What is a food allergy? A food allergy is an immune system response. It is caused when the body mistakes an ingredient in food — usually a protein — as harmful and creates a defense system (antibodies) to fight it. An allergic reaction occurs when the antibodies are battling an "invading" food protein. The most common food allergies are shellfish or fish, nuts (peanuts, etc), and milk/dairy products. What is food intolerance? Food intolerance is a digestive system response rather than an immune system response. It occurs when something in food irritates a person’s digestive system or when a person is unable to properly digest, or break down, the food. Intolerance to lactose, which is found in milk and other dairy products, is the most common food intolerance. What are the symptoms of a food allergy? Symptoms of a food allergy can range from mild to severe, and the amount of food necessary to trigger a reaction varies from person to person. Symptoms of a food allergy may include: ·         Rash or hives ·         Nausea ·         Cramping stomach pain ·         Diarrhea ·         Itchy skin ·         Shortness of breath ·         Chest pain ·         Swelling of the airways to the lungs Anaphylaxis is a very serious and potentially fatal allergic reaction that involves a sudden drop in blood pressure, loss of consciousness and body system failure. What are the symptoms of food intolerance? Symptoms of food intolerance include: ·         Nausea ·         Stomach pain ·         Gas, cramps or bloating ·         Vomiting ·         Heartburn ·         Diarrhea ·         Headaches ·         Irritability or nervousness When experienced the episode is a mild inconvenience, the affected individual will associate it with a unrelated event.  How common are food allergies and intolerance's? Food allergies affect about 1 percent of adults and 7 percent of children, although some children outgrow their allergies. Food intolerance's are much more common. In fact, nearly everyone at one time has had an unpleasant reaction to something they ate. Some people have specific food intolerance's. Lactose intolerance, the most common specific food intolerance, affects about 10 percent of Americans. What causes food allergies and intolerance's? Food allergies arise from sensitivity to chemical compounds (proteins) in food, even compounds that are found naturally in food. Food allergies are more common in people whose family members have allergies, suggesting a genetic — or hereditary — factor may be involved with the development of food allergies. Food allergies develop after you are exposed to a food protein that your body thinks is harmful. The first time you eat the food containing the protein, your immune system responds by creating specific disease-fighting antibodies (called immunoglobulin E or IgE). When you eat the food again, it triggers the release of IgE antibodies and other chemicals, including histamine, in an effort to expel the protein "invader" from your body. Histamine is a powerful chemical that can affect the respiratory system, gastrointestinal tract, skin or cardiovascular system. The allergy symptoms you have depend on where in the body the histamine is released. If it is released in the ears, nose and throat, you may have an itchy nose and mouth, or trouble breathing or swallowing. If histamine is released in the skin, you may develop hives or a rash. If histamine is released in the gastrointestinal tract, you likely will develop stomach pains, cramps or diarrhea. Many people experience a combination of symptoms as the food is eaten and digested. There are many factors that may contribute to food intolerance. In some cases — as with lactose intolerance — the person lacks the chemicals, called enzymes, necessary to properly digest certain proteins found in food. Also common are intolerances to some chemical ingredients added to food to provide color, enhance taste and protect against the growth of bacteria. These ingredients include various dyes and monosodium glutamate (MSG), a flavor enhancer. Substances called sulfites, which may occur naturally — as in red wines — or may be added to prevent the growth of mold, also are a source of intolerance for some people. The Food and Drug Administration has banned the use of spray-on sulfates to preserve fruits and vegetables, but sulfates are still found naturally in some foods. Salicylates are a group of plant chemicals found naturally in many fruits, vegetables, nuts, coffee, juices, beer and wine. Aspirin also is a compound of the salicylate family. Foods containing salicylates may trigger symptoms in people who are sensitive to aspirin. Of course, any food consumed in excessive quantities can cause digestive symptoms. How can you tell the difference between an allergy and intolerance to food? Food allergies can be triggered by a small amount of the food and occur every time the food is consumed. People with food allergies are generally advised to avoid the offending foods completely. On the other hand, food intolerance's often are dose related; people with food intolerance may not have symptoms unless they eat a large portion of the food or eat the food frequently. For example, a person with lactose intolerance may be able to drink milk in coffee or a single glass of milk, but becomes sick if he or she drinks several glasses of milk. Food allergies and intolerances also are different from food poisoning, which generally results from spoiled or tainted food and affects more than one person eating the food. How are food intolerance's diagnosed? A simple blood test can measure your immune system's response to particular foods by checking the amount of allergy-type antibodies in your bloodstream. For this test, a blood sample taken in and sent to a medical laboratory, where different foods can be tested. Once completed the individual would receive a report (based on complexity of the test). How are food intolerance's treated? Treatment is based on avoiding or reducing your intake of problematic foods. Can food intolerance's be prevented? Taking a few simple steps can help you prevent the symptoms associated with food intolerance. ·         Learn which foods in which amounts cause you to have symptoms, and limit your intake to amounts you can handle. ·         When you dine out, ask your server about how your meal will be prepared. Some meals may contain foods you cannot tolerate, and that may not be evident from the description on the menu. ·         Learn to read food labels and check the ingredients for problem foods. Don’t forget to check condiments and seasonings. They may contain MSG or another additive that can lead to symptoms. Contact our office for more information – 248.287.8700

As school starts around the country, many parents have concerns about backpacks and scoliosis screenings. What’s the truth? As I speak to more and more patients, I’ve come to a realization that there is quite a bit of confusion about what scoliosis is, and how it can affect your child’s health. Many people remember going into the school nurse’s office every so often and get a scoliosis test where they bend down from their waste and touch their toes, as shown below. The most common screening test for scoliosis. But what is scoliosis? Scoliosis involves a curved deformity in the spine. Now here’s where it gets funky. There are good curves and bad curves in the spine. When you look at someone from the side, the spine normally has 3 curves that curve to the front, back, and front again. These curves provide strength and stability to the spine in gravity. A scoliotic curve is seen from the front or back, and may indicate a structural abnormality or congenital deformity. Good curves are visible if you look at someone from the side. When you look at someone from the front or back, curves in the spine are a bad sign and may indicate the presence of scoliosis. Many people can have a scoliosis and never feel any effects or symptoms from it.  Others may experience more common symptoms like back pain, neck/shoulder tension and posture/cosmetic problems. In rare cases, the curvature can become large enough (50 degrees or more), that it can compress the chest cavity causing respiratory and cardiac problems, and become a surgical issue. Scoliosis comes in 2 main forms. There are is a functional scoliosis which is typically named idiopathic scoliosis, and there is a scoliosis called structural/anatomical scoliosis. A structural/anatomical scoliosis is called by a malformed vertebra which can force the spine to a curved position as it seeks to get back to center. This type of scoliosis cannot be fully corrected and it can also lead to larger curvatures depending on how malformed the vertebra is. A functional/idiopathic scoliosis is named as such because there is typically no medically known cause. This is the most common type of scoliosis.  These types of curvatures can be corrected and reduced significantly through conservative means when caught before a person is fully developed. The real question is, should you be worried? The truth is, if you’re just worried about pain, then probably not. Many times, scoliosis is asymptomatic, especially in children. In fact, most people will probably go through their childhood with no knowledge that it is even there. For the category of idiopathic scoliosis, it is often the secondary result of a structural shift in one or more bones in the spine. A curve is usually not described as a scoliosis until it reaches the 10 degree mark. Most people are concerned when the curvature surpasses 20 degrees, as that’s when bracing becomes a common recommendation, and cosmetic concerns become more obvious (postural problems, protruding shoulder blade, etc). When the curve grows 40 degrees, surgery starts to become a real option for treatment. The key is catching these curves early. Scoliosis is most commonly found in girls during adolescence, which is a great window of opportunity for structural correction, no matter how small the curve may be. Just like how a bent frame of a car can create suspension problems and tire wear/tear, a bent spine can increase the damage the spine experiences throughout life. I’ve seen x-rays of people well into their 40’s and 50’s who have never experienced spine pain, but will show a scoliotic spine with disc degeneration and bone spurs in the exact pattern that the structural alignment would dictate. As the spine shows early wear and tear, the nerves can get damaged and cause secondary conditions as well as changes into the muscles, ligaments, and even the vital organs of the body can start to show. As a worried parent, what can you do? Here are a few tips: Get a spinal check up by someone who is focused on the health of the spine! Nurses and general practitioners do a great job of identifying major curvatures using basic screening tools, but these will typically identify cases of scoliosis that are excessively large and may be candidates for surgery. A chiropractor focused on structural correction instead of pain relief can recognize smaller deviations and provide tools to correct them if necessary. Avoid the one shoulder back pack routine. It may look cooler and be more comfortable, but extra forces on a spine that isn’t optimally positioned can increase scoliotic curves. Stay active. Movement is life and a spine that moves early and often has more pliability and flexibility than one that is sedentary and stiff. Keep the weight down. If you had a crooked house and you add more weight to it, what happens to the house? It breaks down faster. The same thing happens to the body. If you build more mass on top of a crooked structure, it will lead to earlier degeneration. Stay fit.

Outline: ·         When treating TMJ pain seems hopeless ·         Surgery may not be your best solution ·         TMJ pain may not be a jaw problem Patients with TMJ often see a large drop in the quality of their life: ·         “I feel like a baby because I can’t eat solid foods anymore” ·         “There are times where I just have to stop talking because all I can think about is the pain” ·         “That popping sound creeps me out and drives me nuts” A lot of people will experience jaw pain for a day or two if they bite into a hard/chewy piece of food, but imagine if your life was plagued with jaw pain every single day. We underestimate the importance of our jaw, but it’s the piece of anatomy that allows you to enjoy some of the finest pleasures in life. Everything from kissing, to chewing, to a casual conversation with friends becomes a burden when your jaw fails to function. Desperate Times and Desperate Measures Severe cases of TMD (Temporomandibular Disorders) can make people reach their breaking point quickly. Many of the patients that come to our office are usually looking at surgery as their next and final option because they don’t know what to do. Even worse is when a patient spends tens of thousands of dollars for surgery but the pain doesn’t go away. Procedures that help to remove or replace a degenerated disc in the joint are sometimes performed to eliminate this pain sensitive piece of anatomy. The problem is that a degenerated disc can show up on imaging, but it isn’t necessarily the cause of the pain. Unfortunately this happens more often than you might think, and it’s something that can make a patient with TMD hopeless if even surgery couldn’t get the job done. This isn’t to say that surgery is not the answer, or that surgery can’t help, but we have to remember that TMD is a problem that science has yet to reveal all of the answers, and dental surgery is still working on figuring out what works and when it’s appropriate. TMJ Pain May Not Be A Jaw Problem There are many different causes for TMJ pain. They can range from abnormal jaw movement, tight jaw muscles, and degenerated discs. These can all be problem areas for a TMJ patient, but they all have something in common. In fact, their commonality goes back to some of the same neurological mechanisms that contribute to neck pain and headaches. That’s why people with TMJ don’t just have jaw pain; they often have neck pain and headaches at the same time. It’s because almost all pain signals from the head and neck go through a small piece of spinal cord called the trigemino-cervical nucleus. Trigemino-cervical…..what???? Sometimes Pain is a Computer Problem So if you don’t have a medical background, some of that terminology might jump over your head. Instead of thinking anatomy, let’s talk about it like a computer.   Your brain and spinal cord are like a computer chip. The part of your computer chip that feels head and neck pain is the trigemino-cevical nucleus. Just like all computer chips, the quality of information that comes out is dependent on the quality of information that comes in. If you put junk information in, you get junk information out. The computer chip of your body relies heavily on information from the muscles and joints. These signals are like computer programs. Whenever these joints move poorly from bad positioning, then it’s like a bad program that gives faulty information about what’s happening inside the body. This can occur from malpositioning of the jaw, faulty jaw movement, neck positioning errors, and faulty neck movement. It’s like a computer virus going into your system and scrambling important signals into the brain. This tells the body to produce a junk signals including: Tight and tense jaw muscles Inappropriate inflammation Central pain sensitivity Can This Program Get Shut Off? Fortunately your body’s program for pain can be re-written by changing the way these joints move. A specialist like a neuromuscular dentist can use non-invasive methods to change the way your jaw moves and alter your bite with an orthotic. Chiropractors that can correct the craniocervical region can create a dramatic impact on the pain programming in the brain. That’s why both of these doctors frequently see similar patients, and will actually co-manage them between each other. Neck pain patients may get better relief from a dentist changing their bite, while some TMJ patients will get better relief from correcting their neck. While we can’t say for certain which takes priority, but many patients can benefit from an interdisciplinary approach to care. Take the time to get a Complimentary Consultation to find out what method fits with you. You may even find that getting the entire jaw/neck complex fixed may be the key to solving your TMD. Call our office today for your free consultation – Premier Chiropractic 248-287-8700

Overview: Pain from the ribs. How’d it happen? Why does it hurt so bad? Painful but fixable “It hurts right here (points to middle of back), especially when I take a deep breath in.” “It’s like someone is poking a knife in the middle of my back” “Every time I try to stand up all the way, my back spasms.” “I just want to crack this pinch in my back.” There are times when pain can literally take your breath away.  That sharp, stabbing pain coming from a very pinpoint spot in the middle of your back.  Sometimes it’s just a really annoying feeling that won’t go away, but other times it can make you feel crippled by back spasms. In many cases, this pain comes from the joint where your ribs connect to your spine. Sometimes people will say that you have a rib head that’s “out of place”, misaligned, or sprained. For the sake of today’s article, we’ll just call it rib pain. It’s a frustrating problem because it can happen out of nowhere. Sometimes you just wake up with the pain, other times it’s from twisting or turning too quickly. Fortunately, even though we don’t know much about the pain, we do have effective strategies to help manage it when you feel it. Why Does It Hurt So Bad? The interesting thing about pain from a rib head is that the intensity and level of annoyance is really high for a problem that is pretty harmless. It’s not like a herniated disc where you may have other serious complications that arise, but the pain can sometimes be as debilitating. Although this joint won’t result in pinched nerves that can cause muscle weakness or loss of feeling, it is extremely dense in pain generating tissue. The ligaments shown on the image above, as well as the direct connection of the rib to the vertebra can be full of pain fibers called nociceptors. This joint is not supposed to have very much movement. If the joint gets overloaded and sprains the ligament, or if there is too much friction between the joint surfaces, then it stimulates an aggressive pain response in the brain. When the pain response is initiated, the nervous system often looks to brace an area of injury, this typically comes in the form of muscle tightness and spasticity. As the muscles tighten around your ribs, it limits your ability to breathe in deeply. The muscle spasticity may also compress the nerves, arteries, and veins passing around the curvature of the ribs causing additional sources of pain and discomfort. Unlike other parts of the body like the hand, shoulder, and low back, you don’t have a choice in moving your ribs. Your ribs move whenever you take a breath, and breathing is a little bit important to the maintenance of life. The more it moves, the more it can agitate the painful joint even if there’s minimal tissue damage. How to fix it? For most people, this pain will go away within a week without any treatment. However, if you have the pain for longer, you may need a little bit of outside help to correct the problem. Most chiropractors can address the pain with a spinal adjustment to the thoracic spine or rib head. Typically patients will feel a substantial amount of relief within a few visits. When combined with some corrective exercise, you probably won’t have any further issues unless you reinjure the joint.   Whether your problem is brand new or chronic, a Structural Corrective approach to the spine can lead to substantial relief.

I’m sure you see it almost everyday. Whether it’s the fidgety co-worker who likes to hear all of his joints pop, or the guy on the plane that’s been rubbing his neck all day. It’s the serial neck popper. They look straight out of the warm up scene of a martial arts movie, sound effects and all. While most will cringe and bite their tongue when they see it, the serial neck popper looks more focused and at ease. In fact, if their joints were capable of it, these people might pop it more often. It might even be you. “It feels so good, how bad can it be?” Some of the people who come into my office for care used to be serial neck poppers. Emphasis on the words “used to be”.  One recommendation for people when they get their first adjustment is to avoid popping or cracking their neck. There’s usually a look of defeat on their face when the recommendation is given. The truth is that one of their greatest sources of relief from neck discomfort was actually the very thing that was making their problem a chronic issue. The loose ligaments, and uncontrolled forces from self-manipulation prevent this neck from staying in place. The x-ray on the right is an example of someone who spends a lot of time popping their own neck. He had no history of a car accident, sports injury, fall, or trauma. However, he has been popping his neck aka, self-manipulating multiple times per day for years. The green line represents the center point where a person’s head and neck should line up. The red line represents how the patient’s head and neck currently line up in their “normal” seated position. The level of displacement is not hard to see. In fact, most of you would probably notice someone like this who always holds their neck off to the side. Though he always feels his neck is very tight, the neck tends to be very floppy without a strong degree of stability. Even after several corrections, his neck will continue to have a tendency to slip towards the side until the ligaments tighten up and heal. What Happens? So what exactly happens when you self-manipulate? Despite popular belief, there is nothing insidious about the popping sound made by joints. The classic crunching sound that you hear, and is stereotyped with chiropractic has nothing to do with broken bones, or rubbing bones against each other.  The sound comes from tiny gas bubbles within the fluid that lubricates your joints. When the joint opens up rapidly, these bubbles get released and pop causing those sounds. It’s more like opening a can of soda than the crunching of a bone. If your neck or back cracks here and there with normal movement, it’s not a cause for concern most of the time. The sound is ultimately not the problem. What truly is a problem is the way the thrust affects the spine. In recent years, there have been videos, articles, and books that teach people how to adjust themselves.  Now bear in mind, the neck is one of the most sensitive and important pieces of anatomy in the human body. So people are being taught to manipulate their neck without regard for the following factors: 1. Risk factors – Does your neck have disc bulges or protrusions? Are there plaques or anatomical malformations? Some of these risk factors are susceptible to rotation/twisting forces in the neck. Many of these problems can be identified and planned for with a proper examination, but without one, how do you know? 2. What is the current structure of the spine? – How is the spine currently aligned? Do you know which direction puts you into a better position? Are you moving the right vertebra? Are you pushing the vertebra into a worse position than it already is?  Our office uses x-rays to identify these malpositions. Can your own hands measure precise alignment in your neck? 3. Constant Manipulation = Loose ligaments = Poor Stability – Every time you manipulate your spine, you are causing ligaments in the spine to stretch like a rubber band. When you stretch a rubber band enough times, it eventually loses it’s shape and becomes less stable. Your ligaments work the same way. If you keep pounding on your neck with self-manipulation, your neck eventually becomes a sloppy mess like the x-ray above. When people have ligament instability, it leads them down the road where they depend on manipulation to keep feeling good. Not a good situation, and a big reason chiropractors get a bad rap for getting people “addicted to adjustments”. So what now? When choosing a chiropractor, it’s important that they are actually measuring what they are doing to the spine. Almost any chiropractor is able to make someone feel better with manipulation. Manipulation sends a rush of feel good signals into the brain. However, a Structural Chiropractic approach is more than about feeling better in the moment. It’s about restoring your spine and your nervous system to a state of Normal. A normally functioning spine has the ability to heal and maintain itself without relying on constant manipulation. That’s why the procedures we perform in our office is truly about fixing the problem and getting it to stay fixed. Many times, these corrections can be performed without any rotation or twisting of the spine. It’s very gentle, and very effective. Self-manipulation, while a temporary rush and feel good sensation can create hyper-mobility and long term structural problems in the neck. Additionally, it’s easy to become addicted to that feeling, and make your body dependent on constant manipulation to feel normal. In our world, we call that getting “hooked on the crack”. There are just too many questions about what can happen when you self-manipulate. It just doesn’t make sense to do something likely harmful for a few minutes of temporary relief.

I Have a Military Neck, Now What? My doctor told me that I have a military neck and that it was causing my neck pain… My last chiropractor said that I have a military neck and I needed a year to fix it Over the past 10 years, the general public is becoming increasingly aware about certain facets of spinal alignment. For years, parents of small children are showing more concern about their child having scoliosis and other postural problems. Today, more and more patients have voiced their concerns about having a military neck in our office. While it’s refreshing from a chirorpactor's stand point to see a greater awareness about spinal health, there are still a number of misconceptions that need to be addressed. What’s a Military Neck? The images on the below show x-rays for 2 people. The top image is a smooth C-shaped Arc representing a normal curve, while the image on the bottom shows a straightened appearance from a loss of the normal curvature. When people talk about having a military neck, people are talking about the straightened appearance that the neck takes when it loses it’s normal curvature. Military neck has less to do with being injured in the line of duty, and more to do with the straight and stiff appearance of a soldier’s posture. Normal Curve The straightened and weak structure of a military neck How Bad is it Really? When patients come to our office for a consultation they will mention if they had x-rays in the past. I’ve had several people who had a previous chiropractor promise the world by putting the curve back in their neck. I’ve also had a few medical doctors tell people that the cause of their pain is from the loss of curvature in their neck as well. The presence of a curve in your neck allows for smoother motion of each of your neck vertebra. It also plays a key role in distributing force throughout the discs of the cervical spine. In essence, a C-shaped curve in the neck can and will prevent early breakdown and degeneration of your spinal joints. As the discs and joints begin to breakdown, it can create the environment for inflammation to build up around the nerves, or even lead to disc protrusions and disc bulges. You may not feel the effects of a military neck immediately, but just like you don’t feel plaque building up in your arteries, it is something than can and will eventually become problematic as you go. Can It Be Fixed? This part is a bit of a loaded question. The answer really comes down to this fact: Why is the neck straight to begin with? Many cases are induced by compromising neck positions from texting/computer/screen time and has lead to weakness of the intrinsic muscles of the head and neck. Some cases involve malformed vertebra that force the neck into a straight or reversed position. Then of course are the neck’s that are a result of traumatic injury like whiplash. Many of the postural and some of the minor traumatic injuries can see their curves restored nicely under structural chiropractic care. However, the cases of misshaped vertebra and some of the traumatic cases may not see a return back to normal, no matter how skilled or how well the intention of that chiropractor is. I Tried to Get it Fixed, but my Neck is Still Straight. Now What? Here’s the good news: You don’t necessarily need the curve in your neck fixed in order to get great results! We often see Military Necks as Structural Problem.  Although it’s really fun to see a straight neck get it’s curve back, it’s not a requirement for the patient to get improved biomechanical function of their spine again. Take Home Message Military necks are associated with problems in the neck, but it’s not a death sentence. While we all want to be perfect, it’s important to understand that your body will always do what it can to adapt to any situation. Curve or no curve. Some structural distortions like may not have the popular awareness of military neck, but carry far wider implications for spine problems, and brain problems. The most important thing to remember is that the care you choose to receive makes an impact on the quality of your life.

That’s a fair question to ask as a patient. In some branches of health care, such as dentistry or orthopedics, x-rays are routine and are performed without any doubts or questions. Patients understand that without x-rays, the dentist or orthopedic surgeon would be flying blind, and the quality and safety of the procedure would be compromised. However, in other branches of health care such as chiropractic, the use of x-rays is debatable. In fact, the majority of chiropractors do not take x-rays as a standard practice. So when a patient enters Premier Chiropractic and discovers that x-rays are a standard practice for all cases, naturally they have a few questions. For most patients, the questions arise from the fear of receiving too much radiation and increasing their risk of cancer. Although that fear is valid – excessive exposure to ionizing radiation (like x-rays) can increase the risk of cancer – once our patients understand the clinical need for x-rays, and the actual dosage they receive, their fears are quickly put to rest. Let’s quickly address the fear of increased cancer risk first. X-rays are form of radiant energy, like light or radio waves, but x-rays have the ability to penetrate body. X-rays occur in nature (called “background” radiation) and most commonly come from cosmic radiation (space) and radioactive materials (most commonly from radon gas). Therefore we are always exposed to them at some level. The dosage is most commonly measured in millisieverts (mSv). The damage caused by x-rays is like a wound in the sense that, with time, the body can fully heal and recover. So a large dose of radiation from x-rays can be tolerated as long as it’s not too frequent. And a small dose of x-rays can be tolerated on a more frequent basis. To put things in perspective, one chest x-ray exposes a person to 0.1 mSv, which is equivalent to the amount of radiation exposure they would experience from their natural surroundings in 10 days. The x-rays we take at Premier Chiropractic amount to roughly 0.5 mSv, which is equivalent to the amount of radiation exposure you would get from your natural surroundings in about 2 months., Lastly, let’s address why we need to take take x-rays. The bones in your spine are highly variable from one person to the next. Just like no two people look exactly alike (except maybe identical twins), no two spines look exactly alike. Furthermore, the uniqueness of the individual, how they are shaped, how they move, makes it nearly impossible analyze accurately with palpation (touch) alone. In summary, just as an orthopedic surgeon or dentist needs x-rays in order to perform his or her job and provide the highest quality of care to the patient, so do structural chiropractors at Premier Chiropractic need to take x-rays. When your health is on the line, you don’t want us to be guessing do you? 

“80% of the country will have back pain during their life, why would turn away all of that potential business?” “If you don’t take care of the back, then what DO you take care of?” In my practice, I focus on Structural Correction and I deal exclusively with the alignment and mechanics of the spine. I’ve seen hundreds, if not thousands of patients with low back pain looking for someone to help them. So, how can a gentle approach to the neck help with back problems? I can probably cite a complicated study, or explain this long and complex pathway like the infographic shown below: But really, I’m sure you just want me to make sense of it all. So here it goes: 1. No matter where pain may be felt, it is always processed by the brain. That’s why there are many Secondary Conditions occur where there is nothing physically wrong to diagnose, but the pain is very real to that person. A person with Fibromyalgia deeply understands this concept. Proper structural alignment of the head and neck allow the brain stem to transmit the messages from the spinal cord properly. It ensures that there is no hypersensitivity to pain occurring at the level of the central nervous system. 2. Anterior head syndrome is a condition in which the head and neck has shifted forward in front of the shoulders. While this may not seem like much, but the weight of a 12 lb head reaching beyond the shoulders forces the muscles of the neck and back to pull harder than normal. This is because for every inch forward the head moves, gravity pulls 10 extra lbs onto the neck and back muscles. So a person with a 10 lb head can suddenly have the mechanics of a 30 lb head with just 2 inches of Anterior Head Syndrome. An interesting thing to note is that people with both neck pain and back pain will see their back pain go away before their neck pain. 3. According to a recent study in the Journal of Neurosurgery, deformities in the neck affect the alignment of the hips and pelvis. The two structures are linked together through a complex muscular sling. In other words, where the head goes, the neck goes and vice versa. Whether you’ve been told your SI joint or a herniated disc is the problem, Structural Correction may still provide an answer. Though not all cases of back pain are related to a Structural Shift in the spine, it’s an important factor that is not usually looked at by most doctors or Traditional Chiropractors. Rather than getting pigeon-holed into a symptom-treatment model, it may benefit you to have someone take a global look at the body, and how a structural shift can impact the spine and the central nervous system.

If you have ever been to a doctor’s office and had an x-ray performed, you have likely heard about something called spinal degeneration. Spinal degeneration is a condition in which the discs and joints of the spine begin to narrow and often form bone spurs. If you’ve ever been to a chiropractor’s office and seen your x-rays, you’ve probably seen a chart that looks like this: You compared yourself to one of these images, and identified yourself within one of the various phases of spinal degeneration. Maybe you felt confused. Maybe you felt alarmed, perhaps even a little scared. Either way, you knew that your spine probably didn’t look like the “normal” and that you had work to do. How Bad is it Really? No one likes to be told that their spine is developing arthritic degeneration. It’s a sign that the days of our youth are fading, and a reminder that our bodies are not going to last forever. Everyone will develop some level of spinal degeneration as we get older. Regardless of whether someone has a lifetime of chiropractic, supplements, positive mental attitude, etc, we cannot stop discs from breaking down or bone spurs from forming. Once people get into their 40’s and 50’s, we expect to see some degree of degeneration in the spine to occur. Are there those in their 70’s without it? Sure. But those are OUTLIERS, and we don’t make predictions based on a handful of outliers. With that being said, here are some quick facts to know about spinal degeneration. 1. Degeneration ≠ Pain – One of the things that frustrates me is when someone tells a patient that they are going to live with chronic pain because they have spinal degeneration. While many people with degeneration do have spinal pain, an OVERWHELMING MAJORITY of people with degeneration have no pain what so ever. While a lot of people with pain have some level of spinal degeneration, that doesn’t mean that spinal degeneration is the CAUSE of their pain. I’ve seen many patients with massive spinal degeneration, and many of them will get better despite the fact that their degeneration has NOT CHANGED. We have to resist being trapped within a diagnosis, especially if that diagnosis has a high degree of inaccuracy.  2. Your Spine Isn’t Going to Fuse (Probably) – some patients have concerns that a doctor told them that their spine is fusing. This is always something that raises my eyebrows because there are less than a handful of situations where you would expect the segments of the spine to fuse together. Vertebra don’t fuse as they degenerate. Discs will get closer together to where there’s minimal space, but regular degeneration WILL NOT turn into a fused vertebra. They are completely different things.    We have NO idea what the time table is on degeneration. Except in cases of certain disease processes (i.e. – ankylosing spondylitis), this is nothing but fear mongering. Degeneration, not Death Sentence Degeneration can be a problem for some patients. Loss of hydration in the disc, and lack of movement in the spine can create problems for the brain and nervous system. Time and again, I’ve seen patients who have been told that their problem is related to arthritic knees, hips, and spines respond really nicely to Structural Correction. Even without seeing any change to the degenerated joint. If the arthritis were the sole problem, then no one with spinal degeneration would ever get better. Degeneration is a sign of a breakdown process, but it’s not usually the cause. We need to be freed from these self-defeating labels that hold us back from living the active and healthy lifestyle we all deserve. If you’ve been told that your pain or problem is because of arthritis or degeneration, it may be time to get another opinion. Call our office today and book your appointment to get back on the right track. 248-287-8700

Every year, hundreds of THOUSANDS of people will under go some form of spinal surgery. These surgeries range from spinal fusions, discectomies, disc replacements, and more.I would like to discuss a popular misconception. Many people think that if they’ve had surgery on their spine, then there’s no way that they can see a chiropractor. Now, based on what many people perceive of chiropractic, I can’t say that I blame them at all. If you’ve had rods, plates, and screws placed into your spine, then the thought of someone wrenching or twisting the spine, causing damage in the surgical attachments…it sounds downright terrifying.Not All Chiropractic Techniques Are the Same Most people associate chiropractic with a move you’d see out of a martial arts movie. The truth is, there are many ways to bring about a correction of the spine, and some are very gentle and non-invasive. Some are so safe that they can be used on elderly folks with osteoporosis, new born babies, people with herniated discs, and even people who have had surgery. In our office, we use only the most precise and gentle chiropractic approaches so that we can take care of people of any population. Needless to say, safety isn’t the main issue when you’re armed with the correct chiropractic tools. The big question that remains is: Can chiropractic help me even if surgery didn’t? I was taking care of a patient who had had surgery on her neck for neck pain and arm pain. Since the surgery, her pain persisted. She was tired of trying to fix the problem and had basically given up on herself. Very unlikely that she would ever walk into my office of her own. She was referred to the office to give Structural Correction care a try. After a consultation and an explanation of my adjusting techniques, she felt safe enough to give it a go. In a few short weeks, many of the symptoms she had before the surgery started to go away. Now here is a VERY VERY VERY important point: The adjustments did NOT NOT NOT make her pain go away Now this might sound crazy, but it’s not the adjustment that did the healing. Adjustments in of themselves have NO capacity to heal someone. The problem was that her neck had shifted so far out of place, that the nerves in her neck were being compressed and irritated. When you add the surgery on top of it, it had locked the neck in a shifted position even further. The adjustments simply help to restore the NORMAL alignment of the head and neck. When the spine goes back to normal, then the nerves can work again. It’s that simple. This is not an unusual situation. In fact, because of the focus on structural correction and the gentle adjustment techniques, I have been referred dozens of patients after surgery in the past, and almost all of them respond great to our care. When you, or someone you know has had surgery, there are very real limitations to how much the structure of the spine can be corrected. As much as I love and enjoy helping patients post-surgery, the best thing anyone can do is to have their structure corrected BEFORE surgery becomes part of the picture. That way you can achieve a maximum correction, and have less dependency on chiropractic to stay well.