We all know that stretching is good for us…

…but even so, it is probably the activity that is the largest victim of our lazy nature. There are very few people I know who cannot reasonably find 10 minutes to stretch in a day, but there are millions of excuses for why we don’t. Let’s stop ignoring an activity we know makes us feel good and start getting excited about stretching. 

Active Isolated Stretching is a method for stretching that makes a noticeable difference

If you are someone who struggles to see the value of stretching because it doesn’t make an instant impact, try active isolated stretching. This variety of stretching isolates a single muscle, stretches it for two seconds, releases and repeats up to ten times. It is a method of stretching that was developed by kinesiotherapist Aaron Mattes and is used by athletes to prevent injury and improve range of motion. 

What makes active isolated stretching effective? 

It works in threefold ways:

• Isolating the muscle means you contract the opposite muscle, creating a good environment for the targeted muscle to be stretched. 
• 2 second bursts repeating the stretch help to circulate blood, oxygen and nutrients to the targeted muscle and avoids the muscle from activating its stretch reflex which is a natural response of the body to prevent injury.
• By focusing on breathing in during the release and out during the stretch, you deliver the oxygen your muscles needed to recover.

Helping you stretch

Stretching is an integral part of any balanced health plan. Active isolated stretching offers an exciting way to create noticeable results, improving circulation and elasticity of the joints to help improve your range of motion. Give our office a call to schedule an appointment today. 

Exercise and chiropractic therapy are important for managing back pain

As a general rule, daily exercise is recommended for people concurrent with their chiropractic treatment for a variety of reasons. Studies show that exercise and stretching strengthen key muscles, reduce acute and chronic pain, improve range of motion and overall boost your quality of life, especially if you are living with a degenerative condition of the spine. A reciprocal relationship exists between chiropractic therapy and exercise in which each enhances the effectiveness of the other. 

How chiropractic and exercise can still work for people who find it difficult to move without pain

We want to get you exercising, but not if it’s going to cause you harm. Depending on your level of pain and ability to move, we design a custom exercise plan that will help you get the benefits of movement without causing you too much pain. For example:

• Flexion intolerance: for people who feel pain in a bent-over position, often coinciding with a disc injury, we focus on restoring neutral posture to get you out of a flexion-dominant position during the day and work on developing the core stabilizing muscles to reduce the amount of pain felt during flexion. 
• Extension intolerance: usually seen in people who are primarily on their feet, this position is characterized by an increased arch in the back and often the patient will often present with anterior pelvic tilt. With intolerance to extension-based posture, we focus on exercises that avoid arching the back and exercises that add anterior core control.  

Combining exercise with chiropractic care

At our office, we want to help you break out of a mold of chronic or acute pain by combining exercise with chiropractic care. Taking into account your condition and level of fitness, we will give you instructions specific to your condition before any exercise program begins. Through chiropractic adjustment, cardiovascular exercise, strengthening and stretching, we can help you mitigate the symptoms of pain that have a grip on your life; give our office a call to schedule an appointment today. 

Imagine living to be 200 or more, and healthy as a teenager the who time. 

A-lot-Longer Healthier Living Could be right around the corner.

“We are elated that we can use this approach across the life span to slow down aging in normal animals. The technique is both safe and effective in mice,” says Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, co-corresponding author and a professor in Salk’s Gene Expression Laboratory.

Do I have your attention?

Here is where you can skip ahead to reading the article in Science Daily:

Salk Institute. “Cellular rejuvenation therapy safely reverses signs of aging in mice: Researchers treated mice with anti-aging regimen beginning in middle age and found no increase in cancer or other health problems later on.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 7 March 2022. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220307113027.htm>.

It Keeps Getting Better

Age comes with ailments, including brittle bones and weaker muscles to increased risks of cardiovascular disease and cancer, and neurological degradation. Now, scientists at the Salk Institute, in collaboration with Genentech, a member of the Roche group, have shown that they can safely and effectively reverse the aging process in middle-aged and elderly mice by partially resetting their cells to more youthful states. The side effects of trying to keep cells younger could be increased neural capacity, meaning age-related dementia that affects millions of people may finally have an effective treatment.

Today’s science couldn’t be more exciting and you couldn’t find a better time in history to live and then this comes along. The news is too amazing not to share. Of course, all these models and experiments are brand new and the world needs independent verification and we want to make sure the effects will be safe long term. But you would have to already be dead not to get excited about the prospect of the kinds that we are talking about here. 

The details

Cells isolated from older people or animals have different patterns of chemicals along their DNA — called epigenetic markers — compared to younger people or animals. Scientists know that adding a mixture of four reprogramming molecules — Oct4, Sox2, Klf4 and cMyc, also known as “Yamanaka factors” — to cells can reset these epigenetic marks to their original patterns. This approach is how researchers can dial back adult cells, developmentally speaking, into stem cells.

This part of the data is not new and has been verified going back to 2016. These Yamanaka factors have been given to mice at many ages and timescales since then to check effectiveness and safety. And amazingly there were no increased rates of cancers These same mice did have similarities to younger mice but, even in young mice, the Yamanaka factors can accelerate muscle regeneration furth. Like super mice!

Read more here: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220307113027.htm

The cool down is an important part of any exercise routine

But many people forego it altogether in favor of hopping in the shower and getting on with their day. Devoting a few extra minutes to stretching at the end of your work out will help to finish off the work out on a well-rounded note, helping you to enjoy the endorphin release and transition back to normal activity gently rather than abruptly. Because your muscles are warm and your body has been moving at a higher intensity, we want to focus on a more static form of stretching than the warm up. 

Child’s pose

A static stretch that passively stretches the muscles of the back torso while relaxing the muscles in the front of the body. It targets the hips, thighs and ankles and allows you to focus on deep breathing, which fights stress and fatigue and reduces your heart rate as you transition out of exercise mode. 

• Being on hands and knees
• Spread knees as wide as hips, but keep big toes touching. 
• Sit on your heels
• Exhale and lay torso down between your thighs
• Lay hands, palm up, alongside torso and release your shoulders toward the floor. 
• Rest in this pose for 30 seconds to three minutes. 

Optimizing your entire workout routine with our help

We support your body no matter what physical endeavor you choose. Through chiropractic adjustment, we improve range of motion and negate pain signals that result from nerve impingement; with trigger point therapy we release muscles from tension and help you feel relaxed. Let us help you overcome any obstacles that are holding you back from truly feeling well. Give our office a call to schedule an appointment today. 

Have you ever complained of a stiff, sore neck…

…and then not done anything about it? Join the club…we humans are a funny race when it comes to taking action to prevent pain. This is unfortunate because most modern activities are putting more of a burden on our neck, causing strain to the muscles and creating a greater risk for degenerative conditions in the vertebrae. The most common picture of muscular imbalance in the neck involves the muscles in the front being overextended while those in the back are short and tight. Postural awareness begins by listening to your body: when you feel pain, don’t ignore it! You can use simple stretching techniques to release tension from muscles and conditioning them to hold your head balanced atop the spine. 

Let’s start being proactive with our pain 

Next time you feel a stiffness in the neck, try a few of these easy stretches to release those muscles:

• Head rotation: tuck your chin toward your chest, then begin performing a crescent motion by rotating your head from shoulder to shoulder. 
• Ear-to-shoulder: grasp the chair with your right hand to stabilize your body, then place your left hand on top of your head. Gently push your head down toward your left shoulder, feeling a deep stretch in the neck. Hold 5 seconds then repeat on other side. 
• Behind-the-back: stand with feet shoulder-width and reach both hands behind you, grabbing your left wrist with the right hand. Pull your left arm away from your body. Hold 5 seconds and repeat with other arm.

How we help

If you are suffering from chronic neck stiffness or pain, we want to find the true source of your condition. Most often, dysfunction in the neck is related to muscles that have become imbalanced- the scalene group in particular. We can identify parts of the neck that are pulled out of position by your lifestyle and through strengthening and stretching retrain them into a position that is supportive of your head and preventative toward pain. 

Coming to grips with your pain

If you live with chronic back pain, whether this is a recent affliction or a life long struggle, you need to be proactive about taking care of yourself. Too many of us simply ignore the pain until it accumulates into a debilitating episode that takes us out of action. At our office we want to understand more about your pain to help us diagnose your unique situation.

Read More

Chiropractic Is effective at relieving pain 

The core of chiropractic theory holds that the spine affects the function of your entire body. Therefore, in order to regulate the function of your body, including keeping pain at bay, a proper alignment of the spine must be maintained to allow you to move your best and allow your body to heal itself most effectively. But chiropractic doesn’t stop here when it comes to treating pain! 

Our Chiropractic Office Is Your Pain Relief Center

We offer the following treatments to help you leave the pain behind:

• Spinal manipulation: a therapeutic treatment that applies pressure to the joint that accentuates your vertebrae in order to relieve pressure and reduce pain. 
• Biomechanics counseling: are you using your body efficiently during the day? Or are you causing yourself more pain than is necessary? We can help you find ways to move more and move better. 
• Postural analysis and advice: sitting has become the defining posture of our day and most people are causing harm to their spines by the way they sit. We can help you give your back a break and make it easier to sit up straight. 
• Ergonomic training: we want to make sure that your workspace is supporting you and not causing further harm to your spine. 

Pain relief 

Our ultimate goal is to help you find relief from pain and overcome any conditions that are causing you trouble in your daily life. Our help doesn’t stop in the office, as we can give you a detailed plan for managing your pain from home. Give our office a call to schedule an appointment and start leaving the pain behind today. 

What is frozen shoulder?

Less commonly known as adhesive capsulitis, frozen shoulder refers to stiffness, pain, and a limitation in range of movement in the shoulder. It commonly occurs after an injury, whether acute or from repetitive strain; tissues surrounding the shoulder joint stiffen, and scar tissue begins to form. When this occurs, any movement involving the shoulder can cause pain. This is a slow-moving condition, often taking more than a year to disappear. 

Read More

Our science research dollars are not just up in smoke this time. The medical community seems to have found another tool to fight the spread of COVID-19. Researchers at Oregon State University have published a report that claims, “Cannabinoids Block Cellular Entry of SARS-CoV-2 and the Emerging Variants.”

I’m sure more research will be needed and getting volunteers will be easy. If this is true the Cannabinoids industry will be having be having some fun with this new information. You can read a quick summery on the Forbs website linked here:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ajherrington/2022/01/11/study-finds-cannabis-compounds-prevent-infection-by-covid-19-virus/?sh=71be42f61753

It looks like even the Variants can’t get past the has barrier. “Although further research is needed, van Breemen noted that study shows the cannabinoids could be developed into drugs to prevent or treat Covid-19.”

So for a bit of fun, when the office asks how high are you? You can say back, “no man, It’s Hi how are you! I did my research on the internet and now I’m fighting the pandemic.” And blow some cure in his face. Or maybe let your doctor prescribe it first.

Finding it hard to stay asleep?

The sounds of the city can make falling asleep difficult enough, but many people struggle to stay asleep because of their sensitivity to noise. It is easy to be a deep sleeper- the kind who sleeps through smoke alarms- when you are young, but as we get older, we succumb to external and internal factors that make it difficult to maintain a healthy, restful level of sleep. While genetics and the possibility of a sleep disorder are also at play, there are many things you can do with your lifestyle to limit the incursions of noise in your sleep life. 

Training yourself to become a deeper sleeper

The first key is setting yourself up for success: this means limiting factors that are antagonistic from the inside of your body. Alcohol, while sedative by nature, does not let you achieve deep restful sleep and once its effects wear off, you often find yourself awake and uncomfortable. Likewise, caffeine has large effects on your sleep, where the effects can be felt up to 8 hours after consumption. One final factor that may be preventing you from sleeping is the presence of screens before bed- the blue light that emits from your cell phone has been shown to interfere with the feeling of tiredness that eventually leads to sleep. 

What else can I do to stay asleep? 

• Melatonin, a natural chemical that is produced by the brain to influence sleepiness, can be purchased over-the-counter at your local pharmacy. Giving your melatonin levels a boost helps to encourage sleep. 
• Magnesium and calcium supplements: the two combined have been shown to effectively treat insomnia. 
• Control your sleep environment: keep it dark and cool. The cave-like sensation helps to switch off the brain- but don’t worry you can stay warm and happy underneath the sheets. 
• White noise: something that many people do to regulate the many noises of the night. People use different white noise simulators- rainfall, river or rainforest are all popular options. 

Is pain stopping you from sleeping? 

Pain is another factor that prevents people from falling and staying asleep. If you have pain in your back or tight, tense muscles, they could be the main reason that you are not finding the sleep you need. Give our office a call to get to the root of the pain and create a plan for rehabilitation today.