Back Pain, Well-being, Fitness, Chiropractic and Prevention

The key to aging with grace and vitality is a flexible, healthy spine. Your nervous system operates your entire body. The spinal cord carries impulses from your brain to your heart, lungs, kidneys, muscles, etc to make them function. Wouldn't it make sense to take good care of the house (spine) that your nervous system lives in so your body functions at it's highest level? Many people take better preventative care of their teeth than they do of their spine. Teeth are cosmetic and serve primarily to chew food. Your spine has a much larger, critical role in your total health and well-being. The spine houses and protects your lifeline, the spinal cord. Your spine, like your teeth, are in a constant state of aging/degeneration, and like your teeth the spinal joints need regular maintenance care to stay freely mobile, flexible and healthy. Regular adjustments slow the degenerative/aging process of the spine and allow your nervous system and body to function at their highest levels. Like teeth that are not brushed and cleaned regularly, the spine, if not mechanically stimulated and regularly mobilized, will become inflamed and degenerate at an advanced rate.  Inflammation and advanced degeneration of the spine causes undo stress on your nervous system and inhibits the function of the organs and muscles that the nervous system operate. Perhaps if people's spines were on display as their teeth are, people would take better care of them. Do you have a beautiful, healthy back-smile, or a degenerative, rotten back-smile?

I hope this gives you some insight to the importance of chiropractic as preventative care for total body health and well-being in addition to being a go-to for reactive care and rehabilitation. You can treat and avoid issues in your back and neck and insure that your whole body is functioning at it's optimum level with regular monthly adjustments.

Weakness in Your Foundation: 3 Reasons for Custom Orthotics

Our feet are the foundation for our body, so it's fair to say with regard to body mechanics, as the feet go....so goes the body. Keep in mind, your body is a kinetic chain. If your feet are inflamed, weakened, imbalanced, and painful then there is high probability that you will also develop symptoms in your knees, hips and spine as a direct consequence of the "weakness in your foundation". This is the underlying reason why your feet need all the proper support they can get to function normally and prevent problems in other parts of your body.

Each foot is made up of 26 bones that work with ligaments, muscles, and tendons to support the weight of the body. Both feet act as shock absorbers during exercise and can cushion up to one million pounds of pressure during one hour of strenuous activity. Proper orthotics can reduce pain, provide support, relieve pressure, prevent foot deformity, and improve overall biomechanical function of the foot and body during exercise.

Here are three key reasons to consider custom made orthotics:

1. Reduce pain and inflammation- Whether you are standing in long lines, on your feet at work all day, or running on a treadmill at the gym, custom orthotics simply feel good. You'll have less foot pain, less leg exhaustion, and less back ache. A properly supported foot, makes you feel better. Custom made orthotics support the three anatomical arches of the foot. When these arches are supported properly, your foundation is solid, and your knees, hips and back can function optimally.

2. Enhance athletic performance- Custom orthotics can improve athletic performance! Research shows that wearing custom orthotics can increase vertical leap and strength, as well as improve balance and proprioception. In addition to improved performance, athletes who wear custom made orthotics lower their risk of injury.

3. Support for fallen arches and foot pronation- While orthotics don't correct a fallen arch, they can correctly position structures in the foot to improve biomechanics and reduce stress on the foot.



Given that 90% of the world's population have "weaknesses in their foundation" or rather imperfect feet, the demand for solutions has been on the rise. Custom made orthotics can resolve many of those issues and prevent further issues from developing. If you are interested in having a pair made especially for you, call the office at (323) 710-6269 to set up an appointment for an analysis and casting of your feet. It typically takes about 10 days to receive the orthotics once the cast is made. Solve your structural support needs, with a pair of custom made orthotics and feel the difference in your feet, knees, hips, and spine.

Man Boobs to Muscle Naturally in 3 Steps

Man boobs made sensational national headlines when Rep. Barney Frank addressed the House in a tight, baby blue crew neck shirt that accentuated his chest a few years ago. Rep. Frank isn't the only man confronting the embarrassment and negative self-esteem associated with a male having a female chest. Approximately one third of males in our population are growing man boobs! Fortunately for the vast majority of men that experience fatty growth in their pectoral region, man boobs or gynecomastia is not a serious medical condition, and can be reversed naturally through these three steps.

1. Reduce body fat: Clean up your diet by eliminating refined, sugary carbohydrates. Instead, focus on eating lean protein, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats. A little focused discipline here, will decrease your overall body fat and will significantly aid in reducing the fat in your chest as well.


2. Correct your testosterone to estrogen levels: The majority of men with man boobs have ridiculously high levels of the female hormone estrogen. Estrogen binds to the androgen and estrogen receptors in the body creating feminizing characteristics. When the female hormone binds to the receptors in your chest, breast tissue grows, like it does in women. The simplest way to get this issue under control is by boosting your testosterone levels naturally and inhibiting your estrogen levels naturally. Avoid estrogen-promoting soy products, animal products (non-organic), and canned food. Eat broccoli. Broccoli assists in removing estrogen from your body. Include food that promotes liver function like carrots, apples, beets, blueberries, celery, cranberries, sour cherries, kale, horseradish, purple grape juice, red grapes, mushrooms, and tomatoes.


3. Exercise: Just as you cannot turn your belly fat into muscle, you cannot turn your chest fat into muscle. If you want a contoured, muscled male chest you have to lose weight and do upper-body exercises to build your pectorals. A proper upper-body workout should include the bench press, dumbbell press, dumbbell pullover, biceps curls, bar dips, seated rows, dumbbell rows, lateral pull downs, and triceps extension exercises.






Nobody wants to justify the need for a "manzier", the name given to the support undergarment designed for men that Kramer invented in the well-known Seinfeld episode featuring the man boobs of George Costanza's father. These three steps, followed carefully, will help shed those man boobs and build a powerful, solid chest.

Three Tips to Increase Metabolism and Lose Weight

"Diet starts Monday!"--Chris Farley delivered this line in the hilarious Saturday Night Live skit, "Gap Girls". However, there isn't anything funny about the consequences of holiday binge eating. Many of us are looking for ways to jump start our metabolism and lose that extra weight. Here are three simple suggestions to help burn calories and get the year off to a great start.

Exercise with protein supplementation- Add cardio to your daily routine by walking, running or riding a bike and build lean muscle through resistance or weight training and proper intake of protein. Supplement your workouts with a protein drink during the workout and within 45 minutes after the workout. Eat a high protein meal in the early evening and drink a protein shake before you go to bed.

Eat small meals throughout the day- Start your day off right with a small meal and eat small meals every 2-3 hours to keep your metabolism from stalling and to prevent binge eating. Avoid refined sugar and flour. In addition to protein, include a variety of high energy foods such as vegetables, fruits, and whole grains.

Supplement your diet with metabolic enhancers and appetite suppressants-Several natural supplements are available to increase your bodies ability to metabolize fat. Those may include but are not limited to green tea extract, green coffee bean extract, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), glucomannan (appetite suppressant), and caffeine. Also, be sure to drink more water. Keeping your body hydrated will allow your liver to metabolize fat at a higher rate.

With proper exercise and diet, a boost in your metabolism is easily attainable. Shed that extra weight-gain from the holidays with these easy tips and enjoy a happier, healthier life!