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 93 - Mind Racing ... Can’t Get Back to Sleep?

Photo courtesy of xlibber at Flickr Commons

Trick question coming up; don’t be blinded by the obvious.

Lying awake for hours ... unable to quiet your mind; your mind is apt to be blamed. But is sleeplessness entirely caused by worries, unfinished work, or difficult decisions tossed around in your head?

The answer is NO! Turns out the mind-body connection is a veritable thoroughfare with a lot of traffic moving from south to north, especially at night.

That spicy pizza could activate your brain. The distention of your bowel with intestinal gas from that extra glass of milk can cause distress that would manifest in your head. The tightness and tenderness in your muscles and joints certainly don’t produce relaxed brain waves. And surely you didn’t think that that double espresso at 4:45 this afternoon would have no effect. The fact that you haven’t exercised for weeks is no calming influence either.

Your mind may be racing, but your body may be the source of the fuel.

DAY 84 – Warren’s Chiropractic Three-fer

Today, as I worked on my brother-in-law, Warren, I was reminded to tell you that good chiropractic manipulation provides a two-fer, if not a three-fer.

Warren was lying face down on my portable table as I began a manual scanning of his back, testing the tone and texture of his muscles, and gauging the flexibility of the joints of his spine and ribs.

He commented that the gentle pressure of my hand on his left, upper back, had elicited a mild numbness in his left arm. The numbness, he shared, was something that he experienced at times from lying on that side at night. I let him know that there was an obvious stiffness in his upper back that was a cause of his symptoms.

Lying on his left side, with his right shoulder rolled back and his right hip rotated forward, I felt his mildly torqued spine. Just as in a chain necklace, held at one end, and twisted from the other, if a kink exists in the spine, it is exaggerated, and becomes apparent. Simultaneously, while my hand felt, and moved from flexible spine toward the apex of a kink, Warren experienced a transition from painless to tender. As my hand crossed the apex of the kink and moved back into a flexible area on the other side, Warren felt the tenderness disappear.

A thorough spinal manipulation followed; restoring mobility to stiff joints, from occiput to sacrum.

The first half of Warren’s two-fer consisted of his direct experiencing, and learning more about what was going on in his body, rather than just getting a report from the doctor. The second half was manipulative treatment to improve his spinal function.

Potentially, inspired by the real connection to the stiffness and pain in his back, the door swings open for the three-fer; the opportunity to both discuss the causes of physical restriction and discomfort, and to consider self-care methods for restoring health.

DAY 23 - Can You Crack Your Back?

Seems simple enough, but not only is there depth to this question, but understanding what’s behind it could save your health.

So, the question is, can you turn, arch, stretch, or extend your back and have it “crack”?

That “cracking” or popping is technically called cavitation, and occurs when joints are moved slightly beyond their normal range, creating a partial vacuum inside the joint. Collapsing gas bubbles in the joint vacuum create the “cracking” sound.

A large percentage of young people can “crack” their own backs. As people age, they tend to become stiffer, and they usually lose the ability to “crack” their backs. Given that young people are statistically healthier than older people, it could make one wonder if “crackability” is a sign of health, or associated with health. Turns out, it is.

Becoming stiff is not solely a result of aging. While there are many factors that influence flexibility, I have focused on four factors in my chiropractic practice to clearly and quickly demonstrate to patients that how they live, profoundly affects the mobility of their bodies. The four factors are: allergy to dairy products, magnesium, stretching, and spinal adjusting (also called manipulation).

One of the most common allergic effects of dairy products is the tightening of muscles and general stiffening of the body. By removing all dairy from the diet for 1-2 weeks, most people find that their muscles are more relaxed and their joints more supple.

Most Americans are deficient in the mineral, magnesium. One of many effects of magnesium in the human body is to allow muscles to fully relax. Supplemental magnesium (I use magnesium glycinate) usually results in muscular relaxation and greater joint mobility.

We all know that if we don’t use it, we lose it. But when it comes to using and keeping our flexibility through daily stretching, it’s just not happening in our culture. However, after thirty minutes a day of stretching for a few days most people find themselves more limber.

Spinal adjustments mobilize joints and clear neurologic patterns that maintain excessive muscle tightness and joint stiffness. Results are often instantaneous.

Each one of these four factors can independently increase flexibility and suppleness. In combinations or as a complete set they are even more powerful.

Since I began practice in 1983, many of my new patients between the ages of 30 and 70 have reported to me that in years gone by they could “crack” their backs, but they had gradually lost the ability to do so. A large number of these same patients, upon applying any one, or a combination of the four factors, regained the ability to “crack” their backs. This restored “crackability” is always accompanied by healthier and more relaxed muscle tone, and greater joint mobility.

Can you “crack” your back?