Tips for Life

Auto Accidents

2011-12-12T16:38:00.000-05:00

Following an accident, you can feel great, sore, or be in excruciating pain. But no matter what you feel, you could still have serious soft tissue (muscles and ligaments) and/or joint problems. The reason is that only 5% of the signals going from your body to your brain are for pain.

Some injuries from auto accidents can take months or even years of degeneration before they are noticed. The technical term for this is post-traumatic osteoarthritis and this is the main reason to be evaluated by a chiropractor as soon after the accident as possible.

DID YOU KNOW?

In Michigan, no matter what your health insurance covers, your auto insurance covers the medical bills associated with an auto accident. This includes chiropractic too. If you or someone you know have recently been in an auto accident, it is imperative that you see a chiropractor as soon after the accident as possible.

Homeostasis

2011-12-07T10:56:00.001-05:00

Homeostasis is a fancy word for a system's balance. The same way that the furnace in your house kicks on when the temperature falls below the set point in order to maintain that temperature, your body works hard to maintain set points of many, many different things. Your innate genetic intelligence is always striving and adapting for homeostasis. Homeostasis is the status of your body fully adapting to the stressors of the environment.

For example: if you are outside in the cold for very even a short time, your hands and feet start to get very cold. The reason is, that after detecting that your environment is colder than your body wants, it begins to redirect blood and heat towards your core. Your body has decided that keeping your organs at the proper temperature is more important than your fingers. And as always, your body is right. The same thing happens when we go to a higher altitude. Our body detects a lack of oxygen in the air and immediately goes to work to produce more red blood cells to make sure adequate oxygen is getting throughout your body.

A key thing to pick up from this is that your genes give you the ability to adapt but it is the environment that your body detects that dictates what adaptations take place. Part of your environment is the food you eat and the activity level you maintain. Your body is smarter than any doctor or medication. It knows how be healthy, to heal, and to function properly. The problem comes when we do not support our body with what it needs to do its work.

Take two houses for example. They are built with the exact same blueprints. However, one is made with good materials and the other with bad materials. Will there be a difference? Of course! Should we blame the blueprint? No way! In order for your body to maintain homeostasis it requires proper nutrition, movement, and uninterrupted nerve flow (chiropractic) to make the adaptations you need to live to your health potential! The other consideration is toxicity. Avoiding toxic foods, metals, and chemicals are of high importance to maintaining homeostasis.

Balance for the Elderly

2011-11-02T11:05:00.000-04:00

“Falling is the most common cause of injury in people over 60” - Center for Disease Control

The main reason that the elderly fall is that our balance system has become weak. Your balance system is made up of the strength of your muscles and the part of your brain that regulates these muscles to keep you stable. This entire system works exactly like every other part of your body. The more you use it, the stronger it gets. The less you use it, the weaker it gets.

Generally as we get older we tend to be less active. We decrease our activities like sports, yard work, and playing with kids. This is accompanied by an increase in activities like watching TV, reading, playing cards, and going out to eat (instead of cooking). The main issue with this is that we end up spending the majority of our time sitting. Sitting requires no balance and therefor makes our balance system weaker. This can sometimes make us worried about falling and we end up doing even less activity. This cycle can lead to using a cane, walker, and eventually a wheelchair. These things keep us from doing the things we want to do.

The Good News

So obviously at this point, with the balance system weaker, we can’t just start running around like we are 20 again to train our balance. Your balance system can be retrained safely! To train the balance system we must create instability. This forces the brain to make small adjustments to the muscles to try to keep you stable. As the brain learns more and more about what it takes to keep you stable the balance system gets stronger. It is also important to note here that having something to hold onto while you are learning the exercises is important in order to keep this perfectly safe.

Here is an example of an exercise to try!
Tight-rope Exercise

- Holding onto the kitchen sink or something stable, put one foot in front of the other like you are walking a tight rope.

- Once your feet are in position begin to let go of the sink but keep one finger still on the sink.

- Once you feel stable doing this pull the finger off the sink.

- You may notice yourself starting to sway back and forth, and side to side. This is OK but keep your hand near your sink in case you feel too unstable.

- You may also notice the muscles in your ankles tightening and relaxing. This is good! Your balance system is training!

The other major component of balance is the subluxation complex. This causes nerve interference. There are nerves that travel from your muscles to your brain, and then back to the muscles to regulate, and control these muscles. These nerves must be allowed to communicate this information uninterrupted. The only way to be sure that these nerves are clear of interference is with a chiropractic examination. So be sure to get checked by a chiropractor to give your body the fastest path to better balance.

Strengthening your leg muscles by walking short distances at first, and then building up to longer walks and including stairs, will help your balance immensely. Also be sure to move clutter, chords, clothing, or anything around your house or room that might be a tripping hazard.

I am considering doing a class on this topic in the near future. If you live in the Port Huron area and have any interest for you or a loved one please leave me a comment so I can know if there is enough interest and who to contact if I do a class.

Enjoy Your Health
Doc Harris

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

2011-10-03T18:50:00.000-04:00

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is a compression of the median nerve at the wrist. This often causes numbness, tingling, weakness, and/or atrophy of the involved hand. Most of the time this is caused by repetitive actions of the hand and wrist like typing.

The space where the median nerve passes through the wrist is called the “Carpal Tunnel”. This space is made up of wrist bones and a tough ligament. The surgery that is performed most often for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is the cutting of the tough ligament to allow more space. Sometimes swelling from overuse is the cause. However, in many cases one of the wrist bones is subluxated or out of alignment causing the space to be even smaller than designed. This is one reason why it is always a good idea to have your chiropractor evaluate your wrist before seeking the surgical route.

This nerve can also be compressed in the forearm and shoulder by muscles; and often at the neck where the nerve originates from the spinal cord. When the nerve is compressed at these locations it is not called Carpal Tunnel Syndrome but can have the same numbness, tingling, weakness, and/or atrophy. A chiropractor should evaluate these areas for joint dysfunction to rule out Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. The wrist surgery in these cases will not help. This is one of the reasons that full recovery with Carpal Tunnel surgery is less than 60%.

Carpal Tunnel surgery could help. However, it is always wise to try the least invasive care first. Once the surgery is done, there are permanent changes that limit other forms of care.

Enjoy Your Health
Doc Harris

Enzymes

2011-09-16T16:36:00.000-04:00

I have mentioned enzymes in the past when talking about vitamins and “real food”. There are different types of enzymes that do many wonderful things, but I just want to touch on a couple of kinds.

Some enzymes help us to break down our food, and help us absorb our food throughout the intestines. This process begins the moment your food enters your mouth.

While our bodies make many wonderful enzymes that do this, there are some enzymes that we must get from the food we eat. This is why there is such a huge difference between processed foods and real food. A food that has been under high heat or has been stripped of it’s enzymes will not be absorbed. At best these foods will pass through the digestive system and do us little to no good. However, many times these foods compact our intestines and can cause an inability to absorb other foods properly. This can lead to a variety of disease processes as nutrients are not being absorbed.

Eating real foods with these enzymes already in them allows your body to easily access the nutrients in these foods. Foods that are “fortified” with vitamins and minerals are often done so because they have been stripped of nutrients and the enzymes. Avoid these foods. The major difference between processed foods and “real food” is not just nutritional content but a lack of enzymes.

If these processed foods have been consumed over a number of years, a cleanse can be an important part to starting fresh. This should be accompanied by eating at least 1/3 of your foods raw. In the raw state there will be more enzymes present. This will mean that the steamed or cooked foods you eat will also be more easily absorbed.

Enjoy Your Health
Doc Harris

Mind-Body: The Basics

2011-09-07T15:41:00.000-04:00

The mind-body connection is amazingly intricate. What I'd like to do is just skim the surface of the mind-body connection.

The connection between the mind and body is so intertwined that it can be difficult to distinguish. The body is controlled by the mind. However, there are as many nerves traveling back to the brain as there are going out to the body. The body is constantly giving information back to the brain as to what is going on. These signals include pain, touch, vibration, temperature, and proprioception (where your different body parts are even when you can’t see them). The brain not only has to send out signals to control the body but it has to receive these other signals, make sense of them, and make decisions based on them. Your brain is amazing!
(Side note: These signals between the brain and body are what are affected by Subluxation. These are the signals we keep clear with Chiropractic!)

Therefore, it is no wonder that our thoughts can have significant impact on our body. When we think positively instead of negatively, different areas of our brain become active. On top of that, different hormones are released based on what type of thought processes are going on. Hormones are way more than just about how you feel. You’re hormone system (A.K.A endocrine system) is just as important to your body as your immune system and nervous system!

This is barely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the mind-body connection. However, by understanding the connections between mind and body, and also the basics of how our thoughts affect us, we can more easily understand the deeper concepts. Keep your thoughts positive!

Enjoy Your Health!
Doc Harris

Insomnia

2011-08-29T15:46:00.001-04:00

Why is Sleep so Important Anyway?

Sleep is more than just your body recovering from the day’s activities. Many important processes go on while you sleep. Your body has sleep patterns called your circadian rhythms. During these cycles the body uses specific enzymes and proteins to regulate energy levels in the cells. What this means is that your sleep cycles regulate the activity level of every cell in your body including the brain and nervous system, heart, lungs, liver, and muscles. Literally everything. Also the body releases and metabolizes certain hormones, enzymes, and proteins depending on the time of day. Your body needs to know what time of day it is! By not sleeping, there are processes your body is not accomplishing that it absolutely needs including parts of the healing process, thinking, and body regulation (blood pressure, body temperature, heart rate, breathing). For hundreds of generations your ancestors’ circadian rhythm patterns have included sleeping at night in the dark!

What Can Insomnia Cause?
Because of the systemic nature of insomnia the main issues of long term insomnia are:
Depleted Immune System
Obesity
Diabetes
Depression
Coronary Heart Disease
Cancer
Parkinsons
Alzheimers
Multiple Sclerosis
Gastrointestinal Tract Disorders
Kidney Disease
Behavioral Problems (ADHD)

As you can see literally every organ system is included here. The entire body requires sleep!

Avoiding Insomnia

- Get adjusted! In order to run your sleeping systems properly the brain must be connected to the body with uninterrupted nerves.
- Avoid sugars and carbs in the evenings. Protein is OK, but unless you are body building, avoid eating in the last 2 hours of your day.
- Get at least 30 minutes of exercise that elevates your heart rate 3x a week. Preferably in the morning.
- Avoid sleeping during the day if you have trouble sleeping at night.
- Get outside during the day and get some sun exposure if possible.
- Every hour you sleep before midnight is worth at least 2 hours after midnight. Sleep when it gets dark outside!
- Make your room as dark as possible.
- Avoid TV, computers, and electronics for at least an hour before bed.
- Do a full body stretching routine for 15 minutes before bed. Sleep more soundly and wake up less stiff.

This is not accomplished "overnight". Insomnia has a snowball effect. The less you sleep the more you worry about not sleeping. And this leads you to think too much when you should be falling asleep. If after applying all of these principles you are still not able to sleep you may want to try some of the deeper techniques:

- Deep breathing/yoga/prayer or meditation sessions before bed.
- Noise machines.
- Safe, whole food, and natural sleep teas.

Sleep is very important and is not a one size fits all. Not everyone needs the same amount of sleep. However, you should be waking up without an alarm and ideally between 7-9 hours. If you find yourself "requiring" too much sleep it is a lack of activity level during the day or poor nutrition that should be considered. Not surprisingly, these are the same factors that lead to not sleeping enough. As always if we increase our health level all issues, conditions, and diagnoses will at least improve if not disappear completely.

Enjoy Your Health
Doc Harris

Self-Manipulation

2011-08-22T10:47:00.000-04:00

Last week's concept was the Subluxation. Now that you understand that the problem joint is "locked down" or not moving, what about the joints around it? They actually begin to move too much and can start to "pop" or "crack" when your just doing normal activity. Being under chiropractic care and keeping the "stuck" joints moving will allow these other joints called "hypermobile" joints to settle down and begin moving at a more normal range of motion. Let me back up a little and explain what I am talking about.

When you have a joint that is not moving as much as it should be, it causes neck tightness and inflammation. This gives you that feeling that you need to get it moving again. Unfortunately when we “adjust” ourselves we cannot be specific to the joint that needs to move. Our movement is of the whole area. This causes joints that are already moving too much to, over time, move to the extreme. This damages ligaments and the joint capsules. Worse yet, with some joints moving too much it allows the subluxated joint to remain “stuck”. All of these joints, whether moving too much or too little, will degenerate much faster than healthy joints.

It feels good to crack your own neck because it releases endorphins from the joint. It makes no correction, and in fact keeps these hypermobile joints moving too much. It is a short lived profit with long term consequences. Your chiropractor’s job is also made more difficult when you self-manipulate. With the ligaments stretched out and other joints moving too much it is more difficult to move the “stuck” joint. Also this makes it harder for your body to keep the joint moving once you leave the office. This creates a necessity for more frequent visits. While we love to see our patients, we are much happier helping you maintain your healthy spine than helping you repair a degenerating one.

As the “stuck” joints become mobile (under chiropractic) the body will no longer give the signal to tell you to “crack” it. The habit of it however, is yours to break.

Enjoy Your Health
Doc Harris

Subluxation

2011-08-15T10:03:00.000-04:00

Today I'd like to give a brief, simple explanation of subluxation. You may have heard your Doctor explain it to you but it's always good to hear it more than once.

Whether it is a big injury or a lot of smaller injuries over time, the discs (white in the picture on the left) in your spine can become injured. The injured disc will then cause fluid to build up in the hole where the nerves (yellow) exit between the vertebrae. The body will use the muscles around the joint to lock it down to protect it. This is a good thing. However, if the disc is continually injured the joint can remain locked down for a long time. As a disc requires movement to stay healthy, a locked down joint will cause the disc to degenerate. The bottom disc in the picture shows a degenerated disc. This severely closes down the holes that the nerves come out of and, with the fluid build up, causes pressure on the nerve.

Everything in your body is controlled by your brain. The brain sends signals down the spinal cord and out of these holes to control your organs, muscles, and sensory receptors (vibration, pain, touch). Only 5% of our nerves feel pain. The other 95% go to an organ, muscle, or other sensory receptor. So you can have nearly your entire body in dis-function before you feel pain.

What a chiropractor does is put motion back into these joints. This way, when you are out doing your daily activities your body is pumping that disc getting it healthier. The reason why chiropractic is not a quick fix is because of muscle memory. The muscles around that joint have been used to being locked down. They will lock the joint down again, generally in a matter of days. This is why at the beginning of care, a chiropractor will recommend that you come in more often. The good news is that muscles can be retrained. This allows us to spread out your care as you go along. From newborns to geriatrics, everyone with and without symptoms benefits from chiropractic care.

Enjoy Your Health
Doc Harris

Travel Safe

2011-08-08T10:35:00.000-04:00

Greetings,

OK, so forgive me for getting a little technical this week. I will try to restrain myself but I want you to get how this works.

Why is travel hard on your body?

Each time your spine is compressed it does not go immediately back to its original height. It requires a small amount of time to be ready for the next compression. Our spinal curves and our legs act like springs for these compressive forces when we walk/run. When we are sitting our legs are taken out of the picture and our curves are not allowed as much movement.

As talked about in a past “Concept of the Week”, sitting is very hard on your spine. In addition to that we now add in the compressive forces of the vehicle moving, hitting bumps/turbulence, and poor posture (proper posture is very difficult in a vehicle).

What can I do to prevent this?

Obviously we are not suggesting that you never travel or go on vacation again. Here is how you can decrease the compressive forces of travel:

- See a chiropractor regularly to maintain a healthy spine. When joints are not moving well the discs are susceptible to injury and, in the long run, spinal degeneration. Having subluxations while traveling will greatly magnify the compressive forces.

- Stop, stand up, walk around, and stretch (posture exercises). Every 30 minutes is ideal. At worst stop every hour.

- Drink lots of water the day before and during traveling. Yes I realize the bathroom factor but it is worth it to keep your spine’s discs full of fluid. Your stopping often enough anyway, right?

- Stay active. The more active you are prior to and during your travel the better your body will be ready to take on an abnormal amount of compressive forces. This is huge if you travel often or even daily for your career.

So while travel is hard on your body, if you keep these few things in mind it is completely possible to maintain your function both during and after your trip.

Enjoy Your Health
Doc Harris

Desk Ergonomics

2011-08-01T18:24:00.000-04:00

Working at a desk, it can be difficult to keep your spine healthy. Chiropractic is the number one way to keep you moving and avoid spinal degeneration that leads to a decrease in the body’s ability to function. This can eventually lead to serious spinal issues and pain.

Here is the checklist for sitting properly at a desk:

- Keep head directly above shoulders and hips.
- The top of your computer monitor should be at eye level.
- Tilt the monitor upward slightly.
- Upper back should be straight.
- Lower back should have lumbar support.
- Wrists should be as straight as possible.
- A chair with armrests is advisable.
- Elbows should be at 90° and close to the body
- Shoulders should not be shrugged.
- Knees should be between 90° - 110°
- Keep feet flat on the floor or on a foot rest.

Here are some other things that you can do to keep your spine healthy during desk work:

1. Take breaks to stand up, walk around if possible, and do any posture stretches that your Chiropractor has given you.
2. Vary your tasks. Try to alternate between the keyboard and other work. This gives a break to different posture muscles and your eyes.
3. Use a headset if you are on the phone often. If you cannot use a headset be sure to switch which side you are using the phone on.

In today's world many of us use computers for much or all of our work. It is important to keep these things in mind to avoid serious conditions of the spine and back muscles. Make some healthy habits while you sit and if you you do sit at a desk all day be sure to get out and get some exercise when you aren't at work.

Enjoy Your Health
Doc Harris

Monitoring Fat Loss

2011-07-25T16:25:00.000-04:00

Why you should throw out your scale!

What does a scale actually tell us?

· Scale: a machine or device for weighing.

· Weight: A unit measure of gravitational force on an object

· Weight is an OK way to measure long term improvements when someone is over 100lb overweight.

· Weight is an extremely poor way to measure short term improvements for anyone.

Weight Loss vs Fat Loss

Your weight is determined by numerous factors. You’ve probably heard that muscle weighs more than fat. There is also water weight to consider. Because of these and many more factors it is entirely possible and even probable that you can work extremely hard to lose weight and only lose a pound or two. You might already be fitting into clothes better while you are becoming frustrated with a number on a device that only tells you how hard gravity is pulling on you. During fat loss you will see a loss of inches at a few different places. Also you should notice a significant increase in energy. Feeling sluggish on a “diet” is not a good sign.

Body Mass Index

Many people use BMI to determine “fat loss”. Here are the main reasons this is a bad idea:

· MANY PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES CLASSIFY AS OBESE ON THE BMI.

· The man who developed it specifically stated that it should not be used for monitoring fat.

· Bone and muscle both weigh twice that of fat. So a person with strong bones and muscles will have a high BMI. People have different body types as well.

· It takes no measurements other than height into account.

· It was created over 200 years ago by a man who was a mathematician, not a physician.

Fat Loss

A closer measurement of fat loss can be made with certain types of scales (One of which we have in the office if you are interested). However, the most accurate measurement is taken by measuring inches.

Here are the best places to take measurements:

- Around the gut using the belly button

- Around thighs

- Chest at nipple line

- Around the thickest part of the hips

So throw out the scale and the BMI. These are two of the most useless tools created to monitor fat loss. While there are other tools to measure body fat, measuring inches (or cm) is the absolute easiest and best way to monitor fat loss.

Remember that as you become more active and eat healthier your bones and muscles will get stronger, denser, and heavier. This is a good thing! Don’t get frustrated with weight. It means very little.

Enjoy Your Health

Doc Harris

U.S. Life Expectancy

2011-07-20T09:29:00.000-04:00

Our life expectancy here in the states is lower than other industrialized countries. We also rank 49^th overall for all countries.

Many sources point to this mainly being caused from things we can change! Here are the risk factors associated with the lower life expectancy in the United States:

Obesity

Smoking

Physical Inactivity

Low Intake of Omega 3 Fatty Acids

High Blood Sugar

Low Intake of Fruits and Vegetables

Alcohol Abuse

Our Kids

Over the past 10 years life expectancy has dipped and has come back up slightly. Many sources look at this as a sign that the US life expectancy is going to remain close to the current figures. This is discouraging when we look at trends of other countries that are almost all on the way up.

While we spend more than double the amount of money per capita as any other country on health care annually, we still manage to rank only 34^th for infant mortality and 37^th for overall health.

Changing a countries lifestyle is extremely difficult. But here are some things you can do to help your family live healthier and longer lives.

- Avoid sugar and excessive alcohol.

- Eat real food! If man made it, it’s not food.

- Exercise! Try at least 30 minutes 3 times a week.

- Begin taking a whole food multivitamin and quality fish oil daily.

- Keep your family under chiropractic care!

Know that even as the gap between the life expectancy of the U.S. and other countries grows, there are things you can do to beat the average. And of course adding life to your years is more important than adding years to your life. Fortunately these changes affect both.

Enjoy Your Health

Doc Harris

Exercise: Who Benifit's Most?

2011-07-11T09:42:00.000-04:00

Will A Little Exercise Really Help?

Most of us hate to use the “E” word. The thought of going out of our way to expend extra energy does not appeal. Take a look at the graph below. The less active that you are right now, the more benefit you will see with an increase in exercise.

Amount of exercise is raised by an increase in either intensity or duration. This is obviously a simple graph and does not get into the differences of cardio vs. weight training exercises but it does apply to both.

Try to do something productive with your exercise. I found that I could easily force myself to increase the intensity when I kicked around a soccer ball while I ran instead of just running.

There are many things you can do in your daily life to increase the intensity of your daily activities. Try for instance, to increase your walking speed in stores or take the stairs instead of the elevator.

Keep the mindset that you are not trying to avoid expending energy.

Definitely set aside time for exercise. Always check with your doctor before beginning any exercise program but you can see great benefit with small changes to the activities you already do.

Exercise while joints are subluxated or "locked down" by the body can lead to injury. However, under chiropractic care exercise can prevent injury and help the joint's recover more quickly.

Enjoy Your Health

Doc Harris