LOWCOUNTRY CHIROPRACTIC
  • Home
  • Services
    • Chiropractic
    • Massage
    • Products
  • Español
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Testimonials
  • FAQs
  • Non-Discrimination
  • Blog
  • New Patient Info
  • Home
  • Services
    • Chiropractic
    • Massage
    • Products
  • Español
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Testimonials
  • FAQs
  • Non-Discrimination
  • Blog
  • New Patient Info

Staying Active: Workout Tips

12/31/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
Hello, everyone! This is Dr. Bob Salamon with Lowcountry Chiropractic. As always, I hope you’re doing well and staying healthy! Welcome back to my blog, where I discuss anything and everything related to chiropractic care and healthy living! I aim to provide you with the information you need to make informed decisions about your health. In my last post, we discussed how to take care of your spine. Today, we’ll be talking about the importance of staying active and I’ll be sharing some workout tips. As you probably know, staying active is good for your overall health. In fact, staying active can help improve brain health, manage weight, reduce the risk of disease, strengthen bones and muscles, lower your blood pressure, and much more. When you are receiving routine chiropractic care, it is important to keep your body in the best shape possible to achieve optimal results. Oftentimes, chiropractic care works best when used in conjunction with other healthy habits and lifestyle changes. Staying active is one of the best ways to keep your body in good shape! If you are interested in learning more about the importance of staying active, as well as some workout tips, you’re in the right place! Let’s get started.

As we age, it becomes even more important to protect our bones, joints, and muscles. Keeping our bones, joints, and muscles in good shape ensures that we are able to perform our daily activities and remain physically active. Additionally, back pain is a common problem in our world– Up to 23% of adults suffer from chronic low back pain. Staying active has been proven to prevent or reduce back pain. This is partly because aerobic exercises increase the blood flow to the soft tissues in the back, reducing stiffness that can cause back pain and improving the healing process. 

How much should I exercise every day?

The amount of exercise one needs can vary from person to person. However, a general rule of thumb is to aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise per day. The Department of Health and Human Services recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity per week. Aerobics refers to cardiovascular exercise, commonly known as cardio. This includes running or jogging, biking, walking, swimming, hiking, and more. If you cannot meet the daily recommended goal, remember that small amounts of exercise can still be beneficial. 

Workout Tips

Let’s face it– Working out isn’t always as easy as it may seem. However, there are simple things that you can do to make your workouts easier and more beneficial! Let’s take a look.

1. Warm up properly

Before you begin exercising, it is important that you warm up properly. A warm up is essentially “waking up” your body before a workout. Just as the name suggests, a warm up literally raises your temperature slightly in order to make your muscles, tendons, and joints more flexible to improve your performance and prevent injury. Warming up also increases blood flow, which helps facilitate the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to your working muscles. Although it may be tempting to skip a warm up, doing so can put more strain on your muscles and can lead to injury. So, it’s important to get your muscles ready for exercise mode. Here are some easy warm ups:

  • Squats
  • Pushups
  • Jumping jacks
  • Jogging/marching in place
  • Lunges

You should spend at least 5 to 10 minutes warming up. If your workout is going to be more intense, your warm up should last longer. 

2. Stay hydrated

We’ve all heard about the importance of staying hydrated, but do you know the reasoning behind it? Drinking enough water daily helps your body regulate temperature, lubricate joints, keep organs functioning properly, and more. Additionally, when you are exercising, your body will begin sweating in order to return to its optimal temperature. When sweat evaporates from the skin, heat is removed from the body– But this also removes body fluid. Therefore, it is important to drink plenty of water to replace that fluid lost through sweating. Adequate hydration prevents your body from overheating and can also help keep your muscles loose to prevent injury. A general rule of thumb is to drink 7 to 10 oz of water for every 10 to 20 minutes of exercise. 

3. Invest in a good pair of shoes

I mentioned the importance of a good, sturdy and comfortable pair of shoes in my last blog. The shoes that you wear play an important role in supporting your lower back. Choosing the right shoe with adequate support can help keep your spine aligned properly, therefore preventing injury. Whether you are walking, running, or performing exercises with gym equipment, having a proper pair of shoes is a must. Good shoes lessen the impact of your step and cushion your foot from heavy landings. There are a variety of shoes to choose from, such as running shoes, lightweight walking shoes, aerobic shoes, and more. You should choose a type of shoe that best corresponds with the type of exercise you perform most often. 

4. Set goals

When you are just getting started exercising, it may feel difficult to find motivation. That’s where goal-setting comes in. Setting fitness goals helps hold yourself accountable and give yourself incentive to keep going. In order for these goals to work as well as they possibly can, they must be well-structured. This can refer to SMART goals– Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound goals. Following this criteria will help make your goals more reachable. You must clearly define your goal. Rather than saying that your goal is to be healthier, think about what “healthy” means to you. Do you want to lose weight? Do you want to minimize back pain? Think about what you are trying to accomplish, and why. You should also specify a number within your goal, whether it is a number of repetitions, or a length of time you want to spend exercising, etc. This will allow you to slowly work towards that number each time you work out. 

5. Listen to music

For some people, the key to a successful workout is good music! Studies have shown that listening to music during a workout, especially motivational or energizing music, helps people push through fatigue and perform better. Music has also been proven to elevate mood, so you may feel more motivated or excited to workout. Try creating a playlist of upbeat songs to listen to while you work out. Keep in mind that everyone is different, however– Some people prefer to exercise in silence. Do whatever makes you feel comfortable!

6. Cool down

Just as warming up is important, it is just as important to cool down after a workout. This allows for the gradual recovery of your pre-exercise heart rate and blood pressure. When exercise comes to a sudden stop, it can cause side effects such as lightheadedness. Cooling down properly helps prevent this. At the end of your workout, continue what you were doing but at a much slower pace and reduce the intensity. For example, if you went for a brisk walk, continue walking slowly for 5 to 10 minutes. 

As you can see, these are just a few ways that you can stay active and make the most out of your workout! If you have any further questions or concerns, I encourage you to reach out to us. As a chiropractor, I can also provide you with nutritional advice and other recommendations for lifestyle changes that can help you keep your spine functioning at its best. I hope you found this article informative. If you have any concerns about your bone health, consider reaching out to Lowcountry Chiropractic! We specialize in different chiropractic techniques, as well as both therapeutic and Swedish massage. Send us an email or give us a call and we’ll assess the situation and develop a treatment plan to address your needs. We want to help you live a healthy and pain-free life– it’s what you deserve. As always, this is Dr. Bob and I have your back covered!
0 Comments

What Are The Positive Effects of Chiropractic Care on Children?

3/3/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
Chiropractic care is an excellent form of care for everyone at every age! Today we're going to be talking about chiropractic care for children! 

Welcome back to the blog, readers! I'm Dr. Bob Salamon with Lowcountry Chiropractic! I hope you are all doing well out there, and that you're staying healthy and safe! Today we are going to be expanding on the idea that chiropractic care is beneficial for everyone at every stage in their lives. We've recently talked about the many benefits that chiropractic care offers to the elderly, and today we are going to turn the tables and talk about the benefits of chiropractic care for our children and younger generations. While their bodies are growing and developing, who better to have their brain function and their immune systems strengthened with chiropractic care than our children? 

When it comes to the goal of any chiropractor, it comes down to going beyond fixing the many ailments that can be connected to poor alignment and a subluxation. We care for your back, which is connected to the nervous system and your brain. The brain controls every operation in our bodies. While we are thrilled that chiropractic care can help so many different things, our goal is to ensure that the body's nervous system has every chance to work as efficiently and effectively as it can! 

CHILDREN AND CHIROPRACTIC CARE
Many might think children don't need chiropractic care. Their bodies are brand new, healthy, and they haven't had to carry the weight and stress that adulthood and time can bring. While this is true, even before they're born, children can experience stress on their nervous system. These nerve irritations or subluxations are a part of everyday life. You've watched a child learning how to roll themselves over, hold up their heads for the first time, learn how to walk, and take their first stumbles and falls. Imagine the stress that puts on their developing nervous system. Subluxations can occur from bad posture, sleeping on their tummies, remaining in one position for a prolonged period, knocks and falls, and much more. Stress can be put on the nervous system before a child is even born. This can happen due to being in an award position in the uterus, restriction of movement, or birth complications like fast or very slow labor or cesarean delivery. 

We all know the importance of a healthy back and nervous system that chiropractic care can deliver, and we know that children deserve this care just as much as adults! Introducing chiropractic care to children at a young age can put them on a course of having a very healthy lifestyle. While many still might believe that chiropractic care is only for adults, it can be even more important for a chiropractor to care for and check on your children due to spurts of rapid growth, changes in their bodies, and development. Also know that chiropractic care for children, while it might be a new idea for some parents, it is not a new idea overall and has been around for some time. According to the American Chiropractic Association (ACA), many parents have feared how their children would respond to treatments and if they were safe. Over the years, many health professionals have sided with these parents. At the same time, doctors of chiropractic have been spending years trying to teach and assure parents that treatments are safe. Any injury or pain resulting from a chiropractic treatment was connected to underlying pathologies. Thanks to these studies and years of hard work, more parents and health professionals have gotten on board with chiropractic care. 

It is recommended that chiropractors do a very thorough examination and speak with parents about their medical history and their child's before treatment begins. Also, just like I mentioned in my previous blog about elderly chiropractic care, an infant would never receive the same kind of care that an adult would. Their treatment would be adjusted to their needs and age to promote the utmost safety and care! Also, don't forget that chiropractic care is non-invasive and its foundations are based on effective and gentle adjustment techniques that are safe and have been well tested. Remember my blog late last year where I discussed the many myths chiropractors have to constantly disprove? The biggest one is that chiropractors are not real doctors. We busted that myth! Your child's care and health are very important and will be in very confident hands any time they are in a chiropractor's office. 

THE BASICS
What do you remember about your childhood? Before every smart device took over, we were outside running, jumping, climbing, swinging, and playing every game and sport we could think of. This also meant a lot of stumbles, falls, and accidents. They're still learning, still understanding their balance and coordination, and they haven't fallen enough yet to understand the full consequences of their actions. Their bodies respond to these incidents and can carry and hold tension and subluxations just like an adult's body. Chiropractic care can help realign their spine and joints, which is incredibly important as a child grows. These subluxations, remember, can get in the way of the brain functioning and communicating to the body as it should. In a body that is growing and changing every day, they need these connections and communications to make sure the best decisions are made for their health and development. Also, remember that chiropractic care is an excellent way to avoid the use of over-the-counter or prescription medications. According to the ACA, one of the most common reasons why parents take their children to a chiropractor is to help with the care and management of chronic ear infections, instead of them taking a plethora of antibiotics. 

GROWING BODIES
Children and adults have the same joints, but they aren't fully formed in a child's body right away. Due to this, as I mentioned above, treatment will be specifically tailored to their little bodies. The adjustments will be done faster and with much less force, due to their increased flexibility in the developing joints and that they are much smaller. Instead of manipulating joints as chiropractic care can do for adult bodies, chiropractic care helps mobilize the joints in a child's body. When it comes to infants and in utero, it's even more tailored. For babies, many common issues include sleep problems, issues with nursing, colic, torticollis, and plagiocephaly. Chiropractic care has shown drastic improvement with each of these issues, along with helping or preventing any long-term effects.

In utero, treatments can help prevent any sort of constraint. If the baby moves in a certain way, they can remain in that one position for several months. Wouldn't that be uncomfortable for you too? According to the ACA, "the goal of treatments is to restore motion to the joints and balance the tissues to keep everything as biomechanically even as possible. Taking the tension off from day one can help allow for optimal growth and development." 

TOP REASONS AND BENEFITS OF TAKING YOUR CHILD TO A CHIROPRACTOR 
  • Overall Healthy Living
As I've mentioned, chiropractic care is plays a huge role in keeping the neck and spine aligned, which helps clear the neural pathways. This will help the brain and the whole body function as it should. It can also help with better posture. It can help as children begin to move, crawl, and walk and to help them recover from slips and falls. It will also help them build a strong immune system from day one! 
  • Breastfeeding
The birth process can be very difficult on a baby, leaving them with trauma and stress on their spine, shoulders, or neck which can make breastfeeding very difficult and painful for them. It can also make latching onto the breast very difficult. Chiropractic care can remove this stress to help make the process less painful and less stressful. It can also help reduce acid reflux! 
  • Common Maladies and Development
Helping a child's nervous system grow properly with the use of chiropractic care can help their whole bodies develop as they should. It can help prevent ear infections, asthma, allergies, constipation, colic, can help with the common cold, and can even help with bedwetting. Chiropractic care will help with nerve and brain development and encourage them to be as healthy as possible. It can help with ADHD and ADD, and other neurodevelopmental disorders. It can also help with behavior disorders and help promote emotional well-being and concentration. Learning, sensory development, and tactile learning can also be drastically improved with chiropractic care! 
  • Bumps, Bruises, and Nighttime Care
If your child has issues sleeping at night or sleeping through the night as they begin sleep training, chiropractic care can be the missing piece in fighting these difficulties! They might not be sleeping well due to pain caused by a subluxation or their body being out of alignment. Chiropractic care can also assist in minimizing injuries, which our little ones are at the risk of experiencing. It can help keep their little joints and ligaments strong and it can help them comfortably transition from crawling to walking. When they do fall at this young age, these little bumps and falls can lead to small traumas that can cause subluxations and stress that could lead to long-term health issues or issues later down the line. Chiropractic can help remove these issues and prevent health problems from appearing later in life! 

Your child's health is in your hands while they are growing and learning! I hope this blog helped explain why chiropractic care is so beneficial for children and to assure you that it is safe. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out. If you would like to talk about your child's chiropractic care, please reach out as well! Until next time I'm Dr. Bob and I've got your back covered! 

0 Comments

A Safe and Healthy New Year; Tips and Tricks from Dr. Bob

1/19/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
A brand new year is here! I want to share some of the best tips you can do for your body to keep healthy and happy in 2021! 

Hello everyone! It's Dr. Bob Salamon with Lowcountry Chiropractic. Welcome back to the blog and a very Happy New Year to you! I hope you're staying safe and well out there, and I hope you're taking care of yourselves! Welcome to 2021! I think we are all very happy to see it here, and we are all happy to get out of last year and all of its craziness. With a new year comes resolutions to work out, eat better, and be healthier overall, right? Sadly, these resolutions usually only last for a short time. In honor of that and in honor of 2021, I want to help you achieve your goals. So, I wanted to share a list of things with you that you'll be able to stick with and make part of your everyday life, to make sure this year and beyond are the healthiest they can be. If you do everything on this list that you're about to read, you will get healthier without question. It's a simple list, but I won't lie to you; it won't be easy. Each of the listed items takes effort on your part to incorporate them into your lifestyle. I personally have nothing to do with this list, outside of providing it for you, except for the last point we will talk about today. Let's kick off this new year and jump into this list to start on a healthier and happier you! 

#1 Go Green! 
I'm not talking about saving the earth, I'm not talking about saving trees from getting cut down, and I'm not talking about global warming. I am talking about eating healthy and eating green things. Some of the best ways to eat green are by eating things like salads, fruits, and vegetables. It's not only about eating green things but also about eating multicolored things. They call this kind of diet "eating the rainbow" because those are the things that have a lot of phytonutrients and antioxidants in them like berries, nuts, peppers, romaine lettuce, and much more. I eat a lot of my green food raw. I eat salads a lot, but at night I'll have a piece of fish with green beans and the green beans will be raw, because when you cook food it tends to remove the nutrients from it. When I say "go green" I really mean that you need to get away from eating food that's white or brown, and you need to eat colorful things that come out of the ground or grow on trees. Eating this way will help you become much healthier! Another reason to eat green is that they are alkaline in nature and not acidic. You'll find acidic elements in starches, bread, pasta, candy, and sweets. Fruits and veggies will make your body more alkaline. This is so important because diseases like cancer thrive in an acidic environment, and you don't want that! 

#2 Refine Your Life! 
What do I mean by this? I'm talking about refined sugars. You want to try to eliminate eating foods that have unnaturally occurring sugars in them and replace them with foods that only have natural sugars. Unfortunately, almost all the products you see on the shelves of a grocery store have a ton of refined sugars in them. Why do we want to avoid refined sugars? There are a lot of reasons, but the two most important are as follows:
  • When sugar is not metabolized by your body, it gets stored as fat in your tissues and organs.  This is obviously not a good thing.  Eating refined sugars at night is worse since your body does not have time to metabolize them.
  • Most importantly, sugar creates inflammation in your body. Inflammation can lead to a lot of problems with your organs, glands, blood vessels and joints. Inflammation in your joints can lead to arthritis and pain.

#3 Get a Supplemental Plan! 
I'm not talking about a medicare supplement for insurance.  I'm talking about health supplements to the foods that you eat. We are not going to get 100% of everything we need from the food that we eat every day. To help with this, you want to try and supplement your intake with various items. I take Juice Plus+, which is whole foods in capsules. If I'm not getting 100% of all my fruits, vegetables, and berries every day this supplement helps to bridge the gap between what I am eating and what I should be eating for a healthy body. In terms of supplementation, I take fish oil and coconut oil which are huge anti-inflammatories. You might want to consider adding one or more into your diet. Another supplement you should look into adding that I always talk about is vitamin D3. It is an extremely great and inexpensive supplement to boost your immune system. Boosting your immune system is so important when we are already dealing with COVID, the flu season, and more. You want your immune system to be working at 100% so it can defend itself against some of these dangerous things that are out there. I recommend most people take between 3000 to 5000 IUs of D3. I'm taking 10,000 right now during the pandemic. I will say that I haven't felt anything in terms of a sniffle or a sore throat since this pandemic has started, so I know it's doing something good for me! 

#4 Don't Be a Couch Potato! 
We've had a lot of couch potatoes in 2020 and so far into 2021 because a lot more people are working from home and they're not as active as they should be! You need to incorporate exercise into your routine. You need to add not only cardiovascular exercises like running, walking, swimming, or biking, but you also need to add in cross-training with weights, high-intensity interval training, and more to trick your body (in a good way!) to keep improving. If you do the same workout every time, your body gets lazy. You have to mix it up, which is why I do Crossfit.  Every class is different, incorporating different body parts every session. Don't be a couch potato!  You have to get up and start a habit. It takes three weeks to make or break a habit, so let's do this! 

#5 Rest and Relax! 
This means getting enough sleep every night, and that means at least 7-8 hours, which is recommended by the experts. The primary reason to get enough sleep is that during your REM stage of sleeping, your body is taking the time to repair itself from all the work you've done throughout the day. The neurons, synapses, the coverings and linings of your organs, your blood vessels, and your whole body heals and repairs itself when you're sleeping. 

#6 Don't Worry - Be Happy! 
What does this mean? Experts say about 95% of what we worry about is either really not important or is never going to happen, so we really shouldn't be worrying about them. We spend too much time worrying about things that aren't going to occur or even impact us. What I would challenge you to do this year is to take a more positive approach to life if you're not already. Try to look at the glass as being half full instead of half empty, and look at the blessings you have in your life instead of the negative things. Put a list together if you have to, but we all have many things we can be grateful for in life. This can give you a little joy and optimism as you go through this year. 

#7 Get Connected
This is the one thing on the list that you need me for! I'm not talking about getting connected on social media (shoutout to Creative Consulting for doing an amazing job!). No, this is getting your brain and body to talk to one another. This is the only way your body is going to stay optimally healthy. There is a little thing called the spinal cord that connects the brain to all of your body parts, along with the nerves that go out from your spinal cord. If you don't take care of your spinal cord and the spinal nerves, your brain (which makes all of your body's decisions and sends out all the messages out to your body) will be sending those messages out, but they will reach their destinations improperly. So, the body is not going to be effectively doing the work that the brain wants it to. Also, if those nerves aren't working properly, the body can't communicate back to the brain. The brain will then not know what decisions it should really be making.

How do you keep this connection working properly between your brain and your body? Go to a chiropractor! I am trained to remove subluxations of the spine, which are conditions where the vertebrae are irritating a spinal nerve and interfering up the conduction of mental, electrical and chemical impulses from the brain to the body. I and my fellow chiropractors are trained to remove those subluxations from your body and allow your brain and body to communicate as they should! It's amazing what benefits you'll see when your body is free from subluxations. By removing subluxations, your body can experience: 
  • Pain reduction/elimination including headache resolution
  • Resolution of acid reflux
  • Reduction of sinus issues
  • Strengthening of your immune system
  • Sleeping better
  • Having better respiratory healthy
  • Having better digestive health
  • Eliminating or controlling diabetes and high blood pressure without lots of medication
  • Restoring energy levels
  • Reduction of insomnia
  • And much more! 
Remember these issues can be helped without the use of dangerous medications that alway have side effects. There is so much that goes hand in hand with chiropractic care because the nerves that come out of your spine do everything and control every function of your body. This is how you get connected! If you need to get connected, you know who to call or email - it's me! Dr. Bob Salamon! 

I don't want you to stress out and think that you have to do this list perfectly. You just need to follow it fairly well, because if you're not doing any of them and you implement even some of  them into your life, you'll see a huge improvement in your health this year. You'll lose the weight that you want to lose, you'll build muscle mass, you'll sleep better, you'll have more energy, you'll have better focus, and you won't get sick as often. The real important thing on this list, outside of the essential chiropractic care, is nutrition. Nutrition is the most important thing you can do for yourself in 2021, but of course, I want you to do this whole list! 

I hope this helps and gives you a little encouragement for the new year. This is going to be a better year for you but you have to want to make it better! ! If you need any help with the items on this list, we do offer consultation on each of these topics. Come see me, call me, or email me to get started. Remember, I am Dr. Bob and I've got your back covered. See you next time, readers. Stay safe out there and Happy New Year!  


0 Comments

Consistent Chiropractic Care; Why You Don't Need to Be In Pain for a Visit

11/25/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Many people only search out their chiropractors when they're in pain. Today we are going to be talking about why you should give continued care a second thought. 

Hi everybody! It's Dr. Bob Salamon here with Lowcountry Chiropractic. I hope that wherever you are that you are continuing to stay safe and healthy. Flu and cold season has arrived, and it's time to stay on top of your health as best you can. In many of my recent blogs, I have talked about that more often than not, your health is in your hands. Make sure that you're getting plenty of rest, drinking plenty of water, eating well, staying active, and adding vitamin D3 to your diet. Each of these steps can help you feel better, fight off sickness faster, and prevent you from getting sick. What would also be even more beneficial to staying healthy during this time of year and promote a strong immune system, is to come and see me or to visit your chiropractor consistently.

While many people think the only time to go to the chiropractor is when they're in pain, I am here to implore you to think otherwise. I often hear from my patients that they have put off coming to see me because they just weren't in pain and they didn't see a reason to come until they were. Why wait to be in pain or when your body isn't working as it should to come see me? Instead of waiting for the pain, how about coming to see me to avoid any pain or discomfort at all? With this idea in mind, I wanted to talk about some of the top reasons why you should consistently be going to your chiropractor even when you're not in pain! 

  • Avoid Going Under The Knife
Chiropractic care is based on the fact that your spine affects every system in your body. If a subluxation (misaligned vertebra causing a pinched nerve) is blocking a message from traveling from your brain to a part of the body, your body will suffer. Treating issues that stem from a subluxation with chiropractic care can help you avoid using over the counter or prescription drugs to help manage your pain or other effects of your subluxations. Chiropractic care can also be an all-natural treatment that helps you avoid invasive, unnecessary and expensive surgeries. Consistent chiropractic care helps to naturally keep your body aligned, helps it function properly, and helps keep your body strong. This can help prevent accidents, everyday wear and tear, and other issues that could eventually lead to surgery and/or strong prescription medications, both of which are better to avoid at all costs. 

  • Pandemic Pivot
Many of my patients and readers have seen a huge shift in their day to day work schedule due to the ongoing pandemic. Many of them did or continue to work from home, which has come with its own share of wear and tear. Rolling out of bed and into your work chair until 5 PM comes has led to more and more time just sitting through the workday. The pandemic itself has also promoted a much more sedentary lifestyle for more people.  Binging our favorite Netflix shows and polishing off that pile of books we've been wanting to read has finally happened, but at what cost to our backs?

Many of my patients have spent the last 8 months hunched over their desks employing very bad posture. This also hasn't been great for their hips or lower backs either. This pandemic posture and lack of movement can lead to increased pressure in your neck, shoulders, upper back, hips, and more. It can also cause some pretty serious pain or even lead to a slipped or herniated disc. Coming to see me consistently or visiting your chiropractor on a regular basis can help strengthen your back and fight against your pandemic posture and pandemic lifestyle. I can keep you aligned and make sure that while you have to sit still much longer throughout the day, the messages in your brain are still firing without interruption and without causing you any pain. 

  • Squeaky Wheel
Going to a chiropractor consistently is the equivalent of getting oil changes and tuneups on your car. You can catch issues early before they become big problems, and you might even be able to prevent some issues entirely if you keep up with this maintenance. Consistent chiropractic care works exactly the same. One of the most common things that can be avoided or managed with chiropractic care is arthritis. My primary job is to keep your spinal bones moving smoothly and correctly, and as long as that happens it can prevent calcium deposits from forming and causing bone spurs, which leads to inflammation and arthritis.  If arthritis is a common malady in your family's medical history, please come and see me as soon as you can. This no longer needs to be something you're dreading.  You can leave your worries behind while promoting optimal health throughout your whole body. 

  • Ball of Nerves
If 2020 has given us anything, it's a heaping pile of stress and anxiety that no one asked for. While these are emotional responses we have in response to what is happening in our lives and the world around us, it takes a physical toll on our bodies too. These heavy emotional moments and feelings that we carry around with us can cause some very serious repercussions. While many people don't like to admit that they're dealing with these emotions, they are just shoving even more pressure on their bodies by not dealing with them. Every human body responds to stress and anxiety in its own unique way, but one of the most common is an extreme amount of pressure placed on your back, shoulders, and neck. What is one of the best natural defenses against this? Chiropractic care! It is an incredible non-invasive way to help deal with the consequences of life. It also feels great and is an overall relaxing experience. 

  • Better Bellies
Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner, and that means many days filled with large, delicious, rich, and difficult to digest meals headed your way. With that in mind, you will be wanting to visit me to deal with the results of poor nutrition. Many digestive issues such as constipation, IBS, food intolerance, gas, and acid reflux can all be connected to poor posture, subluxations, inflammation, high stress levels, a bad diet, and a sedentary lifestyle. As I have already mentioned, continued chiropractic care can help prevent and eliminate stress, poor posture, subluxations, and a sedentary lifestyle. It also helps deal with and combat inflammation which is the major cause of pain.  While chiropractic care doesn't automatically make you eat better, I frequently talk and write about how eating properly can help your body function at optimal levels. 

If you're still unsure about the benefits of consistent chiropractic care, come and see me. Give us a call or shoot us an email, and we will be more than happy to get you in for an appointment. We will chat about your medical history, give you a thorough examination, and I will get right to work on helping you feel and function at your best at all times. Stay safe out there, everyone! Until next time, I'm Dr. Bob and I've got your back covered!

0 Comments

Building a Better Immune System!

10/19/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
With the change of seasons at hand and the ongoing COVID pandemic, one of the most important things we need to be aware of is how to make our immune systems as strong as possible!

Hey, everybody! It's Dr. Bob Salamon here with Lowcountry Chiropractic. I hope you're all doing well out there! Today we are going to be discussing the immune system. This is the important system in your body that keeps you healthy against colds, flus, COVID, allergies, and all sorts of other ailments. I want to talk about how, practically speaking, you can keep your immune system healthier so you can defend yourself against some of these outside agents that are floating around in the air and that can make you sick. With COVID, everyone has been talking about washing your hands, wearing masks, and practicing social distancing. This is all great to do;  however what I think is missing in this equation is a message from the surgeon general that we need to be proactive about increasing our individual immune function. This will help you defend against COVID and anything else out there. How do you keep your immune system strong and powerful? That is what we are going to be talking about today!
#1 - LET'S EAT!
Let's start with the basics that you need to be doing to keep yourself healthy and your immune system strong. The first step you need to be thinking about and putting effort into is your diet and what you're putting into your body every day. You need to be eating properly. If you're not eating right every day, your body isn't getting the correct amount of nutrients that it needs nor is it getting the correct energy source it needs to keep your body functioning at its highest capacity. If you aren't getting the proper nutrients, your body won't be able to defend itself well. A poor diet will impact your immune system very negatively.
#2 - TUCK IN!
You have to get enough sleep at night.  It’s a must. When you sleep, your body is repairing itself. All the systems in your body need time to heal from all the work they do throughout the day, and those 7-8 hours of sleep every night are crucial for that healing. If you don't give yourself enough sleep, all of your systems will be affected, and you will be more susceptible to getting sick.
#3 - PROPER SUPPLEMENTATION!
We've talked about this many times and people still think I'm crazy! If you're not currently taking any supplements, you need to start thinking about adding vitamin D3 to your diet. Vitamin D3 is an essential vitamin, which means you can't get this supplement naturally from the foods you eat. The only way to get vitamin D3 naturally is to be out in the sun, and most people can't be out in the sun all day because they're inside working, at school, etc. Vitamin D3 is incredibly important because it boosts your immune system. It gets your body working better and defends it against outside agents. I am a strong proponent that everyone should be taking this vitamin. It's going to help you fight against colds and the flu, allergies, and even COVID! If you get your body working better and you get your defenses on the attack, when any virus or outside agent tries to come into your body, your white blood cells are geared up to go attack it and kill it! If your immune system is not working right, that's when these viruses and opportunistic diseases can take up a home in your body, and wreak havoc on you.
I take 5000 International Units (IU) of D3 every day, but during the pandemic, I have doubled my daily dose to 10,000 IU! As a general rule of thumb, you want to take 1000 IU for every 35 pounds of body weight. If you're not taking this vitamin, you will need to get some natural sunlight every day to replace it, at least 15 to 20 minutes of full-body exposure to be exact. A lot of people don't want to do this because of the associated skin cancer risk. The easiest and safest thing to do is just to take the vitamin.
#4 - CHIROPRACTIC!
The next important step to keep your immune system strong is chiropractic! How does chiropractic help with your immune system? Well, your brain, spinal cord, and all of your nerves that come off your spinal cord regulate every single function and system in your body. The brain is the master controller;  it regulates every other system in the body. The immune system, of course, is one of those important systems. If your nervous system is not working at 100%, your immune system will not be working at 100% either. When your body isn't working at its full capacity, you are leaving your health to chance. How does chiropractic help with building up your immunity? Let's talk about it!
Your spine is very complex;  it is a series of bones called vertebrae. Each vertebra is separated by a disc which is flexible but very strong.  In between each bone is an opening (foramen) and a spinal nerve comes out of that opening. The spinal nerve comes off the spinal cord, which is an extension of your brain. Every one of your spinal nerves relays information from the brain to your body and vice-versa. In a perfect world, your vertebrae are lined up, the openings for every nerve are open, and there is no irritation on any of the nerves. This allows your brain to communicate perfectly with the body, and the body can communicate perfectly back to the brain. When this happens, all functions of the body are working optimally, including your immune system. But, life hits us; we get into a car accident, we fall, we pick something up that's too heavy, we sleep wrong at night, we eat the wrong kinds of foods that negatively affect our muscles, or we carry emotional stress. All of these factors affect our body, our spine, and our nerves. This stress can cause the vertebrae to shift out of place. When the vertebrae get shifted out of place, the nerves can get irritated and pinched (subluxated), often causing some pain. More importantly, once this subluxation has occurred, the communication between your brain and the rest of your body is not working as it should. All the systems at the end of that pinched nerve are going to be affected negatively. It could be a muscle, an organ, blood vessels, a gland, or a critical system that is affected by this strain or pinch. The nerves in the upper neck specifically play a huge part in your immune system. When you free up your nerves from subluxations, your body gets to go back to work and do what it's there to do to keep you healthy. That is how chiropractic care can help enhance your immune function.  
If you can incorporate  all of these changes into your life, you are going to be much healthier as we go into cold and flu season with COVID, and you're going to be much healthier in general. You're not going to get sick as much, you're not going to feel run down as much, and you're going to be able to be the best version of yourself. My goal is to educate as many people as possible and to show everyone that your health is in your hands. It's not in a doctor's hands, it's not in a pill or prescription, and it is not in a potion that comes off the shelf. The doctor is inside of you, and you have the responsibility to take care of that!

These are some of the best ways to take care of your body effectively and to stay healthy. I hope all of this information helps. If you or anyone out there is suffering, if you're getting sick all the time, you're having sinus issues, allergies, or you're just feeling run down, come and see us! All of these issues can be corrected with chiropractic care and all the other steps I have mentioned in this blog today! Remember, all of these steps are also all-natural ways of taking care of your body. I look forward to the next blog and seeing you soon. Take care!

0 Comments

The Truth About Osteoarthritis

9/2/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Something is lurking in the joints of millions of Americans every year:  the very real pain of arthritis. 

Hi everyone! It's Dr. Bob Salamon here with Lowcountry Chiropractic. I hope everyone is doing well. Today we are going to be discussing a topic that is very prevalent in our country, and that is arthritis. A lot of people have it and suffer from its pain every day. In this blog,  I want to put arthritis into perspective. I want to explain what arthritis is and some of the many ways you can treat it. There are many different types of arthritis; there is rheumatoid arthritis, which is an autoimmune problem, psoriatic arthritis, enteropathic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, gout and many more. In this blog though, we are going to be discussing the most common type of arthritis, and that is osteoarthritis. It is also called DJD or DDD, which stands for degenerative joint disease or degenerative disc disease. 

Why is it important to get a grip on your arthritis? The main reason is that it is a degenerative condition. If you don't take care of it, it will more than likely get worse as you get older. Why is that important? Osteoarthritis will and can destroy or at a minimum cause a lot of pain in your joints. It can appear in your hands, your spine, your knees, hips, shoulders, and almost everywhere else in your body. This type of arthritis causes pain because of the inflammation surrounding the joint it is affecting. 

Let's talk about osteoarthritis. Our bodies get out of symmetry as we go through our daily lives. Typically, this type of arthritis is caused by asymmetry, and your joints start to work improperly because they are not working symmetrically. This can happen in your spine as well. You'll find that if you have a vertebra or two that is locked or misaligned,  it's going to put a lot of stress on that joint. What the body does in reaction to this misalignment is it takes calcium out of the bloodstream, and sends it to that affected area to strengthen it. In theory, that sounds like it would make total sense, but what happens is that calcium deposits can form which leads to spurring. In addition, asymmetry causes the discs in your spine or cartilage in your peripheral joints to wear thin. You don't want spurs in a joint that aren't supposed to be there; they're going to get in the way of your ligaments, tendons, and the space the joint uses to properly move. These spurs are going to cause you a lot of pain because of the inflammation they cause. As we know, inflammation leads to serious pain. This is what is happening to your body when you have osteoarthritis. 

The next question then becomes, how do you manage this condition? As I mentioned before, if you don't do something about your osteoarthritis, it is going to get worse. The medical approach is usually some kind of steroidal anti-inflammatory product or injection to the affected joint. These products are created to take out some of the inflammation so you feel better. These remedies don't do much for correcting the cause of your arthritis, and steroids carry their own set of pretty nasty symptoms that might not appear until much later.  

How can chiropractic help? Chiropractic looks at a particular joint (in your spine, shoulder, hands, etc.) and figures out whether or not the bones in that joint are moving properly. What chiropractors do is adjust or treat that bone or bones to restore the proper motion to that joint. Once this happens, your body can work symmetrically and the degenerative process can be stopped.  If the degenerative process is slowed down or stopped the inflammation will decrease, and the pain will get better. If you have arthritis, chiropractic care is something that you need to seriously think about incorporating into your health protocol.

I also recommend a few supplements to my patients that help with inflammation connected to osteoarthritis that help with the pain in a natural way. 

1. Fish oil! If you're going to use this, please use high-quality fish oil. 
2. Coconut Oil! Most people don't know much about the benefits of this oil, but just like fish oil, it can do wonders for inflammation. If you want to add this oil to your diet, take a couple tablespoons preferably after a meal.  Always make sure you use high-quality coconut oil. I recommend virgin, organic cold-pressed brands. 
3. Turmeric is a great spice that you can put in your food or take in pill form that also helps with inflammation and the effects of osteoarthritis. 

Exercise can also help, but if the joint is damaged you want to be careful about doing too much repetitive exercise to the affected joint. Also, be very careful when doing too much weight-bearing or load-bearing exercises with that joint. Getting in a pool and swimming and some lightweight workouts are good to keep your affected joints moving. 
​

I hope this helps! If you're suffering from osteoarthritis or think you might be, please make an appointment to come to the office. We will do a very thorough exam (including x-rays), show you exactly what's going on and what is causing your problems. We will then get to work on fixing those problems so you can get healthy, out of pain and prevent that degenerative process from getting worse. I am Dr. Bob Salamon, and I have your back covered! Stay well! 
0 Comments

Still Open for Business

4/17/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
We are still open for business and are considered essential. I also have a few tips and suggestions on how to keep your immune system healthy, so you can be as healthy as possible right now! 
Hey everybody, it's Dr. Bob Salamon here at Lowcountry Chiropractic. By now all of you know that we are all going through some very difficult and stressful times. Emotionally and economically difficult times. So, I wanted to get a little preachy on you in this blog. Not too preachy, I just want to hopefully help you guys get through these trials that we are going through in our lives right now. We are all in this together, and that is one of the good things. No one's immune to this. We are all dealing with this. There is a scripture in the bible that I like, and it is very appropriate right now. It says, "In all things, God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to his purpose." What does that mean? Does that mean that every day we wake up it's going to be a good day? No. Does it mean that nothing bad is going to happen to us? No. It doesn't mean that at all. But, what I believe it does mean is that in the many different trials of our lives, that there is something good that God will use that trial for in our lives and in our communities. He will turn the bad into good. Unfortunately, sometimes we can't see that because we're not God, we are just human. But ultimately, at the end of it, we will see that there will be good things that come out of it.
A couple of good things that are coming out of it right now are families growing closer. Parents are spending more time at home with their kids. There is more time to be a family unit. That's a good thing! Maybe that's what God is trying to do. He's wanting us to really get back into our community and get back into our families. The other good thing that is coming out of this is the support of the community. We just gave a bunch of food out at my church. People drove up and were given supplies. We are doing that every Tuesday morning from 9 AM to 11 AM at The Dream Center at Seacoast in North Charleston. If you need anything, please come. We have opportunities and should look to find opportunities to help or to serve somebody or do something good right now. All we are hearing right now on the media and in print is a lot of negative. I just challenge you all to do a few things. 
  • Number One: Count your blessings. Make a list of all of them. Write them down and think about them. There are many. 
  • Number Two: Try to figure out ways where you could be a blessing and a positive influence on somebody else in this time of crisis. 
Having said all of that, we are, as all chiropractic offices are, considered an essential business. So the good news is that we are open and we will remain open. We are going to reduce our days to Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. We will have patient hours like normal, 10 AM to 1 PM and 3 PM to 6 PM. Right now the volume is down, of course, because people are afraid to go out and do things. So, we don't need to be open on those other two days right now. Hopefully, that will change soon, and we'll get back on track with business as usual. That's what we're praying for. So, we're here! Come see us. We've had people walk in the door saying, "Gee, I didn't know you guys were open!". Please call if you have any doubt about that! We're here! We are open for business! 
The second thing I want to talk about is how do you defend yourself in these times? How do you ensure that you're as healthy as you can be? If you're as healthy as you can be, it doesn't mean you're not going to get infected. But, the odds are going to be a lot less. Even if you do get it, and you're in great health, you're going to get over it a lot quicker. We've talked about this before, and I will continue reiterating these things. But, I think it is always important enough to say it again that your health is your responsibility and no one else's. It is in your hands. So, you've got to do certain things to improve your immune function, especially now. 
  • Vitamin D3
We talk about this all the time, and I'm still shocked that so many don't know about vitamin D3! Everyone should know about this vitamin! D3 Is an essential vitamin that you can only get in two ways. 

  • ​#1: Your skin makes it when it is exposed to the sun. So, if you're outside a lot you have plenty of D3 being manufactured. But, being outside right now is limited to our backyards and exercise and might not be enough. 
  • #2: The only other way to get it is as a supplement. D3 does not occur naturally in food. You cannot eat it, like calcium and other supplements. 
D3 is known to be a huge immune builder, so you need to take it every day, and regularly. In these times I would encourage you to up your dosage. For me, I usually take 5000 IUs a day. But, right now I am doubling and taking 10,000 IUs. I am with people all day, and this is a hands-on profession. So, I am doubling my dosage. I would highly recommend that you get on your D3 supplement. They are very inexpensive, you can get 100 tablets at the Vitamin Shoppe for around $8. It is cost effective, very powerful, and very effective!
  • Chiropractic Care
    Other than washing your hands, not touching your face, practicing social distancing, and everything the CDC has reminded us to do, you need to get into chiropractic care.  Why? Chiropractic care enhances the function of the nervous system (the brain, the spinal cord, and the nerves). Why is that so important? The nervous system controls the immune system and all the other systems in your body. So, if your nervous system is working at a higher level, your immune system is going to be working at a higher level. This will make you more protected from outside elements that come into your body. It works. 
We are here for everybody. You've got a lot of time on your hands, so come on in. What I will say to you too is we are using all the precautions in our office to keep our office as sanitized and as clean as possible. My adjusting table gets wiped down and sanitized before and after every single patient. I'm washing my hands so much, I think they're going to fall off. These are all the things I wanted to talk to you about, and some things from my heart. Just know this: Have hope because this too shall pass, and hopefully very soon. We are going to be back to normal, or getting back to normal. I hope this all helps you. If you need us, which all of you do, please look us up and give us a call. We'll be here for you. I hope everyone has a great day. We'll talk to you soon!
0 Comments

The Importance of a Proper Mattress and Pillow

3/30/2020

3 Comments

 
Picture
You might have been suffering from back and body pain for years, but maybe it's not your back or your body that's causing the issues. Maybe it's an old mattress and old pillows that need to be replaced that are causing your pain and suffering.

Hey everybody, it's Dr. Bob Salamon here with Lowcountry Chiropractic. Today we are going to talk about pillows and mattresses. I often see patients in my office who are not paying attention to their mattresses as they get old, and it creates a lot of back issues for them. Why is a mattress so important to your health? A quarter to a third of our life is spent laying on a mattress and sleeping. Think about it. If you're sleeping on a mattress 6 to 8 hours a day, that adds up to a quarter to a third of your life, so you want to make sure that you have a great mattress that takes care of your spine and allows you to get a good night's rest. Sleep is the only time our body repairs itself from all the work it's done during the day, so if you're not getting a good night's sleep, your body begins to break down and wear out quicker than it normally would. There are so many reasons why you should put emphasis on a good mattress. I hear it all the time from my patients who go to bed and they feel fine, but when they wake up their back is killing them. That is a very telling sign that your mattress needs to go. 

Where do you start when picking out the best mattress? Over the last twenty years, there have been a lot of changes in the industry. There are so many more products and competitors than there used to be. This is a great thing because when you get more competition, the cost of the product comes down. So you can get a high-quality product at a lower price. You can buy a nice mattress today for not a ton of money. There are three basic types of mattresses that you need to know about to understand what you should be considering when buying your next mattress. 

  • Option One, The Traditional Coil Mattress
This is your old school mattress, made out of metal coil and spring. I am not a huge fan of these mattresses because you need to flip them to get even wear on them, and their life span is only about 7 or 8 years. You might spend a pretty penny on this type of mattress and not get the bang for your buck out of it. 
  • Option Two, The Sleepnumber Bed/Select Comfort Bed
These mattresses are made up of pockets of air that you can inflate or deflate with a programmable device. The advantage of these mattresses is that you can set it up exactly to your preferred comfort level - either very hard or very soft or anywhere in between. You can set it on either side of the bed so you and your partner will be very comfortable together. It's a very versatile bed, and I know a lot of people who own and love them, The downside to this mattress is that they have a lot of moving parts. There are more chances of it breaking or something going wrong with it. The whole mattress is also split into two mattresses, with space in between. Some people don't like this because it's not one uniform bed, which makes sharing it somewhat awkward. 
  • Option Three, The Memory Foam Mattress
This is what I sleep on. What you want to get when buying this type of mattress is something that has a cooling gel that has been infused into the mattress so it stays cool while you're sleeping at night. The original Tempur-Pedic mattresses were very different from what they are making now. They tended to get hot at night when you were sleeping. Also, they tended to contour to your body, so when you laid in bed your whole body would sink in, which I'm not a huge fan of. In my opinion, you want a fairly firm mattress, so when you lay in it you have an even distribution of your body weight on the mattress. This way you're not putting any extra stress or pressure on any parts of your body, like your hips. When you lay in bed the heaviest part of your body is your hips, so if your mattress sinks in, your hips are going to bear the largest brunt of the stress and weight of your body and that's not good. 

Let's take a moment to recap memory foam mattresses and all of these options in general. Remember, you want a mattress that is fairly firm and one that comes with a good warranty. Most mattresses come with a 20-year warranty now, and that's just fantastic! You don't have to turn or flip a memory foam mattress to get the full use out of it, which is another great advantage. Bedbugs, mites, and other bugs don't like memory foam mattresses, whereas they love those traditional coil mattresses. You can buy the perfect mattress for you online from companies like Casper or Purple. You can find them at Costco and Sams Club too. You don't have to spend thousands of dollars to get a good quality mattress. Go to your local Mattress Firm and see what they have. One of my patients just bought a mattress online that came highly recommended and she loves it. It was a full-size mattress for only a couple hundred dollars. You don't have to break the bank for a great mattress. 

In terms of pillows, I sleep on a contoured pillow. One end is smaller than the other, and you need to sleep on the smaller end of the pillow with it placed right under your neck. You can use the larger end to do stretches before you go to bed. For our patients who have very straight necks, we give them exercises to do using the thick end of a contoured pillow. I like the memory foam contoured pillows because they give a little bit and are more forgiving. Many different companies make these wonderful pillows; you just need to find the company that's perfect for you! 

Now that you know about the best mattresses and pillows out there, what is the best posture for sleeping? The worst way to sleep is to sleep on your stomach because you have to turn your head to breathe, and when you do that all the vertebrae in your neck shift, causing irritated nerves and tightened neck muscles. Stomach sleeping also puts a lot of pressure on your abdominal contents like intestines and other vital organs, which is just not good. The best ways to sleep are either on your side or your back, depending on what you're most comfortable doing. 
  • Side Posture Sleeping 
    • Your pillow needs to be high enough so your head remains in a neutral position (i.e not rotated or flexed to one side). If your head is not neutral it causes stress on the vertebrae, nerves and muscles in your neck, which can lead to you waking up with torticollis or a stiff, painful neck.
    • Have your hands in front of you and don’t put your arms at or above your head.  (because that puts a lot of stress on your trap muscles and your neck). 
    • Bend your knees about halfway to your chest. Put a big pillow in between your knees so you don't cross your legs over one another at night. Crossing your legs can misalign your pelvis.
  • Sleeping On Your Back
    • Ensure your pillow height is proper that will allow for a neutral head posture (i.e not flexed or extended).
    • If you do have back issues or serious pain I would recommend putting a pillow under your knees. This cradles them which takes a lot of pressure off of your lower back. 
    • You can bring your knees up as well, which will give you similar results.
​
I hope all of this helps! If you're having problems sleeping or are waking up in pain it may be your mattress. It might also be that your spine needs to get checked. Generally, if I'm working with someone and they are still waking up in pain, it's usually not their spine that is causing the pain. It is usually their mattress, and it's time to get a new one. Come see us! We will be happy to talk you through all of this, give you proper advice, and keep your spine in good health! I'm Dr. Bob and I've got your back covered! 

 



3 Comments

Putting the Coronavirus into Perspective

3/16/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
The world, the media, and our daily lives have been deeply impacted by the coronavirus and the threat that could be heading towards the Lowcountry. With the panic and worry that comes from these types of situations, I wanted to take a moment to put the virus and the current state of things into perspective for you. Let's just take this one day at a time. 

Hey everybody, Dr. Bob here from Lowcountry Chiropractic. Today we are going to talk about a very hot topic; the coronavirus (COVID-19). What I want to do today is explain a little about it, about viruses, infections in general, and what you can practically do to protect yourself so you don't get infected. The coronavirus is a respiratory infection and is very similar to the flu. I want to start by saying that there is a lot of hype about the coronavirus. There is a lot of panic out there, and people are very worried about this situation. What I want to do is to try and be practical about all of this and put your fears to rest. I'm not trying to minimize how you might be feeling about it at all, but I want to put everything that's going on right now into perspective. 

How I plan on putting everything into perspective is by comparing coronavirus to the flu virus that we get in the US every year. Right now, roughly, there are about 140,000 coronavirus cases worldwide with 5,000 deaths. Just to put that into perspective, this year so far 35+ million people have been infected by the flu virus in the US alone and 20,000+ people have died. In the United States, the coronavirus has infected 1,800 people and 40 people have died. If you put all of this into perspective, the flu virus we get every year that no one really talks about anymore that has a vaccination, is much more deadly than what we are seeing so far with the coronavirus. I want to urge everyone to stay calm and to take precautions and that is what we are going to talk about today. 

What can you do to put yourself in the best place possible so you don't get infected? The CDC has a bunch of practical advice for anyone looking to prevent and prepare. I'll go through those points quickly with you. I'm sure you've heard all of these recommendations before, and many of them are no brainers. 
  • Avoid close contact with infected people. Now, if you're infected, the same holds. You don't want to go out where there are a lot of people and spread it around. 
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth. Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue and throw it away. Cough or sneeze into the crook of your arm instead of your hands so you don't spread it around. 
  • Clean and disinfect objects that you use frequently. Household surfaces, desks, computer/laptop keys, your cell phones, and tablets. 
  • Wash your hands often with soap and water. It is recommended by the CDC to do so for at least 20 seconds. Wash your hands after using the restroom, before you eat, after blowing your nose, and after coughing or sneezing. 
Those are some of the practical ways you can help yourself from getting infected. 

Now, I'd like to talk a little bit about vaccinations. Right now there is no vaccination out there for the coronavirus. Until then, we need to be careful and apply caution. When there is a vaccination, how does a vaccination work? A vaccination is putting a dead virus into your body, causing the body to create antibodies to defend itself against the real thing if you ever come into contact with it. We've talked about vaccinations before. I'm not a big fan of them because at best they are on average about 33% effective. This is because the virus vaccination is made by taking three of the most common strains that we would most probably get, and the vaccination is made out of that. Sometimes a new strain appears that we have no vaccination against, and that is when those death numbers rise.  Plus, you're putting a virus into your body, along with bacteria and other things like detergent and other questionable things that are found inside vaccinations. 

Absent from doing vaccinations in general, what I want to suggest is the fact that you can't kill viruses with antibiotics. They are very resilient. What you can do is get your immune system working better. You can strengthen your immune system and there are a couple of ways to do that! 

Supplements
D3 is one of the best supplements you can give your body. The only place it occurs naturally is from direct sunlight. The only way it can enter your body is from direct sunlight or from taking this supplement. You can't find it in food or anywhere else. This particular supplement is small and inexpensive, and you can take it at a high dosage. What this supplement does is increase your immune system's response to things. It helps to fight off colds and flus, infections, and things of that nature. Right now you can take large doses, even double up on it. That is what I'm personally doing right now (5,000-10,000 IU/day). Taking a double dose won't hurt you. The body will get rid of anything extra it doesn't need or can't use. 

The Wellness Formula
This supplement is chock full of immune building vitamins and nutrients. This you only want to take when you feel like you're coming down with something. You take this for a short amount of time to get your immune system into hyperdrive to defeat whatever it is that you're fighting off. 

Chiropractic Care
Chiropractic care is very important. Why? How does it help in this situation? Remember the nerves in your spine control every organ, gland, blood vessel, skin cell, muscle, tissue, and system in your body among which is the immune system. That's the big one, especially in this particular situation. This is the system that helps keep you healthy. By keeping your vertebra in alignment, and your nerves functioning well, it keeps all other systems in your body working optimally. So, by going to a chiropractor regularly, even if you're not in pain, it's going to help keep your body healthy and prevent things like the flu, colds, sore throats, and other maladies that you might come into contact with. 

You know, we are all exposed to germs. Some people get sick, and some don't. What's the difference? There is only one. That one difference is how strong one immune system is compared to the other. If you have a strong immune system the likelihood of getting sick is less. Not to say you can't get infected, but it's going to be less than someone whose immune system is compromised. That's why most of the people who are dying from the coronavirus (and the common flu) are the elderly, or people who have a respiratory condition, or have a compromised immune system. The average age of someone falling prey to the coronavirus is around 80 years old. Their immune system is not strong. So if you are healthy and get infected with the coronavirus you will likely fully recover after getting some flu-like symptoms. 

This is the bottom line. You need to follow the practice steps the CDC has laid out, wash your hands, but on top of all that, the most important thing is to get your immune system working more efficiently and stronger. Following the three steps I provided can help you achieve that goal. I hope this blog has helped. If you feel like your body is not working at 100%, please come see us and we can chat, take a look at your spine, and help you get started to get to optimum health. Chiropractic care is extremely effective and it's all drug-free and surgery-free. 

I hope that helps! I'm Dr. Bob, and I've got your back covered!


0 Comments

Pregnancy and Chiropractic Care

2/28/2020

2 Comments

 
Picture
When your body is going through a huge change as miraculous and wonderful as pregnancy, it's a good idea to make sure your body is optimally healthy. One of the best things you can do for yourself is to get regular chiropractic care. Chiropractic care helps make pregnancy safer, more comfortable, and easier on you and your baby!

I have been talking a lot about healthy lifestyles and the best things for you to reach your highest level of health, with chiropractic care being one of the top priorities on that list. Healthy eating, exercise, rest and relaxation, and positive thinking are the other four important practices that contribute to a healthier you. One of the most common questions I hear is whether it is safe to receive chiropractic care during pregnancy. If you read my blog on my FAQs, then you will absolutely know it is! I wanted to spend a little more time discussing this topic and to share why chiropractic is one of the best things you can do for yourself as an expectant mother and how much it will help your baby!
I would recommend that any pregnant woman strongly consider chiropractic care. It is an excellent way to deal with pain, changes in your body, and to help ensure safer pregnancy and childbirth. As a pregnant woman grows and the baby gets bigger, a woman's center of gravity changes, which can affect posture. This can create a lot of pain in your lower back and hips. Chiropractic care can help keep the spine aligned, help keep pressure off the nerves and keep pain at a minimum, if not get rid of it completely. Spinal misalignments (subluxations) can result from these changes in your body, creating pain for you on top of the many other physical changes you're going through. When subluxations get removed from your spine, pain in the back, neck, hips and other joints is diminished. Chiropractic can also help strengthen your body so that these changes don't affect you as harshly.  It can also help control nausea and its symptoms, along with helping you sleep through the night during your pregnancy.
I, along with most chiropractors am trained to care for pregnant patients.  We believe that it should be a part of your routine care during your pregnancy, just like any of your other doctor's appointments. Table adjustments will be made for a mother's growing belly and the techniques used will not put pressure on the abdomen. I am specifically trained to help with any breech presentation, helping to keep the baby in proper alignment for a healthy and safe birth. Not only does chiropractic care help the mother, but it can also offer wonderful benefits for a baby too. It can help widen and keep the pelvis open, along with keeping it aligned. This provides the baby with room to move through the birth canal, leading to an easier, quicker and less painful delivery. If the pelvis is out of alignment, it can be very difficult for the baby to move to the optimal position to be born. If the baby is not in the right position, it might affect having a natural and noninvasive birthing process, leading to a c-section.
As I have mentioned before, chiropractic care helps keep the spine aligned, allowing all messages from the brain to travel through the nerves without any interference. This then allows the body to function as it should and at its highest level. Another great reason to go to a chiropractor during your pregnancy is that your baby is getting all of their nutrients from you. If your body isn't optimally healthy, you're not passing 100% of health through your nutrition along to the baby. If you want your baby to be healthy, you want to stay healthy.
Pain during pregnancy is not uncommon, but that doesn't mean you should accept it as part of the experience. Don't just assume that having joint and body pain is something normal that you will have to suffer through just because you're pregnant. Chiropractic care can help ease if not eliminate pain connected to pregnancy related subluxations. Chiropractic care is great for pregnant women because it offers a drug-free option of easing pain, tension, nausea, and insomnia. The use of over the counter or prescription drugs is not recommended for pregnant women because drugs can cause harm to both mother and baby. Chiropractic care can help manage pregnancy related pain without using medications.
As I mentioned above, it is very important to follow and practice the 5 elements of health during your pregnancy. As those food cravings start coming during pregnancy, try to avoid those processed sugars and saturated fats as much as possible. Keep eating as healthy as possible. Rest and relax, drink plenty of water, and stay active (as much as your doctor says is safe!). If you have any questions about chiropractic care during your pregnancy please don't hesitate to reach out and call us. I would be more than happy to talk about your concerns and to get you started on your chiropractic journey! Until then, I'm Dr. Bob and I've got your back covered. Take care!


2 Comments
<<Previous

    Author

    Write something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview.

    Archives

    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018

    Categories

    All
    A Better Life For The Elderly
    Acid Reflux
    ADHD
    Adjustment
    Adrenal Support Products North Charleston Sc
    Alignment
    Allergies
    Alternative
    Alternative Treatment
    Alzheimer's
    Ankle Pain
    Ankylosing Spondylitis Arthritis
    Anxiety
    Arthritis
    Avoid Refined Sugars
    Back Pain
    Benefits Of Chiropractic
    Bilingual
    Bilingual Chiropractic Office North Charleston
    Blood Pressure
    Bowels
    Brain
    Brain Function
    Car Accident
    Car Accidents
    Care For Children
    Caring For Knee Pain
    Caring For You During The Pandemic
    Carpal Tunnel
    Carpal Tunnel Bones
    Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
    Chiropractic
    Chiropractic Adjustments North Charleston Sc
    Chiropractic Care
    Chiropractic Care And Car Accidents
    Chiropractic Care At Any Age
    Chiropractic Care For Children
    Chiropractic Care For Pregnancy
    Chiropractic Care For Pregnant Women
    Chiropractic Care For The Elderly
    Chiropractic Care North Charleston
    Chiropractic Xray
    Chiropractor
    Chiropractor North Charleston Sc
    Chiropratic Care Charleston
    Chiropratic Care For Better Bellies
    Chiropratic Care For Children Is Safe
    Chiropratic Care Summerville
    Chiropratic Myths
    Cholesterol
    Cholesterol Is Bad!
    Cholesterol Isn't Bad!
    Cold And Flu
    Considering Medications
    Consistent Chiropratic Care
    Constipation
    Coronavirus
    COVID 19
    COVID-19
    D3 Supplement
    Deductible
    Deep Tissue Massage
    Dementia
    Depression
    Diagnostic Imaging
    Diet
    Donating Food
    Dr. Joseph Mercola
    Eat Healthy
    Eat The Rainbow
    Elbow Pain
    Elderly
    Exercise
    Fasting Blood Sugar
    Fixing Subluxations
    Fix Your Subluxation
    Flu Season
    Foot Pain
    Frequently Asked Questions
    GERD
    Geriatric
    Giving Back To North Charleston
    Giving Back To Summerville
    Giving Back To Your Community
    Go Green
    Good Mattress
    Good Night Sleep
    Good Pillow
    Hand Pain
    Headache
    Headache Cluster
    Headaches
    Healthcare For Children
    Healthy Body
    Healthy Cholesterol
    Healthy Diet
    Healthy Eating
    Healthy Lifestyle
    Healthy Spine
    Helping The North Charleston Food Bank
    Herniations
    High Blood Pressure
    High Cholesterol Is Caused By A Bad Diet.
    Hip Flexor
    Hip Pain
    Hispanic
    Holiday Promotion
    Holiday Promotion 2020
    Holidays 2020
    Holidays 2020 Charleston
    Holiday Safety
    Holiday Safety For Your Back
    Holiday Safety For Your Back 2020
    Immune System
    Important Stretches
    Infectious Arthritis
    Insurance
    Knee Pain
    Knees
    LBP
    LDL Molecules
    Lower Back Pain
    Margarine Is Better For You Than Butter.
    Massage
    Massage North Charleston Sc
    Massage Therapy
    Mattress
    Migraine
    More Things To Consider For Measuring Heart Health
    Natural Care
    Natural Remedies
    Neck Pain
    Nerve Damage
    New Years Resolution
    NMR Profile
    No More Refined Sugar
    Non-invasive Treatment Options
    North Charleston Foodbank
    Osteoarthritis
    Our FAQ
    Our Office Speaks Spanish
    Out Of Alignment
    Pain Management
    Pandemic
    Pandemic 2020
    Peripheral Neuropathy
    Pillow
    Pinched Nerve
    Post-Accident Care
    Pregnancy
    Prenatal Chiropractic Care
    Preventative Care
    Prevntion
    Proper Nutrition
    Psoas Muscles
    Psoriatic Arthritis
    Quality Of Life
    Reasons Behind Knee Pain
    Refined Sugar
    Rehabilitative Care
    Research
    Rest And Relax
    Rheumatoid Arthritis
    Safe Driving
    Sciatica
    Seasonal Allergies
    Shoulder Pain
    Sinus Issues
    Skull Pain
    Sleep/Rest
    Spanish
    Spanish Speaking Chiropratic Office North Charleston
    Speaking In Spanish For Patients
    Spinal Stenosis
    Spine
    Statin Drugs
    Stress
    Stretches
    Stretching
    Subluxation
    Supplements
    Surgery
    Swedish Massage
    Tension Headache
    Tension Headaches
    The Brain
    Therapeutic Massage North Charleston Sc
    The Wellness Formula
    Tips
    Unhealthy Cholesterol
    Vaccination
    Vaccinations
    Vaccine
    Visit Your Chiropractor
    Vitamin D3
    Vlog
    Vlogs
    Vlogs In Spanish
    What Are The Healthy Non-prescription Ways To Treat Your Cholesterol And Heart Disease?
    Whiplash
    Whip Lash
    Whole Body Chiropractic
    Why The Elderly Should Recieve Chiropractic Care
    Workout
    Work Out
    Wrist Pain
    Xrays For Chiropratic Care
    You Don't Need To Be In Pain To Visit Your Chiropractor

    RSS Feed

Dr. Bob Salamon
8988 University Blvd., Suite 104
North Charleston, SC 29406 
843-553-9383

bob.salamon@lcchiropractic.com
Office Hours:
​M, W, F: 10:00AM - 1:00PM & 3:00PM - 6:00PM
Saturday: By Appointment Only
Closed T, Th, Sunday


Site designed by Creative Consulting
Site powered by MadeSimply