For Your Information

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For Your Information!
By Dr. Stephanie Cluver Clinton Chiropractic
Center
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ADHD
(Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) It is
not entirely certain what causes ADHD, but the
current thought is that it is a combination of an
overactive nervous system, coupled with a
decrease in the brains ability to filter out
extraneous sights, sounds, thoughts and emotions.
Although chiropractors dont directly treat ADHD
the one thing that your chiropractor can do is to
remove the spinal subluxations that irritate the
nervous system.
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Allergies
Allergies are often treated with chiropractic
care. Many allergic and asthmatic reactions are
caused by hypersensitivity of the immune system
and/or respiratory system. Researchers have found
that the immune and respiratory systems depend on
normal communication from the brain and spinal
cord to control and coordinate their
functions. If your neck is misaligned, it could
cause an imbalance in your nervous system. This
upper cervical spinal joint irritation could
possibly produce or exaggerate asthmatic and
allergic symptoms. While many asthma and allergy
sufferers recall specific traumas (e.g., head
injuries, auto accidents, or falls) which could
have injured their upper cervical spines, some do
not. Chiropractors can perform an upper
cervical examination and determine if an allergic
reaction could be helped by chiropractic care.
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Asthma
Many chiropractors consider their role in caring
for patients with asthma, especially those
subject to severe attacks, as complementary to
the medical management of the disease. We do
regular spinal adjustments to make asthma
sufferers more comfortable by helping relieve the
muscle soreness and discomfort that can develop
during asthmatic flare-ups. Chiropractic
adjustments may help reduce the frequency and
severity of asthma attacks. The achievements of
chiropractic in promoting overall wellness,
including enhancing the patients capacity to
cope with chronic ailments, make chiropractors an
important part of the health care team that can
help asthma patients live more normal lives,
minimally encumbered by this incurable, but
controllable condition.
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Bedwetting
Bedwetting is stressful for everyone involved.
Lack of bladder control can cause embarrassment,
shame, and interfere with normal social
development. All of the causes of bedwetting are
not fully understood. Chiropractic can help by
removing any irritation that may be affecting the
nerves that control bladder function. These
nerves exit an area of the spine called the
Sacrum. In adults, the sacrum is one large fused
bone that is very resistant to injury. However,
during childhood, the sacrum is separated into
five individual segments. If these become
misaligned, due to a fall or other types of
trauma, they can compromise the nerves that are
responsible for bladder function. While
chiropractic is not typically a treatment for
bedwetting, countless children have been helped
by being adjusted. Inn fact, a number of clinical
research studies have demonstrated that
chiropractic care can help many children
suffering from bedwetting.
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Colic
Colic is a condition in young infants
characterized by an unusual amount of crying.
When they cry, they may draw their arms and legs
toward their bodies as though they are in pain
and may even turn bright red. Colic usually
appears between the 3rd and 6th week after birth
and is typically resolved by the time they are 3
months old. Although no one is certain what
causes colic, there are a number of things that
likely contribute, such as an immature and
irritated nervous system, food sensitivities and
gastrointestinal upset. The theory that an
immature and irritated nervous system may
contribute to colic is supported by the frequent
improvement in symptoms with gentle chiropractic
adjustments. Because the birthing process is very
stressful on the neck of a newborn, it is very
common for there to be several subluxations in
the neck and back that can irritate the tiny and
delicate nervous system. It has also been
observed that babies with colic seem to need more
attention and are more sensitive to the things
around them than other babies-again indicating
that there are some neurological differences.
Seek regular chiropractic care, especially during
the first four months!
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Ear Infections
Almost half of all children will suffer from at
least one middle ear infection (otitus media)
before theyre a year old, and two-thirds of them
will have had at least one episode by age
three. Otis media commonly emerges when there is
improper drainage of the lymph system in the
neck, or when the muscle that is suppose to keep
bacteria or viruses from entering the eustacean
tubes (the tubes in the back of the throat that
lead to the inner ear) doesnt work correctly.
While both of these things can happen in adults,
it usually does not result in an ear
infection. Chiropractic spinal adjustments
correct subluxation, which returns the body to
more normal homeostasis. This procedure reduces
or eliminates the tense neck musculature
responsible for blocking the normal drainage of
the fluid. As this obstruction to the lymphatic
system is removed, the excess fluid in the ear
drains. The inviting environment for bacteria and
viruses to grow in is removed, and the infection
can heal. Once normal drainage is restored, the
recurrence of ear infection is diminished or
nonexistent.
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Headaches
Numerous research studies have shown that
chiropractic adjustments are very effective for
treating tension headaches, especially headaches
that originate in the neck. Each individuals
case is different and requires a thorough
evaluation before a proper course of chiropractic
care can be determined. However, in most cases of
tension headaches, significant improvement is
accomplished through manipulation of the upper
two cervical vertebrae, coupled with adjustments
to the junction between the cervical and thoracic
spine. This is also helpful in most cases of
migraine headaches, as long as food and lifestyle
triggers are avoided as well.
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Back Pain-Upper/Neck
Most people do not realize how much they move
their neck during the day until they are unable
to do so. The spinal cord runs through a space
in the vertebrae to send nerve impulses to every
part of the body. Between each pair of cervical
vertebrae, the spinal cord sends off large
bundles of nerves that run down the arms and to
some degree, the upper back. This means that if
your arm is hurting, it may actually be a problem
in the neck! We associate the neck and upper back
together, because most of the muscles that are
associated with the neck either attach to, or are
located in, the upper back. Most neck and upper
back pain is caused by a combination of factors,
including injury, poor posture, chiropractic
subluxations, stress, and in some instances, disc
problems.
Subluxations in the neck and
upper back area are extremely common due to the
high degree of stress associated with holding up
your head, coupled with the high degree of
instability in the cervical spine. Most
subluxations tend to be centered around four
areas the top of the cervical spine where it
meets the skull in the middle of the cervical
spine where the mechanical stress from the head
is the greatest in the transition where the
cervical and thoracic areas of the spine meet
and in the middle of the thoracic spine where the
mechanical stress from the weight of the upper
body is greatest. If they are not taken care of
soon after they occur, then they can get much
worse over time due to accumulation of
compounding interest.

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Back Pain-Lower
80 of people suffer from back pain at some
point in their lives. Back pain is the second
most common reason for visits to the doctors
office.
The
susceptibility of the low back to injury and pain
is due to the fact that the low back, like the
neck, is a very unstable part of the spine.

Recent
studies showed that when back pain is not
treated, it may go away temporarily, but will
most likely return.
Due to the fact that there are a whole lot of
things that can cause low back, and some of these
things can be quite serious if left untreated, it
is important to seek professional help. It is
important to take low back pain seriously.
Chiropractors are the experts at diagnosing the
cause and determining the proper treatment for
low back pain. Subluxations can lead to
debilitating pain. Fortunately, subluxations are
easily treatable and often times a significant
reduction in pain is experienced almost
immediately after treatment.
Chiropractic treatment for low back pain is
usually pretty straightforward. Most commonly,
its simply a matter of adjusting the lower
lumbar vertebrae and pelvis to re-establish
normal motion and position of your bones and
joints.
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Sciatica
Sciatica is an inflammation of the sciatica
nerve, the longest nerve in your body. It runs
from your lower spine, through your buttocks, and
into your leg and foot. When the sciatic nerve is
inflamed, it can cause numbness, tingling, pain,
or weakness in your leg. Sciatic pain often
starts gradually and intensifies over time. Its
likely to be worse when you sit, cough or sneeze.
Your treatment depends on the cause of your
sciatica. During a spinal adjustment, your
chiropractor gently presses on your spine to
relieve irritated nerves and increase movement in
your joints.
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Scoliosis
Everyone's spine has natural curves. These curves
round our shoulders and make our lower back curve
slightly inward. But some people have spines that
also curve from side to side. This condition is
called "scoliosis".Scoliosis affects one in
nine young women and approximately four percent
of the total population. It is the most deforming
orthopedic problem confronting children,
affecting them during their active growth phase
and essentially subsiding upon completion of
spinal growth, leaving the child with a permanent
deformity. Chiropractic care can help improve
this condition. Early detection and treatment can
be effective in halting its progress and in many
cases result in improvement. Regular visits to
observe the progression of scoliosis, are an
integral part of living a full and happy life.
Scoliosis can be treated in various ways to help
alleviate pain and restore normal functionality.
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Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia syndrome is a chronic disorder of
widespread muscle pain, fatigue, and multiple
tender points that affects 3-6 million people in
the United States. For reasons that are yet
unclear, more than 90 of those are women.

Fibromyalgia is defined as a history of pain in
all four quadrants of the body lasting more than
3 months. Pain in all four quadrants means that
you have pain in both your left and right sides,
as well as above and below the waist.Unfortunately
, Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition, meaning it
last a long time possibly a lifetime. However
it wont cause damage to your joints, muscles, or
internal organs.
Chiropractic care is critical for those who
suffer from fibromyalgia in order to keep the
spine and muscles from losing too much movement.
It is not uncommon for those with fibromyalgia to
be adjusted 3-4 times per month to keep
everything mobile and relaxed. The biggest
concern in treating people with fibromyalgia is
that their muscles have a diminishing healing
ability. For this reason, chiropractic
adjustments are usually modified slightly to be
more gentle than normal. This helps to decrease
the stress on all of the small supporting muscles
of the spine, which can be easily injured. It is
important when seeking chiropractic care to make
sure that the doctor is familiar with the muscle
changes that occur with fibromyalgia so they can
adjust the treatment accordingly.
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Slipped Disc
You may have heard the term slipped disc used
to describe a low back injury. Discs do not
actually slip. Rather, they may herniate or
bulge out from between the bones. Life style
choices such as smoking, lack of exercise, and
inadequate nutrition contribute to poor disc
health. Poor posture, daily wear and tear, injury
or trauma, and incorrect lifting or twisting
further stress the disc. If the disc is already
weakened, it may herniate with a single movement
or strain such as coughing or bending to pick up
a pencil. As you know, a herniated disc can cause
pain and interrupt your daily activities.

A herniated disc is a
relatively common condition that seldom requires
surgery. It is interesting to note that although
80 of adults will experience back pain, only 1
2 will need surgery. Mild or moderate disc
herniations can usually be treated conservatively
with stretching, exercise therapy and
chiropractic care. When you visit a
chiropractor, he or she will ask you questions
and perform some exams. This is to locate the
source of the pain and develop a treatment plan
for you a way to manage your disc herniation
pain and other cervical and back symptoms and to
help you recover overall. Spinal manipulation by
a chiropractor who uses gentle adjustments to
help restore spinal function helps many patients.

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Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome has become one of the most
widespread occupational health problems we face
today. The syndrome is caused by pressure on the
median nerve just above the wrist.Symptoms of
carpal tunnel range from wrist pain, numbness,
tingling, burning, weakness or loss of grip
strength, and loss of sleep due to discomfort.
There are a
number of different ways to treat this condition.
In most cases, a chiropractic adjustment to the
affected area is an extremely effective solution.
In some cases, a misalignment in either the back
or neck can cause this condition, and
chiropractic manipulation of the neck and/or
spine can also serve as an effective treatment
option. These treatments, along with therapy,
stretching, and strengthening exercises, can in
most cases effectively alleviate and eventually
eliminate the symptoms associated with carpal
tunnel syndrome.
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High Blood Pressure
'Atlas Adjustment' Lowers Blood Pressure A
special chiropractic adjustment that can
significantly lower high blood pressure The
procedure calls for adjustment of the C-1
vertebra. It's called the Atlas vertebra because
it holds up the head. The Atlas vertebra is
called "the fuse box to the body.""At the base
of the brain are two centers that control all the
muscles of the body. If you pinch the base of the
brain -- if the Atlas gets locked in a position
as little as a half a millimeter out of line --
it doesn't cause any pain but it upsets these
centers," It is pretty clear that some kind of
head or neck trauma early in life is related to
this. High blood pressure is far from the only
thing an Atlas misalignment causes."On the other
hand, if people have high blood pressure, there
is a tremendous possibility they need an Atlas
adjustment." If realignment is deemed necessary,
the chiropractor uses his or her hands to gently
manipulate the vertebra.
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Auto Accidents
If you have been involved in a car accident,
whiplash injuries need to be taken very
seriously. Because symptoms of a whiplash injury
can take weeks or months to manifest, it is easy
to be fooled into thinking that you are not as
injured as you really are. Too
often people dont seek treatment following a car
accident because they dont feel hurt. By far,
the most common injury to the neck is a whiplash.

Whiplash is caused by a sudden movement of the
head, either backward, forward, or sideways, that
results in the damage of supporting muscles,
ligaments and other connective tissues in the
neck and upper back.
Unfortunately, by the
time more serious complications develop, some of
the damage from the injury may have become
permanent. Numerous study studies have shown that
years after whiplash victims settle their
insurance claims, roughly half of them state that
they still suffer with symptoms from their
injuries. If you have been in a motor vehicle or
any other kind of accident, dont assume that you
escaped injury if you are not currently in pain.

Get checked out by our chiropractorwe can help!
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Whiplash
0 milliseconds 75 milliseconds
150 milliseconds 300
milliseconds
Before impact Ligament injury occurs
Maximum head extension Maximum head flexion
Phase 1 Results in an upward force in your
cervical spine, compressing your disc and joints.
Phase 2 Many of the bone, joint, nerve, disc and
TMJ injuries occur during this phase. Phase
3 This phase increases the severity of the
flexion injury of your neck.
Phase 4 This is probably the most damaging
phase of the whiplash phenomenon. This results in
a violent forward-bending motion of your neck,
straining the muscles and ligaments, tearing
fibers in the spinal discs, and forcing vertebrae
out of their normal position. Your spinal cord
and nerve roots get stretched and irritated, and
your brain can strike the inside of your skull
causing a mild to moderate brain injury.

Injuries Resulting from Whiplash Trauma Neck
Pain, Headaches, TMJ Problems, Brain Injury,
Dizziness,Low Back Pain.

Chiropractic Care uses manual
manipulation of the spine to restore the normal
movement and position of the spinal vertebrae. It
is by far the single-most effective treatment for
minimizing the long-term impact of whiplash
injuries, especially when used with exercise
rehabilitation such as stretching, strength, and
range of motion exercises, and other soft tissue
rehabilitation such as electrostimulation. Some
severe cases may be necessary to have some
medical care for a short time such as
anti-inflammatory and muscle relaxant
medications. Drug cannot restore normal joint
movement and stimulate healthy muscle repair.
Fortunately surgery is only needed in some cases.




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Pregnancy
During pregnancy, a womans center of gravity
shifts forward to the front of her pelvis. This
additional weight in front causes stress to the
joints of the pelvis and low back. As the baby
grows in size, the added weight causes the
curvature of her lower back to increase, placing
extra stress on the fragile facet joints on the
back side of the spine. Any pre-existing problems
in a womans spine tend to be exacerbated as the
spine and pelvis become overtaxed, often leading
to pain and difficulty performing normal daily
activities. Studies have found that
about half of all expectant mothers develop
low-back pain at some point during their
pregnancies. This is especially true during the
third trimester when the babys body gains the
most weight.

Regular chiropractic adjustments throughout the
pregnancy can relieve and even prevent the pain
and discomfort frequently experienced.
Chiropractic care helps to maintain a healthy
skeletal structure and nervous system function
throughout a pregnancy and creates an environment
for an easier and safer delivery, and may help
reduce time in labor.
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PMS
Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is characterized by
mood swings, tender breasts, swollen abdomen,
headaches, back pain, food cravings, fatigue,
irritability or depression in the days before a
womans monthly period.  The severity of these
symptoms can range from mild to incapacitating
and may last from a couple of days to two weeks.

It has been estimated that
three of every four menstruating women experience
some form of premenstrual syndrome, and it is
more likely to trouble women from their late 20s
to early 40s.  Between 10-20 of all women
experience symptoms that are severe or even
disabling. PMS is thought to be a side effect of
hormonal changes during the monthly menstrual
cycle and can be made worse by stress, decreased
serotonin levels in the brain and subluxations in
the low back. Although chiropractic care cannot
fix the way your body responds to the hormonal
changes that precede menstruation, several
studies have shown that it can help decrease many
of the symptoms of PMS without the potential side
effects of prescription drugs.  Since the nerves
that exit the low back are responsible for
regulating all of the tissues in the lower
abdomen, any pressure or irritation that can be
alleviated through chiropractic care can be
helpful.  Contact our chiropractor . . . we can
help!
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Wellness
Regular Chiropractic Care
Maintain Good Posture
Reduce Your Stress
Maintain a Healthy Body Weight
Sleep on a Good Mattress
Wear Orthotics

Drink More Water
Eat More Fruits and Vegetables
Cut Down on Sugar
Take a
Multivitamin
Get Into the Light
Keep Your Heart Healthy
Stop Smoking
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