Archive for the 'TMJ' Category
Small Amounts of Exercise for Daily Neck and Shoulder Pain
Just a quick note to let you know that I’ll be in Toronto for Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College Meetings and the Research Symposium October 27 – 30.
Those of you who know me or who have seen me for treatment know that I like to give a little homework. The exercises I give are simple, easy and not time consuming at all. I know they work – if you do them. Now some scientific research is backing me up. It shows that even a tiny amount of exercise can make a BIG difference to how you respond to treatment and how your neck and shoulders feel all the time. You just have to do it.
I belong to Research Review Service (RRS). This is a great service that posts reviews (hence the name) about papers published in the peer-reviewed scientific health journals. RRS looks at journals that cover all aspects of health, not just chiropractic publications. A synopsis is provided and there are links to the full article if you need more detail.
The article referenced for the study I mentioned above is by Andersen LL, et al and was published in Pain 2011; 152(2): 440 – 6.
Here’s what it says.
In the general population, the one year prevalence of neck and shoulder pain is about 30 – 50%, with between 7-22% women and 5-16% of men reporting chronic neck pain overall. Although cause is not definitively identified or measured, most experts would agree that computer use and sedentary posture in most work environments certainly don’t help. Although not as costly or disabling as low back pain, problems in this area can become chronic and bothersome, potentially affecting productivity and quality of life.
As a chiropractor I know that chiropractic care is an effective treatment for this kind of non-specific mechanical neck, upper back and shoulder pain. Scientific evidence shows that chiropractic care is one of the only effective ways to treat these conditions. One of the other effective ways is exercise, but the combination of these two is the most effective treatment.
The problem is always compliance. Exercise programs only work if the patients actually do the exercises and compliance for complex routines is terrible. This paper looked at simple, short exercise routines to see if they made a difference. And they did!
The study used resistance exercises and I usually use ranges of motion, so I think I’ll add some resistance to my recommendations from now on. Here’s what happened in the study.
Three treatment groups were formed according to scientific protocol for studies. Two groups were given exercises to do. One of the exercise groups had a 12 minute routine and the other had a 2 minute routine. The third group is the control and they didn’t have to do anything. In scientific studies you always have a control group to make sure that what you are doing is actually doing something, and that the condition isn’t just resolving on its own over time.
The two exercise groups were roughly equal in their compliance. Both groups did their exercises on average 3.2 – 3.3 of the 5 intended sessions per week.
Both exercise groups increased their strength and decreased their pain. Interestingly, the increase did not significantly differ between the 2 or 12 minute groups.
This study shows that even a small amount of exercise (about 2 minutes / day) can result in reduced pain and tenderness and increased strength in adults with neck and shoulder pain.
When such a small effort can make such a big difference, it makes you wonder why you don’t do the exercises I give you! But don’t worry. I’m not here to discourage you. I’ll just keep reminding you and when you see the difference remembering and doing the exercises makes, you’ll want to do them!
Range of Motion Exercises for your Neck
These are the positions for stretching your neck. Take each position to the end where you feel some resistance and hold it for 15 seconds. Don’t forget to do lateral bending and rotation to the right and left. Even if you only do this exercise once a day you will notice a BIG difference in decreased pain and increased movement in about 2 weeks. But don’t stop then – keep doing it for the rest of your life so you can feel good all the time.
These are easy resistance exercises for your neck that don’t require any equipment. Again, take the position to the end point of your ability and then press with the resistance hand until you feel some resistance. The point isn’t to injure yourself, but to create tension and encourage strength.
This is the exercise they did for the study using a theraband. Theraband is a length of rubber banding. You can get handles and other accessories for it, but you don’t need to. It can be found at some pharmacies, sport supply stores, gyms, etc. Get a piece that is long enough for you to stand on the centre and wrap around both your hands securely with your arms hanging down. Then lift your arms up to shoulder height with your elbows slightly bent. Hold until it feels like you can’t hold it any more and relax. Do this for two minutes.
When you need chiropractic adjustments Abbotsford is the place to be. Dr. Dorothea McCallum provides General Chiropractic Care for people of all ages, Pre and Perinatal care for Moms and babies – Webster Technique Certified, Wellness Care and Coaching – Certified Chiropractic Wellness Practitioner (CCWP), Custom Corrective Orthotics.
We are as close as the CanPages online. Please feel free to refer your family and friends using this link:
www.canpages.ca/page/BC/abbotsford/mccallum-chiropractic-at-the-bay/4270514.html
Push a cart down the aisle of any local supermarket and you might start believing in miracles – well – miracle foods, anyway.
Let’s see, there’s grape juice for your heart, frozen carrots for your eyes, vitamin-packed water for your immune system, probiotic yogurt for your insides and milk for your bones and brain.
Down every aisle there are foods and drinks to help your heart, lower your cholesterol, trim your tummy, and coddle your colon. Use these foods and you might feel better, you might even live longer.
Or not. The question is, are these products really healthy, or are they just hype?
Read the labels on these foods carefully and you’ll notice something. The manufacturers of these foods don’t actually claim that their products prevent or cure diseases. Such declarations go against consumer laws. Instead they promote these “functional foods” as having health promoting or wellness maintaining properties. Such claims are perfectly legal, provided they are backed up with some credible science.
So, when you see heart-healthy red hearts on your box of Quaker Oats cereal or that can of Planters Peanuts and that happy-colon yellow arrow on the tub of Activia Yogurt, it’s just part of the marketing of functional food.
Beware – many packaged foods that scream health on their labels are no healthier than many ordinary brands and government officials have been cracking down on products that make dubious or exaggerated claims.
Shoppers are being bamboozled by slick marketing. Read your labels. Many people grab products with healthy claims on the front of the package and overlook crucial nutritional information, like calorie counts and what the food actually contains.
For example. Quaker Oatmeal Squares cereal, made by the Quaker Oats Company has a label that proclaims in large print “Oatmeal helps reduce cholesterol!” This is true and generally, nutritionists and other scientists agree that the fibre in oatmeal can be beneficial for cardiovascular health. When you read the fine print, though, you’ll notice that one serving of this cereal contains about a third of the soluble fibre needed daily to help reduce the risk of heart disease. In other words, you may have to eat three bowls of cereal daily – 630 calories’ worth, without milk, to benefit.
How about this one? Welch’s 100% Grape Juice. The label is emblazoned with a red-heart certification from the Heart Association and it says it contains no fat. Well, of course grape juice doesn’t have any fat, it is naturally fat free. What isn’t clear is if grape juice has any other properties that make it inherently healthier for hearts. What we know for sure is that an eight-ounce glass has 36 grams of sugar; a regular sized Snickers, by comparison, has 30. And we also know for sure that too much sugar is deadly for your cardiovascular system and heart.
2,500 years ago Hippocrates said “Let food by your medicine and medicine by your food.” We’ve always know that some foods are better for us than others. However, a little science and a lot marketing has turned this concept into a multibillion dollar industry.
Today, companies promote all kinds of processed foods that have been loaded with vitamins and nutrients, or contain a potentially beneficial ingredient, as wellness aids. For many, these healthified foods have become the new health food. Many people are willing to pay a premium for ready-to-eat, ready-to-heat and on-the-go foods that seem to promise shortcuts to healthier living.
No matter how clever we get at processing food and packaging it the truth is that there are no short-cuts to nutrition. The bottom line is; eat food. The closer to the source the better. That means, the less processing, the less packaging, the more the dirt clings to it, the better. The better for you, your local food producers and the environment. I personally think it’s crazy to live in a house with a lawn and to grow no food in your yard. I don’t think you need to grow acres of potatoes to last all winter, but at least some herbs. Anyone with a balcony can grow a salad.
If you’re looking for a holistic chiropractor Abbotsford is the place to look! Dr. Dorothea McCallum has been practicing drug free, surgery free, hands on chiropractic for over 20 years. Dr. Dorothea McCallum provides General Chiropractic Care for people of all ages, Pre and Perinatal care for Moms and babies – Webster Technique Certified, Wellness Care and Coaching – Certified Chiropractic Wellness Practitioner (CCWP) and Custom Corrective Orthotics.
Visit our office on-line by seeing our video on CanPages! New Patients always welcome www.canpages.ca/page/BC/abbotsford/mccallum-chiropractic-at-the-bay/4270514.html
GOOD Mental Health
Part of Total Health
One of the most important aspects of health is mental health. We have a way of taking things apart and looking at them separately and thinking that there are no connections between them. Physical and Mental health are no exception. It is nearly impossible to be robustly, physically healthy and mentally unhealthy at the same time. And vice versa. The two are interconnected in so many ways. Learning about what real, good health is will help you see the interconnection and help move you toward optimum mental and physical health.
Mental illness is the number one cause of disability in Canada. One in five of us will experience a mental illness in our lifetime. Every single family in Canada will in some way be affected.
Mental illness influences a person’s emotion, thoughts and behaviours – how they see themselves, see the world around them, and how they interact in that world.
There is no single cause of mental illness. It’s most likely several factors together that lead to mental illness. Recent evidence has shown that many of the major mental illnesses involve chemical imbalances in the body.
Some Myths about Mental Illness
Mental illness is a single, rare disorder
Fact: Mental illness is not a single disease but a broad classification for many disorders. Anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, personality disorders, eating disorders and organic brain disorders can cause misery, tears and missed opportunities for thousands of Canadians.
Mental Illness is caused by a personal weakness.
Fact: A mental illness is a not a character flaw. It is an illness, and it has nothing to do with being weak or lacking will power. Although people with mental illness can play a big part in their own recover, they did not choose to become ill, and they are not lazy because they cannot just “snap out of it.”
People with mental illness are poor and/or less intelligent.
Fact: Many studies show that most mentally ill people have average or above-average intelligence. Mental illness, like physical illness, can affect anyone regardless of intelligence, social class or income level.
A psychologist I know once said that, in fact, intelligent people often suffer more depression than the average because they can imagine so many more terrible outcomes.
Staying mentally fit means striking a balance in all aspects of our lives: social, physical, spiritual, financial and mental. It’s a learning process to find balance. At times you may tip the scales too much in one direction and have to find your footing again.
Next time we look at how to practice mental fitness.
Take the mental fitness test at www.cmha.ca
In the Abbotsford chiropractic office of Dr. Dorothea McCallum, you’ll enjoy expert care that goes beyond sore backs and headaches.
Looking for a way to share your great chiropactic experience? Check out canpages online and look for McCallum Chiropractic in Abbotsford. You’ll find our great little slide show and your friends can see what the office is like.
Do I Need Vitamins? (or Not)
Last week we talked about some of the reasons why supplements are not always a worthwhile investment. One thing I forgot to mention is that because most supplements are hard for the body to use because of missing co-factors is that most of them are eliminated in the urine. So, you end up with pretty expensive pee. If you over-supplement and the body can’t eliminate the nutrient easily, you can also end up with kidney stones or other deposits that cause trouble of their own. People who’ve just started taking supplements often report feeling a LOT better, but it’s usually because they’ve been so deficient that the body hungrily absorbs what it can, but when it can’t process the amounts and it can’t balance the supplement with all the other things it needs, you lose that good feeling and most people stop.
There are some nutrients that you do need to supplement with. These are things that are very difficult to get in most modern food in adequate amounts – either because we can’t eat enough calories to get them given our activity levels, or because of production methods and processing they do not exist in the food where they used to come from. The following are things you need to supplement:
1. Omega 3 Essential Fatty Acids. There are three fatty acids that are necessary in a human’s diet: Omega 3, 6 and 9. Omega 6 and 9 are over-abundant in a modern North American’s diet, but Omega 3 is hard to get – even though you will see it added to all kinds of food in the grocery store – don’t fall for it – most amounts are too small to make any kind of difference. Omega 3 is needed for the immune system and for mediating the inflammatory response, as well as for proper structure and function of the nervous system. You need to take at least two tsps of good Omega 3 oil per day. Innate Choice is an excellent oil from clean, natural sources, it’s been microfiltered so there’s no mercury in it and it hasn’t been over processed. If you take this oil every day, nearly every aspect of your health will improve. Make sure that everyone in your family is taking it too.
2. Vitamin D. This is not an essential nutrient in lots of other places, but in Canada because of our Northern latitudes and the resulting angle of the sun’s rays and especially on the “Wet Coast” of BC where it is overcast and dark for long stretches of time, we are sunlight deprived. Also, because of increased skin cancer risks, people have become afraid to get sun exposure, so we don’t produce enough Vitamin D. We need Vitamin D for many things, but one of the most important is Calcium absorption and retention in our bones, and for the nervous system and our affect. Affect is how we feel. Feel lousy? Feel like you need a vacation in Hawaii? You’re right, but what you actually really need is Vitamin D. There are some great Vitamin D products on the market right now. I have one where all you have to do is put a little tiny drop on your finger and lick it Done! It even tastes good.
3. Probiotics. These are the bugs that live in our intestine. They digest almost all the vegetable matter we eat. If we don’t eat a lot of vegetable matter, they die and yeast and less friendly bacteria take over. We end up bloated, constipated, sick all the time because we catch everything that is going around, we gain weight in the wrong places (that’s everywhere, by the way), we have really smelly farts, we get indigestion, our skin gets bad, we burp, we get crabby, we get diarrhea and we smell bad. Do I need to go on? Innate Choice makes a good probiotic supplement, and if you don’t want to order it off the internet, you can get Garden of Life, Primal Defense at the Health Food store. Eating a live culture yoghurt is an option, but remember that you are eating a dairy product and usually these have sugar in them (which defeats the purpose of the probiotic) and the probiotics in it are really good for cows. People do better with dirt based probiotics which are in the ones I’ve recommended.
The moral of this story is – eat food. Not fake food. Not processed food. With every piece of food you put in your mouth and chew, ask yourself if this is providing your body with the materials it needs to build you – and will it poison you in any way? Only swallow if the answers are the right answers.
If you’re looking for a holistic chiropractor Abbotsford is the place to look! Dr. Dorothea McCallum has been practicing drug free, surgery free, hands on chiropractic for over 20 years. Dr. Dorothea McCallum provides General Chiropractic Care for people of all ages, Pre and Perinatal care for Moms and babies – Webster Technique Certified, Wellness Care and Coaching – Certified Chiropractic Wellness Practitioner (CCWP) and Custom Corrective Orthotics
Do I Need Vitamins?
People often come into the office all excited about taking a new supplement that’s really helping with some symptoms they have. Often they’re puzzled with my lack of enthusiasm. It’s hard, though, to condense years of learning about nutrition and its role in health into the short time we have together in the office. Because it’s pretty impossible to teach this kind of thing in an office visit or two, I’ve run classes on nutrition – but they’re not well attended. The problem always is that no one really wants to know how to eat for optimum health – what they want is a formula that will allow them to lose weight, get all the nutrients they need without cooking or planning meals and they want to keep eating the way they always have.
People get enthusiastic about their supplements and diet plans because they see this as a quick start and hope that once they reach a goal, or start to feel better they can go back to what they did before; but eating for good health is a lifelong, lifestyle change. That doesn’t mean that it has to be awful or that you have to give up everything you really like, or even that you have to feel deprived all the time.
The biggest barrier to eating properly for optimum health is actually in your head. Part of the problem is that most people don’t know anything about food except that they like it and that it tastes good and they like feeling full. That you can actually choose foods based on what your body needs in order to function properly and still accomplish the above things is not something that most people even think about. And if they do, they think that supplementing one or two nutrients that they hear about on television, or read about in a magazine or saw on Dr. Oz will do the trick.
Food is more complicated than that – and a whole lot simpler. What do I mean? Well, when you pull foods apart and start taking the “nutrients” out and taking them as supplements, you’ve just removed the nutrient from context and made your body work harder. Now your body has to identify what the “nutrient” is, where it’s supposed to go and what it’s supposed to go with. Since it doesn’t come with the co-factors it needs to do its job right, the body has to try to match it up with the co-factor, and if that co-factor can’t be found, the “nutrient” can’t be used and is eliminated.
If you leave the “nutrients” in the food and eat the food, your body has a much better chance of being able to use the nutrient appropriately. In whole foods – like vegetables and fruits, everything you need to be able to use the nutrients is already included.
Another problem with supplements is the amounts. Your body knows what it needs, but a vitamin pill contains what fits neatly into a pill that can easily be swallowed. The amounts in pills have nothing to do with what your body needs. You take a multi-vitamin thinking that you’re covering your bases and getting everything you need because you might not be eating really well – right? Actually, multi-vitamins contain a list of vitamins in no particular balance with each other and some of them contain vitamins and/or minerals that compete with each other for absorption (so neither gets absorbed). If you want to get lots of vitamins and minerals in meaningful amounts with co-factors, I advise you to get a juicer or better yet a Vitamix. Make juice or pulps from vegetables and add some fruit for flavor. Not as convenient as a vitamin pill, but way better for you.
I know you think you feel better when you start taking vitamins, but it’s because you’ve been deficient and your body is so happy to finally get some of what it needs that it improves. But once it starts getting tired of sorting out what it needs and having to eliminate the rest, you’ll stop taking your supplements and they’ll just get dusty in the cupboard.
Next week, I’m going to talk about the supplements you DO actually need, so stay tuned!
Hope you’re having a great summer. Remember to send your friends to the Canpages for a glimpse of our office.
If you’re looking for a holistic chiropractor Abbotsford is the place to look! Dr. Dorothea McCallum has been practicing drug free, surgery free, hands on chiropractic for over 20 years. Dr. Dorothea McCallum provides General Chiropractic Care for people of all ages, Pre and Perinatal care for Moms and babies – Webster Technique Certified, Wellness Care and Coaching – Certified Chiropractic Wellness Practitioner (CCWP) and Custom Corrective Orthotics
Note:
The office is closed over the Canada Day Long Weekend, Thursday, June 30 until Tuesday, July 5. Dr. McCallum is taking a short vacation! Please phone if you need an appointment when I am back, and we’ll book you as soon as possible.
Not All Milk is Created Equal
Last week I was writing about Bakerview Ecodairy:
Back to the cows. As we were touring the dairy, some of the cows came over to say “hello” and give us “kisses”. My, cows have long tongues. Since they are not tied up, they can stroll around and one of the places they stroll to is the Automatic Cow Brush. Since they’re not outside, they don’t have any nice bushes to go and rub up against, so there is the Cow Brush. They just stand underneath it and it turns on and twirls around and moves up and down along their bodies giving them a nice massage and keeping them very clean. They are the cleanest cows I’ve ever seen.
This isn’t the coolest part though. Milking is entirely automatic and is done in the cow milking robot. When a cow is ready to be milked (she decides – it takes two days to train a cow to know what to do) she mozies over to the milker and walks in. The computer determines if she is indeed ready (sometimes a cow tries to get milked when she’s not ready because she gets a treat), the machine tests each teat for mastitis (infection) and then washes the teats individually, attaches the milking machine and milks the cow. If the cow has an infection the cow is milked (they obviously have to be) and that milk is rerouted to a different tank and the lines are sterilized for the next cow.
This place is like a cow spa.
Bakerview EcoDairy has their milk processed at a nearby organic dairy. They do not sell skim milk because they believe that some fat is needed for the milk to be really healthy, (I agree). If you take the tour (I highly recommend it) you get to try a sample of milk at the grocery store also on the grounds. They give you a glass of 2% that is about as thick as whipping cream and tastes richer than whole milk from any commercial dairy. The yoghurt is divine. Don’t worry about the fat content – its healthy omega 3 rich fat, important for your cell health, nervous system, and the anti-inflammatory systems in your body.
The Bakerview EcoDairy operation has a grocery store where they sell locally sources foods. There are vegetables, grass fed meats, their own eggs, local cheeses, a deli with sandwiches and other treats. They also have a picnic area where you can bring your family and enjoy the amazing scenery and a great lunch.
The Bakerview EcoDairy is a non-profit BC society with four mandates:
- To create a platform for advances in agri-technology and promote agritourism
- To provide opportunities for education of dairy farming practices and products.
- To focus on green energy conservation and nutrient management
- To offer a fun and experiential learning environment for the public.
A portion of gate revenues is used to support scientific research and education in agriculture.
We are blessed to live in one of the world’s most beautiful places and where they produce some of the world’s finest foods. Bakerview EcoDairy is just one of the places on the Circle Farm Tour in the Fraser Valley where you can see how your food is produced and buy right from the people who put care and love into producing it for you.
These are just a couple of suggestions for you and your family to visit this summer.
If you have any other questions about nutrition and how to achieve better health by being pure and sufficient by eating real food, remember Dr. McCallum is a Certified Chiropractic Wellness Practitioner. Please send your questions, and we can answer them for you here on the blog.
Remember, you can refer your friends to the office – Every Body needs chiropractic. Just go to Canpages online directory to see a short video about the office.
In the Abbotsford chiropractic office of Dr. Dorothea McCallum, you’ll enjoy expert care that goes beyond sore backs and headaches.
Reminder: Dr. McCallum is in Toronto at CMCC’s Convocation and Board Retreat June 16 – 19th. Please call if you need an appointment – Deb will be here to answer the phones, and you can leave a message if the office is closed. We appreciate it when you leave a message. I sure hope it cools down a bit there because it’s been REALLY hot (and that means humid, too!)
Not All Milk is Created Equal
If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, you know I’m all about achieving and staying healthy through natural means. One of the most important means is good food that supplies what you need and that doesn’t supply preservatives, pesticides, poisons and overly processed things that your body doesn’t need.
You’ll also know that I’m not a big proponent of milk and dairy. Humans are the only mammals that consume another species’ milk after weaning. Most adults lose the ability to properly digest dairy after childhood. The milk board is right when they tout the high calcium content of milk, but what they often leave out is that milk products have an acidic effect in your body that actually draws calcium out of your bones to buffer this acidic effect. Milk consumption can lead to osteoporosis.
However, one of the reasons that modern cow’s milk has this effect is because of how we produce it. All milk is not created equal. I have to admit that I like some milk products and I think that you can have some now and again without ill effect. I’m not going to argue for raw milk here in this blog – that’s another story, although when I was growing up, my Mom always found a raw milk source and that’s what we had. There’s nothing like real cream off the top of the milk! I firmly believe that taking the milk apart and putting it back together like we do is not so good for us. I have to admit that I have a real weakness for butterfat, I think cheese is a great flavor enhancer and I think that the fat in real milk is good for you and helps your body absorb the nutrients in the milk.
All Milk is Not Created Equal
One of the neatest things to see is when modern technology and concern about food content and integrity come together – when you see farmers and food producers marrying nutrition, wholism and health with cool machines. Organic, healthy food doesn’t need to be produced in old fashioned ways.
The other week I had a fun experience. I went to Bakerview EcoDairy in Abbotsford. This is a neat place. What caught my eye was the goats on the roof – I don’t know if goats like being on the roof, but it does catch your eye! 
They have a petting area with miniature horses, a donkey, little goats, little pigs and turkeys (can you pet turkeys?). The building is constructed of salvaged pine beetle lumber and built with Leeds technology. The roof is metal and all the rain water (yes, we get a lot of rain) is collected in a cistern and that water is used to water the grounds.
Inside the dairy, you can go on a tour with some videos that explain the principles behind the business and then you get to visit the cows. Almost the entire operation is automatic. The cows have a really nice barn with rubber floors, windows that open and shut automatically depending on the temperature and weather. There is special organic feed placed along one side of the barn and the cows, who are not tied up or otherwise confined, can go and eat whenever they want. Their feed is a special blend that helps the cows produce milk that is high in Omega 3 fats - the kind you want. They have a nice raised platform in the centre where they can lie down to chew their cud. Along the floor is an automatic floor cleaner that scrapes the inevitable poo into an area where it is collected and sent to the anaerobic cooker.
What is an anaerobic cooker, you ask? Well, the poo is put in the cooker and heated for a particular period of time (I’ve forgotten exactly how long). This cooking produces a solid product that is sterile when it is extracted and used as bedding for the cows so they can lie on a nice soft bed to chew their cud and rest if they like. The gases produced are used to heat the building, the cooker and power some of the machinery used at the dairy. The liquid fertilizer that’s produced from the rest of it is used to fertilize the grounds and once the cooker is at full production, you’ll be able to buy it for your garden.
Isn’t it amazing how you can build something so that all these systems fit together and work without using extra resources, helping to keep the neighbourhood and the planet clean? How come we can’t build housing developments like this? Actually we could if we would start thinking differently about what we need.
Next week we’ll get back to the cows! More on the Bakerview EcoDairy and how all not all milk is created equal.
Good food is only one part of good health. Movement is also key – it’s like food for your nervous system. The best way to keep moving smoothly and without damage to your joints is to see your chiropractor regularly. Want to tell others about how you’ve been helped by chiropractic? Now you can send them to the online Canpages directory. Just tell them to look up McCallum Chiropractic in Abbotsford and they can see a short video of the office.
Dr. Dorothea McCallum is an Abbotsford back pain relief doctor who looks at so much more. Your back is connected to every organ, cell and tissue in your body by the nervous system. Find out how chiropractic can help you live a longer, fuller life.
Barefooting III
Have you ever noticed that many exercises that involve mental concentration are done barefoot? Yoga, tai chi, martial arts, much modern dance – any exercise where you need your foot to really work is often done barefoot.
Here are some other things that barefeet are a remedy for:
- varicose veins. These are caused by shoes and socks cutting off proper circulation. When you are barefoot, your leg muscles are better able to pump blood back to the heart.
- slipped discs and vertebral subluxation. When you wear shoes, your foot is unaware of changes in the surface you are moving on, thus confusing your skeletal structure, When you walk barefoot, your natural motion travels up your body, creating balance in your posture and skeletal structure.
- the common cold. Forget the old wive’s tale about catching a cold. Exposing your feet to a chill helps stimulate your body to produce warmth and resistance, as your feet will acclimate to the surrounding temperature. Ever notice how on a cold day, when you’re wearing boots and socks, your feet remain cold even when you get indoors and stay that way even in your socks? Try spending a minute (or even a few seconds) barefoot in the snow, and see how toasty your feet feel once indoors. It’s a pretty neat feeling. Plus, you won’t catch a cold; it’ll probably boost your immune system and help protect you.
- Athlete’s foot. Think about it – your foot produces tons of sweat while enclosed, ejecting impurities from inside your body. These germs thrive on moist, damp skin and have nowhere to go while confined in your shoes. Contact with fresh air and natural soil helps hinder the development of fungus.
Another thing you can do to help your feet, ankles, knees, hips and lower back is to get orthotics. I think that in our culture, with all the flat, hard paved surfaces that we walk on and especially since they don’t make shoes like they used to – many are made of plastic so they are ungiving, hot and unfixable and so inexpensive as to be of throw-away value – that by the time you are about thirty years old, you will have permanent damage to the arches, toes and joints of your feet. Corrective orthotics can help support the arches, correct gait and weight bearing and prevent bunions, corns and calluses. Even if your feet don’t hurt, you walk thousands of steps on them, and most of us don’t take very good care of them. Custom orthotics are a good investment for your overall health, not just your feet. Bad feet can lead to knee and hip degeneration. If you can’t walk because your feet, knees or hips are ruined, you won’t be healthy in any other aspect of your life.
I use the Footmaxx system for gait analysis to assess for foot and lower limb function. While orthotics may not be as good as walking barefoot, we have to be practical, so I invite you to come in for a gait analysis and see if you would benefit from orthotic therapy. Most Extended Health plans cover orthotics.
Walking barefoot is free and prevents chronic pain.
Dr. Dorothea McCallum, Abbotsford orthotics custom provider uses the advanced Footmaxx computer system to analyze your gait. Custom orthotics are manufactured to correct your particular walking patterns. Not based solely on the shape of your dysfunctional foot, Footmaxx orthotics actually correct over-pronation and other gait irregularities. Wearing Footmaxx orthotics and can lead to healthier, functional feet. Plus, no more foot pain! Visit McCallum Chiropractic for a gait analysis.
For more information about the office and for a handy resource when you want to refer someone to the office, visit the Yellow Pages online and look up McCallum Chiropractic in Abbotsford.
Did you know that chiropractors effectively treat conditions related to the jaw, also known as the Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ)? Symptoms from TMJ dysfunction can include jaw pain, upper neck pain, ringing in the ears (tinnitus), vertigo (dizziness), hearing loss, headaches and sinus congestion. Problems with the TMJ can lead to uneven wear on the teeth and because of pain, poor chewing habits and impaired digestion.
Another symptom of TMJ is bruxing and grinding, although this is a bit of a chicken and egg situation because bruxing and grinding the teeth during sleep can also lead to TMJ problems.
So what’s the solution? Many people get night guards from their dentist. These are certainly effective for protecting teeth surfaces from erosion and there are some new devices that appear to be better at keeping the person from biting down hard all night and creating muscle spasm. I’ve heard of people getting prolotherapy injections in the TMJ and a lot of other therapies aimed at treating the pain generated when the jaw doesn’t line up and work right.
But wouldn’t it be great if you could get your jaw realigned, the muscles to relax and work right so that you don’t have any pain? Well, you can. See your chiropractor.
Chiropractors have training on how to treat the joint mechanics of the jaw, as well as the muscular component of the problem. Plus, they have a tool in their technique toolbox that no one else has.
The jaw is one of the most important joints in the body and of all the joints in the body it is imperative that it work right as soon as you are born. You need it for sucking; you will die if you can’t suck and therefore eat. The first secondary curve you develop in your spine is in your neck and this is so you can lift your head and find some dinner. The upper cervical part of your spine ties into your jaw with nerve connections, muscular connections and other connective tissue structures. When your neck is a wreck, your jaw will be too. So, one of the most important things that your chiropractor does is check your neck first.
Many times, I’ve checked a person’s jaw, and then adjusted their neck. When I check the jaw after the adjustment, without touching the jaw, I find it has corrected and is no longer restricted, or the restriction and dysfunction is decreased. How neat is that?
When the problem is chronic more care is often needed, but TMJ adjustments are comfortable and have a profound effect almost immediately. I use low force technique and the most uncomfortable part of the procedure is assessing the problem and working the muscles. When they get tight, the face can hurt and can be quite sensitive, so there might be some eye watering as we work on the trigger-points, but the results are worth it.
Often, when a person has had a TMJ problem for a while, and we treat their upper neck and the jaw, they notice that their headaches disappear.
People with TMJ dysfunction almost always have at least one otologic (related to the ear) complaint. This can be ear pain, like a feeling of fullness, stabbing or aching, tinnitus which is a ringing in the ear or a pulsing sound, vertigo or dizziness and even hearing loss. Once the upper neck is adjusted and the TMJ corrected these symptoms often disappear.
This is a situation where if a practitioner didn’t understand the symptom patterns, physiology, pathology, neurology and joint mechanics of the head and neck, they might treat the ear only and the person would get no relief and might even be harmed by inappropriate testing and treatment.
I always believe that it is best to start with the most non-invasive treatment. So if you or anyone you know has headaches, jaw pain, ear pain, dizziness, ringing in the ears, facial pain or any of the other symptoms associated with TMJ, recommend a chiropractic treatment first. As a chiropractor, I can assess if it is something that a chiropractor can help or if it needs other care.
The worst thing that can happen with chiropractic care is that we can’t fix your jaw pain – but you will have a healthier neck and back !
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Sometimes when I talk to people about sending their friends or family in they tell me that people are reluctant to come because they don’t know what will happen to them or what a chiropractic office is like. If you want help sending people to the office send them to:
http://www.canpages.ca/page/BC/abbotsford/mccallum-chiropractic-at-the-bay/4270514.html
This is our online yellow pages listing. It’s a short video showing the office and has a short explanation of what we do here.
At McCallum Chiropractic we are always looking to enhance your health through easy, effective choices. Choose Chiropractic.