Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Chiropractic care helps!

I've finally gotten around to my promised post on chiropractic care. As you know, I had been struggling with shoulder pain and had been thinking it was fibromyalgia caused by Lyme. Originally, I guess it probably was.

I had two things going against me structurally - Lyme toxins and weakness on my left side due to Lyme. My chiropractor (http://www.drmurphydc.com/) told me that toxins can cause subluxation, or places where the bone is not in the proper place. The subluxation causes a stagnation, which in turn gives toxins and pathogens a place to hide out.

Think of a pond. If the pond doesn't get a breeze or have a fountain to keep the water moving, it gets a nice coat of slime. The stagnant water gives a nice growing place for all kinds of unwelcome gunk.

Same thing with a subluxation.

So, back to my shoulder. Because I was so full of toxins, I had several subluxations in my neck and lower back. When Dr. M adjusted my neck, I felt a pull all the way to the exact spot in my shoulder that hurt. Remember, all the nerves go through the spine, so this is not surprising.

At first Dr. M had me coming in twice weekly (for four weeks), then we switched to once weekly. In the beginning the adjustments would only hold until the next day. Well, he doesn't like the term "hold" because the spine is supposed to move .... so the more proper way to say it would be to say my spine would remain free for the rest of the day but would be locked up again by the next day.

The first time that my spine didn't lock up for several days in a row, my shoulder started killing me worse than it had in months! He was surprised that it hurt so bad since I wasn't all locked up. I consider it to be a healing reaction due to the toxins finally being released from the area. My shoulder has not hurt at all since then. My back has mostly remained free to move, not locked up.

Dr. W in Germany is an MD, but he also is a trained chiropractor. He was of the opinion that you had to be adjusted for the photons to work. It makes perfect sense now. How could the energy move through the body if there are stagnant areas? I am fortunate to have Dr. M because much like Dr. W, he adjusts the entire body, not just the spine.

In other news, I'm still doing great! I'm doing pilates for 7+ hours per week and seeing amazing changes in my body even though I worked out for almost the same amount of time before. For one thing, Pilates focuses on alignment, so my bone structure looks better. I'm not holding my shoulders up so high anymore. My deeper muscles are getting worked, so I feel strong.

The bad news is I have a bad cold. I know where I caught it .... chaperoning the band for two nights till midnight when it was chilly and damp .... plus being around someone with a cold. I've been doctoring it with Vitamin D (both from Mercola's tanning bed and D3 pills), kombucha, rest, chicken soup, neti pot, and colloidal silver (the past two days). So, it's day 4 and I'm feeling like I have the upper hand. It has not disabled me like colds previously did. I have been active and haven't even missed a Pilates class. I am sitting around a little more, but still get everything done. And the great news - no Lyme symptoms at all (Lyme used to always flare with other illness).

But, if it weren't for my cold, I might not have gotten around to blogging. :)

I hope you're all feeling well. Leave me a note, I love comments!

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Kombucha and Pilates

Things are going great! I've been so busy I haven't had much time to write.

The sauerkraut with carrot, garlic, and onions was phenomenal! My 11 year old eats it all the time, tons of it! My 21 year old was even putting it on her english muffins! We really use it on everything. I just bottled 7 quarts that I made last week. Maybe some of it will last so we can taste what it's like after continuing to ferment for a few more weeks.

It took me about a week to make the scoby from a bottle of store bought kombucha. Now I've made my own batch with green tea. It's great!! I love it! My 11 year old loves it, too, and my husband told me to put his name on a bottle so when he wants some it's still there. With six people living in our house right now, things don't always last long in the refrigerator .... you think you will get to eat some of something and then it's gone.

Kombucha is supposed to be wonderful for you. It's a strong detoxer, so it helps with general health and all kinds of illness. I read that Ronald Reagan took it to help his battle with cancer back in the 80's, and if you remember, cancer was not what he ended up dying of many years later. Also, the man who makes Synergy Kombucha has it printed right on the bottle that he started bottling it because of the role it played in helping his mother heal of breast cancer. I am happy to be adding it to my health regimen.

I notice if I drink kombucha early in the day it makes me a little tired. I'm thinking it must be the heavy detox abilities. Simple solution .... my sleep is light anyway, so I drink it later in the day, so if it makes me tired, that's just a bonus.

My digestion has been great! Food has been digesting. Amazing. The Dr. Natura cleanse has really been doing its job, too. I won't go into the stuff I've seen .... let's just say, it's about time to be getting rid of it.

So, onto the really fun stuff .... pilates!! I started my first teacher training class today!! After the administrative stuff, we talked about who we were and why we were there .... also, a little about our bodies. I told about my Lyme and how my left side was more affected and weaker. The teacher and her #2 were really excited to see how I moved because of the noticeable difference in strength that I mentioned I had. I wasn't sure what that meant .... till later.

Later they chose two of us to walk across the room a few times while the rest watched. Then I stood there and they showed where I was out of alignment. They found the same twisted body my massage therapist and my chiropractor have found (stay tuned for the next blog on what chiropractic has done for me the past few weeks).

Because of the way pilates is done lying down, the focus can be on proper spinal alignment. Because of this, you work out with your bone structure in the right place, which strengthens and stretches the muscles properly as opposed to when you work out standing up and with your improper alignment, which just reinforces the problems.

I have been taking pilates twice weekly because it's so much more expensive than just going to the gym. With the teacher training series, you are expected to work out as much as possible and it's all included in the price, so now I get to do it every day! I am really, really excited about this.

Dr. W in Germany really stressed how the body needed to be aligned properly for the energy to flow. Since the light treatment is energy, it's essential to Bionic treatment. He even is a licensed chiropractor in addition to being an MD so he can do these adjustments. Pilates is all about restoring proper functioning and alignment of the body. This will certainly be good for me.

More to come later on how much chiropractic adjustments have helped me.