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West Hollywood Chiropractor on Chiropractic Adjustments for Children

By On · Add Comment · In children, chiropractic, chiropractic adjustment, chronic pain, kids, nervous system, neurological pathways, pain relief, pediatric, West Hollywood Chiropractor

Most people think of chiropractic for pain relief, and it’s great for that; but chiropractic is also necessary to keep the nervous system functioning optimally. That’s why chiropractic adjustment for kids is essential.

It’s rare for children to experience chronic pain the way adults do, although it does happen. More important, though, is that children are in the developmental phase of growth, and as such they are establishing neural pathways that will shape their future experiences and, thus, their lives. Chiropractic adjustments can aid in that development so that they fight infection easier, handle bumps and bruises better, and experience growth and neurological wellness unimpeded.

The nervous system takes in and processes information from the environment around us. So pediatric chiropractic adjustments, then, allow the nervous system to do what it does best–recognize, analyze and create responses with no interference. Think that is useful for a developing child?

I’ve been receiving chiropractic adjustments since I was seven–thanks mom! And that’s exactly what I do for my children, too–provide them with healthy, optimally functioning nervous systems. If you and your children live the chiropractic lifestyle now–bravo! If not, try it–you’ve got nothing to lose, and everything to gain. It’s safe (watch the videos: those are my most precious treasures, my daughters), effective, and it FEELS GOOD!

Thanks for Getting On-Board

By On · Add Comment · In chiropractors, chronic pain, drugs, elderly, falls, neurological

In 1992 when I was in college, the Catholic Church finally acknowledged Galileo’s findings on planetary motion, and publicly cleared him of any wrongdoing. Evolution is still foolishly rejected by some. But what really makes me feel good is when an idea known as true for so long by some gets picked up by the mainstream.

Take pain for instance; chiropractors have known for over a century how wide ranging its effects are. But not the medical industry. Noooo. Pain is a part of getting old. There are some medications we can give you to ward off the pain, but…I’m sorry Missus Jones, you’ll just have to live with the pain.

But, as they say, the times they are a changin’. And there is now acknowledgment that pain can wreak havoc on human operation that goes well beyond the obvious. A new study out of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and the University of Massachusetts shows that chronic pain actually increases the probability of seniors falling. Since falls are a significant cause of death for the elderly, uncovering its predisposing factors are vital.

According to the study, published in the Nov. 25 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, people who had pain in more than one joint were more likely to fall, compared with people who reported no pain or minimal pain. Severe pain and pain that affected participants’ ability to do daily activities also made falls more likely, researchers found. In addition, having pain in one month made falling in the next month likely. People who reported severe pain in one month had a 77 percent increased risk of falling the next month. Even people reporting very mild pain were more likely to fall the following month, the group found.

So this is nothing new to chiropractors. We know precisely how much pain interupts neurological functioning of the human body; we know that the elderly are particularly susceptible to pain-induced biomechanical dysfunction (but don’t get false security young-folk, you, too, are susceptible); and we know that helping people become pain-free through chiropractic care helps them maintain their function, their balance and their dignity.

But here’s the problem: Medical science does not fully recognize it, yet. Damn shame I tell you. The current medical answer to pain in the elderly is pharmaceutical therapy, or in other words, drugs. Not only is this solution a non-solution since it never really removes or corrects the pain, but it can also add to the feelings of imbalance which then lead to further…you guessed it, falls.

Did the researchers mention pain-relieving chiropractic care as an answer? Well, they did mention fitness and wellness professionals, and since chiropractors are that, then…I guess they did. Thank you, thank you medical science–it’s about time. Like Galileo before him, D.D. Palmer will appreciate the acknowledgment.

Chronic Pain Hurts Everything

By On · Add Comment · In brain scan, chiropractic, chiropractors, chronic pain, default mode, frontal cortex, functional MRI, low back pain, pain
Every chiropractor knows how much pain can disrupt the life of the person suffering from it. “Hurting” is just the tip of the iceberg. Truth is that when pain sits around for a long time, it disrupts all processes, especially mental ones. These facts have now been disclosed by a new study out of Northwestern University in Chicago.

The study looked at 30 people–15 with chronic low back pain and 15 that were pain-free. Each person was hooked up to a brain scan, a functional MRI, and was asked to perform a simple mental task–tracking a moving bar on a computer screen. The idea was to study a brain process called the default mode, an automatic setting of the brain of healthy people that controls functions when the brain is at rest–that is, when it is not actively processing information.

In healthy people performing a mental task, the default mode quiets down. But not in people suffering from chronic pain (lasting longer than six months was considered chronic in this study); in these people a region of the frontal cortex associated with emotion was constantly active, even during a routine mental task (check out the cool video, here). This constant cortical activity of the brain actually disrupted the normal brain equilibrium. Whoa!

Again, no surprise to chiropractors. But I’ll bet it’s no surprise to anyone who’s ever been in chronic pain, either. I’ve personally experienced it on both ends; as a doctor of chiropractic, I see the effects of chronic pain on people on a daily basis; as someone who has had my fair share, I know how difficult it is to do anything when in constant pain. Heck, I could barely make simple decisions when my tooth cracked. And with appendicitis–forget it! All I could do was moan.

Researchers of this latest pain study say that disruptions in the default network might explain why pain patients have problems with attention, sleep disturbances and even depression. Yeah, that sounds right. And according to the study authors, “These findings suggest that the brain of a chronic pain patient is not simply a healthy brain processing pain information but rather it is altered by the persistent pain in a manner reminiscent of other neurological conditions associated with cognitive impairments.”

The take home lesson here: Don’t let pain sit–get it taken care of right away. Go see a chiropractor, an acupuncturist, a massage therapist, or any practitioner that can help you. Perhaps you need to exercise, perhaps you need eye glasses–find out the cause of your pain and do something about it. Don’t just accept it as “getting older” or the unfortunate reality of any particular illness–even cancer patients can find some relief in alternative health methods like meditation, yoga, chiropractic and massage. So don’t give up, and don’t let it wait to go away on its own–take care of your body and address your pain today; and get back to living the life you love to live.

Montel Williams and Chiropractic

By On · Add Comment · In brain, chiropractic, chiropractic adjustment, chronic pain, demyelination, inflammatory disease, Montel Williams, multiple sclerosis (MS), myelin sheath, nerve cells, spinal cord, white matter


Television talk show host Montel Williams praised chiropractic on his show aired December 18, 2007. Montel, who suffers from multiple sclerosis (MS), said of chiropractic, “It’s the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me!”

Multiple sclerosis or MS is a painful, chronic, inflammatory disease that causes demyelination of the nerve cells of the central nervous system (CNS). Demyelination is the thinning or complete loss of the fatty layer–the myelin sheath–of the nerve cells, which is responsible for the conduction of electrical impulses down those cells. The name multiple sclerosis refers to the scars (scleroses–better known as plaques or lesions) in the white matter of the brain and spinal cord. MS has many symptoms, one of which is chronic pain. Montel Williams is no stranger to chronic pain.

According to the well-known talk show MC, he is in pain “24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year”; yet within just two weeks of chiropractic care he can “stand up straight without pain for the first time in over 5 years”. However, it did not take two weeks for Montel to get relief. He says that he experienced almost instantaneous relief from his first chiropractic adjustment. Booyah!

Says Montel, “There is not a person who knows me that will not confirm this…I am walking differently; my pain is less; I have already regained strength in my left leg; my left leg has dropped back down–I found out that my pelvis was tilted–[my legs] are now the same length.”

This is another huge plug for chiropractic. As my illustrious profession gets its fair share of knocks, it’s wonderful to see superstar athletes like Johnny Damon, Tom Brady (read about him and Joe Montana, here) and Lance Armstrong (read the interview with his chiropractor) and well-known celebrities, like Madonna (scroll down for the picture of her getting adjusted in the film, Truth or Dare), Dr. Phil and now Montel Williams endorse chiropractic by telling their incredible success stories.

Bravo, bravo. More people need to experience the miraculous healing power of chiropractic care. And only when highly-regarded public figures stand up to tell their success stories will the masses follow. Thank you Montel for sharing your chiropractic story with the world.

Chiropractic Can Pevent Drug Addiction

By On · Add Comment · In abuse, acupuncture, alternative, bodywork, chiropractic, chronic pain, disease, drug addiction, dysfunction, healing, low back pain, massage, opioid drugs, OxyContin, Percocet
You heard right – that miraculous healing art called chiropractic can actually prevent drug addiction. Here’s how: According to a large study conducted at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, nearly four percent of chronic pain patients abuse opioid drugs, such as OxyContin or Percocet. The findings are relevant because these numbers suggest that chronic pain sufferers are four times more likely to abuse opioid drugs then people in the general population (3.8% to 0.9% respectively). Since many chronic pain sufferers report great results through regular chiropractic care, it stands to reason that utilizing this exceptional form of bodywork can lower the risks of opioid drug addiction.

When it comes to pain, it is important to remember one thing, the function of pain is to tell you something is wrong. Whether that something is a biomechanical dysfunction or the onset of an organic disease (cancer, heart disease, etc.), the pain response acts as a warning signal to let you know that a problem is present. It seems that chronic pain is becoming more and more looked upon as an entity unto itself, and being treated as such with powerful opioid drugs. No doubt that occasionally the system goes haywire and pain develops for no apparent physical reason; however, this is more the exception than the rule (and likely due to other chemical, hormonal, neurological or organic imbalances), and it would, therefore, be prudent to find and correct the cause than simply treat the symptom with dangerous pharmaceuticals.

Drugs are important. They help us get over humps that can act as obstacles to our healing. Case in point: I had an emergency appendectomy last summer and I don’t know what I would have done without a couple – OK, seven – shots of morphine. The pain associated with appendicitis is excruciating – I was literally bowled over – and the opioid medication allowed me to handle the 22 hour wait for surgery. So I’m all for the drugs, man. But when they are prescribed simply for chronic pain – most commonly low back pain – something is seriously wrong.

I can’t say that all chronic pain sufferers can be helped by chiropractic care, but I know through my own observations, that far too many neglect to give it a serious try. If they are not fixed within one or two visits, they quit. And off to the pain specialist for a dose of OxyContin – the easy route, since pain will be alleviated quickly, although only temporarily. And since opioids also feel good – that is, they get you high – it’s no surprise that many people would rather take these addictive drugs, than suffer through chiropractic care and ice therapy, which takes longer and requires more work and has a financial commitment.

Fortunately, more people are looking to complimentary and alternative (CAM) health practices like chiropractic care, massage and acupuncture, to help alleviate their physical problems. According to the study, 54% of subjects had used or were currently using chiropractic care to treat chronic pain. Some other notable characteristics of CAM users are:

  • adults between 35-49 years of age
  • college educated
  • incomes above $35,000
  • have a holistic orientation to health.

And I would add wiser, more attractive, funnier, and all around better people. But, hey, that’s just my humble opinion.

TEMPUR-PEDIC PILLOW GIVEAWAY

Congratulations to Laurie H. of Los Angeles for winning the Tempur-Pedic Comfort Pillow in our Independence Day Raffle. Laurie says she’s especially excited since her neck has been bothering her. Nothing a little chiropractic care and a nice soft pillow can’t resolve. Thanks everyone for playing.
D.C.

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