Category: Health

Maintaining Wellness During Social Distancing pt. 2

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During our current health crisis, many are taking extra precautions to maintain their physical health, which is great. But prioritizing mental health is just as important.

Even as certain Coronavirus-related restrictions are lifted, uncertainties linger, and you may find yourself waiting, wondering and worrying about what’s next.  Loss of control, a growing sense of isolation, news and information overload, and the very real fear of getting sick or not being able to get the supplies you need can result in a lot of stress and anxiety even if you don’t normally struggle with these issues.

It’s important during social distancing to stay active, engage your mind and be hyper aware of how you’re feeling and managing your emotions. Fortunately, there are a number of reliable lifestyle practices that naturally help boost mood and quiet anxiety.

Stick with Structure

Lack of daily structure can exacerbate feelings of anxiety, but a basic daily schedule can help you feel more grounded.

Sticking to the simplest to-do list comprised of regular times for sleeping, waking, eating and taking supplements will help you avoid circadian rhythm disruptions and keep immunity strong.  Fill in the schedule with exercise, work projects or tasks you’ve been wanting or needing to do. Even if it’s as simple as reading a book or trying out a new recipe, setting and completing goals will help you feel focused and accomplished.

Eat for Mood

Wellness begins with proper nutrition, and there are many powerful stress-fighting foods that can easily be worked into your meals and snacks.

Calcium, magnesium, potassium, Omega 3s and the Vitamins C and E, among others, are natural stress-fighting nutrients that not only build immunity, but increase production of serotonin, a mood-stabilizing neurotransmitter, and decrease levels of the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol. They can be found in delicious abundance in leafy greens, salmon and other fatty fish, nuts and seed, oranges and citrus fruits, and avocados. Black tea is another proven stress reliever.

Snacking on raw veggies and nuts doubles your relief by offering mood-boosting nutrition as well as working out tension in the jaw, an area we tend to involuntarily clench when stressed and anxious. And don’t forget to hydrate. Dehydration intensifies anxiety symptoms like heart palpitations and light headedness.

Exercise

Aside from its physical benefits, exercise is great for burning off excess energy and improving your sleep. Many gyms and fitness studios who’ve had to close their store fronts are offering livestream classes and youtube workouts that you can do in the privacy and comfort of your living room.  If fatigue is an issue or you’re not ready to commit to a program, just move some everyday. Studies show even light workouts can have a positive effect on stress, anxiety and depression.

Outdoor exercise is even better. Fresh air is cleansing and exposure to the sun encourages the production of Vitamin D, deficiencies of which are linked to anxiety and depression.

Connect

While FaceTime and other video platforms are no real substitute for face-to-face interaction, checking in with friends and family can help you feel less alone.  If video chats leave you feeling intimidated or overly anxious, don’t feel pressured to show your face. An old fashioned phone call serves the same purpose.

Take advantage of extra downtime to catch up on talked-about TV shows, take an online class or professional development seminar, or tune into to a worship service for spiritual guidance.

But Also ….. Unplug

When anxious, threats seem magnified, and unhelpful thinking patterns get stuck on repeat. Too much news and information — or adrenaline-packed Netflix binges — can add to that.  Make it a point to unplug for a period of time each day.

Instead, try meditation.  If you’re mind wanders when you ‘ohmmmm,” put your own spin on a quiet time. Close your eyes and listen to soft music or birdsong. Try journaling — or simply thinking — about things you’re thankful for, or freedoms you won’t take for granted when quarantine ends.  It may take several days to be able to sit in stillness for longer than a few minutes at time, but that’s ok. 

Think Positive Thoughts

While it may sound cliche, research shows that intentionally practicing positivity can actually change your thinking.  It’s the “stuck at home vs. safe at home” scenario. Negative emotions prevent your brain from processing the choices and options around you, while reframing them positively allows you to see possibility. Practice.

Stress and anxiety is a totally normal response to abnormal circumstances – particularly ones that impact our health, safety and economy. Prioritizing mental health is crucial to maintaining wellness during this time.

Maintaining Wellness During Social Distancing

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Establish a Healthy Quarantine Routine

Many of us work really hard to encourage and create healthy habits for ourselves and our families, and it’s not always easy to maintain them even in the best of times. Gym closures, food shortages, home schooling and social distancing measures have made things even more challenging, but continuing a healthy lifestyle may be more important now than ever.

That’s because one of the main benefits of eating well, exercising regularly and mindfully managing stress is a stronger immune system, so continuing to focus on these things is key to decreasing the odds of contracting Coronavirus or reducing its impact if you do.

Food as Medicine

The memes abound about the weight we’ll gain during quarantine or how we need to be socially distanced from the refrigerator, and most are funny because of their potential to be true.  It’s tempting during harried grocery store runs to load up on the junk and processed foods we typically avoid because we feel they might make up for some of the other things we’re missing out on, or we head to the pantry or fridge just because we have nothing else to do. But empty calories and low-nutrient foods not only leave you craving more of the same, they impair your body’s immune response and inhibit its ability to make antibodies.

Instead, enhance your usual balanced diet with a higher intake of specific immune-boosting nutrients to actually support immune system function and reduce your risk of infection.

Powerful nutrients include minerals like zinc, selenium, and iron and the vitamins A, B (6, 12, & 9,) C, D, and E.  Most of these immune boosters can be naturally found in the nutrient-dense fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and fiber of a normal healthy diet.  Fill your plate with colorful whole foods like broccoli, spinach, mushrooms, red bell peppers, and sweet potatoes alongside lean proteins flavored with inflammation fighting spices like turmeric, garlic and black pepper. Add flavor punch and crunch with almonds, walnuts and other healthy fats like avocados or olive oil.

If you have a previously identified nutritional deficiency or are not able to get some of your favorite foods due to shortages, quality, bioavailable supplements can fill the void.

And don’t forget how necessary proper hydration is. Consuming coconut or other flavored waters, inflammation-fighting teas like green or turmeric, or plain ole fashioned H2O not only aids in immune system function, it can stave off junk food cravings and mitigate the effects of sugar and alcohol consumption.

Keep Moving

There are a variety of amazing options to continue exercising during this time, which is great because regular movement is important for both physical and mental health. Outdoor cycling, hiking and other calorie burning is highly encouraged because fresh air and sunshine are so beneficial. Remember to maintain the recommended social distance from those with whom you don’t live.  If it’s raining, or you just want to mix it up, log on to one of the many livestream workouts being offered by shutdown gyms and fitness studios. Some are even available to non members for free or reduced fees. YouTube continues to feature workouts from yoga to HIIT.

Create a Routine

Whether you’re working remotely for the first time or attempting to home school the kids, it’s important to create some sort of routine to encourage a productive mindset. Try to set regular sleep/wake times, even if both are a little later than normal, get dressed and head to a dedicated area for work and study. Remember to move regularly to get the wiggles out, eat meals away from your computer or work station to avoid mindlessly consuming extra calories, and shut it down at a reasonable time. Working from home doesn’t mean you’re always “on call.”

Stay Positive

These are stressful times, so try not to dwell on things you can’t control. Instead focus on things you’ve always said you’d do if you had more time — getting healthy, having long calls or FaceTimes with friends, board games, puzzles or other activities with family, journaling or meditation. Try an online cooking class or personal development webinar, many of which are free right now.

And turn off the news sometimes.  Staying informed is important, but a constant barrage of virus-related case counts, deaths and shortages encourages increased feelings of anxiety and hopelessness.  While this is an unusual and uncertain time in our history and lives, it is temporary.  Focus on being your best healthy self when the stay-home ban is lifted.

How Sports Chiropractic Care Prevents Injuries and Enhances Performance

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Playing sports at any level offers a great many benefits. Unfortunately, it also increases the chance for injury. Over time, the wear and tear that physical activity puts on an athlete’s body makes them more susceptible to sprains and strains, pulled muscles and torn ligaments, and regular joint pain and stiffness, particularly the more (or longer) you play.

But the answer is not to cease physical activity, rather it’s to try to prevent injuries in the first place through sports injury prevention tips.  Learning proper technique for your sport, warming up adequately and stretching frequently, as well as including regular sports chiropractic care as part of your training program all help.

Sports chiropractic care has proven beneficial in the treatment of some types of sports injuries and the prevention of many others.

Why Chiropractic Care?

Chiropractors are known for performing spinal and other musculoskeletal adjustments when patients are in pain, but many don’t realize just how critical spinal health is to the proper functioning of the entire body every day.  Bones, muscles and nerves are all intertwined, so the functionality of one system drastically affects that of the others. By ensuring that spines are properly aligned, chiropractors allow athletes to experience more optimal body function in the form of more flexibility, better range of motion and better communication to the nerve center. This prevents not only many acute sports injuries, but a whole host of compensation injuries that come from playing with distorted technique due to nagging aches and pains.

And sports chiropractor care is safe for athletes of all ages!  Professionals and other competitive athletes, weekend warriors and those in youth sports all can experience improvement in agility and overall sports performance.

For children, the focus is on protecting a still-growing skeletal system and preparing young bodies for a lifetime of physical fitness. For the older athlete, sports chiropractic care may address issues related to body alignment and posture to prevent injury since their muscles and bones can take longer to heal.

Sports chiropractic care utilizes skeletal adjustment and alignment, along with a variety of other non-invasive therapies in the prevention and treatment of sport injuries. Therapeutic stretching exercises, targeted massage and soft tissue manipulation, acupuncture, training tips, lifestyle and nutritional counseling are all sports injury prevention tips and ways sports chiropractic care can help you achieve your athletic goals. 

Of course, sports injuries can occur at any time even in the best-conditioned athlete.  If you should suffer a sidelining injury, sports chiropractic care can help you heal quickly and completely. In fact, studies show that the use of sports chiropractic care, alone or in combination with other protocols, can greatly reduce healing time for strain injuries, knee injuries and lower back pain while offering the added benefit of overall improvement in health and well-being.

Come see us to discover why sports chiropractic care is an essential part of any athletic training program.

Chiropractic Care During Pregnancy

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Chiropractic care is suitable for a wide range of patients seeking optimal wellness and pain relief.  This includes expectant mothers.

In fact, mothers who receive regular chiropractic care throughout their pregnancies, report less discomfort as their body changes and grows, as well as easier labor, delivery and postpartum experiences.  There are many reasons for this.

Easier Pregnancies

During pregnancy, an expectant mother’s rapidly changing body shape and forward weight gain, as well as her shift in center of gravity, means her posture has to change to maintain balance.  This can affect the way she stands, sits, sleeps and carries objects such as purses, grocery bags, and other children.  Eventually, this can cause musculoskeletal misalignments that lead to back pain.

Often accepted as “part of the process,” many expectant mothers endure excruciating lower back pain and sciatica throughout their pregnancies and beyond.

In addition increased hormones, which are just doing their job preparing the body for labor and delivery, increase laxity in the pelvic region creating instability and possible spinal subluxations with regular movement. These misalignments in vertebra create pressure on nerves or cause other nerve interference, that equals lower back pain. When nerves become involved, the overall functioning of the body can be negatively affected.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

Chiropractic care for pregnancy can restore body alignment and allow for better neurologic function, joint movement and balance in the pelvic region, which can greatly reduce or eliminate pain.

Easier Labor and Delivery

Regular chiropractic care during pregnancy has been shown to make the labor and delivery process easier, and can actually assist the mother hoping for a natural birth. Spinal and pelvic misalignments can create restrictions in the birth canal, and lead to a more difficult labor.  When this happens, mothers may be more likely to lean on medications or other assistance to get baby out. 

A properly aligned spine and relaxed pelvic region allows the baby to sit unrestricted in the uterus, and shift into the right positions during the pregnancy. Baby can then be delivered without any extra obstruction or force than necessary, often making the process less traumatic for everyone involved. 

While there is absolutely a time when C-sections and assisted births are medically necessary, the odds of a natural delivery increase dramatically when the expectant mother has received regular chiropractic.

Safe and Drug-Free

Chiropractic is a safe and drug-free way to treat lower back pain, sciatica and other discomforts common in pregnancy.

While you may associate the practice with aggressive spinal adjustments, prenatal chiropractic focuses on muscular assessment, postural analysis, bilateral weight testing, and other non-invasive evaluations to identify structural deficiencies and misalignments.  With specific equipment and these gentle techniques, chiropractors help pregnant mothers be proactive about caring for their bodies — and their babies — prior to delivery, and decrease pain throughout the entire experience.

As with other prenatal care, the earlier in the pregnancy that you begin chiropractic care the better, because it allows the chiropractor to better monitor and address structural changes, deficiencies, and misalignments in the body.

If you’re expecting, or hoping to be someday, talk to us about how chiropractic can be an important part of your wellness plan.

Youth Sports Concussion Management

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More Than Football Players at Risk

Recent research conducted by the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons shows that in spite of football being the sport most commonly associated with concussions, it actually falls fourth on the list of sports resulting in concussions as a percentage of total injuries.  Girls’ soccer, volleyball and basketball rank higher.

And while concussions continue to plague male-dominated sports, those among female athletes have risen dramatically, due to both a lack of protective equipment available for girls-only sports and an increased emphasis on physical play. 

Make no mistake, football still results in a high number of concussive events, however, girls and boys’ high school soccer is responsible for more of the serious concussions, based on recovery times being longer — often more than 22 days. The repeated striking of the player’s head against a hard ball along with player collisions among athletes wearing no head protection is thought to be to blame.

Ice Hockey, rising in popularity in our area, has also become a sport of growing concern surrounding concussions.

Snow Sports

Off the playing field, Texans routinely travel this time of year to take advantage of a wintry mix of cold-weather sporting opportunities. Athlete or not, snow skiing and snowboarding pose a fairly high risk of concussions and other injuries. On-slope collisions with skiers and other objects, as well as hard falls against packed ice account for many trips to mountainside ERs.

Helmet use in snow sports has increased over the last decade, but while research confirms that they do offer skiers and snowboarders added protection from head injury, helmets are more successful at preventing skull fractures, gashes, and bruises than concussions.

This information isn’t to discourage participating in wintertime youth sports since staying active during the colder months can prevent unwanted weight gain and help fight depression and anxiety.  Just remember that the risk of sports-related concussions and other head injuries has no off-season.

Proactive concussion management includes having a baseline concussion test. As with other baseline tests, this computerized assessment of player response and brain function gives doctors a point of comparison following a head injury and helps them establish a more personalized treatment plan.

If you suspect your young athlete may have suffered a concussion, immediate treatment is best.  Contact us for concussion management and to discuss ways to prevent concussion in your young athlete.

Sports Nutrition: Endurance Training

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What to Eat When Training for an Endurance Event

Whether it’s your first attempt or your 50th, preparing your body for a major athletic event such as a marathon, century bike rally or triathlon goes well beyond “eating healthy.”  It requires a complementary combination of exercise and sports nutrition designed to fuel your body through vigorous training sessions and aid in muscle recovery afterwards. 

While most dedicated athletes eat fairly well, as a rule, they often have different fitness goals. Some want to lose weight as they train while others just need to change their body composition and work on endurance, so nutrition for athletes should be individualized to both body type and desired outcomes. 

Proper sports nutrition requires the right ratio of carbs, protein, and fat for adequate dietary support to ensure your body will perform at optimal levels during training sessions and, ultimately, on the big day/s.  Because everyone is different, it may take some experimentation to determine how you perform in training after various food and supplement combinations, so focusing on sports nutrition early in the training process will allow you to fully understand how your body adapts to certain foods and plan accordingly for event day.

Individual goals lead to variations in sports training diets, but there are some general guidelines that can assist you in preparing your body to compete.

Carbohydrates serve as your main source of fuel as well as the body’s means for replenishing and maintaining glycogen stores. While simple carbs can be useful for providing fast energy right before a workout or other high-activity period, complex carbs are better before endurance activities or a particularly intense training session, and should comprise at least 60% of total calories. Whole grains and foods are always better than their processed or enriched counterparts.

Protein, needed for muscle growth and repair, should make up approximately 15% of your daily calories. Without it, instead of building and maintaining muscle, the body will break it down to use as fuel. Eggs, oats, nuts, and seeds, along with lean meats and fish are all good sources of protein.

The consumption of healthy fats is known to increase endurance. While you should aim to keep consumption of fats to 25-30%, the inclusion of plenty of positive fats such as avocados, oils, nuts, and seeds, will allow you to train for longer periods.

Supplements, sports drinks, bars, and gels have their place in sports nutrition, but should not be considered replacements for real, whole foods.  They are best used during actual prolonged training periods and on the day of the event for immediate replacement of sugars and fluids lost during exercise.

Eating a well-balanced diet comprised of nutrient-dense meals and snacks throughout training is the best way to ensure you have more effective workouts and perform at your best on event day.

The attention you pay to sports nutrition while training for an endurance event is just as important as the intensity and duration of your workouts.

Reindeer Runs, Jingle Bell Jump, and More

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Everyone is happy for a holiday break, but with school, sports practices and workout schedules on extended hiatus, many of us go from active participant to full-on couch potato for the duration of the season, seriously derailing the fitness progress we’ve made all year.   By staying active throughout the season, you’ll encourage healthy metabolism for the extra calories you’ll be consuming, relieve stress inherent in many holiday activities, and maintain the sports strengthening and conditioning you’ve worked so hard for.

There are many great and social ways to keep moving through the holidays.

  • Invite a friend or loved one to join you for a brisk walk, hike or holiday fun run.  Meet them at the gym for shooting hoops, cardio class or weight work. Finish up with coffee or a festive post-workout drink afterward.
  • Go shopping the old-fashioned way: on foot! Online buying is super convenient, but dashing through the malls with a friend is a great way to catch up while upping your step count. Grab a healthy lunch mid-day to rest tired feet and tally gifts bought.
  • Make it a family game (or competition!) by playing a friendly game of flag football or soccer outside.
  • Create themed daily activities for family sports conditioning.  Reindeer runs, Santa sit-ups, jingle bell jump roping, and holiday hula hooping can get everyone up and moving!

Of course, it is the holidays, so eat some sweet treats, watch some football (and maybe more than a few holiday movies) but remember to sprinkle some exercise onto your seasonal to-do list.

Sports Medicine Doctor

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The Difference in Sports Medicine Doctors

Chiropractic vs. Conventional Medicine

Whether teen, recreational or professional, athletes of all levels experience injury at one time or another.  While some sports injuries are acute and others the result of overuse, the trick is getting the proper treatment quickly to help you heal and be back in the game in the most efficient way possible.

Both chiropractors and conventional medical doctors practice sports medicine, and both can conduct thorough examinations, and order Xrays and MRIs to diagnose injuries.  It’s their treatment approaches that are often radically different. 

Sports chiropractors

Sports chiropractors use a holistic approach to treating sports injuries by focusing on the manipulation of the spine and various other joints, as well as soft tissue mobilization in the affected area.  This increases mobility and relieves undue stress on certain joints, offering patients immediate pain relief and long-term curative effects. Other common treatments used in chiropractic sports rehabilitation include targeted red laser therapy to reduce inflammation, electrical stimulation, and specific exercises aimed at improved mobility and strength in the injured area.

Conventional Medicine

Sports medical doctors treat sports injuries by prescribing rest, physical therapy, or more invasive techniques such as pain medication and even surgery.   While these may be necessary in emergency situations such as when a bone is broken or other severe cases, most sports injuries can be healed with the more hands-on, non-invasive approach of a sports chiropractor and without the use of prescription drugs.

Cause of Injury

Aside from utilizing more-natural, less-invasive procedures, chiropractors are as focused on the cause of the problem as much as they are the problem itself.  While you may think you know what caused your injury — your elbow hurts because you play too much tennis, for example — there could actually be a posture/alignment issue or soft tissue restriction affecting strength, balance, flexibility or mobility in that area that led to the condition. 

In addition, many chronic injuries are due to other lifestyle factors such as obesity, stress or nutrient deficiencies.  Sports chiropractors can address those areas as well, with the intention of treating the cause of your problem, and not just the symptoms.  With this approach, chiropractors have great success in not only the treatment of existing sports injuries but in helping patients return to their sports pain-free with reduced risk of re-injury.

If you are seeking pain relief from a sports injury that is not an emergency, consider chiropractic as your first choice in a sports medicine doctor.

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