New Medicare Allowances

Medicare has increased allowances for Chiropractic care of the spine for 2018. This good news means smaller copays, or more money back from Medicare if patients pay at time of service.

In my office, all patients pay at the time of visit, including Medicare patients. I report the diagnoses and services to Medicare, and Medicare then reimburses the patient directly.   

Homeless Garden, Santa Cruz

Now in its 28th year of providing “job training, transitional employment, and support services” to homeless people in an organic urban farm setting, the Santa Cruz Homeless Garden Project is a successful, inspirational prototype for helping people lift themselves out of homelessness.

New work skills develop in the healing process of growing organic foods, social relationships are built with other workers & volunteers, and self esteem is nurtured by producing and sharing healthy foods.

Workers and volunteers enjoy 4 hot meals a week together from the garden. Customers can shop the Garden’s bounty at the Farmstand, which is open Tuesday - Sunday, 10 - 4, or sign up to get regular food boxes from the Garden. 

     To learn more, volunteer, or find out how to visit the Garden, go to: http://www.homelessgardenproject.org/index.php   

Kinematic Chain

      The shoulder, arm, wrist and hand function as what is known as a “kinematic chain.” 

     Think of this as an anatomical “connected movement” chain. Functioning of each part is connected to, symbiotic with, and consequential with, the other parts.

     In-other-words, what's happening at the shoulder may reverberate down and affect the elbow, wrist, and hand. Or in the reverse, dysfunction or injury at the hand, wrist, or elbow can affect the functioning of the shoulder.

      This is why, as an Activator Chiropractor, my precise adjustments to correct a problem anywhere in the upper extremity often include adjustments all the way up or down the arm to include all the component parts.

Five Keys to Healthy Sitting

      A healthy sitting position can be critical not only to your comfort, but also to good postural and spinal health. Here are simple things to pay attention to:

     ---have both feet flat on the floor,

     ---your knees should be slightly lower than the level of your hips,

     ---your back is resting comfortably against your chair, and

     ---your head is in line with center of gravity of your body (avoid head-forward postures).

     One of the most important features of whatever chair you use is that you can change the height of the seat.

     In most cases, t's not necessary to spend lots of $$ for a fancy chair. You just need to be able to adjust the height of the seat, so that your knees can be slightly lower than the level of your hips.

Unhealthy Oils

Vegetable oils will oxidize when exposed to heat, even cooking at low temperatures. Even if stored in a cool place, these oils will oxidize over time at nothing more than room temperature. 

This is because vegetable oils (except coconut oil, which is saturated) are unsaturated fats, which means, chemically speaking, that they contain carbon-to-carbon double bonds, which are vulnerable to oxygen’s “hopping on” and attaching. 

The attachment of oxygen across these chemical bonds creates a toxic molecule which is not healthy to ingest. Millions of these unhealthy molecules may exist in a bottle of corn oil, or safflower oil, or other vegetable oils. 

  Thus it is never wise to cook with vegetable oils.

Monounsaturated oils, though still unsaturated, are less so, because they have fewer potential oxidation sites than polyunsaturated oils. An example of a monounsaturated oil is olive oil. Canola oil is also a monounsaturated oil, but it is processed with heat and toxic chemicals that make it undesirable.  

Choose healthy oils and fats:  organic, cold-pressed olive oil, organic, unrefined coconut oil, and organic butter.