October 25, 2010
“How Did I Lose My Alignment?”
The perfect alignment of your spine. That’s the goal and the end result of committing to a chiropractic care plan. But oftentimes people are confused – if you’ve never had a serious spinal injury (car accident, bad fall, sports injury), doesn’t that mean you’re perfectly aligned? If you’re not IN PAIN right now, doesn’t that mean you’re perfectly aligned?
Unfortunately, the answer in many cases is no.
So, how do our spines get misaligned? The quick and easy answer is: a number of physical, chemical, and emotional stresses. Let’s look at each of these stresses in more detail.
Physical Stress: This is the most common and also the most easily recognized stressor. Physical stress begins the MOMENT we are born. The baby’s little spine is pushed and pulled and twisted during the birth process. Further down the road, as we’re learning to walk (and, really, all throughout our childhood) we take a huge number of little falls that, while not necessarily traumatic, can add up to a spine riddled with misalignments. As we grow older, we go to school, sit at desks, and drive cars in unnatural postures for long periods of time. Add this to the fact that the force of gravity is forever pushing down on us, and you can start to see where misalignments originate.
Chemical Stress: Chemical stress enters our body in the form of unnatural additives in the food we eat and the drugs we take. Our bodies also have to compete with air pollution and sometimes secondhand smoke. All these foreign influences force our body to work overtime to remain healthy. In the meantime, we become weakened, and our bones can begin to fall further out of alignment.
Emotional Stress: Anyone who leads a 100% stress-free life, raise your hand. Okay that’s…just about…nobody! We all have stress. Whether it’s at our jobs or in our personal lives, this emotional stress is very similar to chemical stress in that it makes our body work harder. When we’re stressed, our body releases hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol that can be damaging to our body in large doses. Cortisol, for example, can weaken the immune system and inhibit bone growth.
All these stressors combined do their nasty work of misaligning the spine. Whether we know it or not, and regardless of whether we’ve sustained any traumatic or serious injury, many of us are walking around with subluxations and don’t even know it! That’s why we recommend EVERYONE in the family get checked in our office. It truly is that important.
October 12, 2010
Texting Can Be a Pain in the Neck
In the wake of Maryland’s new law banning the use of cell phones while driving (just don’t do it!), I figured it might be appropriate to discuss another hazard of the use of handheld devices – Text Neck!
Text Neck is a term coined by Dr. Fishman in South Florida, and fellow Life University alum, who noticed an alarming increase in misalignments of the neck - especially in younger patients. These patients were often complaining about headaches, numbness in the fingers and hands, shoulder problems, and even cardiovascular complications. Eventually, the cause of much of the misalignment was determined to be an inordinate amount of time spent working on handheld electronic devices such as cell phones or PDAs. This is also an issue that I’ve noticed showing up at my office in Perry Hall, MD.
Here’s a scary fact:
Forward Head Posture can add up to thirty (30) pounds of abnormal leverage on the cervical spine. This can pull the entire spine out of alignment.
-Rene Cailliet, M.D., University of Southern California
Thirty pounds! Imagine carrying a 30 lb. dumbbell around your neck whenever you wanted to text someone… Over time, this can not only lead to subluxation, but also to degeneration.
So, what do we do? First, instead of craning your neck down to look at your cell phone, try holding it up higher at eye level. Second, get yourself checked out! Oftentimes people have subluxations (misaligned spinal vertebrae) and don’t even know it. That’s why at the Chiropractic Wellness Center of Baltimore we require EVERYONE in the whole family get checked, even if they’re not in pain (yet).
Cell phones and other handheld devices are GREAT communication tools and are wonderful technology. Let’s just make sure they’re not being more of a pain in the neck than they have to be.
September 21, 2010
Common is NOT the Same as Normal
Frequently, while doing a health screening or just talking about health in general out in the community, a person will describe to me a long list of symptoms: allergies, lower back pain, headaches, sinus trouble, and then follow it all up with the statement, “But, those are all common problems.” While that is a true statement, it must be acknowledged that Common is not the same as Normal.
Over the course of a lifetime, over 80% of the population will experience lower back pain. One in four people report regular, frequently recurring pain. Wow! That’s a huge chunk of Americans who are not enjoying the highest quality of life possible. My question is this: Should you settle for suffering with various “common” ailments simply because lots of other people are?
I understand it is oftentimes easier to be reactive. It’s simpler and less intimidating to take a couple of aspirin every time the headaches return. And it’s also easy to dismiss these ailments as something everyone experiences, something that you just need to put up with. But easier is not always better, and just because a great number of people suffer with these common illnesses, does not mean it is normal to do so.
And it does not mean YOU have to.
September 13, 2010
Chiropractic Care vs. Massage Therapy
“Can’t I just go get a massage instead?”
It’s a far too common misconception that massage therapy and chiropractic care are interchangeable. People assume that they both help with back pain, and therefore they both do the same thing. This is NOT the case.
I’m not discounting the merits of massage therapy, though. For someone with really tight or tender muscles, massage therapy can definitely help with pain management and can certainly compliment a chiropractic care plan. The difference is chiropractic’s ability to make real, verifiable structural changes to your spine. All the massage therapy in the world will still be unable to correct misalignments in the spine, pinched nerves, or subluxations. Massage therapists work on soft tissue. Chiropractors correct spines.
Make an appointment today at your local chiropractor’s office and get ready to see some real changes in your spinal alignment!
September 10, 2010
Intro to Chiropractic
New patients and friends in the Baltimore area often ask me the same thing, so let’s start with the most basic, fundamental question: “How does chiropractic work?”
Chiropractic is a completely natural and safe way to ensure your body is functioning to the peak of its ability. In order to understand the process behind this, we need to take a look at the nervous system – your lifeline which includes your brain, your spinal cord, and all the nerves in your body. Sounds pretty important, right?
Your brain is at the top, sitting quietly in your skull and controlling every bodily function, voluntary and involuntary, that you have. How fast should your heart beat? Are you hungry? Is that a mosquito on your big toe? Your brain is responsible for it all. That’s why it’s protected by the armor that is your skull.
All the messages your brain needs to send to your body have to be transmitted. The tiny electrical impulses flow down your spinal cord, out through the vertebrae of your spine, through a network of nerves and all throughout your body. If you were to line up all the nerves running through your body end to end it would stretch for nearly 12 miles!
But what if the messages aren’t getting through properly? Here’s where chiropractic care comes in.
The stresses of life (and we all have them): emotional, physical, and chemical, as well as even minor injuries can work to knock your spine out of proper alignment. These misalignments, called “subluxations,” cause the spinal vertebrae to put pressure on your nerves. Much like a garden hose when it gets crimped, when the nerves are pinched or obstructed, the flow of energy is slowed or stopped.
A chiropractor is a doctor who is specially trained in finding subluxations and working to put the spine back into proper alignment. In doing so, the flow of nerve energy is restored, and the body can actually begin to heal itself! Your body was not designed to be in pain, to feel sluggish, or to function at 50% capacity. With a fully functioning nervous system, your body is free to perform at its best!
Check out my website www.drroeder.com where we have access to an article search (bottom right side of the home page) where you can learn more about chiropractic treatment.
September 2, 2010
Welcome!
Hi,
This blog will serve as a place for the public to gain access to information regarding chiropractic and its role in health and wellness.
Enjoy!
