An estimated 300 million people throughout the world are suffering from asthma, most of them in developed countries. And the even more shocking statistic is that asthma is responsible for 250,000 deaths annually. It is also the most common of all children’s chronic illnesses. Asthma cannot just be shrugged off simply as an everyday ailment. Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease affecting the airways and lungs. When asthma occurs, the airway or bronchial tubes in your lungs react to allergens or irritants. The airways’ reaction to these triggers causes them to be inflamed and constricted. It is these airways that deliver air and oxygen to and from the different parts of your body. When these airways become constricted, the breathing process becomes difficult and they begin to produce more mucous, which in turn further aggravates the constriction. The specific cause of asthma cannot be determined. It is however generally believed that certain factors are key in its development. Genetics is one, and so are environmental factors and the nervous system’s abnormal response to certain stimuli. There is also no known medical cure for asthma, and because of this, it is generally considered a chronic, sometimes life-long illness. Common Ways to Prevent Asthma According to medical professionals, asthma cannot be prevented, but steps can be taken to prevent its symptoms and control the disease, such as: Know the ways to control your asthma. Have a written action plan for asthma and follow it. Use medicines as prescribed by your doctor. Identify the triggers to your asthma and avoid them. Monitor your asthma symptoms as well as the level of control. Have regular checkups specifically for your asthma. Conventional asthma management is focused and anchored on medication. Many people have serious concerns with the side effects of asthma medications for good reasons. Preventing Asthma through Chiropractic Care Chiropractic is a drug-free and surgery-free natural health care solution to many ills, including asthma. Most conditions and illnesses can be attributed to a problem or anomaly with an individual’s central nervous system. The nervous system controls and coordinates all of the body’s functions such that if there is anything wrong with it, symptoms will begin to appear. If the nervous system is functioning optimally, there will not be any symptoms. A misaligned spine results in a faulty nervous system. Misalignment may be caused by a number of different factors or events in your life. It may have occurred during the birthing process, or as a result of an accident when you were growing up. These accidents and injuries cause spinal misalignments that lead to nerve dysfunction. When nerve dysfunction is present, the area of the body that the nerve controls weakens and becomes sick as the communication between that particular part of the body and the brain is greatly diminished or even become entirely cut off. These are what can be described as interferences as they interfere in the smooth communication between your brain and your body. Chiropractors, through the specialized education and training that they receive, are able to zero-in and correct the spinal misalignment, which act as interferences, to restore normal communication between body and brain. Chiropractic care in the treatment of asthma has proven its benefits and favorable results. A study involving 420 patients in 16 asthma treatment facilities in Australia demonstrated that patients who underwent chiropractic adjustment process showed significant improvement in their asthma symptoms and immune system function. Researchers believe that these positive results would influence prevention of future asthma attacks. Chiropractic is the alternative health care most sought after by people in the treatment and care of many health maladies. It is a viable option in the treatment and prevention of asthma.
Continue readingUnderstanding Types of Headaches and How Chiropractic Care Helps
One of the health conditions chiropractors deal with the most are headaches. They are also one of the top reasons for medical visits. There are more than 120 different headache types that have been documented. Just the difficulty diagnosing the exact type of headache is complicated enough. And since there is really no conventional headache relief that is good for all headache types, you can imagine the amount of hit-or-miss situations that occur in the treatment of headaches. Medications are the conventional headache relief that mainstream medicine offers. They typically cover up the symptoms but do not correct the root cause of the problem. Chiropractic Care for Headaches Headaches have a common underlying cause. Chiropractic is the only healthcare discipline that gets into this underlying cause and offers natural relief. Because chiropractors deal with so many headache cases, headache relief in most chiropractic practices is practically routine. For chiropractors, most diseases and conditions originate from certain malfunction or abnormality in the nervous system. The nervous system controls all the organs, functions and cells in the body. When it is not functioning optimally, the symptoms start to manifest. The nerve interference that is created when a bone gets out of alignment causes the nervous system to function abnormally. Bone misalignment can come from head trauma from accidents and excessive physical and emotional stress. With chiropractic adjustments, the spines are put back into correct alignment and the nerve interference are removed, allowing the body to function properly. Types of Headaches that Chiropractic can Cure The International Headache Society came up with three general categories of headaches for a more standard and universal way of classifying, diagnosing and treating them. They are: Primary headaches – Under this category are more than 90% of the headache types, including tension headaches, cluster headaches, and migraines. Secondary headaches – They comprise the remaining 10% of headaches, which are the results of medical conditions such as brain tumor, aneurism and sinus infection. Cranial neuralgias and facial pain – They are headaches from nerve inflammation in the head or pain in the neck and face from trigeminal neuralgia Chiropractors are able to treat and help cure all primary headaches and sinus headache, which is of secondary headache category. Together, they make up the great majority of all headaches. The most common headaches chiropractors help to cure are: Tension Headaches – The most common type of headache, tension headaches bring mild to moderate pain. They may occur as a result of stress, physical or emotional. Cervicogenic Headaches – Headaches that are typically dull and originate from the neck. They can affect the temple, forehead, back or top regions of the head. Migraine Headaches – Throbbing pain typically felt on one side of the face. They are usually triggered by external stimulus like light and noise and cause nausea and vomiting. Cluster Headaches – They are severe burning or piercing pain in only one side of the head, usually. They come in clusters when experienced by the patient. Sinus Headaches – They are mild to moderate deep aching pain felt from the cheeks to the forehead, associated with sinus infections. Chiropractic care provides a natural solution for practically all headache types. It addresses the cause of these headaches and not just the symptoms. With the cause addressed, the symptoms are eliminated and no other headache pain relief is needed.
Continue reading