Hello everyone.

Dr Brad Ivanchuk here.

I am a Burlington, Ontario chiropractor at Life Chiropractic Centre on Guelph Line in the Beacon Hill Plaza.I am also a canfitpro certified Personal Training Specialist and an American Posture Institute Certified Posture Expert and Postural Neurologist.

Last time we discussed fibromyalgia (FM) and one of our viewers inquired about sleep and the FM patient.

It is a known fact that many fibro patients suffer from chronic daytime fatigue, have difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep and not feeling well rested in the mornings.

If you suffer from FM and any of these ring true for you, I have a few helpful hints to share with you today.
 
Noise and light; block out as much external noise as you can with earplugs or a soothing sound machine on the night table beside your bed.

And block out any external light with heavy curtains/blinds or use an eye mask.
Food/meals; avoid large meals at least 2 hours before bedtime.

If you get hungry in the evenings, have a small protein snack (a hand full of
almonds or a half a cup of yogurt or cottage cheese) and a cup a calming tea or a cup of warm milk especially can help you to fall asleep.

Exercise; aerobic exercise is highly beneficial during the daytime as it releases endorphins (feel good hormones) into our body, but not advisable within 3 hours of bedtime. If you want to do a 15-20 minute full-body stretch routine in the evenings before bed, this would be an
excellent thing to do.

Sleep habits; try and get to bed the same time every night and avoid long naps during the daytime. A 15-20 minute nap not within 8 hours of bedtime is okay.

Stimulants; avoid things such as alcohol, nicotine, sugar, caffeine etc. as they can prevent you from falling into a deep sleep.

Chiropractic care; a lot of literature and studies are pointing to the main cause of FM as being neurologic. The sympathetic part of the nerve system (the fight or flight part) is being stimulated repeatedly in the fibro patient thus not allowing the body to rest properly, and causes the accumulation of inflammatory chemicals into the muscle tissue. This is what causes those nasty trigger points.

Chiropractic adjustments have a very calming and soothing effect on the nerve system and will help to turn down the sympathetic response.

This is why so many FM patients find chiropractic care to be a huge benefit for them.

I hope you find this to be helpful and as always, if you have any questions on this topic or any other health concerns you may have or you children may have, please call me.
Remember too that consultations are always free of charge and these include a free detailed posture analysis.

Our phone number in Burlington is 905 335 LIFE (5433).

Hello everyone.

Dr Brad Ivanchuk here.

I am a Burlington, Ontario chiropractor at Life Chiropractic Centre on Guelph Line in the Beacon Hill Plaza.I am also a canfitpro certified Personal Training Specialist and an American Posture Institute Certified Posture Expert and Postural Neurologist.

Today is going to be for those people who may be suffering from fibromyalgia.

?Fibromyalgia is a very common and chronic condition where patients describe widespread pain not limited to one specific area of the body.When considering exercises for the fibromyalgia patient, whole body exercises must be taken into consideration.

And one of the most importantexercises is the free squat.A problem with squatting however can be that we lose proper form when we are in pain.

Pain can cause us to compensate in certain ways thatresult in the development of faulty movement patterns which can irritate the hips, knees, ankles and especially the lower back.

Remember that the lower back is your 3^rd Posture Quadrant – the stability quadrant for the entire spine.Squatting properly will strengthen your hips, stabilize the lower back and make it way easier for you to get through your daily activities; walking,sitting, standing, stair climbing, getting in and out of bed, the car etc.

The free standing squat is by far the safest and most effective for the fibromyalgia patient and they are quite easy to do.Stand with feet shoulder width apart, stick your butt out a little bit to maintain that arch in your lower back and crouch down as far as you comfortably can and then stand up straight again.

Stand beside a wall or a chair if you need to for extra support and balance.Try and work up to 3 sets of 15 squats which you can do 2 or 3 times per day.Regarding fibromyalgia always keep 2 things in mind; one is that many fibro patients find chiropractic care hugely beneficial and secondly, fibromyalgiais currently the third most common diagnosis made by rheumatologists.

And as many as 25% of diagnosed cases are attributed to an earlier traumaticevent of which whiplash ranks number one.So, if you have had a whiplash injury (sports injury, bad fall, concussion, car accident etc.), you are at a greater risk of developing fibromyalgia.

But it doesn’t have to be this way because I can help.All you have to do is call us to schedule an appointment for your free initial consultation which also includes a free detailed posture scan.This the best place to start and the number to call is 905 335 LIFE (5433).

Hello everyone.

Dr Brad Ivanchuk here.

I am a Burlington, Ontario chiropractor at Life Chiropractic Centre in the Beacon Hill Plaza on Guelph Line.I am also a canfitpro certified Personal Training Specialist and an American Posture Institute Certified Posture Expert and Postural Neurologist.

Today I am going to share another case history with you. Case histories are excellent learning opportunities.

I recently had a mother and son come in for a consultation.

They both had been going for chiropractic care for over 25 years and due to circumstances,they needed to find another chiropractor.In a situation like this, I always find out what their level of understanding is regarding chiropractic care and the posture system.

So, I asked them if they were familiar with the 4 posture quadrants, spinal misalignments, posture distortions, spinal degenerative arthritis etc. and they answered ‘no’ to most.

We then proceeded with a detailed posture scan which indicated that posture xrays were warranted.When we sat down to go over their posture xrays they were both shocked.

They were shocked at how much their posture systems had collapsed and the degree of spinal degenerative arthritis in their spines. Especially because they had been going for chiropractic care for years.

But it was for the most part pain-relief care only.

The takeaway from this case history is this … even though these patients did benefit to some degree from their previous chiropractic adjustments, there is a way to maximize these.

When you have a road map or a specific treatment plan designed to correct any posture distortions and you follow this up with regular chiropractic check-ups, you will get way more out of your chiropractic care.

Remember it is the chiropractors training and expertise that determines how often, when and where you need an adjustment.

And this will vary depending upon whether your chiropractor is a pain-relief (short-term benefits) chiropractor or a posture correction (long-term benefits) chiropractor.

To find out the status of your posture system, just give us a call.

Consultations are always free of charge and these include a detailed posture scan, also free.And this is an excellent place to start.The number to call is 905 335 LIFE (5433).

Remember always that good posture is by design and not by circumstance.

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

Hello again.

Dr Brad Ivanchuk here and I am a Burlington, Ontario Chiropractor at Life Chiropractic Centre on Guelph Line.

This is the time of year when most of us make some new year’s resolutions.

Resolutions can be a good thing but they can also be deflating especially when what you want to happen doesn’t. In fact, some surveys show that a high percentage of resolutions (85-90%) fall by the wayside.

So, what could we do to change this? Because resolutions can be very empowering.
What if we made just 1 resolution instead of 2 or 3 or 4?

Pick that one thing in your life, the most important thing that you know needs to change for the better.

And focus only on that 1 thing.

Do you need to make better food choices? Do you need to recommit to your chiropractic health care?

Do you need to exercise with regularity? Do you need to build better relationships with yourself, your family, your friends?
 
And when you make a commitment to yourself that you are going to focus on that 1 thing, and you do, then you will experience results. And results are empowering and can often be life-changing.

The resolution then is really between you and your self.

All the best in the new year everyone.

This is our version of the “roaring twenties!”

Remember always that good posture is by design and not by circumstance. Life Chiropractic Centre …. helping families just like yours build vibrant, healthy, drug-free lives for over 25 years in Burlington, Ontario.

Hello everyone.

Dr Brad Ivanchuk here.

I am a Burlington, Ontario chiropractor at Life Chiropractic Centre on Guelph Line in the Beacon Hill Plaza.

I am also a canfitpro certified Personal Training Specialist and an American Posture Institute
Certified Posture Expert and Postural Neurologist.

Today we are going to learn about lower back pain and its relation to your spinal discs which are the cartilage pads or shock-absorbers between each pair of vertebrae throughout your
spine.

The unfortunate thing is that almost every single person will experience low back pain at least once in their lives, to one degree or another. I am seeing kids in my clinic who are only 10 years old and they are already complaining of back pain.

And due to lack of proper attention and continual postural collapse, this becomes a chronic problem for a lot of people.

Regarding your spinal discs, there is no real such thing as a slipped disc. Discs are firmly attached to the vertebra above and below. The two most common things that can happen to a spinal discs are they can decay or degenerate (this we have discussed many times before), and they can bulge or herniate.

We have learned already that posture distortions in the lower back and pelvis can cause decaying discs, but they can also cause bulging discs in the lower back as well.

If you suffer from back pain, try this simple test to see if it may be related to your spinal discs.
When you bend forwards at the waist and this seems to offer you some relief, you most likely have a decaying disc(s).

If the opposite is true and you get some relief when you bend backwards at the waist, you most likely have a bulging disc(s).

But the good news is that chiropractic care and postural correction can help both of these problems.

If you and/or your kids struggle with lower back pain, you really do need to get a thorough check-up.

Consultations here at Life Chiropractic Centre are always free of charge and these also include a detailed posture scan.

This is the best place to start.

The number to call is 905 335 LIFE(5433).


Remember always that good posture is by design and not by circumstance. Life Chiropractic Centre …. helping families just like yours build vibrant, healthy, drug-free lives for over 25 years in Burlington, Ontario.

Hello everyone.

Dr Brad Ivanchuk here.

I am a Burlington, Ontario chiropractor at Life Chiropractic Centre on Guelph Line in the Beacon Hill Plaza. I am also a Certified Posture Expert and Certified Postural Neurologist with the American Posture Institute.I am also a canfitpro certified Personal Training Specialist.

Today I am going to share another case history with you.

I recently consulted with a teenager whose parents noticed something just wasn’t right with their child’s posture, so they called and asked me if I would check it out.

As usual we started with the posture scan which showed significant forward head posture and a ribcage that was shifted significantly to the right.

I immediately sent this patient for some posture xrays which confirmed my suspicions; there was a 28 degree curve in the middle part of the spine between the neck and the lower back. In other words, a 28 degree scoliosis.

The postural correction program was discussed with the patient and both parents and started right away that very same day. The reason I am sharing this with you is the ‘takeaway’. The takeaway is that every single child needs to have their posture checked by a posture expert.

In this particular case, there would have been indicators 10 and even 12 years ago that there was a problem if this patient were assessed by a posture expert such as myself. And it would have been a heck of a lot easier to fix this problem 10 or 12 years ago when the curve
was say 8 degrees instead of 28 degrees.

And not only that, it would have saved both parent and child a whole bunch of mental/emotional grief. But, we are making our best effort to do what we have to do now.

Better late than never !! (Any curve over 40 degrees is a likely candidate for surgery.)

So parents, please make the time to get your kid’s posture checked. It is one of the most important things you will ever do for them!

And if you still unsure as to why, just come in and talk to me.

Here at Life Chiropractic Centre, posture checks are free of charge as they are part of your free initial consultation.

We offer this to the residents of Burlington as a community service.

To make your appointment, all you have to do is call 905 335 LIFE (5433).

Remember always that good posture is by design and not by circumstance. Life Chiropractic Centre …. helping families just like yours build vibrant, healthy, drug-free lives for over 25 years in Burlington, Ontario.

Hello everyone.

Dr Brad Ivanchuk here. I am a Burlington, Ontario chiropractor at Life Chiropractic Centre on Guelph Line in the Beacon Hill Plaza. I am also an American Posture Institute Certified Posture Expert and Postural Neurologist and a canfitpro certified Personal Training Specialist.

Today we are going to talk about ADHD (Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder).

ADHD is a very controversial diagnosis because there are no clear objective clinical tests or lab tests. And it belongs to a spectrum of neurological disorders which include other conditions such as OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) and learning disabilities.

To complicate the diagnosis of ADHD, some kids may simply be at the high end of the range of normal activity, or they may have a difficult temperament, or they may just be bored in class because they have a high IQ.

What is very, very disturbing however is that since the 1990’s, the number of prescription for ADHD has skyrocketed 700%!

The classic medical model has embraced the use of Ritalin to treat ADHD. Ritalin is a class 2 narcotic. Cocaine is a class 2 narcotic.
[ Check out the side-effects of Ritalin. Scary stuff !! ]

This is why so many parents choose to explore other options for the treatment of ADHD.

So, what may chiropractic have to offer?

A recent study involving 28 ADHD kids aged 5 to 15 years of age; investigators randomly assigned 14 to a chiropractic treatment
group and 14 kids to the conventional medical treatment group.

The researchers concluded that the kids in the chiropractic group had better outcomes based on several assessments and that
a larger scale study was in order.

So if your kids or even you yourself are struggling with ADHD, why not give chiropractic a try? It will not interfere with any current
treatment, and it is a natural and safe treatment.

To find out more, call and schedule your appointment for your free initial consultation. You will not know unless you give it a try.

905 335 LIFE (5433)

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

Hello everyone.

Dr Brad Ivanchuk here. I am a Burlington, Ontario chiropractor at Life Chiropractic Centre on Guelph Line in the Beacon Hill Plaza.

I am also a Certified Posture Expert and Postural Neurologist with the American Posture Institute. And a canfitpro certified Personal Training Specialist.

Today we are going to learn about cervical traction (neck traction).

Chiropractors who specialize in posture correction will use neck traction as part of their posture correction program. There are a few different ways of doing spinal traction and we use standing or vertical traction here at Life Chiropractic as I feel this the most effective and easiest to do.
 
There are many health benefits to neck traction. It forces relaxation of your neck muscles by supporting the entire weight of your head, it opens up your spinal joints and the canals where your nerve roots lie, it reduces pressure on your spinal joints, nerve roots and spinal discs, it improves the flow of nutrients into your spinal joints and spinal discs, and it assists in correcting your (neck) posture.

These things are your best defense against developing spinal degenerative arthritis.
Let’s recap …. spinal degenerative arthritis is a consequence of posture distortions left undetected and uncorrected. It is also an advancing condition when posture distortions are left undetected and uncorrected.

Spinal degenerative arthritis is also one of the fastest growing health conditions and we are
now seeing this in kids as young as 10 years of age.

 
To find out if you or your kids are at risk of developing spinal degenerative arthritis, all you have to do is call and schedule an appointment for your free initial consultation.

These also include a free detailed posture scan and this is the absolute best place to start.
Call 905 335 LIFE (5433) to schedule your appointment.

Remember … good posture is by design and not by circumstance.

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

Hello everyone. Dr Brad Ivanchuk here.

I am a Burlington, Ontario chiropractor at Life Chiropractic Centre on Guelph Line in the Beacon Hill Plaza. I am also a Certified Posture Expert and Postural Neurologist with the American Posture Institute and a canfitpro certified Personal Training Specialist.

The question of whether or not chiropractic care is safe during pregnancy is frequently raised by my practice members who are planning a family and I thought this would be an appropriate topic for today. 

It seems like a lot of people are making babies lately.

Chiropractic care during this precious 9 month time frame has been common practice for many moms as they require professional care for biomechanical complaints (most notably lower back pain) or they simply want to be their best and build a healthy baby.

The 1st trimester is usually uneventful unless and of course morning sickness occurs. Trimester 2 is typically easy going as any morning sickness normally subsides but towards the end of trimester 2 and trimester 3 is when things tend to be the most challenging.

As the baby grows and fills the womb, mom’s posture is going to change. The curve in the lower back will increase which in turn will cause humping of the upper back which in turn will cause forward head posture.

These posture distortions will result in headaches, neck pain, pain between the shoulder blades, heartburn and indigestion, lower back pain and sciatica. These are very common symptoms during trimester #3.

A literature review of 33 research papers on this very subject concluded the results of these papers revealed a favorable outcome regarding the use and effectiveness of chiropractic care during pregnancy.

And this has been my clinical observation over the years as well. Moms who get regular adjustments throughout their pregnancy have a much more comfortable pregnancy and most also have a quick and easy delivery.

So, if you are pregnant and/or planning to have a family, chiropractic care would be an awesome addition to your health care regime.

All you have to do to start is call 905 335 LIFE (5433) to schedule an appointment for your free initial consultation. This also includes a free detailed posture scan and then we will take it from there.

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

Hello everyone.

Numerous!!!

You get your cardio done in 20 minutes or less. (Time efficient!!!)

It is a much more effective way of saturating your body with oxygen. (Oxygen = energy.)

It improves the tone of all your skeletal muscles. (Better support for your posture system.)

It increases the number of fat-burning enzymes in your body. (Increases your metabolic rate … you burn way more fat.)

Reduction in body-fat percentages. (10 -15% body fat is more than enough.)
Improved levels of overall fitness.

And when you are carrying extra weight, HIIT is so much easier on your back, hips and knees.
This is why I recommend HIIT for all my practice members.

If you have any questions about HIIT, please give me a call. I am always here to help.

Remember that consultations and posture scans are always free of charge.

All you have to do is call 905 335 LIFE (5433) to schedule your appointment.

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