Helping You to Better Health Naturally
Please explain why you came to our office.
“Experienced neck and shoulder pain for the first time in my life. Dr. B worked me in immediately and gave me a thorough explanation of my condition.”
Please describe your response to treatment.
“With the first visit I felt much better and after 6 visits I am now experiencing only minor pain which gets better with each visit.”
~62 year-old female
Did you know that you can garden all year long? Yes, you do need a yard that gets a lot of sun but if you have that and a desire to grow some of your own food you can do it! I highly recommend Eliot Coleman’s book, “Four Season Harvest”, as an introduction. If you do three season gardening you won’t need cold protection, but if you want to do four season a cold frame or greenhouse is necessary in Virginia.
Here are some Fall carrots we planted late summer and harvested in November. Because most people grow garden plants in the summer, they may not be as familiar with the plants that tolerate colder temperatures and which will survive winter in a cold frame or greenhouse. The cold tolerant vegetables we grow are carrots, lettuce, kale, collards, broccoli, onions, parsley, cabbage, and radish. We have grown all of them in both the greenhouse and cold frame. Below is a picture of the cold frame taken in late winter on a nice day when the cover was off. Give it a try–you’ll get better with experience every year!
Please explain why you came to our office.
“My daughter was having trouble with latching while breast-feeding, seemed positionally uncomfortable and having difficulty with adequate intake. My daughter also was acting very uncomfortable throughout the day crying often, and having trouble holding her head in a midline position.
(Dr. Burgoon’s comment: This baby had a rough delivery that likely resulted in a separated shoulder that I diagnosed upon her initial visit. Mom had sought help from several providers before her lactation consultant recommended bringing the baby to our clinic.)
Please describe your response to treatment.
After only 6 visits:
“I think my daughter is having an easier, more comfortable time latching while breast-feeding. She is also acting more comfortable throughout the day.”
~Mom of 8 week-old baby
Rebounding is one of the best exercises to decrease inflammation and improve immune system function because it improves toxin and waste removal from the body. All you need is a good-quality rebounder and a workout routine that targets the major areas where stagnation can occur. Chiropractic adjustments help to decrease stagnation in joint areas but rebounding helps keep the lymph flow going!
We recommend David Hall’s rebounder which comes with a variety of workout routines. Watch his intro video before you purchase a rebounder. He explains why you don’t want to buy a cheap rebounder–it’s too easy to get injured. This is an investment but so worth it; you will appreciate the convenience of exercising at home– besides, it’s fun to bounce!
Please explain why you came to our office.
“Pain in right arm and shoulder that kept me from free use of my dominant arm for daily tasks and chronic pain that made it uncomfortable to sleep.”
Please describe your response to treatment.
(After only 3 visits) “So far I’m feeling significant improvement, mobility in my arm and less frequent sharp pain.”
~70 year-old female
Please explain why you came to our office.
“I suddenly developed back pain like I never had before. I knew Towers Family Chiropractic was a trusted office, so they were the first resource I thought of to help. Three days prior to my first visit my back went out without an obvious cause, and I could not straighten up without pain. With use of a heating pad and anti-inflammatory medication I was able to limp around but knew I needed treatment to fully recover and preserve my long-term health.”
Please describe your response to treatment.
“I experienced relief after the first visit and the acute area of pain and stiffness has not returned. Over the next 3 visits I regained my confidence to return to my normal activities and range of motion as the discomfort fully resolved. I appreciated the simple exercise I was shown to do at home to strengthen my back. Everyone in the office is kind and helpful and made my experience low stress and less intimidating.”
~36 year-old female
When you’re feeling down with a cold, the last thing you may want to do is cook! Well, if you keep a few ingredients on hand you can make this nourishing, soothing broth in a few minutes. If you have chicken, beef, or vegetable broth you can use that instead of water. This broth will keep you warm and hydrated. Have a few cups a day. It will help drain away the mucus from the cold.
Serves 1
1 cup boiling water or broth from meat or vegetables
1 rounded tsp. Miso Master Chick Pea Miso (organic and unpastuerized)
2 Tbsp. cultured vegetables (I prefer a carrot/cabbage/ginger mixture)
a pinch or two of cayenne (optional but very helpful for warming effect)
Place the miso in a mug. Add about a 1/4 of the water and use a fork to press and dissolve the miso. Add the rest of the water, cayenne and vegetables. Stir and serve immediately.
Now a days, it is easy to find organic, gluten-free, sprouted rolled oats. The sprouting makes the oats more nutritious and easier to digest. The brand we have here is One Degree Organic Foods.
On colder winter days, oatmeal is great! It has been dismissed because many people are avoiding carbs but if you make oatmeal the way I suggest here, it is a safe and delicious carb to include. The amount of oats in a serving in this recipe is only 1/4 cup which is about 17 grams of carbs (half the amount suggested on the package). And half an apple adds another 7 to 10 grams. The average person does not need to be concerned about eating this amount of carbohydrate at a meal. Also, cooking at a low temperature with for longer with more water results in a creamier oatmeal–much more appetizing to me than the heartier version most people are used to. No need to sweeten–the apple and coconut milk do the job!
Serves 2
1/2 cup organic, gluten-free rolled oats (I prefer the sprouted brand)
1 and 1/2 cups water
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1 apple, peeled, cored and chopped into small chunks
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp. organic classic (full fat) coconut milk
Bring water to a boil with the salt in a sauce pan. Add oats and apple and reduce heat to low so that the mixture just simmers. Cover with a lid but leave it open a crack. Simmer for at least 30 minutes giving an occasional stir and adding more water to keep the consistency batter-like. Before serving add the cinnamon and coconut milk. Enjoy while hot!
Please explain why you came to our office.
“I had been suffering with chronic Plantar Fasciitis in my left foot for about a year. This was debilitatingly painful at times and greatly limited my ability to exercise and lose weight. After seeing multiple medical professionals, taking anti-inflammatories, getting recommended shoes, shoe inserts, and two separate steroid injections my condition would improve some then shortly revert to the previous painful state. After visiting Fleet Feet one night and taking a scan of my foot I noticed that the left arch was noticeably lower than the right by a good amount. At that point I realized that the problem was that my left foot was out of alignment. The whole time I had been treating the symptom and not the underlying root problem. As a result, I felt Towers Family Chiropractic could help.”
Please describe your response to treatment.
“After receiving just three adjustments over a period of two weeks I totally rehabilitated my foot and increased my activity dramatically! After my last treatment I was able to get 9.36 miles of walking exercise in a single day! The effectiveness of the treatment along with my speed of recovery blew my mind! My ankle felt like it was locked up, out of position, and it got released during treatment which probably increased blood flow and had many other benefits that allowed it to heal. Beyond thankful that I am back to normal and can live without the pain that plagued me for so long! The metrics from my Apple Watch show a sharp increase in my exercise levels after treatment which was impossible before! I am very appreciative of Towers Family Chiropractic as they were able to do for me what no one else could!”
~51 year-old male
This refreshing drink is a beautiful red–perfect for a holiday punch and well worth the effort. Gathering the herbs is a prerequisite step but we encourage people to have these beneficial dried herbs on hand and ordering from Frontier Coop makes this easy and likely less expensive than buying tea bags. Many of the herbs I use the most I order from them–they are available organically grown and in bulk if you want to order a whole pound.
I posted a “mocktail” recipe recently which I have changed to incorporate some more health-promoting herbs perfect for winter immune system support–the hibiscus is good circulatory support and makes the punch red. Also, I changed the way to make the ginger extract. Try this out–the blender extract method used here is quicker and tastes stronger. The ginger gives this drink a “kick”–really warms the tummy kind of like alcohol! You may want to dilute it if the ginger is too strong for you.
Serves 4
Make the tea first:
1 Tbsp. dried hibiscus flowers (available in bulk section of health food stores, or Frontier Coop website–I get a 1 pound bag)
1 Tbsp. dried holy basil leaves (known as tulsi tea also, available at health food stores, or Frontier Coop website–I grow and dry my own)
1 tsp. licorice root (optional)
1 Tbsp. dried lemon balm
Place herbs in a glass quart mason jar with a spoon to prevent the jar from cracking when you add the boiling water. Add 1 and 1/4 cups of boiling water for the concentrated tea if you are using selter water in the recipe below or 4 cups of boiling water if you are not using seltzer water. Cap the jar and let steep until cool. Strain and discard the herbs.
Now make the mocktail:
1 piece of fresh organic ginger root, about 1″ diameter and 3″ long
1 cup of hibiscus tea blend (see recipe above)
Juice of 1 lemon
1 Tbsp. organic apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp. maple syrup or more to taste or some monk fruit extract to add sweetness to your taste
3 additional cups of hibiscus tea blend or plain seltzer water if you prefer a carbonated drink (If you choose the seltzer water be sure to make the tea for extracting the ginger concentrated by using less water to make the tea.)
Slice the ginger into thin rounds after washing the root. Place in a blender container. Add 1 cup of the tea blend. Blend very well. Strain and discard the ginger pulp after squeezing the last of the extract out of it. Pour the ginger juice into a pitcher or glass jar. Add the rest of the ingredients. Taste and correct sweetness or dilute more if desired. If you used seltzer water, serve cold immediately with lemon slices (optional). If you didn’t use seltzer water, the drink will keep in the fridge for a few days and you may want to warm the drink slightly on low heat (don’t boil and remove from heat before it simmers) for a greater warming effect–but the ginger is certainly warming all by itself! Enjoy!
Children suffer injuries that lead to misalignments just as adults do. Children generally respond very well and quickly to gentle chiropractic adjustments. A case in point is that of a 5 year-old … [Read More...]
