Author Archive: admin

Slipped disc is a condition where the vertebral disc has been misaligned, displaced, or partially protruded, pressing the nerves close to it and causing back pain. Most people experiencing slipped disc will start to feel pain on one side of the body and gradually worsening over time. Additionally, the pain worsens when one sneezes, coughs, or sits down.

Slipped disc usually happens when the connective tissues around the vertebral disc breaks down. However, the actual causes of the break down have not yet been identified. Common assumptions and beliefs say that aging and wearing and tearing of the body organs may be the reasons why people experience slipped disc.

As one gets older, the spinal discs become more brittle and less flexible, thus, they can easily get displaced. Plus, with these other factors and habits that add pressure to the spine, slipped disc will indeed be a possible ill-condition to aging and physically fatigued individual:

• Bending and twisting the body awkwardly
• Doing jobs that involve heavy and/or awkward lifting
• Doing jobs that involve sitting for long hours, such as driving and office work
• Being obese or overweight
• Smoking
• Playing sports or doing exercises that involve carrying heavy weights
• Suffering from a traumatic back injury, such as falling or being in a car accident

As chiropractors deal with many patients suffering from slipped disc, they provide the best advice on how to deal with such condition. If you are enduring the pain caused by slipped disc, here are some of the most effective ways to manage it as recommended by expert chiropractors:

1. Identify and avoid pain triggers. There may be some activities or movements that when you do, can worsen the pain. You have to know what these activities are and avoid them as much as possible so that you can limit the pain.

1. Reduce stress. When you are stressed, fatigued, or tired, your body weakens and the pain magnifies. Just relax and do some breathing exercises that will help you calm your mood and avoid feeling additional pain.

1. Increase your fluid intake to reduce the inflammation. Additionally, make sure you are eating healthy foods and balanced diet, and, as much as possible, avoid fibrin consumption with proteolytic enzymes.

1. Engage in heat and cold therapy to help stop pain spasms, improve range of motion, and enhance blood flow.

1. Maintain correct posture by doing regular stretching and exercises that target specific muscle imbalances.

1. Therapeutic massages, physical therapy, and rehabilitative exercises and significantly improve your condition and reduce pain. Consult with an expert first to identify the right massages and exercises for your condition.

1. Have a regular visit to your chiropractor. Chiropractic care specifically aims to restore spinal and nerve functions. Make sure that you engage in regular spinal adjustments that will align your spine and remove vertebral subluxations that cause pain. You will be surprised that, in no time, you will be back to your active and healthy self.

1. Finally, if your condition is somehow affecting your mood and perception, you may also consider seeing a mental health counselor. He or she will help you rethink and recognize your beliefs and expectations about yourself.

By following the above smart and practical pieces of advice, you will be on your way to fast recovery and health restoration.

Each disc in between the vertebral bones in your spine provides cushion to the vertebral bones, by absorbing the shocks from your body’s normal movements such as walking, jogging, running, lifting and playing. Slipped disc, the popular term for herniated disc, happens when the tough outer ring in an intervertebral disc weakens or gets injured giving way for the soft, gelatinous material in the inner ring of the disc to be pushed out. The slipped can cause the nerves in the spine to be compressed and irritated, resulting to pain and discomfort. The condition can also result to numbness in the affected nerve area. Though there are a few available conventional treatment options for slipped disc, they are complicated and costly.

Causes of Slipped Disc

Several factors can cause disc herniation and they include:

• Poor posture – Improper posture can put excessive stress on the disc.
• Being overweight – Similar to poor posture, extra body weight can cause the disc to bear too much stress.
• Having sedentary lifestyle – Sedentary habits can weaken the bones and muscles.
• Physical injury to the disc
• A combination of any of these factors

Chiropractic Treatment for Slipped Disc

Chiropractic treatment can help address the symptoms of slipped disc. In the initial visit, your chiropractor will evaluate your medical history, conduct a physical exam, and subject you to orthopedic and neurological tests. The chiropractor will try to confirm the following from the orthopedic and neurological tests:

• Whether your reflexes are intact, which indicates whether your nerves are correctly sending messages
• Whether there is muscle strength loss
• Whether there is sensation or not along the nerve path

The chiropractor will check your posture carefully and order an x-ray check or MRI, if deemed necessary, to help in the diagnosis.

The chiropractor will evaluate your entire spine, not just the apparent affected area to see the overall functioning of your spine and the influence of that specific area to the whole spine and even the body.

All the information from these tests will allow the chiropractor to determine whether you have a disc injury or abnormality. The nature of the disc injury you may have will dictate the type of treatments your chiropractor will employ to address the symptoms and its cause.

If you are found to have an advanced loss of sensation, strength and reflexes and other abnormal neurological findings, your chiropractor will refer to a spine surgeon.

Most injuries in the intervertebral disc are related to slipped disc. Your chiropractor can use various treatment methods to address your symptoms and pain particularly.

To treat a slipped disc, your chiropractor will prepare an individualized treatment plan that may most likely include spinal manipulation or adjustments and other techniques, such as therapeutic exercise and manual therapy, to ease your slipped disc symptoms. The particulars in the treatment plan will depend on the kind of pain you have, your overall health, and activity level.

A few examples of techniques chiropractors use in the treatment of slipped disc are:

• Flexion-distraction technique – This painless treatment involves the use of a specialized table that makes possible the gentle “distraction” or stretching of the spine. The chiropractor can then isolate the area of the spine affected and slightly “flex” the spine through pumping rhythm. This technique can keep the disc from impinging on the nerve, This will reduce the nerve root inflammation.
• Manipulation under anesthesia (MUA) – Some spinal condition may require MUA. An anesthesia is used to let the patient sleep and be sedated for about 6 minutes. The chiropractor manipulates and stretches the area being treated with the body in a relaxed state.
• Pelvic blocking treatments – The techniques use cushioned wedges placed under the pelvis – in each side. With gentle exercise which may also be used with this technique, changes in mechanics is effected to create a safe gap between the disc and the nerve that it may be pushing against.

Chiropractic treatment works well with slipped disc. Many scientific studies confirm the very high proportion of patients finding relief with chiropractic treatment.

Going to a gym is nothing really complicated. Many people go to gyms for various reasons: some want to tone and enlarge their body muscles; some want to burn the unsightly extra fat in bulge areas like the waist, hips, and legs; while others just want to sweat it out, especially if they do not have the luxury to go outdoors.

Gyms have become the regular after office hours place for working professionals. Some families even go to the gym together. If you are thinking of enrolling in a gym to fulfill your physical fitness needs, the first and most important step you need to do is find the right gym for you and your workout needs. These essential tips should help you find the perfect match:

1. Know why you want to go to the gym. People who go to gyms are aware of their physical fitness needs. Set your goal first. Is it for weight loss, muscle toning, or body building? Your purpose in enrolling in a gym would help you know which fitness center could provide you with your needs.

1. Look for a decent gym you can go to on a regular basis. Look up in the directory for gyms near your area. Be sure to sign up in a gym that is accessible to you at all times. Traveling far just to go to a gym may be too tiring and discouraging. Gyms are sprouting everywhere so you have the best choices to pick. Make a shortlist of your prospects and take note of the addresses. If they have a website, you can check it out online for references and comparison.

1. If you want to see for yourself what your prospective gyms are offering, try to make a brief call and set an appointment for your visit. This will ensure that the staff will prioritize you when you visit. Thus, on your visit, you will have more time to look, experience, and think about their services.

1. When you visit their branch, take note of their amenities. Ask for a brochure if they have one, so you can review and compare your notes when you get home. You may also ask for testimonials and references from friends and colleagues.

1. If possible, try out their equipment. Looking is good, but trying it out for yourself is better. This will help you decide whether to stick with them or look for other prospects.

1. Know their physical fitness trainers. Get acquainted and establish comfort with each other in case you are planning to get a personal trainer to help you get fit.

1. Consider your budget. If there are any, you may ask for promo packages or discounts. Review your goal and your budget and stick to the mode of payment within your limit.

After you do all these and finally decide where to work out regularly, the next move you should make is to head to the store and shop for appropriate and comfortable shoes and gym wear. Just bear in mind, fitness comes with a price and, of course, perseverance.

Health practitioners and experts at the World Health Organization agree that “health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being.” Being healthy, therefore, means that one has a perfect balance of all these aspects of life; that his state of fitness not only reigns over his body, but in his mind, heart, and spirit, as well.

Unfortunately, society has significantly influenced people’s mind about the concept of being healthy. Media teaches us that good health is often equated to having a slim figure or a muscular body. Hence, people strive to achieve this even if it means skipping meals or taking in non-prescribed diet pills. These approaches, even with the right objectives, will actually do more bad than good in the body.

Being healthy, as described by health and nutrition experts, is the achievement and maintenance of physical fitness and mental stability. It means absence of physical illness, diseases, and mental distress to help you achieve and maintain an excellent quality of life.

What Influences Our Health?

How do we know then when a person is in good or bad health? The World Health Organization determined three factors that influence the health of an individual, namely: society and economy, physical environment, and the individuals’ personal characteristics and behavior

1. Social and economic determinants of health. The society we live in and the economy that govern us can dictate our health. These are the conditions or situations in which we live and work day to day that influence how healthy we can be in a particular social environment. Some of these determinants include social norms and attitudes, type of governance, exposure to crime and violence, occurrences of natural disasters, exposure to mass media and technology, discrimination, public safety, and quality of education. These circumstances are highly influenced by the availability of money and presence of resources in a particular society.
2. Environmental determinant of health. The physical environment, or the place where we live, is another determinant that affects our health and the quality of life we have. The factors that help in distinguishing whether you can stay healthy or not in a particular place include the natural environment (including weather, climate change, and presence of plants and animals), architecture, recreational settings, neighborhood, type of food available, exposure to pollutants and toxic substances, transportation options, and residential segregation habits.
3. Physical and behavioral determinant of health. Lastly, our own individual characteristics and behaviors also determine how healthy we can be in a given situation. Typical behaviors that can affect our health include smoking, alcohol use, drug abuse, physical activities, food consumption, oral health behavior, sexual behavior, and sleep patterns. Our health is at our fingertips. What we are and what we normally do greatly affect the quality of our body conditions. Unlike the first two determinants of health which we cannot fully manage, we have control over the behavioral factors. We can decide about being healthy and work on achieving good health if we want.

Do you always find yourself looking at women’s magazine and admiring those beautiful girls with glamorous, sexy, and almost perfect features? Do you constantly wishing that you can look like them, too, without putting on so much effort

Well, here’s a tip of advice: not all men prefer girls with a supermodel body and not all jobs hire the most gorgeous-looking applicant. Instead, they prefer a girl with substance and a personality in which that stands out from the crowd. Here are simple but effective tips on how you can develop your beauty inside and out.

Work with your assets

The key to developing self-confidence is accepting what you are and what you are not. Try to assess yourself in front of a mirror. Look for something that you know will help you stand out and ignore those that won’t. If you have beautiful eyes, for example, you can further enhance them by applying the right eye makeup. Or if you have a sexy butt, wear jeans that will flaunt your curves.

Stop comparing yourself with other people

We all have features that distinguish us from others. But most of the time, we still ask for something that we see in other people, not knowing that there are people who would die just to have something that we have. Learn to value and appreciate what you have, and you will start to see yourself in a different light.

Stay healthy

Research shows that, in general, men are attracted to health woman. Having a healthy lifestyle greatly improves your looks and the way you feel about yourself. Make it a habit to exercise daily, eat healthy food and vitamins, take a bath daily, brush your teeth every after meal, and live a positive life.

Feel good about yourself

The best way to look sexy is to feel sexy. If you feel that you are sexy, it will shine through and other people will notice it. For you to feel sexy, wear flattering and comfortable clothes and treat yourself with things that you love. You don’t have to spend a lot to feel good about yourself. It is simply a matter of having the right perspective and attitude towards yourself.

You do not need to radically transform your appearance to feel beautiful inside and out. The important thing is to accept yourself for who you are and feel good about it.

When it comes to achieving utmost comfort and contentment in everyday living, the importance of good health cannot be overstated. Heath is wealth, and this will always be true.

Benefits of Good Health

Primarily, we need good health to be able to perform our work and duties well every day. With a sound and healthy body, we can wake up every morning peacefully and accomplish our personal tasks until the evening, no matter how demanding they can be.

A healthy person is an asset to himself and to the people around him. When a person is healthy, he has enough energy to live completely, as opposed to merely existing in this world. And it is this tremendous energy and radiance that allows him to do abundant deeds and accomplish greatness, enabling him to live longer and up to the maximum. Having good health, therefore, starts with having a body and mind that are free of any sickness and ill-condition.

Good health not only promotes quality of life, but extends the living years of an individual. Many social science researches have proved the positive relationship between good health and aging. From the Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences 6th Edition by Robert H. Binstock and Linda K. George, health is so pivotal to the aging experience because it enhances quality of life over the life course, thereby reducing the likelihood of premature morbidity, disability, and death of a person.

Being healthy, in other words, is one of the important pillars of achieving happiness and having a long, accomplished life. It is, therefore, everyone’s responsibility to strive to have and maintain good health. By the way, do you fell you are a healthy person? Think about it.

Prevention is the Key to Good Health

While there is always a solution to any problem, preventing the occurrence of a problem is a wiser, life-changing move. Same goes for health. By engaging in preventive health, one can eliminate the manifestation of diseases and infections in the body. Prevention wards off the use of medication to treat illnesses brought by bad nutrition and improper lifestyle, along with possible medical and hospital expenses.

Scientific research continues to confirm that prevention, which mainly comprises of good nutrition, exercise, and supplementation, can positively impact one’s health and overall well-being, because it aims to strengthen the immune system of the body and avoid it from acquiring negative health conditions,

Preventive health, therefore, must be planned and executed ahead of time, especially when illness is not yet present in the body. Diseases should be prevented early on, or at least delayed in their onset until a ripe old age is reached. When the body is free of any ill condition and well-balanced with the mental, emotional, and spiritual aspect of life, good health is attained. And this starts with prevention and taking good care of the body.

The essential vitamin E is gaining popularity these days because people associate it with youth, beauty, and healthy skin. However, vitamin E can do more wonders for your body, other than make you pretty and healthy outside.

Vitamin E, which is often believed as a fertility vitamin, is fat soluble and acts as an antioxidant. It protects the red blood cells, essential fatty acids, and the vitamins A and C from damage by free radicals. Vitamin E contains a family of 8 antioxidants, composed of four tocopherols and four tocotienols. The only form of vitamin E that stays in the human body is alpha-tocopherol. This is the reason why alpha-tocopherol is the form of vitamin E found in the largest quantities in the blood and tissue.

Also, vitamin E functions in our body as a fat-soluble antioxidant. All throughout the body, it is located in tissues containing fat, even the protective membranes surrounding cells and their nuclei. It protects cells and other body components from the attacks of free radicals. Take note that when left unchecked, free radicals damage cell constituents, particularly those containing polyunsaturated fatty acids. In the end, this could lead to mutation that may be carcinogenic, inactivation of proteins and enzymes, and even cell death or changes in the response of cells to hormones and neurotransmitters

It has a direct chemical function by inhibiting the conversion of nitrites in smoked, cured, and pickled foods to nitrosamines in the stomach, which strongly promote the growth of tumors. It regulates gene expression and is believed to control the proliferation of smooth muscle cells involved in the development of atherosclerosis.

Studies indicate that those with high levels of vitamin E have shown lower incidence of infections because it inhibits cancer initiation through better immunocompetence. It could also lessen the gravity of prostaglandin-mediated disorders like premenstrual syndrome, circulatory irregularities, and inflammation.

Deficiency in vitamin E leads to various illnesses like beriberi, pellagra, scurvy, rickets, premature infants, fibrocystic breast disease, night cramps in the calves, and fat malabsorption syndromes to name a few. Over a long time, insufficient vitamin E has been linked to degenerative diseases such as atherosclerosis and cancer.

However, one has to be careful in taking vitamin E since over dosage could lead to toxicity.

Bottom line is, one need not overlook the benefits of vitamin E. Remember, health and beauty is not complete without “E”!

Being old is not necessarily a bad thing, because it brings with it experience and knowledge. However, people look and feel old sometimes, even if they are not actually old. With the constant grind people go through every day, it takes its toll on them both physically and mentally. All the pressure and stress just sap the energy out of a person. There is no drive anymore, no more motivation. A person is unable to push themselves further a little bit more just to get something done. One feels old, weighted down by the problems they constantly encounter.

If you can relate to any of the given situations above, then these tips are for you. Know the secrets on how to look and feel young in spite of the many worries and problems in life that surround you.

Rediscovering youth

In order to combat this, you have to develop the feeling of “being young” again. There is a need to reinvigorate your mind and your body to feel energized once again. There is a need to bring more enthusiasm and vigor into your life. It may be impossible to turn back time physically, but at least when you feel young again, all things seem to be a lot easier because you have the energy and confidence to deal with anything.

The role of good diet and exercise

Physically, a lot can be done to bring back youth. A good diet and exercise will allow the body to become stronger and will build up resistance to sickness. Many people often abuse their bodies, engaging in lots of activities which are harmful to their health, like excessive smoking and drinking. There comes a point when the body can take no more and just gives up. Only then will people realize how important it is to live a healthy lifestyle.

The significance of sleep

Another important thing to consider is the amount of rest you should have. People have a tendency to push themselves to the limit – mentally, physically, and emotionally – which may cause permanent damage sometimes. Proper rest is necessary for the body to recover. Oftentimes, sleep is the first to suffer, with busy people staying up all night to study or finish work. It’s important to get the right amount of sleep very night. Nothing refreshes like a good night’s sleep. If it can’t be avoided, at least take some short naps during the day. And once in a while, take a vacation. This will be good for both the body and the mind. The body, like a machine, needs a time to rest. Otherwise, it will breakdown altogether.

Taking care of the mind

Pampering the body will not suffice if the mind is not well taken care of. Positivity, mental alertness, and humor can help significantly. Remember to always look at the lighter side of things and do not let yourself be weighed down by tough situations. This helps create a more positive atmosphere and, in such a case, solutions will come more easily. After all, life is meant to be enjoyed, not to be spent worrying about problems that we have no control over.

Looking and feeling young inside and out again will give a person a sense of renewal, and a new resolve to perform better in any sort of activity they engage in. What other beauty and health tips can make a person look and feel young?

Disc herniation or slipped disc is sometimes mistakenly identified to be the source of back pain. This began with the development of x-ray technology. When images of disc herniation first emerged, medical professionals started to point to the slipped disc as the cause for many back pain complaints. For decades, it was commonly assumed that if a person has back pain, slipped disc is the culprit. Unfortunately, because of this wrong assumption, many unnecessary surgeries were performed.

Complementary and alternative medicine options such as chiropractic treatment and massage therapy are now being recognized as very effective in helping provide pain relief from slipped disc.

Massage may provide relief for chronic low back pain. It involves kneading, stroking and manipulation of back tissues. These movements can increase blood flow, through which higher amount of oxygen and nutrients are delivered to the muscles. More blood also conducts away waste byproducts in the body that may increase over time.

There are over 100 different massage technique types. A technique described as deep tissue massage, for example, uses slow strokes and direct pressure to penetrate and soothe deep muscle layers and bring relief to chronic muscular tension. In contrast, Swedish massage utilizes long strokes to activate the superficial layers of the muscles. An experienced massage therapist will be able to determine the specific type of massage that will be most beneficial to your pain.

Massage is not a known treatment for slipped disc. Massage therapists are still confronted with the issue of appropriateness of doing massage on somebody with slipped disc. And although it is generally safe and does not cause side effects, it is good to get a doctor’s clearance before proceeding with the massage treatment. A standard rule of safety to note is that anything that causes further aggravation of the patient’s neurological symptoms needs to be stopped immediately.

It is not advisable for patients who suffer from certain conditions such as osteoporosis, skin infections, deep vein thrombosis, arthritis or open wounds in the area that will be massaged to get massage treatment.

It is in your interest to let the massage therapist know other conditions you may have besides pain from slipped disc. It is also important for you to know that massage therapy is most effective when it complements or works in combination with other conventional medicine treatment methods.

Chiropractic Treatment for Slipped Disc

Chiropractic adjustment or chiropractic manipulation is a common and effective therapeutic treatment for lower back pain. A chiropractor, a skilled and trained professional, applies manipulation to the spinal bones or vertebrae and surrounding structures that have abnormal functions or movement patterns. The goal of the chiropractic treatment is to reduce nerve irritation, increase range of motion and improve function through the correction of subluxation or abnormality in the spine.

There are several manipulative techniques that can be used in chiropractic. A certain level of skill and “art” are involved with each different adjustment or manipulation technique.

Many studies confirm the effectiveness of the manual therapies used by chiropractors not only for lower back pain but for many other conditions including neck pain and lumbar herniated disc.

Except for two notable exceptions that chiropractors will not treat, most slipped disc conditions work well with chiropractic care. These two serious cases associated with the intervertebral disc injury are cauda equine syndrome, a disc injury where the patient loses control of bowel or bladder, and another is a slipped disc condition where the patient has advanced loss of muscle strength, sensation and reflexes.

Between the two complementary/alternative medicine therapies, chiropractic care is better suited to help relieve pain from slipped disc and even to address its symptoms and cause.