Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Yard Work Can Equal Back Pain!
Spring is upon us and summer is almost here! While doing yard work, remember to not over do it!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Asthma
Asthma is a lung disease involving heightened sensitivity to diverse stimuli and variable airway obstruction that is reversible. It is a controllable ailment, but can be seriously debilitating and even life threatening. Asthma attacks can come suddenly or gradually, last for minutes or go on for days. Muscles around the airway contract, the lining of the airway swells due to inflammation, excess mucus is released and clogs the airways. Breathing becomes harder and harder.
What causes an asthma attack?
The list of environmental, behavioral, emotional, or hereditary triggers that can cause asthma attacks is long and varied:
Allergens
Chemicals and chemical fumes, including perfumes, room deodorizers, paint, adhesives, and cleaning products
NSAIDS (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) such as aspirin, indomethacin, and ibuprofen
Exercise
Remember: not every item on this list triggers an asthma attack in every person with asthma. Each individual has a highly individualized set of triggers that he or she must learn to recognize and avoid.
What can a Chiropractor do?
Many chiropractors consider their role in caring for patients with asthma, especially those subject to severe attacks, a compliment to the medical management of the disease. They do regular spinal adjustments to make asthma sufferers more comfortable by helping relieve the muscle soreness and discomfort that can develop during asthmatic flare-ups. Chiropractic adjustments can help reduce the frequency and severity of asthma attacks. The achievements of chiropractic in promoting overall wellness, including enhancing the patient’s capacity to cope with chronic ailments, make chiropractors an important part of the health care team that can help asthma patients live more normal lives, minimally encumbered by this incurable, but controllable condition.
The principal goal of chiropractic is to reduce asthma sufferers’ need to rely on the many medications prescribed to prevent and treat asthma. These medicines (or combination of medicines) can have many troublesome and even dangerous side effects, including making patients increasingly dependent on ever-larger doses. Preventing asthma attacks is the key to living a normal life in spite of having asthma. In practical day to day quality of life terms, stopping asthma attacks before they start is better than taking medicines to stop the attack and restore pre-attack normality.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Chiropractic Care for the Child Athlete
Chiropractors are in a unique position to help the child athlete recover from and avoid injuries. The chiropractic adjustment and correction of vertebral subluxation (misalignment of a spinal bone putting pressure on a nerve) is vital in helping a child achieve optimal sports performance and optimal health. The public perception for children who participate in sports is that since a child's body is usually flexible, they don't really need chiropractic care. Nothing could be further from the truth! Childhood sports trauma can cause damage in young athletes that if left uncorrected can cause lots of problems into the adult and senior years. Chiropractors are expert in the early detection of spinal misalignment and injury. If you have a child who participates in sports, it is very wise to have their spines checked regularly.
Almost one-third of all injuries that occur during childhood are sports related. Contact sports like football traumatize children more than non-contact sports like swimming. However, all sports have the potential for injury, whether from trauma, contact with other players, or overuse and misuse of a body part. Death from sports injury is rare, but possible, especially from head trauma. Some acute sports injuries may require emergency room treatment, but those that do not, are often overlooked as not significant enough to warrant examination of any kind. It is these types of injuries that most often cause vertebral subluxation and when left undetected in the spine can result in health problems down the road.
The most common acute injuries in child athletes are eye injuries (scratched corneas, detached retinas, and blood in the eye), broken bones, and brain injuries (concussion). Common overuse injuries include knee pain, "little league" elbow, "swimmer's" shoulder, shin splints, and back pain. Overuse injuries can be caused or aggravated by growth spurts, inadequate warm-ups, excessive activity (increased intensity, duration, or frequency of playing and/or training), improper technique, and unsuitable equipment.
Re-injuries commonly occur when an athlete returns to the sport before a previous injury has had sufficient time to heal. Injured athletes usually want to return to the game as quickly as possible, and often their body has not recovered enough to avoid an exacerbation of the original problem. Returning to the sport too early places stress upon the injured area and forces the body to compensate for the weakness, putting the athlete at greater risk for injuring another part of the body.
Proper examination of the child athlete involves several procedures. First, an in depth history of past and current injuries is taken to determine what influences have come into play that have brought the child's health to where it is today. Second, the child's posture in thoroughly evaluated for shifts that can occur in the head/neck area, the shoulder area, and the pelvic area. Posture is the window to the spine. These postural shifts are a strong indication of where vertebral subluxation is located in the spine, along with explaining why particular soft-tissue symptoms may be present. Third, bilateral weight scales are used to determine the body's balance and where abnormal weight pressure is being applied to the spine, supporting joints, and soft tissues (muscles, ligaments, and tendons). Fourth, range-of-motion studies are used to see how the upper and lower areas of the spine move through various directions. Finally, weight bearing spinal x-rays may be taken to properly access vertebral subluxation and shifts in the spine. These spinal pictures are a vital step in determining the exact condition of the spine and the course of chiropractic care needed for spinal correction.
Treatment and corrective care protocols for the child athlete can vary in length from 3-12 months to remove vertebral subluxations. Extremity injuries usually respond in 2-12 weeks. Following correction, ongoing spinal care is often necessary to maintain corrections, especially if the child plans to continue participating in sporting activities.
Chiropractors can bring all the healing elements together for the child athlete. Most injuries respond extremely well to chiropractic care and injury prevention is greatly enhanced by chiropractic. Prevention can be further improved through community education efforts aimed at sporting teams and the athlete's parents. Dr. Maggio is always willing to speak to sporting groups to share this important information with the athletes, coaches, and parents, as a service to the community. The welfare and future health of our children depends on having the proper information and treatment available.
*Some of the information contained above was compiled from an article written by Warren Bruhl, D.C., D.I.C.C.P. for The Chiropractic Choice, Vol. 3, No. 5, October, 2004.
Almost one-third of all injuries that occur during childhood are sports related. Contact sports like football traumatize children more than non-contact sports like swimming. However, all sports have the potential for injury, whether from trauma, contact with other players, or overuse and misuse of a body part. Death from sports injury is rare, but possible, especially from head trauma. Some acute sports injuries may require emergency room treatment, but those that do not, are often overlooked as not significant enough to warrant examination of any kind. It is these types of injuries that most often cause vertebral subluxation and when left undetected in the spine can result in health problems down the road.
The most common acute injuries in child athletes are eye injuries (scratched corneas, detached retinas, and blood in the eye), broken bones, and brain injuries (concussion). Common overuse injuries include knee pain, "little league" elbow, "swimmer's" shoulder, shin splints, and back pain. Overuse injuries can be caused or aggravated by growth spurts, inadequate warm-ups, excessive activity (increased intensity, duration, or frequency of playing and/or training), improper technique, and unsuitable equipment.
Re-injuries commonly occur when an athlete returns to the sport before a previous injury has had sufficient time to heal. Injured athletes usually want to return to the game as quickly as possible, and often their body has not recovered enough to avoid an exacerbation of the original problem. Returning to the sport too early places stress upon the injured area and forces the body to compensate for the weakness, putting the athlete at greater risk for injuring another part of the body.
Proper examination of the child athlete involves several procedures. First, an in depth history of past and current injuries is taken to determine what influences have come into play that have brought the child's health to where it is today. Second, the child's posture in thoroughly evaluated for shifts that can occur in the head/neck area, the shoulder area, and the pelvic area. Posture is the window to the spine. These postural shifts are a strong indication of where vertebral subluxation is located in the spine, along with explaining why particular soft-tissue symptoms may be present. Third, bilateral weight scales are used to determine the body's balance and where abnormal weight pressure is being applied to the spine, supporting joints, and soft tissues (muscles, ligaments, and tendons). Fourth, range-of-motion studies are used to see how the upper and lower areas of the spine move through various directions. Finally, weight bearing spinal x-rays may be taken to properly access vertebral subluxation and shifts in the spine. These spinal pictures are a vital step in determining the exact condition of the spine and the course of chiropractic care needed for spinal correction.
Treatment and corrective care protocols for the child athlete can vary in length from 3-12 months to remove vertebral subluxations. Extremity injuries usually respond in 2-12 weeks. Following correction, ongoing spinal care is often necessary to maintain corrections, especially if the child plans to continue participating in sporting activities.
Chiropractors can bring all the healing elements together for the child athlete. Most injuries respond extremely well to chiropractic care and injury prevention is greatly enhanced by chiropractic. Prevention can be further improved through community education efforts aimed at sporting teams and the athlete's parents. Dr. Maggio is always willing to speak to sporting groups to share this important information with the athletes, coaches, and parents, as a service to the community. The welfare and future health of our children depends on having the proper information and treatment available.
*Some of the information contained above was compiled from an article written by Warren Bruhl, D.C., D.I.C.C.P. for The Chiropractic Choice, Vol. 3, No. 5, October, 2004.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Reaching Optimal Health: Who we are...
Reaching Optimal Health: Who we are...: "'Chiropractic care is more than just making the pain disappear. It is about learning, understanding and taking care of your body to improve ..."
Who we are...
"Chiropractic care is more than just making the pain disappear. It is about learning, understanding and taking care of your body to improve your quality of life."
We aim to educate our Wilmington, NC patients about Chiropractic and other natural solutions to common health problems in order to motivate you to take a more active and responsible role in restoring and maintaining your own health as well as the people around you.
As a chiropractor, we understand that although our patients may be diagnosed with the same condition, they respond very differently to treatments. For this reason, we tailor a specific plan of action to meet your needs, goals & unique medical and physical condition.
Finding a chiropractor who understands changing health care needs and the most current techniques and approaches to addressing health problems can be a daunting task. We hope that you will find this site helpful in learning more about our gentle chiropractic care as well as the ways that it can improve the quality of your life.
As a chiropractor, we understand that although our patients may be diagnosed with the same condition, they respond very differently to treatments. For this reason, we tailor a specific plan of action to meet your needs, goals & unique medical and physical condition.
Finding a chiropractor who understands changing health care needs and the most current techniques and approaches to addressing health problems can be a daunting task. We hope that you will find this site helpful in learning more about our gentle chiropractic care as well as the ways that it can improve the quality of your life.
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