Mighty Muscles!

We all have them, but most of the time we pay no attention to them, unless of course we pull them in some way or exercise them too much so they ache a bit! But muscles are essential for movement because:

• They convert energy into the motion, just as a car engine makes your car run.
• Basically, you couldn’t do anything without muscles. For example, muscles in your larynx, mouth and tongue help you to speak, skeletal muscles help you to walk, run, climb, exercise and dance – these are the muscles that control voluntary movements.
• Muscles also help control body movements that you generally never even think about – your breathing, heart beat, facial expressions, food digestion, eye movements, blinking and other involuntary movements.

 Our body has more than 650 muscles, making up more than 40% of our body weight.

Without muscles – you wouldn’t be able to live very long, that’s for sure. Humans have more than 650 muscles, which make up more than 40% of your body weight. Heavy stuff!
How do muscles move? Well, muscles are made up of cells that contract and then relax. These cells use energy from the food you eat to do this, so without food, and the nutrients it provides, your muscles would be too weak to perform as they should.
Can you hurt muscles? Sure, you can and you often hear people say they have “pulled” a muscle, meaning it has been torn, similar to breaking a bone. However, unlike most bones that have to be re-set, muscles are self-healing.
Some fun facts about muscles:

• It really does take more muscles to frown (12) than smile (10)!
• Your eye muscles move more than 100,000 times each day!
• The smallest muscle is in your ear – it’s called the stapedius.

One way to improve the way your muscles work is to exercise! Exercise makes your heart beat faster, sending more blood out to your muscles, giving them the vital oxygen and nutrients they need to work properly. And when you exercise, your digestive system slows down to conserve energy that your muscles need.
But don’t forget muscles only move when commanded by your nervous system—the focus of your chiropractic care. Which is one reason athletes and those who want to be their best seek regular chiropractic care.

For more information, please visit www.atlanticchirofl.com or call our office at (386) 492-4881

Your Personal Health Insurance Policy

Everyone is aware of the extremely high cost of most health care services. These costs can be measured not only in cash outlays, but also in time spent at a doctor's office. Waiting times can often be an hour or more for a comprehensive physical examination at a family physician's or internist's office. If you have a problem that requires same-day attention, the waiting time at a local hospital emergency room is open-ended and can easily range into several hours or more.

Those fortunate enough to have health insurance are able to buffer some of the monetary expenses. But even with an individual or family health insurance policy, annual out-of-pocket costs continue to rise steeply as monthly premiums, co-payments, and deductibles increase substantially year-over-year. For example, during the past five years monthly premiums for many policies have increased 15% or more annually. This means that monthly payments in 2013 would be approximately double those paid in 2008. Twice the cost for the same coverage. That's a tough situation. Of course, the fees don't stop at the monthly premium. Many policies have deductibles in the range of $5000 or more.

Thus, if we want to enjoy good financial health as well as good physical health, we might consider getting a "personal" health insurance policy. Such a "policy" requires more effort than that involved in writing a check. Your personal health insurance policy involves taking action in the two main lifestyle areas of diet/nutrition and exercise. A third lifestyle area, often ignored, involves personal well-being. This area includes building increasingly positive family relationships and friendships and developing a broader set of interests beyond one's favorite television stations and websites.

 

It is now well-established that lifestyle matters greatly to one's long-term health and well-being.^1,2 Numerous studies have shown that one in three Americans have one or more chronic diseases - diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. The personal and family costs, the financial costs, and the costs to society of chronic disease are high. By establishing habits of good nutrition, regular vigorous exercise, and rewarding relationships and activities, we help prevent these major health problems.³ By engaging in healthy lifestyles, we are taking action that will reap many rewards for ourselves and our families down the years.

The only requirement to begin receiving the benefits of improved health is the willingness to get started. Even if you haven't done any regular exercise for many years, or if you can't remember the last time you ate a serving of broccoli, fennel, or kale, you can still start the journey to better health today. And if you begin, it's very possible that you'll look back after 12 months, 6 months, or even 3 months and be very glad you did.

 

 Chiropractic Care and Your Personal Health Insurance Policy

When we talk about lifestyle and good health, we usually only consider exercise and nutrition. A third area - rewarding and fulfilling relationships and interests - may be added as an afterthought. But a fourth area - chiropractic care - is in fact the key to gaining the benefits from all the other lifestyle areas and activities.
Chiropractic care focuses on how your body is doing its job. This "job" is to link harmoniously all the various separate physiological activities - to make sure all your body's systems are working well together. The responsibility for this harmony lies with the nerve system, the master system that ties together the functioning of your heart and lungs, your stomach and other digestive organs, your endocrine system, and your immune system. By identifying and correcting misalignments in the spinal column, chiropractic care helps ensure that your nerve system is functioning optimally. When your nerve system is doing its job, the rest of your body has the opportunity to produce the maximum health available. As a result, chiropractic care helps you get the most out of all your other activities and helps you gain and retain good health.

¹Thorgeirsson T, Kawachi I: Behavioral Economics: Merging Psychology and Economics for Lifestyle Interventions. Am J Prev Med 44(2):185-189, 2013

²Anderson AS, et al: Promoting changes in diet and physical activity in breast and colorectal cancer screening settings- an unexplored opportunity for endorsing healthy behaviours. Cancer Prev Res 2013 Jan 16 (Epub ahead of print)

³Mitra A, et al: Mechanistic studies of lifestyle interventions in type 2 diabetes. World J Diabetes 3(12):201-207, 2012

Atlantic Chiropractic and Wellness Center is dedicated to helping you achieve your wellness objectives.

Click here or call us at 386-492-4881 today!
www.atlanticchirofl.com

The Problem With Stress!

We live in stressful times. The economy is tough, global conflicts rage, severe weather events are affecting people in every corner of the globe, and our numerous technological devices don't seem to be making things any easier. Of course, this is nothing new. Every generation thinks theirs is the best of times and the worst of times. But the result is that people everywhere have high levels of stress.






Sometimes stress is a good thing. Mechanical stress, such as exercise, causes your muscles and bones to become stronger and your nerve system to become smarter. Taking on a new assignment at work or taking a challenging class in school may be stressful, but the effort involved in achieving a successful result will cause you to grow and develop in ways that you might not have imagined. After all, the great philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche famously said "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

But chronic, ongoing physical and mental stress, the kind that affects us every day, is not good for us. Chronic stress causes real psychological and physical problems. People undergoing chronic stress may develop anxiety, which if not managed effectively may lead to depression. Chronic stress may lead to a variety of disorders and diseases, including arthritis, inflammatory conditions such as Crohn's disease, gastrointestinal problems such as peptic ulcer, diabetes,¹ high blood pressure,² and even heart attacks and stroke.³ As we are all subject to numerous stresses every day, both personal and work-related, it's very important for us to develop strategies that will be successful in helping us manage ongoing stresses.

The most important method for managing stress is to attempt to focus your point-of-view, your frame of reference, on the present moment. Our minds are constantly in motion, constantly at work creating new thoughts and new scenarios regarding some potentially stressful situation, or rehashing old conversations, old conflicts, and old problems. The result is that we're almost never at peace. When we try to sit down and relax for a bit, it's never too long before our minds start bringing up the exact things we'd like to be able to forget or ignore, at least for a little while. Most of us can't flip a metaphorical switch and shut off our incessant stream of mostly negative self-talk. But we can learn to remind ourselves to return to the present, to come back to this moment, the one that's happening now.

The best way to do this is to ask yourself, "is this [what I'm thinking about] happening right now?" If you can see that what's happening now is that you're sitting in a chair reading the newspaper, you have a good chance of being able to let go of what your mind is talking to you about. Say to yourself, "I'm right here, right now, and none of that other stuff is actually happening right now." This will help you create some distance from your self-talk, and the self-talk may even recede into the background for a while. The feeling of calm you might then experience is one you can build on. The more you practice returning to the moment, the more power you gain in being able to manage the stress in your life.

 

 Our office uses various techniques and methods to restore proper spinal alignment. The direct result is improved functioning of your nerve system, which directly improves the functioning of all your other body systems.

One of the structural problems addressed by chiropractic care is a "facilitated segment." This is a section of your spinal cord that is being bombarded by too many nerve signals. These nerve signals arrive at the wrong times and in too great a quantity. Physical pain and other diseases and disorders can develop as a result of a facilitated segment.

Stress makes facilitated segments (and their effects) worse. By aligning your spine, we can help reduce and resolve these irritated segments of your spinal cord. As a result, the stresses in your life have less physiological impact. You become better able to interact with people and situations, and become better able to manage stress.

Look for our upcoming Wellness Workshop on Stress Management to learn strategies for better dealing with stress.

www.atlanticchirofl.com

¹Bener A, et al: Association between psychological distress and gastrointestinal symptoms in diabetes mellitus. World J Diabetes 3(6):123-129, 2012

²van Dijk, AE, et al: The association between prenatal psychosocial stress and blood pressure in the child at age 5-7 years. PLoS One 7(8):e43548, 2012

³Pereira VH, et al: Stressed brain, diseased heart: A review on the pathophysiologic mechanisms of neurocardiology. Int J Cardiol 2012 Apr 20 [Epub ahead of print]

 

chiropractic, health, wellness, nutrition, stress, pain, alignment, problems, stress management, nerve, spinal cord, spine

Causes and Treatment Options for Muscle Cramps

A muscle cramp can bring a jogger to his knees or elicit the fear of drowning in a swimmer; however, athletes are not the only individuals to experience a muscle cramp or spasm. According to one estimate, approximately 95 percent of people will at some time in life experience the sudden, sharp pain associated with a muscle cramp.

A muscle spasm is an involuntary contraction of a muscle, part of a muscle, or several muscles that usually act together. If the spasm is forceful and sustained, it becomes a cramp. Most people describe a muscle cramp as a feeling of tightness in the muscle; it’s not unusual to feel a lump of hard muscle tissue underneath the skin in the vicinity of the cramp. During a spasm or cramp, it may be painful, or even difficult, to use the affected muscle or muscle group.

Cramps and spasms can affect any muscle, even those affiliated with the body’s various organs; however, they are most common in the calves, hamstrings, and quadriceps. Cramps in the feet, hands, arms, and lower back occur frequently, as well.

Many possible causes
Common as they are and painful as they can be, a shroud of mystery surrounds the cause of muscle spasms and cramps. Some researchers believe that inadequate stretching and muscle fatigue lead to cramps. According to the University of Michigan, other possible factors include a low level of fitness, overexertion (especially in intense heat), stress, and depletion of electrolytes through excess sweating or dehydration. Certain diuretic medications can also cause cramping due to a loss of sodium, potassium, and magnesium.

Treatment of muscle spasms
Typically, muscle cramps require no treatment other than patience and stretching; medicines are not generally needed to treat an ordinary muscle cramp. Gentle and gradual stretching, along with massage, may ease the pain and hasten recovery.

When a muscle spasm or cramp is the result of an injury, applying ice packs for the first two to three days may help alleviate the pain. Spasms that last a long time may be treated with moist heat for 20 minutes several times a day.

If you tend to get muscle cramps during exercise, make sure you drink enough fluids, and, after your workout, consider a warm Epsom salt bath followed by stretching of the affected muscles. Generally speaking, water is sufficient for rehydration; however, some may find a sports drink or juice beneficial as a means to restore their body’s electrolyte balance.

If your muscle cramps are associated with a specific medical condition, keep in mind that you need to address the underlying health problem for the cramps to subside.

Tips for Prevention
As with any health condition, it is always best to prevent muscle cramps or spasms—especially if you tend to develop them. Consider altering your diet and lifestyle by incorporating the following suggestions:

• Take steps to improve your diet. Eliminate sugar and caffeine from the diet, and increase consumption of fiber and protein. In addition, remember to eat plenty of calcium- and magnesium- rich foods, such as green leafy vegetables, yogurt, legumes, whole grains, tofu, and Brazil nuts. High-potassium foods, including bananas, avocados, lima beans, and fish, may also be helpful.
• Before and after you exercise, stretch muscle groups that tend to cramp.
• Incorporate strengthening exercises into your fitness routine.
• Avoid dehydration. To prevent dehydration, consume plenty of fluids and foods high in water such as fruits and vegetables.
• Avoid excess sodium and soda (high in phosphoric acid), as they can leach calcium.
• Avoid chocolate, caffeine, and alcohol, which can interfere with magnesium absorption.
• Improve your posture. For example, you may have mid-back spasms after sitting at a computer desk for too long in an awkward position.

Vitamin E has been said to help minimize cramp occurrence. Although scientific studies documenting this effect are lacking, anecdotal reports are common and fairly enthusiastic. Since vitamin E is thought to have other beneficial health effects and is not toxic in usual doses, taking 400 units of vitamin E daily could be considered.

Discuss with your doctor of chiropractic if your cramps are severe, happen frequently, respond poorly to simple treatments, or are not related to obvious causes like strenuous exercise. These could indicate a possible problem with circulation, nerves, metabolism, hormones, medications, and/or nutrition.

If you have any questions on this or any other condition, please contact our office at (386) 492-4881, and please visit our website at www.atlanticchirofl.com!

Proprioception - Making Your Body Smarter

We usually don't think of our bodies in terms of their being "smart." For example, we walk to the corner store without giving a single thought to the complex mechanics involved in getting there and back. But behind the scenes there's plenty going on and your body's "IQ" has a lot to do with your success in accomplishing everyday tasks.

Proprioception is one of those background physical processes that make up your body's total IQ. Proprioceptors are specialized nerve endings located in your muscles and joints that inform your brain about your body's position in three-dimensional space. You're able to write legibly because proprioceptors are sending instantaneous data about the angles of the small joints of your fingers and wrists as your pen moves across the page. You're able to run on the beach because proprioceptors are continuously sending signals to your brain about the changing shape of the uneven surface of the sand.¹

Without these specialized nerve endings, we'd never be able to hit a baseball, throw a Frisbee, or drive a car. But proprioceptors can be smart or less than that. It all depends on how well-trained they are. One person out for a stroll might trip over a crack in the pavement and suffer a badly sprained ankle. Another person might trip over the same crack, even badly turning over their ankle in the process, and keep on walking without even a trace of a limp.

The difference between injury and non-injury is the level of proprioceptor training, and this level usually is related to whether you're doing regular exercise.² Exercise trains your muscles and joints to adapt to varying kinds of stresses (weight-bearing loads) throughout a variety of positions (the full range of motion of those joints). As a result, trained proprioceptors can withstand a high degree of stress (such as a sudden twisting of an ankle). The untrained ankle, possibly the ankle of a person who hasn't done much walking, running, or bike riding in the last 5 years, will be damaged by an unusual and unexpected stress. The result is an ankle sprain of varying severity and possibly a broken ankle.

Similarly, it is well known that older adults experience more frequent falls than do younger adults. Part of the explanation involves proprioception.³ Many older adults don't engage in regular exercise. Proprioceptive function decreases, changes in level or surface aren't recognized quickly by the person's feet and ankles, and the person falls.

It's easy to see that the effort to maintain your body's IQ is time very well spent. The fastest way to boost this skill set is by doing regular exercise. All kinds of exercise provide benefit, so the best exercises are the ones that have some interest for you personally. Optimally, a person is doing both strength training and cardiovascular exercise. As always, the key to long-term health and wellness is consistency.

 

 Chiropractic Care Helps Your Body Be Smarter

Your body's awareness of where it is in three dimensions is critical to your ability to function effectively in the world. This awareness depends on proprioceptors. These specialized nerve endings are part of your nervous system - your body's master system.

Nerve signals are transmitted from proprioceptors in joints and muscles, along nerve pathways, to spinal nerves. Spinal nerves connect to the spinal cord, and from there signals are transmitted to the brain. But spinal nerves are a potential bottleneck to the free flow of information. These nerves may become irritated or inflamed, blocking accurate information from reaching the brain and accurate instructions from reaching the rest of the body.

Chiropractic care helps keep your body free of nerve interference. By correcting spinal misalignments, chiropractic care helps remove nerve interference and ensures a free flow of information from the brain, to the spinal cord, to all the body's cells, and back again. Optimal health and well-being are the result.

Please visit us at www.atlanticchirofl.com for more information on how chiropractic can help you!

¹Wong JD, et al: Can proprioceptive training improve motor learning? J Neurophysiol 2012 Sep 12 [Epub ahead of print]

²Ferreira ML, et al: Physical activity improves strength, balance and endurance in adults aged 40-65 years: a systematic review. J Physiother 58(3):145-156, 2012

³Howe TE, et al: Exercise for improving balance in older people. Cochrane Database Syst Rev  2011 Nov 9(11):CD004963.

Do I Have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?

Many people believe they have carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). The majority have been told by their medical doctor that they have CTS. Others have mistakenly concluded that because they have some numbness and tingling in their wrist or hand, they must have this neurological disorder. Still others have ongoing forearm, wrist, or hand pain (possibly localized to the thumb and/or index finger), and are led by articles they've read on the Internet to diagnose themselves with CTS. Almost all of this is in error.^1,2

Why are so many diagnoses of this condition mistaken? The primary culprit is lazy clinical decision-making, compounded by a failure to understand correctly the workings of the musculoskeletal system. Carpal tunnel syndrome is a specific diagnosis which involves mechanical pressure on the median nerve as it passes through a small tunnel in the wrist created by tiny adjoining bones. There's not much room in this carpal tunnel and its dimensions can be narrowed further by inflammatory conditions such as osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis. Pregnancy can lead to CTS owing to increased fluid retention. Repetitive stress may lead to inflammation of tendons that cross the wrist. Such inflammation may lead to soft tissue swelling which compresses the carpal tunnel, causing CTS. Various other disorders should also be considered when CTS is suspected.

Importantly, CTS is not a catchall diagnosis to be used when a person has forearm, wrist, and/or hand pain. If a person really has CTS, he or she will have specific symptoms. The person will awaken at night owing to pain and/or numbness and tingling. Symptoms will be precisely located to the thumb and index finger (possibly involving the middle finger). Wrist pain may or may not be present. Also, the person will demonstrate a weakness of pinch grip involving the thumb and index finger. If these signs and symptoms are not present, the person does not have carpal tunnel syndrome. Usually, the diagnosis is clearcut and does not require special tests such as electromyography.

Remarkably, most physicians, regardless of specialty, are unaware of these important criteria. If the patient has pain and/or numbness in the hand, the patient has CTS. Case closed. This lack of sophistication leads to real harm done to the patient, such as unnecessary tests which waste time, cost a lot of money, and may result in damaging surgery which is not curative as it was directed at a problem that really wasn't there.

In marked contrast, chiropractors are highly trained in accurate analysis of musculoskeletal problems involving the shoulder, arm, and hand.³ When patients have symptoms mimicking those of carpal tunnel syndrome, chiropractors use their broad knowledge and experience to correctly evaluate the situation. For example, spinal dysfunction, muscle spasm, and trigger points can all cause symptoms which appear to be those of CTS. Chiropractors are able to see through this masquerade and effectively address the real underlying problems.

 

 Many musculoskeletal problems, including symptoms masquerading as carpal tunnel syndrome, are effectively managed by chiropractic care. The key, as always, lies in accurate evaluation of the cause of the patient's pain patterns.

To a very large extent, physical pain involving the spine, arms, and legs is related to mechanical joint dysfunction. There are exceptions, of course, including pain caused by a severe acute injury or an inflammatory condition such as ankylosing spondylitis. But in most cases, chiropractic care will provide a solution to a person's musculoskeletal pain, resulting in a reduction or even a resolution of the problem.
It's important to remember that most painful symptoms don't just happen on their own. Your chiropractor will do more than address the problem at hand. He or she may also help you design an effective exercise program and a healthful nutrition plan to optimize your health and well-being over the long-term.

¹Ibrahim I, et al: Carpal tunnel syndrome. Review of the recent literature. Open Orthop J 6:69-75, 2012

²Uchiyama S, et al: Current concepts of carpal tunnel syndrome: pathophysiology, treatment, and evaluation. J Orthop Sci 15(1):1-13, 2010

³Bialosky JE, et al: Heightened pain sensitivity in individuals with signs and symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome and the relationship to clinical outcomes following a manual therapy intervention. Man Ther 16(6):602-608, 2011

Bones or Nerves?

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 We live our lives through our nervous systems. Whether it's enjoying a sunset,
 digesting dinner or warding off an infection, our nervous systems control
 everything. Better nervous system = better life.
 Our culture is focused on blood, such as pulse, blood pressure and cholesterol. 
 Yet these largely result from nervous system directions. So even the smallest
 nervous system disturbance can dramatically affect the way your whole body  works.
Since the moving bones of the spinal column are in such close proximity to the spinal cord, and the 31 pairs of nerve roots that branch out from it, many people think chiropractic is all about bones.
But I see myself as a nerve doctor, not a bone doctor. The spinal column is merely where we find the vertebral subluxations that are often the source of nerve disturbances between the brain and body. Reducing nervous system tension allows your body to work normally so health can return. Simple, really.

Nervous System and Weight Loss Link

People with higher levels of nerve activity may have an easier time losing weight, a small study suggests.

Researchers looked at 42 overweight or obese people who took part in a 12-week weight-loss program that cut their daily calorie intake by 30 percent. The participants' resting sympathetic nerve activity was measured at the start of the study.

The sympathetic nervous system, which spreads throughout the body, regulates many functions, including control of resting metabolic rate and the use of calories from food consumption.

The researchers found that successful weight losers had significantly higher resting sympathetic nerve activity than those who had trouble shedding pounds. They also found that successful weight losers showed large increases in nerve activity after they ate a carbohydrate test meal. This did not occur in those who were weight-loss resistant.

The study will appear in the February 2012 issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

"We have demonstrated for the first time that resting muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) is a significant independent predictor of weight-loss outcome in a cohort of overweight or obese subjects," lead author Nora Straznicky, of the Baker IDI Heart & Diabetes Institute in Melbourne, Australia, said in a journal news release.

"Our findings provide two opportunities. First, we may be able to identify those persons who would benefit most from lifestyle weight-loss interventions such as dieting. Secondly, the findings may also help in developing weight-loss treatments through stimulating this specific nervous activity."

  

Source: health.msn.com