Decreasing Frequency of Migraine Headaches

Migraine headaches affect an estimated 38 million Americans, with 91% of those patients reporting that their daily lives are affected by them.  Migraines are debilitating.  Different than an "average headache," migraine headaches can not only cause pain but affect vision, sensitivity to light and noise, seeing spots or "halos," tingling on one side of the body, increased sense of smell, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, all with no relief from pain medications.  Migraine sufferers often are debilitated during an attack and miss work and other daily activities. With little to no relief from prescribed medications, patients have been turning to alternative therapies during migraine attacks as well as preventative measures to increase time between attacks. Every day your brain is making about 500 milliliters of spinal fluid that acts like the blood for the brain and spinal cord. Once this fluid is made in the brain, it is transferred out of the skull, down the spinal cord, all the way down your spine, where it finally gets pumped back up to the brain. This fluid is very important as it delivers essential nutrients to your central nervous system. When a subluxation or misalignment is present in the top bone of your neck (called the Atlas or C1) due to its attachments to the brain, it can pull the cerebellum partially through the skull. The result is that spinal fluid will not be able to escape the brain, causing a back flow of spinal fluid. This back flow will cause swelling and will eventually cause damage to the small blood vessels of the brain, resulting in a migraine headache. A recent research article published in the journal Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain reviewed chiropractic care specifically for effectively treating and preventing migraine headaches.  Researchers found that chiropractic adjustments significantly reduced migraine headache frequency as well as reduced symptoms during a migraine attack.  Specifically an upper cervical adjustment have been proven to reduce frequency of migraine headaches in one month by 8!  Read about this study here https://nucca.org/blog/chronic-migraine-sufferers-find-significant-improvement-nucca/.  Our office specializes in upper cervical chiropractic and the NUCCA technique and we are experts at helping to manage migraine headache attacks by taking a multi-disciplinarian approach to your care.   Don't suffer any longer with these awful headaches...we are here to help!

Yours in Health,


Dr. Nicholas J. Knutson, DC

Owner/Doctor

MOUNTAIN ISLAND CHIROPRACTIC

10917 Black Dog Ln., Suite 101 

Charlotte, NC 28214

Tel (704) 394-8556

Fax (704) 395-8556

mtnislandchiro.com

"If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special." JV


 Woodfield, H. Charles, III. “Effect of Atlas Vertebrae Realignment in Subjects with Migraine: An Observational Pilot Study.”
Rist, P. M., ScD, Hernandez, A., MS. Bernstein, C., MD, Kowalski, M., DC, Osypiuk, K., MS, Vining, R., DC...Wayne, P., M., PhD. (2019). The Impact of Spinal Manipulation on Migraine Pain and Disability:A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain, 59(4), 532-542. doi:10.1111/head.13501

Chiropractic Aids in Recovery of Any Kind

 

Healing takes time.  Often we don't listen to our bodies to fully understand its needs when recovering from an illness or injury.  Trauma to the body, no matter what form, doesn't heal overnight.  Have you ever said to yourself "usually I'm not bothered by this but for some reason I'm not getting over it this time as fast?"  If so, you haven't allowed your body to properly recover from an illness or injury in the past.  Therefore, each incident takes a larger toll on the body and mind for a longer period of time.  No matter what we are recovering from, providing our body with the best opportunity to function, recover, and heal is essential.  

Plenty of rest, good nourishment and hydration, and relaxation are all key components whether you've broken your leg, suffered with a simple cold, lost a loved one, drug addiction, or recently had surgery.   Another important piece to the recovery puzzle is allowing your nervous system which controls all functions of the body be free from interference.   Chiropractic care focuses on helping restore proper function to your nervous system which allows for better overall health and an improved recovery process.  It allows for faster healing times by removing any nervous system inference. 

A case study followed a 37-year old man who recently had surgery.  Post-surgical symptoms included nausea, fatigue, gastric reflux, dizziness, and migraines.  Multiple spinal subluxations (or blockages of the spinal cord) were found.  He received chiropractic adjustments to remove those interferences to his nervous system.  This allowed his body to maintain a more optimal healing environment after his surgical procedure.  Following 3 weeks of chiropractic care, the patient reported improvements in all of his symptoms and was also able to stop taking multiple medications.  Chiropractic care helps create a pathway to healing no matter what the initial injury or illness is.  The power that made the body heals the body when it is free from interference!

Yours in Health,


Dr. Nicholas J. Knutson, DC

Owner/Doctor

MOUNTAIN ISLAND CHIROPRACTIC

10917 Black Dog Ln., Suite 101 

Charlotte, NC 28214

Tel (704) 394-8556

Fax (704) 395-8556

mtnislandchiro.com

"If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special." JV



Harden, J., D.C., & Smedley, L., D.C. (2019). Improvement in Vestibular Dysfunction & Quality of Life Following Chiropractic Care in a Male Suffering from PostSurgical Complications for Vestibular Schwannoma:A Case Report & Review of the Literature. Vertebral Subluxation Res., A, 34-44.

Chiropractic Care Can Help With Menstrual Pain

Menstrual pain (dysmenorrhea) affects women before and during their menstrual cycles.  Often times they can feel not only pain, but lethargy (feeling sluggish), irritability, pain with urination, cramping, nausea, headaches, and vomiting.  Pain typically begins in the lower abdomen and radiates thru to the back and even down the legs for some women.  Over 50% of reproductive-age women report a reduced quality of life during their cycles because of menstrual pain.  Dysmenorrhea and bladder pain syndrome have both been linked to the autonomic nervous system not functioning properly.  Our autonomic nervous system and the reproductive hormones which fluctuate during different phases of the menstrual cycle are directly related.
A 2019 study followed 123 participants with a chief complaint of dysmenorrhea or bladder pain with their cycles.  All patients had their heart rate variability (HRV) measured to test how well the autonomic nervous system was functioning.  The autonomic nervous system (ANS) controls and regulates heart rate, breathing, urination, digestion, pupillary responses, and is the primary mechanism that controls our flight-or-flight response.  In 100% of these patients in the study, they were found to have a lower or dysfunctioning ANS because of a lower heart rate variability response.  When the HRV is high, this means that the autonomic nervous system is functioning properly.  So how does the ANS become dysfunctional?  There are many factors, but the simplest one can be a subluxation or interference on particular nerves that send signals to the bladder and pelvis.  Chiropractic care removes these subluxations with specific adjustments to the spine.  This assists the autonomic nervous system and specifically the pelvic splanchnictic nerve (S2, S3, S4) to function freely without interruption and therefore removes pain and discomfort associated with the menstrual cycle.  Although hormone regulation is an intricate process that the body takes on daily, we can help alleviate issues by removing interference to the autonomic nervous system with chiropractic care.  Our office has seen great success in relief of menstrual pain and bladder control issues with just a few visits for specific, gentle chiropractic care.


Yours in Health,


Dr. Nicholas J. Knutson, DC

Owner/Doctor

MOUNTAIN ISLAND CHIROPRACTIC

10917 Black Dog Ln., Suite 101 

Charlotte, NC 28214

Tel (704) 394-8556

Fax (704) 395-8556

mtnislandchiro.com

"If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special." JV


Oladosu, F. A., Hellman, K. M., Ham, P. J., Kochlefl, L. E., Datta, A., Garrison, E. F....Tu, F. F. (2019). Persistent autonomic dysfunction and bladder sensitivity in primary dysmenorrhea. Scientific Reports, 9(1). doi:10.1038/s41598-019-38545-3.

Ear Infections in Children

Before the age of 3, it is estimated that 80% of children will experience at least one ear infection (otitis media), while over 40% of children will have multiple ear infections by the age of 5.  Children often experience pain, irritability, fever, disturbed sleep patterns, loss of appetite, and general feelings of malaise during these times.  Most often, viruses are the cause of ear infections, and therefore giving a child an antibiotic will not help relieve the infection.  During an ear infection, fluid gets trapped in the middle ear because of swelling in the inner ear or eustachian tube.  Fluid then builds up in the middle ear and causes the eardrum to bulge outward, causing immense pain.  When we are fighting off a virus, our lymphatic system is trying its best to remove the infection however if the eustachian tube is blocked then you have a backup of the lymph system.  Often times you will see an associated bulging of the lymph nodes of the neck and face as a result of a backed up system.  When an antibiotic is given for a non-bacterial infection, it simply removes all good flora from the gut and therefore delays the healing time, as well as changes our immune system to become immune to those antibiotics with repeated use over a short period of time.
Chiropractic care offers relief but most importantly prevention of ear infections.  How does this work?  A chiropractor looks to find subluxations or "blockages" in the childs nervous system, or misalignments of the neck and spine that house the nerves that deliver the messages to the eustachian tubes.  By removing the interference to the ear, fluid is allowed to drain properly down the eustachian tube and out of the lymphatic system.  A recent research study suggests that upwards of 93% of all children under the age of five receiving chiropractic care showed improvement with ear infections with 75% of those children getting better within the first 10 days.  43% of these children only needed one or two adjustments to relieve the ear problems completely.  Want to know more about how chiropractic helps with ear infections?  Call our office today!

Yours in Health,
Dr. Nicholas J. Knutson, DC

Owner/Doctor

MOUNTAIN ISLAND CHIROPRACTIC

10917 Black Dog Ln., Suite 101 

Charlotte, NC 28214

Tel (704) 394-8556

Fax (704) 395-8556

mtnislandchiro.com

"If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special." JV














Ear infection: a retrospective study examining improvement from chiropractic care and analyzing for influencing factors (Abstract), Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics.

Pain After Back Surgery? Study Shows Chiropractic Can Help

Back pain is the number one cause of disability in the United States.  Living with chronic pain causes us to lose joy and miss out on important activities in our daily lives.  Patients are often told how to "deal or manage the pain" by taking prescription medications or eventually turned to surgery to try and fix their pain.  According to the University of Oregon 2017 study, there was an estimated 1,150,000 back surgeries performed in 2015. And of those surgeries, between 8%-20% had a second surgery within ONE year!  The reason why back surgery often fails and the patient is still experiencing pain? It's simple, the cause of the pain was never discovered.  They simply went to the spot of the pain and tried to mask the symptoms.
A 2019 case study followed a 62-year old woman who suffered from chronic low back pain after two different back surgeries.  She originally had surgery at 42 years old and again at 49 years old due to persistent pain post-surgery.  She had been placed on 13 different medications to try to ease the pain over the course of those 20 years.   After a chiropractic examination, she was diagnosed with scoliosis, dysautonomia (her autonomic nervous system was not functioning properly), and multiple vertebral subluxations (interferences of the nervous system in the spine).  She underwent an initial 3 months of chiropractic corrective care, in which her low back pain decreased significantly and her scoliosis improved with a change in her scoliotic curve shown on post thermal scans and xrays.  She was able to come off of her pain medications and reported a significant increase in her overall quality of life!  She reported that for two decades she was unable to go through a single day without unmanageable pain at some point during her day, and after chiropractic care no longer went one day where the pain was not tolerable!
Chiropractic adjustments offer specific, gentle relief for patients looking to avoid medications and surgery and to keep their bodies operating at full potential!  Have more questions on how chiropractic specifically treat back pain?  We are here to help!

Yours in Health,

Dr. Nicholas J. Knutson, DC

Owner/Doctor

MOUNTAIN ISLAND CHIROPRACTIC

10917 Black Dog Ln., Suite 101 

Charlotte, NC 28214

Tel (704) 394-8556

Fax (704) 395-8556

mtnislandchiro.com

"If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special." JV


Lapham-Yaun, R., D.C., & Castro, K., D.C. (2019). Improved Spinal Alignment, Chronic Low Back Pain and Improved Quality of Life in a 62-year-old Patient Undergoing chiropractic Care Following Failed Surgical Syndrome: A Case Study & Review of the Literature. A. Vertebral Subluxation Res., 10-21.

How Much Water Should You Drink?

A question I get asked often in my practice is "how much water should I drink?"  The answer to this varies person to person.  Often times you hear the phrase to drink 8 glasses of 8 ounces of water per day.  Although this is an excellent measurement to base water consumption on, there are other factors to consider when trying to reach an adequate hydration goal.
Most people are not great about water consumption, and quite honestly water can be an excellent "fix" to help with a lot of ailments.  Every cell, organ, and tissue in our body needs water to function properly.  Water not only hydrates our cells, but it eliminates waste through our urine and stool, regulates our body temperature, lubricates tissues and joints, and helps in protection of our vital organs.  Factors that take away water from our body include exercise, perspiration, hot weather, drinking soda and other sugary drinks, bowel movements, and pregnancy or breast-feeding.
I tell patients all of the time that the best measurement on how well-hydrated you are is the color of your urine and the frequency in which you urinate.  "Healthy" looking urine should be a pale or light yellow.  Dark urine especially with a strong odor means you are behind the hydration gauge.  Often times if you are feeling thirsty, your cells are already in the dehydration state.  Also, if hunger feelings start it is best to drink water first, as thirst signs can easily be mistaken for hunger pains.
Every morning you should start the day by  drinking a glass of water at least 16 ounces in size.  It not only awakens the organs and digestive system after sleep, but it jump starts your metabolism, flushes out toxins, awakens the brain and nervous system, and even can aid in weight loss by curbing your appetite for a short time.  Your body has been hard at work while you sleep, and you should replenish that hard work with water first thing.  I also suggest if possible to drink an alkaline water with a pH of 8 or higher, especially first thing in the morning.  Also, if available room temperature water is best for optimal absorption and digestion throughout the day. 
Tracking water consumption can just seem like one more thing to have to do during our day.  My advice is to simply try to substitute water in a few places where you normally wouldn't.  Start your day with 1-2 glasses or water, have water with lunch or keep a bottle at your desk with you during the work day.  When the afternoon hunger hits start with a glass of water before you have a snack.  Try to drink a bottle to and from your commute to work.  Drink a glass as you're getting ready for bed.  A trick with my kids is they take  water bottles that can have fruit infused to school so that they drink more throughout the day.  Small changes to your water consumption daily will have large effects on your overall health!

Yours in Health,

Dr. Nicholas J. Knutson, DC

Owner/Doctor

MOUNTAIN ISLAND CHIROPRACTIC

10917 Black Dog Ln., Suite 101 

Charlotte, NC 28214

Tel (704) 394-8556

Fax (704) 395-8556

mtnislandchiro.com

"If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special." JV

Reducing the Risk of Heart Disease

With February in full swing, we bring attention to the epidemic of heart disease this month.  About 1 out of every 3 deaths is related to heart disease, and every day it kills more than 2300 people.  That equates to approximately one death every 38 seconds!  The best thing to combat heart disease is to prevent it.  Although scary, cardiovascular disease research has given us plenty of data to recognize risk factors associated with it.
Things like eating a poor diet, lack of exercise, lack of sleep, smoking, chronic stress, diabetes, poor weight management, and high blood pressure all are considered risk factors for heart disease.  Another important preventative tool to fight heart disease is chiropractic adjustments.  Most people think of chiropractic care as a last resort for pain management, we believe it should be included in preventative care for all types of diseases.  Cardiovascular disease and the associated risk factors are greatly influenced by other systems of the body, especially the nervous system.  By correcting interference or subluxations to the nervous system, the body is allowed to heal and function properly.   A positive effect chiropractic care has been found to help with is inflammatory markers like immune system responses such as C-reactive protein among others.
A 54-year old male suffering from high cholesterol was studied who also had a history of heart attack and reported experiencing stress and depression both at work and at home. He also had a history of anxiety, constipation, fatigue, irritability, mood swings, neck pain, and stiff neck.  He received regular chiropractic adjustments over a five-month period.  At the end of those 5 months, his cardiologist was able to decrease the amount of cholesterol medication he prescribed to the patient!  By removing the interference that caused his body to operate at a dysfunctional level, symptoms were reduced and risk factors lowered!  Optimal function yields optimal performance!

Yours in Health,

Dr. Nicholas J. Knutson, DC

Owner/Doctor

MOUNTAIN ISLAND CHIROPRACTIC

10917 Black Dog Ln., Suite 101 

Charlotte, NC 28214

Tel (704) 394-8556

Fax (704) 395-8556

mtnislandchiro.com

"If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special." JV


Zielinksi, E., BA, & Blume, N. A., DC. (2013). An Epidemiological Approach to Subluxation-Based Chiropractic Care and CVD Risk Factors:A Case Study and REview of the Literature. A. Vertebral Subluxation Res., 2013, 77-99.