STRESS In 3 Dimensions

STRESS, STRESS, STRESS. Prior to my work as a Chiropractor I had only heard the word STRESS in association with school, work, relationships, finances, etc. All the psychological ones. I knew that STRESS kills! I also knew that STRESS will cause hair to fall out and jaws to clench. We'd heard the stories of STRESSed-out folks suddenly having a heart attack and dying...STRESS kills! The subject seemed to be focused on psychological STRESS only. At least for most conversations.

But, like many things, of course, there is more to the STRESS story than meets the eye. Make absolutely no mistake, STRESS kills! Where the story expands is there are two more STRESSors that need to be included into the conversation: Physical and Biochemical STRESS.

Physical STRESS includes but no limited to: birth trauma (80% of births result in some form of birth trauma to the spine), sports injuries, car accidents, computer programming, desk work, yard work, etc.

Biochemical STRESS included but not limited to: sodas, alcohol, smoking, processed foods, any 'food' that is not whole, sugar, etc. Simply because it has calories does not make it a food. If food could be defined as something that will help the body thrive, like gazelle meat for a tiger and broccoli for the human then we would have to call most of what is in a grocery store...not FOOD...or more so, biochemical STRESSors.

In reality then, STRESS is three dimensional. Physical, Biochemical and Psychological. As these STRESSors accumulate the nervous system becomes negatively affected. Since the nervous controls and coordinates everything we feel and experience our life experience starts to diminish due to illness and STRESS on the nervous system. STRESS on the nervous system ultimately creates disorder in the body as seen in many of the symptoms and disease people are experiencing today. Again, it is this disorder that will lead to disease. Remove the STRESSors that are negatively affecting the nervous system AND get your spine checked (see Subluxation Station for a description of what is used at Noble Chiropractic to determine how much STRESS your nervous system is experiencing) and cleared by a wellness chiropractor and the life experience becomes greatly enhanced. Continue on the same path and I am sad to say STRESS does indeed kill. 

Thanks for reading!

A REAL Food Concept Rather Than Manufactured Food For The Athlete

During the High Cascade 100 last year I reached a point when I could no longer take in another swig of the Hammer product that was in my bottle or in my Hammer flask (gel). I was done with all of it. I just wanted REAL food. "Back in the day" (I can say that since I started racing mountain bikes in the mid 80s) our fuel was real food. Bananas and oranges were the most used at aid stations along with cookies, PBJs the size of a Tapas and water. We did long races too. Typically 2-4 hours were the finishing times. Granted the food was not as convenient as today's products but, again, it was real and did not leaving me wanting to hurl with the next suck on the bottle or bite of an energy bar.

My solution to this great dilemma: make my own energy drink using real food. Can Hammer product be BETTER than REAL food in terms of bringing me to a higher level of performance? Logic, of course, dictates a big 'NO' to that question. But, like many, I bought into the rhetoric or, more so, the convenience about performance fuels. Until now.

A few months back we bought a Vitamix blender. For those not familiar with the Vitamix it is a high powered commercial blender that you might think when first turning it to HIGH your lights will suddenly dim in your house. It is that powerful. My wife has always questioned manufactured endurance fuels and suggested I just make a smoothie. Novel ideal. So with the Vitamix sitting on the counter and ready to go I started to experiment. And much to my delight and not really surprised the smoothies work fantastic. After all I am giving my body fuel that we are designed to eat....for the most part...the oats and honey are somewhat of a deviation from that idea but they are...REAL. And they taste good...I get to design the taste around what I am feeling like on a particular day.

An idea to try (this is what I have been doing for 2 bottles):
1 cup blue berries
1 or 2 bananas
1 heaping spoon of honey
1 heaping spoon of almond butter (that I make in the Vitamix after roasting the almonds)
1 cup whole oats (Vitamix will leave you wondering where the oats went...no grittiness whatsoever)
water as much as needed to thin it out and have it fill 2 bottles
Blend on HIGH for 30-60 seconds and it will be smooth.

I have also thrown a carrot in there, kale and chard (a leaf or two...excellent source of vitamins and minerals) as well. One could also get some caffeine in there is wanted with the toss of a few beans (the Vitamix will surely blend it but I am not sure about less powerful blenders) or a shot of espresso. The possibilities are endless and are only limited by one's imagination.

It really has been amazing and kept me going strong. No question about it. My stomach never feels that nasty feeling like after using those manufactured fuels on long rides. 

Should you try it out shoot me a note and let me know if it worked out. Also, if you have a tasty recipe that you would be willing to share let me know so I an try it out and post it.

Thanks for reading!

Biomechanical Breakdown Is Really A Health Issue

The knee starts to hurt. Rest is doing little to help it other than not aggravating it. There is no explanation for the knee pain other than when running down or up or for X amount of time is the usual statement I hear. Often the diagnosis is something along the lines of, "your quad (VMO in many cases) is not firing or your glut is not firing so you need to do these exercises to get them firing again and this will allow your patella to track straight again" or "your IT band is too tight so you need to stretch it out." I am pro stretching and strengthening. But the bigger question that should always be asked is this. Why are, for example, the muscles of the right leg "firing" while the left is not? Serious question here. Why? Or why is one IT band "tight" while the other side functions without issue? The answer is this. A muscle will not "fire" when there is a lack of nerve supply to that muscle. Lack of nerve supply results in the muscle not doing its job which allows the biomechanics to break down thus causing hip, knee, foot, shoulder, etc. issues. Once the biomechanics breakdown, soft tissue will need to adapt and this will often cause scar tissue, hence the need for the some soft tissue work. Lack of nerve supply will also result in a loss of strength, hence the need to possibly do some strengthening of those muscles supporting the area in question.

To the bigger issue. Barring a blow to the knee or any other area in question that causes a tissue injury like a torn meniscus, there really is just one reason why biomechanics breakdown and that is nerve interference (aka SUBLUXATIONS) in the spine. It's that simple. Biomechanical breakdown is PRECEDED by subluxations. Subluxations come first. No doubt about it. The brain needs to connect to the body through the spinal cord and out the nerves. If the bones in the spine are not moving correctly or at all (a subluxation) that causes the obstruction of nerve impulses from the brain to the body. It is an absolute. You can stretch, strengthen, rub, electric stimulation, ultrasound, put orthotics under your feet (a woefully over prescribed device if I have ever seen one) or do whatever but until the subluxation is cleared you will have poor biomechanics. Those modalities may allow for some tissue healing thus allowing it to "feel better" but once those modalities are stopped and the running or whatever returns to full speed the odds of it coming back are very high.

On a larger level though there is a real problem that is creeping up. Biomechanical breakdown is really an indicator of decreasing health...those nerves that come off the spinal cord and go through the vertebrae to your leg also feed to the organs. The organs and muscles share the same outlet off the spinal cord into the body through the vertebrae. There is no separation. If your leg is not receiving proper amount of nerve supply neither are your organs. I hope one will recognize that as not being a good thing. That is why one will often see a decrease in health when the knee is bothering them or more so for the athlete a decrease in performance and recovery leading up to the knee injury. Now not only are the muscles of the leg not getting enough nerve supply to give proper biomechanics but also your organs are not getting proper nerve supply causing an absolute decrease to your health. Since the nervous system controls and coordinates ALL functions of the body health will naturally suffer without proper nerve supply. So a hurt knee caused by biomechanical breakdown is a health issue. Whoa!!!

So when a patient shows up with the chief complaint of knee pain (or IT Band, hip pain, plantar fasciitis, etc.) the two things I can be relatively sure of: 1) they have subluxations and 2) therefore their health is being affected negatively. Correcting the subluxations through chiropractic adjustments will not only start the correction of the biomechanics and get one back to a lifestyle of running but also and for many more importantly return one's health and prevent health problems in the future.

Thanks for reading!

How Do You Know If You Are Heathy?

My initial schooling in chiropractic led me to believe that chiropractic was about alleviating back or neck pain. However, if we look at what chiropractic care can actually do for the body pain is only the tip of the iceberg and not the main objective. Pain is an indicator at best and an indicator at worst. An absence of symptoms such as pain does not mean one is healthy. Pain, if you are lucky can get you to someone who can tell you something is wrong on a larger scale...like having a heart attack. (Before reading any more check out this video of Dr. Mancini on television show The Doctor.)

Jim Fixx, the 240 lb., 2-pack a day smoker turned runner who published The Complete Book To Running in 1977. At age 35 he took up running and living smoke free. He died of a heart attack at age 52 after his daily run. Was he healthy the day before the heart attack? I will say, 'no.' Did he have pain telling him he was not healthy? I don't know. It seems many heart attack victims do not know it is coming.

Another example is for those who have suffered the dreadful "gall bladder attack." My understanding is those who have had one do indeed feel as if they are under attack. If one is to base health on being pain free then it would be fair to say that removing a gall bladder and therefore removing the pain that person is in a better state of health than prior to the gall bladder removal. And that would, of course, be absurd as I think most would agree.  

So what is health then? How does one know if they are healthy? Often the answer is we don't. Again, an absence of symptoms is not an indicator of health...not even close. The central nervous system is comprised of sensory (pain, touch, heat), motor (think moving muscles) and autonomic (everything that works automatically without you having to think...organs, glands, blood vessels) fibers. Sensory is about 10% of the central nervous system while motor and autonomic comprise the other 90%...the part you can't necessarily FEEL.

Back to Jim Fixx, he smoked and was 240 lbs. when we stopped and turned to a life of running. However, he still had a heart attack at age 52. Another is Lance Armstrong who was one of the fittest athletes in the world when he was diagnosed with cancer shortly after pulling out of the 1996 Tour de France. Exercise and diet are not all there is to health. So what else? And the answer is your nervous system. Stress from physical (accidents, poor workstation posture, etc.), biochemical (smoking, alcohol, sugar, non organic veggies and fruits, sodas, etc.) and mental/emotional stress (racing the Tour, marriage, finances, etc.) will create subluxation patterns in your spine creating nerve interference. Once those patterns are created they will not change with diet and exercise alone...again Jim Fixx. Detecting those patterns and correcting them using chiropractic adjustments are the key to returning to health along with stopping the stresses that caused them in the first place. Once that is done we see "miracles" as digestion, bowel issues, low energy issues, etc. start to subside and clear. The body is returning to its self-healing, self-regulating ways as the nerve interferences are reduce and corrected. And with this folks have a happier, healthier life. It is awesome to watch unfold. 

We use the Space Certified Insight Subluxation Station (just like on this video of Dr. Mancini on The Doctor!) to detect the interference patterns so there is no guessing with your health. Jim Fixx's nervous system likely had a great deal of subluxations since he was a 2 pack a day smoker prior. The biochemical stress from smoking 2 packs a day is...high.And, again those patterns simply do not correct on their own and the nerve interference disappear. Once the circuit breaker has been tripped nothing we do will reset the circuit until we go to the box and flip the switch to turn the power back on. Same goes for us. How long do you want your organs to be living on less than ideal nerve supply? Don't wait for pain to be your indicator. Get your spine checked today. If it is clear, great! If not, you may want to have some care to get those subluxations corrected.

Thanks for reading.

The case of a snoring 10 week old infant

This is why my passion is so high for chiropractic. Last week a patient brought her 10 week old infant in for a checkup. He had been snoring since birth...albeit very cute, not normal. His mom also noted he was gassy and bloating after eating, and that she was "not able to get a lot done because he always wants to be held"....often a sign of discomfort. It was also noted that his head was tilted to the left which was very noticeable while in his car seat.

Examination of the spine revealed...subluxations (often a person's first trauma is done at birth resulting in subluxations) in his spine most noted in the upper neck and low back. We proceeded to adjust these areas (infant adjustments are very light touch). After 2 treatments his mom noted his snoring subsided (yep, gone!), he was not gassy and bloated like he had been, his desire to be held much of the time was "definitely" less...meaning he was likely to be more comfortable, and his head tilt to the left was no longer present. Wow! How cool is that?! A 3rd visit indicated a barely detectable subluxation in the upper neck. Infant subluxations will often clear very fast and now I will not see him for another month.

Two adjustments cleared out his snoring, head tilt, and the need to be constantly held. The gas and bloating are subsiding as the body has to do a bit of healing. Super positive changes. Very cool to say the least! Fast changes when one gets the nervous operating interference free. Simply stated developing without nerve interference is key to attaining optimum health as all functions in the body are controlled and coordinated by the nervous system. 

This is why I got into the profession!

Development Of A Child's Nervous System

When you were just an embryo at about 3 weeks after conception your nervous system started to form. This was your first system and all others came after that because the nervous system is your foundation. And your nervous system, consisting of your brain, spinal cord, and nerves controls and coordinates ALL functions of your body. So let's say you are suddenly roused out of your relaxed environment of your mother's womb with what feels like a squeezing or pushing sensation. "What is happening to me? Why am I being forced out of this comfortable, chill place? And where am I going? And what's the rush?" After what seems like hours of being pushed and squeezed you finally go through an opening where these enormous hands (or if you are really unlucky...forceps) greet you and start pulling. As the doctors hands pulls from your head sometimes twisting to get those shoulders to come out you just try to hang on and suddenly...your new life begins. "Whoa!" you might say to yourself. "That was a bit violent don't you think? My neck hurts!"

The reality of the birth process resulting in subluxations (see previous blog for definition) is very likely in much of the population. Subluxations at birth can cause lifelong issues. Remember the nervous system controls and coordinates ALL functions of the body. Growing and developing with subluxations can sometimes have devastating effects leaving a parent to wonder why their child is developing slowly.

"90% of the stimulation and nutrition to the brain is generated by movement of the spine. This would be analogous to a windmill generating electricity." Whoa! Do you get that? So movement of the spine is needed to stimulate and get nutrition to the brain! That is huge! If your spinal segments are not moving (subluxated) you are not generating the electricity at the capacity you are capable of producing.  By the way, a really smart person figured this out and won the Nobel Prize for it in 1981.

So what do you think will happen to an infant who is subluxated from birth and has areas of his or her spine not moving? For one, their brain may not develop in an optimum state which may lead to speech delays and learning disability. What else? In one of my patients who is 8 years old they came in with the inability to balance on one leg along with learning issues. After just 4 adjustments to his upper neck he was able to start balancing. After another 4 adjustments he was able to balance on one leg in a steady fashion. We removed the subluxation and his body's nervous system started operate more optimally. Both his brain's balance centers are getting the stimulation and nutrition they need to operate and the muscles that are needed to be strong for balance are also receiving that stimulation. He's elated with the results so far. Other issues that may occur are ear infections, colic, gas, burping, bloating, constipation, etc.

Do your child a favor and get their spine checked by a chiropractor today. If there is nothing there you only spent an hour of your time. Should there be a subluxation you can either head off a potential problem or allow the healing process to begin on a known current issue. Infants and children respond fast to care. For all of my patients I screen their children for free. Detecting and correcting subluxations when they are young can have a very significant impact on there quality of life.

Thanks for reading.
Steve Noble, DC

The POWER Of The Chiropractic Adjustment

Imagine going through all of your teen age years with acne covering your entire face. Those kids did not fair too well in the dating circles back when I was in high school. Imagine having acne that actually caused your face to swell and have pain associated with it. And now imagine looking at yourself daily in the mirror, seeing acne where some are the size of a quarter staring back at you as you apply another hopeful treatment to rid your face of those red mounds filled with puss. This was a 19 year old patient who came into my clinic about four months ago.

Three months after having come in his acne was all but gone. I'm a chiropractor, so naturally I did not treat his acne. What happened though?

Contrary to what we are often told and have learned your body will actually self-heal and self-regulate. Your body is actually really smart, much smarter than most will give it credit. The nervous system is the first system to start development when we are just an embryo. This is because the nervous system controls and coordinates ALL functions of your body: thoughts, movements, digestion, bowel movements, etc. To build a house we do not start with the refrigerator we start with a foundation (your nervous system) and go up from there and if that crumbles so goes the house (your body). The brain, spinal cord and nerves make up your nervous system. If your nervous system shuts off so goes your body...i.e. quadriplegic. For your body to function at 100% optimum health it must be free of nerve interference (subluxation). Nerve interference is similar to static on a cell phone. "What? I can't hear you?" If the signal becomes too weak the line goes dead. If the nerve impulse slated for the organ or muscle is not at 100% the organ or muscle also will not be operating at 100%. This is what was happening to my patient with acne. They had nerve interference (subluxation) (unbeknownst to them because unless there is pain associated with the subluxation we will not always know it is there...which is the case probably 97% of the time) causing an organ to not operate as it was intended. The result was a toxicity of sorts that was most likely responsible for their acne.

As the brain sends signals down the spinal cord to its final destination of an organ or a muscle it must pass through the spinal column (vertebra). If there is a section not moving or moving in a manner not designed to do a nerve interference will be result. Meaning the nerve flow is interrupted or compromised creating static in the line. The magic for my patient was this...once we got the area of the spine associated with the intestines (ileocecal valve or ICV to be exact) moving and doing so in a proper way their acne started to clear. Once we restored movement, the static was no longer there and their ICV started to work again. After three months not only was their acne cleared by 95%, but their confidence and outlook on life had improved a great deal as you might imagine it would.

We did not treat the acne but we did remove the nerve interference that was inhibiting nerve flow to their ICV which was creating the toxicity. All the creams, pills, food elimination, supplements they tried could not do what adjusting their spine did...remove the nerve interference or subluxation and allow the body to self-heal and work as it was designed. Now imagine how their life would be had they been adjusted and had proper chiropractic care as a child. Yep. Seemingly no acne. Probably would have been a different high school experience.

Thanks for reading.
Steve Noble, DC, CCSP

Next blog: what CAUSES the subluxation of nerve interference.