Hi All,
August is here and I hope you all have been keeping cool during this exceptionally hot summer. Along with the end of summer, August also means the kids will be headed back to school soon.
Ensure Your Children Return to School Healthy & Performing at their Highest Potential
In addition to requiring periodic back-to-school physicals and eye exams many schools are now requiring periodic back-to-school dental exams as well. These are all great things to promote good health but let me ask you: Is there anything else that can be done to promote higher levels of health, focus and attention and performance? The answer is YES! If you would like your child to be healthier, have better focus and perform better in school, sports and their other activities the first step is to make sure the system of the body that controls these functions is healthy and working properly.
What system controls these functions and everything else your body does? The NERVE SYSTEM. Yes, the brain, spinal cord and all the nerves are the information super highway that controls everything your body does.
How Do You Check the Health of Your Nerve System – whereas a neurologist checks for pathology in the nerve system, a Chiropractor is the only doctor trained to assess the functional health of the nerve system and restore this health where necessary. In this case, for your children, a Pediatric Chiropractor (look for Diplomate in Pediatrics indicating board certified specialist) would be the professional you want.
A Pediatric Chiropractor will do a non-invasive evaluation of your child’s nerve system and determine if there is any “road construction on their information super highway”, this is called subluxation. In our office we use NASA approved technology to enhance the quality, accuracy and reproducibility of the evaluation.
What Causes Nerve System Interference – The same way sugar causes decay in your teeth, S T R E S S causes decay in your nerve system. Stress comes in 3 forms: Chemical (meds, junk food, white flour, white sugar …), Physical (poor posture, lack of exercise, heavy backpacks…) and Mental/Emotional and all impact your nerve system in the same way. If the accumulation of stress is more than your body can handle, like the fuse box in your home during a storm, your body will blow fuses (subluxation). These blown fuses are the road construction on the information super highway blocking important messages your body is sending related to your body functions.
How is Subluxation (Nerve System Interference) Corrected? – After an evaluation to determine if your child is subluxated and where, a Pediatric Chiropractor will provide SAFE and GENTLE adjustments to clear the subluxation and allow your child’s body to heal itself and function at its highest level
Since the nerve system controls everything your body does, subluxations can affect any of your body functions i.e.
- Immune Function (your child gets sick frequently)
- Allergies
- Asthma
- Digestive Issues
- Headaches
- ADD/ADHD issues
- Sensory issues
- Sleep disturbance
- Menstrual pain and problems
- and yes even back and neck pain.
By restoring your child’s proper nerve system function, his/her body will be able to heal itself and function at its HIGHEST & GREATEST CAPACITY!
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Heavy Backpacks – What Can You DO?
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chool-age children SHOULD NOT HAVE NECK AND BACK PAIN. If they do have these pains, there is something wrong and it should be corrected before it causes a lifelong problem (could this have been a contributor to your current aches and pains?).
Backpacks have emerged as an escalating health and safety issue. In fact, the majority of school-age children carry backpack loads that are too heavy for their developing bodies. If children are carrying too much weight on their backs and shoulders they may stretch or strain their muscles causing injury and curvature of the spine. Studies have shown that long exposures to heavy backpacks can cause spinal pain that becomes chronic in nature and affects ALL activities of daily living. Heavy or improperly worn backpacks promote abnormal posture development and can possibly cause or accelerate structural spinal abnormalities such as scoliosis. The Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that in 1999, approximately 6,174 emergency room visits were a result of spinal injuries stemming from heavy backpacks and in the year 2000, the use of heavy book bags and carriers resulted in more than 6,500 injuries. THIS IS A PROBLEM. This increase in back pain amongst children isn’t surprising when you consider the disproportionate amount of weight they carry in their backpacks (often slung over just one shoulder). According to a recent study, the average child carries a backpack that would be the equivalent of a 39-pound burden for a 176-pound man or a 29-pound load for a 132-pound woman. Of those children carrying heavy backpacks to school, 60% had experienced back pain as a result. Other studies have shown that slinging backpacks over one shoulder can exacerbate the curvature of the spine in scoliosis patients.
What Can We Do?
– Healthy children get injured less than unhealthy children – Proper diet, supplementation, exercise, restorative rest & a Healthy Nerve System will give your child his/her best defense against heavy backpacks.
– Make sure your child’s backpack weighs no more than 5-10% of his/her body weight.
– Use both shoulder straps. Lugging the backpack around by one strap can cause the disproportionate shift of weight to one side, leading to neck and back muscle spasm, pain and possible alteration of spinal curvature.
– Wide, padded straps are very important. Non-padded straps are uncomfortable and can dig into your child’s shoulders.
– The backpack should be worn higher up on the back between the shoulder blades.
– The backpack should never hang more than four inches below the waistline. A backpack that hangs too low increases the weight on the shoulders pulling the child backward and causing him/her to lean forward when walking.
– Observe your child’s posture. If the child leans forward while walking, takes shorter strides while walking or uses his/her hands to protect the shoulders from the straps, it is an indication the backpack is too heavy.
– A backpack with individualized compartments helps in positioning the contents most effectively. Make sure that pointy or bulky objects are packed away from the area that will rest on your child’s back.
– Bigger is not better. The more room there is in a backpack, the more your child will carry – and the heavier the backpack will be.
– If the backpack is too heavy:
– Take out anything that is not ABSOLUTELY needed
– Instead of taking all notebooks home carry only what is needed for that evening in 1 homework folder.
– Closely look at what your child is carrying and then talk to your child’s teacher. Ask if your child could leave the heaviest books at school, and bring home only lighter hand-out materials or workbooks…
Note: Proper Nerve System and Spinal Health are VITAL for children to avoid early onset of damage and degeneration caused by the chemical, physical and mental emotional stressors in their lives (including heavy backpack). Schedule a Nerve System and Spinal Health evaluation with a Pediatric Chiropractor for your children TODAY!
Our expertise will improve your family’s Quality of Life!
Call Stern Chiropractic to schedule your family’s health evaluation
TODAY!
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