Organic Farm & Garden, UCSC---50th Anniversary

       One of the country's oldest organic education and research programs, the Center for
Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS), with the University of CA Santa Cruz (UCSC) Organic Farm & Garden, will celebrate their 50th anniversary on July 28 - 30, 2017.

       The UCSC Farm & Garden has pioneered sustainable food production methods that are now widespread. More than 1500 graduates of the CASFS Apprenticeship Program have started their own farms, organic businesses, and food projects.        􀀰􀁉􀁏􀁎􀁅􀁅􀁒􀁅􀁄􀀀􀁏􀁒􀁇􀁁􀁎􀁉􀁃􀀀

      The weekend’s activities will be open to the public. There will be tours of the 30 acres of fields, orchards, & gardens; "food hero" speakers from the Sustainable Agriculture community; food & farming workshops; and a banquet featuring guest chef Alice Waters.

       For more information about this celebration & how you can participate, go to casfs.ucsc.edu, email casfs@ucsc.edu, or call (831) 459-3240.

Painfully Snapping "Trigger" Finger

       Fairly frequently in my office, a patient shows up with a painfully “snapping” finger, commonly referred to as a “trigger finger.” The condition also often occurs in the thumb.

       This is an inflammatory condition for which the technical term is "stenosing tenosynovitis."

       It occurs when inflammation causes a narrowing of the space around the finger’s (or thumb's) tendon and its surrounding tendon sheath. (The sheath is like a tube through which the tendon passes.) 

       My treatment includes adjusting the involved finger and teaching the patient to use an anti-inflammatory protocol at home. This includes antidotes to inflammation, such as ice, topical and / or systemic arnica, and nutritional support.  

       Protecting the involved finger to allow it to heal calls for splinting it to keep it from becoming stuck in a bent position, especially during the night. 

       Chiropractic adjustment of the involved finger with my Activator instrument is quick, precise, minimally uncomfortable, and brings immediate relief.  

Your Pain----Medicare Wants to Know About It

       Documentation about a patient’s condition is very important to Medicare, and caregivers, including Doctors of Chiropractic, are expected to ask the right questions. Information about your your pain, where it hurts, how badly it hurts, the type of pain you are having (is it sharp? achy, dull, burning, deep, etc.), is expected to be documented for Medicare at every office visit.

       In my office, Medicare patients fill out a brief Pain Report before every treatment. Questions include the level, or severity of pain, that day, on a scale of 1 - 10, with 10 being the worst. 

       The Pain Report also asks whether they felt relief after their last visit, and if so, for how long. They write down what they can do, or do better, since their last visit, and whether anything is still hard, or impossible, for them to do because of their pain.

Pesticides' Effects on Beneficial Insects & Other Organisms

Common pesticides, even those previously thought to be minimally harmful to human & environmental health, such as neonicotinoids, are being found to be dangerously toxic to honey bees, bumble bees, and natural parasites of crop pests. These include beneficial predatory and parasitic insects, such as “assassin” beetles & spotted lady beetles, which feed on harmful pests, providing natural pest suppression on farms.

Pesticides also affect the health of the soil. Residues of chemicals applied to crops can have harmful effects on earthworms and other soil invertebrates.

Perhaps pesticide use should be guided by the “Precautionary Principle”----stop using until we understand whether they cause undue harm to beneficial organisms.

http://xerces.org/2017/04/28/expanding-our-understanding-of-pesticide-impacts-on-invertebrates/

http://www.xerces.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/XercesSociety_CBCneonics_sep2013.pdf

What Our Senses Can Tell Us

          We have nerves that sense cold, heat, pressure (touch), pain, proprioception (position of our body parts), smell, taste, sound, etc. There is a theory the human body may also be able to sense magnetic fields.

Birds and bees use magnetoreception to navigate, and there is evidence that frogs, worms, lobsters, and snails have magnetic sense. Some mammals, mice, rats & cattle, apparently have it too. Scientists have located and studied magnetoreceptors in certain bacteria.

A scientist at CA Institute for Technology (Caltech) thinks he has found a “magnetic sixth sense” in humans.

Whether we actually have it, how it might work, and what the implications might be are fascinating questions still unanswered. http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/06/maverick-scientist-thinks-he-has-discovered-magnetic-sixth-sense-humans

Simple Solutions to Neck Pain

   

     One of the most important things you can do to relieve neck pain is to AVOID HEAD - FORWARD POSTURES. Put another way, avoid having your head out in front of the center of gravity of your body. Examples:

---bending your head forward to look down at a book or work at your desk,

---jutting your head forward, a very common, and often unconscious, posture when at your computer, 

---leaning forward from your hips when sitting.

     Think about it. In each case, your head is FORWARD of your body’s center of gravity. This causes the muscles in your neck to tighten up to support the weight of your head, which commonly weighs 10# or more!

     Practice awareness of where your head is. When you notice it’s FORWARD, gently bring it back over your center of gravity. You will notice immediate relief.

An Unsuspected Cause of Headaches

  

     Trying to identify the cause(s) of chronic, unrelenting headaches that plague some unfortunate patients is a challenge faced by Medical Doctors and Doctors of Chiropractic alike. There are many different types of headaches, and multiple causes.

     Food triggers may be involved, in which a person gets headaches when they ingest certain foods or food additives. Stress, both biomechanical and emotional / psychological, is often part of the picture.

     Now sleep apnea has emerged as a not-uncommon culprit. The mechanism is a disturbance in proportions of oxygen & carbon dioxide caused by interruptions or aberrance of breathing.

     For patients whose headaches seem insoluble, appropriate professional sleep assessment studies may yield a solution.  

An Unlevel Pelvis

     Our pelvis is the bio-mechanical foundation for our entire body. Its stability (or instability) affects everything above and everything below.

     Disturbances to the pelvis, aka the "pelvic girdle," can cause the pelvis to become unlevel.  

     An example is when your pelvis becomes distorted, or out of proper alignment. One or more of the component bones may become slightly twisted, or stressed abnormally in a superior or inferior direction. Pelvic ligaments may be affected by abnormal stresses due to joint misalignments. Any or all of these may cause pain. 

    A distorted, unlevel pelvis makes an unstable foundation for your spine. Uncomfortable, this may lead to problems above, in your neck or shoulders. An unlevel pelvis may also have consequences downward, into the lower extremities. 

     As an Activator Chiropractor, I correct and balance an unlevel pelvis as part of every gentle, comfortable full-body balancing.

Isn't Honey Better?

You may have heard that honey is healthier than table sugar. But is this true? 

     Perhaps it is, for these reasons: honey has ratios of glucose (30%) and fructose (40%) a bit lower than table sugar (50% glucose, 50% fructose). Table sugar breaks down quickly and causes a surge in blood sugar, whereas honey, which also contains other, different, and some more complex, sugars, breaks down slower. Dextrin, a starchy fiber in honey, also slightly slows the blood sugar surge. 

Table sugar is highly processed, and is devoid of minerals. Honey may have tiny amounts of minerals, picked up by the bees as they went from flower to flower, varying by the region(s) where the bees collected their nectar.

The “big picture” is that sugar is sugar, and is implicated in many health problems, so it’s better to minimize consumption of any sugar. But if occasionally you’re choosing, choose honey.

Co-Morbidities---Conditions for Which Medicare May Allow Extended Care

     Some things that often go along with aging are considered by Medicare to justify an extended, or longer term, of chiropractic care.

     These include degeneration of spinal discs, usually associated with spondylosis, which means bony spur formation around vertebral edges. Another term for this is DJD, or degenerative joint disease. Sciatica, or low back pain with sciatica, as well as spinal stenosis, are other conditions that may warrant extended care.

     Other co-morbidities, or health conditions which may complicate or impede healing, are diabetes, osteoporosis, and spinal curvatures such as scoliosis or kyphosis. 

Supraspinatous---An Essential Muscle of the Shoulder

     The supraspinatous is a small but powerful muscle located in our back, along the top part of our shoulderblade, or scapula. It connects the scapula with the top of the humerus, the bone in our upper arm, and is essential in our ability to raise our arm (abduction).  

     Technically, it is one of the muscles of the rotator cuff, and is commonly affected in rotator cuff injuries.

     A simple orthopedic test rules out an injury to this muscle. However, if the test is positive and involves a tear in the supraspinatous, treatment may require surgery.  

Over-The-Counter Orthotics

Patients who have fallen arches or who pronate need to support their feet with orthotics, not just for comfort, but also because these conditions in the feet reverberate up into the knees, hips, and pelvis and cause problems. Some may need prescription orthotics, but many people will find over-the-counter orthotics can do the job.

I commonly recommend a patient try one of two types that they can buy “off the rack.” One is softer, made of foam, with a mild arch support, that is easy to get used to. The other is a harder, molded orthotic appropriate for people who need more support. Either should be appropriately fitted by a staff person at the store who knows how to size them.

It’s not a bad idea to start with an over-the-counter orthotics and see if they will be sufficient. Certainly they are kinder on the patient’s wallet. If it turns out more fine-tuned or specialized support is needed, prescription orthotics are the next step.   

Polypharmacy

Literally, this means “the simultaneous use of multiple drugs by a single patient for one or more conditions.”

There are now patients coming into my office who are taking upward of eleven or twelve different medications. Often their meds are prescribed by different doctors, and there may be no one doctor who is overseeing or coordinating the mix. Potential harmful drug interactions are not being monitored, and the patient is subject to a myriad of side effects of the various drugs.

Sometimes the pharmacist who fills the patient’s prescriptions may be serving as overseer or monitor, but this is not always the case.

For patients on multiple medications, I advise them to talk with their primary care physician about making sure some caregiver is fulfilling this role.

Numbness, Tingling in Arm or Hand

Nerve impingement of the brachial plexus, the nerves exiting the spine in the neck, can be the cause of numbness or tingling in the arm and / or hand. If the alteration of sensation is diffuse throughout the upper extremity, all or most of the nerves in the brachial plexus may be affected, sometimes due to impingement between the clavicle and the first rib, or in passage between the scalene muscles at the sides of the neck. However, if only parts of the arm or hand are affected, it may be possible to pinpoint the specific spinal nerves that are being impinged. This can guide the specific Activator Chiropractic adjustment which can help alleviate the problem.

From Ribs to No Ribs: Transition Areas of the Spine

     There are two areas of transition in our spine, one at the base of our rib cage and one at the top of it. They are called “transition” areas because they are where attachment of the ribs begin at the lower and upper borders of the rib cage. 

     These are often trouble spots because they are “transitions” from regions of comparatively less mobility to ones of comparatively more mobility. For example, in the low back, the lumbar region, where no ribs attach, is comparatively more mobile than the thoracic region, where, from T12 and up, ribs attach on each side at each vertebral level. 

     Similarly, where ribs cease to attach in the upper back, around T2 & T1, there is a transition to the cervical, comparatively more mobile, region. 

     These transition areas are more vulnerable to biomechanical stresses, and can be recurring trouble spots for some people.

Let's Hear It For Purple Foods!

     Did you know that color of most vegetables is a clue to the kind(s) & how many nutrients they contain?

     Purple vegetables often carry more nutritional “punch.” For example, purple carrots have more powerful antioxidants than the beta carotene in orange carrots. Deep purple beets are more nutritious than yellow or multicolored beets, such as Chiaogia. 

     Purple sweet potatoes, though sometimes hard to find, are richer in antioxidants than other sweet potatoes.

     Intensely purple cauliflower, which existed before the white kind we most often see today, has 2 & 1/2 more times antioxidants than the white. Purple cabbage is very nutritious, and packs 6 times more antioxidants than green cabbage! 

What Causes Scoliosis?

     Abnormal spinal curves develop for reasons that are largely unknown. Although there are several theories, about 80% of scoliosis is considered idiopathic (of unknown cause). 

     Statistically, about 4 adolescent girls in 1000 may develop it, and about 1 in 2500 boys. Roughly 2% of the adult population has some degree of it. 

     In my practice, I have found, in working with several adolescent girls, that a combination of stabilizing the pelvis & focused exercises can reverse or halt the progress of scoliotic curvatures. 

Conservation Comes Home

We can all help monarch butterflies, bees, and other endangered pollinators by planting food gardens, even tiny ones, in our yards. If you live in an apartment, put them in pots, or in community garden plots. Street medians can be planted with pollinator gardens, with support of city councils and volunteers. Support chemical-free pest control, at home and in your town. Go here for some helpful advice from The Xerces Society:  http://www.xerces.org/local-action/intro/  

Essential Function of the Pelvis

     Our pelvis, commonly called the “pelvic girdle,” is the bio-mechanical foundation for our whole body. Everything above and below depends on the stability of the pelvis.

     If your pelvis becomes distorted, due to a fall, a sudden twist or jolt, or just due to accumulated stresses, then it becomes unlevel. An unlevel foundation is an unstable foundation. This can reverberate downward and affect your lower extremities, or upward and affect your chest and neck. 

     As an Activator Chiropractor, I specialize in full-body balancing, including careful attention to the pelvis. This helps my patients’ adjustments to be more effective and more long-lasting.

Golfer's Elbow

     Pain and tenderness near the inside of the elbow may be inflammation of the tendon that attaches the wrist flexor muscles in the forearm (the muscles that bend your hand downward). 

     Called "golfer’s elbow" because it's common in golf players, it is due to overuse / repetitive motion. The muscles should be massaged, cooled with ice, and rested, and the tendon has to be protected so it can heal. 

     As an ACTIVATOR Chiropractor, I find golfer’s elbow is associated with particular misalignments of the bones in the forearm. Correcting these misalignments is an essential part of my treatment plan.