Dwight Freeney: Superbowl hopeful, using chiropractic to heal ankle

Dwight Freeney’s ankle injury is a major story leading into this weekend’s superbowl. Though the Colts have kept their cards close to the chest on the whole matter, some details have leaked as to what they are doing to treat the issue.

We do know that the Colts are very active with their treatments and Freeney is using some methods that have helped him in the past. The main one is Dr. Leon Mellman, Freeney’s Chiropractor, is making sure not only his ankle is getting the proper care, but is also monitoring how his newly guarded walk is effecting the rest of his body. Most notably how his lower back could be adversely affected due to his newly acquired limp.

Freeney’s injury is being treated as any other low ankle sprain would be in the NFL with some minor tweaks. Although he was seen in a boot very recently, he spoke openly about keeping the motion in the ankle joint to promote healing. Very recently this became common place in joint surgeries; where immediately following the surgery, the joint is put into passive motion to prevent adhesion buildup and promote a quicker recovery. Freeney was spotted walking the beach without his boot on, most likely advised by team doctors for the same reason: a quicker recovery.

Original Article

Bugs Inside: What Happens When the Microbes That Keep Us Healthy Disappear?

The human body has more microbial than human cells, but this rich diversity of micro-helpers that has evolved along with us is undergoing a rapid shift–one that may have very macro health consequences

By Katherine Harmon

Bacteria, viruses and fungi have been primarily cast as the villains in the battle for better human health. But a growing community of researchers is sounding the warning that many of these microscopic guests are really ancient allies.

Having evolved along with the human species, most of the miniscule beasties that live in and on us are actually helping to keep us healthy, just as our well-being promotes theirs. In fact, some researchers think of our bodies as superorganisms, rather than one organism teeming with hordes of subordinate invertebrates.

Here’s the entire article.

Mayo Clinic Study Says Children Who Get Flu Vaccine Have Three Times Risk of Hospitalization For Flu

Inactivated flu vaccine does not appear to be effective in preventing influenza-related hospitalizations in children — especially if they have asthma. In fact, children who get the flu vaccine are more at risk for hospitalization than those who skip the shot.

In order to determine whether the trivalent inactivated flu vaccine was effective in reducing the number of child hospitalizations, researchers conducted a cohort study of close to 300 children. The investigators determined who had and had not received the flu vaccine, their asthma status and who did and did not require hospitalization.

They found that children who had received the flu vaccine had three times the risk of hospitalization. In asthmatic children, there was a significantly higher risk of hospitalization in subjects who received the vaccine.

Link to Dr. Mercola’s article.

Mexican Tortilla Soup Created by White Lotus Chef Beatrix Rohlsen

 Serves 4-6

Served with avocado, crispy tortilla strips and a dollop sour cream, this recipe can serve several, or you can sit down and feast with a friend and save left-overs (even better) for a serious second round of indulgence.( I had this on retreat @ White Lotus & loved it.. Dr C)
Ingredients:
1-3 dried Ancho or Pasilla chilies
1 onion (chopped medium)
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 celery stalks (thinly chopped)
1 bunch scallions (thinly chopped)
1 can (15oz) crushed tomatoes
1/2 can (15 oz) corn kernels
2-5 cloves garlic (minced)
4-5 cups soup stock
Water from the soaked chilies
1/2 bunch cilantro (chopped medium fine)
Salt (to taste)
Red pepper flakes (optional)
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 small to medium avocado (sliced into strips or small chunks)
6-8 teaspoons sour cream
2-4 corn tortillas
1/2 lime (optional)

Rinse chilies under cold water. Place them in a small bowl and cover with hot water. Soak ½ hr. When soft, drain and reserve the water for the soup. Take out the membrane and the seeds using gloves so that you do not get chili oil, which has a strong heat, on your hands. These chilies have a fairly high rad rating (chili heat index) so you don’t want to over do it by using too many in the soup. Cut the chilies into small pieces and set aside.
Heat olive oil in a medium sized soup pot. Sauté chopped onions, celery, scallions and garlic for 5-10 minutes. Add 3 cups soup stock and the can of crushed tomatoes. Let simmer; do not boil. Add 1 -2 cups water from the soaked chilies, less if you do not want your soup have a lot of heat.. Use additional soup stock if needed. Add chilies and corn. Season with salt. For a more spicy heat, add some red pepper flakes. Turn soup off and cover. If you like, squeeze some lime juice into the soup.
Cut corn tortillas in half and then cut thin strips starting along the shorter side. Bake on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Let the tortilla strips cool while on the baking sheet so that they get crunchy, and then transfer to a bowl and set aside. Cut avocado into small chunks or strips and set aside.
When ready to serve, if necessary, re-warm soup for a moment but do not boil. Just before serving add finely chopped cilantro.
Serve each portion with tortilla strips, avocado and sour cream on top. Ole!

Breathing Technique for Relaxation

This technique can be done in most positions but the easiest is lying on your back.

  1. Lie flat on your back in a quiet peaceful location. (Do the best you can to find a location like this).
  2. With your eyes closed, focus your attention on your heart. Imagine that you are taking the breath in through your heart. With your mouth closed, breathe in through your nose slowly. Take approximately
    4 sec. to inhale.
  3. As you are inhaling, use your diaphragm. You will know you’re doing it correctly if your stomach rises and your chest doesn’t move. NOTE: To help you re-integrate your brain and the diaphragm muscle, put one hand on your chest and a book (or the other hand) on your belly. As you breathe in, make sure the book on your belly raises. If you must, forcefully push your stomach out as you breathe in. Almost automatically you will create a vacuum in the lungs and they will fill with air. (that’s how the diaphragm works).
  4. Next, as you exhale, slightly open your mouth and let the air out slowly taking 6 to 7 sec. As you do this, your stomach should go down gradually pushing the air out of your lungs. Imagine that you are blowing on a candle flame without blowing it out.
  5. As you are exhaling, focus your attention, with your eyes closed, on your solar plexus area. That’s
    right above your stomach where your rib cage meets. Imagine that the air is going out through that area.

To get the positive effects of this activity, you’ll need to do this for a minimum of 5 min. At first you may experience some dizziness due to the increased O2 in your system so start at a short duration and work your way up in time. You will get even greater benefits if you continue to do this for longer periods of time. 10, 15, 20 mins.

Don’t be discouraged if you fall asleep, keep trying the breathing and eventually you won’t fall asleep. As you improve you will experience a wonderful relaxed state of stress free consciousness.

This activity will actually improve the frequency at which your brain functions which will have global positive effects for you and your health. Your hearth health will improve and your brain will have the opportunity to rest and recover. In order to get these changes, the activity needs to be repeated daily, even multiple times a day in order to change the habit pattern of your brain and reset the brains resting rate. A fairly permanent resting rate of brain function seems to be achieved around the 4th to 5th month of repeating this activity.

Caution: don’t make doing this activity another stressful thing in your life. It’s about learning to calm your entire system.

Blood pressure will lower if it’s too high, immune system function will improve, digestion will improve, life in general will not seem so stressful.