Spinal Hygiene and Bathing in The Forest

What??? Whoever thought they could incorporate spinal hygiene, forest life and personal hygiene all in one post?  Ridiculous I tell you!  Outlandish to say the least.  So lets get to it!

The summer is fun, lots of activities… a little crazy, but still fun.  One thing I do not do a lot of during the summer months, is forest bathing.  The term comes from an article that a patient brought to me to read.  Nice read that brings out the value of spending time in the forest (thus bathing in the positive energy, aura and oxygen of the outdoors).  I do a ton of it compared to most, and surely have gotten to be ONE with a forest.

My daughter Brooke working out at The Garage during a CrossFit Kids Class, this is Spinal Hygiene!

I can recall camping on vacation was really the primary way I lived for about 15 years of my life.  I grew up pitching a tent, then either rushing to sleep so that I wouldn’t hear my brother snore, or strapping the headphones to my ears and falling asleep to some random Brit punk music.  But the days, the days were spent under the canopy, walking on trails, or casting a reel on the edge of a lake that was so amazing, as you lost yourself in the reflection of the trees you began to wonder which way was really up.  The kind of beauty that you can’t help to enjoy, even us a child.

Now, as you know, I spend much of my time out running riding, canoeing, or anything else, out in the woods.  I have my oldest daughter just about ready to trail ride with me, all good.  And this is all part of the forest bathing phenomenon that is getting so many people outside these days.   Actually, I might as well take this time to see who might want to prepare for a three day journey along the Appalachian Trail on November 6th.  We will start on the GA/NC border, and work our way back to Amicolola Falls over those three days.  My original plan was to do it straight through, no breaks, just try to push it into 36 hours.  But I have no takers to go it with me, so if you want to test yourself over three days, let me know!

Let me tie this together with Spinal Hygiene.  Ultimately, your nervous system is the most important piece of your anatomy.  The Brain and Spinal Cord together control everything in your body.  Pretty awesome.  However, these two awesome pieces of magnificence can be altered in their function, by simple pressure.  Pressure that probably wouldn’t happen if we never let a doctor pull a child’s head during birth (do you know why we see 400 kids a week for maintenance care now), or sit at a computer for 8 hours a day, EVERY DAY…. or sit in a chair, rounding our low back, and thrusting our heads forward.   All serious causes of pressure.

I have a VERY strong belief that all people should be doing something for spinal hygiene EVERY SINGLE DAY of their lives.  It is more important than dental hygiene, and way more enjoyable if you do it right.  Many of you are in a place right now, where your spinal hygiene should include 2 separate times a day of traction, and possible one time of wearing head weights.  Do you know that this might just be the difference between you getting correction and not?  Between organs never fully healing the way they are supposed to, and them flourishing with function.  I have had patients who have gotten pregnant, and I would argue that their head weights did it!  I know, seems crazy, and funny too.

Running through a forest is good for spinal hygiene.  Swimming in the ocean is too (this might be a good time to let you know I am finally taking a real vacation in August, I know, you don’t want me to leave when it seems like I just got back to adjusting, but this is for me to really vacation, so far I have just been feigning it while focusing on other ways to keep myself from going crazy.  But my point in including it, I will be at the beach, near a huge canopy of trees (Hilton Head), enjoying sea and shade.  This is God’s place.

If you are not getting outside and moving, stretching your legs under the trees, or getting a good stretch in, or using your homework (whatever it is that myself or Dr. Levi may have prescribed you), then please, please, please… do it.

Enjoy the earth, get out in it, and maintain your spine in the process.  Be well and be blessed! – Dr. E

Chiropractic and Quality of Life

February 23, 2011 Reprint 07-16-2012

There have been some great studies over the years on Chiropractic and Quality of Life. I stumbled across this reference, and thought about the simple approach to health that we take in the chiropractic health model, and how that simple approach is still the absolute most effective. “A study published in The Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research in August 2004 shows that a healthy spinal column can improve posture, reduce stress and increases range of motion when performing various exercises. People who undergo regular chiropractic treatment sessions may also take better care of themselves by exercising regularly, getting enough sleep and making healthy nutritional choices that also improve the quality of life (Source: ChiropracticResearch.org). Here’s a close look at some of the key benefits of regular chiropractic treatment: 1. Natural way to reduce stress. Chiropractic treatments can help to improve nervous system functioning which in turn helps minimize the effects of stress. When someone is suffering from poor nerve function, stress buildup can be significant enough to trigger migraines, headaches, joint pain and extreme anxiety. Sustained stress on the nervous system leads to hormonal dysregulation, immuno-compromise and secondary diseases such as cancer.

2. Improves posture. A better posture encourages better breathing patterns which helps keep the energy flowing throughout the body. Better posture also minimizes the risk of upper and lower back pain, joint problems and fatigue. In addition, there are numerous studies linking postural degeneration to heart disease, and degenerative conditions of the spinal cord. Together, these effects will improve quality of life.

3. Increased joint flexibility and mobility. Regular chiropractic treatments can improve range of motion and thereby encourage physical activity. This reduces the chances that someone will maintain a sedentary lifestyle, and regular exercise or physical activity can improve quality of life overall.

4. Promotes natural healing. One of the most significant outcomes of chiropractic treatment is that the body can begin to restore itself naturally. An impaired nervous system often leads to injury and damage to the tissues and joints. Any type of spinal misalignment can contribute to the deterioration of the body, so chiropractic adjustments reduce this risk and promote the natural healing process. This means that a patient may not need to resort to prescription drugs and medication just to feel better, thereby improving their quality of life.

5. Reduces blood pressure. Improved nervous system functioning can improve blood and energy flow throughout the body, which in turn can reduce blood pressure. High blood pressure can contribute to a number of health problems and diseases, and may be difficult to control as the patient ages. Regular chiropractic treatments can reduce blood pressure naturally, which means the patient may not need to resort to medication in order to improve their health. Simple and to the point, this is why chiropractic works” So as I said in the beginning, the simple approach is what makes sense. And we will continue to teach chiropractic for its life giving qualities, the improvement on healing and immune system capacity. If you have a child, spouse or parent living nearby who has not been checked, you owe it to yourself and them, to get them through the doors to have their spine checked. It is that important and silent subluxations do not sleep. Hope you enjoyed the reminder of why you come here!

Chiropractic Care and Type II Diabetes

by Craig Singleton – Intern

Researchers found that the reduction of upper-cervical subluxations resulted in a stabilization of plasma glucose levels during a three-hour fasting period.  Subluxations are what chiropractors correct, and here, what we focus on correcting for life long help.

In allopathic medicine, a subluxation is a partial dislocation. In chiropractic, a vertebral subluxation is described as a spinal vertebra has lost its correct juxtaposition with one or both of its adjacent vertebrae to a degree less than a luxation in such a way as to impinge upon nerves and get in the way of the proper transmission of impulses, upsetting general health and causing dis-ease.  Sounds simple?  The simplicity is that interfering with nerves, kills.

There are as many ways to correct subluxations as there are chiropractors. When you experience a structural insult, you usually have a bone that has been injured and forced from its normal position. The chiropractor hardly ever makes an adjustment that moves any bone back to an abnormal position.  Nor does any ONE adjustment return the bone completely to normal.  How could misalignment affect Diabetes?

The Centers for Disease Control quoted the following figures in its 2002 National Diabetes Fact Sheet: – Six percent of the population – seventeen million people – have diabetes – The total medical cost of diabetes in the United States is $132 billion – Diabetes was the sixth leading cause of death on US death certificates in 1999 – Heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, blindness, kidney disease, nervous system disease, dental disease, difficult pregnancies, and amputations are some of the complications of diabetes – More than 60 percent of non-traumatic lower-limb amputations were performed each year among people with diabetes

The most disturbing news about diabetes is that one major form of the disease, Type II diabetes, has reached epidemic proportions. The facts and figures relating to diabetes are alarming. Individuals living with diabetes can live longer, healthier lives and considerably decrease health issues connected to their ailment by using thorough diabetes self-management approaches that include following a program of exercise, healthy nutrition, medication and self-monitoring under the supervision of a health-care team.

Chiropractic care can provide an extremely important function for diabetics, and the outcome is nothing less than stellar! Spinal nerve interference has been acknowledged in scientific literature to be a contributing factor of endocrine and metabolic disorders including diabetes. Chiropractic care is founded on the principle that a good working nervous system is vital to the general well-being and function of the human body.

One of the most often named causes of diabetes is spinal injury. The nerve supply to the digestive organs gets compromised by stress on nerve centers in the thoracic area of the spine. Most often the problem is in the 5th – 10th thoracic vertebrae. Thus, spinal adjustment is a primary therapy for the treatment of diabetes.  As we report on a recent patient who has followed our protocols, being adjusted no less than weekly over the last fifteen months, changing diet, and maintaining his exercise routine, he is now medication free.  Would that have happened without adjustments, not likely as fast.  With adjustments but without diet change, again, possible, but likely to be a slower process.

Dr. Eric – I had a patient a few years back who came off of blood pressure meds, statin meds (her cholesterol dropped 120 points) and diabetes management.  Her husband was a pharmacist.  She never changed her diet or her exercise, all she did was get adjusted.  She stopped seeing me after her second year, and I remember thinking “how could she have stopped, it had been going so well”.  Then I ran into her at a weekend “farm outing” for my church.  She had volunteered to help because she knew the farm owners.  After the initial hello and pleasantries.  She came back to get me and talk some more, and she told me “I want you to know, you have impacted my life more than any one health practitioner ever has.  I continue to live medication free and I continue to ride my horse pain free, after thinking that I would never be able to ride again.  I thank you for your help”.

She might not be coming in right now, but I could guarantee after that comment, that if she ever “felt” her health slip, she would be back.  The best use for chiropractic, is to never let your health slip.

Thanks to Craig for the Daily Sprout, and Blessings to you and all of our interns in their chiropractic careers, soon to begin!  Be well – Dr. E