It’s not too late! Set your goals for 2019! It’s not too late to make goals for the new year. There’s one day left to get started before the actual start of the year. Here are a few steps to setting goals in less than 20 minutes: Focus on 5 goals. One health goal (like losing weight, getting stronger or quitting smoking). One family goal (like listening better or spending more time playing with kids). One money goal (like paying down debt, saving or investing). One happiness goal (like cooking, or traveling more). One skill growth goal (like practicing guitar). After you’ve identified the goals, it’s time to list all the things you’ll need to get you there! Next, you want to set a timeline, a date for accomplishing each goal. And after that, you need to break down how much time each week needs to be dedicated to each goal to reach your goal by the date you’ve specified. It’s a practice of reversed engineering. Make sure that your goals, date fo completion and time invested each day or week are not only possible but add up in a doable way. Resolutions are important. Not because they start...
Help for your ADD or ADHD child.
Chiropractic may help your ADHD child. Have you been told that your child has ADD or ADHD? We help children with ADHD. Here’s how. There is growing medical evidence that chiropractic adjustments directly impact the parts of the brain related to mood, social interactions, attention, focus, self regulation, organization of thoughts, cause and effect, and a number of other functions and processes that are not considered normal in children with ADHD, even Autism Spectrum Disorders. Parents, here’s the science behind it. In 2016, in the journal Annals of Neuroscience, a study was published showing that the part of the nervous system that is disrupted in kids with ADHD is quantifiably dysfunctional. This is the autonomic nervous system. “The autonomic nervous system plays a vital role in attention, self regulation, emotional stability and social affiliation, which are affected in ADHD. The prefrontal cortex, which is vital for attention, motor control, emotional regulation and higher order autonomic control, is hypo (less) functional in ADHD.” (Link to the research) Also in 2016, in the journal Neural Plasticity, research was published on the effect of chiropractic adjustments and the the effect on sensory motor integration in the prefrontal cortex. The results showed a direct...
Do men and women deal with stress the same way? Fight or Flight.
No, Men and women do not deal with fight or flight the same way. Understanding how the stress response in men and women differs is important to your physical health, mental health and healthy relationships as well. There is a stress problem in the U.S. American society is stuck in a state of stress that leads to chronic, daily biological stress responses that are unhealthy when constant. (For stress reducing ideas from Dr. Lou, click HERE) Small doses of “fight or flight” are ok, the response is designed to save your life, but ongoing fight or flight is bad. Rather than being biologically programmed like men to prepare to fight and then run if fighting appears as though it would have a fatal outcome, women are biologically programmed to “Tend and Befriend”. What does it mean to tend and befriend? Initially women will turn to “tending” to someone or something. It may be an increased focus on attention or love given to a child. Greater than normal tending to a task like cleaning, something work related, organizing, or anything that allows one to control, organize or set something up for success. If the “tending” phase fails, they move on...
We Help Skiers Get Back On The Snow. Pain Free Skiing In Maine.
WE HELP SKIERS GET BACK ON THE SLOPES! Maine winters are long & frigid, and ski season is a bit shorter than the winters are cold. Limited time is allotted to us for skiing and nothing is more painful to a skier than missing the season due to an injury. What if you feel fine now, but later in the season head out to the slopes and hurt yourself? READ THIS! Whether it’s a shoulder injury, low back injury or residual whiplash and neck pain from a car accident, chiropractic is THE drug free, non-surgical choice for care if you want to get back to skiing. You may not understand how chiropractic works but you will if you go to the right office. A full examination, explanation of your diagnosis, care plan, and expectations for healing will be provided to you. It’s ultimately your decision if you want to get to the slopes this year, and if so how soon. If you choose chiropractic as your potential solution, you’ll start getting adjusted right away! With the focus being on your problems and how they WON’T affect your ski season, you’ll be on your way to better health, better...
Holiday Misery Is Avoidable! The Pinch That Stole Christmas!
Avoiding Spine, Nerve & Hormone Problems At Christmas! Nobody wants to spend Christmas Day at the hospital or urgent care. The problem is, pain often shows up without warning. Injuries often come out of “nowhere”. As gradual stress builds up over the months of October through January, many people experience greater vulnerability to injury, stress and feeling out of sorts. Then, they lift a glass of eggnog and ZAP! OUCH! Seemingly out of the blue, spinal meltdown, and terrible holiday. You slept on a guest room bed and woke up with a neck problem….ZING! If you “throw out your spine”, the nerves and your brain at the top of those nerves, are immediately affected. The area of the brain of particular interest is called the hypothalamus. With a neck injury, the “Vagus Nerve” is often involved, and vagus nerve function is related to hypothalamus function. These are a few things that the hypothalamus does: The hypothalamus controls the following: body temperature thirst appetite and weight control emotions sleep cycles sex drive childbirth blood pressure and heart rate production of digestive enzymes and balancing bodily fluids. WOW! Imagine the hormonal changes that take place when those hypothalamic functions are potentially...
You can’t run. Running is your life. HELP!
Is not being able to run because of injury or pain, ruining your quality of life? Running is the chosen exercise for millions of people around the world. It keeps us thin, keeps our minds clear and focused, it keeps our heart and lungs healthy, and without it, we feel ourselves starting to “lose it!” So what do you do if you can’t run? Running requires energy, strength, cardiovascular endurance and structural integrity. The majority of runners have the energy, strength and cardio capacity to get out there. Where running enthusiasts most often fall short is in the “structural integrity” department. What exactly is structural integrity? In a living, moving human, it is the nerves, muscles (and other soft tissue), and skeleton (joints) working in concert with one another. It is this harmonious environment, that the physical stress of running will have the least likelihood of causing longterm damage or injury to the nerves, soft tissue, skeleton and joints. You can have misalignment and damage in the spine, hips, pelvis, knees, ankles and other weight bearing joints without feeling pain. Until the problem gets bad enough to cause pain, you won’t see it coming. Once it hurts, you may...
Mom! Are you juggling work, kids, family, friends, and have no time to care for yourself?
Ever feel like there’s no time to take care of yourself, mom? Meet Julie… As a mom, you’re like an athlete playing several professional sports, and you probably feel like you need to take better care of yourself but you don’t know where to start. You never seem to have enough time, there are a million things that get in the way. Lessons, kids, family, work, cooking, groceries, meetings, friends, illnesses, cleaning if there’s time leftover. There will always be something that could be used as an excuse to not do what’s best for you, until you wrap your head around making real change. There are a couple steps to this process: Change your beliefs – the way you think or feel about why and how you need to make the change. When it comes to health, it’s remembering that there’s hope for improvement. You can always improve. You just have to want it bad enough and believe you can do it, then put in the time and effort. Which isn’t always “a ton” of work. If you don’t believe you can do it, it’s going to be tough to make it happen, though. Change your behavior – implement...
Pigeon Toe Kids
Are you spending a fortune on orthotics for your pigeon toed child, without results? Is your kid “Pigeon Toed”? Have you spent a fortune on custom orthotics for their feet? Expensive shoes? Are you concerned about their sports performance? Their speed? How about the health of their feet, ankles and knees? Kids with toes pointing in and even knocked knees, may have a problem in the pelvis. Subluxation, or misalignment of the sacrum and pelvis will lead to hip rotation, knocked knees and pigeon toes. Specialists who focus on the feet, may neglect the sacrum and pelvis. Evidence has long shown there is a connection between the pelvis, spine, hips, knees and feet. If you have tried to help your child’s feet and despite expensive orthotics, no results….find a board certified pediatric chiropractor who is a specialist in the correction of sacro-iliac subluxation in kids. They can change the trajectory of your child’s future, while saving you a fortune on shoes, braces, inserts, and doctors appointments. Implications of pigeon toe… There are many potential issues if a child’s gate cycle and stance are affected by inward turned feet. Foot and ankle problems, abnormal shoe wear, knee problems, hip problems, even...
Don’t Let Shoveling Snow Ruin Your Thanksgiving!
You may want an excuse to avoid family drama, but don’t make it an injury. With snow starting before Thanksgiving this year, you better take precautions so you aren’t eating your dinner in bed! Your back and body have been out of practice shoveling snow for a few months now. If you dive right back in, without proper planning, you may be compromising the next few days, or worse, the next few months! Here’s what you can do to protect yourself from early winter injuries! Warm Up – Treat shoveling like a sporting event. Stretch and warm up before the “competition”. Get Ergo – If you are using a shovel, get an ergonomic one (with a bend in it) to help reduce bending and stress on your low back and shoulders. Take Small Bites – Don’t fill the shovel with more snow than it is designed to hold, smaller shovels are less heavy. Lighter loads will be less likely to strain your body. You bought it for a reason – If you are using a snow blower, let it work for you, not against you. There should be no need to “man handle” it. Pushing and pulling the blower...
The First Visit At The Chiropractor’s Office – What To Expect
What to expect at the first (and second) visit with Dr. Lou The first visit consists of 4 stages: Non invasive, painless diagnostic test of nerve function, muscle function, posture and structural integrity, and structural foundation testing at the level of the feet. Collaborative discussion of your history and issues with Dr. Lou Chiropractic physical exam and neurological-spinal exam. Scheduling the Report of findings. The second visit consists of two parts: A report of findings at which time Dr. Lou and you will review your test results, your diagnosis, your plan for care, scheduling and insurance information when applicable. Begin your care with your first adjustment. Our staff will do everything that we can to make your experience as smooth and informed as possible. Efficiency, strategy, structure and results all go hand in hand on the first visit and every visit thereafter. Everyone knows what it’s like to be “off” from time to time, nobody likes it, and we make it our mission to get you up to speed as fast as possible. CONNECT. HEAL. CHANGE YOUR...