It sneaks up on the fittest and strongest of us. As the years pass, you begin to notice that you can't do as much as you used to. The flexibility isn't there, and you've got aches and pains in joints that make everyday tasks frustrating.
Many of us have accepted this discomfort as a necessary part of aging. Or we'll take halfhearted measures at targeting specific areas – an aching back or knee, for example.
As primary care physicians, we strive for all over-all feeling of well being for our clients. Aging is inevitable, but a loss of range and motion doesn't have to be.
At Fletcher Chiropractic, we have multiple ways to attack that pain and give you back more freedom. Acupuncture is one of those options.
What acupuncture and acupressure does is to help interrupt and reverse an unhealthy aging cycle. What does that negative aging cycle look like, you might ask?
– First is a feeling of physical weakness and mental fragility, along with chronic pain.
– This results in a lack of mobility, which then causes atrophied muscles.
– That in turn increases the sense of weakness and pain, which leads you right back to where you started.
– Again, you start with the chronic pain and sense of general weakness.
– Acupuncture treatment is applied.
– As a result, you experience improved circulation and new muscle stimulation.
– In turn, this reduces pain and increases mobility.
– The result? Physical fitness and mental soundness.
You see? In this scenario, we've interrupted and re-directed the unhealthy downward spiral via safe, natural, time-tested healing methods, such as acupuncture.
It may be difficult to picture that unhealthy cycle turning around for you. It's a common remark that we hear – folks believe that their injuries or pains are uniquely un-treatable, or simply too severe to be helped. I understand how deeply that aches and pains can envelop a person's life, to the point where change looks impossible.
We consider it our calling to walk beside you and help you find the best ways to restore health and begin a healthy aging cycle. It can happen for you. Acupuncture is simply one way to make that happen.
Acupuncture – An Antidote for Allergies?
What a sight for sore eyes – flowers blossoming, leaves swaying in the wind, green everywhere. After a winter of thick snow and freezing temps, many of us can't wait to see those classic signs of spring.
Others of us – well, we'd rather skip the flowers-blooming part and stick to the sunshine. Why? Because growing plants = pollen, and pollen = allergies. It's a sick curse. You want to be outside, enjoying everything, but you also know the misery that will bring – itching, sneezing, coughing, eyes watering.
We all know the typical treatments – antihistamines, decongestants, nasal sprays, eye drops. What you might not know is that there are more natural options available to you.
In a 2013 study, patients treated with acupuncture and antihistamines reported feeling much better, and needing less medication, than those who took antihistamines alone.
More research is needed, but if you're hoping to reduce your intake of traditional medications (and avoid their side effects), acupuncture may be of help to you.
Acupuncture is a natural, effective way to treat many different conditions. It is one of the oldest healing practices in the world, and is very safe.
Practitioners of acupuncture insert sterile stainless steel needles into specific points located on or near the surface of the skin. This can alter the biomechanical or physiological conditions in the body to help heal the patient.
Our body is electric by the way our cells communicate to each other. The points where the needles are inserted are where the electrical sensitivity in our body can be treated with acupuncture. These points have been mapped out and used for centuries for the treatment of specific health ailments.
Most acupuncture points are located on or near the surface of the skin and so they are not inserted very deeply, usually 1/4th to 1-inch deep. For those who are hesitant to needles, or for children, we utilize needle-less acupuncture with electric stimulation.
Acupuncture needles are thinner than most needles and are about the same width as a piece of human hair. Some people experience a rush of energy with their first treatment but most tell us that they don't feel a thing.
Patients often experience dramatic results from the first treatment. Some patients notice immediate relief, while others feel a gradual improvement over several hours. In some cases, there may be no immediate relief during the next couple of days. Occasionally, a chronic, long-term problem will take several treatments before you notice a change or improvement.
As a procedure, acupuncture is often intimidating to those new to it. But it doesn't have to be.
At Fletcher Chiropractic, we'd be happy to sit down with you and help you decide whether acupuncture is right for you. To schedule a free consultation with either Curtis or Kadi, please call (402) 261-5766.
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Nebraska and Chiropractic History- 100 years.
A few weeks ago, Dr. Kadi and I had to go to our state conference meeting at Century Link Center in Omaha, Nebraska. It was for continuing education hours but it was a special conference put on by Nebraska Chiropractic Physicians Association which we are members of. This was a special year for chiropractic in the state of Nebraska because we were celebrating 100 years of chiropractic being legal in Nebraska. It was 1915 that Nebraska allowed chiropractic to get a license. Kansas was the first state in 1913 and Louisiana was the last state in 1974.
Chiropractic has came a long ways since then. There as been evidence that chiropractic has been done through out history but it didn't have a name yet. We have talked about it before in our post, History of Chiropractic Care. BJ Palmer, son of DD Palmer, continued the tradition of running Palmer Chiropractic College, which is one of the many schools that helps lead the way for chiropractic research and showing the benefits in today's current evidence-based society.
Dr. Kadi and I went to Cleveland Chiropractic College located in Kansas City, more specifically in Overland Park, Kansas now. Cleveland has a strong history in Nebraska. The founders of Cleveland Chiropractic College have their roots in the Nebraska soil. It started with Sylvia Ashworth, DC, whose parents help to start Peru State College if I recall correctly. She sold her farm in Eagle, Nebraska, to go to Palmer Chiropractic to become a Chiropractor after she herself was "saved" by a chiropractor. She has been given weeks to live by medical professionals when she went to a local Chiropractor, who indeed did save her life and made her want to be a chiropractor. She was a foremost leader of chiropractic at the time, especially here in Nebraska after she graduated and moved back to Lincoln, Nebraska. Her daughter Ruth continued the tradition by going to Palmer Chiropractic. She met her husband, Carl S Cleveland and had a child, Carl S Cleveland Jr, in Iowa before they left for Kansas City. They went to there to help Central Chiropractic College, which would eventually become Cleveland Chiropractic College. I was always told that they moved to KC to work with sports and the YMCA.
I know this doesn't seem like much to most but it important to know your history. Chiropractors had a rough career in the beginning. There were chiropractors being thrown in jail and persecuted just because they were chiropractors and at that time, chiropractic was seen as a threat to the medical society. I remember seeing pictures of chiropractors adjusting in jail cells because patients would come visit the chiropractor during visiting hours. There is plenty of history of people not liking chiropractors and even some today but chiropractic is more accepted each year and is now recommended by the AMA for conservative care for low back pain/neck pain.
Chiropractic is still going strong. There are a lot of positive effects it has on and for people and new research continues to prove that chiropractic is safe, affordable and effective for many muscle/joint/nerve issues. A lot of chiropractors like us, do our main treatment of adjusting but sometimes we need to help support the adjustment like using soft tissue therapies, acupuncture, nutrition, or exercises, so we do have that knowledge too. If you have any questions, want any research, or want to learn more about the history of chiropractic, please feel free to contact us.
And remember that chiropractic does have some roots in our great state of Nebraska! They were smart people that helped fight the good fight and have made chiropractic become a mainstay in our lives today.
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