Most people experience occasional, brief, and usually harmless arrhythmias such as a skipped, fluttering, or racing heartbeat. Although those moments may feel scary, most people who experience them have nothing wrong with their heart and need no treatment. More than four million Americans experience more severe heart arrhythmias which accompany additional bothersome signs or symptoms. These symptoms include shortness of breath, fainting, and even an unexpected loss of heart function, breathing, and consciousness. Proactive health always begins with education and proper attentiveness details and warning signs.

Research released in 2018 shows that people who exhibited increased amounts of wear and tear in the neck also experienced higher rates of heart arrhythmias. The study showed that people demonstrating even small amounts of cervical wear and tear were up to 3.1 times more likely to suffer from heart arrhythmias. The same study determined that people who went through a neck rehabilitation program or underwent surgical decompression experienced lower rates of heart arrhythmias. Nerves located in and around the neck, linked directly to the parts of the heart that influence cardiac electricity, provide an explanation for why neck problems are directly associated with heart arrhythmias.

Health personnel treat arrhythmias by implanting a small device near the collarbone which shocks a patient’s electrical signal back into action when it drops below a certain threshold. People recognize these devices as being called pacemakers. Anti-arrhythmia medications or blood thinners also treat the condition. Some cases even involve coronary bypass surgery. Some of these solutions and procedures become necessary in an emergency situation. Evidence-based research proves that a more natural and less evasive solution exists for those suffering from arrhythmia. Chiropractic care provides a minimally-invasive approach to help heart arrhythmia patients get drugless care to help address the cause. The research will continue to reveal the benefits associated with taking care of the spine and nervous system with regard to how Chiropractic care beneficially influences the nervous system and vital organs of the body.

Non-Pharmaceutical Ways to Help Improve Heart Arrhythmias and Blood Pressure Problems 

1) Regular Chiropractic Care – Chiropractic adjustments improve neck movement and alignment. Improves alignments links to improving heart arrhythmias.

2) Neck Pillow – Neck pillows support a proper curve in the neck. 30% of life is spent sleeping and proper neck curvature improves with the use of a good pillow.

3) Fit While You Sit – Maintain appropriate workstation space that supports good spinal alignment, movement, and function.

4) Better Sleep – Experiencing adequate sleep has been linked to improving cases of heart arrhythmias. Blackout any light and lower the room temperature to 68 degrees Fahrenheit to promote better sleep quality.
Neck

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Everyone knows that December usually brings about an increase in stress. An increased risk of heart attacks stems from the added pressure of buying gifts, financial strains, and increased consumption of sugar, salt, and alcohol. Most people will not suffer a heart attack but will still acknowledge that their stress levels increase during this time of year. People whose bodies enter the holiday season in a state of high stress due to high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and poor overall health become that much more susceptible to a heart-related incident.

An initial step towards better health begins with acknowledging and recognizing some inevitable stressors which come with the holidays. Avoid adding guilt and stress by planning ahead to begin or maintain an exercise regimen in advance of some of the extra eating and consumption that will surely take place. Map out a budget that works both in advance and following the holidays to cushion the concerns that come with a credit card and bank worries during December and January. Do not allow destructive stress to breed and accumulate during a time meant for peace and harmony.

The most important aspect of day to day health does not come from simply making a conscious decision to arbitrarily lower stress. Some measure of stress remains inevitable and unpreventable. The key to staying energetic, healthy, and sane during and after the holiday season revolves around improving the body’s ability to cope with stress. Limiting sugar overload and alcohol consumption certainly help in that pursuit but maintaining a body capable of managing stress needs to be a top priority for all people.

Chiropractors take a unique approach to health, disease, and stress. While some health care professionals emphasize changing the environment to suit a person’s already weakened body, Chiropractic focuses on strengthening the body to confidently face any environment. Three simple and effective ways to increase the body’s ability to deal with and mitigate effects brought on by stress include:

1) Chiropractic – Scientific evidence proves that Chiropractic adjustments increase the body’s ability to better deal with and conquer stress. A key indicator to lowering stress while improving health and longevity comes from an increase in heart rate variability. A Chiropractic adjustment, particularly in the upper neck, improves heart rate variability according to a 2013 study from the Journal of Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

2) Sleep – Get at least seven to eight hours of sleep per night as a vital component to off-setting the effects of stress. A key to getting adequate sleep starts with getting to bed on time. Proper sleep combined with Chiropractic adjustments helps balance the nervous system and improve the body’s adaptation to stress.

3) Water – Thirst often comes disguised as hunger. Many people assume they are hungry when the body simply wants a healthy dose of water. Increase water intake throughout the day to suppress unnecessary urges to eat. Water consumption will help avoid an increase in blood sugar (and waistline) and prevent a sugar overload that hinders the body’s ability to heal, adapt, and rest.

Understanding some of the stress triggers of the holiday months allows people to make proactive decisions to enjoy better health during the season. Heightened awareness combined with a few simple strategies will help limit and avoid increased occurrences of stress and allow fulfilling time with friends and family to be the only memories worth remembering.
Holidays

The post Holidays are meant for the HEART, Not HEART ATTACKS 3 Simple Steps to Reduce the Effects of Holiday Stress first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.

Migraines consist of severe, painful headaches which can last for hours or days. The pain arrives accompanied by flashes of light, blind spots, tingling in the arms and legs, nausea, vomiting, and increased sensitivity to light and sound. Migraine headaches produce some of the worst pain that people ever endure. Millions of people suffer from migraines every day and experience an agonizing experience that extends far beyond head pain. Migraines literally shut down a person’s life and render them incapacitated. The medical community offers a migraine solution consisting of some of the most potent drugs available to human beings. The drugs never fully heal the migraines; they simply pump toxins through the body which mask the pain. A better healing solution exists.

Multiple factors contribute to the onset of a migraine. Nutrition, stress, and hormones play key roles in triggering or preventing an attack. The central nervous system engages with all three of these key elements. The brain and nervous system direct the control and function of the entire body. The connection between the brain and body explain why Chiropractic adjustments produce such amazing results for migraine sufferers. One research study determined that people who received upper cervical adjustments reduced their drug consumption by 80%! These same patients detailed a 97% reduction in the number of days spent each month suffering from migraines. The migraine solution led to complete pain relief and restored function in the majority of subjects suffering from migraine headaches.

The spine intimately connects to the central nervous system and regulates communication and hormone production. Proper movement and alignment of the spine allow for necessary and appropriate brain to body communication. Stress and trauma to the body alter spinal positioning and reduce the body’s ability to function and heal at full capacity. Spinal interference alters the brain’s ability to control blood vessels in the head, stress hormones, and other key factors which contribute to migraine onset. Chiropractic adjustments positively impact the body and contribute to optimal physiological performance. Chiropractic research and success stories impact millions of lives. Millions more simply need the benefit of learning more about how Chiropractic promotes health and well-being while freeing people like migraine sufferers from the burden of dark rooms and dangerous prescription drugs.

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Many people come to my office telling me “my hand is numb, do I have Carpal Tunnel”?  In 90% of those cases, and sadly even some they have been to the MD for, it is not the correct diagnosis.

What is carpal tunnel?  You have an indentation within the many bones of your wrist that the muscles that control the flexion of your fingers and your median nerve passes through.  It supplies the palm of your hand and first three fingers.  When you are having carpal tunnel symptoms you are getting compression of the median nerve AT your carpal tunnel.

Many times, even though you have numb fingers, the compression is happening somewhere else.  Often, I find the patient’s forearm to be full of trigger points (tiny painful adhesions between the muscles) that are causing hand numbness.  You can also have hand numbness that is caused by problems with your neck.  If the small holes between the bones of your spine where your nerves exit are causing compression or pressure to build up around your nerves, whatever they supply is not going to get the message.

With any of these issues, your first stop should be a chiropractor.  We are trained to diagnose and treat these problems as well as many others.  If you give chiropractic care a fair chance to work, listen to your doctor’s recommendations and still find after a couple weeks your symptoms aren’t improving, the chiropractor can refer you on for advanced imaging or diagnostics, physical therapy or even a neurologist consult.  Please give us a call at 918-940-4630 to schedule your visit with Dr. Travis Ring DC with Eastern Oklahoma Chiropractic.

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