Not the Hulkling, but active children

In a world where video games are becoming almost as crisp and bright as our most vivid imaginations and the percentage of childhood obesity is on the rise, we need to teach our children to cherish exercise and playing outside.  Now I know we all want our children to study and get great jobs and flourish, but I think we need to compromise on this little thing.  Let's say that your child gets out of school at 3, and you make him do his/her homework before they can play or watch TV.  Well if your child has say 3 hours of homework and you have dinner at 6, which takes an hour when is that child able to play outside?  That is correct they probably aren't.  Why don't we let children play for a couple of hours after school say from 3-5, then an hour of homework, dinner at 6, and finish the two hours up after dinner.  This would mean that your child would be in bed by 9pm.  I think that is pretty far given the state at which our waistlines are headed.

Evidence suggest that behaviors established at a young age persist in adulthood.  If you're a parent, you probably believe in the evidence -- thats why you don't want your children "picking up bad habits" from other children, or hanging out with "the wrong crowd."  But this "evidence" might not be quite accurate, at least not when we consider a potential "good" behavior -- physical activity.  According to a recent study, simply increasing the amount of exercise as a child doesn't necessarily mean that your children will exercise as adults.  The study compared two adult groups: one that received five hours of physical education weekly for six years during primary school, and a group that received only the standard physical activity requirements (about 40 minutes per week).  Questionnaires completed by the groups showed that childhood physical activity did not have a significant effect on attitudes toward, frequency of, or intentions to exercise as adults.  The authors believe that consistent exposure to the process of exercise, and to an overall health-oriented program in childhood, may be a more important contributor to positive exercise/fitness patterns in adulthood.  Don't just encourage (or pressure) your children to participate in sports.  Teach your children the value of staying healthy and active, and schedule them for regular visits with your family chiropractor to main fitness level.optimalwellnesstx.com

The second 9...

Since I have talked a little about golf, I figured you might want a little more because remember just like Chubbs Peterson once said "It's all in the hips".  So I thought why not put out a few more tips on how to save your back during a round and how if you do get injured to recognize the symptoms.  Most of this information is coming from "Chiropractic tips & Advice to improve your golf game and save your back"


Golfers put their bodies in oddly twisted postures, that generate a great deal of torque (i.e Tiger out of the rough when he was younger:).  Couple these motions with a bent-over stance, repeat this 70-120 times, mix in the weather, the fatigue from walking and what you get is a good workout and potential back trouble.


Most golfers go until they get hurt to look for help.  According to Dr David Stude, founding fellow of the National Golf Fitness Society "Back pain is a warning sign that there is an underlying problem responsible for a symptom that will likely get worse.  Doctors of chiropractic look for the cause of the symptom and help reduce the likelihood of future injury."


Dr Strude suggests some simple but effective measures to help avoid pain or injury and improve your game.

• Get your equipment fitted, don't adapt your swing to clubs that are not right for you
• Women, please don't use "hand me downs" from your husband they can be too long and too stiff for you
• Stretch before you play, I know we all want to be John Daily and just roll up and hit the ball of the first tee.  Without a proper warm up we can increase our aversion for injury.
• Take lessons to learn proper technique; at the end of the swim you want to be standing up straight, the back should not be twisted.
• Take the "drop"!  One bad swing striking a root or a rock with your club can cause damage to your wrist, neck or back.

Doctors of chiropractic are trained and licensed to treat the entire neuromusculoskeletal system.  Doctors of chiropractic can address other health concerns, such as shoulder, knee, arm, and wrist pain that can affect your game.  It you golf consistently, you will no doubt feel the stress of the game, but by following a few simple prevention tips, it is possible to play without pain for a lifetime.

FOOOORRRREEE! Golf and chiropractic

V

Since Tiger broke onto to the scene what now seems like a lifetime ago, the popularity of golf is growing. Well as more people start to "swing the wrenches" the incident of "wrenching" you back has also gone up (everyone see my lame joke).  Many of us who are amateur golfers don't take the proper time to warm up, we grab our sticks out of the car and run to the first tee as our buddies are calling us on our phones.  This is the John Daly method of golf no warm up just grip it and rip it.  Well as with other actives with out a proper warm-up we can do more harm than good.


Dr Tom La Fountain is a chiropractor who travels with the PGA tour and regularly provides chiropractic to the pros.  Dr La Fountain reports that up to 85 percent of the injuries on the PGA Tour and Senior Tour relate to the spine, and about 70 to 75 percent of those golfers received regular chiropractic care.  The August 21, 2000 issue of the Salt Lake Tribune reported that senior pro golfer, Doug Tewell was delayed entering the Senior PGA tour due to spinal problems.  Twell injured his back while playing a round of golf whit his son in Oklahoma.  The injury kept him in bed for three days and required the use of a walker for two week. On the recommendation of below pro Bob Tway, Twell decided to see a chiropractor.  His comments in the Tribune article summed up his reactions, "the most incredible thing, just a few little jerks," Tewell said.  "I thought I had met Oral Roberts."  Professional women golfers also utilize chiropractic.  Dr David E Stude, a chiropractor and associate professor and faculty clinician at Northwestern Health Sciences University, lectures across the country with Lisa Masters, an LPGA  golf pro, emphasizing the importance of chiropractic care for golfers.  Dr Stude states, "Normally, each vertebra in the spine mods indecently a certain number of degrees when our whole body is in involved in an activity.  If that isn not happening, for example, if two or more segments move as a whole unit, rather than moving independently, it can lead to one kind of vertebral mechanical dysfunction."

Some quick tips to help you not feel like guy in the foursome ahead of you.

• Improve the entire body's balance, stability and coordination, which translates into a smoother swing and reduced fatigue.  (stretch, and work out away from the course)
• Avoid metal spikes (most course haven't allowed these since the '90's).  If you are using metal spikes first its time to upgrade your shoes, second metal spikes increase stress on the back.  While soft spikes allow for greater motion.
• Warm up before each round.   I know we all want to be like John Daily and just smoke heaters and drink Diet Coke right before we tee off but this is terrible for you and your game.  Stretching before and after 18 holes is the best way to reduce post-game stiffness and soreness.  
• Pull don't carry your bag, even better ride.  Carrying your bad if you don't have a double strap cause disc and nerve irritation on one side of the body as well as compression of the vertebrae.  Make sure while you are riding to walk to one shot per hole.
• Keep your entire body involved.  Most if not all of us are not switch hitters with a golf club, every third hole on the tee box take some practice swings with your opposite hand.  This will keep your muscles balanced and even out stress on the back
• DRINK LOTS OF WATER.  Dehydration can cause fatigue. leading you to compensate by adjusting your swing, thus increasing your chances for injury.  Have a couple cans of "swing right"/"adult pops" can dehydrate you even further.  This is why course put out water stations, please use them.

Now remember a bad day at the golf course is better than a good day any where else.

www.optimalwellnesstx.com

Water, WATER, WAAAATTTEEERRR

Our bodies need water, they are made of mostly water.  Water is necessary for you body to digest and absorb vitamins and nutrients.  It also detoxifies your liver and kidneys, and carries ways waste from the body.  When it comes to digestion, it just cannot happen without water.  Fiber alone cannot aid proper digestive function by itself.  In fact without water as its partner good fiber goes bad, causing constipation and extreme discomfort.  Also if you are dehydrated your blood literally thickens, and you body has to wrk much harder to help blood circulate.  As a result, the brain becomes less active, its hard to concentrate, your body fells fatigued, and you just feel drained.  Water can also aide in a healthy diet.  Water is a natural appetite suppressant, so developing a good water drinking habit can be a long-term aid in achieving and maintaining a healthy weight.  Its also impotent to remember that when the body is dehydrated, fat cells get "rubbery" and cannot be easily metabolized.  This means that its harder to lose weight when you don't drink enough water.

Quick ways to get and stay Hydrated

• Have a glass of water when you first get up each day
• Have a water bottle at your desk and try and drink half of it each hour
• Don't wait until you are thirsty to have a drink- you are already dehydrated if you feel thirsty
• Prepare for exercise by hydrating with water before you begin.
• Sip water while exercising to replace what is lost as you perspire in order to keep your energy levels high
• Add fruit, vegetables, or a bit of juice to flavor up your water.  You will also receive the added benefits of getting more vitamins and minerals.

The rule of thumb for intake of water is 1 ounce for every 2 pounds of body weight.  150lbs/2 = 75 ounces of water per day.  This is a minimum!

May the 4th be with you! (I know lame nerd joke)

Well, today is May the 4th and everyone who has ever gotten into a debate about who shot first will most likely have some sort of Stars Wars discussion, watch the Original Trilogy, or wear something dealing with a galaxy far, far away.  I am going to make a quick case about why chiropractors are like Jedi, no we don't have command of light sabers and probably can't make the X-Wing rise.  What chiropractors do use is the Force (wait didn't I just say we couldn't make the X-Wing rise).

The Force I am talking about is Innate Intelligence, now what Innate Intelligence is the bodies ability to heal it self.  Think when you cut yourself, what happens?  That is correct the body bleeds a little then it forms a clot.  Did you have to think about your body clotting or did you start yelling at the cut like Sam Kinison?  No way, your body knew what to do and it sprung into action (insert Super Hero/Star Wars Hero analogy).  So how do chiropractors use something that is in grained in all of us?  Simply my friends, your brain is the worlds fastest and most complex super computer in the world.  What happens is our brains without us knowing or telling it does a multitude of processes every second.  Your brain communicates with the body through the spinal cord, and from the spinal cord out to spinal nerves and so forth.  The spinal cord is protected by the spinal column (the same thing that chiropractors work on day in and day on millions of patients).  What happens if the spinal column gets out of place and puts pressure on a spinal nerve (nerve interference or subluxation), do you think that spinal nerve can send and receive signal from our brain and body?  Think about when you take a hose that is running then kink it, yep the water slows or stops entirely.  That happens on a daily basis with some of us, PAIN.  Pain is our body telling us that something is wrong somewhere and we need to correct it.

What a chiropractor does is remove the subluxation or nerve interference so your body can function at 100% percent (think Yoda teaching Luke how to use the force, Yoda did not teach Luke but let Luke open his mind to the Force).  When you body is function at 100% the Innate Intelligence can fend of almost anything you might come in contact with.  Most people don't think that a chiropractor is a preventative and wellness doctor and we only deal with pain.  That couldn't be farther from the truth, also because of the world we live in and the spending of pharmaceutical companies on advertising many people think that some conditions are normal.  Just a few of these conditions are Headaches, Allergies (not food or pet), Sinus Infections, Heart Burn.

This is getting a little long but I just wanted to give you a little insight on how Chiropractors are like Jedi and I hope that you get checked for nerve interference before you have a symptom so you too can have your body functioning at 100%