Archive | Interesting Facts

Chiropractic can help you run faster, jump higher, and be stronger

Top athletes from all over the world rely on chiropractic to keep their body structure balanced, their nerve system healthy and their muscles and joints functioning at their peak.

Name the sport: golf, tennis, baseball, football, soccer, track, swimming, hockey, martial arts, wrestling, and all the others – chiropractic is used by top players in all these fields to give them the winning edge. Why? Chiropractic promotes better balance, improved coordination, increased strength, and vitality. Athletes are fine-tuned and very sensitive to their bodies. That’s why they make some of the most grateful chiropractic patients.

Because of the above benefits, Chiropractic can help prevent sports injuries and can also help an injured player return to the game or competition faster. (1,2,3)

Of course, you don’t need to be an Olympian or a professional athlete to go to a chiropractor; anyone who uses his/her body needs it to function at its peak. That means everyone. Even computer users, even kids on their smartphones (they especially need chiropractic structural care).

Are you an athlete? Got any student-athletes in your home? Make an appointment with us today!

517 627-4547

Haldeman, S Spinal manipulative therapy in sports medicine Clinics in Sports Medicine 1986;5:277
Lauro BM Chiropractic effects on athletic ability Chiropractic: The Journal of Chiropractic Research and Clinical Investigations 1991;6(4):84-87
Interview with Nick Athens, DC Chiropractic Achievers November/December 1989;38

Getting Sick May Prevent Cancer and Heart Disease

This may seem a bit crazy or at least questionable but stick with us, there’s a method to our madness.

The school of Natural Hygiene is humanity’s traditional healing system, it is thousands of years old. It is based on ancient wisdom learned from experience. It understands that acute symptoms such as fever, vomiting, diarrhea, rash, sneezing, and coughing are mechanisms the body uses to detoxify, cleanse, rebalance, strengthen and heal.

The medical model is largely based on the suppression of uncomfortable symptoms with drugs. Suppression prevents the body from externalizing disease and drives disease deeper into the body. Suppression has been linked to chronic (more dangerous and long-lasting) illness.

For thousands of years, using natural hygiene, humanity, when clean food and water were present, was healthier than people are today. Chronic illness such as heart disease and cancer has exploded in the past 100 years. Modern medicine’s obsession with drugs and vaccines (along with poor nutrition) is a major reason why nearly everyone is so sick and over half of all Americans (of all ages) are suffering from chronic illness.

Letting people get sick is beneficial. For example:

Heart disease

At an international conference of pediatric oncology, the following was reported (see the link for more):

Having two childhood viral infections reduces the risk of developing heart disease later in life by 40%; four infections were associated with a 60% decreased risk, and six infections lowered the risk of heart disease by 90%. (1)

Cancer

Measles, mumps, chicken pox, the 24 or 48-hour “virus, the “stomach bug going around” and other things that result in fever are protective against cancer:

Febrile infectious childhood diseases are associated with lower cancer risk in adulthood. (2)

A history of common colds or gastro-enteric influenza…was associated with a decreased risk of stomach, colon, rectum, and ovarian cancer. (3)

Hay fever, Asthma, and Eczema

Lack of hay fever, asthma, and eczema is credited to early exposure to normal childhood diseases. (4)

Having many older siblings; attending daycare at an early age; growing up on a farm and in frequent contact with cattle, poultry, and cats; and having childhood measles and orofaecal infections…are all helpful…in promoting normal immunological maturation and in preventing atopic disease. (5)

Why?

As mentioned above, fever, sweating, vomiting, skin eruptions, diarrhea, coughing, sneezing, and many other symptoms are how the body detoxifies, cleanses, and heals. A cleaner body is protective against all diseases while suppressing symptoms with drugs drives disease deep into the body and causes chronic illness

Retracing

Retracing is part of the healing process. It occurs when old pain, injuries, or trauma (emotional or physical) surface after chiropractic and/or natural care.

Old injuries that haven’t healed completely may “reawaken” for more complete healing. Memories and feelings associated with the original injury may also come to the surface. Retracing may not only surface as a conscious memory – old energy may release in dreams. Chiropractic patients have at times noticed that their dreams are unusual, intense, or revealing aftercare.

Some may experience detoxification or cleansing of the body such as a fever, rash, or vomiting.

Sometimes muscle soreness is caused by underused muscles working to realign your body. This “charley horse” is usually brief.

Some people are in such good general health that they may feel no difference, while others may feel no difference for the opposite reason-they are so ill or toxic that they have lost sensitivity to their bodies.

Benefits

The true benefits of the adjustment are usually found below the level of consciousness. It is when the nerve communication to the heart, lungs, joints, sexual organs, skin, eyes, ears, and the brain itself is improved that the true benefits of chiropractic are experienced.

1. Erkki Pesonen, MD. University Hospital in Lund, Sweden. Presentation at IV World Congress of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery in Buenos Aires, Argentina. 9/23/2005

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/9454821/ns/health-heart_health/t/childhood-infections-may-prevent-heart-disease/#.W-OYn3pKgWo

2. Albonico HU, Braker HU, Husler J. Febrile infectious childhood diseases in the history of cancer patients and matched controls. Medical Hypotheses. 1998;51(4):315-320.

3. Abel U, Becker N, Angerer R, et al. Common infections in the history of cancer patients and controls. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol. 1991;117(4):339-344.

4. The Lancet. February 6, 1999, and. Vol 359. February 16, 2002.

5. Johnston SL, Openshaw PJM, The protective effect of childhood infections. British Medical Journal 2001 Feb 17; 322(7283): 376-377.

Are MRIs accurate?

Do you think MRI findings are reliable and accurate? Think again.

Your MRI (as well as CT scan, X-ray, and lab work) shows something suspicious. However, you are fine. You got a “false positive” and it’s surprisingly common. (1)

Chiropractors may hear a patient was told they need surgery because they are in pain and their MRI shows spinal degeneration or disc herniations. The surgeon is sharpening his scalpel.

But MRI findings may have nothing to do with pain. It may be a coincidence. An MRI may reveal back, disc, or hip degeneration but no pain. Conversely, an MRI may show a normal spine, but the patient may have lots of pain. (2)

And yes, people with terrible-looking MRIs can have lots of pain but that doesn’t mean the pain is due to what the MRI finds. It may be coincidental, not causative. That is why approximately half of spinal surgery fails (FBSS – failed back surgery syndrome).

One research paper concluded: “False positive MRI scans may lead to unnecessary surgery.” Recent research reveals that nearly 70% of all body MRI interpretations have at least one discrepancy (diagnostic error). (3,4)

What do we suggest?

No matter what the MRI, CT or other examinations show begin chiropractic care immediately. Many times, patients who were told they needed surgery responded beautifully to chiropractic adjustments and were saved from surgery and drugs.

Remember, your body has a powerful self-healing ability. Let us help open your healing channels and get your functioning as close to your ideal as possible so your body can heal itself.

Call us today to make an appointment!

517-627 4547

1.Chambers S, Cooney A, Caplan N et al. The accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in detecting meniscal pathology. J R Nav Med Serv 2014;100(2):157-60.
2.Brinjikji, W, Luetmer, P. Comstock, B., et. al. Systematic literature review of imaging features of spinal degeneration in asymptomatic. populations. American Journal of Neuroradiology, 36(4), 811-816. 2015.
3.Kostrubiak DE, DeHay PW, Ali N. et al. Body MRI Subspecialty Reinterpretations at a Tertiary Care Center: Discrepancy Rates and Error Types. American Journal of Roentgenology. 2020;215: 1384-1388. 10.2214/AJR.20.22797.
4.Palmer, WJ. Discrepancy Rates and Errors a Bigger Problem with Body MRI Than Realized. October 16, 2020.5.5. Cod Liver Oil: The Number One Superfood by Krispin Sullivan, CN., JANUARY 4, 2021https://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/cod-liver-oil-the-number-one-superfood/

MOTHER NATURE IS BEYOND AMAZING

MOTHER NATURE IS BEYOND AMAZING AND HOW SHE TAKES CARE OF HER CREATURES IS JUST INCREDIBLE.

At the end of March, we snuck away for a weekend to surprise my dearest friend. En route, we listened to a fascinating interview on Terri Gross’s show on NPR. It was an interview with author Scott Weidensaul about his book, A World on the Wing: The Global Odyssey of Migratory Birds.

How often do you even take note of the birds above your head? Ever wonder where they come from and where they are going?

This book by Scott Weidensaul, details how Mother Nature has adapted birds to be able to endure incredible long flights over oceans (17days for one of them) with no outside food or water and no place to sleep among many other feats that little fluff balls we don’t even really pay attention to, should never normally encounter. This bird apparently stuffs itself in Alaska in preparation for the trip and then, during the trip, their hearts and stomachs decrease in size and their bodies metabolize the stored fat into water and energy for the bird for the duration of the trip. ( As the author quipped…. we humans need that metabolizing capability!)

Birds apparently Hemi-sleep…..that is one side of their brains shut down at a time and they flip flop between hemispheres on long trips (and even when sleeping on trees), anyway…kinda like sleeping with one eye open! The stories were incredible and each time we were looking at each other and going…” good grief Innate is incredible marvelous”. Innate, that little speck of Mother Nature/The Divine that manifests itself in each and every living thing and makes the science of bird migration something to really read about and marvel at. We will have the book at the office when Ray has finished reading it.

“Many mysteries of birdlife and migration are revealed in this compelling and illuminating in-the-field narrative complete with maps and photographs” starred review Booklist

Researching Chiropractic: Shoulders, Vertigo, Breast Feeding

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.

Shoulder problems in two patients.

A 45-year-old woman and a 47-year-old man had complaints of shoulder pain and restriction. Both reported falls and accidents two months prior. Over-the-counter medication and physical therapy were ineffective.

Both patients received upper cervical (upper neck) chiropractic adjustments. Significant improvements in shoulder range of motion and decreased pain occurred in both patients. (2)

Vertigo, hearing, and quality of life.

A fifty-one-year-old woman was diagnosed with Chiari malformation (CM), a structural defect where the brainstem is below its typical/normal position. CM can cause headaches, difficulty swallowing, vomiting, dizziness, neck pain, unsteady gait, poor hand coordination, numbness and tingling of the hands and feet as well as speech problems.

This woman suffered from Meniere’s disease, migraine, concussion, whiplash, upper cervical subluxation, and TMJ dysfunction.

She had previously received skull and neck surgery to address her symptoms. She experienced only temporary relief.

She began chiropractic care. At a two-year follow up she reported that her vertigo number went from 10 to 1 (occasional imbalance but no dizziness) and her hearing was restored. Her tinnitus was replaced by an occasional humming sound. She reports she has her confidence back, can drive and shop again and her sleep has improved. (3)

Breastfeeding difficulties.

A 9-day-old girl with a history of birth trauma was brought in for chiropractic care. Her mother reported that her daughter had breastfeeding difficulties and failure to gain weight. Breastfeeding was so painful that a lactation consultant recommended a nipple shield.

The child had chiropractic adjustment to her atlas (C-1 vertebrae) and sacrum along with cranial care. She had four visits in two weeks and after each visit, the mother reported more comfortable breastfeeding and an increase in weight gain. (4)

Do you know anyone suffering from these things? Please share this article with them and gently suggest they make an appointment to see us. 517.627.4547

Shin M, Alcantara J. Resolution of adhesive capsulitis following subluxation-based chiropractic care: a case series & selective review of the literature. Annals of Vertebral Subluxation Research. October 19, 2015:167-171.
Burcon MT. Resolution of vertigo restored hearing & improved quality of life in a patient with Meniere’s disease & failed craniectomy: a case report & review of the literature. Journal of Upper Cervical Chiropractic Research. May 10, 2021:10-19.
Williams-Libs S, Alcantara J. Resolution of breastfeeding difficulties and concomitant weight gain following chiropractic care in an infant with birth trauma: a case report & review of the literature. Journal of Pediatric, Maternal & Family Health, Chiropractic. June 1, 2021:46-52.

What part of your body does this?

It deactivates drugs – without it, a few ounces of alcohol could keep you drunk for life; a moment’s adrenaline rush would go on and on; pharmaceuticals would never stop altering your body chemistry.

It helps life-sustaining nutrients to get to your cells.

It converts food into nutrients.

It stores fats, sugars, iron, and vitamins for later use by the body

It is the most amazing juggler in existence – creating and balancing over 13,000 chemicals and hormones.

It keeps your blood sugar levels within a safe margin and balances vitamins and minerals so your bones will stay strong and won’t deteriorate.

It clears out inhaled, swallowed, or absorbed (through the skin) toxins, chemicals, and pollution. Without this constant detoxification of waste and toxins, you’d be dead in less than a day.

It works 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and doesn’t take off for holidays.

With the exception of your skin, it is the largest organ in your body and performs more than 500 functions to keep you healthy.

If you guessed your liver……… go to the head of the class.

When your liver is not functioning properly you may feel sluggish and possibly nauseous. Many of your organs are affected by an unhealthy liver – your eyes can be bloodshot, you can have bad breath, abdominal bloating, poor digestion, fatigue, a coated tongue, a sluggish metabolism, excessive body heat, sugar cravings, and inability to lose weight. A sluggish liver stresses the kidney, heart, and brain.

This is one very important organ.

An important way to keep your liver healthy is to make sure your spine is healthy. Why? Because your liver, as well as your other organs, needs constant communications from your spine. A subluxation could block essential communications between your brain and body, potentially affecting liver function.

Please share this article with someone who may need this information!

Benefits of Infectious Disease

Sickness is good for you?

How could fever, vomiting, diarrhea, rash, headache, overall yucky feeling (general malaise) be good for you? Remember, the body is intelligent and it does things for a reason. What we call uncomfortable symptoms are the mechanisms by which the body heals itself, restores itself to balance (also known as homeostasis).

This has been known by traditional healers for thousands of years. Acute symptoms such as fever, colds, skin eruptions, diarrhea, and vomiting permit the body to expel poisons, purify and cleanse while permitting the immune system to strengthen and mature. These symptoms are uncomfortable and dramatic, but they are temporary and good for you. The “Father of Medicine” said it well:

Diseases are crises of purification, of toxic elimination. Symptoms are the natural defenses of the body. We call them diseases, but in fact they are the cure of diseases. – Hippocrates

Research verifies this. For example, a history of measles and mumps in childhood are significantly protective against deadly heart attacks and strokes during adulthood. Researchers also found that adults who had contracted chickenpox were 33% less likely to develop coronary heart disease. Each additional contagious disease contracted during childhood, such as measles, mumps, or rubella, increased the protective effect against acute coronary events by 14%. (1)

Febrile infectious childhood diseases (FICDs) were associated with lower cancer risk in adulthood (2). In another study, a history of common colds or gastroenteric influenza prior to the interview was found to be associated with a decreased cancer risk. (3)

1.Kubota Y et al. Association of measles and mumps with cardiovascular disease: The Japan Collaborative Cohort (JACC) study. Atherosclerosis. August 2015;241:682-686.

2.Albonico HU, Braker HU, Husler J. Febrile infectious childhood diseases in the history of cancer patients and matched controls. Med Hypotheses. 1998;51(4):315-320.

3.Abel U, Becker N, Angerer R, Frentzel-Beyme R, Kaufmann M, Schlag P, Wysocki S, Wahrendorf J, Schulz G. Common infections in the history of cancer patients and controls. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol. 1991;117(4):339-344.

TIPS TO STAY HEALTHY THIS FALL

(CL ADAPTED) ALYSE RURIANI

The transition to the shorter and busier days of fall can be a challenge. To help ease the change, we’ve put together some Fall Wellness Tips to get you ready for the colder months and keep your mental (and physical!) health in check.

1) Start taking a Vitamin D supplement. We get most of our Vitamin D from the sun, so our intake decreases when the weather is colder since we spend most of our time inside during the fall/winter seasons. If you find you are not getting outside much, a Vitamin D supplement can boost your mood and immune system!

2) Take some time to yourself. Autumn and winter are the Earth’s way of telling us to slow down. Start a journal or track your moods to get more in touch with how you are feeling.

3) Boost your immune system. You can do this by drinking plenty of water, washing your hands often to prevent sickness, and eating nutritious foods.

4) Get yourself ready for Daylight Savings Time. Go to bed earlier when you can, especially the week before the clocks change. Longer periods of darkness = longer periods of sleep!

5) Make some plans for the cold months. In the winter, we tend to hibernate if we don’t have things to keep us busy.

6) Moisturize your skin. Harsh temperatures can make your skin dry.

7) Buy in-season food. Beets, broccoli, cabbage, eggplant, kale, pumpkin, broths, roasted squash, roots, and sautéed dark leafy greens are all great choices.

8) Stay active! It can be easy to just sit around all the time, but it’s important to get in some movement throughout the day. Raking leaves or shoveling snow counts!

9) Wear layers and protect your body from the dropping temperature. Make sure you have gloves, a scarf, earmuffs, a winter coat, warm socks, and snow boots!

10) Do some “spring cleaning” in the fall. Clean out your closet, organize that back room, and rid yourself of things you don’t need.

11) Prepare your home for possible extreme weather conditions. Do you have a shovel and/or snow blower? Do your flashlights have batteries? Is your heat working okay? And think about your car too…Blankets, Socks, Hunter heating pads. power bars and water will all be welcome in a stressful situation

12) Get some books to read and shows to watch. Who doesn’t want to sit by the fire on chilly winter nights and read a good book or binge-watch some Netflix?

13) Keep a schedule. The cold months can seem to drag on and push us into isolation. Stay on track by scheduling time in your day to do things you like to do.

14) Be kind to yourself. The holidays can cause weight gain, the shorter days can cause low mood, and the season change can throw your body out of balance. Listen to your body and give it what it needs, and don’t beat yourself up! Try reframing negative thoughts into positive ones.

AND BEST OF ALL, MAKE SURE TO GET YOUR SPINE CHECKED REGULARLY AS THE MINOR SLIPS AND FALL OF FALL/WINTER CAN KNOCK YOUR SYSTEM OUT OF WHACK!

Call us to make an appointment today!
(517) 627-4547

A Poison Ivy Parody + Good Advice

Poison Ivy, Poison Ivy

The song Poison Ivy is catchy, with exceptional lyrics and the best-sung version by the Coasters

Measles make you bumpy and mumps’ll make you lumpy

And chicken pox’ll make you jump and twitch

A common cold’ll cool you and whooping cough’ll fool you

But poison ivy’s gonna make you itch

You’re gonna need an ocean

Of calamine lotion

You’ll be scratching like a hound

The minute you start to mess around

Poison ivy, poison ivy

Well late at night when you’re sleeping

Poison ivy comes a creeping around

How to get rid of Poison Ivy

But if the plant’s oils touch your skin while you are gardening, walking in the field, even petting your dog or cat who rolled in it – you better wash with some good poison ivy soap ASAP to wash off the oil causing irritations (urushiol). The oil can last for years, so wash any utensils, gloves, and tools you used too.

If it got into your skin you may suffer from intense burning and itching with ugly-looking pustules and red raw skin. Scratching makes it worse and if you start you may do it until you bleed. What to do?

There are some natural, safe, effective, and inexpensive ways of getting rid of poison ivy symptoms. Save this information for future use.

Use essential oils.

Use a blend of lavender, melaleuca (tea tree oil), and peppermint oils. Even one oil by itself will work but the blend is best.

Use homeopathy.

An excellent homeopathic remedy for poison ivy is Rhus Toxicodendron. Fortunately, most health food stores are carrying homeopathic remedies. A strength of 12C or 30C is recommended.

The above work very well. People have reported using others remedies such as topically applying witch hazel, cold coffee, oatmeal paste, baking soda bath or paste, alcohol, and apple cider vinegar to the affected areas.

The next time you find yourself in a potentially dangerous garden, do yourself a favor and wear gloves, long pants, long sleeves, or even better, pay an expert to remove it all.

Chiropractic care is not a treatment for poison ivy but it does reduce stress on your nervous and immune systems and can help your body work more effectively to rid it of toxins. We recommend coming in for an adjustment. Don’t worry, the rash is not contagious (even if it looks yucky).

Cholesterol Not Guilty – New Research Shows Cholesterol is Natural and Beneficial

Our ancestors had it right all along – good quality saturated fats such as butter, cream, tallow, lard, chicken fat (schmaltz), goose fat, duck fat, and fatty organ meats will lead to a long, healthy life.

Cholesterol is needed for the proper function of your brain, your heart, and your cell membranes. That means you need cholesterol in pretty much every cell in your body.

Many studies show that people with high cholesterol live the longest. “What?” I hear you say. This statement seems incredible because it flies in the face of what so many of us have been told which was based on theory, not reality. In fact, cholesterol is an antioxidant, it fights inflammation. If a person has chronically high cholesterol, it is the inflammation (the cause) that should be addressed.

That people with high cholesterol live the longest emerges clearly from many scientific papers. After the world was told about how horrible saturated animal fats and cholesterol were, and that millions needed to be spent on expensive cholesterol-lowering drugs, many scientists questioned that approach. In 1994 a major study from Yale University researcher Harlan Krumholz reported that elderly people with low cholesterol died twice as often from a heart attack as did the elderly with high cholesterol. (3) Other researchers have since noticed the same finding. (1-2)

Cholesterol is not your enemy

Unhealthy fats and oils (i.e., corn oil, canola, safflower, cottonseed oil, margarine, hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils), as well as hidden infections and subluxations, are the real enemies that cause inflammation.

Ravnskov U. High cholesterol is not a risk factor. Well-Being Journal. November/December 2012;21(6).
Ravnskov U. High cholesterol may protect against infections and atherosclerosis. Quarterly J of Medicine. 2003;96:927-934.

Lanjopoulos Chiropractic

Chiropractics, Yoga, Tai Chi, Healthy Living