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Pediatrics

Pediatric Chiropractic Trusted Choice for Families

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Chiropractic is a safe, holistic, drugless practice that is helping millions improve their health, including kids. Pediatric chiropractic care focuses primarily on restoring health to a child’s spine, brain, and nervous system, and keeping it healthy through every stage of growth and development. This principle is important for adults and children alike.

Pediatric chiropractic is a safe and life-changing practice that helps children heal naturally from all types of conditions and supports good posture to counterbalance technology, spectrum challenges, sitting too much and childhood falls. It helps kids develop with a healthier nervous system which is can improve every aspect of their lives.

How Is It Done?

Performing chiropractic techniques on children is much gentler than it is for adults. Children’s bodies are still in the development process, so chiropractors are trained to take extra care with newborns using extremely light touch or instrument techniques that are specific and effective. Chiropractors will answer every question, engage the child and say what they are about to do next to keep both children and parents at ease. Most children and parents love receiving chiropractic care as they love and enjoy the experience and more importantly the results.

Can Chiropractic Really Help Children?

Chiropractic care has been shown to help kids with conditions such as ear infections, ADHD, autism, cerebral palsy, and more. Parents report that their children become calmer, more focused, sleep better, heal quicker when their child is well adjusted. Pediatric chiropractic care is taught in many of the chiropractic colleges as well as through post-graduate seminars and certification programs. The goal is that kids live and grow healthy, and up to their full potential, 100% for 100 years.

Why Parents Keep Bringing Their Kids in to Get Chiropractic Adjustments

The birth process can be very traumatic to a child’s spine and nervous system. Learning to walk, childhood falls, sports injuries can all cause problems in the spine and nervous system that lead to developmental challenges as children grow, even affecting their immune system. Parents appreciate chiropractic care because of the drug-free approach to health care as more kids than ever are developing dependencies on drugs. As kids continue to age, this dependency has the potential to grow stronger, leading to a drug-addicted life.

Chiropractic’s drug-free protocols can prevent this from happening as seen in the recent reports related to a 50% reduction in Opioids used with chiropractic care.

Pediatric chiropractic helps kids live healthy, drug-free lives. Discover how pediatric chiropractic can be the holistic, whole life answer for you and your family.

Prenatal Chiropractic Care

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Pregnancy is a time of constant and exciting change in a woman’s physiology and overall life as her body prepares for the athletic event of birth. It is important for expecting moms to assemble a birth team to help guide them through these changes and optimize their experience.

In addition to choosing their birth provider, doula, lactation consultant and birth preparation classes, many women are realizing the importance of prenatal chiropractic care. Prenatal chiropractic care addresses the neuro-biomechanics of your pregnancy, which is essential for your body to be able to organically adapt to the physical and functional changes during every stage of this beautiful and natural process.

What does this mean for you?

Chiropractic checkups and adjustments, when necessary, can…

  • Balance the body and soft tissues of the pelvis, preparing your pelvis for an easier birth.
  • Align your pelvis to ensure that it is moving properly.
  • Reduce torsion and tension on the uterus and its supporting ligaments.
  • Allow for the pelvis to open wider during birth.
  • Ensure optimum nerve function.

Your nervous system controls the function of every cell in your body, including your uterus and pelvic muscles – the main muscles of labor.

Chiropractic care during pregnancy can also benefit your baby. The nervous system is the first system that forms in your baby during the 3rd week after conception. Since your nervous system communicates with your baby’s nervous system, proper function can contribute to better development. Balancing your pelvis also allows your baby the chance to have the most room to develop without physical restrictions to the growth of their cranium, spine and other skeletal structures. Also, this can help the baby move into the best possible birth position when it is their time to arrive.

All of these factors can contribute to a more natural birth as well as a significant decrease in dystocia and birth trauma caused by interventions.

Chiropractic care can help make your pregnancy and birth experience healthier and more enjoyable while helping to minimize the risk. No wonder millions of women include chiropractors as a vital member of their birth team.

Schedule an appointment for your family today.

Contributed by Dr. Emily Plasker, 100 Year Lifestyle Affiliate Chiropractor in Bend, Oregon

Preventing Childhood Obesity

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Raising healthy children and preventing childhood obesity is an important parental responsibility. Are your children at risk for developing high blood pressure? They are if they are overweight. According to the July 2005 issue of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) News In Health, more than twice as many children are overweight now compared to 30 years ago. In fact, among the 6-11 age group, the number of overweight children has more than tripled.

Approximately 16 percent of American children are currently overweight. In addition to increasing blood pressure, childhood obesity has caused a dramatic increase in Type 2 Diabetes and metabolic syndrome. So what is causing the alarming increase in childhood obesity? As with adult obesity, the answer is a poor diet and lack of physical activity.

The alarming increase has gotten the attention of our nation’s policy makers, as well. Beginning with the 2006 school year, federal mandates now require school systems to develop standards of nutrition and activity for all school children, and establish healthy school nutrition environments. Take a close look at what your kids eat each day and then start to make gradual improvements. Kids today are eating too much high-calorie food that is low in nutritional value, so avoid French fries, hot dogs and doughnuts. Replace soda with water. Eat whole grains (whole wheat bread and pasta, brown rice, oatmeal, etc.) instead of the refined alternatives. To help your children eat an abundant variety of fruits and vegetables, serve raw veggies at snack time instead of chips or cookies. A child who initially dislikes a particular food often tries it again and likes it once it becomes a familiar offering, so continue to serve a variety of vegetables at mealtime. It is also fine to be sneaky: add finely minced spinach, kale or broccoli to sauces, soups and stews. Start each meal with smaller portions of food and then eat slowly, while conversing. Finally, never force your children to eat everything on their plates. Instead, teach them to stop eating when full.

Also, many children are spending too much time watching TV, playing video games, and surfing the internet, so limit their sedentary activities. Encourage your kids to run around outside each day, do chores around the house and dance to music. Get them involved in a sporting activity. According to the National Institutes of Health, children should get at least 60 minutes of moderate physical activity each day.

Obese children are likely to become obese adults, so it is important to instill healthy eating and activity habits early on. In addition to your child’s healthy diet and activity level, having their nervous system checked for interference is another important piece of your family wellness program. A healthy functioning nervous system will ensure that your child receives the maximum benefit from their healthy diet and activity as they grow.

Preparing for a Healthy Pregnancy

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Give Your Baby a Healthy Start

Planning a family is an exciting time for any couple. There are books to read, videos to watch and doting relatives all too willing to share their stories. With the possibility that your baby could live to be 80, 90, 100 years and beyond, soon-to-be parents need to understand their choices and how those choices will affect your baby for a lifetime.

The best thing you can do for your baby is to give him or her a good head start in life by having a healthy pregnancy. But did you know that having a healthy pregnancy can actually begin before conception? Healthy lifestyle habits prior to conception will better your chances of providing the best developmental environment for your child while they are in the womb.

Risky behaviors should be avoided, such as using drugs, over-indulging in alcohol, and exposure to tobacco products. Just as important as the list of “what not to do when planning a baby” is the list of “things to start doing.” This includes proper nutrition, prenatal vitamins, exercise and stress reduction.

Proper Nutrition is Vital

Proper nutrition is vitally important to the health of your baby. The food you eat becomes the building blocks your baby’s Innate Intelligence will use to develop their eyes, ears, lungs, heart, muscles, skin and brain. There are many ways to determine which foods are most beneficial and why, but to keep things simple, follow this guideline: If it grows, eat it. If it comes in a package with an ingredient list of more than 5-6 items, choose something else. Foods that have been processed the least usually offer more nutrients, are more readily digested and are healthier than those foods that are highly processed and contain chemicals.
In addition to eating healthy, prenatal vitamins can ensure that Moms receive adequate amounts of Vitamins A, B-1, B-2, Niacin, B-6, B-12, C, D and E, as well as Folic Acid, Calcium, Iron and usually Zinc. Prenatal vitamins should be considered 6 weeks before conception. Choose vitamins from a trusted source that don’t include fillers and chemicals. Check the ingredient list to see if your vitamins were derived from a whole food source, or if they were engineered in a chemical factory. Remember, what you put in your body directly affects your unborn child.

Get Your ESS in Shape

Exercise is beneficial to both Mom and baby. Studies show that a Mom who exercises through the duration of her pregnancy may experience little to no morning sickness, nausea, back pain, swelling and other irritations sometimes seen in pregnancy. All 3 components of The 100 Year Lifestyle Workout should be a part of your fitness plan. So wherever you are on your journey toward motherhood, the time has come to Get Your ESS in Shape – Endurance, Strength and Structure (your spine and nervous system).

Moms should take all steps necessary to lessen stress before and during pregnancy. Stress takes a toll on the mother’s body and can adversely affect her ability to adapt. Chiropractic adjustments relieve the effects of stress on the nervous system, allowing the body to function and adapt at higher levels.

The lifestyle choices you make now will have an effect on your baby from the moment of conception until their very last breath 80, 90 and maybe even 100 years down the road. Take the steps necessary to start enjoying a healthy active life while providing your baby the foundations for theirs.

Learn more at www.educatedpregnancy.com

© 2012. TFP, Inc. and www.100yearlifestyle.com. All Rights Reserved.

Raising Super Healthy Families

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Raising Super Healthy Families is the goal of every parent. Moms and dads innately want the best for their beloved. With the right health philosophy and action steps, you and your loved ones can enjoy an excellent quality of life together. Here’s a super healthy philosophy with some science and common sense to back it up.

Health comes from within. The moment you were conceived, one cell from your mother and one from your father united to form a unique and magnificent you. This united cell multiplied over and over again during the next nine months into 80 quadrillion cells without any help from the scientific community. Your heart, lungs, fingers and toes, were all positioned by your Innate Intelligence to develop and function properly.

As long as there is no interference to this process, everything can develop perfectly and you are prepared to be delivered into this world. This Innate Intelligence stays with you after you are born. With the nervous system as its conduit, this intelligence controls and coordinates the function of your entire body. Keeping this system free from interference is essential to a healthy life. This Innate philosophy strengthens you. It keeps you healthy in mind and body. If you teach this philosophy to your children you will raise them as strong, confident individuals who trust their body, immune system, and genetic potential. They will be “super” healthy kids.

On the other hand, teaching a drug-oriented philosophy from birth can lead to drug-dependency as an adult. Too many people buy into the philosophy that they need drugs to be healthy.

While this may be true in limited cases of extreme pain, sickness and disease, it is not true or healthy as an overall philosophy or lifestyle.

Think about the impact of a “drug first” philosophy. When your baby gets sick for the first time, you have a choice. If you do not have confidence in your child’s natural immune system, you might immediately panic and give your child a drug. In their toddler years when they get a cold or infection you may give them a drug right away so they won’t “suffer”. Each time they say they do not feel good, rather than rely on their body’s innate wisdom, do you call in a prescription or go to the store and get them an over-the-counter drug?

When your child is old enough to go to school, the teacher might inform you that they are struggling to concentrate or sit still. The child might be labeled and immediately given a drug.

What is the message that is constantly sent to a child under these “drug first” conditions? If a child is taught that they should take a drug every time they do not feel good, this drug-first behavior becomes conditioned. Is it any wonder that when this child has a minor ailment, does not make the team, or has a social conflict that they turn to drugs to “feel better?”

Your health care philosophy is your choice. The 100 Year Lifestyle and Chiropractic Lifestyle Care deliver an innate health care philosophy which is working for millions. It can also work for you and your family. Isn’t it time you begin trusting yourself and this innate philosophy and begin living the “super” healthy life that you and your children deserve?

Children’s Health and Longevity

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According to the British Medical Journal, The Lancet, 50 percent of the babies born since the year 2000 are expected to live over the age of 100. Additional research is concerned that our current generation of children may be the first in recent history to see their life expectancy go down.

How can this be? Doesn’t it seem like a contradiction to see so many children living longer while their overall life expectancy goes down? The answer is sad yet simple in that the other 50percent of children are expected to die younger and sicker than ever, not because of their genetics, but because of unhealthy lifestyle choices.

The Requirements of a Healthy Life
It is not rocket science to understand the connection between lifestyle choices, quality of life and longevity. A healthy life requires a lifestyle that includes healthy food, exercise, strong social circles and a healthy spine and nervous system, The 100 Year Lifestyle, as well as avoiding destructive habits such as smoking and excessive stress. On the other hand, a 50 to 60 year lifestyle includes unhealthy eating with excessive sugar, calories, sitting, lack of exercise and an unhealthy spine and nervous system.

“It Runs in My Family”
Are you raising your children to live a 60 year lifestyle or a 100 Year Lifestyle? You will often hear people say as they get older, after they are diagnosed with diseases like heart disease, cancer and diabetes, that “these diseases run in my family.” While there is a genetic component to these conditions, it is actually a small component. These diseases are mostly lifestyle diseases. Based on the lifestyle in which your children are being raised, they are either inheriting the lifestyle habits that contribute to a 60 year lifestyle or they are inheriting the lifestyle habits that contribute to a healthy, active, positive, productive 100 years and beyond.

100 Year Lifestyle Affiliate chiropractic offices are filled with individuals and families who are committed to optimizing the expression of their genes by living their ideal 100 Year Lifestyle. By providing a positive environment filled with healthy lifestyle education and chiropractic care, we are helping our community raise healthy drug-free families over the course of their entire lifetime.

It’s Not Too Late
If you have not been healthy and you are ready for a change, it is not too late for you. 100 Year Lifestyle Affiliates provide care to many people who have lived from crisis to crisis and become tired of the suffering and the roller coaster ride. The good news is that, because of the amazing ability of your body to adapt and heal, it is never too late to take care of your spine and nerve system and adjust your lifestyle.

Begin shopping in stores that sell organic food. Fill up your shopping cart with fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats and whole grains. Avoid high fat foods like cookies, cakes, and cereals that are high in sugar as well as white flour and white rice. Turn off the TV and the video games and get outside with your family for walks or bike rides, and come in together for your chiropractic appointments.

In 1903 Thomas Edison said, “The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.” It is 2013 and the future is now. You do your part by making good lifestyle choices and we will do our part keeping the master control system of your body, your nervous system, functioning at its full potential so you can enjoy good health now, for 100 years and beyond.