The combination of chronic inflammation and an excess of white blood cells can cause some problems for your immune system. In some cases, your immune system may even begin to target healthy cells and structures. If sustained over a long period of time, you may experience changes in your cells, tissues, and organs that can increase the likelihood of disease. Of course, one of the most significant challenges is that chronic inflammation can be invisible unless you know where to look.

Here are a few of the most common signs of chronic inflammation:

• Insulin Insulin helps control the sugar level in your blood, and inflammation could affect how well your insulin works.
• Muscle Chronic inflammation can cause your immune system to mistakenly attack and inflame your muscles, which could make you weaker.
• Fatigue is a sign of long-term inflammation and common in inflammatory diseases like fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis.

If you’ve been living with muscle weakness, fatigue, or other nagging pains, you may also be living with chronic inflammation. It’s often your daily habits that contribute to this state of chronic inflammation.

Know that our team specializes in helping you create a healthy lifestyle through daily habits that combat chronic inflammation. We invite you to take the first step towards better health by scheduling your next visit with us today so we can work together to help you feel and function at your best.

Hand, wrist, and arm pain often starts with a neck problem. When a spinal disc in your neck irritates or presses on a nerve, it can result in arm pain. Just like the power lines that bring electricity to your house, your brain and spinal cord split into individual nerve roots that deliver information to every part of your body. The nerves in your neck are specifically focused on providing strength and sensation to your head and arms.

• A bulged or herniated disc in your neck can irritate or compress the nerves that travel to your hands, arms, and shoulders.
• A recent study of people with cervical (neck) disc herniation showed improvement in over 86% of people who received chiropractic adjustments.
• Improving spinal mobility, decreasing inflammation, and improving your posture may help prevent future episodes of neck and arm pain.

A painful arm as a result of a pinched nerve in your neck very rarely requires surgery. Most people can find long-term relief with conservative care, such as chiropractic.

Getting rid of the inflammation and giving the disc time to heal are part of a complete plan we use each day to help our patients reduce their symptoms and get their lives back.

It’s estimated that tilting your head forward, even just 15 degrees, can triple the weight of your head on your neck. In fact, tilting your head forward 60 degrees can increase the stress and strain on your neck ten times over.

Repeating this forward head posture again and again over time can result in pain, stiffness, dysfunction, headaches, and more–a group of symptoms often referred to as “Tech Neck.”

The good news about postural stress and “Tech Neck” is that a few simple changes to your routine can help you reduce your risk of experiencing pain.

Here’s what you need to know:

• “Tech Neck” is the term used to describe the flexed head and neck position that occurs when looking down at your smartphone.
• Just 15 degrees of forward bending can increase the stress of your head on your neck three times over.
• Taking breaks every 15 minutes and looking up from your phone or tablet can help your body reset and give your muscles a chance to relax.

Know that reducing your “Tech Neck” symptoms involves more than just changing the angle you look at your phone. Proper ergonomics and regular stretching and exercise all play significant roles in helping you continue to enjoy your favorite devices without those nagging pains.

If you’ve been living with “Tech Neck” and are ready to take action, you’ve come to the right place! Our expert team is ready to not only help evaluate your ergonomics, but to also provide a plan of action complete with personalized recommendations that will help make it easy for you to maintain a more balanced posture for years to come.

Many schools have reduced physical education classes. Many more students have moved towards e-learning. For those reasons, it’s important to be mindful of our children’s physical activity and to encourage them to exercise more each day. And not just to benefit their physical health. In many ways, exercising each day is likely to make your child a better student! Movement triggers the release of chemical substances in the brain that enhance brain function.

Here’s a quick snapshot of the benefits of movement:

• Better Brain Function – Movement may protect your brain against degenerative changes.
• Better Stress Reduction – Exercise and movement have been shown to have an antidepressant effect that can help reduce overall stress.
• Better Memory – Regular exercise can help directly and indirectly improve recall and reasoning skills.

The research is clear. Daily movement and exercise are healthy for both your child’s body and their brain. And our posture and movement assessments are designed to help you identify any abnormal patterns, helping your child feel better and stay active so they can become the best student possible. So, if your child struggles to get enough exercise due to nagging aches and pains or less than ideal posture, we hope you’ll consider scheduling an appointment with us today. Our doors are open, and we’re here to help!

While knee pain may not be entirely preventable, there are steps you can take to keep your knees as healthy as possible. At the top of the list is to watch your weight. For every pound you are overweight, your knee must absorb an extra 4 pounds of pressure when you walk, run or climb stairs. In addition, the cartilage in your knee is designed to last a lifetime if you take care of it.

Here are a few additional ways to keep your knees healthy and strong.

• Warm-Up Before Exercising: Stretching your quadriceps and hamstrings before and after you exercise is a smart way to reduce the chance of a flare-up of knee pain.
• Find Adequate Foot Support: Every step you take transfers force from the bottom of your foot to your knee. Therefore, your shoes should provide the support you need to keep your knees healthy for at least 10,000 steps per day.
• Maintain a Full Range of Motion: Ensuring your low back and hips are moving freely is essential to overall knee health.

The joints of your body should have a balance of strength and flexibility through their full range of motion. Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for people with back issues to find themselves struggling with knee pain after limping around for a few weeks. We encourage our patients to be proactive with their health. Use the strategies above to help reduce your chances of knee pain, and be sure to call our practice if you notice any pain or restricted motion.

Pro sports are big businesses, and athletes, coaches, and owners always maximize their talent. What began as a way to reduce injuries has advanced into a way to improve performance. New research shows how spinal adjustments can influence the brain, spinal cord, and even muscle strength. Here are three exciting findings from the research.

• Motor control and movement patterns can be influenced by receiving a spinal adjustment.
• Spinal adjustments can alter how you process pain.
• Increases in muscle strength have been found after a spinal adjustment.

Pro athletes choose chiropractic for many different reasons. For some, it’s the focus on mobility, while others are looking for a performance edge. No matter what drives an athlete to seek out a chiropractor’s expertise, one thing is for sure: the use of chiropractic care in competitive athletics is here to stay.

The rotator cuff is a ball and socket joint made up of three bones: your arm bone (the humerus), your shoulder blade (the scapula), and your collarbone (the clavicle). The supporting muscles, ligaments, and tendons are designed to help you lift and rotate your arm. Your shoulder is one of the most dynamic and unstable joints in your body. It’s hard to ignore a torn rotator cuff because…it hurts! Signs of a tear include shoulder pain when lifting your arm, weakness, pain when lying down, or a limited range of motion.

• Shoulder impingement (the pinching or rubbing together of tissues inside a joint) has been estimated to occur in up to 10% of people involved in car accidents.
• The shoulder is one of the most complex, dynamic, and unstable joints in the body, with a complex network of bones, ligaments, and muscles.
• The risk of neck or shoulder pain seven years after a collision was three times higher for patients with initial whiplash injuries than those without.

Ignoring a shoulder injury after a car accident is not a good idea. Your shoulder is designed to move, and if you try to “let it heal” by not moving it, then you’re putting yourself at risk for a frozen shoulder. Frozen shoulder, or adhesive capsulitis, is when your shoulder develops adhesions due to lack of movement. This can result in severe pain that takes months to heal. If you have shoulder pain after an accident, time is of the essence! Our team is here and can provide a complete evaluation and treatment plan for you to get moving safely and heal quickly.