AWeber - FOHAC Lifestyle Pain part 2 #372

Published: Sun, 09/18/16

Fair Oaks Health News

Welcome

September 18, 2016

Lifestyle Pain: part 2

Hi ,

Last week I wrote about how so much of the pain I see in patients is not the result of anything they have done to injure themselves, but rather the consequence of little lifestyle choices that gradually start creating negative consequences like pain. We focused on the lower half of the body last time, looking at things like shoes, sitting, and diet all causing lower body pain. Lets move up now to the upper body.

Lets start with everybody’s favorite – computer neck and phone neck. When you are balanced, your ear should be directly over the top of your shoulder. When most people end up in front of the computer for any length of time, they pull their head forward. This head forward posture becomes chronic unless you actively work against it. The problem with this is two-fold. One, when the head is forward, the weight of the head is no longer sitting supported on the spine. Instead the neck muscles have to constantly contract to pull the head back in order to keep the head from flopping on your chest.

Because the neck muscles go from the shoulders to the skull, when they pull your head back, they are also equally squashing your neck bones downward. This compresses the joints causing joint pain and disc degeneration. Eventually you get not only neck pain but also numbness down the arms. In fact, it is this neck compression that is the primary cause of carpal tunnel syndrome. Rarely do I see a true carpal tunnel syndrome anymore, as that comes from repeated force compression on the wrist directly, such as what happens with too much hammering. Modern carpal tunnel comes from nerve compression in the neck causing destabilization of the wrist muscles and irritability of the median nerve in the wrist.

Remedy: pull the computer screen closer to you enough that you want to pull your head back over your shoulders. If this is not possible then wear a pair of magnifying glasses that make the screen look closer. Lift your chest up while sitting and let the neck relax back over the shoulders. Practice in the car while

driving – raise your chest up enough that your head naturally touches the head rest. Sit, stand, and walk with your chest held up high.

The second problem with computer and phone use is the fixation of the gaze and head. We are designed to be constantly visually scanning the environment by easily swinging our head right and left. By fixating our gaze right in front of us all the time we deny the stabilizer muscles in the neck the activation feedback that keeps them balanced. Without this we get chronic tight neck muscles – sound familiar? Secondly our gaze is focused on things very close to our face all the time. This generates atrophy in the eye focusing muscles and produces poor eyesight.

Remedy: Every few minutes take your eyes off the screen and do a scan of your environment turning your head fully right and left. Do Bates eye relaxation exercises.

Another bonus source of chronic pain for us is the use of the mouse on the computer and the over use of the thumbs when texting on the phone. Both activities overwork the forearm muscles producing a jamming of the thumb joint and sometimes finger joints.

Remedy: learn to use voice activation dictation for the phone and use an ergonomic mouse. If possible change hands intermittently.

Most of these examples are of stressors to specific joints. But we have a modern lifestyle source of pain that can affect anywhere in the body – our desire to “get fit." We exercise in insane ways to try to get fit. I can’t tell you how many patients I see because of trying to get fit. This is another modern issue – our sedentary lifestyle. We spend so much time without much movement that our balance and muscle tone degenerates. We then try to fight this downhill slide by going to the gym a coupe times a week for an hour.

The body does not work that way. It needs activity all the time, not just a few hours a week.

Remedy: move, lift, bend, stretch throughout the day every day.

Even worse is the weekend athlete. Here you take someone that has gone downhill all winter without any compensatory training at all that decides it would be a good idea to go water skiing as soon as it gets warm enough in the spring. You can’t go months without activity and expect your body to function well in a high physical stress situation. A similar but unexpected situation takes place in individuals who stay in shape through one preferred activity that then suddenly try to perform well in a completely different activity. Every

activity has specific motor patterns and balance skills that have to be trained into place. Being a great bicyclist does not mean you can suddenly play softball without injuring yourself.

Remedy: do lots of different kinds of activities regularly, and if you are going to start a new activity, train for it.

These are all lifestyle choices. We never give these choices a second thought, because after all everybody is living the same way we do. Newsflash – just because everybody is doing it does not make it a good idea. Yes,

I love pizza just like everyone else, but I never eat normal pizza because I know the cost in pain and suffering that comes with that delicious pie. I chucked out my shoes and wear loose water socks that allow my feet to still do some work, and I train them regularly on balance boards. I almost never sit for any length of time except to write this newsletter. I make different choices because I really don’t like pain. But even so, I still have to deal with midback pain after I have eaten something even slightly unhealthy. Staying out of pain and striving for health is a lot of work – you might say it is a pain in the butt. So I guess we simply get to choose what kinds of pain we want in our life.

Take care,

David

Ellen update:

While this may look like a rather odd picture, it is to demonstrate Ellen's latest improvement. Suddenly this week she was able to lift her left leg up 4 or 5 inches higher than ever since the stroke. It does not last long, but it means she can now raise that leg to get in and out of the car and bath. It may seem like a little thing, but recovery is all about adding those little things together to make your life more functional.

Your teeth affect your balance

New research is showing that your balance can be negatively affected when your teeth do not meet evenly. This is especially tgrue when you are tired or if you have some pre-existing balance challenges. Correcting the malocclusion of the teeth improved balance in the subjects studied.

Teeth

_____________________________________________

"I look for what needs to be done. After all, that's how the universe designs itself."

~ R. Buckminster Fuller

__________________________________

5 second rule debunked

How many of you believe in or at least use the 5 second rule? You know, the one that says that if you drop food on the ground it is still ok to eat it if you grab it within 5 seconds. Well someone finally put that belief to the test and found that the truth is way more complex than that. The biggest variable is how wet the food is. If it is wet like watermelon, bacteria transfer instantly. If the food is dry like a craker and it is dropped on a textured surface like a carpet then bacteria transfer is slow. So you can't depend on 5 seconds making you safe.

5 Second

______________________________________________

"Integrity is the essence of everything successful."

~ R. Buckminster Fuller
_______________________________

Omega-3 oils found to improve reading skills in children

A study in Sweden found that adding capsules of omega-3 oil to children improved their reading ability, especially children with attention problems. Obvious improvements were found in only 3 months of supplementation.

Omega reading

"We are called to be architects of the future, not its victims."

~ R. Buckminster Fuller

________________________________________________

Our address is 9725 Fair Oaks Blvd. suite A
Our hours are M - F 9 to 1 and M, Tu, & Th 3 to 6

Finding the new location is very easy. Coming from highway 50 up Sunrise Blvd, you turn left and go up a block. We are on the right hand side - the building just past the Subway Sandwich shop. If you are coming down Sunrise from the Mall area then just turn right on Fair Oaks Blvd and up a block on the right.

If you are coming from the Roseville area you could come down Sunrise Blvd, but that is a long trek. It is probably shorter time wise to come down Auburn Blvd - San Juan Ave like you have been for the Sunset office, but instead of turning left at Sunset, keep going straight 3 more lights to Fair Oaks Blvd and turn left. Go down 2 lights to New York Ave, go through the intersection, and immediately turn into the turn lane once the center divider ends. We are on the left.

You are free to reprint this article in your newsletter as long as you include the following statement in the same size type and color:

"This article appears courtesy of Fair Oaks Health News, offering natural and healthy solutions for body, mind and soul. For a complimentary subscription,
visit http://www.fairoakshealth.com"

_______________

Click Here

to check on old newsletters

_______________

About Dr. DeLapp

Dr. DeLapp has been a philosopher, non-force Chiropractor, medical intuitive, and health innovator for over 30 years. He began experimenting with medical intuition in 1972 while studying physics at UC Davis. In addition to physics he designed and completed an individual major in the philosophy and psychology of education. Shortly after he choose to pursue a career in the only truly health oriented profession available at that time, Chiropractic. He graduated with honors in 1981 with his doctorate and opened a private practice.
Since that time he has continued his research into the effects of consciousness and learning on health.
He developed the Biomagnetic Retraining system for correcting movement abnormalities.
Since 1991 he has focused on developing a powerful system for uncovering and assisting the mind-body connection in health and personal growth. The in-depth coaching, guided by the subconscious direction from the body, is called Heartflow and the simpler mind-body retraining for health and unfoldment he has named Gracework. Both are available at Fair Oaks Health.

Fair Oaks Healing
& Arts Center
Staff