The “perfect” deadlift does not exist, if it did the person executing it would lift a weight so heavy that setting it back down would punch a hole in the earth and cause a major earthquake. This is no different than the perfect swim stroke not existing. Michael Phelps does a pretty damn good job of executing a swim stroke, but it was still never perfect. It doesn’t mean that he never stopped chasing it or never stopped getting coached on how to do it better.

That being said…the deadlift is so amazing for the posterior chain of muscles and for strengthening the back and preventing low back pain when it is DONE PROPERLY. When it is done improperly, people make their way into my office to fix them because of their poor deadlift technique. My goal with righting this article is to give you the latest information on how to do a proper deadlift, as close to perfect as possible, to reduce injury and enhance your performance.

For a while I was down on the deadlift. I may have even told you face to face that I was because it caused so many patients to make appointments to come see me. Luckily for me I have some amazing colleagues that put me on to some great information that allowed me to expand my knowledge that I can share with all of you.

​At Vallejo Chiropractic, we are now offering Kinesiology Taping or “K-Taping” to our clients. Some of you may have seen this colorful taping at the Olympics where athletes of almost every sport are wearing it. It is also very popular at the CrossFit games, where the participants are looking for extra support as they are lifting. 

Dr. Kunsman, Dr. Zack, Beau and Shanon took a seminar to see how we could apply this method to our patients at Vallejo Chiropractic. It turns out that taping has a huge value for rehabilitating our patients and can help relieve pain as they progress through care. 

We believe that movement is a key factor to getting you better. K-Taping allows us to have another tool to help you get back in action.

When you have an injury to an area, the body’s tissues get compressed down and almost glued together. This compression is a reaction to prevent more immediate damage, but it slows the healing process. K-Taping takes skin and muscle tissue that has been adheased together and lifts it; allowing for more circulation. You can place the tape over a bruise and it will heal faster than without it. 
K-Taping also brings more neurological attention to the area of your injury. Having the tape on your skin causes the brain to send more signals to where the tape is. Touch is very powerful, and if you have something like Kinesiology Tape constantly in contact with the skin and moving with it, more feedback will be provided to the brain than without it.

​Many patients ask us advice on mattresses. Questions like "When should we replace our old one?" and "Which mattress should we get?" are questions we hear weekly at our offices.
 
Most mattresses have about 10 useable years when you buy them. Pillows are good anywhere from 18 months to 2 years. The best answer for "When should we replace our old mattress?" is when you wake up feeling worse than when you went to bed. Sleep is supposed to restore you. You and your body should feel better  after a good night sleep.
 
You spend anywhere from 25-33% of your life asleep in bed. That means that in the next 10 years, you will spend 3 of those years on your mattress (except for that weekend you had to sleep on your cousins futon and had to come in to see your favorite chiropractors right after).  With this in mind, it makes sense to invest in a good bed.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) includes any disorder of the heart of blood vessels, and it accounts for more than 29% of all human losses. The majority of CVD related deaths are attributed to coronary heart disease (CHD).

Phytosterols: Mode of Action
Phytosterols inhibit intestinal cholesterol absorption, meaning less cholesterol enters the bloodstream, thereby lowering low-density liboprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels. In 16 recently published studies that used phytosterols to reduce plasma cholesterol levels in a total of 590 subjects, phytosterol therapy was accompanied by an average 10% reduction in total cholesterol and a corresponding 13% reduction in LDL cholesterol levels.

FDA Allows Health Claims for Phytosterols
The FDA states, "foods and supplements containing at least 400mg per serving of plant sterols, consumed twice a day with meals for a total intake of at least 800mg, may reduce the risk of heart disease.” It is very hard to get the FDA to supply a statement endorsing a non-prescription, but the evidence is truly clever.

Omega-3 Fish Oils and Phytosterols
Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation is known to lower triglycerides and to be anti-inflammatory. Clinical studies combining phytosterols with diets rich in fish oil or sunflower oil showed significant lowering of LDL cholesterol; however, only the fish oil and phytosterol combination lowered both triglycerides and LDL cholesterol.
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Current research has demonstrated that the consumption of a combination of low-dose omega-3 and plant sterols can effectively reduce both LDL-cholesterol and triglyceride level.
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Please ask your chiropractor about your specific needs, including the risk of CVD and the side-effects and risks of statin therapy.

Source: Karuna Health

According to the World Health Organization, ergonomics are important for safety management which falls under the category of health promotion and wellness. As health care providers, ergonomics goes hand in hand with the work we do at Vallejo Chiropractic to help patients achieve wellness.

A study done by the national safety council looked at the causes of workplace injuries and found:

•  88% of injuries were due to unsafe acts or behaviors (poor posture, repetitive motion, etc.)
• 10% of injuries were due to unsafe conditions (poor workstation design, slippery floors, etc.)
• 2% were due to unknown causes

Wellness is an interactive process of becoming aware of and practicing healthy choices to create a more successful and balanced lifestyle. Since wellness is an interactive process it is something we should continually work at to maintain the lifestyles we strive for. For this month's newsletter we wanted to give our patients information they can use to improve wellness at home and in the workplace. Enjoy! 

Posture
Poor posture is a factor in all cumulative trauma injuries (including but not limited to carpal tunnel, tennis elbow, and sciatica) and is the major accelerator of almost any injury. 

From Dr. Harrington:

We have many, many stories from our trip to Africa where we visited our oldest daughter, our son-in-law and two beautiful grandchildren. Most of them are anecdotal and are more interesting to someone who has also taken a trip there. However, some experiences do translate into helpful hints to the average American. Keep in mind; I am actually more of a homebody than a natural traveler. 

Mosquito Bites

I grew up in Montana, where the 6 months of below freezing temperatures is nature’s perfect mosquito abatement. Mosquito abatement in California is big business and largely effective. Suffice to say that we Americans don’t really have a mosquito problem, unless you live in the Louisiana Bayou or Florida Everglades. In Africa, you must sleep under a mosquito net. I spent a few sleepless nights battling a solitary mosquito that got into our mosquito net. Of course, mosquito’s love me and seemed largely uninterested in Julie. One night I fell asleep with my elbow/forearm against the netting. I can’t confirm how many mosquitoes were called to the banquet, but I was clearly the buffet offering, receiving over 50 bites in a 6” by 6” area. 

Here’s the advice of the locals: never scratch a bite. 

Not only will it not itch...ever...but it will heal faster. They are absolutely right. On a 1-10 scale of itch, when you first notice a mosquito bite it is a 1. If you can resist the urge for a couple hours to scratch the bite, it will disappear fairly quickly and never go above a 1 on the itch scale. However, if you scratch it, even a little, the itch factor goes up exponentially; as does the healing cycle. Scientifically, by scratching a mosquito bite you are activating a histamine response. It’s a lot like purposefully exposing yourself to something that makes you sneeze.

If you’ve been thinking about changing up your diet, but are wondering how beneficial the current hot diets may be we will be discussing pros and cons from five of the more popular diet plans currently out there.  The key is to find a plan that includes a healthy balance of nutrients, carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fluids.  With any diet the right foods can mean the difference between having the energy needed to make it through your day and crashing early.

All five of the following popular eating approaches can provide the health and performance benefits you need – as long as you’re willing to follow (and possibly bend) some rules and make a few tough sacrifices.  Here’s what you need to know.

Vegan
This plant-based diet nixes all animal products, including meat and dairy – even honey, whey, and gelatin.  Research shows that filling up on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and seeds can fend off chronic disease, lower blood pressure, and increase longevity.  And there’s evidence that diets based on these foods, which are typically high in antioxidants, can reduce injury and speed recovery.  But you miss out on key nutrients like protein, iron, and vitamin B12, which are critical for athletes.  

Chiropractic is at its most powerful when coupled with exercise and nutrition.  Chiropractic adjusting helps to turn on our postural stabilizer muscles, multifidus and rotatores, as well as normalizing muscle firing around the joints.  

The longer one has had back or neck pain the longer the muscles have not been working the way they are supposed to and become weakened and deconditioned.  It is important to re-strengthen the body to maximize your results from chiropractic and reduce the likelihood of relapses of aches and pain.  When we look at strengthening the muscles of the low and mid-back one of the top beginner exercises is the bird-dog exercise, we have handouts of this at the office free of charge.  Another great way to start is with wobble board or bosu ball balancing.  An intermediate exercise is doing a side-plank, plank, side-plank regimen.

In the course of working out remember the importance of proper hydration.  In rare cases, too much water can thwart progress, leaving your body more like a fresh water pond (sweat is salty, isn't it).  While we are approximately 65% water, it is a salty water.  That's where electrolytes play a role.  Gatorade is junk despite its glitzy commercials, too much sugar.  Start drinking water before you exercise to help prevent dehydration.

Welcome to our new Vallejo Chiropractic blog! 

We hope to provide relevant, important information to our chiropractic patients. Please feel free to make recommendations for topics on your health!