We don’t usually know how much time we have on this planet, yet another reason to make the most of it.  Here are some reminders for myself as well as you.

1. Tell others what we appreciate about them. We influence others far more than we realize; they may need our encouragement or love.  Smile at a stranger; it may make a world of difference.
2. Our bodies are precious and need to be taken care of. It’s the only one we’ll ever have, and it has to last us as long as we’re on this planet, which may be a long time.  I have great-grandma who lived to be 107.  Can you imagine living that long with a body or mind that wasn’t appreciated or treated kindly as was therefore fatigued or failing?  Exercise, good nutrition, chiropractic and positive thinking will make a profound difference on how our bodies function.
3. Love ourselves. If we don’t love ourselves, how can someone else love us?  Appreciate and respect ourselves.  What we think about has a profound effect on our health.  Our thought processes will change the neurotransmitters released from our brains and affect our physical health.
4. From death comes life. Somehow.  We may not always know WHY someone was taken from us.  It may be revealed, but it may not.  There may be restored relationships.  Someone’s life may be sacrificed for another, such as the sacrifice the military men and women make for us.  It may be the memory of that individual spurring on a memorial fund for others.  It may simply be the memory of the individual affecting how one lives the rest of their life.
5. If we want to, we can improve someone else’s life by being outwardly-focused, loving and truthful. We may have decades left, but we may only have today.  Make a difference in someone’s life, just because.

• Ignore it for awhile?
• Call the mechanic?
• Cover it up with a piece of black tape?

What is the first thing you do when your head or back starts hurting?

• Ignore it for awhile?
• Call your medical doctor?
• Call your NUCCA doctor?
• Cover it up with Tylenol or other over-the-counter pain medication?

Covering up your pain with a pain-killer is similar to covering up the indicator light on your car; it can successfully enable you to forget there’s a problem, and therefore, not fix the problem, but perhaps make it worse until more things fall apart, or the problem costs more (time, money, pain) to fix.

Over-the-counter pain-killers are not as safe as they may seem.  An article on ABC News featured a man whose liver failed after he used Tylenol according to the package instructions.  Tylenol, something that many of us take on a regular basis and many take more than the recommended dosage.  He barely made it to the hospital in time.  The FDA issued a caution on the use of acetaminophen.

Wouldn’t you rather find the cause of your pain and solve that?  Especially if I were to tell you that the cause of your pain is also causing other issues in your body that you may not realize?

NUCCA can often relieve pain and keep the pain gone so you’ll not have to return as often, all without the unfortunate side-effect of liver failure.

Some people deal with pain daily and think it’s normal.  Some people don’t know how to find relief.

Some families live in a small home with everyone sharing rooms and other families live in mansions where there are plenty of extra rooms or even wings of the house that are not used.

I used to wear perfume and I loved it!  Now, I’m much more sensitive to fragrances.  Walking down the cleaning aisle of the grocery store was overwhelming to my olfactory glands (my nose).  I had to hold my breath.

Some women can walk in heals just as easily (so they say) as walking in tennis shoes.

New moms are exhausted, but soon adapt to the lack of sleep and function normally.

What is my point?

Our bodies can adapt to many stressors and situations – WITHIN LIMITS.

There are limitations to the malleability of our bodies.  There are limits to the amazing ability of our bodies to tolerate all we put them through.  Our bodies can heal themselves; they’ve been designed to do that.  Up to a point. When we abuse ourselves by over- or under-eating, over- or under-exercising, lack of sleep, high stress levels, chemicals we’re exposed to or that we eat,  or drugs that we take, some day our bodies will give out.  They can’t recover from all that we do without having some residual issues.

This is just like when Mom told us that she forgives us, but there are consequences.  There are consequences to our actions regarding our bodies.

Take care of your body!

• Eat properly; avoid toxins
• Sleep sufficiently
• Drink enough water
• Learn to relax; reduce stress
• Exercise regularly; have a routine and work up to it
• Get chiropractic adjustments as necessary

If you have any questions, feel free to call me and I can direct you.  I want everyone to increase their vitality!

Don’t lose hope! There are things you can do.

Everyone in the same area is exposed to most of the same allergens, yet not everyone responds in the same way. Some have severe symptoms, some lesser, and some have no symptoms at all.

Why do only some people have allergy symptoms?

Your body contains white blood cells as part of its immune system. These white blood cells will produce antibodies (immunoglobulin E or IgE) to a particular antigen once they are exposed to that antigen. The antibodies’ job is to detect and destroy the antigens. They release mediators, such as histamine, to flood the area, deal with the intended target, and create a larger defense.

Where do unnecessary allergic responses come from?

This is a wonderful mechanism, but what happens if the antigen is not harmful, or if the antibody is actually targeting the body’s own cells? Some people’s immune system is hyper-responsive and will therefore produce a mass of histamine, causing a strong allergic response to antigens which are not harmful. This is where auto-immune diseases come into play. This is also where people suffer from allergies to seasonal things like pollen.

What can you do about your seasonal allergy symptoms?

• NUCCA often reduces allergy symptoms by improving the efficacy of the immune system and reducing its hyper-responsiveness. By the same token, it can improve the immune system so people don’t get sick as much. It balances out the immune response by maintaining nerve function optimally.
• Supplementing with quercetin, goldenseal and grape seed extract can be helpful.
• Using a saline (salt water) nasal spray or a neti pot with saline solution can be very effective to wash out pollen and reduce or thin the mucous in your nose.
• Eating spicy foods can drain the mucous from your nose.
• Some people find that using a tablespoon of local honey daily reduces their allergies dramatically. It has to be local honey, since only local honey has local pollen.
• Antihistamines can be effective, but can often have many side effects.
• Never combine alternative and conventional treatments together unless directed by a doctor. You may end up with too high of an antihistamine response.

I wish you well in your quest for allergy relief!

There were many things I learned in the three day conference.  Some of them were technical skills: details of taking films, analyzing films and adjusting patients.  These were perhaps the most obvious things I learned, and certainly the things I attended the conference for.  I went to learn more details and to pick up more skill. 

In addition to that, I was inspired to become greater.  Not simply learning the details, but applying them.  I was reminded of the reason I apply them.  The joy of being a NUCCA doctor is to excel at my skill and continue to improve, being better able to take care of my patients and allow them to express life the way they were designed to.  I want to continue to improve so that YOU continue to improve!  I want to look at my skills critically and better myself every day. 

God has given me a gift.  My gift is to help your body heal.  I am not to simply take that gift and use it as it currently is, but to hone it, take care of it, and watch it grow.  What a powerful reminder!

Chronic pain is sometimes difficult to solve, but you already knew that.  Nerve fibers that transmit pain signals are called nociceptive nerve fibers.  There is a threshold below which the pain signal will not be transmitted.  Once above the threshold, the nerve fires and the pain is transmitted to the next neuron and to the brain, to be recognized as pain.  After a period of time, the threshold may be lowered, allowing lesser stimuli to cause a sensation of pain.  Once a person has been in pain for a long time, the nerves may continue to fire the pain signal even after the stimulus has been removed. This pattern of sensation without stimulus is what can make chronic pain difficult to correct.

Nerve pain can also be difficult to correct, because the nerves may re-grow, but it takes a significant amount of time.  People who have chronic nerve pain have a more difficult time finding relief.

• Look for a solution to your pain as soon as possible for the quickest possible relief!

This doesn’t mean that chronic pain cannot go away.  Chronic pain can be reduced or eliminated. I have seen trigeminal neuralgia patients, with severe, chronic, nerve pain.  The pain can lessen and go away, but it takes time, and it can be absolutely worth it, even enabling someone to avoid suicide or to conceive a child.  I have also seen other chronic pain patients and have often gotten remarkable results.

NUCCA can help with chronic pain.  It may not be the only answer, and it will take time, but it can help tremendously, by removing the stimuli that caused the nociceptive fibers to fire. Once the stimulus is gone, the body has a chance to heal and the nerves have a chance to be reprogrammed without the pain signals.

Your depression or short temper may be triggered by your pain.  Once your pain is under control, your mental state will improve.  Also, NUCCA helps to balance out the hormones directly, which would help you to maintain a better state of mind and increase your good feelings!

Contact me to help you find a NUCCA doctor near you.

What does “upper cervical” mean?

“Upper cervical” is not a technique. It refers to the upper part of the cervical spine, the top part of the neck. It refers to the first one or two vertebrae at the base of the skull. These vertebrae are also called C1 (or atlas) and C2 (or axis).

What is the purpose of the upper cervical adjustments or spinal corrections?

Upper cervical chiropractors correct the spine by using C1 or C2 as the contact. We address issues in the entire spine by changing the proprioception (position-sensors) in the neck and by changing blood flow to and from the brain. Click here to see what nerves are affected by each of the vertebrae. Then click on C1 to see how it can affect the whole spine.

What are some differences in techniques?

NUCCA uses C1 as a lever to correct the entire spine. There is no twisting, popping or thrust into the neck. It is extremely specific and gentle. This is one of three orthogonally-based techniques. Orthogonal refers to the goal of getting the head and neck on vertical and having the atlas be horizontal. This balances out posture, blood flow and nerve information.

Atlas Orthogonal and Orthospinology are the other two orthogonal techniques, although one main difference is that Atlas Orthogonal always uses an instrument to adjust, Orthospinology sometimes uses an instrument to adjust, and NUCCA corrections are always done by hand.

Non-orthogonally-based techniques include Toggle, Upper Cervical Knee Chest (often referred to as “Specific Chiropractic,” Blair, Hole in One, and the “Palmer Technique.” In some of these techniques, some patients will have C1 adjusted, and for others, it will be C2. There are slightly different x-rays for each of these techniques and there are also different methods of adjusting. The factor that is consistent with all of them is the adjustments are all more forceful than that which is experienced with NUCCA.

Unless you’re consciously thinking about standing up straight, your brain will automatically tell your body to stand a certain way. Even when you think about it, your posture will only improve to a certain extent.

Everyone, including infants, has a “righting reflex” which will unconsciously cause you to keep your eyes roughly level to the horizon. This control comes from your cerebellum, the back part of your brain which controls balance. This is an example of unconscious proprioception, where proprioception is the ability of your body to know where you are in space and how your body is moving throughout space.

If you have trouble with balance, the most common reason is that your cerebellum is not functioning optimally. This can be due to reduced blood flow to and from the cerebellum. Blood carries with it oxygen and nutrients which allow your brain to function, as well as carrying away waste products.

NUCCA improves the position of the spine, allowing the vertebral arteries to carry the correct amount of blood to the brain, including the cerebellum. NUCCA also changes the proprioceptive information your brain will respond to.

This enables you to stand up straighter without thinking about it. It also improves your posture when you are thinking about it. It also helps with balance. Better balance will help you with bike riding, running, gymnastics, motorcycle riding, skiing, snowboarding, and a host of other sports, not to mention simply walking around your house without running into walls or door jams!

If you want to improve your posture and keep it improved, see your local NUCCA doctor.

Many people feel they have sciatica when they have sharp pain in the low back, buttock or thigh, not including the lower part of the leg or foot. However, they have a nerve pain along a different nerve. Sciatica always affects the individual below their knee.

Sciatica has many different causes:
* Disc herniation in the lumbar spine
* Compression of the sciatic nerve, sometimes by muscle tension
* Compression of a dorsal nerve root leading to the sciatic nerve
* During pregnancy, compression of the nerve by the uterus, or pressure of the uterus on the soft tissue or compensatory postural changes, compressing nerves.

One very effective technique for improving sciatica is NUCCA. With NUCCA, the posture is improved, which has been shown to balance the vertebrae on the discs, thereby often reducing disc herniations. Because of the postural improvements, NUCCA also relaxes the muscles, and can often eliminate pressure on the nerve.

Other methods to aid in solving sciatica are:
* Massage
* Acupuncture
* Ultrasound and Physical Therapy
* Stretching – make sure not to stretch hamstring with the leg straight. It’s best to get stretches from your physical therapist.

How long sciatica has been present will determine how the nervous system will respond to the lack of painful stimuli. If the nerves have been sending the pain stimulus for weeks or months, it will often take time before the chronic pain patterns are removed from the nerve pathways. For this reason, it is important to deal with sciatica (or other nerve pain) as soon as possible after the initial onset.