Dr Davis' Back & Wrist Pain Blog

Back Pain, Weight Loss, and Nutrition

San Francisco Chiropractor Comments:

I think most people realize that when you are overweight or obese it puts extra stress on the spine and can cause back pain. However, some back pain patients do not want to address it, and their doctors don't either.

I admit, it's much easier to discuss a weight loss issue if the patient brings it up. But if they don't...it's my professional duty to discuss it. As a back pain doctor, I better have some permanent solutions for long term weight loss because almost 2/3 of our population carry too much body-weight...and I do.

First of all, you never want to count calories or fight the hunger drive. You will never win that battle. You want to be able to satisfy the hunger drive at all times with foods that your body is designed to eat...plant foods.

The Typical American Diet is loaded with sugar, fats, preservatives, and poisons. We eat too many processed foods and animal products. Because of this our obesity epidemic is getting worse, as are all the killer diseases that go along with it (heart disease, diabetes, cancer).

Back pain does not kill you, but it sure can make your life miserable.

Sure, eating right is a little bit more work, but anything in life that's worthwhile is more work.

The program that I have recommended to patients over the years is the McDougall Program by Dr. John McDougall, MD (and his wife Mary) in Northern California.

Maintaining a normal body-weight and a healthy internal environment is a lifestyle choice...not a quick fix. But the weight loss you want can happen fast...as can the restoration of health. 

The best resource I know of to help put this program into action as far as easy to prepare recipes using a pressure cooker is Jill Nussinow, the Veggie Queen. Jill was once one of the head chefs at the McDougall Program health retreat, and holds frequent cooking classes there.  

I do not recommend fad diets...they do not last. Nor do I recommend diet pills or starvation diets, or any program that results in rapid weight loss. Too much too quick can be very harmful...even deadly. 

FACT: You need to work with a doctor when you are trying to lose a lot of weight.

A great benefit (in addition to weight loss) of changing your eating habits and adopting a plant based diet is you really look and feel a lot better. And, don't be surprised if your doctor starts to wean you off all the medications you may be taking to manage your over-weight related symptoms.

Anyway, I practice what I preach. The two dishes featured on this blog post were created by yours truly in the pressure cooker using recipes from the new Veggie Queen ebook.

The top dish is Spiced Red Rice and French Green Lentils. The dish to the left is Three Minute Steel Cut Oats with Cinnamon, Walnuts, and Cranberries. Each dish takes about 15-45 minutes to make (depending on prep time. There are ways to knock this down). With some dishes you can make way more than you need and save it for later.

Anyway, molecule for molecule, nothing is more important than what you eat. As you degrade the quality of your food, you degrade the quality of what your food becomes...YOU!

If you want to express your health potential, feel better, look better, have more energy, and get rid of nagging aches and pains...including back pain...fire up that pressure cooker.

The Veggie Queen also sells pressure cookers on her website...as well as a great Pressure Cooking DVD and recipe book (highly recommended).

Dr. Eben Davis is clinic director of Executive Expess Chiropractic in downtown San Francisco. To schedule an appointment call 415-392-2225.

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How Does Spinal Degeneration Happen?

San Francisco Chiropractor Comments:

Patients are often surprised when they see the level of spinal degeneration that they have on x-ray or MRI. The first question is always "How did this happen to me?"

Well...spinal degeneration is the opposite of generate, which means "grow".

When we stop growing we begin to degenerate...and this happens to everything.

So is spinal degeneration normal?

Yes, to a certain extent...just like a certain amount of tread wear on a tire is normal as long as the conditions are right...such as a normal front end alignment, good brake pads and shocks, normal road conditions, and of course your driving habits.

The most common form of spinal degeneration is from abnormal wear and tear...or what chiropractors call subluxation degeneration, which comes from spinal misalignment's (vertebral subluxations) that are left undetected and uncorrected. And for the most part, this process starts when we are very young.

What happens is, the spinal bones lose their normal position which creates abnormal forces on the spinal structures such as the spinal discs, ligaments, facet joints, and vertebral end plates. These abnormal forces (along with a cascade of inflammatory and chemical responses) cause the structures to breakdown prematurely leading to spinal degeneration and degenerative disc disease (DDD).

In addition, lifestyle choices we make (I refer to this as our "context")  such as the food we eat , the amount of exercise we get, smoking, drinking, stress, rest, etc., can also contribute towards spinal degeneration. The healthier the lifestyle, the better.

Side Note: The typical American diet (and 70% of us are overwight or obese) is rich an animal protein,  processed foods, chemicals, and toxins, which can lead to chronic inflamation, obesity, and spinal degeneration.

In a nutshell...we reflect the quality of our context. Just like the pond in your backyard reflects the quality of it's context...or a river, or an ocean, or the planet.

So what can I do to make sure my spine does not degenerate prematurely or if it already has, slow the degeneration down?

The first thing you should do is get a spinal exam from a chiropractor...one that specializes in posture. You want to find out if you have a short leg also, foot pronation, or a rotated pelvis...these are all part of a good spinal exam. If you are out of alignment, follow your chiropractors recommendations to fix the problem...then get checked every so often to maintain the changes.

Depending on the severity of your condition and your desire to change (the primary factor), your chiropractor can help you modify your lifestyle choices and get you on the right track.

As I chiropractor and family doctor, I want to teach my patients about the causes of vertbral subluxation, as well as treat the subluxations themselves. This way the changes are more permanent.

So, Yes...spinal degeneration can happen quick....especially when we get older. But chiropractic and a healthy lifestyle can slow it down and help you enjoy a long active life :-)

Dr. Eben Davis is clinic director of Executive Express Chiropractic in San Francisco. To schedule an appointment call 415-392-2225.

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Do You Really Need a Health and Wellness Coach?

San Francisco Chiropractor Comments:

I remember reading one of those Forbes magazine "100 Worlds Richest People" issues a long time ago (before I became a chiropractor)...and something has stuck in my mind ever since.

They had a series of questions they asked all of the millionaires (it's all billionaires now) to see if there were any commonalities. One of the questions was "If you could change one thing about your life what would it be?" Well...the #1 answer (the most common amongst all questions asked) was:

"If I could change one thing about my life I would have taken better care of my self."

According to the answers, it seems the process of becoming one of the richest people in the world is also very stressful and lends itself to poor eating habits, lack of exercise, lack of family time, and lost years.

Do you think these people could have benefited from a Health and Wellness Coach?

How about you...are you making health a priority? It's hard isn't it? My favorite quote sums it up:

"When Health is absent, Wisdom cannot reveal itself.  Art cannot become manifest.  Strength cannot be exerted.  Wealth is useless and Reason powerless" - Herophiles

So...do you need a Health and Wellness Coach?

Well...if you (or your employees) are having problems getting the job done and what you are doing is not working...or you want to bust through to a new level of health and fitness (and work performance)...or you just don't know what to do...YES!

But here's the deal...There are a lot of wellness coaches and fitness coaches...you want to make sure you pick the best one...so do your homework. If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, I have done the homework for you. Meet Melissa Redd and REDD COACHING:

Melissa Redd is a Total Wellness Coach who helps executives, individuals and organizations achieve optimal wellness and peak professional performance through training in nutrition, fitness, stress management, work/life balance, and time management. REDD COACHING provides performance training seminars, programs and workshops designed to help leaders be more effective.

REDD COACHING’S philosophy is simple:  We help our client’s build healthy habits one week at a time which translates into a better bottom line.

Featured on numerous media outlets, Melissa’s training programs will revolutionize the way you feel and perform. REDD COACHING specializes in:

·    Wellness Coaching for Individuals

·    Executive Health Programs

·    Corporate Wellness Training

·    Nutrition

·    Weight Loss

·    Energy Management

·    Fitness Efficiency

·    Stress Management

·    Sports Nutrition Coaching

Melissa inspires and educates her clients to adopt the “Hot 5 Eating Habits™” which she created and have been featured on ABC Evening News, CBS Evening News, The Burlingame Channel, KALW 91.7 FM, KKIQ 101.7 FM, The San Francisco Chronicle and San Francisco Magazine.   

Contact Melissa directly for more info at Melissa@reddcoaching.com or visit Redd Coaching online.

Mention you are a patient or friend of Executive Express Chiropractic and receive a Free 30 Minute Phone Coaching Session with Melissa Redd ($75 Value).

 

  

What's the best diet for Back Pain?

San Francisco Chiropractor Comments:

This is one of the most common questions we get at Executive Express Chiropractic.

In general...foods that are acidic like animal foods (beef, chicken, dairy, fish) promote inflammation. And plant foods are anti-inflammatory.

So...can a diet high in animal protein actually cause back pack?

Probably...but the scenario that is more likely is that a diet high in animal fats and proteins causes weight gain, which leads to chronic inflammation of the joints in the spine from abnormal forces, triggering a pain response.

Then...because the body's acid-base balance is out of whack, the inflammation is exaggerated. 

So, can eating plant foods and reducing or eliminating animal foods help back pain? 

YES...I think so. I know so...because we have experimented with this at our San Francisco Chiropractic clinics over the years with chronic low back pain and neck pain patients.

I have been told that plant foods do not supply enough amino acids or protein...is this true?

No...if you eat the right combinations and portions of plant foods...you get plenty of complete proteins. Read this correspondence from the American Heart Association entitled:

Plant Foods have A Complete Amino Acid Composition

So anyway...my advice is to eat more plant foods if you have chronic back or neck pain, or if you have a weight problem. And you don't have to go all or none either. The more you do, the more you benefit. Test it out, and decide how far you want to go with it.

The best resource I know for plant based nutrition is www.DrMcDougall.com. There is a right way to do this that is low stress, easy, and rewarding. Dr. McDougall can show you the way.

Dr. Eben Davis is clinic director of Executive Express Chiropractic in downtown San Francisco.

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What is Arthritis and can Chiropractic Help?

San Francisco Chiropractor Comments:

Arthritis is one of the more common conditions that a patient presents with at Executive Express Chiropractic. So what is arthritis anyway?

The word arthritis comes from the Greek arthron meaning joint and the Latin itis meaning inflammation.

So "arth" means joint, and "itis" means inflammation. Arthritis is inflammation of a joint.

There are actually more than 100 forms of arthritis, and women are more prone to arthritis than men.

The two basic types of arthritis are osteoarthritis, which is from abnormal wear and tear of the joint and is very common (effects over 20 million people), and rheumatoid arthritis (RA),  which is an autoimmune disease (the immune system attacks the joints). RA effects around 1.5 million people.

Osteoarthritis is referred to as degenerative arthritis, and is usually found in the spine and in weight bearing joints like the hip and the knee.

Rheumatoid arthritis, can be very destructive to the joint as well as the surrounding cartilage, bone, and ligaments. The small joints of the hands and feet are usually involved, involving multiple joints in symmetrical patterns.   

Chiropractic care will typically help patients with osteoarthritis (degenerative) arthritis, and occasionally help patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA)...it just depends on the nature and severity of the problem.

The underlying cause of osteoarthritis are joints that are out of alignment. Joints become misaligned for various reasons, including poor posture, sports injuries, auto accidents, bad sleeping habits, strenuous work activities, mental stress that can cause muscle tension and pull joints out, and ligament laxity due to chemical imbalances (to name a few).

Chiropractic adjustments seek to restore normal position and range of motion so it is the perfect tool for osteoarthritis...and the results speak for themselves.

Rheumatoid arthritis on the other hand (in my experience) requires more than just chiropractic adjustments...which often times can't even be done because the joints are too inflamed. 

Acupuncture seems to work well, plant based nutrition therapy to reduce inflammation ( I recommend www.drmcdougall.com), and class IV deep tissue laser therapy, which can help to reduce inflammation and pain without any side effects. Adjustments will mostly help, but must be done very light to start with measured feedback before increasing intensity.

Of course there are all kinds of drugs available for arthritis, but our focus at Executive Express Chiropractic is on natural healing methods...which is why patients come to us in the first place.

So YES...chiropractic can work wonders for arthritis...especially osteoarthritis. But even patients with rheumatoid arthritis should consider finding a chiropractor that offers deep tissue therapeutic laser and is knowledgeable on plant based nutrition. There really is hope.

To find out if you are a candidate for care at Executive Express Chiropractic at the San Francisco Embarcadero Center...call 415-392-2225.

Does what you eat effect your genes?

San Francisco Chiropractor Comments:

I have been writing and speaking about the "contextual healing" principles I learned from Dr. Dean Black for many years now.

Here is an excerpt from the great book Health at the Crossroads by Dr. Dean Black (pg 39):

We Reflect the Quality of our Context

When we speak of "conditions," we refer to what we might call our "context", or our surroundings. Context becomes important because we, like all living things, are "open systems," meaning that we receive things from our context and transform them..In scientific terms, the things we receive from our context (food, water, air, etc.) are "fluxes." We can't live without them. As Nobel prize-winner Ilya Prigogine put it, open systems, whether cities or cells, "cannot be separated from the fluxes that they incessantly transform," or they will die. These fluxes from our context are so important, in fact, that our nature depends on their nature. As their quality changes, so does the quality of our life. Fluxes flow in; life flows out.

ME: So...if we reflect the quality of our context, does a newborn reflect the quality of her mothers context?  According to Dean Black's work the answer is YES.

In fact, there is a new science called Epigenetics which explains how genes can be modified by our environment and how this impacts sickness and disease.

The feature story of next months "In Good Hands" newsletter published by the brilliant Dr. Ben Altadonna is entitled: You Are What Your Mother Ate!  

This is a great article and discusses how a fetus can alter it's genes to change to the environment they are being born into-and poses the question...Can a person alter their genes to adapt to their environment after they are born...and can chiropractic help alter the internal environment for the better?

Look for this story in next months "In Good Hands" patient newsletter and I will be writing more about this topic on this blog.

Dr. Eben Davis is clinic director of Executive Express Chiropracticin downtown San Francisco. To schedule an appointment call 415-392-2225 or request an appointment online.

Obesity Can Reduce Your Life Expectancy

San Francisco Vegan Chiropractor Comments:

I read an article in the USA Today yesterday entitled:

Obesity can carve 10 years off life

After reading the article, I was a little surprised it was buried back in the health section on page 7 of Section D. After-all...healthcare costs and reform is one of our nations most serious concerns...and one of President Obama's most difficult challenges.

It's all so crazy to me...when the answer probably sits on the plate in front of us every time we sit down to eat. Yes...4=2+2. (Poor Typical American Diet= Disease + Higher Health Care Costs). There is just never going to be a way to have your cake and eat it too. If you eat junk your appearance and your health will relect it.

The USA Today article is about a study of 800,000 people. It found that adults who are obese-about 40 or more pounds overweight-may be cutting serious time off of their life spans.

Get this...about 66% of adults in the USA are either overweight or obese...Geez...no wonder we are so sick as a Nation. According to studys...being obese has the same effect (taking life away) on your health as smoking...as long as you continue to do it. Here's what the article says:

"If you continue to smoke, it takes an average of 10 years off your life. Being obese has about the same effect."

Can you imagine if you do both?

How about taking some of this stimulus money and spending it on huge advertising campaigns to promote the health benefits of plant based nutrition and the connection between diet and disease?

But that will never happen...there is too much money behind the meat, dairy, and pharmaceutical companies...so we have to figure it out on our own using resources like www.drmcdougall.com.

Dr. John McDougall has been fighting this battle for most of his life...and a battle it is.

It really is tough knowing the potential solution for most of our health problems is right there in front of us...every meal.  

Anyway, check the article out and read some of the McDougall newsletters on his website...they are eye opening. Give plant based nutrition a try...you will like the way you look and feel...I guarantee it. 

Dr. Eben Davis can be reached at ebendavis@yahoo.com

Not ready for 100% Vegan? Then Scale-in

San Francisco Vegan Chiropractor Comments:

I was introduced to plant based nutrition in chiropractic school by one of my instructors. I noticed that he and his family all seemed so healthy and young looking. As it turned out, they were followers of the McDougall Plan.

So I checked out some of Dr. John McDougall, MD's books from the school library and decided to give it a shot. What I liked about the program the most was that it was not an all or none diet...the more you did...the more benefit you gained.

Dr. McDougall recommended scaling in and trying various combinations of vegan foods until you found the ones you liked. But in the meantime, you could still eat some of your old foods. So instead of meat and potatoes...try potatoes, vegetables and some meat. 

Make the starchy vegetables the main course and the meat, fish or chicken, the side dish. Then fruit for desert.

I learned how vegetables and herbs are what give meals flavor. Over the course of 6 months or so I scaled into an 80-20 program. I ate clean for 80% of the time...then the other 20% I cheated (but still ate better than most)...usually on the weekends. I did this for about 10 years..sometimes going long stretches at 100% clean...sometimes cheating too much...especially around the Holidays.

But I felt so much better...and it was easier to stick with the program because I wasn't locked into it 100% (no guilt trips). But then over time, the 20% became 10% which is where I am at now. When I cheat it's usually  pizza or a burrito, or fish (even sushi a few times a year)...and I will have a few slices of turkey at Thanksgiving or some sweets.

Hey...anything would be better than most peoples diets...and it's not hard to do (eat vegan). You don't have to be a great cook...the foods are easy to find and prepare...and you will be so much healthier because of it.

Just about every chronic, degenerative disease process...even disc disease in the spine can be the result of an unhealthy lifestyle...and food choices are the main culprit.

So give it a shot...YOU WILL LIKE THE WAY YOU LOOK.

Check out Dr. McDougall at www.drmcdougall.com.

What Do Back Pain and Heart Disease Have In Common?

San Francisco Chiropractor Comments:

I read a lot of research on back pain...and one of the best resources I know of is "The Back Letter", published by Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins (800-787-8981).

I am noticing a trend lately as it relates to back pain research...a trend for the better in my opinion. It seems as though part of our (mainstream) medical community is becoming fed up with the road to nowhere search for magic bullets to treat sickness and disease, and are focusing more on how to re-create the conditions of health...what we call Contextual Healing. 

The Back Letter (March 2009, pg. 31): Australian back  pain researcher Christopher Maher, PhD, of the University of Sydney says this about preventing back pain:

"People understand the message about lifting correctly but heavy lifting is only one of the risks of developing back pain. What many people do not understand is that some of the risk factors for back pain are also the risk factors for other chronic diseases like heart disease, " said Maher. He mentioned inactivity, poor diet, and smoking.

"My advice is that people should take a similar approach to back pain health as they do for heart health-eating right, exercise, and a healthy lifestyle."

Does this sound familiar? This guy sounds like me...check out my post from 8/5/2007 entitled:

Disc Degeneration, Heart Disease, and Prevention

Anyway,,,good stuff. Sure, it's going to take more time to steer this tanker away from hitting the iceberg...but it looks like they see the iceberg at least.

Dr. Eben Davis is clinic director of Executive Express Chiropractic in downtown San Francisco.

Back and Wrist Pain Nutrition

San Francisco Vegan Chiropractor Comments

Is there a way to eat that can help someone with back or wrist pain?

Sure...I think so...both directly and indirectly. The most obvious direct connection between diet and back pain is obesity. Depending on the information source...our obesity rate is as high as 40% in the US (with up to 75% overweight)...now that's a lot of extra lbs. And...a lot of extra stress on the back, which is bad for the spinal discs and joints. Obesity leads to conditions such as disc herniations, degenerative disc disease, and spinal stenosis.

An indirect connection (I guess it's actually direct also) is the fact that the same foods that make us fat...AKA the Typical American Diet, which is loaded with animal protein, fat, refined carbohydrates, and cholesterol, are also pro-inflammatory and cause chronic inflammation...a primary cause of inflammation in the joints (and everywhere else)...which can result in back and wrist pain, as well as cancer and heart disease.

The goods news is, the solution is well documented...a Plant Based Diet. The problem with plant based nutrition is that it's not understood that well by the general population who is bombarded with junk food ads on TV, Radio, Magazines, and everywhere they go (we even serve this stuff at schools)...it's the status quo.

In fact...you can be considered an odd-ball for being a vegan in some parts of the country.

But what would you rather be...a healthy odd-ball or a heart attack waiting to happen? What's better...being able to run around and play with your kids, or being all plumped up and sore from eating junk foods. And if you are eating them...your kids are probably eating junk foods also. Our childhood obesity rates are off the charts...is it really worth it? 

The best source of information I know of for plant based nutrition advice is Dr. John McDougall, MD and his McDougall Program. What I like the most is it's not an "all or none" program. The more you do the more you gain...which make it easier to implement. You can scale in...introduce meals to your family a little at a time, while still eating the stuff they are used to.

So...yeah, sure (Of Course) there is a connection between nutrition and back and wrist pain...there is a connection between nutrition and just about every disease process...because just like they say...You Are What You Eat. 

Dr. Eben Davis is clinic director of Executive Express Chiropractic at the landmark San Francisco Embarcadero Center. Dr. Davis can be contacted at ebendavis@yahoo.com.