How to use a foam roller on your back muscles.
Using a foam roller on the muscles of your back is good. We humans are just like pasta dough. The more we knead and roll ourselves out, the softer and more adaptable we become. (Learn how to make pasta dough with Dr. Lou) The majority of our patients have extremely tight muscles alongside the spine. Typically, the only way for them to make headway on “paraspinal muscle tension” is to get very frequent massages or to do something at home, like use a foam roller on a daily basis. A quick stretch or massage a month is not going to do the trick. Muscle tone doesn’t change that easily, particularly when your daily activities are contributing to the tension in the first place (work, childcare, etc). What does using a foam roller do for you? Using a foam roller improves blood flow to the muscle, tenderizes and loosens the muscle, it improves flexibility and reduces the risk of injury. It only takes a few minutes a day and it may have a profound impact on the health of the muscles of your back. But for the cost of the roller, it’s free. What does using a foam roller potentially...
read moreUp at 2 a.m. for your kids? Supermoms sometimes often at night.
2 a.m. mom’s know who they are. ARE YOU A “2 a.m. MOM?” A 2 a.m. mom is one who is up at 2 a.m. because of a child. If you are reading this, you are a great parent. You may be up worrying or you may be up because the child is up and needs you. Either way, at some point during the night, your stress is heightened and your worry soars. Your mind races, longs for answers, you want to sleep but your child is more important than rest. If nothing else is certain about Sensory processing disorders, ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and the rest of the growing neurological disorders in children, one thing is for sure. They have strong and undeniable neurological components. The question is, what is the rest of the equation? What caused the nervous system to change? In an article published in the journal “Frontiers In Integrative Neuroscience,” in 2009, findings point to a host of potential contributors to Sensory Processing Disorders (SPD) and children with both ASD and SPD. Many studies have shown that there may multiple causes, making the hunt for a single cause, all that more elusive. Many of...
read more2019 Goal Setting. It’s not too late!
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...
read moreHelp 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...
read moreDo 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...
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