Combining Alternative Therapies to Your NeuroSpinal Chiropractic Care: Help or Hinderance?

 The short answer is yes and no. There are a myriad of therapies, practitioners and modalities out there that promise benefit to you and your body. Some practices and modalities, in our professional opinion are of benefit, others don’t help or even hinder while others can be detrimental in relation to our goal of NeuroSpinal Correction.

 The solution: while under our care, we recommend that you inform us of all the other practitioners/modalities you are utilizing so Dr. Ahmed can sit down with you and discuss as to whether it’s going to help or hinder our goals and how. Dr. Ahmed can also contact the other practitioner(s) in order to coordinate protocols to ensure there is nothing contradicting the work we are doing in the office.

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Importance of Omega 3's

From brain function to heart function. The importance of a clean reliable source of Omega 3 is, in this day and age is no longer an option, as addressed in our previous blog posts here and here, but a necessity. The average person today has an overwhelming imbalanced ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 due to the modern day diet which leads to inflammation amongst other issues. 

Omega 3's don't only improve brain and heart function, reduce inflammation, but it also aids in weight loss as shown in studies as well helps with, but not cure, depression. It doesn't end there! In a study, animals consuming EPA have experienced death of leukemia cells in their bodies. Such claims however, haven't reached the human trials yet and no claims can be made on human benefit till such studies are to be performed.

The average adult needs to consume 1,000 mg of EPA (Eicosapentanoic Acid) per day and getting this amount per serving is not guaranteed from any bottle of fish oil that’s off the shelf at your local supplement store for varying reasons: species of fish, source of fish, and bottling practices of the product’s manufacturer. 

Many companies tend to utilize practices where the fish oil after extraction is shipped in barrels to the bottling site, which in most cases tend to be in a different country altogether. (e.g. oil extracted in Norway, then bottled in mainland USA.) Such practices predisposes the oil to oxidize during its long commute. When an oil is oxidized, it becomes more of a health detriment than a benefit. A higher quality fish oil, like the ones we provide in our office, is extracted and bottled at the source. 

This process is more costly but the superior results and benefit to our patients is worth the price and cannot be replicated by getting off‐brands or something from your local store.

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Why Supplement? A Modern Day Guide to Health

The supplement industry has turned into a billion-dollar phenomenon that is out to sell you every possible pill, potion and lotion in the promise of better health.

What does this mean for you, the consumer? Are you being sold on things that you truly need or are you being simply being duped?

A common argument against supplementation is that our ancestors didn’t use it and still survived. This is, however, a poor argument since it doesn’t take certain factors into consideration. 

First, the state of the planet has been drastically altered in the past few decades, let alone centuries and millenia. The top soils have been depleted of its minerals while the air and water have been polluted. Simply put, food does not carry the same nutritive value that our ancestors enjoyed.

Second, food has been over-processed, making it even more nutrient-deficient and forcing our bodies to work harder than ever before in order to expel toxins and nourish the body. This creates a need to supplement one’s diet in order to power through the day while, simultaneously, do the extra work in the detoxification process.

Lastly, our bodies have been pushed to a near constant fight-or-flight (sympathetic) mode leaving us both deficient and toxic. Being in fight-or-flight through most of the day puts the body in a catabolic state (breakdown) rather than anabolic state where it’s repairing, detoxifying and nourishing itself.

Picking a proper supplementation regimen should focus on two things: creating sufficiency in place of deficiency and purity in place of the toxicity. Anything else can be seen as an adjunct rather than a necessity, depending on the individual’s unique needs.

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Posture and NeuroSpinal Chiropractic: What's the Connection?

A common question we get asked by our patients and people who attend our events is whether we are posture specialists or not.

Poor posture (aka Postural Distortion) is what we refer to in our office as a Secondary Condition. When the spine shifts, several secondary conditions arise such as pain, numbness, tendinitis, spasms and, you guessed it, postural distortions. 

Tools such as digital photography and NeuroSpinal Radiographs show us what's going on in the body as a result of a spinal shift.

Another way to look at it is like this: a postural distortion is the effect, while we at Complete Chiropractic address the cause using our signature approach that involves an objective evaluation of the spine and lifestyle. We then respond with specific adjustments and complementary recommendations including proper egonomics, choosing a custom-fitted pillow, supplements, dietary recommendations, etc. 

By being able to track secondary conditions such as posture, we can better measure progress and, more importantly, help maintain results.

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Collagen: More Than Just a Pretty Face?

When most people hear of collagen as a supplement, they think of anti-aging and aesthetics. That is a popular purpose for collagen, however, collagen has a reach that goes far beyond skin, hair and nails. 

For starters, collagen is the connective tissue to tissue structures, which includes the spinal discs, joint cartilage, blood vessels, muscles as well as organs such as the heart, lungs, prostate and liver. 

As a polypeptide molecule, collagen is very important and is the most abundant protein in the body, making up about 65% of our total protein. Pretty important stuff, right? 

In an attempt to capitalize from the growing popularity of this product in light of its amazing benefits, supplement companies are cropping up left and right. Unfortunately, most don’t put in the necessary time & effort to manufacture something truly beneficial to your body. 

For instance, many companies utilize heat that denatures the protein peptides, rendering it less effective. At our office, we use a product that is extracted using a 6-hour enzymatic process that makes it highly bioavailable and is given to our patients at no cost to them as a part of their Initial Phase of Care so that they may get the best possible results.

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Back Spasms: Cause vs Effect

Back spasms are a common reason people tend to seek medical attention. There are a variety of approaches that claim to solve the problem including massage therapy, acupuncture, conventional chiropractic and physical therapy amongst others. 

Before we can delve into the solution, we need to explore the problem at its cause.

What Causes Back Spasms?

Have you ever broken your arm or leg? If you have had such an unfortunate experience, you may remember that your muscles in that area were splinting in response to the trauma. This happens as a reaction to the instability in the area where the body is trying to “guard” the area from further damage.

Would it have made any sense had you been rushed to the nearest hospital only to have them work the muscle, regardless of the modality, while ignoring the broken bone?

The answer is a resounding NO.

Now back to the main topic. A back spasm is what we refer to as a secondary condition, and it’s not the result of the back muscles going spastic for no reason.  Addressing a secondary condition such as the musculature while neglecting the primary cause may provide temporary relief at best. If you’re looking for a more permanent solution (and why wouldn’t you?) then it would make sense to treat the primary condition, in this case, a Spinal Shift.

(you should mention Spinal Shift at the beginning of this sentence [not the end] to better transition from the last paragraph) When the spine shifts, the area becomes unstable and the body makes an attempt to prevent further instablility or trauma. In cases such as back spasm, the muscles of the back are “guarding” in response to an instability in the area due to a spinal shift.

There are several approaches to help with the condition but many, however, address the effect rather than the cause, which will provide temporary relief till the primary condition is addressed.

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Resolution Versus Symptom Relief

The principle of the title extends itself to all facets of life, but we will keep it about health.

When there is headache, pain, numbness, organ dysfunction and a there is a nerve compromise in your spine and/or extremity, then this is not something a pain killer or another modality can relieve. Such methods can provide relief by the masking of the symptom, but if one is seeking to resolve the issue then one must get to the root of the problem.

Many a times people experience what we refer to as a Spinal Shift. When this happens, the nerve conduction is compromised and may result in pain, discomfort, headaches or organ dysfunction. 

Of course, the cause can be something else that is vital such as sleep, diet, stress management, exercise and hydration. At such times your NeuroSpinal adjustments will NOT be enough till the necessary issues are addressed as well and that's where the detailed examination in our office will key us in the right direction on customizing a strategy that is in YOUR best interest.

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