chiropractic Archives - Family Tree Chiropractic OKC

Apr 07 2020

Types of Diets Recommended by Chiropractors

Chiropractic Care gives great importance to a healthy and balanced diet. A lot of ailments and diseases can be avoided just by adhering to a proper diet. A good diet can help a person to lead a long, healthy life, control weight, blood pressure and heart rate.

It is a fact that Americans are overfed, while being undernourished. Scores of fast food chains have made unhealthy eating habits a part of the American lifestyle. Such high cholesterol foods coupled with a sedentary lifestyle can lead to obesity. With obesity come a lot of complications including heart diseases and blood pressure problems.

There is no doubt that a well-balanced diet consists of a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables, a reduction in caffeine intake and saturated fats.

A chiropractor may recommend one of the following diets based on your body’s needs:

High Protein Diet

A high protein diet is recommended for those who aim to build muscles without accumulating too much fat. High protein foods include:

Turkey breast
Fish
Cheese (low fat varieties)
Beef (low fat)
Tofu
Beans
Eggs
Milk
Nuts

Heart-Healthy Diet

A heart healthy diet usually consists of a lot of vegetables and fruits along with large intakes of whole grains. It may also contain low-fat meats, including fish and poultry. Special emphasis should be given to fish as it is a very healthy source of protein, Omega 3 and little fat.

Following combination of fruits and vegetables are extremely nutritious and a healthy choice for heart-healthy dieters:

Pineapples
Broccoli
Tomatoes
Blueberries
Watermelon
Oranges

Vegetarian Diet

A vegetarian diet can be recommended for those who prefer to lead a meat-free lifestyle, for whatever the reason. Several types of diets are based on vegetarianism:

Lacto-Vegetarian: These diets include no meat of any kind or eggs. However they do include dairy products like butter, milk, cheese and yogurt.

Ovo -Vegetarian: This diet contains no red meat, seafood, poultry or even dairy products, however it does include eggs.

Vegan: The strictest of all, excludes all meats, fish, eggs and dairy products.

Flexitarian: As its name implies, this diet is flexible. It mainly consists of vegetables and fruits, with occasional consumption of meat, fish or poultry.

No matter which diet is recommended by a chiropractor or dietician, a balanced lifestyle that includes plenty of activities can go a long way in extending the life of a person.

Image Used under Creative Commons license. Photo Credit: Blueberry Maple Quinoa by SweetonVeg

Apr 07 2020

The 3 most Common Sports Injuries and How to reduce their Risk

Over 200 million Americans participating in a sport at any given time, so there are bound to be sports injuries. Every year, up to 5% of the American population incurs a sports injury and has to rest at home while the injury heals. Chiropractors know that this number can be reduced significantly. Here is a closer look at the 3 most common sports injuries and how the risk of attainment can be reduced.

1 – Traumatic Injuries

Traumatic sports injuries are probably the most common types of injuries in sports. They are frequently seen in a variety of contact sports such as rugby, football and ice hockey. Possibly the most common of traumatic sports injuries, the main reason why people see chiropractors, are sprains.

When muscles are stretched beyond their limits, they cause pain. Stretched too far and they can tear. Chiropractors work with people to not only help treat these injuries but reduce their frequency. Using a variety of techniques, they help improve the joints, ensuring they can withstand more stress and perform better as well.

2 – Repetitive Stress Injuries

In many sports such as cricket, table tennis, football, running and weightlifting, players repeat a number of movements and stress the same area of their body. As such, these people are prone to a number of injuries classified as repetitive stress/motion sports injuries. In part, considering the nature of these sports, these injuries are inevitable. However, their frequency can be reduced.

Chiropractors work with athletes of such sports and help them reduce their risk of injury. How? Chiropractors simply use a number of techniques to help strengthen their joints. As a result, a stronger joint is less prone to injury.

3 – Soft Tissue Injuries

Soft tissue sports injuries are regarded as a separate type of injury as they usually occur when a severe sprain has been incurred, usually coupled with a contusion. Such an injury involves localized swelling and the production of a lot of heat. However, chiropractors know that if left untreated for too long, it takes quite a while to heal.

As such, chiropractors work to reduce the swelling as fast as possible, allowing them to properly manipulate the affected area and help reduce pain and enable faster recovery.

In many cases, sports injuries are inevitable. However, according to many medical experts, including chiropractors, their frequency can be significantly reduced.

Image used under Creative Commons Licensing: Shane Williams scores try at Ravenhill.jpg

Apr 07 2020

Importance of Blending Chiropractic Care with Back-Strengthening Exercise

Back problems often are a result of a bad posture that could cause severe pains. Restoring the back to its original and natural condition takes time, and a combination of chiropractic care with the recommended exercise can dramatically enhance recovery.

A combination of the two provides numerous benefits. Exercise keeps muscles in their proper tone, increases blood circulation around the body, improves digestion and develops a better lifestyle all together.

The following back-strengthening exercises complement the healing process greatly:

Hip Bridge

The Hip Bridge exercise strengthens those muscles near the lower back that play an important role in stabilizing the spine.

It can be carried out by lying on the back with the feet flat and about hip width apart; the knees should be bent. The arms should be relaxed. The person then squeezes their buttocks as they lift their hips in a straight line towards the shoulders. After around 3 seconds, return to the starting position, slowly.

Around 12 repetitions are recommended.

Bird Dog

The bird dog exercise aims at strengthening the lower back, hip, butt and thigh muscles.

The person kneels on the floor with both hands spaced out about a shoulder-width apart. Tuck in the belly towards the spine and raise one leg straight backwards while raising the other hand in opposite direction.

Hold in this position for 15 seconds and then return to starting point, carrying out the same procedure on the opposite side hand and leg.

Side Plank

The side plank exercise strengthens the lower back. It is done by the following method:

The person is to lie on their right side, straight from head to the feet while resting on their forearms. The elbow should be directly under their shoulder. The abdominals are to be gently contracted and the hips slowly lifted off the floor – in the same straight position.

This position should be held for at least about 30 seconds before lowering the hip.

Lunge

Lunge exercises enhance a person’s overall control of their body. This tends to protect the spine in daily activities, such as walking and running or even stair-climbing.

Starting off with the abs gently contracted. The hands are placed on the hips; the person then takes a big step-forward using the right foot while sinking the right knee at a right-angle.

The person should then slowly return to the starting position, switch the legs and repeat – 10 repetitions are recommended.

Image used under Creative Commons Licensing: Side Plank.jpg

Apr 07 2020

Sciatica Diagnosis

If you are experiencing any of the symptoms of Sciatica, it is vital you get them checked in order to determine the root causes of the pain. This will help you understand the severity of your condition and what treatment options you have available.

Diagnosis

Sciatica diagnosis varies, depending on the duration and severity of the pain. It is recommended that you visit a chiropractor as soon as you see any sign of Sciatica, as the pain tends to get worse overtime and can even lead to more serious complications.

A Chiropractor’s Opinion

A Chiropractor will first look at your medical history, and then examine your symptoms. Like other medical problems, Sciatica is diagnosed using various clinical tests, which range from motion tests to X-rays and CT-scans. However, the latter is only needed in case of long term Sciatica or if the chiropractor thinks there is a deeper root to the problem, as the symptoms may signify other diseases as well.

The simplest and of these tests are the range of motion tests. The straight leg raise is the most commonly used test in this category. The chiropractor would ask you to lie down on a straight examination table or floor. He will then raise your legs, keeping your knees straight. If pain is experienced between the 30-70 degree range, it indicates a positive sign of Sciatica.

Other than that, the chiropractor might ask you to walk on your heels or toes to examine any signs of nerve damage. Reflex tests are also performed, using a reflex hammer on the back of the ankles or the knee.

However, in some complicated cases, these tests aren’t sufficient to determine Sciatica and the chiropractor may perform further diagnosis using imaging techniques such as X-rays or CT-scans. This is specially used if the patient has had a history of HIV or cancer. These advanced diagnosing techniques can indicate any tumors or broken bones in the spinal cord, but they usually only indicate long term Sciatica. In most cases of Acute back pain, these tests aren’t necessary, as the pain usually subsides within a few weeks on its own.

Some rare cases may also require some laboratory tests, such as blood count tests. An abnormal blood count suggests an infection or anemia, which can also cause Sciatica. Sedimentation tests can also tell if there is an inflammation present somewhere within the spinal cord. If you or a loved one has symptoms that indicate Sciatica, a chiropractor can be of service.

Image Used under Creative Commons license. Photo Credit: Girl sitting down on the ice-rink (01913).jpg

Apr 07 2020

Non-Specific Neck Pain and Chiropractic

What is Non Specific Neck Pain?

Everyone feels a certain amount of pain in the neck at some point in their life. There might be a sudden onset of sharp pain where you find yourself massaging your neck and wondering what exactly caused the sudden stinging neck pain. Mostly the underlying cause is not a disease or a degenerative story; rather it is either bad posture or prolonged strain to the neck.

Symptoms of Non-Specific Neck Pain

Always remember that your neck supplies nerves to the shoulders, arms and hands. This means that any disruption in the neck can cause an equal amount of disruption in the areas that it transfers messages to. Analogically, when a route becomes dysfunctional on the road, it affects every trade that takes place via that route.

With stiffness in the neck, the pain is carried along to the aforementioned parts and can cause weakness, numbness and the like. These symptoms can hamper your everyday functioning. When the passageway for nerves is irritated, the messages carried forward to other parts of the body are distorted with painful signals. Hence, even though non-specific in nature, neck pain requires special attention.

Dealing with the Issue

Wondering why you should visit a chiropractic practitioner for a condition that is harmless? Well. The answer is that such sudden onset of pain can be dealt with under this practice. Under chiropractics, the purpose is not alleviation of neck pain but also providing guidance for preventing neck pain in future. The fact that posture and pain in neck are well connected in nature, your doctor can guide you to maintaining a good posture which will protect you against non specific neck pain.

Without the use of medicine, you can quickly be on the road to recovery with this method. Utilizing the techniques of spine manipulation, a chiropractic practitioner will first locate the area of concern followed by a careful application of force on the spinal joints.

Why a Chiropractic Practitioner?

Several people believe that chiropractic is a pseudoscience and does not result in successful healing of your neck pain. On the contrary these doctors, if they feel you need attention from doctor with a different medical background, will recommend you further to another professional for proper treatment. Additionally, these doctors make you undergo thorough examinations before application of any spine related techniques.

Image used under Creative Commons Licensing: sore neck? by Aidan Jones

Types of Diets Recommended by Chiropractors

The 3 most Common Sports Injuries and How to reduce their Risk

Importance of Blending Chiropractic Care with Back-Strengthening Exercise

Sciatica Diagnosis

Non-Specific Neck Pain and Chiropractic

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