NON-SURGICAL TREATMENT FOR SCOLIOSIS

Janzen and Janzen has recently become certified by the CLEAR Institute for the treatment and rehabilitation of scoliosis. We are virtually the only CLEAR Certified scoliosis treatment center in the San Francisco Bay area. The rehabilitation program we employ reduces and stabilizes scoliotic curves without bracing or surgery. What's most important is that we take a conservative approach.

Why Start with a Conservative Approach?

The early stages of scoliosis, when the curve is between 0-25 degrees, is the best time to begin conservative care, because the muscles and tissues have not been deformed for many months or years as the body attempts to compensate for the abnormal twisting and bending of the spine.

If the scoliosis is 25 or more degrees, it's likely the individual has had their scoliosis for quite some time. This means the tissues have changed from their normal state as a response to the twisting and bending. Again, the conservative approach is the best first option.

There are many benefits to treating scoliosis conservatively. Most importantly it is non-surgical.

What's involved in the Conservative Plan?

As CLEAR Institute Certified Doctors of Chiropractic, we have a complete protocol designed to induce cyclical motion and low frequency vibration into the ligamentous structures of the spine. This motion and vibration "unlocks" the curvature in your spine, enabling our doctor's specific spinal adjustments and precision instrumentation to take effect. Traction and spinal de-rotation instruments are implemented thoughout the procedure. The final stage of each treatment involves vibrational neuro-muscular re-training and specific exercises.

For more detailed information about how Janzen and Janzen's scoliosis doctors treat its scoliosis patients, please go to the CLEAR Institute website. The CLEAR website fully outlines the procedures, and provides complete details, videos, and customer testimonials which further support the treatment methods Janzen and Janzen Chiropractic utilize.

Continue to the rest of this article >>

Low back pain has been cited by amateur golfers as the most
common golf related injury.

Studies of amateurs and professionals reveal that amateurs demonstrate poor swing mechanics as they swing harder, thus creating larger loads and torsion.

Increased loads to the lumbar spine during the golf swing as well as the large forces generated by these muscles predispose the golfer to muscular strains, spondylosis, degenerative facet changes with associated risk of herniated discs.

Read more...

March 2009

EAT WELL, BE WELL and… How To Clean Up Your Appearance!!

by David Graves, Naturopathic Doctor

As a naturopathic doctor and nutritionist I get asked lots of questions about food and health. There is a never-ending stream of information about what you should eat to be healthy and there is always another diet that is in vogue. Over the last ten years I’ve spent a great deal of time pondering the question, “what is the ideal diet?” Though I believe there is no one-size-fits-all diet, there are basic principles that you can apply even if we shouldn’t all eat the same. Much of what is healthy is common sense, or at least it use to be. The challenge is restoring the “uncommon” common sense, to…

Eat the way you were designed to

Just as you wouldn’t want to run your car without the right fuel, so it is true with your body. Just as important as the fuel, however, are the “cofactors.” To continue the analogy, imagine running your car without the oil or lubricants in the engine that surround every moving part. Imagine draining the coolant fluid, and letting most of the air out of the tires. Now fill up the tank with premium unleaded, start the engine, put it in gear, and hit the gas. Perhaps it’s a convertible and you begin to cruise down the boulevard. Though the ride feels a bit strange, you merge onto the freeway, really putting the pedal down. It’s at that moment that you notice the red light on the dash board and hear the squeal of metal on metal. Your joy ride comes to a sudden halt. It is the same with the human body. The fuel is the calorie content of what you eat. The oil, fluids, and air are the “cofactors” of the body, namely vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fiber, protein and amino acids, fats and essential fatty acids. Just like a car needs fuel and supportive factors, so does your body if it is to last a lifetime.

More and more people are waking up to the fact that the average diet is lacking. Food is plentiful, but much of it is missing those essential cofactors, the nutrients that keep the body operating properly. In some cases one’s diet may be inappropriate given your individuality. It has been said that the diversity of the appropriate human diet is akin to the diet of a cow versus a lion. Lions don’t do well on a vegan diet and neither do cows on a carnivorous one. Humans are equipped to be very adaptable. However, depending largely on your genetic makeup and individual characteristics, you may thrive on a healthy vegetarian diet or it can make you sick. Despite the variability there are basic principles that come close to being the ideal diet for most people. The caveat is that when someone is suffering from a specific disease or health problem, his or her diet can be tailored to encourage healing and restore health, especially when diet was the primary cause.

Hopefully you are now on the edge of your seat waiting to discover the

“Diet for all people.”

The evidence to support this diet recommendation comes from both science and the human history of nourishment from the past. By studying cultures that are the healthiest and looking at human nutritional science, many now believe the ideal human diet is the Paleolithic or “hunter-gatherer diet.:” This diet consists of nutrient and fiber-rich vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, lean meat and animal products. What are notably missing from the diet are grains, refined sugar, homogenized milk, and most processed foods. Though I don’t think it’s practical or even necessary for most people to follow this diet to a tee, it does provide an important template. The take away message is that we eat too much grain-based foods and sugar, while getting too few vegetables. In addition, the animal products we now eat bear little resemblance to what our ancestors hunted in the wild. The nutritional profile of domesticated beef for example, is quite different from that of wild deer or even grass-fed bison.

The challenge for us all is to tame the tendency to take the path of least resistance, stopping at the drive-thru, grabbing the unhealthy convenience foods, not planning ahead, and never really taking the time to learn how to feed oneself. In today’s world healthy eating requires exercising your brain a little before your gustatory and digestive systems.

Next time I will discuss how to practically apply the Paleolithic diet and how an individualized diet can cure common ailments.

If you have any questions for Dr. Graves, please feel free to call him at Janzen & Janzen Chiropractic at
(408) 379-0133, or you can email him at gravesnd@gmail.com.

February 2009

When You Go To The Doctor, Do You Get REAL or FAKE Medicine?
And Which One Is Better?

by David Graves, Naturopathic Doctor

Your town – Imagine this: You have a joint pain… such as back or neck pain. You go to a rheumatologist – a doctor who treats arthritis and other joint problems. He or she examines you and determines your problem. He or she prescribes a treatment and describes the treatment to you as “a potentially beneficial medicine not typically used for your condition.”

What Would You Do?

Would you follow his or her recommendations? Probably. And you would probably do it without much question or skepticism at all. Right?

Would THIS information change your decision? According to an October 23, 2008 Associated Press article, a recent survey found about 50% of American doctors REGULARLY give their patients drugs or vitamins that won’t help their condition. But that’s not the worst part… These “placebo” treatments are not explained to their patients.

For example, in the survey, a random sample of 1,200 internists and rheumatologists were questioned; 679 of the doctors responded to the survey, and…

62% Believed Using A Placebo Treatment Was Ethically Acceptable

But really, is that so bad? After all, some studies have shown the “placebo effect” to be real. A certain percentage of patients actually get better when they believe the treatment they are getting works – when in reality, it is a sugar pill sham. (Which is an amazing testament to the power of your mind and the human body!)

Think about it. Just believing you are going to get better has the ability to make you better.

How Can This Be?

Actually, it’s simple. Allow me to explain… Imagine you’re walking in a really dark place. Maybe it’s in the woods… or an unlit street… or you’re home alone one night and all the lights in your house are off…

And in the complete darkness… someone sneaks up on you and touches you. Or yells, “BOO!!!”

What happens? Yes… you almost jump out of your skin. But what happens INSIDE YOU?

Here’s what: Your heart rate suddenly and sharply increases. Your pupils dilate. The hair follicles on your body stand on end. Your breathing increases. You stomach feels queasy. You instantly sweat. And you are…

Wide Awake And Ready To Go!!!

It’s called the “fight or flight” response. In an instant, your brain signals your body and you produce an incredible array of chemicals – commonly called an “adrenaline rush.”

What’s more, anytime you are under stress, your body has a similar response. If the stressor is not so sudden or intense – your body’s response will not be as severe.

This is exactly how many people can become “suddenly” ill with a serious disease, even those that seem to have no blatant cause.

Small or moderate amounts of stress can cause your body to dump these “fight or flight” chemicals into your body over and over again for years and years and years.

And just like smoking cigarettes over a long period of time can lead to lung cancer and other serious health problems, your body’s reaction to stress can slowly break down your immune system and lead to real problems.

Which is exactly why so many people say…

Stress Kills!

On the other side of the coin, if your body can produce “bad” chemicals, it can also produce “good” ones. That’s what the placebo effect is. When you believe 100% you are taking a medication that will help, your body reacts in a way that heals.

Here’s one very good theory about why that happens…

When you are faced with stress, your body reacts in a harsh way in an attempt to save you from the impending danger. The adrenaline rush is important to quickly get you out of harms way, if necessary.

So it makes complete sense that if you REMOVED stress from your life – you would not only never produce the harmful chemicals from the fight or flight reaction – but your body may produce healing chemicals instead.

After all, what happens when you get a placebo? You are sick and stressed out because you are sick. You don’t know if it is serious, if you will get better or if you will get worse. We humans have a tendency to let our minds run crazy and always think of the worst case scenario, don’t we

I’m sure you’ve had a little ache or pain at some point and thought you had a disease you were going to lose a limb or die from… and then it turned out to be NOTHING!!! We all have.

Anyway, back to the placebo effect. When you go to the doctor and he tells you he knows what is wrong with you and gives you something to take care of it – you instantly RELAX.

All the stress and strain of the unknown mystery disease that was going to kill you is gone. Not only is the stress removed, but your body is able to relax and do what it does best…

Heal!

So… the placebo effect is a good thing, right? Certainly. But there is an ethical question to all this, that was raised in the above-mentioned survey.

You see, for the placebo effect to work, you really have to believe 100% you are receiving a treatment that works.

Can you see the catch 22 for doctors here? In order for the placebo effect to work…

They Must Lie To You!

And that’s exactly what the survey found. According to the Associated Press article, “Half of the doctors reported using placebos several times a month, nearly 70 percent of those described the treatment to their patients as ‘a potentially beneficial medicine not typically used for your condition.’ Only 5 percent of doctors explicitly called it a placebo treatment.”

And here’s what may be shocking: “Most doctors used actual medicines as a placebo: 41 percent used painkillers, 38 percent used vitamins, 13 percent used antibiotics, 13 percent used sedatives, 3 percent used saline injections, and 2 percent used sugar pills.”

When questioned, 60% of doctors said they would prescribe a sugar pill for chronic pain if it had been shown to work better than no treatment.

According to the AP article, Franklin G. Miller, one of the authors of the study and director of the research ethics program at the U.S. National Institutes for Health said, “It’s a disturbing finding. There is an element of deception here which is contrary to the principle of informed consent.”

Clearly, there are two BIG issues here: Always doing what’s best for your patients and always informing them everything that is going on. You may ask yourself this: Would you rather receive a placebo and not know about it and get better… or… be 100% informed and stay sick? Only you can answer that question.

But on the bright side – this demonstrates the body’s amazing ability to produce whatever it needs to heal itself. And more of your time and effort should be spent on eliminating all the stressors in your life – and focusing on all the wonderful things life has to offer. There is no doubt you will be happier… and healthier!!!

And don’t forget, if you ever have any questions or concerns about your health, talk to us. Contact us with your questions. We’re here to help, and don’t enjoy anything more than participating in your lifelong good health.

January 2009

Will You Be Like Superman (Or Superwoman) If You Sleep More And Take Vitamin D?

by David Graves, Naturopathic Doctor

Let’s start with a quick apology: No, sleeping more and taking Vitamin D will NOT make you like Superman or Superwoman! Sorry, but, new research is showing that they may improve your mind and health in many wonderful ways.

First, let’s talk about SLEEP…
Benjamin Franklin is famous for many things. Maybe you’ve heard of that little kite flying incident.
He is also famous for saying, “WASTE not life” and “There will be sleeping enough in the grave.”
More than 200 years later, the attitude towards sleep in America has not changed.

“I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead!”

“There is a cultural bias against sleep that sees it as akin to shutting down, or even to death,” explains Dr. Jeffrey Ellenbogen, a Neurologist at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Sleep Laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Most people, Dr. Ellenbogen says, think of the sleeping brain as similar to a computer that has “gone to sleep”, it does nothing productive. Wrong. Sleep enhances performance, learning and memory. Most of all, sleep improves creative ability to generate aha! moments and to uncover novel connections among seemingly unrelated ideas.

Dr. Ellenbogen’s research at Harvard indicates that after sleep, people are 33 percent more likely to infer connections among distantly related ideas, and yet, as he puts it, these performance enhancements exist “completely beneath the radar screen.”

In other words, people are more creative after sleep, but they don’t know it.

Changing Attitudes

Business attitudes toward sleep may be starting to shift. Claire Stapleton, a spokeswoman for Google, says “grassroots” interest in sleep led to an on-campus talk by Sara C. Mednick, a napping expert. Google also installed EnergyPods, leather recliners with egg-like hoods that block noise and light, for employees to take naps at work.

But there is something much more important than just a nap and the total number of hours slept. Even more important is the…

Circadian Rhythm

The circadian rhythm is an internal clock that guides our daily cycle from sleep to wakefulness – and back to sleep again. But now researchers at Stanford think it may be doing much more.

Working with Siberian hamsters, biologist Norman Ruby has shown that having a functioning circadian system is critical to the hamsters' ability to remember what they have learned. “Without it,” he said, "They can't remember anything."

Like all other animals, Siberian hamsters normally develop what amounts to street smarts about their environment.

But when Ruby interrupted their circadian system, the hamsters failed to demonstrate the same evidence of remembering their environment as hamsters with normally functioning circadian systems.

Until now, it has never been shown that the circadian system is crucial to learning and memory. This finding has implications for diseases that include problems with learning or memory deficits, such as Down Syndrome or Alzheimer's disease. The work is described in a paper published Oct. 1 online in the early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Ruby is lead author on the paper.

“Losing Their Rhythm Cost Them A Lot”

According to one of the researchers, “We thought it might be possible to wipe out circadian rhythms and eliminate the rhythm in learning, but that the animals could still learn something. But they don't. That is what was so surprising. They actually can't remember anything. Losing their rhythms costs them a lot.”

And it is not about the overall number of hours slept. It is about WHEN: "What our data are showing is that these animals still performed terribly on a simple learning task, even though they're getting loads of sleep. What this says is that the circadian system really is necessary for something that is deeply important: learning."

More and more research is showing how important not only the amount of sleep you get – but also when you get it. Make sure you read this month’s “Tip Of The Month” to discover some great ways to get enough sleep and stay in your circadian rhythm!

The Health Benefits Of Vitamin D!

Once linked to only bone diseases such as rickets and osteoporosis, Vitamin D is now recognized as a major player in contributing to overall human health, emphasizes UC Riverside's Anthony Norman, an international expert on Vitamin D.

In a paper published in the August issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Norman identifies Vitamin D's potential for contributions to good health in the adaptive and innate immune systems, the secretion and regulation of insulin by the pancreas, the heart and blood pressure regulation, muscle strength and brain activity. In addition, access to adequate amounts of Vitamin D is believed to be beneficial towards reducing the risk of cancer.

Norman also lists 36 organ tissues in the body whose cells respond biologically to Vitamin D. The list includes bone marrow, breast, colon, intestine, kidney, lung, prostate, retina, skin, stomach and the uterus.

According to Norman, deficiency of Vitamin D can impact all 36 organs. Already, Vitamin D deficiency is associated with muscle strength decrease, high risk for falls, and increased risk for colorectal, prostate, breast and other major cancers.

"It is becoming increasingly clear to researchers in the field that Vitamin D is strongly linked to several diseases," said Norman, a distinguished professor emeritus of biochemistry and of biomedical sciences who has worked on Vitamin D for more than 45 years. "Its biological sphere of influence is much broader than we originally thought. The nutritional guidelines for Vitamin D intake must be carefully reevaluated to determine the adequate intake, balancing sunlight exposure with dietary intake, to achieve good health by involving all 36 target organs."

How Much Vitamin D?

"To optimize good health, you must have enough Vitamin D," Norman said. "Vitamin D deficiency is also especially of concern in third world countries that have poor nutritional practices and religious customs that require the body to be covered from head to toe. Ideally, to achieve the widest frequency of good health by population, we need to have 90 percent of the people with adequate amounts of Vitamin D."

The recommended daily intake of Vitamin D is 200 international units (IU) for people up to 50 years old. The recommended daily intake of Vitamin D is 400 IU for people 51 to 70 years old and 600 IU for people over 70 years old. Norman's recommendation for all adults is to have an average daily intake of at least 2,000 IU.

While deficiency of Vitamin D impacts health negatively, ingestion of extremely high doses of Vitamin D can cause hypercalcemia, a condition in which the blood's calcium level is above normal. The highest daily “safe” dose of Vitamin D is 10,000 IU.

Search Tags: herniated discs professional golfers, mechanics of golfers elbow injury, microcurrent sports therapy, mid back pain, physician who treats scar tissue, pro golfers with scoliosis, professional golfers and back injury, repetative joint dislocation, shoulder adjustment techniques, shoulder and elbow pain causing weakness, shoulder backache with tingling, technique of ultrasound use for backache, trapped nerve in wrist following car accident, scoliosis doctor san jose, non-surgical scoliosis treatment, conservative scoliosis care, scoliosis chiropractor san jose, scoliosis doctor san francisco bay area.

Site Map