Real Life Chiropractic

A deeper dive into Chinese Medicine

To regain the balance spoken of in our previous post, Chinese Medicine offers a variety of different techniques and modalities. These can include:


–  Massage


–  Herbal Remedies


–  Cupping


–  Moxibustion


–  Movement and Meditative exercises (such as tai chi and qigong)


–  Acupuncture/Acupressure

I won’t go into all of these treatments in this blog, but I do want to dab into components of them. One of these components that contribute greatly to health and healing are the chakras. Chakras are thought to regulate organ function, the immune system and our emotions. There is also the idea that there are 6 evils or 6 pernicious influences that cause illnesses within the body. These influences are wind, cold, damp, heat, summer heat and dryness. In the following blog posts I will go into these things more in depth.

Dr. Josef Patterson

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Introduction To Chinese Medicine

Western Medicine in general has given traditional Chinese Medicine a bad rap over the years as being something metaphysical or pseudoscience. My hope is that we might be open to the topic of Chinese Medicine and realize that there is a reason why it has stuck around for over 5,000 years! If it didn’t help people within this time frame, then human beings would have done away with it long ago.

Chinese Medicine takes many forms and has many different fields of focus. The fundamental component behind Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is something called Qi. Qi is the energy within your body that keeps you alive and is also called the vital force of life. If Qi is imbalanced, then the body responds in pain, illness, or disease. TCM seeks to balance stuck or stagnant Qi within the body by allowing it to move and flow properly. Another belief behind TCM is that we are all connected in the fabrication of the universe. If we can balance ourselves with a calm mind and body, then we bring more balance not only to ourselves but also the cosmos.

To receive this balance we need to find peace in all our organs and the external worldly elements which are earth, fire, water, wood, and metal.

Dr. Josef Patterson

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What Can My Child or Baby Be Helped with from Energy Healing?

If everything is truly energy, then the range of benefits from energy healing can be endless! Some common issues I have worked with and helped with in infants and children are sleep issues, skin problems, digestive problems and many more.

Many times the child picks up on the energetic cues of his or her parents or guardians. So sometimes it can be just as effective to treat the parent as well as the child due to the direct energetic link from the child and the parent. Often times we help the parent to be more at peace with themselves and the child also responds accordingly in a positive way.

I want to emphasize that if your child is “fussy” or “acting out” it doesn’t always mean that you’re a horrible parent. Sometimes you do the best you can and regardless of what you do, some children just act out or respond negatively. We can see this as we look back in time with all types of parents and parenting styles.

Dr. Josef Patterson

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Infants/Children and Energy Work?

Many people are concerned for their child’s surroundings on an energetic level and rightly so. Due to the fact that everything is energy, even our own thoughts, infants and children pick up on that energy be it negative or positive. People ask me frequently if its safe and effective to treat newborns or kids and the answer to both of those questions is yes!

Infants and children show greater sensitivity to energies, and therefore can, and often do, show improvements from energy healing sooner and greater than adults do! As adults we come pre- programmed with our own thoughts or opinions about things as well as our limiting belief systems. Infants and children don’t usually have as many of these things and are more open to receiving healing from negative energies.

We can use Applied Kinesiology (or muscle testing) on children, as long as their attention span is there ☺. I have tested my own children even when they are babies. Often, though, it is easier at times for one of the parents to hold their child while the person muscle testing muscle tests the parent in the stead of the child; this is possible because the parent is connected to the child by touching him or her and can “sense” the energy of what’s going on. My hope is that you feel comfortable with energy healing to allow your kids and babies to find the benefits on energy medicine early in their life.

Dr. Josef Patterson

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Is Chiropractic Care Safe for Babies?

The answer is yes to this question! Chiropractors are taught, as well as any other doctor I think, that the infants’ bones are not fully connected or “fused” together yet. This gives the child greater mobility than an older child or adult. Due to the more malleable nature of their anatomy, infants need much less pressure to adjust their spine or any other joint in their body.

Many chiropractors are trained and competent in adjusting babies. I have heard many chiropractors say this, “The pressure we apply to an infant is no more pressure used to bruise a ripe tomato.” I have to confess, that I have also used that line myself. That should give you an idea of how gentle the adjustments are.

Yours in Health, Dr. Josef Patterson

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Chiropractic and Infantile Reflux

Reflux is a fancy word for vomiting or acid coming up the esophagus. This is common in infants especially since their sphincter muscles that open and close the stomach aren’t fully developed until they’re about 9 to 11 months old. There are common reasons why a baby might have reflux. The most common one would be food allergies, and gluten and dairy are the two biggest ones to consider removing from the child’s diet or if breastfed, remove from the mothers diet. Emotional turmoil can be a cause for reflux in a child, birth trauma, or even a stuck vertebrae.

There isn’t much in studies showing that chiropractic care helps with reflux in an infant. Though, I have seen great improvements in babies with their reflux issues in the adjustments I have given to them.

Yours In Health, Dr. Josef Patterson

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Chiropractic and Infantile Colic

A Colicky baby is one who cries for extended periods of time and is difficult to comfort. Things like rocking the child, or playing calming music and using a pacifier have and can help.

There isn’t much in the literature on the effects of chiropractic care to help infantile colic. Although, a recent study showed promise that there may be some groups of babies that may show more benefit in reducing colic with chiropractic care.1 The average reduction of colic was half an hour of less crying in babies compared to the control group, and it wasn’t statistically significant. That being said, there were large beneficial changes in other individuals. Of course there needs to be more studies on whether or not chiropractic adjustments really help infants with colic, but there are many who have reported great benefits from it!

References:

1. Holm, L. V., Jarbøl, D. E., Christensen, H. W., Søndergaard, J., & Hestbæk, L. (2021). The effect of chiropractic care on infantile colic: results from a single-blind randomised controlled trial. Chiropractic & manual therapies, 29(1), 15.

Yours in Health, Dr. Josef Patterson

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Chiropractic and Headaches Part 2

In my opinion chiropractic adjustments can and do help people who suffer with headaches. Although, does it treat the cause all of the time? Probably not. Ask yourself, “Why am I getting this headache?” Or, “Why is my neck so tight, giving me this headache?” Then wait and see of what comes to your mind. You may have thoughts cross your mind that surprise you! If no thoughts come to your mind right away, rest assured that there are answers to the “why” of your headache. It is important to look at your headache with a wholistic mindset, as often times many other factors go into play with it.

Your headache could be linked to organ related imbalances, or due to emotional trauma or emotional stress, lack of sleep, digestive issues, lack of balance in life, etc.. Take time to ponder the “why” to your headaches, and you will find ways to treat it!

Yours in Health, Dr. Josef Patterson

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Chiropractic and Headaches

Many headaches are attributed to stress and tension in the neck and shoulders. Chiropractic

manipulation has been shown to help relieve muscle tension, neck pain and headaches in many studies.1,2,3,4

There haven’t been as many studies on chiropractic manipulation for headaches as there have been for the low back, but in my clinical experience, I have seen my adjustments really help my patients with neck tightness associated with headaches. I know many other doctors have seen beneficial effects of their manipulation to patients with headaches. The quick stretch of the muscle, using the bones as long levers, causes the muscle to relax and thereby relieving tension pulling on the adjacent bone. This is how an adjustment from a chiropractor can and often does alleviate tension-type headaches.

References:


  1. Corum, M., Aydin, T., Medin Ceylan, C., & Kesiktas, F. N. (2021). The comparative effects of spinal manipulation, myofascial release and exercise in tension-type headache patients with neck pain: A randomized controlled trial. Complementary therapies in clinical practice, 43, 101319

  2. Espí-López, G. V., Zurriaga-Llorens, R., Monzani, L., & Falla, D. (2016). The effect of manipulation plus massage therapy versus massage therapy alone in people with tension-type headache. A randomized controlled clinical trial. European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicine, 52(5), 606–617.

  3. Espí-López, G. V., Rodríguez-Blanco, C., Oliva-Pascual-Vaca, A., Molina-Martínez, F., & Falla, D. (2016). Do manual therapy techniques have a positive effect on quality of life in people with tension-type headache? A randomized controlled trial. European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicine, 52(4), 447–456.

  4. Côté, P., Yu, H., Shearer, H. M., Randhawa, K., Wong, J. J., Mior, S., Ameis, A., Carroll, L. J., Nordin, M., Varatharajan, S., Sutton, D., Southerst, D., Jacobs, C., Stupar, M., Taylor-Vaisey, A., Gross, D. P., Brison, R. J., Paulden, M., Ammendolia, C., Cassidy, J. D., … Lacerte, M. (2019). Non- pharmacological management of persistent headaches associated with neck pain: A clinical practice guideline from the Ontario protocol for traffic injury management (OPTIMa) collaboration. European journal of pain (London, England), 23(6), 1051–1070.

Yours in Health, Dr. Josef Patterson

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Pre-natal Chiropractic Part 8 – Vitamins and Minerals

Really all the vitamins and minerals are very important to have during pregnancy. I wanted to point out just a some of the big ones in this post.

We’ve already discussed calcium in depth. Although, adding Vitamin A and Vitamin D are also very important for bone and teeth development in the growing baby, as well as to support moms teeth and bones. Vitamin A is also important for eye and skin development and also helps with the immune system. Vitamins A and D are fat soluble and are better absorbed with a more fatty meal such as with eggs, or meat. Although, if digesting fats causes issues with your gallbladder, or if you don’t have a gallbladder, then there is a way to help with that. That information is for another post though.

All of the B vitamins are important for nervous system development. It’s also vital to remember that mom needs to be taking in enough for baby as well as for herself. B vitamins are found in fish, eggs, and meat products but can also be found in nuts, and some grains. Other key ingredients that must be in the diet for a healthy nervous system is folate (Natural form found in food, synthetic is folic acid) and fish oil.

Other minerals important to look out for are iron and iodine. Iron helps with producing hemoglobin, and prevents anemia. It also helps prevent low birth weight. Iodine is one of the most deficient minerals in babies born today because western societies do not get enough of it in the diet. Sea vegetable’s and sea food has high amounts of iodine. This mineral promotes the proper function of the thyroid gland, is a mood stabilizer and protects the body from toxins such as chlorine and fluoride. Iodine deficiency has also been linked to a decline in cognitive function and to autism if mother is low during pregnancy.1,2

There are many other vitamins and minerals that are important for a pregnant mothers’ needs. I feel that these are the big ones to consider.

References:


  1. Choudhry, H., & Nasrullah, M. (2018). Iodine consumption and cognitive performance: Confirmation of adequate consumption. Food science & nutrition, 6(6), 1341–1351.

  2. Adams, J. B., Holloway, C. E., George, F., & Quig, D. (2006). Analyses of toxic metals and essential minerals in the hair of Arizona children with autism and associated conditions, and their mothers. Biological trace element research, 110(3), 193–209.

Yours in Health, Dr. Josef Patterson

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