Children, ADHD, and Sensory Disorders


It is any parent’s greatest wish to see their children happy and healthy. There is nothing more joyful than seeing a carefree, innocent smile light up your child’s face. Read more

Leaky Gut and Autoimmune Disorders


Your gastrointestinal system is an incredible design. It contains endocrine (hormonal) and immune system cells. It cooperates with beneficial bacteria to break down food and protect against harmful pathogens. Read more

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The #1 Cause of Disability

March 5, 2013 Dr. Barbara Kaiser, DC, CCWP Chiropractic, Medicine, Spine, Stress Leave a comment  

Globally, the top cause of disability is low back pain. This symptom is what most people think of when they hear the word “chiropractor,” and it is one of the main reasons that people consult our office. We have seen excellent results with people with low back pain, and other symptoms like heartburn will improve. Chiropractic care has whole-body effects because it improves the function of the nervous system. But let’s focus on low back pain.

NPR News reported today that low back pain is the top source of disability in the world, and medicine is not finding new methods to help, like they are with cancer and heart disease. Some people choose to undergo multiple back surgeries, without significant relief. What if the problem is not just in the low back? The part that hurts is not always the true source of the problem. Most of us know that a heart attack can make your jaw or arm hurt.

Health care providers sometimes overlook the physiology behind low back pain, so let’s review basic human physiology. Pain and movement signals from the low back to the brain must travel via the spinal cord, which runs down the center of the spine. The spinal cord is laid out like a fiber-optic cable, with different wires carrying information from different body parts. Information from the low back is carried on the rear edges of the spinal cord. Spinal misalignments (subluxations), especially in the upper neck, can irritate the spinal cord, distorting the signals and creating pain symptoms that the brain reads as “low back pain.” This is why the entire spine must be analyzed if someone has low back pain.

We often see leg and low back symptoms improve without having to perform heavy manual adjustments to the low back and pelvic joints. Our specific, low-force chiropractic technique restores normal function to the nervous system. Many of our patients have found relief from decades-long problems that they decided to stop tolerating. If you are having low back pain, be sure to get an examination from a chiropractor with a reputation for being thorough and effective.


Insights on Fibromyalgia and Chiropractic

December 12, 2012 Dr. Barbara Kaiser, DC, CCWP Aging, Balanced living, Brain, Chiropractic, Healing, Spine, Stress Leave a comment  

It’s not in your head! This condition can be truly debilitating. Women are ten times more likely than men to suffer from fibromyalgia. Aside from widespread pain and the presence of “tender points,” fibromyalgia often involves morning stiffness, fatigue, sleep disturbances, headaches, and irritable bowel symptoms. Fibromyalgia is often associated with car accidents or other whiplash-type neck injuries. Damage to the neck increases an enzyme called NMDA. NMDA increases inflammation, which creates more NMDA. You can see that this can develop into a vicious cycle. The result of this chronic inflammation is increased sensitivity to pain, which is a key feature of fibromyalgia.

Essentially, fibromyalgia is considered a malfunction of muscles, connective tissue, and nerves. Understand that muscles do not malfunction due to bad luck or random chance. Muscles receive their commands to contract or relax from nerves. Like muscles or any other body part, nerves do not malfunction solely due to bad luck, bad genes, or random chance. Nerves malfunction when there is an overload of physical, mental, and chemical stress. The symptoms can appear as chronic muscle tension, headaches, digestive problems, or persistent back pain.

 

But wait – we are missing a step here. What happens to transform stress overload into chronic health symptoms? The body suffers from a loss of its inherent self-healing, self-regulating powers. Often, stiffness and fatigue appear. Mental focus decreases. The person feels like they are aging faster. It’s like their power is slowly being drained. What they are feeling is exactly what is happening, from a clinical perspective. The person’s nervous system is malfunctioning and losing power due to an overload of stress. We name this condition of nervous system interference “subluxation,” which literally translates into “a condition of decreased light.”

Fibromyalgia can be a disheartening, life-limiting condition. Many people find only a bit of relief from drug treatment, or they prefer a drugless approach to improving their health. For these people, natural chiropractic care may be a safe and effective form of relief. Balancing and strengthening the nervous system through chiropractic care can be accomplished using precise, gentle forces, without the need to twist the spine or create noise in the joints.

Treating subluxation is known to improve flexibility, decrease muscle spasm, and normalize pain response. As a result, people notice that they feel like they are standing taller, have more stamina, and their thinking becomes sharper. Ultimately, they feel more capable of responding positively to life’s everyday stresses and trials. This is the benefit of having a balanced nervous system.


Spinal Neural Integration: A New Health Care Field?

November 28, 2012 Dr. Barbara Kaiser, DC, CCWP Balanced living, Brain, Chiropractic, Healing, Immune System, Spine, Wellness Leave a comment  

Imagine if I told you about a new field in health care. A specialty called spinal neural integration. The focus of this new field of health care would be to restore spinal neural integrity. Spinal Neural Integrationists are doctors that specialize in maximizing the function of the nervous system. These doctors correct spinal joint misalignments, removing spinal nerve irritation and spinal nerve pressure. Once the spinal nerve pressure is reduced, the nervous system is able to function at a more optimal level.

Key research has shown that because the nervous system controls and coordinates the function of every system in the body, reduction of spinal nerve pressure can improve the overall health of the body. Increased function of the immune system  is quite common, as well as the improvement in function of many other vital systems in the body.

 

Spinal Neural Integrationists recommend periodic check-ups to promote health and vitality, not treat disease or sickness. Early reports of this new health field have been highly regarded. The general public, in their quest for ways to enhance their health, have been flocking to see Spinal Neural Integrationists. Patients proclaim that they have more energy, have less colds, and just lain feel better. Spinal Neural Integration is the wave of the future. I am sure just reading about this new form of health care makes you excited to learn that there is a way to improve the health of you and your family.

Does this new field of health care sound familiar to you? It should. You see, all I really did was rename chiropractic. Chiropractic is spinal neural integration. Chiropractic promotes health by improving the integrity of the spine and nervous system. So why aren’t more and more families flocking to the chiropractor? They are. It’s just not happening fast enough. Chiropractic, based on the successful reputation it has built, is in danger of being pigeon-holed as some sort of therapy for neck and back pain. Chiropractic works great for musculoskeletal disorders. But that is not the reason that I adjust my family or my patients. I adjust the spine to improve the function of the nervous system and improve the function of the body in turn, improving health.

If there were an article in the paper or a news story on television telling us all about the health benefits of spinal neural integration, I am sure millions of people worldwide would begin care with a Spinal Neural Integrationist. Chiropractic is already here for you and your family. Tell others. Let’s not keep the best thing in health care a secret. The health of our society depends on it.


The Story of the Deaf Janitor

November 14, 2012 Dr. Barbara Kaiser, DC, CCWP Bone Health, Chiropractic, Healing, Medicine, Spine, Wellness Leave a comment  

Over one hundred years ago in 1895, in a small town in Iowa called Davenport, a tremendous discovery was made. It was at this time that a man by the name of Daniel David Palmer discovered the science, art, and philosophy of chiropractic. D. D. Palmer had a patient come into his office who had been deaf for the past eighteen years. The many’s name was Harvey Lillard. Mr. Lillard reported that, eighteen years ago, he injured his neck at his custodial job while lifting a heavy object. Mr. Lillard heard a “pop” in his neck and felt what he thought to be a lump. He gradually lost his hearing, and had been deaf ever since.

D. D. Palmer examined the man and felt what he thought to be a misaligned bone in his spine. He decided that the popping sound must have been the spinal bone moving into the wrong position. D. D. later used the term “subluxation” for misaligned vertebra. D. D. decided that if the man could hear prior to becoming subluxated, then Mr. Lillard should be able to hear again if the subluxation was corrected. D. D. Palmer then proceeded to give Harvey Lillard the first chiropractic adjustment.  After three such adjustments, Mr. Lillard’s hearing was completely restored.

As you can see, the first chiropractic patient did not have neck pain or back pain. The discovery of chiropractic was based on the princile that the nervous system controls all the functions of the human body. When the nervous system malfunctions, the body malfunctions. In the case of Harvey Lillard, nerve interference to the ears was the cause of his deafness. When that interference was corrected, his hearing was restored.

What D. D. Palmer discovered was a non-duplicating, unique form of health care. Chiropractic is not the same as medicine, nor does it try to duplicate it. The medical approach to Harvey Lillard’s condition might have been drugs or physical therapy to treat the symptoms of the injured neck. Maybe even surgery. My point is that Mr. Lillard could have been given all the drugs and therapy in the world, but if his nerve interference was not corrected, he would still have been deaf. Thus chiropractic’s uniqueness. Chiropractors are the only health care professionals whose purpose is to correct vertebral subluxations, thus allowing the nervous system to function properly, and the body to be healthy.

During the next thirty or forty years following D. D. Palmer’s first adjustment, chiropractors helped thousands of sick and dying patients by improving the function of the nervous system. In the beginning, chiropractors were not known for taking care of neck pain or back pain. Chiropractors were known for taking care of sick people who had tried every form of treatment available at the time, but had little hope left. Many of these patients achieved incredible results and went on to live long, productive lives.

I hope you now have a better understanding of chiropractic’s beginnings. Another famous chiropractor, B. J. Palmer, D. D. Palmer’s son, said, “If they knew what we knew they would do what we do.” Please use chiropractic for the right reasons; it will help you to be your best.


ADHD and Spectrum Disorders: Restoring the Neurological Connection

September 7, 2012 Dr. Barbara Kaiser, DC, CCWP ADHD, Babies, Balanced living, Brain, Children, Chiropractic, Healing, Posture, Pregnancy, Spine, Stress, Wellness Leave a comment  

It is any parent’s greatest wish to see their children happy and healthy. There is nothing more joyful than seeing a carefree, innocent smile light up your child’s face. We love our children so much, and we never want to see them hurt or sick. There are far too many children who struggle with their health and performance. ADHD and related disorders are an increasing epidemic that children and families struggle to overcome every day.

ADHD and spectrum disorders are primarily neurological in nature. Similar to a car, the neurological system has a “gas pedal” and a “brake pedal.” A person can develop a functional imbalance of the brain and nervous system, but this imbalance can often be partially or completely corrected. An accumulation of physical, chemical, and emotional stressors can cause someone to become stuck in the gas mode, without the brakes engaging. Physical stressors include high-intervention pregnancy and delivery, intrauterine constraint, car accidents, falls, and other traumas. In 2008, the British Medical Journal noted that children with head injury or burn injury were twice as likely to be diagnosed with ADHD by age 10.

Children with a diagnosis of ADHD, ADD, or autism spectrum disorder are often locked in a “fight or flight” state. Due to their altered brain function, they are easily over-stimulated by people, noise, lights, and even their own clothing. This may lead to a separate diagnosis such as SPD, or sensory processing (formerly integration) disorder. Often a child with ADHD/ADD also has headaches, postural problems like slouching, sleep disorders, and difficulty with managing emotions. The child’s symptoms can be very disruptive for families and cause poor performance in school, reducing a child’s potential to be their best.

Healthcare providers understand that neurological integrity plays a significant role in children’s learning and behavioral patterns. Doctors of chiropractic offer a non-drug and non-invasive alternative for people with ADHD and spectrum disorders that targets the underlying problems, not just the symptoms. Chiropractic care is designed to rebalance, calm, and organize the nervous system, so the function of body and brain both improve. Many parents have noted that their child’s medical diagnosis is downgraded or removed completely once they begin a program of chiropractic care.


Acid Reflux: A Power Problem?

July 19, 2012 Dr. Barbara Kaiser, DC, CCWP Aging, Balanced living, Bone Health, Chiropractic, Digestive Health, Healing, Medicine, Nutrition, Spine, Stress, Supplements, Wellness 1

Acid-stopping medications are intended to provide short-term relief of heartburn and acid reflux symptoms.  Medications interfere with your stomach’s acid-producing mechanisms, or they neutralize acids that have already been produced. Over the long term, suppressing stomach acid can contribute to chronic illness. Strong stomach acid is required to break down proteins, fry pathogens like bacteria and parasites, and ionize calcium so it can be absorbed and made into bone. Medical journals have noted that long-term use of acid-stopping medication increases the risk of osteoporosis, bone fractures, parasitic infections, and pneumonia.

In most cases, the root cause of heartburn and acid reflux is low stomach acid, not stomach acid overproduction. When stomach acid is low, food sits in the stomach and ferments. This produces more acids, which then back up into the esophagus, causing heartburn symptoms. A major overlooked cause of digestive problems is the available power to the digestive tract. Your digestive tract is a muscular tube that contracts rhythmically to mix food and propel it from end to end. Muscular valves, such as between esophagus and stomach, need to contract at the right time, with the right strength, to keep food digesting efficiently. If nerve disturbance is present, it can prevent the muscles of the digestive tract from doing their job. Chiropractic care corrects nerve disturbance and strengthens the body so it can follow its innate program for health. Your body knows how to work properly, once normal nerve function is restored.

We have been told that stress makes our stomachs pump out too much acid, causing heartburn and ulcers. Yet any physiology textbook tells us that when we are overstressed, the digestive process is suppressed in favor of an adrenaline-fueled “fight or flight” response. Your body cannot be in a state of repair and regeneration while it is in a defense mode. Chronic stress prevents the lining of the digestive tract from regenerating itself. We cannot digest well when we are stressed! Holistic health practitioners understand that if your digestion is weak, the foundations of your health and well-being are compromised. Being unable to digest food is not a normal part of growing older – it is a serious malfunction that must be addressed!


Normal aging, or better aging?

July 11, 2012 Dr. Barbara Kaiser, DC, CCWP Aging, Athletes, Balanced living, Bone Health, Chiropractic, Posture, Spine, Stress, Wellness 2 Comments

I was researching arthritis and found a simple explanation on an orthopedic surgeon’s website. It’s caused by normal wear and tear, apparently. They were referring specifically to osteoarthritis, which is the abnormal bone growth and spurring that causes motion restriction and nerve damage. As a chiropractor, I’ve seen a lot of X-rays. When there’s evidence of spinal osteoarthritis, it’s almost always in one of two places: the base of the neck (spinal segments C5-7) and base of the low back (L4-S1). These two spots are predictably where people  have surgeries and fusions, which are rather pricey and time-consuming. Now why is it that there are dozens of healthy spinal segments and only a handful of degenerated segments? They are all the same age. Isn’t gravity pretty much a constant force on us, unless we spend a lot of time on roller coasters? But osteoarthritis predictably affects the same parts of the spine.

Both of these people (they are facing to the right) are 50 years old. All you need to know is that green is healthy, and red is very unhealthy.

If you knew how to prevent osteoarthritis, would that help you age better? Note that you don’t want to age “normally” anymore, you want to age as best as you can! Check this out: your low back and the base of your neck are vulnerable points in the spine. An accumulation of physical and emotional stresses causes these body parts to malfunction and wear out more quickly. For example, car accidents, hockey, and football make people susceptible to osteoarthritis and accelerated aging. But there is a solution to this problem. If you choose regular chiropractic care to keep your spine and nervous system healthy, you can decrease the likelihood that you will age with “normal wear and tear.” So avoid being diagnosed with a chronic, degenerative condition like:

  • Osteoarthritis
  • Degenerative disc disease
  • Degenerative joint disease
  • Stenosis
  • Sciatica, radiculopathy, myelopathy, and all the other terms for “my body is literally getting on my own nerves”

 

If you ignore your body, it will predictably decline faster than necessary. If you take care of your body better than you do your car (yes, better!), your body will predictably age slower than everyone around you. Don’t be normal, be better than average!

 


Growing Healthy Kids

March 28, 2012 Dr. Barbara Kaiser, DC, CCWP ADHD, Asthma, Babies, Children, Chiropractic, Digestive Health, Immune System, Medicine, Research, Spine, Wellness Leave a comment  

Every parent wants to grow a happy, healthy child that lives up to their potential. But the stresses of life can keep this from happening. Many problems in children and teenagers can be traced back to a difficult birth process. If a newborn’s head is pulled or twisted during delivery, they can develop spinal misalignments. This distorts the infant’s nerve system function, resulting in motor control issues like torticollis, or digestive issues like acid reflux, colic, and constipation. These issues often clear up after a course of gentle chiropractic care.

Nerve system malfunction (subluxation) frequently results in chronic ear infections. In preschool or elementary school, subluxation can cause problems like asthma, ADHD, emotional difficulties, and learning difficulties. The goal of chiropractic care is to treat nerve system malfunction so the body can return to normal function. Ideally, children will never develop the health problems that held back their parents and grandparents. Childhood should be spent enjoying life, not managing chronic health conditions.

In 1989, a survey of the children of chiropractors and medical doctors showed striking differences between the two health care approaches. Chiropractors’ children showed stronger immune systems than medical doctors’ children. Regarding ear infections (otitis media), 80% of medical doctors’ children suffered from this problem, while only 21% of chiropractors’ children had ear infections. For medical doctors’ children, 88% had taken antibiotics, but only 51% of chiropractors’ children had.

It is easier (and cheaper) to grow healthy kids than to fix damaged adults.


One Skipped Dessert

March 14, 2012 Dr. Barbara Kaiser, DC, CCWP Aging, Balanced living, Bone Health, Chiropractic, Healing, Immune System, Research, Spine, Wellness Leave a comment  

What do these things have in common?

  • 30 sit-ups
  • A chiropractic adjustment
  • One skipped dessert

They are… all positive choices? Yes! Part of a healthy lifestyle? Yup! Instant fixes that will give you six-pack abs and the results you want? Nope.

Clients sometimes ask me, how much longer do I have to keep getting adjusted? My answer is, as long as you want to be your best. When are you “done” with eating nutritious foods? Done with exercising? Done with brushing your teeth, getting haircuts, washing your clothes, and taking showers? Okay, if you decide to do that, you won’t need to tell anyone, we’ll all figure it out from 50 feet away.

When a client gets their nerve system checked using Torque Release Technique (TRT), my job as the clinician is to have a conversation with that client’s nervous system. Is there nerve interference that is sapping their potential for fully expressing life and healing? Or, since they are taking good care of themselves, do they have a nerve system functioning with no sign of distortion, and are they “clear” at that point in time?

TRT uses objective measures of detecting nerve system interference (subluxation), so we can determine a client’s ideal frequency. Most people need to be checked and adjusted once per week to counteract the effects of accumulated physical, chemical, and mental stresses. When clients get off schedule, they often report feeling less “with-it,” getting sick more often, and generally feeling out of balance. Try eating healthy for 2 months, then eat edible-foodlike-substances-thru-a-car-window, and you’ll know what I mean!

Research from Clinical Biomechanics journal informs us that once-a-month chiropractic care is not an ideal “maintenance” schedule. Videman and colleagues noted that after two weeks of joint immobilization, irreversible degenerative changes occurred. These changes included breakdown of cartilage, hardening of bone, and formation of bone spur. Put those things together, and you have common conditions called osteoarthritis and degenerative disc disease. That’s called accelerated aging, which is not normal and I recommend my clients do everything possible to avoid.

Most people would agree: your life is too important to have a random, scattershot approach. So keep making choices that serve you best. When your body works better, your life works better!


Your Information Highway

January 11, 2012 Dr. Barbara Kaiser, DC, CCWP ADHD, Brain, Chiropractic, Spine, Wellness Leave a comment  

Ever notice how traffic backs up if there’s an incident in the ditch distracting all of the drivers? Your body operates on the same principle: If there is interference along your information highway, things don’t work so good (to use a clinical term). Once your information highway is running at top speed, things start to “work good” again. It is as simple as that.

Your nervous system is your information highway. It connects your brain to your body. This is what I share with all of my new clients at their first visit. People are often surprised that there is a neurological connection between the upper neck (Cranial, C1, C2) and common problems like ADHD, fatigue, and sleeping problems.

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Your neurological connections(scroll right to see the entire image)

About the author: Dr. Barbara Kaiser, DC, CCWP, is a wellness-certified family chiropractor at Vital Life Chiropractic in Eagan, Minnesota.

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