A Note From Dr. Nic

Get outside & take your kids with you…then challenge them a bit.

Several years ago, my son Edwin and I went mountain biking at Maribel Caves. The most memorable aspect of that excursion was that we both crashed pretty hard. My left shoulder is still not the same after going 'over the top' of a curved ramp boardwalk. Despite, this, or maybe because of it, I've wanted to go back to these trails ever since.

I finally did, and I brought along Estell and Emerin as well. There was no way Emerin, 6 years old, was going to be left behind her big brother and big sister on this adventure, despite the fact her bike is a "Flower Power" bike complete with a bell and a basket, and less than 2 years removed from having training wheels on it. No matter any of that, she was coming along, so I packed up 4 bikes on the bike rack, filled up some water bottles, and away we went.

Eddy and Estelle did great from the beginning, navigating the rocks and roots and uphills and downhills quite well. I stayed behind Emerin as she walked Flower Power much more than she rode it, both up the hills and down the downhills. She was cautious, staying safe, and asking quite often exactly where I had crashed so badly that other time.  

"I will let you know when we get there, Emerin," I replied.

Emerin went from walking almost the ENTIRE time, to finally being talked in to trying a boardwalk, and successfully completing it. Afterwards, she called the experience ‘terrifying’, but I could tell something had switched in her mind, in terms of what of which is is capable.  On to the next boardwalk, which is kind of like a roller coaster up and down, and to which I told her she could just ride past it on the side, and not actually try it.

You can imagine my pleasant surprise when she took off at the beginning and rode the entire thing. I thought for sure she was going to go off the side at one point, but she corrected herself, completed the feature, and received incredible cheers from Big Bro and Big Sis. It was amazing.

Happy Dad Moment.

We get to "set the bar" for ourselves and for our kids in many different ways. It's up to us, as individuals for ourselves, and as parents for our kids, as to where that bar gets set. I was very thankful that the bar was set where it was, that I had enough patience to stick with Emerin, and that she had enough 'guts' to just try. Sometimes simply showing up and trying is all it takes.

She has since graduated to a bigger bike and asks daily when we can go biking again. I love the adventure, and I am happy to reset that bar a little bit higher. Doing hard things makes the not-so-hard things, and the easy things, even easier, and more enjoyable. Challenge yourself, whether it's in exercise, nutrition, or any other aspect of health and wellness. It may be hard at the beginning...but it's good to learn to be uncomfortable. So practice finding comfort in being uncomfortable!

Biomechanical Chain

A biomechanical chain—sometimes called the "kinematic chain" or "kinetic chain"—is a simple idea about a complex system. You already know that the hip bone is connected to the thigh bone, the thigh bone is connected to the leg bone, the leg bone is connected to the ankle bone, and the ankle bone is connected to the foot bone. Someone could even write a song about this—and it seems they already have. This interconnectedness is the basis of how our bodies work, and it's about more than merely the bones that make up our skeleton. This biomechanical chain includes our muscles, tendons, ligaments, blood vessels, glands, nerves and much more.



The important thing to understand about the biomechanical chain is that if one link is broken, it will likely affect others in an adverse manner.

The human body is brilliantly designed to compensate for these types of problems, but this compensation usually comes with a price as other parts of the body absorb additional or unusual stresses. For example, structural weakness, misalignment or asymmetries in the feet can trigger changes further up the body, particularly in the ankles, knees, hips, back and neck. In fact, nearly everyone that I see at the office with a low back pain also has problems with one or both of their feet!

There is a similar cause-and-effect relationship that can begin with just a single misaligned vertebra in the back. Resulting pain may cause the person to favor one leg over the other while walking, resulting in further distortion of the posture and greater misalignment, resulting in even more problems and pain.

The study of mechanics concerns itself with how matter reacts to forces, which can involve pressure and/or motion. We see this when someone uses a simple lever and fulcrum to lift a heavy object. Biomechanics merely takes these same simple principles and applies them to the body. The field of biomechanics includes both static (body at rest and in balance) and dynamic (body in motion) aspects.

By studying the structure of the body and the forces involved in staying at rest or being in motion, health care professionals can better understand sources of injury and teach improved ways to perform repetitive or even competitive actions. Greater understanding of the biomechanical chain can help improve sports performance, functional training, and strength and conditioning. It can also help with injury management, rehabilitation and even injury prevention.

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Are We Sitting Ourselves to Death?

One day last week I saw a patient at the office, who had “overdone it” the previous weekend. He was much more sore than he had been. While he had been feeling so much better after his previous visits, on this day he was regretting his level of activity. I assured him that I’m very happy to hear he was sore from all the yard work he had been doing. I also shared that I see a lot of people who are more and more in pain despite being less and less active. I much prefer someone is sore from activity than inactivity!

Whether we like to admit it or not, the technology in our lives-and the fact that we use much of it while sitting down-is contributing to a growing list of health problems in our society. Those who sit at a desk all day or sit behind the wheel of a car or truck with little or no exercise are at increased risk for a number of chronic health problems. According to the Mayo Clinic, those who have such a sedentary lifestyle are in danger of things like "obesity and metabolic syndrome - a cluster of conditions that includes increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist and abnormal cholesterol levels."

One study showed that those who spend a large amount of time in front of a television or other forms of screen entertainment had a roughly 50% greater risk of death from any source. It's not really difficult to imagine why this might be the case. Greater body weight combined with lower strength and stamina and reduced balance and flexibility means less agility and durability. This in turn raises the likelihood of more accidents or injuries. The same study showed a 125% greater risk of problems from cardiovascular disease. Care was taken to separate the risk of sitting from that of high blood pressure. Those who had the same high blood pressure, but who sat less, had fewer incidents of health problems.

WebMD has added cancer to the list of ailments for which excessive sitting may be a risk factor. One Australian study of 63,000 older adult men showed that men who sat for more than 4 hours a day were more likely to have a serious, chronic illness than those who sat for less than 4 hours per day. Above 6 hours per day, men were at significantly greater risk of diabetes. Those who regularly sat more than 8 hours a day had the highest level of health risk.

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Meet Linda

I am always surprised when someone shares with me that they didn't realize chiropractic can help conditions outside of neck and low back and spine pain. Yes we can! And that's what brought Linda to our office. Chronic foot pain and callouses were really taking a toll on her quality of life. It has been wonderful to help her ease that pain by not just addressing the location of the pain, but also the underlying problems and biomechanics that led to her foot pain. I have enjoyed chatting with her and sharing stories and look forward to the next visit. And remember--if it's a problem with a muscle, joint, or nerve, anywhere in the body, chiropractic can help!