Belvidere Chiropractic CenterConditions | Belvidere Chiropractic Center

What Are the Symptoms and Treatment for Lyme Disease?

Dr Jon P Heins — Tue, 01 May 2012 17:00:13 +0000

For those of us living in the Northwest New Jersey and Northeast Pennsylvania areas it’s time to stretch our legs, get out into the sunshine, and enjoy this beautiful spring time weather.

It is also very important to know that, May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month. Lyme Disease is approaching epidemic proportions, increasing rapidly every year and now reported in every state as well as in Canada.

Here are some other things you should know about Lyme Disease:

As you can see on the CDC map I’ve included below that New Jersey and Pennsylvania are some of the most Lyme endemic states in the country and that New Jerseyans and Pennsylvanians are at significant risk for exposure to Lyme Disease according to CDC reporting statistics.

However, Lyme Disease is difficult to diagnose and is often misdiagnosed as other conditions which means the actual incidence of infection is much higher than reported by the CDC.

The entire New England area is one of the most dangerous areas of the country to contract Lyme disease, and that according the Center for Disease Control’s Lyme disease statistics for 2007, the states with the highest reported incidents of Lyme disease cases per 100,000 population (in order from the highest) are as follows:

Connecticut
Delaware
New Hampshire
Massachusetts
Maryland
Maine
New Jersey
Wisconsin
Pennsylvania
Minnesota

What is Lyme Disease?

Lyme disease is an infection caused by Borrelia burgdorferi, a type of bacterium called a spirochete (spy-ro-keet) that is carried by deer ticks. An infected tick can transmit the spirochete to the humans and animals it bites. Untreated, the bacteria travels through the bloodstream, establishes itself in various tissues, and can cause a number of symptoms, some of which are severe.

Lyme disease manifests itself as a multi-system inflammatory disease that affects the skin in its early stage and spreads to the joints, nervous system and, to a lesser extent, other organ systems in its later stages. If diagnosed and treated early with antibiotics, Lyme disease is almost always readily cured. Generally, Lyme disease in its later stages can also be treated effectively, but because the rate of disease progression and individual response to treatment varies from one person to the next, some who become infected can have symptoms that linger for months or even years even after following treatment. In rare instances, Lyme disease causes permanent damage.

The first symptom is usually an expanding rash (called erythema migrans, or EM, in medical terms) which is thought to occur in 80% to 90% of all Lyme disease cases.

An EM rash generally has the following characteristics:

Usually (but not always) radiates from the site of the tick bite
Appears either as a solid red expanding rash or blotch, OR a central spot surrounded by clear skin that is in turn ringed by an expanding red rash (looks like a bull’s-eye)
Appears an average of 1 to 2 weeks (range = 3 to 30 days) after disease transmission
Has an average diameter of 5 to 6 inches (range = 2 inches to 2 feet)
Persists for about 3 to 5 weeks
May or may not be warm to the touch
Is usually not painful or itchy

Ticks will attach anywhere on the body, but prefer body creases such as the armpit, groin, back of the knee, and nape of the neck; rashes will therefore often appear in (but are not restricted to) these areas. Please note that multiple rashes may, in some cases, appear elsewhere on the body some time after the initial rash, or, in a few cases, in the absence of an initial rash.

Around the time the rash appears, other symptoms such as joint pains, chills, fever, and fatigue are common, but they may not seem serious enough to require medical attention. These symptoms may be brief, only to recur as a broader spectrum of symptoms as the disease progresses.

As the Lyme disease spirochete continues spreading through the body, a number of other symptoms including severe fatigue, a stiff, aching neck, and peripheral nervous system (PNS) involvement such as tingling or numbness in the extremities or facial palsy (paralysis) can occur.

The more severe, potentially debilitating symptoms of later-stage Lyme disease may occur weeks, months, or, in a few cases, years after a tick bite. These can include severe headaches, painful arthritis and swelling of joints, cardiac abnormalities, and central nervous system (CNS) involvement leading to cognitive (mental) disorders.

The following is a checklist of common symptoms seen in various stages of Lyme disease:

Localized Early (Acute) Stage:

Solid red or bull’s-eye rash, usually at site of bite
Swelling of lymph glands near tick bite
Generalized acheness
Headache

Early Disseminated Stage:

Two or more rashes not at site of bite
Migrating pains in joints/tendons
Headache
Stiff, aching neck
Facial palsy (facial paralysis similar to Bell’s palsy)
Tingling or numbness in extremities
Multiple enlarged lymph glands
Abnormal pulse
Sore throat
Changes in vision
Fever of 100° to 102° F
Severe fatigue

Late Stage:

Arthritis (pain/swelling) of one or two large joints
Disabling neurological disorders (disorientation; confusion; dizziness; short-term memory loss; inability to concentrate, finish sentences or follow conversations; mental “fog”)
Numbness in arms/hands or legs/feet

Treatment:

Early treatment of Lyme disease (within the first few weeks after initial infection) is straightforward and almost always results in a full cure. Treatment begun after the first three weeks will also likely provide a cure, but the cure rate decreases the longer treatment is delayed.

If you or someone you know is suffering from Lyme Disease especially if you or they are not responding to conventional antibiotic treatment please consider chiropractic care.

Chiropractic care removes mechanical stress and interference to your nervous system by detecting and correcting spinal mis-alignments called subluxations that puts pressure on your nerves. Removing this stress and pressure allows your body to function at it’s optimal state. This boosts your immune system’s functioning which can ease the symptoms associated with Lyme disease and can help you recover quicker.

As always, I welcome any of your thoughts and would be glad to help answer any of your further questions you may have.

So, if you’d like to, just leave a comment below or if you’d rather prefer it feel free to contact me through the site’s contact page.

And so you don’t miss any future posts, just subscribe to the e-mail updates HERE. Or you can subscribe to the RSS feed HERE (See: What’s This?)

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What Are the Symptoms and Treatment for Lyme Disease? is a post from: Dr. Jon P. Heins D.C. of Belvidere Chiropractic Center which is protected by a Creative Commons License

What Can You Do To Begin a Path Towards Better Sleep and a Healthier Lifestyle?– National Sleep Awareness Week Part 3 of 3

Dr Jon P Heins — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 17:00:43 +0000

If you happened to have missed the last two weeks of posts of this series, in part one I mentioned that March 12th to the 18th is National Sleep Awareness Week and in it I discussed: Why sleep is so vital to your good health and well being. In the second part, I discussed: How much sleep you really need to stay healthy and in this the final third part, I am going to tell you: What you can do to begin a path towards better sleep and a healthier lifestyle.

I hope you find this post series of information useful and welcome any of your thoughts. So, once you’ve finished reading this post, please feel free to leave your comments below.

What Can You Do To Begin a Path Towards Better Sleep and a Healthier Lifestyle?

Start by assessing the following individual needs and habits:

How do you respond to different amounts of sleep?
Pay attention to your mood, energy and health after a bad night’s sleep opposed to a good one.
How often do you get a good night’s sleep? If your answer is “Not often”, then you may need to consider changing your sleep habits. When you begin this process, you may realize that often you are not getting what you would call a “Good night’s sleep.”

To begin your path for a better night’s sleep, follow these tips:

Establish consistent sleep and wake schedules, even on weekends!
Create a regular, relaxing bedtime routine such as soaking in a hot relaxing bath or listening to soothing music. Begin an hour or more before the time you expect to fall asleep.
Create a sleep-conductive environment that is dark, quiet, comfortable and cool.
Sleep on a comfortable mattress and pillow.
Use your bedroom only for sleep. Avoid watching TV, using a computer, using your cell phone, or reading in bed.
Finish eating at least 2 to 3 hours before your regular bedtime.
Exercise regularly during the day or at least 3 hours before your bedtime.
Avoid caffeine and alcohol close to bedtime.
Most importantly, make sleep a priority, schedule sleep like any other daily activity. Don’t make it the thing you do only after everything else is done. Stop doing other things so you get the sleep you need.

After you make a commitment to getting the sleep you need you can expect to enjoy the following things toward beginning a path towards better sleep and a happier healthier lifestyle:

Being more productive.
Being less irritable.
Being less excitable and less stressed.

Since, how well you sleep is inherently linked with how much you eat, how much you exercise, and how you function on a daily basis. The proper amount of sleep will help you get on the road to better physical fitness, healthier eating, and a happier healthier lifestyle.

How can chiropractic care help you get a better night sleep?

If you’re unfortunately one of the 40% to 60% of the general population who happens to have trouble sleeping and you are experiencing pain and discomfort at night and have difficulty falling asleep, a visit to your local family doctor of chiropractic may help. Your local family doctor of chiropractic is trained to treat spinal problems that commonly interfere with a restful night’s sleep, we also offer individually ergonomic advice that can help you improve the quality of your sleep. As wellness experts, doctors of chiropractic provide you with a different approach to your sleeping problems, without the use of potentially dangerous sleeping aids, which are commonly known to cause strange dreams, sleep walking, leaves you in a mental fog the next morning, and can cause many other undesirable and harmful side-effects especially with their prolonged use.

Again, I hope you found this post series useful and welcome any of your thoughts on this subject. So, if you like to, feel free to leave a comment below.

And If you don’t want to miss any future posts, just subscribe to the email updates HERE or the RSS feed HERE (See: What’s This?).

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What Can You Do To Begin a Path Towards Better Sleep and a Healthier Lifestyle?– National Sleep Awareness Week Part 3 of 3 is a post from: Dr. Jon P. Heins D.C. of Belvidere Chiropractic Center which is protected by a Creative Commons License

How Much Sleep Do You Really Need to Stay Healthy?– National Sleep Awareness Week Part 2 of 3

Dr Jon P Heins — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 17:01:41 +0000

In last week’s post of part one this series, I mentioned that March 12th to the 18th is National Sleep Awareness Week and in it I discussed: Why sleep is so vital to your good health and well being. In this second part, I will discusses: How much sleep you really need to stay healthy and in the final third part, which will be posted sometime next week, I will tell you What you can do to begin a path towards better sleep and a healthier lifestyle.

If you don’t want to miss this post series just subscribe to the Email Updates HERE. Or you can subscribe to the RSS feed HERE (See: What’s This?)

I hope you find this post series of information useful and welcome any of your thoughts. So, once you’ve finished reading this post, please feel free to leave your comments below.

How Much Sleep Do You Really Need to Stay Healthy?

Unfortunately, there is no “magic number” for everybody. Not only do different age groups need different amounts of sleep, but sleep needs are also individualized. Just like any of the traits you are born with, the amount of sleep you need to function best may be different for you than for someone who is of the same age and sex. While you may be at your best sleeping seven hours a night, someone else may need nine hours to have a happy, healthy, productive life.

The table I’ve included below, however, can be a used as a guide to help you get started with figuring out about how much sleep you need based on your age:

Try starting in the middle of your age group and pay attention to your own individual needs by assessing the following:

How you feel on different amounts of sleep.
Are you productive, healthy and happy?
Do you have health issues?
Are you experiencing sleep problems?
Do you depend on caffeine to get you through the day?
Do you feel sleepy when driving?

These are questions that should be asked before you can find the number that works best for you.

Be sure to check back for next week’s final post in this series and find out: What you can do to begin a path towards better sleep and a healthier lifestyle. . . . or simply subscribe to the RSS Feed HERE or to the Email Updates HERE..

You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIN, Google+, or YouTube.

How Much Sleep Do You Really Need to Stay Healthy?– National Sleep Awareness Week Part 2 of 3 is a post from: Dr. Jon P. Heins D.C. of Belvidere Chiropractic Center which is protected by a Creative Commons License

Why is Sleep so Vital to Your Good Health and Well Being? – National Sleep Awareness Week Part 1 of 3

Dr Jon P Heins — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 18:00:34 +0000

Do you have troubles sleeping? Well you’re not alone! Surveys have shown that between 40% to 60% of the general population has trouble sleeping. Daily stress and worries, pressures from your job and family, body aches and pains caused by uncomfortable beds or pillows, and many other issues can be keeping you from getting enough quality sleep.

Since March 12th to the 18th is National Sleep Awareness Week this is a great time to post this series. This will be a 3 part post series: In this first part, I will discuss: Why sleep is so vital to your good health and well being. The second part, which will be posted sometime next week, I will discusses: How much sleep you really need to stay healthy. In the final third part, which will be posted the week after that, I will tell you What you can do to begin a path towards better sleep and a healthier lifestyle.

If you don’t want to miss this post series just subscribe to the Email Updates HERE. Or you can subscribe to the RSS feed HERE (See: What’s This?)

I hope you find this post series of information useful and welcome any of your thoughts. So, once you’ve finished reading this post, please feel free to leave your comments below.

Why is sleep so vital to your good health and well being? and Why is a lack of it such a serious matter?

Dr. Frederick R. Carrick, DC, PhD, President of the American Chiropractic Association’s Council on Neurology says it best:

Sleep is one of the most important functions of the brain. Through it, our bodies recharge and renew for the next day’s challenges. Sleep regulates your mood, is related to learning and memory, and is a key factor in your health, weight, and energy level.

Not only can not sleeping enough slow up your productivity and ability to remember information, lack of sleep can also lead to serious health consequences and endanger your safety and the safety of those around you. Since lack of sleep is commonly known to be associated with:

Increased risk of motor vehicle accidents.
Increase in appetite resulting in an unhealthy weight gain.
Increased risk of diabetes and heart problems.
Increased risk of depression and substance abuse.

As you can clearly see, not only is sleep vital to your good health and that a lack of it is a serious matter. Not sleeping enough slows up your productivity and your ability to remember information, lack of sleep also leads to serious health consequences, endangers your safety, and the safety of all of those around you.

So if you’re unfortunately one of the 40% to 60% of the general population who happens to have trouble sleeping, be sure to check back in the next few weeks for the rest of the posts in this series and find out: How much sleep you really need to stay healthy. and What you can do to begin a path towards better sleep and a healthier lifestyle . . . or simply subscribe to the RSS Feed HERE or to the Email Updates HERE..

You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIN, Google+, or YouTube.

Why is Sleep so Vital to Your Good Health and Well Being? – National Sleep Awareness Week Part 1 of 3 is a post from: Dr. Jon P. Heins D.C. of Belvidere Chiropractic Center which is protected by a Creative Commons License

Trick or Treat – Snow in October – 10 Tips for Snow Removal to Help You Prevent Back Injuries and Other Major Illnesses

Dr Jon P Heins — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 21:00:50 +0000

After today’s record-breaking snow storm in October here in Belvidere the county seat of Warren county New Jersey and the surrounding communities of: White Township, Hope, Blairstown, Oxford, Columbia, Delaware, Harmony, and Phillipsburg; as well as, the neighboring communities such as: Bangor, Upper and Lower Mt. Bethel in Northampton county Pennsylvania, although winter isn’t even here yet, if snow removal happens to be a major problem for you, here is a list below of 10 tips for snow removal to help you prevent back injuries and other major illnesses when shoveling your driveways and walk ways.

Stretch your back, neck, arms and legs with a brief warm-up.
Use a shovel appropriate in length and weight to your height and strength.
Bend from the knees while lifting and keep the spine as straight as possible.
Push the snow when it is practical, as opposed to lifting and throwing it.
Deposit the snow close to where you are shoveling, to avoid heaving it across a wide area.
Don’t shovel at too rapid a pace. Work at a pace fitting to your age and strength.
Don’t lift snow with your back. Bending and twisting the spine are common causes of disc and ligament damage. Use your arms and body to deposit snow in one smooth motion.
Don’t shovel with your feet planted firmly in one spot. Allow your legs and thighs to help your upper body and arms deposit the snow to the side.
Don’t lift large amounts of snow in one scoop of the shovel. To avoid back strain, shovel light to moderate amounts of snow per load.
Don’t overwork yourself. If you are huffing and puffing, stop immediately and rest.

If you’d like more information on a an easy 3 to 5 minute stretch and warm-up exercise routine see my previous video post titled: How to Get the Zaz Back in Your Life HERE. And for some additional information on: How to Lift Properly to Avoid Back Injuries watch this previous video post HERE.

The relationship between snow shoveling and major injuries, including back, cardiovascular and musculoskeletal problems, is no coincidence. A number of injuries, even deaths, could be averted each year if people followed these simple tips while shoveling.~Dr. William Bender, past president of the Michigan Chiropractic Council.

It’s always wise to have your family chiropractor examine your spine to make sure that it is up to all strenuous physical activities, especially the rigors of snow shoveling.

Remember, be kind to your spine, it is after all, the central support structure of your body. You must respect this structure so that it will give you strong, flexible service for a long time to come and since your spine also carries your neurological lifeline from the brain to all the other parts of your body, the functional health of your body depends on the flow of an unrestricted nervous system. Therefore, when your spine suffers, your overall health suffers too.

I hope you’ve found this post’s information helpful and would love to hear any of your comments, questions, or any additional tips to help other loyal readers so leave your comments below.

And if you don’t want to miss any future posts, subscribe to the email updates HERE. Or you can subscribe to the RSS feed HERE (See: What’s This?)
And while you are at it, Get YOUR FREE copy of my eBook: An Easy Guide to a Healthy Lifestyle HERE.

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Trick or Treat – Snow in October – 10 Tips for Snow Removal to Help You Prevent Back Injuries and Other Major Illnesses is a post from: Dr. Jon P. Heins D.C. of Belvidere Chiropractic Center which is protected by a Creative Commons License

Why Be Normal ¿

Dr Jon P Heins — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 17:01:06 +0000

According to the US Department of Health and Human Services: “80% of the US population suffers from back pain at least once in their life time” and for many it becomes a chronic condition and that: “Americans spend at least $50 billion each year to treat back pain.”

The definition of normal according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary: “conforming to a type, standard, or regular pattern”

So many may argue that it’s a normal part of aging to have back pain.

I hear things all the time like, “What do expect doc I’m getting old” or “Well, what do you expect, I worked hard my whole life”, and my favorite “What Golden Years? More like the Rusting Years!”

We know that, the most common cause of chronic lower back pain is from a progressive condition known as degenerative disc disease. What happens is the disc a soft spongy ligament in between each bone in your spine that cushions your spine starts to wear out and deteriorate. This then continues to get worse and worse over time and causes more stress on the other spinal ligaments. Your body responds to this abnormal stress by laying down calcium which results in the formation of bone spurs. These spurs can then sometimes get so large they put pressure on your spinal nerves and/or your spinal cord and can cause permanent nerve damage.

What causes this process of disc degeneration?

Many incorrectly believe that it’s a ‘normal’ part of aging and while around the 6th or 7th decade of one’s life some minimal amount of degeneration starts due to the effects of gravity. However, this is a very slow and even process on all the discs in your spine. Yet there are numerous x-ray’s, CAT scans, and MRI’s documenting disc degeneration very severely in only a single or a few discs and in people as early as in their twenties.

So what causes this?

Let’s look at from a different perspective so it’s much easier to understand. Let’s say, I put up one of those white picket fences (that for some reason that I’m not quite sure of, we’re all supposed to have) and of course there is a gate in the front of it. The gate has metal hinges so it can open and close. As long as they are in alignment they will open and close indefinitely with little to no wear and tear. However, let’s say my daughter one day accidentally crashes her bicycle into the gate and slightly knocks the gate off its proper alignment. What will happen eventually to the gate and it’s hinges?

The hinges will start having abnormal stress put on them because they are no longer in their proper alignment and this will cause them to start to wear out unevenly and prematurely. This will in turn, effect the gate’s functioning and will get worse and worse with everyday use and eventually the hinges will begin to rust and eventually they break.

This is essentially the same thing that can happen to your spine. As long as your spine’s bones are in alignment they can move with little to no wear and tear but when things such as; traumas, repetitive motion injuries, poor posture, and bad ergonomics cause the bones in your spine to become misaligned this then puts abnormal pressure on your discs, ligaments, and the surrounding nerves and if not corrected, over time this abnormal alignment starts to cause the disc and joints to wear out unevenly and prematurely and this will in turn effects your spine’s functioning. This will get worse and worse and eventually you will develop bone spurs.

Chiropractic care analyses your spine to find if any misalignments are there and through a series of adjustments over time corrects these abnormal spinal misalignments that are causing nerve pressure called subluxations and depending on, when and if caught in time, can either slow down, stop, or even reverse this degeneration.

So if you want to be ‘normal’ and be like the 80% of the population that has back pain and end up with degenerative disc disease simply keep ignoring your spine and covering up your symptoms such as back pain, neck pain, or headaches with all the pills, potions, creams, and hot patches, et cetera …. that are out there or you can call your family chiropractor today to have your spine checked to see if you in fact have any spinal misalignments and find out what kind of condition your spine is in and what, if anything, can be done to help you correct the problem.

Remember, the longer you put something off the worse it will get, the harder it will be to correct, and consequently the more expensive it will be not only to treat, but if not caught early on, may end up costing you your health. Which after all, is the greatest asset you have. Wouldn’t you agree?

As always, I welcome any of your thoughts and would be glad to help answer any of your further questions you may have. So, if you’d like to, just leave a comment below.

And so you don’t miss any future posts, just subscribe to the e-mail updates HERE. Or you can subscribe to the RSS feed HERE (See: What’s This?).

You can also follow me on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIN, Google+, or YouTube.

Why Be Normal ¿ is a post from: Dr. Jon P. Heins D.C. of Belvidere Chiropractic Center which is protected by a Creative Commons License

What A Broken Washing Machine Can Tell You About The Secret to Better Health

Dr Jon P Heins — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 17:01:05 +0000

Just this past Saturday, my wife had a lot of things on her to do list so I figured I could help her out and start the weekly laundry. So I put a load in and walked away. Then when I figured it was done, I went down into the basement to put the load into the dryer and start the next load. But when I opened it up there where the clothes soaking in a washer full of soapy water! The washing machine filled up but never even started it’s wash cycle. By this time my lovely wife is back running a few of her many errands and says,“Oh, I guess you didn’t know, have to bang on the lid to get it to work.”

Now as I’ve done quite a bit of laundry in my time so I know enough that you shouldn’t have to bang on the lid to get a washing machine to work, so I figured there was a problem and my first question was, How long has this been going on? She answers,”Quite some time now, guess you haven’t done the laundry in awhile.” (in case you were wondering, I got the point!)

Since I know that the problem isn’t just going to go away on it’s own and as the laundry is never going to stop needing to be done, I’d better figure out what exactly the problem is and what to do to get it corrected.

Now I know there’s a safety switch that stops the washer from spinning when the lid is opened and since banging on the lid gets it to ‘work’ that’s where the problem more then likely is. So I take the machine apart and take a look, and sure enough the switch’s plastic bracket is broken. So it obviously needs to be replaced but, since it’s Saturday that’s not going to happen any time soon. And as there’s a load not even done and the rest of the laundry still will need to be done, something must be done now (even if it’s temporary) to fix the problem until we can get the switch replaced.

So I take the switch apart and discover that what it does is make an electrical connection when the lid closes sending power to the washer so it works.

So what to do? Simple, I cut the wires before the switch and splice them together so the electrical connection is made and the machine works until we get the switch replaced.

Your probably wondering, What the heck does this have to do about Chiropractic care and your health?

Well, let’s just pretend that switch represents one if the bones in your spine (called the vertebrae) and the wires delivering electricity are just like your nerves sending electrical signals to your body to tell it how to work.

Something happened and the switch got misaligned, and this affected the washer machine’s functioning. If caught early on (if I’d of just done some of the laundry) it could’ve easily been corrected before it even broke and needed to be replaced. But instead, by continuing to bang on the lid, while getting it to ‘work’, obviously didn’t fix what was causing the problem and just made it worse by misaligning the switch more and more until eventually, it finally broke.

Just like what happens if you ignore or cover up your body’s symptoms with over the counter and prescription medications. Eventually, something will break and you won’t have any choice and you’ll end up having to get done whatever you can and instead of safe, natural, and noninvasive, chiropractic care you’ll end up needing a risky invasive surgery.

So if you are suffering from back pain, neck pain, headaches, or other conditions don’t just keep ‘banging on the lid’ call your family Chiropractor today and get your spine checked to see if your’s is in fact caused by a chiropractic problem or not and get it corrected before it just continues to get worse and worse and you end up needing surgery.

Remember, while you can always replace your home’s appliances your can’t replace your health so don’t delay call your family Chiropractor today.

If you have any comments or questions or need any help either leave a comment below, contact me by email through this site’s contact page, or contact me through Twitter.

You can also follow me on Facebook, LinkedIN, Google+, or YouTube.

What A Broken Washing Machine Can Tell You About The Secret to Better Health is a post from: Dr. Jon P. Heins D.C. of Belvidere Chiropractic Center which is protected by a Creative Commons License

What Are the Symptoms of Cancer?

Dr Jon P Heins — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 17:02:28 +0000

Cancer is the 2nd leading cause of death in the USA. There are many types of cancer but essentially they all are a disease process where the DNA in some cell in your body becomes damaged due to exposure to toxins from environmental pollution and/or free radicals from your diet collectively called carcinogens.

What are the Symptoms of Cancer?

Here is a list from the Cancer Cure Foundation a non-profit organization dedicated to research and education in alternative cancer therapies. One of their main goals is provide individuals with information about the availability of treatments, doctors and clinics and to assist them in gathering the information they need to make the best decision for their particular situation.

Bladder cancer: Blood in the urine, pain or burning upon urination; frequent urination; or cloudy urine.
Bone cancer: Pain in the bone or swelling around the affected site; fractures in bones; weakness, fatigue; weight loss; repeated infections; nausea, vomiting, constipation, problems with urination; weakness or numbness in the legs; bumps and bruises that persist.
Brain cancer: Dizziness; drowsiness; abnormal eye movements or changes in vision; weakness, loss of feeling in arms or legs or difficulties in walking; fits or convulsions; changes in personality, memory or speech; headaches that tend to be worse in the morning and ease during the day, that may be accompanied by nausea or vomiting.
Breast cancer: A lump or thickening of the breast; discharge from the nipple; change in the skin of the breast; a feeling of heat; or enlarged lymph nodes under the arm
Colorectal cancer: Rectal bleeding (red blood in stools or black stools); abdominal cramps; constipation alternating with diarrhea; weight loss; loss of appetite; weakness; pallid complexion.
Kidney cancer: Blood in urine; dull ache or pain in the back or side; lump in kidney area, sometimes accompanied by high blood pressure or abnormality in red blood cell count.
Leukemia: Weakness, paleness; fever and flu-like symptoms; bruising and prolonged bleeding; enlarged lymph nodes, spleen, liver; pain in bones and joints; frequent infections; weight loss; night sweats.
Lung cancer: Wheezing, persistent cough for months; blood-streaked sputum; persistent ache in chest; congestion in lungs; enlarged lymph nodes in the neck.
Melanoma: Change in mole or other bump on the skin, including bleeding or change in size, shape, color, or texture.
Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma: Painless swelling in the lymph nodes in the neck, underarm, or groin; persistent fever; feeling of fatigue; unexplained weight loss; itchy skin and rashes; small lumps in skin; bone pain; swelling in the abdomen; liver or spleen enlargement
Oral cancer: A lump in the mouth, ulceration of the lip, tongue or inside of the mouth that does not heal within a couple of weeks; dentures that no longer fit well; oral pain, bleeding, foul breath, loose teeth, and changes in speech.
Ovarian cancer: Abdominal swelling; in rare cases, abnormal vaginal bleeding; digestive discomfort.
Pancreatic cancer: Upper abdominal pain and unexplained weight loss; pain near the center of the back; intolerance of fatty foods; yellowing of the skin; abdominal masses; enlargement of liver and spleen.
Prostate cancer: Urination difficulties due to blockage of the urethra; bladder retains urine, creating frequent feelings of urgency to urinate, especially at night; bladder not emptying completely; burning or painful urination; bloody urine; tenderness over the bladder; and dull ache in the pelvis or back.
Stomach cancer: Indigestion or heartburn; discomfort or pain in the abdomen; nausea and vomiting; diarrhea or constipation; bloating after meals; loss of appetite; weakness and fatigue; bleeding – vomiting blood or blood in the stool.
Uterine cancer: Abnormal vaginal bleeding, a watery bloody discharge in postmenopausal women; a painful urination; pain during intercourse; pain in pelvic area.

The key to treating Cancer and all diseases is prevention.

With all diseases prevention is always your best option, especially with chronic diseases that have no known cure such as; cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. All of which you can prevent by living a healthy lifestyle. So, if you haven’t already, be sure to get your copy of my free eBook: An Easy Guide to a Healthy Lifestyle by clicking HERE.

If you happen to have cancer medical treatment is a must however effective alternatives do exist that can be used to compliment and improve the outcome of your medical care.

Can you get Chiropractic care if you have cancer?

When you read my free eBook I mention that a healthy spine and nervous system is a key component to a healthy lifestyle. So if you have cancer you should definitely be under chiropractic care. However, special precautions should be taken including: necessary x-rays to see if there is any changes in any of the bones of your spine from either any metasis to the bones or if you have a bone cancer as well as, utilizing a low force technique such as a drop table technique that I use on many patients who have cancer here at Belvidere Chiropractic Center.

In closing cancer is preventable if you practice a healthy lifestyle. If you do get cancer early detection will give you the best options and the best prognosis so get the recommend cancer screenings for your age and gender and if you notice any of the symptoms listed above schedule an appointment with your doctor.

If you have any questions or would just like to share your thoughts on this post, feel free to leave a comment below or contact me either, through twitter or this site’s contact page and I will be glad to help answer any questions you may have.

If you don’t want to miss any future posts, subscribe to the email updates HERE. Or you can subscribe to the RSS feed HERE (See: What’s This?)

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What Are the Symptoms of Cancer? is a post from: Dr. Jon P. Heins D.C. of Belvidere Chiropractic Center which is protected by a Creative Commons License

What Is Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)?

Dr Jon P Heins — Tue, 03 May 2011 17:00:09 +0000

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a digestive disorder that many people have, but few people talk about. It is estimated that IBS affects up to 15% of the U.S. population and affects women more predominately then men.

What are the Symptoms of Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)?

The symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome are chronic stomach pain and major disturbance of bowel functioning. IBS brings about episodes of urgent diarrhea, chronic constipation, or a pattern of alternating between the two. IBS is considered a functional disorder, in that it involves a malfunction in how your intestinal system works, but doesn’t show up in any visible disease process or tissue damage. If you suffer from IBS, you know first hand how intense the disorder can be and how it can cause significant disruption in the ability to do the things you really love to do. People with IBS frequently feel as if they have lost control of their life and they just want to ‘feel normal’ again.

What Causes Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)?

Stress and IBS often go hand in hand, but the relationship is not yet fully understood but new research indicates that more then likely there is a functional problem between your gut and the brain and since Chiropractic care is based on the idea that, your nervous system is the organizer, controller, and coordinator of all your body’s processes. All your other systems, including your digestive system, depend upon your nervous system to work properly. Therefore, the most direct method of correcting irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) should be directed toward balancing your nervous system and this is exactly what Chiropractic care does.

In addition, if you’d like more information on what stress is, how it affects your health and what you can do to reduce your stress you can read my previous four part post series Stress Awareness HERE.

Over the many years of practicing I have had the opportunity and pleasure to help many who have suffered with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) through Chiropractic care and have gotten great results.

In addition, by recommending lifestyle changes necessary to deal with IBS has lead to my patients focusing on better self care with positive effects seen in terms of there overall health and well being.

I hope you enjoyed this post and it served it’s purpose to inform and educate you on what irritable bowel syndrome is and gave you some insight on what you can do about it if you or one of your loved ones are suffering unnecessarily from it.

If you would like to share any of your thoughts or have any further questions just leave a comment below.

And so you don’t miss any future posts, just subscribe to the email updates HERE. Or you can subscribe to the RSS feed HERE (See: What’s This?)

You can also follow me on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIN or YouTube.

While you’re at it, be sure to download my Free eBook: An Easy Guide to a Healthy Lifestyle HERE and sign up for my Free Newsletter HERE.

What Is Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)? is a post from: Dr. Jon P. Heins D.C. of Belvidere Chiropractic Center which is protected by a Creative Commons License

What are the Symptoms of Fibromyalgia ? – National Fibromyalgia Education and Awareness Day (part 2 of 4)

What Can Spring Cleaning Teach You About Your Health ?

Dr Jon P Heins — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 17:01:41 +0000

Spring is here and I don’t know about you but we’re thinking about getting the Spring cleaning done before the weather starts to get really nice again and we start having some fun out doors.

Through out the year we dust, vacuum, and clean our homes. Yet, every Spring we take everything apart and really clean everything really good.

Why?

Because, if you clean your home really good it will make those periodic house cleanings much easier to do since, you would probably agree that, it’s much easier to keep a clean house clean then it is to get a filthy house clean again.

Well guess what? Your spine and consequently your health are exactly the same way!

Unfortunately, most people come in to see me when their back and/or neck are really hurting and more often then not, we find many times that it’s been going on for months and sometimes even years and only kept getting worse until they finally decided they needed to do something about it to get it corrected. Consequently, we now have a harder task of having to clean up the mess they’ve gotten their spines into, and just like a house that hasn’t been maintained and cleaned periodically, we will have to do quite a bit of work to get it straighten back out again. Then, once the problem is corrected, don’t you think it would be easier to keep it maintained then to just let it go and have to start over again?

I hope you answered yes and that’s why we recommend you continue with maintenance or supportive care.

Now, what if they came in and got checked when they first started noticing the problem instead of putting it off?

You guessed it, just like Spring cleaning a cleaner house, it would’ve been much easier to correct it.

Remember, while you can always get another house, you only have one life and one body, so you should be making a conscience effort to take the very best care of it.

If you would like some good information to help you get started on how to do this simply download and read your free copy of my eBook: An Easy Guide to Healthy Lifestyle by clicking HERE now.

And, if you’re having problems such as back pain, neck pain, or headaches call your family Chiropractor today to get your spine checked to find out if Chiropractic care can help you or not. So please for the sake of your own health, don’t keep putting it off because, just like your house will be harder to Spring clean the worse it gets, so will your spine and consequently your health.

If you have any questions or need help finding a Chiropractor near you either, leave a comment below, send me an email through this site’s contact page, or contact me through Twitter and I’d be happy to help you any way that I can.

You can also follow me on Facebook, LinkedIN or YouTube.

What Can Spring Cleaning Teach You About Your Health ? is a post from: Dr. Jon P. Heins D.C. of Belvidere Chiropractic Center which is protected by a Creative Commons License