Phillips Chiropractic

What does the word, “vertigo, ” indicate? Vertigo is the term for the dizzy disturbance a person suffers within a fixed location. The perception is that the outer world is tilting and even spinning. Vertigo may be quick and short- lived or constant. Regardless, no matter what, the specific root of vertigo needs to be diagnosed and the proper therapy carried out.

There are numerous causes for the problems of Vertigo. An inner ear condition, known as Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo, will oftentimes take place as the aftermath of a sustained head injury or severe cold. In some cases this particular vertigo can be the result of the aging process. The root, though, generally is not known. Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo is a wordy diagnosis, but it characterizes completely this non- progressive condition that is attributable to, as its name tells us, a sudden change in head posture. The symptoms are often times unpredicted and varied.

It will be advantageous to look at the performance of the inner ear in an effort fathom what leads to this commonly incapacitating symptoms of this sort of vertigo. The brain takes in motion and sustains balance utilizing the fluid contained in the inner ear. Also in the inner ear are miniature calcium carbonate crystals, known as otoconia. These crystals usually float in the inner ear fluid if dislodged. As the crystals strike against the delicate nerve endings in the inner ear, they trigger the symptoms of Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo or BPPV.

The good news is that chiropractic treatment can get rid of the problems of BPPV very quickly and effectively employing a technique known as the Epley maneuver. Through the use of this practice, a chiropractor turns the head of a BPPV sufferer into a number of the different positions, letting gravity move the calcium carbonate crystals into a local of the inner ear that is away from the nerve endings where they will bring about no subsequent dizziness.

Your chiropractor has assisted numerous people for Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo making use of the Epley Maneuver technique. Typically, with only one treatment the majority of patients no longer suffer from dizziness. Dr. Phillips can help. Call Phillips Chiropractic in Santa Barbara today!

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Knee X-ray

Individuals 65 years and older who’ve been diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis (OA), that practice Tai Chi, improve their physical function and encounter less pain, according to a new Tufts University School of Medicine study. Osteoarthritis is a general form of arthritis that causes a breakdown of joint cartilage. Chiropractors help a large number individuals who suffer with OA in a number of regions of the body, including the joints of the knee. Second only to spinal problems, knee pain and disability is one of the most prevalent afflictions of the musculoskeletal system. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) there are an astounding 4.3 million people in this country over age 60 diagnosed with knee OA, and the CDC anticipates that by age 85, half of American adults may suffer from symptoms of OA. Knee osteoarthritis results in pain, immobility, dysfunction and disability, and a diminished quality of life.

You may be wondering why so many adults develop OA. Inordinate stress over a period of time is a major element in the majority of musculoskeletal problems that develop as we age. Therefore, as people age they are more at risk for developing OA in their knees, as well as other joints. Abnormal function of the knee, improper gait, compensatory foot mechanics as the result of foot pain, and repetitive use of the knee joint all create excessive stress on the knees. Over time arthritic changes in the knee joint develop. As an adjunct to chiropractic treatment, chiropractors fully support natural, drug-free practices, such as Tai Chi (Chuan), that can mitigate knee pain. Tai Chi (Chuan) is a traditional style of Chinese martial arts that features slow, rhythmic movements that generate mental relaxation, as well as an enhancement of balance, an increase in strength, and more flexibility.

The 40 men and women selected for the Tufts study were on an average 65 years of age, overweight, and with confirmed OA, but in otherwise good health. Individuals were randomly selected to participate in 60-minute “Yang style” Tai Chi sessions twice weekly for 12 weeks. Each session included a 10-minute self-massage and a review of Tai Chi principles, 30 minutes of Tai Chi movement, 10 minutes of breathing technique, and 10 minutes of relaxation.

Tai Chi involves many of the prevailing exercise protocols for OA, such as range of motion, flexibility, muscle conditioning, and aerobic workout. Furthermore, researchers noted that the “mental aspect” of Tai Chi encouraged a sense of well-being, life satisfaction, and impressions of health that assisted the participants in dealing differently with chronic pain. Compared with the control group, the group practicing Tai Chi exhibited a significant decrease in knee pain.

Full findings of the study are published in the November 2009 issue of Arthritis Care & Research, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology.

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Do you experience pain in one or both hips whenever you twist them or when you cross your legs?  Does the pain keep you awake at night and make it impossible to get a good night’s sleep? When you arise in the morning, or when you get out of your car, are you stiff and do you find it initially difficult to move your legs? If you answered “yes” to any or all of the previous questions it is likely that you have imbalances and alignment problems in your lower extremities that, in addition to creating hip pain, can eventually produce degenerative joint disease in your hips if not treated.

Even though hip pain and related problems are usually signs of age-related degenerative conditions, especially osteoarthritis of the hip joint, osteoarthritis isn’t always the culprit. In fact, rather than being the original source of the problem, osteoarthritis of the hip joint can be the ultimate result of injury to your hips at a previous time.

Gait changes caused by biomechanical issues such as an ankle sprain or knee strain, can cause hip pain. Moreover, your gait may vary to compensate for new body demands such as a job change, an alteration in the way you sit, a new sport or activity, or if you start driving for long periods of time on a regular basis..

In addition, gait asymmetries can occur from carrying a baby or small child on your hip, leg length discrepancies, or foot pronation conditions. In other words, anything that produces an asymmetry or imbalance when you are in motion can develop into painful hip problems.

As part of the chiropractic management of your hip problem, along with adjustments, your chiropractor may determine that you require orthotics. Your chiropractor will also offer applicable progressive rehabilitative exercises that include muscle stretching and strengthening.

Hip pain won’t diminish on its own. Hip pain is a sign that something needs to be corrected. Your chiropractor can help to get you out of pain, get back into balance, and get your life back!

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Attempting to keep up with an active five-year-old can seem tiring at times. If you’ve been around an active child of this age, or if you have one of your own, you may have found yourself longing for the kid to just sit still for a little while. But, new research is recognizing the long-term health benefits of this whirlwind of activity. In fact, according to a new University of Iowa study, instead of making an effort to slow these little ones down, five-year-olds ought be aided in being as active as possible. Why? “Because it pays off as they grow older,” said Kathleen Janz, lead author of the study and professor of health and sport studies in the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Being active at age five helps kids to stay lean as they get older even if they don’t remain as active later in childhood. “We call this effect ‘banking’ because the kids benefit later on, similar to having a savings account at a bank. The protective effect is independent of what happens in between,” Janz went on to say.

Using a special scanner that accurately measures bone, fat, and muscle tissue, and an accelerometer that measures movment every minute, the UI team tested the body fat and activity level of 333 kis at ages five, eight, and eleven. Rather than relying on kids or parents to track minutes of exercise, the kids wore accelerometers to record their activity level for up to five days.

Even when controlling for their accumulated level of activity, the study (published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine) indicated that kids who are active at age five end up with less fat at age eight and eleven.  The average five-year-old in the study got thirty minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise per day. For every ten minutes on top of that, kids had one-third of a pound less fat tissue at ages eight and eleven.

Although further inquiry is required to determine what happens to the active kids’ bodies that keeps them in better shape down the road, Janz said that it may be possible that the active 5-year-olds didn’t develop as many fat cells, improved their insulin response, or that something happened metabolically that offered some protection even as they became less active.

Nonetheless, as impressive as this study is, weight moderation is not the only benefit of early exercise. As a chiropractor I have noticed in my own practice that active kids have far less of the usual childhood health challenges, like catching colds and the flu. Chiropractic treatment is, of course, extraordinarily beneficial in helping kids to stay healthier. But, in addition, the stimulation to the brain that occurs during activities, especially those that require “cross pattern” motor movements of the larger muscles, i.e., right hand/left leg and left hand/right leg, such as crawling, running, climbing, and skipping, also boosts the autoimmune system and keeps kids healthier.

Many children nowadays are overweight and unhealthy. Though part of the problem is an inappropriate diet, inactivity is also a major contributing factor. If you have a five-year-old who chooses to watch television or play video games rather than to participate in more active play, help your child to get up and get moving into healthier activities. Moderate to vigorous activity will not only benefit your child now, but will help to build a healthier future. You can bank on it!

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Balanced Choices Are Keys to Good Health and Longevity

Dr. Jamie Phillips

Last week I saw an article on sciencedaily.com how caffeine reversed memory loss in aged mice bred to develop symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. The article began with the angle that “Coffee drinkers may have another reason to pour that extra cup.”  It went on to report on back-to-back studies published online July 6 in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease that demonstrated that caffeine significantly decreased abnormal levels of the protein linked to Alzheimer’s disease, both in the brains and in the blood of mice that had developed symptoms of the disease.

However, before you decide to add an extra cup of coffee to your daily intake, let me, Dr. Jamie Phillips add that also on the website, under “Related Stories,” were at least two articles regarding studies that professed to prove the not-so-healthy effects of caffeine, “Morning Jolt of Caffeine May Mask Serious Sleep Problems,” and “Coffee Consumption Linked To Increased Risk Of Heart Attack For Persons With Certain Gene Variation.”

Nearly any point of view, I’ve noticed, particularly when it has to do with age-related health issues, can be confirmed, or at least given credence, by other related studies. The “good/bad” studies related to caffeine naturally aren’t, of course, the only ones. Even so, it did get me to thinking about the probability that there will not ever be just “one thing” that will with absolute certainty help we, humans, to live longer, healthier lives. We are dynamic, biological creatures. We aren’t raised in unnatural confinement We are free to participate in life. And, let’s face it, though Alzheimer’s disease is likely on the rise, obviously we, cage-free humans, have not been “artificially induced to develop symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease,” therefore caffeine isn’t entirely the “one thing” that is going to reverse or prevent it.

Our body is an elegant, complex system that is based on homeostasis, that is to say, balance. Consequently good health is about a healthy, balanced approach to living, as opposed to our being briefly convinced by the latest health study and “doing” or “overdoing” one specific thing under the illusion that it will reverse all of the other over-indulgent and harmful things we have done to our bodies.

I believe, as a chiropractor in Santa Barbara, that every single day we have an opportunity to make decisions that will assist us to live longer, healthier lives, healthy choices for our body and mind. We know what actually “feels” life enriching and what doesn’t when it comes to what is good for our body. So, I just wanted to pass along a little something for you to keep in mind the next time you consider having that extra cup of coffee or second glass of red wine. Neither one of those things is the “one thing” that will do “everything” for your age-related health issues.

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We all know that movement is good for the whole body, right? From our head to our toes, our good health is determined by how much physical activity we get on a regular basis. So, why do so many people suffer from aches and pains in their feet? After all, aren’t our feet made for walking? Yes, but they weren’t designed for abuse. The average, healthy person takes 3,000-5,000 steps each day, not including activities such as running and aerobic exercise. But, often those steps are made by people walking incorrectly, with poor gait patterns and bad posture. In addition, a large number of people wear badly-designed, poorly-fitting shoes. Moving the body through space incorrectly on feet that are inhibited from functioning correctly cannot help but to cause aches and pains not only in a number of places in our feet, but in other parts of our body. For example, if an individual over-pronates (walks like a duck) in a pair of poorly made or unevenly-worn shoes, or in a pair of high heels, that person is not only likely to develop foot and ankle problems, but will probably experience problems of the back, knees and legs.

One of the most well known foot problems is Plantar Fascitis (heel pain), which is usually caused by inflammation of the plantar fascia. The plantar fascia is a wonderful, multi-tasking band of connective tissue that encircles the muscles on the bottom of the foot, adheres the heel bone to the ball of the foot, supports the arch, protects the foot, and absorbs shock.

There are many factors that contribute to the development of Plantar Fascitis. One such factor is short and tight calf muscles. When calf muscles get short and tight they exert a strong pull on the back of the heel bone, producing undue stress on the smaller and weaker plantar muscles and fascia. How do calf muscles get short and tight? In addition to running and jumping activities such as aerobics, volleyball, running, basketball, and tennis, the wearing of high heels can cause the problem.

Other factors that contribute to Plantar Fascitis include sudden strenuous activity after a period of prolonged inactivity, abnormal walking patterns (such as over-pronation), improper footwear, walking on hard or uneven surfaces (especially barefooted), and obesity.

Once an individual develops Plantar Fascitis, the condition is frequently not easy to manage and can become intensely painful and persistent. If you are suffering from heel pain, your chiropractor will be able to determine the cause of your problem and what chiropractic management is best suited. Such care might include ultrasound therapy, laser, joint manipulation, muscle stretching and strengthening exercises, special taping and, in some cases, orthotics.

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A greater number of Americans than ever before say they are suffering from asthma. It is one of this country’s most widespread and costly diseases. In fact, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, every day 40,000 people miss school or work due to asthma; 30,000 people have an asthma attack; 5,000 people are seen in the emergency room due to asthma;1,000 people are admitted to the hospital due to asthma;and, 11 people die from asthma.

Allergens or irritants that are breathe into the lungs, and create inflammation that clogs and constricts airways, are routinely the cause of asthma symptoms. Symptoms include difficulty breathing, wheezing, coughing, and constriction in the chest. In extreme cases, asthma can be fatal. There is no medical cure for asthma though pharmaceuticals may transiently reduce the symptoms.

Despite the fact that chiropractic is not a treatment for asthma, per se, recent research published in the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research catalogued the results experienced by 81 children with asthma who received chiropractic management. The two-month study revealed that those under care experienced a 45% decrease in the number of “attacks” and that 31% of the subjects voluntarily chose to decrease their medication.

How can chiropractic care help to reduce the persistence and intensity of asthma attacks? How can an adjust of the spine affect respiration? Nervous system interference is eliminated through chiropractic adjustments. The majority of nerves that control bodily functions travel to their destinations after exiting between the spinal vertebrae. This includes those nerves that affect the respiratory system. If hindered, nerves that are in charge of the diaphragm can have a serious effect on how beneficially the respiratory system functions. It isn’t a mystery, then, why so many adults and children receiving chiropractic treatment report augmented breathing and a decline in their asthmatic symptoms.

Chiropractic may be beneficial for you, or someone you love, who has asthma, if it is produced by, or exacerbated as the result of spinal subluxations. Chiropractic may help you to breathe a little easier. Call your chiropractor today!

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If you sit for extended periods at a computer, you may be experiencing lower back pain, upper back pain, and/or neck pain that also radiates down one or both of your arms generating additional pain, pins and needles, or numbness. Neck and shoulder pain are, in fact, the most common upper-extremity musculoskeletal problems among computer users. In a 2002 study tracking 632 computer users newly hired at major Atlanta companies, Dr. Fredric E. Gerr, an occupational medicine physician and ergonomics investigator at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, and colleagues observed that roughly 60 percent developed neck or shoulder pain in the first year, though the study did not track how long symptoms persisted.

Younger generations growing up in the digital age are also joining the ranks of the “typing wounded.” Surveys at two universities found that 40 to 50 percent of undergraduates experienced upper-extremity pain from using their computers. Colleges do not build dormitory furniture to be ergonomically adjustable, said Dr. Benjamin Amick, scientific director of the Institute for Work and Health in Toronto, who was a co-author of those studies. “They build it to be indestructible.”

In addition to repetitive stress problems, sitting at your computer too long places your upper back in a sustained, stressful posture, especially if you tend to lean forward when you’re working. This also puts your neck at an unnatural and strained angle. Lower back pain, in addition to being generated by simply sitting for long periods of time without getting up and moving around, is aggravated by bad posture.

Problems caused by extended computer use can not only lead to an inability to perform your work duties, but can keep you from enjoying the rest of your life, too. Your Santa Barbara chiropractor can assist in eliminating the lower back pain, upper back pain, and/or neck pain that you are currently experiencing. After that, it is important for you to become mindful of your body as you sit at your computer, and to give your body what it naturally needs. You can cultivate the habit of both sitting straight in your chair (as opposed to slouching) and relaxing your shoulders. This will help to relieve tension in your lower and upper back and neck. Take time to stretch periodically to ease muscle tension and encourage healthy blood flow. If your work station permits, sitting on an exercise ball can not only aide in keeping you in a beneficial posture, but can help to strengthen your core muscles as well. (Make sure that the ball is the right size so that when you are seated on it your arms are at a ninety-degree angle to your keyboard.)

Good posture for ease of movement, variety in the motions that you do, and short breaks to relax and stretch will go a long way in keeping your computer work (or play) pain-free.

Partial source: The New York Times, Health Review, June 22, 2009

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Chiropractors, like me, agree that “motion is life.” We, humans, were designed to walk, to run, to dance, and to move all the muscles of our body for our entire lifespan. So, naturally, it follows that we either “move it or lose it!” Our aging “Baby Boomer” population is discovering just how true this cautionary advice is when it comes to energy, vitality, mobility, and good health in later years. With every year of our life, we have much to gain from being physically active…and plenty to lose by living an immobile or sedentary lifestyle.

As our age-related risks of chronic disease increase, regular physical activity can actually slow down the trend. In addition, research has shown that people who have already developed coronary artery disease, osteoarthritis, high blood pressure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Type 2 diabetes, and other age-related chronic diseases can benefit substantially by increasing their physical activity and, therefore, often can manage their chronic illness with fewer medicines.

Furthermore, some studies suggest that the cardiovascular benefits an individual gets from physical activity may also help the brain stay healthy. “Physical activity influences the frontal region of the brain,” says Dr. Bradley Hatfield, professor of Sports Psychology at the University of Maryland, College Park. So, if you’ve been wondering what the best thing is that you can do to keep your brain young, the answer may be for you to take a long walk. A key factor is that exercise thickens the brain tissue and builds more synapses in the brain.  The brain has 10 billion nerve cells, called neurons, and on average, neurons are connected to each other through 10,000 synapses.  Every time we exercise, more synapses form and the active brain gets stronger.

On a regular basis, being physically active increases the quality of life (period). Some of the benefits include improved energy levels, mental sharpness, balance, strength, flexibility, and weight control. Moreover, regular aerobic exericise has been shown to help in the management of depression, anxiety, and stress.

So, even though the facts point conclusively to the validity of the “move it or lose it!” warning, they also confirm that it is never to late for you to “move it” and regain your health!

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You may have read on this website, or elsewhere, about recent studies that have shown that physical activity is requisite to getting and staying healthy, especially as we age. But, if you’ve been inactive for awhile, even the idea of exercise might seem “exhausting.” The best way, then, to approach this much-needed addition to your lifestyle is, literally and figuratively, to do it one step at a time. A smart “first step” is to see a health care professional, like your chiropractor, for a full physical examination. Once it is confirmed that you won’t make matters worse through movement, then the next step is simply to start moving a bit each day.

Any movement is a step towards better health and physical fitness. Walk a lap (or two) around your house or apartment. Put that TV remote away and get up to change the channels. As your body becomes accustomed to moving again, you will probably discover that you actually want to move more. Then you can slowly add additional movement to your daily routine. Increase the walk around your house to a walk around the block, a walk in the park, or even a walk through the shopping mall. Walking with a friend can often help to keep you on track(especially on those days when you’d rather sit and veg, then get your body moving). If you are physically able, take the stairs instead of using the elevator as often as you can. Park farther away from the entrance to the supermarket and make it a goal to put more and more parking spots between you and the entrance.

After a few weeks of regular physical activity, you will begin to feel the healthful benefits of movement. Then you’ll be ready for new ways to build flexibility, fitness, and muscle strength. Your Santa Barbara chiropractor can advise you on how to become more physically active and help you to development an individualized program.

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