Migraines, Neck or Back Pain - What is the Cause?

I know someone that recently had a severe migraine. I know how debilitating they can be from seeing new patients coming into my office with them. They can become incapacitated and unable to do anything except lie in a dark room away from everyone. I hate seeing people in pain when I know they don't have to be. Knowing that I rarely have patients under regular care ever get migraines again I wanted to share my thoughts of what causes them and what can be done about them. I know what most people are thinking (because I used to think this way), I got my migraine from lack of sleep, coffee, alcohol, stress, etc... You would be right in that, that is what can set it off, however, what other factors are involved would be a good question to ask.Why do they happen in some and not others? Why can some do the same things, eat the same food have the same emotional stress and not get symptoms?

These symptoms are a result of the body starting to "break" down. The way I like to look at why the body breaks down is because of 2 things. First, Stress! Physical, chemical and emotional stress can break the body down. Second, lack of capacity to handle the stress. The body has an inherent or innate ability to adapt to these stresses. Or more specifically it is the bodies nervous system that interprets, and adapts to these physical, chemical and emotional stresses.

So, it should be easy to see how to fix or prevent the problem of migraines, or for that matter, neck or back pain, allergies, asthma, digestive problems, etc. 

First, reduce the physical, chemical and emotional stresses. This may involve reducing repetitive trauma's, eliminating household chemicals or processed foods that contain additives and preservatives, and identifying and/or avoiding past and present emotional stresses. 

Second, increase the bodies capacity to handle and adapt to stress. This may involve daily exercise, proper nutrition (that is a whole other topic that people are confused about), proper rest, some form of meditation, and yoga/stretching. 

Third, remove unhealthy neurologic patterns that are interfering with your body's ability to adapt and heal. This is something that is missed very often and very confusing to others. After all everyone should know that it is the nervous system that controls every cell, tissue and organ in the body. How could you possibly function optimally if there is interference in the nervous system. I think the biggest reason this is missed so often is because over 90% of the nervous system has no sensory component (the part that gives you pain). If there is interference in your nerves but not affecting the sensory nerves, you won't feel any problem. The only time you will know there is a problem is when the part of the body fails that is controlled by those nerves. eg. Often the first sign of a heart attack is the heart attack and cancer can develop even though you feel great. At the point you get symptoms it may be too late! Even if we feel pain we are conditioned through billions of dollars of advertising that taking a pill, potion or lotion will fix the problem when in fact is just masks the symptoms while the problem just gets worse.

The good news is that there is computerized nerve scanning equipment that can detect early interference in the nervous system while it can still be corrected. As part of my purpose to make this community a healthier and happier place I will even do a complimentary nerve scan to anyone reading this blog in the next 2 weeks.

Daniel Lonquist, DC, CCST, CCWP

Certified Chiropractic Wellness Practitioner

Back To Health Wellness Center

www.BTHWellnessCenter.com

970-257-9199

Should I get the flu shot?

What is the Flu? The Flu is a respiratory infection that produces chills, fever, a sore throat, muscle aches and lasts about a week.

Each year millions of people rush to get their annual flu shot hoping to stay healthy and well through the coming flu season. The results seemed to be mixed. Some people do seem to make it through the flu season unscathed, but others have less favorable results. Each year, I have one or two patients hospitalized as a result of bad reactions after their flu shot. I watch numerous patients immediately acquire the very sickness they are trying to avoid and I witness others who get the flu later during the flu season anyway. Why is this? Some people have bad or allergic reactions to the preservatives and chemicals in the flu shot. In addition, researchers have found that repeated flu shots may actually lower your natural antibody levels thus making you more susceptible to the infection.

What about more serious consequences and side effects? Dr. Hugh Fudenburg M.D., the world's leading immunogeneticist and one of the most published biologists of our times states, "If an individual has had 5 consecutive flu shots, his/her chances of getting Alzheimer's Disease is 10 times higher than if they have had 1,2 or none. This is due to the mercury and aluminum in every flu shot. The gradual mercury and aluminum build up in the brain causes cognitive dysfunction." Another common side effect is Guillain-Barre Syndrome, which is an immune mediated neurological disorder.

Instead of injecting poisons and toxins into your body this year, improve your immune system with chiropractic wellness care and a healthy lifestyle. Chiropractic should be the first choice for health care; drugs and surgery should be a last result!

Every individual should be examined for subluxation!

www.BTHWellnessCenter.com

970-257-9199

Hospital Infections Kill 12 People Every Hour

Hospitals are supposed to be a safe place to go when someone gets sick. However, a recent investigative report in the Chicago Tribune revealed that in 2000, an estimated 103,000 deaths were linked to infections acquired in US hospitals. This makes our hospitals one of the most hostile environments and most dangerous, infectious places on earth. The problem is so widespread that hospital-acquired infections are ranked as the fourth leading cause of death in the United States.

According to Michael J. Berens, Chicago Tribune staff reporter, "A hidden epidemic of lifethreatening infections is contaminating America's hospitals, needlessly killing tens of thousands of patients each year." What's more, the article noted, nearly three-quarters of the deadly infections were preventable! This was the result of unsanitary facilities, germ-laden instruments, unwashed hands and other lapses.

The article also quoted Dr. Barry Farr, a leading infection-control expert and president of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. "The number of people needlessly killed by hospital infections is unbelievable, but the public doesn't know anything about it. For years, we've been bundling the bodies of patients off to the morgue while infection rates get higher and higher."

The report highlighted a 1998 case in Chicago, where several workers tended without washing their hands--even though they were ill. As a result, eight children died of infection. "The flu-like outbreak, which the city of Chicago never revealed to the public, was halted weeks later after three dozen sick healthcare workers were ordered to stay home," the report revealed.

The Tribune conducted extensive research for the report, analyzing records gathered among 75 federal and state agencies, as well as internal hospital files, patient databases and court cases around the nation. The result is the first comprehensive analysis of preventable patient deaths linked to infections within 5,810 hospitals nationally, it noted. "Since 1995, more than 75% of all hospitals have been cited for significant cleanliness and sanitation violations," the paper reported.

Sources: "Infection epidemic carves deadly path; Poor hygiene, overwhelmed workers contribute to thousands of deaths," by Michael J. Berens, Chicago Tribune, Ju121, 2002

Call us at the Back To Health Wellness Center To see if we can help prevent you from needing to go to the hospital!  

www.BTHWellnessCenter.com 

970-257-9199

Funny Cat Pictures!

Are you experiencing digestive problems?

Heart burn, abdominal pain, ulcers, nausea, diarrhea, indigestion? Digestive problems are an epidemic in our society. Just watch TV for an evening and you'll see a parade of various drug commercials for digestive complaints. They have become so common that people have just accepted their condition as "normal" and try to learn to live with it. They soon realize that they can't "live" with digestive problems, only "suffer" from them. They then turn to the usual medical remedies and further complicate their health potential. Breakthrough studies have examined new alternatives to the treatment of digestive problems. Dr's Andrei Pikalov, M.D., and Vyatcheslav Kharin, M.D., examined the effectiveness of spinal manipulation (chiropractic adjustment) in the treatment of internal organ disorder (ulcerous disease) in a hospital setting. Sixteen men and women with confirmed diagnosis of ulcers took part in the study. The study compared the effectiveness of usual medical care to spinal manipulation, with both groups having a standard diet. The results revealed that spinal manipulation is much more effective at both reducing pain and clinical remission of ulcers. In fact, the spinal manipulation group healed an average of ten days faster than the medical group. This was confirmed with an endoscopic examination. Other studies on digestive problems have shown equally positive responses with chiropractic care.

How is this possible? Remember, the nervous system controls the function of every cell, tissue, and organ in your body. What do you think would happen to your digestive tract if the interference to the nervous system was removed by correcting subluxations that interfere with the performance of your nervous system? In Chiropractic, we don't treat the digestive problems; we remove the interference in the nervous system and allow the body to heal itself naturally and without side effects. This is why so many people are turning to chiropractic as part of their path to wellness. It is imperative that you maintain a healthy nervous system to retain a healthy body!

My son suffered from rare chronic abdominal pains!

"My son Ryan developed awful stomach pains at the age of two. He has had them for the last three years, at a frequency of three times per week. He would wake in the night with this abdominal pain, he would have to come home from school, it interrupted his Taekwondo lessons and the awful pains affected other aspects of his life. He saw six different doctors, even a pediatric specialist (who did research on him). He's had x-rays, blood tests, ER visits and he's even been hospitalized. The doctors claimed he had rare abdominal pain. They told him that he would have to learn to live with it. A child of this size having to live with such pain made no sense to me. After hearing about what wellness chiropractic could do for people of all ages, I decided to have my son examined. After his first week of adjustments his stomach pain completely went away and hasn't returned. I am so pleased to be able to watch my son go through life without pain that hindered him for so long. Thank You to my Chiroractor."   E. H. 

If you would like to be evaluated to see if you can be helped give us a call at Back To Health Wellness Center. 970-257-9199

www.BTHWellnessCenter.com

Pregnancy and Wellness Chiropractic

Approximately 1/2 of all pregnant women complain to their doctors about back pain. In a three-part study performed by Joan M. Fallon at Yeshiva University, 65 women were used as subjects. All of the subjects received chiropractic care from at least the 10th week of pregnancy through labor and delivery. Their average labor times were recorded and compared to average labor times as statistically averaged by at least 4 sources, as well as compared to those of a local midwife/ obstetrician practice. In the second part of the study, a questionnaire regarding the levels of back pain was given to determine any changes that might result due to the chiropractic adjustments.

The study found that "chiropractic care significantly reduces labor time!" The labor time was decreased 24%-39% (as compared to national averages). The study also revealed a significant reduction in back pain with chiropractic care. Each woman reported at least a 50% reduction in back pain, some as high as 100%, as a result of the chiropractic care.

If you or a loved one were pregnant wouldn't you want to experience less pain and discomfort through your pregnancy? Wouldn't you want to decrease your labor time by hours? Since nearly all medications can be harmful to health of your baby, chiropractic becomes the obvious choice. Wellness Chiropractic is the natural choice for a quicker and less painful delivery. We use special equipment and tables just for pregnant women.  

It's safe and effective! Call Back To Health Wellness Center for a consultation to determine if Wellness Chiropractic could benefit your pregnancy and delivery.

Call Back To Health Wellness Center and schedule an evaluation, 970-257-9199. 
See us online at www.BTHWellnessCenter.com

Chemical Body Burden: A Toxic Journey

The chemical revolution and subluxations.

The chemical revolution over the past 50 years has polluted nearly every aspect of our lives. Most people assume that the over 75,000 chemicals registered with the EPA have been tested and are safe. However, only a fraction have been tested. Scientists know very little about the risks many of these chemicals may cause to our health, but we do know that many of the chemicals that have been tested are dangerous and many are highly toxic. Scientific research is showing that every single one of us carries synthetic chemicals in our body. It is little wonder we all test positive for chemicals when it is estimated that the average individual is exposed to 200 chemical toxins a day.

Mount Sinai School of Medicine tested samples of blood and urine for pollutant loads in the body. Bill Moyer, author of the Moyer report, was tested for chemical toxins at Mount Sinai . His tests included 84 different hazardous chemical including some chemicals that have been banned for over a quarter of a century. These toxic chemical residuals are termed our "chemical body burden." Researchers explain that these findings are not uncommon.

Chemicals are one of the most common causes of subluxations. Don't overlook the potential that chemicals have for producing subluxations Is it any surprise that we are subluxated when we discover the extent that our body is exposed to chemicals everyday. There is no escape from the chemical attack. Chemicals are found in the air, soil, water, food, homes, plants, and pets and have penetrated every ecosystem on the planet. Not a single child today is born free of chemicals. Researchers suspect exposure to tiny amounts of some environmental chemicals in the womb or early childhood may permanently alter a child's intelligence, motor skills, memory, behavior, fertility and immune response. According to recent estimates from the National Academy of Sciences, it is concluded that 360,000 children, 1 in every 200, suffer from developmental or neurological disabilities caused by a range of toxic exposures.

Chemicals are a direct poison to our body and nervous system. Everything that we put in or on our body, what we eat, drink, breathe, place on our skin, or are exposed to in our environment that is synthetic may have a negative consequence to our health or nerve system and may result in subluxations. Have your nervous system checked for the presence of subluxations today and don't leave your family at home to suffer. 

If you want to find out if you or your family has underlying subluxations from chemical exposure give us a call at 970-257-9199.  www.BTHWellnessCenter.com

Fibromyalgia and Wellness Chiropractic

Twenty-one rheumatology patients aged 25-70 suffering from fibromyalgia (muscular pain characterized by muscular tautness/stiffness, well defined tender/trigger points, numbness, tingling and pain) were studied to demonstrate chiropractic's effect on this condition. The objective of this study was to demonstrate the effectiveness of chiropractic management for fibromyalgia patients using reported pain levels, cervical and lumbar ranges of motion, strength, flexibility, tender points, myalgic score and perceived functional ability as outcome measures.

Chiropractic treatment consisted of 4 weeks of treatment. The results revealed that chiropractic management improved patients' cervical and lumbar ranges of motion, straight leg raise and reported pain levels. These chances were judged to be clinically important with the confines of the sample only. In another study, 538 fibromyalgia patients revealed that chiropractors were one of the more common health care professionals visited by fibromyalgia patients. Wellness Chiropractic is the natural choice for the management of fibromyalgia. We use special computerized equipment ideal for these patients. It's safe and effective!

Have your loved ones checked for nerve interference today

www.BTHWellnessCenter.com

970-257-9199

 

Sources: The effectiveness of chiropractic management of fibromyalgia patients: a pilot study.

Blunt KL, Rajwani MH, and Guerriero RC. J Manipulative Physiological Therapy; 1997: 20(6):389-

99

Prospective, longitudinal study of service utilization and costs in fibromyalgia. Wolf F. Anderson J,

Harkness, D et al. Arthritis and Rheumatism, 1997; 40, pp. 1560-70.

Blood pressure drugs may do more harm than good!

The potential benefits of taking medications to lower high blood pressure may not outweigh their negative effects on quality of life for some patients, reports a study funded in part by the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Health Care Policy and Research.

Side effects of these medications include fatigue, weakness, headaches, joint and stomach aches, nausea, impotence and urinary tract problems.  Often, the reduction in blood pressure with these medications was not significant for some patients despite the numerous side effects caused by the drugs.

 Researchers from the University of Wisconsin at Madison interviewed 1,430 randomly selected adults 45 to 89 years old.  They obtained medical histories and measured the subjects’ health status using a variety of measures and self reports.  The individuals with high blood pressure taking the medications scored lowered on their “overall health” than those with high blood pressure not on the medications.

A highly popular blood pressure medication may be responsible for an excessive number of heart attacks and cases of heart failure.”  High blood pressure drugs know as calcium  blockers have shown  that they do not prevent the cardiovascular complications of high blood pressure.

Use of any of the long-acting calcium channel blockers leads to about 40,000 "unnecessary or excess" heart attacks in the U.S. each year and about 85,000 "excess events" worldwide, Marco Pahor, MD, tells WebMD. Pahor, a professor of medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C., headed the team of researchers who wrote the study. You may recognise some of the names of these drugs: Procardia XL, Norvasc CD, and Adalat CC.  They found that people on these drugs experience a “27% increase in heart attacks and a 26% increase in congestive heart failure.”

 Sources: “Health status and hypertension: A population-based study,” William F Lawrence, M. D. Dennis Fryback, Ph.D., and others Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, Nov. 1996

“Popular Blood Pressure Medicine May Do More Harm Than Good,”  WebMD Medical News 8/29/00

For more health tips visit www.BTHWellnessCenter.com

How would you define Good Health?

There is a greater dimension to health than just feeling good. Many people answer this question, “good health is feeling good”. This is nice, but it has very little to do with having good health.

What is Health? There is so much more to being healthy than how you feel! The World Health Organization defines health as: Health is a state of optimal physical, mental, and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Webster’s defines health as: Health is a state of wholeness in which all organs are functioning 100%, 100% of the time. Health is not just how you feel; it’s how you are functioning. Thousands of Americans die of heart attacks each and every year and the heart attack is the first sign of disease. You can’t wait until symptoms show up before you decide to act.

Symptoms are a poor barometer of health and usually show up late in the disease process. Would you rather choose a lifestyle of wellness so your body functions at an optimal level or live the typical American lifestyle and unknowingly allow various diseases progress to a level of crisis before you seek action?

Where does health come from? Health comes from within. Your body has the inborn ability to heal itself naturally. You were born to be healthy. The catch is, in order for your body to be able to heal itself it must be free from interference in the nervous system. The nervous system controls the function of every cell, tissue, organ, and system in your body. The number one cause of interference to the nerve system in science today is the vertebral subluxation.

Creating Wellness! Wellness is the process of attaining health, happiness, and vitality, allowing you to live your life to its fullest potential. My wish to you is to live your life to its fullest and improve the quality of your life by creating wellness naturally.

For more Health Information visit www.BTHWellnessCenter.com 

The Cause & Solution for Ear Infections

Ear infections are an epidemic in our society. 90% of children will experience ear infections before they are school age.  Most children experience two to three episodes per year.  There is an estimated 10 million new cases per year.  Despite extensive medical intervention, children’s ear infection rates continue to soar.  An estimated $3.4 billion is spent every year for medications and surgeries. A study published in Canadian Family Physician stated that 97.7% of American children diagnosed with ear infections were given antibiotics but there was only a “definite need for antibiotics in only 5-10% of those cases!”

Rate of ear infections soaring and medical science has failed to find an answer.  The reason why they have failed is because the cause of ear infections is not micro-organisms.  The real cause is an abnormally lowered immune response in the inner ear.

There is a solution to the problem.  The real solution lies in locating the cause of the lowered immune response in the ear.  A leading German authority, Dr. Gutmann, found 800 of 1000 (80%) infants checked during the first month of life had Blocked Atlantal Nerve Syndrome directly related to birth trauma. Blocked Atlantal Nerve Syndrome interferes with the nerve impulses in the upper neck area, lowers immune resistance and leave the child vulnerable to ear, nose and throat infections.

The cause of Blocked Atlantal Nerve Syndrome is the modern day birth process.  The stress that is placed on the infant’s neck during the normal birthing process causes trauma to the upper cervical spine.

How do you fix Blocked Atlantal Nerve Syndrome?  Only a trained Wellness Chiropractor qualified to remove the interference with a specific wellness adjustment to the Atlantal Nerve.  A chiropractic evaluation is of “decisive importance” and Chiropractic care can often bring about amazingly successful results.

www.BTHWellnessCenter.com