Archive for the 'Conditions & Treatments' Category

Belching, Bloating & Flatulence

Published
by
Dr. Edward Gould
on November 16, 2011
in Aging, Baby Boomer Issues, Cincinnati Chiropractors, Conditions & Treatments and Digestion 101
. 0 Comments

Some people will laugh after reading the above headline, others will eagerly read on. My goal in this post is to simplify the process of digestion, so that you will have a general understanding of not only how it works but also what causes problems. So let’s begin. Our digestive tract is basically a tube inside of us. Each portion of the tube has a specific function. The beginning of the tube is our mouth. This is where digestion actually begins. Chewing. Breaking food up in to small pieces. This is where a lot of digestive problems begin. People simply do not chew their food well enough. Try this! Take a piece of bread and just keep chewing it. Don’t swallow, just keep chewing. What you will find is eventually it will be gone, even though you did not swallow. The food was liquefied and automatically went down your throat into your stomach. The purpose of chewing your food well is to prepare it for the next section of the tube which is your stomach. Once the chewed food particles make it into your stomach specific chemicals are released to further break down the food. Some foods require acid to be released others require alkalines to be released. Many digestive problems occur at this point also. If you drink too much fluid with your meals it dilutes (weakens) the chemistry of your stomach. Consequently, what leaves the stomach is not properly broken down and cannot be absorbed properly by the next section of the tube which is your small intestine. Your small intestine does it’s best to extract what nutrients it can from the semi-digested mass that comes out of the stomach but most of the poorly broken down food goes right on by and ultimately ends up in the final end of the tube or the large intestine. The large intestine has many duties and is full of good bacteria. Billions of bacteria, all of which are hungry. As the poorly digested mass reaches the large intestines the bacteria are very capable of properly breaking down the mass. As the bacteria devour all the sugars in this poorly digested mass they release gas… in some cases lots of gas. Leaving you feeling bloated and eventually causing you to avoid public places.

So if you suffer from digestive problems try the below and you will be amazed.

1. Eat slower. Chew your food better.
2. Don’t drink fluids while you eat. Wait 30 minutes after you eat to drink.
3. If your case is severe read my post on proper Food Combining.
4. Every night commercials try to convince you that your indigestion is due to too much acid. This simply is not true. As we get older we simple do not make enough acid. (achlorhydra)

Let me know how this works for you.
Yours in Health!
Dr. Gould

Restless Leg Syndrome

Published
by
Dr. Edward Gould
on October 13, 2011
in Aging, Cincinnati Chiropractors, Fibromyalgia and Restless Leg Syndrome
. 0 Comments

restless-legs-1.bmpThis Syndrome Can Drive You Absolutely Crazy.

I mean Nuts!  Most people that have this syndrome dread trying to fall asleep at night.  Like all syndromes, depending on who you talk to, you will get a different cause and a different solution.  I always look for the holistic solution, one that works-with-the-body.

My curiosity with restless leg syndrome started many years ago when my uncle Eddie came to town for a visit.  At the time, he was 76 years old and grumpy.  It turns out that he was grumpy because he wasn’t sleeping.  After a few questions he told me that he had been to several doctors over a period of 6 months for Restless Leg Syndrome.  He said that each doctor he went to put him on a different medication, none of which helped him.

In my opinion, Restless Leg Syndrome is a vasculature (blood flow) problem.  Not enough blood flow! Think about this, what do you do when your hand falls asleep?  You shake it.  What do you do if your arm goes to sleep?  You shake it.  What does shaking do?  Simple, it helps to restore blood flow.

Years earlier I had watched a program on PBS about exercise. The program was full of great stuff. All the latest findings.  One of the interesting findings was how age effects our muscle’s ability to grow and become stronger.  The exercise physiologists did an experiment. The purpose of the experiment was simply to see how an 84 year old’s muscle would respond to exercise, compared to a 17 year old’s muscle. Muscle volume of each individuals thigh muscle was measured using a CT scan before and after 6 weeks of training.  The results were astonishing.  The 84 year old and the 17 year old’s muscle volume increased the same amount.  Proof that exercise works at any age.

What does this have to do with Restless Leg Syndrome? Everything!

My thinking with my uncle Eddie was this, if muscle can respond at any age, so can the vasculature.  My uncles primary complaint was in his calf muscles.  I told him that I had a hunch of how to remedy his problem.  He was skeptical.  After all, he had gone to all the medical specialist in his area and nothing helped.  I told him that I wanted him to start doing calf raises several times a day.  He was to do them in a specific way. I did not give him a number of reps to do, I only told him to do them until his calf muscles started to burn then he was to stop. I told him to do this a minimum of 5 times a day for 6 weeks.  Several months later he came back to Ohio for a visit.  He walked up to me smiling, it worked! I said what worked? He said I did the exercises you told me to do, within 3 weeks my legs stopped bothering me at night and I have continued to do them every day.

Below is a short video demonstrating how to do calf raises. I always tell people to do them on the stairs while holding on to the bannister for stability. It is important that you allow your heels to drop all the way down and it is equally important to go all the way up into a complete contraction. You continue doing these until you feel a burn then stop.  The purpose of this is to increase blood flow and over time create collateral circulation.

Since then I have had many patients get wonderful results by doing the same thing.

Please let me know how this works for you.

Yours in Health!

Dr. Gould

Whiplash Facts!

Published
by
Dr. Edward Gould
on October 11, 2011
in Cincinnati Chiropractors and Whiplash Injuries
. 0 Comments

Did you know that:

  • Although seat-belts do save lives they actually increase the whipping action of the neck.  This increased whipping reaction is directly related to the fact that the seat-belt keeps the body securely positioned in the seat.  The additional whipping action has been shown to increase injury to the neck and its supporting structures.
  • An older accident victim will generally suffer more serious injuries because of the decreased elasticity of the tissues, dramatic loss of flexibility and range of motion, significant loss of strength and a slowing of the natural healing rate.
  • A surprised victim of an accident does not have a chance to brace before impact which will translate into a more serious injury to the spine and nervous system.
  • Studies show that approximately 50% of accident victims sustained injuries to the low back and of these 15% develop serious nerve damage.
  • In a typical collision, having the head turned to one side, such as talking to another passenger, can dramatically increase the amount of neck injury.
  • Generally speaking, a woman’s lighter musculature means that she will have a higher incidence of injury.
  • A vehicle that does not compress or crumple upon impact and therefore sustains little damage, fails to absorb the energy from the collision, which is then transmitted to the occupants.  This is classically called a “bounce-off” type of accident with little damage to the car but significant damage to the occupants.

Clinical experience has shown Chiropractic Care to be the method of choice for treating most whiplash injuries. If you live in the Cincinnati area and  are suffering with injuries from an auto accident, give me a call and schedule an exam.

Yours in Heath,

Dr. Gould

Painful Neck & Arm

Published
by
Dr. Edward Gould
on September 6, 2011
in Arm & Shoulder Pain, Cervical Brachial Syndrome, Conditions & Treatments and Workers' Compensation
. 0 Comments

Relief is just a phone call away. Call: 513-791-8110You wake up with a stiff neck, thinking you have slept wrong. You confidently say to yourself… Maybe it will go away. As the day goes on, you notice that your shoulder and arm begin to develop a peculiar ache. Well, it has been two days and not only has the pain not subsided but it has increased to the point where you are unable to sleep. Your posture and wincing, alert everyone that you are in pain. People start coming up to you with home remedies and suggestions. Slowly you realize that this problem is bigger than any pain medication you currently have in your medicine cabinet.

Why am I hurting?

There are a variety things that can cause this. However, in each case, it is due to nerves being irritated or compressed. In many instances this type of a problem begins as a mechanical problem. What do I mean by a mechanical problem? Simply put, our spine is made up of many vertebra. These vertebra fit together and move together in a very specific way. Each vertebra is separated from the other by discs and connected to one another by ligaments. The ligaments not only hold everything together but allow a certain amount of motion in a variety of directions. On occasion, due to trauma, repetitive activities, sleeping incorrectly or simply weakness, the vertebra in your spine can shift outside of their normal position or location. When this happens, the spinal ligaments can become inflamed and press on the nerves that exit your spine. Where this happens will determine where you feel the pain. The pain can radiate up into your head, your upper back or down into your arm. Below is and example of pain patterns caused from problems in your neck. You have seven vertebra in your neck C1 is the top vertebra and C7 is the lowest vertebra.

Relief is just a phone call away. Call: 513-791-8110

Is this problem correctable?

In the majority of instances the answer yes! The first thing we need to do is to find out exactly where in your spine the problem is originating from. Once we find the problem area, we work on correcting the faulty position and mechanics. As you begin to heal, you will notice the pain will begin to retrace itself. Like playing a movie backwards until you are only left with neck pain which over time will also go away.

If you are suffering with neck and arm pain and live in the Cincinnati area give me a call. Life is too short to live with pain.

Yours in health,

Dr. Gould

 

Postpartum Headaches

Published
by
Dr. Edward Gould
on August 8, 2011
in Conditions & Treatments and Headaches
. 0 Comments

migraine0.bmpOn a daily basis, I see and treat a variety of health problems. One of my more interesting cases began with a phone call from an Internist, located in the Kenwood area of Cincinnati.

The conversation went something like this, Doc, I have a 43 year old female that just gave birth several days ago. She was in labor for almost 3 days. While in labor, she developed a severe migraine headache, which she has had ever since. Here is my dilemma, she is determined to breast feed and because of that fact, I cannot give her any narcotics for her pain.

An MRI study of her head was completed, a vasculature study of her head was completed and x-rays of her neck. It’s a mystery, we cannot figure out what is causing the headaches. Would you take a look at her for me? I agreed and told him to send her immediately to my office.

When she arrived at my office, she was crying due to the unrelenting pain. She looked absolutely exhausted. I had her sit down on my examination table, then I asked her several questions. She described her headache and said that it was so painful she could hardly sleep, think or function.

I examined her paying particular attention to her upper neck area. I had suspected that her top vertebrae in her neck (C1 or Atlas) had gotten displaced while she was in labor. I was correct it had. After explaining what I had found and pointing it out to her, she was eager for me to try to help her.

After carefully positioning her on my adjusting table, I adjusted her atlas or the top vertebra in her neck. I then told her to go home and try to sleep and to return to my office the next morning.

I was working on another patient the next morning when she walked in. She walked past the room I was in and smiled at me. No tears just a smile. I knew she was better! I finished up with the patient that I was with and then went in the other room to see how she was doing. She was amazed that she was 95% better. I rechecked her Atlas it was barely out, I re-adjusted it and told her to call me in two days to let me know how she was doing. She did, her headache was completely gone.

Do you suffer with headaches?

If you do and you have never had your spine, specifically your upper spine, chiropractically evaluated you should. You may find that it’s the solution. Strong medications and narcotics never get at the true cause. They only treat the symptom and leave you dealing with side-effects. If you live in the Greater Cincinnati area and you are suffering with headaches call me.

Yours in Health,

Dr. Gould