Irritability, moodiness, depression, impaired memory and problems completing tasks are some of the first signs of lack of sleep. Most of us need 8 hours of restful sleep.

Before running off to the sleep clinic for a study, it’s important to look at the reasons for disturbed sleep and to see if the root cause of sleep problems can be addressed. Sleep problems are a signal from the body. What does the body need to enjoy the restful sleep it needs to stay active and healthy?

RATE YOUR SLEEP ENVIRONMENT AND HABITS
What’s great about evaluating where we sleep and our sleep habits is that it these are factors we can begin to address immediately, and almost all of them free:

( ) Is your sleeping room dark, really dark? Even a little light can be disruptive to sleep.

( ) Is it quiet, really quiet? Shhhh. The body needs quiet to sleep.

( ) Is it well ventilated and the right temperature? Consider turning the thermostat way down and adding blankets.

( ) Is the room clean and free of dust? You might consider a small air purifier .

( ) Is your mattress comfortable with just the right amount of support and is it big enough?

( ) Have you made your bed with clean sheets and comfortable pillows?

( ) Does your sleeping partner have a sleep problem that is keeping you up?

( ) Is your TV off? Watching TV before sleeping is not recommended.

( ) Are animals or children (bigger than baby-sized) disturbing your sleep?

( ) Are you staying away from alcohol, caffeinated beverages and food for a few hours before bedtime?

( ) Are you following a regular evening and morning schedule. The body responds to an ordered schedule.

( ) Are you shutting down computers and stopping mentally intense activities prior to going to bed?

( ) Are you engaging in reasonable exercise activities you enjoy? Consider a 30 minute walk in the evenings.

( ) Are you wound-up when you go to bed? Consider a period of relaxation before bed with time to unwind and write down worries and plans for the following day.

( ) Are you dependent on a sleeping pill such as Ambien? Consult with your medical doctor and consider addressing the causes of your sleep problems. Taking sleep medications can disturb restful sleep and have unhealthy side effects.

MANAGING STRESS: THE KEY TO RESTFUL SLEEP
Stress in the primary cause of sleep disturbances. Some of us have immediate stressors disturbing sleep that will go away. Some need to initiate changes in lifestyle that reduce the effects of stress. Some have chronic stress patterns that benefit from active care such as the chiropractic and cranial therapy. Some need psychological evaluation to treat emotional sources of stress. I will be talking about managing stress in future posts.

GETTING AND STAYING HEALTHY IMPROVES SLEEP:
A number of health imbalances can contribute to sleep disturbances including emotional disorders (such as depression), hypertension (high blood pressure), cardiovascular (heart) disorders, obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome (a cluster of symptoms of imbalance), alcohol and drug abuse, chronic pain, fibromyalgia, back and neck pain.

In my practice, I emphasize natural, drugless approaches including gentle chiropractic, reflex therapies and cranial craniosacral therapy that can be helpful in addressing a number of these problems. Especially important are lifestyle changes including improved nutrition, reasonable exercise and stress management.

Comments are welcomed.

Dr. Arn Strasser is a Portland Chiropractor.

TIPS ON REDUCING CELL PHONE RADIATION

• Keep cell phones away from infants and children. Consider not allowing young children to use or play with cell phones and in general consider limiting their exposure to cell phone use.

• More important than looking for a low-SAR phone is how you use it.

• Putting the phone on speaker reduces exposure.

• The further a cell phone is held away from the body, the less radiation is absorbed. Exposure is reduced exponentially as you move your phone away from your body. The back of the phone contains the antenna which emits the non-ionizing radiation.

• During a conversation, draw the phone away from the ear when you’re talking and bring it closer to ear when you’re listening. Radiation emission is more when a cell phone is transmitting signals than when it is receiving. .

• Using a headset or a wireless headphone with a low-power Bluetooth reduces radiation exposure. Some experts caution that the wire on a headset can act as an antenna for radiation. Other experts feel a wired Bluetooth is better than a wireless one. All experts recommend turning off a wireless headset when not in use.

• The more a cell phone is used, the greater the exposure.

• Texting causes less exposure than talking, but if the cell phone is held next to the body or even near the body exposure still occurs.

• Keeping a phone in your pocket or clipped to a belt exposes the body to cell phone non-ionizing radiation.

• Cell phone radiation is increased when you make initial contact with another cell phone. You can reduce exposure by waiting until after your call has been connected to place your cell phone near your ear.

• Cell phone radiation is increased when you are moving rapidly, ie. in a car or a train, because bursts of radiation must be used to connect with different towers as it moves in and out of range.

• When a cell phone has a weak signal, it has to work harder and emits more radiation. When you are using the phone inside a building or an elevator, or in rural or isolated areas, there will be more radiation because the phone again is working harder.

• Pregnant women should consider keeping the cell phone away from their abdomen. Babies should be protected from cell phones. Men should keep cell phones turned off when they’re kept in a pocket because of a possibility of the effect of radiation on the sperm count.

• Consider cutting down on using your cell phone usage by cutting down on unnecessary calls and use a landline (not a mobile phone) when possible.

Comments welcomed!

Dr. Arn Strasser is a Portland Chiropractor.

Do cell phones present a threat to our health? Are they dangerous? Here is a distillation of what I found out from popular and scientific research as well as in conversation with Dr. Henry Lai of the University of Washington, an expert on non-ionizing radiation. (See below for TIPS ON REDUCING CELL PHONE RADIATION):

• We don’t know precisely what impact cell phones have on our health, but we do know, without question, that they do have some impact, as we’ll see when we look at the research. Dr. Lai agreed with this assessment.

• There are now over 5 billion cell phones in use around the world.

• When we use our cell phone, we place it on our ear right next to our brain. When we stop using our cell phone, it still emits radiation so it can pick up any incoming calls.

• Children are considered at far greater risk from cell phone radiation because their skull bone is thinner and because their developing cells and tissues are more vulnerable. Many experts on cell phones recommend against the use of cell phones by young children. Health authorities in Britain, France, Germany and Russia have warned against allowing small children to use cell phones.

• Cell phones emit signals via radio waves which are comprised of radio-frequency (RF) energy, a form of electromagnetic radiation (EMR). Cell phone radiation is in the same range as microwaves, and cell phone radiation can be referred to as a microwave or a radio wave.

• When you talk on a cell phone, a transmitter encodes your voice sounds into a continuous sine wave which fluctuates evenly through space. Once the encoded sound has been placed on the sine wave, the transmitter sends the signal to your phone’s antenna. The antenna sends this signal out into space where it is picked up by receiver in a cell phone tower.

• Your exposure to radiation from a cell phone is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The specific absorption rate (SAR) measures the amount of radio or microwave frequency absorbed by the body. . A phone’s maximum SAR must be less than 1.6 watts per kilogram (W/kg). (In Europe, the rate is 2 W/kg). Interestingly, this testing is primarily done by manufacturers themselves.

• Cell phones vary in how much radiation they give off. Search “Cell Phone Radiation Levels” on the internet and you’ll find lists of cell phone SAR’s. The highest SAR is 1.6 and the lowest a .24. Different phone models have different SAR’s, ie. the lowest I-Phone is .79 and the highest a 1.38; the lowest Blackberry is .24 and the highest a 1.55.

• Risk of brain cancer is the danger most often associated with cell phones especially when the phone is held against the ear in close proximity to the brain. Tissues next to where the phone is held absorb non-ionizing radiation.

• It is an accepted fact that cancer, especially brain cancer, takes a long time to develop. Long-term exposure to cell phone radiation, ie. over many years, is an important consideration in evaluating cell phone risk.

• Health damaging risks from cell phone use have been postulated, including the possibility of unknown disturbances to cells and genes from the heat produced from cell phone radiation, unknown effects on male sperm count, unknown effects on pregnancy, and the possibility of other health effects such as headaches, sleep disturbances, and other nervous system and metabolic disturbances not yet determined.

• The cell phone industry has always contended that cell phones are safe. The small amount of radiation emitted by phones, they say, is negligible. The American Cancer Society, the National Cancer Institute and the Food and Drug Administration have stated that the risk of cancer from cell phones is unproven.

• Critics, such as Dr. Devra Davis in her book “Disconnect”, feel the cell phone industry is covering up the potential harm from cell phone usage. Critics have compared the present attitude regarding cell phones to the ignored risks of tobacco until the early 1970’s.

• In the Spring of 2011, the World Health Organization announced it was listing mobile phones as “possibly carcinogenic to humans”. Cell phones were added to a “carcinogenic hazard” list that includes lead, engine exhaust and chloroform. The determination was based on the evaluation of 31 scientists from 14 countries who found some evidence of increased glioma and acoustic neuroma brain cancer in cell phone users.

• In the Winter of 2011, researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that 50 minutes of cell phone use speeded up brain activity, shown by an increase in glucose, in the area closest to the phone antenna. This was the first study to document that cell phones alter brain activity. The researchers noted that it was not known what effect such changes might have on a person’s health.

• Some critics considered the NIH study alarming. They noted that increased glucose occurs in infections and other inflammatory conditions. They felt the heat caused by cell phone radiation could lead to potentially damaging reactive oxygen radicals and alter the ways cells and genes work. They questioned whether the increased glucose metabolism was perhaps secondary as a response to some other disturbance, such as “activation of heat shock pathways”.

• The Interphone study published in 2010 found no link between cell phone use and brain cancer. Heavy users of cell phones, over 1640 hours, had a 40% greater risk for glioma’s and acoustic type brain tumors, but the study discounted this result as being perhaps due to a bias error. The European study took four years to be released, apparently because its authors couldn’t agree on its conclusions, and at least one member of Interphone, cautioned that there was sufficient evidence to support precautionary policies. The study was done when cell phone usage was much lower (2000-2004).. The design of the study, a “case control” type, is considered a relatively weak one.

• The radiation emitted by cell phones is only one of many sources of non-ionizing radiation we are exposed to including computer and television screens, cordless phones, radio waves, electrical wires and appliances, wireless applications, microwave ovens, lasers, and communication transmissions.

• One source of cell phone radiation is that occurring in groups, ie. in large stadiums with thousands of people when everyone, reacting to an exciting event, uses their cell phones at once.

• The placement of cellular phone base stations and antennas is controversial because neighborhoods near these facilities are exposed to greater amounts of non-ionizing radiation.

• Non-ionizing electromagnetic fields are considered among “the fastest growing forms of environmental pollution”.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

Technology has given us wonderful tools like cell phones that often help us in daily living, but as we’re increasingly learning, there is a cost, sometimes an overwhelming one. There is a lot of information to be processed about cell phones and more research to be done.

Perhaps we won’t be able to use cell phones as casually as we do now. Perhaps when the plane lands, we won’t be able to reach for the phone to say, “I’m here!”. Perhaps thousands of people in a stadium simultaneously calling home to say, “Did you see that?” won’t be possible.

Certainly cell phone manufacturers are researching ways to make phones safer even as they deny the problem. Like the futile search for safe tobacco, it’s difficult to see how the issue of exposure to non-ionizing radiation will be resolved.

The bigger picture is that cell phone radiation and EMF’s are environmental issues we as a society can’t afford to ignore.

What we can do on a personal level is to take reasonable steps to reduce our exposure, and our children’s exposure, to cell phone radiation. Here are some tips:

TIPS ON REDUCING CELL PHONE RADIATION

• Keep cell phones away from infants and children. Consider not allowing young children to use or play with cell phones and in general consider limiting their exposure to cell phone use.

• More important than looking for a low-SAR phone is how you use it.

• Putting the phone on speaker reduces exposure.

• The further a cell phone is held away from the body, the less radiation is absorbed. Exposure is reduced exponentially as you move your phone away from your body. The back of the phone contains the antenna which emits the non-ionizing radiation.

• During a conversation, draw the phone away from the ear when you’re talking and bring it closer to ear when you’re listening. Radiation emission is more when a cell phone is transmitting signals than when it is receiving. .

• Using a headset or a wireless headphone with a low-power Bluetooth reduces radiation exposure. Some experts caution that the wire on a headset can act as an antenna for radiation. Other experts feel a wired Bluetooth is better than a wireless one. All experts recommend turning off a wireless headset when not in use.

• The more a cell phone is used, the greater the exposure.

• Texting causes less exposure than talking, but if the cell phone is held next to the body or even near the body exposure still occurs.

• Keeping a phone in your pocket or clipped to a belt exposes the body to cell phone non-ionizing radiation.

• Cell phone radiation is increased when you make initial contact with another cell phone. You can reduce exposure by waiting until after your call has been connected to place your cell phone near your ear.

• Cell phone radiation is increased when you are moving rapidly, ie. in a car or a train, because bursts of radiation must be used to connect with different towers as it moves in and out of range.

• When a cell phone has a weak signal, it has to work harder and emits more radiation. When you are using the phone inside a building or an elevator, or in rural or isolated areas, there will be more radiation because the phone again is working harder.

• Just to be cautious, pregnant women should consider keeping the cell phone away from their abdomen. Babies should be protected from cell phones. Men should keep cell phones turned off when they’re kept in a pocket because of a possibility of the effect of radiation on the sperm count.

• Consider cutting down on using your cell phone usage by cutting down on unnecessary calls and use a landline (not a mobile phone) when possible.

Dr. Arn Strasser is a Portland Chiropractor.

Spinal Joint Fixations, Subluxation, and Pinched Nerves

We have been discussing the question of “What is a Pinched Nerve?” and two main causes of pinched nerves have been presented, those associated with disc bulge and herniation, and those caused by spinal stenosis.

Another source of a feeling of a pinching pain sometimes with a shooting pain is when a spinal joint becomes restricted in its normal motion.

Chiropractors are highly trained in a technique called spinal motion palpation which identifies areas of restriction in the joints of the spine. Two vertebrae in the spine, the disc between them, and all the muscles, ligaments, nerves and blood vessels associated with the vertebra, are considered a motion unit in chiropractic diagnosis.

The purpose of motion palpation is to evaluate the motion of a motor unit to see if there are any restrictions in the normal motions of the joint. Muscles depend on a type of motion in the joint, called end-play, which allows them to function properly.

If a spinal joint is restricted, there is a loss of end-play and a muscle pulls or tugs against the restricted spinal joint. As we go through our normal activities and move our spines, this constant tugging against the restricted joint causes inflammation and pain. Sometimes the body tries to protect this area of injury by causing further restrictions in motion.

When we aggravate this zone of inflammation and restriction it is not uncommon to feel a pinching sensation that you might associate with a pinched nerve.

Unlike a true pinched nerve which can cause arm or leg pain, a fixated spinal joint does not cause radicular pain and there are no indications of injury to a nerve. But there can be pain which radiates out from a region.

Historically, chiropractors felt that when a spinal joint was restricted or out of place, there would be a compression on a nerve was compromising nerve flow, which could then be associated with disorders to organs supplied by the compressed nerve. Modern chiropractic has long abandoned this idea of a pinched nerve especially in the simple fashion that it was originally conceived.

Further research will be needed to see if restricted motion and other disturbances at the spine can effect general health and be treated with spinal manipulation, but the idea of a pinched nerve from a subluxation affecting nerve flow is not supportable scientifically.

One other common area where there is a pinching sensation occurs when there is restriction in rib motion, commonly referred to as a rib out of place. As in a spinal joint restriction, the rib has lost its normal motion as it attaches into the spinal joint. The result is inflammation and pain and a sharp pinching or catching sensation usually aggravated with twisting motions and deep breathing.

As we can see, the concept of a pinched nerve is not as simple as it seems. When there is a painful pinching sensation, or you are told there is a pinched nerve, it is important to look closely and to see exactly what the body is trying to tell us, and to initiate a treatment plan that will fix the problem and relieve the pain.

(Dr. Arn Strasser is a chiropractor who practices in Portland, Oregon. For more information and appointment questions, please call 503.287.2800.)

Spinal Stenosis and the Pinched Nerve

Spinal stenosis can be another reason for having a pinched nerve with resulting radiating pain, and possibly numbness and weakness, in the arm or leg. It’s important to understand how spinal stenosis relates to a pinched nerve.

As we age, our spine undergoes normal wear and tear changes called degeneration. This degeneration is also influenced by our genetic make-up, inherited spinal conditions, the kind of work we’ve done in our life, and how well we have taken care of ourselves, for instance, if we have abused alcohol or been a smoker.

Even if we have been angelic in our habits for a lifetime, the strain from standing upright and all the tasks we ask of the body causes wear and tear to our spinal joints. This degenerative process includes thinning of our discs and disturbances to our joint mechanics. One way the body responds to this degeneration is to lay down more bone, probably in an attempt to stabilize the degenerating joint. Thus a degenerated spinal joint is characterized by small outgrowths of bone, called bone spurs.

Another important characteristic of the bone production occurring with degeneration is a narrowing of the canal which houses our spinal cord and the canals through which our spinal nerves exit. Such a narrowing is referred to as stenosis.

Many of us live with various degrees of stenosis and never have any problems or symptoms associated with this condition; however, if we have inflammation of the root of a nerve in a canal that is already a tight space, we can have a pinched nerve.

What causes a pinched nerve root with inflammation in an older person with stenosis? Usually symptomatic spinal stenosis is not caused by a bulging or herniated disc because in our later years our discs become more fibrous and have less chance of herniating.

Painful stenosis is most often associated with mechanical strain, a build-up of stresses to the low back or neck, or some injury causing a strain or stretching of the nerve with resultant swelling and inflammation.

Once this inflammation occurs in a canal that is narrowed, there can be resulting radiating or radicular pain extending into the arm accompanying neck stenosis, and into the leg when there is low back stenosis. Tingling and episodes of loss of sensation can also accompany stenosis from compression of the nerve root and injury to the nerve roots sensory fibers.

In Part 3 of our discussion of pinched nerves, we’ll see how spinal joint restrictions or fixations can cause a painful pinching sensation that feels like a pinched nerve.

(Dr. Arn Strasser is a chiropractor who practices in Portland, Oregon. For more information and appointment questions, please call 503.287.2800.)

When a patient says they are suffering from a pinched nerve, I can sympathize with their pain and offer my support. But, while the term “pinched nerve” is wonderfully descriptive, it doesn’t help identify the source of the pain or offer a real diagnosis. A pinched nerve can indicate a wide range of spinal problems and it takes a detailed history and a comprehensive examination to discover what the body is telling us.

A pinched nerve might refer to the type of pain you are experiencing. You might feel a particularly sharp, painful sensation in the neck or low back that feels like a pinch. You associate the pain with a nerve because of its sharp, zinging quality. Sometimes when you feel the pinch, it sends a nerve pain down an arm or a leg.

Another way you might use the term pinched nerve is to describe what you think is happening in the body. Perhaps your doctor, a family member or a friend has told you that your neck pain or low back pain, with or without accompanying arm or leg pain, is the result of a pinched nerve.

You may not necessarily feel the pinching sensation, but especially if you have pain shooting down an arm or leg, describing the problem as a pinched nerve seems to make sense.

Let’s look more closely at what causes a pinched nerve.

Pinched Nerve from a Disc Herniation

Usually when doctors talk about a pinched nerve, they are referring to a nerve that is being pinched from a disc herniation with resulting pain in the arm or leg. Rather than thinking that a nerve is being pinched like you would pinch your skin, it is more accurate to think of a nerve being compressed or pushed on.

In this case, a disc has degenerated. It has lost fluid and has lost its normal height. Pressure inside the disc has increased. Cracks or fissures have occurred in the outer rings of the disc allowing the central, gel-like center to push out. This pushing out causes less room for the nerve root as it exits the spinal cord. This condition might exist for years without you feeling any symptoms, or it may never become a problem.

The symptomatic pinched nerve occurs when you push at that nerve just enough to cause injury. Usually a twisting motion of the low back or a simple reaching forward will be the one last insult that compresses the nerve. In the neck there can also be a similar sometimes trivial incident or injury including holding the neck in an awkward position for an extended period of time or repeated minor trauma to the neck from some repetitive activity.

Sometimes a real trauma to the spine from a fall or a severe injury will cause an otherwise fairly healthy disc to herniate, but this is more unusual. Disc injuries can range from minor bulges of the disc to more severe tearing of the disc where the central gel-like material (the nucleous pulposus) breaks out to become a free floating fragment pressing against the nerve.

Once the nerve has been critically pinched, once there is not enough room for the nerve and it has been injured, the body responds with inflammation and you feel pain in the region. This is the body’s intelligent response that helps to protect it from further injury. Protective muscle spasm and limited motion are also part of the body’s response to an injury so close to the critically important spinal cord.

With inflammation at the root of the nerve, the stage is set for what is called radicular pain. Radicular or radiating pain is the pain we feel down the arm when there is injury to a nerve in the neck, or down the leg, like sciatica, with injury to a nerve in the low back. The inflammation we described at the root of the nerve as it leaves the spinal column has traveled along the nerve going down the arm or leg.

If sensory nerves–the nerves that allow us to feel sensation–are injured from the compression caused by the disc, you may feel numbness or tingling in the arm or leg. If the motor fibers of the nerve–the nerves that make muscles work–you might feel weakness in the involved limb.

In Part 2 of our discussion of pinched nerves, we’ll discuss how spinal stenosis can lead to a pinched or compressed nerve, resulting in pain in the back, legs, neck and arms.

(Dr. Arn Strasser is a chiropractor who practices in Portland, Oregon. For more information and appointment questions, please call 503.287.2800.)

Chiropractors are well accepted in Portland, and there are lots of them. According to the Board of Chiropractic Examiners, there are over 400 practicing chiropractors with a Portland address and in the Portland metropolitan area, there are probably another 300. (out of 1500 licensed DC’s in the state).

The chiropractic practice law in Oregon is the most liberal in the world. Not many chiropractors take advantage of the possibility to practice obstetrics, minor surgery and proctology (all requiring additional training and certification), but most offer a broad range of chiropractic services along with an emphasis on nutrition, wellness and exercise. The high standards of the Oregon board and the exceptional level of competency of its chiropractors has established the credibility of the profession.

One of the country’s top chiropractic colleges, Western States, is located in Portland. This is a major factor in the large number of chiropractors living here. Studying in Portland for 4-8 years, allows students to savor the benefits of a small, vibrant city and many of them stay, despite the competition.

Western States Chiropractic College has a long history. Established in 1904, Western States was formed by the merger of a number of small Portland area chiropractic colleges, including one founded by DD Palmer, the originator of chiropractic. In the 1930’s Western States added a Naturopathic college which separated out in 1954. In the 1970’s chiropractic experienced a tremendous growth along with the interest in alternative lifestyles and healing sweeping the nation. Western States moved from a single building on Foster Road in Southeast Portland to a beautiful 22 acre Portland campus in 1973. In 2009, Western States became a university, University of the Western States, offering the doctorate in chiropractic and an additional program offering a masters in sports and exercise science, and an accredited school of massage.

For chiropractors, Portland has provided a community that both sees chiropractic as a treatment of choice for injuries associated with physical labor and as an alternative system of health care offering an approach that encourages prevention and overall health and wellness.

(Dr. Arn Strasser is a chiropractor who practices in Portland, Oregon. For more information and appointment questions, please call 503.287.2800.)

Are full-body airport scanners safe? Traveling from San Francisco to Portland last weekend, I noticed a large whole body scanner in the middle of the SFO security area. The futuristic looking machine was in constant use with travelers entering the chamber and lifting their arms to be scanned for hidden weapons or explosives.

There are now 464 scanners located in 75 American airports. The Obama administration pledged $734 million to deploy the scanners which cost $130-170,000 each.

The goal of the TSA is for all passengers to go through the x-ray scanners. Passengers are given the choice of going through the scanners or putting up with the “enhanced pat-down” that has been in the news lately.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) feels the scanners are safe. Radiation exposure is measured in millisieverts (mSv). The TSA argues that passengers receive .1 to .5 mSv the exposure from the scanners which is less than they are likely to receive from cosmic rays when airborne.

So, is there no problem going through the scanner?

Here’s a few factors to consider:

1. X-rays do not “accumulate “ in the body, but the effects of radiation do. Radiation damages the cell by damaging DNA molecules or indirectly through free radical formation. Besides the natural background radiation we receive (about 3 mSv from the planet), on the average we receive another 2.4 mSv’s from medical procedures. No one has argued that additional radiation is good for us, even if the exposure from the scanners is very small.

2. Certain populations may be especially affected by the scanners including people with compromised immune systems, older people over 65, and children and adolescents. Pregnant women should not be scanned.

3. Passengers such as frequent travelers and airline personnel may be exposed 200 to 300 times a year, therefore significantly increasing the amount of exposure from the scanners.

4. While the risks associated with scanning just a few people is small, the risk becomes statistically much greater when the whole population is screened.

5. There does not appear to a be a program of inspection or evaluation of the machines, or a monitoring and training program for TSA employees in using the machines. Are these machines without any risk of leaking x-rays when they’re used? What are the risks to TSA employees?

6. I read about a millimeter wave scanner that does not use x-ray that has also been deployed by the TSA, but in far fewer numbers than the x-ray scanners. Why weren’t these used right from the beginning?

It seems that the amount of radiation we get from the whole body scanners is small and the amount of risk is, as the TSA says, miniscule. So I know we shouldn’t panic. It is also clear that we need to investigate further the effects of the scanners, and their monitoring, and that someone should have thought much more clearly before they spent 800 plus millions on the machines, no matter how futuristic they look.

As for me, given a choice between 10 or so seconds of radiation across my entire body or a pat-down, I definitely will take the pat-down. I just hope I’m not late for my plane.

( Dr. Arn Strasser is a chiropractor who practices in portland, oregon. For more information and appointment questions, please call 503.287.2800)

In this series, I will be presenting you with facts about bulging, herniated and ruptured discs, what research tell us about how the disc functions and how the disc is injured, alternative treatment approaches including surgery, and my approach to treating discs based on my clinical experience as a portland chiropractic disc specialist.

PART 1: WHAT IS A DISC?

Discs are called “intervertebral discs” because they sit between each vertebra (or spinal bone) to act as shock absorbers and transmitters. Just think how many ways we can move our spine and how many activities we engage in that involve rapid, changing motions of the neck and back.

All this is taking place in a field of gravity that our body has to work against in order to maintain an erect posture. It is the construction of our spine with its separate vertebra and the flexibility and resiliency of our discs that allows us to engage in the full range of human activities.

The spine can be characterized as a series of joints, or units of motion. A spinal unit of motion consists of two bony vertebrae, the disc in-between the bones, the ligaments stabilizing the joint, and related muscles, blood vessels and nerves.

The disc is made up of a gelatinous central portion called the nucleus pulposus and concentric rings of fibrous material called the annulus fibrosis.

The arrangement of the annular layers allows the disc to resist forces or loads placed on the spine. The annulus is divided into inner fibers which are attached to a plate of cartilage attached to the body of the vertebra and outer fibers, called Sharpy fibers, which as attached directly to the vertebra.

It is important to note that studies indicate that the outer annular fibers are innervated, or have nervous supply, and the inner fibers and the nucleus pulposus are not innervated.

Two important ligaments add stability to the disc: the anterior longitudinal ligament (ALL) in front and the posterior longitudinal ligament (PLL) in the back. Both ligaments are innervated. Interestingly, research indicates that degenerated human discs contain more nerve tissue and are more vascular than normal discs.

Next: Herniated Disc (Part 2): Function of the Disc

( Dr. Arn Strasser is a chiropractor who practices in portland, oregon. For more information and appointment questions, call 503.287.2800)

Tai chi is also eminently practical. You don’t need special equipment or clothing to practice tai chi. You can do your tai chi form inside or, even better, outdoors in a natural setting. The movements of tai chi can be adapted to the most inflexible body as well as challenge a fitness fanatic. Once you’ve learned the basic tai chi movements, you can continue to practice and perfect it, with or without instruction.

A recent study concerning tai chi adds scientific weight to what we already know from practicing tai chi.

This last August, the New England Journal of Medicine published a study that compared two groups of patients with fibromyalgia. One group of 33 patients did yang-style tai chi and the other group of 33 were given wellness education and did conventional stretching. The tai chi group did significantly better, the study reported, in measurements of pain, fatigue, physical functioning, sleeplessness and depression.

Earlier studies have found that patients doing tai chi had improved balance, mental cognition, reduced blood pressure and even improved immunity.

From a chiropractor’s perspective, tai chi encourages spinal and structural alignment, and the flowing tai chi movements engage every joint in the body. Because you are moving your body through the tai chi form, but slowly and gently, you are exercising without strain and trauma. Best of all, tai chi is fun to learn and always makes you feel good when you do it.

Yes, thumbs up for tai chi, a great exercise for everyone.

(Dr. Arn Strasser is a chiropractor who practices in portland, oregon. For more information and appointment questions, call 503.287.2800.)