This article is based on the parenting blog “welladjusted me”.

If you have a look at the first two minutes of “The happiness advantage: Linking positive brains to performance” the speaker, Shawn Achor, talks about what happens to his little sister Amy, when 7 year old Shawn is entrusted with her care.  Yes, you guessed correctly!  Amy, somehow, manages to fall off the top of the bunk bed and land on all fours.

The story is a reminder of just how commonly knocks and falls occur in childhood.  By the age of seven, on average a child will have fallen around 2500 times and prior to turning three, they will have had three major falls out of a cot, off a change table or down a flight of stairs.  Of course, children are incredibly resilient but as practitioners we are very aware that this “bounce- back” may hide subtle damage that leads to poor postural and neurological function across time.

Even minor accidents can affect your child’s nervous system

As you know, the spine and skull protect our children’s precious brain and nervous system.  The nervous system is their communication highway for thinking, feeling and behaving.

When a child’s body is suddenly jarred, muscles surrounding the spine contract causing the spine to tension and misalign.  This negatively affects nervous system function.  This means the communication highway is no longer working at 100% so that their thinking, feeling and behaving is altered.

When do childhood accidents and injuries occur?  Here are the most common:

1. strain at birth
2. playground falls
3. when learning to walk, run or ride a bike
4. during sporting activities or hobbies
5. minor or major car accidents

My child seems fine once they stop crying!

After the initial impact of a fall or accident, we assume most children have recovered well when they no longer complain about pain or other symptoms.  This is not always the case.  Often problems remain undetected, only to compromise the child’s health over a period of months or years with seemingly unrelated issues such as growing pains, poor immune strength or digestive issues.

The impact of a fall may result in

1. undetected spinal dysfunction
   One study showed that a group of apparently healthy children found that 15% had neck problems and 40% had pelvic problems.
2. problems later in childhood
   In any given year, up to 50% of children and adolescents experience back pain and around a third experience recurrent episodes of this pain.  Chiropractors can often trace the triggering event back to the original fall.

3. problems later in adulthood
   Much later as adults we may experience a health crisis that seemed to “simply happen out of the blue”.  Years and years of tiny physical injuries can accumulate to a breaking point that is costly to heal in terms of time, money and energy.

The best time to invest in helping the body to heal is straight away

Our children’s health is the most precious thing in the world so it makes sense to ensure their spine and nervous system is free from dysfunction from the very beginning.

We’ve recently installed a brand new infrared sauna in the clinic. It has many health benefits including reduced muscle spasm and stiffness, enhanced detoxification, and fat burning. Below is a little bit of information on what it is and how it can help you.

What is infrared heat?

Infrared heat is a form of energy that is supplied naturally by the sun. It has nothing to do with ultraviolet light which gives you sunburn and damages your skin. Where conventional saunas use hot air to transfer heat, the infrared rays warm your body directly. This allows an in-depth heat which can convey many health benefits. It also provides a comfortable environment where you can breathe normally without the discomfort of high humidity or steam.

What are the health benefits of the infrared sauna?

• Pain relief and reduced joint stiffness: infrared therapy reduces muscle spasm and joint stiffness. It is effective in the treatment of many musculoskeletal complaints such as sprains, bursitis and nerve pain, and assists with pain relief in arthritis.
• Detoxification: our body reacts to increased heat by perspiring, through this process toxins and heavy metals are removed from our cells.
• Fat burning and cardiovascular conditioning: in the sauna your body works hard to cool itself, this process actually burns calories which assists with weight control and cardiovascular conditioning.
• Relaxation: the sauna is warm and relaxing, fantastic for reducing stress and fatigue.
• Scars and wound healing: Infrared heat therapy can gradually soften scars, and open wounds will heal faster and with reduced scarring.
• Improved skin appearance: Infrared heat enhances blood supply to the skin, regular use can improve skin tone and elasticity.

What do I wear and what do I have to bring?

Just wear regular gym gear in the sauna such as shorts and a T-shirt. You need to bring 2 bath towels and a hand towel to dry up sweat at the end of your session. It’s also important to be well hydrated so bring some water to drink, and a book or magazine to read while you’re in the sauna.

For more information on the infrared sauna talk to Rani at reception or your practitioner. There’s an information booklet in the reception waiting area so you can read more about it when you’re next in the clinic.

The Glycemic Index has been around for decades and it was discovered through the monitoring of blood sugar levels of diabetics after eating certain foods.

It was always assuming that table sugar is the reason that people with diabetes get blood sugar spikes and that more “complex” carbohydrates such as bread and potato would cause a stable blood sugar level, however decades of research has proven time & again that we had it all wrong! That’s right, sugar is not too bad for us in moderation and white bread and potatoes actually lead to massive spikes in our blood sugars.

As time & research into the GI of foods continued, it was discovered that the GI plays a much larger role in our health than just on those with diabetes. A low GI diet has shown to assist in the reduction of risk OR be preventative of the following;

• Type I and Type II Diabetes
• Coronary Heart Disease i.e. strokes, heart attacks, angina, elevated blood cholesterol, hypertension etc
• Cancers

Recent research has also shown that the most effective diet for weight loss and long term weight management is a low GI, higher protein diet.

The evidence is crystal clear. For better health, follow a low GI diet.

Do you spend most of your day sitting, whether it’s at work, in the car, on public transport, or watching TV? Well, you’re not alone. Australia is a nation of ‘sitters’ and its starting to take its toll on our health.

Why not improve your health simply by standing up and moving around more? It’s also important you take regular breaks from sitting to stretch, stand, change or correct your posture or walk around your office.

And while you are sitting, here are a few things to remember:

• Keep your hips, elbows and knees at open angles (slightly more than 90 degrees)
• Recline slightly to ease lower back pressure
• Ensure your feet are flat on the floor or on a footrest
• Position the centre of your computer screen at eye level and tilt the monitor upwards slightly
• Only use wrist rests while resting, not while typing

As part of Spinal Health Week 2012 chiropractors at KingsWilliam will be encouraging patients to prioritise their spinal health by sitting less and moving more.

An active spine is a healthy spine and a healthy spine leads to a healthier life. Why not use Spinal Health Week to encourage your family and friends to make an appointment with our clinic to assess their spinal health and discuss how being more active will improve their wellbeing?

You can also visit the Chiropractors’ Association of Australia’s website for more tips on how to sit correctly and to download the Sit Right desktop widget to remind you when to take a break from sitting. www.SitRight.com.au

So many people are coming into the clinic lately needing some sort of stress related treatment.  That may be as simple as taking some ER911 or having an NET treatment from Sarah or me.  Others need to take things that step further and consult with our psychologist, Paul.

However, no matter how difficult things seem, by learning to harness overwhelming stress and emotions, you can bring your life into a better balance.

I’ve been looking for “self help” information that might be useful to you all and came across a “Stress-busting, mood-lifting, mindfulness TOOLKIT” from Helpguide.com.  Here is the link to the specific page: http://www.helpguide.org/toolkit/emotional_health.htm

The toolkit is at the bottom of the page but read the stuff that goes before it as a good introduction.  There are a number of videos to watch and little exercises to complete.  I’m going to work through the toolkit over the next few months myself just to see how easy it is to use.

The writers make an excellent point in their introduction:

“The key to lasting change is practice that leads to brain change”.

Let’s have a conversation about it when you’re in next.

Many children today face the challenge of being unable to interpret or understand what they hear, understanding or misinterpreting questions, instructions or conversations – this is APD.

Audition occurs in the inner ear via bone and air conduction, within the same structure as our balance (vestibular system) with the fluids filled furry ‘hula hoops’ or semi circular canals. Often APD is linked with multiple ear infections, glue ears or digestion or nutrition challenges and those on the autistic spectrum.

APD has an array of presentations such as:

• Delayed language development
• Covers ears to filter sound
• Hypersensitivity to sound – equipment vacuum cleaner, hairdryer, toilet flush or
• Low tolerance to noisy places – they cant screen out the noise – auditory figure ground
• Tunes out to talk
• Complaining that school/tasks are boring
• Avoids chewing food (too loud to crunch)
• Poor phonological awareness and difficulty learning to read & spell
• Difficulty storing and retrieving sequential information
• Easily distracted
• Preferring routines and predictability
• Thrives in one on one situations and poor in groups
• Poorly developed group social skills
• Dominating or wanting to control conversation or play
• Dislikes music
• Can’t modulate tone of voice, a flat affect rather than expressive

In clinic, I have been having great success with this sensory challenge using the Therapeutic Listening Program (www.vitalinks.net) with Evonne’s library of modified CDs, HANDLE™, brain gym activities, and Rhythmic movement and the astronaut protocol for the vestibular (balance system).

For more information on how to support APD please make an appointment to see Evonne Wednesdays and the 4^th Saturday of the month.

There has been a lot of media attention recently about sugars and carbohydrates making us fat. From a dietetic perspective, this is not necessarily all good news.

When we look deep into the biochemistry of using fat as fuel, carbohydrates are actually required for our body to release fat from stores and be used. By commencing onto a low carbohydrate diet, we are actually starving our bodies of the one key ingredient that we need to unlock the “spare fuel” we have in storage. By continuing on a low carbohydrate diet for medium to long term we can actually make our bodies hold onto the fat stores tighter, thus making fat harder to shift.

There is undisputed evidence that shows that the best way to manage weight is to monitor and control the amount of energy (kilojoules or calories) that are consumed vs those that are burnt through daily activity and exercise. If less energy is consumed that is burnt in a day, weight loss will result. If more energy is consumed than is burned weight gain will result. If you manage to get the balance just right, then your weight won’t change.

For healthy advice on how to lose weight and keep it off, contact reception to make an appointment to see our dietitian.

Depression, anxiety and other mood disorders are extremely common, and can be very complex to treat. When dealing with these conditions it’s vital that in addition to addressing the underlying psychological causes you ensure that your body has all of the nutrients it needs for healthy brain function. Hair tissue mineral analysis (HTMA) is extremely useful as it provides information about the body’s mineral status, and levels of toxic metals.

Minerals are an essential component of brain function as they are involved in the manufacture of neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are the chemicals that carry signals in the brain between the nerve cells. Some minerals that can be associated with mood disorders include magnesium, zinc, copper, and calcium.

Toxic metals can contribute to mood disorders because they interfere with the function of neurotransmitters, again preventing brain signals from being transmitted correctly. They also block the absorption and action of essential nutrients in the body, resulting in nutrient deficiencies. Toxic metals that can contribute to mood disorders include mercury, cadmium, and lead.

Having a HTMA is a great thing to do as part of treating depression, anxiety, or other mood disorders as it can highlight essential mineral deficiencies or heavy metal toxicity that may be contributing to the disorder. This simple procedure can then be used to direct appropriate dietary and supplemental changes to help you recover faster. To organise a HTMA talk to your practitioner.

Reference: Essential Minerals and Mood Disorders, InterClinical laboratories Newsletter, Vol. 14, No. 2, May/June 2010.

Do you get enough sleep? We all have different ideas of how much we need. Some politicians famously say they can get by on just a few hours a night. Others (like me) need a minimum of 8 hours to get through the day. Regardless of our ideal, we all have periods in our lives when, for whatever reason, we just don’t get enough sleep.

Short term lack of sleep is generally dealt with well by our bodies, causing mild symptoms such as daytime drowsiness and reduced mental functioning. Our bodies will cope fairly well and do what they can to catch up on lost sleep if we allow them to, by way of a sleep in on the weekend, or naps. However, if sleep deprivation is prolonged, the symptoms can be much more severe. This is only a short list of the possible health effects:

• High blood pressure
• Headaches
• Depression
• Psychosis or ADHD like symptoms
• Weight gain
• Irritability
• Aching muscles
• Poor memory and confusion
• Temper tantrums (in children usually, but also some adults)

If you’re lacking sleep and recognise the appearance of any of the above symptoms, try to make getting more sleep a priority. There is nothing more precious than your health. Some suggestions might be:

• Don’t over-commit yourself on weekends, give yourself at least one morning where you can sleep in or an afternoon that you can have a nap.
• Make your bedroom a haven from the world, leave your mobile phone, television, ipad and other electronic distractions in another part of the house.
• Don’t drink coffee after lunch time, especially if you have trouble getting off to sleep.
• Night owls can sometimes arrange their working hours (start later and finish later) to increase productivity
• Think of going away for a weekend, somewhere quiet and comfortable with a fantastic bed
• If it’s a baby that’s keeping you awake, is there someone who could babysit overnight, or even take the child out for the day
• Use low level lighting in the evenings such as lamps, it is closer to the candlelight our ancestors lived by
• Wear sunglasses from about 4pm
• People often say they sleep better after a massage, bowen or chiropractic session, so treat yourself

Over the years, we have written and spoken about many ways that you can help yourself when it comes to neck pain.  To make it easier, here is a list of things to have a look at on our websites:

Video:

Conversations at KingsWilliam: “Why do I always have a sore neck?”

We are often asked “Why do I always have a sore neck?” There are many reasons but in this video Eve talks about one of the most common.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssM-8V1Vk1w

Conversations at KingsWilliam: “Stress and neck pain”

Sometimes no matter how many things you try your pain just doesn’t quite go away. Sometimes that’s because it’s related to an emotion that is creating a physical effect. Sarah talks about one of her patients whose neck pain was related to stress at work. A simple balance can break the connection and make the pain go away.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tnlmmepPbU

Downloads on the chiropractic website:

http://kingswilliamchiropractic.com.au/downloads

Click the title “Chiropractic and Massage”

• 40s a day to release neck tension
• Ear pressure points
• Neck stretches
• Taking care of your body when little things go wrong

Posts on the Natural Health Care website under the chiropractic and massage category:

http://kingswilliam.com.au/category/chiropractic-and-massage

• Computer neck – Is poor posture creating all your pain problems
• Can sleeping on your stomach cause back pain?
• Which pillow should I buy?
• Neck, back and leg pain? Check out the Psoas!

That’s a start at least!  Take the time to have a look.  You’ll feel much better for it.