Pediatrics

School is about to begin which means that families are gearing up for busy schedules, homework, after school activities and the hectic pace of our 21st century lifestyles. To insure that your child has a healthy and successful year, it will be important to have their back aligned, balanced and on track.

Every activity affects the spine. Contact sports, playing an instrument, sitting, studying, and paying attention in class are all important for a successful school year and they all require a healthy spine and nervous system. When your child is sitting in class listening to a teacher, they listen through their ears, process the information in their brain, and a signal is sent down their spine to their fingers so that they can write their notes which they will later study. If a child is playing an instrument, the instructor often tells them to sit up straight. A healthy spine with good alignment and nerve supply is essential to performance in the classroom and activities.

When we watch our kids participating in sports, we often cringe at the intense beating that their spines take when they are hit by another person or twisted through their activities. Keeping their spine aligned and balanced is crucial for them to be able to enjoy a healthy and successful year and have a healthy spine for a lifetime.

Children make 775,000 visits to the emergency room each year because of sports-related injuries. Every 2 and a half minutes a child is injured on a playground. 150,000 kids are treated in the emergency room for football injuries. These injuries are often accompanied by trauma to the child’s developing spine and nervous system. More than 40 Million students carry school backpacks. Backpacks that are too heavy or worn incorrectly can injure your child’s back, neck and shoulders, which can lead to other health problems.

Heavy backpacks, playground and sports injuries can cause non-structural or functional scoliosis, an abnormal curvature of the spine that typically appears in early adolescence. This type of scoliosis develops as a result of misalignment and pressure on the spine and nerve system. Functional scoliosis can often be corrected by addressing the underlying condition through chiropractic care. Kids can injure their spine and remain symptom free until later on in life when the damage becomes more permanent. This, too, can be avoided with regular chiropractic care.

British medical researchers have found through MRI technology that nearly 10percent of children show signs of disc degeneration before reaching puberty.

Disc degeneration is a condition in which a damaged spinal disc wears down unevenly causing pressure on the nerves and limiting activity levels, stamina, and quality of life as we age. We tend to think of disc degeneration as a sign that we are getting older but this is not true. It is a sign that the spine has been injured which can happen at any age.

There are so many things to do to prepare for the upcoming school year. As you make your list remember to make an appointment for a “School’s Back” Spinal Exam. This simple examination can determine if your child’s spine is on track or off track. Chiropractic care can keep your child’s spine and nerve system healthy and insure your best school year ever. Get them started on the right track today!

Copyright 2014 The Family Practice, Inc., Dr. Eric Plasker and The 100 Year Lifestyle. All Rights Reserved.

Starting or expanding your family may be an important component of your 100 Year Lifestyle. Fertility challenges can be discouraging and frustrating. To increase your chances for an easy conception and pregnancy, keep your spine and nervous system healthy with Lifestyle Care and try some of these healthy tips!

AVOID – MicroNutrient deficiencies which can result from stress, smoking, toxins, poor diet, and prescription medications including certain contraceptives.

TRY – A good whole food multivitamin and probiotic, during and after birth control use, to prevent nutritional deficiency and restore already depleted levels.

AVOID – Having an abnormal body mass index. Being underweight or overweight can affect fertility in both males and females. In a person who is underweight, the body naturally panics and shuts down many important bodily processes and literally turns down reproduction.

With obesity, adiponectin (a protein released by fat cells that assists in burning up fat) decreases. Adiponectin would normally help to make the body more sensitive to insulin (which enhances ovulation). Without sufficient adiponectin, the body becomes resistant to insulin and fertility is compromised.

TRY – Normalizing weight before trying to conceive. Good nutrition helps to create a “clean slate” within the body that helps it to respond and utilize other natural remedies better. Try “cleaning and greening” your life before trying to conceive. Be sure that you are eating adequate amounts of foods such as dark leafy greens, sesame seeds, seaweed, almonds, quinoa, chia, and bone broth to maintain proper hormone production.

AVOID – Oxidative stress. This is heavily linked with many chronic diseases and fertility challenges. When we are exposed to environmental stress such as pollution, radiation, toxins in the home and work place, caffeine, smoking and drugs, the body accumulates oxidative stress. This may result in significant damage to cell structures, sperm cell development and ovary function, decreasing chances of fertilization and increasing the chance of miscarriage. Hundreds of synthetic chemicals found in our environment are now identified as hormone disruptors for ovulation, fertilization and implantation of the embryo.

TRY – Natural products for household cleaning, body care, pest and weed control and building materials.

AVOID – Spinal subluxations which occur when there are misalignments of the spine or pelvis. This results in altered joint motion and nerve irritation which can lessen organ function and general health. Both the severity of the subluxation and the length of time it has been left uncorrected dictate the impact on fertility.

TRY – Living “free and clear” so proper nerve messages that initiate and sustain reproduction can do their job. Don’t wait for a crisis to get started under chiropractic care. Make the critical transition to Lifestyle Care to optimize the function of your nervous system, which can contribute to the likelihood of conceiving.

Whether you are planning to conceive or not quite yet, these tips will help you live healthier and prepare you for parenting.

Contributed by Dr. Kendra Becker

Copyright 2015 The Family Practice, Inc., Dr. Eric Plasker and The 100 Year Lifestyle. All Rights Reserved.

New longevity research declares that babies born today could routinely live to 100-120 years and beyond. Parents need to know how their lifestyle will affect their baby today, tomorrow and for a lifetime.

It’s wise for pregnant moms to reduce and avoid stress.
Stress affects longevity by shortening telomeres, the caps on chromosomes. They are considered the timekeepers of the cell and telomere shortening can happen at any age. When umbilical cord blood is drawn from newborns, the babies whose mothers experienced more stress during pregnancy showed shorter telomeres than those moms who experienced easier or less stressful pregnancies.1

If conditions during pregnancy were not ideal, then embracing a healthy lifestyle now with good nutrition, exercise and a balanced spine and nervous system are vital for mom and child, to preserve and optimize their longevity potential while also reducing the risk of degenerative diseases.

The science of epigenetics empowers us with the knowledge that we have greater control over our own and our baby’s destiny than we may have thought. Depending on the research you read, between 5 to 30percentsign of disease development is determined by your genetics while 70percentsign or more being related to your lifestyle choices, how we take care of ourselves today. This is a game changer for making the extra effort to create the healthiest pregnancy, delivery and environment for mom and baby. A vitalistic, less stressful pre and post-natal phase can set the stage for health.

The old saying “you are what you eat” is especially true during pregnancy and quality prenatal supplementation plus eating nutritious whole food is important. Include protein sources rich in omega 3 fatty acids and free from hormones and antibiotics. Eliminate exposure to toxins, pesticides and estrogen mimickers commonly found in plastics, sunscreens, cleaning agents and insecticides. Pesticide exposure can be reduced swiftly by switching to organic foods.

Regular exercise like walking, swimming and stretching prepares the body well for labor. Building strength will prepare mom for the endurance needed during delivery and the weeks following birth.

The structure of the mom’s pelvis can determine her ability to carry and deliver her baby in a healthier way. Lifestyle chiropractic care can align her pelvis and contribute to a delivery with less stress on her and her baby. If mom’s pelvis and/or sacrum are misaligned, abnormal tension can occur in her nerve system leading to unnecessary complications such as breach or transverse presentation, back pain, sciatica or severe ‘back labor’.

Women receiving chiropractic adjustments report shorter labor times and better delivery experiences. Offering the gift of a chiropractic checkup to an expectant mother can be the highlight gift at every baby shower. Proper spinal alignment before, during and after pregnancy sets the stage for mom and baby to live their ideal 100 Year Lifestyle.

1. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2013 Feb;208(2):134.e1-7. doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2012.11.033. Epub 2012 Nov 27.

Contributed by Drs. David and Lorraine Melendez, A 100 Year Lifestyle Affiliate in Cardiff by the Sea, CA

Copyright 2016. The Family Practice, Inc., Dr. Eric Plasker and The 100 Year Lifestyle. All Rights Reserved.

Birth Trauma May Occur Frequently
Traumatic Birth Syndromes are more common than you might think. A German medical researcher discovered that over 80% of the infants that he examined shortly after birth were suffering from injuries to the cervical spine, the neck, causing all types of health problems.

Believe it or not, there are 44 countries with a better infant mortality rate than the United States according to the 2012 CIA Factbook.

Dr. Abraham Towbin, from Harvard Medical School and the Department of Pathology found that ‘the birth process, even under optimal conditions, is potentially a traumatic, crippling event for the fetus.’

“Spinal cord and brain stem injuries occur often during the process of birth but frequently escape diagnosis.” Dr. Towbin continues, “In severe instances death may occur during delivery or, in cases where respiratory function is depressed, a short period after birth. Infants who survive the initial effects may be left with severe nervous system defects.”

<b>Symptomatic vs. Asymptomatic</b>
What about the babies that don’t show immediate signs and symptoms? What if the signs and symptoms don’t appear until later on in life? What is the effect on that infant’s potential to express itself completely and wholly as a human being? What kind of symptoms and diseases could it cause later on in life?

The neck is an area of the body that cannot afford to have an injury remain uncorrected. Since injuries here can affect the brain stem, all the vital functions of the body are inhibited. This can occur whether there are symptoms present or not.

Neck Injuries Can Affect the Entire Body
Do you remember what happened to Christopher Reeve, the actor who played Superman in the movies? He was riding his horse and fell on his head, breaking a bone in his upper neck.

In interviews after his injury, it was clear that he was unable to breathe without the use of a ventilator machine. He also was unable to control his elimination system. Many of his other bodily functions were altered. “How could this be?” you might ask, “He didn’t hurt his lungs, his bowel, or his bladder. He hurt his neck.”

This is precisely the point. When the neck is injured, the entire body is affected. When there is an injury to the spine, the organs and systems supplied by those nerves become dysfunctional. These injuries, which are very often vertebral subluxations, can alter the course of a person’s life if not immediately corrected.

A healthy spine and nervous system will ensure your baby’s development during every stage of their life. Don’t wait for a crisis. Make an appointment to have a spinal examination performed by a chiropractor who is trained to find and correct these injuries whether they are symptomatic or not.

Copyright 2016. The Family Practice, Inc., Dr. Eric Plasker and The 100 Year Lifestyle. All Rights Reserved.

Every pregnant woman wants to bring a healthy and vibrant child into this world. Making healthy choices during pregnancy is a critical component to handling the physical, mental and emotional demands of pregnancy while ensuring a safe birth and long, vitalistic life for both you and your baby.

Women’s bodies were innately designed to give birth. When pregnant the hormone Relaxin is produced to relax the muscles, ligaments and tendons to accommodate for the growing baby. As a woman approaches the end of the first trimester, increased weight in the belly creates a pelvic tilt forward creating a more exaggerated curve in the lumbar spine. Oxytocin, another hormone, helps create effective contractions while simultaneously acting as the body’s natural pain reliever and preventing bleeding after labor. These changes create more space, protection and stability for the growing baby.

A fitness regimen throughout the pregnancy and post-partum period supports the desire for an uncomplicated pregnancy and birth. Unfortunately, recent research shows that only 1 out of every 6 pregnant women exercise a light to moderate intensity most days of the week (Fieril).

As a mother’s weight increases, her center of gravity shifts outward and postural changes such as instability in the spine and pelvis occur (Ohm). Some of the instability in the spine and pelvis comes from a weakened pelvic floor and core thus creating less intra-abdominal pressure.

Fortunately, poor posture has been perceived as being improved through fitness and chiropractic care during pregnancy (Fieril). One study revealed that urinary incontinence as a result of weakened pelvic floor is a common condition in pregnancy and in the post-partum period. Chiropractic care has been shown to effectively improve the muscular tone and restoration of the articular function twice as much as no care at all (Roy).

Staying active while pregnant has been reported and described by women as “enjoying using their muscles during exercise” which leads to a “psychological boost”. Chiropractic care at the core of a healthy lifestyle, in conjunction with physical fitness during pregnancy, helps mom achieve optimal health and peak performance so that her body can better adapt to the demands of the birth process. A healthy nervous system ensures a healthier growing baby during pregnancy, a safer pregnancy for mom and full life expression for both today and throughout a lifetime.

Pregnancy is an empowering and natural experience that should be looked upon as something other than a disorder to be monitored. Do you have questions on where to start for your fitness routine during pregnancy? Ask your 100 Year Lifestyle chiropractor today to learn how to keep your spine and nervous system healthy throughout pregnancy. Lifestyle chiropractic care along with physical activity during pregnancy prepares mom for the endurance, strength and structure needed during labor and birth.

Take charge of your body and the decisions made prenatal, perinatal and post-partum to support you and your newborn’s 100 Year Lifestyle.

Contributed by Heather Kimbley, BA, AAS, PTA

Fieril KP., Olsen MF., Glantz A., Larsson M. Experiences of Exercise During Pregnancy Among Women Who Perform Regular Resistance Training: A Qualitative Study. Phys Ther 2014; 94 (8): 1135-1143. doi: 10.2522/ptj.20120432

Roy, AM. Pelvic muscle floor training in a case of postpartum urinary incontinence. JCCP. 13; 2, 1017-124. December 2012. http://jccponline.com/jccp_v13_n2.pdf

Ohm, J. Chiropractic care for an easier pregnancy and safer birth. PathWays to Family Wellness magazine, Dec. 1st, #24 http://pathwaystofamilywellness.org/Pregnancy-Birth/chiropractic-care-for-an-easier-pregnancy-and-safer-birth.html

Copyright 2017. The Family Practice, Inc., Dr. Eric Plasker and The 100 Year Lifestyle. All Rights Reserved.