Do you have a habit to tilt your neck to one side to produce a “crack” or “pop”?
Or do you have an urge of snapping your neck to one side to produce a similar sound?
Or do you find yourself twisting your hips to the left or right to produce a popping sound?
If you do, your spine is in trouble. And you are at risk of something terrible that can happen.
All muscles in our body attach to bones. Bones can move out of position due to several events in our day to day activities. Events can include poor sitting and sleeping posture, falls, accidents, pregnancy, exercising the wrong way, stress, etc. When any bones in our body moved out of place (common known as misalignments), a few things can happen. First, the muscles that are attached to the bones become strained. Nerves exiting from these bones can become pinched and cause sensations such as numbness, tingling, electrical feeling, weakness, etc. to occur.
The misaligned bones often give one the urge to want to twist, pop, stretch or snap their joints. If a cavitation , i.e. pop or crack is heard, it does not mean that the misaligned bones has been corrected. You could have put another bone out of alignment! When bones cavitate, the body releases endorphin, which gives the body a good feeling and can get one hooked. The bones can actually start to degenerate and cause bone spurs or osteophytes to form. So, stop popping your neck or back or even your knuckles!
A chiropractor is highly trained to locate, analyse and correct the misalignments that cause the discomforts. Chiropractic has been known to be very effective in correcting the cause of one’s problems and not merely alleviating the symptoms. If you are one of those who like to snap your neck or lower back, you will be glad to know that we can help you. Call us at 63367714 today!
I was shopping at a mall last month and came upon a road show hosted by one of the big chains of chiropractic clinics in Singapore. They hired easily 15 part timers who were ever so enthusiastic to pull passer by to check out their booth. One of them approached me and insisted that I check out their booth and get a spine scan.
Since she was so pushy, I decided to “check out” their booth. Of course, I did not reveal that I am a chiropractor.
I asked, “ So what is this about?”
The girl said: “ Chiropractic. Align your spine.”
Me: “How?”
Girl: “Put a force into the spine to straighten the spine”
Me: “ How do you know where to put the force?”
Girl: “You MUST take Xrays. The Xrays will tell the doctor where to put the force into your spine. Do you have any neck pain or back pain or headache?”
Me: “No. None of the above. Do I still have to take Xrays?”
Girl: ”Yes! If you want to do chiropractic, you MUST take Xrays.”
Me: ”Which part of my spine do I have to take Xrays?”
Girl: “Whole spine. Total of 9 Xrays.”
Me: “ So, how often do I have to do Chiropractic?”
Girl: “3 times a week”
Me: “Even if I do not have any problems”
Girl: “Yes”
Sound familiar? Maybe to some of you. Don’t be fooled by such gimmicks. If you hear someone giving you such a sales speech, RUN!
Xrays have pros and cons. Pros are that they can reveal potential problems that chiropractors cannot feel by hand. Cons are that they are radioactive, and are harmful to the body. They should only be used when it is clinically necessary. A chiropractor is as qualified as a medical doctor to ascertain the need for an Xray. An ethical chiropractor will only send patients for Xrays if he or she, after putting relevant information together, feels that clinically there are sufficient reasons to do so.
At our clinic, X-rays ARE NOT COMPULSORY. Our doctor will put together all information gathered during the first consultation via discussion of patient’s medical history, examination of patient’s spine and results of orthopedic tests on patient’s spine before deciding on the necessity of or recommending X-rays.
Our doctor will only order X-rays if they are necessary for patient’s treatment or if he suspects any other issues pertaining to the patient’s spine, such as disc issues, osteophytes (bone spurs), fractures, pathology, etc. and the patient is agreeable.
For patients who are concerned about X-ray radiations and do not wish to take Xrays, fret not, as we can still help you. Our doctor is trained in numerous chiropractic techniques which can be utilized safely and effectively without the use of X-rays.
What would you do if you have one or all of the following:
A diarrhea
A fever
A running nose
A headache
Would you:
See a medical doctor
Take medication
Do nothing about it?
Take MC and rest
See a chiropractor
There is no right or wrong answer but I have a preference over what to do. Since I became a chiropractor, I have not medicated myself. Simply because I respected our body’s healing potential.
Our body has this inner wisdom that allows it heal most dis-eases. Common symptoms like those listed above are the body’s way of telling you that your body has detected some foreign bodies (e.g. bacteria or virus) and has gone into a battle with them. Our body is equipped to fight this battle and in most cases, it will win. A battle that is won will be stored in our brain as a memory, much like a winning formula and that is how the immune function in our body gets stronger.
Our inner wisdom works best when our spine is in its best alignment. And the only person who can help you achieve that is your chiropractor.
Just to share, I had diarrhea, fever and headache all at once two weeks ago, caused by I what I believe was food poisoning. What I chose to do was to get plenty of rest, get adjusted regularly, make sure that I am sufficiently hydrated and allow my body to heal itself and I recovered in 1 day, without any medications.
Amazed? Don’t be. Start learning more about your inner wisdom today. Give us a call.
A week before Christmas 2011, Singapore witnessed and painfully went through a few days of inconvenience due to disruptions of its once reliable train services. The reason quoted was that there was a misalignment of electrical connections between 4 trains and certain sections of the track between Dhoby Ghaut and City Hall stations.
“Misalignment” is a word used very commonly in the chiropractic arena to explain a situation where a bone has gone out of position, causing impingement to nerves.
As some of you may know, our brain controls everything in our body by sending electrical signals throughout our body. These signals go to our muscles, ligaments and organs and they travel on this superinformation highway called our spinal cord, which branches out as small bundles of fine extensions called nerves. As the spinal cord and its nerves are very delicate structures, akin to that of the copper wires in wires, it has to be protected, just like how the copper wires are protected by insulating plastic cover. Our spine, being hard and sturdy, does this job to protect the spinal cord and its nerves.
Our spine has 24 bones. When our spine is healthy, the bones are all sitting in the right place. Our nerve system can be viewed as a train system. Our brain sends out signals to every part of our body, like how the headquarters instruct these trains to ply back and forth their respective destinations. In our body, signals (like trains) travel from our brain and back (feedback loop). The spinal cord and nerves are like the tracks.
When misalignments happen in our body, nerves can become impinged and signals can get stuck and does not get to their pre-determined destinations. This over time, can lead to aches, pains, numbness, tingling, and health problems, just like the resulting frustrations when the train services was disrupted.
Our role as chiropractors is similar to that of the engineers who check the tracks to make sure that there is no misalignment and the tracks are free of any disconnection problems. A spine that is free from misalignment will have an efficient nerve system, therefore optimal health, just like the previous standard of our “world-class” train system. Therefore, it is important for anyone with a spine to see a chiropractor regularly to make sure that there is no misalignment to cause disruption of services to your nerve system.
