by Greenville Spine Institute | May 15, 2023 | Back Pain, Health and Wellness
Why are we talking about food on a chiropractor website? Not only because what you eat matters to your overall health but because it also matters a great deal when it comes specifically to pain management. Your diet can affect your back. The food you eat can cause back pain. There are certain foods that cause inflammation, which is a huge factor in chiropractic care and something that adjustments seek to lessen because inflammation often causes joint pain. There are also foods that fight inflammation.
Food Matters
“You are what you eat” – it’s a cliche because it’s true. What you put into your body matters a great deal. An unbalanced diet that mostly consists of foods high in fat and sugar and processed foods increases the risk of obesity, which puts an incredible strain on the spine and abdominal muscles. This diet can affect your back and other elements of your health. On the contrary, eating a diet of healthy foods can fight inflammation and reduce pain.
Eating a balanced diet is no easy task, especially in today’s busy world where fast food is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to eat on the go. But that fast food is often so processed that most nutritional value has been removed and all that’s left is nothing but junk. One estimate from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System states that 75% of Americans aren’t getting the recommended intake of fruits and vegetables. If you are feeling like you aren’t eating a balanced diet, you’re not alone.
How a Healthy Diet Affects Your Back
Foods that fight inflammation will have a positive effect on how your back, neck, and shoulders feel. Subluxations (misalignment of the vertebrae) often cause inflammation, pain and swelling around the joint, loss of range of motion, and limited mobility. The muscles of the lower back and abdomen are meant to work together to keep your spine aligned and healthy. When they are strained by extra weight and/or are inflamed, aches and pains develop. This can last for a long time and get worse if not properly addressed.
At Greenville Spine, we work to reduce those subluxations through regular adjustments but patients can also work to reduce the pain they cause through their diets.
Eating unprocessed foods with no added sugar is believed to help reduce inflammation. There are also “anti-inflammation” diets to follow if you want to dive more deeply into this kind of healthy, balanced eating. But the basic rule is to stay away from processed foods and instead eat more of these:
- Fruits like strawberries, oranges, blueberries, and cherries
- Kale, collards, spinach and other green, leafy vegetables
- Whole grains like bran, oats, quinoa, barley
- Olive oil
- Nuts such as walnuts and almonds
- Tomatoes
- Fish like mackerel, tuna, sardines, and salmon
- Flaxseeds, pumpkin and sesame seeds
Foods That Cause Inflammation
Saving your back doesn’t come from a pharmacy but rather from your fridge. Harming your back comes from a kitchen also – usually a fast food one – and the snack and freezer aisles at the grocery store.
Foods that cause inflammation, increase your risk of obesity, and strain your strain and joints are things like:
- Potatoes – french fries, chips, any kind of baked or fried potatoes
- Soda, fruit drinks, sports drinks
- Sugar-sweetened fruit juices
- Processed meats like bacon, salami, ham, and sausage
- Red meat like pork, lamb, or beef
- White bread, white rice, white pasta
- Sweets
- Fast food
It’s not necessarily bad to eat these once in a while but they are a main part of your diet, they could very well be causing inflammation in pain in your back.
Holistic Diets
The chiropractic practice is generally one that looks at the whole person and comes to conclusions about how best to treat an individual based on their entire lifestyle and personal challenges. At Greenville Spine, we look at each of our patients individually, what they like to do, how they exercise and enjoy leisure, what their work backgrounds are like, what their normal diet consists of, and what their particular challenges and obstacles are.
Through evaluating patients individually and as a whole person, we are able to manage their treatment to accomplish their goals as individuals. All of our treatments are holistic: we don’t use any drugs and if we do recommend supplements, they are natural.
The same holistic concept can be applied to diets as well. A well-rounded diet that focuses more on foods that reduce inflammation can positively affect all aspects of a patient: their sleep, their pain, their alertness, their endurance. Everything in the body works best when obstacles – like subluxations – are removed and the body can effectively work as it’s supposed to.
Changing Habits
Changing any kind of bad habit can be very difficult but in the end, if you’re able to run around with your kids or grandkids, get back to your job, sleep better at night, and wean off expensive medications through utilizing both a healthy eating plan and regular chiropractic care, that is life-changing.
Living a Pain-Free Life
If you need help getting started on living a pain-free life and learning more about how your diet affects back pain, we are more than happy to help! The benefits of working with us at Greenville Spine are extensive due to the holistic and individualized treatment options. If you’ve been experiencing pain and don’t know where to turn, give us a call at Greenville Spine. We would be more than happy to sit down with you and discuss treatment options. Give us a call at (864) 631-1420 and let’s get you started on accomplishing all your health goals.
by Greenville Spine Institute | Apr 18, 2023 | Gonstead
The Gonstead Chiropractic Method is a unique and effective method of chiropractic treatment that puts the patient and their individual needs first. It’s not a one-size-fits-all method where everyone receives the same adjustments on the same schedule. Every patient is different and their needs are going to require different treatment methods and schedules, which the Gonstead method takes into account. There are multiple benefits to this technique, which will be discussed here.
The Gonstead Method has been in successful practice for more than 50 years and is often considered the gold standard when it comes to chiropractic methods. This is due to the unique aspects of the instrumentation, visualization, and overall thorough analysis of each patient. Every body is different and a one-size-fits-all method is never the right path for treatment. The Gonstead method takes into account the entire person, their medical history, their current pain and challenges, and delivers a personalized treatment option for each person.
5 Components of the Gonstead Method
If you’re not familiar with the Gonstead method, there are five components to it:
- Visualization
- Instrumentation
- Palpation
- Case Management
- X-Rays
More information about each of these and why they matter are addressed in a short blog post from last month.
Many Benefits of the Gonstead Method
While there are many benefits to using the Gonstead method, I’m going to focus on four here: non-invasive technique, individualized treatment plans, pinpoint accuracy in adjustments, and thorough analysis.
Non-Invasive Technique
There is nothing invasive whatsoever about the Gonstead method. Patients don’t ever see blood, needles, bandages, scalpels, or anything else that involves invasive procedures. One recent study indicated that six in 10 Americans are scared to see a doctor. The reasons vary: an unfavorable diagnosis, financial reasons, or maybe they don’t think what they are going through is that bad. Back pain, headaches, and general aches and pains were some of the most common ailments refused to seek treatment for. All of these ailments are also very common amongst patients who come to Greenville Spine for help. We treat all of these ailments through non-invasive and drug free techniques.
Individualized Treatment Plans
The Gonstead technique uses individualized treatment plans because not everyone has the same issues, challenges, and body. This seems like an obvious aspect of any medical profession but especially within the chiropractic community, it’s not always the case. At Greenville Spine, we treat every person as unique and, after the initial exam and x-ray analysis, devise a treatment plan for them and only them. This is one of the reasons why the Gonstead method and our treatment plans at Greenville Spine are so successful.
Pinpoint Accuracy
By using the Nervoscope, which runs along the spine to detect small changes in temperatures, the Gonstead-training chiropractor is able to pinpoint exactly where inflammation is occurring, which helps to identify subluxations. These cause inflammation and pain in the body and through the instrumentation used in the Gonstead technique, the chiropractor is able to make adjustments to fit each patient and their needs with exact accuracy.
Thorough Analysis
Each aspect of the Gonstead method is like a puzzle: when it all comes together, the picture provides a thorough analysis of the patient and their specific goals and challenges. This gives the Gonstead chiropractor a path forward for each patient. Whether the patient is suffering from headaches, back pain, neck pain, lack of sleep, lack of energy, or any number of other issues, a thorough analysis and thoughtful treatment plan will address these challenges for the patient both when they start treatment and throughout their time at Greenville Spine. Adjustments can be made at any time to provide the patient with the utmost personalized care to help them achieve their goals.
Living a Pain-Free Life
The Gonstead method is the gold standard when it comes to chiropractic care and the benefits are extensive due to the holistic and individualized treatment options. If you’ve been experiencing pain and don’t know where to turn, give us a call at Greenville Spine. We would be more than happy to sit down with you and discuss treatment options. Give us a call at (864) 631-1420 and let’s get you started on accomplishing all your health goals.
by Greenville Spine Institute | Apr 14, 2023 | Gonstead
The Gonstead Chiropractic Method is a unique and effective method of chiropractic treatment that puts the patient and their individual needs first. It’s not a one-size-fits-all method where everyone receives the same adjustments on the same schedule. Every patient is different and their needs are going to require different treatment methods and schedules, which the Gonstead method takes into account. There are multiple benefits to this technique, which will be discussed here.
The Gonstead Method has been in successful practice for more than 50 years and is often considered the gold standard when it comes to chiropractic methods. This is due to the unique aspects of the instrumentation, visualization, and overall thorough analysis of each patient. Every body is different and a one-size-fits-all method is never the right path for treatment. The Gonstead method takes into account the entire person, their medical history, their current pain and challenges, and delivers a personalized treatment option for each person.
5 Components of the Gonstead Method
If you’re not familiar with the Gonstead method, there are five components to it:
- Visualization
- Instrumentation
- Palpation
- Case Management
- X-Rays
More information about each of these and why they matter are addressed in a short blog post from last month.
Many Benefits of the Gonstead Method
While there are many benefits to using the Gonstead method, I’m going to focus on four here: non-invasive technique, individualized treatment plans, pinpoint accuracy in adjustments, and thorough analysis.
Non-Invasive Technique
There is nothing invasive whatsoever about the Gonstead method. Patients don’t ever see blood, needles, bandages, scalpels, or anything else that involves invasive procedures. One recent study indicated that six in 10 Americans are scared to see a doctor. The reasons vary: an unfavorable diagnosis, financial reasons, or maybe they don’t think what they are going through is that bad. Back pain, headaches, and general aches and pains were some of the most common ailments refused to seek treatment for. All of these ailments are also very common amongst patients who come to Greenville Spine for help. We treat all of these ailments through non-invasive and drug free techniques.
Individualized Treatment Plans
The Gonstead technique uses individualized treatment plans because not everyone has the same issues, challenges, and body. This seems like an obvious aspect of any medical profession but especially within the chiropractic community, it’s not always the case. At Greenville Spine, we treat every person as unique and, after the initial exam and x-ray analysis, devise a treatment plan for them and only them. This is one of the reasons why the Gonstead method and our treatment plans at Greenville Spine are so successful.
Pinpoint Accuracy
By using the Nervoscope, which runs along the spine to detect small changes in temperatures, the Gonstead-training chiropractor is able to pinpoint exactly where inflammation is occurring, which helps to identify subluxations. These cause inflammation and pain in the body and through the instrumentation used in the Gonstead technique, the chiropractor is able to make adjustments to fit each patient and their needs with exact accuracy.
Thorough Analysis
Each aspect of the Gonstead method is like a puzzle: when it all comes together, the picture provides a thorough analysis of the patient and their specific goals and challenges. This gives the Gonstead chiropractor a path forward for each patient. Whether the patient is suffering from headaches, back pain, neck pain, lack of sleep, lack of energy, or any number of other issues, a thorough analysis and thoughtful treatment plan will address these challenges for the patient both when they start treatment and throughout their time at Greenville Spine. Adjustments can be made at any time to provide the patient with the utmost personalized care to help them achieve their goals.
Living a Pain-Free Life
The Gonstead method is the gold standard when it comes to chiropractic care and the benefits are extensive due to the holistic and individualized treatment options. If you’ve been experiencing pain and don’t know where to turn, give us a call at Greenville Spine. We would be more than happy to sit down with you and discuss treatment options. Give us a call at (864) 631-1420 and let’s get you started on accomplishing all your health goals.
by Greenville Spine Institute | Feb 14, 2023 | Chiropractic Care
It’s February. You may have already fallen off the wagon of your New Year’s resolutions. Many people do and that’s totally normal! But consistency is so important to reaching your goals, whatever they may be, and it is a huge part of successful chiropractic care. So if you resolved to be healthier this year, to finally get those back and neck issues checked out like you’ve been wanting to do for awhile, here’s your sign.
What is consistency?
Being consistent with something is committing to it wholeheartedly and doing it over and over again. When you’re learning times tables in second or third grade, if you don’t practice them over and over again and are consistent with your dedicated time, you’re not going to learn them.
Or if you resolved to cook healthier meals this year but don’t make the effort to be consistent with meal planning and grocery shopping, reaching that goal is going to feel like an impossibility.
With chiropractic care, after your initial assessment with Greenville Spine, an individualized plan is put together with your specific health and goals in mind, which includes regular adjustments and exercises. If you don’t follow through with consistency, reaching your goals is going to be hard.
Once you start your treatment plan, there are other aspects of your life that can also be aided by consistency.
Consistency in diet
With regular adjustments, most of our patients start seeing positive results quickly. In the beginning, patients usually come at least a couple times a week as we dive right into the treatment plan and help patients to start off on a good foot and reach their goals.
Eating a healthy and balanced diet on a consistent basis is a great way to supplement the good changes you will be seeing after your adjustments. Drinking enough water, eating enough greens and vegetables, and balancing your diet is very helpful to ensuring good results overall.
Consistency in exercise
Our bodies are built for movement and exercise is an important aspect of overall health, which is why it needs to be done consistently. The benefits of exercise are vast: better sleep, healthier immune system, reduced risk of chronic heart disease or developing health issues down the road, and stronger bones.
Exercise and chiropractic care go hand-in-hand. So many of our patients at Greenville Spine are athletes or former athletes who want to get back into consistent exercise or want to train to run a long race. Chiropractic care helps patients to optimize their bodies and functions, including many related to exercise and sports, which in turn helps them to perform better and hopefully be more motivated to get into a consistent exercise routine.
Consistency in sleeping
One in three Americans report getting less than the recommended seven hours of sleep per night, according to the CDC. Consistency in sleep is crucial to a healthy lifestyle. Making a commitment to go to bed at a certain time, putting down the electronics, and turning off the light can help with anxiety, focus, mood, and immune system functions.
With consistent chiropractic care, many of our patients report sleeping so much better than before treatment. This is true no matter what kind of ailments our patients come to us with. It’s a pleasure to see our patients so rested and we always urge them to exercise consistency when making a sleep schedule to maximize their positive results of treatment.
Don’t let those resolutions pass you by
If you’re reading this and remembering your new year’s resolutions that may have fallen to the wayside, it’s not too late to try again. Give us a call and we would be more than happy to get you on the right track to wherever it is that you want to be and help you. With the right consistency and dedication to your health, we can help you obtain a pain-free life. Give us a call to schedule your initial assessment. We’ll listen to you. We’ll talk about options. Give us a call at (864) 631-1420.
by Greenville Spine Institute | Jan 8, 2023 | Chiropractic Care
We are in the midst of a terrible flu, RSV, and cold season. Doctors have warned this season is one of the worst they’ve seen as viruses run rampant through families, schools, workplaces, daycares, and community groups. While it is essential to get enough rest, exercise, water, and make healthy food choices to avoid getting sick, chiropractic care can play a key role in keeping you in tip top shape.
It’s all about the lymphatic system
The lymphatic system plays a huge role in your health. This system acts as a filter to get out the bacteria and viruses that could cause you harm. It does that through the lymph, which are made up of white blood cells, the soldiers of your immune system. Have you been to the doctor for a sick visit and they feel under your jaw line? They are checking to see if your lymph nodes are swollen, a sure sign that your body is fighting some kind of infection.
The bad stuff that the lymphatic system filters out goes through lymph ducts, many of which are located along your spine and neck. What happens when your spine and neck are out of alignment? Those ducts get blocked and can’t filter out harmful pathogens and you get sick
Cost effectiveness of chiropractic care for the flu
Your trained and experienced chiropractor can make sure that any misalignments are corrected through regular visits so that when cold and flu season does hit, your body’s immune system is ready to attack whatever viruses or bacteria that come your way. Regular adjustments should be added to your healthy regiment just like exercise, healthy eating, and drinking lots of water are on the list.
By putting chiropractic care at the top of your list for staying healthy, you are taking steps to reduce costs if you do fall ill. Doctors visits and prescriptions add up quickly, along with the side effects of those drugs. By consistently taking care of your body all year, you will be healthier and stronger when faced with flu season.
Multiple studies show that people who regularly see a chiropractor are healthier overall and rack up less medical costs. This applies to both adults and kids.
Decongesting with Adjustments
As in all chiropractic care, the goal is to keep you healthy and pain free, which is accomplished through non-invasive methods of aligning your spine to make sure communication channels are open and operating at top levels from your brain throughout your entire nervous system. Why? So that messages go where they need to go and your body acts in the ways it was designed to act, which means kicking out harmful bacteria or viruses.
This is a natural method of decongesting, which should be done while you’re still healthy but can also be done when you are sick.
Evidence of the Effectiveness of Adjustments
One study on a nearly two-year-old little girl who was suffering from chronic ear infections and respiratory tract infections showed remarkable improvement after consistent adjustments during chiropractic visits. Her family had tried multiple medical interventions from nebulizers to antibiotics to bronchodilators for a year and a half and the child was not improving. She was taken to a chiropractor, who found multiple vertebral subluxations, which were interfering with the functioning of her nervous system. These vertebral subluxations were targeted during spinal adjustments and within one month, the ear infections were gone and within three months, the child was off the nebulizer and without any symptoms of RSV.
Studying the effectiveness of chiropractic adjustments would serve to help so many people suffering from common winter viruses and hopefully they will be taken up in the medical community. Yet anecdotal evidence that chiropractic care helps to not only assist patients who are not feeling well but goes a long way to prevent patients from having a harder time if they do get sick.
Besides this method being effective for those suffering from flu and colds, the Greenville Spine Institute has seen success in patients who have had cancer and chemotherapy. Regular adjustments have been very helpful in aiding in the reduction of pain and correcting misalignments in the spine to help heal the body faster.
Taking Steps to Beat the Cold Season
If you already feel great during this current cold and flu season, that’s a great time to come in for an assessment to see how Greenville Spine can help keep you on the right path and give your immune system even more of a boost to keep you healthy and pain-free. If you’re struggling to feel better, that’s also a great time to be assessed and see how our experienced and compassionate chiropractors can get you on the road to better health.
In the meantime, don’t neglect exercise, choosing healthy foods, and steps to reduce stress in your life. If you’d like to come into our office for a consultation on how we can help you, please call Greenville Spine at (864) 631-1420.
