Cold Hands - Warm Heart

COLD HANDS-WARM HEART--THORACIC OUTLET SYNDROME

Do friends comment to you that your hands are always cold? Do you get that 'pins and needles' feeling in your arms or hands? These are just two of the common symptoms of Thoracic Outlet Syndrome.
Some people with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome complain that their arms go to sleep when held in the same position for concentrated periods of time, particularly when driving. Other sufferers report that their hands are ìasleep when they wake up in the morning and need to be shaken to get the blood circulating.
All these symptoms are common with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. These symptoms are typically associated with people who are angry or upset and hold tension in their pectoralis major and minor muscles, the chest muscles. We alo observe that their shoulders tend to roll inward.
"My shoulders always feel tight" is a common complaint too. This is caused by upper back tension and is secondary to the chest tension.
Many patients we see have learned to live with this chronic pain because they don't realize treatment is available. Unfortunately doctors tell patients to get some exercise to relieve the pain but when they exercise their pectoralis muscles, the situation is aggravated.
Patients who exercise and have rounded shoulders are told to work on their upper back muscles to compensate for the roll. This is just the opposite of what they should be doing. They need to relax their chest muscles, not tighten more muscles.
There is treatment available. It involves Pressure Plus Motion exercises. The goal is to relax the pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles. Once they are relaxed, the symptoms, cold extremities, arms and hands going to sleep, should disappear.
How do you get treatment? My first suggestion, for mild cases, is to refer to pages 11 and 12 in my book, How to Keep Chiropractors off Your Back. Here you will find Pressure Plus Motion exercises designed specifically to alleviate Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. If after doing these exercises the numbness and 'pins and needles' feeling in your arms and hands persists, please call the office for an appointment.
One final note. Your body is always 'talking' to you. If you don't listen, it will talk louder.

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DR. NUNEZ AVAILABLE AS SPEAKER

If you belong to a service club, church or organization that needs dynamic speaker for an event or seminar, Dr. Nunez is available to speak about thetopics of health and how to keep chiropractor off your back. Please call the office at 818-247-4411.

Infertility

PREGNANCY AND CHIROPRACTIC??

She had been trying to get pregnant for two years with no luck. Frustrated, she decided, with her ob/gyn to go on the popular fertility drug Clomid. Clomid works by stimulating the creation of more eggs by the ovaries. After six months on the drug she was still not pregnant.
Finally, in June of 1997 she visited my office. She was desperate. At age thirty-eight she wanted to be a mother. Her husband, a long time patient, suggested to her that our methods might help.
I talked to both of them. She had taken the HSG test, which indicated there was no blockage of the fallopian tubes. Other tests indicated the husband's sperm count was in the normal range.
During my initial evaluation she complained of chronic lower back pain. I decided this was where we would start.
I worked on the hip flexor muscle (psoas) which was very tight. After two sessions in June she was feeling better and remarked that after her treatments she was feeling very calm and relaxed.
On July 22nd she visited her medical doctor for the purpose of going back on Clomid, which she had not taken for four months. When he examined her he determined that Clomid would not be necessary. His exam showed she was pregnant!
This was the result of a team approach by her medical doctor and this office. Her chronic back pain and contracted psoas muscle had been pressuring the nerves that connect to the uterus and ovaries. Once our gentle chiropractic treatment and Pressure Plus Motion technique relaxed the muscle, normalcy was restored to the pelvic area.
In April of 1998 her husband called me here at the office to let me know that his wife had just delivered a beautiful, healthy baby girl.
On the same day that my first patient discovered she was pregnant in July of 1997 a second woman, Nancy, forty-one years of age, came to me with a similar problem. She had been married for eleven years.
Nancy and her husband, Paul, had undergone extensive fertility testing which indicated she had one blocked fallopian tube. She was unable to become pregnant. She did, however, report lower back pain when she exercised and tender stomach muscles on the left side of her body. She had been trying to get pregnant and had been using Clomid for one year when she came to see me.
Over the next two months we treated her chronic pain. After five visits she felt much better and the pain disappeared.
On October tenth she called me to report that she was pregnant. On June nineteenth of this year she delievered Sara Micheele, a beautiful, healthy baby girl.
While there is no question that all fertility problems can't be solved by chiropractic, it is also clear that, in many women, there is a relationship between chronic lower back pain and stomach pain and infertility. We always like to work in conjunction with the patient's medical doctors. We believe the team approach has the highest chance of success.
I encourage any woman who is having problems with becoming pregnant and exhibits these symptoms to call for an appointment. We offer a low cost, low risk, painless alternative to help couples get pregnant.

Incontinence

THE PROBLEM NOBODY WANTS TO TALK ABOUT

You get up to go to the bathroom three, four, sometimes even five times a night. You suffer from frequent urination. And this is, many times, just the tip of the iceberg.
Men and women both suffer. Sometimes the causes are major. But many times they can be solved by a few visits to your chiropractor.
For men the problem of frequent urination is usually accompanied by the inability to start the urine stream and by low flow once the stream is initiated.
In women frequent urination is accompanied by the incomplete emptying of the bladder. However, the symptom that can cause the most embarrassment is exertion incontinence.
Exertion incontinence, which is defined as uncontrolled urination when you exert yourself, can be triggered by simple physical activity; it can even be caused by sneezing.
In men the source of urination related problems can be traced to the prostate gland. Because the prostate is located in the lower abdomen, excessive tension in the lower abdomen or the lower back and pelvis area can constrict the prostate.
While I recommend that men with severe problems be checked out by a urologist, many cases can be treated by chiropractic manipulation. At no time is it necessary for me to perform any invasive procedures, such as a rectal examination. Again, we are treating muscle tension through Pressure Plus Motion and chiropractic adjustments.
In the case of a male patient I saw recently, adjustments were able to solve his problem. His complaint was low flow, fifty to sixty percent of normal. His urologist had prescribed medications. His flow improved slightly, but remained well below normal. He was still getting up at least three times a night to urinate.

"Exertion incontinence can be triggered by simple physical activity; it can even be caused by sneezing."

He wanted to get off the medications because he didn't like the side effects. Upon examination I discovered severe tightness in his lower abdomen. After a series of adjustments his flow increased to ninety percent. Now he doesnít have to get up once a night to go to the bathroom. He was also able to stop taking the medications. This after only three visits to our office.
Recently we treated a female patient who complained because she had to go to the bathroom every hour all night long. As a child she suffered from rheumatic fever but did not want to use a bedpan. We adjusted her bladder above the pubic bone and did low back adjustments. After four visits she now gets up just once a night. Women with frequent urination problems should first consult their gynecologist to rule out any serious problems before scheduling an appointment with us.

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NOTE TO THE WEEKEND WARRIOR

It happens every Spring. When the first robin of the season arrives our office fills up with weekend warriors. After being held hostage all Winter, they couldnít wait to rush outside and engage in strenuous activity.
From working in the yard to playing three sets of tennis, they overdue it. The result is strained backs and sore muscles. Here are a few simple steps you can take to avoid the aches and pains of overdoing it.
First, stretch before any strenuous activity. This gets your muscles limber and reduces the chance of getting pulls and strains.
Next, start small. Donít overdue it. Donít try and repair winterís damage to your yard in one day. Play a few games of tennis. Work your way back up to multiple sets over a period of weeks.
After you complete your activity, apply our Pressure Plus Motion massage techniques to sore muscle areas. This will greatly enhance recovery. If you havenít picked up your free copy of How to Keep Chiropractors off Your Back, stop by the office.
Finally, ice any sore areas for fifteen minutes. Again, ice combined with Pressure Plus Motion massage can eliminate your need to visit our office.However, if the pain persists, call us at once.