As a chiropractor I believe in exercise, whether it’s aerobics, bike riding, or team sports. Keeping the body active keeps the body healthy and strong. However, when it comes to sports activies, it seems that sports injuries are inevitable among young and old alike. And, though many sports injuries can be very serious, I was especially happy to see that there is a current focus on concussions among young athletes who participate in school sports. The question people are asking is: Are schools doing enough to protect their student-athletes? Do you, as a parent, feel that your child is safe when participating in sports at school?  Many parents worry that their young athletes are at risk for serious sports injuries, especially concussions. In fact, the latest C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health found that nearly two-thirds of parents of young athletes between the ages 12 – 17 worry that their children will get a concussion while playing school sports.

To make matters worse, researchers have found that youth athletes are more likely to sustain concussions and to take longer to recover from concussions than adults. Furthermore, if a second concussion occurs before a child’s brain recovers from the first, there is a possibility of long-term neurologic conditions.

When surveyed, most parents indicated that they would strongly support school requirements, such as:

    * If a student-athlete sustained a concussion, he or she would need to be evaluated and cleared by a doctor before returning to sports – 84 percent

    * Coaches should to receive education about the risks of concussions

    * After a concussion there should be a mandatory period of non-participation in sports

    * A certified trainer should be on-site for practices and games

High school athletic organizations, injury prevention groups and professional sports leagues have become increasingly active in promoting policies to minimize the risks of repeat concussions among young athletes. But, let’s face it, parents are in a unique position to recognize concussion signs and symptoms that occur outside of school, and to work with coaches, trainers, and other health care personnel to ensure that their child is appropriately monitored throughout his or her recovery and return to play.

Source: University of Michigan Health System

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Santa Barbara Chiropractor

I’ve always appreciated the old saying, When you consider the alternative, getting old isn’t so bad.” But, if the aging process is creating pain in your body, you are painfully aware that aging is no joke! As a Santa Barbara chiropractor, I treat a lot of patients suffering from age-related challenges that likely would not have happened if the original cause had been addressed earlier in life, especially when it relates to musculoskeletal breakdowns. Poor posture, improper gait, and repetitive overuse frequently create needless stress in the back, neck, hip, knees, and even the feet that can create painful challenges over time. Unfortunately, as another saying goes, “Hindsight is 20-20.” If we only knew back then how our aging body would feel now!

Back pain is at the top of the list as the most common musculoskeletal problem to develop as we get older. Back pain that is age-related is generally caused by spine osteoarthritis, or Spondylosis, a degenerative disorder.

Spinal osteoarthritis is caused by advanced deterioration and weight-bearing pressure on the spine that, over time, does harm to the discs, joints, and surrounding ligaments. The specific area(s) and degree of the degenerative process of spondylosis is individual, varying from person to person. It is likely to affect the cervical (neck), thoracic (mid-back), or lumbar (low back) regions of the spine. Depending on the severity of degeneration, Spondylosis symptoms vary from person-to-person as well, and can extend from minor pain and numbness to extreme sensory loss and muscular atrophy.

Calcium is deposited in the tissues around the vertebrae due to repetitive stresses that adversely affect the cartilage around the joints These calcific deposits, known as bone spurs, can constrict adjacent nerves, blood vessels and soft tissue. This particular of compression is at the root of Spondylosis.

Fortunately, whether or not you have developed spondylosis, regular chiropractic treatment and overall chiropractic management can significantly decelerate the aging process of your spine. Even though “you can’t un-ring a bell” or “turn back the hands of time,” but it isn’t too late to give your spine the attention it deserves. Chiropractors are experts when it comes to treatment of the spine. See your chiropractor in Santa Barbara today, for the health of your spine.

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Advantages of in-house chiropractic internet marketing

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Chiropractors everywhere will tell you the same thing: Conservative chiropractic treatment should always be considered prior to any back surgery. In fact, an entire chapter in a newly released textbook published by Springer Science+Business Media, Surgery For Low Back Pain, is dedicated to chiropractic treatment. The book was edited by a consummate group spine surgeons from Europe. The inclusion of chiropractic methods in clinical decision marks another example of the global growth and acceptance of healing benefits of chiropractic treatment.

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Corona Chiropractor

Your Corona Chiropractor offers a highly successful non-invasive, drug-free approach to easing hip pain and frequently eliminating it altogether. As most of us know, surgery should be a last resort whenever possible. So, before you decide on hip surgery, consider the following questions: Is it impossible for you to get a good night’s sleep because your hip pain wakes you up at night? When you get out of bed in the morning, and/or when you step out of your car, are you stiff and do you find it difficult at first to get your legs moving adequately? Do you feel pain in one or both hips when you cross your legs or rotate or twist your hips? If these symptoms sound familiar, it is likely that you have asymmetries and misalignments in your lower extremities that, in addition to causing your hip pain, can eventually lead to osteoarthritis in your hips if not treated. The good news is that whether or not degenerative changes have already begun, chiropractic treatment can help!

It may be true that you’re getting older and your hip joints just aren’t what they used to be. But, are you aware that your hip pain (and related problems), which usually are thought to be age-related degenerative conditions, may not actually be produced by osteoarthritis? That’s right. In many cases, rather than being the root cause of your pain, osteoarthritis of the hip joint is often the result of a past injury (or injuries) to your hips.

More often than not, hip problems have to do with asymmetry or imbalance when you are in motion, as when you are walking. If you tend to walk “pronated” with your toes pointing away from your body (like a duck), sooner or later you will feel pain in your hips due to the asymmetrical stress on your hip joints as your body attempts to compensate. However, you can learn to alter your gait pattern at any age, and your chiropractor in Corona can help you to do it.

In addition, you may have had gait changes as the result of an ankle sprain or knee strain, and since “the knee bone’s connected to the hip bone,” these biomechanical accommodations generate pain in the hip(s). There is no doubt that, if not corrected, your hip joints will suffer further consequences, i.e, wear and tear that leads to degenerative changes.

Other circumstances that can occasionally injure the hip joints are starting a new job or beginning a new sport that requires you to move your body in unfamiliar ways. Also, carrying a child (or grandchild) on one hip can generate hip pain. Even the way you sit or driving for long periods of time on a routine basis can cause hip injury and pain.

See? Not every pain is caused by “old age,” although we may start to feel more pain due to the progressive nature of untreated injuries.

Your chiropractor in Corona will treat our hip problem directly, and as part of your chiropractic management will suggest individualized rehabilitative exercises that include gentle muscle stretching and strengthening, and will also study your gait and may offer simple pattern changes.

Your hip pain won’t vanish by itself. Hip pain is a symptom telling you that there’s a problem that requires correcting. If put off, it is very likely that you will eventually require that hip replacement surgery. So, don’t put off until tomorrow, what truly needs to be done today. Your Corona Chiropractor can relieve your hip pain, get your body back into balance, and help you get to back to enjoying your life again!

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I was talking with a new patient of mine, a fifty-year-old woman who’d come to my chiropractic clinic for relief from hip pain, and as we were discussing her health history, she mentioned that she “used to have” high blood pressure, but now that she was on medication, it was “normal.” She said that she was very happy that she no longer needed to worry about her high blood pressure. She was surprised when I explained to her that her medication merely “regulated” her condition, but that it did not eliminate problem. As this woman was obese, I explained to her that her weight, in addition to causing her hip pain, was also the culprit that continued to cause the high blood pressure for which she needed the medication. I told her that as a chiropractor, I could temporarily relieve her hip pain with chiropractic treatment, but that it would likely come back again unless she lost some of the excess poundage she carried around each day.

Obesity is a serious condition that causes innumerable health problems such as heart disease, risk of stroke, Type 2 diabetes, and a plethora of musculoskeletal problems that, more often than not, lead to osteoarthritis. The only prevention is weight loss. The only “cure” is weight loss. The only hope for a healthy outcome is weight loss. Pharmaceuticals may regulate the symptoms of conditions caused by obesity, and chiropractors can help to temporarily relieve the pain, but there is not a traditional or alternative therapy that can rectify obesity.

There’s no getting around it, either. Losing weight is hard work and the more an individual needs to lose, the harder it can be. And, the indisputable fact is that no one can lose weight for you. But, the health “rewards” are worth it. Just ask anyone who’s lost a significant amount of weight. Health-wise, it’s a life-changer. And, studies have shown that many people with high blood pressure problems who lose their excess weight are often able get off their blood pressure medications altogether.

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Cincinnati Chiropractor

At my Cincinnati Chiropractic Clinic I treat many seniors who suffer from balance problems. In fact, 9% of adults, aged 65 and older, are affected by dizziness, “wooziness,” and other balance-related challenges. Good balance is essential, of course, in helping seniors to remain independent and to avoid falling down and encounter injuries that are often extremely serious or even fatal. But, you may be surprised to hear that falls contribute to a large number of work-related injuries for workers under 65 years of age, including those in their twenties and thirties. That’s right! No one is “invulnerable” to balance challenges, no matter how young they may be. It is for this reason that those who work at “dangerous heights” like construction workers, roofers, oil platform employees, windows cleaners, or any other place where a ladder is involved are far more likely to sustain serious injury if their balance is “off.”

The primary capacity of good balance is to help us to manage and maintain our body position, whether standing still or moving, and whether on the ground or high up on a platform. Good balance helps us to walk without staggering, arise from a sitting position without teetering, and to climb stairs without tripping. In other words, good balance is vital to our health and well-being.

What may be shocking to you is that you could have a balance dysfunction without realizing how significant it is. On occasion an individual can “shake off” a dizzy feeling and the sensation may not come back for a while. The danger is that when sudden dizziness happens at a decisive time, it is too late to shake it off and a fall is usually certain.

The feeling by some people that they, themselves, are spinning or that things around them are moving is called “vertigo.” Nearly 40% of people in the U.S. will have at least one episode of dizziness that is distressing enough to seek out a health professional, such as your Chiropractor in Cincinnati. However, if you are involved in any of the activities listed above, it is an extremely good idea for you to have a chiropractor check your balance prior to a sudden episode of dizziness, rather than as a response to such an episode. Why? Because as a chiropractor, I can not only check your balance, and make adjustments if needed, but can assist you in maintaining good balance in the future. And, of course, having good balance will likely save you from serious injury or worse.

Balance disorders are risky at any age. It is crucial for you to be evaluated and treated quickly if you feel as if you may have a possible balance disorder. To help to make your decision easier if you can answer “yes” to any of the following questions, even if the experience is seldom or infrequent, you should discuss the symptom(s) with a chiropractor as soon as possible:

• Have you experienced a feeling of being “unsteady?”

• Has the room seemed to spin around you?

• Has there ever a time when you felt as if you were moving when you knew you were standing still?

• Have you lost your balance and/or fallen down?

• Have you ever felt as if you were falling?

• Has your vision ever become “blurred?”

• Have you ever felt disoriented, or lost a sense of time, place or identity?

Remember: Balance problems are not specific to a particular age group. Our falling down is an ever-present possibility from the time we learn to walk until we take our final step All the more reason to have your balance checked if you work in a job that makes your falling down a “critical” issue. Don’t wait until it’s too late! If you’re in the area, give your Cincinnati Chiropractor a call today. I can help!

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Did you know that April is Foot Health Awareness Month? As a chiropractor, I think that it is always good for us to have special days set aside to look at the various areas of our health that we might improve upon. That said, if you are someone who experiences foot pain, you are, no doubt, aware of your feet every single day, week, and month of the year, especially if you are on the run for fun or fitness. Running, though “naturally” good for us, can be hard on our lower extremities for all sorts of reasons from bad gait and poor running shoes to the surfaces we choose to run on.

The impact forces during running can be two-three times your body weight and this, in and of itself, makes your feet particularly vulnerable to injury. Add to this general vulnerability the frequent reasons for foot pain and injury mentioned above, and its no wonder that so many people suffer from foot problems. Pain-free feet are important whether you run or not, but if you’re a runner (or thinking of becoming one) it is critical for you to make sure that your feet, and the rest of your body as well, are in good shape for it. As experts in restoring and improving motion in the entire musculoskeletal system, your chiropractor can examine your feet, analyze your running mechanics, and determine if certain conditions need correction before you continue, or begin, a running regime.

With summer just around the corner, more runners than ever will be hitting the roads, parks, and tracks. If you’re planning on being one of them, whether you currently have foot pain or not, it’s a good idea to see your chiropractor, just to “run” on the safe side.

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Wichita Chiropractor

As a Wichita Chiropractor for more than twenty years, I have helped a significant number of people suffering from the pain of sciatica, I’m truly aware from experience just how disabling sciatic pain can be. Sciatica sufferers are sadly all too familiar with the deep radiating pain that persists during the day and inhibits almost all of their daily activities.

Here’s how you can ascertain if your low back pain is generated by sciatica. You are probably experiencing sciatica if your pain travels from your low back, through your buttock(s), down the large sciatic nerve in the back of one or both legs, and possibly radiates into your knee(s). Moreover, sitting, as well as activity, can be painful. Commonly lying down will decrease, or perhaps even temporarily get rid of the pain. However, it’s important for you to be aware that sciatica will not go away without appropriate management.

Radiculopathy

A radiculopathy is a medical term used to describe a condition where a disc has protruded from its normal position in the spine and is causing pressure on the radicular nerve, or nerve root, that forms part of the sciatic nerve in the lower back. Such pressure is extremely painful.

Prolonged sitting, especially with bad posture, can create imbalances in the muscles encircling the spine and additional pressure on the intervertebral discs. More often than not, a specific event or injury doesn’t cause sciatica, more often sciatica tends to develop over time as a consequence of ordinary wear and tear on the vertebrae of the lower spine. After a while the lower spine can lose its normal functioning capabilities during everyday stresses.

Ultimately, the intervertebral disc develops small fissures or cracks, which then allow the soft nucleus to protrude the disc outward. Pain is generated as the disc pushes on sensitive tissues. This condition is commonly known as a ruptured, or slipped, disc. If the disc presses on the spinal nerve, sciatica is likely to develop. With chiropractic adjustments and management, which often includes postural exercises, the majority of disc problems, including sciatica, can be totally alleviated.

Periformis Syndrome

Periformis syndrome is another cause of sciatic pain. Periformis syndrome happens when the periformis muscle, for any reason, goes into spasm and irritates the sciatic nerve, which runs “deep to the muscle.” Along with chiropractic treatment, this type of sciatica can be significantly relieved by sciatica stretches that your chiropractor can recommend.

It is vital for you to see your chiropractor for treatment if you are experiencing sciatic pain. If you are in the Wichita area, as your Chiropractor in Wichita, I look forward to helping you to get out of pain and get your life back!

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As a chiropractor, I work with my patients to achieve overall health through regular chiropractic care, a nutritious diet, good hydration, and daily exercise. If any one of these components is missing, as far as I'm concerned, good health and longevity are at risk.

For more on this study, go to reuters.com.

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