Dr. Wayne Coghlan: Chiropractor - Locum tenens

There was a crooked man, who walked a crooked mile.... then his wife took him to see a chiropractor.. and he felt much better after that...

Standing straight when one leg is shorter is the equivalent of standing sideways on a hill. The person cannot help but lean to the shorter side. The spine may compensate by tilting the upper body in the opposite direction. This produces a "scoliosis" or sideways deviation of the spine. It also concentrates gravitational and kinetic stress on the area where the spine transitions to the sacrum and pelvis... the lumbo-sacral junction....  NOT GOOD. Often a person will try to compensate for a short leg by perching on short leg, usually with the longer leg bent at the knee and turned out...effectively shortening the long leg. NOT GOOD. Rather than balancing the pelvis, fatigue and strain usually causes the pelvis to over compensate. In either case, the distortion of the spine unevenly loads the joints and muscles, and promotes faster wear and tear, and injury. If you, or someone you care about, is persistently perching on one leg, or complaining of back pain, t

Standing straight when one leg is shorter is the equivalent of standing sideways on a hill. The person cannot help but lean to the shorter side. The spine may compensate by tilting the upper body in the opposite direction. This produces a "scoliosis" or sideways deviation of the spine. It also concentrates gravitational and kinetic stress on the area where the spine transitions to the sacrum and pelvis... the lumbo-sacral junction....  NOT GOOD. Often a person will try to compensate for a short leg by perching on short leg, usually with the longer leg bent at the knee and turned out...effectively shortening the long leg. NOT GOOD. Rather than balancing the pelvis, fatigue and strain usually causes the pelvis to over compensate. In either case, the distortion of the spine unevenly loads the joints and muscles, and promotes faster wear and tear, and injury. If you, or someone you care about, is persistently perching on one leg, or complaining of back pain, t

Source: http://beta.images.theglobeandmail.com/archive/01320/aaaabmi-chart-for-_1320321a.jpg  The body mass index is an advance from the older and less meaningful height and weight charts. And is the current tool used by health and insurance agencies to assess body weight and degree of obesity. However, it does not allow for individual variation of muscle mass and bone structure.    Click on image for better view http://beta.images.theglobeandmail.com/archive/01323/lf-jockology-obesi_1323094a.jpg Although body mass index (BMI) has been adopted by WHO as an international measure of obesity, it lacks a theoretical basis, and empirical evidence suggests it is not valid for all populations.1 The body mass index (BMI) does not accurately represent the amount of [body] fat,"2 The BMI has been around since the 1840s, but it has a number of weaknesses. Firstly, it doesn't give a real estimate of percentage body fat. Secondly, the BMI can be quite differen

This article from Scientific American reports that people who eat red meat have much higher probability of developing diabetes. There is some indication that red meat may actually have a causative factor, perhaps due to an overload of iron in the diet, or animal source fats. However, the most significant factor is that generally, people who eat more red meat, also eat more dairy, eggs, starchy, and processed foods, and are less likely to be physically active. Essentially, higher consumption of red meat is associated with a lifestyle that promotes excessive eating and weight gain. Excessive body weight is the leading indicator of age related diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, and some cancers.   Generally, people who actively choose to avoid red meat are more attentive and discerning toward their overall nutrition and lifestyle, and make healthier choices. As I have promoted in other posts to this blog, progress toward a diet that is less dependent on meat,

Beat Gluttony with Gullibility Eating-behavior expert Brian Wansink ​ offers tips on fooling yourself into eating less. Katherine Harmon reports Our eyes are bigger than our stomachs. And visual perception plays a big fat role in eating—often without our realizing it. So says Brian Wansink , a professor of consumer behavior and nutritional science at Cornell. His research has shown that people eat more when their food is served on larger dishes. Because lots of folks use an empty plate—rather than a full stomach—as a cue to put down their fork. Wansink reviewed his findings last week at the American Psychological Association meeting in Washington. In one experiment, he had unsuspecting subjects eat soup from bowls that continually refilled from the bottom. And volunteers who unknowingly ate from these bowls consumed on average 73 percent more soup than those who had had a finite supply. But both groups thought they had eaten about the same amount. Wansink’s advice i

In this post, I’ll discuss two things I enjoy very much: helping you become and stay healthier through chiropractic, and gardening. More specifically, let me introduce you to STRAW BALE GARDENING. The idea is that you plant our tomatoes or zucchini, petunias if you like, or pretty well anything you would plant in the ground, directly into a straw bale. The benefits are: you can grow a garden over any type of soil, including the sandy conditions in Wasaga Beach, or even over a drive way if you so choose; there are few if any weeds growing in the straw to disturb your prize veggies (Caution! Use straw bales, not hay, as hay bales contain seeds); the straw retains moisture which lessens watering somewhat; it eliminates the problem of root nematodes and other soil born pathogens that can carry over in the soil and prevent tomatoes from thriving; and… here is the part that relates to chiropractic and your health … the straw bales raise your garden and requires less bending a stooping!