REPAIRING AN INURED ROTATOR CUFF

 

As we get older, rotator cuff injuries become more common, a result of the natural aging process. A similar mechanism operates in the discs separating the vertebras in your lower back. These cartilaginous structures lose water over time, becoming less flexible and more brittle as the decades roll by. In the case of the shoulder, the rotator cuff tendon is pulleyed to and fro as the arm swings forward and back and up and down. As the years pass, this constant motion may cause fraying in the rotator cuff tendon and inflammation in the muscles that comprise the rotator cuff. Eventually, partial or full thickness tears may develop in one or more of these musculotendinous units, causing pain and some loss of function. Importantly, conservative care may be all that’s needed to reduce pain and restore needed motion.

The shoulder joint is beautifully designed and a marvel of engineering. Its construction makes possible a full 360-degree arc of motion in both the sagittal and frontal planes. In other words, you can swing your arm in a complete circle from front-to-back and to-the-side-and-up-and-around. In the third, horizontal, plane, 180 degrees of motion is available. The overall combination of movements in three-dimensional space makes the shoulder joint the most freely movable joint in your body. However, as with all freedoms we enjoy in this life, there is a price. The shoulder joint’s great mobility is countered by its very limited stability.

The shoulder’s lack of stability needn’t concern us in our average day-to-day tasks. Protection to the joint is built-in by way of the rotator cuff muscles, which form a strong hood that envelops the intersection of the arm bone and shoulder blade. Falling on an outstretched arm may result in a dislocated shoulder, so we need to have some care in this regard.

If you’re a young athlete and have suffered a rotator cuff tear, surgery may be an appropriate option. But for the vast majority of people, especially for those over age 40, most rotator cuff injuries are chronic rather than acute and can be treated with rest and rehabilitative exercise. Again, if you’re a 60-year-old skier who has torn his or her rotator cuff in a downhill accident, surgery could be indicated. For the rest of us, rehabilitative exercise is the key.

Four or five primary strength training exercises are involved in shoulder or rotator cuff rehabilitation. The three basic shoulder exercises are (1) seated overhead press, which trains all the shoulder girdle muscles simultaneously; (2) standing side [lateral] raise; and (3) seated or standing bent-over raise. The lateral raise specifically trains the middle deltoid muscle and the bent-over raise specifically trains the posterior deltoid muscle. Specific rotator cuff strength training exercises include internal rotation and external rotation on a flat bench using very light dumbbells. More painful injuries with greater loss of mobility may require (1) Codman pendulum exercises and (2) finger-walking (up a wall) to the front and to the side.

The goals of rotator cuff rehabilitation, as for any mechanical injury, include decreased inflammation, decreased pain, return to more full active range of motion, return to more full muscular strength, and restoration of function.

stretches for your low back

 

Back stretches can go a long way towards relieving the muscle tension that is the most common cause of back pain. Stretches for your lower back should be done carefully to avoid injury. Here are some simple lower back stretches that you can do at home; some of the stretches require a chair.

1) Cat Stretch

You'll perform this stretch on the floor, on your hands and knees. Make sure your hands are positioned immediately below your shoulders and your knees are positioned immediately below your hips.

• Start by arching your back towards the ceiling. Drop your head and pelvis. Keep your legs and arms straight and strong.
• Return to your original position.
• Drop your belly toward the floor; lift your face and hips toward the ceiling. Keep your legs and arms firm.
• Repeat this stretching sequence five to ten times, breathing slowly and deeply throughout. Inhale as you lift your face toward the ceiling; exhale as you drop your head and arch your back.

2) Seated Torso Twist

You'll perform this stretching exercise in a chair. Be careful with torso twists; if you don't do them properly, you can injure your spine. Keep your spine straight and don't force your body into the twist; allow your spine to move into the twist on its own, and only as far as is comfortable.

• Sit upright in a chair with your palms on your thighs or knees. Your head should be directly above your shoulders and you should be balanced firmly on your pelvis.
• Twist to the left. Place your right hand on the outside of your left knee, but don't use the hand to exert any pressure; simply place it there. Your spine should be doing the twisting all by itself.
• Allow your head to move into the twist as well. Once again, don't force it.
• As you twist, look as far to that side just by moving your eyes. This makes the twist more energizing.
• Hold the twist for 20 to 30 seconds, breathing deeply and fully into the lower abdomen and lower back. When you're finished, repeat the twist in the other direction.

3) Seated Forward Bend

Some people like to perform this lower back stretch while seated on the floor with their legs extended in front of them. However, if you lack flexibility in your calves, hamstrings and lower back, you're better off performing this stretch while seated in a chair.

• Sit upright in a chair; keep your spine straight and your head held erect above your shoulders.
• Place your palms in your lap. Relax your shoulders and arms.
• Place your feet at least hip width apart; you may want to separate the feet even more. If your feet are further apart than the width of your hips, turn your toes in toward one another slightly.
• Inhale; when you exhale, lean forward over your thighs. Allow your hands to dangle on either side of your feet. Keep your shoulders relaxed and your neck elongated.
• Breathe deeply into your lower back. Hold this stretch for 20 to 30 seconds. Come up slowly, so that you don't pass out.

For more information on Dr. Peloquin and his office Hands of Gold Chiropractic, please visit his website at:
www.HandsofGoldChiropractic.com
You can also follow the office on Facebook for new health related posts and discussion on todays health and wellness topics.
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7 Reasons To Forget A Flu Shot

Here we are again, another cold and flu season upon us.  The signs urging everyone to get their flu shot are popping up like dandelions in the Spring and all the drug and grocery stores offer them now. It’s becoming so prevalent that I’m surprised that gas stations aren’t offering free flu shots with a fill-up, as 173 million doses of the shot will be given this year. 
 
What they are not telling you is that the flu shot is not a safe medical procedure, nor is it an effective one. The following are the top 7 reasons not to get a flu shot:
1) There is a total lack of evidence that young children benefit from the shots. A systematic review of 51 studies involving 260,000 children ages 6 to 23 months found no evidence that the flu vaccine is any more effective than a placebo.

2) Medical journals have published thousands of articles revealing that injecting vaccines can lead to serious health problems including harmful immunological responses and a host of other infections. This further increases the body’s susceptibility to the diseases that the vaccine was supposed to protect against.

3) Ever notice how people who get the flu shot develop runny noses, flu symptoms, bronchitis, or even pneumonia within days or weeks of receiving the drug? This is because they are being injected with several strains of a flu virus, as well as toxic chemicals, which overwhelm the body’s immune system, thus suppressing it, and making them more susceptible to the illness the vaccine is supposed to protect against.

4) The flu vaccine, as well as just about all the childhood vaccines, contains mercury – a heavy metal known to be hazardous to human health. The amount of mercury contained in a multi-dose flu shot is much higher than the maximum allowable daily exposure limit. Mercury toxicity can cause memory loss, depression, ADD, digestive imbalances, respiratory problems, cardiovascular diseases, Alzheimer’s, and other serious health ailments.

5) Besides mercury, there are other ingredients present that can cause serious neurological disorders. These include detergents, antibiotics, formaldehyde, MSG (a flavor enhancer), gelatin, chicken embryos, polyethylene glycol, and sodium phosphate. These ingredients can cause anything from allergic reactions to cancer.

6) Research shows that over-use of the flu vaccine and drugs like Tamiflu and Relanza can actually alter flu viruses and cause them to mutate into a more deadly strain.

7) The flu viruses mutate every year so trying to guess what strain will be spreading has proven to be a crap shoot and not very effective. Moreover getting multi-shots is dangerous since different strains of viruses and harmful ingredients are introduced into your body.

Flu shots are indeed more dangerous than we are led to believe, and it’s best to rely on natural ways to protect yourself against the flu. Here are some easy steps to remain healthy:

• Make sure you are getting enough Vitamin D every day – 4000 to 10,000 IU’s daily is ideal.
• Get plenty of exercise – A half-hour to 40 minutes a day keeps your blood flowing, helps to detox your system, and keeps your internal environment alkaline.
• Get plenty of sleep – 8 hours is the best amount of time.
• Eat healthy, organic foods – not fast foods, prepared foods, GMO’s or any foods that are laden with toxins that weaken you.
• Wash your hands with soap and water! Avoid the waterless hand sanitizers since they also weaken the immune system.
• Stay hydrated with clean, fresh, filtered water.
• Golden seal and Echinacea supplements work to boost your immune system.

The bottom line is if you keep your body healthy, then you don’t have to worry about getting the flu. Relying on the toxins injected into your body and calling this good sound science is certainly not a wise choice.

For more information on Dr. Jason Peloquin and his practice Hands of Gold Chiropractic, please feel free to visit his website The Bay Ridge Chiropractor

The Survival Guide for Holiday Stress

Whichever holiday that’s presently looming, you know they’re not always the relaxing times you’d like them to be. This is especially the case at Christmas. Shopping and visiting and hosting and eating and drinking … it all becomes a mad blur that can leave you needing, well, a holiday.


Humans are pretty resilient creatures, but we can start to lag when we ask too much from our bodies for too long. The combination of the wrong food, too much booze, late nights, rushing around, and, let’s say it, family stresses, can all amount to overload, and we start suffering.

Moving into the holiday season, we should always try to keep our excesses to a minimum. Try to achieve a balance and remember to eat healthily as much as possible, despite the rather than less healthy meals that you may be obliged to eat to keep the peace with the relatives. Make sure you drink plenty of water to flush out your system, stretch out your muscles to ease the tension, and don’t forget that exercise during the holidays is not actually banned by law.

Here are some tips to keep you in tip-top condition if you’re going for …

Olympic Gold in Shopping

Keep well-hydrated. Drink eight to ten 8-ounce glasses of water every day, and don’t substitute any of that with coffee, tea, soft drinks and alcohol, because those are diuretics and will end up robbing you of water.

Stretch both before and after a marathon shopping expedition. Shopping can be stressful and your muscles need all the help they can get to stay relaxed.

Choose your shopping shoes for their comfort not style. You need plenty of cushioning to counteract those endless hours on your feet.

Wear comfortable clothing as well, and, if it’s cold out, have a few layers so you can peel them off and pile them on as you move from the streets to the warm shop interiors and back out again.

Wear a fanny pack (aka bumbag) rather than carrying a shoulder bag, and try to keep its contents to the bare minimum.

Any slight aches and pains you feel after a day out shopping, grab an ice pack and apply to the affected area for 20 minutes, before removing for at least two hours. Repeat several times over a day or two until you feel better.

A Little R&R

When having a serious shopping day, take a break every 45 minutes, or more often if you feel the need.

In a mall or a shopping area where lockers are provided, use one to store your shopping bags as you acquire them. Or if you can park close by, drop the bags in the trunk (boot) every so often.

If you’re hungry, eat something light or you’ll feel very sluggish when you resume shopping. It can also be dangerous to burden your system then continue with what can amount to physical exercise.

Coffee may seem like a good idea as a quick boost, but it adds extra stress to the system. As for soda, that’s also not a good idea. Ever. Stick with water.

Shopping With Children

Children and extended shopping trips don’t go together. Not only will they tire before you do and want to go home, they will want to buy everything in every shop. That’s a double whammy of whining that’s going to stress you out. Try and get someone to look after them instead.

That’s a Wrap

When you have a mound of gifts to wrap, make sure you don’t sit or stand in one position for too long, or you’ll start to ache. Vary your position, but avoid wrapping while sitting on the floor, even when carpeted, as this is very bad for your posture.

It may sound a little OTT, but stretch before and after wrapping your gifts.

Chiropractic Care Can Help

Dr. Jason Peloquin can help with natural treatment options if you experience any pain or discomfort after shopping.
For more information please contact Dr. Peloquin's office at 718-833-9255 or log onto his website for more information www.HandsofGoldChiropractic.com

What is "Natural Flavor"?

Why do we need natural flavor if the product is already natural?

It’s at the end of many ingredient lists in processed food: “natural flavor.” But what substances fall under this benign label? What natural sources are they extracted from? If you shop in the center aisles of the grocery store, chances are those natural flavor ingredients came from an unexpected source and spent some time being swished around in a beaker.


Food science defines natural by what it is not: the FDA “has not developed a definition for use of the term natural or its derivatives. However, the agency has not objected to the use of the term if the food does not contain added color, artificial flavors, or synthetic substances.”

This non-definition gives food companies plenty of room to tout “All Natural” on their packages even with ingredients that have been hydrolised, distilled and emulsified to taste completely different. Both natural and artificial flavors are chemicals – the distinction is whether they are completely synthetic or first derived from a natural source.

Former food marketer Bruce Bradley notes some notorious sources of natural flavors in his blog series All Natural . . . Really? One of the most cringe-worthy is shellac, the resinous secretion of female lac bugs used to glaze donuts and make shiny candy shells. Another natural flavor you wouldn’t find yourself consuming in nature is cystine, a dough conditioner derived from human hair and duck feathers. Maltodextrin derived from genetically-modified corn is also considered natural.

On a recent visit to multi-national flavor company Givaudan, 60 Minutes highlighted the use of beavers’ anal gland secretions in the manufacture of vanilla and raspberry flavors.  Please watch the video 60 minutes interview

For the discerning shopper, "natural" is little more than marketing hype. Organic foods are not always an exception since flavors constitute less than 5% of the total ingredients, and organic standards follow a 95% rule. Last year, the Organic Trade Association formed an Industry Task Force to review flavor categories and see if some flavors could be organically produced, which might be a step towards clarifying the flavor classification system.

In the mean time, food companies can enjoy using the umbrella term “natural flavors” to cover a whole range of proprietary chemical translations that make their product memorable, irresistible and, some say, addictive.

For more information on Dr. Peloquin and the Hands of Gold Chiropractic, please visit our website at www.handsofgoldchiropractic.com

The Father of Modern Medicine and Chiropractic

Chiropractic may only be 117 years old, but spinal manipulation has been around for thousands of years. Massage and manipulation are two of the oldest remedies known to man. In fact, the first pictures depicting spinal manipulation were discovered in prehistoric caves in Point Le Merd in southwestern France. These drawings depicted crude, non-specific attempts to manipulate the spine that date back to 17,500 bc. The ancient Chinese were using manipulation in 2700 bc. and James Cyriax, in his Textbook of Orthopedic Medicine, included a picture of a Buddhist temple with a statue over 2,000 years old showing manipulation of the lumbar spine.

More recently, Hippocrates (460-377 bc), the father of Greek medicine said, “Get knowledge of the spine, for this is the requisite for many diseases.” He wrote over seventy books on healing and was a proponent of spinal manipulation. This great physician was also the first to deal with the anatomy and the pathology of human spine. In his books, he provides a precise description of the segments and the normal curves of the spine, the structure of the vertebrae, the tendons attached to them, the blood supply to the spine, and even its anatomic relations to adjacent vessels. Hippocrates devised two apparatuses, known as the Hippocratic ladder and the Hippocratic board, to reduce displaced vertebrae.

Hippocrates believed only nature could heal and it was the duty of a physician to remove any interference preventing the body from healing. Hippocrates taught that the essence of life and the ability of the body to heal was the result of a vital spirit.

This concept, called Vitalism, persisted throughout ancient writings. The premise of Vitalism considers the human body and psyche as being animated by the vital force, which starts flowing at the moment of conception and which ceases with the death of the body. The flow of vital energy through the body nourishes, heals, develops, and sustains the body. This concept of vital spirit or Vitalism was later replaced with Innate Intelligence by D.D. Palmer, the founder of chiropractic.

Hands of Gold Chiropractic Voted Best In Brooklyn

Bay Ridge Brooklyn chiropractor, Dr. Jason Peloquin and staff at the Hands of Gold Chiropractic have won "Best Chiropractor in the Boro" by The Home Reporter, The Brooklyn Spectator and The Sunset News.


The contest ran from late December to early Februrary. During this time, voters logged into The Home Reporter's website and casted their nomination for the Best of the Boro contest. After the nomination period had ended, all of the users were be given the chance to vote on their favorite picks during the second round.

Dr. Peloquin was very excited about the good news and exclaimed, "It is a true testament to what we are trying to accomplish for our community. Individual personalized attention, quality care and long lasting results!"

Hands of Gold Chiropractic offers a wide array of alternative therapies. Patients seeking treatment at their Bay Ridge location are able to consult or be treated by a licenced acupuncturist and massage therapist. Nutritional counseling as well as non-surgical spinal decompression are also offered.

For more information on Dr. Peloquin and his office, Hands of Gold Chiropractic, please feel free to log onto his website http://www.handsofgoldchiropractic.com/ or you can catch up on their latest blog and health related topics by liking their Facebook page Hands of Gold On Facebook Link.

HANDS OF GOLD CHIROPRACTIC NAMED BEST OF THE BORO

Dr. Jason peloquin and the Hands of Gold Chiropractic team have won the Best of The Boro Contest sponsored by The Home Reporter, Brooklyn Spectator and Sunset News.

Core Fitness - What Is It and What Is It Good For?

Core training is a no-longer-new catchphrase on the fitness landscape. The concept of core fitness, by now, has been promoted by every Pilates school, yoga center, and chain of fitness clubs around the world. Many doctors, including chiropractors, physiatrists, orthopedists, and even cardiologists, emphasize the importance of core training with their patients. Practically every physical therapist and personal trainer has learned a variety of core exercises to use with their clients. Core fitness has become an advertising buzzword, helping to sell all kinds of health-related products. The overall result is raised awareness of the importance of core strength and the opportunity to engage in a critically important form of healthy exercise.


What exactly is the "core" and what are you training when you train it? Your core muscles are your four abdominal muscle groups - the transversus abdominis, internal obliques, external obliques, and rectus abdominis. Back muscles, too, are included in the core group - specifically the erector spinae, longissimus thoracis, and multifidus. The importance of the core muscles is their ability to provide a "center" or focus for the physical work your body is doing. If your core is not fit other muscles will have to take over, leading to the likelihood of strains, sprains, and other injuries.

Who even knew we had a core? Plenty of people did, long ago, but in those days no one talked about a "core". For many decades football coaches, ballet instructors, and gymnastics coaches trained their athletes in vigorous and strenuous techniques that all focused on core strength. High school gym teachers knew about the core. Remember squat thrusts, jumping jacks, and push-ups? All those ancient exercises (that we used to groan and moan about) train deep core muscles. We were doing core fitness before there was "core fitness".

Why do we need core fitness today? More and more our work involves sitting down. We stare at computer screens for eight hours a day. Instead of doing physical work such as farming or building, we type on a keyboard and talk on a cell phone. The long-term result is that muscles, tendons, and ligaments lost their integrity. Tight neck muscles, tight lower back muscles, and weak abdominal muscles are the result, and these issues lead to more serious problems such as chronic headaches, cardiovascular stress, impaired digestion, and depression. We need fitness activities that start building us back up again, and the right place to start is at the center - by engaging in core fitness.

The best thing about core fitness is that you don't need any equipment. You could get a mat and a physioball, but those items are optional. Take a yoga class. Take a Pilates class. Learn a few core exercises and begin to do them several times a week. You'll soon begin to notice that you feel better, in general. You have more energy. You're sleeping better. Your mood is improving. All due to a few squats, a few planks, and a few push-ups. That's a pretty good deal.

YOUR BODY IS SELF HEALING

The greatest power in the universe is your own life force! The energy that keeps you alive also powers every bit of your healing! Will you use it to your full advantage or ignore and squander it, erroneously assuming your healing power is to be found elsewhere?

Your body is constantly working as best it can to preserve and improve its vital domain: repairing its parts when needed, regenerating, rebalancing and optimizing all of its functions. This healing force is vigorous and thorough, under favorable conditions.

With rare exceptions, your genes contain the perfect instructions for all manner of self-healing; it happens automatically. All that is needed is that we intelligently cooperate with the body’s calls for rest so that it can accomplish its tasks without interference. This means stepping out of the way and conserving energy so that our fullest energy potential is available for the healing work.

Some commonly overlooked habits that lead to miscommunication of teh brain to the body, and back again, are:


◦ignorance of ones self-healing ability


◦stress from incorrect beliefs and thoughts

◦stress from unnatural diet

◦stress from malnutrition

◦lack of raw foods in the diet

◦stress from working too much and too hard

◦stress from inappropriate exercise

◦stress from medicines, treatments and therapies

◦lack of rest and sleep

◦lack of social support

◦lack of self-love

Sure Chiropractic can help with your aches and pains, but a balanced diet and regular exercise with adequate sleep are paramount.
Until then, we are always here to serve your neweds and help you get back to wellness.

For more information on Dr. Peloquin and Hands of Gold Chiropractic, please visit our website at:

http://www.bayridgechiropractor.com/

Four Resolutions for a Healthier Back

A Happy And Healthy 2012!

Change your habits to change your health. 

Eat more vegetables. Stress less. Take the kids out to the park more often. You may already have a long list of resolutions for the new year. This year, honor your spine, too. With the help of your doctor of chiropractic, these simple steps can promote a healthier back for the new year.

Consider replacing your pillow or mattress.

Do you wake up with aches and pains? It could be time to purchase a new mattress or pillow. The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) recommends finding a mattress that evenly supports your whole body. There should be no gaps between you and the mattress when you lie down. When choosing a pillow, select one that supports your head and neck in alignment with the rest of the spine, whether you sleep on your side or back. Keep in mind that what works for your partner may not work for you— there isn’t one mattress or pillow that fits everyone. Simple adjustments, such as adding foam padding, can help tremendously.

Re-evaluate your posture at work.

Americans spend an average of 44 hours at work every week— often behind a desk. To avoid poor posture that can lead to tension, back pain, and joint problems such as carpal tunnel syndrome, check that your chair is the right size and adjusted correctly, says the ACA. Do your feet rest comfortably on the ground? Does the chair offer lumbar support? Are you able to tilt or swivel easily while performing tasks at your desk? Also, be sure you have adequate light (so that you aren’t straining to see documents or a computer screen), adjust your computer monitor so that it is at eye level, and wear a headset for longer telephone conversations. And don’t forget to take frequent breaks and stretch throughout the day.

Learn how to lift correctly.

Many back injuries are caused by improper lifting of items such as luggage, backpacks or briefcases, storage boxes, or even groceries. But knowing how to lift properly can prevent serious injury. First and foremost, don’t bend from the waist. Keep your back straight, and squat to reach the item. Then, keep it close to your body as you lift, and avoid twisting motions. When traveling, check all bags that weigh more than 10 percent of your body weight.

Eat right and exercise well.

Eating a balanced diet and getting regular exercise helps your body stay toned and tension-free— and promotes a healthy weight and a happier spine. Smart exercise and a good diet can also prevent osteoporosis, which add strength to your spine and keep you from getting injured.

Above Down - Inside out!

"Above-down, inside-out" is a poetic coinage by Dr. B.J. Palmer, one of the founders of the field of chiropractic. "B.J.", as he has been affectionately known by chiropractors for almost 100 years, was describing the inner workings of the brain and spinal cord, the complex nerve system connected to all parts of the body, and the cells, tissues, and organs comprising the bulk of human physiology.


In his inimitable style, Dr. Palmer was addressing many deep, complex phenomena all at once. From a high-level viewpoint, he was describing how the central nervous system communicates with the rest of the body. One major conclusion is that the brain (as the originator of nerve signals that flow to the spinal cord and from there to the organs, tissues, and cells) is the master controller of all the other systems. The gastrointestinal, endocrine, cardiopulmonary, and musculoskeletal systems are all ultimately controlled and regulated by activities within the brain.

More than this, "B.J." was pointing directly to an organizing intelligence responsible for all the operations of living tissue. This concept, "Innate Intelligence", was propounded by his father, Dr. Daniel David Palmer. "B.J." expanded, publicized, and promoted the idea of Innate Intelligence as he helped the field of chiropractic grow into the second largest healing arts profession in the United States.

In the above-down, inside-out paradigm, Innate Intelligence is an intrinsic guiding and instructional force that maintained ongoing health and healing. Innate Intelligence knows how much oxygen and other nutrients a cell needs to meet its energy requirements. Innate Intelligence knows how to direct B lymphocytes to build a new antibody to fight a previously unencountered bacteria or virus. Innate Intelligence knows how much insulin should be released by beta cells in the pancreatic islets of Langerhans in order to properly use the carbohydrates you ingested during your last heart-healthy meal.

But disorder within the nerve system can interfere with the body's ability to carry out the instructions of Innate Intelligence. Symptoms, pain, disorders, and disease ensue from such nerve interference. Chiropractic care helps restore balance within the nerve system, thus helping restore health and well-being.

STRESS AND THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

We do not have to look much further than out our own windows to observe our stress-ridden society. Work, family, personal interests and global terrorist activities all combine to send even the calmest person into a frenzy. To complicate matters further, add our environmental bombardment of chemicals; toxins and pollutants that stem from the water we drink; to the food we consume. Sadly enough, the triad of subluxation precursors has never been more prevalent than in our present era.


Stress: Fight-or-Flight Syndrome

The body's stress-induced, internal mechanism (fight/flight syndrome) was developed to preserve life during an attack or other threatening situation. However, dawdling human evolution, coupled with copious amounts of external stressors, can induce this emergency mechanism and lock it into place.

When the fight/flight syndrome becomes the body's daily default mode, the adrenal glands are the first organs to be triggered into action. Although the initial stressor may no longer be present while locked into this emergency mode, the body will continue to perceive the threat and act accordingly. After time, limitations of matter prevail, and the body can no longer surge the adrenal glands to respond, even though it still desires to.

Emergency Mode: Survival Physiology

As adrenal dysfunction ensues, a wide spectrum of symptoms will manifest. Everything from sleep disturbances; blood sugar imbalances; depression; joint pain; or weight problems (gain or loss) can occur. After the body can no longer maintain the fight/flight mode merely using its typical means, it will begin to "steal" hormonal precursors (which can later compromise the sex hormones) to keep the adrenals in the alarm state. These resultant sex hormone imbalances in both sexes can lead to reduced libido and male impotency and female menstrual or menopausal problems.

The key to addressing this complex situation is to move the body out of the fight/flight syndrome to allow the adrenals to recover. Until this mechanism is shut off, and hormonal balance is maintained, the body will continue this destructive pattern, which can lead to lethal consequences. As the adrenals are allowed to repair and normalize, the rest of the body can become more balanced.

Adrenal Help is Near

Our job as doctors is not to 'fix' our patients' problems. However, adrenal dysfunction is a serious condition that could potentially keep the patient subluxated and geared toward other systemic deficiencies or failures. Therefore, its potential negative health impact makes it worth investigating.

Whether you maintain a strict adjusting-only policy, or you partake in other adjunctive therapies, there are simple yet effective ways to help support the adrenals to allow for better all-around recovery. Many of these suggestions can be easily obtained through health food stores, or directly ordered by you, the practitioner.

1.Chiropractic approach: Using your own judgment, balance the body as much as possible. Be wary, especially of adrenal innervation and upper neurological involvement; as we already know, any vertebral level that is subluxated could be suspect.

2.Salivary hormonal testing: many laboratories provide easy-to-use at home testing for patients at a reasonable cost. Getting a baseline of the adrenal, as well as sex hormones, gives an excellent starting point to help balance the patient's endocrine system. As with x-rays, hormonal imbalances on paper offer substantial evidence and may motivate the patient to take action and responsibility for his or her health.

3.Transdermal creams: many companies carry creams that can bypass the GI tract by delivering their contents directly through the skin. Transdermal delivery is optimal because its absorption rate is much superior to oral or sublingual transport.

4.Other supplementation1 (not a conclusive list) includes:
■vitamin B complex: 50mg daily;

■additional B5: 500mg with food; and

■Ca/Mg: a good ratio. Calcium aragonite is a excellent form of this.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON DR. JASON PELOQUIN AND HIS BAY RIDGE BROOKLYN PRACTICE, PLEASE VISIT HIS WEBSITE AT:
http://www.handsofgoldchiropractic.com/