No matter which category you fall into: weekend warrior, just trying to get a bit of exercise, or semi or pro athlete, you feel the same pain and frustration when you suffer a sports injury.

Being physically active and keeping fit are important factors for maintaining a happy lifestyle. Aside form the vanity factor of looking good, the active person can enjoy an enhanced immunity to sickness and disease, a less stressful disposition, better blood circulation (and the host of benefits that brings) and improved sleep patterns. These are just a few of the good things.

However there can be a downside to being physically active – the sports injury. Chronic pain is never a welcome guest, but it can be doubly frustrating if a sports injury causes discomfort and prevents you from enjoying your favorite sporting activities. Taking preventative measures against sports injuries is the sensible route for any athlete – pro or part-time enthusiast alike.

Just as the right equipment and safety gear will help on the outside, so will preparing your body on the inside help reduce the risk of a sports injury. Pre-exercise stretches and warm ups have been around for decades, but today many athletes are including chiropractic care to optimize their athletic performance and insure against sports injuries.

Anyone who is physically active, from complete amateur to seasoned pro should take the necessary precautions and ensure all proper preventive care is taken to insure against sprains, muscle and tendon tears or even fractures. While the proper attire – running shoes, support stockings and braces, etc. – will certainly help, chiropractic care is also seen as a good preventative measure.

Non-invasive and completely natural, chiropractic medicine helps people better understand their body, identify areas that could lead to injury and help those suffering from injury make swift and full recoveries from sports injuries. This balanced approach to treating and aiding the healing process for sports injuries uses chiropractic adjustments to correctly align the spine and ensure normal mobility. Physical therapy sessions aid the strengthening of muscles, tendons, and ligaments, and of course rest for the afflicted area to further promote healing

Not only can chiropractic care help restore an athlete to full health, but it can also identify and put into practice better warm up and training techniques althletes can use going forward. Through spinal correction and analyzing and implementing a proper nutritional diet, chiropractic care will help you achieve and maintain optimal wellness and health.

Everyone suffers from headaches at some point in their lives. Many people endure the agony of severe headaches and migraines on a weekly or daily basis, and yet we know very little about headaches, or their causes. However we do know ways to prevent or relieve the symptoms of a headache.

Identify.

Headaches come in many forms so identifying your headache is the first step. Migraines and tension headaches are the most common, although there are over 200 different types of headache. Keep a journal or log that describes the symptoms of your headache and consult a specialist if necessary who will help determine the type of headaches you are suffering from.

Triggers.

Headaches are usually caused by a single or multiple set of triggers. Bright and flashing lights, anxiety and stress, or lack of sleep are all headache triggers, as are certain foods such as cheese, chocolate, red wine and coffee. All of these serve to alter the nerve impulses to the brain that may cause headaches Once again, keep a journal and note down the things that seem to trigger your headaches and migraines. If you understand what it is that is triggering your headaches, you can learn to avoid them and thus decrease the frequency and potency of your headaches.

Medicine.

Over the counter drugs and other common pain medications and anti-inflammatories such as Asprin and IBU Profen can bring short-term relief from headaches, but it is believed that their prolonged use can actually make headaches worse. Yes they are an option, but not a long-term one. Prescription drugs, primarily Triptans, can offer more thorough relief, however these drugs are not suitable for many headache sufferers and can also bring serious side effects such as dizziness and nausea. So these too are a viable option but perhaps not the best method to combat headaches.

Natural, Long-Term Solutions.

Several natural solutions for headaches exist, which for the chronic or repeat sufferer are far kinder to the body than endless drugs and chemicals. Acupuncture is a Chinese medicine that has been practiced for hundreds of years and uses tiny needles to stimulate the body’s energy flow and stimulate the brain to release natural pain-reducing chemicals.

A healthier diet and lifestyle has also been found to alleviate headaches and migraines. A body with a proper sleep pattern and in good working order thanks to steady exercise and a proper diet, is a harmonious body, and it will thank you with fewer headaches.

Chiropractic Care is another natural, non-invasive method that has been very successful at helping people with headaches. By correctly aligning the spine it helps to optimize the nervous system and reduce the risk of a headache.

Look after your back and you’ll enjoy a much happier, more active lifestyle. There are many things you can do to optimize the health and wellbeing of your back, some are obvious – don’t lift overly heavy weights – but need to be emphasized again, and some might be somewhat less known. Here are 10 tips to looking after your back and keeping it in a healthy condition.

1.  Understand why you have back pain. Usually back pain is not the result of an accident or trauma. Face up to the fact that you may eat too much and not exercise enough, both of which play a key role in the health (or lack thereof) of your back.

2.  Consult your doctor or chiropractic care specialist. You don’t self-diagnose when you have a virus or infection, you see a specialist; so do the same for your back. Find out why you have back pain and take advice on how best to correct it.

3.  Develop a healthier lifestyle. Once you know you suffer with back pain develop a healthier regimen for yourself. Better diet and regular exercises will both play big roles in improving your back, and your chiropractor or doctor can give you good advice on both.

4.  Start to monitor yourself throughout the day. Take note of how you treat your body throughout a typical day. Do you slouch when sat at your desk, or is your chair not back-friendly? Is your sofa too high or low for you and is your bed too soft and unsupportive? Do you put strain on your back when you get into or out of your car, or is any other physical activity hurting your back? Answer these questions and you’ll be able to treat your back better each day.

5.  Don’t try to be a gold medal weightlifter. You’re not competing in the Olympics so don’t try and be a hero with heavy objects. Pick up heavy items using the knees not the back, carry heavy objects close to you and not with outstretched arms, and if you must carry heavier items use a rucksack/backpack instead of a shoulder/tote bag.

6.  Keep things at eye level. Most people spend a lot of time looking at computer and television screens each day. Make sure they are at eye level so you do not have to crane your neck or bury your chin into your chest to view them.

7.  Stretch, stretch, stretch! This is particularly important for anyone who spends a lot of their day at a desk or computer screen. Take the time to stand, walk around and stretch out your neck and back muscles. Try and do this at least once an hour.

8.  Maintain a good posture. Slouching puts a strain equivalent to 100lbs on your back, so sit up straight and your back will thank you.

9.  Stop smoking. As if this needed to be pointed out, however, smoking is believed to reduce blood supply to the discs in the back and smokers are 80% more prone to chronic back pain than non-smokers.

10.  Visit your chiropractic care specialist on a regular basis. A spine specialist will treat your existing back pain and help you to minimize the risks of any future back problems.

There are many facts, theories and ideas when it comes to health and nutrition. But there are two facts that are indisputable. These are two facts that all opposing parties in the health and nutrition world cannot disagree on. They are:

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My experience has taught me that adrenal exhaustion is a real condition that causes serious problems, including exhaustion, chronic fatigue, malaise, light-headedness, stress, chronic colds, and a feeling as if life is a constant struggle of walking uphill.  Most medical “experts” feel that adrenal exhaustion is a hoax.  Even Dr. Andrew Weil rejects the idea that constant stress weakens your adrenal glands, causing health problems.

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A new $10 million study from Oregon Health and Science University published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA, 10/3/2010) proved that pills made of one type omega-3 fats (DHA) did not help Alzheimer’s patients.  DHA, like EPA, is one fat found in fish.  The balance of the fats varies from fish to fish and also varies depending on the type of food the fish eat, as well as the enzymes they eat and produce.  For example, cod liver oil is about 10% DHA and 15% EPA.  Since the study fractioned out and used only the DHA, we must assume that it was an oxidized (nonfermented), industrialized supplement in pill form.

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If you or a loved one are diagnosed with cancer, or if you’ve had cancer and are trying to avoid recurrence, or if you may be prone to getting cancer because of family history, you need to take action, You cannot simply withstand medical treatments, bury your head in the sand, and then wish for the best.

You need to know that in today’s medical world, a malignant tumor is called cancer. But all medical treatments aims a the tumor are only treating the symptom. Continue reading →

I have called food combining the instant cure. And if you suffer from heartburn, reflux, nausea, burping, and all the rest of gigantic, medically profitable mess we all call indigestion, and you have not tried food combining to get relief, you need to follow some of my advice which has helped thousands of patients get rid of their usual indigestion problems — simply because they changed the way they eat.

Poor food combining is not the cause of everyone’s indigestion. But since it is simple and free, you should test to see if food combining can help with your problems. The bare-bones basics of food combining are that starches and proteins do not go together. Vegetables go with everything except fruit. Fruit should be eaten alone. That’s it.

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My experience has taught me that adrenal exhaustion is a real condition that causes serious problems, including exhaustion, chronic fatigue, malaise, light-headedness, chronic colds, and a feeling as if life is a constant struggle of walking uphill. Most medical “experts” feel that adrenal exhaustion is a hoax. Even Dr. Andrew Weil rejects the idea that constant stress weakens your adrenal glands, causing health problems.

Perhaps the grandest rejection of all comes from the president of the American Institute of Stress, Dr. Paul Rosch, a clinical professor of medicine and psychiatry at New York Medical College. Continue reading →

Over the past 20 years, drugmakers have touted statin (cholesterol-lowering) drugs as a cure for just about everything. The main claim—reducing the number of heart attacks and strokes—cannot even be proven, except for a small subset of patients with specific types of heart disease. Nonetheless, a relentless PR campaign by the manufacturers has convinced doctors and patients alike that these drugs are a panacea. They have been purported to help osteoporosis, cancer, memory, brain function, hormonal problems and even keep you young. And it has paid off—to the tune of billions of dollars in profit annually. The problem is that this is all bunk, hype and nothing more than PR to sell more of these drugs. And worse, your doctor may still believe this rubbish. Continue reading →