What is the Big Deal about Chiropractic?

In my 25 years of practicing Chiropractic, I have notice much controversy both within and without
the chiropractic profession. There have been many attempts to define what exactly chiropractic is
and what it isn't. These opinions range on the spectrum from chiropractors being outright
“Quacks” all the way to being “Pseudo­MDs” and everything in between. There are those who
view chiropractors as the ideal Holistic Practitioners who should use any and all treatments and
therapies that can have a positive effect on health, and those who believe that chiropractors should
only treat to correct subluxations (defined as minor mal­positions of the bones of the spine) so that
the body can heal itself.

Over the years my own opinions have been somewhat tempered. I actually see the value in
multiple different definitions of chiropractic. The bottom line is that chiropractors are very well
educated with many hours of study in the basic sciences like anatomy, physiology, neurology,
microbiology, biochemistry, pathology, embryology, etc., with an emphasis on spinal neuro-
biology. Chiropractors are required to pass rigorous national and state board exams in order to
become licensed to practice in the U.S. Once licensed, chiropractors can, within reason, choose to
practice with any number of specialties, whether it be a general practice or a focus on nutrition,
sports medicine, rehabilitation or a subluxation based practice.

In my current practice with The Joint, I have chosen to focus on improving the health of the body and spine and reducing back pain and neck pain using straight forward chiropractic adjustments. In my opinion (and this is only my opinion) the joints of the body, especially the spine, need to move. There is a specific range of motion that is normal for each joint in your body and when that normal motion is disrupted by injury or stress or poor nutrition or a sedentary lifestyle, then your body's function diminishes and you are more prone to develop degenerative arthritis or other chronic health problems such as back pain or neck pain. So if you cannot bend over and touch your toes, or if you cannot turn your head to look over your shoulder without turning your whole body, then you may consider regular, preventive and maintenance chiropractic care to reduce or eliminate back pain and neck pain. The improvement in your quality of life and levels of energy can be significant if you regularly care for your spine by improving your mobility.

Most of us wouldn't consider it wise to stop brushing and flossing our teeth for fear that we would
end up with rotten teeth, and I believe that we should have that same fear of developing a stiff and
degenerated spine if we don't take care of it properly with regular chiropractic adjustments. Let the
experienced doctors at The Joint Salt Lake City or our Chiropractors in Cottonwood Heights assist you with regular spinal maintenance. ­ Make an appointment today!

Stretches and Exercises to help Low Back Pain - Salt Lake City, Utah

 As a Chiropractor, one of the questions that I frequently get asked is, “What can I do myself to relieve my back pain?” In addition to regular Chiropractic adjustments, I recommend that my patients incorporate a simple consistent stretching and exercise program to their daily routine.  These exercises are low tech and involve usually just body weight so you can avoid the expense and inconvenience of a gym membership.  

Here are a few of the exercises that would be good for anyone suffering from back pain:

1. Back Extension Press-up

This exercise is often used to relieve inflamed lumbar discs.  Lay on your stomach and then press up with your arms to extend your back. Hold for a few seconds, then lower back down.  If you cannot fully extend your arms, just go to your elbows or as far as you can.  Do 3 sets of 10.

2. Cat and Camel stretch   

This stretch encourages normal movement in the lumbar vertebrae and in the sacro-iliac (SI) joints.  Rock your pelvis back and forth for at least 1 minute, rest 1 minute, do 3 sets of 10.

3. Knee to Chest Stretch

Lie on your back and bring knees to chest one at a time and then both together.  Hold for a few seconds then rest.  Do 3 sets of 10.

4. Squats and Lunges

Both of these exercises will help strengthen your hip, legs, buttocks and core.  Be careful with your back position. Make sure you keep a flat back, and do not round your lower back. The movement should come from your hips and knees.  Do not let your knee bend more than 90º.  Try to tighten your abdominal muscles as you go down and up. Do 3 sets of 10.

5. Push ups

Pushups are a great full-body workout, and can be varied from easy to intense based on your fitness level.  These help your back due to the tightening of your core as you hold the push up position.  Do 3 sets of 10.

6. Planks

Planks are used to help strengthen the core, which includes your back and abdominal muscles.  The intensity can be adjusted for your fitness level.  For less intense exercise, you can rest on your knees.  The key is to hold your back and hips in a correct position: do not bend at the waist, and do not let your back sag.  Hold the position for as long as you can then rest.  Do 3 sets of 10.

Try adding these exercises to your daily routine and over time you will notice an increased strength in your abdominal and back muscles that will help reduce the pain and tension you may be feeling in your back.  Along with regular maintenance and preventive Chiropractic adjustments at The Joint Cottonwood Heights, you will start to notice less intense and less frequent back pain and your quality of life will improve because of it.

- by Dr. Brad Hendricks

Can Chiropractic Adjustments Help Your Allergies?

We are entering the time of year when many people start the annual battle with seasonal allergies, hay fever, asthma, etc. Some of the most common springtime allergies in the Salt Lake City area are tree pollens like cottonwood and maple, followed by wild grasses in early summer.

Many people feel it’s simply OK to have allergies. That it’s quite normal to be allergic because so many other people are also afflicted. That it’s OK to have a season for coughing, blowing, wheezing and sneezing. It’s not.

Many parents don’t question why their children, or even themselves, have allergies. It has just become an accepted fact of life. Allergies seem to be a problem with no apparent solution. Why is that?

What makes one person allergic and another not? Why would one be allergic to cats, dogs, fur, feathers, grasses, tree pollens or foods such as peanut butter? We all live on the same planet. We’re all essentially the same. If I took one individual with allergies and one without and boiled them down to their essentials, I would end up with approximately 32 kilograms of chemicals. The rest would be water, but the chemical composition would be the same in both individuals.

The difference is most often seen in how one person's body is able to adapt to his/her environment and another is not. So what is it in the Salt Lake City area that’s causing your allergies?

Simply put, an allergy is the inability of your body to handle something that is in their immediate environment–pollen from trees, grasses, flowers or peanuts.

Our immune system is there to fight against viruses and infection, help to keep the body performing at its peak, and also to help dispel foreign contaminants that enter the body.  A study from the University of California found that signals from the nervous system may influence the function of the immune system.  When our body displays signs of allergies, it’s because it detects the presence of a foreign object such as dust, mites, pollen, etc. and it produces chemicals to neutralize and expel the allergens. These chemicals are known as histamines. In the case of allergies, the immune system overreacts to the presence of the allergens in the body.

How can a Chiropractor Help with Allergies?

Most traditional treatments for allergies, such as antihistamines, only deal with managing the symptoms and don’t eliminate the cause. The safety of anti-allergy medication is under debate, the long-term use of antihistamines or combined with other medication may cause cancer. A study conducted in lab rats with brand name anti-allergy medication found that cancerous tumors in the rats grew much faster with the intake of antihistamines. With all the concern over air quality in Salt Lake City, can you afford another carcinogenic risk factor?

When most people start to sneeze or get watery eyes, the first thought is often to pop an antihistamine pill. But did you know that chiropractic adjustments can help you overcome your allergy problems? Most people only associate chiropractors with back and neck pain, but we can also help the body achieve optimum health by ensuring the spine is correctly aligned.

Chiropractic care doesn't treat allergies directly. So, why do so many people with allergies say they get relief from chiropractic adjustments? The answer is simple. Chiropractic care releases stress on a patient’s nervous system. This allows the immune system to operate more effectively, which is beneficial to anyone and especially those suffering from allergies.

At The Joint Cottonwood Heights in Salt Lake City, we can help the body achieve optimal health and improve your quality of life. If you or a family member suffers from allergies, call our office at 801.943.3163 or just drop in for a chiropractic consultation and treatment.

- Dr. Brad Hendricks

Stretching- Good or Bad?

Spring is just around the corner and that means its time to get outside and enjoy the great playground we live in here in Utah. Whatever spring/summer activities you enjoy be it golf, hiking, biking, running, climbing, or any other physical activity it is important to start the season out in such away that you re-acclimate to your sport without injuring yourself. One of the frequent questions I get as a chiropractor in Salt Lake City is “Should I be stretch

before beginning a work out?” The answer to that question is complicated. For a long time it was generally accepted that stretching before working out was a good idea. The thought was it could help reduce injury and increase performance. This is a challenging concept to test, however recent studies indicate that stretching prior to working out may actually have the opposite effect. Depending on the activity and type of stretching it could lead to decreased performance and may even be more likely to cause injury.

I am not advocating that people do not stretch at all, however there are things to consider when deciding what and how to stretching. The first thing to consider is, what your fitness goal is. Does your activity involve

more endurance, strength, flexibility, or speed? What muscles will you be using? Is your body conditioned to the activity? These questions all determine what type of stretching you should or shouldn't do. If you are not sure where to start, we here at The Joint in Sugar House are happy to do an evaluation and give some suggestions.

As a general rule my advice on stretching is to focus pre-workout stretching in the areas you will be using most and to do more dynamic stretching prior to working out and save the static stretches for post workout. A dynamic stretch is one that involves and active range of motion throughout the stretch. For example rolling your head side to side to stretch your neck. A static stretch is holding a postion for a set length of time without motion. In addition to proper stretching, a regular chiropractic adjustment in Salt Lake City goes a long way towards preventing injury and improving performance.

~Dr. Sean Smith

Chiropractors in Cottonwood Heights Help Athletes Stay on Top

 Many people have realized the positive benefits of regular chiropractic treatments at The Joint in Cottonwood Heights for the various aches and pains that accompany everyday life, but you may not realize how chiropractic can improve overall athletic abilities and capabilities in relatively pain-free elite athletes.

There have been several studies looking at how chiropractic adjustments effect the performance of athletes and I'd like to share a couple of these with you.

A recent study out of Sweden looked at the hip extension ability and running velocity of young male runners. This research study divided a group of young men into a control group (no treatment) and a chiropractic treatment group. They measured the hip extension and stride length before and after chiropractic adjustments. Those of you who are runners can appreciate the importance of a full leg extension and how that affects your run times. The athletes treated by chiropractors in this study did have a significantly increased hip extension and stride length post-treatment compared to the control group, and they did end up with a small decrease in their run times compared to the control group.

Another study looked at athletic performance and physiological measures in baseball players following upper cervical chiropractic care. This was an interesting study in that it did not look directly at baseball skills but

looked at general athletic performance using the vertical jump, broad jump specified, standing broad jump and muscle strength. It also measured physiological changes to blood pressure, pulse rate, microcirculation (capillary counts) and treadmill stress testing. Twenty-one university baseball players were assigned randomly to either a control group or a chiropractic adjustment group. Each subject was required to complete three sessions of athletic ability and physiological testing. The results showed significant improvement at 14 weeks in muscle strength and long jump distance in the group receiving adjustments along with a significant improvement in capillary counts. Further evaluation revealed that the group receiving chiropractic care showed decreases in resting blood pressure and pulse rate as well as pulse rate following treadmill activity.

The last study that I want to report was done at Virginia Tech University where the researchers studied 115 football players in 2 consecutive football seasons. A total of 1976 manipulative treatments were provided pre-competition, and the results showed that there was positive improvement in performance among both offensive and defensive Va. Tech football players.

The takeaway from reviewing these studies is that whether you are in pain and want to get healthy or if you want to stay healthy and improve your performance (which is not limited to athletes but also includes housewives, construction workers, businessmen, nurses, etc.) chiropractic treatment is an excellent way to get you healthy.

Let the chiropractors and staff at The Joint Cottonwood Heights help you achieve your optimal health and well being.

~Dr. Brad Hendricks

Can Posture Be Affecting Your Back Pain?

As a chiropractor in Utah, the most common causes I've seen of back pain and disability, after the age of 50, are spine related disorders. One of the most important things we can do from a young age to reduce back and neck pain and problems as we age is to correct our postural misalignment. A normal spine should have a specific alignment that keeps the back stable and strong. Any changes in that alignment can cause the spine to lose stability, become weaker, and degenerate faster.

When viewed from the front the spine should appear straight. From the side you should see some curves. Normally the neck will curve forward, the upper back curves backwards, and the lower back forward again. This a

lignment allows the spine to have a good range of motion, but also provides stability and support when lifting.

There a couple of ways to check your own posture and a few things to look for when you do. You can stand in front of a mirror to check your posture from the front, to see from the side you will probably need to enlist a friend of family member. When checking your posture you should take a few steps in place and then stand still in what feels like your usual stance. You should be able to see that your eyes are level with the horizon, one shoulder should not be higher than the other, and hips should be level. From the side you should imagine a vertical line through the hole in your ear, center of your shoulder, top of the femur, and ankle. By doing this you should be able to get a rough idea of your posture.

If you notice any deviations from the normal posture, you should be evaluated by a health care professional who specializes in spinal conditions such as your Utah Chiropractic Physician. Here at 'The Joint' in Sugar House we make postural evaluations part of your initial examination and can make recommendations to improve and postural distortions we find.

~Sean Smith

Dr. Hendricks now at The Joint Cottonwood Heights

As the owner of The Joint Cottonwood Heights and The Joint Sugar House it is my honor and privilege to announce that Dr. Brad Hendricks will be joining our Cottonwood Heights location as our full time Primary Chiropractic Physician.  Many of you have already met Dr. Hendricks in our Sugar House location over the past year and have voiced your approval of his chiropractic knowledge and services.

We are fortunate to have Dr. Hendricks joining the Joint Cottonwood staff to provide affordable and convenient chiropractic care in Cottonwood Heights.  Please join me in congratulating him on his new, well-deserved position.

To your health,

James Adelman
Owner
www.saltlakecitychiropractor-thejoint.com