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On Sunday while I was in New Hampshire, my son Alex woke up with a high fever and was a unhappy, lethargic little boy. He spent the morning just lying on my shoulder, or with my sister holding him. He was burning hot with the fever -- getting up to 103.2 degrees.

Since we were scheduled to fly back to Atlanta that afternoon, I contemplated what to do.  Should I really bring him on an airplane or just stay up north one more day?  My sister suggested I give him Children's Tylenol to bring down the fever, which she said would "get him up and running around".  However, did I really want him up and running around, or did I want his body to do what it had to do and heal whatever was going on?  Once that Tylenol wore off, wouldn't he be lethargic and feverish again?

I made a few phone calls and was able to delay my flight home until Monday morning. I adjusted hiim and spent the afternoon snuggling with him, when he wasn't being held by my sister. I trusted that his body was doing what it needed to do to get rid of the fever.  Yes, I could have given him medicine to bring down the fever, but my main interest was getting rid of his problem and I trusted that his body could do that without any help from the outside.  If medicine got rid of the fever, that was just getting rid of the symptom and wasn't getting rid of the problem.

I checked in on him in the middle of the night and felt him finally cooled off. I knew that the fever was gone and he'd be fine by morning.  Sure enough, when he woke up on Monday he was his happy, 'ole self, and we were able to fly back on Monday without complication.

Please remember that fevers are a good thing -- its the body's way of killing off whatever is going on, and while medicine may bring down a fever, it doesn't do anything to get rid of the problem.  Trust the fact that the body has an amazing ability to heal itself.  The next time your child has a fever, make sure they get adjusted as soon as possible to facilitate the healing process, don't interfere with the healing by giving medicine and trust that the body will heal itself.

I like to think there are 5 pillars to health, which include, exercise, rest, nutrition, positive mental attitude, and chiropractic.  Today, I am going to talk about nutrition...and give you some short tidbits of info:

Nutrition is a critical pillar in that one must focus on following a good balanced diet on a daily basis…having poor eating habits leads to heart disease, cancer and diabetes (among others), which are preventable diseases. It's not eating healthy for one day that makes a difference, it is eating healthy every day (ok, some exceptions are allowed, but please eat well 90% of the time).

You should also be drinking plenty of water to stay hydrated; at least ½ your body weight in ounces of water a day.  So if you weight 140lbs, then you should be drinking 70oz a day.  You get the idea.

You should avoid foods that contain Aspartame:  Nutrasweet, diet foods, diet coke, gum.  It is a neurotoxin, which can cross the blood brain barrier, and damages the brain. 

You should also get a good high quality fish oil.  Fish oils help decrease inflammation in the body, among many other things. Only take Omega-3, not a combination kind.
 
Eat 7-9 servings of raw vegetables a day.  This helps decrease risk for cancer and heart disease. They lower bad cholesterol, improve blood sugar and replaces foods that might not be as healthy.  If you just can’t get in the recommended amount of fruits and veggies, you should consider Juice Plus.  Juice Plus is 17 fruits and vegetables, organic vine ripened which means it was picked at the time where they are at their best/ripest.  It is in dehydrated form which means there is no water, salt, and little to no sugar.  

Cook at home when you can. You are more likely to eat less processed food and so you will avoid the preservatives and added fats and sugars that are so much a part of packaged food.

These are just a few tidbits.  Call us so we can tell you even more about each one.  It will make a huge difference in your health!

Have you ever thought of chiropractic care for your child? Most parents do not realize the importance of spinal checkups for their children. A spinal checkup could be the most important checkup of a child's life. Getting your child's spine checked early can prevent many unwanted health problems throughout the years.

Subluxations can begin within the first few days of life. Difficult childbirths, in addition to normal childhood activities such as running, jumping, falling, and bumping, all result in vertebral subluxations. If left untreated, subluxations can cause serious health consequences.

In infancy, subluxations can lead to sleeplessness, seizures, vomiting, digestive problems, elimination problems, respiratory problems, and lowered resistance to infections, especially to ear-nose-and-throat infections. For over a hundred years chiropractors have witnessed favorable responses from infants after a chiropractic spinal adjustment with conditions as varied as colic, foot inversion, bed wetting, torticollis, ear, nose, and throat infections, and asthma. Please consider a chiropractic check up for your child!

When people think of breast cancer or any other cancer they normally don’t think about chiropractic care. But if you really think about it, after all the surgeries and rounds of chemo, a person is really beat up and burned out; and who is the best trained to get them up and running again — the chiropractor. We find and remove nerve interference to allow the brain and body to communicate better with each other, which allows the body to work optimally. People also respond well to soft tissue work and flexibility training.

Chiropractic also helps reduce and or eliminate the physical pain that some cancer patients experience while going through cancer treatment. Chiropractic helps bring them back to life with freedom of movement that many may have not felt in a long time.

So if you know someone recovering from cancer, like breast cancer, take them to the chiropractor as soon as possible to get them up and moving again.  Don’t just lie around and let the body heal slowly, be proactive and get moving.

Remember: Health comes from within.  “Think Well, Eat Well, Move Well."