Orem Chiropractor Helps You Achieve Wellness Part 1

Your Orem Chiropractor - R. Ned McArthur, D.C., along with other chiropractors, is a proponent of the wellness movement.  Wellness is defined as the pursuit of physical and mental well-being.

Good nutrition, exercise and routine chiropractic care are all parts of a wellness lifestyle.  Chiropractors have always been a proponent of this lifestyle because we understand that the body is a self healing.

The body is made up of muscles, organs and glands which are all controlled by the brain and nervous system.  Injury, stress and toxins all the the ability to interfere with the communication between nerves and muscles, organs and glands.  When there is bad communication between all of these proper function is lost.  A lack of proper function leads to health problems.  Given enough time symptoms begin to develop and eventually the disease process results.

When you begin to notice symptoms like back pain or headaches these are signs to let you know something is wrong.  To cover up these up with pain killers is like putting tape over your dashboard when the check engine light comes on.  The goal of these chemicals is NOT wellness, but a lack of symptoms.

Next time we'll continue our discussion of wellness and more specifically what are wellness practices and what are not.

Orem Chiropractor - Chiropractic Improves Your Mental Well Being

As your Orem Chiropractor your mental well being isn’t what my care is directed towards, but in my consultation & evaluation of patients I definitely see those who have it and those who don’t.   

Chiropractic researcher Susannah Brockman of the University of Surrey, in the United Kingdom, picked a group of university students who had never had chiropractic care before this study.  She then followed these students through a month of chiropractic care and measured their psychological well being using several questionnaires. 

The researcher assessed the following mood states:

1.                Anxiety

2.                Dejection

3.                Fatigue

4.                Vigor

5.                Degree of stress in their life

They found that these first time chiropractic patients had dramatic improvement in their self defined mental well being.

A few possible mechanisms for chiropractic’s role in improving mental well being were given.

First, there is a non-specific effect on well being from the doctor patient encounter.  Simply from interacting with a professional may produce positive psychological effects.

Second, chiropractic care has a direct affect on the nervous system and an indirect affect on the immune system.  Chiropractic increases brain activity and therefore positive psychological effects.

They also note that other researchers have demonstrated an increase in blood levels of endorphins following a spinal adjustment.  Endorphins are chemicals in our body that produce sensations of pleasure.  So, with an increase in endorphins, following chiropractic care, it would not be surprising to see reduction in fatigue, depression and tension.

Because this study was carried out in a highly structured, research setting, the author stated that everyday chiropractic care, with its multiple approaches to treatment, should have a greater positive effect than was seen in this study.

A normal chiropractic visit to Orem Chiropractor R. Ned McArthur, D.C. is much more than a spinal adjustment.  Various diagnostic and treatment procedures are used like x-rays, nutritional therapy, oxygen therapy, lifestyle management, and several physio therapies are used to give you quick and lasting results.

Through examination Dr Ned discovered that my neck has had pain in it for some time.  I also, purposely, hid from the doctor that I have had a constant headache for a few years.  After a month I noticed the pain disappearing.  By the second month I no longer have headaches any longer and my neck pain is gone.

Brett W., Provo

Learn more about Orem Chiropractor R. Ned McArthur, D.C. at AskDrNed.com

Orem Chiropractor Successfully Treats Your TMJ & Jaw Pain

As an Orem Chiropractor I see a fair number of people who have been involved in car accidents and it is quite common for people to show up with pain in the jaw, clicking in the jaw, or crooked movement in the jaw.

Problems like this can have a serious impact on your quality of life. Along with the pain local to the TMJ, you may also experience headaches radiating to the jaw. These headaches can be quite severe, and demand attention.

A study in the Journal of the American Dental Association studied TMJ disorders after whiplash accidents.

In this study, they studied the cases of 1,158 people. They asked them about their jaw pain and movement before and after the whiplash injury. They compared people who got into a whiplash injury compared to those who were injured in other ways.

They found that people with whiplash injuries were more likely to have reduced or painful jaw movement in the TMJ than those who had other types of injuries. They also found that women were more likely than men to have this type of dysfunction. Head position and headrest position had no impact on the likelihood of TMJ dysfunction after the injury.

It is interesting to me that doctors as well as patients tend to minimize this disorder.  If you have been injured in a car accident and have this problem, let your health care provider know because this can easily become a chronic problem, plaguing you for years to come. 

Sometimes jaw problems originate from problems in the neck, so it’s also important to have you’re your upper neck checked by your Orem Chiropractor when you have jaw problems.

If you live in or near Orem, Utah, and are suffering from headaches, back and neck pain, or have been in a car accident, then you should see your Orem Chiropractor - R. Ned McArthur, D.C. right away, before the pain intensifies and leads to greater problems.

 I came to see Dr McArthur because of severe headaches.  When I became pregnant the headaches became almost unbearable.  Through treatments with Dr McArthur I have been feeling so much better.  Dr McArthur is a lifesaver!

Cassi D., Orem


To Learn more go to http://www.AskDrNed.com.  Emaildrned@askdrned.com , call or text 801-225-1311.

Orem Chiropractor - Medication Risks & Chiropractic

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Orem Chiropractor & Power of Adjustment

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Orem Chiropractor & Benefits of Chiropractic Care

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Orem Chiropractor, Weight Gain & Diet Soda

Orem Chiropractor, R. Ned McArthur & The Future of Health Insurance

In the “Signs That The End Is Near” department I share with you a letter from a colleague of mine. If you have health insurance this is a letter I hope you'll read.

Here's the letter . . .

“Yesterday should have been an OUTSTANDING day in the lives of my brother and sister in law. Their oldest , my 15 yr old Nephew was moved from JV to varsity football team, their youngest was accepted into an invitational only musical group ( he is 9) that plays out of the local high school.

Great day RIGHT?

My brother gets home late last night from work and is reading the mail and finds a letter from his insurance carrier- informing him that since his policy renewed August 1, 2010- they will NO longer cover his 15 yr old son (my nephew) because he engages in an “extreme lifestyle" by playing high school sports such as football, baseball, and soccer. The letter listed a number of sports that qualify for this extreme lifestyle, the letter also states that they ( the insurance company) have found that "young people" that engage in these extreme lifestyles have a high instance of insurance usage and that is what this denial is based on.”

I do believe the insurance company is right, those who engage in those sports do have a higher instance of usage. My question is what's the point of having health insurance if you can't use it?

I bought a car in December. As part of the sales process they present the extended warranty and why I should buy it. It was based on the idea what if after the warranty wears out and the engine blows up, etc. Wouldn't it be terrible if that happened and you didn't have the extended warranty? My comment to the sales person applies here, when I said “No, it would be terrible if I paid for the extended warranty and it didn't cover anything.” So, did I buy it? I'll get back to that in just a minute.

I believe this is the kind of thing we'll see more and more of in insurance companies. In fact I've been predicting it for over ten years. It's my belief that health insurance will eventually will become catastrophe insurance. I think their will be 'growing pains' associated with that, but overall I think it's a good thing.

It does require us to be more committed to our own health and well being. If we're not we'll experience the consequences of that choice in how we look, feel, and perform in our lives. The biggest way we may feel it is in our wallets.

No government sponsored health care will save us here because if you're living a lifestyle outside what is deemed normal you may not be covered.

This isn't intended to be a scare tactic. It's a call to action. Change your lifestyle today. Change your diet, get enough physical activity and enough rest. Those three things are “common sense” and cost you nothing and doing them will change the way you feel, look and things you're able to do.

If you want to got a step further, find a trusted health care provider. One that can help resolve health problems when they arise and 'coach' you to better health and wellness when you're not sick or injured.

And just so you know, I did buy the extended warranty.


If you would like any advice or tips on living a better life go my blog
http://nomorechronicpain.blogspot.com

Learn more about the conditions I have successfully treated at AskDrNed.com

Hearing Loss & Analgesic Use

The American Journal of Medicine

Volume 123, Issue 3, Pages 231-237 (March 2010)

Analgesic Use and the Risk of Hearing Loss in Men

Sharon G. Curhan, MD, ScMaCorresponding Author Informationemail address, Roland Eavey, MDb, Josef Shargorodsky, MDac, Gary C. Curhan, MD, ScDad

Abstract

Background

Hearing loss is a common sensory disorder, yet prospective data on potentially modifiable risk factors are limited. Regularly used analgesics, the most commonly used drugs in the US, may be ototoxic and contribute to hearing loss.

Methods
We examined the independent association between self-reported professionally diagnosed hearing loss and regular use of aspirin, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and acetaminophen in 26,917 men aged 40-74 years at baseline in 1986. Study participants completed detailed questionnaires at baseline and every 2 years thereafter. Incident cases of new-onset hearing loss were defined as those diagnosed after 1986. Cox proportional hazards multivariate regression was used to adjust for potential confounding factors.

Results
During 369,079 person-years of follow-up, 3488 incident cases of hearing loss were reported. Regular use of each analgesic was independently associated with an increased risk of hearing loss. Multivariate-adjusted hazard ratios of hearing loss in regular users (2+ times/week) compared with men who used the specified analgesic <2 times/week were 1.12 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04-1.20) for aspirin, 1.21 (95% CI, 1.11-1.33) for NSAIDs, and 1.22 (95% CI, 1.07-1.39) for acetaminophen. For NSAIDs and acetaminophen, the risk increased with longer duration of regular use. The magnitude of the association was substantially higher in younger men. For men younger than age 50 years, the hazard ratio for hearing loss was 1.33 for regular aspirin use, 1.61 for NSAIDs, and 1.99 for acetaminophen.

Conclusions
Regular use of aspirin, NSAIDs, or acetaminophen increases the risk of hearing loss in men, and the impact is larger on younger individuals.

Brain Based Rehabilitation For Pain, Dizziness & Insomnia

Previously we’ve discussed what brain lateralization is, how it happens, and how to identify it. Today I will introduce Brain Based Rehabilitation and how it addresses Brain Lateralization and which common conditions it has the best results with.

In my office there are primarily 10 different conditions that I treat. Back pain, Car Accident Injuries, Dizziness, Fibromyalgia, Headaches & Migraines, Insomnia, Neck Pain, Numbness, Restless Leg Syndrome and Sciatica.

As an example let’s use headaches. How many different things will cause a headache? You can probably think of 10 – 20 based on your experience. The same would be true for all of these other conditions. I treat people with headaches because their brain isn’t working right. If you’ve done the tests I described for you last time and you noticed a problem while doing them I can help you. If you’ve got headaches and you didn’t notice any problems while doing those tests I’m probably not the right choice for you.

So the first stage of care in Brain Based Rehabilitation is identifying where in the brain is the malfunction. This is vital because treatment will vary based on where the malfunction is. I not only identify where your malfunction is, I also identify how bad of a malfunction it is. This too is vital because it determines what intensity treatments can be done. For example there are varying degrees of being “out-of-shape.” If you are REALLY out of shape you don’t start by running a marathon. You start with easy walking and build up. The same goes with Brain Based Rehabilitation. I start your therapy at a level that is appropriate to your brain function.

Let’s say you’ve got something like . . . back pain and let’s say we’ve identified your problem as a left cerebellar malfunction. Cerebellar lesions will usually produce cortical problems on the opposite side. So how would Brain Based Rehabilitation address this condition? I would start by taking your blood pressure, seeing how well you can balance with your eyes closed and how tight your hamstrings are. Then I would give you vibration therapy to stimulate the cerebellum. Because this is a pain condition I would give you heat. Pain and temperature nerves travel together and if you give the nerve enough temperature stimulation it can’t transmit pain and therefore you don’t feel it. I believe it is this fact that produces an improvement after using ice or heat and not something that one of those does to the tissues.

I would also do an adjustment to the low back, the ribs, neck, shoulder, elbow and wrist on the left. After doing this I would do those three tests again: blood pressure, balance with eyes closed and check the tightness in your hamstrings. If my diagnosis was correct we would see an improvement in one or more of those three things. By doing testing before and after treatment we can see how your body has responded to treatment. There are three decisions I need to make after seeing the results after treatment. Did you respond the way I expected? If yes, we’re right on track. If no, did I treat the correct side? Did I give you too much stimulation? You see, based on how your body responds to care we may modify the modality, the location or the intensity.

When we are giving you the right therapy, in the right location and in the right intensity you’ll see improvements in those tests right away and that’s when we are affecting your brain in such a way as to make lasting changes. That’s when pain goes away for good, when you get a great night sleep, have tons of energy and do all the things you want to do in life.

Other therapies I routinely use for cerebellar stimulation would be the upper body cycle; oxygen therapy; eye exercises; squeeze a tennis ball repeatedly; muscle stretching; inner ear stimulation by spinning, warm air or water into the ear or holding head to the side and forward.

When we stimulate the cerebellum we also stimulate the opposite cortex of the brain. Other therapies more specific to the brain I would use sounds in one ear; smells in one nostril; have a person wear rose colored glasses; do mazes or word searches; play the game concentration as well as others.

Remember the brain controls everything that happens in your body and improving brain function you can improve any other function in your body.

If you would like more information on how I have a greater than 93% success rate in eliminating back & neck pain, dizziness, fibromyalgia, headaches & migraines, insomnia, numbness, restless leg syndrome, sciatica and car accident injuries go to www.AskDrNed.com. There you will find videos, articles and audio files.

You can also connect with me at facebook.com/askdrned & twitter.com/askdrned.

If you would like to schedule a no cost / no obligation introductory visit call my office at 801-225-1311.
# # #

Do you experience fibromyalgia, headaches & migraines,numbness, sciatica, neck & back pain, dizziness, insomnia, restless leg syndrome or been in a car accident?

THESE ARE THE PEOPLE I HELP.


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Lasting Numbness Relief

Brain Lateralization Video

Orem Chiropractor Identifies Cause Of Back Pain Headaches Fibromyalgia Dizziness Numbness Sciatica Insomnia

How can you identify brain lateralization in yourself?

Brain lateralization is a situation where one side of the brain has less function than the other side. Previously, I’ve given the analogy of the brain as a light on a dimmer switch. Meaning that brain lateralization is where one side of the brain gets turned down, like a light on a dimmer switch. The light is on, it’s just not sending out as much light as it could be. This is what happens in brain lateralization, one side of the brain gets turned down and isn’t sending out as many impulses as it could be.

We all understand that the brain controls every function in our body. Thus when the function of the brain is turned down all sorts of problems can arise.

It may be important to note that how brain lateralization is manifested can be significantly different from one person to the next – meaning that two people with the same exact malfunction can have distinctively different symptoms. The reason for this is that our brain and nervous system has about a 60% similarity from person to person - my brain and nervous system is 60% similar to yours. Of course that means that our brain & nervous system is about 40% different. So, when you and I have the same problem it will affect you different than it affects me, because we are literally wired different.

The reason I give all of this explanation is, I’m now going to describe several different tests for you to do on your own. If and when you notice a problem doing any of these tests all they will tell you is that you have a problem doing that test. Because we are all wired differently you may notice lots of problems as you do these tests and feel absolutely no symptoms at all. Or you may notice only minor problems doing these tests and experience lots of symptoms. Or you may be somewhere in between these extremes. A diagnosis is only made after combining ALL the facts.

The first test is Blood pressure. If you have some means of taking your blood pressure take it on both sides. If there is a difference in the right and left blood pressure you may have brain lateralization.

Finger to finger testing. Sit with your eyes closed and point one index finger at the floor and one at the ceiling. Bring the finger pointing at the floor up to touch the tip of the index finger pointing at the ceiling. A normal test is you are able to bring the tip of one to the tip of the other. If you find your self searching, if you slightly miss or overshoot or if you miss entirely you may have brain lateralization.

While in the sitting position, raise your hands above your head with your palms facing forward. Now quickly open and close your hands for thirty seconds. Does one hand fatigue quicker? Does it become more difficult to do on one side? Does one hand or forearm become painful? If so, you may have brain lateralization.

Now stand up. Put one foot in front of the other, it doesn’t matter which. Once in this position close your eyes. Do you sway to one side or wobble? If so, you may have brain lateralization.

For this next test you’ll need a partner. Lie on your back and have your partner slowly raise one leg, getting a sense for the tightness in that leg. Then have your partner raise the other leg. Is one leg notably tighter than the other? If so, you may have brain lateralization.

If you noticed any problem while doing these tests this tells you, you’ve got a brain malfunction – a short circuit if you will, in the electrical system of your body. The reason this is significant to you is that it has been found that brain and nerve malfunction is a factor in all disease and sickness.

If you would like more information on how I have a greater than 93% success rate in eliminating back & neck pain, dizziness, fibromyalgia, headaches & migraines, insomnia, numbness, restless leg syndrome, sciatica and car accident injuries go to www.AskDrNed.com. There you will find videos, articles and audio files.

You can also connect with me at facebook.com/askdrned & twitter.com/askdrned.

If you would like to schedule a no cost / no obligation introductory visit call my office at 801-225-1311.
# # #

Do you experience fibromyalgia, headaches & migraines,numbness, sciatica, neck & back pain, dizziness, insomnia, restless leg syndrome or been in a car accident?

THESE ARE THE PEOPLE I HELP.

Brain Lateralization and Pain, Dizziness & Insomnia

Orem Chiropractor Explains Brain Lateralization & How It Leads to Pain, Dizziness & Insomnia

How does Brain lateralization happen?

Before you read this entry please go back and read the first in this series, What is Brain Lateralization. The information in this release won’t have any meaning without first reading it.

Understanding how brain lateralization occurs also depends on an understanding that our brain and nervous system is a receptor driven system. Receptors are the nerve endings throughout our body that sense a given stimulus. For example, our taste buds are receptors. They sense sweet, salty and bitter. We have receptors in our skin that sense temperature. We have millions of these receptors throughout our body, each sensing a particular thing. They receptors then deliver their information through nerves, then into the spinal cord and finally up to the brain. The brain then processes all of this information and responds accordingly. So our brain is stimulated by and acts based on the information that it receives from the body.

There are three things that the brain needs to be healthy and to work correctly. It needs food, oxygen, and stimulation.

Brain lateralization occurs when the brain does not receive proper amounts of these three things.

Clinical experience has taught me that a lack of stimulation combined with insufficient oxygen and or nutrition is the typical cause.

If there are millions of receptors in the body, each all of them sending stimulation into the brain, how does a lack of stimulation occur? Unfortunately, quite easily. The three scenarios that this occurs are physical, chemical and mental stresses. When one of these stresses is big enough or goes on long enough it causes it decreases the inputs into the brain. Whichever side of the brain is more
susceptible is affected the most and you’ve got brain lateralization.

When one side of the brain starts working less it causes a disconnect in the part of the brain that inhibits pain, allows you to sleep and be balanced. Thus, brain lateralization can result in pain, dizziness and insomnia. As well as other chronic health conditions.

It is also important to note that the goal is not to do away with the stresses that cause brain lateralization. Even if such a thing were possible, we need the stresses. You just need to train your body to adapt to them more appropriately.

It’s like running 10 miles. For most of us running 10 miles would be a HUGE stress and would affect our bodies accordingly. But an Olympic marathoner can run those same 10 miles with little or no affect to their body. They could do it a lot faster than you or I as well. Why? Because their body is trained to handle that kind of stress.

Brain based therapy seeks to do the same thing, not by removing the stress from your life, but by improving they way your body responds.

Next time I’ll show you some tests you can do all on your own to see if you have brain lateralization.

If you would like more information on how I have a greater than 93% success rate in eliminating back & neck pain, dizziness, fibromyalgia, headaches & migraines, insomnia, numbness, restless leg syndrome, sciatica and car accident injuries go to www.AskDrNed.com. There you will find videos, articles and audio files on how I can help you end these conditions in your life.

You can also connect with me at facebook.com/askdrned & twitter.com/askdrned.

If you would like to schedule a no cost / no obligation introductory visit call my office at 801-225-1311.
# # #

Do you experience fibromyalgia, headaches & migraines,numbness, sciatica, neck & back pain, dizziness, insomnia, restless leg syndrome or been in a car accident?

THESE ARE THE PEOPLE I HELP.

End Your Numbness

Orem Chiropractor Explains Chronic Pain

The Adjustment

Causes of Numbness

Numbness can have several different causes. In fact, on one site they list 475 causes of numbness. That’s a lot! That tells us several things. One, we can’t really use numbness as a way to diagnose anything. Meaning, numbness as a symptom, doesn’t mean very much all by itself. It means that diagnosing numbness can take some work. Also, if there are 475 causes to numbness there are probably a lot of people who experience numbness. Thus, understanding what causes numbness and how to eliminate it can be quite valuable.

To simplify numbness I classify those 475 causes into three categories. Category number one is where a person has the pain, burning and numbness that is due to a nerve being compressed somewhere in their body. I should also point out that compressive lesions are far more common in the arms and legs than they are in the spine. If someone has a condition where a nerve is actually being compressed this is identified by atrophy in the distal musculature innervated by that nerve. For example, the Median nerve is a nerve that originates in the neck, travels by the shoulder, down the arm and eventually into the hand. If this nerve is compressed somewhere in it’s course we will first see atrophy, or a withering of the muscles in the hands. An easy place to notice this is in the that meaty area below the thumb when looking at the palm.

Another thing to make clear is that your doctor may have said “you’ve got a pinched nerve” – when you really don’t. Often times we doctors will use this analogy as a simple way of explaining this complicated process.

Category number two is where the cause is related to a disease process. An example of this is the numbness and burning associated with diabetes.
To be honest I typically don’t see people with this cause of numbness because in those instances I’m not the first place someone will go.

Category number three is what is numbness that has a central cause. By central I mean brain or spinal cord. For example, have you ever spoken to someone who has lost one of their extremities? If so, ask them if their missing leg or foot ever hurts. It’s called phantom pain. The foot isn’t there but the part of the brain and spinal cord that would control that foot is still intact. So if the area of the brain or spinal cord that represents the foot has a problem the person may FEEL pain, numbness or burning in their foot – even when it’s not there. The same thing happens in numbness. For example, when someone wears a cast after breaking a bone what is that body part like when the cast comes off? It’s smaller, weaker, and kind of shriveled. It’s called atrophy and that’s what happens when any body part doesn’t receive adequate stimulation. Well the same thing can happen in your brain. If a part of your brain fails to receive adequate input from your body it gets weaker and the part of the body that it controls can experience pain, numbness and burning.

As a neurologically trained chiropractor I have discovered diagnosis & treatment measures that are highly effective in permanently eliminating numbness due to causes in the first and third categories.

If you or someone you know experiences numbness and you would like to find a solution please visit www.AskDrNed.com where you can watch videos on numbness, listen to podcasts, read my blog, see me on facebook, follow me on twitter and subscribe to my newsletter.

If you would like to schedule a complimentary visit with me call or text my office at 801-225-1311