Fun Facts!

Some fun facts about you that you didn’t even know!

• ·         Humans shed about 600,000 particles of skin every hour. That works out to about 1.5 pounds each year, so the average person will lose around 105 pounds of skin by age 70.
• ·         An adult has fewer bones than a baby. We start off life with 350 bones, but because bones fuse together during growth, we end up with only 206 as adults.
• ·         Every square inch of skin on the human body has about 32 million bacteria on it, but fortunately, the vast majority of them are harmless.
• ·         Laid end to end, there are about 60,000 miles of blood vessels in the human body. And the hard-working heart pumps about 2,000 gallons of blood through those vessels every day.
• ·         Nerve impulses to and from the brain travel as fast as 170 miles per hour.
• ·         Over 90% of diseases are caused or complicated by stress. That high stress job you have could be doing more than just wearing you down each day. It could also be increasing your chances of having a variety of serious medical conditions like depression, high blood pressure and heart disease.
• ·         You use 200 muscles to take one step.
• ·         Three hundred million cells die in the human body every minute.
• ·         Your body gives off enough heat in 30 minutes to bring half a gallon of water to a boil.
• ·         If you yelled for 8 years, 7 months and 6 days you would have produced enough sound energy to heat one cup of coffee.

Ergonomics

Imagine yourself in a brand spankin’ new Honda Accord, burning down the Nascar oval making turn after turn…all left of course. This is your job, and you do this five days a week, 52 weeks a year, for years. As you can guess your new Accord probably won’t wear evenly. It’s turning only to the left, and your wheels will wear more on one side, your steering will start to pull, and your brakes will wear faster on one side. After all, you are always turning to your left with only a few straight lengths.

Reality sets in and you are at your desk where you have been five days a week, 52 weeks a year, for hundreds of years…or maybe it just feels that way. Chances are you do those same office tasks as often as you would turning left on an oval track. Those repetitive tasks add up and can cause the same wear and tear that your car would have. Over a long period of time your body, through tense, over-developed muscles, can pull you into poor posture. Someone who spends 8-10 hours a day at a computer will have rounded shoulders and a forward head posture. This adds a lot of excess pressure to your spine, neck, and back, even if you don’t notice the gradual change. An assembly line worker will also develop repetitive motion injuries, as well as the person that lays carpet or tiles.

Slightly altered posture or biomechanics can add pressure to your joints. Joints, which for the most part do not have a lot of blood flow (avascular), and need motion to get nutrients and water. When excess pressure builds, the joint moves less and less, meaning the water is no longer getting to where it needs to go and you develop degeneration, or osteoarthritis.  A forward head posture not only can be hard on your neck, but can give you TMJ problems, mid and low back pain as well as tension headaches. For every inch your head moves past your center of gravity, 10 pounds of weight is added to the stress on your neck. It’s not uncommon for someone to be two inches past, just imagine having an extra 20 pounds of stress on your neck!

The solution to poor ergonomics is to balance yourself. Proper sitting or working position is important, but sometimes our job requires us to be in a certain position for long periods of time. Certain exercises can help balance those problems. For someone who sits at a desk it is important to strengthen and tone your back muscles as well as the back of your shoulders. For someone who wears a heavy tool belt, it’s important to strengthen your abdominal muscles and your hamstrings. These muscles will help pull in the opposite direction that you work in all day.

Repetitive stress injuries also occur from poor biomechanics as well as, you guessed it, repetitive motion. Repetitive stress injuries (RSIs) account for the most work place injuries and can take months or years to develop, and often times that long or longer to heal. According to Consumer Watch Report, RSI claims can cost $20,000 to $100,000 in workman’s compensation claims. Over $20 Billion is spent each year to treat RSIs through employers, which makes that pricey ergonomic computer and chair not so pricey!

Symptoms are never the first thing to pop up in an injury, so by the time you start hurting or noticing numbness you can be assured that problem has already been there for a good deal of time. I hear often in my practice, "this just started, I don't think it's that big of a deal". Don’t ignore these smaller, less frequent irritations, because they can and will lead to bigger ones that are more difficult to treat.

Chiropractors can help restore motion into those joints that have been under all the excessive stress, which helps bring new nutrients and water into that joint.  But unless you work to balance your body through exercise and stretching, those poor biomechanics will bring the problem back. Anti-inflammatory meds can help reduce your pain and swelling in an RSI, but again, there is no fix there without effort from a change in lifestyle. 

So think of your average day and what you do the most of. Whatever that activity is, you should adjust your exercise routine to counter those forces and avoid future injuries or degeneration. Do not wait for symptoms to appear, or assume that just because you’re active at your job that qualifies as exercise. Being proactive can help you avoid these injuries and save a lot of time and money!

Headaches

Some of you may deal with headaches on a monthly, weekly, and even daily basis. For some they have become as regular to life as the alarm clock. For a lucky few, headaches are only something they hear others complain about. 45 million Americans per year suffer with headaches, or roughly 1 out of 6 people. But there are only an estimated 1% of people who never experience a headache. Are these people affected by others that do? Migraines alone are the cause of 157 million days of work missed last year in the United States, and almost 10 million doctor visits. This affects everyone’s pocket book!

Understanding your head ache will help you understand how to treat it, or avoid it all together if possible. There are many different causes for headaches, and they are divided into two groups: Primary and Secondary. Secondary headaches are caused by something else. Getting hit in the head with a baseball bat is a good example. More commonly are sinus headaches, allergy headaches, or even tumors. All of these have one thing in common, it’s not the head ache that needs treatment, fix the cause and you will fix the head ache.

Primary headaches are known to be problem itself. Migraine, cluster and tension headaches fall in the category. Tension headaches are the most common in this group, and tend to have dull, vice like pain that is progressive, usually starting at the neck or back of the head. Tension headaches are also known as stress headaches, mainly because stress can trigger them.

Cluster headaches are sudden headaches that are severe. Often they are believed to be migraines by the people who have them. Usually one sided and settle behind the eye on that side of your head. They usually come in clusters and can last hours or days. The eye affected may have a droopy lid or small pupil. The eyelid may be swollen or red.

Migraine headaches are a specific class, even though people assume that any severe headache is a migraine. Classic migraines have precursors known as the aura phase that let you know they are coming. They can be ringing in the ears, halos of light, nausea or dizziness. Most migraine suffers are also photophobic, or light sensitive, during their headache. Some research points to an even earlier phase known as the premonition phase that may be hours or days before the headache, made up of a change in mood or behavior.

Treatments can vary even for the same type of headache. Most commonly they are treated with over the counter medications, or OTCs. Many people who have suffered with headaches for a long period of time routinely take OTCs to make it through their day. This can be very harmful, most medications are not meant to be taken for extended periods of time. I am sure most of you have never read the warnings on a bottle of aspirin or Tylenol stating that you should discontinue use after 10 days. Both have damaging effects, aspirin on your kidneys and Tylenol on your liver. These damages can compound problems when taken with other medications.

Some prescriptions are given for chronic headaches, and while they are a life saver for many, they can still have severe side effects. Many people choose to fight the headache verses dealing with the foggy feeling of migraine medications.

Remember the important thing is to deal with the cause or triggers to avoid your headaches. Allergies in food and the environment can be avoided for those who know which are their triggers. Changing your eating habits as well as a good exercise program may also improve your headache severity and frequency.

Drink water! Dehydration is a very common cause of headaches. For those of you that exercise hard, you know that a pounding head ache can occur when you aren’t properly hydrated. For those of you that party hard, nothing fights a hangover better than staying hydrated with water.

A report released in 2001 by researchers at the Duke University Evidence-Based Practice Center in Durham, NC, found that spinal manipulation resulted in almost immediate improvement for those headaches that originate in the neck, and had significantly fewer side effects and longer-lasting relief of tension-type headache than a commonly prescribed medication. People who get regular adjustments know they best way to avoid the headache in the first place is to stay tension free with adjustments.

There are headaches that need prompt attention. If you experience headaches that worsen with coughing, or are affecting your vision, speech, or motor skills, see your doctor immediately. While headaches are common in our society, remember that they are never normal.

Insurance: Part 2

Many of you in Arizona recently read in the paper or on the web about the “pinch” chiropractors are feeling from new insurance policies. To summarize, third party companies are now managing your alternative health care provider and deciding what treatment is and isn’t allowed, regardless of your insurance policy. To some this might seem like fraud, you paying for something and not being able to get it, but never the less, it is happening.

This brings up the question: whose choice is it when it comes to your health care? Yours? Your doctor? Your insurance provider? The Government??? Unfortunately many of us think we have control over our health choices, and take advice from the doctors to make the best choices. But in most cases, like the current situation in Arizona, despite what you think you pay for someone else is watching the bottom line and making those choices for you; even someone that hasn’t examined you or even knows you.  This is not a new issue.

Let’s be honest, insurance companies cannot be expected to pay for it all. They are in the business to make money, and health care costs are getting out of control. Always keep in mind that insurance companies are a business, and not there to make any and all health care available for you.

Government health care is a hot topic, and many feel that it’s needed to bring health care to those who can’t afford it. But these health care decisions won’t be handed over to you, because just like insurance companies today, they have a budget to run on. And insuring everyone is certainly going to be costly. Ask anyone from England or Canada, many health care costs are out of pocket for them, and accessibility is still an issue.

While insurance coverage is sky rocketing, and deductibles are growing, who’s making the money? It must be the medical profession! Let me let you in on a little secret, the fees you see on your doctor’s bill isn’t what they are getting from the insurance company. As the Arizona article stated, current reimbursement for a chiropractic adjustment is about $44 from the insurance company. $40 of that is probably your copay! So some might think that hiring staff at an hourly rate to bill your insurance company, and fill out loads of forms to do so, might not be worth the $4 they will get in return in 4 weeks. 

Is there a solution? Not in the near future. Some places, like The Joint, are making it a little easier by offering affordable care and bypassing the hassles of insurance. This is a rare option in the medical field but hopefully a more common one in the future. Insurance won’t be going away soon, and options like government insurance will only bring new problems that are just as difficult. In the meantime, we need to start making smarter health choices for ourselves, taking care of our self before costly health problems arise, and fully understand our choices when it comes to our health care.

STRESS!

Ask someone to define the past three years of life in America and you might hear “recession”, or “unemployment”, possibly “housing crisis”. But one word that better sums up our recent past, and probably recent future: Stress. There is no doubt that stress is becoming a larger problem and unfortunately a common one for most people. What’s worse is while there isn’t a foreseeable end in sight; it’s affecting our population at a younger and younger age. Many teenagers are developing the same stress related symptoms which used to be found with the responsibilities associated being an adult. There aren’t many people who can claim to be immune from stress. What we need to realize are the types of stress and the effects they can have on us.

Everyone has their own causes of stress, no matter what types they are dealing with. Your body, however, responds the same to all stress. Mental stress is usually the one we think of first. According to the National Health Interview Survey, 75% of the population experience some stress at least once within two weeks. Half of those say their stress is moderate to severe.

Work tops the list of most common causes of mental stress. Increasing hours, increasing responsibility, and declining markets have added to this over the past few years.  Money, or lack of, is a close second. Recent surveys have pointed to more stress from a job someone is unhappy with than the amount of stress that comes with no job. Obviously someone with a family to support may not have the option of the two.

Families bring a high percentage of stress as well. Divorce has become common place in America, and the declining economy has forced families to rely more heavily on each other than they have in the recent past.

Worries about health rounds out the top for causes for mental stress, which can be tied into family and money stress as well. Health care is getting more and more complicated and the costs associated with it. While we make leaps and bounds into treatments for various health problems, we add to the stress of it, possibly making your health worse!

Physical stress hits everyone as well. Anything from sickness, poor nutrition, fatigue or a broken bone all cause physical stress. Even that nagging back pain that you have learned to “deal with” adds to physical stress.

Chemical stress is becoming more prevalent. While 50 years ago, chemical stress may have affected only a small percent of the population, now it’s hard not to be affected. Chemicals in your food, insecticides, air pollution, and legal/illegal drugs add stress to your body. All those things that you ingest or breathe in have to be dealt with at some point, and there are usually effects of that felt through every bodily system.

What are the effects of stress? We know stress is bad, and we don’t feel well when we are stressed out, but are there long term problems, or are we just being wimpy?

Stress definitely affects your health. As I mentioned before, your body reacts to all these in a similar fashion. Hormones are released to help you deal with immediate stress. This is the “fight or flight” reaction. Increased heart rate, alertness, energy all are survival necessities. But long term stress causes chronic problems with these hormones.  Cortisone is the most common stress hormone, and causes weight gain, increased pain sensitivity, and loss of sleep. Sound familiar?  Heart disease, high blood pressure, strokes are also associated with chronic stress, as well as a weakened immune system, which leads to increased sickness and infections. Your immune system also keeps cancer cells in check, so there is good reason to think that chronic stress can increase your chances of cancer.  Obesity can occur with chronic stress, not just from comfort food, but the increased cortisone causing you to pack on pounds.

Social affects show in both family and friends. Someone who carries high levels of stress may have problems relating to friends, or may add to the stress that occurs in families. Children are affected by parents who carry a high level of stress, and some believe this leads the children to poor stress management. Many addictive behaviors are reinforced by high levels of stress, such as alcohol abuse, cigarette smoking, and legal and illegal drug use.

Should your work place be concerned about your stress levels, or is this a personal problem? According to the American Institute of Stress, 25% of workers admit to taking “mental health days”. This means loss of work for those companies they work for. An estimated $300 billion per year is lost to stress related illness or lost work in America’s economy every year. While business struggles to stay competitive in the world market, one can only wonder if they worked on lowering the stress if production would improve! The costs for health care for companies go up as well. Workers report an increase of 46% in health care costs per year, or $600 more, due to high stress. This raises not only your cost, but the cost of insurance coverage for the company.

We know that stress is everywhere, and it’s not good for us, our friends and family, and our job. So what do we do about it? To start, take care of yourself. Exercise is a great stress reliever and combats several side effects of stress.  Take time to decompress, do something to take your mind off work before you go to bed, or go home to your family. Eat right, with all the stresses involved in daily life don’t add to it by eating junk food and taking chemical infused drugs that add to your bodies work load. Adjustments and a healthy diet can help keep your immune system working better and relieve the physical stress from pain and inflammation.

When stress seems to be winning, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Talking with a friend or professional can help with the mental stress and possibly find solutions in life to reduce some of the stress. Stress isn’t going away, so learning to manage it is the best life solution.