The Three Ts of Chiropractic: Toxins, Traumas and Thoughts

Back in 1910, D.D. Palmer, the founder of chiropractic, identified the three main causes of spinal misalignments, or subluxations, as toxins, traumas and thoughts. These three Ts are just as relevant today, over a hundred years later! How do these three Ts affect your nervous system? Let’s take a look:

Toxins

Toxins are everywhere! Toxins are sometimes hard to identify. We see toxins as antibiotics, preservatives, hormones, etc. in processed foods, pollution in our environment, chemicals in our cleaning supplies, and sometimes even in the water we drink. These toxins can cause interference with how our nervous system communicates. When our bodies are disrupted by these toxins, homeostasis (equilibrium) within them becomes imbalanced.

If toxins are everywhere, what are some things you can do to rid your body of them? 

• Drinking water is very important to maintaining homeostasis. A spine under stress without enough water can lead to degenerative changes over time that are harder to reverse! Drinking plenty of water is also an excellent way to help your body flush out toxins. 

• Get plenty of sleep. Sleep is critical for many reasons. In this instance, it’s because sleep is part of our bodies’ natural process for removing toxins.

• Exercise regularly to help your kidneys, lungs and colon work efficiently to get rid of waste. It also promotes better circulation, which helps our organs cleanse themselves. 

Chiropractic care is about correcting subluxation so that our nervous system can communicate effectively, and our body can adapt to these chemical stresses better. Being more adaptable and resilient creates more homeostasis/health inside.

Traumas

When we talk about trauma in chiropractic, we’re generally talking about physical trauma. 

Think back to a time when you had your major head bump, or maybe fall from a tree as a child. This would be an example of a form of isolated, or single, trauma. It’s not hard to imagine how a car wreck or bad fall could lead to a spinal misalignment. 

Now, think of common habits that you have everyday, like wearing your purse on the same side of your body, looking down at our phones or computers for long periods of time, wearing high heels, carrying your child on the same hip every time, or sleeping on your stomach.

These are repetitive traumas that can be overlooked or undetected at first but can lead to larger disruptions in our nervous system by building up over time.

Both single and repetitive traumas lead to interferences within our nervous system. With the help of continual chiropractic care, however, interferences can be corrected and caught before leading to bigger problems. 

Thoughts

Our thoughts, mindset, and mental health can affect our physical health. In chiropractic, we talk about how the quality of our thoughts affect the body’s ability to adapt to life, the environment, and our health.

If our adaptability is reduced due to stress, this can make it harder to function optimally day to day.

Consider the fight or flight response you experience in frightening or stressful situations. This stress response is beneficial in the short term, but a constant state of stress can lead to spinal subluxations that keep our bodies from operating at their best.

When we have stressful thoughts, we may experience this as anxiety or excessive worry.

We may start to see this affect our sleep and digestive system, and we may also have more tension in the body, specifically our necks and upper backs.

Learning how to breathe deeply and practice mindfulness are ways to calm our thoughts and minds, and chiropractic can correct subluxations caused by our physical responses to stress and worry. 

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Our aim is to help families – especially pregnant moms and kids -- regain and maintain their health by correcting subluxations, structural misalignments, in the spine. This type of care goes beyond mere symptom relief and helps to improve the function and health of the entire body. Contact us to experience life with a clear and connected nervous system.

Find Seasonal Allergy Relief with Chiropractic Care

If you live the Chattanooga area, there’s a good chance you, or someone in your family, suffers from seasonal allergies. After all, Chattanooga is comfortably seated on the list of challenging places to live for allergy sufferers. The price to pay for living in the Scenic City, for many of us, is seasonal allergies. 

In this article, we’ll discuss how to find seasonal allergy relief with chiropractic care.

What are Allergies?

Seasonal allergies, sometimes called hayfever, are your body overreacting to some outside source. Typical sources of seasonal allergies are pollens from grasses, trees, and weeds. Mold can be another allergy trigger. 

Common seasonal allergy symptoms include:

• Stuffy or runny nose

• Itchy, watery eyes

• Sneezing

• Ear congestion

• Postnasal drainage

• Itchy throat, sinuses, or ear canals

• Rashes

• Headache

• Wheezing

• Coughing

What’s an allergy sufferer to do?

There are plenty of medical interventions out there to treat allergy symptoms. Skin creams & ointments, nasal sprays, anti-histamines, eye drops, inhalers, steroids -- you may have tried some or all of these to ease your suffering. But they often come with unpleasant side effects, such as fatigue, drowsiness, dry mouth, and dry eyes. Plus, they only treat the symptoms and don’t address why your body may be overreacting to allergens in the first place.

Chiropractic for Allergy Relief

Unlike medical interventions, chiropractic adjustments offer a safe, all-natural approach for reducing the symptoms of seasonal allergies - with no uncomfortable side effects. Plus, the adjustments reduce allergy suffering by preventing allergic responses, rather than treating their symptoms.

Our brains are command central for our bodies, and our nervous systems are information superhighways that send chemicals and signals to keep our bodies functioning at their best. Chiropractic adjustments improve our bodies' function, in a safe, natural way. By correcting any structural misalignments that may be interfering with our nervous system’s messages, chiropractic can help your body reduce or stop its reaction to allergens. 

Chiropractic care can give your immune system a boost. When your spine is out of alignment, your brain can’t communicate effectively with the rest of your body, which can keep  your immune system from operating at its best. Because your nervous system and immune system work hand-in-hand, removing subluxations can enhance your immune system and decrease your allergy symptoms.

Research supports chiropractic care for seasonal allergy relief

In a 2008 study, researchers followed the care of a 7 year-old who suffered from allergies, asthma and colds. He regularly missed 1-2 days of school each month because of these conditions. Within two weeks of beginning chiropractic care, his symptoms had improved. After two months of care, his parents chose to stop his allergy and asthma medications. Because he saw such significant improvements - and stopped missing school due to allergies and asthma - they decided to continue his regular chiropractic care every 3-4 weeks to maintain his health. Read the full study. 

Other tips for seasonal allergy sufferers

In addition to seeking chiropractic care, you may also find relief from your sneezing, sniffling, and other symptoms through these preventive measures:

• Keep your windows and doors closed to keep pollen outside

• Shower after being outdoors, to remove pollen from your hair and skin

• Use high-quality air filters, and change them frequently

• Spend less time outside when pollen counts are high

• Vacuum once or twice a week

• Delegate outside chores, like mowing the lawn and pulling weeds, to a family member who doesn’t have allergies

• Rinse your sinuses with a neti pot or squeeze bottle for nasal rinsing

If seasonal allergies are impacting you or your family members, consider chiropractic care as a safe, natural treatment option. Contact us to schedule an appointment or learn more about the ways in which chiropractic care can boost your health - during allergy season and all year long.

Can Chiropractic Care Improve Your Sleep?

Getting a good night’s sleep seems easy and is important to your overall health, but many Americans struggle with sleep. If you have a hard time falling asleep, staying asleep, and waking up feeling rested, then you may be willing to go to great lengths to improve your sleep quality and feel better. A new pillow, a darker room, and other changes to diet and lifestyle can all help, but can chiropractic care improve your sleep?

Yes!

Chronic pain is both a cause and a result of poor sleep, so it’s worth investigating the root cause of what’s hurting you. When you hurt, you don’t sleep as well, and when you’re sleeping poorly, you experience a lower tolerance for pain, so the cycle continues. Chronic pain in your back, neck, hips, legs, or elsewhere can make it hard to get comfortable, affecting, in turn, your ability to fall asleep and stay asleep. When you have subluxations, or misalignments of your spinal bones, your body can’t operate at its best - and may send you painful signals. If pain is keeping you awake at night, chiropractic care may address the underlying cause.

Misalignment in your neck can also be a factor that leads to poor sleep. When your neck isn’t aligned, it tends to tighten your jaw and masseter muscles (muscles in your face that help with chewing), leading to lower oxygen intake, snoring, and a harder time getting deep REM sleep. Regularly addressing misalignments in your neck with chiropractic adjustments may help you sleep better.

If you suspect you have sleep apnea or narcolepsy, seek medical care. Those conditions are typically caused by medical issues not related to your skeletal system and may require other medical interventions.

Another way chiropractic care may improve your sleep quality is by lowering levels of cortisone, the stress hormone. Each time you get a chiropractic adjustment and improve your body’s function, you lower your cortisone levels. This can not only help you sleep better at night, but also help you better cope with the stress of daily life.

Related: Helping Your Kids “Spring Ahead”

What else can you do to sleep better?

In addition to seeking chiropractic care, these are some things that might improve your sleep quality:

• Exercise.

• Eat a healthy diet. (Avoid caffeine and spicy foods in the afternoon/evening, and don’t eat right before bed.

• Adjust the thermostat. A cooler, darker room is more conducive to restful sleep.

• Cut the cords. Blue light from televisions and other screens can stimulate your brain and interfere with your body’s production of melatonin, the hormone that controls your sleep/wake cycle. Turn off those screens an hour before bed.

• Establish a routine before bed, like taking a bath, turning off screens, and turning on white noise.

• Go to bed and wake up at the same times every day.

If you’d like to try chiropractic care to improve your sleep, please contact us.

Chiropractic Care Could be the Answer to Infant Reflux

As a parent, it can be overwhelming to meet all of your little one’s needs. Fussy newborns can usually be calmed with a quick fix - Are they hungry? Do they need a diaper change? Are they tired? Once these basic needs are met, they’re happy and satisfied. However, if they appear to cry for no reason, suffer from gas and/or vomiting after eating, and have difficulty sleeping, they may suffer from infant reflux, and chiropractic care could be the answer. 

Infant reflux can occur for many reasons: diet, overfeeding, position while feeding, and misalignment of the vertebrae. The nervous system, responsible for sending and receiving messages throughout the body, must be able to communicate with other systems to function properly. Structural shifts in the spine can occur that obstruct the nerves and interfere with their function. A recent study has shown removing these shifts through chiropractic care could improve nerve function and resolve reflux and other health issues.

“In the case report presented, the infant was suffering from acid reflux, difficulty latching and breastfeeding, torticollis, and sleep disturbances that resolved under chiropractic care because of the nature of the nervous system and its relationship to the spine.”

— Dr. Matthew McCoy

Dr. Matthew McCoy, a chiropractor, public health researcher and editor of the Journal of Pediatric, Maternal & Family Health – Chiropractic, states “numerous case studies and some clinical studies are revealing that there is a relationship between abnormalities in the spine, the nervous system and the various health challenges that infants experience.”

Read more: Study Shows Chiropractic Relieves Reflux Symptoms in Infants

If your infant is suffering from reflux, sleep disturbance, or any related health issues, contact us to schedule a consultation.

Give Your Nervous System a Boost for Improved Performance

As you probably learned in elementary school, the nervous system is your body’s information super highway. It’s the path by which your brain sends and receives information about what is happening in and around the body. This system, made up of the brain, spinal cord, and all the nerves of the body, controls innate functions like food digestion and heartbeat, as well as learned functions like walking and talking. 

For optimal health, your nervous system must be operating at its best. Chiropractic care can give your nervous system the boost that it needs for improved performance.

Related: How Chiropractic Adjustments Improve Body Function

“If your spinal vertebrae get out of alignment, even slightly—which injuries, poor posture, and many other life stresses can cause—the vertebrae may act as resistors to the distribution of your nervous system energy. The misalignments interfere with the transmission of nervous impulses and diminish the body’s ability to stay healthy.”

— Bradley Kobsar, D.C.

When chiropractic adjustments are performed, they affect the nervous system. By removing spinal subluxations, slight misalignments inside the spine that might compress spinal nerves and could lead to a variety of illnesses, chiropractors alter how the brain communicates with the other parts of the body. 

Chiropractors can gradually work vertebrae back into alignment, giving your nervous system a boost, and allowing nerve function to be at its peak. When your nervous system can effectively communicate with the rest of your body, you can enjoy better health and improved performance overall.

Related: Understanding Disease, Stress, and Your Health

Read the full article, from Pathways to Family Wellness magazine, Issue #54.

Research Shows Chiropractic Can Ease Suffering from Migraines

Sensitivity to light and sound, nausea, vomiting, and throbbing pain that can last for days - these are some symptoms of migraines. These headaches can stop your daily routine in its tracks.

New research shows chiropractic can ease suffering from migraines, offering another tool to combat the pain. The study, published in the Journal of Upper Cervical Chiropractic Research, shows that chiropractic may play an important role in helping patients with chronic migraines.

The study followed a woman who had suffered from migraines for 12 years. She had the headaches several times a week, and they sometimes left her bedridden for days, unable to care for her family or her own basic needs. Medications didn’t help.

What did help was chiropractic care. Her chiropractor discovered structural shifts in her upper neck, which can lead to subluxations. She also had changes to her posture, along with tight muscles in her neck and upper back. The chiropractor confirmed these findings with X-rays and other tests before starting upper cervical treatment.

“. . . We are finding that correcting the structural abnormalities associated with these spinal problems reduces the nerve obstructions and people experience improvement.”

— Dr. Matthew McCoy, chiropractor and public health researcher

She had improved range of motion after one adjustment, and after three months of chiropractic care, her migraines went away completely.

If you suffer from migraines, consider chiropractic care for addressing structural shifts that may be causing your pain.

Learn more in Chiropractic Provides Relief from Migraines and Chronic Pain.

Research Shows Chiropractic May Relieve Symptoms of Meniere's Disease

Sufferers of vertigo, ringing of the ears, or Ménière's disease may find relief from their symptoms through chiropractic care, according to a recent study. That’s reason to rejoice! These symptoms can be debilitating and are, unfortunately, sometimes accompanied by nausea and loss of balance.

Ménière's disease is a disorder of the inner ear that can include vertigo, hearing loss, nausea, tinnitus and ear pressure. There’s no known cure for the disease, and some of the treatments for its symptoms include long-term use of medication or invasive procedures like injections and even surgery. Fortunately, recent research shows chiropractic may relieve symptoms of Ménière’s disease.

A study, reported in the Journal of Upper Cervical Chiropractic Research, followed a 64-year-old woman who had suffered from Ménière’s disease for over three years and also experienced headaches, neck pain, vertigo and anxiety. The therapies she tried, including medications, only provided her with temporary relief.

“It makes perfect sense when you think about it. Meniere’s disease may be related to how the entire body communicates with the brain and the most critical area for this is the spine and the most critical area of the spine is the upper part of the neck.”

— Dr. Matthew McCoy, chiropractor and public health researcher

Her chiropractor found and treated structural shifts, tight muscles, and postural changes in her upper neck. Over a period of 14 months, she received upper cervical chiropractic care and experienced a significant improvement of her symptoms. Specifically, she found relief from her vertigo, anxiety, headaches, and other symptoms related to Ménière’s disease. After treatment, she reported not only feeling better but also being able to do more activities she enjoys, like visiting her grandchildren and walking on the beach.

Read more about the study and chiropractic’s effect on Ménière’s disease.

If you suffer from vertigo, tinnitus, or Ménière’s disease, consider chiropractic care as part of your treatment plan. It’s a gentler, more natural approach for finding relief and managing your symptoms.

You may also be interested in The Importance of the Vagus Nerve.

Chiropractic Care for Newborns and Infants

Being a parent to an infant is an amazing, albeit trying, experience. One week they’re sleeping through the night and the next, barely a wink. How wonderful it would be if our little ones could verbalize their discomfort to us! Enter a skilled chiropractor with experience working with children to interpret distress and correct it without the use of medication or surgery. In fact, a recent article in Pathways to Wellness indicates “many chiropractors are saying that all babies need to have their spines checked to determine if vertebral subluxations are present.” The birth process itself can be traumatic for infants, so an excellent first step in caring for your newborn is to have him examined and adjusted by a chiropractor.

Can chiropractic help infants?

The article references a study by German physician Dr. G. Gutmann, who has examined and treated over 1,000 children. From his own experience and research, he concludes that approximately 80 percent of all children are “not in autonomic balance” and suffer from subluxations or blocked nerve impulses. That’s an alarming figure, but Gutmann says “ chiropractic can often bring about amazingly successful results,” and he “has been ‘constantly amazed how, even with the lightest adjustment with the index finger, the clinical picture normalizes, sometimes gradually, but often immediately.” 

What are the benefits of chiropractic care for newborns and infants?

The birthing process not only puts strain on mom, but it can also cause stress to baby’s cranium and spinal cord, contributing to numerous health problems, such as asthma and difficulty nursing. Chiropractic care for infants is an effective first step in your child’s health.  

Additionally, regular chiropractic care can help relieve: 

“It is no longer conjecture whether children can be helped under chiropractic care. Chiropractic can change lives.”

— Larry L. Webster, D.C.

• Ear infections and earaches

• Colic and acid reflux

• Fussiness

• Trouble breastfeeding

• Asthma and allergies

Related: Why Infants Need Chiropractic Care

Is chiropractic care gentle enough for infants?

It’s natural for parents to be unsure about chiropractic care for their newborns and infants, but chiropractors take an even more delicate approach to adjustments for babies than they do for adults. Chiropractic for babies is gentle and many times goes unnoticed by the baby. The pressure applied for the adjustment is about the amount of pressure you would use to check the ripeness of a tomato - safe, gentle, and effective.

If your newborn or infant is suffering, contact us to schedule a consultation and get her on the path to wellness.

Read the full article, Newborns, Infants, and Chiropractic, in Pathways to Wellness, Issue #60.

Chiropractic for Childhood Bedwetting

People often think of chiropractic care as treatment for pain, but helping your nervous system work optimally can resolve all kinds of issues, including childhood bedwetting.

Often, the cause of bedwetting is simply the impairment of the phrenic nerve. Chiropractic adjustments can focus on the vertebrae that surround this nerve, which affects the bladder, to relieve any subluxations preventing the nervous system from functioning at 100%. If childhood bedwetting is an issue for your child, a few visits to the chiropractor may be just the trick.

An awesome example of this “miraculous bedwetting fix” is Kelsey’s story. Kelsey’s chiropractor states that she had never seen a seven-year-old look so sad. On the first visit into her center, she noticed that Kelsey wouldn’t smile and simply looked as if she were in pain. After the rundown of her issues including stomach aches, migraines, allergies, asthma and a host of other concerns, it was obvious that Kelsey had a lot on her plate.

Related: Chiropractic Provides Relief from Migraines and Chronic Pain

From all of these ailments, the thing Kelsey was most upset and embarrassed about was her bedwetting. She wet the bed multiple times every night and had never enjoyed a the joys of a sleepover with friends, for fear that she would wet the bed.

After just one chiropractic visit, Kelsey had a reduction in the number of nights she wet the bed, and she wasn’t wetting the bed as many times each night. By her third visit (two weeks after her first visit), she reported no bedwetting incidents in the past four nights. By her fourth visit, she had a planned a sleepover!

“Over the years now I have witnessed many chiropractic “miracles,” but I also understand that they are not miracles at all. They are simply the body’s innate power doing exactly what it is supposed to do once the nervous system is functioning optimally. We are born to survive and designed to thrive. Anything less is diminishing our potential, dimming our shine, and dulling our sparkle.”

— Kelsey’s chiropractor, Brenda Trudell, D.C.

A few simple chiropractic visits had “unlocked her nervous system” so that it could function at its full potential. The result was a happy and healthy child who felt “normal.”

Read more about Kelsey’s story, which was published in Pathways to Family Wellness, Issue #61.

Chiropractic as a Solution for Torticollis & Breastfeeding Problems

We love working with babies to help them function better overall. Often, that means we see infants who could benefit from gentle chiropractic care to treat issues like subluxations, torticollis, and difficulty breastfeeding. Recent research from the Journal of Pediatric, Maternal & Family Health, Chiropractic indicates that chiropractic care can help infants born with these health concerns.

The infant in the study was a twin, who was head down, with his sister’s weight pressing on him, for must of his time in utero. As a result, he was born with torticollis, a condition that contracted his neck muscles and caused his head to tilt down. He also struggled to latch for breastfeeding, particularly on one side. A routine visit with their pediatrician wasn’t beneficial in addressing these concerns, so the parents sought chiropractic care.

Related: Chiropractic as a Solution for Breastfeeding Difficulties

After seven visits for chiropractic care, his head alignment was visibly improved, and his breastfeeding and sleeping had both improved, as well.

Read the full study to learn more about this child and other studies demonstrating that chiropractic care offers many benefits for babies with torticollis and breastfeeding troubles.

For local breastfeeding support, contact Chattanooga Lactation, LLC.

Jennifer's Chiropractic Story

Listen to Jennifer's story about how specific chiropractic care helped her function better during and after pregnancy. As a result, she is more healthy overall for her clients and her family!

“My general disposition is better because I feel better.”

Jennifer experienced lower back pain during pregnancy, which was exacerbated at work. As a child life specialist, she has to bend down to work with patients, and that can strain her lower back. She’s glad to get chiropractic care and says, now that she’s pain-free, “It makes me a happier mom, makes me better at my job, makes me a better wife.”

🎥 Rachael Porter

Study Shows Chiropractic Relieves Reflux Symptoms in Infants

Is reflux keeping your baby up at night or causing her to vomit or spit up frequently? Reflux is a common problem for babies, and the pain, sleeplessness and discomfort it causes can be hard on the whole family. If nothing you have tried is helping, consider chiropractic. Recent research shows chiropractic care may reduce or eliminate gastroesophageal reflux symptoms in infants.

The study, reported in the Journal of Upper Cervical Chiropractic Research, followed a 9-week-old baby who experienced severe reflux symptoms. He wasn’t sleeping well, had sinus congestion, vomited frequently, and had trouble being placed on his back. He had trouble keeping down breastmilk, and prescription medications weren’t helping.

Related: Chiropractic as a Solution for Breastfeeding Difficulties

A chiropractor discovered that the infant had tight muscles in his neck and changes to his posture, due to subluxations in his upper neck.

After a single chiropractic adjustment, he saw immediate improvement. The infant slept 6 hours the first night with no symptoms, 7 hours the next night, and 9 hours the next. According to his mother, all his reflux symptoms ceased, so he was able to stop all medications.

If your infant is suffering from reflux, contact us to see if chiropractic care can improve his nerve function and ease symptoms of reflux.

Research Shows Chiropractic Care May Resolve Premature Ventricular Contractions

Recently, the Annals of Vertebral Subluxation Research published results from a case study about premature ventricular contractions and chiropractic care.

In the study, two female patients suffered from premature ventricular contractions and other symptoms. A chiropractor assessed both patients using several different methods and found that each had multiple vertebral subluxations. The subluxations were in the patients’ cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spinal regions.

“This case series demonstrated improvement in the autonomic nervous system of two female patients while undergoing chiropractic care.”

Both patients received a series of chiropractic adjustments without any other type of intervention. In both cases, the premature ventricular contractions were resolved, and the patients’ other symptoms were reduced.

You may also be interested in learning how chiropractic adjustments improve body function for improved overall health.

Understanding Disease, Stress and Your Health

If your nervous system is the information highway that keeps your body functioning, it makes sense that your overall health will be better when your nervous system is performing at its best. During flu season, it pays to understand disease, stress and your health.

Related: Can Chiropractic Improve How the Body Handles Stress?

You can improve your health and your body’s resilience by paying attention to two kinds of stress: distress and eustress. Distress leads to disease and illness, while eustress builds resilience. Eustress is the kind of stress that builds character and resilience; it’s experiencing challenges like grief or failure, then learning how to recover.

Distress, on the other hand, is more negative stress that’s harmful in nature and can lead to illness and disease. Our nervous systems are designed to recover from stressors, but our culture leads us toward isolation and fear. When you recognize this, you’re better able to adapt to stress and reconnect with the natural source of your health.

“Chiropractic is about supporting the ideal conditions for the nervous system to overcome stress. ”

Support your body’s ability to adapt to stressors and experience better health through chiropractic care. Learn more about how chiropractic adjustments improve body function.

Source: Pathways to Family Wellness magazine, Issue #63.

Research Shows Chiropractic Can Help Suffering From Concussions

Recent research reported in the Journal of Upper Cervical Chiropractic Research reveals that chiropractic care can bring relief from concussion trauma, including dizziness, headaches, vertigo, and concentration problems.

“Basic science research shows that the proper functioning of the brain and its ability to function, coordinate movement and balance relies on proper structure and movement of the spine and that this can be severely affected by trauma and concussion.”

— Dr. Matthew McCoy, chiropractor

In the study, two women suffering from post-concussion syndrome experienced symptoms like headaches, trouble concentrating, dizziness, and ringing in their ears. Both had sought relief from treatments including acupuncture and physical therapy, plus medical care from neurologists and otolaryngologists. That care did’t relieve their suffering, so they turned to chiropractic for relief from their lingering concussion symptoms.

X-rays revealed that both women had structural shifts, or vertebral subluxations, in their necks that may have been obstructing their nerves and the blood supply to their brains.

Related: Chiropractic Care for Athletes

After chiropractic care, the women were both able to return to work and find normalcy in their lives again, thanks to a significant reductions in their symptoms.

“It makes perfect sense when you think about it. The effects of a concussion including pain, brain fog, vertigo, dizziness, coordination and balance problems may be related to how the entire body communicates with the brain.”

— Dr. McCoy

Read the full study for more details about chiropractic and concussions.

How Chiropractic Adjustments Improve Body Function

Our brains are the control centers for our entire bodies. Everything that happens in our bodies is regulated by our brains and our nervous systems. Not only do our brains control our physical selves, but they’re also centers for our senses, emotions, thoughts, and behaviors. As chemicals and signals from our brains travel across our nervous systems and out to our organs, tissues and other systems, they allow our bodies to function.

Our nervous systems are a lot like busy highways that need be maintained so that brain signals and chemicals can flow smoothly to their proper destinations. Just like highways get worn down with normal wear and tear, so do our bodies. Those daily stressors - poor posture, injuries, repetitive motions - can create vertebral subluxations that compromise the signals our nervous systems are trying to send out.

Related: The Importance of the Vagus Nerve

“Vertebral subluxations are like static in a
communication system. They prevent the
brain from accurately perceiving what is
happening in the body and from properly
regulating bodily functions.”

Vertebral subluxations are misalignments of the spinal bones that prevent your nervous system from functioning at 100% of its potential. If your nervous system isn’t operating at its best, then neither is the rest of your body.

Subluxations can be so subtle that you don’t notice obvious symptoms or pain, but they may still be negatively affecting your body’s ability to perform at its best. Chiropractic adjustments improve body function by correcting those subluxations to improve the health of your entire body. That’s why we believe chiropractic care is for everyone, not only those who are suffering from pain. When your body is free from subluxations, its systems work in harmony to keep you healthy.

Learn more about the benefits of chiropractic care and how it improves a number of health concerns.

Read the full article, which was published in Pathways to Family Wellness, Issue #62.

Chiropractic Provides Relief from Migraines and Chronic Pain

Recent research shows that people who suffer from chronic pain and migraines may find relief through chiropractic care. In the study, researchers followed a 52-year-old patient who had suffered from migraines and pain in her left arm and leg for over 20 years. Her pain was so severe that she sometimes went to the hospital for relief, and the persistent pain was affecting her quality of life.

“Chronic pain disorders, including fibromyalgia, back pain, and neck pain, are more common among chronic migraine sufferers.”

Prescription medication offered only slight relief, but after five weeks of treatments (three times/week), her symptoms were greatly reduced. At that point, she opted to continue chiropractic care on a monthly basis.

Read the full study for more details about this patient’s situation and how a similar treatment plan could help you find relief from your headaches or chronic pain.

Chiropractic Care Keeps This Mom Fit and Strong

A mom of two, who was injured in a car wreck as a teen, describes how chiropractic care has allowed her to stay fit and strong for her kids and for her life.

Chiropractic Care for Athletes

Amateur and professional athletes alike constantly strive to improve. They want to be faster, stronger, more flexible. Regular chiropractic care can help! Not only does it boost athletic performance, but it also speeds healing and recovery time and can help prevent injury.

How? Chiropractic care focuses on your body’s structure, correcting misalignments and improving your nervous system’s ability to send and receive messages.

“Postural strength and coordination are essential for injury prevention and sports performance.”

— Thomas Harris, MD, The Sports Medicine Guide

Even if you’re not an athlete, you can enjoy the benefits of chiropractic in your daily life, as your body is better able to handle your daily physical activities and stressors. And, considering that nearly 36% of all injuries to children in the U.S. are caused by sports and recreational activities, it’s a good idea for your child athlete to receive chiropractic care, as well.

Read Chiropractic and Athletes for more information, and contact us to schedule an appointment.

Source: Pathways to Family Wellness magazine, Issue #07.

Chiropractic May Alleviate Allergies and Immune Conditions

Did you know that our immune and nervous systems are linked? This relationship explains why chiropractic care can reduce and improve a wide variety of problems, including allergies and immune deficiencies.

Recent research following a 5 year-old patient confirmed that chiropractic care may alleviate suffering caused from allergies and other immune issues.

The patient had been born five weeks prematurely. Since birth, she had suffered from recurrent respiratory infections, a chronic cough, repeated ear infections and constipation. Because of these problems and others, she was diagnosed as immuno-deficient and took a variety of medicines for allergies and asthma, including frequent rounds of antibiotics.

A chiropractor examined her and discovered vertebral subluxations, or structural shifts in her spine. These shifts contributed to her abnormal posture, decreased spinal range of motion, muscle spasms, neck and back pain, and a loss of curvature in her neck.

“With everything we know about the relationship between the nervous and immune systems, chiropractic makes perfect sense in the case of autoimmune disorders and allergies. In fact, chiropractic is not treating the allergies or immune dysfunction but re-establishing normal neurological function which benefits the immune system of the patient and allows the body to heal.”

— Dr. Matthew McCoy

During her course of chiropractic care, the child’s allergy and asthma symptoms improved, she was sick less often, she slept better, and she missed fewer days of school because of illness. Her chiropractic treatments also eliminated her neck and back pain and improved her posture and the curve of her neck. Eventually, she stopped taking all medications except for a single inhaler.

If your child is suffering from allergies, asthma or other immune-related issues, consider chiropractic care as an option for treatment and prevention.

Source: The Chronicle of Chiropractic. Read the full article or review the research.