Painless-Chiropractor

One Exercise to Keep You Young

Dr. Bryan A. Born, DC — Wed, 16 May 2012 22:36:58 +0000

If I asked you what one exercise to pick in order to keep you young, what do you think it would be? Walking? Jogging? Abdominal crunches? Yes, but no. From my 20 years experience, the single most important thing you can do to keep yourself young, is to exercise your balance.
When you’re young, you take balance for granted. Testing your balance is fun, whether it’s walking a line like a tightrope or launching yourself across a frozen puddle. As we age, we lose that youthful vigor, and balance becomes something we guard against losing. We don’t slide on ice, dance on parking curbs, or put our socks on while standing. Gradually, we lose trust in our balance, and that’s the slippery slope that makes us feel and act old.
For every patient who comes in with a slip and fall injury, I’ll have five who slipped but caught themselves before falling. People often hurt worse when they catch themselves. Why? Because they aren’t used to exerting that fast reaction, and they pull muscles, trap nerves, and herniate discs. What baffled me in earlier years is that some of my most fit patients were just as injured. You’d think someone who dedicates hours working out every week would be less prone to injury, but that isn’t the case. It’s far more important how you exercise than simply building strength.
Let’s think of the ways to exercise the bicep muscle (that’s the one on your upper arm that bends your elbow.) most of us have seen the machines at the gym. There’s one you sit in, with a padded channel for y our elbow and a bar to grip. Once you set the weight, you can repeat the exercise of bending your elbow until it’s exhausted, knowing that the machine prevents you from being out of position. Isolating one muscle to exercise it seemed like a good idea at the time.
Wrong.
In using a machine to stabilize your body, you fail to exercise all the supporting muscles in the shoulder, chest, back and even legs. How would we use the bicep muscle in real life? Imagine reaching for a grocery bag at your feet on your left side. You place your hand through the handles and bend your elbow to lift it from the ground. Your shoulder muscles have to work as well. And if your right low back muscles aren’t ready, you’ll fall over (or worse, your back will “go out”.) Nearly every action uses muscles in a team.
Standing on two feet using a weight in your hand to exercise the bicep muscle would be a better exercise. You’d have to use your shoulder muscles, as well as the muscles in your back and legs. But even that isn’t enough. By standing there, you’re using your balance, but you’re not exercising your balance.
Let’s have you sit on a large rubber exercise ball, with a single hand weight in your left hand. In order not to roll off the ball, your back muscles have to be active to keep your balance. Not challenging enough? Put your feet together. Ideally, we’d like each and every exercise performed while at the very edge of losing your balance. It’s important to stay safe, of course. The purpose is not to practice losing your balance, but in testing your balance (and staying IN balance.)
In my 21 year career as a chiropractor, I’ve often been asked what to do to keep the back safe from injury. The answer has always been, “strengthen the core.” Yet I’d have patients who were the picture of fitness just as injured as couch potatoes. I came to realize that it wasn’t about strength at all. It was more important to have the core muscles work faster than the muscles in the limbs. The only way to train your core to be faster is to have them already working when you perform an exercise. It’s not enough to “tighten your core” when you exercise, because that’s a conscious thought. We want the core to react instantly, not only when we think to do so.
Even the act of sitting on an exercise ball will improve your balance. Try using one in front of the computer, or while watching a TV show. Keep in mind that it is exercising your core muscles, so take breaks and start with only a few minutes.
Did you know that a major portion of your balance comes from nerves in your discs? Each of the jelly donuts in your spinal column feel how you are holding your weight. If that spinal segment is jammed, however, it can send out wrong signals. Like one car in a moving train with its brakes locked, a jammed spinal vertebra can mess up your equilibrium.
All the physicians in our office are trained in high tech chiropractic. Using gentle instruments we tap the spinal bones back into motion. No twisting, cracking, popping or crunching. I guess you could say chiropractic care has gone through the same kind of technology improvement as the roofing industry has. My dad put a new roof on our home when I was a kid, using a bag of nails, a hammer, and a few choice words. Nowadays it’s rare to see a roofer not using the pneumatic nail guns. Roofing technology makes better built roofs with fewer injuries. When considering chiropractic care, be sure to choose a physician who has completed the extra training to utilize high tech instruments.
I am happy to answer questions you may have. My email address is DrBryan@DrBorn.com. Our office blocks time each day for new patients and urgent care, and we’ve been in Southfield for 35 years. 15831 W. 12 Mile Road, Southfield, MI 48076 (248) 559-6763.

Do-It-Yourself Antibiotics

Dr. Bryan A. Born, DC — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 23:13:43 +0000

I like being able to make things on my own. It’s cheaper, often faster, and you can rely on the quality of workmanship. What if we could make our own antibiotics? An internal medical lab to analyze the infection and prescribe the accurate drug to return us to health? In fact, WE DO! Our bodies collect bacteria in lymph nodes (filters), analyze it (White Blood cells) and eradicate the infection.

Should We Use Prescription Antibiotics?

Taking antibiotic drugs actually handcuffs our body’s internal ability to fight infection. Save the antibiotics whenever possible for when you in a life-threatening condition. The sad truth is that we’ve overused antibiotics in the last couple of decades. Bacteria have evolved faster than our ability to create antibiotics, and we now have “super” bugs that are resistant to all known antibiotics. You have a better chance against dangerous bacteria if you rarely use antibiotic medication. Best choice: Give your body a fighting chance!

Fight the Fever, or Let It Burn?

A fever is one of the body’s best weapons against infection. A fever (under 103) burns away the infection inside your body. Yes, you should be concerned if the fever lasts for more than a couple of days. But taking over-the-counter medication like NSAIDs to lower the fever gives the infection a tremendous advantage and can make a 2 day cold into a 10 day cold! Being patient and allowing the body time to overwhelm the infection can be your best bet.

An Army Is Only As Good As Its Supply Line

An army without ammunition is vulnerable to attack. Stress and lack of proper nutrition is likely the reason you became vulnerable to infection in the first place. Fortify yourself with extra nutrition and water intake to maximize your body’s ability to fight, and you cen be back on your feet in no time. Look for the specific nutritional suggestions for fighting colds in an upcoming blog here.

Chiropractic Maximizes Your Infection-Fighting Efforts

Having a chiropractic adjustment increases blood circulation, reduces the chance of miscommunication (by eliminating pinched nerves) and settles down your fight-or-flight response so you can heal more rapidly. Ask a long-time chiropractic patient, and you’ll likely hear how they get fewer colds because they receive regular chiropractic care.

Do you have a success story about chiropractic helping you stay healthy? Please share it on our Facebook page: www.Facebook.com/PainlessChiropractor

Avoiding and Discovering Youth Sports Injuries

Dr. Bryan A. Born, DC — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 16:19:55 +0000

Guest Blogger: Dr. Claudia Anrig

Almost 75 percent of families with children between the ages of 5 and 18 have at least one child who plays organized sports, either at school or on a community team. This may seem like a good thing; after all, there’s the benefits of learning to work together as a team, building camaraderie and participating in consistent physical activity. However, parents need to pay special attention to the potential injuries that can occur at any time. Here are a few common injuries sustained by youth every day, along with advice on what you can do as a parent to minimize your children’s risk of suffering an injury.

Concussions: The Silent Injury

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 300,000 children and adolescents suffer from sports-related concussions each year. Many of these children will recover within just a few weeks, but research is proving that this “silent injury” can have long-lasting effects that are easy to miss at the time of the injury. Symptoms such as memory problems, chronic headaches, difficulty concentrating and even depression can manifest for months and even years after a serious concussion. Many doctors and parents have also noticed abrupt personality changes following a serious sports-related head injury.

Worse yet are the young athletes who get up, “shake it off” and continue playing after an impact on the field. Warning signs are silenced by adrenaline or endorphins, and since only about 5 percent of injuries that cause a concussion will actually “knock out” the athlete, they don’t realize that they’ve been seriously injured. Failing to get proper medical attention following a head injury can have disastrous consequences; while rare, a concussion can even result in death. And don’t think football is the only sport that results in concussions: Any child involved in basketball, soccer, hockey or any sport that puts them in close proximity with their opponent(s) and/or teammates is susceptible to this dangerous brain injury.

Repetitive Stress Syndrome

Sports that require your child to move one arm or leg repetitively over long periods of time (baseball and tennis are good examples) can actually cause repetitive stress syndrome (RSS) to their still-developing spine and extremities. The body was designed to move symmetrically. When we walk, we tend to swing both arms rhythmically as our legs move in counter-motion to our arms. This develops muscle tone evenly and keeps the spine in proper alignment. However, many sports require participants to use their dominant arm or leg repeatedly, discouraging symmetry in their body movements.

Preventing RSS may be as simple as watching your child while they’re playing their chosen sport to see if they are using both arms and both legs equally. If their sport is inclined to have asymmetry, encourage them to introduce warm-up and warm-down symmetrical activities to provide as much balance to the body as possible.

Two Easy Ways to Reduce Injury Risk

1. Teach your child to listen to their pain. Athletes, whether professional or in grade school, place a tremendous amount of stress on their bodies. The running, jumping, tackling and falling that is a fairly frequent part of many competitive sports tend to result in sprains, strains and chronic injuries. These injuries can sideline an athlete and cause considerable pain, typically for only days, but sometimes for months.The concept of pain should be taught to children as an important warning signal from the body that something is wrong and should be checked out. Taking prescription or over-the-counter pain relievers effectively masks the warning signal, which means children will tend to overextend themselves, resulting in a worsening of the underlying problem. This is why forward-thinking coaches, athletes and doctors (and parents) have come to realize that painkillers are not the answer. Painkillers merely cover up the pain and deceive the athlete into believing they can do more than they actually should.

2. Focus on prevention. Whether providing just prevention education, structural adjustments or ancillary care, your chiropractor has a role to play with young athletes. Chiropractors will typically take more time to assess the injury site, provide appropriate care, and most importantly, recommend or teach how to prevent future injuries. Chiropractors can provide extremity adjusting, stretching and rehabilitation, and even recommend nutritional protocols to assist in performance and injury recovery.

The larger role the chiropractor can play involves developing a schedule of care for your child that’s not pain- or relief-based only. Your child will definitely benefit from regular spinal and extremity examinations and screenings. Rather then waiting for an injury to take place, why not introduce your young athlete to a proven prevention model that will keep them pain-free and in the game? After all, that’s what it’s all about: keeping them safe and able to participate in the activities they most enjoy.

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Sports-Related Injuries: Inside the Numbers

It is estimated that 3.5 million children under the age of 14 receive medical treatment for sports injuries each year and that almost one-third of all injuries incurred during childhood are related to sports activities, with the most common injuries being strains and sprains. Let’s take a quick look inside the numbers:

Football 350,000+
Basketball 300,000+
Soccer 140,000+
Baseball 120,000+
Swimming 43,000+
Wrestling 33,500+
Gymnastics 26,500+
Hockey 21,000+
Track and Field 17,000+

In addition to the health consequences, the financial costs for treating school injuries are estimated to be between $3 billion and $4 billion a year. In addition, the impact of childhood sports injuries on the number of school days missed can be significant. The Institute for Preventative Sports Medicine estimates that each year, there are almost 212 million school days missed by students due to musculoskeletal injuries, the vast majority of which are sports-related injuries.

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Concussion Dangers

While many concussions are mild and will only cause minor, short-term discomfort, the Mayo Clinic (www.mayoclinic.com) recommends seeking immediate medical attention if your child has suffered a blow to the head that is accompanied by any of the following symptoms:

Loss of consciousness
Repeated vomiting
Seizure (convulsion)
Headache that gets worse over time
Changes in behavior, including irritability or difficulty waking
Changes in physical coordination, including stumbling or clumsiness
Confusion
Slurred speech
Lasting or recurrent dizziness
Blood or fluid discharge from the nose or ears
A cut that won’t stop bleeding after you’ve applied pressure for 10 minutes
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Claudia Anrig, DC, practices in Fresno, Calif., and is on the board of directors of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association, an organization that can answer your questions regarding the value of chiropractic care during and after pregnancy.

Chiropractor Sees Clearly With Contacts While Sleeping

Dr. Bryan A. Born, DC — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 18:12:08 +0000

Sounds unusual, doesn’t it? Wearing contacts when your eyes are closed is an oxymoron, or is it? Read on…People have been noticing something different about me for the past two weeks. Many of them can’t quite put their finger on what the change is. When you’ve worn glasses for years, their absence alters the way you physically look. More importantly, however, are the habits you created wearing those glasses; how we adjust them on our nose, the way we peer over them when looking at someone, or the unnatural angle in which we hold our head so we can see through a portion of the lens.We are nearsighted (myopia) because the lens in our eye isn’t the right shape. I first started with this technology called “OrthoKeratology” late in the ‘80s with a patient of my dad’s, Dr. Richard Wlodyga ( a pioneer in OK; Read the wiki here). In the last decade the technology has improved so that you can wear specially shaped contacts AT NIGHT, pop em out when you wake up, and SEE 20/20! They reshape the eyes much like braces realign the teeth. There are a number of patented names, depending upon the brand of contact lens the optometrist uses. The most common is CRT (Corneal Refractive Therapy.)I chose Dr. Scott Youn, OD, because I was satisfied with his credentials, happy with the convenient location, but most importantly because he could explain the process and took time answering my questions (in other words, he treated me like I treat MY patients). Check out Dr. Youn’s website here.Once Dr. Youn (rhymes with June) digitally “mapped” my eyes, he chose specially designed contact lenses to gently reshape them while I sleep. The end result is that when I remove the contacts in the morning, my eye sight is 20/20. My last eyeglasses prescription forced me to resort to bifocals, as my corrected vision prevented me from reading my Blackberry. Now, I can see far, and am also able to see my beloved smartphone without reading glasses!I have long considered lasik as a possible solution for my nearsightedness, but dismissed it because I was unwilling to risk my eyes to a one-shot surgical procedure there was no coming back from. With CRT, you have the flexibility to modify your prescription if it does change, and if you do decide to revert to eyeglasses or daily wear contacts, no permanent damage has been done to your eye. No scary stories of surgeries gone wrong. Oh, and in some cases, this technology can pick up where the lasik left off, for even better results!No solution is perfect. Although wearing the contacts at night is painless, it’s a commitment. Then again, CRT is a fraction of the cost of lasik (with Dr. Youn the program is about twice the cost of a new pair of glasses, for a year of unlimited care). I’m happy with the nightly contact wearing, for the freedom of snowboarding without my glasses fogging up, using a camera without removing my glasses, or just the simple joy of sharp focus-using only my two eyeballs.Thanks, Dr. Youn!

Tips to Help You Sleep Soundly

Dr. Bryan A. Born, DC — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 16:22:56 +0000

Tips to Help You Sleep SoundlySleeping patterns are strong habits, and we can get caught in ‘bad’ habits just like in other areas of our life. Our society makes you think that if you have any old mattress and a pillow, and time to sleep, everything will take care of itself. Not true. Here are a few suggestions on how to make your sleep more productive and restful.Your MattressMost people buy a new mattress when their old one “wears out,” meaning it’s tattered, torn, excessively stained and/or otherwise unappealing to sleep on. Generally, it is not a good idea to keep a mattress longer than 5-10 years due to the wear and tear on the most used springs. Depending on the quality, it may last longer or shorter. Going to a store and lying on a mattress for a few minutes is not enough time to make a decision on something you will have to lie on for years to come. You need to test it out in a real sleep environment to make sure you can experience deep, rejuvenating sleep for years. After all, why pay good money to end up tossing and turning every night? RECOMMENDATION: Select Comfort beds get my vote. A low to mid-range ‘Sleep Number’ bed will be a better investment, because you can change the firmness level, and replace worn out pieces rather than purchasing a new mattress.Sleep PositionOK, so you’ve picked out your “perfect” mattress; now how do you sleep on it? From a health perspective, the best position for sleep is on your back with a pillow under your knees. The pillow should be comfortable for you and help take pressure off the small of your back. The second-best position is on your side with a pillow between your knees. The pillow between the knees must be thick enough to keep your thighs hip-width apart. On your side also means you need a supportive pillow under your neck.The worst position for sleeping is on your stomach. (although, you’ll visit your chiropractor more often..) This is because you need to turn your head to either side in order to breathe and this can cause neck pain.Your PillowThink about how you like to sleep before you choose your pillow. If you sleep on your back, you need more support under your neck than your skull. I use an inflatable u-shape pillow from REI. We have shaped pillows in our office specifically sized for those sleeping on their sides as well.Remember, poor sleep, particularly if it becomes chronic, could be a sign of an underlying medical condition, so talk to me if you’re having trouble sleeping so I can help determine what’s causing it, and then do something about it! After all, you deserve a good night’s sleep, and you deserve it every night, not just occasionally. I got your Back!Dr. Bryan Born, DC

Chewing Blackboard Chalk May Increase Your Risk of Heart Attack

Dr. Bryan A. Born, DC — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:16:37 +0000

In the news recently is a number of articles referencing a new theory that calcium supplementation can actually increase your risk of heart attacks. The study that poses this theory was published yesterday in the BMJ Online First, and while the theory may in fact be true, it is full of holes.Researcher Ian Reid, MD, of New Zealand’s University of Aukland reviewed 11 studies with nearly 12,000 patients and concluded that there may be a slight increased risk of heart attack with those taking more than 500mg calcium. They mentioned that the calcium was without vitamin D. What they didn’t mention was what KIND of calcium it was, which is the REAL story.This is a classic example of a magician’s sleight of hand. Would you have been more impressed if the research title read, “Chewing Blackboard Chalk May Increase Your Risk of Heart Attack..”? Ludicrous, right? Except that blackboard chalk is made from the same material (Calcium Carbonate) that Tums and many other common calcium supplements are made with. Calcium Carbonate takes twelve chemical reactions before the body can utilize it. To put it in perspective, the calcium supplement I use to help people heal is Standard Process Calcium Lactate , which only requires one chemical reaction before it’s utilized.An article on the subject in WebMD went on to state that Reid recommends, “patients to get their calcium from the foods they eat and not from supplements.” In theory, that’s a great argument, but those suffering from calcium deficiency already know this and have been unsuccessful in absorbing calcium from their foods. Standard Process products come from organic farms, and are specifically packaged as whole-food supplements because we agree with Dr. Reid: nutrition from whole organically grown foods will result in the best nutrition.What about calcium from milk, you say? I could present an entire seminar about the myths of getting calcium (or any real nutrition) from today’s dairy. Specifically about calcium, however: the long and short of it is that the pasteurization process that kills the bugs also crystallizes the calcium, rendering it useless for human consumption. (The “Got Milk?” advertising never mentions this though, does it?) It has to do with ionic vs covalent bonds, and explaining the chemistry involved is a great cure for insomnia.Suffice it to say, there’s WAY more than meets the eye when talking about calcium and the human body. To recap: watch out for sleight-of-hand studies making a splash in the headlines. Use your noggin: the closer to organically grown food you get, the more nutrition you’ll absorb. And lastly: whenever you have health related questions, use your resources. I’m happy to answer your questions. I Got Your Back! –Dr. Bryan Born, DC www.Painless-Chiropractor.com

Spring is coming…

Dr. Bryan A. Born, DC — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:29:23 +0000

I can’t help but think of all the yard work that will need to happen in the next couple of months. Yard work and getting the camper ready for the season. I must remember to pay attention to my spine and not over do it. How about you??

Welcome to Painless-Chiropractor.com

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 00:42:47 +0000

Chiropractic Natural Health Associates is the home of Painless-Chiropractor.com, conveniently located in Southfield, MI. We reserve time for emergencies and new patients every day, so you can get in today! Call (248) 559-6763 and we’ll handle the rest. Our patients come from all over Southeastern Michigan, especially Southfield, Oak Park, Royal Oak, Berkley, Birmingham and West Bloomfield. We are centrally located in Southeastern Michigan, minutes from Interstates I-696 and I-75.

Painless Chiropractic Care is Real

We achieve painless chiropractic results through the use of state-of-the-art instruments that deliver precise, gentle adjustments. NO cracking, popping, twisting EVER in our office! Watch our treatment videos to see real-time adjustments on men, women, children and infants. All our physicians are certified and take yearly continuing education training to stay sharp. We have a bio on each of our doctors and staff so you can get to know them. Our doctors are proficient in the following techniques: Activator Methods Chiropractic Technique, Brimhall Technique , Applied Kinesiology (AK), and Total Body Modification (TBM).

Chiropractic care, Massage Therapy, Naturopathy, Nutrition and More!

Our office is a multi-disciplinary office, offering Naturopathy and Massage Therapy. Schedule a massage today from a selection of massage therapists (248) 559-6763. We are also trained in nutritional advice, and have a Doctor of Naturopathy available to answer herbal and nutritional supplement questions. We carry a large selection of nutritional supplements from leading companies including Standard Process, Nutri-West, and Nature’s Sunshine. Come browse thousands of the most sought after vitamins, from Vitamin D, to multi-vitamins for stress relief, to Herbal Weight Loss packages, or simply make an appointment for a consultation with our naturopath (248) 559-6763.

Wholistic Healthcare Leader in Southeast Michigan

Our Chiropractic Philosophy is a painless, holistic, non-surgical and non-invasive approach to pain relief and lasting health. We help people with neck pain, lower back pain, headaches, arthritis, herniated disc, knee pain, sciatica, hip pain, plantar fasciitis, pinched nerve, whiplash, carpal tunnel and tingling hands. We welcome patients who have been injured in motor vehicle accidents (auto accidents), as well as people who have been hurt on the job (Workmen’s Compensation). We handle all your insurance details, and can check your coverage even before your first visit! Call today: (248) 559-6763.