Chiropractic Care

There are many benefits to choosing chiropractic care and many ways in which the practice can greatly improve your life over time. In recent years, chiropractic care has become increasingly common and recommended by many doctors. Some of the benefits that you will find from seeing a chiropractor include:

Treatment of Back Pain and Neck Pain

One of the most common reasons why individuals in Fort Collins seek out a chiropractor is the fact that chiropractic care has been shown to greatly reduce back and neck pain – particularly back and neck pain that hampers individuals on a daily basis. Although it may take several visits to a chiropractor in order to see a great improvement, you should notice improvement from your first visit moving forward.

Improve Range of Motion

Another huge benefit of chiropractic care improved range of motion. By freeing up and re-positioning the vertebrae, you can greatly improve the range of motion that you experience on a day-to-day basis, and greatly improve the mobility of your back. If you wake up with a sore back and find yourself unable to turn like you think you should, and/or stretch appropriately, a chiropractor can help you to work out the kinks in your back, and greatly improve your range of motion through a series of visits.

Reduce Soreness

Another reason why many people seek out chiropractors, is the fact that chiropractic care can greatly reduce day-to-day soreness. Much of the soreness that is experienced in the back, shoulders and neck region can be greatly improved upon through chiropractic techniques.

If you suffer from back and neck pain, reduced range of motion, or soreness upon waking up, seeking out chiropractic care can be an excellent path to recovery and an improved lifestyle.

Just that simple…

Do you ever feel like Atlas from Greek Mythology with the weight of the world on your shoulders? Certainly you are not alone. While some stress is normal, constant stress can really wear you down mentally, physically, and emotionally. That is why we encourage you to find some levity in your life every day.

Levity is defined as lightness of mind, character, or behavior. Doesn’t that sound lovely? While creating levity in your life will not make your problems go away it can make it easier to swallow.

Can you think of a time where life really had you down but someone or something got you laughing? At least during that moment of laughter you had some reprieve from the stresses around you.

If you would like more levity in your life I would encourage you to check out The Levity Project. Led by Kate West out of Bath¸ Maine, the goal of The Levity Project is to create global social change towards a world which unites in joy.

If you go to the website www.thelevityproject.com you can learn more about the movement and how you can participate. At the very least you can watch some videos of some of the things they have done, such as wearing silly rainbow umbrella hats and holding still in the middle of Chicago while people walk by wondering what is going on. While this may seem silly and childish, that is the point. It is harmless fun that gets    people smiling and laughing.

When you are smiling and laughing you feel better and that is always a good thing.  So make this small commitment, try to let yourself smile and laugh more…today!

Athletes understand it—no pain, no gain. You have to go beyond your limits of endurance to build your body up. Little do they know, though, that this saying applies to more than just getting in shape.

The following story appears in The Chiropractic (R)evolution. It is the story of a Canadian colleague’s patient.

As a young girl, this young woman experienced a lot of headaches. She took a well-known, over-the-counter pain medication for relief. However, she had so many headaches, she took this medication very regularly for a number of years. By the time she was in her early twenties, she was on kidney dialysis from the cumulative effects of this drug.

Now this drug is perceived as a very safe, over-the-counter, American-as-apple-pie medication. It’s in every drug store. Millions of people use it regularly. Nurses and doctors routinely recommend it by brand name.

Yet anything artificial poses a problem for the body if taken frequently, no matter how helpful it may be to our every day levels of comfort. It may get us out of pain, but that may not necessarily benefit us.

A lot of times we’d rather down a pill and be pain-free than find out how to tackle the deeper health problem that is causing the pain. That’s not to say that people don’t experience great relief from over-the-counter and prescribed medicine. Sometimes medications allow people to function without pain while their bodies heal.

Yet pain is a signal that something needs attention. It’s actually part of the body’s defense system. If I offered you a pill that would guarantee that you would never feel pain again, would you take it?

What if you took that pill and then went outside and tripped on the curb and broke your ankle? What if you sought no treatment because you felt no pain? You’d have a major problem.

Pain is an alarm system, warning us that something in our bodies needs attention. Medicating it away is like taking the batteries out of the smoke detectors in your house because the sound bothers you when it goes off. You need that alarm system to warn you if there’s a fire. We need pain to warn us that something is wrong with our health. Pain, if we know how to use it correctly, can be our friend, pointing out problems that will only worsen if we don’t look at what is causing the pain.

Pain can be our first line of defense against serious problems, serving as a warning system that we need to do something for our health, like getting under chiropractic care. If we just mask the symptoms without addressing the health problem, it really is a matter of no pain, no gain.

Quite often patients will present to a chiropractic office because they are experiencing some new and unusual pain. Quite often the pain is dispersed with no real focal point and no history of trauma. Further questioning often reveals a history of statin use to reduce cholesterol. Statins are a class of drugs used to block cholesterol production in the liver. If you ever pay attention to the ads on television you will hear it stated that side effects include a rare but serious muscle condition. It seems to me that it is not so rare.

Unfortunately, this is only one of the potential side effects of statin medications. Other side effects include neuropathy, fatigue, memory loss, aggression, irritability and cognitive defects to name a few. But isn’t it worth it if we can use these drugs to prevent a heart attack? After all, research indicates that taking statins will decrease the risk of a heart attack by 50%. Nobody wants a heart attack, so it seems reasonable until you take a closer look.

The popularity of treating high cholesterol with statins is based on a study known as the JUPITER trial. According to Dr. Ridker, the primary author of the study…”being on a statin can lower your risk of having a heart event by half.” What they found in their research is that those patients taking a statin had a 1.6% risk of having a cardiovascular event while the placebo group had a 2.8% chance of having a cardiovascular event. According to my math that is a difference of 1.2%. However, the way they look at it is that the statins cut the risk by half, hence the 50% reduction of a heart attack for the group on statins. After all, 57% of 2.8 is 1.6.

So now that you understand how the numbers work, would you be as willing to risk the side effects of taking a statin drug knowing that it only offers you a 1.2% potential benefit? The better alternative is to eat right, exercise, manage your stress, and avoid smoking. If you have been experiencing unusual muscle pain and are on a statin, contact your medical doctor immediately and talk to your chiropractor about how to make lifestyle changes that will support a healthy heart.

*Thanks to LearningCurves for this useful information

At a recent comedy show the headliner ended his act by sharing with the audience the fact that he is currently battling cancer. Happily, he is doing well and he is winning the battle. He then shared with us some jokes that we could take home to share with other people.

There is a lot of scientific evidence to support that laughing is good for you. If you do a web search for “Laughing Therapy,” you will find millions of web sites touting the benefits of laughter. It releases stress reducing hormones in the body, lowers blood pressure, and improves immune function, to name a few.

However, we don’t need to go into all the science of laughter to understand its benefits. Think back on your own experiences. Have you ever laughed so hard you broke out into a sweat and your stomach hurt when you were done? Not even a sore stomach can interfere with the euphoric feeling of a big belly laugh. Have you ever been in a bad mood and had someone come along and do something to make you laugh or at least smile? You might go right back to being grumpy again, but at least for a moment you feel better. Moms are great for doing this with their children.

Another great thing about laughter is that it’s contagious. Have you ever been around someone who was laughing hysterically and not know why, but you end up laughing along with them anyway? Even if you’re not laughing, you still get many of the benefits by observing other people laugh. I love having children in my office. They have the best, most pure laughs. You can’t help but feel good when you hear them.

We all have a lot of serious stuff going on in our lives—bills to pay, schedules to maintain, chores that need to be done, and on and on, not to mention the tragedy displayed on the evening news every night. With everything going on, it’s easy to find a reason not to laugh.

Here’s the point. That stuff is not going to go away, so we have to find positive ways to deal with the stress in our lives, and one of the best things we can do is laugh. So go to a comedy club, see a funny movie, and hang out with that friend who always makes you laugh, or just play with some kids. It’s true, laughter is the best medicine.

*Thanks to LearningCurves.us for this article!

Arthritis is often referred to as a single condition. However, it can be a component in over 100 conditions that affect 46 million adults and 300,000 children in the U.S., the Arthritis Foundation reports. It can range from mild to debilitating and affect more than just joints. Systemic forms can affect virtually any organ in the body. This article will be focused on the most common form, Osteoarthritis (OA), with a brief discussion of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA).

Osteoarthritis, affecting more than 27 million Americans, is characterized by pain, stiffness (especially in the morning and with certain activities), and break down of joint cartilage. OA can lead to joint deformation and bone spurring especially in the hands. There are two types of OA, Primary and Secondary. Primary osteoarthritis is what we tend to associate with getting older. Contrary to popular belief, OA is not a side effect of aging. If it were strictly age related, all joints in your body would be affected equally. However, you are more likely to develop OA the older you are due to more wear and tear on joints. Secondary osteoarthritis occurs in a joint that has been injured either from direct trauma or obesity. Either way both forms of OA are caused by increase stress on a joint.

The Arthritis Foundation lists five risk factors for developing OA:

• Age: As we age, there are more opportunity for wear and tear
• Obesity: An increase in one pound of body weight adds four pounds of pressure to the knees and six times the pressure on your hips
• Injury and Overuse (and even Underuse): Previous injuries and repetitive motions increase your risk of developing OA, as does an overly sedentary lifestyle; your joints require motion in order to stay lubricated and healthy
• Genetics: There is evidence to suggest that genetics may predispose someone to developing OA.  However, that does not mean that it is inevitable.  If OA seems to “run in your family”, living a healthy lifestyle and following the recommendations in this edition of Wellness News You Can Use may help you to avoid OA
• Muscle Weakness: Some studies suggest that weak muscles surrounding a joint may increase your chances of developing OA, which means that outside of all the other obvious reasons, it’s important to engage in weight bearing strengthening exercises

You might be wondering, “What’s the difference between Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis”. We already discussed that OA is due to excessive stress on a joint. RA is an autoimmune disease by which the body’s immune system begins to attack certain tissues, specifically the synovial membranesthat line most of the joints in your body. RA can also be systemic, meaning it can result in inflammation of organs throughout the body. The risk factors are different for RA; women are more likely than men to develop RA and tend to develop the disease between 30 and 60, where as the small percentage of men with RA develop the disease around 60. RA also affects an estimated 300,000 children in its juvenile form.

The symptoms of both OA and RA may be medically treated with analgesics, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and corticosteroids. However, RA may be treated even more aggressively with immunosuppressive drugs that decrease the body’s immune response, thus limiting damage to the joints and other affected tissues. In some cases, especially with OA surgery and joint replacement may be necessary.

Standard medical treatments are harsh, especially those for RA. Because RA is an autoimmune disease, the drugs used to alleviate symptoms will hinder the body’s immune system, thereby making your body much more susceptible to illness, disease, and infection, compounding the strain on your body’s ability to function and heal properly. Before those measures are taken, many safer and effective treatments can be used:

1. Exercise– weight-bearing exercise can be done with many states of arthritis, and in some cases, can stop or reverse damage. Try circuit training, swimming, walking, and other activities with low impact
2. Massage Therapy– improve the relationship between bone and muscle with regular massage therapy. This will relieve tension and uneven distribution of weight and pressure, and help flush fluid build-up around joints
3. Acupuncture– this all-natural method of pain relief reduces many other sources of inflammation (the “itis” in “arthritis”) by balancing all energetic pathways in the body
4. Dietary Changes– many foods either cause inflammation or will make it far worse. Grains are the biggest culprit. Try eliminating them from your diet for at least 30 days
5. and of course, Chiropractic!– who better to work with joints and the skeleton than a doctor trained to do just that? Dr. Ranae does adjust extremities, including ankles, knees, wrists, elbows, and more, so be sure to discuss your symptoms with her during your next adjustment!

*Thanks to LearningCurves.us for portions of this article!

With the economy stuck in a rut and with no end of that rut in sight, people have a tighter, almost vice-like, grip on their finances. Understandable; when money is tight, you want that dollar to stretch like a contortionist!

When finances are restricted, where do you want your money to go to keep good health? Let’s look at the differences:

Conventional Treatments:

• -usually part of a bureaucracy that involves HMOs and private insurance companies that influence the cost of treatments and sometimes even dictate what treatments are allowed (without understanding what they are or their effects)
• -primarily focus on treating symptoms rather than addressing the cause, effectively keeping you unhealthy (think of weeding a garden, but only pulling the weed and not getting the roots… that weed will come back every time)
• -tend to involve tools/drugs/procedures that have damaging short term and/or long term side effects, which, over time, often lead to increased and/or different illnesses

Now the really important statistic…

Conventional treatments cost an annual average of 89% more than Alternative treatments!

The US has the highest costs for prescription drugs in the world. Combine that with incorrect or over-diagnosing diseases like Autism, ADHD, breast cancer, and much more, and the system is revealed for the big swirling whirlpool of cash that it’s become.

We’re spending an average of $307 billion for Conventional treatments verses $34 billion on Alternative treatments!

Does that seem like a cost-effective use of our national income?

Think of how much money we’d save by investing more of our attention on preventative measures which, though they may not receive the same sensationalized media attention as their more common counterparts, are safe and effective, and would give us greater flexibility in both our personal and national expenses– it might be easier to address larger problems when the majority of our society isn’t constantly fighting diseases!

It’s your money, after all; spend it wisely!

February is Heart Health Month and National Snack Food Month! It celebrates a powerful organ that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the entire body and the foods that help it work at its best!

Beyond keeping your upper thoracic spine in proper alignment with regular chiropractic adjustments, there are many natural ways to keep this amazing organ working in its prime, including and especially when it comes to nutrition. The right foods make all the difference; they help lower blood pressure, reduce risk for diabetes, and make maintaining a healthy weight easy when combined with frequent activity… all important things for a fully functioning heart.

Snacking Myths:

1. Don’t snack: WRONG. Eat when you’re hungry, stop when you’re not, and eat good foods; it really is that simple
2. But I can lose weight that way: NO. It may take time to understand your body’s cravings, but denying yourself food leads to overindulgence the next time you eat, making it easy to gain too much weight
3. Fats and oils are bad: NOPE. Good fats and oils are necessary for proper muscle function, and the heart IS a muscle! Eating foods drenched in processed fats (like partially hydrogenated vegetable fats) makes digesting those foods much harder, and the human body was not built that way. The less processing the fat or oil has undergone, the better it is for you; avocados, coconut anything, and grassfed meats are great sources of the right balance of fats
4. “Snack” means “junk”: NUH-UH! If you think snacking means eating cheap foods (we’re talking quality too, and not just monetary value), then you’re mistaken. Healthy foods are just as convenient and inexpensive as that bag of greasy potato chips you stare at in the grocery store

 Healthy Snacks:

• Tree nuts like almonds and walnuts— good sources of  protein and/or Omega 3 oils*
• Carrots— try brushing them with olive oil & black pepper and baking them on higher heat for 20 minutes until they’re browned and crispy
• Berries— they’re tasty and versatile, and can be added to salads, entrees, trail mixes, shakes, and more!
• Sweet potatoes— slice up as fries, and these are a simple and tasty snack anytime! Also good for helping active muscles recover, so if you’re working out regularly, load up on these

*Omega 3 oils are one of the more important components of a heart-healthy diet. A balance of Omega 3s and Omega 6s keeps blood at the ideal consistency, making it easier for the heart to pump, which reduces strain on the most valuable organ in our bodies. Please click the link above to read more about Omega 3s.*

Foods to Avoid:

• anything in processed fats or oils! Fats and oils get an unfair reputation; if they’re processed like crazy, then yes, they are bad. If they’re coming from quality sources and go through incredibly limited processing, then they’re not nearly as bad as you’ve been lead to believe
• cereals: some of the most common breakfast foods are drenched in sugar and made up of simple carbohydrates– cinnamon buns, cereals, strudels and pastries– and some of these are somehow considered to be “comfort” snacks. “Oh, I can eat it for the most important meal of the day, so I can eat it as a snack too!” So very wrong. These foods aren’t really good for you any time of day
• replacements: cooking alternatives like margarine and Crisco were supposed to be so much better for us than butter and lard, but it turns out the human bodies work better when NOT loaded up with artificial sugars and refined carbs… like those found in, you guessed it, margarine and Crisco! Eat the real thing in the right portions, and you’ll be amazed at how much easier things process through the body
• soy: soy undergoes a tremendous amount of processing, especially in forms like tofu, because in its raw state, it’s poisonous! One of its effects is clotting, making blood much thicker than it should be, and therefore more difficult for the heart to pump

It’s important to understand that snacking is not a substitute for regular quality meals, but rather a way to keep your blood sugar consistent in between those meals.

Learn how to listen to your body’s messages!

Sit up straight, chin up, chest out/shoulders back….. ever heard any of those sage words of wisdom? Chances are you have and chances are even greater that the person telling you to follow those orders was slouched over with their head down and their shoulders rolled forward!

Posture is more than a tag phrase thrown around by well-intentioned authority figures. It is an essential part of living a fully functional and well life. Ever seen a house with a saggy foundation on one corner, or a badly rotted sill? Doesn’t look good or age well, does it? In fact when you look inside, you see windows that don’t open and close, doors that stick, and floors that are un-level, and eventually the exterior begins to deteriorate as well.

The same goes for the body; however, in the body there are more important considerations than the structure to be concerned with. For instance, when your spine is out of “alignment” or balance, the nervous system immediately tries to correct it through muscle contraction, joint fixation and/or hyper mobility, circulatory changes, and eventually chronic scar tissue development. This is just the effect on the bones and muscles. What about the organs and glands?

Question: Can a lack of proper posture affect your heart, your digestion, your thyroid gland, or any and all other tissues in the body?

Answer: ABSOLUTELY!

Question: Would you know if you had “bad” posture that was affecting your health?

Answer: Probably not!

Question: How would I know if I had “Bad” posture?

Answer: Seek the advice of an expert in the proper balance and structure of the spinal column and nervous system… a chiropractor!

As a chiropractic office, the most common postural issues we see are:

• -forward head posture
• -hyper kyphosis
• -hip/shoulder/ear height imbalances

All of these issues stem from the body’s natural and proper attempts to adapt to gravity, and all can be corrected if detected before permanent structural damage is done (usually in the form of degenerative arthritis or, better put, wear-and-tear arthritis).

The best advice: get checked as soon as possible by Dr. Ranae for spinal and nervous system imbalance, and then follow the appropriate corrective measures to get your spine, nervous system, and muscular system to a place of balance and integrity.

Once you have done this, it will be easy to maintain; your health and future well-being will be a blank canvas on which you can paint a masterpiece!

*Thanks to LearningCurves.us for this article!