Closing my doors.

I have really enjoyed chiropractically taking care of Rogersville for the past two years. Unfortunately, I am closing my doors on February 27, 2013. Dr. Henard will still be in the building on Tuesdays, and I have sent out letters to all my patients with instructions on getting records and information on local chiropractors.

Since moving back to Tennessee from South Carolina, my husband and I have seen some big changes. Our little boy was born, I started my office in Rogersville, and Mike graduated from college (woo hoo!) Many of my patients have been there through it all, and I will truly miss you.

My husband is being transferred, and so we must go! I am excited for this new chapter in our lives.

Please keep seeking out natural and holistic methods of living. I will probably continue to post, because health and writing are my passions.

Thank you for a great two years!
Sincerely,
Meghan Palmer, D.C.

2013 Resolutions

It is that time of year already. 2012 is gone, and 2013 is here…another revolution around the sun. In the spirit of renewal, restarting, or just trying something new this year, I have put together a list of resolutions you could try. Maybe doing something from this list will jump start your health in 2013. Enjoy.

1. Try one natural health care option. Get adjusted by a chiropractor. If you already do that, try acupuncture, herbal remedies, reflexology…introduce a new way to be healthy without drugs or surgery.

2. Spend one afternoon a week with just your family—no distractions, no cell phones. Maybe work on a long-term project together or several small projects.

3. Replace one meal a day with a green salad.

4. Learn one new skill this year. Try knitting, skiing, whitewater boating; the sky is the limit.

5. Take one trip to a place you have never been. If you have money saved up, try somewhere exotic. If you are on a budget, visit one of the many historic sites close to home. East Tennessee is full of great history and beautiful scenery—most of it accessible with just the cost of gas in your car.

6. Turn off your cell phone for one whole day! It might become addicting. No texting, no updates, no calls, no games…you will be surprised at your clarity of mind without digital distraction.

7. Do one thing that scares you. Ask your boss for a promotion, start a business, or maybe just get a wild haircut. You could combine this resolution with number four…

8. Resolve to cook more meals at home, from whole ingredients. Removing artificial flavor enhancers and preservatives from your family’s food will bring a host of benefits like better health and more time eating meals together. This might save you some money, too.

9. Go see some local music. East Tennessee is the birthplace of hundreds of amazing musicians of all genres. There is a regular music schedule right here in Rogersville at the Burger Bar. The Jimmy Martin MusicFestival is a yearly event in Hancock County. The bigger cities, just a drive on the interstate away, have weekly acts.

10. Recognize just one fault and try to fix it. I will be working on patience. I am chronically impatient.

Every day is a new day. That sounds like New Age junk, but it is not wrong. You do not need a new number on a calendar to make a difference in your life and the lives of others.

Holiday Grieving

It's been a while since my last post--two months! It's been a busy time for my family. I've written a short article with some simple tips on how to help someone who is grieving during the holidays. Take some time to show the people in your life that you care. 

Holidays can be full of sparkle and wonder, especially in the eyes of little ones. For those of us who have lost someone dear, though, the holidays are layered with sadness. Memories and a sense of loss can turn what should be a happy time into emotional torture. 

If you know someone who is grieving, there are some things you can do to help them. Someone immersed in sadness will often not have the ability to take care of themselves. I don’t mean basic things like showering or putting food in their mouths; this usually gets done on autopilot. It can be hard to enjoy the people who are in your life when you have lost a spouse, a child, or someone else close to you.

Little (and big) acts of kindness can make a difference. Help your grieving friend clean the house one afternoon. Bring some easy-to-eat food over. Convince them to take a walk with you; the fresh air and exercise can bring a brighter perspective. Kids help, too. Kids have an endless well of joy; they find delight in something as small as a ladybug crawling. Just being around that kind of energy can help someone get out of a depression, even if only for a short while.

Encourage your grieving friend or relative to get help. Grief carries layers of weight:  guilt, anger, sadness, loneliness…all these things can be helped with counseling. Sometimes talking to a stranger, like a professional counselor, can be far more effective because strangers are detached from family emotional ties. Also encourage your friend or relative to take care of themselves physically. Mental grief translates to physical pain. Much of the symptoms that I see in my office relate to mental stress of some kind, like job stress, family illness, and grieving. Taking care of the body also helps take care of the mind and soul. 

I wish you all the best this Christmas season, and I hope you can find the time to step away from the bustle of buying presents and pageants and dinners to spend a little quality time with your family and friends.

Toe-Touch for Health

Here is a pop quiz question for you: which muscle group contributes most to low back aches? I’ll give you three choices: rhomboids, gluteus maximus, or biceps femoris. Go ahead, discuss amongst yourselves. I’ll wait.

Here is the answer: your biceps femoris, also known as the hamstrings. But wait, you might say, aren’t those muscles on the backs of my legs? Why, yes, they are. The attachments of these muscles are to the legs, but also to the bottom of your pelvis. When they are tight, they tug down on the pelvis. Some of your big spinal muscles attach to the top of your pelvis, which starts the tug-of-war and sets in a backache.

There are many causes of low back pain. They run the spectrum from disc bulges and ruptures, bone spurs, arthritis, joint strains/sprains, muscle strains/sprains, and, of course, the common subluxation. As my regular readers will remember, subluxation happens when one or more of the joints of the spine becomes misaligned and stuck, causing pressure at that joint and in the nervous system, because the spine protects the spinal cord.

Tight hamstrings can put lots of strain on the muscles of the low back, but they can also contribute to low spine/pelvic subluxation by inhibiting a healthy motion of the pelvis and low back. The biggest culprit of tight hamstrings is being sedentary. Sitting at a desk, in the car, on the couch, can all cause the hamstrings to tighten. I probably sound like a broken record at this point (maybe a skipping CD? or a corrupted MP3?) but most of what ails your muscles and bones comes from sitting on your butt. I have a three-step solution to change your life.

Step 1:  Stand up, then touch your toes. Feel the stretch! Do this regularly to loosen up your legs and low back. Step 2: Start a regular walking routine. Keep your legs and core engaged in exercise and you will have more energy and less pain. Step 3: Get adjusted by your chiropractor, of course! Keep your spine and nervous system functioning for optimal health.

Biofeedback

Biofeedback is what is known as a “mind-body technique.” When using biofeedback, a person concentrates on changing a bodily function with their mind. It sounds like a wacky, new-age procedure, but I would argue that everyone reading this article has used biofeedback, in some form. (Think about potty training!) In fact, the only difference between the clinical version of biofeedback and the daily functions that go on in your body is that the first is conscious and deliberate, while the second is automatic. 

Chiropractic works on the premise that your brain controls everything in your body, through complex interactions and communication within the nervous system. When subluxation occurs, caused when one or more joints of the spine malfunction, interference in the nerve signals happen, and the communication breaks down between the brain and body in little, and then in big ways. If you have ever been subluxated (and I bet you have) I would wager that you have used a kind of negative biofeedback. 

Think about it: your body tells you, through pain, discomfort, and general irritability that there is a less-than-optimal condition happening. Maybe your back hurts. Maybe you have a “crick,” a sore leg, an acidic stomach. You tell your body, “I don’t have time for you. Quit telling me about your problems.” So, you stop hurting, at least for a while. More accurately, you stop conscious awareness of the pain/discomfort signal being sent from your body to your brain. The reason I call this a “negative” biofeedback is that you have not fixed the problem your body is telling you about. You have suppressed it.

In positive biofeedback, you are coached into being able to positively affect your body. This works very well for PTSD, high anxiety, and people dealing with chronic pain. Using biofeedback methods, you can train yourself into lowering your own blood pressure, relaxing muscle spasms, even producing less stomach acid. Before becoming a chiropractor, I had been practicing biofeedback for years, without knowing it. When I was a little girl, my stomach hurt when I was upset. My dad sat me down and said, “Whose stomach is it?” I said, “Mine.” He said, “So tell it to quit hurting.” My young mind had not developed cynicism, so I innocently said, “Ok.” And it worked. To this day, I can consciously direct a great deal of my stress away, because I was taught that there is no difference between my mind and body. The two are inseparable.

Chiropractic care can help biofeedback methods become more potent. With less interference in the nervous system comes more clear communication, and better connection between your conscious mind and your body. Don’t suppress your problems, become aware of them. And then fix them. Chiropractic can help you to do this. After all, as my dad says, whose body is it?

Subluxation Pairs

There is an interesting phenomenon that occurs with spinal subluxation. I have noticed, over and over again, that in certain people, two or more regions of the spine are directly interrelated. For instance, in some people, the L5/S1 joint relationship is a constant source of discomfort. In those same people, when they come in for a chiropractic adjustment by yours truly, I discover that the T12 segment is almost always subluxated at the same time. T12 is your last official thoracic vertebra. The last “short rib” is attached to it, and the lumbar vertebrae (L1 through L5) start just below T12. In other people, C1, also known affectionately as “Atlas,” because it holds your head up, (remember the myth about Atlas holding the world on his shoulders?) will misalign in the same direction as C7. These two vertebrae are the start and end of the cervical spine. The thoracics start just after C7. 

This concept—subluxation pairing—is by no means brand new. I cannot claim discovery. Great chiropractors before me have created whole methods of analyzing and treating spinal subluxation out of the philosophy of subluxation pairing. I guess I should give specific credit to my father, the esteemed and learned chiropractor over the mountain, for first bringing my attention to the phenomenon. It serves as another reminder to me that we human beings are one whole unit, and we cannot be broken up into a myriad of tiny, unrelated parts.

The relationship between segments of the spine has two components, special circumstances caused by accidents notwithstanding. In a normal occurrence of subluxation pairing, there is a mechanical and a nervous component.  There are natural curves of the spine, and natural delineations of spinal sections. For example, the thoracic spine acts completely different from the rest of the spine, because the bones are shaped differently, and because there are ribs attached. Each of the bones I mentioned above specifically are crucial in their own way. C1 protects the brain stem, and allows for much of the movement of your skull. C7 is a major attachment to many spinal and neck muscles. If C1 is subluxated, C7 may well follow; they share muscle attachments and both support the head. T12 is a major curve transitional segment; it takes a great deal of pressure when L5 stops functioning properly.

The nerve component of a subluxation is the most fascinating to me. Segments of the spine, and spinal cord, interact in feedback loops to stabilize your body completely subconsciously. This system is just as much responsible for the phenomenon of subluxation pairing as the mechanics of the spine. Get your spine—the whole thing!—checked for subluxation.