After a bad fall, do this. The fall may not feel as bad as what it does to your quality of life. Did you hit your head or break a bone? If you think you need the hospital because you’ve hit your head or broken something, seek emergency attention. Concussions, contusions, cracks, fractures and other injuries can be serious. A bad fall on the ice can be just as damaging as a car accident, in some cases more so. Did you pull a muscle? You start to slide and you catch yourself. You don’t hit the ground, but you do strain your back, groin, neck or shoulder. Go inside and put ice on the strain to reduce inflammation. Then switch to heat – as long as it feels comfortable. Light stretching may be helpful too. If the pull is not severe, applying deep pressure to the muscle may help release tension and stimulate healing. Did you land on your tailbone? Get ice on it immediately. Pay close attention to your ability to sit and lie down comfortably. You may need to sit on a special surface or a “Donut Pillow” to help take the pressure off the tailbone. Injuries to the coccyx...

Discs Are Shock Absorbers. There are 23 discs in the spine. The discs have a rugged outer shell of sorts, the interior is soft and flexible. The discs are similar to the gum we had as kids with the thick liquid center. Discs need hydration. At birth, the disc is 80% water. Over a lifetime, hydration is critical for the health of the discs. When discs are under stress and poorly hydrated, they accumulate damage faster. They degenerate, herniate and debilitate (you). Discs are somewhat rubbery but firm.  When discs compress and lose their height under stress, nerves, joints, and bones become compressed. Blood vessels, lymphatic tissue, ligaments, and tendons become compressed too. You actually lose height over the course of the day, because of compression of the discs. When you sleep at night, your spine DEcompresses. With more spinal stress, there is more compression. More compression leads to more damage. Age is only a partial factor, a young ski jumper may have more spinal damage than a much older swimmer.   What is the difference between a disc bulge and a disc herniation? A disc bulge is a small protrusion of the disc that may begin to take...

Why do you have a spine? The spine serves several functions. Protection. The spine protects the spinal cord. The spinal cord, which is the primary communication pathway from the brain to the rest of the body, is protected by the bones of the spine. Like the brain that is protected and encased by solid bone, it is so protected because of it’s importance. Support. The spine supports the upper body. Like a pillar made of many bones and joints, it bears a great load. Movement & Flexibility. Bending, lifting, extending, turning, looking at your child, gazing at the stars, making love, and reading books are all possible, because of flexibility and movement in the spine. There are 24 vertebrae in the spine, a sacrum, and the coccyx. There are over 120 joints of the spine, over 200 ligaments and tendons. There are discs between each of the vertebrae. There are 7 vertebrae in the neck, 12 in the mid-back, and 5 in the low back. All regions of the spine allow for movement in specific ways. The discs of the spine are tough. With longterm stress or acute trauma, discs may be damaged, which may result in bulging or...

“Cooking is an act of love.” ~ Massimo Bottura   Why does Dr. Lou give patients his homemade marinara sauce? Jacobs Chiropractic Acupuncture Clinic exists for a few very important reasons. 1. Health. We want you to be healthy. We want you to enjoy a homemade and healthy marinara to fit your healthy, or unhealthy, lifestyle. Health is achieved by doing a lot of good things over time. Food is instrumental in this process. 2. Efficiency. We want to save you precious time – both with efficient care and efficient dinnertime for active busy parents and people! 3. Gratitude. We are grateful to everyone who chooses us to care for them. Thank you for your trust, your referrals and your effort! 4. Care. We are here to serve you. We are here to help you live your best life, free of pain, setbacks, and worry. EXPECT BETTER, AND DIFFERENT. If you are looking for a change, a staff that listens and a dedicated team here to make your life easier. We plan on delivering on your expectations. Will I really get a jar of Dr. Lou’s Marinara at my first visit? You betcha! “Dinner” is on us! Tomatoes Are Healthy!...

What pubic bone pain represents, is much more than just discomfort. Symphysis pubis dysfunction (SPD), or pubic bone pain is a common cause of suffering during pregnancy. Your pubic bone is actually made up of 2 pelvic bones and a piece of cartilage. The two bones meet in the middle with the cartilage in-between, and this forms the “pubic bone” or symphysis pubis, in the front of your pelvis. The same pubic bones that meet to make the pubic bone, also meet at the sacrum in the back of your pelvis, where they form what is called the Sacro-iliac joints (SIJ). So what causes SPD?  One of the most common causes is misalignment (subluxation)and pubic bone pain is in the sacroiliac joints, or the pubic bone itself. Because of pelvic bone involvement, they are essentially inseparable. If you imagine subluxation of the sacroiliac joints (top two circles in the image above), would medication realign these joints? Would medication realign the pubic bone? The answer is NO to both. Would massage realign the joints? Unlikely. Pubic bone pain always has a cause. When the cause is subluxation, it must be corrected by a specialist in pregnancy (perinatal) chiropractic. As the pregnancy progresses,...

Stress During Pregnancy Affects More Than You May Think. A study recently performed at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City, showed that mothers with high stress during pregnancy, either physically or mentally, were more likely to have girls.  They were also more likely to have premature babies. (LINK TO REPORT) While this is a preliminary study, it raises important questions. 1. If stress during pregnancy can affect gender, what else does it change on a genetic level. 2. If stress affects gender, how seriously does it impact the mother’s body chemistry? 3. We know that mental stress causes tension in the neck, head, shoulders, low back and pelvis. Pelvic tension leads to breech presentation. How does stress impact breech presentation? 4. If stress during pregnancy affects gender, how does it impact fetal brain chemistry, growth and development. 5. We know that fetal development of the stress response begins at around 5 weeks. How does maternal stress impact fetal stress at the level of the brain? All breakdown, all derangement of function comes from stress. Stress during pregnancy can be classified under three types: Physical, Mental & Chemical. Pregnancy is the one time in a woman’s life where she generally really wants...

If you want to avoid needing a walker, this is a good place to start. Nobody ever plans or aspires to need a cane, a walker or a wheelchair. They go about their lives, feeling relatively ok, and then one day, something happens and there’s a loss of independence. Ask any older person of their greatest fears and apart from death, the fears are loss of independence and being a burden on a child. These five action steps will help build the health and adaptability you need to do your best to avoid a walker or wheelchair. Exercise. Exercise creates strength and body awareness. Body awareness can be balance and spacial awareness of your body in relationship to your environment. Think “Feet in relation to the ground.” Strength and body awareness will help you avoid the type of fall that could land you in the grip of a walker. Exercise also promotes circulation and cardiovascular health. Few things lead to having to re-learn how to walk, like a stroke. If you have a walker already, you can exercise with your walker! Stop Smoking (period) & Drinking in excess. Anything, including diet, that may lead to poor health in your heart and blood...

Actions Work Better Than Thoughts. You’ve heard the expression “Actions speak louder than words.”  Healthy actions also have more impact than healthy thoughts. Healthy thoughts and ideas are critical, but if they are not acted on, they never live up to their potential. If you want to be healthy, you have to ACT like a healthy person. What do healthy people do? Here is a list of things healthy people do. Incorporate 3 of these things into your everyday (key word: Every) life, and you’ll be on the road to healthier: Exercise. – 20-30 minutes a day, five days a week is plenty! (try Beachbody!) Drink more water. Get better sleep! Whether it’s a new mattress, CBD oil, Exercise, a new pillow or some other healthy tool that helps you sleep, sleep is needed for energy and healing. Don’t smoke. I don’t have to tell you why. Millions of people have quit, you can too. Reach out for help if you need it. Don’t know where to turn? TRY THIS! Drink less alcohol. Eat 1/2 portions. If you aren’t already watching your portion sizes, try cutting them in half. 1/2 the calories could mean 1/2 the waistline, 1/2 the stress on your body, 1/2 the back pain,...

Can understanding bunions, save your spine? Do you have bunions? Do you have back problems?  Bunions form when the bones that make up the MTP joint move out of alignment: the long metatarsal bone shifts toward the inside of the foot, and the phalanx bones of the big toe angle toward the second toe. The MTP joint gets larger and protrudes from the inside of the forefoot. The enlarged joint is often inflamed. (source: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons) Back pain, degeneration, and dysfunction are very often caused by bones of the spine being out of alignment. Just like a bunion, the spine is made up of weight-bearing joints. They absorb stress. Stress on misaligned joints leads to faster than normal degeneration, inflammation, and dysfunction. Sometimes debilitating pain ensues. Degeneration is considered irreversible. People with bunions are very aware of the implications of joint degeneration.  Where your toe can be easily shaved down and reconstructed, this is much more complicated and dangerous in the spine.  When joints of the spine degenerate, you lose mobility, you lose strength, and you can even lose nerve control over the organs, tissues, and other body parts the affected nerves control. That’s not good. ...

Thinking like a healthy person requires….well, thinking. Principle 1: Just because you feel good, does not mean that you are healthy and without risk. How we feel, and how we are functioning, are two different things. People have cancer before they feel the symptom that leads to the doctor appointment and final diagnosis. Research has shown that many people with herniated discs in their spine, don’t have symptoms. For many people with severe heart disease, the first symptom is a heart attack. They felt fine otherwise. Just because your back doesn’t hurt, doesn’t mean you don’t have degeneration or disc problems. You see, it’s the problems that lurk beneath the pain threshold, that create risk for real bad symptoms or catastrophe. Understanding the facts that follow, will help you protect and educate your family from potentially life-threatening mistakes. Ignoring an underlying problem: Doesn’t make it go away. Doesn’t lower risk of injury or flare up. Doesn’t cost less, in fact, it will end up costing you more. Doesn’t save time. The longer you wait to act, normally, the longer it takes to fix. INCREASES the likelihood of chronic disease. INCREASES the depth to which the problem sinks it’s claws into you (severity). INCREASES the...