Archive for the ‘Health Articles’ Category
Welcome to Chiropractic Life and Wellness Center's Health Articles Archive. Here you can learn more about Chiropractic Life and Wellness Center, Chiropractic, and Dr. Brandon Chorney, today's choice for Chiropractors in New Fairfield, CT. Read Dr. Brandon Chorney's Chiropractic Health Articles for the health of it.
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by Dr. Brandon Chorney | Aug 7, 2012 | Health Articles
From biking and hiking to walking and jogging, today's parents are keeping fit and bonding with their babies in the process. With an array of products unheard of a generation ago - like baby carriers, joggers and trailers - even the tiniest among us are enjoying the great outdoors. But while these items can make...
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by Dr. Brandon Chorney | Aug 2, 2012 | Health Articles
Over the hill at age 65? Ready for the rocker at 70? Not these days. Americans are living longer and making more of their later years. One key is exercise. "Perhaps the most debilitating influence in people's health as they age is a sedentary life," said Dr. Richard Brassard, president of the American Chiropractic Association...
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by Dr. Brandon Chorney | Jul 31, 2012 | Health Articles
Because asthma and many allergic reactions are caused by a hypersensitive immune system and/or respiratory system, they fall comfortably within the remit of chiropractic care. This is because, for your immune system and respiratory system to function well, they must rely on healthy communication from the brain and the spinal cord.
A misaligned neck can easily cause your nervous system to become imbalanced. When the upper cervical spinal joint is irritated, it can provoke or worsen asthmatic and allergic symptoms. It is quite common, for example, to see victims of accidents involving this part of the spine to experience the onset or deterioration of an allergy such as asthma.
A doctor of chiropractic can assess your individual circumstances and examine your upper cervical spine to determine if their treatment will benefit your particular allergy.
Chiropractic and Allergies Research
There are many significant published studies that demonstrate the benefits of chiropractic care for allergy sufferers. The following are a small sample:
Long Term Remission and Alleviation of Symptoms in Allergy and Crohn’s Disease Patients Following Spinal Adjustment for Reduction of Vertebral Subluxations
Background: An association between visceral disease and immune dysfunction from sympathetic segmental disturbances secondary to vertebral subluxation has been put forward by chiropractic, osteopathic and medical practitioners. We report on the positive results of a controlled study using chiropractic adjustments to reduce subluxations in patients with Crohn’s disease and allergies. We also discuss possible mechanisms for the relationship between visceral and immune dysfunction and subluxation.
Methods: We divided 57 Crohn’s disease patients into two groups. A treatment group consisting of 17 patients and a control group consisting of 34 patients. 6 patients were excluded from the study because of their symptoms, progress and changes in blood test values and because vertebral subluxations were present only in the lumbar region. With all patients continuing their present medication, we subjected the treatment group of 17 patients to spinal adjustment in order to reduce the vertebral subluxations in the thoracic and lumbar regions and compared them with the 34 patients who did not receive spinal adjustments.
Results: Of the 17 patients who received spinal adjustments,
12 showed long-term and stable remission of their symptoms and 9 experienced an alleviation effect. We found that vertebral subluxation is a common and characteristic finding in patients with allergies and Crohn’s disease.
Conclusion: According to the results of this study the possibility may be considered that chronic nerve compression secondary to vertebral subluxation in the thoracic and lumbar regions had a significant effect on the immune function of these allergy and Crohn’s disease patients. It is further postulated that this nerve compression leads to a chronic functional disorder having a significant effect on digestion, absorption of nutrients and liquids, conveyance of food as well as various other functions of the digestive tract extending to excretion.
A New Approach to the Upper Cervical Adjusting Procedure: Part I. Kessinger RC, Bonita, DV. Chiropractic Research Journal 2000 SPR Vol. 7(1) Pgs. 14-32
Patient was a 27-year-old man with chronic sinusitis, headaches, nervousness, and insomnia. His examination revealed an atlas subluxation. Patient received upper cervical adjustments over a period of 3 months. The patient demonstrated correction of their upper cervical subluxation via pre and post Blair protracto x-ray views, spinal thermography, and pelvic balance leg length equality examinations. Patient reported a 50% reduction in frequency and intensity of all symptoms at 3 weeks and at 3 months reported he had been symptom free for 4 consecutive weeks.
The types and frequencies of nonmusculoskeletal symptoms reported after chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy. Leboeuf-Yde C, Axen I, Ahlefeldt G, et al. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics Nov/Dec 1999:22(9) 559-64.
In this paper the authors asked, “How frequently do patients report nonmusculoskeletal symptomatic improvements and what are the types of such reactions that patients believe to be associated with chiropractic.”
Twenty consecutive patients from 87 Swedish chiropractors answered questionnaires on return visits. A total of 1,504 questionnaires were completed and returned. Twenty-three per cent of patients reported improvement in nonmusculoskeletal symptoms, including:
- Easier to breathe (98 patients)
- Improved digestive function (92)
- Clearer/better/sharper vision (49)
- Improved circulation (34)
- Less ringing in the ears (10)
- Acne/eczema better (8)
- Dysmenorrhoea better (7)
- Asthma/allergies better (6)
- Sense of smell heightened (3)
- Reduced blood pressure (2)
- Numbness in tongue gone (1)
- Hiccups gone (1)
- Menses function returned (1)
- Cough disappeared (1)
- Double vision disappeared (1)
- Tunnel vision disappeared (1)
- Less nausea (1)
by Dr. Brandon Chorney | Jul 26, 2012 | Health Articles
Back pain is pervasive among American adults, but a new and disturbing trend is emerging. Young children are suffering from back pain much earlier than previous generations, and the use of overweight backpacks is a major contributing factor. In fact, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that backpack related injuries sent more than 9,000...
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by Dr. Brandon Chorney | Jul 24, 2012 | Health Articles
Ear problems can be excruciatingly painful, especially in children. With 10 million new cases every year, ear infections (otitis media) are the most common illness affecting babies and young children and the number one reason for visits to the pediatrician—accounting for more than 35 percent of all pediatric visits. Almost half of all children will...
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by Dr. Brandon Chorney | Jul 19, 2012 | Health Articles
We all know that exercise and playing sports is an essential part of staying healthy. It benefits your heart, lungs, joints and bones, and also your mind in the way it releases mood-enhancing endorphins. The downside is that physical activity can sometimes lead to injury, either because we are new to it, or we push beyond our limits, or because equipment is used wrongly or is substandard, or through a simple accident. Sport injuries most commonly occur to the ankles, knees, shoulders, elbows, and spine, although the chances of getting hurt can be reduced by taking advice from your doctor of chiropractic before starting.
Strains, Sprains and Tendonitis
Broken bones can obviously occur when playing sport or exercising, but the more common injuries are those that happen to the muscles, tendons, and ligaments – the tendons attaching the muscles to the bones, and the ligaments attaching the bones to each other.
When you twist or overextend a joint, a strain can occur, which is a tear to the muscle or tendon, or a sprain can occur, which is a tear to the ligament. The damage these inflict varies in severity from a few torn or stretched fibers to a complete tear right through the structure. The latter will often require surgery to repair. Also susceptible to tearing are the intervertebral discs, which are the ligaments between the spinal vertebrae that act as shock absorbers. When this happens the disc will bulge and/or become herniated.
Overtraining is a common cause of a condition called tendonitis, which is one of the so-called “overuse syndromes”. This happens when the joint is overworked and the connecting tendons become inflamed, causing pain and dysfunction. When this happens in the shoulder, a bunch of muscles called the rotator cuff becomes inflamed and results in rotator cuff tendonitis. Perhaps the best-known form of tendonitis is “tennis elbow”, a condition replicated in “golfer’s elbow”, both named for obvious reasons.
Stress Fractures
A stress fracture, or a fatigue fracture, happens when a bone suffers too much stress. A good example would be a runner who pushes and pushes for more miles and quicker times until their system tells them enough in the form of a stress fracture. However, a novice can suffer as well if they do too much too soon. Another common runners’ injury is shin splints, where the constant foot-pounding results in microfractures on the front surface of the tibia (shin bone).
Diagnosis and Treatment
Sports injuries are usually pretty easy to diagnose because the athlete will normally have felt when something went awry. A physical examination should confirm this, but x-rays may also be ordered if the injury is suspected of being more serious, like a fracture. Injuries to the soft tissue, as in the case of tendonitis, strains and sprains, may also require deeper investigation, this time with use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) or diagnostic ultrasound.
Plaster casts are required to treat fractures, and surgery is an option in severe cases that are not going to heal on their own. For lesser injuries, the treatment prescribed is pretty standard, as follows:
Rest
48 hours rest and/or immobilization is normally enough, unless the injury is more severe. Too much rest can work against recovery in many cases, and can even be harmful. The sooner normal function is restored, the better, provided the process is not so hurried as to cause further damage through overzealousness. Your doctor of chiropractic can advise on the optimum times for rest and recuperation.
Ice
Ice can help to reduce the inflammation and speed healing.
Compression
Swelling may be controlled somewhat through compression of the injured area, as advised by your doctor of chiropractic.
Elevation
Raising the injured limb above the level of the heart is thought to be helpful in reducing swelling.
Pain relief
According to recent research, the use of certain nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs should be limited as they may in fact retard the body’s natural healing process, causing a longer recuperation than necessary.
Joint manipulation
Recent research has also shown that joint manipulation, as practiced by your doctor of chiropractic, can help with certain types of injury, lowering pain levels and speeding recovery.
Prevention
Many sports injuries are preventable through the use of proper physical conditioning, including warm-up and cool-down routines, and correct techniques when practicing the activity. It may also be the case that safety equipment is available for your particular sport or exercise which will help lower the chances of injury. Keeping hydrated with a good intake of water also guards against injuries by feeding the tissues what they most require to function optimally.
Because asthma and many allergic reactions are caused by a hypersensitive immune system and/or respiratory system, they fall comfortably within the remit of chiropractic care. This is because, for your immune system and respiratory system to function well, they must rely on healthy communication from the brain and the spinal cord.
