Our genes control everything, right? …well, not exactly.

Did you know scientists discovered the gene that causes osteoporosis?  They did!  It’s a gene that controls the Vitamin D receptor.  The news even made the cover of the journal Nature.  It was a researcher's dream come true …well, except that it wasn’t really true.

According to Professor Tim Spector of King’s College in London, “In the case of osteoporosis, we now believe there may be 500 genes involved.”  Oops.  I guess they didn’t find THE gene that caused it after all.

Far more interesting than trying to find the ONE gene that causes ONE disease is looking at how our choices and our environment play a role in our overall expression of our genes and how that affects our life.  Science for science sake is pretty interesting, but what I find most interesting is when science shows us real things we can do to improve our lives.

And that’s where the twins come in, specifically identical twins.  You see, identical twins are the result of one fertilized egg that splits in two.  The result is they have the same exact genes …they're clones!  I should say “we’re clones” as I am an identical twin myself.  

The reason identical twins are so useful to look at is that if our genes controlled everything, then the twins would have exactly the same health advantages and problems as they age.  But, they don’t.  In fact, over their lifetimes, identical twins can have dramatically different health.

The reason for this is epigenetics.  There are whole books about this, so I will not try to explain it in detail.  The bottom line is pretty simple though: our genes are affected and controlled to a degree by our environment.   That is, what we eat, how much we exercise, what chemicals we’re exposed to, all of that and more, actually have the ability to turn genes off or on.

Here’s my favorite part: You could ignore all of the science and just make healthy choices and you will be improving your genetic expression and therefore improving your health.  I know it sounds overly simple, but the research proves that good choices help good genes express themselves and bad choices help bad genes get expressed.  It’s like all we really ever had to do was listen to our great grandmothers!

…and what does this have to do with chiropractic?  Getting your spine adjusted is a great way to take stress off your spine and nervous system and is one more healthy choice that affects your overall health.  So, if it’s been more than 4 weeks since you’ve been adjusted, it’s time to come in!

One thing you need to know about your discs

Over the past 15 years, I have worked with many folks with disc problems, some mild, some severe.  One of the things I have learned is that very few people understand how their discs work and how to keep them healthy.  Even those who have been through the wringer with physical therapy, orthopedists, surgery, and even chiropractic care still have very little understanding of how the source of all their agony actually works.

So, what's the one thing you need to know about discs?  Except for at the very edges, it has no blood supply!  The only other part of the body that has no blood supply that I know of is the cornea of the eye.

With no blood supply, how does it get it's nutrition and stay hydrated?  It literally draws fluid in from the vertebra above it and the vertebra below it.  Your vertebrae, by the way, have a great blood supply.

I know I said you needed to know one thing about discs, but there's actually two things you need to know.  The second is this:  for nutrients and water to flow into the disc from the bone, there has to be motion in the joint.  If the joint is stuck, even a little, the disc can't get rid of waste, can't draw in enough nutrients, and can't draw in enough water.  In other words, without motion in the spinal joint, the disc becomes a weak, malnourished, dehydrated mess.

Then one day you bend over to pick up a paper clip and BAM! ...your back "goes out."  Keeping your spine moving keeps your discs healthy.  If you haven't been in to get adjusted in more than a month, it's time; no matter how good or bad you feel!  Give us a call and come on in for a tune up, and we'll keep those discs healthy together.

Ken Hicks, D.C.
www.lookoutvalleychiro.com

How to make your chiropractic results last longer!

OK, so for the vast majority of the folks we take care of chiropractic works. It works really well.

So, what's next?  How do we keep feeling good and maybe even keep getting better?  It really boils down to two things:  Spinal exercises (which I will cover in another post) and maintenance adjustments.

You've put your time, energy, and money into getting your spine in better shape.  Let's keep it in good shape.

I believe that each and every one of us should be getting our spine checked at least once a month, preferably twice a month.  And, it's not just me, the research backs this up.

The prestigious medical journal Spine published research showing the benefits of maintenance care.  In it they took patients with low back pain and split them into three groups.  One group got  12 sham or fake adjustments, The second group got 12 real adjustments for the first month, but no maintenance afterwards, and the third group got 12 adjustments the first month and then two adjustments per month for the next nine months.

I'm putting two charts from this study below:

If you look at the chart above you can see that both groups that received 12 adjustments in the first month reported improvements in pain.  The pink line is the group that did not have maintenance adjustments and you can see that over the next nine months much of their pain came back.  Now look at the yellow line. That's the group that received maintenance adjustments two times a month for nine months following their initial month of care.  As you can see, not only did their pain not return, their pain continued to drop even further over the next nine months.

Now, this second chart looks almost just like the first one.  The only difference is that this chart is measuring disability, not pain.  In other words, it's looking at how you function, not just how you feel.  What we see is the same thing as we saw on the first chart.  Disability drops in both groups that received 12 adjustments in their first month of care.  But, the disability slowly returns in the group without maintenance care. In contrast, the group that received maintenance care for the next nine months not only maintained their improvement, the continued to get better!

So regardless of whether you just want to feel better or you actually want to function better, maintenance care is essential.

The authors of the research stated "As patients did benefit from the maintenance treatment, we believe that periodic patient visits permit proper evaluation, detection, and early treatment of any emerging problems, thus preventing future episodes of low back pain."  Or, as I tell my patients, getting your spine checked once or twice a month keeps the little problems from becoming big problems!

Ken Hicks, D.C.
Lookout Valley Chiropractic

Me and Mr. President

When I was in elementary school we had a huge Great Dane.  Really big, especially compared to me.  His name was Mr. President.  We just called him Mr.  When I was in 5^th grade Mr. ran over me and I broke my arm down near my wrist.  I was put in a cast that covered my entire arm.  I thought it was pretty cool.

Weeks later when I finally got my cast off I was surprised to find that I couldn’t move my elbow.  It was a week or so before I could move it freely.  I guess what surprised me about it the most is that I hadn’t injured my elbow at all.  I figured my wrist would be stiff (it was), but why my elbow?  

What I know now, but didn’t understand back in 1977, is that joints need to move.   In fact, when a joint is not moving freely it will begin to degenerate pretty quickly.  This is called immobilization degeneration.   Which is pretty much what it sounds like:  once a joint is not moving the degeneration begins.  Research shows cellular changes begin within days and the changes continue until there are irreversible changes to the bone and soft tissue.  

What does this have to do with you? …or with chiropractic?  Everything.  Just like loss of motion in my 5^th grade elbow caused the degeneration process to start, lack of proper motion in your spinal joints will cause degeneration of your spine.

Does it hurt?  Sometimes.  But, most of the time in the beginning it doesn’t hurt.  My elbow never hurt.  Now, if my elbow had been immobilized long enough it definitely would have started hurting and may have developed some irreversible degeneration.  But, it was only in a cast for a few weeks and after that I slowly got it moving again.  So, there was no permanent problems.  

Same thing with your spine, the best way to keep it healthy is to get it adjusted at least once a month to keep the joints moving BEFORE it starts hurting and BEFORE it has time to have permanent degeneration.

Even if you feel fine, chiropractic check-ups once or twice a month is the way to go!

Ken Hicks, D.C

www.lookoutvalleychiro.com

Do I really need to do spine exercises?

"Injury occurs when load exceeds tissue tolerance.  The spinal column, devoid of it's musculature has been found to buckle at a load of only approximately 20 pounds at L5.  However during routine activities, loads 20-times this are encountered on a routine basis."

-Craig Liebenson, D.C.

Rehabilitation of the Spine: A Practitioner's Manual

So, to answer the question of "Do I really need to do spine exercises?", the answer is a big ole YES.  I've been practicing since 1999 and I would say the majority of my patients have either done no spine exercises or not stuck with it after doing them for a few weeks.  

Why is this?  The great majority of us believe if we feel good then we must be OK.  I certainly used to believe this and even now I have to remind myself to do my spine exercises when I'm already feeling good.

Unfortunately, feeling good is not the same thing as having a healthy strong spine at all.  Keeping our spines in good shape actually takes a little work.  Specifically, it takes routine spinal adjustments (yes, even if you already feel good - more about that in a later post) and it takes getting in the habit of doing some simple yet very effective spine exercises.

Remember, if you take the muscle away, it only takes 20 pounds of pressure on your low back for it to buckle and damage.  Keeping the spinal joints moving through regular adjustments is what keeps the joints healthy, keeps wear and tear arthritis at bay, and keeps irritation off the nerves helping your whole body to function better.

But, it's the MUSCLES that support and protect your spine.  Weak spine muscles equals a weak spine.  Next time you're in, ask us about getting started on your spine exercises.  It only takes about 5 minutes a day a few times a week, but it can make all the difference in the world!

Ken Hicks, D.C.

www.lookoutvalleychiro.com

Our new blog!

Welcome to our new blog!  We'll be posting updates and sharing great information to keep you up to date with what's going on in our office as well as giving you some ideas about how to live a healthier life.  

-Ken Hicks, D.C.