It’s easy to take good health for granted. The reason for this is because when we do things that do not promote long term health, such as drink, smoke, expose ourselves to too much stress, not get enough rest, or eat junk food…we don’t necessarily pay the price for our poor decisions now…we pay the price later.

Most of us know the things that are good and bad as far a lifestyle choices. What we don’t know is how quick a steady dose of poor decisions can manifest into a disease process, such as diabetes, heart disease, or cancer, that we do not even know is happening…often times until it’s too late.

Did you know that half the time a fatal heart attack is the first symptom of heart disease? That’s right…many people develop heart disease, which is mostly a disease of excess and poor lifestyle choices, don’t know it, and suffer a fatal heart attack as the first sign or symptom. The others are lucky…they survive and are given another chance to do something about it. Some do…most don’t.

It is very common for very successful people to ignore their health as they seek wealth. Only to find out later that health is true wealth. For without it, one is unable to enjoy life to it’s fullest.

My favorite quote says it all:

“When Health is absent, Wisdom cannot reveal itself. Art cannot become manifest. Strength cannot be exerted. Wealth is useless and Reason powerless“ – Herophilus, 300 B.C.

Bottom Line: The lifestyle choices you make today matter. Once we become adults we are the stewards of our own health. Life is like a cafeteria. You can have whatever you want…but there is always a price to pay for your decisions…and the deserts are always at the front of the line. Sure, health is your natural state…but you must care for it and safeguard it against illness day in and day out with healthy choices. Why? Because Health is Precious.

Although most headaches are not life threatening, they can negatively affect your quality of life. In severe cases, a headache is debilitating. Headaches have a wide range of causes, including infection, hangovers from alcohol consumption, fasting, and even serious conditions, such as brain tumors and strokes.

The most common headaches include tension and migraine, which are associated with nervous system disorders. More than 90% of the U.S. population will experience some type of headache. 28 million Americans, including 1 in 5 women and 1 in 20 men, experience migraine headaches. In a migraine headache, the artery on the outside of the skull under the skin of the temple (temporal artery) enlarges. As this process occurs, nerves that surround the artery stretch and release chemicals that cause inflammation and pain. The larger the artery gets, the greater the pain.

Most people know Chiropractic care can be beneficial for tension/cervicogenic headaches. But, can Chiropractic care help migraines too? Here’s what research dating all the way back to 1998 says… The study, published in the Journal Of Manipulative And Physiological Therapeutics, compared amitriptyline (a medication), spinal manipulation, and the combination of both therapies. There was a 4 week baseline period, followed by 8 weeks of treatment and then 4 weeks of follow-up on a total of 218 patients diagnosed with migraine headaches.

RESULTS: “Clinically important improvement was observed in both primary and secondary outcomes in all three study groups over time. The reduction in headache index scores during treatment compared with baseline was 49% for amitriptyline, 40% for spinal manipulation, and 41% for the combined group. During the post-treatment follow-up period, the reduction from baseline was 24% for amitriptyline, 42% for spinal manipulation, and 25% for the combined group.”

CONCLUSION: “There was no advantage to combining amitriptyline and spinal manipulation for the treatment of migraine headaches. Spinal manipulation seemed to be as effective as a well-established and efficacious treatment (amitriptyline). And on the basis of a benign side effects profile, it should be considered a treatment option for patients with frequent migraine headaches.”

I have been providing scoliosis treatment in since 1998, for both children and adults. There are two basic kinds of scoliosis, Aquired and Idiopathic (of unknown origin). Chiropractic should be considered as a treatment option for both.

Scoliosis is a curvature of the spine that is shaped like a “C” or an “S” when looking at the person from behind. I’m sure you’ve noticed when you’re at a beach, at a swimming pool, or walking in an airport, some people have a high shoulder, walk with a bit of a limp if one leg is short, and may have a shoulder blade that sticks out more than the other. Scoliosis often develops for unknown reasons (hence the term, “idiopathic”) during the adolescent age range between 10 or 11 years old and can progress, not change or less often, improve up to age 16 to 18. During these 4-6 years, the time when the adolescent is growing quickly, the curve often worsens without any intervention but few studies have looked at what types of treatment or combinations of treatment work the best, especially non-surgical methods.

A recent study was conducted that looked at the response to non-surgical treatment using conventional medical treatment (MT) vs. conventional MT plus chiropractic, as well as conventional MT and “sham” (fake) chiropractic treatment. This is a pilot study using a small population of patients in order to determine if a larger scale study would be important to run (which was determined to be the case).

The conventional medical treatment approach included two groups – observation (a “wait and watch” approach) in a braced group verses a non-braced group. The chiropractic treatment group received spinal manipulation using “diversified technique” which is widely used where the patient is treated while lying on their stomach, sides, and back and the type of manipulation used was the thrust type where the “cracking” sound occurs (which is caused by the release of gas from the joint capsules and is technically called cavitation). This was applied to the regions determined by the chiropractor as requiring the treatment by using palpation (touch) methods, postural examination, range of motion, and x-ray and all chiropractors involved had 6-hours of training to assure consistent and similar approaches were used. Treatments were administered (determined by a survey of many chiropractors) at 3x/week for a month, 2x/week for a month, 1x/week for a month, and 2x/month for 3 months or as needed for a total of 6 months. The “sham” or fake chiropractic treatment used the same treatment frequency and similar positioning of the patient but purposely did not obtain a joint cavitation or “crack” but still seemed “real” to the patient.

The primary outcome used to determine “success” was a reduction of the scoliosis curve measured on x-ray at a 6-month point. Using the standard medical model, those with curves of 20-25 degrees require careful observation, curves 26-40 degrees are potential candidates for bracing, those greater than 40 degrees are potential candidates for surgery and, an increase in curve by more than 5 degrees measured twice a year or every 6-months is considered failure.

The results are interesting. Of those receiving only conventional medical treatment, none improved and one failed. The same occurred in the conventional MT plus sham/fake chiropractic. NO ONE failed and one improved in the chiropractic treatment plus MT group making it the only successful non-surgical treatment approach in the study. The preliminary findings from this study are huge! Chiropractic treatment in this group of adolescent children was determined to be THE ONLY non-surgical approach that had the ability to maintain (not allow the curve to progress) or even better, improve the curve!

We realize you have a choice in who you choose to provide your health-care services. If you, a friend or family member requires care for low back pain, we sincerely appreciate the trust and confidence shown by choosing our services and look forward in serving you and your family presently and, in the future.

Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic condition that does not limit itself to just one area, but rather it manifests as a generalized, whole body condition where basically everything hurts. The diagnosis is typically made by exclusion, or by eliminating all other possible conditions as there is no single blood test or diagnostic test for FM. Unless other conditions that are test sensitive are present at the same time, most tests come back negative. Of course, this leaves the FM patient upset because, “….no one can figure out what’s wrong with me.” We all seem to want a test to prove what we have is “real.”

Unfortunately, in the real world, no blood test, x-ray, or exam procedure is 100% accurate (sensitive and specific), so even when tests return positive, there can be “false positives” that are caused by many things such as drug induced test alterations and/or other conditions that alter the same test. On the other hand, there are “false negatives,” so even though the test came back negative, it’s still possible that the problem one is present but the test may just not be sensitive (accurate) enough to detect it. FM is one of those conditions where only after a myriad of tests have been run and come back negative, can the diagnosis of FM be made with some degree of confidence.

Essentially, we have to prove that you don’t have something else causing similar symptoms before we can confidently (or at lease more confidently) diagnose you with fibromyalgia. To complicate this further, in “secondary FM,” the cause of FM is known and is due to an underlying condition such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, hypothyroid, HIV, cancer, as well as physical trauma such as after a car accident or a work injury. When an accident is involved, the symptoms may be more confined to one area (then called “regional FM”) making the diagnosis even more challenging as the classic 11 of 18 tender points may not hold up in these cases.

Finally, there are doctors out there that simply don’t “believe in” the condition and may say to the FM patient, “…there is no such thing, it’s all in your head, you simply have learn how to live with it. There’s nothing that can be done.” Well, they actually may be partially right – that is, the “…it’s all in your head” part (don’t get mad… just wait!). Another finding that is well-published in peer review literature is the concept called central and peripheral “sensitization.” This occurs when increased incoming sensory information from injured skin, muscles, and/or organs, in a sense bombard areas in the central nervous system (spinal cord and brain) leaving it “sensitized” or, more sensitive to “normal” incoming information. This is because the threshold or tolerance to normal incoming sensory stimuli is reduced and results in increased muscle pain commonly described by patients with FM.

To better illustrate this, hypersensitivity or central sensitization was found in people after a whiplash injury. They recruited 14 whiplash patients and 14 “normals” to compare their responses when stimulating the leg (the non-injured area) as well as the neck (injured area). Theoretically, if central sensitization didn’t exist, the responses to the exact same stimulus on the healthy leg of both the whiplash patients and the normal subjects would be equal. Instead, what was found was that the whiplash patients had significantly lower pain thresholds for 2 of 3 tests (a single electrical stimulus in the muscle, repeated electrical stimulation in the muscle and on the skin, but not from heat when applied to the skin). Each pain threshold was measured at the neck and leg before and after local anesthesia was applied to the painful, sore neck muscles. In the whiplash cases, the lower pain threshold was found when stimulating both skin and muscles at the healthy leg and at the injured anesthetized neck equally. That proves that the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) has a “pain memory” which lowers the threshold so the whiplash patients feel pain more intensely and quicker than the non-injured people. This can help patients understand the answer to the question, “…why won’t this pain go away?” This pain memory or hypersensitization is similarly found in FM patients.

Chiropractic care, in conjunction with the best fibromyalgia diet, and specific fibromyalgia exercises, can go a long way when it comes to effectively managing the symptoms of fibromyalgia.

I have been practicing chiropractic since 1998. During this time I have learned much. One of the most valuable lessons I have learned is that there is a difference between wanting to be healthy and planning to be healthy.

First of all…everyone WANTS to be healthy…but just wanting is NOT enough.

Just like wanting to be successful is not enough…everyone desires that.

You have to have the will to plan to be successful…the discipline to learn what it takes from successful people and to put in the necessary time learning and spoon feeding yourself information that is necessary to advance in this direction. Then you need to put this information to use…day in and day out…refining and perfecting it as you go. This is not easy and takes time and energy, and dedication…which is why so few reach the top.

Well…the same is true with achieving optimum health. You have to have the will…the desire to express life to it’s fullest…which is not possible unless you have your health.

I have spent my career teaching whoever is willing to listen about the principles of natural healing and creating the conditions of health. According to these principles health is a spontaneous occurrence when the conditions are right. Creating the right conditions is the key and takes planning and ongoing implementation.

The beauty of creating the conditions of health is that YOU are the one in charge. You steer your own ship…either in the direction of health…or in the direction of illness with every lifestyle decision you make. What you eat, how often you exercise, how much water you drink, your pillow, your chair at work, how you relax, what you think, what you read, and what you believe…to name a few…are all conditions of health…and you have control over all of them.

When you consider that over 70% of the dollars in the US that are spent on health-care each year are spent to treat conditions that were preventable (diseases of excess), it makes me think…as a nation are we planning to be healthy…or planning to be sick?

The answer is obvious…it’s in the statistics. But since you have control over your own lifestyle choices you don’t have to be a statistic. I know you want to be healthy…but are you planning to be healthy?

As the father of a six year old I know first-hand how difficult it can be for children to express back pain and discomfort. But more importantly, what about the misalignment’s in the spine that are not even causing any pain, but are setting the stage for problems down the road? How do you know if they exist?

You Don’t!…which is why it’s a good idea to have your children checked periodically by a chiropractor.

They say, and I agree, that many if not most of the spine problems that adults present with to a chiropractor started early on in life. After-all…how many times did you fall as a child? If a bone in the spine loses it’s normal alignment because of a spill or fall, and stays out of alignment, it can lead to early spinal degeneration and even scoliosis. Regular chiropractic check-ups…say every few months, can catch these problems before they turn into something worse.

Chiropractic for children is very safe and gentle…and kids need way less treatment than adults…and they respond quicker too. And for the most part they really look forward to their chiropractic adjustments.

So anyway…if you have kids and you want to reduce the likelihood of spine problems down the road…consider chiropractic…it’s a no brainer

Studies are constantly proving that what you eat can be as powerful and more potent than a prescribed drug. Recently, it was proven that the presence of fresh apples in your diet could improve your memory and sustain brain health. Apples are becoming increasingly associated with brain health after more recent studies have proven the effect of antioxidants and flavonoids present in apples on reducing brain-cell inflammation and oxidation that naturally occurs due to the presence of free radicals.

The consumption of as much as two apples a day heightens levels of acetylcholine, a specific neurotransmitter that greatly influences brain signals responsible for movement and sensory perception.

Not only that, but regular consumption as such was discovered to diminish accumulations of toxins in the brain, particularly one type of toxin called beta-amyloid, which is thought to be one of the main culprits that cause Alzheimer’s disease.

While apples are now being proven to aid, halt, and reverse Alzheimer’s disease, enhance cognitive functions, prevent memory loss and help in other brain-related matters, there are still a multitude of studies being vigorously conducted to prove that apples are the perfect food for diabetics, patients with heart disease, cholesterol, obesity, and constipation.

Sure, the old proverb said one apple a day was enough, but studies suggest increasing that dosage to two apples is a good idea for optimum health benefits.

Within a month or two of rolling out the New Year’s resolutions most people cast them aside. So, rather than go that route, why not set some realistic goals instead? Here’s my short list, which is often a repeat of the previous year. For some reason, I have the need to repeat and improve on what I’ve already done. Does that happen for you, too?

For years now, I have worked with people to help them attain their nutrition goals. But the truth is that you cannot separate out what you eat from your life. Often you need to make lifestyle changes that impact your eating and food choices. It takes at least three weeks, and often more, to change a habit so keep that in mind.

To set a goal that makes sense, we say that it needs to be SMART.

Specific – often a small step

Measureable – how can you tell when you’ve done it?

Attainable – it has to be something that you have the ability to do

Realistic – you can do it in the time frame and way that you’ve allowed

Timely – it is set for a limited time period, often one to three weeks

Here’s my short list for this year when most of us are thinking about health care reform.

1. Eat a green vegetable every day. In fact, make it a goal to eat at least 3 servings (1/2 cup cooked or 1 cup raw) of green vegetables each day to help you reach the ultimate goal of 9 to 11 servings of fruits and vegetables daily.

2. Drink plenty of unsweetened fluids, especially water, herbal and green tea. Avoid sweetened drinks such as sodas.

3. Avoid plastic containers of any sort, especially for storing food and beverages. Glass is wonderful for storage. Buy yourself some canning jars or glass bowls with lids in various sizes to use for storage. Put your water in a glass jar or stainless travel container.

4. Eat fewer white foods, except for cauliflower, onions and fish. White flour, sugar and rice are not what I consider good-for-you foods. A white potato as part of a meal is OK once in awhile. Track how often you are eating these types of foods and work on cutting down on them. Instead of sugary foods eat more fruit. Instead of refined grain products choose more whole grains such as quinoa, brown rice, buckwheat, millet and wild rice.

5. Move daily. The recommendation is to get 10,000 steps each day. Start from wherever you are and build up to that. Most of us can get fitter at any age. Studies show that even if you begin resistance training with weights after age 70, you still build muscle mass and improve balance.

Shoot for one goal at a time. Master it, continue it and move on to the next. It’s best to start with the one that’s easiest so that you can be successful.

Wishing you a happy and healthy, goal-filled New Year.

As the father of a 4 year old I am concerned about how she spends her time. And could any of these activities lead to known health problems…or even worse…health problems we don’t even know about yet? That’s kind of the way it works isn’t it? We find out after the fact that something we have been doing day in and day out is bad for us. But a lot of it is common sense.

Anyway….according to the article in USA Today (1/20/2010, front page), children between the ages of  8-18 are spending an average of 53 hours per week engaged with digital media (mostly TV), such as computers, iPods, cell-phones, video games, etc.

Here is an excerpt from the article entitled: “USA Today: Kids’ digital day: Almost 8 hours” based on research done by The Kaiser Research Foundation:

Kids these days spend so much time with electronic media — cellphones, iPods, video games and computers — that it might as well be a full-time job: more than 53 hours a week, a study finds.

Compared with peers a decade ago, young people spend 79 more minutes of free time each day listening to music, watching TV and movies, playing video games and hanging out online. Nearly twice as many now say they do at least two of these at the same time.

The findings, out today in a Kaiser Family Foundation survey of 2,002 people ages 8 to 18, show that young people spend seven hours and 38 minutes using media in a typical day — up from six hours and 19 minutes a decade earlier.

About the only thing that seems to be fading: ink. Though daily book readership has held steady at about 47% since 1999, the percentage of young people who say they read a magazine every day has plummeted from 55% to 35%. It’s worse for newspapers, down from 42% to 23%.

All sorts of potential problems come to mind…including the potential connection between cell phones and cancer. The most obvious potential problem…and one that I have been dealing with for years at AnaheimHillsChiropractic.com is Forward Head Posture (FHP) and Repetitive Stress Injury (RSI).

It’s the repetition of FHP movements combined with poor ergonomic postures that cause the body to adapt. FHP can lead to all sorts of health problems including headaches, neck pain, back pain, allergies, and arthritis…to name a few. And the thing is…it’s easily preventable with exercises, chiropractic care, and ergonomic instruction. Well…maybe not so easy because we are dealing with kids. But it is preventable and correctable and your chiropractor can help.

So sure, we need to be concerned about electromagnetic fields from all these electronic devices…and the fact that none of these activities typically involve exercise…and the things we don’t even know about yet. But we know about how these activities effect posture…and it happens quick…so the time to have your kids checked is NOW.

To schedule a complimentary posture exam for yourself or your kids at

AnaheimHillsChiropractic.com…call 714-528-4839.

Yes, Chiropractic can help scoliosis. In fact, I have helped hundreds of scoliosis patients over the years. For the most part, scoliosis is of idiopathic (unknown) origin. It is detected after it has been there for a while which makes it hard to know the cause.

There are two basic kinds of scoliosis. They are congenital and acquired.

According to the National Scoliosis Foundation, congenital scoliosis is a condition due to congenitally anomalous vertebral development, but it’s much easier to say “a curvature of the spine caused by birth defects in the spine itself.” 

The most common birth defect is a hemi-vertebrae, which means half the vertebrae forms, while the other doesn’t. This creates an uneven structure which leads to abnormal spinal curvature. There are other congenital causes as well.

Congenital scoliosis cannot be corrected by chiropractic. It can be helped quite a bit…but not corrected.

Acquired scoliosis is a different story. This is where there are no vertebral birth defects, but there is an abnormal curvature of the spine…usually discovered during teenage growth spurts or later on in life.  The origin is still mostly unknown (idiopathic), but there are some very good chiropractic treatment options for acquired scoliosis.

Over the years I have seen some amazing before and after x-rays from scoliosis treatment we have done at our clinics.

So, yes…chiropractic can help scoliosis…both acquired and congenital…it just depends on the specific circumstances and the treatment protocols.

If you would like a complimentary consultation to discuss whether or not our scoliosis treatment methods make sense for you or not…simply call us at 714-528-4839.