As the weather warms up and we start to increase our outdoor activities such as gardening and spring cleaning we want to be mindful of our body movements so we can reduce the likelihood of injury.  We have usually heard plenty about bend and lift from your knees and not your back but less so about the importance of minimizing how we twist our backs.  Simply bending forward with only our body weight creates around 700 pounds of compressive force on the low back.  If we are bent forward and twist that force will be shifted more to one side of the spine instead of being evenly distributed, this increases the potential for injury.  One of the most common joints we see injured in these cases is the facet joints in the low back (lumbosacral region) followed by sacroiliac joints (where the bones of the pelvis meet).  Additionally, excessive repetitive twisting like this can start to injure the discs in the area potentially leading to a more severe injury with a longer recovery time.

At Vallejo Chiropractic and American Canyon Chiropractic, we remain open at this time.

This update pertains to our safety and sanitation procedures for those visiting us during the Covid-19 outbreak.

First, we have taken steps minimize patient and staff's potential exposure,  And we will continue to do so as directed by the board of chiropractic.

For the past few weeks, we have been scheduling patients with additional time spacing in mind so that no more than 1 or 2 patients are in the waiting room at the same time. This also allows for the recommended 6' social distancing. We have also increased patient appointment times. This provides us the opportunity to do a thorough wipe down of each treatment room following each patient.

We have provided hand sanitizer at the front desk near each computer and are asking all patients to use the sanitizer before touching the computer screens when checking in.

Additionally we are doing an hourly surface sanitation wipe down of the entire office We are complying with the recommendations of the board of chiropractic examiners, CDC, and World Health Organization (WHO). We believe these steps are necessary and appropriate. We also believe these steps are sufficient in order to provide for a healthy and safe environment for everyone.

Please feel free to reach out if you have any concerns about visiting our offices in Vallejo or American Canyon. We hope everyone is staying healthy and safe.

To your health,
Drs Harrington & Kunsman

Sleep apnea is a breathing-related sleep disorder that causes brief interruptions of breathing during sleep. These interruptions can last 10 seconds or more and can occur up to 400 times per night. Sleep apnea is a serious and potentially life threatening condition that often goes unrecognized and undiagnosed. Sleep apnea occurs in both sexes and across all age groups. Not all sleep apnea is the same, a diagnosis of sleep apnea can range from mild to severe. 

Sleep apnea is serious because shots of adrenaline are going into the heart 20-400 times per night to re-start your breathing. Sleep is when your body is supposed to rest, and this increased stress causes an overload for the heart, possibly leading to a heart attack or stroke. 

Some of the symptoms of sleep apnea are obvious (snoring, etc.) while some symptoms such as loss of sex drive and irritability may be less of a signal that something is interfering with sleep. Here is a list of some of the symptoms of sleep apnea:

• loud snoring
• morning headaches/nausea
• gasping/choking while asleep
• loss of sex drive/impotence
• excessive daytime sleepiness
• irritability/depression
• disturbed sleep
•  concentration difficulty/memory loss
• excessive urination at night
• restless leg syndrome

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.

​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.
​
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.
​
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.