Mar 30 2016
Are you trying to finally quit smoking? Visiting your chiropractor may be your best chance.
“Quitting smoking is easy – I’ve done it lots of times.” -Unknown
The vast majority of smokers have tried to quit at least one and often more in the past. Surveys show that nearly 7 out of 10 current U.S. smokers (68.8%) say that they want to quit cigarettes and never smoke again. Many are successful, but it often takes several attempts for them to stick with it and become smoke or tobacco free.
There is hope for those who want to quit because since 2002 there have been more former smokers who quit than current smokers.
How old are people when they usually try to quit?
Surprisingly it’s not just older people who want to quit. Out of the total number of smokers, more than 4 out of 10 (42.7%) tried quitting last year, including:
Nearly 5 out of 10 (48%) of all high school students who smoke
Nearly 5 out of 10 (48.5%) smokers aged 18–24 years
More than 4 out of 10 (46.8%) smokers aged 25–44 years
Nearly 4 out of 10 (38.8%) smokers aged 45–64 years
More than 3 out of 10 (34.6%) smokers aged 65 years or older
How much do we spend on cigarettes and tobacco dependence?
U.S. smokers spend about $90 billion on cigarettes and tobacco products every year.
The typical smoker finishes an average of one pack of cigarettes a day. With a pack at around $6.50 each, that adds up to $2,400 a year or more on cigarettes per smoker.
Additionally, the healthcare costs associated with tobacco consumption cost about $70 billion each year.
Why are cigarettes so harmful?
Cigarettes and other tobacco products contain more than 7,000 chemicals, hundreds of them proven to be carcinogenic and more than 70 shown to cause cancer.
Tobacco smoke contains a deadly mix of more than 7,000 chemicals; hundreds are harmful, and about 70 can cause cancer.
From cigarette smoking to pipes, cigars, and chewing tobacco, consuming tobacco products greatly increases the instance of serious health issues, debilitating diseases, and even death in users.
What health problems does smoking cause?
Consumption of every form of tobacco increases the development of oxidative stress, prematurely aging the body with symptoms like hair loss, cracked skin and wrinkles, and yellow teeth, and increases toxins that cause pain, inflammation, and degenerative health conditions.
This list of damage smoking causes extends to just about every organ, system, and part of the body you can think of, including asthma, vocal cord damage, osteoporosis, poor circulation, Bronchitis, lung damage, organ failure, cancer, and death.
How many people die from smoking every year?
According to the Center for Disease Control, smoking kills about 5.1 million people every year.
To put that death toll in perspective, that is more than all the deaths caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides, and murders…combined.
Why is it so hard to quit smoking?
Cigarettes and other tobacco products contain a dangerous drug called nicotine that is highly addictive, causing both chemical and mental dependence.
In fact, studies show that nicotine may be just as addictive as heroin, cocaine, or alcohol, and more people in the U.S. are addicted to nicotine than to any other drug.
Therefore, quitting smoking isn’t just a matter of willpower or habit – it also requires breaking a physiological addiction, the same as getting off any drug.
People who try to quit smoking usually suffer acute withdraw symptoms like:
Feeling moody, irritable, angry, or stressed
Nausea
Having trouble thinking clearly
Profound cravings for tobacco
Hunger pangs
These may lead to binge eating and weight gain, alcohol abuse, or too often, a relapse to smoking again.
Does your health really improve once you quit, and how fast does it change?
12 hours after your last cigarette:
Carbon monoxide levels in your blood drop to normal.
24 hours after your last cigarette:
Your lungs begin to clear out accumulated mucous and tar. Your pulse rate and blood pressure begin to lower.
48 hours after your last cigarette:
Your sense of smell and taste begin to improve as nicotine is eliminated from your body.
72 hours after your last cigarette:
Your bronchial tubes begin to relax, making breathing easier and increasing lung capacity.
2 to 12 weeks after your last cigarette:
Circulation improves, making walking, daily physical activity and exercise easier.
2 weeks to 3 months after your last cigarette:
Your heart attack risk begins to drop and lung function starts to improve.
One to 9 months after your last cigarette:
Coughing and sinus congestion decrease, lung function improves, shortness of breath decreases, and energy level improves.
1 year after your last cigarette:
Your risk of coronary heart disease is cut in half compared to a smoker.
10 years after your last cigarette:
Your risk of dying from lung cancer is about half that of a smokers. Your risks of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney and pancreas decrease significantly.
15 years after your last cigarette:
Your risk of coronary heart disease and lung cancer is back to that of someone who has never smoked a cigarette in their life!
How can your chiropractor help you quit smoking?
If you’re a smoker, no one can quit for you – it’s ultimately up to you to do that. But the good news is that there are many methods and techniques that are proven to help smokers quit successfully.
Chiropractors are an important ally in helping smokers quit nicotine and most importantly, stay off of it. While many smokers opt for replacement drugs and medications like the patch or gum to help them wean off smoking, or even try to quit “cold turkey”, those methods don’t have very high success rates without relapse.
Seeing a chiropractor may be the best method to help you quit.
First off, they will provide counseling, education, and support to help you tackle your addiction. Just as importantly, many chiropractors can help with natural healthcare solutions that to help you fight the addiction – called smoking cessation programs.
Some methods they employ include:
Acupuncture
Acupuncture stimulates certain points on the body that are associated with cravings, triggering the nervous system and releasing naturally beneficial neurotransmitters such as endorphin, serotonin, and adrenalin, all of which help to rebalance your body during the nicotine withdraw phase.
Light or laser therapies
Pinpointed light therapies also trigger the release of endorphins and serotonins, naturally and effectively calming the stresses the body is under during the critical first 72 hours after your last cigarette.
Herbal supplementation
Proper supplementation and homeopathy further helps reduce stress, cravings, and symptoms of withdrawal. Additionally, naturopathic care and proper nutrition are vital.
Detox
To accelerate the body’s natural healing process, we’ll help flush your body of harmful toxins that accumulated in the blood, tissues, and cells through smoking.
Adjustment
Your body will heal itself quickly and efficiently once it is properly aligned and subluxations or blockages are removed. Therefore, getting adjusted regularly as you quit smoking will aid your recovery, helping you quit smoking and stay off cigarettes for good.
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If you’re trying to quit smoking – and maybe it’s not the first time – contact us for help to do it the right way!
Apr 13 2016
Golfers can improve their swing, avoid injury, and drop their score with chiropractic care.
Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer – that’s not a Golf Hall of Fame roster, but a list of professional golfers who swear by regular chiropractic care to improve their game and keep their bodies healthy. You can even add Vijay Singh, Fred Funk, David Duvall, and Mike Weir to that list. In fact, 72% of pro golfers utilize chiropractic care on tour, and chiropractors have been part of the official PGA Sports Medicine Team for decades.
But you don’t have to wear The Green Jacket or be a pro to benefit from chiropractic care. With more than 25 million golfers in the United States alone and about 24.73 million rounds of golf played at clubs worldwide every year, the number of swings, drives, chips, and putts were’ talking is at an all-time high.
But that’s also part of the problem – for pros and weekend warriors alike. In fact, a PGA tour chiropractor estimates that between 76-80% of all injuries that occur on the tour are to the lower back. And another 20-25% of injuries affect the neck, shoulders, elbows, and/or hips. What do these all have in common? They are all injuries that originate in the spine or pelvis, which is exactly what chiropractic focuses on.
In this two-part series, we’re going to focus on two things: chiropractic care to prevent injuries, and how chiropractic can actually help your game and lower your score.
Although we know you want to jump ahead to the information that can help your scorecard, we’re going to start with the part about injuries – because if you’re hurt, you’re not even going to be able to play golf.
The problem with golf
Golf is extremely hard on the spine, making injuries far too common. Swinging a club is a repetitive motion, but unilaterally torques the spine – which means the swinging movement is only on one side. Think of a weightlifter going to the gym and only lifting one side of the body and you get the idea how golf can throw the body out of alignment and disproportionally build some muscles, but strain tendons and ligaments as well.
But amateur golfers don’t use chiropractic enough
But research shows that less than 2% of amateur golfers visit a chiropractor for regular adjustments and treatment – until they hurt their backs or injure themselves and they are seeking relief from pain.
Even then, far too many golfers (as well as athletes and everyone else) try to treat their pain with aspirin, over-the-counter anti-inflammatories, and visit MDs to get prescription painkillers. That only masks the problem – not truly heals it, nor does it prevent the movements that caused the injury or strain in the first place.
The effect of a golf swing on the spine
While professionals have near-perfect swing mechanics, keeping the spine neutral and balanced, amateurs too often swing in such a way that the torque of takes a huge toll on their spine.
Additionally, the muscles that support their spine (especially their core/paraspinal musculature) are usually weak and underdeveloped, though pros work hard to build strength, flexibility, and durability in their core. The ensuing imbalance to the spine invites frequent injury.
When your spine’s vertebra are not in the correct position when you swing a golf club (which can go as fast as 90 miles per hour), it causes profound strain on your muscles, ligaments, and discs. Keep doing this –a hundred times or well more during your average eighteen holes of golf, warm ups, and practice swings, and you basically keep stretching the muscles, ligaments, or discs to their limits, where they will start to deform and tear. At that point, the only possible result is muscle strain, ligament strains, disc herniations and joint trauma.
The dangerous myth about a golf swing
So why does the swing of an amateur golfer cause so much more frequent injury than a professional’s? Basically, because amateurs have incorrect mechanics, and even when they think they are practicing the right swing, they probably aren’t.
A lot of blame can be given to the myth of how to swing a golf club and where power generates that drives the ball further.
People are often taught that the speed of the club head once it strikes the ball is dependent on the spinal rotation during backswing. Basically, if you wind up like a pretzel and really torque your lower back, that will generate power and club head speed as you “uncork” during a swing. They often call it “x-factor,” describing the difference between hip position and shoulder position at the top of the backswing. By keeping the pelvis stationary while rotating the spine as much as possible, they think power is generated as the “big” muscles in the back are engaged during the downswing. Even golf instructors teach this. It’s incorrect.
The people who first advocated for this power-generation theory long ago never could account for how maximum spinal rotation actually engaged the spinal muscles or large back muscles like the latissumus dorsi. But we do know that spinal muscles provide only about five percent of the total torque generated during spinal rotation, and abdominal obliques do nearly all of the rest of the work, so the connection is a faulty one. But golf teachers keep teaching this method and golfers keep doing it, anyway.
How do we really generate power with a golf swing?
But the real way to generate power in your golf swing has to do with creating elastic energy (it’s not coincidence that elastic energy is thought to generate power in almost all sports movements) – not spine twisting torque.
Elastic energy is generated when your muscles perform a short, quick stretch during an athletic movement. In fact, the muscles that create elastic energy during a correct and powerful golf swing are the aforementioned latissimus dorsi, the rotator cuff, and even pectoralis major muscles, as well as smaller muscles in the arms and forearms.
Guess what? To pre-stretch these muscles into position to create elastic energy as you go through your golf swing, NO SPINAL ROATION IS NEEDED! In fact, the only real reason to rotate your pelvis or spine during your backswing is to put your body in position to effectively deliver the club head when it impacts the ball.
So now we know that all of the spine twisting in the world isn’t going to add power to your drive – though it will cause a slew of injuries over time.
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Keep an eye out for part two of this blog when we explain how chiropractic can actually help your game, prevent injuries, and lower your score!
Fore!
By Norm Schriever • Chiropractic Treatments, Exercise, General Health News, Health and Wellness, Uncategorized • Tags: chiropractic and professional golf, chiropractic can improve your golf swing, chiropractic for golf, golf game, golf swing, lower your golf score, preventing golf injuries, Tiger Woods chiropractic