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Chiropractic Care
Fall Chiropractic Update – Backpack Safety
With the kids heading
back to school, overloaded backpacks are once again weighting
them down! This is a serious health issue. Here are some pointers
to help your child use their backpacks safely.
- Make sure
the pack is the right size for your child.
- Use two
straps, one over each shoulder.
- Make sure
the straps are heavily padded or have adjustable air-filled
cushions.
- The load
should be evenly distributed – place the heaviest items on the
bottom.
- Adjust
the straps so the pack rests on your hips or lower back.
- Remember
function is more important than fashion!
- Don’t over
pack – keep some of those things at home.
- Your child
should not be carrying more than 10 to 15% of their body weight.
Proper fitting
backpacks worn correctly will help keep your child’s body in balance.
Incorrect use can lead to neck and muscle spasms as well as low
back pain.
We are currently featuring Airpacks TM backpacks and computer
bags in our office. They feature air-filled shoulder straps and
lumbar roll. These features reduce the stress to the user by 80%
and lighten the load by 30%, all without a waist belt.
These ergonomically
designed backpacks come in a variety of styles and colors geared
to elementary age children as well as teens. Prices range from
$29.99 to $69.99 for backpacks. Computer bags are slightly higher.
Stop by our
office to see these terrific backpacks for yourself. Call and
schedule a complimentary postural and scoliosis screening for
your child today!
Our lifestyles become more
convenient and more hectic every day. Our food is pre-cooked,
convenience packaged, and ready-to-serve. We can log onto the
computer and find shopping, health information and beauty supplies
with a quick web search. And, with the increasing availability
of cellular phones, we never have to be far from a phone.
This increase in phone use has caused some secondary problems
that are becoming more prevalent. Now, the chronic phone user
who tucks the phone between her ear and shoulder is spending even
more time in that position. Or, the overworked businessman spends
those gridlocked traffic mornings and afternoons with the phone
to his ear.
Chiropractors are seeing an increased incidence in Cubital Tunnel
Syndrome and Cervicobrachial Syndrome. Big words for two problems
that don't feel so good and can also be painful and disabling.
Cubital Tunnel Syndrome results from an impingement or irritation
to the ulnar nerve as it travels across the elbow. Because we
are spending more time with our elbow bent to hold the phone to
our ear, we are placing more stress on the elbow every day. As
a result, you may see decreased motion in the elbow, tightness
of the biceps muscle, some numbness in the hand and possibly even
some weakness. If you like the phone between your ear and shoulder,
you may start to notice that your head is tilting that way even
when you are not on the phone. Or, you may find that you have
neck pain that radiates down into the arm or up into your skull.
So, what do you do? Well, as a Chiropractor, I will tell you
to have a chiropractic evaluation and find out what the source
of your pain and lack of function is. You may need an adjustment
to your neck and/or arm to restore the joint mechanics you lost
from "repetitive microtrauma" - i.e. doing a minor, but detrimental,
activity over and over. Also, you may need to do some neck and
arm stretches or even strengthening of the weakened muscles -
such as the triceps. Also, find a good headset or earpiece to
use with your phone, cellular and regular. This will help you
avoid extreme postures.
What you shouldn't do is wait for the pain to become so bad
that you can't stand it. Or, wait until you are disabled from
the problems you are having. If this is a problem you are facing,
contact us today to see what you need to do.
Philosophy
| We chiropractors
work with the subtle substance of the soul. We release the
imprisoned impulse, the tiny rivulets of force, that eminates
from the mind and flows over the nerves to cells and stirs
them into life. We deal with majestic power that transforms
common food into living, loving, thinking clay, that robes
the earth with beauty and scents the flowers with the glory
of the air.
In the dim, dark, distant long ago, when the sun first
bowed to the morning star, this power spoke and there
was life; it quickened the slime of the sea and the dust
of the earth and drove the cell to union with its fellows
and countless living forms. Through eons of time, it finned
the fish and winged the bird and fanged the beast. Endlessly,
it worked, evolving its forms until it produced the crowning
glory of them all. With tireless energy, its blows the
bubble of each individual life and then, silently, relentlessly
dissolves the form and absorbs the spirit into itself
again.
And yet, you ask, "Can chiropractors cure Appendicitis
or the Flu?" Have you more faith in a spoonful of medicine
than in the power that animates the living world?
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| B.J.
Palmer, DC, PhC |
Techniques
Dr. Donald Feeney specializes in Applied Kinesiology, BEST (Bio
Energetic Synchronization Technique), Diversified, Meirs, and
Logan Basic.
Dr. Karen Feeney has studied Myofascial Release, Gonstead, Upper
Cervical, Activator, S.O.T., and Diversified.
Chiropractic is effective in restoring health after an injury
or years of neglect. Chiropractic is also low cost preventive
care for all ages. We provide one-on-one consultations and custom
treatment plans.
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