Author: kelly

You know how it goes. If you follow news in the medical community for long enough, it seems like everything comes full circle. First, eggs were good for you. Then, they were bad. Then, they were good again. Milk went through the same cycle, as has just about everything else. So, what about coffee? Is it considered good or bad these days?

Actually, the answer is a little of both.

It turns out that coffee has a variety of good effects. Some of them, you already know, like the short-term boost to productivity and alertness. Others, you may not know, like the fact that men who consume moderate amounts of coffee have a 30 percent lower chance of getting prostate cancer, or the fact that coffee can help lower your risk of stroke, a whole range of cancers and Alzheimer’s disease.

In women, regular, moderate coffee consumption can reduce the risk of depression, and coffee is loaded with antioxidants that provide a whole raft of health benefits.

Based on that, coffee’s a regular wonder drink, but hold on. The key is moderation, and the magic number is between 500-600 mg. That’s the maximum amount of caffeine you want to ingest each day, which puts a hard upper limit on how much coffee is good for you.

Contrary to the popular saying that there’s no such thing as too much of a good thing, in coffee’s case, there is. The more you exceed that 500-600 mg threshold, the more negative effects you will begin to see.

The good news is that based on those numbers, you can safely enjoy 6-8 cups of coffee a day without experiencing any adverse effects. That’s more than half a pot, which is a decent amount by any reckoning, although power coffee drinkers will probably need to make a few adjustments.

The main point, though, is that if you stick with that limit, then you can enjoy your coffee guilt-free!

If you have an office job, you might think the worst injury you could get would be a paper cut, or maybe some unfortunate incident with the stapler. Unfortunately, given how many hours most office workers spend sitting down, your worst enemy may well be the chair you’re sitting in.

The wrong chair can lead to no end of trouble, and ultimately lead to severe back pain which could send you to the chiropractor unless you take steps immediately to correct the issue.

That begs the question, ‘what is a “good” office chair?’ With so many on the market, how can you be sure the one you’re considering is the right one for you?

The chair you ultimately select for yourself should meet three key criteria:

1) When you sit in it, your feet should be flat on the floor, with your thighs making a right angle with your torso. You should be able to achieve this with just about any chair that has a height adjusting mechanism built onto it.
2) When your arms are resting on your desk, they too should make a right angle with your torso.
3) The chair should offer some kind of lumbar support.

Sadly, while many simple task chairs are designed with the first two points in mind, they often neglect the third. Without lower back support, by the end of an eight hour work day, your back is going to be protesting. Over time, that’s going to lead to problems of increasing severity.

The good news is that there are a variety of manufacturers making great office chairs that offer these features, and more. Yes, the more bells and whistles you get on whatever chair you select will mean added cost, but given the amount of time most of us spend in them, it’s worth every penny to find a chair that will not only offer you good support, but make you as comfortable as you can be as you perform your work. You’re worth it!

Has your child been complaining of frequent headaches, back and shoulder pain or upper arm pain?

If so, one of the most common causes of all those things is improper sleeping positions, but there may be another culprit: your child’s backpack.

These days, almost every kid at school has one, and they are undeniably handy. Not only can your child pack the day’s lunch inside, but all the books and other supplies he or she will need to get through the school day.

Unfortunately, the weight of all those books and other items can add up quickly, and the load might be more than your little one’s back, neck and shoulders can bear. There are two big things to watch for that can help you determine if the backpack is the culprit, or if it’s something else.

The first and most obvious sign that the backpack could be the culprit is how your child is carrying it.

While all the cool kids might be slinging their packs over one shoulder, this can easily be the root cause of the problem, because carrying the load in that position is unbalanced. If your child does this, they will automatically adjust their posture to accommodate. After a whole day of walking around like that, the backpack can easily lead to the kinds of pain described above.

The second isn’t as noticeable, but you should look for the signs. If the weight of the pack is leaving red marks in your child’s skin where the straps hit the shoulders, that’s a clear indication that the weight is sufficient to cause strain.

In the former case, correcting the problem is as simple as insisting that your child wear his or her pack properly, with the straps over both shoulders. It might not be as cool, but it will certainly solve the pain problem.

In the latter case, it’s as simple as lightening the load. Find out which items aren’t absolutely essential, and if any of the pack’s contents can be off-loaded into your child’s school locker for part of the day to keep the weight manageable.

Do that, and you’ll minimize the risk of your child suffering from back, neck, shoulder and arm pain.

Each year, more than two million Americans visit the ER to have injuries sustained via slips and falls treated. Millions more go untreated, which is unfortunate, because although the vast majority of falls don’t present any outward signs of trauma, that doesn’t mean that no damage has occurred.

As with any injury, the best practice is to treat any slip or fall seriously and at least have a medical or chiropractic evaluation. A trained professional can take X-rays and evaluate the full extent of the injury, recommending a treatment plan that will get you on your feet and have you back to 100% much more quickly than simply taking matters into your own hands.

The sad reality is that in most cases, when someone suffers from a fall, they simply guess at what treatment might be best. Just as often, people simply try to “walk it off” and hope for the best. That can work in some cases, but it’s worth the time and effort to get your injury checked out by a professional.

In terms of chiropractic treatments, the two most common are therapeutic massage and chiropractic adjustment. Once your chiropractor has had a chance to perform a thorough evaluation, they can recommend the right treatment for you and greatly speed your healing process.

While this is always a good idea, it’s’ especially important where older people are concerned. The elderly often can’t bounce back from injury as quickly as they once did, and a fall you may have shrugged off in your 30’s or 40’s can really set you back in your 60’s, 70’s, or 80’s. It’s simply not worth the risk!

All that to say, any time you suffer from any kind of slip or fall, it pays to have it checked out right away. While it’s possible that no serious damage was done, it’s also possible that your inaction can lead to much more serious problems later.

Do you want to keep your face young-looking and wrinkle free, but rebel against the idea of spending thousands on facelifts and other types of cosmetic surgeries?

If so, you’re not alone, and the reality is that many people don’t realize that the muscles in your face are just like every other muscle in your body – they need exercise too! Below, we’ll outline a few different exercises designed to keep your face looking young and vibrant.

• Bewitched! – If you remember the old TV show “Bewitched,” then you’ll probably recall the main character wiggling her nose to cast her spells. Do the same thing. Wiggle your nose as much as you can from side to side. Ten reps for each side equal one set. Do three sets.

• Say Cheese! – Press three fingers firmly against both sides of your face, then smile as broadly as you can, using the muscles in your face to press against your fingers. Hold the smile for a slow five count.

• Surprise! – Pucker your lips in the shape of an “O.” Hold for a slow five count, then smile as broadly as you can and hold that for a five count.

• Quizzical – Raise your eyebrows as high as you can and hold that position for a slow five count.

Your face consists of more than fifty muscles, and keeping them all toned plays a major role in keeping you looking younger. That, in turn, will keep you feeling younger. If you do five sets of each of these exercises every day, you’ll keep your face looking years younger. Your friends and family will be amazed!

While these exercises will do your face a world of good, if you want to take things to the next level, try facial yoga. Believe it or not, that’s an actual “thing!”

It probably won’t come as a great surprise, but the answer to the question in the title of this piece is, of course, yes. What may surprise you, however, is just how bad soda really is for you.

Not all soft drinks are created equally, but if we use one of the world’s most popular as a baseline, you’ll get a pretty clear picture of what they do. So, let’s take a closer look at Coca-Cola, the most widely consumed soda in the world.

First and foremost, you should know that the drink is actually much sweeter than it seems to your taste buds, containing a staggering ten teaspoons of sugar in every can. That’s’ nearly twice as much as the WHO (World Health Organization) recommends for an entire day’s sugar consumption.

In fact, your body’s first natural reaction to that much sugar is to vomit it back up and purge it from your system, so why doesn’t that happen?

The answer lies in the phosphoric acid included in the drink. This helps mask the sickening sweetness and tricks your brain into letting you keep it down. Once it’s in your system, things go from bad to worse in a hurry.

In less than half an hour after consumption, your blood sugar levels spike, your body releases insulin, and all those calories are turned into fat. Within the hour, your body has fully absorbed the caffeine, which raises your blood pressure as dopamine begins to flood through you.

Dopamine is the “feel good” chemical in the brain, and is the reason Coke is so addictive. It is even more addictive than heroine, according to recent studies, which explains why we can’t seem to stop drinking the stuff, and none of Coke’s competitors are any better.

All of this shows that however bad you thought soft drinks were, it’s worse than you imagined. Kick the soda habit and drink more water if you want to be healthy!

You may have experienced growing pains when you were younger. If you did, then you probably remember what an agony they were.

Did you know that despite the fact that growing pains account for almost 10 percent of pediatric office visits, no firm cause has ever been established for them?

Unfortunately, it’s an area that there’s been very little research on, and what little work has been done on the topic has focused almost exclusively on the legs. In a way, that makes sense, because that’s where the pain is usually centered, but chiropractors take a different view.

Chiropractors look at the whole body, not just individual parts. Because of that, they take a comprehensive, biomechanical approach to the problem, and the reality is that young spinal cords grow very quickly, stressing a child’s entire body. That stress is bound to put pressure on the rest of the body as it tries valiantly to compensate for the radical changes it’s going through. Unfortunately, that can sometimes lead to the phenomenon we commonly call growing pains.

The good news is that there are viable treatment options, and your child doesn’t have to suffer.

Too often, the go-to solution is to walk up and down the hall with your child, or give them a leg massage, but those things often have limited impact. Your chiropractor can recommend a course of treatment including spinal adjustment (if and as needed), massage and specific exercises that can not only minimize the pain itself, but also minimize the chances of it recurring.

Growing up is tough, and it’s also hard on your body, but your child doesn’t have to suffer. Your chiropractor has the tools, training and expertise to help keep those growing pains to an absolute minimum, and that’s great news for everyone.

Back pain is hands down the most common ailment in the country.

Virtually everyone has experienced some form of back pain at one point or another in their lives.

At the end of the day, almost all back pain manifests because there’s too much pressure on your spine.

Standing for extended periods, walking or running can all lead to or exacerbate such pain.

Sometimes, it’s a simple matter of poor posture that stresses your muscles, forcing them to move in ways they’re not accustomed to, or not meant to.

This can lead to small tears, or sprains, which can cause pain.

In other cases, the pain stems from compressed discs in your spine. The compression causes the nerves there to become pinched, resulting in that sharp, sudden pain you may be all too familiar with.

Finally, there are more serious problems such as ruptured discs, which can not only cause severe back pain, but also lead to problems with your legs and numbness over large portions of your body.

The first thing you should do if you experience pain caused by any of the above, is, of course, stop what you’re doing and take it easy for a few days.

Either heat or cold compresses can be used to help alleviate the pain in the short term. If the problem persists long term, a visit to your chiropractor can put you on the path to saying goodbye to back pain once and for all.

Your chiropractor can work with you to identify the root causes of the pain you’re experiencing and design a program that’s custom-tailored to your specific needs.

While that approach isn’t instantaneous, you’ll start feeling better a lot faster than you think, and it won’t be long before your pain is but a memory.

Do you suffer from chronic pain?

Have you tried just about everything, but been frustrated by the lack of results?

If so, you should consider acupuncture.

It’s a time-tested, time-honored holistic practice with deep roots in Oriental medicine.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of skeptics in the West, and this doubt is the leading reason people are afraid of trying it.

They’re not afraid of acupuncture, per se, but that they’ll spend the time and money to try it and it won’t work. It won’t have the desired effect and solve whatever problem they’re having.

That’s completely understandable, but the reality is that acupuncture has a long and proven track record and is capable of treating a wide variety of conditions, including many that seem to stubbornly resist conventional treatment methodologies.

The second biggest reason people cite for being afraid to give acupuncture a try is a fear of needles.

It’s a common fear, but in the case of acupuncture, a mostly misguided one. The reason?

Although needles are involved, of course, acupuncture needles are so thin that you barely feel them as they go in. The results aren’t instantaneous, but you’ll be impressed at how fast it will make you start feeling better.

Aside from these, there are two other reasons people cite as to why they’re reluctant to give it a try.

The first is cost, and it’s true – acupuncture is fairly expensive as treatments go. There just aren’t many practitioners in most parts of the country, which, of course, leads to the second concern.

There may not be an acupuncturist in your area, which means you may have to travel to have it done – that’s time and expense.

These last two aren’t fears, of course, but they are valid concerns.

Nonetheless, if you’ve tried just about everything else, don’t you owe it to yourself to see if this is the treatment you’ve been searching for?

Are you a runner?

If so, then you should know two things. First, it is a great way to get exercise, but second, it can be pretty punishing. Few forms of exercise are harder on your body. In fact, studies have shown that runners’ bodies see about three times the wear and tear than people who participate in most other sports activities.

Did you know that your feet contain a quarter of the bones in your body? They do! And your knees bear the largest percentage of your body’s weight. Given that, it’s no surprise that runners are at risk of more than their fair share of injuries related to their sport of choice.

Mostly, it comes down to the repetitive motion. When your feet hit the pavement, no matter how good your shoes are, you’re putting a tremendous amount of pressure on your feet, and those shockwaves travel to your knees.

It’s worse if you’re running to get into shape, because every ten pounds overweight you are is magnified with every step. It’s as though you’re carrying an extra thirty or forty pounds!

In addition to that, running tends to overdevelop certain muscle groups, which can lead to a variety of injuries as your less developed muscles simply can’t cope with the strain like your overdeveloped ones. The most common injuries you’re likely to face are these:

• Overpronation – This is the single most common running-related injury, and is basically a cramping of the inner knee.
• Oversupination – The second most common running-related injury is essentially the same as the first, but is centered on the outer knee.
• Patellar Tendon Issues – The action of running places enormous stress on the patellar tendon, which can cause it to tear (microscopically) and swell, resulting in tremendous pain until you give it time to heal
• And IT Band Syndrome – The IT band is a structure on the outside of your upper leg that travels from the illium to the outside of the knee. The pain can be excruciating.

There are others, but these are the big four. If you feel anything other than the usual “sore muscles” after a run, stop immediately and see your doctor. If you try to run through the pain, you could make matters much worse.