Category Archives: Health & Wellness

Pain? Discomfort? Fatigue? Your Workspace Could be a Culprit.

Posted on August 21, 2013 | 2 comments

In today’s day and age, most of us can’t avoid spending way too many hours in front of a computer monitor.  Unfortunately, the posture and repetitive movement that this encourages is one that causes excessive stress on body parts like the hands, wrists, elbow, shoulders, neck, and back. This contributes to discomfort, fatigue and even outright pain.

Fortunately, there is a way to limit this stress put on your body and potentially reduce or eliminate the discomfort and fatigue.  This is done through the implementation of proper ergonomics.  Ergonomics is a discipline that involves arranging the environment to fit the person in it. This can be done anywhere but for the sake of this post, we will hit you with a few easily implementable tips for the office setting.

CHAIR

Adjust the height of the chair so feet rest flat on the floor, the thighs are parallel to the floor, and the knees are about the same level as the hips.

Adjust height of armrests so the arms can rest at your sides during typing, allowing for relaxation and a natural “drop” of the shoulders.  Shoulders should not be elevated in anyway by the armrests.

MONITOR

The top of the screen should be at or just below eye level when you are seated in an upright position to avoid encouragement of forward translation of the head and shoulders.  The monitor should also be directly in front of you to avoid excessive twisting of the neck.

KEYBOARD AND MOUSE

The angle between your elbows and forearms should be as close to 90 degrees as possible, with forearms parallel to the floor and keyboard directly in front of you.

Try to avoid resting your wrists or hands on the edge of the keyboard while typing or on the mouse when you are not using it.  While using the mouse, make sure your wrist is in a neutral position.

The mouse, keyboard, and every other thing on your desk that you frequently use should be positioned close to you to avoid excessive reaching.

AVOIDING EYE STRAIN

You may be unaware of it, but little changes can help you avoid unwanted eye strain throughout the day.  This eye strain can lead to headaches and increased forward head posture.

Monitor should be approximately 18-30 inches from the eyes (depending on the size of the monitor).

Reduce Glare by:

Positioning the monitor at a right angle from the window.

I know you love that window in your office, but closing the blinds also reduces the glare.

The worktop surface should have a matte finish (think desk blotter if you have a shiny desk).

GET UP AND MOVE

It is imperative that you break up the long periods of sitting.  Sitting is actually one of the worst positions for your back and can also lead to blood pooling in legs and feet.  Taking a quick break from sitting every 20 to 40 minutes is key.

Practice “dynamic sitting.”  Make sure there is enough room underneath the desk to move your legs.  If you do find yourself seated for extended periods of time, utilize a lumbar support or a rolled towel to support the natural curve of your lower back.

Getting up and walking to the bathroom or to get some water (the two go hand in hand and you should be drinking more water anyway) are an easy way to keep it moving.  If you need to stay at your station, simply stand up and perform a stretch like the Bruegger’s Stretch demonstrated here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvwvbXrf6LU

Please do not underestimate the power of some of these simple changes.  Anytime I work with a patient, we always address the work station set-up through pictures provided by the patient or checking it out in person.  If you’re curious about your personal space or feel like those around you would benefit from a work space makeover, please contact me as we are now accepting patients and providing free ergonomic evaluations for all local businesses.  This is a standard part of your individual treatment plan when you become a patient, but a free office wide evaluation can be done as well.

As with all things, proper ergonomics is just one piece of the puzzle.  Couple this with a thorough chiropractic evaluation addressing overall posture, balance and any other issues you may have going on and you are making a strong proactive statement about regaining control of your health and ultimately your life.  Again, feel free to contact me if you’re interested in getting started.

Remember, a proper, less strenuous work station promotes better posture and less discomfort.  Better posture promotes better breathing (more oxygen) and less needless strain on numerous muscles, each leading to less fatigue and pain, and clearer, more creative thinking.  This means your work gets done faster and at a higher level.  Sounds like a bonus for employee and employer alike.

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Mental Health: A New Perspective

Posted on August 8, 2013 | 3 comments

In today’s world of news channels and smart phones providing constant information, it is almost impossible not to be inundated with every little detail of each event.  The ones that receive the most coverage are generally the negative stories, as it seems like one heinous act is committed in an attempt to top its seemingly un-topable predecessor.

With the in-depth coverage, the analyzation of the criminal’s profile becomes a focus.  More specifically and recently, their mental health (and medications) are called in question.  Are all of these people inherently evil or is there something going on with their hard-wiring that makes them see the world the way they do, and ultimately do the things they do?

Along the same lines we have conditions that have traditionally been labeled and treated as psychological problems.  ADD, OCD, addictions, depression, anxiety and a bad temper are conditions that we as society have a hard time understanding.  Often the individual is looked at as weaker, and those on the outside sometimes question the actual legitimacy of the concept of mental illness as a whole.

All of this falls under the category of mental health.  And as stated, traditionally this has fallen into the realm of relying on psychological and/or psychiatric treatment.  However, there is mounting evidence pointing toward physiological deficiencies in the individual’s brain as the potential reason for these issues.  This is promising as research has also shown that you can improve brain function.  This reinforces the theory of changing your brain to change your life.

The basis of this theory has been supported by the use of SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography) which allows us to view blood flow and the distribution of activity levels throughout the brain.  The pioneers of this technology utilized it to view functional images of people who had problems with dementia, depression, schizophrenia, drug use and head injuries, and compare them with the images of normal brains.

What they found was various locations of deficient brain activity could be correlated with certain mental conditions or personality flaws.  Even more exciting is that therapies exist to target specific deficient regions, and have been implemented with success throughout the country.  This provides additional understanding and more importantly, hope.

Thanks to the documented results of these imaging studies, patients and their families are able to actually see the underlying brain problem that is essentially driving the emotional and behavioral symptoms.  Rather than blame themselves for having a weak character or mental illness, patients are able to better understand the origin of their issues and receive more targeted, effective treatment.

The following is an excerpt from the book: “Change Your Brain, Change Your Life,” a New York Times Bestseller written by Dr. Daniel G. Amen:

“Your brain is the hardware of your soul.  It is the hardware of your very essence as a human being.  You cannot be who you really want to be unless your brain works right.  How your brain works determines how happy you are, how effective you feel, and how well you interact with others.  Your brain patterns help you (or hurt you) with your marriage, parenting skills, work, and religious beliefs, along with your experiences of pleasure and pain.  If you are anxious, depressed, obsessive-compulsive, prone to anger, or easily distracted, you probably believe these problems are “all in your head.”  In other words, that you believe your problem is purely psychological.  However, research that I and others have done shows that the problems are related to the physiology of the brain – and the good news is that we have proof that you can change that physiology.”

This is truly powerful stuff.  What this means to all of us on a practical level is that there is hope.  We all don’t have access to the SPECT technology of imaging, but what this research has shown us is that depressed areas of the brain correlated with certain conditions or traits, can have their level of activation increased by way of targeted therapies.

Bridging this to my area of practice, the utilization of functional neurology provides the practitioner with the tools to do just what we described above.  By performing a series of non-invasive tests and observations on a patient, the potential area of brain imbalance can be identified.  In and out of office therapies can then be intentionally directed at that area in attempt to boost the function of the brain and thus the overall capabilities of the individual’s life.

If you have any of the above described conditions or are simply interested in looking into unlocking your full potential, please do not hesitate to contact my office (contact information provided to the upper right), as I’d love to work with you.  If you’re not in my area, look for a chiropractor who utilizes functional neurology and go check it out for yourself.

The research and evidence is mounting.  Help and hope does exist.  The ball is in your court to take the first step.

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SUMMER TIP: Swim Smarter

Posted on July 25, 2013 | Leave a comment

As we make our way through another hot summer, it is almost inevitable that some time or another you’ll be fortunate enough to cool off in a refreshing pool.  Don’t worry,  I’m not going to ruin the swimming pool experience for you.  But, being someone who frequently swims laps, I began thinking more and more of the chemical-rich liquid I was submerging myself in. When I coupled that with the fact that during a workout, your pores expand, I realized I was opening the door wide to let all that pool water in my system.

Throughout the journey deeper and deeper into living a health conscious life, the subject of clean water no doubt deserves a position at the top of the list.  In a recent post we addressed the subject of safer drinking water (https://clarkechiropracticwellness.com/2013/06/26/whats-in-the-water/) and the same rules can be applied to the water we shower and bathe in.

All of the nastiness we mentioned in the previous post has a second portal of entry into our systems by way of absorption through the skin.  This post could easily now go the direction of the importance of filtering your home’s bathing water as well, but we’ll stick to the pool situation.

Fortunately, in a pool, most of the aforementioned nastiness that we see in regular tap water is destroyed by a chemical concoction.  Unfortunately, most of the nastiness in the pool is destroyed by a chemical concoction.  The leader of this chemical gang is the infamous chlorine which is added to pool water for the same reason it is added to our drinking water, as a disinfectant.

THE ISSUE WITH CHLORINE…

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) acknowledges chlorine as a pesticide whose purpose is to kill living organisms.  Exposure to chlorine does just this to our bodies, destroying cells and tissues.  Most of us recall how irritated our eyes would get when we would foolishly swim for hours with our eyes open.  That irritation is a blatant sign of damage being done.

In addition to being recognized as a carcinogen, increased exposure to chlorine has also been linked to respiratory disorders such as asthma and bronchitis, as well as to the destruction of beneficial bacteria in our gut.  The bacterial homicide should come as no surprise as we just stated that chlorine indiscriminately kills living organisms, good and bad.  If you’ve read any previous posts you already know the importance of these bacteria (aka gut flora) to ensuring proper digestion and as the gateway and bulk of our immune systems.

(This is the bacteria that are supplied by taking the increasingly popular “probiotics.”)

WHAT CAN YOU DO???

Never swim in a pool again. PERIOD.

You still there?

Of course I am kidding.  As with everything in this world, we can take the information, formulate a healthy plan, and try to limit our exposure.  However, we also need to keep on living and if you’re like me, swimming in a pool is something that I will choose to continually partake in.

Most of us aren’t fortunate enough to have access to afford a chlorine free pool, yet.  So when it’s time hop into that invitingly blue oasis, keep these thoughts in mind:

RINSE BEFORE SWIMMING

The logic behind this is to rinse off any sweat that has accumulated on your body.  One of the main components of our sweat is ammonia.  When this ammonia combines with the chlorine from the pool water, it forms a dangerous byproduct of chlorination called a chloramine. These carcinogenic byproducts can trigger the production of free radicals in our bodies, causing cell damage.

LEAVE THE “P” OUT OF THE POOL

Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about here.  Just as with our sweat, our urine also contains a large amount of ammonia.  Politely relieving yourself in the community pool creates a concentrated cloud of the above mentioned chloramines for you and your neighbors.  How considerate.

UTILIZE VITAMIN C

A study conducted by the USDA’s Technology and Development Program concluded that vitamin C effectively neutralizes chlorine.  This technology is now being utilized in vitamin C filters to lessen the chlorine and chloramine levels in shower water.  For purposes of the pool, vitamin C can be purchased as a topical cream which can be applied pre and post swim in an attempt to lower the chlorine exposure.

It should be noted that the above suggestions will not eliminate exposure to chlorine and its by- products.  What we are trying to do here is provide suggestions that can lessen the exposure, allowing you to continually enjoy a summer tradition with a little peace of mind.

Enjoy the rest of the summer.

REFERENCES

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23830132

http://www.fs.fed.us/t-d///pubs/html/05231301/05231301.html

http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/chlorine-cancer-and-heart-disease/

http://water.epa.gov/scitech/wastetech/upload/2002_06_28_mtb_chlor.pdf

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Breathe Right

Posted on July 10, 2013 | 1 comment

I’d like to hit you with a tip this week that is often overlooked as a culprit behind multiple issues when it comes to your health and wellbeing.  The seemingly subconscious act of proper breathing.  On the surface this appears like such a simple act that we all take for granted.  But as we all know, we must breathe to live.  Period.

WHY WE BREATHE

Let’s first breakdown what actually transpires when we breathe.  When you inhale you are delivering oxygen to an interface between your lungs and blood vessels.  Here, freshly inhaled oxygen is exchanged for carbon dioxide, which you then expel during exhalation.  Your beating heart provides the force to deliver the carbon dioxide to this interface bounded to hemoglobin molecules in your blood.

When the exchange is made, oxygen is then delivered to all of your tissues bound to that same hemoglobin molecule. Oxygen is a vital fuel for your cells to function properly.  One of the waste products of this metabolic process is carbon dioxide, which is then taken by the blood back to the lungs for the cycle to continually repeat itself.

Sounds simple enough.  But what if I told you that you’re probably not breathing correctly and this could be contributing to a myriad of issues including that discomfort in your neck.

HOW WE BREATHE

Most people do not realize this, but breathing is actually a brain directed function carried out by muscles, the chief one being the diaphragm.  This is a muscle that separates your abdomen from your chest cavity.  Breathing in is actually a function of this muscle descending, enlarging your chest cavity and creating a negative pressure that sucks oxygen rich air into your lungs.  Once this has transpired, the diaphragm then ascends, reversing that negative pressure and pushing the now carbon dioxide laden air out of your lungs.

If you observe someone breathing you will more than likely notice that the shoulders and chest rise and fall.  This is actually the incorrect way of breathing and signifies the use of what are called accessory muscles of respiration.   These muscles are connected throughout your cervical spine (neck), ribs, clavicle (collar bone) and sternum.

By breathing incorrectly you are putting these muscles to work all day, every day.  Couple that with the fact that these muscles are already being overworked by that anterior posture from being hunched over at our computers, and these muscles become quite fatigued.  When this occurs you become more susceptible to injury due to the fatigued muscles (that would normally stabilize your neck during strenuous movements) failing.

There also begins to be an accumulation of lactic acid in the muscles.  Most of us have felt this before when riding a bike and our thighs start to burn.  This is the same concept, expect in these over contracted neck muscles that tend to lead to tender and uncomfortable trigger points.

PROPER BREATHING

So what can you do?  You can start by practicing breathing correctly.  Correct breathing is actually from your belly, not your chest.  When you inhale, your belly (or that six pack) should expand outward.  When you breathe out your abdomen should then sink back in.  This seems counterintuitive, but the motion should be mostly all in the abdomen, and minimally in the shoulders and chest.

Place one hand on your belly and the other on your chest.  Note the motions that take place while breathing in and out.  If you notice that it is off, make a conscious effort to correct it.  This exercise can be done at any time during the day, even when at your desk or sitting at a light in the car.  Doing this should begin to offer some relief to those aforementioned accessory muscles.  Couple this with some postural exercises and you should be able to decrease that neck discomfort tenfold.

Proper posture and breathing mechanics also allows a deeper breath and thus more oxygen.  As stated above, oxygen is vital for almost all functions in the body.  Any deficit in its concentration or delivery can lead to all sorts of problems including headaches and lack of concentration.  It, along with glucose and activation are the absolute necessities required for survival and proper function of your nervous system.  That’s your brain, spinal cord, and nerves wired throughout your body we are talking about here.  Make sure you’re giving it the fuel it needs to perform as intended.

Another interesting effect that you can take advantage of by utilizing this belly breathing technique comes by way of parasympathetic nervous system stimulation.  As we’ve discussed in previous posts, there are two opposite nervous systems that should balance each other out in order to maintain optimal function.  The sympathetic system which is your fight or flight response, and your parasympathetic which is basically for rest and digest.

Being that the parasympathetic system is in charge of digestion, it has a vast number of connections to the organs involved in the digestive process, particularly the intestines located in your abdomen.  When you breathe with your belly you are causing stimulation to the abdomen, which we just said is heavily parasympatheticaly innervated.  This connection leads to subsequent stimulation of the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps you de-stress and relax.

This is the reason a proper breathing technique is one of the main components of successful meditation.  Increased delivery of oxygen to your brain allowing you to elevate your mind.  Stimulation of the parasympathetic nervous system facilitating calmness.

If you practice this method of breathing you have the potential to not only begin to mechanically relieve some of that nagging neck pain, but it will also help you to remain calm and relaxed.   Who would’ve thought such a seemingly simple task could carry such potentially positive ramifications?

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What’s in the Water?

Posted on June 26, 2013 | 2 comments

In last week’s post we recommended drinking more water as a means to taming the appetite and to elevate your overall health.  This recommendation opens another box as to your source of water.  Unfortunately, clean healthy water has become a billion dollar industry and attaining it is not as simple as turning on the sink.

In this week’s post we will cover a couple of tips to making sure that liquid gold you’re consuming is more helpful than harmful.

TIP #1: CHECK YOUR SOURCE

Due to the importance of not only consuming water, but consuming a large amount, it would behoove everyone to investigate where your water comes from and what’s in it.

When it comes to investigatin,g you basically have two choices.  First choice is to have your water privately tested.  This can be done through a company or on your own.  The problem here arises with the results being contingent upon proper administration of the test.  The other issue here is that the test only gives you a reading for that exact moment and the various levels tend to fluctuate.

Having a private company come out and perform the test, again only gives you a singular reading.  Moreover, these companies also sell filtration systems.  Do we see the conflict of interest here?

Your best bet may be to go online and obtain a free, city-provided water report.  The numbers on these reports reflect the results of multiple tests done over a period of time.  This can be found with a simple Google search and is truly eye-opening.  Fluoride, chlorine, chloramines, ammonia, arsenic and radioactive contaminants were all tasty treats that apparently flow out of my sink.

(Click here to view a sample of a water report:  http://www.cocoafl.org/DocumentCenter/Home/View/4327 )

Once you have a better idea of WHAT is in your water, you can make an educated decision as to what your priority is as far as removal.

When it comes to filtration systems, there exist a wide range of choices and price ranges.  No matter what choice you make, if you’re spending any of your hard earned dollars, you should know what you’re purchasing and what it does and does not remove.

For example, the majority of Americans who utilize a filter, use a basic carbon block (usually granulated activated carbon aka GAC).  This is a good start as it should reduce or remove pesticides, herbicides, chlorine, benzene and radon.  However, they generally do not affect things like arsenic, asbestos, fluoride, mercury, radio-nucleotides or chloramines.   All of these goodies were present on my city published water report, some in high amounts.

Bottom-line here is that any filter is better than no filter, so don’t feel overwhelmed.  Just know that there are more comprehensive (and costly) systems out there that you may want to look into once you see what else is floating around in your water supply.

 TIP #2: DITCH THE PLASTIC

Once the effort has been made attain and consume clean, healthy water, the next step is keeping it that way.  There has been much in the news about the carcinogenic chemical BPA that exists in many plastics.  Fortunately, due to the bad press, many companies claim to have removed or reduced the level of BPA in plastic.  Unfortunately BPA is not the only potentially harmful chemical that exists in these bottles.  A safer bet here is to use a stainless steel water bottle.

If you are in a situation where you must utilize plastic, here are a couple of tips to limit potential hazard:

First, flip the water bottle over and check for a number on the bottom.  This number is a recycling code and is an indicator of the chemical contained in the plastic.  Try to avoid numbers 3, 6, 7 with special attention to 7. A number 7 signifies the presence of bisphenol-A (BPA), however, all three of these can release hormone disruptors and carcinogens into you food or water.  The least offensive are 1, 2, 4 and 5.  Again, you should try to avoid the plastics altogether, but if you are in a bind, knowledge of these numbers can be useful.

Second, do all you can to avoid heating the bottle.  This includes leaving it in a parked car or anywhere in direct sunlight.  The potential danger here is that when most materials (especially plastic) are heated, it opens the door for harmful chemicals to leach into the water.

As stated, adequate water intake is an absolute essential.  This is not just an issue of quantity.  Quality is just as, if not more important.  If you’re already drinking filtered water, you’re off to a good start. Switching to a stainless steel bottle is another easily implementable step.  If you’re curious or concerned, take the time to view your local water report and take it from there.

While it can be discouraging to discover that what you thought was healthy, nourishing water is actually contaminated by various chemicals; discouragement was not and is never the intent of these posts.  I personally went through this whole investigative process and full range of emotions a short while back, so I feel your pain.  If you have any questions as to making proactive changes to your water supply, feel free to ask.

Stay thirsty my friends.

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