What Lies Beneath….The Snow. Don’t be fooled! Just because the snow looks soft and fluffy from today’s storm, doesn’t mean there aren’t hazards beneath the surface! Slip and fall accidents leave people injured, missing work, missing family time and falling short in all activities of daily living if the fall is a bad one. Beneath the snow lurk hazards that will ruin your day, week or year if you aren’t careful. Below are a four of the main culprits that are awaiting your arrival! Hazard 1: ICE Ice beneath the snow is easy to slip on. One false move and you’ll be in a world of hurt, may miss work, may not be able to pick up your kids or sit down on your butt. A broken tailbone is the last thing you need. Hazard 2: POTHOLES Twist your ankle, fall on your hip, say hello to urgent care or the ER. Not a fun way to spend a Wednesday or Thursday afternoon. Hazard 3: LEGOS Legos are always a stepping hazard. Hazard 4: CAR TRACKS Believe it or not, packed snow under a car tire can be nearly as slippery as ice. Just pay attention. Hazard 5: CRACKS...

Our patients tell the story. It’s difficult to know where to go when looking for a Maine chiropractor online. There is no chiropractor directory. You have recommendations from friends or a chiropractor search on google, that’s it. Like with many services, we’re left looking at reviews and trying to get to know a product or service through videos on youtube. If you have cluster headaches, a frozen shoulder, a herniated disc, sciatica, lower back pain, migraine, neck pain or the like, you need help soon and you want the best chiropractor in Maine. Let us help you find the family chiropractic clinic that is best for you. The following video was produced on August 18, 2017. We all know that healthcare of any kind is a very personal thing. You need to find someone you trust, someone who is available for you, a doctor who is well educated and who cares about people. Based on surveys done at our office, these qualities and feelings are harder to find than one might think. The majority of our patients have been dissatisfied with their previous caregiver and state that this is the reason for them finding someone new. “Doctors don’t listen” or...

How does Dr. Lou eat? Here’s an inside look at what happens in his kitchen. Dr. Lou likes the principle spoken of by author Michael Pollan. “If you don’t make it, don’t eat it.” If you aren’t willing to churn the ice cream or bake the pie, you don’t get to eat them. Eating well is critical to your overall health. Dr. Lou wants to help you by showing you how easy it is to “do good” by your family and provide them with exciting, healthy meals. “Dr. Lou’s Kitchen” is a new playlist on Dr. Lou’s youtube channel (Mainechiropractor). High quality, easy to understand cooking lessons will be posted regularly for your enjoyment. This is exactly how Dr. Lou eats. Chiropractic is about optimizing nervous system control and healing and diet affects these in a positive or negative way, depending on what you eat. Maine is over 60% overweight or obese. Obesity in Maine kills more Mainers than anything else.  Eating well is a life saver, eating poorly will kill you. Dr. Lou is not only a Maine chiropractor, he is also a pretty good cook. He’s taught cooking classes for years here in Maine and in Kansas City. The...

Why do I have back pain? The problem. The cause. The solution. “In a field of horses, don’t look for zebras” they told us in school. It’s usually an obvious cause to a common problem if you look closely. And indeed, but for the few odd cases, people and their problems are pretty predictable. In my 15 years of practice the majority of folks who haven’t had a clear cut trauma have suffered because of a long term accumulation of one or many of the  following causes: Mental stress. Too much sitting or standing. Heavy physical labor. Sleep position on the stomach or side with a leg up. Being overweight or obese. Lack of exercise. Repetitive motions over long periods of time. Lots of driving or commuting. Bending over for long periods of time at work (hygienist, dentist). Sitting on a wallet in your back pocket Time + Stress = Problems. Many men keep their wallet in their back pocket for years and then fail to figure out that it’s the cause of their back problems. Imagine a car with 13″ rims on one side and 20″ rims on the other. Or maybe a woman who wears a 5 inch heel on one foot...

What Causes Numbness In Our Bodies? Numbness may be caused by a variety of different illnesses or injuries, some of which are serious, others less so. What is the most common cause of numbness? Nerve pressure. Pressure on nerves leads to dysfunction in the nerves and also leads to numbness. Herniated discs, subluxated vertebrae, bone spurs, inflamed tendons and muscles may all cause enough pressure to cause symptoms of numbness. Most commonly nerves are irritated at the exit of the spine or after they exit the holes in the sides of the spine. Sometimes the spinal cord can be compressed by a severely herniated disc or ruptured disc, also leading to numb sensations and more significant symptoms. What is causing your numbness?  It’s not worth trying to guess. You have to be evaluated. Most feelings of being numb are nothing to be overly concerned about, even though it justifies evaluation. That said, occasionally, numbness can be the sign of a very serious, even life threatening situation and emergency medical care may be needed. The Mayo Clinic suggests getting emergency service, even calling 911 if your numbness begins suddenly, follows a recent head injury, or involves an entire arm or leg. They further...

Face Wrinkles – Non-Surgical Prevention! Every night when you go to sleep, you may be adding wrinkles to your face if you do this one big no-no. The solution is simple and costs nothing. Not only is sleeping on your stomach a major cause of neck pain, shoulder pain and headaches, it also causes you to visually age more quickly. Solution: Stop Sleeping On Your Stomach. Not sleeping on your stomach is easier than you might think. My technique, explained in the video below, has helped hundreds, maybe thousands of people switch from their stomach to their back while sleeping. Imagine this. 8 hours a night of smashing your face against a pillow.  Night after night, that pressure adds up and creates and accentuates wrinkles. Imagine this. You sleep on your back and while you are sleeping, your face wrinkles are decompressing and flattening out. Gravity to the rescue. The longterm effect of sleeping on your back may be a smoother face and will certainly reduce your risk of neck degeneration, pain, headaches, shoulder pain and tension. Don’t sleep on your stomach. Dr. Lou Jacobs is a chiropractor in Portland, Maine. He may be reached on twitter @drloujacobs or...

What do you do when doctors don’t know what’s wrong with you? You know something is wrong, they’ve done all the tests, you’ve spent thousands of dollars, your family is tired, you can’t sleep, they have no answers, your stress, anxiety and frustration are through the roof. Doctors have some of the answers, but they don’t always have ALL of the answers. Some limitations of doctors include: Education, Knowledge & Judgement. Philosophy. Personality. Inclinations & Persuasions. Testing tools and materials. Skill of applying “their medicine”. Doctors are human and they are only as good, as these things are good. We’ve all experienced it. So what do you do if doctors don’t know what’s wrong with you? You go somewhere else. There’s no such saying; “everything happens for no reason”. If you have a problem, there is a cause. Guaranteed. Because one doctor can’t find the cause, doesn’t mean it can’t be found, it means that doctor can’t find it. It may mean that their tools or their ability to comprehend or understand the cause may not be there. If their personality, inclinations, persuasions don’t allow them to see potential causes, they’ll never find it. Think about this. Without the...

The Top 3 Tools For Your Back To Have In Your House. There are three tools that every person who has experienced back pain, shoulder pain, hip pain, sciatica and a host of other aches or acute injuries should have at home. These are the tools that I recommend people use between chiropractic visits at my office. These tools, when used properly and under the direction of your chiropractor, will help speed up healing and feeling better. These tools are not in order of importance. If I could have only one, it would be the Theracane. Heating Pad.  A heating pad can make a huge difference in how you feel. It helps relax muscle, improve blood flow, reduce inflammation and may reduce pain as well. Heating pads are inexpensive and safe. Foam Roller. A foam roller allows you to perform a squeezing self massage on the muscles that ail you. Foam rollers are excellent for working on tight calves, thighs and hamstrings. The muscles of your butt (gluteal muscles) may also be worked on with a foam roller. By lying face up on a foam roller and leaning to one side as you roll up and down your back, you will...

Top 10 tools to have at home for back pain. There are many useful tools and supplements that you can keep at home to help with back pain and a host of other aches and pains. This top 10 list is simple but the tools are readily available, generally affordable and depending on your problem, extremely effective in supplementing your chiropractic care in between visits. This list does not include the obvious “stretching”, because it is practice, not a physical tool. Heating Pad Foam Roller Theracane Ice pack Interferential/TENS unit (electrical stimulation) Hot Tub or Bathtub Inflatable Exercise Ball Formula 303 (herbal muscle relaxants) Tempurpedic Mattress A little gnome who lives in your basement and is also a chiropractor. The value of home care in between visits is that the stress of our lives, past and present, will often overpower a 1-5 chiropractic adjustments a week. You simply must take care of yourself at home too. If you do, you’ll get better quicker, have longer lasting results and you’ll create habits that will be preventive in nature as...

GOLF IS MY LIFE. You wouldn’t risk your “life” because you are lazy would you? As you know, the Maine golf season is short compared to most other states. We have to make the most of it, while it lasts. Don’t be lazy, get in gear now! Business guru Patrick Bet-David says that “If you don’t have time, you either don’t really care or you are lazy.” I know you care about golf and if you can afford to play golf, you aren’t lazy. SO, start preparing now for the best season ever! Back pain, shoulder pain, neck pain, elbow pain, hip pain, knee pain, foot pain all have the potential to ruin your season by affecting golf performance. Tiger woods has the best clubs, the best of everything, he was indeed the best until his back pain (among other things) destroyed his game. Your body matters most. Your brain controls your body’s position, it controls your strength, your reflexes, your perception of where your body is in space, your depth perception, your interpretation of wind currents and a whole lot more. Your brain communicates to the parts of your body that swing the club and provide momentum, through...