads faster than good news.

An example of a recent case is a woman in New York who had seen a Chiropractor for 20 years getting great care for headaches. She then began seeing a different Chiropractor who on her first visit “twisted her neck to the right then to the left”. She was extremely sore following each visit and after the 3rd visit with the same manipulation each time, the doctor even performed this twisting TWICE on the same visit because he didn’t hear a pop, she began suffering speech and motor issues. She had a stroke as a result of a torn artery in her neck.

It is unfortunate and disheartning that there are ANY even if it is few cases such as hers. However, stroke is one of the leading causes of death and as Chiropractors we need to know when someone is at risk and care for them accordingly. What people don’t talk about is all the great doctors out there that find early stages of arterial insufficiencies in patients which help prevent them from having strokes or other problems in the future.

Despite websites and articles stating cases against Chiropractic manipulation I think the fact that Chiropractors have the lowest Malpractic Insurance of all medical doctors says it all. Even a major Malpractic Insurance Company, NCMIC stated in the recently published “Current Concepts: Spinal Manipulation and Cervical Arterial Incidents 2005” concludes in it’s Executive Summary: “Unfortunately, opinion rather than fact has tended to dominate discussions regarding CVAs and chiropractic, even though there has been no definitive evidence that chiropractic adjustments (actually) cause strokes. The good news is that this monograph notes that a causative relationship between chiropractic manipulation and stroke is unlikely. There is an associative relationship between the two because people may go to chiropractors for relief of stroke-related symptoms”.

Even in Canada they did a 10 year study of 4500 Chiropractors and found “The likelihood that a chiropractor will be made aware of an arterial dissection following cervical manipulation is approximately 1:8.06 million office visits, 1:5.85 million cervical manipulations, 1:1430 chiropractic practice years and 1:48 chiropractic practice careers. This is significantly less than the estimates of 1:500,000–1 million cervical manipulations calculated from surveys of neurologists”.

Those are staggeringly low numbers which still seem to get hype considering iatrogenic disease (death caused by a doctor, hospital, misdiagnosis or medication) is now the #2 leading cause of death in the U.S. as of 2010!

I am still amazed that only a handful of cases in the last 30 years relating Chiropractic and stroke can still get so much media. Especially when there are millions who have been able to walk, get off medications, go back to work and even live because of their Chiropractic care!

There are dangers if you have arterial disease or deficiency. Actually any disturbance to the vertebral arteries such as turning too quickly, laying your head over a wash basin and a car collision have all been proven to increase your risk of a stroke. So, choose your Doctor wisely. Not all Chiropractors are gentle and specific with their adjustments, just as their are bad surgeons, dentists and MD’s. Ask questions, check out their certifications and even watch an adjustment in their office.

I encourage you to spread the good news about your results and Chiropractic! We need to take the lead in inspiring others not scaring them. Fear is a useful tool that insurance and pharmaceutical companies use to keep people on their medications.

Our body is resilient and it has the power to heal!