Patient Education
How Muscle Mass Increase Longevity
- One of best ways to age
- 8ww increase muscle helps
- Helps with balance, mobility, rom
- Increase bone density with
- Final couple lines talk about targeting 8ww
There are many factors that determine how we age and one of the most important is the amount of lean muscle mass we have. There are many ways to lose muscle mass if we are not proactive with exercising and that is by ageing in general. “After age 30, you begin to lose as much as 3% to 5% per decade” of muscle mass (Harvard, 2016). When we continue to lose muscle, we lose the ability to balance or move efficiently which can cause an increase in falls which can be detrimental in an ageing population.
“With advancing age, sarcopenia and osteopenia present major clinical problems, such as locomotory function, compromised balance, increased risk of osteoarthritis and fall/fractures; all of which diminish the quality of life in seniors (McLeod, 2016). When anybody falls there is a chance at fracturing any bone in our body but coupled with ageing bones leads to an increased chance which can directly affect how that person ages from that point forward.
Other than ageing, we can lose muscle mass if we do not get up and physically move or exercise. This is becoming a bigger issue with each passing year from kids up to seniors. Strength training not only is good cardiovascularly but it also is beneficial for the overall strength of your bones. “By stressing your bones, strength training can increase bone density and reduce the risk of osteoporosis” (Mayo Clinic, 2019).
When a bone loses its density, it becomes fragile and easier to fracture which can lead to a decrease in quality of life. Physical activity is directly proportionate to how fast we lose our muscle mass and strength which is why strength training is extremely beneficial as we age.
At Inver Grove Chiropractic we have a program called 8 Weeks to Wellness where we focus on physical activity for people of all ages. We work on all aspects of physical activity with an emphasis on strength training.
Sources:
AskMayoExpert. Physical activity (adult). Rochester, Minn.: Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research; 2019. Strength training: Get stronger, leaner, healthier
McLeod, M., Breen, L., Hamilton, D. L., & Philp, A. (2016). Live strong and prosper: the importance of skeletal muscle strength for healthy ageing. Biogerontology, 17(3), 497-510.
Injury Prevention Especially When Starting to Workout Again
- heart rate monitor
- hydrate
- warm-up
- cool-down
- 8ww
Injuries are one of the worst outcomes that can occur when starting to exercise again. It is important to look at a couple of different factors to ensure the safest and most effective way to exercise. Getting a proper warm-up is one of the most important things you can do to stay safe while exercising. “For warming up, stretching is generally performed following short aerobic exercise, which elevates body temperature, reduces muscle stiffness, and increases elasticity (American College of Sports Medicine, 2014).
Without reducing muscle stiffness there is an increased risk of straining or pulling a muscle which can lead to weeks of rehab and pain. After your warm-up it is crucial to understand and to be able to monitor your heart rate. Everybody has a max heart rate and a resting heart rate and being able to measure these is important to be safe while exercising. “…the most commonly used equation for age-predicted maximal heart rate is 220-age” (Hui-Jie Zhange, 2016). If you are measuring your heart rate you can ensure that you are not exercising at your max heart rate for more than a short period of time. Exercising at 65-80% of your max heart rate is going to be a good spot for beginners, and most athletes.
After a hard workout, just like a warm-up, a cool-down should be performed to ensure that your body is going to be able to recover quickly. It is important to continue stretching or exercising at a limited rate to ensure an active cool down which is considered better for promoting post-exercise recovery when compared to no activity. “Performing active cool-downs may partially prevent immune system depression and promote faster recovery of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems” (Van Hooren, 2018). These are important factors because of the importance of exercising regularly and ensuring that your body is healed and ready for the next day’s work out or activity.
After a cool down it is important to grab some water and continue hydrating throughout the day to replace the fluid and electrolytes you lost while exercising. Dehydration can be a very dangerous condition if not caught early and can lead to hospitalization. Drinking water and electrolytes will also prepare your body for the rest of the day and the next days workout. These are all things that we take into consideration with each patient going through the 8 weeks to wellness program to ensure safety and success in the program and exercising in general.
Sources:
American College of Sports Medicine. ACSM’s resources for the personal trainer. 4th ed. Philadelphia (PA): Wolters Kluwer/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Health; 2014.
Van Hooren, B., & Peake, J. M. (2018). Do We Need a Cool-Down After Exercise? A Narrative Review of the Psychophysiological Effects and the Effects on Performance, Injuries and the Long-Term Adaptive Response. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 48(7), 1575-1595. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-018-0916-2
Zhang H, Li X, Li X. Importance of Determining Maximal Heart Rate for Providing a Standardized Training Stimulus-Reply. JAMA Intern Med. 2016;176(12):1883-1884. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2016.7350
How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Lose Weight
Nutrition is a very important piece in weight loss but it isn’t the only piece. In order to get the best results with weight loss there needs to be a combination of lifestyle changes including stress management, exercise and structural integrity.
Nutrition is a complex topic that we can go down lots of different avenues and diets. The best way to get the most specific is through getting lab work done. Lab work tells us lots of different things like nutrient deficiencies, Underlying conditions, and genetic components.
Being educated on how to make good health choices is a great way to start. Knowing what good protein, fat and carbs are, along with portions of each per serving is important. We need to eat plenty of proteins everyday to keep out metabolism running, our energy up and our blood sugar levels stable. We need about 20-30 grams/ serving of protein.
Fats are beneficial for energy levels, absorbing vitamins and minerals, great for cell health, and essential for production and regulation of hormones. We need about 10 grams per/serving of good fats.
Carbohydrates are another good source for energy but it is important to know the difference between a healthy and unhealthy carb. Carbs should be eaten in the form of fruits and veggies and less on the pastas and grains. We need less than 30 grams per/serving of carbohydrates. Healthy sources of carbs are low glycemic index fruits and vegetables., nuts/seeds and whole grains.
Another big thing to watch when trying to lose weight is how much sugar we are consuming. As a society we are consuming way more sugar than we used to. In 1822 we used to consume 45g of sugar every 5 days. Today we are consuming about 765g of sugar every 5 days.
These hidden sugars can be found in our condiments like ketchup, salad dressings, pasta sauces, and sports drinks. Consuming too much sugar turns into fat deposition in our body and leads to obesity related conditions like hypertension, high blood pressure, diabetes, and depression.
Why Mediation Is So Important to Practice Daily
Meditation can be an amazing tool to help in a ton of categories when it comes to one’s health. This is a huge reason on why we have it in our 8 Weeks to Wellness Program. According to Healthline.com, mediation can help with many things including Reducing Stress, Controlling anxiety, Promote emotional health, Enhance self-awareness, Lengthen attention spans, Reduce age-related memory loss, Generate kindness, Help fight addictions, Improve sleep, Help control pain, decrease blood pressure, and it is accessible anywhere.
We live in an instant gratification society where our mind tends to run at 100 miles per hour. Since our brains are constantly spinning, we need to try and calm it and put time into developing daily. According to new research from Queens University in Canada, people on average have up to 6,200 thoughts a day. That is a crazy number! Being able to slow the brain down and control it can make huge improvements in our health as you can see from the 12 benefits of mediation that we have already talked about. Making Mediation, or mindfulness, a part of your routine can make a huge difference in your health.
How Chiropractic Works To Eliminate Headaches
- Nervous system
- Vasoconstriction
- Neck stiffness
- Bad posture
A lot of times headaches stem from what we do over days, weeks, months, and years. One of the most prevalent headaches we see is called a cervicogenic headache. This usually stems from the neck and slowly works its way up to the head and can go to the temple or forehead. This happens to a lot of people who sit for work or have bad posture. With prolonged sitting, slouching, or bad posture in general the neck muscles get overworked and tired which leads to stress and inflammation in those areas. When the muscles get stressed they cause a decrease in the mobility of the bones and joints in the neck which causes more tension and stress, which slowly leads to a headache.
“Evidence suggests that chiropractic care, including spinal manipulation, improves migraine, and cervicogenic headaches” (Bryans, 2011). Chiropractic uses spinal manipulation to help get the bones and joints functioning properly to help reduce tension and stress in the neck. This occurs quite often where the pain is in the head but the problem causing the pain stems from the neck.
Chiropractors, with spinal manipulation, affect the nervous system which is the bodies communication system to and from the brain. When the nervous system is not allowed to communicate properly it can affect bloodflow, hormones, and the overall function of the cells in that area. “The low cervical spine/upper thoracic spine model proposed that dysfunction at these vertebral levels causes joint fixation and pain. This pain alters the neural messages received, and therefore sent, by the Central Nervous System” (Tuchin, 1997).
This means that when a joint is not functioning properly it can cause the nervous system to function poorly leading to stress, inflammation, and lastly pain.
Blood flow to and from the brain is extremely important and can be limited if the nervous system is not functioning properly which can lead to a migraine. “The Autonomic Nervous System which controls, amongst other functions, blood supply, is thus also affected.
It is proposed that when certain threshold levels of transient cerebral ischemia (due to vasoconstriction) are reached, a migraine cascade of symptomatology may be precipitated” (Tuchin, 1997). Therefore, the nervous system is so crucial in the overall functioning of the body.
Having joints that are fixed or non-functioning can directly cause the nervous system to be compromised in that area leading to migraines or headaches. Getting spinal manipulations helps to improve the functionality of the joints, thus improving the function of the nervous system leading to a decrease in pain and symptoms.
Sources:
Roland Bryans, Martin Descarreaux, Mireille Duranleau, Henri Marcoux, Brock Potter, Rick Ruegg, Lynn Shaw, Robert Watkin, Eleanor White, Evidence-Based Guidelines for the Chiropractic Treatment of Adults With Headache, Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, Volume 34, Issue 5, 2011, Pages 274-289, ISSN 0161-4754, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmpt.2011.04.008.
Tuchin P. J. (1997). The efficacy of chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) in the treatment of migraine. A pilot study. Australasian chiropractic & osteopathy : journal of the Chiropractic & Osteopathic College of Australasia, 6(2), 41-47.
One of the most important aspects of treating headaches is the initial examination. Taking a good, detailed history is where we start. This allows us to get a good picture of the original cause of the headaches. Sometimes we find that a patient’s headaches have been brewing for years because of certain events or microevents that have happened such as a significant car accident or sports injury or sitting at a desk 8 hours a day for 10 years. Our examination can include a lot of things, here are a few aspects that are common at our clinic; palpation of the spine, checking of muscle tone, range of motion, orthopedic tests, neurological tests (sensation, reflexes, muscle testing), functional movements, posture assessment, and x-rays.
Why Do I have Headaches
One of the more advanced tools that we have at our disposal is digital x-rays. Digital x-rays are a great tool that is safe and uses a very low dose of radiation. X-rays can help us evaluate the cause of one’s neck. It can show many things but here are a few: arthritis, the spacing between the vertebrae (disc degeneration), fracture, and other more rare conditions such as cancer. Taking a good history and evaluation will allow us to know if x-rays are necessary. A few reasons that x-rays are recommended are if one had recent trauma, neurological symptoms (pain or sensations going down one’s arm), intense symptoms that have been present for a longer period of time, history of spinal surgery, or suspected deformities such as scoliosis. Getting a look “under the hood” can help us recommend the best treatment plan to attack one’s headaches.
If we decide not to take x-rays, a posture screening using digital technology and functional movements will allow us to look at the biomechanical stresses off one’s posture and mobility. This can help us hone in on the root causes of a person’s headaches.
Why We Take X-Rays On Patients With Headaches
One of the most important aspects of assessing headaches is the initial history and examination. There are numerous different types of headaches with different triggers. The history can give us good insight on triggers or past traumas that could contribute to headaches. Along with the history, we need a good examination that includes x-rays of the cervical spine to assess any structural problems that could be the source of the headaches. We sometimes find that headaches can be slowly built over time and in others, we find more specific traumatic incidents that cause them.
One of the most advanced tools we have at our disposal is digital x-rays. Having x-rays is a great tool for the provider to get a better picture of what could be causing someone’s headaches. There are different types of headaches but the common ones we see in our office are: Cervicogenic, tension, migraines, and concussion. These headaches are usually due to structural changes from the vertebrae and musculature in the cervical spine. We usually see misalignment or curve changes with someone experiencing these headaches.
Using X-Rays allows us to diagnose and get very specific with treatment. X-Rays allow us to evaluate if chiropractic care is going to be safe and effective and when a referral to another provider may be necessary.
How Chiropractic Works To Eliminate Neck Pain
- Posture
- Losing curve loses the ability for function
- Reversed cervical curve
- Immobility
Neck pain is a common condition that we see in our office. It has some of the most mobile joints in our bodies and if those joints are not functioning properly, or at all, it can lead to pain and other symptoms. “Among US residents, 50% to 70% will experience neck pain at least once in their lives, as many as one third are affected each year, and about 10% suffer from neck pain at any given point in time” (Hurwitz, 2002). Having joints immobility leads to muscle tension, fatigue, and inflammation in that area which leads to pain. When chiropractors feel the patient’s neck, we are looking for joints that are fixed or not moving properly. With spinal manipulation, we put motion back into those joints which allows the musculature that is attached to function properly leading to decrease stress and tension.
Posture is a big indicator for how a neck will function and feel in the long-term. With more people working behind a desk and with more people looking down at their phones this has led to an increase in neck pain and the introduction of losing the natural, important (lordotic) curve in our necks. There are 3 natural curves in our spine and if we lose one of those curves it decreases our ability to resist gravitational forces by 50%. If all curves are normal, we have a value of 10.