Not many people like doing housework. For most, it’s a real pain in the aaah … what’s the word? Sacroiliac. But it’s not just the disruption it causes to your longed-for life of leisure; it really can be a pain. Literally.

The activities you carry out around the house may not seem too physically demanding, but if you don’t pay attention to how you are doing them, even something like washing the dishes can put a strain on your back and cause debilitating pain.

One of the chief culprits in housework, and generally, is lifting. It doesn’t matter what you are picking up, if you do it incorrectly you can injure yourself. The correct approach is to bend at the knees, not from the waist. The item you’re picking up should be held close in to the body, and there should be no twisting, which can hurt the spine; if you want to turn in another direction, take a step that way once you have straightened up.

Tips to Save Your Back

Here are some tips that will help you take the strain out of your household duties:

• Washing the dishes, try opening the cabinet under the sink, bending a knee and placing a foot on the raised shelf inside. Also try leaning forward against the counter to transfer some of your weight forward for a little support.
• Similarly, with ironing, use a small stool and raise one foot onto it to take some of the strain from your back.
• When using a vacuum cleaner, adopt the same stance you would see combatants take in a fencing match, one foot stepped back behind the other. Move your weight from one foot to the other as you push the machine back and forward, and pivot on the back foot when you wish to turn.
• Even talking on the telephone can be a problem if you are prone to cradling the handset between your ear and your raised shoulder. Quasimodo was the first one to notice this. The spinal joints in the neck and upper back can lock when you do this. Fortunately, as humans, we have opposing thumbs and can very easily hold objects in our hands. Either that, or use a speaker phone.
• Watching TV with your head resting on the arm of the sofa is not good, because the angle is too acute for your neck joints.
• When your back does start to hurt, use a cold pack. To avoid leaping through the ceiling, first moisten a towel with warm water before encasing the cold pack in it. That way, there will be a gradual transition from warm to cold. A bag of frozen peas is a good alternative, and is easily moldable to your contours.
• If you suffer with pain for a couple of days without relief, or you feel weakness, numbness or tingling in your hands or feet, a visit to your doctor of chiropractic is in order.

We all know that exercise and playing sports is an essential part of staying healthy. It benefits your heart, lungs, joints and bones, and also your mind in the way it releases mood-enhancing endorphins. The downside is that physical activity can sometimes lead to injury, either because we are new to it, or we push beyond our limits, or because equipment is used wrongly or is substandard, or through a simple accident. Sport injuries most commonly occur to the ankles, knees, shoulders, elbows, and spine, although the chances of getting hurt can be reduced by taking advice from your doctor of chiropractic before starting.

Strains, Sprains and Tendonitis

Broken bones can obviously occur when playing sport or exercising, but the more common injuries are those that happen to the muscles, tendons, and ligaments – the tendons attaching the muscles to the bones, and the ligaments attaching the bones to each other.

When you twist or overextend a joint, a strain can occur, which is a tear to the muscle or tendon, or a sprain can occur, which is a tear to the ligament. The damage these inflict varies in severity from a few torn or stretched fibers to a complete tear right through the structure. The latter will often require surgery to repair. Also susceptible to tearing are the intervertebral discs, which are the ligaments between the spinal vertebrae that act as shock absorbers. When this happens the disc will bulge and/or become herniated.

Overtraining is a common cause of a condition called tendonitis, which is one of the so-called “overuse syndromes”. This happens when the joint is overworked and the connecting tendons become inflamed, causing pain and dysfunction. When this happens in the shoulder, a bunch of muscles called the rotator cuff becomes inflamed and results in rotator cuff tendonitis. Perhaps the best-known form of tendonitis is “tennis elbow”, a condition replicated in “golfer’s elbow”, both named for obvious reasons.

Stress Fractures

A stress fracture, or a fatigue fracture, happens when a bone suffers too much stress. A good example would be a runner who pushes and pushes for more miles and quicker times until their system tells them enough in the form of a stress fracture. However, a novice can suffer as well if they do too much too soon. Another common runners’ injury is shin splints, where the constant foot-pounding results in microfractures on the front surface of the tibia (shin bone).

Diagnosis and Treatment

Sports injuries are usually pretty easy to diagnose because the athlete will normally have felt when something went awry. A physical examination should confirm this, but x-rays may also be ordered if the injury is suspected of being more serious, like a fracture. Injuries to the soft tissue, as in the case of tendonitis, strains and sprains, may also require deeper investigation, this time with use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) or diagnostic ultrasound.

Plaster casts are required to treat fractures, and surgery is an option in severe cases that are not going to heal on their own. For lesser injuries, the treatment prescribed is pretty standard, as follows:

Rest

48 hours rest and/or immobilization is normally enough, unless the injury is more severe. Too much rest can work against recovery in many cases, and can even be harmful. The sooner normal function is restored, the better, provided the process is not so hurried as to cause further damage through overzealousness. Your doctor of chiropractic can advise on the optimum times for rest and recuperation.

Ice

Ice can help to reduce the inflammation and speed healing.

Compression

Swelling may be controlled somewhat through compression of the injured area, as advised by your doctor of chiropractic.

Elevation

Raising the injured limb above the level of the heart is thought to be helpful in reducing swelling.

Pain relief

According to recent research, the use of certain nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs should be limited as they may in fact retard the body’s natural healing process, causing a longer recuperation than necessary.

Joint manipulation

Recent research has also shown that joint manipulation, as practiced by your doctor of chiropractic, can help with certain types of injury, lowering pain levels and speeding recovery.

Prevention

Many sports injuries are preventable through the use of proper physical conditioning, including warm-up and cool-down routines, and correct techniques when practicing the activity. It may also be the case that safety equipment is available for your particular sport or exercise which will help lower the chances of injury. Keeping hydrated with a good intake of water also guards against injuries by feeding the tissues what they most require to function optimally.

There are 10 million new cases every year of otitis media, aka your common-or-garden ear infection. It is so common, in fact, that ear infections account for 35% of all pediatric visits, making them the number one reason for visiting the pediatrician and the most recorded illness in babies and young children. If you’ve ever seen a child with an ear infection, you’ll know how excruciating the pain is.

Nearly 50% of all children will suffer at least one middle ear infection in their first 12 months. By age 3, that figure soars to around two-thirds. The causes of otitis media are bacterial or viral, and are often a by-product of another illness, such as a cold. Many children end up suffering on a chronic basis, and are in and out of the doctor’s office for years. Ultimately, such repeated insults can lead to permanent hearing damage, with all the related speech and developmental problems that accompany it.

The usual course of action is to prescribe antibiotics, in case the cause is bacterial rather than viral. Of course, a viral infection will not be touched by this medication. Moreover, research shows that even in the case of a bacterial infection, pills are not much better at dealing with the problem than the body’s immune system. And much has been made in recent years of the problem of over-prescribing antibiotics, which has led to a drug-resistant bacteria that medicine as yet has no answer to.

Ear infections are the second most common reason for surgery in children under 2 years of age. Actually, they are the primary cause of surgery for medical reasons in this age group, because the most common surgery is circumcision. When the problem is serious enough to create a hearing deficit, specialists sometimes implant “ear tubes” in procedures known as myringotomy and tympanostomy. This involves piercing the eardrum and inserting a tube to help reduce the pressure inside and allow fluid to drain. Usually, the tube is naturally discarded after a few months and the hole closes up, but the procedure still needs to be repeated in 20 to 30% of cases. That’s more general anesthetic, which is no small event for a young child. If problems still persist, an adenoidectomy may be performed to remove the adenoids.

Chiropractic Care Can Help

Worried by all this drug and invasive treatment, which may anyway prove ineffective, more parents are looking at chiropractic as a source of relief for their children. Research has been published in childrearing magazines such as Parenting and Baby Talk showing that 80% of children treated by chiropractic for ear infections remained free of the complaint for at least the following six months (where maintenance visits every four to six weeks were administered).

It may be hard for some people to link chiropractic to the ears when most people just think of spinal adjustments, but it is these spinal adjustments that trigger improvement in those areas related to the spine, which covers … well, the entire body. Chiropractic mobilizes drainage of the ear, and this natural response causes the body to create the antibodies necessary to help beat the infections.

Specifically, it is the manipulation of the upper-cervical spine that helps children with otitis media, namely the occiput (back of the skull), and atlas (first neck vertebra). Adjusting the occiput allows the middle ear to drain, and between six and eight treatments would be typical to help resolve the problem and trigger the child’s system into developing the tools necessary to carry on the fight unaided.

If you have concerns about recurrent bouts of ear infection in your child, talk to your doctor of chiropractic. Chiropractors are licensed and trained to diagnose and treat patients of all ages, and will adjust treatments accordingly.

Chiropractic is a drug-free, non-invasive form of treatment, thus it is widely recognized as one of the safest options available to treat back pain, neck pain, pain in the joints of the arms or legs, headaches, and many other neuromusculoskeletal conditions. Nevertheless, no form of treatment is 100% free of potential adverse effects, so, despite its excellent safety record, you will naturally want to know about even the slightest risk before committing to a course of treatment.

First off, it must be reiterated that the risks associated with chiropractic treatment are very small. For many patients, the sense of relief they feel following spinal manipulation by a chiropractor is immediate. Others may feel mild soreness or aching, similar to that which is felt after certain types of exercise, but this minor discomfort typically fades within 24 hours.

Safe, though, is not much use to anyone if it’s only safe because it has no effect. On the contrary, spinal manipulation is incredibly effective in rectifying complaints, and does so faster than traditional medical care. In a March 2004 study in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, chiropractic care was reported as being more effective than regular medical care at helping chronic low-back pain where patients had been suffering symptoms for a year or less. Similarly, the journal Spine published a study in July 2003 reporting that manual manipulation offered better short-term relief of chronic spinal pain than did a number of medications.

Neck Adjustments

Precise cervical manipulations are performed to provide relief from neck pain and some types of headache. These neck adjustments, as they are also known, increase joint mobility in the neck, restore range of motion, reduce muscle spasm, thus relieving pressure and tension.

Potential patients of chiropractic should be reassured that neck manipulation is a remarkably safe procedure. Despite some reports linking upper high-velocity neck manipulation with a kind of stroke, or vertebral artery dissection, recent evidence suggests that the incidence of such injuries associated with this kind of manipulation is extremely rare – just 1 case in 5.85 million manipulations. Despite the scaremongering, the reality is that this type of arterial injury most usually takes place spontaneously as a result of an inherent weakness, and often occurs following such everyday activities as turning the head, swimming, or receiving a salon shampoo when the head is strained back into a sink.

These erroneous reports do not take into account the fact that patients who suffer this arterial weakness sometimes experience neck pain and headaches and take themselves off to a chiropractor or doctor office for treatment, only to suffer the attack in those locations. However, best evidence would indicate that the conditions were pre-existing and not caused by the treatment they were hoping would relieve them. Statistically, serious injury is far more likely to result from a car accident en route to the chiropractor than after arrival in their office.

You also need to understand the very real risks involved in taking some of the most commonly prescribed treatments for neck and back pain, namely nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), because these carry far greater risks than manipulation. The American Journal of Gastroenterology reports that aspirin or NSAID painkillers (like Ibuprofen) cause around a third of all hospitalizations and deaths linked to gastrointestinal bleeding.

Equally, surgical intervention to treat conditions also treatable by manipulation carries a far higher risk of injury. And bear in mind that where chiropractic treatment can return you to your feet in short order, the bed-rest recommendations of many doctors will leave you open to muscle atrophy, cardiopulmonary deconditioning, bone mineral loss, and thromoembolism.

It helps when visiting your doctor of chiropractic to very accurately describe the symptoms of your upper-neck pain or headache. In this way, the safest and most effective treatment can be offered, which may include referral to another healthcare professional. If you are still worried about the issue of strokes, your doctor of chiropractic will be happy to discuss the matter further to put your mind at rest. It may be that your specific clinical condition is better treated by joint mobilization, therapeutic exercise, soft-tissue techniques, or other therapies, rather than by spinal manipulation.

Ongoing Research

Chiropractic research continues to study the benefits and risks of spinal adjustment through carefully-monitored clinical trials, which findings are published in various reviews and journals. Remember that all the available evidence shows chiropractic treatment is extremely safe, and no chiropractic professional will ever be blasé or dismissive about this subject. Chiropractors regularly engage in further training and postgraduate courses to ensure they are fully up-to-speed with the latest findings and developments so their treatment can continue to exhibit best and safest practice.

Americans with developmental disabilities or autism will soon have a major new resource dedicated to providing a comprehensive array of services and support programs. On October 1, 2009, the Training, Education & Research Institute (TERI, Inc.) broke ground on the construction of the Charles R. Cono Center for Research & Life Planning. Located in North San Diego County, the $50 million campus will provide assistance to the increasing number of aging people with autism or other developmental disabilities.

Students at this facility will receive specialized schooling and vocational training. A two-story Fitness Center will include a gym, dance and yoga studios and indoor track. An equestrian center will offer riding facilities. An organic herb and vegetable garden and cafe will supply healthy and nutritious meals for students, staff, and visitors. And very importantly, a Chiropractic treatment center will be part of the Fitness Center. Given a 2006 study of chiropractic treatment for children with autism, this is very appropriate.

This study, listed on the website www.chiropracticresearch.org, reported on the results of Chiropractic treatment on fourteen children who had been diagnosed with autism. Half of them received treatment through the entire spine and half received Chiropractic treatment that focused on the upper cervical spine. Using standard criteria for testing autistic children’s communication, sociability, behavior and other factors, the children were monitored weekly for three months.

The results showed that improvement occurred in six of the seven children under upper cervical adjustment and in five of the seven children under full spine adjustment. In the upper cervical group, two of the children improved so much that they no longer met the criteria to be classified as autistic.

The most common improvements were seen in communication, verbal skills, eye contact, mood, and physical sport skills. By including Chiropractic in their array of services, the planners of the Charles R. Cono Center for Research & Life Planning are giving their future students their very best chance at an improved and healthy life.

The look of the season shows runway models in high platform heels and tight skirts or pants. Models have perfected the runway “walk,” but the popular looks and accessories are frequently impractical and could create leg, back, and spine or neck problems. Today you will often see woman walking down the street with high heels and carrying a massive bag. These unnatural loads on the body can create serious problem down the road. I would love to stop them and explain what they are doing to their body.

Women generally wear high heels to complement an outfit, not for comfort, but some might not realize that these shoes can cause serious discomfort in the feet and can also exacerbate back pain. High heels alter the balanced position of a person’s body. When a woman wears high heels it significantly changes her center of gravity and the body responds to balance the system. Wearing high heels for any length of time increases the normal forward curve of the lower back and causes the pelvis to tilt forward. This alters the normal configuration of the pelvis and spine necessary for the body to maintain a normal center of gravity.

The legs are the foundation of body – like the foundation of a house. A person standing flat footed or bare footed would start with a balanced foundation. While standing in high heels you are bringing the heel up – like having the foundation of your house leaning to one side or the other this cause a complete change in where the forces of gravity are applied to your legs, pelvis, lower back and abdomen. The forward shifting of the pelvis to offset the position of the foot causes a significant increase on the posterior part of the lumbar discs. This can lead to premature degeneration of the lumbar spine and a significant increase in the risk for lower back problems.

Women and men alike fall into the fashion trap. However, women, more than men, tend to wear clothes that are too tight. Stylish tight tube skirts and tight pants can be attractive, but are often too restrictive. Clothes that are too tight throw a person off-balance, and simple everyday tasks such as bending, sitting and walking become more difficult. Tight clothes restrict a person from moving comfortably, resulting in poor posture and misalignment of the spine.

Another unhealthy fashion statement is the use of heavy purses, backpacks and handbags. Women and men tend to carry too many items in one bag, or briefcase, and are often not aware of the potential health risks associated with toting an excessive amount of “stuff.” Carrying a bag which weighs more than ten percent of your body weight can cause improper balance. When hiked over one shoulder, it interferes with the natural movement of the upper and lower body. The person carrying the bag will hike one shoulder to subconsciously guard against the weight, holding the other shoulder immobile. This results in the unnatural counterbalance movement of one shoulder and less control over the movements of the arms and legs. Even worse, the spine curves toward the raised shoulder.

More and more people carry their credit cards, ATM cards and personal identification in the back pocket of their pants. This might be a convenient way of carrying the necessary items with you each day, but carrying your wallet in the back pocket of your pants can cause discomfort. Men and women should remove their wallets or other items from their back pockets before sitting for long periods of time. Sitting on your wallet or card holder for the entire day will create an imbalance in the pelvis as if you have been sitting on an inclided surface. This can result in muscle splinting and abnormal spinal curvatures.

In today’s society, it might be important to you to look fashionable, but it is more important to choose clothes, shoes and bags that are comfortable and that suit your style. By following and remembering these simple steps, it is possible to look and feel your best.

• Choose comfortable shoes. If you must wear high heels, bring a pair of flat shoes along with you to change into should you become uncomfortable. If you walk to work, wear flat shoes and change into your more fashionable shoes when you arrive to alleviate any pain or discomfort.
• If the shoe is uncomfortable while standing, chances are it will not be any more comfortable while walking. The wrong shoe can affect the body’s center of gravity.
• Choose supportive shoes. Designer spikes or non-supportive loafers may look nice but do not allow for easy, symmetrical walking.
• While sitting, whether or not you are wearing heels, it is important to take frequent stretch breaks to alleviate atrophy of the hamstring muscles.
• Avoid excessive wear of tight pants or clothing. If you prefer tighter clothes, choose styles that allow you to perform daily tasks with ease.
• Select a briefcase or purse with a wide adjustable strap. Ideally, the strap should be long enough to place over the head. This evenly distributes the bulk of the weight across the body.
• When carrying a bag, or briefcase, switch sides frequently to avoid placing the burden of the weight on one side of your body.
• Take the time to empty unnecessary items from your bag.
• Place all necessary items-such as wallets and cellular phones-in the front pockets of the bag. Stretching around to reach for your wallet can result in a pulled neck or back.
• If you are driving or sitting for long periods of time, remove your wallet or card holder from the back pocket of your pants.
• Think about your daily tasks. If your clothes affect your movements, consider outfits that fit your lifestyle.

Designers and stylists tend to be more concerned about the way something looks rather than the way it feels. Listen to your body. One of the most important aspects of being in style and looking your best is to maintain healthy judgement. By following simple suggestions, being fashionable can be comfortable.

However you choose to ride around on two wheels: on-road, off-road, for fun or competitively – the bike you choose to do it has to be fit not just to those needs, but also to your body. You wouldn’t enter a Tour de France on a Big Wheel, and neither should you ignore the finer points when matching your bike to your body.

Your bike must fit your body. When it does, you will know the difference because you will ride more comfortably, more powerfully, covering more ground faster, with less effort, and with less risk of injury.

There are five primary considerations when choosing your bike:

1. Frame size
2. Seat height
3. Seat position
4. Seat tilt
5. Handlebar position

Frame Size

Get this wrong and you’ll look like you just stole the bike from someone else. This is the most important measurement to properly size up because the frame is the one thing that cannot be adjusted – unless you’re handy with a hacksaw and welding torch. Frame size is not always down to a person’s overall height; it is the leg length that matters. You should be able to straddle the bike frame (not the seat) and be able to plant both feet flat on the floor without having to squeak from contact made with your inseam. For a guys bike with the horizontal bar design, this is important if you are ever stop unexpectedly. If your feet don’t hit the floor before you hit the horizontal bar … squeak.

• For a road or hybrid bike, the horizontal bar gap should be an inch or two.
• For a mountain bike, it should be about four inches given the higher likelihood of an unplanned dismount on rough terrain.

Seat Height

Setting the seat too high or too low can lead to pain and injury to the back and knees, and an inefficient revolution of each pedal stroke. When the pedal is at its lowest point with the ball of your foot on the pedal, your knee should be slightly bent. Make this seat adjustment wearing the shoes you will normally wear when riding.

Seat Position

You need to be sitting on your bike to check the seat position, with the aid of something or someone to hold on to so both feet can be on the pedals. Rotate the pedals until they are at the 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock positions. With the ball of your foot on the pedal, your forward knee should be directly over the axle of that pedal. If this is not the case, make the necessary adjustment by sliding the seat forward or backward.

Seat Tilt

Your seat should ideally be level, which can be checked with a spirit level if you’re really bored. Make sure you’re not on a hill when you do this – obviously. If your seat tips too much one way or the other, there will be pressure on your arms, shoulders, and lower back. Choose the seat design accordingly, bearing in mind the padding and the length of your average bike ride.

Handlebar Position

How you position the handlebars will be determined largely by the type of bike you have. Bullhorn handlebars on a racer won’t really work aerodynamically. Your shoulder, neck, and back are all affected by your handlebar position and design.

Always Wear a Helmet!

It’s no use having very relaxed muscles if your head breaks open. As your muscles go into rigor after death, even the ME who deals with your body will have no idea how relaxed you were just before the impact. The National Highway Safety Traffic Administration reports that a properly fitted bicycle helmet reduces the risk of head injury by 85%, and brain injury by 88%. You can ensure your helmet fits correctly by taking note of the following:

• Your helmet should be level on the head, while protecting the forehead.
• Your ears should just fit inside the Y shape of the side straps.
• The chin strap should be snug enough that if you open your mouth wide, it pulls the helmet down slightly.
• If you can move your helmet back on your head more than an inch by pushing on the front, it is not correctly fitted.
• If the helmet dislodges when you give your head a shake, you can be sure worse will happen in an accident.
• Sounds obvious, but don’t wear another hat under the helmet – you’re not Eminem.
• Helmets should conform to the relevant national/international standards applicable to the country where you live, and have the appropriate stickers to prove it. World War II helmets aren’t a good substitute and you will quickly become known locally as “that loon on the bike”.

As springtime gets under way, weather warms up and leaves turn green, many people will spend more time outside planting bulbs, mowing the lawn and pulling weeds. Gardening can provide a great workout, but with all the bending, twisting, reaching and pulling, your body may not be ready for exercise of the garden variety.

Gardening can be enjoyable, but it is important to stretch your muscles before reaching for your gardening tools. The back, upper legs, shoulders, and wrists are all major muscle groups affected when using your green thumb.

“A warm-up and cool-down period is as important in gardening as it is for any other physical activity,” said Dr. Scott Bautch of the American Chiropractic Association’s (ACA) Council on Occupational Health. “Performing simple stretches during these periods will help alleviate injuries, pain and stiffness.”

To make gardening as fun and enjoyable as possible, it is important to prepare your body for this type of physical activity. The following stretches will help to alleviate muscle pain after a day spent in your garden.

Garden Fitness Stretches

• Before stretching for any activity, breathe in and out, slowly and rythmically; do not bounce or jerk your body, and stretch as far and as comfortably as you can. Do not follow the no pain, no gain rule. Stretching should not be painful. o While sitting, prop your heel on a stool or step, keeping the knees straight. Lean forward until you feel a stretch in the back of the thigh, or the hamstring muscle. Hold this position for 15 seconds. Do this once more and repeat with the other leg.
• Stand up, balance yourself, and grab the front of your ankle from behind. Pull your heel towards your buttocks and hold the position for 15 seconds. Do this again and repeat with the other leg.
• While standing, weave your fingers together above your head with the palms up. Lean to one side for 10 seconds, then to the other. Repeat this stretch three times.
• Do the “Hug your best friend.” Wrap your arms around yourself and rotate to one side, stretching as far as you can comfortably go. Hold for 10 seconds and reverse. Repeat two or three times.

Finally, be aware of your body technique, body form and correct posture while gardening. Kneel, don’t bend, and alternate your stance and movements as often as possible to keep the muscles and body balanced.

When the Bulbs Are Planted…

If you already feel muscle aches and pains and did not complete the warm-up and cool-down stretches, there are ways to alleviate the discomfort. Apply a cold pack on the area of pain for the first 48 hours or apply a heat pack after 48 hours, and consider chiropractic care.

You wouldn’t go to a gas station and fill your tank with the wrong type of fuel, would you? Of course not, because you know what the consequences would be. You’d break down a half mile along the road.

It’s pretty much the same with the human body, except for one thing: we are such amazing creatures that our bodies can travel for many years on the wrong fuel. Depending on the individual, the consequences of eating unhealthily may be a series of running repairs throughout the years to keep you on the road, or one catastrophic and terminal break down that sends you to that big scrap heap in the sky.

Changing your diet , even slightly, can bring improvements to your overall health. A radical overall can transform it for the rest of your (extended) life.

We all know which are the correct foods to eat, and which cause problems. You’d have to be a life-long hermit in a cave (without cable TV) not to have heard the horror stories that accompany the excess consumption of certain foods. It is not ignorance of the facts that’s the problem, i.e. not knowing; rather, it’s ignoring the facts that you certainly do know. Too often we make choices based on taste and convenience, it’s that simple. And if that’s the case, no amount of tips and advice is going to change your mind.

Let’s face it, a coffee and doughnut for breakfast is more appetizing than a piece of fruit or a bowl of muesli. Nutritionists who try and convince you otherwise are doing themselves no favors by starting off with an obvious lie. The deciding factor is whether you see the fuel you eat as a means of taking you the full distance without mishap, or whether you don’t care how far you go so long as you are allowed to stop in at every fast food joint along the way.

If you are one of those people who has decided to “drive green” the rest of the journey, but are too bombarded by well-meaning information to know how to start, these simple tips may be of help:

Lifestyle Changes

• Exercise for at least 30 minutes three or four days a week to power up your metabolic rate and keep it revving even through periods of inactivity.
• Dine out less often. Restaurants are purveyors of taste over nutrition, and are prone to loading their recipes with salt and sugar.
• Prepare your own lunch in the morning so you control exactly what goes into it. Include more fruits, vegetables, and grains.
• Limit alcohol intake and give up smoking. Both habits impair your body’s ability to absorb nutrients from your food.

Dietary Changes

• Raw foods are bursting with nutrients so eat more of them. Cooking and canning kills off most of the goodness in food (although it should be noted that canned tomatoes can help prevent prostate cancer). Choose instead fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables, containing more vitamins and minerals.
• Choose organic produce if you can to avoid the chemicals and toxins that are present in pesticides.
• Eat 25 to 30 grams of fiber a day in the form of whole-grain breads and cereals, beans and nuts. Some fruits and vegetables are also good sources of fiber. Remember, though, that processed white flour products are the chief cause of Type-2 diabetes, messing up as they do your blood-glucose levels and destroying your body’s ability to control insulin.
• Drink eight to ten 8-ounce glasses of water a day to hydrate your organs and lubricate all your bodily functions. Remember that coffee, tea, soft drinks, and alcohol are diuretics, and steal water from the body.

Vegetarian Diets

Research proves that a good vegetarian diet has the power to help prevent heart disease, cancer, and many other diseases. Just bear in mind that French fries are also vegetarian, as are potato chips and beer. In other words, make sure you do not ruin any vegetarian health plans by deluding yourself into thinking all vegetarian products are good for you. Be sensible and selective.

With a vegetarian diet, consider the following tips:

• Eat a variety of fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes to keep a varied mix of nutrients in your diet.
• Take the advice of a suitable healthcare professional before eliminating animal products from your diet, so it can be done sensibly and correctly. This is especially the case for children, pregnant and breast-feeding women, and people recovering from illness.
• Many old-school nutritionists and general practitioners still dispense advice we now know to be outmoded, and would advise against vegetarianism and in favor of meat and dairy. Seek out a professional who is up-to-date with the latest research, such as a doctor of chiropractic.
• Although B12 is not required in any great amounts by the body and it would take years to become deficient even after cutting out a suitable source, it is only available in animal-based produce so keep a check on your level of that and of iron. Tiredness, malaise, and anemia can be signs of a deficiency.
• Eat fortified foods or take supplements to make up for any essential nutrients a vegetarian diet cannot provide. The best B12 supplementation comes from a shot, or an under-the-tongue nanotechnology spray for better absorption. Beware B12 in standard vitamin pills or fortified cereal; this is known as a B12 analogue and actually ends up robbing you of your own natural B12, leaving a net deficit.
• Dietary supplements can never take the place of proper food, and should not be seen as suitable substitutes. In conjunction with proper food, though, a good quality supplement can help plug any gaps your diet may have.

Some general advice to conclude:

• Eat more dark green vegetables, oils, nuts, and seeds, which are good sources of magnesium, fatty acids, and other vitamins and minerals.
• If you don’t know about nutrition, don’t “self-prescribe”. Consult someone like a doctor of chiropractic who can help you formulate a supplements program that is geared to your own diet.
• Symptoms such as headaches, chronic fatigue, or cardiac problems should send you straight to a healthcare professional for further investigation. It may be that all you need is to improve your diet, but these things are best not assumed.

“In my own practice, I have noticed a marked increase in the number of young children who are complaining about back, neck and shoulder pain,” and “The first question I ask these patients is, ‘Do you carry a backpack to school?’ Almost always, the answer is ‘yes.’”

This new back pain trend among youngsters isn’t surprising when you consider the disproportionate amounts of weight they carry in their backpacks – often slung over just one shoulder. A recent study conducted in Italy found that the average child carries a backpack that would be the equivalent of a 39-pound burden for a 176-pound man, or a 29-pound load for a 132-pound woman. Of those children carrying heavy backpacks to school, 60 percent had experienced back pain as a result.

Preliminary results of studies being conducted in France show that the longer a child wears a backpack, the longer it takes for a curvature or deformity of the spine to correct itself. The question that needs to be addressed next is, ‘Does it ever return to normal?’

The results of these types of studies are especially important as more and more school districts – many of them in urban areas – remove lockers from the premises, forcing students to carry their books with them all day long.

The problem has become so widespread, in fact, that the California State Assembly passed legislation that would force school districts to develop ways of reducing the weight of students’ backpacks. Similar legislation is being considered in New Jersey as well. The ACA believes that limiting the backpack’s weight to no more than 10 percent of the child’s body weight and urging the use of ergonomically correct backpacks are possible solutions.

What Can You Do?

The following tips will help prevent the needless pain that backpack misuse could cause the students in your household.

• Make sure your child’s backpack weighs no more than 5 to 10 percent of his or her body weight. A heavier backpack will cause your child to bend forward in an attempt to support the weight on his or her back, rather than on the shoulders, by the straps.
• The backpack should never hang more than four inches below the waistline. A backpack that hangs too low increases the weight on the shoulders, causing your child to lean forward when walking.
• A backpack with individualized compartments helps in positioning the contents most effectively. Make sure that pointy or bulky objects are packed away from the area that will rest on your child’s back.
• Bigger is not necessarily better. The more room there is in a backpack, the more your child will carry-and the heavier the backpack will be.
• Urge your child to wear both shoulder straps. Lugging the backpack around by one strap can cause the disproportionate shift of weight to one side, leading to neck and muscle spasms, as well as low-back pain.
• Wide, padded straps are very important. Non-padded straps are uncomfortable, and can dig into your child’s shoulders.
• The shoulder straps should be adjustable so the backpack can be fitted to your child’s body. Straps that are too loose can cause the backpack to dangle uncomfortably and cause spinal misalignment and pain.
• If the backpack is still too heavy, talk to your child’s teacher. Ask if your child could leave the heaviest books at school, and bring home only lighter hand-out materials or workbooks.
• Although the use of rollerpacks – or backpacks on wheels – has become popular in recent years, it is now recommended that they be used cautiously and on a limited basis by only those students who are not physically able to carry a backpack. Some school districts have begun banning the use of rollerpacks because they clutter hallways, resulting in dangerous trips and falls.

Chiropractic Care Can Help…

If you or your child experiences any pain or discomfort resulting from backpack use, call our office. As a Doctor of Chiropractic we are licensed and trained to diagnose and treat patients of all ages and will use a more gentle type of treatment for children. In addition, we can also prescribe exercises designed to help children develop strong muscles, along with instruction in good nutrition, posture and sleeping habits.