Tag Archives: chiropratic care

You are the world’s greatest drug store!

You are the world's greatest drug storeYou create your own drugs (No, I don’t mean illegally!)

The greatest drug store in the world is your own marvelous body, as long as your body is functioning properly.

Your body manufactures:

  • antibiotics
  • insulin
  • painkillers
  • blood pressure and heart drugs

Your body also creates hormones and chemicals that regulate:

  • brain chemistry and mood
  • digestion
  • elimination
  • growth
  • blood chemistry
  • hundreds of other drugs, many still undiscovered

That’s where chiropractic care helps

Chiropractors help keep your internal drug store functioning optimally by locating and correcting a very common condition that causes your body to malfunction. That condition is called a subluxation. A subluxation is usually found in your spine and although it often causes pain, it may also be painless.

Want to keep your internal drug store (the World’s Greatest) making and delivering all the drugs you need for your whole life? In addition to a nutrient-rich diet, make sure your body is free of subluxations – that’s the specialty of your chiropractor. Come in for a chiropractic checkup. Your internal drug store will thank you for it.

Chiropractic Care and Spinal Surgery: Is it safe?

Questions and Answers About Chiropracticspinal surgery

Question: Can I receive chiropractic care even if I’ve had spinal surgery, a spinal fusion or have implanted rods?

Answer: First let us say that anyone who is told they need spinal surgery such as a spinal fusion or “disc” operation should first see if they are a good candidate for chiropractic care. For over a hundred years Doctors of Chiropractic have saved people from unnecessary back and neck surgery.

In fact, the majority of spinal fusion operations (the most common form of spinal surgery) are unnecessary and even worse, end up as failures – the pain comes back, except this time the spine is weakened from the surgery, there may be internal scar tissue and there may be incomplete healing. (1)

But sadly, many people don’t know about the chiropractic alternative and submit to spinal surgery. In so many cases the pain returns after a few months or years. They may be advised to have a second operation, or a third.

Can they receive chiropractic care after spinal surgery? spinal surgery

Yes! Can they receive chiropractic care even if they have metal rods or screws in their spine? Yes!

Low back surgery has a terrible success rate. Before anyone rushes in to this procedure they should read this and then come see us!

P.S. Feel free to write to us with any more questions.


  1. Fritsch EW1,Heisel J,Rupp S. The failed back surgery syndrome: reasons, intraoperative findings, and long-term results: a report of 182 operative treatments. Spine.1996 Mar 1;21(5):626-633.

Latest News from Charmaine: June 2016: Changes

charmaine at tournamentGreetings all,

This has been a time of great changes just in the last couple of weeks.  What with the children getting out of school…some of them graduating, others moving up a grade level and the deaths of several great icons with whom we all felt a personal connection– it has been a little unsettling.
Making changes to one’s daily overall health regime is generally uncomfortable until we settle into a routine; but in this day and age of such a sedentary lifestyle and very often, our daily job…it become vitally important that we get out and exercise…whether it is walking, running, cycling, yoga or Tai Chi or anything else.  We need to keep our joints and spine supple so that we can be as healthy and pain free as possible for as long as possible.
How do you fit in your exercise? What is you favorite thing to do? Let us know in the comments. Who knows, maybe you will inspire someone else to get out there and start moving!
exercise latest news

Latest News from Charmaine: May 2016

This has been an interesting spring this year for sure…and just as we think we have a handle on where the weather is going to do/think spring is FINALLY here, Mother Nature says “Just Kidding!!”…..Just take one day at a time and shortly you will be talking about the summer heat!!

But the calendar moves on and the gardening chores await. Make a conscious effort to plan ahead…have the right tools too!… diving in head first can only cause grief (literally and figuratively).

Plant Some Vegetables

vegetablesThis year, even if you have only a patio for a garden, think of planting something “vegetabley”…your body will thank you…I know I am planning potatoes, tomatoes and a variety of lettuces…and supporting the Farmers Markets for the rest.

If you are looking for some new recipe inspiration, check out our recipe section on our website. Lots of good stuff there!
vegetables

I must admit I am also enjoying playing with the micro greens and also this year I am going to try growing some edamame beans (green soybeans).

So Much Yoga

Currently, I have started teaching a 6am yoga class 3 days a week along with the 5 regular classes I teach…..so it’s gonna be an interesting summer!

Support Farmers’ Markets

As I said earlier, I am supporting the local Farmer’s Markets and if you have not visited Peckham Farms on Grand River, or the Grand Ledge Farmers Market at Bridge Street Plaza..you are missing out on the good stuff. Locally grown crops have a MUCH smaller carbon footprint than the store bought products that are shipped crazy distances and thus have less nutritional value.

HAVE A FUN REST OF SPRING!! See you on the table, in the office, on the yoga mat, or under the barbells.

Relief through Chiropractic: Case Studies

Researching Chiropractic

Chiropractic clinical case histories have been a regular feature of our patient newsletter since its inception. There seems to be no limit to the health problems that respond to chiropractic care. How many people suffering, on drugs, facing a life of limitation could be helped by chiropractic care? Probably most of them.

Erb’s Palsy and chiropractic

Erb’s Palsy is a paralysis of the arm caused by nerve damage (to the brachial plexus) in the neck. It is most often caused by obstetrical mistakes. These injured children grow into adults with permanent nerve and arm damage – a shorter and smaller arm – unless corrected. This is the story of one lucky baby.

In this case a 5-month-old girl diagnosed with right-sided Erb’s Palsy was brought in for care to a chiropractic office. Under chiropractic care the infant’s symptoms resolved within two months. (8)

Reference: Resolution of Erb-Duchenne Palsy in a 5-month-old female following subluxation based chiropractic care. Journal of Pediatric, Maternal & Family Health – Chiropractic. 2016;1:9-13. 

Headache and neck pain in an eight-year-old girl

An 8-year-old girl was brought in for chiropractic care suffering from neck pain and headaches. According to the patient’s mother, her daughter reported her headaches and neck pain had been going on for four months with approximately two episodes per week.

Medical examinations did not find any problem and the doctors recommended treating the neck and headache symptoms with Tylenol. Following four chiropractic visits, the child’s neck pain and headaches completely resolved.

Reference: Simmons-Stone D, Alcantara J. Resolution of chronic cervicogenic headache & cervicalgia in a child following chiropractic care. Journal of Pediatric, Maternal & Family Health – Chiropractic. 2016;1:1-4. 

Neurofibromatosis

A 3-year-old boy with a history of Neurofibromatosis Type I, asthma and ear infections was brought in for chiropractic care. His asthma attacks were so severe he required ER hospital visits two times per month.

He received chiropractic adjustments two to three times per week. Within one month after beginning care he no longer had violent exacerbations of his asthma and was able to sleep through the night. As of this writing he continues to improve and has decreased his inhaler usage. (10)

Reference: Kachinsky B, Kachinsky J. Improvement in a pediatric patient with Neurofibromatosis Type 1 and asthma: a case report. Journal of Pediatric, Maternal & Family Health – Chiropractic. 2011;1:1-4.

Pregnancy and Chiropractic

pregnant womanIf there’s any class of patients that need chiropractic care the most it’s pregnant women.

Pregnancy changes a woman’s life in many ways. One way is a special chemical called “relaxin.”

Relaxin is a hormone produced by the ovaries and the placenta that effects the female reproductive system especially during pregnancy. In preparation for childbirth, it relaxes the muscles, joints and ligaments in the pelvis, softens and widens the cervix and relaxes the smooth muscle in the uterus. It does even more by increasing heart and kidney blood output.

In males relaxin enhances the motility of sperm in semen.

Sometimes there’s a down side to relaxin. If the spine and pelvis are unbalanced, or subluxated, then the relaxin can make the subluxations and distortions worse! The result is spine and pelvic pain which is too common in pregnancy. Additionally, the unbalanced body needs more energy for walking, standing, sitting and moving causing fatigue and exhaustion.

Chiropractic can help

Chiropractic can help ensure that the pregnant body is balanced and that the pelvis is relaxed and open to its maximum so the developing baby has the ideal amount of room in which to develop. That is why clinical reports reveal that breech presentations have been corrected, with the fetus turning into a healthy position, as a result of chiropractic adjusting procedures. Clinical reports show chiropractic also helps with breastfeeding and the return to a pre-pregnancy figure. (1-7)

References

  1. Thomas JC. The Webster Technique in a 28-year-old woman with breech presentation and subluxation [case report]. JVSR. April 7 2008:1-3.
  2. Brynhildsen J, Hansson A, Persson A, Hammar M. Follow-up of patients with low back pain during pregnancy. Obstetrics & Gynecology. 1998;91(2):182-186.
  3. Phillips C. An effective drug-free approach to premature contractions. ICA Review. 1998;54(5):76-81.
  4. Phillips C. Back labor: a possible solution for a painful situation. ICA Review. 1997;53(4):51-56.
  5. Cohen E. Case history: premature labor. Chiropractic Pediatrics. 1995;1(4).
  6. Reynolds JP. What is the role of osteopathic manipulative therapy in obstetric care? JAOA. 1974;74.
  7. Guthrie RA, Martin RH. Effect of pressure applied to the upper thoracic (placebo) versus lumbar areas (osteopathic manipulative treatment) for inhibition of lumbar myalgia during labor. JAOA. 1982;82(4):247-251.

Questions and Answers about Chiropractic

Chiropractor treating a patient

Q: Where did chiropractic come from?

A: Chiropractic was rediscovered and named in 1895 in Davenport, Iowa by DD Palmer, a magnetic healer and teacher who performed the first chiropractic adjustment on his deaf janitor. When the man’s hearing returned Palmer began to investigate the relationship between health and the spinal column.

Q: Why “rediscovered?”

A: Spinal healing had been practiced for thousands of years in nearly every civilization on earth. It has stood the test of time, having been a blessing to millions of people for millennia. But its ancient techniques and principles became lost as humanity became enthralled with drugs and surgery. Dr. Palmer revived and began to teach this old/new healing art.

Q: Was chiropractic accepted at first?

A: People flocked to the first chiropractors. Here was a non-drug, non-surgical approach to healthcare that was safe and effective. The number of Doctors of Chiropractic grew from one man in the American Midwest to thousands in a short time. Chiropractic especially grew in popularity during the 1919 flu pandemic when people under chiropractic care had almost no mortality while people under medical care suffered many deaths.

Q: Did the medical profession accept chiropractors?

A: The medical profession saw chiropractic’s drug-free approach as a threat to their monopoly in healthcare and attacked chiropractors claiming they were practicing “medicine and surgery without a license.” Many chiropractors were actually jailed, fined or imprisoned – but they refused to surrender. Eventually the laws were changed to permit more freedom for non-medical healthcare professionals.

Q: So there is peace now between the healing arts?

A: Not exactly. As more and more people turn to non-medical practitioners the medical profession is finally accepting competition. The medical monopoly is slowly but steadily breaking.

There are different philosophies of health and healing; chiropractic/natural healing approaches and medicine are on opposite sides of the spectrum and disagree strongly on many healthcare issues. The result is that people have access to more information from other perspectives, are often better informed and can make better decisions.