What does spinal alignment, muscle balance, posture, etc. have to do with MOOD? At a glance, it seems like more wacky chiropractor "nonsense" to imply that good posture and alignment can have a direct bearing on one's emotional state and mood, right? But don't forget, we're fully integrated beings. The mind and the body are not separate; they are one unit. Everyone knows that when someone is upset or down, their posture changes. The loser walks away slumped over, eyes downcast, mouth turned down, as opposed to the victor, who is upright, chest open, eyes up and mouth in a smile, right?

So, it’s that time of year again! Thanksgiving marks the kickoff of the “piling on the pounds” season for America. By January, everyone is resolving to LOSE SOME WEIGHT! Easier said that done, right? Of course! If this is your pattern, then now is the time to be thinking about what you are going to do to lose some of that weight and what your longer-term motivation and goals are to this end. I find it very helpful to follow a structured program of some sort when cleansing or losing weight, and there are several that we offer through the office. What are the differences and what are the pros and cons of each? Here are my conclusions on the various programs. (And yes, I have done them all. I never recommend anything that I haven’t tried myself!)

The other day, I was chatting with another parent at my son's school, and he (an MD) asked me if I was a physical therapist. "No," I replied, "I'm a chiropractor!" And he said, "Same thing. You 'break' things to fix things!" I think that he was making a joke about how, with the "cracking" and such, it looks/sounds like something is "breaking," and yet, people get better. I didn't really say anything about it at the time, but I thought about it a lot. Is a chiropractor really the same thing as a physical therapist? The answer is NO!

A lot of people are suspicious of the concept of “preventive care.” They feel that if there’s nothing “wrong,” then there’s no reason to have an appointment on the books, and that the only reason to make an appointment is if there is pain. “If it ain’t broke, don’t ‘fix’ it!” That little saying is fine enough… if you’re talking about something that is either “broken” or “not broken!” The body and your health, on the other hand, are considerably more complicated, and work in countless shades of grey, and surprisingly little black and white.

Just a few days ago, at the ripe old age of 96, Jack LaLanne passed away peacefully at his home. Most people know of him as the energetic guy who used to have an exercise show, or the guy who used to promote a juicer, or the old guy who did some crazy fitness stunts (such as towing 13 boats over a mile in Long Beach harbor at the age of 70!). But what strikes me about Jack LaLanne is not just that he was incredibly fit, but that he started out way back in the 1920s struggling with a problem that STILL plagues countless Americans : sugar addiction!

It took me a while to get around to the Wii bandwagon, but… yeah, video games CAN count as “real exercise.” It’s gotten me to thinking about what constitutes “real exercise.” Case in point: today, one of the regulars came in for his adjustment. He’s a guy who works out (in a gym) regularly, obviously gets adjusted regularly, and also does physically demanding work. He’s strong and in pretty good shape, but like many strong guys, his shoulders were chronically tight. “You really need to stretch more,” was the usual advice. “I know,” was the usual answer, and that was that.

Well, actually Shirley drank it first and said it was 'ok' - a little oily (of course!) - so I wasn't the bravest one in the office. Some of you may have seen the little Antidotes for Indiscretions book lying around the office. In it, one of the suggestions for coffee (as a substitution for milk and sugar, which are the components of it that tend to cause people the most problems) is to put a half teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil in the coffee!

Yesterday, I got a robo-message on my voicemail from Kaiser. According to their records, my 7 year-old son has not yet received his flu shot this year. (Well, yeah... and he's not going to!) The robo-message strongly encouraged me to make an appointment for him as soon as possible. Hours later, I read this article. It turns out there are so many negative side effects to this vaccine that several countries are banning its use for children.

People often ask me, "So... do you get adjusted?" (Well, yeah!) or "How often do you get adjusted?" "Who adjusts you?" etc. I sometimes wonder if they are really asking, "Do I REALLY need this care, and would you do it yourself?" The answer is "yes," and it became (literally!) painfully obvious to me over the last couple of weeks. First of all, yes, I do get regular chiropractic care for wellness and preventive care purposes, even if "nothing" is "going on" (i.e. no pain, symptoms, etc.). In a perfect world, I'd get adjusted once a week, like clockwork.

Sometimes (ok, often) a patient will come in with one thing (say, hip pain) and get a seemingly totally unrelated adjustment (say, cranial bone) and then the original thing (hip pain) magically disappears. The patient, usually a perfectly rational person, while relieved, looks completely befuddled and says something to the effect of, "Wow... that was weird!" Do I see this kind of thing "all the time?" Yep. Does it ever stop seeming strange? Nope. I take it for granted when I'm the doctor, but recently I had some experiences as the patient that I wanted to share.