Ventura Chiropractor Reveals A Surprising Solution to Your Allergy Symptoms
March 12th, 2010 | 
Author: Your Ventura Chiropractor knows that allergies can turn our everyday life into misery. Unwelcome symptoms like itchy eyes, a runny nose, sneezing, or a skin rash can result from a simple walk in the park, a play date with Kitty, a shellfish stew, or even something as small as a nut.
To make things worse, for some individuals, and perhaps you’re one of them allergic reactions can go from just plain irritating to dangerous and life-threatening as the air passageway constricts and breathing becomes difficult. This increased intensity of symptoms can frequently produce a state of panic.
In fact, if you have allergies, it may seem that, from time-to-time, your environment is a pretty unfriendly place and that the world around you is, in deed, out to get you!
You may be curious as to why it is that other people seem so unaffected by the environment, while your body reacts, or rather overreacts, to it. It’s a great question. The answer is because some individuals, like you, have a hyperactive immune system that literally “freaks out” when you encounter ordinary substances such as pollen, dander, shellfish, or nuts.
Can your Ventura Chiropractor help with your allergy symptoms? The answer may surprise you. Quite a few individuals have noticed that they experience relief from their allergy symptoms after chiropractic treatment, even though chiropractic care doesn’t actually treat allergies.
This relief comes about because chiropractic manipulation affects the whole nervous system, including the autoimmune system. When there’s a disturbance in the nervous system, along with other problems, the autoimmune system, whose task it is to assist you in adapting and responding appropriately to your environment, can become under-active or overactive. In the case of your allergies, the breakdown is the latter (it becomes overactive).
Since chiropractic manipulations reduce or take away disturbances in the nervous system and bring back balance and harmony to the body, the manipulations bring that same balance and harmony to the auto-immune system as well. A strong immune system reacts appropriately to supposed allergens in the environment.
So, as mentioned above, your chiropractor doesn’t actually treat allergies. You could say, instead, that ease from your allergies is merely a part of a well-adjusted nervous system. Make an appointment, today, to see your Ventura Chiropractor and get back into harmony with your environment.
Posted in allergies | 
Tags: allergic reactions, allergies, chiropractic, chiropractor | 
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Garlic Isn’t Just For Keeping Vampires Away!
As a chiropractor, I am a voracious reader when it comes to any new study about a natural food or supplement that aids in good health and may also help to prevent a certain disease. I am also aware that there isn’t any one thing, no matter how good it sounds, that is the “be all, end all” when it comes to good health. It’s our total approach to our health, good nutrition, regular exercise, plenty of water, and lowering stress levels all add up to a total health package that will keep an individual healthy, strong, energetic, and often disease-free. That said, I was still excited to read about a new study that indicated that eating lots of garlic may lower the levels of a certain cancer-causing process within the body. That’s right, garlic’s not just beneficial for keeping vampires at bay! My excitement stems from the fact that I love garlic, pure and simple. If you do, too, read on…
The study, published in a recent issue of the journal Analytical Biochemistry, used a new type of urine test that shows that eating garlic may lower levels of the cancer-causing process called nitrosation that converts some substances found in foods or contaminated water into cancer-causing compounds. Nitrosation is most commonly caused by nitrates from certain processed meats or high-heat food preparation methods, or by water contaminated by industrial or agricultural runoff. The urine test results showed that the more garlic that was consumed, the less there was a marker for the risk of cancer. Though the precise mechanism by which garlic and other compounds affect nitrosation is not clear at this time,” said senior study author Earl Harrison, a professor of human nutrition at Ohio State University and an investigator at the university’s cancer center, the mechanism is under extensive investigation.Poor Posture Can Lead to Poor Health
Source: T. Moses Public Relations and Consulting, http://tmosespublicrelations.com
Sacramento Chiropractor: Golf Injuries Can Be Avoided
With any sort of sport, injuries are commonplace. You can frequently avoid getting injured in a specific sport by finding out what injury is apt to occur, and then do whatever it takes to avoid it. The truth is, however, that sports injuries can’t always be avoided. Consequently, it’s advantageous to take good care of your body to make injury less predictable, or less traumatic. Prior to beginning a sport, such as golf, the most important thing you can do is to be certain that you have a suitable fitness level. You just might keep your body safe from injury if you adhere to these general guidelines: Perpetuate a healthy lifestyle; make sure your joints are mobile and your muscles are limber; warm and stretch your body before to activity; use proper form and good postures during activity; give yourself sufficient cool down and relaxation time.
Golf injuries don’t simply happen to amateurs. Close to a third of pro golfers playing in the same time frame are playing injured. The good news is that overall good health and fitness can decrease the number of injuries that you may incur and may actually prevent them totally.
It is vital for you to have effectual body strength in the muscle areas most utilized during golf. However, it’s essential to make sure your spine is in healthy alignment and that it has good mobility prior to setting out to build muscle strength. A successful golf swing relies on your spine’s capacity to effectually rotate efficiently. Back injuries are the most widespread type of injuries suffered by golfers. To insure that your spine is in appropriate alignment and there is efficient movement in the vertebrae, see your chiropractor in Sacramento. Chiropractic treatment can go a long way in helping you to avoid back injury.
Once you’re “straightened” it’s time to strengthen. Being prepared for your golf game is crucial to safe, injury-free action on the green. Golf stretching and flexibility routines will warm up your muscles and make injury them less likely. Full body range of motion (ROM) exercises will augment flexibility, relatively speedily, in all parts of the body. Furthermore, elastic band conditioning can provide targeted golf range of motion benefits and can increase needed strength in the shoulders, hips and deep muscles of the core. Sports professionals, like your chiropractor, are including elastic band training in their golf conditioning programs because the bands provide dynamic resistance that ordinary weight lifting does not provide.
In addition to back injuries, a large number of golfers suffer from “Golfer’s Elbow.” Although golfer’s elbow and tennis elbow are nearly the same injuries, there is a minute difference between them. Tennis elbow affects the outside of the upper arm whereas golfer’s elbow impinges the inner arm. Golfer’s elbow, like tennis elbow, can be the consequence of a single extreme action, such as (in golf) striking the mat at the driving range or striking a hard fairway surface. Repetitive stress from smaller shocks, though, is more commonly the cause. In addition, it can occur for those who suddenly start playing too much golf. For example, if players that generally play golf once or twice a month elect to enter into a tournament, they are likely at risk for incurring the injury.
Golf makes unique requirements on the body. The game is usually longer than most other sports and that can result in fatigue. Once the body is fatigued, bad posture and decreased coordination often follow. This combination can cause an assortment of injuries. In addition, because of the continuous swinging of the golf clubs, the shoulder muscles are subject to injury. Just as great care should be taken to make certain that your muscles are stretched and warmed up prior to starting your golf game, be sure that you rest your body appropriately between games.
A surprising injury on occasion connected with golf is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. But, this injury can be induced by numerous games of golf played over several months repetitively as it is an affliction that occurs due to repetitive stress Carpal Tunnel Syndrome can be a serious injury causing disability and occasionally necessitating surgery. However, if a health professional, such as your chiropractor, discovers it at an early stage, chiropractic treatment and, frequently, the use of a brace will help the condition.
Injuries are assumed to be inevitable part of life for a good majority golfers. But, a healthy, mobile spine, dedicated preparation, specific exercise and muscle conditioning, reaching and maintaining a a suitable fitness level, and prudent rest and recuperation after your game is over, can make injuries a good deal less a part of your golfing experience.
Dr. Yong Kim is a Sacramento chiropractor with over thirteen years of experience helping thousands of patients get out of pain and get their lives back. His office is located at 1707 Professional Drive, Sacramento, CA 95825. He has special training in the area of sports injuries. Dr Kim is himself an avid health enthusiast. For more information go to his website at http://www.sacramentochiropractor.org
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Yong_J_Kim
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Tags: back pain, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, chiropractic, chiropractor, Golfer's Elbow, shoulder pain |
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Chronic Health Conditions On the Rise in U.S. Children
As a chiropractor I treat many children who have suffered an injury due to an accident or as the result of a sport or other play activity. However, what might surprise you is that I also have begun seeing children in my clinic who have weight-related musculoskeletal problems (conditions that in the past usually didn’t occur until adulthood), and more children who suffer from asthma and/or ADHD. Though chiropractic treatment can be very effective in reducing some of these problems, I find the fact that I am seeing more and more cases very disturbing. And, I’m not the only one noticing an increase in children’s health problems. A recent study by U.S. researchers has found that chronic health conditions, such as obesity and asthma, are indeed rising among children. Dr. Jeanne Van Cleave of Massachusetts General Hospital for Children in Boston, who worked on the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, used data from a government survey of three groups of children — each group with about 1,000 or more children — aged 2 through 8 between 1988 and 2006.
Van Cleave and her group found that the rate of chronic health conditions, such as obesity, asthma and learning problems such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD, had doubled to 26.6 percent in 2006 from 12.8 percent in 1994. The study also found that for about half of these kids, their conditions will go away over time. “The trick,” Van Cleave said , “is finding out why conditions go away so that more children may be helped.”
However, Dr. Geetha Raghuveer of Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, who was not involved with the study, said that while it was heartening that chronic conditions went away in several children, it was worrying that such a large percentage of children had a chronic health problem at some point. These problems “will need prevention strategies geared toward larger environments such as families, schools, communities,” and laws that make nutritious foods more accessible and affordable.”
I am in agreement with Dr. Raghuveer. Children (and parents) need education regarding the importance of good nutrition and regular exercise, and children also need environments that encourage both. Even though some of the health issues went away over time in half of the children in the study, the fact remains that the number of children experiencing such health problems is on the rise. Therefore, the number of children in “the other half,” the children who continued to experience chronic health conditions, is growing ever larger each year.
Proper Pre-Season Training Should Be a No-Brainer
As a chiropractor, I treat plenty of teenagers (as well as adults) who’ve sustained sports injuries. When it comes to the “weekend warrior” syndrome, it seems that teenagers don’t realize, anymore than their parents and other adults who indulge in sport activities do, just how important getting in shape prior to getting fully involved can be. So I was happy to read the following article and recommendations for high school pitchers and I want to pass it along to you.
High School Pitchers Need To Train Properly Before Season To Avoid Serious Injuries
High school pitchers who go full-speed the first day or week of spring training may be headed down the road to serious injury. “A large number of high school athletes take the winter off and just go out and start throwing as hard as they can,” said Matt Holland, a physical therapist with The Methodist Center for Sports Medicine in Houston. “The problem is that their arms are not in baseball shape and they open themselves up to serious shoulder and elbow injuries.” The rotator cuff is a group of muscles that act to stabilize the shoulder especially during the throwing motion. An inflamed rotator cuff (tendonitis) can cause pain when lifting your arm and will most likely dramatically affect a player’s performance on the field. Problems with the rotator cuff can not only damage the rest of the shoulder, but may also lead to elbow and other arm problems that shorten the careers of many pitchers. To read more, go to medicalnewstoday.Blind From Birth, a Woman Is Able to See After Chiropractic Treatment
When Laura was born, she was completely blind. The doctors told her parents there was no hope that her eyesight would ever develop. Her problem was called congenital nystagmus, a condition where the eye experiences involuntary shaking and causes severe vision loss.
This situation did not stop Laura from working to achieve in life. As a child her vision did improve somewhat, but she was still unable to play or read like normal children. “When I was a child, I would look in an adult textbook and all I could see were dots,” Laura said. “I thought, ‘Wow, grown-ups are really special to be able to look at dots and get words out of that!’”
By the time Laura turned 16, her vision had improved some more, but she was still legally blind. Doctors continued to tell her there was no hope for her condition. Additionally, she began suffering from severe stomach ulcers.
However, Laura did not let that stop her. She decided to enter a teen beauty pageant, and
she won. That event changed her life and opened doors that would have otherwise remained closed. “That was the best thing about my teenage years,” she said.
Sometime later, Laura’s life was about to take another amazing turn!
When Laura entered college, she took a part time job in a Chiropractic office in Delmar,
Delaware. The doctor, Donald Hattier, suggested that he give her an adjustment. This is when her life turned on a dime. In fact, after her first adjustment, her ulcers disappeared and her vision began to improve. It happened that fast.
As the story continues, Laura went on through school and got to the point where she submitted her official resignation at the Chiropractic office. It was at this time that Dr. Donald asked her out on a date. The happy story continues with the two of them now married and the parents of four children.
At age 39, Laura is living the life she never thought possible. Her vision has improved to
20/50. She is able to take care of her family and run daily errands. “I can pick my kids up from school, I can drive my kids to church and I can go to the grocery store for my family,” she said. “I am truly thankful for that.”
No Evidence that Chiropractic Causes Stroke According to Foundation for Vertebral Subluxation
Amidst a great deal of emotion and rhetoric coming out of Connecticut this week regarding the stroke issue The Foundation for Vertebral Subluxation has just released a very clear position statement on the issue of chiropractic and strokes.
Atlanta, GA, January 07, 2010 –(PR.com)– According to the Foundation for Vertebral Subluxation there is no human experimental evidence that chiropractic adjustments or neck manipulations are causally related to strokes. “While plaintiff’s attorneys and expert witness make claims and statements contending that such a causative link exists, the fact remains that these are based largely on anecdotes, case reports, and case controlled studies and cannot be used to prove causation” stated Foundation President Christopher Kent DC, JD a chiropractic researcher and attorney. According to researchers and the scientific method itself there are all sorts of biases and distortions that effect conclusions drawn from such studies and other criteria must be used to determine whether such a link exists. “What this boils down to is a simple lack of understanding of biostatistics and epidemiology” stated Foundation Vice President Matthew McCoy DC, MPH, a chiropractic researcher and public health expert. “Words like ‘association’ and ‘causation’ and ‘risk’ have very specific meanings when it comes to their use in epidemiology and it’s clear that laypersons involved in this debate are using these terms inappropriately.” While the experience of a stroke can be devastating and no one would suggest ignoring the concerns of those who have suffered one, the reality is that when it comes to the contention that chiropractic causes strokes – the evidence just isn’t there. And while the strokes these people have experienced are indeed real, McCoy suggests there are often other issues involved and offered an example. “Millions of people visit a dentist every year and a certain number of those same people get into car accidents on their way home. If we were to run the stats on it we might find that there is a statistical association between visiting a dentist and getting into a car accident on the way home. But no one would even consider suggesting that the dentists are causing the car accidents.” Self described chiropractic stroke victims say there is a risk and that people should be advised about it prior to undergoing chiropractic care. The majority of chiropractors would agree that patients should be informed of the risks, benefits and alternatives of any health care intervention, but according to Dr. Kent “Such informed consent must be based on appropriate information and since there is no scientific evidence that chiropractic adjustments or neck manipulations actually cause strokes, it is inappropriate to require a doctor to suggest that such a risk exists.” Dr. McCoy added another often overlooked issue “Chiropractors utilize a number of techniques to address joint dysfunction and vertebral subluxation and in fact there are over 300 named chiropractic techniques and many do not employ the type of manipulation that has been alleged to be a factor in vertebrobasilar accidents. This adds to the inappropriate nature of such a disclosure.” In the end, chiropractic has an impressive safety record compared to traditional medical care with estimates are that anywhere from 100,000 (Institute of medicine) to 750,000 (Null et al) people die every year from medical care. In comparison, other than some minor soreness following chiropractic treatment, research has shown chiropractic to be very safe.Don't Let Arthritis Keep You From Exercise
Though movement can often be painful if you have arthritis, achy knees and joints are not reason enough to stop exercising. In fact, not exercising can make the symptoms of arthritis much worse. Regular, modest exercise improves joint stability and strengthens muscles, according to the December issue of Mayo Clinic Women’s HealthSource. In addition, exercise improves mood, sleep, energy levels and day-to-day functioning. People with arthritis who exercise regularly actually report less pain.That’s right. Exercise can actually relieve the aches and pains of arthritis.
Why is this so? When a person avoids exercise, joints become even less mobile and the surrounding muscles shrink, causing increased fatigue and pain. Read more…Christmas Cholesterol Epiphany: 'Myrrh' May Have Cholesterol-Lowering Properties
ScienceDaily — Laboratory experiments suggest that the resin of certain trees of the Middle East, known commonly as the “myrrh” of the Christmas story, may have cholesterol-lowering properties. Research published in the International Journal of Food Safety, Nutrition and Public Health discusses the hypocholesterolemic effects of myrrh and other plant products.
Myrrh is a rust-coloured resin obtained from several species of Commiphora and Balsamodendron tree, native to the Middle East and Ethiopia. It is perhaps best known as one of the gifts of the Magi offered to the infant Jesus, along with gold and frankincense. At the time, myrrh was revered as an embalming ointment and is also an ingredient in incense.
Nadia Saleh Al-Amoudi of the Department of Nutrition and Food Science, at the King Abd Al-Aziz University, in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, explains that myrrh is known to have medicinal properties, including antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects. Read more…