Ouch!!--Pain at the Base of the Thumb

  Pain and soreness at the base of the thumb may be De Quervain’s tendonitis. Tendons at the bottom of the thumb are irritated, inflammed, and constricted.

There may be swelling, tenderness to touch, and moving or using the thumb is painful. Turning the wrist or gripping something will hurt.

This is called De Quervain’s tendonitis, and it is often caused by repetitive motions or overuse of the hand, wrist & thumb. Tendons attach muscles to bone; repetitive uses of the hand / wrist / thumb, such as gripping, twisting, wringing, chopping, etc., irritates the tendons & causes the inflammation.  

As with other inflammatory conditions, ice is your friend. Protecting the inflammed tendons is key, so limit usage to allow healing. Application of anti-inflammatories such as arnica, as well as ice, is helpful.

Medicare Advantage Plans

Medicare recipients have an option of buying private insurance outside of Medicare, often called “Advantage” plans. These plans are offered by private companies that contract with Medicare, and often include benefits not provided by regular Medicare, such as vision, dental, etc.

This type of private insurance plan must conform to the rules of Medicare--such as limiting charges for certain services--but is administered by Blue Cross, United Health, or other private companies. Patients still have the rights and protections provided under original Medicare.

For more information, go here:   https://www.medicare.gov/sign-up-change-plans/types-of-medicare-health-plans/medicare-advantage-plans

6 Facts You May Not Know About Carrots

Orange carrots contain beta carotene, but purple carrots have more antioxidants & potentially more health benefits.

Some vegetables are as nutritious frozen as they are fresh, but not carrots. Peeling, processing, freezing, & thawing destroys much of their antioxidants.

Though convenient, baby carrots, pretrimmed & scrubbed, are actually misshapen mature carrots that have been whittled down to smaller, more uniform size. The part that’s thrown away, the outer skin & what’s just beneath it, is much more nutritious. As much as 1/3 of phytonutrients are lost by rimming away the outer parts.

Carrots are better for you when cooked. Cooking breaks down their tough cell walls, making their nutrients more bioavailable. And it matters how you cook them--boiling allows their water-soluble nutrients to leach into the cooking water. Steam or saute them instead. Also, cooking them whole instead of sliced or chopped retains more of their food value and natural sweetness. Cook first; then slice. 

Eating carrots that have been cooked whole may even reduce cancer risks. Carrots contain falcarinol, a cancer-fighting compound. Whole cooked carrots have 25% more of it than those that have been cut before cooking.

Lastly, carrots are best eaten with a healthy fat or oil, because some of their best nutrients are fat-soluble.

     

       (Eating on the Wild Side: The Missing Link to Optimum Health, by Jo Robinson. Little, Brown & Co., 2018)

The Secret is the SOIL!

   Plants absorb carbon and put it back into the soil. 

“All the farmers of the world can contribute to mitigate climate change.” Soil organic carbon “is our bank, it is our fertility, it is the source of everything that we have and what we have to build.”

The 4p1000 Initiative is an international climate agreement that puts agriculture and agroforestry at the center of how we deal with climate change. 

    It "calls for countries to draw down more carbon than they emit, and to store it in the soil. How? By scaling up regenerative farming, grazing and land-use practices. These practices lead to an increase in photosynthesis—nature’s own system for pulling excess carbon out of the air and sequestering it in the soil. They also produce more drought-resistant and resilient crops, and more nutrient-dense food."

Watch this video about restoring and using HEALTHY SOIL for healthy people and a healthy environment:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=210&v=AY9YVwJZDvw

Bunions

Bunions are the troublesome result of the body’s response to abnormal stresses in the foot.

      When the arch of the toot begins to drop, or when one has “flat feet,” the inside of the foot is stressed downward toward the floor; this is called pronation. 

A fallen arch / pronated foot creates abnormal stress in the joint at the base of the big toe, and the body responds by forming a bunion at that site. 

As an ACTIVATOR Chiropractor, I check the status of the arch, assess for pronation, check & adjust all the joints of the foot, then advise the patient about orthotics, exercises, and how to relieve the stresses that caused the bunion.

This treatment plan has been personally successful for me, as well as for many of my patients.