Active Family Chiropractic

Empowering Your Health

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Ow! My Sciatica is acting up!

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What is sciatica? If you’re anything like me, you could be very wrong on what you thought sciatica pain actually is. I always thought it was a pinched nerve from the front part of the hip. I suppose I was partly correct. It is a “pinch” of a nerve, just not in the location I thought.

What is Sciatica?

Sciatica is a commonly misused term for what people describe as a lower back pain that shoots down their leg. Sometimes this is a true sciatic nerve compression and sometimes it’s not. One of the first things your chiropractor will do is to rule out muscle involvement because the sciatic nerve travels through one of the buttock muscles. If that buttock muscle is tight, it can compress that branch of the sciatic nerve and create similar symptoms. However, true sciatica is a compression of the sciatic nerve at the spine itself, where it emerges from the spinal cord.

One of the defining characteristics of sciatic pain is a shooting pain that travels down the back side of the leg. It can travel all the way down the leg as far as the foot and can be accompanied by a numbness and tingling.

What are some things you can do to alleviate the pain?

The first thing you want to do is to make sure that you find out the source of the pain. If it’s compressed at the spinal level itself, through a subluxation or something else like a disc herniation, the only thing you can do is consult with a medical professional, namely a chiropractor, to discover the extent of the damage. This should be the first step for anyone. Once the problem has been identified, then the appropriate solution can be applied.

A lot of times someone will complain of sciatic pain but it’s really just the compression of the sciatic nerve by the buttock muscle. If this is the case, one thing you can do is to take extra time to stretch the buttock muscle. You can also use a foam roller to roll out the tightness of the buttock muscle. Another thing to do is to avoid sitting. Sitting increases the pressure on the sciatic nerve. If you have any type of sciatic pain, you want to try to avoid sitting at all costs.

Another thing you can do is to get a massage, acupuncture or even take an Epsom salt bath. All of these can ease the tension of muscles and release compression of “pinched” nerves.

Regular visits to your Chiropractor can also help. Chiropractors can find if there is an issue with the structure of the vertebra. Once this is identified, they are able to restore that structure to as close to normal as possible through specific adjustments and in-office traction, and in the process, alleviating pain.

Are you experiencing sciatica pain? Make an appointment with your Chiropractor and take care of your spine today.

For more information on sciatic pain and how it can be treated email Dr. B @ [email protected].

Why are my neck and back muscles always tight? Part 2: Not exercising or stretching enough.

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Have you ever wondered why your neck and back muscles are always tight? There are a number of factors that contribute to this. Bad posture, not exercising enough and bad nutritional choices are only a few. In this 3 part series, we’re going to talk about the biggest contributing factors to neck and back tightness.

Not exercising or stretching enough or at all.

Your structure, the bones of your body, dictate what your muscles are doing. If you have a poor spinal structure, you will have bad muscle function. Additionally, not exercising will cause your muscles to break down and become useless. There are easy ways to get moving.

  • Try Yoga – Yoga is the practice of strengthening and lengthening your muscles. Holding poses and easily moving from one movement to the next will help provide much-needed oxygen to your blood and muscles. Yoga creates long lean muscles and can boost the metabolism.
  • Take cues from wildlife – Many of us have animals, dogs, and cats that bring joy to our lives. Besides running and lounging, they do a lot of stretching. Try to mimic your animal for a day. If they stretch, try the stretch they’re doing. You’ll notice that you’ll start to feel more awake and refreshed throughout the day.
  • Join a social activity – People who build their social network by participating in shared activities tend to live longer and don’t we all want longevity in life? Find something that interests you. Believe it or not, getting out of the house to attend a group meeting or function will dictate that you walk somewhere and walking is exercise.
  • Everything is easier with a partner – Accountability is key to exercising. Having someone you’re accountable to will allow you to keep exercising, especially if that person is relying on you to be their exercise partner. Knowing you have someone to commiserate and rejoice with can inspire you to move more.
  • Dance like no one is watching – So you’re not someone who exercises and you’re not into stretching or yoga, that’s ok. Create a playlist of your favorite songs. Fill it with songs that there is no possible way you can sit in your seat for while you listen and dance! It only takes 1-2 good songs a day and you’re on your way to moving and providing oxygen to your muscles.

Whatever you choose just move.

No matter what you do, it’s important to move, not only for your structure and health but for your mental health as well. Doing any of the activities above will help you to forget about your stresses for a bit and that will give you the freedom to want to move more.

What are some ways that you move? Share in the comments below.

For questions on what stretches you can do at home, talk to your Chiropractor and contact Dr. B at [email protected].

Make your New Years Resolution to include Chiropractic care as a priority.

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In the new year, we make resolutions to get fit, to be healthier and to be better people. One thing can help us achieve all of our goals…regular visits with your Chiropractor. In our quest to be better, we cannot ignore those things that will help us achieve our goals. Whether it’s dieting, exercising or improving our wellness, having a support system will help you achieve your resolutions faster. Starting the new year off with a trip to your Chiropractor can help you achieve all your wellness goals.

Diet

If we want to be healthier, we have to look at our diet and understand that when we constantly overindulge, we will never reach our health goals. Having someone to speak with about a nutritional plan provides you with an accountability partner. The reason why most diets fail is that people try to go it alone, without any support. If improving your diet and therefore your health is important to you, seek out a diet buddy. Someone who will not only diet with you but will be there to share in your triumphs and fails.

Your Chiropractor is one of those resources. They are a wealth of information so utilize them and ask them what you can do to help improve your diet.

Exercise

It is important to move. To be healthy, it is important to be able to sit, stand and walk, among other things. Being able to care for oneself is very important, as is the ability to look after others. If you’re a parent, you want to be healthy for your children. For an athlete, it’s important to be fit. However, if you want to live, it’s important to move. If you cannot exercise, essentially stretch and move, then how can you be healthy? Just having a good stretching routine to do daily can give you much sought after energy and mobility.

Looking for a stretching routine, your chiropractor can give you guidance that will help improve your range of motion and increase your energy levels.

Wellness

Diet and exercise fall under the category of Wellness. It is important that while we’re making our resolutions, we are also making appointments with those people who are going to help us achieve our goals. The one thing a lot of people forget to do is make an appointment with their Chiropractor.

If you’ve read any of our previous blogs, you will know that caring for your spine is the most important thing to invest your time and energy into. This new year, make it a point to have your spine checked. Knowing which subluxations you have and how to address them can help you on your way to a healthier you.

For more information contact:

Dr. Bianca at [email protected]

Four Essentials of Health with Dr. B.

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Continuing on the theme of health, let’s talk about the four essentials of health. They are nerve flow, oxygen, nutrition and hydration. These are the essentials, meaning you cannot live without them. Why can’t you? Keep reading.

1. Hydration

Hydration is very important to our overall function. Without it, there would be major problems within our system. Water is used to help maintain the balance of fluids in our bodies. Since we are made up of around 70% water, when we become dehydrated, our body lets us know. We can experience headaches, nausea and fatigue. If you were to go without water for more than four days, all of your systems would cease to function and you would cease to live.

So how do you stay hydrated? Drink at least half your body weight in ounces every day to maintain good hydration.  Keep in mind that if you consume a caffeinated beverage, make sure to increase your water intake as well. Since caffeine acts as a diuretic, it can cause dehydration.

2. Nutritional Choices

Our nutritional choices can affect our health in major ways. Eating too much sugar can lead to inflammation, like eating too much fat can lead to the clogging of your arteries. So we have to make smart choices about what we eat. Believe me, I know fried food tastes good, but it’s not good for you. Making the correct nutritional choices can help you to care for the one body you were given. Making a conscious decision to eat well helps promote a mindset of caring for your health.

Imagine your dream car. Imagine owning it. If it says that the only gas you can put in it is 93 grade or higher, would you put an 85 grade of gas in your car? No. You would put in the gasoline that helps to keep your dream car running in perfect condition. The same should be true for your body. Take care of it and it will take care of you.

3. Oxygen

When we talk about oxygen, we’re not just talking about the air we need to breathe. If you cannot breathe, you suffocate and all of your systems will shut down. However, we not only need oxygen for our breath but for our cellular function as well. We need oxygen for our cells to stay healthy and to move. Oxygen is needed for our cells to move and burn fuel such as sugars and fatty acids. When oxygen is breathed in, it is transported to our red blood cells which are then used to produce energy throughout our body.

However, just breathing does not help circulate the much-needed red blood cells throughout our body. We need to move in order to help that process along. This is why it is important to stretch and to exercise. Movement circulates oxygen and red blood cells throughout our body, producing new healthy cells and removing old or damaged cells. When we live a sedentary lifestyle, we are not giving our body the chance to circulate needed oxygen and stay healthy. So get up and move…movement is life.

4. Nerve Flow

Without a doubt, this is the most important and why it was kept for last. Nerve flow is the connection of your nervous system with your brain. Without brain activity, you cannot function. Once a person is brain-dead, they have no control over their body or any function within. This is why it is important to care for your spine and keep it in good health.

Every cell in your body is dictated by your brain and your nervous system is the brain’s communication pathway. Every single thing in your body is controlled by your nervous system and you only have one. You cannot get a spinal cord replacement like a heart or lung transplant. Once your spinal cord is severed in any place, communication from your brain is cut off from below that break and cannot be repaired.

You have to make a conscious decision to care for your spine. Many people see Chiropractors as pain management…that they only have to go care for their spine when it’s in pain. This is called reactionary care. To wait for something to be wrong before you fix it. We should, instead, care for what we have and look at our spines as something we need to care for. Because our spine encases our spinal column, the main hub of communication for our nervous system, we should do what we can to keep it in prime working order. Misalignment in your spine (subluxation) can have many side effects, ranging from allergies to numbness to pain.

So how can we care for our spines? By having regular appointments with your CBP Chiropractor. These types of chiropractors are trained professional doctors who can help you maintain a healthy spine and therefore healthy function.

Change your way of thinking. We need to care for what we have instead of treating what we’ve broken.

For more information or if you have additional questions contact Dr. B at

http://af-chiropractic.com/contact-us/

What is a Subluxation? How to tell if you have one.

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Graphic from googleimages.com

What is a subluxation?

Let’s start with the basics. We hear this technical word being used, “subluxation”, but what is it exactly? According to Dr. B and the CBP (Chiropractic Biophysics) community, it is defined as, “any joint in the body that is not in its normal position.”

When CBP Chiropractors look at the spine, there is a specific spinal model, an ideal spine, that they look to. Anything diverting from that ideal is considered a subluxation, sometimes referred to as a misalignment.

Subluxation vs. Muscle Soreness

So how do you tell the difference between a subluxation and just muscle soreness? According to Dr. B, if you move and pain increases, it is usually indicative of a muscle soreness. However, if you’re at rest and a joint is in pain, then it is usually indicative of a subluxation.

Subluxation affects the nerve communications between the brain and the body. This will sometimes cause pain, but will ALWAYS decrease body function. You get subluxated from big traumas, like car accidents, or small ones, like looking at your cell phone.

But what if I just can’t tell?

Most people cannot tell the difference between a subluxation and muscle soreness. Muscle soreness can be a symptom of a subluxation. When you have a subluxation, the muscles surrounding the misaligned area are being overworked, which can lead to inflammation.

How can I correct a subluxation?

There is only one way you can correct a subluxation and that is by seeing your chiropractor on a regular basis. Subluxation causes muscle imbalance and in order for your muscles to work correctly, it is important to think of your chiropractor as a personal trainer for your spine.

If you want to lose weight, you go to the gym and seek out a professional to help you get into shape. It is important to look at your chiropractor in the same way. One session will not correct a subluxation you have worked a lifetime to create. It takes time, dedication and the direction of a professional, like Dr. B.

If you’re interested in learning more about subluxation and how to start on the path of healing,  speak with Dr. B at Active Family Chiropractic, PC.

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