Santa Clara Chiropractor Explains How Chiropractic Treatment Can Frequently Relieve Vertigo
What is vertigo? Vertigo is a term for the dizzy feeling that a person suffers within a stationary environment. The feeling is as if the surroundings are tilting or spinning. This sensation can be sudden and short-lived or chronic. However, in either case, the origin of the vertigo should be addressed and the appropriate treatment undertaken.
There are a number of causes for the symptoms of Vertigo. An inner ear condition, known as Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo, can occasionally occur as the aftermath of a head injury or severe cold. In addition this particular vertigo can be age related. But, most often, the cause is unknown. Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo is a wordy diagnosis, but it delineates perfectly this non-progressive condition that is generated by, as its name implies, a sudden change in head position. The symptoms are normally unforeseen and unpredictable.
To understand what causes the frequently incapacitating symptoms of this type of vertigo, it is useful to look at the function of the inner ear. The brain senses movement and maintains balance by means of the fluid contained in the inner ear. Also in the inner ear are small calcium carbonate crystals, known as otoconia. When these crystals are dislodged, they then float in the inner ear fluid. The symptoms of Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo are caused by the crystals striking against the sensitive nerve endings in the inner ear.
The good news is that chiropractic treatment can get rid of the symptoms of BPPV very quickly and effectively using a technique known as the Epley maneuver. Using this technique, a chiropractor rotates the head of a BPPV sufferer into a variety of positions, and gravity moves the calcium carbonate crystals into an area of the inner ear that is away from the nerve endings where they cannot product further dizziness.
Your Santa Clara chiropractor has treated hundreds of individuals for Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo using the Epley Maneuver technique and the majority of patients are no longer dizzy after with just one treatment. Make an appointment with your chiropractor today!
What’s a few extra pounds? Over time, just a few pounds can add up to a number of health problems from heart and pulmonary diseases and diabetes to back trouble and joint breakdown. Surplus poundage puts extra stress on organs, like the heart, and on joints in the low back, hips, and knees. Recent studies have revealed that more than half of the adults in the U.S. (62 percent) are overweight or obese. That is a very significant number and an enormous problem (no pun intended).
The human body was not designed to carry around extraneous weight in the form of body fat. Only an additional 20 or 30 pounds can put the musculoskeletal system literally on overload. Weight in the belly, for example, requires that the body compensate (counterbalance the weight) by tilting the pelvis forward. This causes joints in the low back to compress. Joint compression inhibits nerve activity and produces painful inflammation. Most individuals who are overweight suffer from low back pain caused by a pinched sciatic nerve or misalignments of the spinal column that impinge nerves due to weight-bearing stresses. Misaligned vertebra can not only create new arthritic changes in the spine, but can continue to irritate the degenerative changes that have already taken place in the past.
How can chiropractic help? First of all, to be clear, a healthy body weight is requisite in order for the musculoskeletal system to function optimally. That said, in addition, chiropractic treatment relieves nerve restrictions in the spine and helps to get motion back into the joints of the musculoskeletal system, such as in the low back, hips, and knees. A spine in alignment and joints that have healthy mobility make exercise and physical activity a lot easier. Not only will exercise help with weight loss, but it can actually decelerate degenerative changes as a person ages.
It is always a good plan to visit a healthcare professional, like your chiropractor, to discuss diet and exercise. Chiropractors not only help men and women get pain relief from back challenges and joint inflammation due to arthritis, but in addition they offer highly knowledgeable advice on the kind of lifestyle changes that can aid a person in staying healthier and more active through the years. Arthritis and immobility do not have to be a necessary and unavoidable part of aging. The human body was meant to move, to walk, even to dance, without pain, for a lifetime.
So, if extraneous weight has put your system on overload, your chiropractor can help to take some of the load off. Make an appointment today!
It probably goes without saying that as we age our body doesn’t feel or respond the same way as it did when we were younger. It hardly seems right that our body seems to become less “cooperative,” while our mind appears to improve and become more “inventive.” We’re stiff when we get out of bed; certain activities during the day make us sore in the evening; and, if we’re not truly careful, even something as simple as turning too fast or bending over to pick up a dropped object, can send our back or some other muscle group into spasm. The good news is that there is natural treatment available that is not only beneficial in slowing down the aging process of the body, but can aid us in avoiding some of those problems completely.
Take arthritis for instance. To be sure, with the exception of pharmaceuticals, allopathic medicine does little to take care of this age-related challenge. What is the reason? It is because most medical doctors are only concerned with the symptoms of arthritis. The chiropractic method is to uncover the cause of the problem and relieve the pain at its source. For over a hundred years, chiropractors, like your Santa Clara Chiropractor, have been caring for people suffering from back pain and other challenges created by arthritic changes in the musculoskeletal system.
Arthritic changes take place as your body ages because, over time, degeneration of certain joints takes place as the result of repetitive stresses, and years of incorrect gait, improper posture, and insufficient movement. Chiropractic treatment reestablishes motion in your joints and relieves pain, and it corrects any vertebral misalignment that may be causing irritation and restriction. In addition, did you know that misaligned vertebra, along with causing arthritic changes in the spine and escalating pain, can also weaker your resistance and immunity? It’s true, and this could be one of the reasons why it may seem to you that as you age you experience more health problems and that it frequently takes longer for you to feel better again. Studies have shown that older individuals who are under chiropractic care stay healthier. To put it another way, as you get older, chiropractic care is good for what ails you!
Chiropractors are highly proficient when it comes to the health of the musculoskeletal system, from the small, growing frame of an infant to the full-grown body of a mature adult. Your chiropractor understands the aging process and has singular observational and diagnostic skills that help in locating spinal misalignments and joint degeneration. In fact, a chiropractic examination can often reveal certain age-related changes before they’ve had a chance to create noticeable pain. Moreover, your Santa Clara Chiropractor can assess your posture and check your gait to determine if there are any incorrect patterns that might create further arthritic changes.
So, if you have been feeling your age lately, but you’d like to feel a whole lot better, call your Santa Clara Chiropractor today!
Study: Those Who Suffer From Knee Osteoarthritis (OA) Find Relief Through Tai Chi Practice
Knee X-ray
A new study conducted by Tufts University School of Medicine has determined that patients 65 years of age and over who’ve been diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis (OA), and who practice Tai Chi, enhanced their physical capability and encountered less pain. Osteoarthritis is a prevalent form of arthritis that causes a wearing away of joint cartilage. Chiropractors provide therapy for many men and women suffering from OA in a number of places in the body, including the knee joints. Second only to spinal problems, knee pain and disability is one of the most prevalent afflictions of the musculoskeletal system. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) there are an astounding 4.3 million people in this country over age 60 diagnosed with knee OA, and the CDC predicts that half of the people in America may suffer from symptoms of OA in at least one knee by age 85. Knee osteoarthritis results in pain, mobility limitations, dysfunction and disability, and a reduced quality of life.
Why do so many people develop OA? As with nearly all of the musculoskeletal dysfunctions that we develop as we age, undue stress to a joint over the years is a major element. That is why as people get older they are more susceptible to developing OA in their joints, including the knees. Incorrect function of the knee, poor gait, compensatory foot mechanics as the result of foot pain, and repetitive use of the knee joint all produce undue stress on the knees. Eventually arthritic changes in the knee joint occur. Most chiropractors suggest such natural, drug-free practices as Tai Chi, in combination with their chiropractic care. A traditional style of Chinese martial arts,Tai Chi features slow, rhythmic movements that generate mental relaxation, as well as increased balance, an augmentation of strength, and improved flexibility.
Though in good health otherwise, the 40 adults with confirmed OA that were selected for the Tufts study were, on average, 65 years of age and overweight. Patients were randomly picked to participate in 60-minute “Yang style” Tai Chi sessions twice weekly for 12 weeks. Each session included a 10-minute self-massage and a review of Tai Chi principles, 30 minutes of Tai Chi movement, 10 minutes of breathing technique, and 10 minutes of relaxation.
Tai Chi practice involves the kind of range of motion, flexibility, muscle conditioning, and aerobic workout that is consistent with contemporary exercise recommendations for osteoarthritis. As an added benefit, researchers observed that the “mental feature” of Tai Chi promoted a sense of well-being, life satisfaction, and impressions of health that helped the participants to deal differently with chronic pain. Compared with the control group, the group practicing Tai Chi exhibited a substantial decrease in knee pain.
Full findings of the study are published in the November 2009 issue of Arthritis Care & Research, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology.
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