Reversing the Effects of Osteoporosis

Science and technology have added years to our lives. BStrong4Life adds life to our years.

You're only as strong as your bones, and you can only be active as long as your bones can support you. Bstrong4Life Arlington can help you improve your bone density and muscle density!
 

 

The BStrong4Life™ system aids in rebuilding of bone density, thereby reversing the effects of osteopenia and osteoporosis.  Health By Hands, Bstrong4Life Arlington offers this state-of-the-art system to the people of the DFW-MetroPlex whose bones are failing them and preventing a high quality of life and keeping those of you from enjoying life!

 

The BStrong4Life™ core warm-up and exercises take less than 20 minutes of your time - ONE TIME PER WEEK.  It's easy, safe, and you are carefully supervised by our Bstrong4Life certified technicians who were trained at the corporate headquarters in Woodridge, Illinois.  For more information  click the link below or call us and discover how you can enjoy your life with stronger bones and body!          

 

Health By Hands Wellness, Bstrong4Life Arlington 817-930-0600

 

Runners...are You Aware of the Chiropratic Advantage of Preventive Care and Symptoms Caught Early?

Improve Your Running Groove

With more and more people taking up recreational running in the U.S., the number of running associated injuries have also increased.  

 

Commonly reported cases include: shin splints, patellofermoral pain syndromes, Achilles tendinitis, flat feet and compartmental syndromes and stress fractures. All these injuries are a result of cumulative stress reactions to soft tissues and bones. While running, the musculoskeletal system may absorb up to 250-300% of the runner's weight on the heel strike and this exerts stress on the body.

 

Chiropractors are generally contracted to help alleviate pain and non-specific symptoms associated with running, usually from the gradual onset of regular stress on the soft tissues and bones. If these symptoms are caught early, they can then be effectively managed and reduced in a short period of time.  

 

Chiropractic treatment can help excessive pronation, the inward rolling of the hind foot and the midfoot beyond the acceptable parameters of general walking and running; prolonged internal rotation of the internal extremity, the inward rotation of the femur, which transmits stress to the pelvic region; and excessive supination, and those with very high arches who are very sensitive to stress reactions and fractures.

 

While chiropractic treatment can help with pain and injuries, its biggest advantage to runners and athletes is preventive care. Many runners, athletes and non-athletes may ask - why pay for chiropractic treatment when there is no pain to treat? It's much easier to maintain good health and prevent injury than to treat somebody already in pain.  

 

The danger with running injuries is that they are likely to be caused by repetitive stress and alignment problems that take time to develop, and an even longer time for the pain to start. If our bodies were designed with perfect alignment, then we would be able to cope with the regular stress running delivers. However, very few of us do have perfect alignment, and in many cases those with flat feet or high arches are at risk to extra cumulative stress to the body.  

 

In preventive cases, Health By Hands can give an accurate overall evaluation, teaching the patient how to prevent injuries and maintain good alignment - thereby reducing the chance of injury. For those looking for preventive treatment, Health By Hands can also help assess and evaluate your condition by offering scans of your feet, testing for strength imbalances and an analysis of your posture. In addition, we can also suggest a program suited to your needs to prevent injury in the future.

 

 

If You Suffer From Allergies, You Should Read This!

Why Are Allergies So Bad in North Texas?
How can the air become so irritating? 

 
There is data that suggests the air in North Texas has gotten worse in recent years.  

 

Seven years ago, allergen counts suddenly shot up, and the numbers have yet to return to their previous levels. Then there's the anecdotal evidence. Dr. Sandeep Gupta, an allergist who serves on the board of the Texas chapter of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA), says he is giving more allergy shots and seeing more patients than ever before. In 2011, Dallas moved from No. 52 to No. 35 on the AAFA's list of top 100 "allergy capitals."  

 

The AAFA estimates that 40 million Americans are affected by indoor/outdoor allergies. Pollens, pet dander, trees, grasses, and molds are everywhere, and, technically, they're harmless. But when a person with allergies is first exposed to his particular allergen, the immune system incorrectly interprets it as an attack.        

White blood cells produce IgE antibodies, which hang around until the person is exposed again. Then the allergens combine with the antibodies to  

release the chemical histamine-and the familiar symptoms begin. People sneeze, eyes water, blood vessels open up, and swelling occurs.  

 

That is the effect.  Now for the cause, we turn to Dr. Jeffrey Adelglass. He runs the only pollen count station in Dallas County certified by the - take a deep breath - American Academy of Asthma, Allergy & Immunology-National Allergy Bureau (AAAAI-NAB). For more than 20 years, Adelglass' pollen count station has gathered samples from a rooftop near his North Dallas Research Across America facility. He wouldn't reveal the exact location for "security reasons." The equipment used to collect the samples, a Rotorod sampler, costs about $2,000. People think it "looks like outer space," Adelglass says, adding that he's had samplers destroyed and stolen.

   

Nearly everyday, up on the roof, Kelly Walker, director and chief operating officer of Adelgalss' Research Across America, checks the sampler and coats the Rotorod with a silicon gel. The machine rotates every 10 minutes to collect pollen for a full 24 hours. Walker then retrieves the rod, stains it, and, under the supervision of Adelglass, analyzes the slides for molds, weeds, grass, and tree allergens. He reports the levels according to the varying scales set by the AAAAI. The counts are posted online, added to an archive that dates back to 1990. 

 

In 2004, Adelglass' team noticed a dramatic shift. The number of mold spores suddenly shot up. Mold levels do increase in the warmer months, simply because the spores freeze during the winter. But according to Michael Phillips, who does the number crunching, the 2004 jump was more significant than usual. He says the station went from recording daily levels of 300 to 500 spores per cubic meter to counts of 2,000, 4,000, or higher. They have remained that high ever since.  

 

"Fungus is always there in the environment, from the ground level to 2 miles in the atmosphere," Phillips says. "So more than likely - I'm not a meteorologist - but more than likely we probably had certain weather patterns coming in at that point that basically shifted the barometric pressure to where it made the spores more easily detectable." Before you rush out and buy a case of surgical masks, keep in mind that the levels are reported according to the AAAAI's national scales, and mold is reported differently than grasses, trees, and weeds. A mold level between 1 and 6,499 spores per cubic meter is considered low, which means that Dallas still doesn't come close to "heavy" ( which are counts of 13,000 to 49,999).  

 

But Phillips says even slight differences can mean a lot to patients, especially severe sufferers who monitor Adelglass' website every morning. Young Ryu, a business professor at UT Dallas who started seeing Adelglass for allergy symptoms in 1992, uses the pollen counts to decide what medicines to take and whether it's even worth venturing outside. He says that his allergies are controllable if he limits exposure on the days when the level of trees and grasses are especially high.

So is the weather to blame? I turn to Dr. John Nielsen-Gammon, the state climatologist of Texas and a professor of meteorology at Texas A&M University, for confirmation. During the course of our email exchange, however, it becomes clear that neither temperature nor pressure are the culprits. Nielsen-Gammon didn't find anything in the average North Texas temperatures to indicate a change in 2004, and he says that barometric pressure during the warm season doesn't vary more than a few tenths of a percent from year to year.

Allergist, Dr. Sandeep Gupta, offers a weather-related theory in that humidity, especially after a period of drought, could cause an increase in fungal spores because the mold grows and distributes more rapidly in the moist air. According to Nielsen-Gammon's records, the six years preceding 2004 were all below average precipitation for April through August, but wouldn't necessarily call them drought years. In 2004 we had the wettest spring and summer since 1958, though 2008 was even wetter. "Meanwhile," Nielsen-Gammon writes, "2004 was followed by the drought years of 2005 and 2006, with 2006 being among the 10 driest for April-August." If humidity were the cause, mold counts should have decreased in the years after 2004.

There is another possible explanation, and this one is inconvenient. "We're seeing more and more pollution," Adelglass says. "And pollution is not an allergen, but it makes people feel worse, and that combined with allergies makes people more susceptible to pollen."

Then there's the effect pollution has on the allergens themselves. A study published in the May 2010 edition of the peer-review journal Environmental Health Perspectives showed an interesting relationship between carbon dioxide and fungal spores. Alternaria alternata is a common fungus known to trigger allergy symptoms. It also thrives on CO2. Researchers at the University of Maryland grew grass plants for 60 days in controlled chambers with four varying levels of CO2: 19th-century levels, current levels, and two higher levels predicted for 2025 and 2040 by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Everything else was held constant. Sure enough, the fungus growing on the grass in the CO2-rich environments reproduced more wantonly, sending off the spores that drive everyone nuts.

Pinning down historical CO2 levels in North Texas is tough. Every summer, the area breaks the Environmental Protection Agency's allowable limit for ozone, a related greenhouse gas. Nationwide, EPA data show that greenhouse gas emissions have increased by 7.4 percent from 1990 to 2009. C02 from fossil fuel combustion is the largest contributor to U.S. emissions. So it's a safe bet that C02 levels haven't dropped in recent years.

Finally, Adelglass believes that there's yet another contributing element: your new neighbor - and the tree he brought with him from Chicago. "The plants themselves have become more numerous. As the population of Dallas grows, people will put in lawns and trees," Adelglass says. "And some of them are fond of their trees and plants from where they came from. So they'll bring with them plants that aren't indigenous to Dallas." According to the 2010 Census, Dallas County's population increased 6.7 percent, to 2,368,139 people, in the last decade.

There's no cure for allergies, Adelglass says, but monitoring pollen counts can help most people achieve "maximum health and wellness" without having to flee the city entirely. When Ryu, the business professor, started treatment, he was suffering a severe sinus infection that left his nasal passages completely blocked and required surgery to correct. Now, after years of medications and immunotherapy, he says that he can breathe.

 

If you are an allergy sufferer, discuss your triggers and symptoms with Health by Hands. Most types of allergies respond remarkably well to our treatments and therapies.   

   

Excerpts /article from D Magazine

Why You're Allergic to North Texas

Liz Johnstone  

May 2011 

What is SOT? From Infants to the Elderly, Every Member of Your Family Will Feel the Difference!

SOT - Sacro Occipital Technique is Safe, Effective, and Gentle

istockphoto

Total Body Health for the whole family

Not all chiropractors will take the time and effort to treat you and your family with this amazing technique. Health By Hands Wellness Center is ardently dedicated in bringing you and your family the very best...this includes SOT.

 

Sacro Occipital Technic (SOT) is the gentlest and safest way to optimize your families health and well being; from infants to the elderly, every member of your family will feel the difference. SOT promotes balance, neurological integrity, and integrated function of the organ structure and neurological mechanism..meaning, your body will be able to heal itself and function in the perfection that it was designed to do. 

Prevention is the best policy
Regular check-ups by an SOT Chiropractor results in the most effective form of prevention and will actually maintain the integrity of your body while fixing problem areas. SOT can detect problems in your body before they even start to hurt...this is prevention at the highest level.

It is common that many chiropractors have their patients in for the same series of adjustments, over and over, without curing the problem area. When you receive SOT you are building on one foundation of stability to the next level of increased stability; your treatments are not repetitive and useless. So many people that have come from traditional chiropractic to a SOT Chiropractor have never returned to the lesser approach, because SOT works. The proof is in the quality of life attained by those who have experienced the SOT expertise. 

Clinical experience and scientific investigation over the years have shown that SOT is in the forefront of those procedures which improve health.

Where did SOT come from?

The Sacro Occipital Technic (SOT) was founded by Major Betrand De Jarnette,  DC, DO. Applying SOT as Dr. De Jarnette developed it, is the proven method and the one that is most often found to be effective.

 

The Sacro Occipital Technic (SOT) is a system of chiropractic and chiropractic Craniopathy that integrates art, science, and philosophy of optimizing the human innate healing systems. SOT utilizes a systemic and systematic approach to removing neurological/structural/functional interferences thereby returning the innate healing capacity to the system. (Learn more about SOT).

Feel good, live strong...with SOT!

Stretching Can Improve Athletic Performance & Optimize Functional Movement in Your Daily Life

Take Flexibility Training Seriously
Make time to stretch

When it comes to the Big Three of exercise - cardiovascular, strength training, and flexibility - it is pretty clear which one can get overlooked. After all, while we prize cardiovascular and strength training for their role in helping us lose weight, build muscle, and get fit, the benefits of flexibility training are less immediately alluring.

  

However, as the population ages, more of us are learning to appreciate the rewards of stretching. Staying limber can offset age-related stiffness, improve athletic performance, and optimize functional movement in daily life. Research shows that flexibility training can develop and maintain range of motion and may help prevent and treat injury. In fact, the American College of Sports Medicine has added flexibility training to its general exercise recommendations, advising that stretching exercises for the major muscle groups be performed two to three days per week.

  

How can you include an effective flexibility workout in your fitness program? Here are some guidelines:

 

Think in Terms of Serious Flexibility Training, Not Just Brief Stretching.  Squeezing in one or two quick stretches before or after a workout is better than nothing, but this approach will yield limited results. What's more, generic stretches may not be effective for your particular body. The more time and attention you give to your flexibility training, the more benefits you'll experience. A qualified chiropractor, personal trainer, physical therapist or health professional can design a functional flexibility program specifically for you.

  

Consider Your Activities

Are you a golfer? Do you ski, run or play tennis? Do your daily home or work routines include bending, lifting or sitting for long periods? Functional flexibility improves the stability and mobility of the whole person in his or her specific environment. An individualized stretching program is best to improve both stability (the ability to maintain ideal body alignment during all activities) and mobility (the ability to use full, normal range of motion).

 

Pay Special Attention to Tight Areas

Often the shoulder, chest, hamstrings and hips are particularly tight, but you may hold tension in other areas, depending on your history of injuries and the existing imbalances in your muscle groups. Unless you tailor your flexibility training to your strengths and weaknesses, you may stretch already overstretched muscles and miss areas that need training.

  

Listen to Your Body

Stretching is an individual thing. Pay attention to your body's signals and don't push too far. Avoid bouncing or jerking movements to gain momentum; this approach can be dangerous.  Instead, slowly stretch your muscles to the end point of movement and hold the stretch for about 10 to 30 seconds. Older adults, pregnant women and people with injuries will need to take special precautions.

  

Get Creative

Varying your flexibility training can help you stick with it. You can use towels, resistance balls and other accessories to add diversity and effectiveness to your stretching.

  

Warm Up First

Don't forget to warm up your muscles before you begin. Walking briskly for 10 to15 minutes is a simple way to do this.

  

Find a Flexibility Class That Works for You

Classes that include stretching are becoming more popular and more diverse. Some combine cardiovascular and strength components with the flexibility training; others focus exclusively on stretching.

  

Stretch Your Mind and Body

Did you know that your emotional state may affect your flexibility? If your body is relaxed, it will be more responsive to flexibility training. Listening to music and focusing on your breath can help you relax as you stretch. You may also want to explore yoga or Pilates. In addition to stretching, classes in these disciplines may include relaxation, visualization and other mind-body techniques designed to reduce stress and increase mindfulness.

  

It's Not Just for Wimps

Forget the idea that stretching is just for elderly, injured or unconditioned people. Many Olympic and professional athletes rely on flexibility training for peak performance.

  

Do It Consistently

It doesn't help to stretch for a few weeks and then forget about it. Integrate regular stretching into your permanent fitness program. For inspiration, look to cats and dogs - they're dedicated practitioners of regular stretching and you rarely see them getting the kind of joint or muscular injuries that humans get!   

 

Getting Started

Your chiropractor is a great resource for functional stretches specific to your needs. Be sure to ask Health By Hands about a safe and customized flexibility program at your next visit.

 

 

After Years of Telling People Chemotherapy is the Only Way to Try ("try" being the key word) to Eliminate Cancer, Johns Hopkins is Finally Starting to Tell You There Is an Alternative Way

John Hopkins Cancer Update
Chemotherapy is Not the Only Way to "Try" to Eliminate Cancer

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's lifetime.

3. When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, but also to environmental, food and lifestyle factors.

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet to eat more adequately and healthy, 4-5 times/day and by including supplements will strengthen the immune system.

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.

 

9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.

Cancer Cells Feed on:

Ø  Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or   molasses, but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it    white in color. A better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.

Ø  Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk cancer cells are being starved.

Ø  Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little other meat, like chicken. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones, and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.

Cancer Cells cannot survive in an Alkaline environment
A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

 

·       Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer fighting properties. Water - best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

·        Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines becomes putrefied and leads to more toxic buildup.

·       Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

 

Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the body's own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, un-forgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.  

Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment.  Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells. Johns Hopkins has recently sent all this information out in its newsletters. This is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well.

 The dangers of dioxin:
1. No plastic containers in microwave.
2. No water bottles in freezer.
3. No plastic wrap in microwave.

Dioxin chemicals cause cancer, especially breast cancer. Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies. Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic.  

Recently, Dr Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Castle Hospital, was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers. This especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food. You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else. Paper isn't bad but you don't know what is in the paper. It's just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper and the dioxin problem is one of the reasons. 

Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead.

 

Do You Know the Symptoms of Heavy Metal Poisoning?

Symptoms of Heavy Metal Poisoning and What to Do About It
Health By Hands Utilizes Natural Therapies that Work! 

The risks of heavy metal poisoning are a great health concern. A danger of heavy metal toxicity is that its symptoms are commonlymisdiagnosed, often as incurable chronic conditions, but if unrecognized and untreated they can lead to severe health problems and even death. Some definitions cite the atomic weight or a specific gravity greater than 4.0 or 5.0, but generally it refers to a group of metals and semi-metals posing a potential risk to humans and the environment - such as lead, mercury, and cadmium.

 

In our daily lives, it's hard to avoid heavy metals entirely. Contaminated food, mostly fish, can contain traces of heavy metals, as can working environments, direct and passive smoking, mercury fillings and old homes that have used lead-based paint. Poisoning occurs after an excessive build up of heavy metals in the body. Usually these are flushed out via urine or fecal waste, but some people, such those suffering from chronic conditions, cannot excrete them and this results in an accumulation over time. Toxicity also depends on individual factors such as the dose absorbed, exposure, age and route of exposure. There have also been studies that indicate a possible genetic predisposition to heavy metal toxicity.

 

The usual symptoms associated with heavy metal poisoning can manifest as:  

• Chronic pain throughout muscles
• Chronic pain in the tendons and soft tissues
• Chronic malaise; 'brain fog', meaning when one's thoughts become clouded
• Candida and other chronic infections
• Gastrointestinal complaints
• Food allergies
• Headaches and migraines  
• Dizziness
• Mood disorders, such as depression and anxiety
• Malfunctions in the nervous system, which may result in numbness, tingling, paralysis and/or electric shocks in the body.  
• Recent studies have found that a link may exist between heavy metal poisoning and cardiovascular disease.

Conventional treatment for detoxifying the body can take a long time - up to years in some cases - and many have experienced side effects resulting from heavy metals being stirred up in the body before excretion. Chelation therapy is the most common form of treatment, in which agents bind to heavy metals in the body and are expelled via urine or fecal waste. Medicines commonly used for detoxification include DMSA, prescribed to patients suffering from lead poisoning. DMSA binds with the lead in the body before excretion via urine; Calcium EDTA is a chelating agent predominantly used against lead, but it can also treat for mild effects against mercury, arsenic and gold poisoning. Finally, DMPS is a strong chelating agent treating mercury poisoning, with ten times the strength of DMSA.

 

Health By Hands utilizes a gentle therapy that helps rid the body of toxins and metals with an effective foot detox which is proven to balance and restore the body's Ph and electromagnetic energy. The patient places their feet in the bioenergetic water to receive the flow of ions which increases cellular function. Studies have shown that more cellular ATP is produced during treatment which enhances the cells to work and detoxify at a higher rate.

 

Maintaining a healthy diet can also help prevent and alleviate the symptoms of heavy metal poisoning. This means eating foods high in anti-oxidants; probiotics, cilantro, as anecdotal studies have shown that they may mobilize mercury and other toxic metals, making it easier for chelating agents to expel them from the body. It is also a good idea to avoid consuming deep-sea fish and shellfish, which may be high in mercury. Exercise can help aid in the release of toxins, since sweating is a natural way to detoxify.

 

Say Good-bye to Ear Aches

Ear Aches are the Number One Reason Children Go to the Doctor

Take control of chronic childhood ear infections   

Say "Good-Bye" to ear aches with safe & effective techniques at Health By Hands!

Nothing is worse than a middle ear infection, no matter how old you are. The pain can bring a grown man to his knees. The technical term for an ear ache is otitis media.

Ear aches are the number one reason for childhood visits to a pediatrician's office.

What is really difficult is when your infant cannot tell you what is wrong, when they are up all night crying or constantly crying through out the day, your intuition says it might be a middle ear infection. The statistics would suggest that your hunch is probably right.  

As a parent, you may be surprised to learn that both the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Academy of Family Physicians recommend a "watchful waiting" or "wait and see" approach to acute ear infections.  

Research published in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association demonstrated that there was no difference in fever, otalgia (pain) or number of future visits between kids that were given an antibiotic prescription and those that were not. As it turns out, antibiotics only outperform the body's own immune system in a handful of cases.

Remarkable results with chiropractic care
Numerous studies of manipulative therapies, including chiropractic care, have shown remarkable results without the side effects of antibiotics.

A groundbreaking 1997 study of 332 kids ages 27 days to 5 years indicted a strong correlation between chiropractic adjustment and the resolution of otitis media (middle ear ache).  

Just to highlight one finding - there were 104 kids in the group classified as having 'chronic' otitis media. This group of kids got 5 chiropractic adjustments each. Across the next six months the recurrence rate among this group was only 16%!

Let's put that data into more human terms. That means that 84% of these kids classified as having chronic ear infections went six months without having another one after just 5 adjustments. A full half year devoid of screaming in the middle of the night, lost sleep and anguish of watching your child suffer for 84% of the parents.

Spiro DM, Tay K, Arnold DH, et al. Wait-and-see prescription for the treatment of acute otitis media: a randomized controlled trial. Journal of the American Medical Association 2006; 296(10): 1235-1241.

Fallon, JM. Journal of Clinical Chiropractic Pediatrics Vol 2, No. 2 1997 p.167-183.

    

Functional Medicine addresses the core inbalances that underlie medical conditions; therefore, helping patients return to good health!

What is Functional Medicine?
Individualized Prevention and Identification Expertise 

 

Functional medicine is an individualized, holistic approach to healthcare based on prevention and identification of the underlying causes of disease, rather than on symptoms.

Functional medicine is based on the following principles:

• Every patient has a unique biochemical profile. While we all share certain biochemical processes, there are significant individual variations in our metabolic functioning due to genetics and environment.  
• The focus is on patient care rather than disease care.  
• There is a web of interconnections between physiological factors. Our biological systems function more like a network than like individual, autonomous processes. We now know that every organ and system can affect every other organ and system in the network, so the whole person needs to be treated rather than only the diseased part.  
• Good health is more than the absence of disease.

Conventional medicine compartmentalizes the body into specialties, such as cardiology, rheumatology, dermatology, and digestive disorders. Functional medicine sees the body as an integrated system rather than a collection of independent organs.  

The approach uses principles of systems biology, which involve analyzing how all components of human biology interact with each other and with the environment. Imbalances in environmental inputs and physiological processes can cause the signs and symptoms of disease.

Environmental inputs include diet, exercise, air quality, water quality, and trauma. Physiological processes include cell-cell communication, transformation of food into energy; cell, organ, and system replication, repair and maintenance; elimination of waste; defenses, transport and circulation.   

Malfunctions in these systems can affect all other systems in the body, and may cause imbalances in hormonal function, cell replication, immune response, inflammatory response, digestion, and structural integrity.

Practitioners of functional medicine focus on the core imbalances that underlie medical conditions. Their goal is to intervene at multiple levels in order to restore balance, manage complex chronic disease, and return patients to good health.  

Most medical conditions are complex and do not necessarily fall into simple, easy-to-treat categories. For example, digestive disorders often involve inflammation, immune response, digestive system function, psychological issues, and energy transformation issues.  

Each practitioner uses the patient's unique physiological, mental, and emotional story as the basis for diagnosing illness. A comprehensive and individualized treatment approach is then devised to improve the patient's physiological function and environmental inputs, rather than focusing simply on symptom relief.  

Treatment may include typical medical approaches such as genetics, endocrinology, gastroenterology, psychology and immunology, as well as non-mainstream treatments and drugs such as homeopathy, orthomolecular medicine, and detoxification. Rather than simply diagnose a condition and prescribe a pill for symptom relief, a functional medicine specialist will search for the root cause of disease and provide a multi-pronged approach to restoring balance and, ultimately, good patient health.

   

Your child's backpack...is it safe?

Your Child's Health: Having the Right Backpack and Using It Correctly Now, May Prevent Big Problems Later

Short-Term Injuries and Longer-Term Concerns         

Healthcare researchers and providers alike are growing increasingly concerned that American kids are suffering from back pain earlier in their lives and in larger numbers than ever before. And experts closest to the problem believe that overweight, improperly designed, and misused backpacks may be a big part of the reason why.

With an estimated 40 million school-age children carrying backpacks in America, it's not surprising that there are some book bag-related injuries every year.

Since 2000, the U.S. Product Safety Commission has reported that children and their backpacks make roughly 7,000 trips to the emergency room annually. However, many observers believe that the real toll is actually far higher since the vast majority of such injuries go unreported and many kids are treated by a family doctor or not treated at all.

While it is not clear how many acute injuries actually result from wearing backpacks as opposed to tripping over them or being hit by them, doctors who treat back problems regularly-especially chiropractic physicians-see worrying signs that heavier backpacks are setting the stage for more serious health issues in the future, including chronic back, neck and shoulder pain. Some chiropractors estimate that as many as 75% to 80% of the teenage patients they treat have postural problems directly related to overweight backpacks.  

Why the heavier bags? Across the past ten years, several factors have come together to increase the amount of weight young students are carrying in their book bags:

• Increases in the amount of homework being assigned to students at a younger age typically mean more heavy books carried between home and school. 
• A trend toward removing lockers and individual desks from schools in many cases requires kids to carry all their belongings with them during the day.
• Reduced time between classes or fewer trips to the locker can mean heavier loads for students.
• Longer school days or increased participation in before-school and after-school activities often translates into more supplies and equipment as well as more time wearing the backpack.

The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons recommends that a backpack should not be any heavier than 15% of a child's body weight. But as early as 2001, researchers at Simmons College in Massachusetts found that 55% of the 345 children they studied were carrying backpacks that exceeded the recommended weight limit, often by a substantial amount. One third of those students said that they had already experienced back pain. Today, the American Chiropractic Association advises parents to limit the weight of a child's backpack to no more than 5% to 10% of body weight.    

If you see any of the following signs, it may be time to lighten the load, help your child choose a different backpack or talk about how it's being used.

• Pain in the back, neck, shoulders or knees
• Red marks left on shoulders by backpack straps
• Tingling or numbness in the arms
• Trouble getting the backpack on or off
• Bending forward or "hunching over" to shift weight from the shoulders to the back

Choosing the Right Backpack and Using it Correctly
A good quality backpack with proper ergonomic features doesn't have to be expensive. They're available at many sporting goods stores and discount outlets. Experts offer the following advice:

• Get the size and fit right first. The right backpack should fit between the top of your child's shoulders and lower back. Bigger is not better, since having more space available creates the potential for a heavier backpack.
• Find one with shoulder straps that are wide, padded and adjustable. These distribute the weight more broadly across the shoulders and chest while allowing the backpack to be fitted snuggly to your child's body.
• For older students, consider a backpack with chest straps and a hip belt. Chest straps and a hip belt redistribute weight even further and bring the pack closer to the wearer's body.

Fibromyalgia? Find out how to alleviate the symptoms & live a more normal life!

Fibromyalgia Suffers Choose Chiropractic over Traditional Medicine for Relief of Symptoms

Feel the difference with Health By Hands...

Chronic pain has meet its match  

 

Fibromyalgia is a condition with no known medical cure. It is characterized by chronic and debilitating pain all over the body, and heightened pain under pressure. The symptoms can cause patients to suffer from widespread pain, poor sleep, chronic tiredness, and even depression.  

 

The causes of fibromyalgia are basically unknown
Some theories cite that the patient's low pain threshold may be attributed to increased sensitivity in the brain to pain signals. Other possible causes could be a genetic predisposition, stress, the disruption of normal dopamine related neurotransmission,  abnormal serotonin levels, and deficient growth hormone secretion. While there is currently no cure for the condition, its symptoms can be alleviated by chiropractic treatment.

 

The treatment found in chiropractic care is based on the idea that illnesses and pain in the body arise from misalignments in the body's skeletal structure. In order for the body to function healthily, the spine and the skeletal structure need to be set in the correct position - otherwise problems like chronic pain can arise.

 

Fibromyalgia causes numerous, tender points to occur all over the body, including back and neck pain and leg cramps. As a result of these symptoms, sufferers of fibromyalgia have sought treatment from chiropractors. Because the adjustments made during treatment help to restore the posture of the skeletal system, many sufferers find that treatment can help to reduce a significant amount of pain.  

 

Some fibromyalgia sufferers experience a condition known as cervical spinal stenosis, which results in compression of the spine's meninges, which are the coverings of the upper spine. This can result in debilitating pain all over the body. A chiropractor may be able to help with cervical spinal stenosis by adjusting the spine around the head and neck, releasing this compression and eliminating the symptoms attributed to it.

 

The effectiveness of chiropractic care has been studied in sufferers of fibromyalgia, where patients were asked which method of treatment, medical or alternative, helped the best with their condition. The majority voted for chiropractic treatment.  

 

In addition, the effectiveness was tested by using spinal manipulation to relieve fibromyalgia symptoms, and after 15 treatments, results concluded that patients had reduced fatigue and pain as well as improved sleep quality.

 

While fibromyalgia sufferers continue to look for a cure, it is great to know that there are ways to alleviate the symptoms and live a more normal life. If you or someone you know suffers from undiagnosed chronic pain or fibromyalgia, please share this article with them and encourage them to get a chiropractic consultation with Health By Hands Wellness Center at 817-930-0600.

 

When was the last time you thought about how you sit?

Are You Sitting Properly?

Good sitting posture reduces the stress and strain on ligaments                         
                                                                                        
If you are an office worker typically you spend at least six or seven hours a day sitting on the job. Add more time sitting in the car, at dinner, and lounging with some late night TV or reading and the total hours of sitting rockets up to somewhere around ten hours.When is the last time you thought about how you sit? Probably never or a long, long time ago. Promise yourself that you will take a critical look at how you sit after you read this article. If you are sitting and reading this online, go ahead and freeze right now and really think about how you are sitting. Compare your sitting position to this checklist:

• Sit with your legs uncrossed with ankles in front of the knees.
• Place both feet firmly on the floor. Get yourself a footrest if your feet do not reach the floor.
• Your knees should be lower than your hips and the back of your knees should not touch the seat.
• If your chair has an adjustable backrest, move it to support the arch in your low back. If you don't have a backrest, ask your employer about getting one or invest in it yourself.
• Get up and move around every hour. Take a break from sitting even if you cannot stop working. Make a phone call standing up or close your office door and lie down for a few minutes on your stomach. At the very least, shift your sitting position occasionally.

Good posture is important for long term health and disease prevention just like daily tooth brushing and flossing. And, similar to tooth brushing and flossing, habits are formed early and can be hard to break later in life.

Good sitting posture reduces the stress and strain on ligaments. Ligaments are responsible for holding the joints together, so ligament stresses can make you prone to joint injuries. Proper posture also reduces muscle fatigue. When muscles are able to work efficiently they use less energy and don't get tired as easily. Abnormal motions or positions that are repeated over and over again on a daily basis are contributors to degenerative arthritis and joint pain.

Most adults would readily agree that posture is important. Most of that group would also admit that they don't actively think about posture...it just happens.  So, for the next 30 days, make an effort to really think about your posture and pause a couple times per day to compare your current position to the checklist provided above. It takes about 30 days of focus to break an old habit or develop a new one, so if you concentrate on your sitting posture for 30 days, you will be well on your way to a lifetime of better musculoskeletal health!

 

Eliminating many chronic painful areas and symptoms are achievable by removing the cause

The Kaufman Technique

Health By Hands...helping you achieve & maintain your health and wellness goals!

Trigger Point Pain Relief 

Stephen J. Kaufman D.C., is a doctor of chiropractic in Denver, Colorado, and has been practicing for more than 25 years. When he was in school, he saw many students getting adjusted every day, sometimes several times a day, and yet they STILL had constant chronic pain. Although many patients are helped by chiropractic care, many more are not, at least not long term.

Dr. Kaufman's goal was to find some way to easily turn off trigger points and pain on the spot, by removing the cause, using only light pressure on neurological reflexes. It took more than a decade, but he has developed numerous procedures that seem to do just that, in many cases. No devices or products are involved, only soft tissue reflexes.

This is a major breakthrough in the treatment of pain that astonished over 350 M.D's as Dr. Kaufman demonstrated his Pain Neutralization Technique™ also known as the Kaufman Technique.  He discovered a series of techniques that combine several simple, standard neurological reflexes that often quickly change the tone in a painful muscle, eliminating many chronic exquisitely painful areas and symptoms.

The Kaufman Technique is one of over forty techniques that Dr. Kathi safely and effectively utilizes in the treatment of her patients!

Do you have whiplash and other symptoms that showed up a few days later?

How to Treat Whiplash with Chiropractic Care
Is the Pain in Your Neck Whiplash or Something Else ?            

There are various reasons why one may be experiencing a pain in the neck. The neighbors dog, traffic, bills, other stressors, but many people tend to associate any type of neck pain with having whiplash. The first thing to find out is whether or not you have whiplash.

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Whiplash is defined as an injury to the neck, by moving the head forward and then backward in a rapid fashion that places strain on the neck muscles and ligaments. Whiplash most commonly occurs when the victim has been in an auto accident of any kind and especially if hit from behind by another vehicle but can also result from physical abuse (such as shaken baby syndrome) or contact sports, or taking an unexpected flying dive off of a bucking or spooked horse.  

Oftentimes the symptoms of whiplash do not show up until a few days later. The symptoms of whiplash vary and are not limited to:

• Restricted joint movement in spine or limbs
• Displacement of spinal discs, also known as a herniation, which causes sharp pain down one or both arms; It also can create small tears in spinal tissue and damage the nervous system, which is followed by numbness, tingling and muscle weakness
• Chronic pain in the neck area
• Cognitive dysfunction that may include difficulty concentrating

When to See a Physician
If you have unrelated neck pain that persists for a period of time or you experience the following:

• A shooting pain through one or both arms
• Tingling or numb feeling in one or both arms or hands
• Inability to touch chin to your chest

You may want to see a chiropractor or other medical professional as they can diagnose an underlying problem. If you are not having any of the symptoms or find it goes away after changing positions, it may just be the result of poor posture.

The Severity of Whiplash
At times, but not very often, neck pain resulting from an accident can be treated with ice and a light brace. Other times, it may seem to disappear, but Health By Hands recommends that anyone with whiplash seek chiropractic care even if symptoms seem to disappear; because more often than not, eventually a person may find themselves waking up to severe pain accompanied by acute problems, such as:

• Pain in their jaw
• Significant damage to ligaments, discs, nerves or joints
• Difficulty swallowing
• Nausea
• Irritability or unable to concentrate

If these symptoms are present, promptly make an appointment with your local chiropractor for an expert evaluation to determine if an x-ray is needed; in addition to other tests that may be performed to determine if there is an underlying problem.

Seeing the Chiropractor

The primary objective of the chiropractor is to use gentle manipulations that treat the spine and discs so that they are aligned properly. These manipulations are also designed to reduce muscle spasms and rebuild muscle strength with the aid of physical therapy.

The chiropractor will first focus on reducing inflammation and check the neck, mid and low back. From there, the range of motion, disc injuries and muscle spasms will be examined. Other factors that will be noted are walking, posture and spinal alignment. A comprehensive exam provides an understanding of the individuals' body mechanics. X-rays and/or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may be taken along with the patient medical history to determine whether they can be treated.

Some cases of whiplash may only require ice and heat therapy to reduce inflammation and relax the muscles, respectively. Non-medicinal treatment may include acupuncture, massage or Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS).

If you or someone you know may have experienced any or all of the symptoms described, then you may want to share this information with them or give our office a call to make an appointment. Health By Hands Wellness Center, Arlington, TX. 817-930-0600

 

 

Did you know that natural holistic dental care considers the wellness of your whole body?

Holistic Dentistry in Texas
Dr. Daniela Petre, DMD, IAOMT

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Dr. Petre, located in McKinney, Texas, knows that biological care supports the body's natural abilities of self healing and regeneration; therefore, she is on a mission to improve the quality of life for people by creating optimal oral health through quality dental care.  She utilizes safe, nontoxic, long-lasting restorations through conservative dentistry, in a safe, nontoxic environment that takes into consideration the wellness of your whole-body.

 

Dr. Petre has earned accreditation from the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT) for safe amalgam (mercury) fillings removal. The IAOMT was founded in 1984 with the purpose of scientifically evaluating the safety of mercury fillings. Dr. Petre is one of only two IAOMT accredited doctors in the DFW area and one of only 103 accredited in the U.S.   

 

Biocompatibility Testing 

In dentistry today there are more than 5,000 materials used in the restoration of teeth and the oral cavity. Over the last 25 years, the number of people in the United States with allergies and auto immune disorders has been steadily on the rise. For some people, auto immune problems have been linked to mercury in dental fillings and nickel and beryllium in metals used for crowns. The immune-compromised and allergy-prone person cannot be too careful about what he comes in contact with.

 

Dr. Petre believes that other filling materials are less toxic, and we can find out which materials are best suited for each person after biocompatibility testing. This will provide a basis for whole-body health because the materials used in dentistry should not adversely affect the rest of the body.   

 

How does homeopathy relate to dentistry? One of the natural methods of healing available to dentists is homeopathy, a system that utilizes a person's basic healing properties to achieve optimum health. ...read more click here  

 

Dr. Petre earned  her  bachelor's  degree in biology from  Portland State University, then continued  her education, achieving a Doctor of Dental  Medicine  degree (DMD) from  Oregon Health  Science University in 1999. 

 

Dr. Daniela Petre comes highly recommended by both, Dr. Kathi and Dr. Marius.

 

For more information:  

Dr. Daniela Petre, DMD Easy Dentistry, Biologic & Holistic located at 210 Custer Rd, Suite 150, McKinney, Tx. 75071

Did you know that you have a fascinating energetic & neurological monitoring system?

The Amazing FBA Technique
As a certified practitioner of Functional Bio-Analysis (FBA) Technique I help my patients achieve optimal health
                                                                                                                                                  

Everyone is designed with a fascinating energetic and neurological monitoring system. Functional Bio-Analysis (FBA) is a science-based complementary medicine technique designed to help knowledgeable practitioners navigate this amazing natural pathway in order to find the body's greatest needs.

One goal of FBA is to detect nutritional deficiencies and then to supply only those supplements that influence numerous metabolic functions simultaneously, producing what is called a hormetic effect. Utilizing hormetic nutrients exclusively will often restore health by accomplishing the most good, in the least amount of time, with the fewest number of additional therapies.

 

Can Chiropractors Help Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?If the median nerve in the wrist becomes trapped it will cause Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS)
                                                                                             

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS), named from the carpal bones in the wrist that form a tunnel around the nerve leading to the hand, is an injury usually caused by repetitive and forceful movements that result in swelling around the tendons and pinching of the median nerve, causing painful tingling, lack of muscle strength and control in the hand, and pain shooting from the hand up to the shoulder. CTS is a risk to most workers, such as those who work on the computer and also store and assembly line workers, who receive micro-traumas to their hands and wrists on a daily basis due to awkward positioning, forceful and repetitive movements, and stressful activity. 

The usual treatment for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) can extend to heavy medication and surgery; however, there are alternative methods of treatment that can alleviate the symptoms and effects arising from CTS. Chiropractic treatment for CTS has been studied against conventional non-surgical medical treatment by Davis et al. and was found to be effective. This offers an alternative to sufferers who are intolerant to ibuprofen, or those who simply wish to avoid treating with medication.

What is the cause of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS)? The median nerve in the wrist, which when trapped causes Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, connects to the spinal cord through the openings in the bones in the areas around the lower neck. If these bones in the spinal cord lose their ordinary position or motion, this can cause problems in the wrists or fingers. Through chiropractic treatment, these bones can be reset to the correct position and can help to treat CTS.

Chiropractic techniques treat the cause of CTS. If Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is detected early, then surgery can be avoided, and chiropractic treatment is the leading method of non-surgical treatment. Chiropractic treatment usually involves various methods, with a combination of rest, ice, ultrasound, and electrical stimulation, including:

• By chiropractic manipulation therapy of the elbow and upper spine, where the joint's soft tissue undergoes manipulation
• Nutritional supplements in the diet such as B6, a vitamin that has had long-term promotion in its treatment of CTS
• Electro-acupuncture treatment; bracing, a technique that has had extensive success, by limiting extension and flexion in the hand, and with compression on the median nerve may encourage recovery and ease the swelling in the tendons  
• Exercises for the wrist and hand designed to encourage recovery  

 Reassessing the ergonomics of the work place to minimize stress the best way as possible.

Recent studies, such as that by J. Burke et al, concluded that using manual therapy intervention such as soft tissue mobilization (STM) has been found to help improve the signs and symptoms of CTS, with improvements to nerve conduction latencies, wrist strength and motion.

 

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome can become a serious health problem, and if left too long may require surgery. If caught early, chiropractic treatment is a highly effective, drug-free method to ease the symptoms and pain caused by CTS, and provide long-term relief.