Fitness

The #1 Cause of Disability in the World - Low Back Pain

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When you were younger you probably felt invincible. It was like you were made of rubber and could withstand anything (bumps, bruises, or sitting like a pretzel for hours on end) and would snap back up again unscathed, ready for the next challenge. But how about now? Are you still invincible, or has your lower back been giving you painful reminders that you are not? According to statistics, the answer is probably YES! Sadly, you are not alone. You are actually part of an alarming global trend of people with low back pain issues. My hope with this BLOG is to teach you how to avoid becoming a statistic.

Stress on the lower spine.

A recent Medical Journal Reported, “Low back pain (LBP) causes more disability globally than any other condition; according to two studies published online January 30 and March 24, 2014 in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. As the world population continues to age, an urgent need exists for research to find out why and how LBP might be prevented or better managed…” (http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/822492)

Let’s read that again,

“Low back pain causes more disability globally than any other condition… an urgent need exists for research to find out why and how LBP might be prevented or better managed...”

So the question is, "why does this happen and what can you do to prevent and/or recover from low back pain?" If I may be so bold... I am positive that I have the answers to both how LBP might be prevented and better managed!

Follow these steps:

#1. Take responsibility. If you are reading this you are obviously someone who takes responsibility, and who realizes that you cannot afford to keep doing what got you in this mess in the first place. You have to treat yourself differently. You have to treat yourself and your spine better. If you are overweight you have to drop the excess poundage...NOW! Proceed to step two.

#2 Movement is Medicine. We have all heard the quote, “use it or lose it.” Simply put, you absolutely MUST move around more. Get out of your chair for 10 minutes every hour. The US Army did a study and found that resting 10 minutes out of every hour made marching soldiers more effective. I believe that getting up 10 minutes out of every hour will help soldiers in the civilian world (you) be more energetic—and healthier. So get up and walk around! Better yet, shake the dust off your spine by performing the 6 spinal movements and the “10 Things To Do at Work” on the Power Kinetics® Exercise DVD.

#3 Get your spine aligned. How anyone in this day and age does not realize that all 26 bones of their spine need to be adjusted and realigned at least once a month is mind-boggling! I believe most LBP comes from the spinal bones getting stuck or misaligned. In other words, for optimal joint and spine health you absolutely MUST see a doctor of chiropractic on a REGULAR basis.

*Just like you regularly see a dentist to take care of the bones in your mouth... you must see a chiropractor to take care of the bones in your spine, and the rest of your body for matter.

Photo: Dr. Charles restoring normal motion to a patient’s low back  (Precision Adjusting For The Master Chiropractor by Eugene Charles, D.C.)

#4 Receive applied kinesiology treatments. Applied kinesiology (AK) is a system that uses muscle testing to uncover which muscle(s) is not moving right when someone has pain or cannot do something. You are well aware of the fact that muscles move bones and I feel that chiropractors who utilize applied kinesiology techniques to augment their great adjustments can accomplish more in one visit than any other doctor who specializes in spinal health. I feel you need to have your muscles tested and then treated for optimal spinal health and I know of no better way of keeping your low back healthy than having specific kinesiological work done on your muscles followed by a precise chiropractic adjustment.

So we are clear, I am partial to AK because the founder of AK, Dr. George Goodheart, properly diagnosed and corrected the cause of my severe shoulder pain when no other doctor was able to... over 30 years ago. This motivated me to become the youngest teaching Diplomate of Applied Kinesiology in the world. (or so I was told)

*If you are interested, I have a list of doctors I've trained in applied kinesiology and also have seminar DVDs available to any doctor who wants to learn and use these powerful healing tools. 

#5 Eat foods and herbs that decrease inflammation. Foods such as olive oil, nuts & seeds, fish (especially wild salmon, sardines & anchovies), grass fed beef, vegetables; and herbs such as turmeric, boswellia, ginger root, quercetin and ubiquinol work naturally with your body to decrease pain and swelling.

Strong abdominal muscles stabilize and support your low back.

#6 Strengthen your stomach muscles (the abdominals). Strong abdominal muscles stabilize and support your low back. However, MOST stomach exercises are wrong. That’s right, most stomach exercises involve the hip flexors, which are antagonistic to the abdominal muscle. So you are creating tension in your low back; the very same low back you are exercising to help.

Several years ago, I developed an abdominal exercise for a man with a herniated disc who had horrific pain shooting down his legs. He needed to strengthen his stomach muscles to help his condition, yet every stomach exercise he tried was incredibly painful. Instead of having him contract his hip flexor muscles (psoas, rectus femoris), I had him contract his hip extensor muscles (gluteus maximus, hamstrings).

I developed this exercise for him and he was able to do it with no pain. So if a guy with a herniated disc was able to do this and not hurt himself, I am confident that this exercise will not injure your low back and you will benefit greatly by it. I’m a little embarrassed that it took me 30 years—plus a patient in horrible pain—to come up with this abdominal exercise. One of my students named it “The Charles Crunch.” I simply call it, "The PK Sit-up."

*You can see this low back saving exercise in the Dec 17 2014 BLOG.

There you have it. Six things you can do to avoid the greatest cause of disability on the planet. When your low back hurts, everything hurts and everyday can be a living nightmare. Be very diligent with these 6 steps and you will have a greater probability of a healthy, pain-free low back and a greater opportunity of enjoying life to the fullest.

Don’t wait until you have low back pain to implement these six actions, do them as preventative measures NOW. As Benjamin Franklin said, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

I will leave you with a different version of this adage that I teach all of my patients, “Be kind to your spine. Treat your back like it is hurting…and it never will.”

To your Great Health and Success,

Eugene Charles, D.C., DIBAK Diplomate, International Board of Applied Kinesiology www.charlesseminars.com

Follow Dr. Charles on Twitter, and subscribe to his YouTube channel. Share this blog with a friend!

Contact us and let us know you signed up for the BLOG and you will receive a FREE PDF to the book Antidotes For Indiscretions: What to do when you do what you shouldn’t have.

For a list of doctors trained in Applied Kinesiology http://www.charlesseminars.com/AKdoctors.html

For doctors interested in adding Applied Kinesiology to their practice http://www.charlesseminars.com/producs.html

To order The Power Kinetics® Exercise DVD http://www.charlesseminars.com/PowerKineticsVitamins.html

Beating Ebola Hysteria

A doctor who returned to New York City from Africa 10 days ago was rushed in an ambulance with a police escort from his Harlem home to Bellevue Hospital on Thursday, sources said. Dr. Charles is disseminating the information below from The Centers For Disease Control to his doctors. He thought you should also know the truth and see there is no reason for hysteria.

Essentially, unless you come into intimate contact with someone infected with Ebola—you are fine.

Similar to preventing infection from ANY virus make sure you:

1. Breathe through your nose. You breathe 20,000 times a day so you better do it right!
Your nose FILTERS, HUMIDIFIES and IONIZES the air entering your body; oxygen is the most abundant element of your body—65% of YOU is OXYGEN—so you want it as pure as possible.

 

2. Wash your hands regularly with soap (NOTbactericidal) and water.

 

3. Drink two liters of pure water daily.

 
4. Exercise six days a week, and break a sweat on at least three of those days. When you're not working out make sure you're body is moving ten minutes out of every hour.
 
5. Be sure to have a daily dowel movement (t's not glamorous but along with sweating it is the best way to detoxify your body).
 
6. Get eight hours of sound sleep.
 

7. Receive monthly chiropractic/kinesiology treatments to enhance the strength of your immune system. To find a great doctor in your area go to: http://www.charlesseminars.com/AKdoctors.html

 

*8. (OPTIONAL): Take one ImmunoMax daily—and other nutritional supplements—from here: http://www.charlesseminars.com/PowerKineticsVitamins.html

 

*REMEMBER: YOU are much Bigger than a virus. If you keep yourself strong with these seven easy tips you will beat any bug and stay healthy!

 

To Actualizing Your Potential and Living as Richly as possible,

Eugene Charles, D.C., DIBAK Diplomate, International Board of Applied Kinesiology www.charlesseminars.com

 

 Follow Dr. Charles on Twitter, and subscribe to his YouTube channel.

Share this blog with a friend!

Contact us and let us know you signed up for the BLOG and you will receive a FREE PDF to the book Antidotes For Indiscretions: What to do when you do what you shouldn’t have.
_______________________________________________________________

Evaluating Patients for Ebola: CDC Recommendations for Clinicians

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Health Advisory

October 03, 2014

  • The first case of Ebola virus disease (Ebola) diagnosed in the United States was reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) by Dallas County Health and Human Services on September 28, 2014, and laboratory-confirmed by CDC and the Texas Laboratory Response Network (LRN) laboratory on September 30. The patient departed Monrovia, Liberia, on September 19, and arrived in Dallas, Texas, on September 20. The patient was asymptomatic during travel and upon his arrival in the United States; he fell ill on September 24 and sought medical care at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas on September 26. He was treated and released. On September 28, he returned to the same hospital and was admitted for treatment.

The purpose of this HAN Advisory is to remind healthcare personnel and health officials to:

1. Increase their vigilance in inquiring about a history of travel to Ebola-affected countries in the 21 days before illness onset for any patient presenting with fever or other symptoms consistent with Ebola;

2. Isolate patients who report a travel history to an Ebola-affected country (currently Liberia, Sierra Leone, Senegal, and Guinea) and who are exhibiting Ebola symptoms in a private room with a private bathroom and implement standard, contact, and droplet precautions (gowns, facemask, eye protection, and gloves); and

3. Immediately notify the local/state health department.

Background

The first known case of Ebola with illness onset and laboratory confirmation in the United States occurred in Dallas, Texas, on September 2014, in a traveler from Liberia. The West African countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea are experiencing the largest Ebola epidemic in history. From March 24, 2014, through September 23, 2014, there have been 6,574 total cases (3,626 were laboratory-confirmed) and 3,091 total deaths reported in Africa.

Ebola is a rare and deadly disease caused by infection with one of four viruses (Ebolavirus genus) that cause disease in humans. Ebola infection is associated with fever of greater than 38.6°C or 101.5°F, and additional symptoms such as severe headache, muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, or unexplained hemorrhage. Ebola is spread through direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with blood or body fluids (including but not limited to urine, saliva, feces, vomit, sweat, breast milk, and semen) of a person who is sick with Ebola or contact with objects (such as needles and syringes) that have been contaminated with these fluids. Ebola is not spread through the air or water. The main source for spread is human-to-human transmission.

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Avoiding contact with infected persons (as well as potentially infected corpses) and their blood and body fluids is of paramount importance. Persons are not contagious before they are symptomatic. The incubation period (the time from exposure until onset of symptoms) is typically 8-10 days, but can range from 2-21 days. Additional information is available at http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/index.html.

Recommendations

Early recognition is critical to controlling the spread of Ebola virus. Consequently, healthcare personnel should elicit the patient's travel history and consider the possibility of Ebola in patients who present with fever, myalgia, severe headache, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, or unexplained bleeding or bruising. Should the patient report a history of recent travel to one of the affected West African countries (Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea) and exhibit such symptoms, immediate action should be taken. The Ebola algorithm for the evaluation of a returned traveler and the checklist for evaluation of a patient being evaluated for Ebola are available at http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/pdf/ebola-algorithm.pdf and http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/pdf/checklist-patients-evaluated-us-evd.pdf.

 Patients in whom a diagnosis of Ebola is being considered should be isolated in a single room (with a private bathroom), and healthcare personnel should follow standard, contact, and droplet precautions, including the use of appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE). Infection control personnel and the local health department should be immediately contacted for consultation.

The following guidance documents provide additional information about clinical presentation and clinical course of Ebola virus disease, infection control, and patient management:

The case definitions for persons under investigation (PUI) for Ebola, probable cases, and confirmed cases as well as classification of exposure risk levels are at http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/hcp/case-definition.html.

Persons at highest risk of developing infection are:

  • those who have had direct contact with the blood and body fluids of an individual diagnosed with Ebola — this includes any person who provided care for an Ebola patient, such as a healthcare provider or family member not adhering to recommended infection control precautions (i.e., not wearing recommended PPE)
  • those who have had close physical contact with an individual diagnosed with Ebola
  • those who lived with or visited the Ebola-diagnosed patient while he or she was ill.

Persons who have been exposed, but who are asymptomatic, should be instructed to monitor their health for the development of fever or symptoms for 21 days after the last exposure. Guidelines for monitoring and movement of persons who have been exposed to Ebola are available at http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/hcp/monitoring-and-movement-of-persons-with-exposure.html.

Diagnostic tests are available for detection of Ebola at LRN laboratories as well as CDC. Consultation with CDC is required before shipping specimens to CDC. Information about diagnostic testing for Ebola can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/hcp/interim-guidance-specimen-collection-submission-patients-suspected-infection-ebola.html.

Healthcare personnel in the United States should immediately contact their state or local health department regarding any person being evaluated for Ebola if the medical evaluation suggests that diagnostic testing may be indicated. If there is a high index of suspicion, U.S. health departments should immediately report any probable cases or PUI (http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/hcp/case-definition.html) to CDC's Emergency Operations Center at 770-488-7100.

Patients in whom a diagnosis of Ebola is being considered should be isolated in a single room (with a private bathroom), and healthcare personnel should follow standard, contact, and droplet precautions, including the use of appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE). Infection control personnel and the local health department should be immediately contacted for consultation.

The following guidance documents provide additional information about clinical presentation and clinical course of Ebola virus disease, infection control, and patient management:

The case definitions for persons under investigation (PUI) for Ebola, probable cases, and confirmed cases as well as classification of exposure risk levels are at http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/hcp/case-definition.html.

Persons at highest risk of developing infection are:

  • those who have had direct contact with the blood and body fluids of an individual diagnosed with Ebola — this includes any person who provided care for an Ebola patient, such as a healthcare provider or family member not adhering to recommended infection control precautions (i.e., not wearing recommended PPE)
  • those who have had close physical contact with an individual diagnosed with Ebola
  • those who lived with or visited the Ebola-diagnosed patient while he or she was ill.

Persons who have been exposed, but who are asymptomatic, should be instructed to monitor their health for the development of fever or symptoms for 21 days after the last exposure. Guidelines for monitoring and movement of persons who have been exposed to Ebola are available at http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/hcp/monitoring-and-movement-of-persons-with-exposure.html.

Diagnostic tests are available for detection of Ebola at LRN laboratories as well as CDC. Consultation with CDC is required before shipping specimens to CDC. Information about diagnostic testing for Ebola can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/hcp/interim-guidance-specimen-collection-submission-patients-suspected-infection-ebola.html.

Healthcare personnel in the United States should immediately contact their state or local health department regarding any person being evaluated for Ebola if the medical evaluation suggests that diagnostic testing may be indicated. If there is a high index of suspicion, U.S. health departments should immediately report any probable cases or PUI (http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/hcp/case-definition.html) to CDC's Emergency Operations Center at 770-488-7100.

Introducing the Power Kinetics™ Exercise DVD from Dr. Eugene Charles

Dr. Eugene Charles has spent nearly 25 years puttinghis weight training, martial arts, chiropractic and applied kinesiology knowledge and experience in creating Power Kinetics. It is possibly the most intelligent and synergistic workout to develop EVERYDAY STRENGTH!

Here is the only exercise program to combine all 3 workouts – Isokinetics, Isotonics, and Isometrics to prevent injuries and help rehabilitate injured joints and develop a healthy, strong and well-balanced body.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/g3qJFqwZZb8]

PowerKinetics™ consists of exercises using your own body to improve health, enhance performance and relieve joint pain - The stronger you get the harder the exercises gets.

Your patients are getting older; your training knowledge must get newer. Your patients can perform these at home or in your office as part of your treatment.

INCLUDES the most scientific and effective Muscle Building, Fat Metabolizing and Healthy Joint Nutritional Supplements from Power Kinetics™.

The main purpose of exercise is to make you healthier and PowerKinetics™ may be the healthiest way to work out.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/KXk7wAV04Hg]

Enhance your own health as well as the health of your patients with PowerKinetics™.

To order your Workout DVD and Fitness Building Vitamins go to  http://www.charlesseminars.com/PowerKineticsVitamins.html

  "Maximize Your Performance" with PowerKinetics - Balanced Workouts for Everyday Strength