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Vaccinations

Dear Reader: There has been a faction of the Chiropractic profession that has rallied around the evils of vaccination. They make some interesting arguments and personally, I don't like the notion of injecting microbes and preservatives into my body. One must also be mindful that vaccinations are developed and marketed for the purposes of making corporate profits. It is not public health officials encouraging young women to be vaccinated against viruses related to cervical cancer. The source is the private interest motivated by profit that is promoting public demand. It requires robust government regulation and vigilance to ensure that the public good is not undermined. Yet from a public health perspective, the benefits of vaccination outweigh the real and perceived risks. The foundation of responsible democracy is for ordinary people to make informed decisions. If this blog has piqued your interest, do a bit of research for yourself. Please note that while some chiropractors may p

Mission Statement

Back pain, neck pain, and headaches are the most common reasons why Canadians first consult a chiropractor. Every time you overdo, there’s a small amount of damage done to your spine. Vertebrae (the bones of the spine) can slip out of position or move improperly as muscles pull. In a few days the muscles heal, the pain eases, yet the vertebrae stay out of place, creating a chronic but unfelt vertebral distortion. This causes pressure on nerves and sensitive tissues and can lead to fixation (a sticking together) of two or more vertebrae. When the position and movement of vertebrae become distorted there is abnormal pressure on the disc and joints. Eventually the joints deteriorate into a condition called degenerative joint disease. You may know this as arthritis (comparable to a car becoming rusty). Constant lifting, bending, poor posture, etc., put consistent stress on your joints. It’s usually not the one big thing that you did, but the many small and repetitive things that you do. Of

Weighing in on Weight Loss.

Weighing in on Weight Loss There is much talk currently about regulating the diet/weight loss industry. I will leave that up to the reader to opine on the dangers, merits, and extent that Big Brother ought to protect the public from itself. However, as with many things in life, BUYER BEWARE. Keeping one's weight under control is important to promote a longer and healthier life. The number one indicator of adult onset disease is excess body weight. I refer you to http://drwaynecoghlan.blogspot.com/2008/10/losing-weight.html. Weight loss, however, is a very challenging thing for most people to manage and sustain. Many people are desperate to find a better answer and .... in a free society there are those entrepreneurs who will take advantage of persons vulnerable, if not desperate. BUYER BEWARE. I recall a review of weight loss centres and their long term effectiveness. The research supported that for people who did adhere to their program, they were successful in temporaril

Corsets and Core Strength.

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The fun of corsets. Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/socialstudies Jan 09/09. ".... "The corset is a vilified article of clothing. It was and is blamed for a host of feminine miseries, both physical and spiritual, for ruining women's bodies and for closing their minds. It is interesting to note, however, that while women wore them, it was male doctors who led the campaign against the corset. Most women were for it. ... Wearing a corset is a little like finding oneself in a permanent embrace, a hug around the middle that goes on and on. This is pleasant and vaguely erotic - a squeeze that lasts." Ahem... Corsets also provided a degree of stability to the lower back and forced the lady to attend to better posture. It had to.. it was too uncomfortable to slump or bend over at the waist. We find a comparable device with industrial back supports (see picture). These devices became popular through the 90's when they were touted as being preventative for low back

Short leg syndrome

"The term syndrome refers to the association of characteristics that often occur together, so that the presence of one feature alerts the physician to the presence of the others." Wikipedia. Standing straight when one leg is shorter is the equivalent of standing sideways on a hill. The person cannot help but lean to the shorter side. The spine may compensate, to limit leaning to the short side, by tilting the upper body in the opposite direction. This produces a "scoliosis" or sideways deviation of the spine. NOT GOOD. Often a person will try to compensate for a short leg by perching on short leg, usually with the other leg bent at the knee and turned out...effectively shortening the long leg. NOT GOOD. Rather than balancing the pelvis, fatigue and strain usually causes the pelvis to over compensate. In either case, the distortion of the spine unevenly loads the joints and muscles, and promotes faster wear and tear, and injury. If you, or someone you care about, i

Attitude

Count your blessings A new study by researchers at the Universities of California and Miami shows that people who consciously remind themselves every day of the things they are grateful for show marked improvements in mental health and some aspects of physical health, reports The Dallas Morning News. The results appear to be equally true for healthy college students and people with incurable diseases, according to research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Compared with groups of subjects who counted hassles, such as "hard-to-find parking," grateful subjects felt better about their lives and more optimistic. The college students exercised more; the chronically ill adults reported sleeping longer and waking up refreshed. Being grateful was also superior to its distant cousin -- seeing oneself as better off than others. People who took pleasure in the troubles of others had better mental health than those who counted hassles, but worse than grateful

Statins and muscle pain

That persistent muscle pain may be drug-induced! Complaints of general muscle pain, weakness, tendonitis, and lupus-like symptoms maybe be caused by the use of cholesterol-lowering drugs (statins). Statins such as Lipitor, Mevacor, Socor, Poravachol and Lesco, all lower cholesterol by inhibiting a specific liver enzyme. Without this enzyme, the liver cannot make its own cholesterol, so the liver removes cholesterol from the blood for use in producing hormones and other cell functions. Reported musculoskeletal side effects include muscle pain, inflammation and destruction of the muscle tissues. When muscle tissue is destroyed, it releases iron into the blood stream. Excessive concentrations can clog the pathways of the kidneys, leading to kidney failure and eventual death. Most patients tolerate statins extremely well though a few experience side effects serious enough to discontinue treatment. Multiple drug therapy, along with the statins, increases the danger. Statins represen

Statins - cholestrol lower drugs

That persistent muscle pain may be drug-induced! Complaints of general muscle pain, weakness, tendonitis, and lupus-like symptoms maybe be caused by the use of cholesterol-lowering drugs (statins). Statins such as Lipitor, Mevacor, Socor, Poravachol and Lesco, all lower cholesterol by inhibiting a specific liver enzyme. Without this enzyme, the liver cannot make its own cholesterol, so the liver removes cholesterol from the blood for use in producing hormones and other cell functions. Reported musculoskeletal side effects include muscle pain, inflammation and destruction of the muscle tissues. When muscle tissue is destroyed, it releases iron into the blood stream. Excessive concentrations can clog the pathways of the kidneys, leading to kidney failure and eventual death. Most patients tolerate statins extremely well though a few experience side effects serious enough to discontinue treatment. Multiple drug therapy, along with the statins, increases the danger. Statins represen

Preventing whiplash - take just a moment to....

Whiplash – A moment of your time, please. That headrest in your car isn’t for resting your weary noggin while driving. It is an important yet overlooked part of your car’s safety systems – your safety! A Canadian study revealed that only 14% of drivers had their headrests in the proper position. Adjusting vehicle headrests, can help prevent the pain of whiplash. Experts say there are two measurements – vertical and horizontal or, in other words, how high your headrest is and how far from the back of your head (backset). If the top of the headrest is higher than your ear, your rating is good. If the top of the headrest is between the top and bottom of your ear the rating is marginal and poor if below the ear. The accepted good rating for proper backset is two to four inches; if the distance was more than half the width of the head, the position is rated as poor. Mild to moderate whiplash injuries result in neck, joint pain and loss of movement. Symptoms may also include headaches, d

Foot Orthotics

Where necessary, I will recommend a patient get a pair of foot orthotics to stabilize their posture. When you are sitting (in socks or bare feet), notice the general shape of the arch of the foot. A few people will have flat arches, most have a fairly obvious curve. Stand now and note if the arch drops substantially. If so, note how the ankle rolls in, the knees turn, as do the hips. You may be feeling a bit of pressure in your lower back because the distortion from the foot works its way up, the pelvis tips forward and in turn cause the low back to arch more. That’s like bending your fingers back…eventually it becomes sore in the joints. Pronated feet may be the reason behind plantar fasciitis.. that is really sore feet first thing in the morning.. ankle arthritis pains, bunions, pain under the knee caps, hip degeneration and low back problems. Theoretically, a person’s headaches could be related to pronated (fallen arches) feet through a sequential distortion of the kinetic (the foot