Healthy Gardening in Maine – Dr. Lou Jacobs – Gardening in Portland, ME
Heathy Gardening in Maine There is something truly beautiful in growing and eating food that you have taken the time and care to help survive and thrive. The connection to the earth becomes strong and rooted. Like many other activities worth doing, gardening can be taxing on the body as well. Injuries can occur while digging in the dirt. Here are five tips to lessen your risk of aquiring one: 1. Wear gloves to avoid cuts and scrapes, and to prevent bacteria and fungus that live in the soil from entering a wound. 2. Use tools with thick, padded handles to protect the smaller joints in your hands. Hold your wrist in a straight position to help prevent wrist and forearm injuries. 3. Use padding, a gardening stool, or bench instead of bearing all your weight on your knees, to lessen the pressure on your knee joints. 4. Use both hands while lifting and alternate hands on more repetitive tasks. 5. Take a break every hour or so, stretch, and switch to an activity that uses different parts of the body. Dr. Lou Jacobs, a chiropractor in Portland, Maine helps dozens of people each year who have suffered injuries while gardening. Dr. Lou will answer your questions, solve your problems and listen to you. Call...
read moreSide, Stomach, Back. The Best Sleeping Position.
The Best Sleeping Position The best sleeping position does in fact vary from person to person. That said, there are a couple general rules that will help prevent neck and low back pain and spasm. Long term sleeping in a poor position can lead to significant pain and problems as we age. An ounce of prevention is still worth a pound of cure! 1. Stomach Sleeping. The worst of the three major positions. Sleep with your face in the pillow and you’ll suffocate. You have to turn your head to breath which puts a lot of strain on your neck and shoulders. Should your neck tighten up enough, you’ll start to have tension headaches. 2. Side Sleeping. Side sleeping is fine if you are actually on your side, as in fetal position. Unfortunately many “side sleepers” are actually modified stomach sleepers with many of the risks associated with stomach sleeping. Additionally, many of these side/stomach sleepers do funny things with their arms which can lead to shoulder problems as well. Side/stomach sleepers also generally have one leg straight and the other bent and off to the side, creating torsion in the low back which can lead to low...
read moreDoctors Don’t Listen – (207) 807-1119 – Doctors Don’t Listen
Doctors Don’t Listen “The secret to great care is great understanding. That understanding is achieved through great listening on the part of your doctor. They may be a great clinician, but if they didn’t hear you when you said that your dog died last week, they aren’t going to understand why you have a headache, your shoulders hurt, you can’t sleep and you’re irritable and depressed. This will likely result in a prescription for zoloft and imitrex. As a clinician, if you don’t hear and address the underlying minutiae, you are not most effectively working WITH the patient.” ~Dr. Lou ...
read moreDr. Lou’s Top 3 Preventable Risk Factors For Back Pain In Portland, Maine
Dr. Lou’s Top 3 Preventable Risk Factors For Back Pain In Portland, Maine If you are not experiencing back pain in Portland, Maine but want to know what puts you at risk, here are Dr. Lou’s top 3 preventable risk factors. 1. WEIGHT. If you are carrying extra weight around in your belly, you are putting extra strain on the muscles of your low back. The beer belly is putting you at greater risk of a serious back pain set back. Lose the gut, lose a risk factor for back pain in Portland, Maine. 2. WEAK ABS. The weaker your abdominal muscles, the more the muscles of your low back have to work to keep you upright and stable. Strengthening your abs with crunches, planks, leg lifts and the like will help you prevent back pain in Portland, Maine. 3. DEHYDRATION. If you are dehydrated your muscle cells will be unhappy and less likely to “fire” properly. Staying well hydrated helps provide your muscle cells with the fluid and often the minerals they need to not seize up into a full blown spasm. Drink plenty of water and the occasional nutrient replenishment drink like Endura by Metagenics to help prevent...
read moreOnline self diagnosis in Maine and other bad ideas | (207) 774-6251
Online Self Diagnosis in Maine – Dr. Google Dr. Google is not a real doctor. If you are consulting Dr. Google you can generally expect the following: 1. Unnecessary Worry: Not fully understanding what you are reading, not knowing how what you read integrates with the rest of the body and not knowing other possible causes of your symptoms can really get you scared. Read online about your symptoms and possible diagnoses, then consult with a human (doctor). 2. Poor Diagnosis: Self diagnosis using online information is a bad idea. You may get it right, but without consulting a doctor in addition to your self diagnosis, you may find yourself headed down the wrong road with poor results with healing. You don’t rely on your “Self Diagnosis” when it comes to your car, don’t rely on it for your body. 3. Artificial Time and Experience: What you are reading online is what doctors have studied for years in school and thereafter. The difference is comparing, contrasting, analyzing and a knowledge of how to proceed. Your circumstances and individuality may make your circumstances and treatment different. 4. Website fear factor: Many websites are designed to scare you to get your...
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