Chronic Pain and You

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chiropractic, chiropractor in santa barbara, chiropractors in santa barbara, Chronic Pain, Dr. Nicholas Araza, Health, Innate Body Boot Camp, Innate Fitness, Jennifer Nadeau, Musculoskeletal pain, Pain, Santa Barbara Family Chiropractic, Wellness

He’s coming for us all, but does he have to bring the pain?

Aging and chronic pain has become, unfortunately, synonymous, but there is good news: IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE.  But here’s the catch, to keep the evils of father time at bay, we must act now.  Personal responsibility is the most important tool in your belt when taking control of chronic pain, and all health issues for that matter.  To conquer pain you have to understand what it is and what it is not.  Pain is not useless.  Pain is information.  More specifically, pain is our emotional reaction to some sort of tissue damage within our body.  Pain is a signal that something isn’t right.  Despite how incredible your body is, with the trillions of reactions and processes going on inside of it every second of every day, one thing it can’t do is speak.  It can’t say “Nick I really don’t like it when you spend an hour or two on your laptop, because I’m designed to move and the laptop puts me in a very difficult posture that ends up causing tissue damage at the spinal level, so please sit up straight, take breaks and use a desk top with the monitor at eye level, thank you.”  I wish that was the case, but then maybe I’d be out of a job ;-p.  So, instead, our bodies respond with the one communication strategy that they have:  pain.   In my case, as well as many people out there regarding computers, I get neck and shoulder pain with prolonged use.  At first if we listen to our body and make changes (change our posture, stop using a laptop), the info (pain) stops, but if we ignore it or mask it (meds), it usually gets worse over time.  This makes sense because we haven’t corrected the cause.

If pain goes on for a long time you can actually become even more susceptible to pain and things that shouldn’t hurt begin to hurt.  Most of the time, this happens in a stressful state, when we are not eating (chemical),  how we are supposed to, not moving (physical) how we are supposed to and under more emotional stress than we should be.  Sound familiar?  Stress from all categories (chemical, physical, emotional) is cumulative and hard hitting on the pain front and literally sensitizes us to stimulus that wouldn’t and shouldn’t cause us pain.  We see this with older individuals because well, they’ve been around longer and have usually dealt or tried to mask their pain for a long time rather than correcting the cause.  If this is you, don’t feel bad, our society has been taught to look for answers in potions, pills and lotions which hardly ever deal with the cause.

Finding and correcting the cause is your answer to most pain whether by taking your finger off a hot stove, or getting your spine adjusted to improve proper motion and exercising to strengthen your low back.  Both work to fix the reason there is pain.  Now with a hot stove the pain usually stops about as quickly as you remove your finger, but chronic nagging pain isn’t so easy.  Because it has usually taken quite a bit of time to get to a chronic pain state, it can take some time to go away.   Every person is different, but if we can lower your nutritional and emotional stress while correcting the damage at the joint and tissue level and teach you how to move your body so that you don’t recreate the damage, well then all you’ll need is time and you should get a new and pain free you.

Action Steps:

1. Get your spine checked.  Since pain usually comes at the end of a problem get your foundation (musculo-skeletal and nerve system) checked by a chiropractor to find out if there are any physical stresses to correct.
2. Exercise.  Join a class and/or get a personal trainer.  Walking alone can help reduce inflammation and pain in some cases.
3. Begin taking a high quality Omega 3 supplement to address any dietary deficiencies and to decrease inflammation.  Recommendations on types of high quality Omega 3 are Nordic Naturals, Bonfire Health or Innate Choice (1000mg per 50 pounds of body weight) consult your doctor if on any blood thinning medications. For your own convience, you can shop here:
4. Attend our free Ergonomics & Movement workshop to learn and practice good posture as well as find out what activities may be contributing to your pain.  June 20^th @ 630pm at Innate Fitness on 360 S. Hope Ave Suite C105.  Santa Barbara, CA 93105.  Call 805-682-4620 to reserve a spot.

Change 4 Health!

-Dr. Nick Araza DC CCWP CFL1-Trainer

How can you prevent a health crisis?

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chiropractic, chiropractor in santa barbara, chiropractors in santa barbara, Dr. Nicholas Araza, Health, Innate Body Boot Camp, Innate Fitness, Jennifer Nadeau, mental health, mental wellness, Santa Barbara Chiropractor, Santa Barbara Family Chiropractic, Wellness

PUT ENERGY TOWARD YOUR HEALTH!!

Its that simple, check it out!

Stay the course, keep working it!  We are so proud of those of you who choose to eat the apple, do the extra workout, get the extra adjustment despite the stresses and easy outs.

You rock!

Dr. Nick Araza DC  CCWP

 

Restful Sleep isn’t a Myth, just do it right!

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santa barbara chiropractic, Santa Barbara Family Chiropractic, Sleep

Sleep should be simple, but we just weren’t given a manual for how to do the most trivial things, things that we do every single day of our lives and for hours and hours, yes I’m talking about sleep. We could be talking about a lot of things though, like walking, lifting, sitting, driving, watching tv…etc, so one at a time, I’m going to go over the HOW TO’s of everyday life with a the thought of longevity in mind. Keeping your body in working order for years to come. This one is on sleep so check it out!

To attend a live workshop on how to move and live in your body please call or email the office 805-682-4620, the next lecture/action series will be taught June 20th 2012 at 630pm. Limited space available.

Dr. Nick Araza from Santa Barbara Family Chiropractic teaches the fundamental sleep postures that allow for restful sleep and a healthy body.

Stress Buster that takes 1 min and costs zero dollars!!

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breathing exercises, chiropractor in santa barbara, chiropractors in santa barbara, Dr. Nicholas Araza, Good Posture, Innate Body Boot Camp, Innate Fitness, Jennifer Nadeau, Santa Barbara Chiropractor, Santa Barbara Family Chiropractic, stress managment, Wellness

YOU NEED THIS!!!

PRACTICE THIS TYPE OF BREATH TO DECREASE YOUR STRESS AND IMPROVE YOUR DIGESTION!!

For those of you who have practiced yoga, you’ll know that there are many ways of breathing.  I want to focus on 2 that are fundamentally different in their affect on your physiology.

The PROBLEM:

The first is common, but unnatural to stay in for long periods of time, which is troubling because that is the type many people find themselves in.  It is called chest breathing, and to no surprise, it is performed by breathing into your chest.  It is characterized by short or shallow breaths performed by the intercostal muscles (muscles on the ribs) that cause the chest to rise.  This is the fastest way to breathe, the way you would want to breathe if you were under attack (stress).  This type of breathing triggers the sympathetic nervous system what is crucial in fight or flight.  However, humans are only designed to be in a stressful state for short periods, really only long enough to get out of the stressful situation (change our environment to a more hospitable one).  Nowadays we find ourselves in chronic stress with deadlines to meet, family’s to run, children to constantly monitor and very little community support nor movement to deal with that stress.

The SOLUTION:

That is why I want to talk to you about diaphragmatic breathing.  This is a completely different way to get oxygen to your cells from a physiological standpoint.  This breathing is deep; it causes your belly to push out rather than your chest to rise up.  This breath is accomplished primarily by the contraction of your diaphragm, a muscular umbrella at the bottom of your ribcage that pulls air in and gently massages your internal organs in a rhythmic way.  This is the way children breath (picture a toddler breathing, their breath seems to go all the way into their belly.  This is the way you breath you are supposed to breath pretty much all of the time.  This triggers the parasympathetic nervous system for rest and repair.  Plus it feels great; you can actually feel your stress decrease after just a few deep breaths!

How to:

1.  Assume Proper Posture / Stand (or sit up) straight & drop your shoulders back and down.  (Lift your heart to 45 degrees)

2.  Inhale slowly through your nose trying to get the air down as far as possible into your belly.  (Your belly will push out, that is normal).

3.  Pause for a second or less.

4. Exhale slowly through nose (2 x longer than inhalation).

5.  Repeat 5-10 times

6.  Do this every hour and feel the stress fall away.

Practice diaphragmatic breathing for 5-10 breaths before you lie down to sleep and before you eat.  These activities require a predominantly parasympathetic nervous system activity.

Breathe 4 Health!

Dr. Nicholas Araza DC CCWP

For you visual or auditory learners check out this video on diaphragmatic breath!

Is Sitting Really the New Smoking, and how much is too much?

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chiropractor in santa barbara, chiropractors in santa barbara, Dr. Nicholas Araza, Innate Fitness, Jennifer Nadeau, santa barbara, santa barbara chiropractic, Santa Barbara Chiropractor, Santa Barbara Family Chiropractic, sedentary lifestyle, SITTING IS THE NEW SMOKING, spinal degeneration, Wellness

SITTING = BAD NEWS

 

Have you heard about this?  That sitting can be as bad for your health as smoking!  Well studies are coming out more and more that this is true, the first time I heard that experts were relating desk work mortality rates to those who puff away part of their life expectancy was back in 2009 from the NY Times

Katzmarzyk NY Times 2009

“Of particular note is the link between sitting and premature mortality: individuals who sit most of the day have a greater chance of dying early compared with people who sit very little.”

I wasn’t shocked but it was a powerful visual that I was eager to pass on to my family, friends and patients in order to help motivate them to MOVE and move often!  It’s fairly obvious that chairs and computer screens do nothing to increase our health, but to find out that they are on par with big tobacco can be a bit of a shock.  Galen Cranz professor of Architecture at UC Berkeley states that ”

“There are problems associated with both sitting and standing. No posture is perfect. As a species we are designed for movement. The best posture probably is the next posture.”

There you have it, how much is too much? ANY!  Crazy isn’t it!  Not to scare you too much, but to get you to ACT, check this out from an article in The Atlantic…“Its most striking finding was that people who sat more than 11 hours a day had a 40% higher risk of dying in the next three years than people who sat less than four hours a day. This was after adjusting for factors such as age, weight, physical activity and general health status, all of which affect the death risk. It also found a clear dose-response effect: the more people sat, the higher their risk of death.”BACK TO THE NEXT POSTURE!! That means on the go.  Now that doesn’t help you desk workers out there, so for what to do and a bit more motivation, check out this new video post….the first of many!

Move For Health,

-Dr. Nick Araza DC CCWP CFL1

What to Eat for Lunch…the Paleo Way to Keep Bread Out of Your Day!

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chiropractor in santa barbara, chiropractors in santa barbara, Dr. Nicholas Araza, Jennifer Nadeau, santa barbara chiropractic, Santa Barbara Chiropractor, Santa Barbara Family Chiropractic

Eat This

Or This

NOT THIS!!!!

That’s right, your body knows better what to do with insects for lunch than the food-like Wonder product above (“wonder” being a descriptive for the amount of chemicals in it, and it’s still being sold for human consumption!?  As I said to Dr. Ryan the other day, I’d more trust a farmer to build me a rocket than a scientist to make me a healthy lunch!).

I hear this again and again, “Okay, okay, I get it, bread is bad for me, but I can still have sandwiches, right?”  And the answer is you can do whatever you want, but because I care about you I want you to make informed decisions – so remember that bread is toxic to your cells and to your health.  I will not argue that it is a tasty way to grip your lunch, but that is because bread is essentially sugar which spikes your insulin, moving you toward poor immune function and diabetes.  Most bread also contains gluten, gliadin, and phytic acid which moves you towards osteoporosis and fungal infections, while irritating the crap out of your intestines (literally) – and it sets you up for all sorts of allergies, irritable bowl syndrome, auto-immune disorders (Krohn’s, possible links to MS), etc.

As hopefully you know, I don’t like to just give a bunch of info without some action steps or solutions, so here are some ideas of breadless lunches – some of my favorites that I smash on the regular…enjoy!

Bread Replacers:

1. Lettuce Wrap – that’s right folks, lettuce actually serves as an excellent and much more nutritious means to grip your turkey/tuna/veggie/ filling.  Everything else stays the same – just grab some romaine or iceburg and wrap away (note – doesn’t work that well for peanut butter and jelly, but we shouldn’t be eating either of those either – another blog topic).
   
   1. Paleo Tacos are the Araza household favorite. – Grass-fed beef seasoned well. Avocado sliced into strips. Diced Onions, Jalapenos and Tomatoes. Put all of that on a large leaf of Romaine Lettuce and top with your favorite salsa….delicioso!! Maybe best of all 10 min prep time if you are Jen, 15 if you are Nick ;-p.
      

 2. The bowl of whatever you were going to put between bread
plus some healthy dressing – just take the ingredients of your sandwich, cut into smaller chunks, add some extra veggies (just for the heck of it) and consume – you will find that it is still quite delicious, or you will find that it was just the bread that you enjoyed, and you will need to add a bunch of veggies as well as some dressing (olive oil-based) to spice it up.

No Bread Necessary Options:

1.  The SALAD! – One of my favorites because it can be so different and sooooo delicious, and as I heard at a recent wellness seminar, “You never regret a salad.”  How true – I always feel great after eating a salad.  If taking it to work, put salad in Tupper Ware and then bring dressing in a separate container so it doesn’t get all soggy.  Here are a couple winners:

1.  
   1. The (modified) Greek – Kale or Spinach, ½ a cucumber, 1 big tomato, olives, handful raisins, ¼ onion and dressing.  The bigger the better.
      
   2. Tortilla (I had this today) – Kale, butter lettuce, 1 tomato, 1 cucumber, ½ can of black beans, handful of Trader Joes Flax & Veggie tortilla chips (underlined is not paleo, but better than bread as long as corn based and not flour. It is also a great stepping stone toward paleo) crushed and sprinkled on top, ½ avocado cut into chunks, green salsa, 2 tablespoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon fish oil.
      
   3. Anything I have in the fridge – on bed of kale, chop up any thing and add a very tasty dressing.  Dressings should be olive oil- based, but as long as you are eating tons of veggies I occasionally let the dressing slide – just make sure you understand the ingredients!
      

2.   Eggs, grass-fed beef and veggies.  Be creative, but if you want specifics, the video you saw included: 1 lb grass-fed beef ground, 6 farm fresh eggs, 1 large zucchini, 1 red pepper, 3 cups spinach, 1.5 avocado.  Cook it slow and add the avocado chunks last.  Prep time 15 min.

3.  Soup or stew:  Cook a HUGE pot of veggies, tomato sauce &/or meat.  Then eat over course of next week.  Left-overs are the best! Just reheat and eat.

4. Veggies and grass-fed beef or chicken sausage (nitrite-free), slow-cooked on skillet for about 10-15 minutes.

That’s all I have for now. I am going to try and post more specific recipes from time to time on here.  But know this, I always use the same basics: veggies, meat, and more veggies, and it’s always delicious – except when it’s super delicious!

Eat 4 Health,

Dr. Nicholas Araza DC CCWP

Quit Hurting Yourself!

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chiropractic, Dr. Nicholas Araza, Good Posture, Health, Innate Body Boot Camp, Innate Fitness, Santa Barbara Family Chiropractic, Wellness

Are you doing this to your spine?

It’s true, most of your problems come from your bad habits.  But hey, don’t feel bad!  A lot of them aren’t your fault, you weren’t given a users manual at birth, nor did anybody show you the best way to sleep, wash dishes, walk, sit, run, lift…etc and you’ve been doing your best.  You may have even been getting away with some pretty awful form for quite some time with no problems.

Yeah, this is going to last long...

But we all know that misusing a tool decreases its life expectancy and the same is true for your body, the most wonderful tool of all. So here’s a little tip on how to get the most out of your body, so that it will last a lifetime and not break down on you years before it should.

For every other topic you can think of there is usually a best posture or position that will also offer the longest durability and least wear and tear on your body.  To find out what they are please join our community education event this Thursday Feb 9th at 630 here at the Santa Barbara Health and Fitness Epicenter “Innate Fitness and SB Family Chiropractic” 360 S. Hope Ave Suite c100-105.

Move like you should for Health!

-Dr. Nick Araza DC CCWP Crossfit Trainer

Is the way YOU drive causing YOUR Pain?

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bad habits, digestive wellness, Dr. Nicholas Araza, driving pain, ergonomics workshop, Good Posture, santa barbara chiropractic, Santa Barbara Family Chiropractic

Is this you?

It is our bad habits that cause the majority of our problems whether spinal related or other.  So, this week I thought I’d reintroduce the importance of good posture while driving and what it is.  Poor sustained postures over a period of time result in much pain and suffering in our country as well as digestive, reproductive and other health issues.  Take a look at this short video to make sure your driving habits aren’t breaking you down.

http://yourhealthbuddy.wordpress.com/2011/02/14/you-can-drive-4000-miles-without-back-pain/

PS Next Thursday at 630 at SB Family Chiropractic we are going to explore the other common postural habits that cause most problems from throwing your back out while lifting, or sneezing and the best way wash to the dishes, sit, stand, sleep, read and more.  The workshop will be action oriented with practice and 6 coaches to help you learn proper technique.  To reserve your seat call or email and This workshop is free but space is limited.

Use your body like it was intended for health!

-Dr. Nick Araza DC CCWP CFL1T

How should YOU work out to see YOUR abs?

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Dr. Nicholas Araza, functional fitness, how to exercise, Innate Body Boot Camp, Innate Fitness, Santa Barbara Family Chiropractic

Way Better than this...

There are so many ways to work out these days; it can be hard to choose. Some regimens focus on calorie burning, some focus on endurance, some gyms just let you go at it alone with no guidance and on the other spectrum others supervise you’re every move. With so many ways to work out, what should we do? As always that depends on what our goals are. My fitness journey began with Arnold, looks and “big guns” as my motivation, but after much pain, injury and little result, I started asking “how should I exercise to get healthier and feel better.” Much to my surprise the answer to the second question made the biggest change in my physique and has done so for thousands of others. You see healthier people are more fit and more functional (useful) because they can lift, run, squat, endure, hold as well as feel great. So the answer of how you should workout to feel your best also equals how you should work out to LOOK your best!

This is one thing you need to know before we continue: the healthiest humans that have ever lived are/were hunter gatherers who moved (functionally), ate unprocessed foods from the earth and lived in tribes where community and contribution is/was an essential part of life.

Knowing that a hunter gatherer lifestyle produces the healthiest human beings is incredible because that information gives us a reference standard and guides our education curriculum at SBFC and IF, ensuring that there are reasons for everything we do and recommend. This is also why we recommend FUNCTIONAL FITNESS as the best form of exercise for health.

Functional fitness is defined as movements using natural, universal motor recruitment patterns, in which there is a wavelike contraction from a person’s core out to the extremities, eliciting a powerful neuroendocrine (nervous system and hormonal) response and enabling people to move their body or objects quickly and safely. Basically functional fitness trains movements NOT muscles.
It is core centered, excellent at burning fat, building strength, is super safe and can be applied to everyday life, making YOUR LIFE EASIER. For example, one of the hallmark moves of functional fitness is the SQUAT. Done properly this move strengthens knees, hips, low backs and is a tremendous abdominal workout. This move is so practical in everyday life that it is nearly impossible to go a day without doing one, but most people do it improperly wreaking havoc on all the parts listed above. By training movements, functional fitness programs MAKE YOUR LIFE EASIER because you learn to use your body efficiently while teaching you what you can and cannot do, which is super helpful when life throws something heavy to lift your way.

Another thing you need to know is that intensity not time is most important for getting your body to respond to what you are doing. Once you have your form down, working hard = results! Plain and simple to get the most bang for your buck (beauty for your body) interval training is a necessity. This is the type of exercise that IF excels at especially in a safe environment because when you push, there is a tendency to let your form go, which = injury, slow progress, pain and poor results. (goodbye abs).

Thirdly, the broadest spectrum of movement is very important if you want that well defined formed body with the V or hourglass figure. The more varied your program, the better adapted your body will be for life and for looks.

Lastly, lifting heavy stuff is also important for its hormone release and strength gains. Humans were created/evolved for life and life requires lifting things. Sure we have engineered out much of our required lifting, but that doesn’t mean our body has benefited from that. Not lifting is a sure fire way to ensure you can’t lift. The strength gained from lifting heavy things will carry over to make your life easier and the act of lifting sends powerful messages to your system telling it to add muscle and burn fat. This is exactly what gives the figures that most of us want. You should be lifting to improve your STRENGTH to WEIGHT ratio, that will ensure you look and feel strong but will not get bulky like an strongman.

Look for programs like we have at Innate Fitness or at a Crossfit near you. Make sure they take form seriously and get after it. The results will keep you at it for a lifetime!

Train Functionally 4 Health,

Dr. Nicholas Araza CCWP

Natural remedies for fighting a cold.

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cold and flu, Dr. Nicholas Araza, natural remedies, Santa Barbara Family Chiropractic, sickness, treating colds, Wellness

At SBFC we get this question often because many of our patients have learned that medications even over the counter are usually great for masking pain and symptoms but do nothing to make us healthier. In fact, drugs often ignore the bigger issue of why you got sick in the first place.

Germs are opportunists like a sunflower seed or acorn, just waiting for the right environment to express their potential. For an acorn that environment is healthy soil, sunshine, water…etc which produces a mighty oak tree over time. For a bacteria or virus to thrive into a cold, flu or other disease they need an environment of an immune-compromised human, someone who is doing one or more of the following: dealing with more stress than usual, not active enough, eating or drinking processed/fast food/alcohol/sugary substances (sugar is probably the worst), not getting enough sunshine and is subluxated.

Fever, coughing, sneezing and even the wretched puking are all part of the body’s amazing defense mechanisms for fighting a cold or flu naturally. Fever serves as a catalyst speeding up the immune systems fighting actions, while not always pleasant if left alone to do its thing, it usually speeds up the sick process. If a fever is treated with drugs like Tylenol that suppresses the fever, often the immune system is suppressed and while you may feel better, it can take weeks longer to beat a nagging cold. Plus getting sick is a great way to examine what lifestyle activities you may have engaged in to leave your immune system suppressed and your body open for invasion.

Now life happens to us all, and especially around the holidays there is ample opportunity for indulging in immune suppressing behavior (is that why the cold and flu season follows the holidays…..hmm?), so what to do if you’ve come down with something or feel a cold coming on, but don’t want to suppress your body’s fighting mechanism with drugs. IS there anything natural you can take or do to support your immune system?

YES! Here goes the list of “what to do when you are feeling sick.”

1.  Get an extra adjustment = lowers stress hormone cortisol, stopping it’s interference of your immune system .

2.  Sunshine 20-30 min each day = provides 20-30,000 IUs of Vitamin D a potent stimulator of your immune system and it feels great and lowers stress.

Or (if you are in Mass sorry peeps)

2a.  Vit D3 supplement – 20-30,000 IU each day (if you don’t get sun on the regular, 5,000IUs daily is a must).

3.  Vit C 1000mg 3xdaily (ester C is best) = potent stimulator of your immune system (you know you’ve taken too much when you get the runs – much better side effect than the horrible side effects list on the Tylenol bottle).

4.  Omega 3 supplements 3-5g daily = will help balance any inflammation, which feeds microforms.

5.  Oil of Oreganol extract = natural extract from plan that acts as an antiviral antimicrobial (follow directions on bottle or ask natural foods supplement shop clerk).

6.  Garlic = natural antiviral, antibacterial and antimicrobial…get cooking or cut a small piece and swallow. I believe they have garlic pills you can take too, but it’s probably best to eat.

7.  Probiotics = healthy bacteria that provide support to our immune system. Extra capsule during a sickness especially if you are taking any antibiotics.

5-6-7…Some of the above can be combined into a tonic…for example check out Melanie’s Master Tonic (natural antibiotic).

8.  Lastly, avoid Sugar like the plague – potent immune suppressant in fact the black plague that wiped out ½ of Europe in the middle ages began at around the exact time sugar was introduced in Europe…hmmm.

Really folks, keep sugar and processed foods to a minimum (last resort, but probably better to skip a meal than eat toast and jam while sick for what it does to your immune function.

Remember the best treatment is a consistent healthy lifestyle that includes, regular chiropractic care, nutritious foods from the earth, plenty of exercise and a positive mindset!

Boost your immune system for health!

-Dr. Nick Araza DC CCWP