Have you ever had to restart your PC after the hard drive froze?  You hit 'Control+Alt+Delete' to reboot the operating system and get everything running smoothly again.  Your human computer (Nerve System) needs a periodic rebooting too. Your Nerve System gets overwhelmed from daily stress.  An urgent work deadline, unexpected family crisis or any inconvenient change in your routine are unsolicited stresses (spyware or a virus) that bog down your nerves.  The result – your body slows down, runs sluggish and eventually "freezes up" with an illness.  Getting a Chiropractic adjustment is like hitting the Control+Alt+Delete buttons.  It clears your Nerve System of unwanted stress and gets you running fast again. 

The stress our grandparents experienced in a week, today we get in just 24 hours!  If you're not purging the tension from your Nerve System on a regular basis, your hard drive could crash.  Get 'rebooted' routinely with Chiropractic care and stay ahead of the failure.

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Ever feel 'wound up' from the stresses of life?  You feel tight and distorted, like a rubber band that's been twisted to the brink of snapping?  That tension you're feeling isn't in your head… it's actually in your Nerve System.

The constant, never ending stress of life builds tension in your nerves like an over twisted rubber band that robs you of experiencing the fullness of Life.  Chiropractors refer to this state as being 'Subluxated.'  If you don't regularly purge this tension from your nerves, it builds silently until a physical or emotional crisis manifests.  The solution… release the tension with preventative Chiropractic care, and get control of your Life again!

Chiropractic care gently removes stress from your spine and spinal cord before a critical failure can occur.  This is one 'rubber band' you need to keep clear!  Unwind your stress with regular Chiropractic adjustments and start experiencing the tension free Life you were born to have.

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A family physician tells his patient "there are 3 stages of pain. The first stage, the pain is bad enough to catch your attention. The second stage it takes hold of you, and at the third stage it finally compels you to do something about it."  The patient asks his doctor, "when it gets to stage three what should I do?"  Without a blink, the doctor turns to him and says "take some Motrin…" (True and sad story) The worst part is the patient actually thought it was good advice.  When he relays the story to his Chiropractor, the Chiropractor responds "if your smoke detector went off in your home, the 1st time it would probably catch your attention…  the 2nd time it would most likely take hold of you.  But if it went off a 3rd time and you were finally compelled to do something, would you take the batteries out so you wouldn't have to hear it anymore?  "Of course not," the patient replied "that would be stupid…" The patient got the point.

The moral of the story… Symptoms are your body's attempt to save itself. ...

Today I had a wonderful Mom come in who gave me the opportunity to remind her about the importance of "the fever". Her little girl has had multiple fevers in the last few months which she had been treating with children's tylenol to reduce the fever and bring comfort. The fever would go down, but within a few days or a few weeks it would be back as strong as ever. My question to her was... "Have you ever considered not lowering the fever?". Her automatic response was "no, ofcourse not, why... should I?" In my opinion there are some really good reasons to leave a fever alone and my hope is to explain them to you here. What's the purpose of a fever? To stimulate the immune response and to elevate the body temperature in order to kill off the imposing bacteria of virus. The body will elevate that temperature until there is no longer a threat and give itself the opportunity to heal. I will tell you... as a Mom, I totally understand why parents give there child something to lower a fever. It's very hard to see...

Today I was reading a case study discussing the success of chiropractic in the care of an infant suffering from ear infections and respiratory tract infection. It made me think... what a great topic for our blog. Everyday in our office we see infants and children coming in complaining of ear pain or repeat infections. For the average person, ear infections are likely the last thing that you think about when you think about going to a chiropractor. However, once you understand that it is what is inside the spine that is important, you will understand the role a chiropractor can have in working with ear infections. The spine protects the function of the spinal cord and its ability to transport messages from the brain to the rest of the body. Since the nervous system controls every single function within the body, the function of the spine is vital to the over all health of the body. The nerves that leave the upper area of the spine send signals to the structures with the ear and play a vital part in the...

This is a treatment that I learned from the naturopath that I worked with in Ontario. It is a simple hydrotherapy technique that is especially effective for relieving nasal congestion in bed at night (frequently better than medications and without the side effects). It also helps to stimulate the immune system in the upper respiratory tract and is relaxing for aches and chills, and helps bring on a more restful night’s sleep when sick. We find it helpful in such conditions as colds, "flu" (not the "stomach flu"), earaches, sore throats, and sinus infections. It is useful with people of any age from infants to the elderly. The Cold Sock Treatment is especially good to use with the nasal congestion of colds and influenza.
Preparations. In the evening before going to bed, prepare by having a pair of cotton socks and a pair of wool socks. They must be at least 90% cotton and 90% wool, respectively. Most sporting goods stores and some department stores carry wool socks. For small children you can use safety-pins to hold a wool sock on that is too large, or rap wool cloth around each foot.
Step 1. Soak the foot part of the cotton socks in cold tap water and wring them out thoroughly. Place the socks close to the basin or bathtub used in the next step. Note: If your feet are already warm (e.g., you have already been in bed) you can skip to Step 3.
Step 2. Put your feet into a basin or bathtub of hot water to warm up your feet. Soak them for a few minutes until they are hot and pink.
Step 3. Remove your feet from the hot water and quickly dry them off. Immediately put on the cold wet cotton socks, and then over them, put on the dry wool socks.
Step 4. Go directly to bed and keep the feet covered through the night. The therapy does not work if you or your feet are uncovered, such as when walking around or sitting in a chair uncovered.
When the Cold Sock Treatment procedure is followed correctly the feet will start warming up within a few minutes of getting covered in bed. The congestion will usually start to be relieved within 30 minutes. It will often work better than a decongestant or antihistamine to relieve congestion during sleep. In addition, it is not uncommon to see a small child or infant fall immediately to sleep after they are put to bed with the Cold Sock Treatment. After approximately four hours the socks should be totally dry, the feet warm, and the symptoms will be much improved (if not gone).
If necessary the Cold Sock Treatment can be repeated through the night or used on consecutive nights. In repeating the treatment in the same night or if an illness starts during the night, it is not necessary to warm the feet in hot water since they will already be warm. Simply apply the wrung out cold wet socks and the dry wool socks and go back to bed.

So some of you may have noticed I wasn't in the office this morning. I had a wonderfully embarrassing fall down some hardwood stairs yesterday. Thank goodness I married a chiropractor :). So during my recovery time I've had to take some of the advice that I give all of you. I've been resting (yep, hard for me to do), having multiple epsom salt baths, getting checked and adjusted regularly by Dr. Jason, and watching what goes in my mouth. After a fall like this I think most of our tendencies is to try and dust it off and fight through the pain; go on with our daily lives and just "hope it goes away". Well, what I see everyday in practice is that "it" doesn't just go away. Some times that pain will slowly shuffle to the background, but the damage to the spine and the nervous system doesn't. So I thought I would share with you Dr. Danella's 5 steps to recovering from an embarrassing fall down the stairs (which can be applied to many embarrassing injuries I'm sure):

1. If you aren't married to a chiropractor, make an appointment with one as soon as possible. It is the nervous system which regulates how your body heals, so any misalignment to the spine will affect your recovery time. Having a chiropractic adjustment will not only help with your immediate discomfort, but will likely influence how your body heals in the long run.

2. Fill up your tub with warm water. Add 2 cups of epsom salts (magnesium sulfate). Add your sore body and soak for atleast 20 minutes (bring a good book). By using Epsom Salts, your skin will readily absorb magnesium and sulfate. As the sulfate is absorbed into the skin, toxins are drawn from the cells. Muscles relax. The magnesium reduces the inflammation in the muscles and relieves pain. The magnesium also helps the body bind serotonin, which is a chemical that promotes a sense of well-being and relaxation. The relaxation you feel, in turn, helps alleviate stress, which drains magnesium from the body and can cause tight muscles.

3. Clean up your diet. You know what your grandma used to say... "you are what you eat" (or was that just my grandma)... she was right (as usual). During a time of healing it's crucial that you not overwhelm your body with sugars, additives, food colorings, etc... that it doesn't need. Eat as cleanly as possible, and if you have a juicer, juice as many green healthy veggies as you can. Here are two of my favorite juice recipes for you to try. Simply put all the ingredients in a juicer and enjoy!

"AAA" Juice (thanks to The juiceman Jay Kordich for this one)
3 carrots
1 stalk of celery
1 apple
1/2 beet with the greens
1/2 handful of wheat grass (I use Kale when I don't have wheat grass on hand)
1/2 handful of parsley

Dr. D's special juice:
3 carrots
3 asparagus
1 slice of sweet potato
1/2 cucumber

4. Arnica Cream. Ahhhh the wonders of bruises. It's like a rainbow on my derriere right now. It's fascinating really. Have you ever thought about why we bruise? Bruises appear when the soft tissue has been damaged causing the tiny capillaries and veins located under our skin to break. These broken veins and capillaries release red blood cells and it is these red blood cells that collect under our skin which causes the bruise to heal. Over time the tissues go through a metabolic process to heal the tissues and an assortment of colors appear. At first it may be a dark blue or black, and as it heals it may look yellow or green until it eventually goes away. Thank goodness for the immune system!
If you would like to enhance what your immune system is already doing for you, consider using arnica cream. Arnica dilates your blood vessels so that the healing power of your blood can come through easier.

5. Rest. This is a hard one in this fast world. Giving your body the chance to heal is important. Respect it and you will be on your way to recovery. Ignore it, and you will soon hear it calling. :)

On that note, I'm going to take a nap... Here's to hoping for a quick recovery! I, for one, am counting the minutes until my next adjustment. :)