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 If
you are especially stubborn, you might be able to argue that not all
chiropractic treatments are holistic health care treatments. You would,
of course, be wrong. When dealing with the spine, any adjustment that
is made has an effect on the entire body. How can it not? All the
nerves in your entire body come together at some point along your
spine. From your internal organs to your emotions, every single part of
you is connected, and the spine is a central meeting point and an
essential part of your body's structure.
Perhaps the main
problem your chiropractor is working to resolve has to do with the
muscular or skeletal alignment in your body, but don't be fooled into
thinking that this is as far as that work goes. Many people are
surprised to learn how interconnected the body is. A patient presenting
a certain kind of neck pain might be baffled by the chiropractor's
interest in what they had for dinner last night, but from the
chiropractor's point of view, knowing that some kinds of neck pain are
actually referred pain from the gallbladder, an extremely fatty meal
could actually be the point of neck pain, especially if all the
cervical vertebrae seem to be in place and there isn't any obvious
muscular tension in the body.
In holistic chiropractic care,
speak clearly about your overall health goals with your chiropractor.
Whether you have weight-loss goals, are planning to do a 30-day
cleanse, have an enlarged spleen, or suffer from severe allergies, all
of this is information that they can put together to create a fuller
picture of you. In seeking out holistic chiropractic care, look for a
whole-body approach to wellness in the practices you consider.
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Your
body is being constantly bombarded with toxins from the food you eat,
the beverages you drink, the air you breathe, and so on. Even if you do
everything right to minimize your exposure to toxins, eating only
organic foods, drinking well water or filtered water, and avoiding
smog-ridden cities, you're still not going to live in a pure
environment, unless you live in a bubble.
For those of us outside the bubble, there are still a great many things
that we can do to help our bodies eliminate and compensate for toxins.
The most basic process of doing so is called detoxification. Many
people undertake detoxification in the form of a cleanse. This cleanse
might consist of a series of herbs that help the body eliminate waste
from all of its systems and a subsequent series of herbs which nourish
and revitalize those systems.
When
it comes to detoxification, the bowel and the liver are two very common
focuses. Everything that you eat moves through your bowel, but
unfortunately, almost nobody has a 100% elimination rate. This means
that small traces of waste sludge stay behind. If your diet does not
support elimination (high in fiber, low in meat) then this will build
up. In extreme cases this can lead to bowel obstruction. Here's a scary
fact: Both Elvis and John Wayne died with some 35 pounds of impacted
fecal matter in their bodies. This was the source of the large bellies
and ill health they both had later in life.
The liver, among its
many responsibilities, cleans the blood. This means that any toxins in
your blood should be filtered out by the liver. If the liver is not
able to function at its highest level, or if you are consuming more
toxins than the liver can process, you will begin to accumulate a
backlog of toxins – first in your liver, and then in your blood (which,
you guessed it, travels around your entire body). This is why tonifying
and supporting the liver is such an essential part of detoxifying the
body as a whole.
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 The
most healthful posture for sleeping is on one's back. This allows the
body to be correctly aligned while you rest, meaning you'll wake up
without any stiff muscles or pain, and will actually be supporting
proper posture for when you awake.
Lying on your back:
Place a thin pillow or a neck support pillow under your head to maintain the cervical arch.
Keep a pillow under your knees- this supports your legs as well as your lower back
Consider
having higher pillows to either side of your head to keep your head
from lolling off to one side, which creates strain on the neck muscles
and a stiff neck come morning.
Of course, sometimes, sleeping on
one's back isn't actually an option, such as during pregnancy, when
doing so is unhealthy. In these cases, a close second is to sleep on
one's side.
Lying on your side:
Place pillows under your head that keep your neck in a straight line with the rest of your spine.
Keep your bottom leg straight and bend the top leg with a pillow between your knees.
Use
pillows to support in front and behind- it's better to lean back than
to slump toward your stomach- this causes the "swayed back, pooched
stomach" posture that so many of us are trying to avoid!
Moving
back and forth between these positions during the night can be a useful
way to help restless sleepers feel like they've moved and resettled. If
you get uncomfortable, try moving around – just keep your standing
posture in mind when you readjust.
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Those
who suffer from fibromyalgia are usually on a continual search for
healing treatments that will relieve the suffering and symptoms that
come alongside this complex and difficult condition. There is no
surefire fix, and treatments work differently on different people, even
if they have many of the same symptoms.
Fibromyalgia usually
presents with full-body aches and pains, tender spots, sleep
disturbances, fatigue, back or neck pain, and more. No two cases are
exactly alike, but many people find that a large number of their
symptoms can be eased with chiropractic care. Because chiropractic
treatment focuses on the spinal alignment of the body, which works
outwardly to heal imbalances in the body, correct postural or alignment
issues, and restore normal and healthy functioning of the body,
fibromyalgia patients often experience reduced symptoms as a result.
For
those who experience trigger point pain along the spine, chiropractic
adjustments can relieve this- the effect is usually cumulative, and it
can also relieve trigger point pain in other associated areas. Many
people with fibromyalgia experience upper cervical spinal stenosis, or
the compression of the meninges, which causes pain to radiate
throughout the entire body. A chiropractor can adjust the head and the
neck to relieve spinal compression, which greatly eases the patient's
pain.
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In This Issue
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Contact Information
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Name
Phone
Website
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Routine vs. Acute Chiropractic Visits
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Some
people see their chiropractor on a regular basis, while others only
head into the office when they are having trouble. How do you know how
often to see your chiropractor? Well, for one, ask your chiropractor!
In general, people who are being treated for spinal conditions need to
go in more frequently than those who just need a tune-up once in a
while. If you have an acute condition, such as a slipped vertebra that
does not easily move back into position with stretching, then you will
need to visit your chiropractor once to treat the immediate concern,
and then schedule several follow-up visits to ensure that the muscles
and bones have resumed proper alignment, or to encourage them to do so.
If you don't have any concerns, a quarterly visit to the chiropractor
should be just fine.
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Komboucha: Who, What, When, Where and Why?
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Who: First recorded Kombucha tea was in China; it was later to be found in Russian and Polish cultures.
What: Kombucha tea, a tea brewed from the Kombucha culture/mushroom that is reported to have many health benefits.
When: Beginning in the late 1900s; today Kombucha teas can be purchased in most health food stores.
Where: Everywhere from home brewers to larger scale commercial producers.
Why:
Kombucha is said to assist with liver function, balance the body's pH,
improve digestion, prevent toxicity in the body, and increase energy
levels.
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Roasted Portabello Mushrooms with Stuffed Bell Peppers
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These two items work beautifully together. Serve with a side salad and the bread of your choice.
Roasted Mushrooms:
Roast one mushroom per person in olive oil, salt and pepper. Serve with basil and goat cheese sprinkled over top.
Stuffed Bell Peppers:
Halve
and de-seed bell peppers- half a pepper per person is a good serving
size. Stuff with cooked rice or bread crumbs, diced onions, chopped
tomato, seasonings of your choice, and a hard cheese like Parmesan. Hot
sauce lovers will enjoy adorning these with splashes of their favorite
sauce. Bake at 350 for one hour in a greased dish. For softer peppers,
cook for 15 minutes before adding filling, and then cook for 50 minutes.
To
cook both at once: turn the oven to 375 and roast mushrooms inside
tinfoil while bell peppers are cooking to save time and energy.
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