Medical

Lung cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States after heart disease.  The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2010, more people will die from lung cancer in the U.S. than breast, prostate and colon cancer combined.  Yet death from lung cancer is the most preventable cause of death.
Smoking accounts for 87 percent of all lung cancer deaths. 

Myth:  When someone is hearing-impaired, that just means that sounds are not loud enough.  If they would just ask people to speak up, wouldn’t they be able to function without a hearing aid?
Fact:  Volume is just a small part of hearing loss.  Some people have trouble hearing in crowds or in group conversations, and some cannot distinguish certain sounds.  Words may seem mumbled or run together.  A hearing aid can help solve these problems, making it easier to enjoy conversations again – and so much more.

This month Invisalign, the clear alternative to braces, introduces its newest product: Invisalign G3.  The advent of this product will allow more patients than ever before to achieve the confident new smiles they have always wanted without wearing traditional braces!  With the latest generation of innovations, Invisalign G3 has been engineered to deliver better results for everyone, and to treat patients who have bite problems, not just crooked teeth.

Think about your teeth. Are they discolored, misshapen, or crooked? Do you always have a tight lipped smile in pictures to prevent anyone from seeing your teeth? With recent advances in cosmetic dentistry, it’s now easy to get the smile of your dreams. One of the most popular cosmetic procedures today is porcelain veneers. Unlike crowns, which enclose the entire, often damaged, tooth, veneers are custom crafted shells designed to cover only the front side of your teeth. Because your dentist has complete control over redesigning your smile, he or she can shape the veneer to correct any flaws and complement the natural symmetry of your face.

Adolescence is the time for discovering our true identity.  This task is challenging for many people, so they choose to step into a role.  Roles are predetermined, with specific expectations of you and others.  We believe this will make our life easier, but, by avoiding our identity search, we find that things don’t seem to fit well as we age.
Identities are different than roles; in that identity qualities remain constant no matter what role we’re in. 

In a recent study published by Harvard Medical School, 80 percent of Americans at some point in their lives experience lower back pain.  It’s the fifth most common reason for visiting a doctor, one of the top reasons people miss work, and the most common cause of work-related disability in people under age 45. Outside of trauma, research suggests that more than half of those suffering are caused by improper biomechanics of the feet.  This is also true with knee and hip pain.

Most people think of massage as a luxury only for the rich and pampered, but in truth, massage is an affordable, therapeutic, and powerful tool in healing.  As a part of all our Eastern medical practices, massage is a key in balancing the mind, body, and spirit.
There are many benefits of massage or bodywork. 

It’s that time of year again! Holidays are a wonderful time, and frequently they are the one or two times a year we are able to spend sustained time with parents or other aging loved ones. If we do see them daily, sometimes we can’t see the forest for the trees, and may not recognize a cognitive and/or physical decline.  Regardless of whether you see someone daily or occasionally, here are some recommended “Quick Check” activities.

To begin, let’s first talk about Amalgam fillings.  Sometimes referred to as silver or metal colored fillings, an amalgam filling is a stable alloy made by combining elemental mercury, silver, tin, copper and possibly other metallic elements.  Constant pressure from chewing, grinding or clenching can cause dental fillings, or restorations, to wear away, chip or crack. 

Acupuncture is one of the oldest and best known types of alternative medicine. Originating in China, the practice has reduced pain and cured ailments in the East for over two millennia. It wasn’t until the 1970s, with Richard Nixon’s trip to China, that the West was exposed to this revolutionary technique. Despite initial reservations, Americans have fully embraced acupuncture. Celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow, Elle Macpherson, and Jim Carey rave about the increased quality of life derived from acupuncture, and Sarah Michelle Gellar even sends her dog for treatment.

Great technological advances have been made over the years in the adhesives or “dental glue” used on orthodontic brackets.  These advances have allowed for smaller brackets that are less visible and more comfortable for patients.  Even with the best “glue” however, there are some diet guidelines that need to be followed during orthodontic treatment to prevent broken brackets.
Hard foods such as nuts and cashews, hard candy, corn on the cob, carrots and popcorn need to be avoided at all cost. 

Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in this country, with approximately one million Americans developing it each year.  Skin cells, the building blocks that make up the skin, mature and die off daily and new skin cells are formed to take their place when healthy skin cells grow and divide.  When this process of skin transformation goes wrong, new cells form before the skin needs them, and the old cells do not die when they should.  These extra cells can form a mass of tissue called a growth or tumor.

Screening is defined as testing done routinely on a certain schedule, not done because of symptoms.  It may seem obvious which tests are useful to prevent getting cancer or dying from it, but in fact the opposite is true.  A useful test must meet certain criteria.  It must be looking for a cancer common enough that many cancers can be prevented or found early.  Second, the test must be effective at finding that cancer.  It must be safe, reasonably easy to tolerate, and not too expensive. 

1. You may be injured and not know it.  Most individuals mistakenly believe that they will be in significant pain if they have an injury.  This is not always true.  Some damage can be minor enough to cause minimal to no pain.  After a car accident you should have an in-depth medical history and examination, along with any necessary x-rays.  Getting diagnosed will help to establish the proper course of treatment.  Chiropractic is an excellent resource for creating a care plan to help you throughout the healing process.  This treatment can include ice and heat therapy, adjustments, physio-therapy, therapeutic massage, and rehabilitative exercises.

The truth is that it works.  Some studies have shown an 86 percent effectiveness, whereas the odds of effectiveness of drugs and surgery are no better than flipping a coin.  However, be aware that some doctors and manufacturers claim to achieve spinal decompression with their machine but do not have the research to support their claims.  As of now, there is only one product available that has the research to support the claim of non-invasive spinal decompression and that is the DRX9000™True Spinal Decompression machine.  The DRX9000™ is the only therapeutic device with FDA 510 K clearance for True Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression™.

Headaches are a sign that something is wrong!  It is not wise to accept headaches as normal and then let them persist.  Get your headache evaluated as soon as possible.  Headaches occur in nearly all ages and walks of life and can be simple to deal with or even life threatening.  There are many types of headaches from sinus to migraines to toxic to the most common type, the tension or “stress” headache, which accounts for about 90 percent of all headaches. 

Trouble falling asleep is a common ailment for a significant amount of Americans today. The reason behind this problem can be difficult to resolve and is all too often fixed with sleeping pills, which can be dangerous if a patient becomes dependent on them. The most common reason behind sleep deprivation is overstimulation, which means the brain is too worked up to immediately switch to a resting state. However, with the help of a few simple ideas, catching those Z’s might become easier than ever before.

You may wonder why people get help for arthritis and high blood pressure, but neglect their hearing loss.  It could be because they are not aware of the potential consequences of an untreated hearing impairment.
When you can’t hear – or respond to – the sounds around you, when you don’t understand the conversation, when you can’t participate in social activities and interactions, you can become a recluse.
And, you are not the only one affected.