Let Dead Dogs Lie

Honestly, you shouldn't go around touching dead animals, they could carry disease. Also, who wants to talk about something so depressing right before Christmas anyway?

But anyway, the holidays are one of those times where you have to be around people you may not like (surely not me) or want to be around just because you share their blood (note-sharing blood may also lead to disease) or through that really lame wedding your wife dragged you to last year with all those people you thought you wouldn't have to see again so you broke out your 'best' karaoke.

Eggnog notwithstanding, many do not enjoy this time of year. They dread having to be around that one person who said/asked/did something that offended them, and feelings are still hurt; and/or you're afraid they'll say/ask/do the same thing again. Sometimes on purpose, sometimes on accident: there's what's said, what was meant to be said, what you heard and the intent with which it was said/heard and how much box wine went into the hearing/saying.

We allow the event to play over and over in our head like a top 20 song on the radio. It begins to not only affect but consume us. We will allow this negative energy to damage our relationship with the offender, it will also impact our ability to make and manage other relationships also. It will become a major drag on our mental and emotional health along with a stumbling block to our success and well being.

Overtime, the emotional stress brought on by an offense (real or perceived) will begin to make physiological changes in our tissue. Stress hormones are catabolic, which means they destroy tissue. There will be a change in our muscle tone that will affect the function of our joints. Our body's ability to process oxygen and digest food will also change. These neuro-chemical and hormonal alterations will then lead to diseases from headaches to disc pain to cancer to heart disease.

Life is at best short - so why would we allow these thoughts to steal our precious time and drain our energy? It's time to start looking at letting go of the past. But the question is how?

Try this:

Press the PAUSE Button and Ask:

1. Is it something I can learn from to become a better person?

2. Is it something I can use to motivate me to act?

If the answer is yes, then do it and move on. If the answer is no, take the memory, write it down on a piece of paper and throw it out, light it on fire or be responsible and recycle it. Then it's over, it's done; it's forgotten. And you can move on with your life, move on with your relationship(s) and let dead dogs lie.

Kinda Creepy

Creep-(noun): My college roommate... Why girls never came over.

Creep-(verb): a soft tissue reaction where as a displacement in amplitude or length of collagenous structures over a period of time when a force is applied... Why you’re shorter at the end of the day.

How often do you have to adjust the rear-view mirror on the drive home? Sure, Harford County roads are partially to blame, but by 5pm we’re all about 1-2% shorter.  Blame Darwin; we’re just animals adapting to our environment.

We start our day hunched over simple carbs and neuro-stimulants. Then off to be hunched over the steering wheel, keyboard, not so smart ‘smart’ phone, back to steering wheel  (stopping off somewhere for some extra-high inflammatory processed lunch from McSatan’s) then home again and back to the keyboard (but this time it’s okay because you’re reading this).

This causes a shortening and tightening of our anterior muscles: Rotator cuff/thoracic outlet and carpal tunnel syndromes & decreased oxygen consumption. And conversely a slow over-stretching and weakening of the posteriors: headache, neck pain, back pain & abnormal nerve activity.

That’s why for those of you we performed a Functional Capacity Examination on; we strive for a 1:1.14 flexor: extensor ratio. In other words, your back needs to be a little stronger than your front (except your knees, they’re backwards). So, in short, stretch the front and build up the back. Don’t know how? Try Google. But if you want the right answers, ask me.

The White Stuff

Tricked or Treated  Today's edition is brought to you by the real boss, Mrs Spine: It's that time of year again, where parents will be busy with all sorts of Halloween related activates. My kids like yours are so hyped up about the upcoming "Holiday". My middle daughter came home yesterday and informed me that she needed to use a pillow case for trick or treating because you can get more candy that way. Halloween has turned in to sugar-polooza. Once a year is one thing. But anyone who's ever tried to lose weight, rid themselves of Candida or balance their pH knows that sugar is el Diablo. But sugar is found in almost everything we eat, in addition to the obvious sweet and tempting treats such as candy and cookies, cakes and pies, sugar is found naturally in fruit and milk, and is an ingredient in many brands of yogurt, tomato sauce, and salad dressings. Also, many foods are converted to sugar once they pass the pie hole. It's called the 'glycemic index,' Google it, you may be surprised. Sugar not only adds sweetness to foods; it also plays a role in our ability to eat and enjoy food in many other ways. It creates texture and color in baked goods, adds body to yogurt, balances acidity in tomato products and increases the boiling point and reduces the freezing point in foods. Have you ever noticed that your kids act differently after eating certain foods? Most people will build up a tolerance to sugar as you eat more you do not feel its effects. In our house you will find fresh fruits, veggies, nuts, yogurt and other healthy snacks. But on occasion we do let our kids have whatever they want. I can instantly see a difference in their attitude and behavior. For example when taking our oldest girl to a certain Italian Ice stand, we immediately notice a difference in her attitude and behavior. She turns into a completely different little girl...for the worse I might add. My weakness is chocolate like most women. When I first met Doctor Lee, my favorite green food was green peanut M&M's. I loved chocolate with all three of my pregnancies. The only thing I found to help curb my chocolate addiction was when I completed the Novolife cleanse, three years ago. Completing this cleanse stopped my cravings for chocolate and carbs as well. I went from eating chocolate every day to having a bite of brownie every once and awhile, and a few bites of birthday cake.

The Hip Bone is connected to the....

Last month I experienced a first. My first earthquake. Actually it wasn’t my first, but the only one I’ve ever felt. Strange because I live through a few in California and Asia that knocked stuff off the wall, but I was sleeping or just didn’t notice. But the big (not that big according to West Coasters) East Coast Quake of 2011 I felt. It’s one of those forever remember what you were doing moments: sitting where I’m sitting now. My mind went through the list of possibilities: Another truck hit the light pole/bank on the other side of the parking lot (happened already), this close to APG I thought they did something or worse Peach Bottom; then one of the dozens of helicopters flying past went down. (My brother the Air Force pilot and Astronautical Engineer has always said planes are designed to fly, helicopters to crash).  No matter, when you live this close to DC, NYC, an army base and nuclear plant, your heart skips a beat anytime there’s a rumble.

Turns out it was an earthquake down in Virginia, 154 miles away from my front door, according to Google. That was the epicenter, but it was felt as far away as New York and Georgia. According to one of my very nerdy friends, the reason this earthquake has such a large spread was something to do with how the continental shelf is connected. Your back is the same way.

Let’s say your main diagnosis is a herniated L5 disc. Your disc is the epicenter of your problem, not the only problem. That disc doesn’t exist in a vacuum, It’s attached to stuff (and yes, stuff is the technical term). The damage from a bad disc spreads out all over your body. It leads to muscle spasm up and down the spine; muscle imbalance throughout the trunk, arms and legs; tendonopathy, neuropathy, and myopathy from head to toe and can mess with the innards too.

This is why we employee a whole body approach to treating what may seem like 1 sq inch of disease, but that’s attached to stuff.

It ain't worth the price

These days it’s important to keep health costs as low as possible. You may think that putting off treatment is a way to save money. But, many or most times, procrastinating on a health problem is only going to make it more serious—and more costly to deal with—down the road. Think of health care, like regular maintenance visits to a chiropractor, as an investment in yourself.  In this way, like regular blood work for your medical doctor, we can find small problems before they become large ones.  Like  many of our wellness minded, proactive patients do to keep their body  functioning the best they can so that it doesn’t have the opportunity to give them pain again.

Whether it’s your dentist, doctor or chiropractor, you shouldn’t wait until you’re in some sort of crisis before making an appointment. Preventive maintenance is, in the long run, a far less costly policy. And it goes beyond just pain. Regular chiropractic care has been proven to lower blood pressure, over-all inflammation and increase immunity.

Maintenance care is not for everyone and if it is more your style to “wait till it’s broke”, well, that is your choice.  Just don’t be mad about it when it takes longer to fix and costs you more at the time you decide to fix it.  That is a decision each person makes for themselves and no one will judge you on that either way; and we’ll still be here to help.

And now that the kids are finally in school, what else are you going to do with all your free time?

Nice Kicks

Having just spent the weekend in OC I made the following observations: people either don’t take a friend swimsuit shopping, or their friend lies to them.

Remember when friends were supposed to be honest with you and not just prop you up in your own delusions? Remember the 1980’s Friends don’t let friends drink and drive, do drugs etc? Well, consider me your friend. And I don’t want you wearing shape-ups or other rocker type shoes anymore (nor do I want to see you in some of those, let’s say ‘European Style’ suits I saw on the boardwalk).

Let’s be honest, did anyone really think you could get booty-licous by just walking around with your Cinnabon at the mall? Turns out, not only did Vida Guerra it did not make, they were damaging your health. The abnormal motion grossly alters the gait cycle. In other words leading to accelerated degeneration of the feet, knees, hips and low back. So much so numerous class-action lawsuits have been filed.

Want to bounce a quarter off it? Try running,  wall squats and pilates-esk exercises. All while wearing proper fitting shoes; not just for your foot size, but foot shape too. Questions? Come see me for your free foot-structural analysis. 

Fibromyalgia? Yes You Can!

Yes you CAN!

Gen. Halstead conquered fibromyalgia, so can you!

After 27 years of service, decorated U.S. Army Brigadier General Becky Halstead (Retired), the first female West Point graduate in U.S. history to command at the strategic level in Iraq and Afghanistan, decided to retire after being diagnosed with fibromyalgia - a medically unexplained syndrome affecting the muscles and connective tissues. Currently, the disease affects as 

many as 12 million Americans and has been reported two times as prevalent in 

deployed veterans (Annals of Internal Medicine, June 7, 2005, Vol. 142 No.11). 

"Agonizing pain, debilitating fatigue, joint stiffness and sleep deprivation-you name it and I felt it," says Halstead. "There I was in Iraq, responsible for over 20,000 military men and women, and I privately struggled to physically keep myself going."

Initially, Halstead was prescribed every drug imaginable, though the pills only masked the pain and resulted in a spiral of reactions affecting her psychological and physical health. It wasn't until a close friend suggested chiropractic that she was able to find relief and return to a normal, nearly pain-free life. She discovered that the comprehensive treatment of chiropractic care improves joint motion, reducing and in some cases eliminating the pains and symptoms associated with fibromyalgia - such as fatigue, sleep deprivation anddepression. 

"Chiropractic treatment helped improve my whole outlook on dealing with this chronic ailment," she says. "The spinal adjustments along with the postural and nutritional advice I received helped to treat the fibromyalgia and allowed me to have many days with minimal pain -- and most days without any medications. The care of a doctor of chiropractic was life changing for me." 

Today, Brig. General Halstead has made it her personal mission to educate others suffering with fibromyalgia - and to consider consulting with doctor of chiropractic, as she did.