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Will You Have to See Your Oxnard Chiropractor “Forever”?
Posted by: | CommentsAs an Oxnard Chiropractor, a common question I hear asked by those considering chiropractic care is: “If I start going to a chiropractor, will I have to always go?” I often wonder why this particular question doesn’t come up for someone who goes to a general medical practitioner. Think about it: How strange would it be if someone asked, “If I go to Dr. Smith for a general checkup and he gives me a prescription for a temporary condition I might have, will I have to see him ‘forever’?” The answer is “Of course not.” You don’t have to see Dr. Smith again, but you probably will for your yearly or bi-annual checkup and, naturally, in between if you’re not feeling well.
The same is true when you go to see a chiropractor. Most of the time, individuals go to see a chiropractor because they’re in pain (not feeling well). After the chiropractor has treated them and gotten them out of pain (a ‘prescription,’ so to speak, for a temporary condition), the chiropractor will probably suggest maintenance care (a general checkup even when you’re feeling okay). The only difference is that a chiropractor will likely suggest that you come in monthly. Why? Because chiropractors are all about preventative care whenever possible. Maintenance care is like a “tune up” that not only helps your body to maintain the “crisis” treatment you received when you were in pain and keeps you healthier and stronger so that you can avoid future injuries, but during your maintenance visit your chiropractor can make sure that you don’t have a “temporary condition” that needs to be corrected before it becomes “crisis” treatment.
Cumulative effects of awkward sitting posture, bad work habits, incorrect lifting, lack of regular exercise, and other unhealthy lifestyle-related influences can produce pain, often excruciating pain, in your back, neck, shoulders, hips, knees, etc. Getting “checked out” and “readjusted” on a regular basis keeps small conditions from becoming big problems.
So, to the question “If I start doing to a chiropractor, will I need to go “forever”? The answer is “No, but you may want to, for your health’s sake!”
There are a number of chiropractic treatment plans the Dr. Donald Bolt, your Oxnard Chiropractor, offers that are highly effectual when treating the musculoskeletal system, from dealing with a particular concern to working with your overall health goals. Following a detailed examination and a discussion of your concerns, he will advise you as to which treatment plan would be most beneficial for you. As your Chiropractor in Oxnard, Dr. Bolt will offer you a number of treatment programs from which you can make a decision based on your present health problems as well as your long-term health and fitness pursuits.
It may be advantageous for you to have some understanding, in advance, regarding the various chiropractic treatment plans your Oxnard Chiropractor may provide for you.
Relief Care is a specific chiropractic approach proposed to those who are struggling with any kind of pain, ache or discomfort, regardless of the cause of the challenge. The purpose of this kind of therapy is to offer prompt pain relief. The length of the treatment phase is likely to fluctuate as the treatment depends entirely on the extent of the injury or dysfunction suffered by the individual and how fast it can be remedied.
Corrective Care is a “more advanced” form of chiropractic treatment. This is for those that have suffered with spinal issues over an extended period of time, which is to say, for those who have a persistent challenge that has developed into a more complicated condition resulting from their having delayed specific intervention. Restorative treatment invariably stretches over a longer time frame. How long treatment is needed is determined by the severity of the progressive injury and how fast the person responds to the treatment.
Maintenance Care, as the name implies, is intended to maintain or preserve any type of procedure already administered to a patient. Often, chiropractic care is extended solely after the initial treatments have been shown to be effective. The purpose of this type of chiropractic care is to avert the potential of the initial dysfunction returning and to discourage degenerative changes in the future.
wellness Care is presented to those that aren’t going through acute pain, but want to strengthen their overall health. Routine chiropractic treatment increases the movement of blood and oxygen in the body, boosts muscle flexibility, helps prevent work and play injury, and increases a person’s overall perception of well-being.
Regardless if you are currently in pain or you wish to increase your overall health, chiropractic care can help. Call Dr. Bolt, your Oxnard Chiropractor, today!
Dr. Donald Bolt, your Oxnard Chiropractor, wants you to know that it’s not always mandatory for you to look for a conventional healing technique if you have painful arthritis. As a matter of fact, more often than not some natural techniques may be able to aid you in overcoming the pain, even when medical science is incapable of doing so. One of the reasons for this is because most natural methods tend to look for a cure for the real cause of the problem but medical practitioners treat just the symptoms. If you’ve been searching for natural treatments that have proved to help arthritis pain and many other afflictions, you need look no further than chiropractic treatment and acupuncture. Here are the reasons why.
The Healing Benefits of Acupuncture
Acupuncture has been implemented for thousands of years in traditional Chinese medicine. Today, quite a few sufferers all over the world are experiencing relief from their arthritic pain and other health challenges by coming in to see an acupuncturist on a routine basis. In keeping with traditional Chinese acupuncture therapy, small needles are inserted into the body at specific points that are known to affect multifarious areas of the body. In traditional therapy, only the needles are used, but on occasion and particularly in recent years, minute electrical currents are sent through the needles into the body, has been found to be an especially effective technique for arthritic pain. Despite the fact that it may seem though it would hurt, it hardly ever does and, in fact, almost all people experience relaxation and pleasurable sensations during acupuncture treatments.
Chiropractic Treatment Eases Pain and Slows Joint Degeneration
For over a hundred years, chiropractors have been helping people suffering from back pain due to arthritis and other arthritic problems. A chiropractor treats people who are suffering from musculoskeletal and nervous system problems. Arthritis is generally inflammation and degeneration of particular joints within the skeletal system. Chiropractic medicine treats the aberrations of the vertebral column that restrict the activity of the nervous system. These misaligned vertebra, in addition to producing arthritic changes in the spine, can lower resistance and immunity, hence causing new health conditions. A proficient chiropractor has superb observational and diagnostic skills that assist in ascertaining physical aberrations and joint problems. Many chiropractors perform neurological tests and orthopedic examinations. Some will evaluate the posture of a person in order to identify postural deviations and may also study gait to determine faulty movement patterns that may produce new arthritic changes as well as add to current arthritic pain. Chiropractic care non-invasive, drug-free treatment and in addition will offer advice and provide education about the benefits of individual lifestyle changes, such as in exercise and nutrition, that will help to slow down joint degeneration in the body.
So, if you are experiencing arthritis, back pain, headaches, neck pain, hip pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, or balance challenges, and you’d like to do more for your body than simply taking medication, chiropractic and acupuncture may be able to help. One way to find out for sure is to go in to see a good chiropractor, like Dr. Bolt, your Chiropractor in Oxnard, or an acupuncturist in the area, and to permit an alternative healthcare professional to clarify for you definitively what these healing methods are going to be able to do for you. It’s very possible that you will experience some relief from your pain even after only one visit. With subsequent visits, you will maintain your improvements, and you might just discover that these natural treatments work best to relieve your painful arthritis.
Dr. Donald Bolt, your Oxnard Chiropractor, knows that trauma sustained from a fall, an auto accident, sports injury, or some other acute event can happen to both young and old, alike. However, commonly the knee challenges that most of us experience as we get older are diagnosed as “non-trauma knee problems.” In other words, our knee problems are the result of chronic dysfunction that, over time, has developed into substantial or even extreme knee pain. Chiropractors, like Dr. Bolt, treat nearly as many people with knee complaints as they do people with back pain. However, if more patients came in to see their chiropractor sooner for back care, it is less likely that they would incur knee problems in the first place. Why?
The answer is the compensatory, “chain-reaction” way in which the musculoskeletal system performs. The entire musculoskeletal system shifts and tilts in order to counterbalance an area of dysfunction. For example, pain in the patella (kneecap), also known as Patella Femoral Syndrome (Knee Cap Pain), is frequently the result of imbalances in the quadriceps muscles of the thigh that connect to and move the patella. These imbalances commonly begin in the lower back, especially in the sacroiliac joint. You may remember the old song, “…the knee bone’s connected to the thigh bone…” and so on. Chronic challenges are never isolated because we are whole, organic beings from our head to our toes, or to put it another way, we are one skeletal system from our skull to phalanges. That’s why restricted foot movements due to foot pain, will usually produce painful knee problems, and poor knee tracking will develop as the result of incorrect gait patterns such as pronation (walking like a duck with toes pointed out rather than straight ahead). And, finally, being overweight and the wearing of high heels on a regular basis will eventually create knee pain.
Chiropractic treatment can re-establish proper muscle balance, restore desired motion to the patella and other knee joints, and realign subluxations of the sacroiliac joints and bones of the foot. The tissues of the knee joint, expressly the cartilage, will continue to wear if knee problems are left untreated. If the bones start to rub on one another, bones spurs and other changes can take place.
Musculoskeletal problems, such as knee pain and degenerative joint disease (osteoarthritis), generally increase with age. You may have heard the saying: “Today you are younger than you will ever be.” So, don’t waste time, see Dr. Bolt, your Chiropractor in Oxnard, as soon as possible. In fact, call him today…for tomorrow’s sake!
Your Oxnard Chiropractor Explains How Chiropractic Treatment Can Relieve Vertigo
Posted by: | CommentsDr. Donald Bolt, your Oxnard Chiropractor, has helped many people overcome vertigo. What is vertigo? Vertigo is a term for the dizzy disturbance that a person feels within a fixed environment. The perception is that the surroundings are tilting or spinning. Vertigo can be sudden and short-lived or chronic. In both cases, the exact cause of vertigo should be uncovered and the necessary treatment undertaken.
There are many causes for the symptoms of Vertigo. An inner ear condition, known as Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo, can occasionally occur as the aftermath of a head injury or severe cold. In addition this kind of vertigo can be the result of the aging process. The cause, however, frequently is unknown. Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo may seem like an exceptionally long term, but it describes perfectly this non-progressive condition that is produced by, as its name implies, a quick change in head position. The symptoms are normally unexpected and unpredictable.
To get an idea of what brings about the frequently disabling symptoms of this type of vertigo, it is beneficial to note the function of the inner ear. The brain senses movement and maintains balance through the medium of the fluid contained in the inner ear. The inner ear also contains small calcium carbonate crystals, known as otoconia. These crystals will float in the inner ear fluid if dislodged. As the crystals strike against the sensitive nerve endings in the inner ear, they cause the symptoms of Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo or BPPV.
The good news is that chiropractors, like Dr. Bolt, using a technique known as the Epley Maneuver, can get rid of the symptoms of BPPV, quickly and effectively. Using this technique, he slowly turns the head of a BPPV sufferer into several different positions, allowing gravity to move the calcium carbonate crystals away from the nerve endings and into an area of the inner ear where they won’t generate further dizziness.
Call Dr. Bolt, your Chiropractor in Oxnard, if you believe that you may be suffering from Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo. Often, with just one treatment the majority of patients no longer suffer from dizziness. Call today and get the help you need!
Your Oxnard Chiropractor Warns: Don’t Let Excess Pounds Put Your Joints on Overload
Posted by: | CommentsYour Oxnard Chiropractor, Dr. Donald Bolt, treats many patients who are suffering from weight-related musculoskeletal problems. It is no secret that carrying around excess body weight, especially as we age, can cause a number of health problems from cardiovascular diseases and diabetes to back and joint pain. Extra body weight puts undue stress on organs, like the heart, and on joints in the low back, hips, and knees. Over half (62%) of American adults are overweight or obese, according to recent studies. That is a very significant number and a big problem (no joke).
Excessive weight, in the form of body fat, is hard on the structure of the human body. It was not designed for the added. Only an additional 20 or 30 pounds can put the musculoskeletal system literally on overload. Weight in the belly, for instance, requires that the body compensate (counterbalance the weight) by tilting the pelvis forward. This creates compression in the joints of the low back. Joint compression constricts nerve activity and produces painful inflammation. Weight-bearing stresses can cause a pinched sciatic nerve or create misalignments of the spinal column that impinge nerves. This is the reason that most overweight individuals suffer from low back pain. Misaligned vertebra can not only create new arthritic changes in the spine, but can continue to irritate the degenerative changes that have already taken place over time.
How can chiropractic help? Though a healthy body weight is absolutely indispensible for the ideal performance of the musculoskeletal system, chiropractic treatment relieves nerve restrictions in the spine and helps to restore motion back into the joints of the musculoskeletal system, like in the low back, hips, and knees. And, exercise and physical activity is a lot easier when the spine is in alignment and the joints have healthy motion. Exercise will not only help in weight reduction, but it can actually delay degenerative changes as we age.
It is always best to discuss diet and exercise with a healthcare professional, like Dr. Bolt, your Chiropractor in Oxnard. Chiropractors not only help individuals get pain relief from back challenges and joint inflammation due to arthritis but, in addition, they offer expert advice on the type of lifestyle changes that can aid an individual in staying healthier and more active through the years. Arthritis and immobility as we get older do not have to be inevitable. The human body was designed for a lifetime of pain-free movement.
So, if you’ve been throwing your weight around and all you’ve been getting in return is back and joint pain, Dr. Bolt can help relieve your suffering. Make an appointment today!
Oxnard Chiropractor Details The Many Rewards of Chiropractic Care
Posted by: | CommentsDid you know that chiropractic treatment has been increasing in popularity for years and that it’s continuing to increase yearly as the favored healthcare alternative for many men and women? As a Chiropractor in Oxnard, Dr. Donald Bolt can confidently tell you why. Individuals are opting for chiropractic care because of the many added advantages that such treatment can provide. No other medical practice is less invasive to the body and, at the same time, can stimulate the body’s normal capability to heal instead of masking symptoms with prescription drugs.
Let’s face it, wherever there is a musculoskeletal structure, for example in the human body, there’s the likelihood of musculoskeletal dysfunction such as back pain and neck pain, pain in the shoulder, elbow, hip and knee joints, and ankle and foot pain. No one is immune from misalignment of the spine and joint inflammation, though numerous challenges are often the end result of sports injuries, accidents, and the aging process. Irrespective of the cause, whatever form of movement on a traumatized part of the body can not merely result in pain or suffering, but inactivity. And, of course, particular musculoskeletal problems, if left untreated, can lead to permanent disability.
It has been reported of chiropractic care that its “health benefits exceed” remedying a specific challenge. In fact, someone who comes in to see a chiropractor for low back pain, for example, not only profits from pain relief, but also increased circulation, a lowering or elimination of lactic acid, easier travel of oxygen and nutrients within the body, increased flexibility, reduced general pain and soreness, better recovery time, a more stress-free feeling, and the avoidance of future injuries! Is it any wonder why chiropractic care has become the treatment of preference for more and more people?
In addition to supplying qualified musculoskeletal treatment, chiropractors will also are able to provide education and counsel when it comes to enhancing your complete health and wellness. Chiropractors fully understand that in order for an individual to get healthy and stay that way, it’s important to select a natural health-oriented approach to life such as drinking lots of water to keep the body hydrated, following a nutritional diet program, and creating a consistent stretching and exercise routine.
Chiropractic treatment isn’t going to quite work “miracles, ” but it can come pretty close in numerous areas that may possibly surprise you. For instance, chiropractic care helps pregnant women give birth more easily. It can sharpen developmental potentials of babies, like improved motor skills, and frequently impede scoliosis. Chiropractic adjustments for kids has helped lessen bronchial asthma discomforts, ear infections, and bed-wetting. In combination with the rewards stated earlier, consistent chiropractic management can help adults to feel more vital and vigorous, which consequently boosts productivity. And, then finally, for aging baby boomers and the senior population, not only can chiropractic treatment assist in lowering age-related troubles and keep someone more active in later years, it can minimize the balance problems that all too often lead to serious injury from falls.
If you are currently visiting a chiropractor, that’s great! You have no doubt already felt most advantages stated earlier. If so, why not inform your friends about chiropractic? Don’t let someone you care about fall victim to the kind of misinformation relating to chiropractic care that will keep them from experiencing their day more fully. Tell a friend or family member to call Dr. Bolt, your Oxnard Chiropractor, today to get the help they need!
Your Oxnard Chiropractor Discusses New Research On Tai Chi and Knee Osteoarthritis
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Knee X-ray
Dr. Donald Bolt, your Oxnard Chiropractor, has treated many patients suffering from knee pain and knee osteoarthritis (OA). Osteoarthritis is a prevalent form of arthritis that causes a wearing away of joint cartilage in a number of areas of the body, including the joints of the knee. Second only to spinal problems, knee pain and disability is one of the most commonplace afflictions of the musculoskeletal system. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) there are an astounding 4.3 million people in this country over age 60 diagnosed with knee OA, and the CDC anticipates that half of the men and women in America may incur symptoms of OA in at least one knee by age 85. Knee osteoarthritis results in pain, mobility limitations, dysfunction and disability, and a reduced quality of life.
Why do so many adults develop OA? Undue stress over a period of time is a major determinant in the majority of musculoskeletal conditions that develop as we get older. That is why as people get older they are more at risk for developing OA in their knees, as well as other joints. Improper mechanics of the knee, improper gait, compensatory foot mechanics as an offset of foot pain, and overuse of the knee joint all produce excessive stress on the knees. Consequently arthritic changes in the knee joint occur. The majority of chiropractors advise their patients to try such natural, drug-free practices as Tai Chi, as an adjunct to their chiropractic management. Tai Chi (Chuan) is a traditional style of Chinese martial arts that features slow, rhythmic movements that create mental relaxation, as well as increased balance, an augmentation of strength, and more flexibility.
A new study conducted by Tufts University School of Medicine has determined that men and women 65 years and older who suffer from knee osteoarthritis (OA), and who practice Tai Chi, improved their physical capability and encountered less pain.Though in good health otherwise, the 40 men and women with confirmed OA that were picked for the Tufts study were on an average 65 years of age and overweight. Individuals were randomly chosen to participate in 60-minute “Yang style” Tai Chi sessions twice weekly for 12 weeks. Each session included a 10-minute self-massage and a review of Tai Chi principles, 30 minutes of Tai Chi movement, 10 minutes of breathing technique, and 10 minutes of relaxation.
Tai Chi incorporates many of the current exercise suggestions for OA, such as range of motion, flexibility, muscle conditioning, and aerobic workout. Furthermore, researchers noted that the “mental component” of Tai Chi stimulated a sense of well-being, life satisfaction, and perceptions of health that assisted the participants in dealing differently with chronic pain. Significantly, the group practicing Tai Chi experienced a substantial decrease in knee pain compared with those in the control group.
Dr. Bolt, your Chiropractor in Oxnard, can help to get rid of your current knee pain. And, regular chiropractic management, coupled with a natural practice such as Tai Chi, can keep you out of pain in the years to come!
Full findings of the study are published in the November 2009 issue of Arthritis Care & Research, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology.
"Missing the Mark" But Still a Winner in the Long Run? Your Oxnard Chiropractor Explains
Posted by: | Comments“Close” isn’t generally a word we associate with success. In point of fact, not many things in life, it seems, count much at all if you “miss the mark” or don’t “hit a bull’s eye.” Well, it would seem that this may not be absolutely true when it comes to living longer. As a Chiropractor in Oxnard, who has many older patients and who is also fully dedicated to encouraging my patients to exercise at every age level, I was very happy to read about the results of the following study.
Researchers found that of the “least-fit” versus the “slightly more fit” of the nearly 4,400 healthy Americans in their recent study, roughly 20 percent with the lowest physical fitness levels doubled the risk of dying over the next nine years as the 20 percent with the next-lowest fitness levels. (That is to say, those 20 percent who were almost at the lowest fitness levels.) This is the proverbial “bad news/good news” type of result. It is undoubtedly bad news if you are a confirmed sofa spud. But, it is genuinely good news for those who haven’t completely embraced a sedentary lifestyle but are not, by any stretch of the imagination, “exertive.” Apparently, those people who continue to be just moderately fit as they age may live longer than those who are entirely out-of-shape, the study suggests.
Between 1986 and 2006, researchers evaluated the fitness levels of 4,384 middle-aged and senior adults during exercise treatmill tests. For approximately nine years thereafter, the researchers followed the study groups progress. Such factors as obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure were considered in the study. This, in and of itself, accentuates the importance of physical fitness itself. In an email to Reuters Health, lead researcher, Dr. Sandra Mandic of the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, stated: “Our findings suggest that a sedentary lifestyle, rather than differences in cardiovascular risk factors or age, may explain the two-fold higher mortality rates in the least-fit versus slightly more fit individuals.”
Nearly two-thirds of the least-fit study participants were not getting the minimum recommended amount of exercise, which is at least 30 minutes of moderate activity (like brisk walking) five or more days a week. “These results emphasize the importance of improving and maintaining high fitness levels by engaging in regular physical activity,” Mandic said, “particularly in poorly-fit individuals.”
After classifying the study group participants by fitness levels, the researchers discovered that 13 percent of those who were in slightly better shape had died during the study period. But, 25 percent of the least-fit men and women had died during the same period. Only 6 percent of the most-fit group (i.e., the ones who “hit a bull’s eye,” so to speak) had died during the follow-up period.
The five fitness-level groups reported little difference, overall, in their reported exercise practices during most of their adult lives, but notably, they contrasted in activity levels only in recent years. “Since it is recent physical activity that offers protection,” Mandic said, “it is important to maintain regular physical activity throughout life.”
And, perhaps it goes without saying, that regular chiropractic care is important along the way to may sure that you are well-adjusted for those higher levels of fitness. Call me, Dr. Donald Bolt, your Oxnard Chiropractor. I’m here to help you be all that you can be!
SOURCE: Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, August 2009.
