As this is my first article in Single Parent Magazine, I decided to start off by telling you a little bit about myself and how it came to be that I am writing for this publication. Then, I will explain the hidden dangers of certain household chores (cleaning a bathtub, moping, sweeping, and doing laundry) and how to prevent a catastrophic injury that can affect both you and your children.

My story starts way back when I was in high school. I was using a lawn blower to work on my front lawn and suddenly, I heard a pop from my back and I went down like a ton of bricks. What on earth had happened? I was petrified and I couldn’t stand up or walk. On top of all of this, I could barely breathe without being in agony. This mysterious injury caused me to lie in bed for days. Finally, my friend Matthew convinced me to go to his chiropractor. I was very skeptical, but I had no choice. I couldn’t even put on my own shoes and socks without help. Long story short, this doctor “fixed me” and that planted the seed in my head that one day, I would be a doctor.

I attended the State University of New York at Binghamton, where I received my Bachelor of Science in Psychobiology (a new major at the time that combined biology and psychology). It was there that I made a big decision that would change my life forever. I was pre-med student at the time, but I decided that I wanted to help people naturally. I didn’t want to have to prescribe people drugs to solve their problems. I didn’t want to go to medical school; I wanted to go to chiropractic school. That is when I moved to Georgia, and received my Doctorate in Chiropractic.

Now, I am a board certified Doctor of Chiropractic in the state of Georgia, and a wellness consultant. I volunteer for a national non-profit or­ganization called the Foundation for Wellness Professionals. Our goal is to educate the public about disease prevention and wellness. As a result of my convictions, I give many wellness lectures on various topics throughout my community at schools, churches, corporations, libraries and many more places. My proudest volunteer accomplishment is that I traveled to India twice and led a humanitarian mission where we treated over 7000 impoverished individuals.

I have been in private practice for seven years and currently run a successful wellness clinic in Lilburn Georgia, specializing in natural solu­tions to health problems including chronic or acute low back and neck pain, headaches/migraines, fibromyalgia, stubborn weight loss, female hormone problems, carpel tunnel syndrome, arthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome, digestive problems (irritable bowel syndrome, acid re-flux, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, infantile colic), restless leg syndrome, ADD, sinus trouble, allergies, ear infections in children, insomnia, knee pain, shoulder pain, hand pain, and foot problems, to name a few.

My wellness philosophy is that the body is self healing. If you get a cut on your finger and put a band-aid and some Neosporin on it, when you take the band aid off a week later, the cut will be magically gone! Well it is not the band-aid or the Neosporin that did the healing; it was your body’s inborn intelligence. For example, if you cut a cadavers hand and put on some Neosporin and a band-aid and came back a week later, there would still be the exact same cut under the band-aid. Physically, the cadaver has the same body parts as you, but what the cadaver is missing is life force or spirit (or whatever word you feel is appropriate) and this life force is what heals the body with one major stipulation. The stipulation is that the body can only heal itself as long as there is no interference in the body’s innate ability to function properly. The problem; however, is that there are three very specific forms of interference that routinely occur in our lives. If you eliminate or minimize all three forms of interference, the body will respond by doing what it was born to do, which is heal itself. It is a simple and beautiful thing and I see miracles every day in my office.

The first form of interference is pollution or toxins that unfortunately enter our bodies in many different ways, such as the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, cosmetics, shots, certain medications, etc. Chiropractors are able to measure your toxicity levels through the acid/base content of your saliva and if an individual is toxic, we provide various detox programs such as cleanses which incorporate proper eating (organic), and certain herbs that help detoxify the kidneys, liver, and the small and large intestines. Sometimes we need to use a natural chela­tion for heavy metal toxicity, and other times, we need to use specific natural enzymes to help heal the digestive system.

The second form of interference in your body’s natural ability to heal is stress. We all have stress, especially single parents! However, some individuals internally handle stress well while others fall apart. The adrenal gland is the stress gland in the body that secretes many impor­tant hormones that regulate various bodily functions. If a person is under constant stress, eventually, the adrenal glands can become fatigued and if this happens, the hormones secreted go haywire. Chiropractors can use a simple orthopedic test to measure how stress is affecting your body and if there is a problem with how your adrenal glands are functioning, we can provide specific supplements, lifestyle, and dietary changes that can help you regain your natural hormone balance.

The third form of interference is interference to the nerve system (the master control system of the entire body). The brain sends signals and information through electrical impulses down the spinal cord and out the spinal nerves to every cell, tissue, and organ of the body. As long as these signals can tell each body part what to do, the body will generally function fabulously. However, if there is interference and the brain and body can no longer communicate; complete and utter chaos can occur in the body. Undetected nerve damage can often occur throughout your lifetime and go totally unrecognized. This is what the rest of this month’s article will focus on. You see, most people think that it would take a major trauma, such as a car accident or fall to cause nerve damage. This couldn’t be further from the truth! And that is exactly how I came to write for this magazine. Let me explain…. A patient of mine, who happens to be the Chief Editor of this magazine, came to me and said something along the lines of “I hurt my back… and I wasn’t even doing anything. All I was doing was cleaning my tub, doing laundry, and sweeping and mopping the floor!” To that I replied… ”Those things are about the worst things you can do to your low back!” Improper body mechanics during household chores is more than enough to severely injure your spine or nerve system. “Little things” like sleeping on the wrong pillow, napping on the couch, or cleaning can cause more problems than a head-on collision! Michelle said to me “Most people don’t know that. You should write an article for my magazine to make single parents aware of these hidden dangers.” So I said “Ok.” That’s how I ended up being the wellness consultant for Single Parent Magazine. The funny thing is, more often than not, when people come to me with injuries, it is more likely they were “just turning their head,” then them having a major trauma. Hence, the destruction of my L-5 disk while sim­ply using a light lawn blower. I refer to these seemingly non-threatening tasks as “micro-trauma.”

When micro-trauma causes minor misalignments in the spine or pe­riphery of the body, we treat the individual with a combination of exer­cise, stretching, and specific, gentle chiropractic adjustments to re-align the vertebra and remove nerve interference from the body; thus, allowing the electrical impulses to flow unimpeded through the body and allow the body to heal itself. One misconception about the field of chiropractic is that all chiropractors use forceful adjustments where the back or neck is “twisted, cracked, or popped.” Although this traditional adjusting is highly effective and very safe, it is sometimes scary to the average person. There are many more modern techniques, such as the one I utilize where a small, hand held instrument gives a gentle impulse to the spine and is able to re-align the bone and remove interference to the nerve system without having to manipulate the spine. I have even adjusted infants while they were sleeping without waking them up! That’s how gentle it can be! So here are some specific things that you can do to avoid injury while you are working around the house. The worst thing you can do when it comes to the spine is to lean forward at the waist (bend) and rotate at the waist (twist) at the same time. This is a recipe for disaster. And guess what? A lot of people bend and twist while sweeping, moping, vacuuming, transferring laundry from the washer to the dryer and cleaning the bath tub (or in my case, using a lawn blower). I understand that as a single parent these tasks are things that you NEED to do. If you don’t, nobody else will. So what we need to do is work on your body mechanics to minimize any danger of hurting yourself while doing the things that need to be done. Because let’s face it, if you injure yourself and can’t work, how are you going to take care of those little people who depend on you? So, the importance of body mechanics should not be underestimated. This information can help you avoid major trouble for you and your family. If you adhere to the following rules, you will cut your chances of injuring yourself down tremendously.

RULE # 1 – TAKE YOUR TIME!

Most people hurt themselves because they are rushing and not paying attention to what they are doing. I know there are not enough hours in the day and as a single parent, you’re pull­ing double duty. However, rushing will only be counter- productive if you hurt yourself. If it takes you five more minutes to fold laundry the right way, it’s better than being out of work for two weeks! Believe me, this hap-pens. So slow down, take a deep breath, relax, and be aware of your body position while doing chores.

RULE # 2 – USE PROPER BODY MECHANICS!

Never bend forward at the waist, twist at the waist, or most importantly, bend forward and twist at the waist at the same time when these motions can be avoided. Always hold things as close to your body as possible as opposed to far out in front of you.

For example, when you are transferring clothing from the washer to the dryer, pick the clothing out of the washing machine (in small batches) and walk over to the dryer (instead of twisting your body), then squat down (using your legs) and place the clothing in the dryer. The same rules hold for sweeping and moping. Do not try to mop or sweep an area that is far away from where you are standing. Move your body as close to where you are sweeping and keep the broom or mop as close to your body as possible. Then when scooping up the debris, squat down with your legs and brush it into the pan. Don’t try to do this while standing and leaning forward. While cleaning the bathtub, do not stand far away on the outside of the tub and lean over it. Try to get inside the tub, squat down with your legs, keep your arms close to your body and slowly clean the areas that are in front of you. Change your body position so you are always cleaning directly in front of you instead of facing forward and leaning to the side while cleaning. While folding laundry, once again, keep the clothing close to your body. Do not lean or twist while you are folding. These are just some specific examples of how to do a few specific cleaning jobs, but if you keep these two rules in mind, you will be safer doing any task that needs to be done.

I hope that these two rules will save you a lot of pain and trouble in your future. In future issues, I will be addressing a wide range of our read­ers’ health concerns always focusing on natural approaches. If you have any specific questions about your health, please feel free to write to the magazine and we may publish your question with my answer. Thanks for reading.

-Your Powers on!

Align the Spine • www.alignthespine.org

670 Indian Trl Rd NW # D • Lilburn, GA 30047 • (770) 925-0088