Articles By Doctors
Get Sick or Do Sick
We at FFC feel that perhaps the most important time for you to be adjusted is at the first sign of a cold.
As far back as 1994, the Chiropractic Research Journal reported on a study that found specific upper neck Chiropractic spinal adjustments increased the CD4 immune cell counts in HIV patients.
The researchers found that the CD4 cells (also known as “helper T-cells”) kept the virus at bay; those with high levels of CD4 cells had low amounts of HIV and those with low levels of CD4 cells had high amounts of HIV. The research was done at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
What this means for a person fighting a cold, is that an adjustment may very well provide a boost to your immune system. We have had hundreds of people share with us over the years stories of how they felt they were starting to get sick, then got adjusted, and then seemed to fight off the cold.
Finally, we are not so concerned about your germs. Germs are only one small, but glamorized, part of you getting sick. The fact is your body’s internal health and defense system has far more to do with your health than what bugs or germs you touch or breath in. Our team takes extra care to ensure that we are taking care of our body’s so that our immune system is capable of fighting off most germs we may come in contact with.
And of course, we all get adjusted regularly.
Dr. Monya Tracy
Dizzy Dolphin
Do you ever feel like the world is spinning around you, and no its not after too many beverages. In fact, it’s quite troubling for those who experience it. We all get a little dizzy sometimes, whether it’s because we stood up too fast or we looked at an optical illusion for too long, but vertigo seems to be much harsher and longer lasting than these other brief experiences.
Vertigo is characterized by dizziness combined with a feeling of movement or a spinning sensation, even when you are standing perfectly still. Sometimes headaches, nausea, and fatigue accompany these dizzy feelings. There are a few different ways vertigo can begin, most of them dealing with the way your inner ear and brain communicate. Because of the neurological connection, chiropractic care has been shown to help alleviate vertigo symptoms!
Vertigo is a common symptom in our practice members who suffer from recent neck trauma, but more commonly it may be caused by damage or a disruption in your vestibular system, or inner ears, such as a recent cold/ear infection, or pressure changes.
The good news, chiropractic adjustments have been proven to alleviate a specific type of vertigo called cervical vertigo. And in more complicated cases we take a look specifically at the top bone, the Atlas. This is done by taking very specific xrays and then corrected, adjusted, very specific to your needs. This type of vertigo is caused by stuck spinal joints in the cervical spine from those recent neck injuries or strains. This results in a decrease in communication being sent from the nerves in your neck to your brain. This misinformation may cause you to feel dizzy. Our specific adjustments realign the joints and vertebrae in the cervical spine, correcting the nerve pathways and allowing for clearer communication!
A more common type of vertigo, benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), is due to the movement of crystals around the inner ear. These crystals can make you sensitive to gravity. They can shift into other parts of the vestibular pathways, altering your center of balance and briefly making you feel dizzy in certain positions. To help with BPPV specifically, we as chiropractors will use the Epley maneuver, which maneuvers your head into different positions to reposition the crystals inside the inner ear.
We are here to help you! Don’t let vertigo control your day and alter your life!!!
Dr. C. Chae Tracy.
Optomist vs. Optimal
Like Optimus Prime, we are passionate about helping our community transform their lives and achieve health and wellness! With that, we have a simple purpose in our offices. Our purpose is to help you reach your highest possible level of optimal health!
Something occurred to us recently that people do not understand what we mean by optimal health. Maybe you have heard this term before, but have you ever internalized what it means? To us, optimal health is waking up in the morning full of energy and fully rested, excited to be alive. No gasping at the alarm clock, no snooze buttons.
Optimal health is not belching and farting after eating a meal.
Optimal health is the ability to exercise and push yourself to your limits and not feel exhausted but exhilarated.
Optimal health means there is no need for medications in your body, including over-the-counter ones. Your body is and has the strongest pharmacy know to man..
Optimal health means when you have pain it is temporary. Pain is a brilliant feedback mechanism we are blessed with. Pain is our body’s way of making us change our lifestyle or habits, so when there is pain, we adapt and function better.
Optimal health means having great flexibility and a fantastic range of motion.
Optimal health means you have more energy than you started with at the end of your day.
Optimal health means you have great posture.
Optimal health means you have perfect nerve supply and power to every cell, muscle, and tissue in your body.
Do any of these things come easily? Of course not! If they did, everyone would have optimal health. It takes work to be healthy, just like keeping your car running properly or keeping your yard pristine. Our vision for your health, our goal for you, is radiant vitality! I know it is possible. We live it and see it flourish with our practice members every day.
Dr. C. Chae Tracy.
Chiropractor and a Cockroach
We often get asked, “so what exactly IS chiropractic ?”. Well, there is no better answer than the one written by the man that founded chiropractic:
“The beauty of Chiropractic is that it works with natural means. It puts nothing into the body, nor does it take away any natural gland or organ. Chiropractic simply releases life forces within the body, sets free rivulets of energy over nerves, and lets nature do her work in a normal manner. Healing comes from ABOVE-DOWN & INSIDE-OUT.”
And like cockroaches, chiropractic as a profession has survived and evolved over a hundred years. The beginning of chiropractic was a bit of a challenge . Our founders in the early days were prosecuted for practicing chiropractic. The early chiropractors were bashed for a healing art, while pharmaceutical companies were praised.
Now, chiropractic is the largest, drugless profession in the world, and more than ever people are looking to get to the root cause of their health concerns!
Dr. Nicholas Hoyer