Acierno Family Chiropractic

10/08/2015

Some kids are spending as much as 5,000 hours a year reading their cellphones, leading to chronic pain known as "text neck." ◂ The Denver Channel, 7News, bri...

01/19/2013

Dangers of using Creatine and Protien:

Creatine is an amino acid that naturally occurs in the body, but it can also be purchased as a dietary supplement designed to enhance athletic performance, typically found in pill or powder form to be taken with liquids. Creatine monohydrate, the most common formula of the supplement, has increasingly been used as a substitute for steroids, and many people who would never touch steroids have claimed to use creatine as a legal performance enhancer. Users should be aware, however, that as with many steroids, high creatine levels in the body have been found to have adverse effects such as an upset stomach, dehydration, or kidney problems. While any long-term side effects have yet to be discovered, some athletes choose to avoid the possibility of short-term side effects altogether.
Natural Creatine
Produced by the liver and kidneys, creatine is used as an energy source by muscles and other organs. Creatine can also be derived naturally through eating certain meats, poultry, and fish. In most cases, the body regulates the correct amount of creatine on its own — whether the creatine is produced by the body or consumed from sources of meat. High creatine levels in the body occur only when creatine supplements are consumed, resulting in the presence of more creatine in the body than would occur naturally.

Creatine Supplements
Many athletes add creatine supplements to their diet because high creatine levels have been shown to improve sports performance when bursts of energy are required, and the makers of creatine supplements claim that high creatine levels fuel skeletal muscles. The supplement is usually taken as a pill or powder that can be mixed with sports drinks. Creatine supplements have been available since the late 1980s and can be purchased in many health food stores and online.
Peer pressure is one of the reasons that creatine supplements are so popular among athletes; the pressure to compete and win in today’s society, no matter what the cost, has increased the sales of these supplements. Creatine has been used in competitive sports at the university and high school level, and competitors with high creatine levels have been found at nearly every sporting level from amateur to professional. The dietary supplement is most often used in sports such as weightlifting, running, wrestling, and hockey.

Possible Side Effects
According to health and sports officials, the possible side effects of creatine can include muscle cramps, dehydration, diarrhea, and nausea. Anterior compartment pressure, which usually appears as tightness in the calf, shin splints, or both, is another possible side effect, and high creatine levels can also result in tears to the muscles or ligaments. As muscles grow unusually stronger the tendons which hold them to the bone can not keep up. This will result in weak tendons, torn tendons and possible avulsion fractures. When creatine supplements are used, the kidneys must filter out extra creatine, which causes them to work harder; this can result in kidney failure if the kidneys are overly stressed.

The story with protein:
Here is our very quick biology lesson:
Amino Acids make up protein.
Protein makes up basically everything in your body.
In fact the only thing our body has more of than protein is water.
It really is as simple as that. Protein is the building block of our whole body - muscles, tissues, hair, nails, etc - all made up of protein. If you do not have enough protein in your body you can NOT build muscle mass. The body needs to break protein down to amino acids to build muscles. So, no matter how much you work out - if you don't have protein - you will not gain muscle mass.
Another important point to remember is that every time you work out you are tearing down muscles and then rebuilding them. Protein is necessary to repair and rebuild your muscles.

Weak Bones
Often time creatine is taken with protein powder. High protein intake is a risk factor for osteoporosis, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation. The high protein content in protein supplements can cause the blood to become acidic. In attempting to correct the acidic pH, your body pulls calcium from the bone. Taking calcium from bones weakens them, making them more prone to injuries and fractures. The worst-case scenario is the development of osteoporosis. Osteoporotic bones can lead to numerous other problems such as back pain, fractures and debilitation.
If you should have any questions on this subject or any other, please contact our office and we’ll be glad to answer your questions…

01/18/2013

LOW BACK PAIN AND THE “WEEKEND WARRIOR”

There are three major sets of muscles that govern the lower back:
The first are two quadrilateral shaped muscles called the quadratus lumborum that attach to the bottom of the ribs, the lumbar vertebrae (spine) and the top of the pelvis. Additionally, running the length of the spine are a set of muscles called the erector spinae. And also attached to the lumbar spine are the upper fibers of the psoas, a long and famously tight muscle that connects the torso to the legs. Because of our habits of sitting for long periods of time at a desk or in a car, these muscles often become both short and weak.

While we usually think of our core as being that belly that we see in front of us, three of the major core muscle groups also attach around to the lower back (both sets of obliques and the transverse abdominals).

An additional factor is the attachment of the hamstrings, the muscles on the back of the legs, that tend to get passively tight and weak from sitting (a condition called adaptive shortening). When tight, they start a chain reaction of pulling that runs up the back of the body and leads right into the lower back muscles, compounding the discomfort.

So you can start to get a sense of how many different muscle groups are involved in maintaining a healthy back, and how important it is to stretch and strengthen all of the above!

Why Does My Low Back Hurt After Sports?
All of these different muscle groups converge at a place on the spine where the shape of the vertebrae (the individual discs that link together to make up the spinal column) changes dramatically from those in the thoracic spine just above. The discs become larger and bend much more easily in every direction (try this experiment: move your head around and feel how your neck bends easily. Then move your belly around and feel the same range of movement in the lower back. Then try and do the same with the middle of your ribcage. It doesn’t happen!) Because of this mobility, the lower back can often take the brunt of any movement we undertake. So we have a combination of weak muscles with a highly mobile part of the spine taking on more than it should, and it’s easy to understand how this would lead to discomfort.

What Can I Do To Prevent This From Becoming a Real Problem?

1. Identify the Pain If you’ve pulled a muscle in your back, your first approach should focus on reducing inflammation in the muscles using the RICE method (Rest, Ice, Chiropractic and Elevation) so that the tissues have a chance to rest and recover. If you’re only suffering from discomfort brought on by overuse, try a hot bath, or seek chiropractic care to increase the flow of blood and nutrients to the area.
2. Strengthen the Low Back You don’t need to give up your weekly pick-up basketball game; instead, add targeted chiropractic therapy & exercises to strengthen the lower back and notice how this positively affects your jump shot!
3. Add In Abdominal Work Create even more support for the back by strengthening and stretching the abdominal muscles.
Lower back pain is an increasingly common complaint as we grow older, but with some targeted therapies and preventative measures, it doesn’t have to disrupt your game!

If you have questions on this subject or any other subject, please feel free to call either of our offices and we’ll be glad to answer your questions….

01/17/2013

CHIROPRACTIC HEALTH FOR THE PREGNANT WOMAN

The health of a pregnant woman is important because the care we offer affects both mom and child. Proper nervous system and spinal function is crucial to the development of your baby and essential to the well-being and comfort of mom. The effects of chiropractic care during pregnancy are far-reaching and extend way beyond treating pain.
With the changes in hormones causing laxity in pelvic and lumbar ligaments, making sure that the pelvis and spine are in proper alignment and motion is crucial to help improve the ability of the expecting mother to have a safe and natural birth process – which is something that is extremely vital to the health of both mom and baby.
The birth process is often one of the most traumatic events that a person will endure in their life. A woman’s body is designed perfectly for the birth process, and difficulties typically only arise if mom is functioning at less than 100%.
It is extremely important to have your child checked for subluxations as soon as possible after birth. Subluxations are misalignments or lack of motion within the spine that results in stress and ill health in the body. The birth process is a very common cause of subluxations.
As children continue to grow their spines undergo many forms of trauma as they learn to walk and crawl, play, and become involved in sports. It has been said that a child undergoes enough falls in one day to put an adult in the hospital. We also provide parents with all the information they need concerning health and wellness from child nutrition, exercise, ADHD, diabetes prevention, stress reduction or anything else,
If you feel your child may have any signs of subluxation, please contact us to find out what you can do about it. Posture is a very telling sign of the health of a child’s spine, if your child has poor posture please do not hesitate to call us. Remember, prevention is the best medicine and its better to start young so your child can grow and function at 100% and truly be well.
Please feel free to call either office. We’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have on this subject or any other….

01/16/2013

Imbalances in your feet can have a direct effect on your knees, hips, back and neck. Have your balance and leg length checked to make sure they are equal (it is VERY common for them not to be).

01/16/2013

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01/15/2013

We are now expanding our office hours to include Saturdays!!! Many patients asked for Saturdays since work weeks can be busy, so we will now be open on Saturdays......

12/14/2012

With the cold weather approaching many people find themselves scraping ice off of their windshields in the morning. Because we are not used to doing that we often can cause some muscle strains. Here's a good rule of thumb for muschle strains.

For back strain, the rule of thumb is ice for the first 48 to 72 hours. Heat increases the inflammation, and it is not a good idea to use it during the inflammatory phase. After those first few days you can use ice or heat, based on your preference. While researchers continue to look into the best ways to treat an acute injury, most doctors still recommend ice as a first line of defense to their back injured patients.

12/13/2012

Acierno Family Chiropractic Center focuses on evaluating acute, chronic and degenerative conditions and personalizing a total treatment program designed to restore you to the most functional and pain-free state as possible—without the use of drugs or surgery. Our treatment programs combine chiropractic adjusting, nutrition counseling, massage therapy, physical therapy, exercise, and stress management. Good health is maintained by following preventive care regimens and having regular check-ups as needed.