Your Health, Your Body, Your Life

Being a chiropractor, I travel through the complementary and alternative care population and this is a question that comes up to me often. I have never had a colonic, some of my friends have. So I decided to google the question. The posting below is by Dr. Ronen Arai. She is a Senior Fellow in Gastroenterology at the University of Miami School of Medicine in Miami, Florida.

The entire article can be found at http://yourtotalhealth.ivillage.com/risks-colonics.html

There is no scientific evidence that colonics, also known as “high-colonics,” benefit digestive health. But it’s hard to argue with those people who insist that colonics make them feel healthier or “cleaner.”

Whatever the benefits of colonics may be, there’s no question that they pose certain risks. First, if the rectal tube is inserted improperly, it can tear the rectal lining — an injury that may require surgery. Second, although many colonics are performed using water or salt water (saline), people sometimes use other fluids, such as coffee, or even other liquids that may be potentially toxic to the colon. This can inflame the colon or cause it to bleed. Third, even water — if administered in large amounts — can pose problems. If a person absorbs too much water through the colon it can lead to water intoxication, a potentially fatal condition in which excess water upsets the body’s balance of crucial salts and minerals. Finally, there’s the issue of the pressure used to force the liquid into the colon. If the pressure is too high, the colon can be perforated, requiring emergency surgery.

Although these complications are rare, anyone considering colonics should discuss them with his or her doctor before undergoing the procedure.

As I mentioned in my last post, while working in the survivorship community I continue to meet very dedicated and enthusiastic people, all with their own story to tell.

Today I would like you to meet Alicia “Sable” Sable-Hunt, RN, MBA, the founder of Sable’s Foods. I met her at the Whittingham Cancer Center Walk in June this past summer. She was giving out samples of her nutritional bars. Touting them as “nutritional empowerment” for chemotherapy patients. Being a nibbler I’ll taste anything. To my surprise it was delicious. So we started to talk. I am not a nutritional guru so I won’t comment on what’s inside, but I sent it off to the local university based hospital and they were impressed.

Not only for cancer patients. Because of its delicious taste and protein rich mixture, it is now getting the attention of endurance athletes as well.

I’m not here to sell the products, that’s her job, I’m just spreading the word. I’ll let her website tell the story. http://www.sablesfoods.com/ The products will be available at Row for the Cure on October 31st at Vets Park in Norwalk. See you there.

As I continue to work within the breast cancer survivor community I keep meeting motivated and interesting women and yes, some men who have risen to the challenge of fighting breast cancer.

In this blog I would like to introduce you to Mary Ann Wasil Nilan a breast cancer survivor of 5 years now. Her story of survival is captivating and motivational. Instead of saying “why me???” she has turned it around and is now fighting back, by teaching young girls starting in 5th grade about their bodies and how to “Get In Touch” with them. Her Get In Touch Foundation produces a “daisy wheel” that helps girls and young women learn about their bodies. She has a beautiful website that I encourage you to explore and yes, donate. Like Mary Ann, I too am raising two daughters. Their daisy wheels are on order….I hope yours are too.

Go to www.getintouchfoundation.org

With today’s health care debate raging on, I found this information of real value, especially while our President and others are saying we must use what works. Once again, I didn’t write this, but sometimes its not about what I say, but what everybody is saying. The more we all stay informed with facts, the better decisions we can all make. You can click on this link or read the text below.

http://www.riskandinsurance.com/story.jsp?storyId=253537541

Pilot study finds chiropractic care, physical therapy may reduce costs
Individuals with musculoskeletal disorders who received chiropractic care or physical therapy had lower health care costs and were less likely to have surgery than employees who did not receive those services, according to a recent report.

The findings come from a one-year pilot program designed by Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield to measure patient quality of care. Researchers concluded that significant clinical outcomes and health care cost reductions were attributable to the use of chiropractic and other physical medicine services. Overall, 89 percent of all individuals receiving physical medicine services reported improvement of at least 30 percent within 30 days.
The 2008 pilot — an ongoing quality improvement program for Iowa and South Dakota physical medicine providers — analyzed data on care provided by 238 chiropractors, physical therapists and occupational therapists to 5,500 Wellmark members with MSDs. Wellmark utilized Triad Healthcare to help administer the program and collaborated with the company to collect data and measure outcomes. Triad also analyzed the chiropractic and physical therapy utilization data for the pilot and has continued to administer the program in 2009.
Related Coverage
Employees with repeat risk appraisals likely to maintain health (07/20/09)
Lost time injuries, musculoskeletal disorders decline in ’07, study finds (12/01/08)
Job creation must be accompanied by emphasis on safety, group says (04/02/09)
Louisiana: Legislation aimed at improving medical treatment, controlling costs (07/16/09)
National summit urges action to improve workforce health, productivity (12/01/08)
Supporters of chiropractic treatment praised the findings, saying that the cost-effectiveness of the method has been documented in several studies.
Glenn Manceaux, president of the American Chiropractic Association, pointed to a study published in a 2005 issue of the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics that found chiropractic and medical care have comparable costs for treating chronic low-back pain, with chiropractic care producing significantly better outcomes. In addition, a study published in a 2003 edition of Spine medical journal found that manual manipulation provides better short-term relief of chronic spinal pain than a variety of medications, he said.
“Especially during the health care reform debate, it’s important that chiropractic and other conservative care methods are taken into serious consideration as a cost-effective alternative to the utilization of expensive surgery and hospital-based care,” he said

As  a chiropractor,  many patients ask me about what is the proper mattress or pillow for them. There is no set answer, but only tips and guidance. Instead of reinventing the wheel, I have decided to take this article compeletly from the American Chiropractic Association website. Ihope this gives some answers and enlightenment.

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 Guide
The 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.

I am proud to announce the first annual Row For The Cure to be held in Norwalk Harbor on Halloween from 9 -3. Sign up at regattacentral.com. More details to follow

I can’t take credit for this line, but I can explain it. It is a quote from Dr. Michael Schneider, a chiropractor, researcher and PhD who is at the University of Pittsburgh.

For those of you who have had some joint pain and try to strengthen your way through it, like working your quads to overcome knee pain, or doing crunches to cure back pain, here’s a tip. The issue at hand may not only be from a weakness, but from a muscle  imbalance.Your body is designed to move and function in a given way, through life’s fun, frolic and trauma, things get damaged, worn, torn etc.  Over your life you develop muscle patterns that get your body in motion. It works, it gets you going, but if you are not moving properly things will eventually wear out or even break down. So strengthening a weak and imbalanced muscle pattern could in theory accelerate your wear and tear. So what do you do? Just like when your cell phone or computer gets locked up, you have to hit your personal ”reset button”.

Your personal reset button is called proprioceptive training. Or in plain English, reestablishing balance. There are many portions or fibers in your muscles that you no longer use. Because of your lifestyle, your body did not have a need for them, so they are “shut down”. Well its time to wake them up. That’s where things like “swiss” balls, wobble and rocker boards, foam rollers and any other device that throws you off balance comes in. When you place yourself on these devices you are now causing the cerebellum, the part of brain responsible for balance, to activate fibers that have long been dormant. They are now getting a workout that they have not had in years. With the guidance of a properly trained professional (chiropractors have led the way in this type of training) you can build new muscle strength in underutilized areas which can lead to correcting the muscle imbalance and pain in a given joint. This is not a magic bullet, it takes consistent workouts, with supervision at times. Remember a workout that is not properly performed, is no workout at all.

In our era of specialization, medically, professionally and personally, we have become so isolated and focused in our thinking that we no longer look at how our kids are enjoying themselves. We look at results. How many games has Johnny pitched and won? How many goals, how fast can Sally sprint up field, etc. Can she get a soccer, tennis, field hockey scholarship? We are now seeing kids with repetitive stress injuries earlier than ever before. Why? Because their lives are so unbalanced. Everything they do has a goal in mind. Gone are the days of building forts, going fishing, climbing trees. Its “off to speed work today”, pitching tomorrow, laps in the pool, core strengthening etc. Kids are burning up, burning out and getting hurt. Are we as parents no better than the stage mother in Gypsy? Who are they competing for?

Kids need to have a balanced physical life. Yes by all means keep them off the couch, away from the xbox, keep them moving, but let them play, have fun and get good all around exercise. Play baseball today, go for a swim tomorrow, ride a bike, be a kid. Our bodies are not designed to perform only one activity daily. We all know about the elbow and shoulder problems of young pitcher, but we are also seeing a lot of knees and low backs. Too young, too soon.

We all watch the pro sports stars with great admiration. But for every one that makes it big, there are thousands who get burned out, damaged and broken while trying to make it big. I have a patient who got drafted by the Dallas Cowboys back in the late 1960′s. He had the gift, he got clipped in a scrimmage during the first week of his first summer camp, destroyed his knees, never played again. Thankfully he is an attorney and has done well for himself, along with his two prosthetic knees.

Moral to the story, let kids be happy playful kids.