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How Did Your Back Feel This Morning ?

When people tell me their back hurts most when they first get up in the morning it tells me one of two things:

             They’re sleeping in a worn-out bed.

                                Or - they’re sleeping in the wrong position.

I think it’s pretty much common sense that if you’ve been sleeping (resting) for 5- 7 hours - you ought to be feel pretty good and rested.

And if you’re in pain when you get up, then something is wrong.

A bed is supposed to support you. If it is old and broken down it can’t do that for you anymore.

A very good, expensive bed is good (and supporting), for about 8-9 years.

Then it’s time to replace it.

Now, if the bed is still in good shape and it still supports you and you’re in pain, it might be a good idea to look at the position you’re sleeping in.

Many people I see in practice sleep on their side in a fetal position or in what I call the semi-crawl position with one leg straight and the other one dragged up in a partial crawl position.

If you sleep in either of these positions you’re putting pressure on the sacro-iliac / pelvic joints in a manner they were never intended / designed to have pressure...

They are weight bearing when standing and sitting, not laying on them. What’s more - laying in that semi-crawl position is actually applying a twist to them.

Ask somebody to twist your hand at the wrist and hold it like that for half an hour and see how that works for you. I’ll bet your wrist bothers you until next Labor Day.

That’s exactly what you’re doing to your hip joints when you lay on them in the semi-crawl position.

If someone with no hip pain or low back pain were to sleep like that every night they would very likely develop hip and back pain in a short time.

The Spine As A Time Capsule

An interesting perk of having been in practice for over 25 years is you get to see, long term, how things develop or turn out.

A 30 year-old lady I saw in the office in1986 for injuries stemming from an auto accident mysteriously re-appeared in the office this week with what she said was a new and growing problem that she had had - since last year sometime...

I recognized her name before her face as she had changed much over the years.

I had forgotten much of her case but upon going back to her archived file and reviewing her accident and injury I recalled that her auto insurance had greatly limited her care and she then discontinued care when the insurance stopped paying - long before any effective improvement had been made.

Now in November, 2008, she came in because her hands were numb and tingling. She offered no explanation for why she might be feeling this way - no new injuries or accidents over the past several years. She was dropping things because her grip strength was weak and she couldn’t feel what she had in her hands. I examined her and had new x-rays made to help me see what might be causing this problem.

Comparing the new x-rays to the old ones from1986 immediately showed what happens to a spine over time when it is injured and not taken care of properly. Her neck did not look like a 48 year old neck.

At the time, the auto accident had caused some muscle and ligament injury /damage with some mis-alignment and a loss of the normal curve of the neck. The vertebrae and discs, however, looked fairly normal in 1986.

Now in 2008, 18 years later, the vertebrae looked very mis-shaped by arthritic degeneration that resulted from not fixing the problem in1986. There was considerable arthritic spurring and significant loss of normal disc heights at several disc levels.

That was why her hands were weak and numb - All of that degenerative arthritic spurring and loss of disc heights was putting pressure on the nerves leading to and controlling what was going on in her hands.

It’s a well documented problem - Un-corrected misalignments in the neck lead to this kind of degenerative arthritis...over time.

                          Here it was, really happening

It’s a shame because this didn’t have to happen.

Can she be helped? - Yes, to a large extent it can be helped. The arthritis will remain but with the right care she can regain lost strength and sensation. It is going to take a lot longer and cost a lot more to fix than it would have... if we had fixed the problem in 1986.

They say the best time to plant a shade tree is 20 years ago

               The best time to fix an injured neck is as soon as possible.

Be Proactive About Your health

Rather than hoping the horse doesn’t escape or waiting for it to do so, and then trying to get it back in the barn...why not take those easy steps to keep it in the barn?

Many people lead relatively unhealthy lifestyles and think that getting a flu shot is all they have to do to protect themself from getting the flu.

Last year flu shots were reported to have a 44% success rate in preventing the flu - The use of them is way down this year and Doctors are being pressured by drug companies to pressure / coerce you to get one because there is so much extra, unused vaccine on the shelves. That is not the best or most logical reason to get a shot - (to get rid of unused stock). You probably have better chance of getting sick from the shot than staying well from it.

A very well kept secret is that if you get a flu shot 5 years in a row - you will have a 5 times increased risk of getting Alzheimer’s Disease later in life.

                         Still want one?

There is a better, more sane approach to staying well this winter.

What would happen if you took personal responsibility for your health, took a more proactive approach to your health?

What would happen if you took steps to raise your resistance to illness and disease rather than weakening that resistance?

                                                    How?

Don’t smoke. Smoking lowers your resistance to just about every disease known to mankind.

It’s like putting a gun in your mouth, pulling the trigger and expecting a happy, healthy outcome...

Make sure you get 30 minutes of sweat-producing exercise every day 5-6 days per week.

See a chiropractor regularly - not just for back pain. Regular adjustments reduce the effect that stress has on the rest of you. It keeps the nervous system functioning at an optimal level...and that makes everything else, especially the immune system, in the body keep working at an optimal level.

Stay well hydrated because a dehydrated body does not function or work nearly as well and is much more likely to get sick. If you’re 1% dehydrated you won’t feel it but 10-15 % of the decisions you’ll make will be faulty ones because your brain isn’t functioning 100%. That means the rest of your body which is completely controlled by that same brain won’t work right either...

Eat a healthy balance of protein, carbohydrates and fiber - your body requires the right kind and the right balance of fuel to run right.

Get your weight down so it’s proportionate to your height and your Body Mass Index (BMI) is 24 or lower. Don’t know what your BMI is? Don’t guess. It’s too important to Not know it... Call me for a free checkup - (845) 297-6688

                      It takes all of about 5 minutes of your time to test it

Stay warm - viruses love us when were chilly / cold                (  Flu is caused by a virus  )

Take time-outs and de-stress. It doesn’t require buying plane tickets and going away for a week.

                          Go away for an hour...but go every day -

Combine it with your exercise -

Make it fun -

Go with someone you want to be with -

Or go alone if you prefer -

Leave your cell phone home

Everything will still be here, as it was, when you get back.

But you will be healthier, stronger, and more disease resistant when you get back...

                                 Aim to Be Well

The Five Most Dangerous Words...

Maybe It Will Go Away...