Foundation for Active Kids

Being a Santa Barbara resident for one and a half years has made me realize once again how imperative it is to have a solid foundation for a building. This particular region is subject to constant mild seismic activity and mudslides caused by occasional downpours of rain. Of course, I can't help but make the following comparison:

The foundation of a building is just like our spinal column!

If there is a faulty foundation, everything built upon it will be weaker, more susceptible to damage, in need of frequent repairs, and possibly complete tear-down. Well, if a spine is uneven, imbalanced, has lateral curves, and possible cracks, the body will be weaker, more susceptible to damage, in need of frequent repairs, and at one point will collapse. While we notice these changes start affecting us in our 30's, and really feel them set in in our 50's, they may have began much earlier, at a time that our foundation was just being laid down. And upon that faulty foundation we experience the daily routine of tiny earthquakes and the occasional marathons of rainfalls and mudslides.

Now imagine that you have a child with a foundational fault of a very mild scoliosis, 5-10 degrees.

This is what is happening to their body:

1. The side of the body of the curve has elongated, lax muscles, and the side of concavity will have very rigid, contracted muscles.
2. The curve will also have 3 main stress points, at the start, in the middle and at the end. The start and end vertebra will be laterally flexed the most, tipping to the side, and the ones in the middle will be compressed.
3. If this curve has been there since birth, at this point the brain actually thinks that it's normal. The brain can't tell the difference because the position of the head has been changed, and the eyes are now perfectly aligned with the horizon so that your child doesn't trip every time they take a step.

Now, let's pretend that instead of the tiny seismic activity of .5-1 magnitude, your child's foundation is going to be challenged by 3.0 earthquakes of daily sports activities and a mudslide during a huge competitive event.

One side dominant sports (golf, tennis, hockey, baseball) will create stress and more imbalance in the body. Milder side dominance sports (soccer, basketball, football, volleyball) which all involve running and coordination will reinforce the skeletal structure by the nature of the visual feedback loop. Also, running and jumping will add loading and compression forces to the spine and cause more stress on the unstable fulcrum points of the curve. And this is what starts to happen:

1. The discs will begin to lose hydration.
2. The space between the vertebrae and discs will decrease.
3. The opening through which the nerves pass will decrease.
4. Inflammation in the area will increase causing pain.
5. Repeating the activity will create greater instability.
6. Instability will cause splinting of muscles.
7. Repeated stress on the muscles will pull on the bones, triggering calcium deposition (later creating spurs).
8. Pain increases, which may result in cortisone treatments (which lead to osteoporosis and immune system dysfunction later in life if used frequently).

As a result, we have successfully built the foundation for
degenerative disc and joint disease!

But, let me end on a positive note. Builders who understand the topography and climate of a susceptible area are well equipped to create a foundation for a home that will withstand the stress it must endure. The home will require it's weekly upkeep, may need some cosmetic work after 15 or 20 years, and perhaps a bigger renovation in 40 or 50, but a solid, proper foundation will allow this home to age gracefully and become the pinnacle of it's neighborhood.

Recipe for Cold-Banishing Cake

Well, after 15 healthy months in this world, Sasha caught her first cold virus. It started with some upset stomach for 2 days, then a runny nose, and now a cough. To make things more fun, she is teething too! So, not only is her nose like a broken faucet, but she is also drooling, and the sinus pressure is making her eyes water, which is making me feel three times as bad. Not to mention that she wakes up at night about 4 times after coughing, and I wake up about 8 times just to make sure that she is sleeping and breathing.

As a first time mom, I resist the urge to open the more popular recipe book (call my pediatrician) and go for the special chiropractic family recipe box (do what I usually advise my patients to do after a thorough checkup). I begin by making sure that I have all of the utensils and ingredients to make my Uncomplicated Cold-Banishing Cake.

• Thermometer reading: 99.8, elevated by .8 degrees from her usual (it is very important to know what your child's temp is on a regular healthy day, as that should be their "normal", not necessarily the 98.6 ideal).
  
• Auscultation: no ronchi, wheezing, or crepitus in any lung quadrant. Breathing normal, pulse normal.
  
• Otoscopic evaluation: no redness, some wax, light reflex present, eardrum not distended.
  
• Visual observation: alert, slightly fatigued and more sad than usual, mild loss of balance. No changes in color, no excessive lethargy. No redness or spots in throat.
• Physical evaluation: tender C1, C2, motion restriction in the thoracic spine, tight upper traps, scalenes, SCM, and suboccipitals. Mild swelling over frontal and maxillary sinuses.
  

Since everything checked out OK, I began the dreaded 3-5 day wait for the symptoms to pass. I realize now that this is one of those very difficult times where the mother's instinct and urge is to DO SOMETHING!!! But in this case I let the greater mother take over, as Nature IS doing something, and very efficiently in Sasha's case. All of her symptoms are just a way for the body to clean up, strengthen the immune response, and allow for a fresh start. Of course I step in to help just a little bit.

So, here is my Chiropractic Recipe for Cold-Banishing Cake:

• 2-3 drops of Tea Tree Oil or Eucalyptus oil in the medicine of a Warm mist Humidifier to aid in mucus break-up.
• ZERO dairy. Processed Dairy products, due to their final molecular makeup are immune system irritants and also mucus producing.
  
• ZERO cold foods, 1 cup of made from scratch warm soup 2-3 times a day.
• 3-4 Nursing sessions per day and 2-4 Zinc lozenges for mom (I usually still nurse 2X/day).
• 1-2 Adjustments per day of C2 with the activator, and any presenting factors in the thoracic spine with activator or gentle manual for 1 week to help stimulate the immune system and stimulate nerve input to the lung fields making them more efficient in expelling fluid or mucus.
  
• 2-3 five minute massages per day along her neck, underneath the ears and around collar bones to aid in lymph drainage. Also massage the middle back to help the lungs.
  
• 1 Craniosacral Session per night, while the baby is asleep, on the skull, sinuses above the eyes, on the nose, temples, and cheeks.
• 2 15-20min walks outside and allow the body to move around and get some fresh air, helping blood circulation and thus toxin elimination.
• ZERO contact with others who may be sick, or in enclosed spaces with many other individuals since the immune system is currently depressed and she is more likely to have trouble handling a new bacterial or viral invader.
• A dash of laughs and tickles
• Top off with unlimited amount of hugs, kisses, and love.