04/07/08

Did you ever stop to think what headache pain means?  There is a good reason for the pain - just as there is a good reason for the red light and siren on a police, or other emergency vehicle.  Headache pain is nature's signal warning you that something is amiss somewhere

in your body.  When your head aches, it does so because something is wrong - perhaps something quite serious.  It is a signal, also, to do something about it - to remove the cause of the headache before more serious damage occurs.

Although few laymen are capable of diagnosing their own ills, millions will gulp pain relievers to deaden headaches.  They will do this day after day, ignoring nature's danger signals.  To do this is like disconnecting the warning signal at a railroad crossing, then driving across the tracts in the path of an oncoming train.  Disaster could result!

TYPES OF HEADACHES

There are many types of headaches.  Some, such as those following overindulgence in food or drink, have simple explanations.  But any head pain should send a thinking person to his or her doctor of chiropractic immediately!

The intermediate causes of headaches may include eye trouble, digestive, eliminative, kidney or heart troubles, infected tonsils, meningitis, nerve involvement from spinal conditions, and in rare cases, brain trouble itself.  In women, disorders of the generative system often are responsible for headaches.

One of the most frequent cause of headaches is misalignment of one or more of the cervical vertebrae.  These small spinal bones in the neck region, when displaced by unusual stress, can affect the function of nerve fibers passing between them from the spinal cord, thereby producing pain in the cranial region.

REFERRED PAIN

The irritation of one set of nerve fibers often is communicated to another which serves an entirely different function in your body.  This condition produces "referred pains", and may be localized in one region or organ while the originating cause of the trouble is in another part of the body.

Your doctor of chiropractic, by eliminating the basic cause of the headache, also may help your body overcome the associated condition for which the head pain may be a warning signal.

Chiropractors explain that the activity of every part of the body is controlled by the brain. The function of every cell, tissue, gland, muscle and organ in your body ultimately depends on the commands of your brain - given automatically and without conscious effort on your part.

These commands, or nerve impulses, are transmitted from the brain through the spinal cord, then along various nerve trunks to a vast multitude of smaller nerves throughout the body.

NERVE ENERGY

If all parts of the body receive their proper amounts of nerve energy, transmitted from the brain without interference en route, your body will function at maximum health.  Often however, the stresses of daily activity, bodily jolts or sudden twists will cause one or

more of your spinal vertebrae, which serve to protect the spinal cord, to slip ever so slightly out of normal position and become subluxated.

Subluxated vertebrae cause an impediment in the amount of nerve energy flowing through one or more nerve trunks emanating from the spinal cord.  When the part of your body served by the affected nerves receives an abnormal amount of energy - either too much or too little - it is unable to function properly.

The chiropractor, by careful examination of his or her patient, and making skilled adjustment of the spine, helps to restore the troublesome vertebrae to their proper positions, thereby eliminating the cause of the nerve interference.

With the spinal cause of the nerve interference corrected, permitting unimpeded flow of nerve impulses, your body then is capable of using its own mighty restorative powers to return its affected parts to full health.

Preserve and protect your health through chiropractic care - the most modern, most efficient way to perfect health.

Imagine... you are a passenger in an automobile stopped at an intersection.  Suddenly, the driver shouts, "Brace yourself!"  With insufficient time to respond, you instinctively tense yourself for the crash.  Before you can control your reactions, your body is thrust forward with the car and your head and neck are whipped backward.  You are the victim of a rear end collision.

Unexpected jolts and severe impacts can cause whip-like head and neck motions, resulting in cervical (neck) sprain, cervical syndrome, acute cervical traumatic neuralgia, cervical fixation, and more commonly "whiplash."  Common producers of whiplash are falls, automobile accidents, or any force which overcome normally stabilizing and controlling structures in the neck and head.

Your head is delicately balanced on 7 cervical vertebrae (neck bones) with a weight ratio of approximately 10 to 1.  As your head is thrust backward, several thousand pounds of force must be dissipated and absorbed through the neck.  The degree of this force determines the impact and resulting damage to the neck.

In a whiplash case, cervical ligaments may be torn and intervertebral discs may be compressed.  Because ligaments and discs have no pain fibers, symptoms may not appear for days, weeks, or even months.  But muscle spasms and inflammation around the cervical nerves and nerve roots, can produce loss of normal neck motion, headaches, dizziness, and neuralgia (pain along the course of a nerve) usually within 12 to 24 hours.

As the inflammation subsides, these symptoms may seem negligible; but the damage is there, along with the possibility of compounding disc degeneration and exostosis (spurring of arthritic formation)

Early detection of probable damage and appropriate care are essential in preventing serious consequences.  The chiropractor's use of x-ray and other analytical procedures detect even minute misalignments of the cervical vertebrae... vertebrae which may have been displaced by the impact and allowed to move by the torn ligaments.  With specific chiropractic adjustments, the vertebrae can be restored to their normal functioning position.  Correction of the primary injury, rather than the relief from it, is essential to normal repair of ligaments, discs, and muscles.

Whiplash injuries can produce partial or even total disability.  Early care is essential to minimize these effects.  Because healing time can be quite prolonged, it is important to allow adequate time for complete correction.

HOW CHIROPRACTIC CAN HELP

The chiropractor, by spinal adjustment, can relieve whiplash.  Spinal adjustment restores the flow of normal nerve impulses to surrounding tissue.  Normal movement and fluid balance is restored and the spine once again receives its normal supply of nutrients.

Statistics show that many whiplash cases handled have been corrected through specific spinal adjustment.  Through skilled analysis, the chiropractor can located spinal subluxations caused by the injury.  Adjustments then aid the body to correct the spinal imbalance which is the basic cause of the condition.

Regular visits to your chiropractor for spinal examinations often averts serious problems.

Sciatica is essentially an abnormal condition of the great sciatic nerve which supplies the tissues of the thigh and lower leg.

PAIN IS CHARACTERISTIC

the basic characteristic of this condition is pain.  This pain may be the result of inflammation of the sciatic nerve, of its sheath, or an impingement upon the sensory nerve fibers which have their peripheral termination in the sciatic nerve.

For this reason sciatica can be classified under one or two heads:  either as neuritis of the nerve tissue, or as neuralgia.  If the condition is one of neuritis, it is marked by congestion, swelling, redness and pain in the nerve substance.

EFFECT ON NERVES

Such a condition, when it first exists, gives rise to a marked degree of pain.  As it progresses, the pain becomes less pronounced and congestion is gradually eliminated by the overgrowth of connecting tissue which binds the nerve fibers together.

This connective tissue contracts, not only eliminating the congestion in the nerve, but producing compression on the filaments which it contains.

For this reason the carrying capacity of these nerve fibers is decreased and the effects which are noted depend entirely upon the function of those fibers.

MOTOR NERVES

Some nerves are given the function of transmitting vital energy in the form of motor impulses.  If they are impinged upon, the condition is one of partial paralysis, which gradually progresses until complete paralysis results.

SENSORY NERVES

If it is the sensory fibers which are affected, the condition gradually progresses until such time as a complete loss of sensibility manifests itself.  The member becomes insensible to heat, cold, pressure and other sensations which can be felt only if the sensory nerves have their normal carrying capacity.

We have determined, then, what change occurs in the nerve tissue.  Logically, the way to correct the condition is to eliminate those factors which produce the abnormality.

SOLUTION

The chiropractor is specially trained to locate the vertebra which is abnormally positioned and is producing inflammation in the sciatic nerve.

Not only is he able to locate the vertebra which is subluxated (slightly displaced), but he is trained also to determine the direction in which this subluxation exists.

Furthermore, he possesses the ability to restore the vertebra to its normal position with a chiropractic adjustment.

If you are suffering from sciatica, the best course of action is to visit your chiropractor.  Have him examine your spine and point out to you where the trouble exists.  Then let him adjust the subluxated segment.

SPINAL COLUMN

The spinal column consists of 26 bone segments called vertebrae, sacrum, and coccyx.

The spinal cord passes through the vertebrae.  Between these vertebrae are openings from which the great nerve trunks emit vital life force.  This vital life force is carried by these nerve trunks from the brain to the various organs, muscles, and tissues of the body.

WHICH CAME FIRST, THE CHICKEN OR THE EGG?

The age old question could be applied to disc problems of the human spine.  What caused the problem, the disc or the spine?  Popular opinion today most often blames the disc, but chiropractic science takes exception to this opinion.

Chiropractic has found spinal misalignments, called subluxations, cause unusual stress to the discs and thus the discs become involved.  Disc conditions are serious spinal problems regardless of their origins.  They deserve attention so that destructive change does not take place and result in extensive damage to your spine.

SLIPPED DISC

Actually a disc cannot slip.  It is adhered firmly to the bones (vertebra) of the spine.  The center of the disc, however, is a semi-soft pulpy substance called the nucleus, and it can shift or slip from its normal position.  The nucleus should be located in the center of the disc space.  In this position it acts as the resistive substance.  The sides of the disc are made up of strong fibers which hold the nucleus in its central position.  As the spine moves and rotates, the disc allows space for this movement, received by the human body.  They are the cushions between the 24 vertebrae of your spine.  When the spine is in proper alignment no unusual pressures are applied to the discs, but when the vertebrae become misaligned (subluxated) the discs come under unusual strain.

DISC DEGENERATION AND DETERIORATION

People feel degeneration and deterioration are signs of complete destruction, and there is no hope for repair.  As time passes, the aging process causes degeneration and deterioration of the spinal discs.  Normal deterioration causes little problems, however, if the misalignments (subluxations) are allowed to exist in the spine, the discs can become wedged.  This can produce early deterioration and degenerative change.  Such degeneration is destructive and will cause a narrowing of discs on one side.

Between the 24 vertebrae of the human spine are openings for the spinal nerves.  When a disc becomes narrow on one side it may cause a narrowing of the nerve opening.  If the disc bulges to one side, it may get in the way of the nerve opening, causing interference to the spinal nerves.

The often mentioned "pinched nerve" is a result of this occurrence.  It is important that spinal alignment is maintained so that unusual stress on the disc do not cause early and abnormal degenerative changes.

CHIROPRACTIC CARE

Chiropractors adjust the misaligned vertebra which is called a subluxation.  The adjustment of the vertebra is bone by hand.  After examining the patient to determine the exact misalignment, a force (thrust) is applied to the vertebra.

This thrust is made in the proper direction to restore the normal position of the vertebra.  The adjustment (thrust) is accomplished with speed and dexterity so that very little pain, if any is felt by the patient.

Chiropractic offers an alternative approach to disc problems.  The results obtained through chiropractic care often can avoid long periods of disability and surgery.  A word of caution: There is no such thing as a "simple backache".  Backaches are nature's warning signals and they may warn of serious organic problems.  These symptoms should not be ignored, and you should seek a consultation with a chiropractor.

After a careful and thorough examination, your chiropractor will evaluate if you have a spinal, and/or disc problem which will respond to chiropractic care.

This conservative approach to back problems has been largely responsible for chiropractic's success.

The shoulder joint has great mobility - perhaps the greatest range of motion in any joint of the body.  For that reason, the shoulder is subject to considerable trauma.  Forceful exercise, rheumatism, bursitis, sprains, occupational stress, postural defects - any of these can cause shoulder pain.

Pain is nature's warning something has gone wrong.  Pain signals are caused by sensory nerve stimulation.  The network of nerves coordinating movement of the shoulder and arms is called the brachial plexus.  The brachial plexus supplies vital nerve energy transmitted from the brain through the spinal column to the shoulder muscles.

SHOULDER JOINT INJURIES

The shoulder joint, like other body joints, also can become infected or injured.  A strained or torn tendon, resulting from a fall or unusual strain, is a frequent type of shoulder injury.  Such injuries can produce a vertebral misalignment called a subluxation.

SUBLUXATION AND CHIROPRACTIC

The brain produces electrical impulses of energy constantly, generating power to muscles and organs.  A vertebral misalignment irritates the nerve, which distorts these impulses.  Without the normal supply of nerve energy, sprains, infections, or torn muscles cannot heal.  Chiropractors are trained to located subluxations and to relieve pressure by correcting the subluxated vertebrae.

SHOULDER PAIN AND SPINAL ADJUSTMENTS

Inflammation and pressure resulting from subluxations are relieved by spinal adjustments.  Adjustments restore the normal energy impulses, allowing nature's healing process to proceed.  Gradually, the shoulder pains subside.

SEE YOUR CHIROPRACTOR WHEN PAIN BEGINS

Immediate attention to shoulder pain can prevent secondary complications; statistics show early treatment helps ensure favorable results.  Don't wait for pain to vanish.  Consult your chiropractor when shoulder pain begins.

THE SPINAL COLUMN: KEY TO HEALTH

The spinal column consists of 26 bone segments called the vertebrae, sacrum and coccyx.  The spinal cord passes through these vertebrae and the great nerve trunks transmit energy from the openings between the vertebrae.  For this reason, chiropractors consider the spinal column the key to good health.

WHAT YOUR CHIROPRACTOR DOES TO RESTORE HEALTH

Your chiropractor is an expert on the spinal column.  He will examine your spine, possibly using x-rays to locate the problem.  He has received 383 hours of x-ray instruction.  If indicated, your chiropractor will suggest chiropractic spinal adjustments to restore your vital nerve flow.

He will not administer drugs which often mask the cause of the problem.  He will work to eliminate the source of your problem, allowing nature to do its own restorative job.

Make sure you enjoy your free time to the fullest; visit your chiropractor regularly - he'll keep you feeling fit.

YOUR DOCTOR OF CHIROPRACTIC


He is a representative of the world's largest drugless healing profession, and a healing science most modern in concept.

Rather than administering drugs, your chiropractor determines if neurological complications are at the root of the problem; then he works to eliminate this basic cause, thus restoring and maintaining health.

Keeping your health is better than waiting for sickness to strike.  It is your great advantage to visit your doctor of chiropractic on a regular basis.

Chiropractors are often asked whether they can be of any help in the cases of sinusitis.  The answer can sometimes be complex.

An inflammation of one or more sinuses may result from many causes: reactions to various chemicals in the air or in certain fibers or materials such as soap or plastic; simple allergies; or otherwise from a temporary or permanent inability of a person's body to deal with artificially - or even naturally - occurring substances.

Such failures on the part of the physiology of a body are not infrequent.  Hereditary factors may be the underlying cause; the ingestion of drugs or certain medications may bring them on; or, as evidenced by the response of many to chiropractic care, neuro-spinal inadequacies may precipitate them.

The spine, a highly flexible mechanical structure, housing as it does an important element of the nervous system, is susceptible to a derangement of its articular relationships.  When the joints of the spine, particularly those joints (articulations) which function in the neck, become displaced or otherwise fail to function normally, a direct or indirect effect on the nerves supplying the region can result.  The tissues supplied by these nerves can then lose their normal healthy state and symptoms like those of sinusitis may result.

Logically, if the latter condition occurs, a correction of the spinal joint dysfunction would result in a return to a healthy condition by the tissues affected.

To learn whether a neuro-spinal problem may be at the root of a "sinus problem" a chiropractic examination is essential.  Your doctor of chiropractic is uniquely suited by education, training and clinical experience to make such an examination and to advise you on his or her findings.  The evaluation is not a lengthy process, but the results of it may lead to a much more comfortable and healthy life for the sufferers of a sinus malady.

The chiropractor, by spinal adjustment, can relieve sinusitis.  Spinal adjustment restores the flow of normal nerve impulses to surrounding tissue.  Normal movement and fluid balance is restored and the spine once again receives its normal supply of nutrients.

Statistics show that many sinusitis cases handled have been corrected through specific spinal adjustment.  Through skilled analysis, the chiropractor can locate spinal subluxations caused by the injury.  Adjustments then aid the body to correct the spinal imbalance which is the basic cause of the condition.

Regular visits to your chiropractor for spinal examinations often avert serious problems.

YOUR DOCTOR OF CHIROPRACTIC

He is a representative of the world's largest drugless healing profession, and a healing science most modern in concept.

Rather than administering drugs, your chiropractor determines if neurological complications are at the root of the problem; then he works to eliminate this basic cause, thus restoring and maintaining health.

Keeping your health is better than waiting for sickness to strike.  It is your great advantage to visit your doctor of chiropractic on a regular basis.

A spinal curvature generally begins in early childhood and steadily becomes worse.  Chiropractors are able to correct such curvatures, providing they have not progressed too far; that is, if the patient is not too old and if the degree of curvature is not so marked that the bony segments of the spine have lost their normal shape and size.

MUSCULAR TENSION

Numerous ligaments and muscles are attached to the spine.  These ligaments and muscles extend from the spine in opposite directions, with an equal number on either side.  Normally these muscles have an equal pull, keeping the spine in the median line.  However, when a set of ligaments and muscles exert a stronger pull than the ones on the other side of the spine, a curvature develops.  Why do the muscles on one side contract and pull harder than those on the other?

REASON FOR TENSION

Every muscle is supported by nerve fibers which carry motor impulses from the brain to the muscle tissue.  Normally these impulses are barely sufficient to maintain the tone of that muscle, which manifests itself as a slight contraction.  If anything occurs to produce an excessive expression of these motor impulses, the muscle is excessively contracted.  In the case of the muscles along the spine, this causes the vertebrae to be pulled.

FAR-REACHING EFFECTS

There are many far-reaching effects of spinal curvature which the patient does not realize.  The curvature forces segments of the spine to assume an unnatural position; this may strain muscles or ligaments, crowd the internal organs or impair circulation.

Spinal curvature may irritate the spinal cord and nerve trunks also.  These nerve trunks supply various organs of the body.  Therefore, it may be said that any organ could be affected, and any bodily function impaired, because of spinal curvature.

HOW DOES CHIROPRACTIC HELP?

There are two approaches used by your doctor of chiropractic as he works with his patients.  Both are to assure as normal a spine as possible.  One, however, is literally before the fact.  Your doctor of chiropractic has a fine health maintenance program.  By seeing your chiropractor at regular intervals, he will examine you very carefully and then adjust those vertebrae which may be out of alignment.  This program is designed to locate and correct the spinal problem before other health conditions have an opportunity to become a severe problem.

The other consideration the doctor of chiropractic has, is to correct the condition, short or long range, which has already become extremely painful and difficult.  It is well to remember in many instances problems which have been a long time in developing may also require a series of regular visits to your chiropractor before the ailment is completely corrected.

The important thing is to make an appointment with your chiropractor.  Allow him to give you a complete physical examination, take x-rays if the doctor believes them necessary, have him make a proper evaluation of your condition, and then proceed to correct the problem with chiropractic adjustments.

Chiropractic is a natural healing art.  A fundamental premise of chiropractic lies in the fact that human organisms want to be well.  The term which is used is "homeostasis" which means "the inherent capability of the body to be well and whole".  Your doctor of chiropractic knows the importance of this by virtue of his college training and clinical experience

YOUR DOCTOR OF CHIROPRACTIC

He is a representative of the world's largest drugless healing profession, and a healing science most modern in concept.

Rather than administering drugs, your chiropractor determines if neurological complications are at the root of the problem; then he works to eliminate this basic cause, thus restoring and maintaining health.

Keeping your health is better than waiting for sickness to strike.  It is your great advantage to visit your doctor of chiropractic on a regular basis.

The common cold is a persistent nuisance.  This respiratory disease may cause inflamed nasal cavities, blocked sinuses and sore throat; complications can spread the infection to the trachea or bronchi.

Cold symptoms are sneezing, coughing, nasal discharge or stuffiness.  Accompanying symptoms more threatening to the patient's health are severe headache and fever.  Sometimes a cold clears up within twenty-four hours; too often, however, it may linger on for many dreary days.

CAUSE OF COLDS

According to most authorities, the common cold is caused by a virus.  This microscopic germ spreads quickly from one person to another.  Most viruses cause the body to manufacture "antibodies" to fight recurrence of the same disease.  This protection is called immunity.  Unlike other viruses, the cold virus fails to confer immunity upon the cold sufferer; thus, a person can have several colds in the course of a single year.

CONTRIBUTING FACTORS

Allergies, inhalation of noxious fumes, wet feet, allowing the body to become chilled and vertebral subluxation all can contribute to colds because they lower body resistance.

However, in the absence of a virus, these contributing factors will not produce a cold.  This was demonstrated by travelers to the Arctic and by shipwrecked men, compelled to spend many weeks at sea on rafts or open boats

CHIROPRACTIC HELPS

Although chilling does not affect individuals whose tissue resistance is high because of normal nerve supply, poor nerve supply does lower resistance; this allows virus to grow rapidly in unhealthy tissue and a cold is often the result.

The science of chiropractic is based on the premise that adequate nerve supply is of prime importance in regulating the function of the body.  Chiropractors use this scientific principle to maintain good health and correct disease.

The upper respiratory tract and other vital parts of the body need a strong normal nerve supply.  In most cases of common cold the nervous system is functioning poorly.  A patient with a cold should see a chiropractor.  Your chiropractor is most qualified, through examination and spinal analysis, to locate and correct abnormal functioning of the nervous system.

CHIROPRACTIC WORKS

Headquarters for the central nervous system of the body is the brain.  Vital nerve energy is transmitted from the brain to the various parts of the body by means of the spinal cord and the spinal nerves, which branch from the spinal cord.

Abnormally stimulated or decreased nerve supply causes the body to function improperly.  Many factors can interfere with correct nerve supply: a blocked nerve can stop transmission of nerve impulses; administration of drugs can stimulate or inhibit normal nerve impulses; misalignment of the spinal column often figures in abnormal nerve transmission.

Chiropractic adjustments can correct these problems and restore good health.  Visit your chiropractor regularly to avoid future health problems.

YOUR DOCTOR OF CHIROPRACTIC

He is a representative of the world's largest drugless healing profession, and a healing science most modern in concept.

Rather than administering drugs, your chiropractor determines if neurological complications are at the root of the problem; then he works to eliminate this basic cause, thus restoring and maintaining health.

Keeping your health is better than waiting for sickness to strike.  It is your great advantage to visit your doctor of chiropractic on a regular basis.

From the time we are born, we use our legs in many ways.  They allow us to bend and stretch; they support our body weight, provide locomotion and permit us to participate actively in sports and leisure time activities.

Occasionally, they function as additional "hands" or leverage: opening and closing doors, moving heavy objects, picking up small objects, etc.

With our legs we "ride" a bicycle, swim, leap or climb.  From earliest history, man's legs have been the key to his survival, even affording protection.  No wonder, then, we have come to depend upon our legs.... through our daily routine.... through life!

WHEN LEG PAINS OCCUR

Considering the tasks our legs perform, leg pains are not surprising.  Lifting, pushing, extreme temperatures, accidents - any of these can cause trauma resulting in leg problems.

Fast pace and long working hours, even mental pressure can result in spinal stress which irritates tissue.  Pain can mount until it is unbearable.  To the postman, policeman, factory worker, housewife, farmer - leg problems are more than an inconvenience, they can restrict job performance.

THIGH AND LOWER LEG DISEASES

There are many painful leg diseases.  Examples are rheumatism, neuritis, and sciatica.

Rheumatism is cause by abnormal conditions of the muscles;  the lower back, hips and thighs are particularly susceptible to the problem

Neuritis is an abnormality in the nervous system.  Nerves become inflamed, accompanied by congestion, swelling, heat and redness in the affected areas.

Sciatica is an abnormal condition of the great sciatic nerve, supplying the tissue of the thigh and lower leg.

HOW CHIROPRACTIC CAN HELP

The chiropractic approach to health is concerned with spinal stress and misalignment (subluxation of vertebrae), which impinges nerves.  This impingement interferes with transmission of vital nerve energy.

The spinal column consists of 26 bone segments called vertebrae, sacrum, and coccyx.  The spinal cord passes through these vertebrae, and the great nerve trunks transmit energy form the openings between the vertebrae.  The vital life force within man is carried by these nerve trunks from the brain to the various organs, muscles, and tissues of the body.

The chiropractor is a specialist, trained to located and correct a subluxation.  Such disorders are often the cause of leg pains.

If you suffer from leg pains, ask your chiropractor to examine your spine.  If indicated, he will suggest chiropractic spinal adjustments which restore vital nerve energy.

Through skilled analysis, the chiropractor can located spinal subluxations caused by the injury.  Adjustments then aid the body to correct the spinal imbalance which is the basic cause of the condition.

Regular visits to your chiropractor for spinal examinations often avert serious problems.

YOUR DOCTOR OF CHIROPRACTIC

He is a representative of the world's largest drugless healing profession, and a healing science most modern in concept.

Rather than administering drugs, your chiropractor determines if neurological complications are at the root of the problem; then he works to eliminate this basic cause, thus restoring and maintaining health.

Keeping your health is better than waiting for sickness to strike.  It is your great advantage to visit your doctor of chiropractic on a regular basis.

UNIQUELY FEMALE....

Women are subject to many uniquely female health problems.  Among these are premenstrual syndrome (or PMS), a variety of symptoms occurring before and during a woman's period; dysmenorrhea - difficulty during menstruation that includes cramping, pain, and other symptoms; and menopause, the period of change that arises when menstruation ceases.

THE STANDARD MEDICAL APPROACH

The standard medical approach to menstrual complaints is controversial; it has been criticized both within and outside of the medical profession for its "general" practice of treating symptoms while ignoring their cause.  An example: many women are advised to take Ibuprofen or similar drugs to relieve the uncomfortable symptoms of menstruation, and although drugs often do relieve menstrual symptoms, they do not treat the cause which is generally completely ignored.  Years of pill-popping may cause adverse reactions or side effects.

HYSTERECTOMY, THE MEDICAL GOLD MINE

Hysterectomy, the amputation of the uterus, which may also include the removal of both tubes and both ovaries, is a common medical response to many female gynecological problems.  The United States has the highest hysterectomy rate in the world: two and a half times that of England and four times that of Sweden and some other European countries.  This operation is not prescribed only for the older woman; an increasing number are being performed on women under 30, 143 percent more than in 1965.

"These operations are almost always unnecessary," Nora W. Coffey, president of the H.E.R.S. Foundation (Hysterectomy Education Resources and Services) has said:  "When the ligaments and nerves which attach to the uterus are severed, the anatomical integrity of the pelvis is forever compromised, thus permitting the pelvic and hip bones to gradually widen.  Within the first year after a hysterectomy, women wear one or two sizes larger in pants and skirts as a result of the pelvic bones moving and broadening.  Naturally, this changes the alignment of the entire skeleton, often resulting in lower back, hip, and knee pain."

HYSTERECTOMY DAMAGE

As a result of hysterectomy women have experienced a profound loss of stamina, libido (sex drive), and sexual response; urinary incontinence; bowel problems; diminished blood flow resulting in icy feet and toes; diminished tactile sensation from the waist down; bone and joint pain; memory loss; depression; and many other physical and emotional problems.  It is a crime that so few doctors warn their patients about these too-common side effects.  The shame is that so few doctors have been taught in medical school about even the possibility of these problems.  As Ms. Coffey states:

"There are twenty million women alive in this country who have been hysterectomized and/or castrated.  Hysterectomy, amputation of the uterus, is the second most commonly performed surgical procedure in the United States, exceeded only by Cesarean section..  The HERS Foundation has referred sixteen thousand women to gynecologists who specialize in the conditions for which they had been told they needed hysterectomy.  As a result, 98% of those women were told they did not need hysterectomy.  They were treated either medically or by reconstructive surgery, and quite often no treatment was needed."

THE DARK AGES?

Though there are times when a hysterectomy may be necessary as with sever infection of the reproductive organs; necrotic (dead) tissue in the uterus; and cancer of the cervix, uterus, or ovaries that will not respond to more conservative care; the overwhelming majority of women who accept the verdict of hysterectomy may not need one.

By the time a woman reaches age 65 the chances are 50 percent that she will have had one of these operations.  "As we approach the twenty-first century," Ms. Coffey said, "hysterectomy/castration, which should have been abandoned in the Dark Ages, continues to be performed on close to one million women a year."

MENOPAUSE

Amazingly, a great many doctors consider menopause a disease instead of a normal physiologic state.  And because of this attitude women are often subjected to drug therapies that may cause dangerous side effects.  It would thus be far better for them first to explore more natural healing approaches when dealing with the symptoms of menopause.  According to the late Robert Mendelsohn, M.D.:

"Since medical treatment for hot flashes (for) over five decades has proven to be more dangerous than the disease (what disease?), and since the latest non-hormonal treatments are no less frightening than their predecessors, my best advice to women with hot flashes is to stay away from the doctor.  Talk to plenty of other women.  Read books on the subject by women who are not doctors.  If you must go to a doctor, remember that you are receiving experimental drugs whose side effects become more visible year after year."

THE CHIROPRACTIC APPROACH

Chiropractic is not a treatment for gynecological troubles and yet it has been a blessing to countless women with such problems.  Chiropractors do not treat disease at all but correct spinal nerve stress (which is also known as vertebral subluxations) - a dangerous condition that interferes with the nervous system and causes a state of "dis-ease" (or reduced health and wholeness) that can lead to disease.

NERVOUS-HORMONAL RELATIONSHIP

The relationship between the female reproductive system, nervous system, endocrine (hormonal) system and the spinal column is extensive.  The nervous and endocrine systems work together to ensure that the ovaries, oviducts (tubes), uterus, cervix, vagina, and related structures function normally.

People are sometimes surprised to learn that many organs other than the sexual organs are responsible for the health of the reproductive system.  Fore example, chemicals produced by the ovaries and adrenals (small glands situated on top of the kidneys) that are essential for reproduction are deactivated or broken down by the liver.  If the liver isn't working properly, these chemicals can build up to an unhealthy level and cause fibroid tumors in the uterus (leiomyomas), which, although benign, account for at least one-third of all gynecological admissions to hospitals. 

Periodic changes in the body chemistry also affect the brain chemistry and cause mood changes.  In fact, one of the main manifestations of premenstrual syndrome is psychological.

CHIROPRACTIC CARE

Further, it is no coincidence that many women who suffer from menstrual cramps also suffer from spinal problems such as neck or back pain.  In one study of 122 women the majority of dysmenorrhea sufferers had lower back problems and spinal displacements.  Perhaps that is why many women who initially visited a chiropractor for neck or back problems experienced beneficial effects on menstrual cramps, pain, and other gynecological problems.  There are, however, many women who suffer from menstrual problems and other health conditions who will not go to the chiropractor because: "If I don't have a backache, why go to the chiropractor?"  Unfortunately they share the common misperception that chiropractors are "backache doctors" and thus they may never learn the true benefits of chiropractic care.

RESEARCH

Scientific investigation into the relationship between spinal health and gynecological problems has reported encouraging results.  In one study of 496 patients who received spinal care, more than 95% experienced relief of general gynecological problems.  In 1986 Novotny found spinal care to have a beneficial effect on PMS in particular and a 1990 study of dysmenorrhea found that "dysfunction of the uterus and structural fixation at these same spinal segments of innervation can be indicative of a somatovisceral reflex...adjusting these vertebrae and creating motion in the joints seemed to influence the exiting nerves, restoring proper nervous transmission to the uterus...By correcting the fixations (subluxations) the chiropractor may establish appropriate nerve transmission to the autonomic nervous system.

CONCLUSION

A well educated patient s her own best protection against unnecessary surgery, useless medication, and needless suffering.  Chiropractors emphasize the importance of reading the fine print (as in drug product inserts); reading books; getting second and third opinions, and, whenever possible, exploring alternatives to radical procedures.

Remember, a healthy spinal column is essential for the health of the female reproductive system.  It is vital for women with or without gynecological problems to have routine spinal checkups by a doctor of chiropractic.  Especially where there are problems, a chiropractic spinal examination could make all the difference between sickness and health.

Bursal sacs perform amazingly efficient jobs of protecting several joints in your body, acting as lubricators and shock absorbers.

Bursal sacs are made up of fibrous living tissue, and are filled with a thin fluid.  These sacs form a protective cover around joints in such places as the elbow, shoulder, and knee.

When your body is in a healthy state, you are not aware of healthy functioning structures.  Your joints are working smoothly, as nature intended them to work.

IMPULSES FROM THE BRAIN

In a healthy state, all parts of your body are constantly receiving tiny electrical-like impulses from the brain, transmitted over an unbelievably complex network of nerve.  These impulses eventually direct every organ, muscle, tissue and cell in your body to perform their assigned tasks which add up to the total living process.

Trouble arises when an interference factor is introduced into this healthy living process.  A nerve trunk in the spinal column may become impinged, for instance, distorting the impulses it is carrying to that part of the body it is serving - and your body's healthy state begins to deteriorate.

Just such nerve interference can affect the protective lubricating fluid in the bursal sac - in the elbow, shoulder, or knee, for instance.  The fluid in the sac becomes thick and gritty, losing its lubricating effect, and resulting in inflammation.  The joint becomes stiff and sore.

The condition, taking its name form the protective bursal sac, is commonly called bursitis.  Athletes may refer to it as a "game arm."  Housewives may call it "housemaid's knee."

NERVE IRRITATION

Whatever the name, the condition is painful and, if not corrected, calcium deposits may form on the joint, possibly resulting in permanent immobility.

Bursitis may start in several ways - commonly involved with impeded transmission of nerve impulses.  Spinal vertebrae out of normal position may irritate a nerve, causing chemical irritation which, in turn, affects the bursa.

Excessive fatigue may put a burden on your body to which it can not adapt.  The strain may permit a vertebra to become misaligned, causing nerve impingement.

SUBLUXATION

An accident, such as a fall, may produce a nerve-impinging vertebral misalignment, called a subluxation.  If you fall and injure the bursa of the shoulder joint, bursitis will be transitory - unless the fall produces a subluxation which prevents the natural healing forces in your body from reaching the injured part.

The logical answer for painful joints in which bursitis may be suspected, therefore, is immediate care by a doctor of chiropractic, who has years of training and is highly skilled in locating and eliminating vertebral subluxations.

Chiropractors do not prescribe liniments or drugs designed to ease the pain or reduce the swelling caused by bursitis.  Chiropractors look for the basic cause of the condition - interference to the normal transmission of nerve imposes, most commonly found in the highly flexible spinal column.

When the basic cause of ill health is removed, your body can again function as a healthy unit.

YOUR DOCTOR OF CHIROPRACTIC

He is a representative of the world's largest drugless healing profession, and a healing science most modern in concept.

Rather than administering drugs, your chiropractor determines if neurological complications are at the root of the problem; then he works to eliminate this basic cause, thus restoring and maintaining health.

Keeping your health is better than waiting for sickness to strike.  It is your great advantage to visit your doctor of chiropractic on a regular basis.

Most of us are born with the capability of experiencing pain.  It is rare, but not unknown, when a person fails to suffer anguish resulting from a hand placed on a hot stove.  Because we inherit the characteristic of feeling pain, there is little if any need to think about the countless nerve ends or receptors all over our bodies which warn of trouble and danger for physical well being.  Many of the receptors, tiny nerve fibers with no insulation of fat to dull their purpose, will never have the opportunity of signaling peril.  But they are on duty just the same for the lifetime of each of us.

The warning network is two-fold and overlapping.  Larger nerve fibers carry the message of pain quickly.  This accounts for that excruciating agony we have when we crack our shin on the coffee table.  The smaller nerve fibers react more slowly keeping the pain an ongoing matter.  Sometimes the pains are concurrent and a rhythmic throbbing sensation results.

Hopefully infrequent, this kind of pain is a normal expression of our life.  We grudgingly accept it as a natural experience.  The nightmare of a headache is something else.  It, too often serves to let us know something's wrong.  The headache can overwhelm us with its insistent intensity.  Unpredictable and varied, some headaches may be dull and barely noticeable.  On the other hand, a migraine can be vicious, affecting the other senses as well.

A headache can be expressed in many locations.  It may be at the base of the skull, on top of the head or between the eyes.  It can be so general its victim can hardly pinpoint location.  A headache seemingly can be its own problem, or related to other conditions.  Whatever the cause, a headache is merciless and unappealing.  The nervous system transmits the signals with a swift certainty.

The massive network of nerve is similar to the nation's telephone system.  As telephones bind the country's communication, so does the nervous system with its central clearing house, the brain.  It is important for nerve energy flow to be clear and responsive to all needs of the body and actions we put it through.

Your doctor of chiropractic is a specialist in the field of neuro-spinal malfunctioning.  With particular emphasis on joint malfunctions of the spine, the doctor of chiropractic carefully examines the musculo-skeletal system.  Probably, he will use several different approaches in his examination which may include x-ray, palpation of the spine, or instrumentation.  His training and experience is dedicated to the restoration of the spinal structures so that nerve transmission might again be whole and normal.

Exactly what is normal transmission of nerve energy?  The brain, magnificent central controller that it is, sends forth messages to every part of our body.  It pumps the blood through the circulatory system, causes us to perspire in the hot sun and tantalizes our taste buds when we savor our favorite foods.  It controls all functions, those which are stimulated by our direct thought or those roles which are almost automatic such as the beating of the heart or the growth of hair.

When normal nerve transmission becomes distorted, illness may set in.  Your doctor of chiropractic, in assessing the possibility of the malfunctioning of the articulations or joints of the spine, will also develop the corrective measures which must be taken to assure normal nerve transmission.

through a series of chiropractic adjustments, the integrity of the spine is restored, thereby enabling transmission of normal nerve impulses to be re-established.  With this done, the messages of the brain are cleanly delivered.  Those portions of the body affected by the nerves previously distorted, again have the opportunity of the expression which nature intended it to have.  That of good health.

Chiropractic is the world's largest natural health system.  Daily, countless patients go to doctors of chiropractic the world over.  See your doctor of chiropractic regularly.  Working with the basic internal health to which we are entitled and establishing the functional purpose of the musculo-skeletal system, many patients find themselves relieved of their ill health.

The dictionary defines nervousness as "having nerves easily affected; high-strung; excitable; jittery." 

It is often difficult to remain calm in today's hectic world, but we all know people who seem to become unduly tense and excitable... the man who becomes highly irritated when interrupted in his work... the student who "freezes" and cannot pass his test... the housewife who becomes frantic at the prospect of company coming.

EXCESS EMOTION CAN BE PHYSICALLY HARMFUL

When you are angry, your blood pressure elevates and your body chemistry changes; even your blood clotting level alters and it is possible to bleed to death from a minor cut.  Unbearable tension can squeeze veins shut and restrict circulation - the tension headache which can result from such stress.

People ordinarily learn to work in the midst of noise and confusion, but some people, suffering from nervousness, become more and more agitated.

When such people can no longer cope with the problems and annoyances of life, they suffer what is commonly called a "nervous breakdown."  The technical term for this is "neurasthenia."  Statistics show six out of every hundred persons nervous to the point where they are unable to carry on major activities.

WHAT CAN CHIROPRACTIC DO ABOUT NERVOUSNESS?

Chiropractic can help nervous conditions to clear up; the explanation for this lies with the brain and its part in the mental process of an individual.

Our knowledge of external conditions is received through our senses: sight, taste, smell, touch, and hearing.  The eye may see, but the interpretation of what the eye sees occurs in the brain; the ear picks up sounds, but again, the interpretation of these sound waves occurs in the brain.  This is true of all our special senses.

If our brain's interpretation of commonplace events becomes distorted, we many find ourselves extremely nervous.

NERVE IMPULSES

To function properly, the brain must receive tiny electrical-type impulses which are transmitted continuously over your intricate nervous system.  Just as the liver, stomach, or any other organ of the body is supplied with nerve fibers to carry theses "messages" which maintain normal function, so the tissues of the brain must receive proper nerve impulses to function normally.

The nerve fibers which convey these impulses from one part of the brain to another, from the spinal cord back into the cranial cavity, are called "recurrent" fibers.  If something happens to prevent these fibers from carrying the proper vital nerve energy, the tissues they supply become abnormal in their function.

SUBLUXATION

A subluxation is a misalignment of the vertebrae of the spinal column.  This vertebral subluxation produces an irritation of the nerve trunk and, in turn, produces a distortion in the impulses transmitted over that nerve.

Chiropractors are highly skilled in locating spinal subluxations and restoring spinal integrity by chiropractic adjustments.

When the vertebrae are adjusted to their normal position, the impaired nerve functions normally and the cause of nervousness has been eliminated.

YOUR DOCTOR OF CHIROPRACTIC

He is a representative of the world's largest drugless healing profession, and a healing science most modern in concept.

Rather than administering drugs, your chiropractor determines if neurological complications are at the root of the problem; then he works to eliminate this basic cause, thus restoring and maintaining health.

Keeping your health is better than waiting for sickness to strike.  It is your great advantage to visit your doctor of chiropractic on a regular basis.

The stomach, that portion of the body we pleasurably relate to at least three times a day, is shaped very much like a college student's wine skin.  It begins high in the abdomen and has two openings.  The top inlet takes in the food we have just savored and swallowed.  After the stomach has done its work, the partially processed food exits into the intestines where true energy conversion begins.

Highly mobile, the stomach has a silken outer lining which allows it to glide against its neighbors just below the diaphragm.  Inside the stomach, there is another silky lining, one which is wrinkled to house thirty-five million glands necessary for the organ to function.

When you are hungry, a number of things take place at the sight and aroma of a good meal.  Depending on the degree of your appetite, your mouth begins to water; saliva with its starch digesting enzymes is ready for the first bite of steak.  The stomach awakens automatically and is ready for the food to descend.  It is receptive and relaxed in anticipation of the work ahead.

As food enters the stomach, a vigorous action takes place.  It begins to knead, blending the intake of steak, salad and potato.  As it does so, a powerful enzyme known as pepsin begins its work, breaking down the protein form large molecules into smaller ones.  There is an urgency for the stomach to complete its work.  Nothing entering the digestive process is allowed to linger.

In order for pepsin to work, it must live in an acid world, so the stomach secretes large quantities of hydrochloric acid.  A delicate balance must be maintained.  Too much hydrochloric acid and we have an attack of hyper-acidity; too little acid, and we have alkalinity.  Other conditions may prevail with imbalance.  Gastritis is an inflammation of the stomach lining, and if left too long over a period of time, it can develop into gastric ulcers, leaving potholes in the stomach wall.

Aside from nibbling a tasty hors d'oeuvre which prepares the stomach for more to come, almost all of the stomach's function is automatic.  We don't have to think about it!  It is ready to do its selective work.  The stomach handles the easiest-to-process foods first; a handful of dry roasted nuts will remain longer.  It's all so automatic!  But is it really?

YOUR BRAIN PLAYS A PART

The command post known as the brain would take exception if it could speak.  Here all functions of the body are controlled including that of the stomach.  Many of the body processes are handled automatically, with or without our thinking about them.

Billions of commands streak from the brain through the spinal cord to nerve trunks and to branches, large and small.  If the messages are clear and concise, good health usually prevails.  If the communication becomes garbled, a variety of events leading to ill-health may well arise. 

The most vulnerable area for nerve transmission lies in the spinal column; the flexible shaft housing the spinal cord.  When one or more joints of the spine are malfunctioning, the transference of command from the brain to the stomach may be distorted.

Your doctor of chiropractic is an expert in the spinal musculo-skeletal field.  His lengthy studies and experience enables him to adjust segments of the spine so that normal nerve impulses, if affected, may again flow unimpeded.  Depending on the patient's need the doctor of chiropractic may be able to maintain or restore the individual's good health.  His professional career is dedicated to locating any interruption of the nervous system messages from the brain throughout the body.

YOUR DOCTOR OF CHIROPRACTIC

He is a representative of the world's largest drugless healing profession, and a healing science most modern in concept.

Rather than administering drugs, your chiropractor determines if neurological complications are at the root of the problem; then he works to eliminate this basic cause, thus restoring and maintaining health.

Keeping your health is better than waiting for sickness to strike.  It is your great advantage to visit your doctor of chiropractic on a regular basis.

Lungs are the bellows of life.  the lungs are expanded and contracted by the thin strong partition between the chest and the abdomen called the diaphragm.  Rib muscles perform a similar in and out duty allowing the lungs freedom of movement all the way around.

Air with its life giving molecules of oxygen is brought into the lungs.  The duct system of the lungs has the appearance of a tree bare with the naked branches of winter.  The larger ducts become smaller and smaller.  Finally, the oxygen is introduced into the capillaries where it refreshes and purifies the blood on its endless journey throughout the body.

The capillaries, of almost negligible diameter, if measured from all five lobes of the lungs, would stretch out a thousand miles.  Each mile converts the energy of fresh air for the exclusive use of the body.  These same capillaries also bring forth waste gases which are expelled as we breathe out.

The lungs represent a marvelous coordination with every breath we draw and release.  Everything is balance.  Balance is the working rule of the lungs we so rarely think about unless we momentarily choke or find our chest heaving in and out after extreme physical exertion.

As we go about our day's activities with little concern for our lungs, the brain, with no fuss that we can detect, constantly monitors the lungs and its work.  Nervous impulses streak from the brain to the lungs controlling the organ's functions.

We tend to harm ourselves by subjecting the lungs to foreign pollution with which it can't cope.  High on the list is cigarette smoking.  It produces a harsh makeup of tars and other chemicals; a combination the lungs were not designed to handle.  There are may other pollutants which tend to injure the delicate membranes of the lungs.  These range from chemicals fertilizing farm crops to industrial compounds uses in the manufacture of countless products we find necessary in our daily lives.

YOUR CHIROPRACTOR

His study and practice have led to an expert understanding of the role played by the nervous system as it sets forth to keep our lungs whole and well.

The brain, an exceedingly complicated part of us, is the command post for all body functions.  The brain constantly issues speedy bursts of energy which direct each element of our being.  The stream down the spinal cord housed delicately in the column of bones we know as the spine.  From this massive superhighway of nerves, branches go forth to serve specific parts of the body.

These branches become smaller and smaller, ever more specific as to function, until finally "footpaths" of nerves with only a single purpose deliver the brain's message which was released only an instant previously.

The role of the doctor of chiropractic is to keep the transmission of nerve energy flowing in an orderly fashion.  The doctor is well-versed in this field.  He recognizes one of the areas of vulnerability lies in the spinal column itself.  The spine is multi-purposed.  It allows us to stand, run, sit, and do all those things we consider usual and normal.  In the process, however, individual segments or vertebrae of the spine may not rein the exact position required for normal transmission of the nerve impulses. 

The doctor of chiropractic through a series of adjustments to the spine, restores the vertebrae back to their normal relationship.  As this occurs, nerve transmission continues uninterrupted with the brain's clear, concise commands carried without distortion.  In turn, with the precise messages delivered, the area of the body adversely affected may be restored to normal function and good health.

YOUR DOCTOR OF CHIROPRACTIC

He is a representative of the world's largest drugless healing profession, and a healing science most modern in concept.

Rather than administering drugs, your chiropractor determines if neurological complications are at the root of the problem; then he works to eliminate this basic cause, thus restoring and maintaining health.

Keeping your health is better than waiting for sickness to strike.  It is your great advantage to visit your doctor of chiropractic on a regular basis.

With every move you make - and every step you take - your body is subject to some form of shock, minor though these jars may be.  Nature has constructed your body to absorb these normal shocks and your body gets a "smooth ride."

Automobile manufacturers have engineered their cars to provide a smooth ride by the use of shock absorbers.  Nature has engineered your body with shock absorbers, too.  These are the cushions between the 24 vertebrae of your spine called the intervertebral discs.

Now, what happens when the intervertebral discs cease to provide the smooth ride so necessary to maintenance of good health?

Obviously, a doctor cannot install new discs.  But malfunctioning discs can be "fixed" by doctors who know spinal mechanics best - doctors of chiropractic!

DISC STRUCTURE

Let's examine the intervertebral disc.  It has a tough outer covering called the annulus fibrosis; inside is a jelly-like mass known as the nucleus pulposis.

These intervertebral discs arc as cushions between your vertebrae and form part of the ligamentous network which aids in maintaining the structural stability of your spine.

TWO KINDS OF DISC PROBLEMS

Disc problems generally are due to an injury or they are degenerative.  If degeneration is due to the aging process, little can be done to correct the condition.  The disc flattens - this is why people seem to shrink with age - when spinal discs lose their bulk, there is a definite loss of height.

Disc degeneration also can be caused by a disturbance in its normal nutrition, a condition fairly common in young and middle-aged persons.  This is where a chiropractic examination can identify a potentially dangerous situation.

Nutritional degeneration is not caused by what you may lack in your diet; this term refers to starved disc tissue.  The disc is nourished by absorbing essential elements from tissue fluids which surround it.  Normally there is a constant interchange of waste and nutritional products between the tissues and the surrounding fluid.  If fluid movement in any area is limited, waste products will build up and nutritional substances will be consumed quickly.  Eventually this causes localized starvation of the tissue.

The other general category of disc involvement is "trauma."  A fall or blow to any part of the spine may result in injury to the disc.  The disc will react to injury by becoming inflamed.  Symptoms of inflammation include pain, heat, and swelling.

Injury also may cause the nucleus pulposis to shift from its centrally balanced position.  The vertebra adjacent to the shifted disc (which has lost its normal balance) will cause the shift to bulge and impinge on adjacent nerve tissue.  This pressure will irritate affected nerves, distorting nerve impulses to cells, tissue, muscles, or organs.

HOW CHIROPRACTIC CAN HELP

The chiropractor, by spinal adjustment, can relieve nutritional disc degeneration.  Spinal adjustment restores the flow of normal nerve impulses to surrounding tissue.  Normal movement and fluid balance is restored and the spine once again receives its normal supply of nutrients.

Statistics show that 80% of all injured disc cases handled have been corrected through specific spinal adjustment.  Through skilled analysis, the chiropractor can locate spinal subluxations caused by the injury.  Adjustments then aid the body to correct the spinal imbalance which is the basic cause of the condition.

Regular visits to your chiropractor for spinal examinations often averts serious problems.

YOUR DOCTOR OF CHIROPRACTIC

He is a representative of the world's largest drugless healing profession, and a healing science most modern in concept.

Rather than administering drugs, your chiropractor determines if neurological complications are at the root of the problem; then he works to eliminate this basic cause, thus restoring and maintaining health.

Keeping your health is better than waiting for sickness to strike.  It is your great advantage to visit your doctor of chiropractic on a regular basis.

The waiter hovers expectantly as the menu is scanned and the meal selected.  Today, it is shrimp cocktail; a tossed salad, light on the dressing; the small steak, medium rare, and because it looks so good, strawberry shortcake with whipped cream topping.  The diner anticipates and the mouth begins to water.

The stage is set for a monumental sequence of events changing the food into nourishment for the body.  Regardless how the chef disguises, there are only three kinds of nutrients:  proteins, fats, and carbohydrates.  A scattering of vitamins and minerals completes the fare.

Most foods are a combination of the nutrients, only a few are purist.  Egg white is pure protein, salad oil is pure fat, and sugar is pure carbohydrate.

The food arrives and before the waiter has time to turn his back, the first morsel is savored in the hungry diner's mouth.

STARTING THE PROCESS

Saliva moistens the food, introducing an enzyme making sugar out of the starch of the cracker which came along with the shrimp cocktail.  Once the food is chewed thoroughly, the tongue quickly lifts it against the back of the throat.  As the morsel is swallowed, contractions of the esophagus speed it into the stomach.

The stomach churns as a blender.  Contractions of the stomach wall do the work.  The food is kneaded into a semi-mass called chyme.  The gastric juice lubricates the good further.  It brings with it, pepsin, another enzyme which functions to digest protein.  Pepsin can work only if there's a proper level of acidity in the stomach.  A good supply of hydrochloric acid pours in, keeping the balance.

When the stomach's activity is done, contractions force the chyme into the duodenum, portal to the small intestine where the real work of absorption begins.  The bulk of the food is broken down.  Pancreatic enzymes, already flowing in the duodenum, are also in the twenty feet of the small intestine.  They break down the proteins into twenty-some amino acids.  Bile spills in from the gall bladder.  Daily quantity ranges from a quart to a quart and a half.  Bile breaks down the fat of the meal, the last to be processed for the body's purpose.

Preparing the food to be absorbed takes about thirty minutes.  Three square meals a day with snacks in between necessitates about tow gallons of digestive fluids, a quantity greater than the blood circulating throughout the body.  Even a single salivary gland can issue its weight in saliva in about five minutes.

When the small intestine's work is completed the food so lovingly enjoyed has been reduced to its smallest components.  It's absorbed through the walls of the small intestine to do its work wherever it is needed.  By now, the elements of the steak are so fine, a high-powered microscope is needed to trace the route of nutrients it represents.

The small intestine's work at end, the indigestible is pushed into the colon or large intestine.  About five percent of the lunch fits into the category of the impossible to digest.  The glass of water consumed following the rich dessert and minerals are not absorbed until now.  Strong contractions wave the soggy mass through the colon and fluids are absorbed into the body.  That which is residue is now readied for elimination.  Presence of the unused in the rectum prompts the final act of elimination.

THE MIRACLE OF DIGESTION

The miracle of digestion is for the most part worked out automatically by the body.  Only a little of the process requires our conscious effort.  However, the brain is not so fortunate.  It controls all aspects of changing the smallest morsel into useful energy.  Every small detail is controlled by the brain through the nervous system.

Your doctor of chiropractic knows the importance of the nervous system.  He is a specialist in the neuro-musculo-skeletal system all of which must benefit from nutrition to function properly.  The doctor of chiropractic recognizes the vulnerability of the nervous system, especially, as it proceeds through the spinal column.

Good health to a large extent depends on normal nerve transmission.  Your doctor of chiropractic, expert in the restoration of sound health through a program of spinal adjustments, is well-qualified to be of service to you.

Chiropractic for pregnant women?  Absolutely!  It is one of the best things that can be done for the mother-to-be and the baby-to-be.  In fact if there's one group of people who need chiropractic spinal check-ups more than any other, it's pregnant women.

Pregnant women are taking more responsibility for their bodies.  They are reading more, asking more questions, eating better, exercising more and exploring healthier ways of taking care of themselves.  For that reason chiropractic care should be considered an essential part of the pregnant woman's health care regimen.

SPINAL NERVE STRESS

In order to understand how chiropractic care is important for prenatal care we should first learn what chiropractic is: a method of keeping the body free from spinal nerve stress.  Spinal nerve stress (vertebral subluxations) upset body function, interferes with health and causes disease.  It is however, important to note that chiropractic is not a treatment for diseases, but a method of ensuring that the spinal column is functioning properly.

SPINAL EXAMINATION

The doctor of chiropractic examines the spinal column for misalignments causing spine and nerve stress (called vertebral subluxation).  Vertebral subluxations damage the nervous system and affect the workings of the entire body.  If subluxations are present the chiropractor will correct them with a chiropractic spinal "adjustment" in order to release the spinal stress.

Without subluxations the body will function better, have higher resistance to disease and express more wholeness (health) than a body with uncorrected subluxations.  That is the essential message of chiropractic.

All this is extremely important for the pregnant woman who needs to have her body as healthy and strong as possible in order to handle the rigors of pregnancy and childbirth.  Chiropractic care will help ensure that the reproductive and other systems so essential for a healthy pregnancy receive an un-interfered with nerve supply form the spinal column.  The slightest interference to the nerve supply could adversely affect the mother and the developing fetus.

DRUGLESS HEALTH CARE

Another excellent reason for seeing a chiropractor during pregnancy is that it is a drugless health care system.  Drugs, whether by prescription or over the counter can harm the growing fetus.  There is no such thing as a safe drug.  The safest thing for a pregnant woman to do is avoid all drugs and seek natural non-drug alternatives for health care if at all possible.  Almost all types of drugs and medications have been linked to fetal damage or malformations:

   It is... clearly prudent to minimize unnecessary medication during the first three months of pregnancy...it is virtually impossible to specify any drug that will not result in an increased frequency of congenital malformations when administered, in a certain dose to a sufficiently large panel of different laboratory animals. (Cecil and Loeb's Textbook of Medicine)

    No drugs should be prescribed during pregnancy without weighing the maternal need against the risk of fetal damage.  (Nelson's Textbook of Pediatrics)

Some common substances which can damage the mother and fetus are aspirin, alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana and cocaine.

DIAGNOSTIC DANGERS

Not only drugs, but many types of invasive diagnostic procedures should be avoided by the pregnant woman if possible.  As Robert Mendelsohn, M.D. has stated, pregnant women should "Stay away from X-rays, diagnostic ultrasound, doctor-prescribed medication, and every other form of dangerous obstetrical intervention."

PREGNANT WOMEN HAVE SPECIAL CONCERNS

There are so many things pregnant women worry about:  staying pregnant, carrying the baby to full term, "morning sickness", the baby developing normally, backaches, leg pain, and if their labor will be safe and (hopefully) easy.

Can chiropractic care help ease their minds?  The experience of many professionals has shown that it can.  Chiropractic care during pregnancy can help women become pregnant and maintain pregnancy, control committing during pregnancy, deliver full-term infants with ease and produce infants healthier than the normal population.

In the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association a number of practitioners commented on the effectiveness of spinal care for pregnant women.  The following are a small sampling of their responses:

    For normal patients, correction of vertebral subluxations definitely helps normal function and rehabilitation.  Manipulation can be of great value in normalizing the body functions of women with problems of pregnancy such as toxemia.

    Manipulative therapy...normalizes functions of the pituitary, adrenal, ovarian, and placental systems, including the craniosacral respiratory mechanisms.  This shortens the labor by 50 to 60 percent and lessens medication requirement by at least 50 percent...Postpartum depression is a rarity in patients receiving...manipulative therapy.

SPINAL ADJUSTMENTS

Chiropractic care is especially needed during pregnancy because of the many physical and chemical changes the woman's body is going through.  Not only is her center of gravity changing because of the added physical weight she is carrying, but her spinal structure becomes more flexible due to a hormone produced by her ovaries called relaxant.  Relaxant relaxes the ligaments in the pelvis, preparing them for stretching during childbirth and can, in an already unstable spine, aggravate spinal problems.  A doctor of chiropractic can check the spine to ensure that the pelvis and vertebrae are functioning together as a unit and are properly balanced.

The normal spine provides perfect alignment of all body parts.  A slight curve inward at the neck, or cervical spine, balances the weight of the head and allows a clear channel for the spinal cord and nerves.  The curve of the neck plays an important part in determining the overall shape and structure of the rest of the spine, affecting the entire skeleton and its ability to maintain balance.

From a gentle curve outward in the upper back, or lumbar spine, the normal spine again has a slight inward curve in the lower back, or lumbar spine, which bears most of the body's weight and supports internal organs.  In the normal spine, the outward curve of the tailbone, or coccyx, aligns with the natural curve in the thoracic area.

WHAT IS SCOLIOSIS?

Scoliosis is an abnormal curvature of the spine.  Its a spinal disorder, not a disease.  Although in its earliest stages it may be very difficult to detect, scoliosis is in general characterized by a sideward curve that can produce a raised or drop-effect to shoulders or hips, a prominent shoulder blade, or one hip somewhat higher than the other.  It may also manifest as an exaggerated curve along the length of the spine.  One example is the "swayback", in which the head and stomach are thrust forward, the upper chest area back.  It is more pronounced and not to be confused with "poor posture".  More easily noticeable to the untrained eye is the "humpback", which gives the whole torso a pulled up effect with shoulders raised and a humped protrusion of the upper back.

WHAT CAUSES SCOLIOSIS?

The root causes of scoliosis are not completely understood.  It is true that it may "run" in some families, indicating hereditary factors.  Again, it may simply appear as an isolated case in one individual.  A variety of nerve and muscle disorders can produce scoliosis, as well as diseases like polio or an injury in childhood that causes vertebrae to develop abnormally. 

Scoliosis often appears during the early teen years, and may make pronounced progress during periods of rapid growth.

However, it is also found in young children as well.  Regular checkups for signs of scoliosis should continue until full growth is reached.

HOW IS SCOLIOSIS DETECTED?

Visual and manual inspection of the back are simple tests conducted during a checkup.  The misalignment of shoulders, or hips, or the appearance of a hump in the rib or waist area when a child bends forward, can provide the trained eye an early sign of possible scoliosis.

The doctor of chiropractic, with intensive training and knowledge of the spine and nerves, is eminently qualified to check for and treat scoliosis.

Though there are no preventives or medications to treat scoliosis, early detection is important to treatment.  The chiropractor may make mechanical adjustments to prevent further malformation or alleviate some of the more debilitating aspects of scoliosis.  Some scoliosis may be so mild that little treatment is required, but that is a decision for a qualified health professional, such as a chiropractor.

The sensible course to follow during a child's growing years is a regular schedule of check-ups by your chiropractor.  Not only in the detection and treatment of scoliosis, but in full monitoring of growth and development, you child should make friends with a doctor of chiropractic.  He or she will also teach your child to be more aware of the role of proper exercise and diet, and care of the spine to prevent problems in the years ahead.

WHAT IS FIBROMYALGIA?

Fibromyalgia, a mysteriously debilitating syndrome, is taking an increasing toll on our population.  It is characterized by the constant presence of pain so severe that it is often incapacitating.  In the United States, three to six million people may be afflicted with its symptoms.  It is estimated that 15% to 20% of patients seen by rheumatologists have fibromyalgia.  The condition mainly affects women aged 25 to 50 years.

For many years the diagnosis of fibromyalgia was perplexing.  Patients are plagued with symptoms which include chronic muscle pain, aching, stiffness, disturbed sleep, and fatigue.  Finally, research revealed a consistent finding on physical examination:  the presence of 18 specific points in muscles, tendons, or bones that are tender and painful to the touch.  Many subsequent studies have shown that these tender points can be used to distinguish fibromyalgia from other painful joint and muscle conditions.  The identifying criteria for diagnosing fibromyalgia is pain or tenderness experienced in at least 11 or the 18 points.

WHAT MAY CAUSE SYMPTOMS OF FIBROMYALGIA

In order to better understand the origin of fibromyalgia, some scientists conducted several studies that examined muscle chemistry, physiology and structure.  They found that victims of the syndrome appeared to have reduced circulation to their muscle cells and damage to the cells' energy producing mechanism.  This strongly suggests an energy deficient state in the muscle tissues.

They hypothesized that any condition that reduced circulation enough to prevent adequate oxygen from getting to the muscles cells might result in fibromyalgia.  It is also known that in persons with fibromyalgia the body breaks down muscle protein at an unusually high rate and converts it to glucose