Bone Spurs And My Back

        

What are they?

These are the kinds of x-rays we as chiropractors see every day.  Pretty scary, huh?  If you show these x-rays to a person in the medical field, they will say, "Oh, this person has osteoarthritis".  Breaking down that label - osteo = bone, arth = joint, & itis = inflammation - your bone-joint is inflamed.  But as chiropractors, we always ask, "Why?"  Why did THAT joint degenerate but the one nearby - just as old as the other one - not have bone spurs?

Bone spurs or osteophytes, are bony projections that form off of the

bones of the spine, (vertebra) and joints of the extremities, (shoulders,

elbow, wrists, hip, knee, ankle and foot). They are the body's attempt to "shore up" an area of increased biomechanical stress by laying down more calcium.

How about some science?  Okay - this bony response is a demonstration of 

Wolff's law- a theory developed by the German anatomist and surgeon 

Julius Wolff (1836 – 1902) in the 19th century.  His theory states that bone in a

healthy person or animal will adapt to the loads under which it is placed.

If loading on a particular bone increases, the bone will remodel itself over time in response to  that sort of loading. The internal architecture of the trabeculae undergoes adaptive changes, followed by secondary changes to the  external cortical portion of the bone, perhaps becoming thicker as a result. The inverse is true as well: if the loading on a bone decreases (less physical activity), the bone will become weaker due to turnover, (think osteoporosis).  The body says, "This person is doing less work (spinal loading), so we don't need as much calcium in the bone" (see What to do below).

So what causes this?
Subluxation:  This is a chiropractic term for when a bone gets out of alignment, usually from some sort of trauma (see below).  This causes extra biomechanical stress on the joint and the body, doing the only thing it knows to do in response to that increased stress (see Wolff's Law above), lays down more bone to support that joint.  Ta-Da!  Bone spur!

Gravity: The simple fact that the core of the earth constantly pulls on you (9.80665 m/s2 or 32.1737 ft/s2).

Time:

The longer you are alive the more weight or load your bones have to support.

However, bone spurs are NOT just a function of age - I've seen degeneration of spinal joints in people as young as 18, usually due to trauma they've experienced. 
Trauma
Think about how many times you fell learning to walk, ride a bike, play a sport, etc.  As adults, if we fell as many times as a toddler, we'd be bed-ridden!  Common causes of trauma include slips/falls, car accidents  and sports injuries.

Repetitive micro-trauma: This is usually seen in people who do a few motions over & over - office workers doing computer keyboarding, electricians turning a screwdriver, waiters/waitresses carrying heavy trays with their wrists bent back.

The consequences?

Bone spurs typically limit joint motion, which leads to: pinched nerves, joint degeneration, tight muscles, adhesion build-up and trapping of chemical fluids, all of which can lead to acute or chronic joint and muscle pain.

What to do?

Chiropractic adjustments: Surprise!  You knew that was coming;)

Routine care is the best way to maintain proper joint motion and decrease the risk of bone spur formation and/or slow the progression.

Stretching/exercise: Motion, motion, motion!  As humans, the adage "Use or Lose It" really holds true.  Keep your joints healthy with daily activity, ideally low impact such as yoga, or Thai Chi, bicycle riding, eliptical machine, swimming or a rowing machine.  Avoid long episodes of sitting or standing.

Keep the weight off: Fewer pounds = less stress on the bones = fewer bone spurs

                                                        Winter Blues?

Winter is upon us and many see this season as depressing.  We in California are luckier than

those in  the Northern Climes (I know because I moved down here from Alaska!) because we

get more light.  Everyone, especially those in the North, started gaining light after Winter 

Solstice - December 22.  Seasonal affective disorder, known as SAD, is a mood disorder 

(feelings of sadness & depression) that affects healthy people during  the winter months.  

Did you know that 1 in 10 people in the US take an antidepressant?  That is certainly not the 

solution, with all the associated side effects.  Here are some non-drug methods to fight the 

blues:

- Light: Decreased light exposure decreases serotonin (hormone/neurotransmitter that helps 

regulate mood and emotions) levels. So try to get outdoors into the sunlight as much as you can.

- Vitamin D: Low vitamin D levels go hand-in-hand with SAD.  Natural vitamin D production 

is lowest in winter due to decreased sun exposure.  So try to take a daily vitamin D supplement.  

It's a good idea to get a blood test to determine what your levels are before beginning a 

supplementation regimen.

- Movement: Lack of exercise can mimic symptoms of SAD: low energy levels and depression.  

Try to stay as active as possible, inside and outdoors as weather permits.

- Mental Attitude: Choose to embrace the winter!  The weather can be exciting with big 

storms, snow in the mountains brings winter fun skiing, snowboarding etc.  Monster waves 

on the coast. Cozy warm nights by the fire, catch up on reading or work a puzzle. This is truly 

a wonderful season so enjoy! 

- Be a positive energy source: Negative energy attracts negative results.  Keep your own mood 

positive and suppress negative behavior in others.

- Get ADJUSTED!  You knew it was coming, didn't you;)  Studies have shown and increase in 

endorphins - the body's natural uppers, after a chiropractic adjustment.

Great quote on happiness & laughter: “Laughter increases secretion of 

catecholamines & endorphins, which increases oxygenation of the blood, relaxes arteries, 

increases heart rate, decreases BP, which has a positive effect on all cardiovascular & 

respiratory ailments, as well as increases  immune system response.” - Patch Adams

Here is a nice passage about choosing happiness:  I'll be happy when...

We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. 

Then we are frustrated that the kids aren't old enough and we'll be more content when they 

are.  After that, we're frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. We will certainly be happy 

when they are out of that stage. We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse 

gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, when we are able to go on a nice 

vacation or when we retire. The truth is there's no better time to be happy than right NOW!  

If not NOW when?!!  Your life will always be filled with challenges. It's best to admit this to yourself 

and DECIDE to be happy anyway!  Happiness is the way!  So treasure every moment that you have 

and treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend 

your time with... and remember that time waits for no one. So STOP waiting!  Until your car or home

is paid off. Until you get a new car or home. Until your kids leave the house. Until you go back to 

school.  Until you finish school.   Until you lose or gain 10 lbs.  Until you get married or 

divorced.  Until you have kids. Until you retire. Until Summer, Spring, Winter or Fall. Until 

you die.  There is no better time than right NOW to be happy!  Happiness is a journey, not a 

destination.  So work like you don't need money, love like you've never been hurt & dance like 

no one's watching!  If you want to brighten someone's day, pass this on to someone special.

I just did!

Good Deeds

As we go into the commercialized holiday of Valentine's Day, many people's focus turns to romance and love.  We are encouraged to give cards, gifts and flowers to show our love for the people we are closest to.  But when is the last time you did something nice for someone you didn't know, for no reason at all?

 

Performing random acts of kindness has been shown to have immense benefits for the one performing them and of course, for the person being helped.  In the movie "Pay It Forward, a middle school boy has a class assignment where the teacher challenges the students to come up with something that will change the world. The young boy decides to randomly do good deeds for complete strangers and then they would do the same. In these troubled times this is an incredibly refreshing idea.  

 

In the book "The Health and Spiritual Benefits of Helping Others", the author Allan Luks, shares some significant findings of his research:

1. Helping others contributes to the maintenance of good health and can diminish the effect of minor and serious psychological and physical diseases and disorders.

2. The rush of euphoria, often referred to as a “helper’s high” after performing a kind act, involves physical sensations and the release of the body’s natural painkillers - the endorphins. The initial rush is followed by a longer period of calm and improved emotional well-being.

3. The health benefits and sense of well-being return for hours or days whenever the helping act is remembered.

4. Stress related health problems improve after performing kind acts. Helping others:

 • Reverses feelings of depression.

 • Supplies social contact.

 • Reduces feelings of hostilityand isolation that can cause stress, overeating, ulcers, etc.

 • Decreases the constriction in the lungs that leads to asthma attacks.

5. Helping can enhance feelings of joyfulness, emotional resilience, and vigor and can reduce an unhealthy sense of isolation.

6. The awareness and intensity of physical pain can decrease.

7. Attitudes such as chronic hostility that negatively arouse and damage the body

are reduced.

8. A sense of self-worth, greater happiness, and optimism is increased, and feelings of helplessness and depression are decreased.

9. When we establish an “affiliative connection” with someone (a relationship of friendship, love, or some sort of positive bonding), we feel emotions that can strengthen the immune system.

10. Caring for strangers leads to immense immune and healing benefits.

11. Regular volunteering, being involved in a club or faith group, and entertaining is the happiness equivalent of getting a college degree, or more than doubling your income.

Refreshing indeed! 

Hopefully this brightens your day.

New Year’s Resolutions?

First off, Happy New Year!!! It's still January so I can still say that;)  Hoping your 2014 

is healthy and happy!  

Now, how about those New Year’s resolutions?  I know,  I know we all have the 

same one  every year:lose weight. And every year it seems as if we drop the ball. 

This year let’s try a different approach and see if we can lose some of those unwanted pounds.

You’re not alone!

Shocking: only 1% keep their New Year’s Resolutions for the entire year and 

93% blow it by January 12th!

Dieting alone does not work!

Fad diets typically are impossible, so we quickly return to our usual bad eating 

habits and add back those lost pounds. So this year, try making a few subtle 

changes instead of extreme ones.

1.  Eat less. That’s it -  just eat less.  No changes in dietary choices, just less.

Since 1970 American’s caloric intake has increased a whopping 57%, from 2168 

calories/day in 1970, to 3800 calories/day in 2013!  Food Facts Nutrition Data, 4/20/13

Example: instead of eating 4 pieces of pizza eat 3, that equates to 25% less calories!

2.  Eat breakfast.

People who eat breakfast every morning are half as likely to be overweight or show signs

of diabetes - Children's Hospital, Boston, 2003. Skipping breakfast can decrease your metabolic rate by 5%, adding up to 10 lbs to your body in a year.  Medical College of Cornell University, 2005.

3. Eat more often. Usually we skip breakfast, eat a super fast lunch and a huge dinner right before bed.  All will add to your weight.  The ideal diet is 4-6 small meals.  Not eating for long periods can actually lower your metabolic rate 10-20% preventing the use of 250-300 calories a day!  Dr. Sears, The Zone

4.  Less soda.  One soda a day can add 15 lbs to your weight in a year.  CDC, 2006

5.  Of course eat better foods as well: lean protein - grass-fed beef, free-range chicken, wild fish - more fruits and vegetables, organic whenever possible.

Exercise.  

You thought I forgot!

1. This year, think baby steps. So many people dive into an extreme exercise program that they just will not continue for a long period of time. It is too physically demanding or, more often, too time consuming so we stop all together.  As with diet, we have to make changes we can stick with.  Start slow!  Choose a form of exercise you actually like or at least, when you think about doing it, you don't say "Ugh!".  I like a spin bike (the kind used in spin classes with a heavy flywheel), an eliptical machine, or a good rower like a Concept or WaterRower as seen on "The Biggest Loser" as all of these are low-impact.

2.  Time. We are all so busy that we always feel there is no time, so

exercise is left out. Did you know that there are 1440 minutes in a day? That’s right and a beginning exercise program should be maybe 10-20 minutes per day,

3-4 times per week.  So, what will you do with the other 1420 minutes a day?

3.Strengthen your muscles.  Most people when they try to lose weight only diet. If they exercise they often focus on aerobic exercise and do not strengthen muscles.  Big mistake! Strengthening your muscles requires fuel to help the muscle build. This process of muscle building will actually help you burn fat, even while you sleep. Just a few minutes a day, push-ups, sit-ups etc will do the job.

4.Check out this link about recent studies showing short intervals of exercise - even only 6-9 minutes per day of intense, full-out effort - gives similar health benefits as 5 days/week gym workouts!  http://www.bohemian.com/northbay/the-no-workout-workout/Content?oid=2563041

Is exercise one of your New Year's resolutions?

So, you've created a list of New Year's resolutions.  Is exercise on that list?  Well,

this blog isfor you!  Just make sure chiropractic is on there too;)

Exercise: How Important Is It?

Let’s Start With Some Quotes And Studies:

"Those who think they have no time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find
time for illness."

- Edward Stanley, Earl of Derby

“Failure to exercise a minimum of 3times per week for at least 30 minutes in duration each
time is the equivalent of smoking one pack of cigarettes each day. What this means is that
exercise is no longer just good for you, it is bad for you if you don’t exercise.”

Surgeon General, July 11, 1996.

Exercise Is Just Good For You!  This is definitely a wow study! - 2½
hours of exercise per week decreases the risk of all disease by 60%!

Framington Heart Study

What If You Don’t?

People 70 lbs overweight will spend $30,000 extra in their lifetime for health care.

Scientific American, 2011

Metabolism...

Beginning in your 30’s your metabolism slows by 5% a decade due to muscle loss.  By 65 you
can lose half your muscle mass and decrease your metabolic burn by 200-300 calories.

Can I Turn It Around?

It is never too late!  People who became more active in their 40’s cut their risk of heart disease
by nearly the same amount as those who had maintained a lifetime of activity.

University of Heidelberg, 2006

Top 15 Benefits of Exercise

1. Increases metabolism to burn calories by increasing oxidation (breakdown & use) of fat.

2. Improves blood sugar control. With inactivity the body becomes more resistant to insulin,

increasing the risk for type 2 diabetes.

3. Improves immune system function.

4. Protects the body from cancer & increases digestive efficiency decreasing the risk

of colon cancer 30-40%!

5. Increases aerobic capacity.

6. Develops new blood vessels in the heart & muscles.

7. Increases hemoglobin level, for better oxygen transport.

8. Decreases blood pressure, increases HDL cholesterol & decreases risk of blood clots, heart
disease & stroke.

9. Maintains, tones & strengthens muscles & increases muscular endurance. Inactivity causes
muscles to atrophy, for women in their 40s & men in their 50s.

10. Increases bone strength. Lack of activity leads to bone weakness, osteoporosis & bone loss.

11. Increases thickness of joint cartilage.

12. Increases blood flow to the skin.

13. Improves sleep patterns.

14. Decreases risk of cognitive decline & dementia.

15. Decreases risk of depression & symptoms of those already depressed.

What Should I Do?

Current recommendations: 30 minutes of exercise 5 days per week.

Remember there are 1,440 minutes in a day and 168 hours in a week, 30 minutes is only 2%
of a day!

I feel the need to express my feelings about the passing of one of my heroes - Nelson Mandela.  I don't have direct memories of the Kennedy's or Martin Luther King but the issues of apartheid and Nelson Mandela were ones I directly participated in.

It is amazing to me that apartheid was put into place in 1948.  Just three years after the Allied forces had fought WWII and defeated the Axis forces, the National Party of South Africa put forth the same disgusting ideas of the Nazi's - white superiority and a political and social separation of races.  Apartheid means "Apart-hood" or the state of being apart.  The separated the nation into groups based on color - the lighter your color, the more rights you had.  Black people were made to carry paper documents on them at all times, like the Nazis made the Jews carry in Germany.  No papers meant jail or worse.  This caste system or hierarchy existed even among the prisoners.  For example,  prisoners of Indian decent were given long pants but Black prisoners were given shorts, usually only worn by children.  Protests were met by massacres.  I don't understand why the world stood by for so long when WWII was fought to overcome these types of ideas.

I attended the University of California, Santa Cruz in the 1980's.  The UC student movement was at the forefront of putting pressure on both the UC Regents and the State of California to divest billions of dollars of their retirement systems holdings in South Africa in an attempt to pressure the South African government to end apartheid.  The city of Berkeley was one of the first to pass a divestment ordinance. 

Our schools' and our region played such a significant role in the divestment movement, Mandela came to the Bay Area and spoke at the Oakland Coliseum on June 30, 1990.  This was only a few months after  his release from 27 years in an Alcatraz-like prison on Robben Island.  He acknowledged the help the divestiture movement had on ending apartheid and gaining his freedom.  He particularly thanked the region and the UC students for standing with him when he was in prison.  UC Berkeley had some of the biggest protests (natch) but UCSC was also very active and involved.

I remember watching the elections in 1994 with amazement and delight that Madiba had gone from prisoner to President.  Because of the high illiteracy rates in South Africa, the ballots had pictures of each candidate and the brightly colored symbols of the political parties so voters could recognize who to vote for.  It didn't even have the names of the candidates, only the party's name.  I wanted to have a piece of that history, like having a piece of the Berlin Wall after it came down,  and thought others would too.  I thought of selling them as souvenirs and even made calls to South Africa to see if I could purchase and import the cancelled ballots but it never worked out.

After the election, Mandiba kept the country from falling into what could have turned into a bloodbath of revenge or reprisal killings.  He maintained there must be reconciliation for the country to move forward.  He oversaw the formation of  the Truth & Reconciliation Commission whereby victims could confront their former oppressors and learn first-hand what happened to their disappeared relatives.  Think of that - it would be like Jews from concentration camps confronting Nazis!  Too few of the former regime came forward but it did help heal the country's wounds and to move on.

Mandela was as important to South Africa as Gandhi was to India.  He had the same ability to work with his former enemies with little to no outward bitterness or hate.  His vision for the country and his political and oratory skills, even the timbre and tone of his voice had a way of uniting a country that could easily have slid into civil war.  We will not see another person like him in my lifetime, if ever.

Welcome to the Free2Move Chiropractic blog!  I intend to focus (of course) on chiropractic topics but will also include musings on issues "ripped from the headlines!", generally health-related but not exclusively.  I think I will begin with an introduction to chiropractic and the basic principles on which it is based.

Chiropractic is based on the fact that the nervous system controls all the functions of the body.  The nervous system is made up of the brain, the spinal cord and the spinal nerves coming of the spinal cord.  Our designer was amazing and encased the most important and vital organs in bone - the skull completely encases the brain, the vertebrae protect the spinal cord, the rib cage protects the heart, lungs, and liver, and the pelvis protects the reproductive organs of the female.  The brain sends signals down the spinal cord and out the nerves that come out between the vertebral bones of the spinal column and go to all the cells, tissues and organs of the body.  That is why chiropractic can help almost any health condition.  If the nerve going to any organ of the body is pinched, whatever organ or system that is, it will not work as well as it should be.

The amazing thing about our body is that even when a system is not working at 100%, we can still carry on.  We all know people who suddenly developed symptoms but before that, didn't know they were ill.  Maybe they had angina - heart pain with physical exertion - but before their first episode, they thought they were "healthy as a horse".  Then they find out their heart was only functioning at 40%!  I guess they weren't that healthy.  The point is, if the nerve that is going to the heart is pinched, they will be much better able to return to health without that pinched nerve.  Of course, they are going to have to change other aspects of their health regimen.  They will have to eat a healthier diet, get more exercise and rebuild the damaged heart muscle.  But again, if they include chiropractic into that health regimen change, they will have a better chance than someone who has a similar condition and doesn't use chiropractic.
'Nuf said.