It’s easy to assume aches in pains in our backs are originating from where you are actually feeling it. So if your back hurts, it must be coming from an issue within your back, right? This is not necessarily the case. Everything in our bodies is connected through tissue and our nervous system.

Your body has three main shock absorbers: your feet, your knees and your spine. The shock of walking, running, jumping etc. is first felt by your feet. If your feet can’t handle the shock, it passes the impact absorption to your knees. When your knees are ill-equipped to handle the shock it passes the absorption to the last stop on the chain, your back. Your back will eventually fatigue and begin to cause you pain, especially if there is a misalignment in the lower region or the pelvis.

Most of the problems associated with our backs caused by our feet are simply because of the surfaces we walk on. Our feet were designed to walk on grass, sand, dirt, mud and other natural terrain. Human innovation has brought us cement, tile, wood, etc. which are actually detrimental to the health of our feet and in turn our back. Natural terrain is suited to the shape and structure of our feet. This causes our arches to be supported and causes the muscles, ligaments and tendons of the foot and ankle to work in a supportive fashion.

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You may ask yourself, how can I prevent this cycle of pain?

There are 3 solid solutions that work best synergistically, when used together.

1. Shoes – Find the right kind of shoe to support your foot type. If you have flat feet or have a minimal arch, shoes that have a good amount of cushioning or stability will work best to absorb the shock. Sorry folks, there are no high-heels on the planet that are going to do anything good for your feet or back, so try and wear them as sparingly as possible.

2. Chiropractic adjustment – A visit to your chiropractor can do wonders. First, they will check the joints in your feet and ankles are working properly. Your chiropractor will perform an examination, which could include examining your feet, analyzing your gait and posture, requesting an x-ray and checking your shoes for improper wear. If it’s determined that your feet are the cause of your back pain, your chiropractor will develop a program, which may include an adjustment of the foot to stabilize your postural foundation and to help relieve related stress/pain to the rest of your body.

3. Custom Orthotics – Your chiropractor may also suggest individually fitted, orthotic arch supports if they’ve determined your feet to be the cause of your back discomfort. Orthotic arch supports are heat moldable plastic shoe inserts designed to support the arch on the inside of the foot. Orthotics also help in realigning your foot’s ankle joints and bones.

At PRI clinic, we offer a wide variety of orthopedic shoes, custom orthotics built specifically for your feet with advanced technology and professional chiropractors who will ease your foot and back pain.

Today, more women are seeking out natural and alternative methods to treat symptoms from PMS and menopause, such as chiropractic care. Not all women experience premenstrual syndrome (about three out of four women report PMS symptoms), but all women will go through menopause in their lifetime.

There are over 150 identified and reported symptoms of PMS. Common symptoms include: bloating, irritability, headaches, migraines, breast tenderness, fatigue, stress, cramping, back pain, nausea and weight gain.

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There are physiological explanations for these symptoms. For example, lowered levels of serotonin during this time can cause mood changes, irritability and depression; high levels of excess estrogen can also cause irritability and nervousness. An imbalance of progesterone and estrogen can cause water retention, thus affecting weight gain. Abnormal thyroid function can contribute to breast tenderness, and blood sugar imbalance can lead to cravings, headache and fatigue.

Chiropractic adjustments are a safe, non-pharmaceutical alternative to treating the symptoms of PMS. Chiropractors perform adjustments in the lumbar spine and the sacrum, specifically L2 and L3. These vertebrae affect the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems, which control hormonal regulation. In multiple studies, women report less bloating, headaches, cravings and cramping while under chiropractic care.

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On average, women begin to experience the symptoms of menopause at age 51. This transitional time starts with “perimenopause,” which can begin several years before the last menstrual period. The most common symptoms of perimenopause and menopause reported are hot flashes, night sweats and sleep issues, which can be attributed to a change in levels of estrogen and progesterone.

Like PMS, chiropractic can provide a drug-free alternative to treating symptoms of menopause. Research has shown that more women are choosing alternative therapies, like chiropractic, for treatment and women who use these therapies generally find them beneficial.

Make an appointment to talk to a chiropractic doctor about chiropractic and reproductive health.

At PRI clinic, we have a team of chiropractors, traction specialists, physiotherapists, massage therapists, aquatherapists, clinical psychologists and in a network of MDs, who work together in synchrony are also present, to ensure that you receive appropriate care for your PMS or menopause concerns. We evaluate your concerns and we ensure that your therapy reflects the most recent research that is most conducive for your health and well-being.

Do you wobble if you stand on one foot? How about with your eyes closed? If you walk in a straight heel-to-toe line do you stumble? How about with your eyes closed? If you stand with your feet together and close your eyes do you sway to one side? Do you walk with a wide gait, or feel like you’re going to fall if you don’t hold the handrail going down the stairs? If you answered yes to any of these questions you may have balance issues that could be a sign of compromised brain health and increased risk of dementia later in life.

Balance is governed largely by the cerebellum, the area at the base of the brain that also helps with precision, coordination, and timing of motor movements. The cerebellum is one of the most continually active areas of the brain because not only does it keep you from falling over, it also processes information from gravity.

A healthy cerebellum is important because it constantly feeds a steady stream of information to the entire brain, which is necessary for overall good brain health and function.

This is where problems can occur. When cerebellum function begins to break down, causing such symptoms as worsening balance, this impacts the stream of information going to the rest of the brain. When the cerebellum degenerates, it can overwhelm the brain with excess input.

This can cause problems in other areas of the brain with symptoms that may seem totally unrelated to balance, including restless leg syndrome, tinnitus, being hyper sensitive to stress, depression, fatigue, anxiety, and many more. These are signs the brain is functioning poorly and degenerating too quickly, increasing the risk of dementia later in life.

You’re never too young or too fit to work on improving your balance as it’s a great way to help protect and preserve brain health.

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How to improve your cerebellum health

There are several ways to protect the health of your cerebellum. One is to perform balance exercises, such as the ones listed in the first paragraph. Yoga and tai chi are also beneficial. As your balance improves or if you are already athletic, continually challenge yourself, such as by doing your balance exercises on a wobble board or Bosu ball. Just be safe!

Follow an anti-inflammatory diet and lifestyle. The brain is very sensitive to inflammation, including the cerebellum. Junk foods, sugars and processed carbohydrates, lack of sleep, too much stress, lack of exercise — these are all factors that can accelerate degeneration in the cerebellum and the rest of the brain.

At PRI clinic, we have a team of physiotherapists who help restore your balance through supervised wobble board exercises and other tools. Chiropractors, traction specialists, physiotherapists, massage therapists, aquatherapists, clinical psychologists and in a network of MDs, who work together in synchrony are also present, to ensure that you receive appropriate care for your balance issues. We evaluate your concerns and we ensure that your therapy reflects the most recent research that is most conducive for your health and well-being.

It’s important to watch your balance and make sure your brain health is well taken care of. Please check out the PRI clinic. To book an appointment, please call or follow these links.

Did you know that approximately two-thirds of all doctor’s office visits are for stress-related complaints? Stress is the body’s reaction to any situation that is demanding or dangerous. When we experience stress, the body responds by making adrenal hormones such as epinephrine, norepinephrine, and cortisol that help your body cope. Commonly called the “fight or flight” response, this is where your blood pressure increases, your hands sweat, and your heart rate and breathing quicken. You’ve probably felt it during that big job interview, before a first date, during an argument, or being stuck in traffic when you’re running late.

Our bodies normalize quickly after responding to short-term stressors. But problems arise with chronic stress, such as financial worries, major life changes, job stress, or an ongoing illness. Other chronic stressors are not lifestyle related but instead metabolic: gut infections, leaky gut, food intolerances, blood sugar imbalances (low blood sugar, insulin resistance, or diabetes), anemia, autoimmune disease, inflammation, and environmental toxins are examples.

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How stress damages the body

In chronic stress, the adrenal glands continually produce the hormone cortisol. Known as the “aging hormone” (ever notice how you look older when you are stressed a lot?), chronic high cortisol is linked to:

•high blood pressure

•diabetes

•depression

•insomnia

•suppressed immunity

•insulin resistance

•increased belly fat

•reduced libido

•bone loss

•low energy

•heart problems

How do you know if you have adrenal stress? You may experience ongoing fatigue, energy crashes, difficulty recovering from long days or stressful events, headaches, difficulty falling and staying asleep, difficulty waking up, mood swings, sugar and caffeine cravings, irritability, lightheadedness between meals, eating to relieve fatigue, dizziness upon standing, and gastric ulcers.

Everyone is familiar with classic stress-relief methods such as meditation, exercise, enjoying hobbies, and socializing, but there is much more you can do to support the body’s stress response.

There are other tools to add to your stress-reduction program. For example, chiropractic care can help normalize cortisol levels and protect the brain from the damages of stress.

Of course, one should always consider lifestyle habits when addressing stress. Below are lifestyle suggestions to help support healthy adrenal function and stress response:

•Avoid or greatly minimize stimulants.

•Eat nutrient-dense foods.

•Avoid high carbs and sugars.

•Avoid dietary causes of inflammation such as food allergens, high fructose corn syrup, refined foods, and especially industrial seed oils such as canola oil.

•Have adequate intake of essential fatty acids (DHA and EPA).

•Have proper sleep habits.

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Though we may live in a world of unrelenting stress, it is possible to successfully manage the body’s response through a combination of healthy lifestyle habits, chiropractic care and nutritional support.

At PRI clinic, we have a team of chiropractors, traction specialists, physiotherapists, massage therapists, aquatherapists and clinical psychologists in a network of MDs, who work together in synchrony to ensure that you receive appropriate stress relief. We evaluate your concerns and we ensure that your therapy reflects the most recent research that is most conducive for your health and well-being.

For more information on how to identify and manage stress, please contact our office.

Kids are the joy of our life. Most of us want the best for them. We want them to be happy and healthy, to enjoy life and to give us joy in return. Parenting in the 21^st century could be quite demanding, especially in today’s stressful world. Sometimes it’s difficult to understand what to do for our kids to maintain their health as optimal as possible.

This article was written to take some of that burden away from you and to give you one helpful suggestion that will skyrocket your kid’s health through the roof: chiropractic care. Under the care of a skillful chiropractor, your child’s health will greatly improve. Check out some of these helpful ways, chiropractic care can help out your little ones.

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Kids tend to play and tumble a lot. With each tumble, their joints can become slightly misaligned. I’m not just talking about their wrists or shoulders, knees or ankles; I’m also referring to the joints of their spine. Some of this playful tumbling happens when you are not even around. Their joints may slightly misalign, and they won’t even tell you that something is wrong. They will simply continue playing as if nothing happened. With regular weekly trips to a chiropractor, your child’s spine and other joints will be fully assessed and re-aligned as needed. What this means for your child is fewer injuries down the road. If you let it go, these misalignments will pile up like layers of onion and eventually most likely will result in a serious injury.

Some of our dear little ones may continue wetting their bed way past the correct milestone age. According to the pediatric society, most children are toilet trained by the time they are 5 years old. But what about those, who are not? According to Mary Johnson, a pediatric urology nurse specialist, about 10% of the bed wetting cases are due to a serious medical condition, and are in need of an MD attention. In some other cases, bed wetting is caused by a spinal misalignment that decreases the proper function of the nerves that run from the lower thoracic (mid-spinal level) or upper sacral area (located at the level of the buttocks) to the urinary bladder. In such cases, a regular visit to a chiropractor will ensure that these areas are assessed and your child’s bedwetting habit will be flushed away.

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Your child deserves great chiropractic care for optimal health, just like you do. For great chiropractic care, please check out the PRI clinic. They have great specialists who will take care of your kids, like they take care of their own. To book an appointment, please call or follow these links.

Fibromyalgia (FM) is the second leading rheumatologic disorder in the United States, afflicting 4–6 million Americans, the majority being women. FM is characterized by chronic pain and fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome, anxiety, depression, and mental fogginess. The etiology of FM is not known, and prognosis for recovery until recently, has been poor. Traditional therapies include pharmacologic interventions such as tricyclic antidepressants, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory and antiepileptic drugs, sedatives, muscle relaxants, and opiates.

Pharmacologic interventions achieve symptom relief for less than 50% of this population and are associated with side-effects such as weight gain, morning “hangover,” gastrointestinal distress, and increased tolerance to drug therapy.

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Due to side-effects of drugs and noncompliance to medication, non-pharmacologic interventions have increased in popularity. One survey found that 91% of individuals with FM used some form of alternative medicine.

A few studies used a multidimensional alternative medicine approach that showed great improvements over those studies that used a single intervention. In one study, chiropractic thoracic and lumbar manipulation was combined with resistance training program with an onsite Pilates instructor. After 6 weeks of this management, patient reported that 80% of the initial fibromyalgia symptomatology was resolved. Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire was used to assess the initial and post-treatment state of the patient.

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At PRI clinic, there is an amazing team of chiropractors’, physiotherapists’ and in a network of MDs, who work together in synchrony to ensure that you receive appropriate care for your condition. We evaluate your concerns and we ensure that your therapy reflects the most recent research that is most conducive for your health and well-being.

If you suffer from fibromyalgia, please check out the PRI clinic. They have great specialists who will take care of your health. To book an appointment, please call or follow these links.

A human heart is a remarkable structure that beats 70 to 100 times a minute in a resting state. With each beat, it squeezes out a little bit of blood and creates enough pressure to continuously deliver this blood to each and every single part of your body. This blood is literally the lifeline of your body, it picks up fresh oxygen from your lungs, and fresh nutrients from your gut to help keep your cells alive. That same pumping action also allows the blood to get rid of toxins, useless byproducts from your food and gasses such as carbon dioxide that can very dangerous to your health if not eliminated.

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As you can probably tell by now, having a healthy heart that functions well is crucial to your health and your state of well-being. One of the factors that affect the proper function of your heart is your posture. In today’s world, a lot of us spend a substantial amount of time sitting at the desk at work, sitting on the couch watching TV, sitting in our cars or busses commuting on our way to and from work and so forth. In this position, our bodies are constantly hunched over, which brings our heads forward, and hunches our mid backs forward. This hunching forward process puts unnecessary pressure on our spines and with time deforms our spines, our ribs and our breastbone. This deformation puts more pressure on your heart, and your heart needs to pump more vigorously in order to deliver the same amount of blood to every part of your body. This more vigorous pumping of the heart wears the heart down faster, and also begins to unpredictably vary your blood pressure. With worn hearts and fluctuating blood pressures, we begin to experience a vast array of health issues, such as heart arrhythmias, headaches and light headedness. Also, when the blood pressure is too low, not enough nutrients are being delivered to your body, and with time, this can compromise each and every organ of your precious body.

A regular weekly trip to the chiropractor is a great solution to break this vicious cycle. Chiropractic adjustments help to restore posture by improving motion and spinal integrity, which improves incoming and outgoing input between the spinal cord and brain. This allows the body to comprehend and balance itself better in relation to gravity. Improved posture will open up your chest and your ribcage, allowing your heart to function a lot better in a much healthier way.

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Your heart deserves great chiropractic care for optimal health. For excellent chiropractic care, please check out the PRI clinic. They have great specialists who will take care of your spine and your posture, which will greatly improve the functioning of your heart. To book an appointment, please call or follow these links.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is a condition of severe, chronic tiredness. It is well known in the medical world and affects 1-4 million people in the USA. Since the term was coined, considerable controversy has arisen. Some members of the medical community over trivialize the condition, and view the illness skeptically. Many doctors believe that the illness is psychological in nature, and thus patients receive little to no treatment for it.

A number of various names have also arisen in the medical community to accredit a specific cause for various symptomatology of this condition. For instance, Myalgic Encephalopathy is supposed to describe muscle aches and pains that people feel in CFS.

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CFS affects four times as many women as men and occurs most often to people in their 40’s and 50’s. It is a debilitating chronic illness that is characterized by the following:

• Extreme Fatigue – brought on by low levels of or no exertion.

• Non-refreshing Sleep – disrupted and non-refreshing sleep that increases symptoms of fatigue and pain

• Cognitive Problems – characterized by brain fog, difficulty with concentration, attention and memory

• Pain – muscle, joint and all-body pain with headaches being quite common

Chiropractic care has been shown to reduce the severity of the symptoms described above. It has been shown in a few studies that chiropractic therapy can not only reduce these symptoms, but increase function and allow people to engage more actively in the activities of their daily living.

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At PRI clinic, there is an amazing team of chiropractors, nutritionists, dietary specialists and in a network of MDs, who work together in synchrony to ensure that you receive appropriate care. We evaluate your concerns and we ensure that your therapy reflects the most recent research that is most conducive for your health and well-being.

If you suffer from fatigue, disturbed sleep, difficulty with concentration, muscle pain and all-body pain, please check out the PRI clinic. They have great specialists who will take care of your health. To book an appointment, please call or follow these links.

Using water for treating various medical conditions is as ancient as the mankind. Water can be applied in various forms, such as steam, liquid form and ice in order to achieve specific therapeutic effects. Various temperatures of those various forms of water are used to achieve even a more focused therapeutic effect. Aqua-therapy is a very interesting form of a modality that does not necessarily use drugs in order to accomplish various degrees of needed therapy without side effects.

For centuries, Aqua-therapy has been used in countries like China, Russia, India, Korea and Egypt by its inhabitants. In Russia, for instance, great health and very resilient immune systems were achieved by many individuals, who used Aqua-therapy in specific ways that varied between altering hot and cold aquatic environments.

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It has been shown through various experiments that superficial application of cold water therapy can accomplish a decrease in local swelling, reduce muscle spasms, and increase local anesthetic effects, which can temporarily numb a patch of your body from experiencing pain. Patients with heart conditions, such as some types of chronic heart failure, as well as people with some types of chronic high blood pressure can also greatly benefit from controlled cool Aqua-therapy sessions. The application of colder water causes expansion of local blood vessels. This in turn, allows the blood to flow easier, and reduces the blood pressure. When cold aquatic environments are followed by immersion into warmer aquatic environments, this improves and strengthens heart function.

Altering temperatures with water immersion also speeds up your metabolism and serves as a great foundation to a natural method of moderate weight loss that does not involve any gimmicks, powders or supplements. It also helps strengthen the quality and resilience of your skin. Many people, who lost weight, find that specific Aqua-therapies reduce stretch marks that occur after giving birth or a severe weight loss.

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Warm-to-Hot water immersion, on the other hand, has been scientifically proven to increase various blood components that assist our immune systems, such as activated thromboplastins, and granulocytes.

It is important to note, that most medical conditions require medical supervision in a controlled and timed environment, in order for the Aqua-therapy to be safe and effective. When administered on your own, it can be very unsafe and even fatal, especially for people with heart conditions.

At PRI clinic, we have dedicated specialists, who offer supervised Aqua-therapy sessions for your specific medical needs.

If you are experiencing any of the above issues, please contact one of our Aqua-therapy specialists at PRI clinic. We are happy to help your body get better and get back on track.

Most people complain about pain in the back at least once in their lives. When people experience such pain, most frequently try to heal themselves, or keep praying for that fortunate day, the pain will go away on its own. More often than not, that “fortunate day” does not occur, which is when a person realizes that they cannot do without medical assistance.

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There are many different types of therapies such as massage, physiotherapy and chiropractic that effectively deal with back pain without resorting to pharmaceuticals.

Chiropractic medicine is a branch of manual therapy that focuses on realigning every joint of the human body into proper position. When a joint of your spine is misaligned, the bone of your vertebrae can touch a nerve that runs from your spinal chord to any part of your body, such as the muscles of your hands, arms, shoulders, feet, legs, thighs, as well as your back, abdominal, chest and neck muscles and so forth. That nerve, or a branch of that nerve can also run to any of your internal organs, such as your lungs, heart, gut, ovaries and testicles, liver, pancreas, and so forth. It’s been scientifically proven that it takes as little as the weight of a dime (10 cents) to reduce the function of the nerve that has pressure on it by 50%. This frequently causes some sort of pain or discomfort of the muscle or the organ that the nerve supplies.

A chiropractor typically uses techniques such as manual palpation, visual inspection of the muscular asymmetry, range of motion tests, notes inflammation and fluid accumulation under the skin, and x-ray analysis to determine which way is the joint misaligned, in order to figure out which way a joint should be placed back into its proper anatomical space. Once determined, a chiropractor will typically exert a quick shallow thrust on your skin, in order to move the bone underneath the skin frequently by less than a few millimeters, in order to set the bone back into its proper anatomical position. This moves the bone away from the nerve that it touches, reduces the pressure on that nerve, and restores function of that nerve. This in turn, allows for the muscles, the internal organs, or other structures of your body that the nerve is supplying to function more efficiently. This in turn, relaxes the muscles, improves blood and lymphatic circulation and reduces pain.

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Chiropractic scientific research has demonstrated that chiropractic manipulation helps with:

• Reducing pain and healing some gut pathology
• Reducing pain and healing some liver or kidney diseases
• Reducing back and neck pain
• Reducing muscle fatigue and improving athletic performance
• Reducing pain from some types of headache
• Reducing pain from Fibromyalgia and many other medical conditions

If you are experiencing any of the above, please contact schedule to see one of our chiropractors at PRI clinic. We are happy to help your body get better and get back on track.