Five "Secrets" About Fender Benders

1.  Despite insurance companies’ using it as the main criterion, the visual damage to your car is not necessarily an indicator of the consequences of the collision on your body.

2.  Feeling confused, "fuzzy," disoriented, and irritable often follows even a minor collision.

3. Symptoms may have delayed onset; you may "feel fine" for the first few days, or even longer. Be cautious about signing off on an insurance claim too soon; give yourself time for any consequences to your body to show up.

4. The sooner you receive proper care, the sooner you will recover. I encourage patients to come in as soon as possible after (an even minor) collision, to get their entire body checked & balanced, to better their chances for a speedy recovery.

5.  If you don't have Medpay on your auto policy, get it. If you have it, and you're in an accident, your own insurance will cover your care, so you or your doctor won't have to wait for the other party's insurance to pay. It's insurance that's reasonably priced and really worthwhile.

A Fall That Affects the Shoulder

  Instinctively in a fall, we reach out to brace our body’s impact with our arm(s) and hand(s). Among the upper extremity consequences of this instinctive reaction are injuries to the shoulder(s), which can be serious and painful.

Depending on the angle and direction of impact, forces driven up the arm may cause the head of the humerus, the bone in our upper arm, to misalign from its normal position at the glenoid fossa, a shallow “cup-like” socket which is part of the scapula.

This painful misalignment is commonly posterior, or backwards, occurring in falls forward such as tripping or stumbling, but can be anterior / superior, as when one’s foot slips forward and the body falls backward, with arm(s) instinctively extended backward to break the fall.

Carelul assessment of the shoulder after a fall and gentle, precise corrections of misalignments are essential to relieve pain, support healing, maintain normal range of motion, and prevent future degenerative changes that lead to arthritis.

Gratitude Is Healing

  Taking time to be grateful for the good in one’s life has positive physiological and psychological affects on our health. Focusing on gratitude relieves stress and unhappiness, and actually stimulates healing from illnesses.

Gratitude triggers release of mood-regulating neurotransmitters such as serotonin, inhibits the stress hormone cortisol, and stimulates the areas of the brain that produce pleasurable feelings.

Being grateful helps depression, reduces pain and inflammation, lowers blood sugar, and helps immune function.

Learn more at:

https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2019/11/28/effects-of-gratitude-on-health.aspx?cid_source=dnl&cid_medium=email&cid_content=art1HL&cid=20191128Z1&et_cid=DM398041&et_rid=759098228

The Pubic Symphysis

 An often overlooked or forgotten joint in the pelvis is the pubic symphysis. It is a small, movable, flexible joint in the front of the pelvic "girdle" (the bones and articulations that make up the pelvis in the human skeleton).

      There is a disc in this joint, similar to the discs in our spine. In women, the joint is able to expand during childbirth. 

     The pubic symphysis is an essential joint because it is integrally involved in motion of the pelvis during our gait cycle (walking), and in stability and equilibrium of the pelvic girdle. 

     I often find this joint misaligned when the patient’s pelvis is distorted, especially when the distortion is severe. A patient who complains of groin symptoms will often exhibit an aberrant alignment of the pubic symphysis, and correcting it will bring relief.

      I make precise, directional corrections to the pubic symphysis with the ACTIVATOR instrument to relieve groin & pelvic pain and help the pelvis to stabilize. 

Kneecap Troubles

      If the kneecap is misaligned, there is resulting abnormal wear-&-tear underneath it, which can eventually lead to arthritis of the knee.

     The kneecap, or patella, is imbedded in the tendon of the quadriceps (quads) muscles. Whenever the quads are activated by bending the knee, the kneecap moves with the tendon, sliding up and down in a groove on the front and lower end of the femur (the bone of the upper leg).

     As long as the kneecap slides smoothly and evenly in this groove, all is well. But if the kneecap begins to rub unevenly against the side(s) of the groove, trouble---abnormal wear & tear---and eventual development of arthritis---will result.  

     A misaligned patella easy to correct with ACTIVATOR Chiropractic, once a careful and precise assessment of the knee is done. I evaluate and then correct the misalignment, and I give the patient special exercises help the correction to hold.