Balance- March Blog

Balance

   We all seek to achieve balance in our lives.  Excess tends to invite problems in many ways.  Excessive waste invites pollution, degradation of our environment and leads to things like a break down of the ecosystem.  Excessive intake of bad food can lead to a multitude of health problems:  diabetes, high cholesterol, heart disease, and many degenerative diseases.  Excessive cell production is of course cancer. 
   Achieving balance can be difficult.  We are inundated with opportunities to engage in excess:  fast food restaurants galore, fast cars, drugs and alcohol, and media overload.  Balance on the other hand requires discipline.  The ability to temper impulses and desires with what is healthy and safe, right and wrong, dark and light, etc.  This is much the ying yang concept of the orient.  In the health area, balance can be a very difficult challenge.  We are busy as a society:  rushing, rushing constantly.  It is far too easy to grab a fast food burger or a donut than to fix a healthy breakfast or prepare some fruit.
   Some thoughts on balance:

1. Take the time to find quiet.  Find or set up a special place in your house where you can just sit and have quiet with no interruptions, no phones or internet, no noise, and minimal light.
2. Breathe.  Learn to breath properly and practice breathing.  There are many types of breathing exercises available from yoga, chi qong, tai chi and martial arts that have rejuvenating abilities.
3. Clear the mind.  Practice prayer or meditation or whatever your method of getting in touch with the ethereal or energy of your spirit.  This is a good place to practice breath as well.  Learn to get all the noise that courses through our minds to be quiet.  One person said a long time ago that "all of mankind's ills come from the inability to sit quietly in a room and be alone."  Or something to that effect.
4. Practice relaxation.  Relax the mind, relax the body, relax the breath.  Let all the tension progressively release from your body.  You can lie or sit and start with an area of the body and relax it totally.  Then move to another area and work through the whole body.
5. Learn to make balanced decisions.  Help your body function best by choosing positive alternatives to fat, sugar laden fast food meals.

   Balance can also be addressed other ways in the body.  Often times musculoskeletal injuries are a result of imbalances in the function of muscles.  Over time muscle imbalances cause joints to break down and cause pain and dysfunction.   An example is low back pain caused by weak hip flexor muscles.  I find almost all the time in women with low back pain, for example, that either the major hip flexors or secondary hip flexors on one or both sides are weak.  The result is the body has to recruit other muscles to walk and perform normal activities.  Like a misaligned wheel on your car, over time your start having problems (breakdown) due to repetitive stress. 
   Muscular imbalances can be treated with the laser to restore the energy connections, unless there is severe nerve injury.  By fixing the connections further or future injuries can be prevented.  It allows balanced stressors and minimizes wear and tear.  Maintaining balanced muscle function is essential to an effectively functioning musculoskeletal and nervous systems.

February Blog

OFFICE HOURS NOTICE:

• I will be closed the normal office hours on SATURDAY, February 26th, 2011.  I will be in the area so if you need to be seen in the evening, contact my cell number at (770-3155).  I will be tied up from 9 AM to 5 PM at a seminar and I haven't figured out my voice mail yet so just call me after 5 PM.

HEALTH CARE NEWS

• A study reported in the American Pain Foundation, Pain Monitor notes that flat feet may contribute to knee pain and ostearthritis in the knee in older adults.
• Calcium and Vitamin C supplements may help protect against diabetes.
• Increased consumption of Omega 3 fatty acids may help ward off macular degenration.
• Pomegranate may help stop metastasis of prostate cancer.
• Folic acid reduces hot flashes.
• Branch Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs) luecone, isolucine and valine intake show an inverse relationship to being overweight or obese.
• The polyphenols in blue berries may have the ability to combat high blood sugar, obesity, bad blood lipid profiles, hyper tension, insulin resistance and diabetes, in addition to its anti-cancer fighting agents.
• Ginger's compounds have been linked to providing relief for dozens of issues:  cough, bronchitis and upper respiratory infections; migraines, motion and morning sickness, rheumatoid arthritis, pain from surgery, gas, loss of appetite, diarrhea, upset stomach and somache ache, colic, and nausea from chemotherapy.  It also helps with inflammation.  Fresh is better than dried.

January Blog and Health News

Note:  I will be closed Saturday 1/22/11.  I will be teaching an Aikido seminar in San Antonio.

Thought for the day:  “A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.” —William James.

Nutrition Blurbs

• Mitochondrial Dysfunction:  mitochondria are the power houses of cells.  Dysfunction has been linked to diabetes, cancers, heart problems, aging and brain function.  A natural compound may promote new mitochondria formation in cells.  PQQ (pyrroloquinoline quinone).
• Magnesium may protect women against sudden cardiac death.
• Higher vitamin D levels is associated with lower risk for bladder cancer.  Patients will leukemia and vitamin D insufficiency may face earlier mortality risks.
• Olive Oil helps protect the liver from oxidative stress and aids in cardiac fat oxidation.
• Curcumin (household spice) may help prevent and treat fatty liver disease damage.
• Cinnamon Extracts may help reduce diabetes and heart disease risk factors.
• Fish Oils may help diabetes and one component DHA may help promote recovery from stroke.
• Ceramides (a fat-soluble constituent of normal cells) in addition to aiding skin aging may also help lower total cholesterol, increase HDLs, enhance insulin sensitivity and help prevent colon cancer.
• Anthocyanins (pigmentary compounds in fruits) may help with free radical damage, cancer, heart disease, metabolic syndrome, and also enhance night vision.
• Glucose-control can be assisted with chromium, Indian gooseberry (amla), shlajit (rich in fulvic acid), brown seaweed and cinnamon.
• Carnosine in studies at high doses has been shown to boost longevity, helping cardiovascular health, combatting elevated glucose, safeguarding the brain, and containing anti-cancer properties.  Branched chained amino acids were also liked to increasing lifespan in mice.
• Multi-vitamin use lowers heart attack risk in women.
• Reduced testosterone levels is linked to increase mortality in men.

Herniated Discs

What is a Herniated Disc?  The disc can be viewed a lot like a jelly donut.  It is somewhat circular with an outer area and a center or core (nucleus).  When the core bulges into the outer layer it is a bulging disc and can press on sensitive nerve structures.  When it breaks into the outer layer (like the dough but with the consistency of crab meat) it is a herniation.  Sometimes it breaks totally out of the disc and becomes a free fragment which can be a serious condition causing loss of bowel or bladder function or numbness in the groin (cauda equina syndrome)-usually a surgical emergency.

What Causes a Herniated Disc?  The causes are many.  Basically, weakness in the outer layer of the discs or the inability of the disc to handle the pressure load of the nucleus causes the fibers to rupture allowing the nuclear material to escape its containment.  Lifting improperly, traumatic injuries, coughing, sneezing, and straining activities have all resulted in disc herniations.

What are the Symptoms of a Herniated Disc?

• Pain:  pain can be severe in the back and leg(s).  If the pain is immediately more severe in the leg, we are concerned about a free fragment (sequestered disc).  Pain is usually worse with sitting.
• Radiating sciatic pain (radiculopathy).
• Muscle weakness
• Numbness and Tingling

How are disc injuries diagnosed?  An orthopedic and neurological and x-ray examination normally needs to be performed to determine other possible sources (piriformis syndrome, osteoarthritic spurring, etc.).  A MRI may be necessary to establish the location and severity of the herniation.

What are my Treatment Options?

• In less severe cases, conservative management works effectively including:  spinal manipulation (chiropractic), physical medicine modalities for pain control (interferential current, ice, laser), acupuncture, rehabilitation exercises, medications.
• More severe cases may require epidural steroid injections, surgical excision of the herniation, disc replacement or fusion.
• Cauda equina symptoms generally require emergency surgery.

Many other conditions may mimic a disc herniation and are effectively treated non-surgically.

FREE Women's Self Defense Seminar

FREE Women's Self Defense Seminar

Saturday 11/13/10: Self-Defense Seminar for Women

Sponsors: Aikido of Midland and The Karate Dojo


Location: Aikido of Midland, 2608 Loma Drive (office upstairs)


Time: 1-3 PM


COST: Free

WEAR SWEATS OR LOOSE CLOTHING

November SCHEDULE

November Schedule/Thanksgiving Schedule:

Closed:  Thanksgiving Day
Open:  Friday after Thanksgiving
Closed:  Saturday After Thanksgiving

Early Close Friday 11/19 at 5:00 PM
Closed Saturday 11/20.

Laser Update

I just upgraded my laser from a PL5000 to an Erchonia Base Station which allows me more flexibility and efficiency in treating the patients with laser therapy.  I find this an invaluable tool in not only treating neuromusculoskeletal problems faster but also for restoring muscle weakness and function.  I use many of the protocols developed by Dr. Jeff Spencer, Lance Armstrong's chiropractor for his Tour de France wins.  He used the laser extensively to prevent repetitive motion injuries and to treat injure professional athletes.  I recently attended Dr. Spencer's advanced laser seminar after completing his basic seminar in March.

ERCHONIA LASER:

• Emits visible coherrent light that stimulates the body's ability to produce ATP (adenosine triphosphate) the mitochondria's energy chemical which allows natural healing in decreased time.
• This process reduces pain and inflammation, improves flexibility, and optimizes the function of cellular physiology.
• What is LASER:  Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.  It works on the physiological, neurological, and musculoskeletal components of the body on a cellular level.
• The wavelength of the laser is the optimal wavelength for affecting the cell by penetrating 1-4 cm into the tissue with a globalization effect.
• Does the laser hurt?  No it is a "cold" property with no know harmful effects to the human body.  It does not heat tissue or cut tissue like some surgical lasers.  It is a Therapeutic laser not a surgical laser.
• APPLICATIONS:
• Acute Injuries
• Arthritis
• Backache
• Bruises
• Bursitis
• Carpal Tunnel
• Concussion
• Spasms (muscle)
• Dizziness/Vertigo
• Fibromyalgia
• Gout
• Headache
• Meniere's
• Migraines
• Osgood-Schlatter's
• Osteoarthritis
• Pain
• Scar Tissue
• Sciatica
• Strains/Sprains
• TMJ
• Trauma
• Multitude of other conditions

Sad Day

With great sadness and affection, we had to put our beloved Pekingnese (Chelsey) down today.  She has been sick for some time and has not been able to eat for almost two weeks now.  What a very hard thing to do.  She has been with us 14 years and part of the family.   RIP old friend.  We love you. We will miss you terribly.