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Steps In Healing

The human body is a pretty amazing machine! The healing process is just one of the many fascinating things your body can do. Imagine if man-made things were capable of healing themselves. Wouldn’t it be great if after dropping your new laptop on concrete, you could just set it aside for a few days and voila! It’s healed!

Your body sort of works this way, although there’s a little glitch, even in the human body’s healing process. We’ll chat about that shortly. Let me tell you about what’s going on in your body after an injury takes place.

What’s that first thing that happens? PAIN! Injuries cause us pain. The pain let’s you know that something’s wrong and it tells you to slow it down, maybe don’t move that part of your body so you avoid further injury. Pretty clever! It also signals the beginning of healing.

Pain stimulates the sympathetic nervous system to create inflammation surrounding the injury. This protects the injured tissue and allows the immune system to fight off foreign invaders. Next, the parasympathetic nervous system comes into play. This system cleans up the area by gobbling damaged tissue. It also begins the repair process by laying down a protective layer of collagen over the injured site.

This allows the injured tissue to heal underneath the scar tissue. Here’s where things may get tricky. The next step is for the body to send various enzymes to breakdown and dispose of the scar tissue so all that remains is the new tissue.

If your body is in a stressed state due to poor health, poor nutrition and actual physical, mental and emotional stress, your body cannot properly break down this scar tissue. The processes described above (inflammation, building scar tissue) continue on in a loop like fashion until chronic inflammation and excessive scar tissue have really caused some major issues at the site of this injury.

If this was a shoulder injury, for instance, your shoulder may become more and more difficult to use. You may have a chronic, nagging pain.  In order to make sure your body is healing properly, it’s always best to have your injury evaluated and begin a proper treatment plan right away. Hoekstra Chiropractic can develop a customized therapeutic approach to help your body heal through treatments such as gentle spinal adjustments, massage therapy, passive and active stretching as well as important nutritional support.

Which PUFA is the Best? Omega 3 or Omega 6?

What’s a PUFA, you ask? PUFA stands for polyunsaturated fat and both omega 3 and omega 6 fats are considered PUFA’s. PUFA’s are the “good” fats as opposed to saturated fats. The basis for defining a polyunsaturated fat is whether or not the molecular structure consists of single bonds or double bonds. I could go into a little organic chemistry lesson, but I’ll skip to the good stuff.

Both omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids are essential for good health. They are both necessary for an adequate immune system and are essential components in the nervous system. They are also extremely important in maintaining cellular integrity as important and flexible components of the cellular membrane.

Omega 3 fatty acids are plentiful in fish, fish oil, krill oil and various oils, nuts and seeds such as flaxseed. Omega 6 fatty acids are abundant in animal food sources as well as some plants and plant oils.

And you might be guessing right now that since omega 6 fatty acids are abundant in animal food sources, and we are regularly told to limit our consumption of foods such as red meat, that the answer to the initial question is that omega 3’s are better for our health. And you would be correct, but why when they are both… good fats?

Both omega 3 fatty acids and omega 6 fatty acids can be broken down to anti-inflammatory components in the human body. Anti-inflammatory enzymes and hormones are necessary to ward off free radical damage and prevent diseases such as heart disease. Omega 6 fatty acids, however, can also be converted to inflammatory components of the body in a process that uses arachidonic acid (also abundant in commercial meats).

Our ancestors consumed a diet that was likely 1:1 in terms of an omega 6 to omega 3 ratio. The current recommendation is 2:1 on up to 5:1 to maintain good health and prevent cardiovascular disease and other inflammatory related conditions such as obesity. And what do we consume? Well, the typical American diet consists of a 10:1 on up to 30:1 ratio!! Yikes! Holy inflammation!

How do we change this? Well, adjusting your diet to include less animal food sources such as red meat and replacing that protein with fish or plant protein sources is an awesome way to alter that ratio. It may also be wise to supplement your diet with a good fish or krill oil.

For more information on nutritional supplements and healthy, wholesome living, please contact your local Oak Lawn, IL chiropractor today for a whole patient chiropractic plan that addresses all areas of health!

More GREAT Reasons to Exercise

Everyone knows they should exercise. If you are trying to lose weight, you know that you need to burn more calories per day than you consume to create a caloric deficit. A pound of extra body weight is equivalent to roughly 3500 calories, which means if you want to lose a pound a week, you need to create a caloric deficit of 500 calories per day. Two pounds per week? 1000 calorie deficit per day!
And this can be difficult to achieve by lowering your food consumption alone. Exercise can speed up the process and help you lose weight more quickly.

However, even if you aren’t in need of losing weight, exercise is still extremely important. Take this study, for instance. Subclinical strokes or “silent brain infarcts” increase the risk of a stroke. The study set out to determine whether physical activity had an effect on the development of silent brain infarcts. It was found that physical activity does in fact reduce the risk of developing silent brain infarcts and the deduction here is that physical activity should then reduce the risk of stroke.

The fact that exercise can help you reduce weight or maintain a healthy weight lowers the risk of developing a number of obesity related diseases such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, two of the top killers in our country!

Exercise also keeps your body strong and helps prevent injuries. Increasing lean body mass (muscle) helps you move properly and lessens the wear and tear on your joints. Exercise encourages proper bone maintenance and has been proven to lower the risk of developing osteoporosis. Or, consider the effect of improving flexibility through exercises such as yoga. Tendons, ligaments and muscles that are not flexible are tight and far more susceptible to injury.

Your Oak Lawn, IL chiropractor can evaluate your current physical fitness level and help you create an exercise plan that can improve your overall health and help you prevent acute injuries as well as age-related chronic musculoskeletal problems. Become fit, stay fit and enjoy a healthy, vibrant life!

If you reach for the pain medicine when you experience neck pain, you may want to take a look at this latest study on pain medicine and neck pain. A recent study published in January’s Annals of Internal Medicine set out to determine whether spinal manipulation and/or home exercise is more effective than the use of pain medicines for the treatment of acute neck pain.

Both in the short and long term, spinal manipulation as well as at-home exercises won out over the use of pain medicines as being a more effective treatment for neck pain.

Acute neck injuries are common. Serious injuries such as whiplash may occur during an automobile accident, but you may incur whiplash in other ways as well. For instance, have you ever stood up quickly and hit your head? Left untreated, whiplash can turn into chronic whiplash syndrome that leads to months of troublesome symptoms such as dizziness, bed spins, shoulder pain and headaches.

Other acute neck injuries occur during normal tasks and activities. You might wake up with a “kink” in your neck due to sleeping in an awkward position. Your neck injury may stem from a repetitive strain injury or poor ergonomics at your work station. Reaching for something awkwardly can lead to a neck injury. Stress is a major cause of neck pain.

It’s important to have neck pain evaluated because left untreated, some neck injuries can lead to chronic neck pain and limited mobility in the future. Spinal misalignment and inflammation leads to a further damage to the surrounding tissue and bone, which can begin the process of early degeneration. Many older patients who are experiencing limited mobility, spinal stenosis or cervicogenic headaches can attribute their pain to an acute neck injury received earlier in life.

Your Oak Lawn, IL chiropractor can evaluate your neck pain and restore cervical health through gentle spinal manipulation, massage therapy and both passive and active exercises that can reduce inflammation and encourage proper healing to avoid chronic neck pain in the future. Pain medicines only serve to mask the pain. Proper chiropractic care as well as advice on what you can do to prevent future neck injuries are far more effective than pain medicines at relieving neck pain.

Inflammation and Obesity

Have you heard of chronic systemic inflammation? Inflammation is the body’s natural response to injury and infection. In medical terminology, the suffix “-itis” means inflammation. Sinusitis, for example, is the inflammation of the sinuses and it occurs as a result of allergies or an infection by a virus or bacteria. Tendonitis is an inflammation of the tendons.

Inflammation can be acute and the process is meant to protect surrounding tissue and the rest of the body from further damage or infection. It sort of creates a protective area. Chronic inflammation, on the other hand, is an out of control response that needs evaluation and treatment.

Chronic systemic inflammation affects the entire body. More and more research is revealing that chronic systemic inflammation is behind a number of disease processes as well as aging. It is a vicious cycle that begins with excessive abdominal fat. Fat is actually an organ rather than merely a tissue. It produces hormones and cytokines that are meant to control the amount of fat we carry. The hormones signal hunger or suppress appetite, encourage fat storage or facilitate fat burning.

Unfortunately, we tend to override this system and when too much fat is accumulated in the abdominal region, the immune system begins to attack the fat. This causes an excessive release of cytokines and hormones that encourage more inflammation and reduce the ability of appetite suppressing hormones and fat burning hormones. The end result? More weight gain, more inflammation, more weight gain… getting the picture?

As obesity is a major cause and/or contributor to lower back pain and other joint related problems, your Oak Lawn, IL chiropractor can share advice on weight loss. Chiropractic care involves treating the patient as a whole, not just the symptoms. Let’s look at some foods or nutrients that can help you reduce inflammation and begin down a lighter path, sooner!

--Omega 3 fatty acids found in supplements such as fish oil or of course, fish. Consuming fish 2-3 times per week can help you reduce inflammation

--Phytochemicals found in fruits and vegetables have anti-inflammatory properties. By consuming a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, you can help reduce inflammation as well as work towards balancing the hormones that are keeping you overweight.

As well, remember to limit your consumption of inflammatory foods such as excessive animal protein, overly processed refined carbohydrates and foods or beverages with artificial sweeteners, flavors and colorants.

Uh-Oh, Numbness or Tingling in Your Hands or Feet?

Although alarming, numbness or tingling in your hands or feet is really no different than pain. It’s your body’s way of letting you know something needs to be changed because currently, there’s a situation that is not allowing proper blood flow or nerve transmission.

Let’s get a couple of serious issues out of the way first. If you are diabetic, numbness or tingling in your hands and especially your feet should be evaluated. If your Oak Lawn, IL chiropractor rules out any musculoskeletal issue that is causing the numbness or tingling, you will be properly referred to a physician. Many diabetics suffer from poor circulation in the extremities, and this can lead to infection and loss of a limb if not treated properly. There are also other cardiovascular issues that can lead to tingling and numbness in the hands and feet.

However, most of the time, numbness or tingling in the hands or feet is quite simple. You may need to change your shoes to a more supportive pair or perhaps a new pair if yours are worn. If you use a computer a lot, you may need to switch your keyboard. Your hands should “float” as you type and your forearms should be parallel to the floor. Poor ergonomics is the cause behind many chronic musculoskeletal problems.

There are many causes of tingling or numbness in the hands or feet. Carpal tunnel syndrome is a common cause of tingling or numbness in the hands. Other causes are tennis or golfer’s elbow as well as shoulder problems such as bursitis. Chronic neck pain or whiplash can lead to tingling or numbness in the hands.

Tingling or numbness in the lower extremities can be caused by sciatica stemming from chronic back problems. The sciatic nerve may be compressed and this can lead to shooting pain down one or both legs as well as muscle weakness, numbness and tingling that may extend all the way to the feet. Spinal misalignment and subsequent gait abnormalities may also be the culprit behind numbness or tingling in the feet.

Your Oak Lawn, IL chiropractor can evaluate your tingling or numbness symptoms and develop a customized treatment plan designed to address the inflammation and resulting nerve or blood vessel compression that is causing your symptoms.

Call us today for more information on available treatments for musculoskeletal conditions as well as overall wellness!

November is Diabetes Awareness Month! What Can Your Chiropractor do for YOU?

We don’t usually think about chiropractors when we hear the term “diabetes.” Since November is Diabetes Awareness Month, I wanted to take a few minutes of your time and let you know what chiropractic care in Oak Lawn, IL can do to help people with diabetes both manage their blood sugar and potentially reduce their dependence on oral or injected insulin.

First, let’s chat just a minute about diabetes. More than 25 million Americans (adults and children) currently have diabetes, and another 79 million have already been diagnosed with pre-diabetes. Diabetes is an enormous burden on our healthcare system and is predicted to cost us around 3.4 trillion dollars over the next decade, which of course will trickle down to you and me. Cases of diabetes continue to rise and it’s the 5^th deadliest condition in our country.

Type 1 diabetes is not necessarily preventable. In type 1 diabetes, the pancreas does not produce insulin and most cases are diagnosed during childhood or adolescence. Type 2 diabetes, on the other hand, is highly preventable.

When you eat, blood glucose levels rise and insulin is released into the bloodstream to “unlock” the cells to allow blood glucose in so cellular energy can be produced. If the energy is not needed, the glucose is stored as fat. When we eat too much, especially overly processed foods high in sugar and low in nutrients, and have consistently higher than normal levels of blood glucose, insulin becomes resistant and can no longer keep blood glucose levels at a manageable level.

What becomes important in the treatment of diabetes is managing these high blood glucose levels. Blood that has too much glucose is very sticky and causes all sorts of problems in the body such as clogged arteries and poor circulation. It’s difficult for your heart to pump this sticky blood through your body, so your heart becomes worn out sooner than necessary. Coronary artery disease is common amongst diabetics as well as macular degeneration which can lead to blindness. It’s also common for the poorly circulated lower extremities to become infected, which can lead to amputation. Of course, diabetes is also taxing on the renal system and eventually, renal failure can occur and dialysis or a kidney transplant becomes necessary.

Changing dietary habits and reducing weight by a mere 5 pounds can reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by as much as 58%! In this light, chiropractors are well prepared to give you advice on proper weight loss methods, dietary habits and supplements that can help you lose weight and manage blood glucose.

In addition, studies have shown that some diabetic patients who underwent vertebral subluxations were able to stabilize their blood glucose levels and reduce their dependence on oral or injected insulin! At the heart of chiropractic care lies the concept that a healthy spine lends to a healthy body. When the spine is misaligned, nerves that extend from the spinal cord are not able to function at optimum levels, which can lead to other health problems.

Call your Oak Lawn, IL chiropractor today, Dr. Jeff Hoekstra, to see what our caring staff can do to promote overall wellness and help you prevent diabetes or diabetic complications!

Don’t Let Chronic Back Pain Interrupt This Holiday Season

The holiday season is daunting enough for people without chronic back pain: extra shopping, extra cooking, extra travelling and of course decorating, wrapping presents and STRESS. All of these “extras” during the holiday season can truly cause additional suffering for those with chronic back pain.

Your local Oak Lawn, IL chiropractor has some tips for you on how to minimize the negative effects of the holiday season on your chronic back pain!

1. Begin a weight loss plan and beat the holiday 5 (or 10 or more) pounds! Extra weight, especially around the midsection can cause and or aggravate chronic back pain.

2. Stay hydrated! We often forget to drink plenty of water when the temperatures drop. Keep those discs fluid-filled and joints well lubricated by making sure you get at least 2 liters of fluids per day.

3. Wrap presents on a table or counter that allows you to maintain proper posture. Stooping and bending to wrap presents can be very hard on your lower back.

4. Take time for YOU. Stress can aggravate current back pain, and it may even be a cause of some chronic back pain cases. Make a relaxing bath or a 20 minute walk a part of your daily routine.

5. Have a cookie exchange instead of trying to bake a million things for the holiday season. When you are in the kitchen, make sure you take time to stretch and rest your back. Standing on a hard surface while rolling out or decorating cookies can lead to more back pain.

6. If you are travelling this season, make sure you allow extra time so you can stop to get out of the car periodically and stretch your back and legs.

7. Staying with relatives? Let them know ahead of time that you need to have a firm mattress. Now is not the time to get stuck on someone’s lumpy old couch! Your loved ones may be able to rent or borrow an extra mattress.

8. Get some help with the decorating and don’t try to do it all in one day. If you have a few extra dollars to spare, you might hire at least the outdoor lighting. Unpack those heavy tubs as you go instead of trying to move the entire tub.

9. Make sure you stick with your chiropractic maintenance plan. You may be busier than ever, but missing treatment for your chronic back pain could make you lose loads of time later!

Above all, take time to enjoy this holiday season. A few less presents, a few less treats and a little more time to observe and take in the holiday spirit! Joy, laughter and smiles are always a great cure for any chronic pain!

Does Your Smartphone Breathe for You?

Have you been accused of relying on your smart phone too much? It’s your computer, calendar, message center, information gatherer, YouTube watching, FB posting… everything. (Oh, and it makes phone calls too.)! Well, now, when someone asks you if that “thing” breathes for you as well, you can say… why yes, it does!

A new app for your Blackberry, iPhone or Android will help you find your perfect breathing rate to maximize your heart rate variability and find inner peace. Okay, maybe inner peace is a stretch unless you can get service bars in Tibet, but increasing heart rate variability is an excellent way to lessen the negative effects stress has on your overall health or ability to heal from an injury. Remember, too, that stress can exacerbate many health conditions such as chronic neck or back pain.

What is heart rate variability? When you are stressed, your heart rate stays at a consistent rate (even times between beats). When you are relaxed, your heart rate will vary with each breath. Instead of lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub… it may be lub-dub, lub-dub…lub-dub…lub-dub, lub-dub. The best way to increase this variability is to breathe slowly and deeply, and that’s where the new smart phone app comes into play.

The app uses an ear clip to measure your heart rate and determine what breathing rate allows you to be in the most relaxed state. It goes on to walk you through slow-breathing techniques via animated instructions so you can work towards achieving maximum heart rate variability. By doing so, you will decrease the negative effects of stress and even minimize your perception of stress. It’s long been known that people who practice meditation can decrease their stress load simply by being able to remain calm.

Stress has a huge negative effect on your overall health. Stress can actually cause back or neck pain and although all the breathing in the world won’t fix a herniated disc, it may just help you avoid one by minimizing the damage excessive amounts of cortical** (stress neurotransmitter) has on your body such as increased inflammation and free radical damage that can lead to early degeneration of spinal components.

Being “stressed out” can also lead to poor posture and overeating, both of which can certainly have a negative effect on your spinal health. Most importantly, finding ways to decrease your stress neurotransmitters and increase pain-relieving, calming neurotransmitters such as serotonin can help reduce pain from chronic back or neck problems.

Contact your local Oak Lawn, IL chiropractor today to find out how you can find the quickest path to being pain-free!

Chiropractic Care for Student Athletes

Back to school and back to sports! Whether your child is a superstar on the field or regularly warms the bench, he or she can benefit with chiropractic care for athletes to prevent or treat sporting injuries as well as improve performance.

In preventing sporting injuries, it’s important your student athlete has the right type of physical preparation for his or her sport. Important factors in training include improving endurance, flexibility, strength and balance. Nutrition is also important.

Stretching prior to a game or practice increases circulation and flexibility of the muscles. Also important is making sure your child’s spine is in proper alignment. Even the slightest misalignment of the spine can cause your child to overcompensate and move differently, which can then cause injuries such as knee or shoulder injuries.

Misalignment of the spine can also lead to further back injury and eventually, chronic back problems.

Chiropractors can also treat sporting injuries. Even the slightest sprain or strain leads to inflammation, which is the body’s normal response to injury. Unfortunately, this inflammation can hamper the healing process by preventing proper fluid flow. Nourishing, healing fluids cannot reach the injured tissue and toxins from the injury cannot be removed.

All of this can lead to further injury in this now weakened are of your child’s body as well as future problems such as early degeneration. A chiropractor can reduce this inflammation and improve healing time as well as advise on proper rehabilitative exercises.

Your Oak Lawn, IL chiropractor can evaluate your student athlete and develop a customized chiropractic care plan to help prevent sporting injuries and treat a current athletic injury. By helping your child develop a healthy musculoskeletal system through chiropractic care and proper nutrition, his or her performance on and off the field is sure to improve!