We are very excited to announce that we will be adding Acupuncture to our list of services in mid March! Stay tuned for other upcoming surprises as we make our transition to Heller Chiropractic Spa!
Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine strongly protect us from colds and flu
(NaturalNews) Cold and flu season is upon us. Traditional Chinese Medicine has effective time-tested techniques which boost immunity and protect us from colds or the flu. Points can be needled and herbal formulas can be given to balance the body's energy, strengthen the body and even speed recovery if one does come down with symptoms.
In Chinese medicine colds and flu are considered to be an external pathogen invading the body. When our body`s energy, or qi, is strong we are able to fight off these pathogens. If our qi is weak we come down with symptoms of cold and flu: headache, chills, fever, body aches, cough, and sore throat.
To keep our qi strong and prevent colds and flu it is important to:
* Eat a healthy diet full of fresh raw fruits and vegetables. * Cut out white and brown sugar, and corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup - all of which lower our immunity. * Wash hands frequently with regular soap and water. * Get outside in fresh air exposing your face to sunshine. It may be wise to supplement with vitamin D3 this time of year. * Receive acupuncture treatments which strengthen the qi and balance energy. * Choose herbal medicine, supplements and nourishing food to keep immunity strong.
It is important to make sure all meridians are balanced to keep the energy flowing smoothly and our immunity strong. Immunity relates especially to the earth and metal elements which show up in the pulse as the spleen and lung meridians.
An acupuncturist will often use points such as Stomach 36 to keep the energy strong and Spleen 6 to make sure food is digested properly and nutrients are absorbed and turned into vital energy.
Large Intestine 11 is a powerful immune point. Large Intestine 4 and Triple Warmer 5 are often used to help the body push pathogens out. Lung 7 combined with Large Intestine 4 strengthens the body`s defense against pathogens.
Often the earth and metal points on the back (Bladder 13 and Bladder 20) are needled to harmonize the body`s energy and strengthen immunity.
In terms of herbal medicine:
* Astragalus is an excellent immune tonic. * Medicinal mushrooms such as Reishi and Maitake can boost the immune system especially if compromised. * Four Gentlemen Formula is a classic Chinese herb formula to keep the qi strong. * Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang is a combination of ginseng, astragalus, and other herbs used to strengthen qi.
If someone comes down with symptoms of the flu the treatment switches to formulas which expel the pathogen:
* Yin Qiao contains cooling detoxifying herbs such as forsythia and honeysuckle. It is used with symptoms of sore throat, headache, and a yellow tongue coat. * Gan Mao Ling is used when in the midst of a bad cold or flu especially with head and body aches.
Acupuncture and Chinese medicine have been around for thousands of years successfully treating many disorders including colds and flu.
Heller Chiropractic Receives 2010 Best of Costa Mesa Award
U.S. Commerce Association’s Award Plaque Honors the Achievement
NEW YORK, NY, October 26, 2010 -- For the second consecutive year, Heller Chiropractic has been selected for the 2010 Best of Costa Mesa Award in the Chiropractors category by the U.S. Commerce Association (USCA).
The USCA "Best of Local Business" Award Program recognizes outstanding local businesses throughout the country. Each year, the USCA identifies companies that they believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and community.
Nationwide, only 1 in 70 (1.4%) 2010 Award recipients qualified as Two-Time Award Winners. Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2010 USCA Award Program focuses on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the USCA and data provided by third parties.
About U.S. Commerce Association (USCA)
U.S. Commerce Association (USCA) is a New York City based organization funded by local businesses operating in towns, large and small, across America. The purpose of USCA is to promote local business through public relations, marketing and advertising.
The USCA was established to recognize the best of local businesses in their community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations, chambers of commerce and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to be an advocate for small and medium size businesses and business entrepreneurs across America.
SOURCE: U.S. Commerce Association
CONTACT: U.S. Commerce Association Email: PublicRelations@uscaaward.com URL: http://www.uscaaward.com
It's that time of year. When us Californians get the biggest change of weather. Costa Mesa changes a whopping 10-15 degrees throughout the year. Be that as it may, Californian's still get the usual cold and flu symptoms. While I don't advocate flu shots, I thought I would give you tips on how to prevent getting sick during the next few months.
First, you have to keep your immune system healthy. The easiest thing to do is avoid extremes. Extremes can include temperature, eating habits (too much, too little, too much sugar, etc.), drinking in excess and stressing too much. These are some of the things to avoid. Next are things you can do.
Wash you hands. Most bacteria and viruses are spread through contact.
Drink plenty of water. Water flushes your system, washing out the poisons and rehydrates you. An adult needs about eight 8-ounce glasses a day.
Get outside into the fresh air. Especially in cold weather when central heating dries you out and makes your body more vulnerable to cold and flu viruses.
Exercise regularly. Aerobic exercise speeds up the heart to pump larger quantities of blood; makes you breathe faster to help transfer oxygen from your lungs to your blood; and makes you sweat once your body heats up. These exercises help increase the body's natural virus-killing cells.
Eat fruits and vegetables. These foods contain phytochemicals. Natural chemicals in plants give the vitamins in food a supercharged boost. So put away those vitamins and eat real fruits and vegetables or substitute with a whole food supplement like Juice Plus.
Eat Yogurt. Some studies have shown that eating a daily cup of low-fat yogurt can reduce your susceptibility to colds by 25 percent. Researchers think the beneficial bacteria in yogurt may stimulate production of immune system substances that fight disease.
Relax. Get a massage. If you can teach yourself to relax, you can activate your immune system on demand. There's evidence that when you put your relaxation skills into action, your interleukins -- leaders in the immune system response against cold and flu viruses -- increase in the bloodstream. Train yourself to picture an image you find pleasant or calming. Do this 30 minutes a day for several months. Keep in mind, relaxation is a learnable skill, but it is not doing nothing. People who try to relax, but are in fact bored, show no changes in blood chemicals.
Get adjusted. Many chiropractors have noticed that chiropractic adjustments have helped prevent or reduce the duration of their patients’ colds. Preliminary results of an ongoing chiropractic study show that chiropractic may increase immunoglobulin A levels and that it decreases the levels of glucocorticoid cortisol, a major component of stress.
Follow these simple tips and have a wonderful holiday season.
Have you seen Dara Torres? She is the 41 year old olympic swimmer. She is amazing. One thing caught my eye. She was being treated by her chiropractor. So I googled her name and chiropractic and sure enough she uses a team with chiropractic and massage, and not for pain!
Guess what the most common thing I hear when I call patients that haven't been in for a while. Chiropractic doesn't work? No. I don't have the time? No. I don't hurt, I feel fine? YES! I have to be honest with you. If I waited for pain I would never get adjusted. I get adjusted every week so I won't get pain. But more important, so my body doesn't break down.
I am now 43 years old and I play soccer, baseball and football with my son, I do gymnastics and trampoline with my youngest daughter, and have to make sure I have enough energy to keep the boys away from my 16 year old daughter. If my body wasn't in good shape I would be missing out on all of this. My son is only 8 and my youngest is only 6. Do the math, I have to, no, I want to be able to do this for another 12 years at least. I also want to be able to golf for many years. If I waited for pain before I took action, my body would have already broken down to the point of causing pain. Silly. What's worse is I could just take pills to mask it. This is fine if you just want to feel good in the short term. But I have seen way too much degeneration in way too many spines to want to do this.
So next time you hear yourself say, I feel fine, I don't have any pain. Remember that if you do feel pain, you have already begun the degeneration process. If you are eating right and exercising, great, but why not take care of the structure that makes everything else possible. Your spine and nervous system!
One of the leading contributors to back pain is sitting for long periods of time. That’s because an upright sitting posture puts a lot of pressure on the discs. Besides having a good ergonomic setup, people who are on the computer a lot should vary their sitting positions.
“In addition to helping the muscles relax and recover, this alternately squeezes and unsqueezes the intervertebral discs, which results in better filtration of fluids into and out of the cores of the discs. Discs stay plumper and, in the long run, healthier” (www.office-ergo.com/12things.htm)
There are many creative and inexpensive ways that we can adjust our sitting positions.
The Saddle Seat
Convert the simple stool into a "saddle seat" by using a buckwheat zafu or meditation cushion. Place feet on the rungs for stability
Perching
“Perch" at the computer with a zafu on a stool. Almost any chair can be converted into an inexpernsive "tilt seat" this way.
Kneeling
Place your laptop on crates, file boxes, or books to the height which allows your forearms to be horizontal with the floor. Place a blanket or towel on your heels and kneel on them. This position keeps the back straight with ease.
Standing
Alternatively use your props — file boxes, crates etc. to elevate your workstation so that you can stand (making sure there is no flexion in your neck as you view the screen and that the elbows are supported).
There are also companies who make adjustable height tables so that you can switch from sitting to standing with ease.
Squatting
One position that most of us in the West should consider is the squat. Squatting relieves pressure on the spine, opens up the hips and lower back, strengthens the legs, and is good for the prostate. You can incorporate the squat while watching TV, talking on the phone, or even working on a laptop (be careful if you are overweight, since this position could put too much stress on your knees). For beginning squatters, roll a towel and place under your heels to relieve tight hamstrings.
These are some alternatives to the traditional sitting position. So, get creative and experiment with a setup that feels right for you. It’s an easy way to protect your back and health.
We’re all aware that what we eat is important to our health, but we tend to overlook another important aspect of eating—how we eat.
For most of us, eating is a means to an end. We don’t see its vital connection to our health so we cram eating into other activities --we have breakfast while driving, lunch while working, and dinner as we ‘relax’ in front of the TV.
One of the reasons why so many of us overeat is because we are out of touch with our body’s natural state of satiety or satisfaction. Our minds and habits are hungrier than our bellies. Slowing down and eating mindfully is an effective way to create more wellness and health.
Besides letting go of the urge to multi-task when we eat, here are some other ways to reconnect with what nourishes us:
• Give thanks – no matter what our religion or belief system, taking a moment to silently acknowledge our food, the people, beings, and elements that came together to make the meal possible is wonderful way to set our intention for greater awareness. It reminds us to slow down and enjoy our time eating and connects us to the universe of factors —the sun, water, earth, farmers, truckers, supermarket workers, even our bosses!— that all came into play to create what nourishes us.
• Chew slowly – Ayurvedic doctors (and moms)recommend chewing food until it’s a soft mush. Chewing carefully relieves the gastrointestinal system of the hard work of breaking down big morsels, and will lead to better absorption and elimination, not to mention increasing your enjoyment of the meal.
• Close your eyes – One of the ways to quiet the mind, and be more aware of the taste of our food is to close our eyes as we chew. Our eyes are always seeking information, we’re visually bombarded with stimulation everyday and this stimulus keeps the mind active so an easy way to slow down is to close the eyes as we chew. This connects us to our sense of taste, smell, touch, and the more visceral parts of our brain. Relaxing as we eat is an important part of healthy digestion and assimilation.
• Focus on your sensations – As you eat, redirect your attention away from thinking and toward your body and the various sensations that it’s constantly sending you. This will help you to eat more slowly, and also teach you to recognize when your body has reached satiety. For most of us, the body will have reached fullness before the mind – body awareness will align our mind with our bodies and teach us to eat what is right for us.
Finally, when you have reached satisfaction, give thanks again for your meal and imagine the energy and nutrients from your food circulating into every cell of your body.
"I have never been able to think of the day as one of mourning; I have never quite been able to feel that half-masted flags were appropriate on Decoration Day. I have rather felt that the flag should be at the peak, because those whose dying we commemorate rejoiced in seeing it where their valor placed it. We honor them in a joyous, thankful, triumphant commemoration of what they did." ~Benjamin Harrison
I am reading a book on happiness called, "Happiness is a Serious Problem." I thought about Memorial Day and the fact that we are paying tribute to the men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice so we can enjoy these long weekends. I thought of the line, "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." And then I thought, "are we pursuing happiness or are we just pursuing fun."
Some might say it is the same. I don't think it is. One of the things that brought me happiness beyond words was the first time I held my son. I know it brought my wife immense happiness also, but I can guarantee it wasn't fun for her.
How about a time when you did something for "fun" and it actually made you feel worse. Look at Hollywood. The stars seem to have fun all the time, so why then do they write books on how miserable they are.
The book I am reading talks about two kinds of fun. One type of fun is like the spices you put on food that is good for you to make it taste better. The other is like dessert. Dessert is great some of the time but it will not sustain you. The fun you add to your work, family and friends will be the spice that really adds happiness to your life.
What does posture tell us? When you are excited, what position are you in? How about when you are sad, frustrated, stressed?
Those of you who have been to my office know I teach a simple posture exercise. Stand with your back to a bare wall with your heals touching the base board. Align yourself so that the back, buttocks and the back of your head are touching the wall.
It is important that you are looking straight ahead and not up, and that you try and keep your hips horizontal from front to back by tightening your abdominal muscles. After you feel comfortable, walk away from the wall and practice holding the posture. Practice this as often as possible until the posture becomes habit.
The key to this exercise is to stay relaxed. We want to feel "light", not "tense". This exercise has two important outcomes. It helps structurally, but it also helps mentally. I remember a Peanuts cartoon I saw at a fellow chiropractor's office.
It went something like this: Charlie Brown is in his usual head down, slumped posture and Lucy asks him, "Why are you standing like that?" Charlie Brown replies, "If I straighten up I can't stay depressed." My good friend Boaz always uses the line, "Fake it until you make it".
So if you are feeling depressed, frustrated, stressed or sad, try working on your posture. Get that head up, look to the horizon and not at your feet and for goodness sake, put a smile on your face. Not only will you improve your body mechanics, but you may even gain a new perspective on things.
For additional information about the award winning services provided by our Costa Mesa chiropractors please contact us at 714.557.9454
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