DAY 139 - Stopped by a Bug

It was 9 o’clock in the evening on Friday the 4th of February, DAY 123 of my book, when I realized I was in trouble.

A week earlier I had torn some connective tissue in my left ankle. No big deal; it swelled a bit and bled internally. Having done this before, I knew that it would be sore, but resolve within a week or two. Instead, 3 days later, the ankle was not just swollen and bruised, but red and warm. My sweet wife gently suggested that antibiotics might be called for. While in no way opposed to antibiotics, I have always been strongly opposed to their inappropriate use. I hoped that my immune system could handle the situation.

During the next few days the condition of my ankle fluctuated. On Thursday the 3rd, it appeared that my body had the upper hand. But by 9 PM on Friday, the invaders had me down. My left ankle was painful, hot and swollen.

Being so fortunate as to have dear friends who are medical doctors, I was able to contact one, get to an all-night pharmacy, and start on antibiotics. The next day, Saturday, my MD friend met me at his office, lanced the infected area, sent a sample for culturing, and recommended a stronger antibiotic.

By Monday the culture report was back from the lab and showed a serious infection by a bacterium that is resistant to most antibiotics.

My book and my life would be put on hold for 14 days ... by a bug.

DAY 123 - The Most Common Sign of Allergy

photo courtesy of tajai at Flickr

Itching, rash, watery eyes, and runny nose are what most of us think of as common signs of allergy; and they are. I simply believe there is something far more common; muscle contraction.

Modern healthcare recognizes muscle contraction in allergy, as seen with contraction of smooth muscles of the respiratory tract in asthma, of the digestive tract with throat constriction and constipation, and with a racing heart.

What is missed by most doctors, is that chronic contraction, also called hypertonicity, of the muscles of the spine and limbs, can also be, and is a very common feature of allergy.

Large numbers of American adults experience stiffness and/or pain associated with excessive muscular tightness. American youth, as young as toddlers, also exhibit excessive muscle tone, but are less apt to experience pain than adults. Mild to moderate manual pressure, applied during examination, to tight muscles, in children and adults, will predictably elicit a flinch reaction and verbal expression of pain.

Long term, untreated allergy has negative whole-body effects. Tissue damage can occur locally, and/or systemically as ones immune system wages war on what it considers invaders.

I predict that in the future it will be standard practice for doctors skilled in palpatory examination, to screen patients’ skeletal musculature for indications of allergy.

Until such time, you and your family don't have to wait. You can find a skilled chiropractor or other practitioner, and have an annual screening of your musculature as a part of ruling out allergic reactions, and as part of a thorough health check-up.

DAY 94 - Sleeping Like a Baby is Not Always Great

photo courtesy of xlibber at Flickr Commons

While it is generally true that infants sleep more soundly and peacefully than adults, and while it is also true that there are few sights more calming and beautiful than that of a little one at rest, not all babies sleep like a baby.

If you doubt me, ask an exhausted new mother, or the weary parents of a 2 year-old who still doesn’t sleep through the night.

It is common for newborns to wake frequently, being fussy, and appearing hungry. The usual assumption is that the infant is not getting enough nourishment. In many cases, the waking and fussiness are not from insufficient food, but rather from food that does not agree with the child’s digestive and immune systems.

Given that most of us would think that breast milk would be the perfect food, and some would think that a medically approved formula must surely be good for the child, few of us realize that each may cause distress, pain and aberrant sleep in a newborn or infant. Clearly, breast milk is the finest food for a newborn; but the content of breast milk is altered by the foods that the mother consumes, and can have disastrous effects on the comfort and health of the nursing infant. Formulas, even medically approved, commonly cause gastric and other distress in infants.

When foods have not been considered, nor ruled out as causes of disturbed sleep, a family often simply accommodates to the dysfunction and the harmful effect on the household, and lives with the idea that this is just a quirk of this child. As months and years roll by, the problems which often expand beyond the initial sleep disturbance, are explained by – “he has always been this way...”

Good sleep is not a luxury, it is a necessity.

If your baby is not sleeping like a baby; find out why not, and think foods.