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“Will I Have to See My San Jose Chiropractor ‘Forever’?”
Posted by: | CommentsAs a San Jose Chiropractor, one of the most common questions I hear asked by those considering chiropractic care is: “If I start going to a chiropractor, will I have to always go?” I often wonder why this particular question doesn’t come up for someone who goes to a general medical practitioner. Think about it: How strange would it be if someone asked, “If I go to Dr. Smith for a general checkup and he gives me a prescription for a temporary condition I might have, will I have to see him ‘forever’?” The answer is “Of course not.” You don’t have to see Dr. Smith again, but you probably will for your yearly or bi-annual checkup and, naturally, in between if you’re not feeling well.
The same is true when you go to see a chiropractor. Most of the time, individuals go to see a chiropractor because they’re in pain (not feeling well). After the chiropractor has treated them and gotten them out of pain (a ‘prescription,’ so to speak, for a temporary condition), the chiropractor will probably suggest maintenance care (a general checkup even when you’re feeling okay). The only difference is that a chiropractor will likely suggest that you come in monthly. Why? Because chiropractors are all about preventative care whenever possible. Maintenance care is like a “tune up” that not only helps your body to maintain the “crisis” treatment you received when you were in pain and keeps you healthier and stronger so that you can avoid future injuries, but during your maintenance visit your chiropractor can make sure that you don’t have a “temporary condition” that needs to be corrected before it becomes “crisis” treatment.
Cumulative effects of awkward sitting posture, bad work habits, incorrect lifting, lack of regular exercise, and other unhealthy lifestyle-related influences can produce pain, often excruciating pain, in your back, neck, shoulders, hips, knees, etc. Getting “checked out” and “readjusted” on a regular basis keeps small conditions from becoming big problems.
So, to the question “If I start doing to a chiropractor, will I need to go “forever”? The answer is “No, but you may want to, for your health’s sake!”
To be of the most benefit to you, Dr. David Hoewisch, your San Jose Chiropractor, offers a variety of chiropractic treatment plans that can be efficacious when treating your musculoskeletal system, from eliminating acute difficulties to responding to your general issues about your health. After a detailed exam and addressing your concerns, Dr. Hoewisch will take time to explain to you which approach would be most helpful for you. As your Chiropractor in San Jose, Dr. Hoewisch will likely provide you with a number of individualized treatment strategies from which you can choose in accordance with your immediate health complaints as well as your future health goals.
It may be advantageous for you to have some concept, in advance, about the different chiropractic treatment plans Dr. Hoewisch may possibly advocate.
- Relief Care is a type of chiropractic program offered to those who are suffering from any type of acute pain or distress, regardless of the reason behind the challenge. The aim of this kind of therapy is to furnish fast pain relief. The length of the treatment phase likely will fluctuate as it depends entirely on the scope of the condition or disability experienced by the individual and how fast it can be remedied.
- Corrective Care is a “more advanced” method of chiropractic treatment. This is for those that have suffered with spinal problems over an extended period of time, which is to say, for those who have a persistent challenge that has evolved into a more complex condition as a consequence of putting off specific care. Remedial treatment ordinarily stretches over a longer time frame. How long care is necessary is determined by the severity of the progressive impairment and how speedily the individual responds to the treatment.
- Maintenance Care, as the name suggests, is intended to maintain or protect any form of procedure previously given to a patient. Many times, chiropractic care is extended solely after the initial treatments have been estimated to be successful. The purpose of this type of chiropractic care is to inhibit the potential of the initial dysfunction returning and to discourage degenerative changes in the future.
- wellness Care is provided to those people that are not afflicted by severe discomfort, but wish to improve their overall health. Regular chiropractic treatment enhances the circulation of blood and oxygen in the body, improves muscle flexibility, assists in discouraging work and play injury, and increases a person’s total impression of well-being.
Whether you are currently suffering from pain or you want to boost your overall health, chiropractic care can help. Call Dr. Hoewisch, your San Jose Chiropractor, today!
Your San Jose Chiropractor Knows About Your Body's Inherent Capability To Heal Itself
Posted by: | CommentsDo you know that chiropractic therapy has been growing in popularity for a long time and that it’s continuing to increase annually as the favored healthcare choice for many patients? That’s right and your San Jose Chiropractor is well-aware that people are choosing chiropractic treatment because of its many health benefits. No other healthcare approach is less invasive to the body and, at the same time, can promote the body’s natural potential to heal itself instead of masking symptoms with pills.
Let’s face it, where there’s a musculoskeletal system, for example in the human body, there is the likelihood of musculoskeletal disorder including lumbar pain and neck pain, pain in the shoulder, elbow, hip and knee joints, and ankle and foot pain. Nobody is immune from misalignment of the spine and joint inflammation, though numerous health issues can be the end result of sports injuries, accidents, and the aging process. Irrespective of the source, just about any type of movement on a traumatized part of the body can not merely result in pain or suffering, but temporary disability. And, naturally, certain musculoskeletal problems, if left untreated, can result in permanent incapacitation.
It has been said of chiropractic care that its benefits “exceed” eliminating merely a specific condition. Actually, someone who comes in to see a chiropractor for back pain, for instance, not only gains from pain reprieve, but also enhanced circulation, a reduction or elimination of lactic acid, smoother movement of oxygen and nutrients within the body, additional flexibility, reduced everyday pain and soreness, quicker recuperation time, a more tranquil sensation, and the prevention of future injuries! Is it any mystery why chiropractic care has become the treatment of choice for so many people?
Besides delivering specialized musculoskeletal care, chiropractors will also include education and counsel as it pertains to bettering your total health and wellness. Chiropractors recognize that in order for a person to become healthy and stay that way, it is important to choose a simple health-oriented approach to life lke consuming a healthy amount of water to keep the body hydrated, following a nutritional diet plan, and developing a regular stretching and exercise routine.
Chiropractic care isn’t going to quite work “miracles, ” however it can come surprisingly close in numerous areas that may possibly surprise you. For instance, chiropractic care will help pregnant women deliver more easily. It can strengthen developmental potentials of babies, particularly in the area of motor skills, and it can often eliminate scoliosis. Chiropractic adjustments for children can help alleviate bronchial asthma complaints, ear infections, and even bed-wetting. Along with the rewards stated earlier, established chiropractic management can help adults to have more energy, which in turn boosts productivity. And, last but not least, for maturing baby boomers and the senior population, not only can chiropractic treatment aide in reducing age-related disorders and help to keep an individual more functional in later years, it can also decrease the balance problems that all too frequently lead to severe injury from falls.
If you’re currently visiting a chiropractor, that’s wonderful! You have no doubt already felt many of the amazing benefits stated above. In that case, why not tell your family and friends about chiropractic? Don’t let someone you care about fall victim to the type of misinformation regarding chiropractic care that can keep them from living their daily life with more energy and less pain. Tell someone you care about to give your chiropractor in San Jose a call. Your friends and family will thank you for it!
What does the term, “vertigo,” mean? Vertigo is a term for the dizzy sensation that someone suffers within a fixed environment. It is a sense that the outer world is tilting or spinning. Vertigo can be sudden and short-lived or chronic. However, in either case, the exact cause of vertigo should be uncovered and the appropriate treatment acquired.
Vertigo has a number of origins. An inner ear condition, known as Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo, can occasionally occur as the aftermath of a head injury or severe cold. In addition this kind of vertigo can be a part of getting older. However, generally, the cause is unknown. Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo is a wordy diagnosis, but it characterizes perfectly this non-progressive condition that is produced by, as its name implies, a abrupt change in head position. The symptoms are generally unforeseen and variable.
It is useful to look at the function of the inner ear in an effort understand what brings about the frequently disabling symptoms of this type of vertigo. The inner ear contains fluid that enables the brain to sense movement and maintain balance. The inner ear also contains small calcium carbonate crystals, known as otoconia. These crystals will float in the inner ear fluid if dislodged. As the crystals strike against the sensitive nerve endings in the inner ear, they cause the symptoms of Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo or BPPV.
If you suffer from BPPV, it is important for you to know that chiropractors using a technique known as the Epley maneuver, can eliminate the symptoms of BPPV quickly and effectively. Through the use of this technique, your San Jose chiropractor rotates the head of a BPPV sufferer into various positions, allowing gravity to move the calcium carbonate crystals away from the nerve endings and into an area of the inner ear where they won’t generate further dizziness.
Your San Jose chiropractor has treated hundreds of people suffering from Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo using the Epley Maneuver technique. Often, with just one treatment the majority of patients no longer suffer from dizziness. Call your chiropractor today!
San Jose Chiropractor: As We Age, Extra Weight Can Add Up to Big Problems
Posted by: | CommentsIt is no secret that carrying around excess body weight, especially as we age, can cause a number of health problems from cardiovascular diseases and diabetes to back and joint pain. Extra body weight puts unnecessary stress on organs, like the heart, and on joints in the low back, hips, and knees. Over half (62%) of U.S. men and women are overweight or obese, according to recent studies. That is a tremendous number and a huge problem (no pun intended).
The human body was not designed to carry around extraneous weight in the form of body fat. Even an additional 20 or 30 pounds can put the musculoskeletal system literally on overload. Weight in the belly, for instance, requires that the body compensate (counterbalance the weight) by tilting the pelvis forward. This produces compression in the joints of the low back. Joint compression restricts nerve activity and produces painful inflammation. Most individuals who are overweight suffer from low back pain caused by a pinched sciatic nerve or misalignments of the spinal column that impinge nerves due to weight-bearing stresses. Misaligned vertebra can not only create new arthritic changes in the spine, but can continue to irritate the degenerative changes that have already taken place over the years.
Where does chiropractic care fit in? Though a healthy body weight is absolutely indispensible for the ideal function of the musculoskeletal system, chiropractic treatment relieves nerve restrictions in the spine and helps to restore motion back into the joints of the musculoskeletal system, like in the low back, hips, and knees. And, exercise and physical activity is a lot easier when the spine is in alignment and the joints have improved movement. Exercise will not only help with weight loss, but it can actually delay degenerative changes as we age.
It is always best to discuss diet and exercise with a healthcare professional, like your chiropractor. In addition to helping men and women suffering from back pain and joint inflammation due to arthritis, chiropractors offer highly knowledgeable advice on the kind of lifestyle changes that can aid an individual in staying healthier and more active through the years. Arthritis and immobility as we get older do not have to be inevitable. The human body was meant to move, to walk, even to dance, without pain, for a lifetime.
So, if you’ve been throwing your weight around and all you’ve been getting in return is back and joint pain, your chiropractor can help relieve your suffering. Make an appointment today!
San Jose Chiropractor: Chiropractic Adjustments Can Take the Pain Out of Growing Older
Posted by: | CommentsLet’s face it, there’s just no getting around the fact that as we age our body doesn’t feel or respond the same way as it did when we were younger. It hardly seems right that our body seems to become less “cooperative,” while our mind appears to improve and become more “inventive.” We’re stiff when we get out of bed; many of the activities we do during the day make us sore in the evening; and, if we’re not mindful, even a motion as simple as turning too quickly or reaching down to pick up a dropped pencil, can send our back or some other muscle group into spasm. But, things don’t need to go from bad to worse because there is natural treatment available that can not only slow down the aging process of the body, but help us to avoid some of those problems altogether.
For instance, arthritis. In point of fact, barring pharmaceuticals, traditional medicine does little to take care of this age-related condition. What is the basis for such a limited approach? The answer is that most medical professionals focus only on the symptoms of arthritis. The chiropractic approach is to look for the root of the affliction and treat the pain at its source. For over one hundred years, chiropractors, like your San Jose Chiropractor, have been treating individuals suffering from back pain and other challenges caused by arthritic changes in the musculoskeletal system.
Repetitive stresses, years of poor gait and improper posture, and inadequate movement cause degeneration of certain joints over time and create the arthritic changes the body experiences as you age. Chiropractic adjustments restore motion back into your joints and ease any vertebral misalignments that may be creating irritation and restriction. In addition, did you know that misaligned vertebra, along with causing arthritic changes in the spine and escalating pain, can also reduce your resistance and immunity? It’s an authoritative fact, and this might be one of the reasons why it may seem that as you age you develop more health issues and that it often takes longer for you to feel better again. According to research done on older individuals, those who received regular chiropractic care stayed healthier. In fact, you could say that, as you get older, chiropractic treatment is good for what ails you!
When it comes to the health of the musculoskeletal system, chiropractors are highly proficient whether it’s the small, growing frame of an infant or the full-grown body of a mature adult. Your chiropractor is experienced in working with the aging process of the body and has exceptional observational and diagnostic skills that help in detecting spinal misalignments and joint degeneration. A chiropractic examination can, in fact, frequently reveal some age-related conditions before they’ve had a chance to create noticeable pain. Furthermore, your San Jose Chiropractor can assess your posture and check your gait to identify faulty patterns that could generate further arthritic changes.
So, if feeling your age has become a painful experience, call your San Jose Chiropractor today!
Knee X-ray
A new study conducted by Tufts University School of Medicine has determined that patients 65 years of age and over who’ve been diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis (OA), and who practice Tai Chi, enhanced their physical capability and encountered less pain. Osteoarthritis is a prevalent form of arthritis that causes a wearing away of joint cartilage. Chiropractors provide therapy for many men and women suffering from OA in a number of places in the body, including the knee joints. Second only to spinal problems, knee pain and disability is one of the most prevalent afflictions of the musculoskeletal system. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) there are an astounding 4.3 million people in this country over age 60 diagnosed with knee OA, and the CDC predicts that half of the people in America may suffer from symptoms of OA in at least one knee by age 85. Knee osteoarthritis results in pain, mobility limitations, dysfunction and disability, and a reduced quality of life.
Why do so many people develop OA? As with nearly all of the musculoskeletal dysfunctions that we develop as we age, undue stress to a joint over the years is a major element. That is why as people get older they are more susceptible to developing OA in their joints, including the knees. Incorrect function of the knee, poor gait, compensatory foot mechanics as the result of foot pain, and repetitive use of the knee joint all produce undue stress on the knees. Eventually arthritic changes in the knee joint occur. Most chiropractors suggest such natural, drug-free practices as Tai Chi, in combination with their chiropractic care. A traditional style of Chinese martial arts,Tai Chi features slow, rhythmic movements that generate mental relaxation, as well as increased balance, an augmentation of strength, and improved flexibility.
Though in good health otherwise, the 40 adults with confirmed OA that were selected for the Tufts study were, on average, 65 years of age and overweight. Patients were randomly picked to participate in 60-minute “Yang style” Tai Chi sessions twice weekly for 12 weeks. Each session included a 10-minute self-massage and a review of Tai Chi principles, 30 minutes of Tai Chi movement, 10 minutes of breathing technique, and 10 minutes of relaxation.
Tai Chi practice involves the kind of range of motion, flexibility, muscle conditioning, and aerobic workout that is consistent with contemporary exercise recommendations for osteoarthritis. As an added benefit, researchers observed that the “mental feature” of Tai Chi promoted a sense of well-being, life satisfaction, and impressions of health that helped the participants to deal differently with chronic pain. Compared with the control group, the group practicing Tai Chi exhibited a substantial decrease in knee pain.
Full findings of the study are published in the November 2009 issue of Arthritis Care & Research, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology.
Close to Last Place and Still a Winner?
Posted by: | Comments“Close to last place” isn’t exactly a phrase we associate with accomplishment. In fact, very little in life, it seems, counts much at all if you don’t “hit the nail on the head.” Well, it would seem that this may not be an absolute when it comes to living longer. As a chiropractor in San Jose, who has many middle-aged patients and who is also fully dedicated to encouraging my patients to exercise at every age level, I was very interested in the following study.
Researchers found that of the “least-fit” versus the “slightly more fit” in a recent study of nearly 4,400 healthy U.S. adults, roughly 20 percent with the lowest physical fitness levels doubled the risk of dying over the next nine years as the 20 percent with the next-lowest fitness levels. (In other words, those 20 percent who were nearly at the lowest fitness levels.) This is the familiar “bad news/good news” type of result. It is obviously bad news if you are a confirmed couch potato. However, it is genuinely good news for those who haven’t quite hit rock bottom in the sedentary lifestyle department but are not, by any stretch of the imagination, “exertive.” Apparently, those individuals who stay just moderately fit as they age may have greater longevity than those who are entirely out-of-shape, the study suggests.
Between 1986 and 2006, researchers assessed the fitness levels of 4,384 middle-aged and senior men and women during exercise treatmill tests. For approximately nine years thereafter, the researchers observed the study groups progress. The study considered such factors like obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes. This, in and of itself, highlights the importance of being physically fit. In an email to Reuters Health, lead researcher, Dr. Sandra Mandic of the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, stated: “Our findings suggest that a sedentary lifestyle, rather than differences in cardiovascular risk factors or age, may explain the two-fold higher mortality rates in the least-fit versus slightly more fit individuals.”
Nearly two-thirds of the least-fit study participants were not getting the minimum recommended amount of exercise, which is at least 30 minutes of moderate activity (like brisk walking) five or more days a week. “These results emphasize the importance of improving and maintaining high fitness levels by engaging in regular physical activity,” Mandic said, “particularly in poorly-fit individuals.”
After dividing the participants into five groups based on fitness levels, the researchers discovered that 13 percent of those who were in slightly better shape had died during the study period. However, 25 percent of the least-fit participants had died during the same period. Only 6 percent of the most-fit group (i.e., the ones who “hit the nail on the head,” so to speak) had died during the follow-up period.
The compelling finding was that overall, the five fitness-level groups showed little dissimilarity in their reported exercise routines over their adult lives, but where they contrasted was their activity levels in recent years. “Since it is recent physical activity that offers protection,” Mandic said, “it is important to maintain regular physical activity throughout life.”
And, naturally, imagine the health benefits we could all obtain if we sought to achieve the higher levels of fitness.
SOURCE: Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, August 2009.
Good Hydration is the Key to Good Health
Posted by: | CommentsChiropractors are determined to educate their patients about the importance of drinking a sufficient amount of water everyday. The positive repetitive stress is on “Hydrate! Hydrate! Hydrate!” Water, second only to air, is an essential requirement for human survival. It would appear reasonable, then, that drinking a healthy amount of water would be as instinctual as breathing in enough air, but an astonishing seventy-five percent of individuals in this country have mild, constant dehydration. (Most individuals are not breathing enough either, but one issue at a time.) You you cannot maintain or regain good health without drinking an adequate amount of water. Drinking plenty of water benefits every cell, tissue, and organ in the human body and keeps all its systems functioning. Your saliva, and the fluids surrounding your joints, are primarily water. Your blood is kept circulating and your body temperature and metabolism are moderated by water. The improvement of nutrient absorption and toxin removal, as well as the reduction of heartburn, hypertension, exhaustion, and headaches have been associated with staying well-hydrated.
When it comes to problems generated by dehydration, athletes are particularly at risk. Researcher, Susan Yeargin, assistant professor of athletic training in Indiana State’s College of Nursing, Health, and Human Services, said of athletes,”Physiologically, their core body temperature could be higher than it should have been if they were hydrated. Their heart rate will be higher, and they’re going to perceive that they’re working harder than they actually are.” A high percentage of collegiate and professional athletes begin the season dehydrated, putting their health at risk even before they begin strenuous workouts, according to researchers at Indiana State University. In fact, Pre-season physical examinations, in fact, found that 80 percent of football players displayed symptoms of.
Confused about how much water is enough water? Chiropractors, like the majority of other health care professionals, advise no less than eight, 8-ounce glasses of water every day for most patients, but for our patients who are athletes, or for those who carry around excess weight or exercise or work where it’s hot, we advise even more. There is a fairly simple way for you to make certain that you’re drinking enough water. Your urine color is a good guide. You’re well-hydrated if it is a light, pale yellow!
Your San Jose Chiropractor: You Don’t Need to Suffer With the Pain of Sciatica
Posted by: | CommentsYour San Jose Chiropractor knows that sciatica is an intensely painful affliction. If you suffer from sciatic pain, you are, sadly, all too acquainted with the deep pain that shadows your waking hours and interferes with your daily activities.
The path of sciatic pain is normally from your low back, through the buttock(s), and down the large sciatic nerve in the back of your leg(s). Many times, the pain can even radiate into your knee. Sitting, as well as motion, can be painful. Occasionally lying down will lessen, or perhaps briefly eliminate, the pain. However, sciatica will not go away permanently without suitable care.
“Radiculopathy,” the medical term for the clinical diagnosis of sciatica, means simply that a disc has bulged from its normal position in the vertebral column and is causing pressure on the radicular nerve (nerve root) in the lower back, which forms part of the sciatic nerve. Such pressure is especially painful.
Increased pressure on the intervertebral discs, as well as imbalances in the muscles encircling the spine, can occur during and after prolonged sitting, specifically in a poor position. For the most part, an explicit event or particular injury doesn’t produce sciatica, but rather it tends to manifest over time as a consequence of commonplace wear and tear on the structures of the lower spine. Over time the lower spine loses its capacity to function in a healthy way during everyday requirements.
The final result is that, the intervertebral disc develops small fissures, or cracks, which then lets the soft nucleus protrude the disc outward. If the disc presses on sensitive tissues, it generates the pain that is often referred to as a ruptured disc. If the disc puts pressure on the spinal nerve, an individual can develop sciatica.
Most disc challenges, including sciatica, can be eliminated with chiropractic adjustments and management that commonly includes postural exercises. If you are suffering from sciatic pain, it is essential for you to seek chiropractic attention.
