A recent study at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois tracked 23 previously sedentary adults, primarily women 55 and older, who had difficulty falling or staying asleep. After 16 weeks on an aerobics training program that included exercising on a treadmill or stationery bicycle, average sleep quality improved. Not only that bu one expert on sleep and exercise believes that an hour of exercise can do more good than an extra hour of sleep.

So, the next time you’re tempted to “sit it out” instead of rising to the occasion and exercising, remember that keeping with a regular exercise routine during the day can help you to have “sweet dreams” at night!

Let’s face it, there are going to be repercussions when your body is forced to stop abruptly and without warning. You might be offered a clean bill of health by an emergency room attendant if you haven’t sustained any broken bones, and you may be given a prescription for drugs to relax the muscle spasms that you are no doubt experiencing as a consequence of the structural changes in your neck or lower back that you received from the impact. But, your problem could go from bad to much, much worse unless you’re treated for the bodily trauma you’ve sustained. In fact, quite a few individuals encounter problems years after a car accident due to the fact that they didn’t get the help they needed in the first place.

Your chiropractor truly understands what your body experiences during a car accident.  If you’ve encountered a minor auto accident, she knows that you are likely to need more repair than your car.  Neck and back injuries are not only painful in the regions in which they happen, but they can also generate pain, tingling, and numbness in your arms and hands and create headaches days, weeks, even months after an accident occurs.

Chiropractic techniques include treatment for soft tissue injuries and spinal bio-mechanics dysfunction. Chiropractic care offers a drug-free, natural road back to feeling good again.

The path of sciatic pain is usually from your low back, through the buttock(s), and down the large sciatic nerve in the back of your leg(s). Many times, the pain can even radiate into your knee. Motion and sitting, alike, can produce pain. On occasion lying down will decrease, or perhaps momentarily eliminate, the pain. Nonetheless, sciatica cannot be corrected without suitable management, and chiropractic treatment is highly effective.

The clinical diagnosis of sciatica is referred to as “radiculopathy”, a medical term that means simply that a disc has distended from its usual position in the vertebral column and is placing pressure on the radicular nerve (nerve root) in the lower back, which forms part of the sciatic nerve. This type of pressure is extremely painful.

Additional pressure on the intervertebral discs, as well as imbalances in the muscles encircling the spine, can happen during and after prolonged sitting, especially in a improper position. In general, an explicit event or exact injury doesn’t create sciatica. Instead, it tends to develop over time as a consequence of general wear and tear on the structures of the lower spine. Over time the lower spine loses its capacity to function normally during everyday requirements.

The final result is that the intervertebral disc develops small fissures, or cracks, which then lets the soft nucleus extend the disc outward. If the disc puts pressure on sensitive tissues, it generates the pain that is frequently called a slipped disc. If the disc puts pressure on the spinal nerve, an individual can develop sciatica.

With chiropractic adjustments and therapies, which often includes postural exercises, most disc problems, including sciatica, can be alleviated. If you are experiencing sciatic pain, it is essential for you to seek help as soon as possible. Call your Chiropractor. They are spine experts!

Even though hip pain and related problems are often signs of age-related degenerative conditions, especially osteoarthritis of the hip joint, osteoarthritis isn’t always the “culprit.” In fact, rather than being the original cause of the problem, osteoarthritis of the hip joint can be the ultimate result of damage to your hips at a previous time.

Gait changes caused by biomechanical injury such as an ankle sprain or knee strain, can generate hip pain. Furthermore, your gait may shift to counterbalance new body demands such as a job change, an alteration in the way you sit, a new sport or activity, or if you start driving for long periods of time on a regular basis..

In addition, gait asymmetries can occur from leg length dissimilarities, foot pronation (walking like a duck), even carrying a baby or small child on your hip. The point is, anything that generates an asymmetry or imbalance when you are in motion can cause painful hip problems.

Your Chiropractor can help in many of these areas. Along with your adjustments, as part of the chiropractic management of your hip problem, They may suggest that you wear orthotics. They will also offer appropriate progressive rehabilitative exercises that include muscle stretching and strengthening.

Hip pain won’t disappear on its own. Hip pain indicates that something needs to be corrected. Get out of pain, get back in balance, and get your life back now! Call Our office. We know what to do to help you!

But, your elbow pain may not actually have anything to do with your elbow, itself, just as it has nothing to do with whether or not you play tennis. How can that be the case? Sometimes elbow pain can be the result of a problem farther up the arm or even in the neck. A vertebral subluxation or a disc protrusion in the neck commonly will affect the nerves that give function to the forearm muscles and cause them to become irritated. The irritation in most cases causes the muscles to tighten and this tension causes undue pressure on the tendon attachment(s). In this case, elbow problems are the result as opposed to the cause of your elbow pain.

Epicondylitis, like nearly all muscoloskeletal problems, usually doesn’t go away on its own. On the contrary, due to the fact that the body is so successful at compensating for dysfunctions, if the challenge is left untreated, difficulties such as additional subluxations and an increase in degenerative changes that cause arthritis can occur.

When analyzing and treating musculoskeletal dysfunctions are required, including those that produce elbow pain, s chiropractor is an expert. As your Chiropractor, I will be able to uncover the actual cause of your challenge and treat it at its source.

So, you don’t need to suffer with “tennis elbow” whether you actually play tennis or not. Not only will chiropractic treatment be able to eliminate your elbow pain now, but I will advise you on how you can avoid pain in the future no matter what your activities may include.

If you were to observe an individual with scoliosis in a standing position, you would probably notice that one shoulder is higher than the other, and that the scapula (shoulder blade) is raised or more prominent. You might also notice greater space between the arm and the body on one side if the person’s arms were hanging freely at his or her sides. Additionally, one hip may be raised or more pronounced than the other. And lastly, the head will not be in plumb with the pelvis.

Scoliosis can be mild in nature or quite severe. In fact, both pulmonary and cardiac functions can be hindered if the curve and rib rotation are severe enough. The cause of scoliosis in 85 percent of cases is unknown. This type of scoliosis (Idiopathic) tends to run in families and is considered to have a genetic component.

In general, Idiopathic Scoliosis develops during adolescence when the body is completing the last major growth spurt. Girls more frequently develop this type of scoliosis. A scoliotic curve, if found, should be monitored for any progression. Your chiropractor can provide periodic examinations and, if necessary, will suggest standing x-rays.

As mentioned above, most (nearly 90 percent) of scoliotic curvatures are mild to moderate, and do not require a brace. Therefore, regular chiropractic care in these cases by your Chiropractor, would be therapeutic in both in decreasing and adjusting any compensatory musculoskeletal conditions that might occur.

This was a small study, to be sure, involving only 28 people, 14 with and 14 without patellofemoral arthritis. Yet the findings may provide another therapy option for people with this knee pain. This finding may also benefit people with chronic patellofemoral pain, which is relatively common in runners and can oftentimes be related to a misalignment in the knee joint.

The researchers from the University of Melbourne enlisted the 28 participants, all adults with an average age of 57. The researchers took MRI scans of the participants knees and discovered that the arthritis sufferers had a higher incidence of misalignment of the knee joint, including an inclination for the kneecap to be positioned toward the outside of the leg.

Using athletic tape to wrap the patient’s knees, the researchers were able to improve that misalignment. This contributed to improvement in reported pain during a squatting exercise.

According to lead researcher, Dr. Kay M. Crossley;

“Our results confirm that patellar taping is an excellent technique which can be recommended for people with (patellofemoral arthritis).”

The tape must be applied correctly to achieve the benefit, and not to worsen the condition. The researchers indicated that a physical therapist would be the most appropriate to wrap the knee, but that with instruction and practice, the patient would be able to successfully tape their own knee.

Using tape may not be the best solution for everyone with patellofemoral pain. Many people may require other forms of therapy or a combination with taping. Dr. Crossley stated that she and her colleagues are currently conducting a clinical trial which is studying the outcomes of knee taping with other treatments.

The results of the taping study were published in the journal Arthritis Care & Research.

The shoulder joint can dislocate forward, backward or downward. The most common shoulder dislocation happens when the shoulder slips forward (anterior instability). The arm bone is moved forward and down and out of its joint. Symptoms can include pain, swelling, numbness, weakness, and bruising. A dislocation can tear ligaments or tendons in the shoulder or even damage nearby nerves. To treat the dislocation, a doctor will manipulate the arm bone (the humerus) and replace it in the shoulder socket. This stops the severe pain and allows for the injured tissues to heal.

Remember, whether you are young or an aging baby boomer, it’s important to keep your musculoskeletal system moving smoothly. Always do limbering exercises before playing a sport or working in the garden. And, never play or work into pain. If you experience shoulder pain, see a healthcare professional.

Where are PBDEs found? Just about everywhere, such as in carpets, textiles, foam furnishings, electronics and plastics. PBDEs can leach out into the environment and accumulate in human fat cells. Is it any wonder then that PBDEs can be found in the blood of most American residents? And, if you live in California, rather than Oak Lawn let’s say, the situation is even more criticaul because of the state’s rigorous flammability laws. Concentrations of the chemicals in blood and breast milk have increased dramatically in the last three decades.

Though it is not currently known just how the chemicals interfere with thyroid function, researchers believe that PBDEs could bind to thyroid receptors and alter how the hormone is released. The bottom line, however, is that these chemicals are dangerous, especially for pregnant women. “Our results suggest that exposure to PBDE flame retardants may have unanticipated human health risks,” said Brenda Eskenazi, a professor of epidemiology and of maternal and child health at UC Berkeley.

If you are someone who needed one more reason to make an appointment with your chiropractor to get the treatment you need for your back pain, the possibility of significant brain decline might just be the “inspiration” you needed! Be smart (and stay smart) by calling our office today!