Research on the Effectiveness of Chiropractic Treatment and the Colicky Baby!

Does your baby cry for 3 hours or more a day? Does he or she cry unconsolably? The chances are they have been diagnosed with infantile colic and have been prescribed medication that, in my experience, does little, if anything, to stop them crying.

New research done in the UK and  published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics has shown that Chiropractic is effective in reducing the amount of time that the baby cried, when they had been adjusted by receiving Chiropractic treatment.


Colic is often dismissed by the medical profession as something that the baby will grow out of, but studies have shown that colicy babies, long-term, go on to have increased sleep and behavioural problems. Miller et al 2009

In my McTimoney Chiropractic Health Clinic, I repeatedly see young children that were diagnosed with infantile colic, come in with misalignments in the area of the spine that supplies the nerve supply to the gut. In my professional opinion it is these misalignments that cause the gut to "mal-function" and give rise to the symptoms the medical professionals refer to as colic. It is rarely just the nerve supply to the gut that is affected, hence the other problems that Miller refers to in the article in 2009. My McTimoney Chiropractic Health Clinic is in Ayr, on the West coast of Scotland. If you know of anybody whose baby is showing signs of colic, please refer them to this article, and send them my details. They will thank you for it!

It has been suggested in the past that Chiropractic treatment had had a placebo effect on the parents. By this they mean that because the parent feels they are doing something, they start to relax and the baby is attuned to their relaxation and relaxes themselves. However in this study, the parents did not know whether their baby was receiving Chiropractic or not, so that argument is taken out of the equation.

Miller JE, Newell D, Bolton JE. Efficacy of Chiropractic Manual Therapy on Infant Colic: A Pragmatic Single-Blind, Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of manipulative and physiological therapeutics. 2012;35(8):600-7.

Combatting the Price of Fruit and Veg

Food Prices have Shot Up! The opening statement of Dispatches on Channel 4 entitled "Secrets of Our Supermarkets". They investigated how expensive fresh fruit and vegetables have become due to a variety of factors, weather, fuel prices! Much of my time as a McTimoney Chiropractor is spent explaining the importance of good nutrition to help the body cope with all that it has to do in the way of cell and tissue repair. This is increased when the body is trying to heal an injury to the soft tissue, which is the case when the are coming for treatment, especially in the acute phase.  It requires nutrients, vitamins and minerals, which are found in fresh fruit and veg. With the growing number of people saying that they cannot afford them, what is the answer?

I recommend my patients take a teaspoon of Green Magic every morning as part of their morning routine. It is a great start to the day, it includes their 5 a day in one glass and costs 50p! Dispatches showed us the difficulty that we face when we go to the supermarket in working out how much fruit and veg is. Well 1 teaspoon of GM is 50p, no scales needed to weigh it out, just a teaspoon from your kitchen drawer!


5% of our children have NO fruit and veg in their diet AT All according to Dispatches! A teaspoonful of Green Magic would soon make sure they have their 5 a day! It can be added to fruit juice or sprinkled onto pizzas, after cooking (cooking destroys the nutrients) If they object to the colour, ask them how The Hulk got his colour and his strength.

For those of you who would like to try it but are outside the UK please email us via the website,and we will look into the postage for your area of the world!

Collagen as treatment for OsteoArthritis

We tend to think of Osteoarthritis OA, as a degenerative disease which occurs as you get older and is inevitable, a consequence of wear and tear, not helped by being overweight, which puts added stress on our joints. The treatment used by the NHS is not really “treatment”.  By this I mean it deals with the symptoms and not the cause. Painkillers do nothing to stop the degeneration happening. All drugs come with their side-effects and surgery carries great risk.  

More and more scientific evidence suggests that collagen hydrolysate stimulates the collagen synthesisof chondrocytes thereby helping to renew the bone tissue and minimize the pain caused by the OA.

Research has been carried out by Steffen Oesser PhD of the University of Kiel, Germany which concludes that collagen which is absorbed via the intestine and accumulates in the joint cartilage has the potential to stimulate collagen in the remaining chondrocytes in patients with OA, which reverses the degenerative condition of OA and may even prevent it developing.

Collagen hydrolysate is a food, not a pharmaceutical drug. It has no undesirable side effects and therefore long-term use is safe, Dr Oesser suggests.

To obtain Protocol Collagen supplememts go to The Joy of Chiropractic Health Clinic website

Benefits of Collagen on bones and joints.

Have you ever thought that collagen is only good for fine line and wrinkles? Are you wondering why a Chiropractor would be blogging about it? Well for 3 months now I have been recommending my patients that have been diagnosed with "wear and tear" by their GP, to take Protocol Collagen supplements, and I have been amazed at the results. Combined with receiving McTimoney Chiropractic treatment, they are reporting less pain, and more mobilty even quicker than before.

So now I have developed treatment packages depending on how much you want to invest in your health.

My ultimate Platinum package includes adopting McTimoney Chiropractic treatment as a lifestyle choice, with Green Magic superfood and collagen supplements, because I think you are worth it, and hope you do too!

If you would like to know more, then click onto the Shop on my website and buy via The Joy of Chiropractic Health Clinic.

Green Magic

Have you heard about it? Would you like to hear about it?

Well it is what it says in the title! It is Green and it is Magic!    

THE NUTRITIONAL FACTS

It is a blend of 17 nutrient-dense super foods with less than 12 calories per serving.

Each serving provides the equivalent of 5-7 portions of fresh fruit and vegetables

Helps to detox the body

Boosts your energy and improves recovery.

Put simply it contains everything that the body requires nutritionally to keep us healthy, and for those of you who are not healthy, we have amazing testimonilas from people who have taken it and swear by it from improvemnet in eczema (when taken in conjunction with Collagen) asthma and reccurent chest infections, M.E.

RICH IN:                                        CONTAINS:

Natural enzymes                               NO Preservatives

Minerals                                           NO Sugar

Amino Acids                                     NO Artificial Additives

Vitamins

Anti-oxidants

Protein     Spirulina Pacifica has the highest protein value of any natural food. 65% compared to

Animal/Fish 15-25%
Eggs            12%
Grains          8-14%
Soya beans  35%

The Spirulina in Green Magic is grown in Hawaii in 360 days of sunlight. This gives it a high concentration of Chlorophyll, a rich source of natural iron. Superb news for vegetarians!

Green magic contains 100% of the daily amino acid complex in just four heaped teaspoons (although I wouldn't recommend 4 unless you wanted to be awake all night, or you are doing some serious physical activty, like climbing Kilimanjaro. Yes the Comic Relief team that climbed Mount Kilimanjaro were taking "Green magic" on the advice of Professor Greg Whyte, adviser to the Comic Releif Team as well as the Olympic Team Adviser)

Directions:
Take a minimum of 1 serving a day (that's one rounded teaspon) For optimum results take 3 servings a day, especially if you are needing to repair any part of the body, as in eczema, psoriasis, M.E. etc. Additional servings are recommended where there is long-term chronic nutritional needs pesist. Mix Green Magic powder in water, fruit juice or blend into a smoothie or shake. It will go green, but that's all the goodness. There is hardly any taste and if you mix it with juice or blend into a smoothie you won't taste it at all.

Ten day trial size      £8.50
1 month supply        £21.35
2 months supply       £31.95

Worked out at 1 teaspoon/day

To order just email protocol@joyofchiropractic with a contact number where I can call you to discuss your order. P&P apply if outside 10 miles of KA7 2NS postcode UK only.

To see the full range of nutritional products go to: www.thehealthandbeautycompany.co.uk/shop/joygill

What is Chiropractic?

What's the first thing you think of when someone mentions the fact that they have been to see a Chiropractor? They must have a bad back? Or neck? Or maybe they are having headaches? Or maybe you have heard from a parent that they took there 6 week old baby who had colic?

Chiropractors adjust misalignments primarily in the spine. So when they do an adjustment what affect is it having on the body.

Our body is constantly sending and receiving messages, up and down via nerve impulses up to and from the brain. These messages go via the spine. Put simply the body perceives something, it might be a smell, a sight or a painful stimuli, and nerve impulses take that via the nervous tissue to the brain for interpretation, via the spine.

This is a diagram of the nerve pathways travelling up and down the spinal cord.

A reflex, such as the knee-jerk reflex when the patela is hit, does not travel up the spine to the brain, but goes as far as the level of the spine, and reflexes back. This is why you pull your hand away from something hot before the brain has registered the heat involved. It is a reflex. Again we see the spine involved, but only at one bone level, or vertebra.



And what covers the spinal cord? The spinal column!

So maybe you are beginning to see the effect that Chiropractic may have on all sorts of processes within the body, if it inolves a message going up or down the spinal cord? And that covers most things!

There have been many studies to show the effects of Chiropractic on performance, testing reaction time, vertical power jump and numerous other bodily functions.

So next time someone tells you that they have just seen their Chiropractor and they say that they always feel so well after being adjusted, you can tell them about the affect that adjustments have on their spinal cord and brain, the Motorway and "Central Control" of nerve tissue.

Ask yourself this question. Is your "Nerve Highway" a straight and wide, free from kinks and bends, or is it a country road, with twists and turns every way you go? Do yourself a favour and give your local McTimoney Chiropractor a call.

Health and Exercise

I regularly find myself giving the advice "I think it would be beneficial if you increased the amount of exercise that you do!" Unfortuantely I have not been taking my own advice for several years now, so yesterday 1st October, the "International Day of the Older Person" I decided to do something about that, and went along for my first Pilates class with Deborah  Higgins. I went along to one of her classes in Prestwick, as I had done Pilates before, but would recommend that you have a one-to-one with her before joining in a class.

Why do I recommend Pilates? Well, my work as a McTimoney Chiropractor is all about aligning the spine, so that you can be the healthiest individual that you can be, as the "nerve highway", the spinal cord, is cleared of any blockages, traps or impingements that having a misaligned spine can bring, this results in the body becoming ill at ease with itself, or dis-ease. For the body to remain in alignment, the muscles need to be toned, especially in the region that we refer to as the "core". Core stabilty is important, and this is where Pilates comes in. But are there any other benefits to exercise?

A study published in the Lancet, (the peer reviewed publication of the medical profession) showed that just 15 minutes exercise a day had significant health benefits, and that it added 3 years to the average life. Researchers have studied the changes that occur in the body at the chemical level when you exercise, and noted that many metabolites change when you exercise. These changes alter the blood sugar level, helping to maintain a healthy weight and prevent  heart disease and diabetes, it can also lower oestrogen levels which has an effect on breast cancer. The MacMillan Cancer Support suggests that moderate exercise for two and a half hours a week,be part of the treatment plan for those diagnosed with cancer, but always one to preach prevention is better than cure (or at least it is better than the treament offered by the health care systems of today) I suggest you don't wait until you have the diagnosis, GET OUT THERE AND EXERCISE NOW!

So this morning "how do i feel?" Well a bit stiff and achy as I might have expected, but also positive about the step that I have taken to ward off the common complaints of being an Older Person (not that I consider to be one yet, but it is a label that has been applied to people of my age) "Wear and Tear consistent with age" is a common diagnosis that my clients have been given by the medical profession. I love it, because it means that I can truly demonstate the abilty of the McTimoney method of Chiropractic in returning them to better health!

If reading this has made you think that you would like to get out there and exercise more, then please discuss any health issues with the person that is providing the class. As you can see from the research that is being done, having a diagnosis of any kind should not be a reason not to exercise, but do so within your own limits. We should all take the responsibilty for our own health, get to know what our bodies can and cannot do, but you may be in for a surprise that yours can do more than you thought given some daily exercise.

As for me,I look forward to a long and happy working association with Deborah J Higgins Pilates. I shall be there again next Monday morning, and I am happy to say that there were no "Tena moments", (for me at least, I cannot speak for Deborah!: ))