Archives for July 2015

By Dr. Robert Cummins – Car accidents can be devastating to your health. Even small accidents can cause whiplash and other neck, back and body pains. It can take months or even years to recover, and sadly, some people never do.

Needing His Full Physical Abilities

A professional handyman from Eastgate, Bellevue recently came in to Cummins Chiropractic to get help for his auto accident injuries. That accident wasn’t anything too severe, but I am writing today because accidents don’t need to be huge to put the victims in pain. As a handyman, this patient needed the full use of his body — his livelihood depended on it.
The patient was afflicted with chronic low and upper-mid back pain that affected his ability to work. He found himself unable to paint or work on building projects. Without that ability to function physically, he wasn’t sure what to do. The patient tried massage therapy at his physician’s suggestion. With massage, he wasn’t doing any worse, but he wasn’t improving. It wasn’t enough.

Diet and Chiropractic: A Powerful Combination

He came into our office and I listened to him explain his situation. We decided together to work with a combination of chiropractic and some simple solutions to the patient’s diet to improve his health. We improved his inflammation with dietary changes, while chiropractic improved the structure and function of his body. After two months, he’s doing great and is nearly done with active care for his accident.  I am thrilled to have helped him get back to work again.  These are the cases that make me proud to be a chiropractor.
When you’ve experienced an injury or trauma, we’re ready to listen and help you. Call our office today!

By Dr. Robert Cummins –  As a chiropractor, I see patients who have been deeply affected by injury and discomfort. I want to share with you a recent success story showing the power of chiropractic care for a local musician.
I have been providing chiropractic care to a woman in her forties who works as a dental hygienist. She also plays the drums in a percussion band. She came in to see me for chronic neck pain. For years, her ability to play drums has been compromised.
Each time she would move her arms to strike the drum, her neck muscles would be activated, giving her that same old pain. It became worse during the summer months when she would participate in different area parades.

No Luck with Other Doctors

This patient came in to see us about six months ago. She told us she had seen many other specialists to try to cope with the pain. She wanted to get back to playing the drums and working in her job as a dental hygienist without pain. Like many of our patients, she had not seen success from these other doctors.

A Vibrant, Active Life

That was where she was at nearly half a year ago. Now, for the first time, she can play the drums without pain. She feels the best she has felt in years! Chiropractic has gotten her to a place where she can do what she wants. She works at her job without pain and plays in the band without worrying about her neck hurting.
Chiropractic can help you get back to your family and living the vibrant life you deserve. Give us a call today and find out what we can do for you!

Whether you dream of walking the steps of Machu Picchu, exploring the Galápagos Islands or becoming a winemaker in Bordeaux, fulfilling your bucket list is easier when your body is healthy enough to cooperate.

When to Invest in Your Health?

NOW!  You only have this one body that needs to get you through all the years of your life. So the time to start getting your spine and body healthy is right now, especially if you’re not retired yet and want to be able to look forward to making your burgeoning bucket list a reality.
“Dr. Cummins and I have 3 kids three and under, so we’re not traveling much now. Our goal, however, is to see some wonderful, far-off places that are on our bucket list. We each only have this our set of knees and one back, and we want them to be in good shape so we can travel when we’re 66, 76 and 86,” says Anna Cummins, Dr. Cummins’ wife and Olympic Champion.
Inspired by Anna’s parents, Dave and Denise Mickelson of Bellevue who partake in regular chiropractic wellness care, the Cummins family has a family legacy to fulfill.  The Mickelsons recently returned from six weeks traveling South America, visiting many of the places they originally explored 40 years ago after serving in the Peace Corps.  One of their favorites they reported was a week long stay in the Galapagos Islands.  Each day was spent doing two hikes and two snorkel swims for the entire week.  Endurance and good structure were a must to maximize their adventure.

Regular Chiropractic Checkups

If you were told you only get one car to last a lifetime, you would likely change the oil religiously and keep the car in tip-top shape. With cars, of course, you can get a new one whenever the mood strikes. Not so with your one-and-only body. Getting regular chiropractic checkups can help you maintain better overall health.
It’s much better to look at that bucket list with great anticipation versus great disappointment if deteriorating health is an impediment to your dreams.

Just as we keep the bones in our mouth healthy by brushing our teeth, we can keep the bones in our spine healthy by doing spinal exercises.

Bringing the Body Back to Alignment

It’s easy to fall into some bad postural habits, especially if we sit at a desk all day. You may catch yourself being slumped over like a Slinky with a forward head posture and the shoulders rolling forward. The purpose of spinal exercises is to bring the body back into correct alignment by improving posture.
Dr. Cummins recommends doing daily exercises to push our head back, actively engage the muscles and roll the shoulders backward to get them back into their proper alignment. His wife, Anna, demonstrates some of the exercises in this YouTube video:

Perfecting Your Posture

How we use technology can take a toll on our bodies. For example, if you’re reading this with your head down on a laptop or mobile you’re pulling the curve out of your neck. Here’s a quick tip for practicing good posture: give yourself at last one break per hour, whether you’re driving or sitting at a desk all day working. If you’re sitting at a desk, stand up and stretch backward even if it’s just for 15 seconds.
These small measures can reap big dividends when it comes to your spinal health.