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Tylenol is Not Candy

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For many people, at the first sign of a fever, headache or other minor discomfort, the “go-to” remedy is acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol. Since pain is a sign that something is wrong, covering up the symptoms without getting to the cause is not a good plan and often creates more serious problems. Helping the body to heal itself without drugs is a much better option.

Google “acetaminophen dangers” and see what comes up. The results are scary, especially if you take acetaminophen like candy. According to the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, “some symptoms of acetaminophen overdose mimic flu-like symptoms, resulting in the individual continuing to use acetaminophen.”(1) It is scary to know that the symptoms of an overdose might cause you to take even more and aggravate the problems.

Tylenol is not candy! Is the risk of extreme side effects and liver damage worth taking a quick fix drug that has the potential to quickly and permanently make things worse? Drugs.com provides 12 pages of side effects from Tylenol and other acetaminophen based drugs ranging from unpleasant digestive issues and mood swings to seizures, hives and dizziness.

“Acetaminophen overdose is one of the most common poisonings worldwide. People often think that this pain-relieving medicine is extremely safe. However, it may be deadly,” says the U.S. National Library of Medicine.(3) Since we humans come in all shapes and sizes, the standard dose for one may not be right for another and let’s be honest: How many people really wait 4-6 hours before taking the next dosage?

On WebMD’s internationally recognized website, an article entitled Acetaminophen (Tylenol) Poisoning by Dr. Michael Ameres and Dr. Daniel Crough states that, “Too much acetaminophen can overwhelm the way the liver normally functions.”(2) So how much is too much?

Slightly increasing the recommended dose can be dangerous and can happen unintentionally. McNeil Consumer Healthcare issued a press release in July 2011 announcing plans for new dosing instructions. Tylenol’s recommended dose per day is being dropped by 1000mg because of people taking other medications that have acetaminophen as an added compound.

Recently published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, a research project by Dr. Kenneth Simpson of the University of Edinburgh revealed little known information about the dangers of “staggered overdose.” The research indicates, “People experiencing pain who repeatedly take slightly more Tylenol than they should are in danger of suffering a staggered overdose. They haven’t taken a massive overdose taken by people who try to commit suicide, but over time the damage builds up and the effect can be fatal. These patients were more likely to have liver and brain problems, require kidney dialysis and were at a greater risk of dying that people who had take a single overdose.”(4)

Instead of reaching for the pill bottle or the tablespoon to measure out the next dose, and risking taking too much or giving too much to a loved one, contact your 100 Year Lifestyle Provider or go to www.100yearlifestyle .com to find a provider near you and experience how Chiropractic Care can help you live the healthy drug free lifestyle you deserve.

References:
CDER’s Acetaminophen Hepatotoxicity Working Group. Acetaminophen Overdose and Liver Injury – Background and Options for Reducing Injury. May 2009.

www.emedicinehealth.com/acetaminaphen_tylenol_poisoning/article_em.htm

Medline Plus Medical Encyclopedia, Acetaminophen overdose
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002598.htm

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/238220.php

Do You Have an Ostrich in Your Family?

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Have you ever seen a picture of an ostrich with its head buried in the sand? This is one of the funniest scenes in nature, but an unfunny, accurate metaphor to describe individuals who have a crisis care mentality about their health. This means that they only take care of themselves when they are sick, diagnosed with a disease or are in excruciating pain.

If you want to live an active, healthy long life, this ostrich mentality won’t get you there. Here are some signs that you or a loved one may be in a crisis with your head in the sand:
1. You take over the counter drugs on a monthly basis
2. You have taken prescription drugs consistently for more than
three months
3. You have altered your life due to a health concern
4. You constantly try to pop your neck and back or are fidgety
5. You cannot exercise without pain
6. You take medication to offset the side effects of other
medications
7. You experience irregular sleep patterns
8. You are susceptible to colds and the flu
9. You often say things like, “I need to go to the doctor”or
“I need to take a pill”
10. You have difficulty standing or sitting up straight

Many seniors and centenarians are suffering the consequences of their “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”, ostrich-like attitudes. We are getting the advance notice that our parents and grandparents never received so we can think differently about health and pull our heads out of the sand.

Embrace your Innate Potential.
Do you have a parent or grandparent that lived to be 70, 80, 90 or 100 years old? Whether you like it or not, this is your minimum Innate, genetic potential. Your children and grandchildren share your genes as well, so become excited about your longevity, and theirs, and make the lifestyle changes now to ensure your health and vitality for a lifetime.

Remove Interference.
Your mind and body will break down when there is interference in your nervous system. Just like a car accident will interfere with the flow of traffic, interference in your nervous system will cause dis-ease in your body which can lead to pain, sickness and even chronic disease. Sometimes you will have symptoms and sometimes you won’t. Don’t wait for the symptoms, the crisis, to remove this interference. That’s what an ostrich would do. Stay healthy by keeping this interference out of your life, your spine and your nervous system, regardless of how you feel.

It’s time for an Intervention.
If you have an ostrich in your family, you can save their life and make a difference by intervening. Express your concern. Show them you care. Get help from others if you need it but don’t let them become a statistic and “just another person”who was killed or injured severely because they were in denial about the dangers to their health.

We are excited to be a part of your health care team. If you have an ostrich in your life, please send them to our office for an appointment. We would be honored to help them get their head out of the sand.

Those Annoying Aches and Pains

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Do You Have Any Annoying “…Aches?”

Do you have any annoying “…aches?” Are they in your head, neck, back or stomach? How about your eyes, ears, nose and throat? How about your heart, bladder or bowel? Annoying “…aches” can reduce your quality of life dramatically. They can keep you from work and keep your children out of school. They can hinder your relationships and they can cause you more severe problems down the road as you age.

Too Many People Cover Up Their “…Aches.”

Too many people cover up their “…aches” with dangerous prescription and non-prescription medication hoping that one more pill will fix the underlying cause. This rarely, if ever, happens. In fact, just the opposite is often true.

For example, chronic aspirin use can lead to ulcers. Acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, can cause liver failure, especially when mixed with alcohol. NSAIDS, like Motrin and ibuprofen, can cause your kidneys to fail. This is especially true when you consider the impact of time on the habit of masking symptoms with drugs.

You Have Other Options

Fortunately, you have other options, better options, and the answer often comes from within.
When your spine and nervous system is functioning properly, your body has the ability to heal itself from nearly every “…ache” that you might feel. Your nervous system controls and coordinates the function of every cell, tissue and organ of your body. It is your body’s natural IT, information technology, system.
When your natural IT system is functioning properly, your body gets the right messages to help you heal. The chemical balance can be normal. The adaptation responses can be appropriate. The healing response during times of injury or when there are “…aches” is right on.

You Will Be Amazed at Your Body’s Ability to Heal

You will be amazed at your body’s ability to heal from the annoying “…aches” that you experience when your IT system is balanced and aligned.

Beyond healing from injuries, aches and pains, if you keep your IT system functioning at its highest level long enough for your body to regenerate, you can expect a much higher level of health throughout your entire lifetime.

What makes this approach unique is that the goal is not to treat the symptoms by covering them up, manipulating your body chemistry or artificially altering the way you feel. By removing interference to your nervous system and balancing out your structure and spine, your body can repair itself on its own. You will be amazed at how much you have tolerated as “normal” once you see your body respond.

Removing the interference leads to spontaneous and long term healing. Before you take another drug to cover up the symptoms, research the medication on www.drugs.com. Learn as much as you can about it. Research the side effects over the long haul. The longer you take something, the more likely you are to experience the long list of side effects that you may not feel yet.

Living your ideal 100 Year Lifestyle is not about barely surviving, having to cope with suffering, or rotting away as you age. It is about living your best life every day and staying healthy throughout your lifetime. Believe in yourself and your ability to heal from those “…aches”. Believe in your ability to function. Make the commitment to your health and invest in your immediate and long term well-being with chiropractic Lifestyle Care.

How Much Pain Can You Tolerate?

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“How much pain can you tolerate?” is a very interesting question. Some people have a high pain threshold and are very “macho” in their approach as they act like they can handle anything. On the other hand, many others have a mild to moderate threshold and search for a cover up to eliminate their unpleasant feelings. Based on the astronomical statistics of pain medication use, our level of tolerance has gone way down.

In the United States the total cost of health care related to pain is approximately $600 billion and the cost to employers dealing with employees who have reduced work productivity due to pain is in the neighborhood of $100 billion per year. An Auburn University study showed that 67 percent of children suffered muscle soreness, 51 percent back pain, 24 percent numbness and 15 percent shoulder pain. Studies from John Hopkins Children Center and many other places have shown that backpacks cause back and shoulder pain and poor posture in children. Between 1997 and 2005, the medical expenses for individuals with spine problems grew from $4,695.00 to $6,096.00 per person.

According to CBC News, 54 percent of Canadian seniors report that chronic pain is interfering with most of their activities. The National Population Health Survey found that seniors who saw their pain increase over a two-year period were more likely to be unhappy or have a negative impression of their personal health at the end of that period. In younger Canadians between the ages of 12 and 44, 10 percent are already experiencing pain that is affecting their life and limiting their activities.

Too many people look to manage their pain by numbing their feelings with non-prescription or prescription drugs. Certainly in extreme cases this may be helpful as any compassionate person would agree; however, managing pain with medication as part of a lifestyle rather than getting to the cause can lessen your body’s natural pain tolerance and cause horrible side effects including nausea, sleep disruption, lack of mental clarity, lack of energy, depression and potential damage to key organs such as the liver, kidney and heart. Overuse can create unintended addictions to pain medication that can lead to even more challenges and difficulties in your life.

Chiropractic care is a much better option for both acute and chronic pain sufferers. First of all, a chiropractic examination can locate areas in the spine that are out of balance and are putting pressure on nerves which can contribute to nearly every type of pain condition.

Crisis Care, the type of care that is delivered when someone is in pain or suffering from a health problem, is delivered with frequent visits close together to begin realigning the spine, reducing inflammation and pressure from the nervous system, which usually provides relief and stability within a few weeks or months.

The next phase of care, called the Critical Transition, is critical because it provides consistent care with less frequent visits stretched out over a longer period of time regardless of how people feel so the spine, nervous system and body can begin to regenerate. It is this phase of the care that is necessary to support an active, healthy, long life that is either free from chronic pain or certainly makes pain much more manageable.

Unfortunately too many people ignore this Critical Transition because they feel better and they go back to the destructive habits that caused their deterioration in the first place. This behavior, including numbing their pain with drugs, can only lead to more deterioration and pain even though you experience relief from the pills. Continuing your chiropractic care through the Critical Transition breaks this cycle and gives your body the chance to adapt and truly heal for the long haul.

Isn’t it time that you decide to not tolerate a pain and medication based lifestyle and the deteriorating future that it promotes? Take care of your spine and nervous system so that your body can heal itself and enjoy the quality of life you deserve.

Why Medical Conditions Respond

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Many adults come in for their first chiropractic visit because of backaches, headaches, disc problems, digestive conditions or hormone imbalances. The list of medically diagnosed conditions or health problems that lead people to a chiropractor is lengthy.

Parents often bring their children in for chiropractic care because they have watched them suffer from conditions such as ear infections, asthma, colds, colic, ADHD or sinus problems. Some conditions are severe and include concussions, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and autism.

Do these people get great results?

Do we treat these conditions?

The answers are yes, a high number of patients get excellent results and no, we do not treat the conditions themselves. Our primary focus is to locate and correct nervous system imbalances and spinal subluxations that can contribute to or cause the problems in the first place, regardless of the diagnosis.

Getting your nervous system functioning properly is essential to help the body heal itself regardless of the diagnosed condition or other treatments that you may have undergone.

In fact, if you have a health condition of any kind, the nerve component should be one of the first evaluations you receive.

Why? Because if there is a nerve system component to your condition, nothing you do for your problem will be as effective until your nerve system gets healthy.

Your nervous system controls and coordinates the function of every cell, tissue and organ of your body and helps you adapt to your environment. Your nervous system is vital in helping your body cope with stress, digest food and eliminate waste products. It will also help you perform at your highest level when engaging in athletic activities.

Unfortunately, exploring the nerve component of most conditions is not addressed by the majority of health care providers and symptomatic relief becomes the primary focus. While we certainly want you to feel better quickly, the underlying cause must also be addressed. There are a number of ways that we can evaluate the function of your nervous system.

Whether you are suffering from an acute or chronic injury or illness, or you want to improve your health and quality of life, now is the time to schedule a chiropractic check-up.

Pain Relief Drug Concerns

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The Food and Drug Administration has approved the powerful opioid narcotic painkiller OxyContin for children as young as 11. While we are compassionate for everyone in pain, especially children, we are also very concerned about how their pain is being addressed. Parents must become educated and cautious. Consider the following before introducing any pain reliever, especially a narcotic that has the potential to create long-term addiction and abuse.

-Nearly two million Americans, aged 12 or older, either abused or were dependent on opioid painkillers in 2013.

-“One in 25 high school seniors has abused OxyContin” said Scott Hadland, a specialist in adolescent medicine and substance abuse treatment at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

-The number of prescription painkillers sold has quadrupled since 1999, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

-More than 44,000 Americans die of drug overdoses each year. Some people who become addicted to prescription painkillers switch to using heroin, which has become cheaper and easier to access than OxyContin.

-Every day, 44 people die as a result of prescription opioid overdose.

-There were 43,982 drug overdose deaths in the United States alone in 2013. Of these, 22,767 (51.8percent) were related to prescription drugs.

-Drug misuse and abuse caused about 2.5 million emergency department (ED) visits in 2011. Of these, more than 1.4 million ED visits were related to prescription drugs.

We don’t want you or a loved one to become a statistic. If you are considering medication for yourself or for them and are looking for a healthier long term solution, keep in mind the holistic options available that help the body heal itself and function the way it’s supposed to.

Chiropractic care can get to the cause and relieve pain resulting from spine and nervous system imbalance. Research published in the January 2005 issue of the scientific periodical the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, (JMPT) showed that patients with chronic spinal pain syndromes did markedly better under chiropractic care than patients who received medication.

Seeking chiropractic care as part of the journey to relief can result in improved conditions today and enhance your quality of life as you age.