We are proud to offer Foot Levelers custom-fit orthotics at SSPI. In addition to orthotic inserts, Foot Levelers provides a variety of shoes and sandals with built-in stabilizing orthotics. And just in time for summer, several brand-new stylish and comfortable sandals are available. Ask us today how you can have your feet scanned in order to be fitted with superior, just-for-you orthotics!

Keen

Foot Levelers has teamed up with Keen®, a recognized brand in comfortable footwear, to offer you a top-notch sandal with the proven support of individually designed Stabilizing Orthotics.

See more styles and colors at the Foot Levelers website.

Naot

Naot® sandals are a perfect fusion of style and support, providing you with ultimate comfort.

See more styles and colors at the Foot Levelers website.

CAOS

The CAOS™ (Custom Adjustable Orthotic Sandal) is for anyone looking for postural support in a stylish, comfortable sandal. They include adjustable straps, custom 3-arch support, removable footbed, and a unique design.

See more styles and colors at the Foot Levelers website.

1. Increased Circulation

Stretching has been proven to increase the blood flow and supply of nutrients to muscles and cartilage. This reduces muscle soreness after working out. The less sore our muscles are, the less painful it will be to work the same muscles and to exercise in general, and the more comfortable day-to-day life will be.

2. Flexibility

As we age, our muscles gradually become shorter and tighter, reducing overall flexibility. This restriction makes us more susceptible to muscle, tendon, and joint injuries. Stretching is primarily responsible for increasing flexibility, and reduces these risks. Increased flexibility also allows us to exercise more easily.

3. Increased Range of Motion (ROM)

Stretching has been shown to effectively increase ROM in joints. Increased ROM allows us to keep better balance. Better balance reduces our susceptibility to falls and the resulting injuries, especially as we age. Increased ROM also helps to keep us up and moving about!

4. Reduce Stress

Stress causes our muscles to contract, becoming tense, which can have negative effects on just about every part of our body. Gentle stretching exercises relax tense muscles associated with stress. Also, since stretching is an exercise, it has the same endorphin-boosting effects, improving our mood and the way we feel in general.

5. Alleviate Lower Back Pain

It's true: Millions of people struggle with chronic lower back pain. Also true: Stretching is an excellent way to strengthen the lower back muscles, alleviating soreness and pain. Since many muscles (quadriceps, hamstrings, lower back muscles, and hip flexors) contribute greatly to our posture, stretching these muscles has the ability to significantly reduce or eliminate lower back pain.

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SOURCE: Five Benefits of Stretching

Back and neck pain are the chief complaints for which patients seek chiropractic help. Through spinal manipulation, chiropractic care focuses on maintaining healthy musculoskeletal and nervous systems to ensure overall wellness.

Effectiveness

According to the Annals of Internal Medicine, studies show that spinal manipulations performed by a chiropractor, along with exercise, relieve neck pain more effectively than medication.

Also, in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, it was reported that an integrated approach to health care (including chiropractic), reduced pharmaceutical costs by 51.8% and resulted in 43% fewer hospital admissions.

If you experience frequent pain in your back, neck, joints, or even headaches, you should consider seeing a chiropractor. This is also true if intense soreness follows household chores or prolonged periods of poor posture.

Back and neck pain

Chiropractors are best known for safely and effectively treating acute back and neck pain, as well as headaches. A medical doctor might prescribe pain medicine, anti-inflammatory drugs, or even muscle relaxers; an orthopedic doctor may suggest surgery. But a chiropractor will treat your back problems by hand, through manipulation of the spine.

By adjusting the spine with their hands at particular pressure points, chiropractors unblock nerve energy and allow it to flow better down your spine and throughout your entire body. Repeated visits can, over time, realign your spine to optimize overall health.

Treatment plan

Chiropractors examine every patient's level of health, not solely for the reason of their visit. Thus, many chiropractors seek to care for the whole person, from general wellness to disease prevention. After a thorough exam and diagnosis, a chiropractor develops a treatment plan that may include combinations of spinal manipulations, physical therapy, and rehabilitation procedures.

Some chiropractors (such as Dr. Luther at Sport and Spine) also provide nutrition advice, exercise recommendations, ergonomic and lifestyle counseling and so on. This holistic approach allows chiropractors to offer patients opportunities for complete wellness, as well as reduce the need for potentially addictive pain medication or invasive surgery.

"Chiropractic [care] allows the nerves to work at their most optimum ability allowing the body to heal at its optimum ability." ~Brian Elwartowski, Chiropractor

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SOURCE: FOX News Health

Tips for Foam Rolling

What is foam rolling? Why should we do it? See this quick video to hear what Dr. Luther has to say about it!

Do you remember why you first visited a chiropractor?

For some, it was due to an injury; for most, it was because of pain. A good majority of “what ails us” today was caused by years of wear and tear on our body—and our inattentiveness to address our body’s needs.

Would you have come to us at an early age if you had been given the option, knowing then what you know now about the benefits of chiropractic care?

Did you know that the average “cruising” (walking short distances from object to object) toddler falls an average of 38 times a day? That translates into a lot of bumps and bruises! From birth (imagine how much of a strain the actual birthing process puts on a newborn’s neck and shoulders) to the active teenage years (do your teenagers remind you of yourself as a teenager?), children encounter a lot of trauma to their entire bodies—not just the spinal cord!

If you’re thinking you sure could have used a chiropractor during your “memorable” teenage years, don’t you think your child could benefit from a chiropractor today?

At Sport and Spine, we are committed to providing excellent healthcare and wellness opportunities to ALL of our patients—and this includes parents and their children. You see, families are important to us! We believe the benefits of chiropractic should be experienced by people of EVERY AGE.

Think of it this way: When you sit at a desk all day, five days a week, you can communicate to someone that your neck is stiff and it’s making your head ache, and as a result, making you irritable. But as a toddler, you can’t as easily communicate that sitting the car seat for three hours has made you uncomfortable; that sitting in that one position has tightened your neck so that the fluid cannot drain from your ears and now you have an earache. All you can do is cry, become irritable, not sleep well.

We want to ensure your child begins life with the best possible potential. For both young and older children, chiropractic care makes sure their bodies are developing and growing correctly.

Chiropractic care has numerous health benefits for infants and toddlers. It can reduce the number of colds a young child experiences, help prevent injuries, decrease the use of antibiotics (because the body is healing itself naturally), decrease colic and ear infections.

For active teenagers, regular chiropractic care allows for quicker healing from injuries and will prevent future problems.

Chiropractic care should begin in childhood and last a lifetime. That is why we are offering a VIP plan just for kids. Call us today to discover more!

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SOURCES: Why Should Children See a Chiropractor?, Does Your Teen Athlete Receive Chiropractic Care?

HEADACHES:
STUDIES SHOW CHIROPRACTIC CARE CAN HELP!!!

• CHIROPRACTIC CARE REDUCES THE INTENSITY OF HEADACHES.
• PAIN PILLS ONLY COVER UP HEADACHES TEMPORARILY.
• THERE IS NO NEED TO SUFFER NEEDLESSLY FROM HEADACHES.
• MORE THAN 15 MILLION AMERICANS SUFFER FROM PERSISTENT RECURRING HEADACHES WITH NO OBVIOUS CAUSE.
• 74.7% OF MIGRAINE PATIENTS WERE GREATLY IMPROVED UNDER CHIROPRACTIC CARE.
• SPINAL MANIPULATION HAS A SIGNIFICANT POSITIVE EFFECT IN CASES OF CERVICOGENIC (ORIGINATING FROM THE NECK) HEADACHES.
• CHIROPRACTIC CARE REDUCED THE NUMBER OF HEADACHE HOURS BY 69%.

DON'T LIVE WITH THE PAIN! CHIROPRACTIC CAN HELP YOU!

What Can You Do?

The ACA suggests the following:

If you spend a large amount of time in one fixed position, such as in front of a computer, on a sewing machine, typing or reading, take a break and stretch every 30 minutes to one hour. The stretches should take your head and neck through a comfortable range of motion.

Low-impact exercise may help relieve the pain associated with primary headaches. However, if you are prone to dull, throbbing headaches, avoid heavy exercise. Engage in such activities as walking and low-impact aerobics.

Avoid teeth clenching. The upper teeth should never touch the lowers, except when swallowing. This results in stress at the temporomandibular joints (TMJ) – the two joints that connect your jaw to your skull – leading to TMJ irritation and a form of tension headaches.

Drink at least eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day to help avoid dehydration, which can lead to headaches.

What Can a Doctor of Chiropractic Do?

Dr. McClelland says your doctor of chiropractic may do one or more of the following if you suffer from a primary headache:

Perform spinal manipulation or chiropractic adjustments to improve spinal function and alleviate the stress on your system.

Provide nutritional advice, recommending a change in diet and perhaps the addition of B complex vitamins.

Offer advice on posture, ergonomics (work postures), exercises and relaxation techniques. This advice should help to relieve the recurring joint irritation and tension in the muscles of the neck and upper back.

“Doctors of chiropractic undergo extensive training to help their patients in many ways – not just back pain,” says Dr. McClelland. “They know how tension in the spine relates to problems in other parts of the body, and they can take steps to relieve those problems.”

It is not a well known fact that Super Bowl XLV MVP Aaron Rodgers is the son of a Doctor of Chiropractic. Aaron's father owns a chiropractic clinic in the small town of Chico, CA, and Aaron grew up in a Chiropractic lifestyle.

Chiropractic care is known to help athletes in every sport stay healthy throughout the season and perform at peak level. Chiropractic ensures the nervous system functions properly and muscles perform effortlessly in a full range of motion.

Nearly every NFL team now utilizes Chiropractic care for their players, and players across the league are seeing the benefits first hand.

Aaron Rodgers is now attempting to win another Super Bowl and continues to stay healthy along the pursuit with the help of Chiropractic.
-Excerpt taken from examiner.com article by Nathan Zimring on 1/4/2012

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"When you get to the NFL, hits are a little harder. That's why I see the chiropractor because after some of those hits, you know you'll see your body's not inline."
-Maurice Jones-Drew, NFL Running Back, Jacksonville Jaguars

"...as long as I see the chiropractor, I feel like I'm one step ahead of the game."
-Tom Brady, Quarterback, New England Patriots - 3 time Super Bowl Champion and 2 time Super Bowl MVP

"I believe in chiropractic, and I know it works. You probably know about my long and successful career in football. I'm flattered by the testimonials to my durability. Football is a very rough and vigorous sport. Chiropractic was the key to keeping me in the game."
-Jerry Rice, Wide Receiver - 3 time Super Bowl Champion and Super Bowl MVP

"I have to have an adjustment before I go into the ring. I do believe in Chiropractic. I found that going to a Chiropractor three times a week helps my performance. The majority of boxers go to get that edge."
-Evander Holyfield (Heavyweight Boxing Champ)

"I've been seeing a Chiropractor and he's really been helping me out a lot. Chiropractic's been a big part of my game."
-Joe Montana (Professional Football All-Star)

"I go see Dr. Bill (Chiropractor) when I get bent out of shape on Sundays. Playing in a football game is like being in 30-40 car accidents."
-Emmitt Smith (Professional Football All-Star)

"You obviously can't compete at your fullest if you're not in alignment. And your body can't heal if your back is not in alignment. It was the holistic idea that I liked about Chiropractic and that is what track and field is about. Every track and field athlete that I have ever met has seen a Chiropractor at one time or another. In track and field, it is absolutely essential. Chiropractic care is one of the things I think that no one has denied or refuted."
-Dan O'Brien (1996 Olympic Decathlon Gold Medalist)

"Last year I found Dr. Newman (Chiropractor), and I have been seeing him ever since. I have been pain-free and feeling terrific. I swear by it. Now, it is just maintenance and keeping in line so the nerves don't touch."
-Wade Boggs (Professional Baseball All-Star)

"I've been going to Chiropractors for as long as I can remember. It's as important to my training as practicing my swing.
-Tiger Woods (American Professional Golfer)

"Without Chiropractic, I wouldn't be able to play consistently throughout the season."
-Johnny Damon (MLB Center Fielder and Two-Time World Series Champion)

Because I honor the inborn potential of everyone to be truly healthy. Because I desire to help the newborn, the aged, and those without hope. Because I choose to care for the patient with the disease, not the disease. Because I wish to assist rather than intrude; to free rather than control. Because I seek to correct the cause, not its effect. Because I know doctors do not heal, only the body can heal itself. Because I have been called to serve others. Because I want to make a difference. Because everyday I get to witness miracles.

"As a human being I am interested in how you feel, but as a chiropractor I am mostly/only interested in how you are functioning."

3. Chiropractic boosts your immunue health.

2. Chiropractic reduces stress.

1. You want years in your life and life in your years!

When was the last time YOU had your nervous system checked?