What Do Chiropractors Do

“What Exactly Do Chiropractors Do”

Over the next few weeks I am going to be answering questions that people just like you have about chiropractic care.

And one question that I get asked on a regular basis is … “what do chiropractors do?” So, this is where I would like to start today.

Chiropractors acknowledge that there are 2 categories of human disease. One is contagious infection and the other would be functional disorder.

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A contagious infection would be something like Ebola. It is something that you would catch from someone else who already has it.

Everything else would be a functional disorder.

How we treat functional disorders is by restoring normal bodily function.

And there are 3 reasons why your body would not function properly.

And these are critical for you to understand; 1) poor nutrition, 2) hormonal imbalances due to stress, 3) trauma. As a health coach I can help you with the first two, but my expertise as a chiropractor is trauma.

Did you know that by the time you are 13 years old, you have suffered over 1000 traumas?! Minor ones mostly but there are always some major ones.

Remember that trauma is what causes spinal misalignments. Spinal misalignments injure your nerves and when your nerves are injured, all kinds of functional disorders can result. And a good place to review all of these is the Chart of Effects of Spinal Misalignments found right on our home page.

We will continue with more on this next time but in the meantime if you have any questions on this topic or any other health concerns that you may have or your family may have, all you need to do is give us a call.

Remember that consultations are always free of charge and family appointments are always available.

And may I remind you that spinal problems do run in families and this is why we encourage you to have your children checked. Our phone number is 905 335 LIFE (5433).

Life Chiropractic … helping families just like yours build vibrant, healthy, drug-free lives for over 25 years in Burlington.

Click Here To Book A Free Initial Consultation With Dr. Brad At The Burlington Clinic

Postural Assessment

“Booking A Postural Assessment Is The First Step To Improving Poor Posture”

Over the past 2 weeks we have discussed posture. The 5 signs of poor posture and the 8 health consequences of poor posture.

So if you have been following us over the past 2 weeks, I hope that you are now concerned.

I hope that you are concerned about getting your posture checked and your children’s posture checked.

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And to be frankly honest with you, the most important part of changing your posture is you.

You are the one who needs to take the initiative to make an appointment for a postural assessment and you are the one who needs to follow the prescribed treatment plan and recommended exercises for both work and home.

I will coach you on all of these and of course provide the necessary chiropractic care but your first step is to make an appointment for an initial consultation.

Remember that in our office these are always free of charge and we encourage family appointments because spinal problems tend to run in families so we can check everyone in your family all at the same time.

Our phone number is 905 335 LIFE (5433) or you can click on the link on the home page of our website.

Starting next week we are going to do something a little different.

What I am going to do is answer the top 10 questions that people just like you have about chiropractic care.

Life Chiropractic … helping families just like yours build vibrant, healthy, drug-free lives for over 25 years in Burlington.

Click Here To Book A Free Initial Consultation With Dr. Brad

Consequences of Poor Posture

“8 Health Consequences of Poor Posture”

Last time we learned about the 5 signs of poor posture and today we are going to discuss the 8 consequences poor posture can have on your health.

If you do not already see a chiropractor that specializes in posture, please read carefully because you need to know this!

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1- Loss of fitness. And what I mean by this is decreased height and decreased energy.
2- TMJ problems (problems with your jaw joint) such as pain, difficulty opening your mouth, tooth pain, facial pain and headaches.
3- Stiffness and decreased range of motion in your neck and shoulder joints.
4- Degenerative joint disease (DJD) and osteoarthritis (OA) in your spine.
5- Decreased lung capacity (shortness of breath) from slouching.
6- Poor digestion.
7- Decreased bone density (osteoporosis).
8- Decreased muscular strength throughout your body.

Notice the operative word here…’decreased ‘. How can anything that is ‘decreased ‘be moving you towards health and vitality?

If you or anyone in your family is suffering from even one of these signs and symptoms, you need to have a chiropractic check-up right away.

Why?

Because the sooner we address the issue the better results we will get and moreover, it will help to prevent other health problems from developing in the future.

More on this in our next post.

But in the meantime, if you have any questions on this topic or any other health concerns you may have or your family may have, please give us a call.

Remember that consultations in our office are always free of charge and we offer family appointments because spinal problems tend to run in families.
Our phone number is 905 335 LIFE (5433). Or you can email us by clicking on the link on our home page.

Life Chiropractic … helping families just like yours build vibrant, healthy, drug-free lives for over 25 years in Burlington.

Click Here To Book A Free Initial Consultation With Dr. Brad

5 Signs Of Unbalanced Posture

“Here Are The 5 Signs Of
Unbalanced Posture or Poor Posture”

Last time we started discussing posture and we learned how for every inch you hold your head in front of the ‘balanced posture line’, this adds 10 lbs of extra weight to the supporting structures in your neck ( muscles, joints, ligaments, tendons).

Your neck muscles especially were not designed to hold more than the weight of your head which is normally 10 – 15 pounds.

Under this increased stress, your neck muscles will become tight and stiff, you will lose range of motion in your neck, you will start to experience muscle spasms, headaches and eventually spinal misalignments (subluxations) which we already know are what cause spinal decay.

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And you can learn all about spinal decay on our website.

Here are the ‘5 signs’ that you or your children have poor posture:

1 your body weight centres over the balls of your feet or uneven wear on the soles of your shoes with or without pain along the bottom of the foot.

2 a deep curve in your lower back (sway back) with episodes of lower back pain and stiffness.

3 increased roundness of the middle and upper back – the ‘humpback posture’.

4 shoulders rounded forward with or without shoulder pain.

5 forward head posture with the poking chin appearance.

If you have even one of these signs, you need to have a chiropractic examination right away because we need to take a closer look.

Remember that consultations are always free of charge in our office and family appointments are always available.

Our phone number is 905 335 LIFE (5433). Or you can email us by clicking on the link below as well.

Now, if you are still not sure as to why you would need a chiropractic examination, please join us again next time as I will discuss the consequences that poor posture has on your health.

You are going to be very surprised and it may explain a lot of your own health issues.

Life Chiropractic … helping families just like yours build vibrant, healthy, drug-free lives for over 25 years in Burlington.

Click Here To Book A Free Initial Consultation With Dr. Brad

Balanced Posture

“The Effects of Balanced Posture
On Your Health’

Over the next few weeks we will be discussing posture as very few people pay attention to this aspect of their health care.

Today we are going to learn about ‘balanced posture’.

Balanced posture is the position where there is the least amount of stress on your muscles and spinal joints.

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One way to check for balanced posture is to see if the opening to your ear canal lines up directly over the middle of your deltoid (shoulder muscle) when you are standing in a normal and relaxed position.

If the line that connects these two points is straight up and down, we will call this the ‘balanced posture line’.

Now this is the important part. For every inch your head is in front of the balanced posture line (forward head posture), the weight of your head as perceived by your neck muscles and the spinal joints in your neck increases by a factor of 10!

So, if your head weighs 10 lbs for example which is about average, holding your head 1 inch in front of the balanced posture line will put twice as much or 20 lbs of weight on your neck muscles and the spinal joints in your neck. Two inches of forward head posture will put 30 lbs of weight and so on.

Please join us again next time as we will continue with this topic and learn about the implications that unbalanced posture has on your spine and especially your health.

If you have any immediate questions on this topic or any other health concerns that you may have or your family may have, please give us a call.

Remember that consultations are always free of charge and family appointments are always available.

Our phone number is 905 335 LIFE (5433).

Life Chiropractic … helping families just like yours build vibrant, healthy, drug-free lives for over 25 years in Burlington.

Click Here To Book A Free Initial Consultation With Dr. Brad

Backpack Safety

“Are You and Your Kids Following These Backpack Safety Guidelines?”

Now that the kids are back in school, I would like to take this opportunity to review some tips regarding backpack safety for your children.

The most important thing is to make sure the backpack does not exceed 15% of your child’s body weight.

If your child weighs 100 lbs for example, then the backpack and its contents should not weigh more than 15 lbs.

It is also important to load the heavier items first (eg. laptop, text books) so they rest directly against your child’s back.

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This will make the backpack easier for them to carry.

Please be sure to choose a backpack that has adequate padding on the shoulder straps and down the middle where it rests against your child’s spine.

Wearing it correctly is also very important.

Slinging it over one shoulder or wearing it too low down will only result in bad posture and spinal pain including headaches, shoulder pain, neck pain and even lower back pain.

It should be centered between the top of the shoulders and the waist and secured firmly in the front with the waist strap.

Packing it light and wearing it right is the key to backpack safety for all children.

If you have any questions on this topic or any other health concerns you may have or your children may have, please give us a call.

Remember that consultations are always free of charge and family appointments are always available.

Our phone number is 905 335 LIFE (5433) or you can email us by clicking on the link on our home page.

Life Chiropractic… helping families just like yours build vibrant, healthy, drug-free lives for over 25 years in Burlington.

Click Here To Book A Free Initial Consultation With Dr. Brad

Heart Attack And Stroke

“Heart Attacks And Strokes”

If you are a survivor of a heart attack or a stroke, or you have a family history of strokes and heart disease, I recently posted an article on our website that I strongly urge you take the time to read.

It will either be in the ‘Recent Articles’ section or the ‘Chiropractic Articles Library’.

This article is an excellent review of the causes of strokes and heart attacks, the truth about cholesterol and cholesterol-lowering drugs, what measures you can take to prevent strokes and heart disease in your own family, and a review of the ever important warning signs of strokes and heart attacks.

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Why do you need to read this?

Heart attacks are currently the 2nd leading cause of death in Canada.

There are 70,000 per year which is one every 7 minutes.

16,000 of these are fatal. Stokes are the 3rd leading cause of death.

There are 50,000 per year which is one every 10 minutes.

14,000 of these are fatal.

But what concerns me the most is that heart disease is not just for people on their 50’s and 60’s anymore.

New research tells us that heart disease now starts in your late teens or early 20’s!

It is no wonder that the life expectancy of the current generation of children is less than that of their parents.

This is just not right. We are doing something wrong.

So, please take the time to read the article.

The most important thing you will learn is what you can do to prevent this from happening to you and especially your children.

If you have any questions on this topic or any other health concerns you may have or your family may have, please give us a call.

Remember that consultations are always free of charge and family appointments are always available.

Our phone number is 905 335 LIFE (5433) or you can email us by clicking on the link on our home page.

Life Chiropractic … helping families just like yours build vibrant, healthy, drug-free lives for over 25 years in Burlington.

Click Here To Book A Free Initial Consultation With Dr. Brad

Stomach Pain

Chronic Inflammation of The Gut Is The Most Common Cause Of Stomach Pain

Not only is chronic inflammation of the gut the most common cause of stomach pain (aside from pathology), it is one of the biggest causes of serious disease.

Today you are going to learn what you can do to remedy stomach pain because way too many of you are suffering from it needlessly.

And what really concerns me is that most people are using too much medication to try and alleviate it and sometimes even resorting to surgery.

You need your stomach and you need all of it.

And believe me, your stomach pain is not because you don’t have enough rolaids, tums or pepto in your diet!

Your stomach is for more than just digestion of food.

It is also the first line of defense against harmful substances that find their way into your body.

A normally functioning stomach helps important nutrients get into your body and prevents harmful substances from getting into your body.

But, if there is inflammation of the stomach these two important functions are impaired. Inflammation is caused by two things.

One is a poor diet and the second is a poor nerve supply to the stomach.

You can have both and most people suffering from stomach pain do have both. Inflammation of the gut (stomach) makes it more permeable.

This means that substances can pass through more easily. And when normal nutrients pass through the stomach and end up directly into the bloodstream your body identifies them as ‘foreign invaders’.

Even though they are normal, they are not supposed to be in the blood stream.

They are supposed to remain in the digestive system.

What happens next is that your immune system starts to attack these nutrients that have passed through into your blood stream to defend your body.

Remember, they are identified as foreign invaders because they are somewhere they shouldn’t be even though they are normal.

This is call the leaky gut syndrome and this is not good because this is one of the major causes of auto-immune disease.

An auto-immune disease is when your immune system attacks your own body.

Rheumatoid arthritis for example is an auto-immune disease.

Now in this particular circumstance, new research indicates that the leaky gut syndrome may be a cause of diabetes and other conditions such as weight gain (obesity), depression and skin disorders.

There are many, many medications that are prescribed for all of these conditions but remember one thing; a lack of medication in your diet in not why these conditions develop in the first place.

So, what can you do if you have stomach pain? One thing you need to do is avoid foods that are known to cause inflammation of the stomach.

You will have to do a little experimentation on your own but it is pretty easy to do.

The first thing you want to do is avoid everything containing dairy for 30 days.

If there is no change, you can slowly start incorporating dairy back into your diet if you want to.

The next thing is to avoid everything containing gluten (bread, pasta, grains etc.) for 30 days.

If there is no change, you can slowly incorporate back into your diet if you want to. Sugar, alcohol and caffeine are all highly inflammatory.

They all have to go.

If you have a sweet tooth, you can wean yourself off sugar by substituting stevia or xylitol.

Soy, peanuts, legumes (beans and peas) and potatoes are also highly inflammatory.

If these are a regular part of your diet you will have to do the 30 day elimination with each one of them.

If there is no change, then you can slowly incorporate them back into your diet if you want to.

Fermented soy is ok by the way and legumes and potatoes are ok if they are cooked and cooled overnight for consumption the next day.

Now let’s say that after removing dairy from your diet for example, your stomach pain goes away.

Well, then you know dairy is something you should never, ever consume. And this same principle applies to any of the aforementioned inflammatory foods that you eliminate for 30 days.

Here is a list of gut-friendly (non-inflammatory foods) for you.

Cold water fish; salmon, trout, anchovies, herring.

Veggies; dino kale (cooked), spinach (cooked), broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, asparagus, fennel, radishes, cucumber, collards, cucumber, zucchini, celery, carrots, bok choy, avocados, artichokes, green beans, and any dark, leafy lettuce.

Fruits; grapefruit, lemon, lime.

Berries; strawberry, blackberry, raspberry.

Here are your healthy fats; coconut oil, grass-fed butter, ghee, extra-virgin olive oil, avocado oil.

A safe food ratio for you; 50% of your daily diet should be from fruits and veggies. 50% from protein.

And never, ever mix fruit with anything but fruit.

Supplements specific for those who suffer from stomach pain; omega-3 fatty acids and probiotics.

Now, you have done your due diligence with food elimination.

You know there is no stomach cancer but you are still having stomach pain.

What do you do?

Go to the Chart of Effects of Spinal Misalignments found on the home page of this website.

Look closely at the 6T and 7T levels and you will see that these nerves control some pretty important digestive organs including your stomach.

The only thing that could logically explain your stomach pain now is a spinal misalignment.

This is where I can help. My expertise is to locate all the misalignments in your spine and correct them so that your nerves can control your organs the way they are supposed to.

If the nerves to the stomach are irritated, so too will the stomach be irritated.

An irritated stomach will be painful when trying to digest food.

Remove the nerve irritation, the stomach is no longer irritated, normal digestion occurs once again and stomach pain goes away.

This is what I do.

This is what I have done for the past 27 years.

So, if you or anyone in your family is suffering from stomach pain, I can help.

All you have to do is call 905 335 LIFE (5433) to schedule an appointment and we can get you on the road to recovery.

Life Chiropractic … helping families just like yours build vibrant, healthy, drug-free lives for over 25 years in Burlington.

Click Here To Book A Free Initial Consultation With Dr. Brad

 

Chiropractic Spinal Adjustment

“Chiropractic Spinal Adjustment Is One Of The Most Effective Ways To Reduce Spinal Pain”

Over the past few weeks we learned about spinal pain and how spinal decay is one of the most common causes of spinal pain and also how chiropractic care is the treatment of choice for both spinal pain and spinal decay.

I hope you now know that you should not simply ignore spinal pain or think that the solution is pain medication.

As with any health problem, early intervention is the key to successful treatment.

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And when it comes to spinal pain, you need a chiropractic examination because this is our expertise.

This is what chiropractors do. And yes, sometimes you may need an xray before starting treatment but this is standard due diligence for most chiropractors.

And if it were me, I would want to know exactly what is going on with my spine before starting treatment.

Xrays provide vital information for effective spinal correction and most importantly for patient safety.

And, xrays will also let us know if your spinal pain requires referral to a medical specialist.

So, if you or anyone in your family is suffering from spinal pain even if it is just now and then, please give us a call.

Remember that just because it may go away for a while doesn’t mean that there is not a problem.

This is the biggest mistake that I see people make and far too often.

Remember that consultations are always free of charge and family appointments are always available.

Our phone number is 905 335 LIFE (5433) or you can email us by clicking on the link below

Life Chiropractic… helping families just like yours build vibrant, healthy, drug-free lives for over 25 years in Burlington.

Click Here To Book a Free Initial Consultation With Dr. Brad at The Burlington Clinic

Subway Bread Health Concern

“Yoga Mat Material In Subway Bread”

Subway restaurants were recently busted for using an unpronounceable ingredient in their bread. “Azodicarbonamide” is the same chemical used to make yoga mats, shoe soles and other rubbery objects. It is not supposed to be food or even eaten.

And it certainly is not ‘fresh’!!

Activist blogger Vani Hari ( the FoodBabe ) wrote a petition that garnered more than 65,000 signatures and Subway subsequently announced that it was already starting to phaseout the dangerous chemical.

But it leaves you wondering how many tons of bread were consumed by their customers who were totally unaware of this over the years.

So what is Azodicarbonamide?

It is a conditioner used by bread processors to give bread that airy and chewy texture.

And it is a bleaching agent used in flour.

But it is also a blowing agent used by the rubber and plastics industry to make products like shoe soles and yoga mats springy.

The European Union and the United Kingdom have banned its use in bread and flour, but the US Food and Drug Administration considers it “generally safe”.

Why is it bad?

As an industrial blowing agent, azodicarbonamide is known to trigger asthma in workers, but it is the breakdown products of azodicarbonmide that are the concern.

When flour containing this chemical is baked, a cancer producing agent called urethane is formed.

When the highest allowable amounts of azodicarbonamide are used, urethane spikes to concerning levels.

The risk depends on how much of the chemical is used, but we as consumers often times do not know that information.

Even though there are other bigger risks in our diet, we should not be consuming additives that knowingly increase our cancer risk.

You will find azodicarbonamide only in refined white flours but not in whole grains.

Another good reason to eat whole grains.

Subway is not the only chain using it.

McDonald buns contain it and so do many cereals and other products made with processed flours.

But, there is another dough conditioner called ‘potassium bromate’ that we also need to be concerned about.

Most of it breaks down during baking but trace amounts linger in the baked bread posing a potential cancer risk.

The good news is most organic breads do not contain azodicarbonamide so read your labels and go organic when you can.

Click Here To Book A Free Initial Consultation With Dr. Brad