GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR EXPECTANT MOTHERS

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR EXPECTANT MOTHERS

THINGS TO DO 

1. Get Chiropractic adjustments during pregnancy, this will increase nerve and blood supply to your baby and uterus to aid in optimal baby positioning and reduce the discomforts of pregnancy.
2. Eat a well-balanced diet, high in protein, iron, vitamins, and minerals.  Read up on good nutrition.  Vitamin/mineral supplements, omega 3 and probiotics are needed.  Eat plenty of fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grains and protein foods.
3. Drink 8 to 10 glasses of water daily.  Fruit juices are good, as are herb teas.  Liquids help keep you regular and unconstipated.
4. Get plenty of sleep – eight or more hours at night if you can, plus one or two short naps during the day.  Never allow yourself to become totally fatigued during pregnancy.
5. Never recline during pregnancy (this may cause baby to become posterior), rest lying down on your side.
6. Exercise in the open air and sun.  Walking daily is great preparation for labor. 
7. Dress in loose clothing which does not constrict any part of your body’s circulation especially over the round ligaments.
8. Prepare your nipples for nursing.  Attending La Leche League meetings and reading about breastfeeding are very helpful.
9. Prepare your perineum (the area between your anal opening and your vaginal opening) for stretching by doing perineal massage and kegal exercises.  Use no harsh soaps on your perineum and oil it once or twice daily with a pure oil, such as wheat germ oil or vegetable oil from a health food store.  Use cotton instead of nylon underwear.
10. Spend time on your hands and knees daily, this helps baby into a good position for delivery.

THINGS TO AVOID

1. Avoid use of caffeinated drinks such as coffee, tea, and cola.
2. Avoid alcoholic drinks. 
3. Avoid as much as you can the use of foods and beverages which are prepared with artificial colorings, flavor, preservatives and other additives of unknown potential.  Read labels carefully.
4. Avoid smoking cigarettes and being in enclosed areas where heavy smoke is accumulating.  SPEAK UP TO SMOKERS!!
5. Avoid use of and contact with pesticides, poisons, volatile paints and varnishes, paint removers, certain glues and adhesives, smoke, soil known to be contaminated with weed killer or other contaminants, and all other chemicals or questionable products. 
6. Avoid all x-rays during pregnancy, even routine dental x-rays are not recommended.

www.family1stchiro.ca 403-347-3261

Family First Chiropractic and Wellness

Dr. Joelle Johnson and Dr. Stephen Kelly

142 Erickson Drive, Red Deer

Tips to Ease the Strain of Caring for a Baby

Tips to Ease the Strain of Caring for a Baby
Caring for a baby is rewarding - and hard work. Like other kinds of work that require lifting, bending, long periods of sitting, and repetitive motions, it can be harmful to your body. Try these simple tips to prevent problems before they begin.

• Put one foot on a box or low shelf when you stand and change diapers. This causes your pelvis to tilt in a way that decreases pelvic fatigue.
• Keep work surfaces at a comfortable height. Put something under the legs of the changing table, for instance, to raise it if you're tall.
• Don't try to hold the baby and wrestle the side of a crib down at the same time. Instead, drop the crib side before you pick up the child.
• Don't bend from the waist when you lift the child. Squat with your back straight, keep the child close to you, and use your leg muscles to rise.
• Don't bend over into the car when putting your child in the car seat. Sit sideways on the seat with the child on your lap, then rotate to face front and put the child in the seat.
• Make sure your feet touch the floor and your back is supported when you sit holding your child. Keep your knees at the same height as your hips or slightly higher.
• Adjust stroller handles so you're not bending over when you push.
• When loading a stroller or groceries in the car trunk, rest one foot on the bumper and keep the load close to your body.

Brought to you by Dr. Joelle Johnson of Family First Chiropractic and wellness, 142 Erickson Drive, Red Deer, Alberta T4R 2X3 403-347-3261 www.family1stchiro.ca

Back pain during pregnancy and labor

Back pain during pregnancy and labor

  84% of patients receiving chiropractic spinal adjustments reported relief of back pain during pregnancy. There was significantly less likelihood of back labor when spinal manipulative therapy was administered during pregnancy.
 Diakow PR, Gadsby TA, Gadsby JB, Gleddie JG, Leprich DJ, Scales AM. J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 1991 (Feb); 14 (2): 116-118
Family First Chiropractic ans Wellness, 142 Erickson Drive, Red Deer 403-347-3261
www.fmaily1stchiro.ca

Myth #3 - Genetically coded diseases are unavoidable

Myth #3 - Genetically coded diseases are unavoidable

Dr. Joelle Johnson and Dr. Stephen Kelly

How many times have you heard someone say, "My mother had arthritis, that's why I have it"? We now believe, through scientific technology, that many diseases are inherited. Genes for specific diseases have been recognized via gene mapping. Many of you may know or have heard of women who have had total bilateral mastectomies, completely prophylactically, because their mothers died of breast cancer, firmly believing that they could not avoid the same fate.

Let's take a closer look at this issue. If having a gene for any illness condemns you to having that disease, then why are you not born with the disease you are coded to have? Why isn't every person who carries a gene for disease suffering at all times from that disease? The answer is that all genes do not express themselves at all times and many never do. There must be a reason why the body would call upon a gene to express itself. Otherwise, none of us would be able to survive the onslaught of genetic expression. So what is it that causes a gene to express itself? If you consider for a moment that diseases are just a complex of symptoms being incorporated by the body in an attempt to protect itself from tissue destruction and/or imminent death, you may begin to get a clearer understanding of what I am trying to say. Once we begin to pay attention to the reasons that a gene might express itself, we may be able to prevent that gene from releasing its code for illness.

To do this, one must look again at the lifestyle of the patient. As stated earlier, degenerative illness is a function of free radical damage to our cells over time. If someone carries the gene for arthritis, for example, one would expect genetic coding to foster storage of free radicals in their joint tissues. The prolonged exposure to these free radicals over time will cause progressive vicariations, which lead to cellular damage and eventual joint destruction.

But what if we intervene on behalf of gene expression by controlling the formation and liberation of free radicals in the body? Would there then be a need for the gene to express itself? I contend that there would be no need for this gene to express because, as I stated earlier, disease is the body's way of protecting itself from rapid destruction of tissues and/or imminent death. If it doesn't have to go to extraordinary lengths to protect itself, the gene remains dormant and no disease ensues.

So, again, we must look at the lifestyle and diet of the patient to discover why their body is failing to control the formation, liberation and damage caused by free radicals. You have all heard the term "antioxidants" and for good reason. Antioxidants are the nutrients we require in order to neutralize free radicals so they can then be eliminated from the body in a harmless form. Many people in our society live on nutrient deficient diets from highly processed and refined foods that do not supply essential nutrient protection.

You should be beginning to see the pattern here. Are we treating cancer by cutting it out? Are we treating arthritis by suppressing the protective inflammation brought about by years of free radical damage? Does coronary artery bypass grafting cure cardiovascular disease? Of course not. Our goal should be in maximizing understanding of cause and effect and employing life affirming, nutrient-rich diets with a healthy, wholesome, natural lifestyle. This is the way to "prevent" genetically coded diseases.

Dr. Stephen Kelly and Dr. Joelle Johnson are located at Family First Chiropractic and Wellness, 142 Erickson Dr. Red Deer, T4R 2X3 403-347-3261

www.family1stchiro.ca

Chiropractic Can Promote Heart Health

February is National Heart Health Month - Chiropractic Can Promote Heart Health

While most companies, doctors, or groups celebrate Heart Health Month by suggesting you get your blood pressure checked or place yourself on statin drugs, at Family First Chiropractic we want you to have a healthy heart by having a healthy nervous system.

Heart disease continues to be the number one killer of Canadians, and shows no signs of stopping. Cardiovascular disease also poses the greatest burden on our healthcare system, costing us billions each year in healthcare resources.

The good news is that most of the factors that contribute to heart disease are under your control. Although family history and genetics do play a part, lifestyle factors often lead to the development of heart disease. Smoking, obesity, stress, physical inactivity, and diets high in fat are some examples of lifestyle factors that can lead to heart disease. All of these can be controlled, and should be managed appropriately to ensure long lasting heart health. The Public Health Agency of Canada has valuable resources that help educate the public on cardiovascular disease prevention. Please visit their site to learn more about heart disease causes and prevention.

Most people are aware that diet and exercise are key components of preventing heart disease, however less people are aware that chiropractic treatment may also be used as a tool in the fight against heart disease. 

While most of the focus involving heart health has revolved around diet, exercise and prescription medications, there's some indication that certain chiropractic procedures could help to improve the overall health of the heart. Adjustments to the spine may lower blood pressure in individuals suffering from hypertension and provide a better heart rate for everyone.

Medicine at Rush University in 2007, realignment of the atlas vertebrae, also known as the C1 vertebrae of the cervical spine, can help to lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure in people suffering from hypertension. There appears to be a link between compression of the vertebral artery and an unhealthy elevation in blood pressure. By realigning the C1 vertebrae in the neck, restriction along the arterial wall is relieved and you may experience a decrease in blood pressure. Other studies have shown that adjustment of the vertebrae in the neck and lower back can activate specific nervous system reflexes, leading to a decrease in overall heart rate and blood pressure. 

There's also some indication that adjustments to the cervical spine, which are the seven vertebrae found in the neck, may help lower your heart rate. This is largely due to the eight pairs of cervical nerves located within this area of the spine. The Upper Cervical Health Centers of America believe that interferences within these nerves can cause many health conditions, including those that affect the heart. When the cervical spine is placed in alignment, the nervous system is allowed to better communicate with the rest of the body. In relation to the heart, the improved communication can help bring your heart rate down to a healthy level.

Brought to you by Dr. Stephen Kelly and Dr. Joelle Johnson of  Family First Chiropractic and Wellness, 142 Erickson Dr, Red Deer, 403-347-3261

www.family1stchiro.ca

Myth #2 - Inflammation is bad

Myth #2 - Inflammation is bad

Ask any doctor what to do about inflammation and the answer will be a uniform, "Take an anti-inflammatory." While it is true that taking medication to suppress inflammation can certainly lead to increased comfort, should we be doing that in the first place? Is inflammation bad? Is it something that occurs by freak accident, some physiologic aberration, that occurs and causes great distress and suffering amongst mankind? We have been conditioned to think of inflammation as something bad because it causes pain and makes us miserable, therefore it should be medicated and suppressed. Right? Wrong.

Inflammation is a directed response by the immune system designed to detoxify, repair and protect tissues under any form of functional or metabolic stress. It is important to understand the purpose of inflammation in order to see why we should not work to suppress it, but rather to support it.

Whenever there are tissues in our body under any form of functional or metabolic stress, the problem will be immediately identified by the immune system. It first recruits a pathway called primary inflammation. This pathway is employed by the body in order to detoxify the tissues under stress (as tissues under stress increase their metabolic rate and produce more toxic by-products) as well as facilitate the repair of any injured cells. A primary inflammatory response will produce no symptoms in low-level stress situations, as long as it is efficient in managing the problem. You would not even know that this process is going on because there are no identifiable symptoms such as pain, swelling, redness and heat. Cardinal signs of inflammation will occur only when there is rapid, high level stress in an area such as in acute trauma, repetitive stress episodes, allergic/toxic reactions and metabolic disease.

In situations where the stress on the tissues is beyond the capability of the primary pathway, or in situations where there is an inefficient inflammatory response (we will discuss this later in the treatise), the immune system will then incorporate the secondary, or chronic, inflammatory pathway. This pathway is a protective pathway. It prevents rapid tissue destruction by allowing for cellular adaptation to the stress as well as the release of pain-causing chemicals to prevent continued "overuse and abuse" of the involved part. Therefore, the patient becomes aware that there is a problem because they are in pain.

Now that you understand this simplified explanation of inflammation, you can see that inflammation is actually a good thing. It is the body's way of trying to help itself deal with these kinds of issues. It should be obvious then, that anti-inflammatory medications actually impair the body's ability to detoxify, repair and protect itself. Additionally, these medications add toxic load to the body and are responsible for many varied side effects.

What makes more sense, empirically, is to treat these problems mechanistically and supportively. In other words, we want to work to help make the pathway of primary inflammation more efficient, with supportive, rather than suppressive, protocols. There are many natural medicines that can help accomplish the task of supporting our bodies, be they homeopathic, nutritional or herbal. Additionally, we want to be able to identify the reason(s) that this pathway is not functioning efficiently.

It is imperative that we look more comprehensively into our patient's physiology in order to detect reasons why the immune system is not up to the task it is being called upon to perform. To do this, we need to understand our patient's lifestyle, diet, adrenal health, the presence of food sensitivities, free-radical levels (free-radicals being compounds that essentially are responsible for cellular damage and degeneration over time), metabolic function analysis and perhaps other tests. In other words, we must work to comprehensively understand our patient's total health picture and not just concentrate on the body part involved in the pathology.

Dr. Stephen Kelly  is located at Family First Chiropractic and Wellness, 142 Erickson Dr. Red Deer, T4R 2X3 403-347-3261

www.family1stchiro.ca

Massage and Labour Benefits

Massage during labor has enormous benefits and these include

• reduces the laboring mother's perception of pain, thus acting as a natural pain reliever
• alleviates tension and anxiety
• aid in the production of endorphins or "feel-good hormones"
• stimulates contractions
• improves tthe flexibility of muscles
• facilitates blood flow, circulation and fluid drainage
• promotes less muscle tension
• decreases stress levels and fatigue - helping to revitalize the mind and body
• laboring mother feels a greater sense of emotional support

Michaelle de Ruiter is a mother of 2 and a  Registered Massage Therapist and Family First Chiropractic and Wellness, 142 Erickson Dr,

403-347-3261 www.family1stchiro.ca

Myth #1- Technology has improved healthcare

Myth #1- Technology has improved healthcare

Dr. Stephen Kelly Bsc,D.C

Ask any person if they believes that technology has improved health care and you will get a resounding "Yes!" Advances in medical technology now enable us to look inside the human body with relative ease and with great detail. Our surgical tools allow us to operate on all parts of the body with a minimum of trauma and blood loss. Technology has helped us improve the quality of life for millions of patients every year. It has enabled us to save countless lives as well. Therefore, it is certainly a foregone conclusion that technology has, in fact, improved our health. Or has it?

Statistically, since the age of technology, there has been an onslaught of increasing pathology. The amount of illness and morbidity in our society is dramatically rising. There are now more cases of cancer, heart disease, arthritis, auto-immune illnesses, endocrine disorders, developmental disorders, allergies, respiratory problems, infectious diseases, neurological problems, musculo-skeletal pathology, gastro-intestinal disorders, psychological illness, etc., than ever before.

While it is true that our technology has enabled us to better handle the enormity of disorders now facing mankind, it has done literally nothing for "health care." If it had, we would have seen a decrease in the amount of illness and pathology in society. We would have experienced a drop in the amount of people requiring intervention from the medical community. Pharmaceutical companies would not be as rich and powerful as they are if people would be less dependent on medication to "feel well". If anything, advances in technology have fostered a narrow field of vision, focused more on early detection and intervention than on prevention. If, by definition, health care means "the maintenance of good health," then technology has failed miserably to produce any measurable improvement in the overall state of health of mankind.

Dr. Stephen Kelly is located at Family First Chiropractic and Wellness located at 142 Erickson Dr, Red Deer, T4R 2X3, 403-347-3261

www.family1stchiro.ca