Blog posts tagged with 'chiropractic'

BREAST CANCER PREVENTION

As most know, October is breast cancer awareness month. To help promote this cause, outlined for you are several tips to help you better understand some risk factors associated with breast cancer and the possible prevention of it.

• 1. Perform regular self-exams for lumps, discoloration, or any other abnormalities. Not sure how to perform a self-exam? Ask your primary care physician, or try an online search. Simply relying on a mammogram may not be your best option. The United States Preventative Services Task Force, or USPSTF, found over a 25 year study that women aged 40-59, who received an annual mammogram, did not reduce their risk of mortality from breast cancer. Furthermore, 22% of invasive breast cancers were over-diagnosed when discovered with a mammogram.
• 2. Stay Active. Try to exercise at least 30 minutes a day. Another study indicates you may have a 35% less likely chance of developing breast cancer if you exercise regularly.
• 3. Eat Properly. Consuming red meat daily increases your likelihood of developing breast cancer by almost twice the amount. You don’t have to eliminate red meat completely, but try to resort to eating it maybe once or twice a week. However, if you eat 3-6 servings of fruits and vegetables daily, your risk of developing breast cancer is cut by 50%. Please note that one-third of the vegetables and fruits you consume should be raw. This statistic does not mean you can consume daily amounts of red meat because its damage will be offset by your 3-6 servings of fruits and veggies.
• 4. Bra Usage. Believe it or not, women who wear their bra for more than 12 hours a day are 50% more likely to develop breast cancer. Let them breathe a little bit!
• 5. Avoid Chlorine. Woman with high levels of chlorine in their bodies have a 10 times higher likelihood of developing breast cancer. That’s TEN TIMES more likely! What is the major source of chlorine? Drinking water. Most filters will eliminate chlorine from tap water, so be sure to drink properly filtered water.

These suggestions are not bulletproof and do not guarantee you immunity from breast cancer. However, these suggestions certainly won’t hurt your odds of developing the cancer, and can only help you. Prevention is key!

STRETCHING: WHEN TO DO IT, AND WHICH ARE BEST

            Admit it, you’ve probably asked yourself, “Am I doing the right stretch? Should I stretch right now?” And if you’re anything like me, you then went into the corner of the gym where you hoped no one would see you possibly embarrassing yourself stretching. There are two types of stretches: dynamic and static. This article will teach you the difference between both stretches and when one stretch is more appropriate to use than the other.

            A static stretch is the typical stretch people think of when they envision a stretch; you hold one muscle for 10-30 seconds hoping it will “loosen.”

Static stretch of the hamstrings

Statically stretching before you exercise is proven to decrease the efficiency of your workout by almost 10%. In other words, if you are about to perform lunges and you statically stretch your hamstrings (as shown above) prior to lunging, you will lunge approximately 10% less weight than if you had not done the static stretches. Of greater importance, statically stretching before an exercise may place you at greater risk of injuring that muscle, too. Therefore, the best thing to do before a workout is a dynamic stretch. A dynamic stretch is essentially a simulation of the exercise you’re about to perform.

Dynamic stretch of hamstring

If you’re about to run, great dynamic stretches to perform prior to running are body weight lunges, body weight squats, jumping jacks, kick-butts, or knee-highs. These dynamic stretches will engage your running muscles in a safe manner to allow for better performance. If you’re about perform an anaerobic exercise, like bicep curls, a dynamic warm-up stretch may be bicep curls with about 50% less weight than you plan to use during the exercise. Again, you want a simulation of the exercise you’re about to perform, but with less weight and intensity.

            Ok, so if a dynamic stretch is most appropriate before you workout, what should you perform after you workout? Post-workout is the time for a static stretch. After working out, your muscles are loose and susceptible to a greater range of motion. Therefore, you can increase the flexibility of your muscles if you perform the appropriate static stretches post-workout. If you performed lunges, or ran, an appropriate post-workout stretch is the hamstring static-stretch shown above.

Thank you to everyone who attended our ribbon cutting ceremony. Many thanks to Mayor Hofeld for bringing the ribbon and the right-sized scissors neeeded to cut that ribbon! Everyone had a good time.

Back Safety & Wellnes Center is officially open! Come visit us at 18141 Dixie Hwy., Suite 107, Homewood, IL for all your chiropractic, acupuncture and back pain needs. Improve your quality of life now.

Yours in health,

The BSWC