February 2015 Health Newsletter

The holidays have come and gone, and you're left to deal with the aftermath of un-healthy eating.  Your body is puffy and bloated.  Your joints are achy.  Your clothes feel tight and ill-fitting. 

Maybe you are feeling this way right now!  Below are outlined 6 steps you will need to quickly and seamlessly get you back on the fitness track. 

Step 1) Get Focused

The holidays happened.  You ate things from your "never eat these" list, you drank more than you should have.  Now is the time to draw a line in the sand.  The bad eating stops now!  Time to get re-focused for another year of health and wellness in 2015!

Step 2) Get Hydrated

While bad eating can take on many forms, the end result is more often dehydration and water retention.  Dehydrated muscles are painful and stiff muscles.  The only way to restore balance is to get hydrated.  Your first priority in getting back on track is to drink plenty of water though out your day.  Start with a glass of water in the morning, and carry a bottle with you.  Don't add artificial sweeteners or stimulants to your water- these will work against your hydration efforts.  To add flavor, slice fresh fruit, herbs or vegetable to place in your water. 

Step 3) Get Picky

For the next few days be picky about what you eat.  Stick with only whole, real foods like fruits, vegetable and some lean meat.  Whole, real foods will quickly help to restore balance.  Don't eat packaged foods for the next few days.  This means saying no to snack foods, processed meat slices, dairy, baked goods and alcohol.

Step 4)  Get Juicing

Making your own juice can be beneficial when recovering from a weekend of bad eating.  The key is to use ingredients that will hydrate and nourish your body and to avoid ingredients that are high in sugar. 

We recommend the following ingredients: fresh ginger, spinach, cucumber, kale, green apple, lemon, chia seeds and celery.

We do not recommend the following ingredients (due to high sugar content): carrots, oranges, red apples, and melons. 

Step 5) Get Moving

Get back to they gym and do at least 30 minutes of cardio, weight resistance training or yoga.  We recommend this 3-5 times a week.

Step 6) Get Adjusted

Come get adjusted and get your 2015 off to a healthy start!  Regular chiropractic adjustments are essential to your health and wellness regiment.  Adjustments reduce pain, increase mobility and provide countless other health benefits (including lowering blood pressure & boosting immunity)!

Here is to a wonderful and healthy New Year!

Cheers!

Swendsen Chiropractic Clinic! 


New research indicates chiropractic care coupled with exercise and pain management techniques is more successful at easing back-related leg pain than simply exercise and pain management techniques alone. Researchers at the University of Minnesota recruited 192 patients suffering from back pain with pain radiating into the legs - commonly referred to as sciatica. Patients received either therapeutic exercises and basic pain management advice, or, therapeutic exercises and basic pain management advice along with 12 weeks of chiropractic spinal manipulation. After 12 weeks, twice as many of the patients receiving the added chiropractic spinal manipulation experienced a 75 percent or greater reduction in leg pain as compared with those who did not receive chiropractic spinal manipulation; 37 percent as compared with 19 percent. After one year, patients who received the added chiropractic spinal manipulation still had higher scores for overall improvement and satisfaction.


Surgery always comes with the risk of serious complications, even including death. Findings from a recent study indicate obese patients who undergo lumbar fusion have an even greater risk of blood loss, longer hospital stay, higher risk of complication and worse functional outcome than do non-obese patients. According to researchers of the study, "These findings suggest that both surgeons and patients should acknowledge the significantly increased morbidity profile of obese patients after lumbar fusion." Whether you're obese or not, chiropractic care offers a safe, natural, non-invasive treatment approach for dealing with back, neck and spinal related pain and discomfort. Chiropractic care not only focuses on providing relief, but it does so by dealing with the cause of the pain and discomfort rather than just masking the symptoms. If you're in pain or discomfort and/or are considering back surgery, call your local doctor of chiropractic today and setup a no-obligation consultation. And remember, back pain can often be reversed - back surgery, cannot.


Arlington, Va. -  American Chiropractic Association (ACA) President Anthony Hamm, DC, issued the following comment today on a new report released by an independent National Institutes of Health (NIH) panel about the need for individualized, patient-centered care to treat and monitor the estimated 100 million Americans living with chronic pain. "ACA commends NIH for recognizing the value of an individual, patient-centered and multi-faceted approach to managing chronic pain. It is also interesting to read the conclusion from the panel that widespread opioid use does not provide an effective single approach for the chronic pain patient. Services provided by chiropractic physicians, including those being delivered in integrated community health centers, have proven effective with respect to patient satisfaction. ACA encourages NIH to study all complementary and integrated approaches to chronic pain management, including chiropractic. These integrated approaches can offer a higher degree of patient safety and reduce the use of medications."