Osteoarthrits or OA is the most common form of arthritis.  Characterized by the degeneration of articular cartilage and underlying bone, as well as, overgrowth of bone at the margins of joints, it is also known as degenerative joint disease.  27 million American adults (age 25 and older) and more than 33% of Americans 65 or older are estimated to be afflicted with OA.  Knees, hands, and hips are most commonly the site of pain, swelling, and stiffness caused by Osteoarthritis.

While restoring and maintaining movement in the spine is the central goal of chiropractic treatments, keeping the body moving is also a great way to control OA.  Arthritis Today reports, “activity of all kinds is the best non-drug treatment for improving pain and function,” while “the Arthritis Foundation believes “Moving is the Best Medicine” when it comes to Fighting OA.”  Either of these resources is a great place to learn about how to safely get yourself moving.

The Four Mile Creek Greenway, Matthews recently opened in April 2011.  This pavement and boardwalk greenway now makes areas of downtown Matthews, NC easily accessible to surrounding neighborhoods for walking, biking, and more.  As cooler weather make the outdoors more inviting, get out and get your body moving.  For additional strategies to reduce your risk of Osteoarthritis, visit FIGHTARTHRITSPAIN.ORG.

If you already suffer from OA symptoms, home remedies include the use of Flax seed oil, Epsom salt, Cinnamon, Turmeric, and Ginger, among others.  For dosing and additional remedies jump to Arthritis Home Remedies.  Keeping joints or the spine and the rest of the body moving well with Chiropractic care is another drug-free, conservative approach to controlling the pain, swelling, stiffness, and lost range-of-motion typical of Osteoarthritis.

Remember to listen to your body.  If exercise causes sharp or very strong pain during or within a couple hours of exercising, then your activity may be too strenuous.  Reduce the intensity of your workout or plan to see your physician.

It seems that Osteoarthritis is a natural part of aging, especially after age 45.  Exercise benefits extend beyond the joints to our heart, lung, brain and beyond.  If you are not yet affected by OA, don’t wait until you have pain or stiffness to become active.  With many easy ways to start moving your body, why not get started today?!

If you live in the state of North Carolina and utilize chiropractic coverage through your health insurance, you should be interested in House Bill 496.  The recently introduced North Carolina House Bill 496 would make chiropractic co-pays equal to the co-pays of primary care doctors.  For many with health insurance, visiting a chiropractor has required a specialist co-payment over the last few years, often amounting to double the co-pay for a primary care physician visit.  House Bill 496 would bring equity to chiropractic co-payments and reduce the out-of-pocket expense for those who seek chiropractic care.

Would You Like Lower Chiropractic Co-Pays?

Reducing co-payments helps to reduce the financial barrier for those who need chiropractic care.  Health insurance plans already contract with chiropractic providers to control the cost of chiropractic services.  Bringing equity to chiropractic co-pays allows you to take better advantage of the premiums that you are already paying for health insurance coverage.

Please use the talking points below to encouraged your North Carolina State House legislator to support House Bill 496.

• House Bill 496 gives patients the equal access they deserve to seek chiropractic care.
• House Bill 496 eliminates the possibility of phantom chiropractic insurance benefits. When an insured patient pays all or most of the cost of their chiropractic visit out-of-pocket, as a co-payment, the insurance company is making no contribution, a “phantom benefit.”
• House Bill 496 eases financial barriers to care.
• Emerging evidence from an analysis of the N.C. State Health Plan shows that chiropractic care is half the cost of medical care for complicated low back pain.  This means that House Bill 496 could save the health care system money.

Voice Your Support

Now that the bill has been introduced, it is important for constituents to notify their representatives and ask them to support this legislation.  If you are unsure who represents you, please click here and do a ZIP code search to find contact information for your legislators.  Phone, physical address and email address information is available when you click through the North Carolina General Assembly website.  If you click here, you can access a template letter that can be pasted into an email or letter (be sure to replace bracketed text with your info).  Thank you for your support.

I recently had the privilege to speak at the Matthews Woman’s Club. As I was preparing I realized that we as women have huge responsibilities.  Children, husbands, PTA, housework, meals, jobs, charity work and the list continues.  Women give everyday, all day.

I have to ask, how do you give 100% of yourself if you never allow yourself time to rejuvenate? The answer is you can’t.  Women must take time to refill so that they can continue to do all they do.  Massage can accomplish so much in such a short period of time.  An hour massage increases blood circulation, allows the body to relax and gives the mind a break from all the commotion that goes on in daily living.  You walk away with a renewed feeling knowing you have done right by yourself and everyone else you love.   Regular monthly massages should become part of an overall health care program for 100% you.

Kim Getz is a licensed massage and bodywork therapist (LMBT 6893) working in Matthews Chiropractic Center.  Schedule with her today at 704.779.0371 for 100% you.

From the desk of Kim Getz, Licensed Massage and Bodyworks Therapist,who works out of Matthews Chiropractic Center:

Warm Yourself with Massage

This time of year can be difficult.  Feeling a little blue and run down after the holidays is one thing, but dealing with the cold winter days we have been having makes recovery that much harder.  Massage can help.  Along with the improvements of blood circulation, massage reduces stress and fatigue as it increases energy.  Therapeutic massage can bring you an improved sense of well being.  Let’s just put it this way… It warms you from the inside to the outside and is a must to get through these cold days.

Remember, being proactive is so much better than reactive.  You are responsible for your own health.

Happy New Year!  Cheers to your well being in 2011!

‘Twas the night before a big meeting, preparations were made,

Would we sleep a few hours before the screaming invades?

Outfits laundered, feedings complete, Mommy and Daddy were prepared to retreat,

First there was whining and then full bore, we knew we’d be up a few hours more…

If you are a parent who has experienced a colicky infant, then this story is all too familiar.  Excessive, unexplained crying/fussing for hours a day, multiple days a week, for an extended period, in an otherwise healthy infant is not music to my ears either, but unlike many parents, I was able to adjust my children regularly when they were infants.  Certainly, I am biased concerning the benefits of chiropractic care for most everyone, but in the case of colicky babies, there is good research to support the benefits of spinal alignments.

It has been posited that colic is caused by birth trauma and/or spinal misalignments in infants^[1]  and if you’ve witnessed a natural delivery, you can imagine how this could impact a newborn’s spine.  Whether the treatments are referred to as chiropractic adjustments, manipulation, or spinal alignments, the goal is the same – to restore normal spinal motion.  Treatments for infants are not the usual adjustments to which parents might be accustomed.  The correction for a baby appears more as maintaining gentle pressure to areas of the spine with the fingertips.

A May 2009 analysis reviewed 16 cases of infants receiving chiropractic care.  In all the cases, upper cervical misalignments were found in all subjects and chiropractic intervention helped to resolve symptoms of acid reflux and colic^[2].  More recently, a Danish study^[3] determined that a decline in excessive crying in infants receiving chiropractic treatment for colic was not a function of children simply outgrowing their excessive crying behavior and therefore lends support for the implementation of chiropractic care in these cases.

The benefits of early chiropractic interventions don’t just allow parents to sleep better while their infants are a few months old.  An October 1999 study found that colicky infants treated with chiropractic care experienced fewer instances of  “temper tantrums, fell asleep more quickly, and stayed asleep longer than the untreated control subjects” at least up to 2 to 3 years of age^[4].

I certainly understand that parents have concerns about any new treatments that their children receive.  New responsibilities and sleep deprivation make all your decisions about a newborn challenging.  If you have any questions, please email me at info@matthewschiro.com or call Matthews Chiropractic Center at 704.841.3833.

1. Clinical Chiropractic 2004 (Dec); 7(4): 180-186 [↩]
2. J Pediatric, Maternal & Family Health – Chiropractic May 2009: 1-7 [↩]
3. J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2010(Sep); 33(7): 536-541 [↩]
4. J Manipulative Physiol Ther 2009 (Oct); 32(8): 635-638 [↩]