Stress Solutions

Adrenal fatigue, as I’ve indicated in the past, this is a phenomenon that I believe is a much bigger issue than most health professionals give credit.  Our healthcare system is so busy treating the symptoms that result from adrenal fatigue that they never get time to uncover the ultimate cause.  But if you know what to look for, you can often self-diagnose adrenal problems and address them before they require more aggressive symptomatic treatment.

Your adrenals are thought to be your stress organs because they produce and release the stress hormones cortisol and adrenalin.  They also produce sex hormones, estrogen and progesterone, some dopamine and about 30 different steroid hormones.  These hormones are why your adrenal glands are intimately tied to the function of your thyroid, pituitary, kidneys, reproductive system and even your brain function.  But just like any muscle or other organ, your adrenals can become fatigued through overuse.  In the case of these vital glands, the stresses that tax the adrenals include: lack of sleep, sugar and processed foods, stimulants such as caffeine and nicotine, excessive activity (work, overtraining), and of course emotional trauma and stress.  All these factors move us into a stress physiology more commonly known as fight/flight mode.  This is a good thing if you need to fight or escape from a tiger, but it’s a terrible thing on a day-to-day basis.  There are many signs and symptoms that you might be dealing with adrenal fatigue.  These include: arthritic tendencies, body aches/pains, extreme fatigue, low blood sugar and low blood pressure, light-headedness and dizziness upon rising from sitting or lying down, salt and sugar cravings, sleep disturbances, infertility and reduced sex drive, hair loss, depression, migraines, menstrual difficulties, blurred vision and severe allergies.  Of course these are merely symptoms and many of these can be tied to other health problems as well.  The preferred adrenal test can be done through blood or saliva testing to check the cortisol and DHEA levels.

Like most any health problem, when treating adrenal imbalances, the cause is the cure.  There are several strategies that help support the adrenal glands such as B-vitamins (especially B5), Omega 3 fatty acids such as fish oil, vitamin C, magnesium, and various other herbs.  We use a product called Alkadrenergy that works particularly well.  However, unless you desire to take these products for the rest of your life, you must ultimately address the lifestyle factors at the root of the problem.  Much of this involves changing your routines.  For instance, you should go to bed at the same time and try to get close to eight hours of sleep each night.  Exercise is critical to reduce stress, but don’t over-train.  If you’re stressed with your work or personal life, make time for stress relieving activities such as yoga or meditation.  Some people just need to learn to say no and not do everything for everybody!  Fruits and vegetables actually have a sedative effect that will help relieve the fight/flight response whereas most processed foods and sugars feed it.  Likewise, consuming quality fats and proteins such as raw nuts and coconut oil can be helpful as well.  In some cases, adrenal imbalance is caused by food allergies and going sugar-free or gluten-free is the best solution.  Regardless of whether you’re suffering from adrenal fatigue or not, stress is indeed the “silent killer” and all of these lifestyle and stress-relieving strategies are helpful for promoting a greater state of health and wellness in addition to relieving adrenal stress.

Keeping the Curve

When we look at the spine, it should be straight from the back, but from the side view we should see three distinct curves.  These curves in the spine are there to provide shock absorption like a spring to limit stress and trauma to the bones and discs of the spine.  Despite the importance of these curves, after observing literally thousands of x-rays, I’ve seen that very few adults, probably only 10-20%, actually maintain these curves.

At birth, the spine is in a C-shape from being in the fetal position.  The normal curvatures of the spine develop as an infant begins to crawl.  Gravity seems to draw the low back or lumbar spine forward toward the floor and holding the head up while moving on all fours causes a forward curvature of the neck or cervical spine.  Just like a dam or a bridge, these curvatures create strength and stability in the spine and by placing the weight on the back sides of the vertebrae where the joints are designed to carry these forces.  This, in turn, keeps pressure off the discs and helps maintain normal alignment of the individual bones.  This is how things are supposed to work, but then life happens.  Over time, the muscles will change tension and the ligaments that hold the bones together will be compromised allowing the spine to take on the position of the postures that we maintain through our daily lives.  Let’s face it, we sit at computers, we drive with our neck and shoulders forward, we use pillows that push our head forward.  Perhaps the biggest concern for the future is all the time kids (and adults) spend looking down at Ipads and phones.  This all takes a toll over time and the curvature of the neck becomes straight or sometimes even reversed.  What are the implications of this?  As the weight of the spine shifts forward this causes excessive wear and tear on the discs and the fronts of the vertebrae resulting in degeneration and permanent arthritic changes of the spine.  As the curve is lost, the muscles on the back side of the spine are stretched resulting in tension up the back of the neck to the head causing chronic neck pain and tension headaches.  If this isn’t enough, straightening of the neck causes a loss of range of motion not only in your neck but also in your shoulders.  You can try this yourself by pushing your head forward and trying to move your neck and raise your arms over your head.  Numerous studies have shown that breathing capacity is decreased as the curvature of the neck is lost.  There are even a few studies that show a straight or reversed neck creates increased tension on the spinal cord that can cause people to live 2-3 years less than those fortunate enough to maintain their cervical curves.

The good news is that the curvature can be maintained and even restored.  Of course, watching your posture to begin with is paramount.  Learning to become a back sleeper and using a contoured cervical pillow also helps.  However, if the curve is already lost or reversed, you have to do more than this.  Neck and shoulder exercises to improve posture and strengthen the muscles on the back of the neck are necessary.  And, even though it’s a process that can take 6-12 months, using some form of cervical traction unit where you let your head lie back over a fulcrum for several minutes per day will slowly reverse the changes.  Nearly any chiropractor can assess for these postural changes and make recommendations to restore the integrity to the spine.

Happy Birthday

It was 124 years ago that D.D. Palmer of Davenport Iowa laid Harvey Lillard, the janitor of his building, on a table and placed his hand on the boney lever of Harvey’s 3^rd thoracic vertebrae and gave a thrust in hopes of restoring the bone back to its normal alignment and movement.  You see, Harvey had gone almost completely deaf 17 years earlier when he felt something pop in his back.  D.D., who at the time was titled a magnetic healer, examined Mr. Lillard and found an abnormal boney spot out of position.  The two men agreed that the bone would likely be better off if it were placed back in its normal position and in an instant what would come to be known as the first chiropractic adjustment was performed.

The story goes that Harvey sat up off the table and said for the first time in years he, “could hear the racket of the wagon wheels in the street” and his hearing was restored.  D.D. proceeded to send out letters inviting those with hearing loss from around the country to visit Davenport, Iowa.  Many came, but unfortunately no others had their hearing restored.  But many of these people had other conditions and problems in addition to hearing loss that improved with D.D.’s new discovery.  In time and with diligent study of the anatomy and physiology, Dr. Palmer learned that chiropractic wasn’t really a “treatment” for any of these conditions.  Rather, this new form of healthcare was a means of restoring balance back to the structure of the body so as to relieve tension and pressure off the nervous system allowing the body can function normally or function within what is known as homeostasis.  When the body is functioning in homeostasis, it has the ability to regulate all the different organs and systems and it has the best ability to heal and recover from different conditions or ailments.

Today we know this is true.  Health is defined as your ability to respond to physical, chemical, and emotional stresses.  So health is about adaptability.  When pressure or tension exists on the nerves and spinal cord, your ability to adapt to these stressors is diminished.  When this pressure is reduced, the nervous system functions more efficiently and your ability to respond and adapt to stress is improved.  So this Wednesday, I say Happy Birthday chiropractic and thanks Dr. Palmer for you hard work, intuition, and wisdom!

Common vs. Normal

One of the hardest things for me to deal with as a chiropractor is all the unnecessary struggling that presents into my office.  The Annals of Chronic Disease report that 80% of Americans will die of a chronic disease.  However, the New England Journal of Medicine has stated that, “Preventable illness makes up 70% of the burden of illness and the associated expenses.”  So we’re afflicted with all these ailments that should have been avoidable in the first place.  This is the very essence of the “healthcare crisis” we hear so much about on television and from our politicians.  The problem as I see it is that we Americans have become complacent and reserved to the idea that disease is normal – that it is to be expected as a part or routine aging.  Science simply does not support this!  While the disease rates we experience in this country have become very common, this phenomenon is far from normal.

When you look at the statistics, America leads the world in degenerative diseases as well as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer and the numbers are markedly higher than they were just a few decades ago.  If all this were “normal”, these rates would not change and the rest of the world would share a similar plight.  As a chiropractor, I was taught that the body developed from two cells using its own innate intelligence and this same intelligence is there throughout life to organize, regulate, and heal the body naturally.  Disease is merely a state of dis-ease where the body is not in homeostasis (balance) and health is not being expressed.  This philosophy is similar to the concept that darkness is merely a lack of light.  If our bodies have this intelligence, could it possibly be normal for things to just break down and begin to fail after 30-50 years?  If you can accept this, then why do we have such high rates of disease and why are these rates so much worse than a half century ago?  Obviously there can be only one answer.  Lifestyle!  Our habits are not only keeping us from performing and functioning at our best, they are literally robbing us of our “light” that is our health and vitality resulting in alarming rates of disease.  If I’m right about this (and I know I am), then we should be able to observe disease processes reverse when people drop their bad habits and begin practicing a healthier lifestyle.  This is the best part of my job – on the occasion when I see a person take responsibility for their health and begin to work on their diet, exercise, sleep, stress, and improve the function of their nervous system through chiropractic adjustments, I get to observe these changes first hand.  Once health is enhanced, disease begins to diminish every time.

Recognize that our bodies perform miracles every day.  There are over a million chemical reactions going on inside every second that are controlled automatically.  You have an amazing potential to heal when health is allowed to be expressed.  However, to express health and wellness, we have to practice healthy habits and lifestyles.  Just don’t wait until health is completely lost to start making those changes and making better choices and don’t accept that disease is just a normal part of life.