Why the Concern About Infant Vaccination? Oblander Chiropractic

Why the Concern About Infant Vaccination? Oblander Chiropractic

I just had to share this article on Infant Vaccinations. The article comes from the Herbal Legacy website and is one of their most recent newsletter postings. In regards to vaccinations, there are numerous voices both pro and con which can make the cutting through the arguments and finding good information very difficult. In addition to this article, please keep in mind that a child’s nervous system is not fully developed until about the age of 24 months. Chiropractors are all about obtaining health by natural means but they are also about doing no harm. Within a few years, I suspect that true unbiased studies will back what chiropractors have supported all along…that vaccines have their place and time but they should not be a part of an infant’s “wellness” care. Please enjoy!:

Sponsored by The School of Natural Healing & Christopher Publications

June 6, 2012
 
Infant Vaccinations  -David Christopher MH

We all want to protect babies from disease! How this is accomplished is the dividing factor. We are all exposed to the modern medicine model, in school, through the media, from relatives, and even from churches. Seldom are the alternative voices heard. Let me first say that I believe exposing a healthy person to small amounts of disease is a good idea, it strengthens and prepares the immune system for possible outbreaks. I do not believe the current medical model does this safely or effectively.

We are born with immunity to many diseases, because of our species, population and individual environments. Diseases that might affect us are negated through passive immunity received through the placenta and then from breast milk. Our own immune system starts to develop after a few months, and then starts developing memory at six months and can stop relying on passive immunity from mother’s milk at weaning “around eighteen months”. This is common knowledge acquired in any anatomy text.
My main concern with vaccines is why do they inject them into babies? There is no immune memory till the child’s immune system develops in the time frame of 6 months to 18 months! No benefit, thousands of casualties. I am personally contacted by many women with children who were perfectly normal until these children received vaccines.
We can safely become immune to many diseases by being healthy and interacting in society. We gain this immunity by exposure to our first line of defense, the mucus lining our skin, especially in orifices. This barrier traps invaders exposing them to phagocyte immune cells which engulf them and then alert T-cells and B-cells which target and destroy all invaders. Then memory cells keep us ready for secondary assaults thus creating immunity. This is a lifetime protection.
Vaccines are injected past our natural defenses, and rarely offer immunity for more than a few years. Even though blood work shows active anti-bodies, it is no guarantee against invasion. As an example, many universities have strict admittance requirements to be fully vaccinated. Even with 100% compliance they have experienced disease epidemics in these “protected populations”, with fully vaccinated individuals, coming down with the disease.
I implore everyone to hear both sides of this issue before ever accepting another vaccination. The best alternative treaties on this subject is “Vaccines: Are They Really Safe and Effective” by Neil Miller. This easy read is a fully documented text and is available at Christopher Publications.

David Christopher is a Master Herbalist and the director of The School of Natural Healing. He also co-hosts the popular radio show “A Healthier You” and is a popular international teacher and lecturer. 

Why Your Self-Esteem is Important to Your Health

Why Your Self-Esteem is Important to Your Health

I often work as a weight loss and health coach with patients in our office. Working with our patients in this way has helped me understand something important about self-esteem. I have never believed that self-esteem comes from outside sources as much as it comes from within.

I believe that self-esteem is an accumulation of choices that we make every day of our lives. Whether we recognize it or not – each choice that we make, in regards to the type of person we choose to be, impacts not only who we are becoming but how we feel about ourselves.

I love the following quote by Stephen R. Covey: “Every human has four endowments- self awareness, conscience, independent will and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom… The power to choose, to respond, to change.”

What I have been able to observe as I have worked with individuals make positive changes in their lives and in their health is that as they demonstrate to themselves that they can make and keep commitments with their selves – their belief in their worth, their strength, and their potential grows.

I believe that conscience is a major player in self-esteem. I suspect that many people struggle with their self-esteem because their choices, their actions, and their lives in general are not congruent with their beliefs. Self-esteem is developed over time based on the balance of decisions we make, the actions we take, the way we treat others, the standards we set and maintain in regards to our goals and aspirations, and the level of respect, integrity, compassion, and discipline we give and receive throughout life.

I remember one of the women I worked with coming into my office after being on a modified diet for only 3 weeks. Each of those weeks she had lost weight and better yet, each week she had been able to sense how much better she was feeling. There was a light in her eyes and a noticeable difference in how she carried herself. Never before had she believed in her ability to make and keep a commitment – in her words “I have always believed I had no will power”. Three short weeks had taught her differently.
So what influence does self-esteem have on health?

I believe that when we live in harmony with our conscience – we make better choices in regards to the foods we eat, the activities (such as daily exercise) we participate in, and how diligent we are about our overall health.

How Does Chiropractic Work?

How Does Chiropractic Work?

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I find it interesting when I hear people ask if subluxations can really affect a person’s health. Sometimes I have to bite my tongue because to me it seems so obvious. After all, when a spinal cord is severed….is the ability of the individual with that spinal cord still able to move and function like it did previous to the injury? I obtained the following information from www.mdguidelines.com:

If the spinal cord is damaged, additional complications from paraplegia or quadriplegia include pneumonia, recurring urinary infections, decubitus ulcers, nephrolithiasis, and osteoporosis.

Think about it! If an individual receives injury to their spine in the neck area – why would urinary infections, etc be affected? Because the spine is home to the body’s nervous system and impairment to ANY area of the nervous system has the ability to affect any area of the body that that nervous system supplies information to.

Millions of instructions flow from your brain, down the spinal cord, and out to every organ and tissue. Signals sent back to the brain confirm whether your body is working as it should. Improper motion or position of the moving bones of the spine may interfere with this vital exchange by irritating nearby nerves and the tissues they control.

Nerve interferences are most common along the spine.  Chiropractic adjustments (manipulation) are designed to help correct or reduce those interferences. Research confirms that interferences to the nervous system change the way the body functions. Therefore, when interferences are allowed to continue without correction – health issues can develop over time which might have otherwise been avoided if they had been corrected with timely chiropractic adjustments.

Since it is possible to have subluxations and not know it (like the early stages of tooth decay or even cancer) chiropractors believe it is a good idea to be checked regularly for subluxations and to have those subluxations corrected.

Chiropractors are trained to find the subluxations you are experiencing. They then can use various adjusting methods to correct the subluxations. Some doctors only use one method – I personally like to be treated by a chiropractor with more than one tool (adjusting method) in his doctor’s bag. Here, at Oblander Chiropractic, I love that Dr. Oblander uses a variety of adjusting techniques which is often determined by both the desires of the patient and what is seen by Dr. Oblander as the best way to correct the subluxations.

Chiropractic is a science, art and philosophy. It’s a scientific fact that your brain and nervous system control every cell, tissue and organ of your body.

Chiropractic works by reducing or eliminating subluxations (interferences). The methods employed by chiropractic work because the body is a self-healing organism that is controlled and regulated by your nervous system. Utilizing adjustments to remove interferences the nervous system is experiencing is like taking a 1930’s home electrical system and replacing it with a state of the art electrical system. The shorts and faulty wiring from the old system are remedied and “whole” home (body) runs better, is more solid! A healthy nervous system is key to optimum health!

Why Do Infants and Children Need Chiropractic Treatment?

Why Do Infants and Children Need Chiropractic Treatment?

There are several events in my life that I wish I had done a better job of recording or saving for posterity. One such event that continues to stand out in my mind is my granddaughter’s runny nose. You may think that sounds funny but there is a reason that I wish I had done a better job of recording her runny nose.

You see…when this granddaughter was  infant and toddler aged she had a runny nose that literally made my granddaughter a proverbial “snot nosed kid”. Excuse the grossness but the snot at times literally bubbled out of her nose.  When she fell asleep – the congestion caused her to sound like a little old man. Keeping the snot wiped away from her nose could have employed a person full time.

Unfortunately, we did not live close to this sweet little girl when she was experiencing these problems. Trips to the doctor confirmed that she was not experiencing any allergies. However, I can tell you what made all the difference in the world was chiropractic adjustments. The few times that my husband was able to adjust her was like watching a miracle in action.

We would let her fall asleep (we knew she was sound asleep as soon as she started sounding like a little old man snoring) and then my husband would adjust her. It was something like this to start with….kkkkkzzzzzzugh…kkkkzzzzzzugh (you know the kind of horrible snoring sounds that make you think you need to wake the person so they can actually get some air into their lungs)…then the sound changed to…uuuuuzh….uuuuuzh (snoring but only ever so slightly)….then to deep full breathing without any snoring or obstruction. The whole transformation taking only a couple of minutes.

Yup…if I had been smart enough to record her breathing transformation – it could have been a YouTube hit video just because of how amazing the transformation was.

When infants are born…standard birthing procedures almost always guarantee that the infant’s head will be twisted to help move the shoulders out of the birthing canal. 80% of infants checked during the first few months of life had subluxations directly related to birth trauma. The most common ailment caused by the birthing process is infant colic – which not surprisingly is very successfully treated in almost all  circumstances by chiropractic adjustments.

We had another granddaughter that initially experienced colic related to the birthing process. Not only was she fussy…she hurled a large portion of her mother’s milk consistently after nursing. After just two chiropractic adjustments, her colic and hurling tendencies were vanished.

The birthing process and then all of the regular experiences of childhood make infants and children ideal candidates for chiropractic treatment. The whole process of learning to move, crawl, walk and run – with all of the bumps and bangs and falls that come with their learning progression are a big reason why.

Chiropractic adjustments in children can remedy colic, allergies, bed wetting, ear infections, sinus problems, ADD/ADHD, and scoliosis just to name a few.

By the way, if you have a child that has a nose congestion issue like my granddaughter had and you can bring her to our office, give our office a call – I would love to video tape the difference that an adjustment will make! Yours in Health!

What You Should Know about Whiplash

What You Should Know about Whiplash

Nearly 27% of drivers have been involved in a car crash in the last five years. (I was one of them.) In 2008 there were 208 million licensed drivers in the U.S. Based on these numbers we can estimate that over a five year period about 56,160,000 drivers will be involved in a car accident. That comes out to 11,232,000 accidents a year and over 30,000 a day. In other words…there are a lot of motor vehicle accidents in this country every year!

One of the most common injuries associated with motor vehicle accidents is whiplash. Whiplash is an injury to the neck caused by sudden acceleration-deceleration force. This is usually the result of a stationary vehicle being struck from behind. This causes the torso to thrust forward while the head is thrown back into hyperextension and then whipped forward into a hyper-flexed position. This causes stress and strain on the soft tissues of the neck including muscles, tendons, ligaments and joint capsules. Symptoms of whiplash include, but are not limited to pain, stiffness, headaches, dizziness, tinnitus and weakness.

Many factors account for the severity of whiplash and the resulting symptoms. The severity of the impact and position of the head at impact are major factors in the potential severity of the injury. The health of the individual prior to the accident can make a big difference. A young person in good health will fare better than an older individual with preexisting degenerative changes in the neck. However, regardless of the perceived severity of the accident, all whiplash cases need to be taken seriously no matter how minor it may appear.

In many situations only the symptoms of whiplash are treated. Muscle relaxers, pain killers and anti-inflammatory medications are often prescribed along with adequate rest. Unfortunately, this is often the extent of the treatment.

Because of the damage that occurs in a whiplash injury, degenerative changes may be put into place that may not become obvious for many years after the initial injury. I was fortunate when my accident occurred in that I knew to seek chiropractic help right away. Being married to a chiropractor, I knew the risk factors involved. Another bonus was that I have had lots of interaction with the patients in our office that have been in accidents. Time after time, they have expressed a desire that they wish they would have known how much chiropractic treatment would have helped them when they first had their accident. Many have found that chiropractic treatment helped where medications and physical therapy failed. If you have been in a car accident and suffered a whiplash injury, talk to a chiropractor… you’ll be glad you did!

Why Eating Healthier Will Make You Happier

Why Eating Healthier Will Make You Happier

If there is one thing that can be confusing these days is trying to figure out just what constitutes healthy eating and what doesn’t. There are lots of experts making various and conflicting claims.

In my opinion, looking to the big expert is key. What I mean by the big expert is God, the Creative Force of the Universe or whatever name you feel comfortable with. I know that there are some who believe that we just accidently showed up on this earth but I’m not one of them and so bear with me.

I have yet to find anyone who can replicate the creative genius I see manifested in the world of nature. I personally don’t need statistics to convince me – but even the science of statistics gives the nod to this world being created by something more than chance happening.

So…here are my thoughts on healthy eating:

Eat foods that still look like the foods they were meant to be. For example, a strawberry food should be made of strawberries…not lots of strawberry flavoring and strawberry color.

  • Eating foods that are refined versions of the foods they came from usually means one thing to your body – micro nutrients, fiber and all the good things that came packed with the original version have been eliminated. Believe it or not – if your taste buds have become accustomed to white bread and other refined foods – you can develop a taste for the whole grain counterpart and once you do – you won’t want to go back. You will learn that your body responds in positive ways to whole grain foods and that you will feel much better.
  • Good clean water and lots of it should be a part of healthy eating.
  • Sugar is not horrible in small quantities but in large quantities it contributes to weight and health issues that no one wants to experience. The typical American diet is loaded with too much sugar. Try using natural sugars such as honey and learn to use fruit to get your sugar kick!
  • Our food intake should include lots of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and vegetable proteins and should minimize animal proteins. I am not suggesting that everyone should become vegetarian – but I am suggesting that animal protein does not need to be a part of every meal.
  • Moderation counts! Excessive portions – even of healthy foods are not good and add to the waistline. Excessive weight is hard on joints and can be hard on our health!
  • Diet changes need to be made over time and in a way that accommodates our lifestyle.

Science and technology have their place. However, I believe that God is the ultimate food scientist. I believe that in the years to come research will show that we get the most benefit from foods which have not been refined. If healthy eating has not been a part of your life – it is never too late to make a change. I have found that by eating healthy and eating foods that have not been refined – I have more energy, feel better and enjoy better overall health. I know that you and your body will feel the difference too! And…when we feel better – we are always happier!

If Health is Feeling Well…Then What About What We Don’t Feel?

If Health is Feeling Well…Then What About What We Don’t Feel?

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I was meeting with a client the other day. She was concerned about the future of her health. This particular client is overweight and has a family history of heart disease that seems to reveal itself in her family members at very young ages.  In my opinion, her concern is justified and she is smart to be making the effort to lose weight and learn healthier lifestyle habits.

But what is health? Is it just the absence of sickness? Personally, I think that defining health as feeling well is absurd. – especially given the fact that we cannot “feel” 80% of what is going on in our bodies. Ever known someone who has been diagnosed with a serious health issue such as cancer that felt fine prior to their diagnosis? I think we all have. Think about it…if we could feel everything happening in our bodies that contribute to eventual ill health such as arterial blockages, cancer, kidney stones, Alzheimer’s, etc. wouldn’t the world we live in look a lot different? Wouldn’t our concerns about developing health issues be a mute point – after all, we would “feel” whatever we needed to feel before it got out of hand.

According to Webster’s Dictionary, health is a state of optimum physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease. In other words, health is not how you feel but rather, if you are physically, mentally and socially functioning at your optimum potential.

I like that definition because it addresses whole health and the fact that we cannot “feel” so much of what is going on with our physical health.  I also like the fact that it embraces health from a more rounded perspective. We are the sum total of our mental, emotional, spiritual and physical well being.  In truth, we cannot ignore any aspect of our health without impacting the rest.

What I Believe Modern Medicine is Missing

What I Believe Modern Medicine is Missing

As many of you know, I have lived in both worlds…the world of using only allopathic medicine (MD’s) where prescriptive and surgical remedies reign and the world which uses alternative medicine where the body is honored for its self-healing capacity and where food and lifestyle modifications are utilized in addition to the treatment modality offered by the doctor (such as spinal manipulation).

 In all honesty, I don’t like calling chiropractic and other treatments rendered by “alternative” practitioners alternative at all. After all, what we call conventional medicine is little more than 100 years old and forms of chiropractic date back over 20 centuries. (Shouldn’t that qualify chiropractic as mainstream medicine?!!)

The actual profession of chiropractic – as a distinct form of health care — dates back to 1895. However, over 2000 years ago Hippocrates advised: “Get knowledge of the spine, for this is the requisite for many diseases.”

Herodotus, a contemporary of Hippocrates, gained fame curing diseases by correcting spinal abnormalities through therapeutic exercises. If the patient was too weak to exercise, Herodotus would manipulate the patient’s spine. The philosopher Aristotle was critical of Herodotus’ tonic-free approach because, “he made old men young and thus prolonged their lives too greatly.”

So now that I’ve inserted my little chiropractic soapbox, here are my feelings on what I believe modern medicine is missing and why that’s important.

Allopathic medicine, as a whole, declines to acknowledge any creative force and bases its belief system on evolution. As such, it only takes into account the physical body and the symptoms and/or illnesses it presents. By only acknowledging the body, allopathic disregards the spirit of the body (the other half of the soul). In so doing, it eliminates critical components of our health: spiritual, mental and emotional health.

Allopathic does a wonderful job of treating trauma and emergencies. However, I believe it dramatically fails in regards to honoring the patients it treats.

Eliminate giving a patient the time and consideration they deserve, ignore their emotional, spiritual, or mental health, discount that a patient needs to be a central contributor to or part of their own healthcare, or operate from a foundation that the doctor always knows best (in the five minute patient time slots that most allopathic doctors are forced to work within) and I believe you see patients and their health short-changed.

I have been treated by too many allopathic doctors who had no interest in my health history – their only interest was in my current symptoms so they could write a quick prescription. I have been treated by doctors who, when they found that no prescription worked, were all too quick to declare that it was “all in my head”. They were right…my headaches were “all in my head” but the causes weren’t. If I were the only one ever to have been told that a health issue was all in my head – this personal experience wouldn’t even be mentioned. Unfortunately, too many patients have been given that diagnosis by doctors who were unwilling to consider anything other than prescriptions and expensive high tech tests. I believe too many MD’s operate from the ego-driven assumption that prescription medicines, expensive tests and surgery are the only competent tools available in treating patients.

So…here is my short list of the components that I believe modern medicine is missing that should be vital to all healthcare:

  • Sufficient time with patient
  • Honoring the contribution of the patient in their own healthcare
  • Embracing the importance and power of nutrition in health
  • Recognizing the influence that a patient’s spiritual, mental, and emotional health has on their physical health
  • Eliminating the ego of the doctor in patient care
  • Respecting the creative force that created the patient and the world we each are a part of

Some allopathic practitioners are catching on…they have seen the difference that nutrition and chiropractic treatment makes and are chaning their mindsets. I look forward to the day when more of them get the big picture!