The Benefits of Chiropractic Care for Children

There are a growing number of people who have realized the benefits that are offered for both adults and children through chiropractic care. The good news: you are never too old or too young to benefit from the treatment offered by chiropractors, which will have the experience and training to provide superior care for patients. Modern chiropractors understand how to work with even the youngest patients to ensure proper health and well-being.

Chiropractic Care Benefits for Children

When children reach school age and begin to interact with other children in a different setting, they will also become susceptible to their nervous system and spine being compromised. These compromises can be brought about by heavy backpacks, rough housing and their sitting posture. A chiropractor can help to address these issues, as well as problems that may seem much less obvious.
For example, there is some evidence that suggests that chiropractic care may work to relieve and prevent allergies including watery and itching eyes, coughing and sneezing as well as the common cold. This is not suggesting that a chiropractic treatment will eliminate these issues; however, it may help to strengthen a child's immune system over a period of visits.

Treatment for Infants

The chiropractic treatment that your child receives will be custom tailored to each child, according the specific circumstances, as well as the weight and height of the child. The fact is that there is no minimum age for chiropractic care, and that even newborns may benefit from the treatment method. There are some cases where chiropractic care may be able to be used to detect various spinal problems that may lead to asthma, ear infections and colic. With early detection, you may be able to help to prevent the actual development of these various conditions as well as the complications that are associated with them in order to improve the quality of life, for even the youngest patients.

Treating Older Children

As children age, they may find pain associated with growing and changes with their body. A chiropractor can help to increase the flow of blood and fluids to promote optimum health. Chiropractor care can be used for children from infancy through the college years and beyond. Not only will it help to strengthen the immune system, but this type of treatment can also be beneficial for preventing future problems and pain in adulthood.

Your Child's Health Care Team

Chiropractic care is often considered an alternative form of medicine, due to the fact that it is all natural and non-invasive, and lacks the use of any type of medication. It can be used to treat a wide array of ailments, which has made it extremely popular in recent years. However, if you choose to take your child to a chiropractor for treatment, it is important to talk over the decision with all members of your child's health care team. In most cases, the primary care physician, which is usually a chiropractic physician, general practitioner or pediatrician, can help you coordinate the care that is achieved. You should keep in mind that a great chiropractor will always be willing to let you know when the condition that your child is suffering from is outside of their realm of treatment. This is when they will likely refer you to a different specialist to seek treatment.

While there are many people against the use of chiropractic care for children, it has many benefits that can last far into adulthood. If you want your child to achieve optimum health and well-being, scheduling regular chiropractic care visits can be extremely beneficial.

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Is Chiropractic a Good Choice For Back Pain?

The spine is a very complicated structure. It is composed of twenty-four moveable bones (the vertebrae), five layers of music, nine common ligaments, the central and peripheral nervous systems, and various connective tissue. The vertebrae offer protection to the spinal cord. They are moveable and can twist and bend in a variety of positions. While this freedom of motion allows us to locomote and move our bodies in a variety of configurations, it also can set the stage for injuries. Joints that are pushed too far can suffer sprains and strains. Joints that don't get enough motion can get stuck. Abnormal gravitational loading on the joints and soft tissues cause degenerative changes such as arthritis and disc disease.

Chiropractic is the philosophy, art and science of natural healing. It is concerned with the integrity and function of the spine and nervous system. A doctor of chiropractic (D.C.) is a physician who is an expert at evaluating, diagnosing and treating problems with the spine. The process starts much like it would when visiting any other doctor.

There is some paperwork that is completed (including a description of the problem and medical history). Then the chiropractor will have a consultation followed by an examination to discover the cause of the problem. In the examination, the chiropractor will do a variety of orthopedic and neurological tests. Following this, there may be diagnostic tests (such as x-ray, MRI, etc.). Then the chiropractor will diagnose the problem, give the patient a prognosis and present a treatment plan.

How does a chiropractor help to eliminate back pain? The prescribed therapies may vary greatly from doctor to doctor. These therapies may include chiropractic adjustments, physical medicine therapies (including ice, heat, decompression, massage, acupressure, ultrasound, electrical muscle stimulation, diathermy, infrared, traction, acupuncture), active care rehabilitation (stretching, exercises for strengthening and stabilization), and nutritional therapies (such as professional strength supplements designed to reduce pain and inflammation at the chemical and cellular levels).

The chiropractic adjustment is concerned with restoring normal joint motion, re-aligning the vertebrae, relieving pressure on the nerves (which may be pinched due to vertebral misalignment), eliminating muscle spasms, and of course, eliminating pain. The doctor of chiropractic has four years of specialized training in the art of delivering adjustments. The adjustment is a low-force correction in which the chiropractor gently slips the bone(s) back into their normal position while restoring normal joint motion. Adjustments are almost always pain-free and result in an incredible sense of relief and well being.

Many people have never been to a chiropractor. They may not have ever even considered going to a chiropractor. They may have thought that chiropractic is a new concept or experimental and unproven. But what they didn't realize is that spinal manipulation is nothing new. It has actually been around for thousands of years. Hippocrates (the father of medicine) himself said: "look to the spine as the source of all disease". While bone setting has been around for millennia (as opposed to traditional western medicine which has only been around for 300 years), chiropractic as a profession started in 1895. Today there are over 70,000 chiropractors in the United States. It is a science-based form of health care that has become mainstream and accepted by the medical and scientific communities.

Not only is chiropractic extremely effective and all natural, but it is also the safest form of health care known to humankind. Chiropractors pay the lowest malpractice premiums of any doctor. The reason for this is clear - they don't injure people. There have been hundreds of research studies done to investigate the risk associated with chiropractic adjustments. And the results came back that chiropractic is safer than drugs and surgery. One research paper showed that a patient has 100 times greater likelihood of being injured from taking a Motrin than from getting a chiropractic adjustment. So if your back is hurting, give chiropractic a try. You have nothing to lose but the pain.

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Tips for Staying Comfortable During a Long Road Trip

Dr. Stacy Irvine shares simple tips and stretches that will help us stay comfortable on long road trips.

The Importance of Stretching After a Workout

Dr. Bejan Pazdel who deals with a lot of sports-oriented clients talks about the importance of stretching before AND after exercise.

See more about Pazdel Chiropractic at http://www.pazdelchiropractic.com

Chiropractic: An Important Ingredient to Health and Wellness

The art and science of the practice of Chiropractic have been around for over 100 years and can be a valuable tool for the person seeking improvement in health and wellness. Chiro- is derived from the Greek word for hand and praktikos - meaning the practice of or practical. Generally speaking, Chiropractic focuses on finding small misalignments in the spine or vertebral column termed subluxations (luxation is a complete dislocation) and aligning the relationship of one vertebrae to the next one. These subluxations or misalignments in the spine is commonplace and can happen due to posture or chronic repetitive movements as well as acute pathology, injury and even pregnancy.

Chiropractic has over the last hundred years become mainstream moving from Eastern philosophy to becoming a part of Western medicine. Fundamentally, traditional Western medicine had treated the disease or pathology or symptom from the outside in with computer diagnostic equipment, medications and surgery. In contrast, Chiropractic is based on diagnosing the underlying cause of the disease or symptom with the premise that the central nervous system and related sympathetic and parasympathetic system controls all body functions and operates like a computer program. The nervous system is comprised of nerve pairings which are split to perform their respective functions. Each pairing is split into a sympathetic branch to the muscles for fight or flight instincts as well as a parasympathetic branch for rest and digestion functions.

With a general understanding of the history and philosophy of Chiropractic let us now look at how this discipline can be used to assist in the achievement of improving and maintaining health and wellness. Few if any of us are fortunate enough to get through this life without experiencing spine or extremity misalignments. These misalignments can come as early as the birthing process! Then from toddlers through school age adolescence it is rare to not be involved in accidents such as falls, sports accidents, car accidents, poor sleep and sitting postures. As we get old enough to work there becomes more opportunity for postural imbalances and work and auto accidents. Then as we age into hopefully better health habits we face new obstacles in the form of arthritis and generally decreased activity. The list of who can benefit from Chiropractic is a simple answer...everyone can to some extent. How much one can benefit and how often treatment is required depends on many factors including age and acuteness or age of condition.

Chiropractic is by nature not a treatment of conditions but rather an alignment of the body to heal itself by being able to function as efficiently as possible. With that being stated however, patients have increasingly chosen Chiropractic to improve and at times alleviate symptoms such as headaches, back pain, shoulder pain, knee pain as well as helping with arm and leg pain and numbness, disc problems and much more.

Most importantly Chiropractic should be considered as a resource in achieving and maintaining an optimal state of health and wellness. Chiropractic has become a leader in alternative medicine and natural healing. With much criticism by Western medicine and western model insurance companies, Chiropractic has had to prove its necessity through word of mouth for much of the past hundred years.

Starting with the champion San Francisco 49er's of the 1980's Chiropractic became introduced into the NFL with documented positive outcomes for the star players of the team. Many of the players were in fact documented attributing Chiropractic to helping prolong their careers. Today it is commonplace for all sporting teams from high school to professionals to have Chiropractic be a part of the healthcare team.

Health and wellness therefore requires a combination of considerations to achieving optimal function. Chiropractic can be used effectively to achieve and maintain efficiency as well as assist following any occupational or environmental stressors that create injury, postural or nerve imbalances. Remember, do all you can to achieve health and wellness...the quantity and quality of your life depends on it. Best wishes.

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How the Food You Eat Affects Your Brain - Mia Nacamulli

When it comes to what you bite, chew and swallow, your choices have a direct and long-lasting effect on the most powerful organ in your body: your brain. So which foods cause you to feel so tired after lunch? Or so restless at night? Mia Nacamulli takes you into the brain to find out.

Lesson by Mia Nacamulli, animation by Private Island.

Does Chiropractic Help Relieve Stress? | Chiropractic Care

One of the things that my patient report to me is that one of the most profound effects that chiropractor has on them is their ability to reduce their stress level and also recover from stress.

Our cranium and our spine house our brain and spinal cord. And all of the spinal nerves that are exiting the spine, innervate every single organ and cell in our body. By adjusting the spine, when we find misalignment, restrictions or what we call subluxations, we're able to profoundly restore normal nerve function. Ad this has a profoundly relaxing effect on the nervous system.

I like to say that chiropractic care helps the nervous system to become more highly organized. We noticed that there is a profound shift in the nervous system. Particularly in the automatic nervous system. The parts of the nervous system that functions without our constant awareness. The sympathetic nervous system our the fight or flight response that most people live in all day long, shifts after chiropractic care. And the power sympathetic nervous becomes more dominant. The power sympathetic nervous system is the part of the nervous system we would like to be more active. It's the part of the nervous system that controls the immune system and digestion. It tends to slow the heart rate and decrease blood pressure to normal, So it's very important that we have a dynamic balance between these two nervous systems. And chiropractic care is one of the most effective and profound ways I know to balance that nervous system.

The other thing that's really very powerful about chiropractic care is the kind of interaction you'll have with your chiropractor. Really talking about what's happening in your body. My patients report that when they go out into the world after their adjustment, their whole experience of life is very different. They feel very rested but they also feel alert. They fell calm and they're really ready to take on the world.