Chronic Pain Causes Brain Shrinkage–Do Something About It!

First reported in 2004 by Apkarian et al in the Journal of Neuroscience, numerous studies now show that chronic pain affects us in multiple ways. Alarmingly, chronic pain is associated with brain atrophy of up to 11%, equivalent to 10-20 years of normal aging. Other affects include altered brain chemistry, high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, immune system suppression, elevated stress hormones, adrenal exhaustion, depression, insomnia, and suicide. It takes...

The Chiropractic Advantage Explained

  There’s a common perception that chiropractic care is only for neck and back pain. If that was the case, I would have named my practice “Chiropractic Back and Neck Center.” Chiropractic is so much more. Who wouldn’t want improved balance and posture? What about improved speed, coordination, and reaction time for sports performance and everyday life? Spinal stress and inflammation can compromise nerve flow to areas like shoulders,...

Childbirth Epidurals, Headaches and Back Pain

Recently, a nice young woman we’ll call Mrs. X came in to Chiropractic Advantage for some help. She was complaining of severe headaches and back pain. The headaches had started two years earlier, when Mrs. X received an epidural injection during childbirth. Evidently, the procedure did not go off ideally, and there was some leakage of spinal fluid at the injection site. Many of our patients have gone through...

Right Time, Right Place

Something is happening out there that’s got me very excited. For years, I have felt that I’ve been ahead of my time, trying to educate people how to lead a Healthier Lifestyle. (Trust me, it’s been an uphill battle; my advertising budget is about 2.7 billion dollars less than the big pharmaceutical companies’.) What’s got me excited? People like high school senior Phillip Adilukito, who gave a presentation on...

Genetically Modified Foods Trigger Belly Pain

Get ready for another pain in the belly. New information released by the Institute for Responsible Technology indicates that genetically modified foods (GM foods) trigger problems like impaired digestion and imbalanced gut flora. In turn, our injured guts may be more likely to become sensitive to gluten, found in foods like wheat. Wheat itself is not genetically modified, although it has been hybridized (bred for certain traits). While originally,...

Back Pain Overtreated by M.D.’s

If the brakes on your car were squealing, what would you think of your mechanic if he/she did expensive diagnostic testing on your car, then supplied you with and expensive set of earplugs to cover up the squealing sound? Crazy? Yes, but that’s the approach your medical doctor is likely to take when your back or neck sounds the pain alarm on you! According to researchers at Harvard Medical...

Patient Profile: Dave Isley goes 248 Miles Per Hour!

When you drive at 248 miles per hour, you are going to need a chiropractor, and Dr. Sharon Martinez is proud to be Dave Isley’s! Dave is one of a very small group of people holding land speed racing records of over 248 miles per hour. He does it in a rear engine roadster and also races his Harley Davidson motorcycle. Dave has an ultimate goal of going 300...

Lavender Works Like Estrogen

Last week, I treated a ten-week-old infant boy who had been crying excessively for seven straight weeks. Up until the time his mother decided to bring him in for a chiropractic adjustment (which helped tremendously!) she had tried every home remedy she could think of. She had even tried rubbing her baby with lavender body cream. I’m glad she mentioned that fact–I told her to stop the cream immediately....

Think Whole Foods this Thanksgiving!

For those of you getting a grocery list together for a fantastic Thanksgiving feast, here’s a recipe I love, courtesy of raw foods Chef AJ, featured in the video above. 1 bag organic cranberries 2 oranges, peeled, plus the zest of one orange 3 handfuls of whole dates (pitted)….throw everything in your blender or food processer and pulse until smooth. You can sample this raw cranberry relish at Chiropractic...

What Causes Heart Palpitations? Eight Common Causes

One of my patients, who works at Starbucks, says some customers ask for up to ten added shots of espresso in their morning cup of coffee. Others prefer the canned energy drinks found at gas stations. If one of those is you, go ahead and skip the rest of this article. You know why your heart is racing. However, if you’re confounded by your heart skipping, jumping, missing a...