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| Corporate Wellness Group eBulletin |
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St Charles Pain and Wellness Center Newsletter
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Get Screened for Heart Disease in February
During National Heart Month
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"Heart disease takes the lives of far too many people in this country, depriving their families and communities of someone they love and care for-a father, a mother, a wife, a friend, a neighbor, a spouse. With more than 2 million heart attacks and strokes a year, and 800,000 deaths, just about all of us have been touched by someone who has had heart disease, heart attack, or a stroke."
- Dept. of Health and Human Services Secretary
Kathleen Sebelius
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States: one in every three deaths is from heart disease and stroke, equal to 2,200 deaths per day.
Yet, heart disease is also the most prevenatable and most curable disease in the U.S.
What is Heart Disease? A more accurate term is cardiovascular disease, because it's not just a disease of the heart, it's a disease of the entire circulatory system. The primary reported cause of heart failure is coronary artery disease.
If you have:
high blood pressure, lack of sleep, no energy, inflammation disorders, high sugar and glucose levels, high cholestrol, low HGH levels, poor circulation and/or excess body fat,
you are at greater risk for developing heart disease
.Know your risk! Come to St. Charles Pain & Wellness Center for our annual Heart Screening,
on Wednesday, February 20
Cost: $40 (may be covered by insurance)
630-513-7770
to make your appointment any time between 8:00am and 6:00pm
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Sit Up Straight! 
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Winners of the 1956
Miss Perfect Posture Contest
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GOOD POSTURE IS IMPORTANT MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY
How many times did our parents tell us when we were children, "sit up straight"? Besides trying to keep us from looking like a boiled noodle, good posture is also important for a variety of health reasons. It helps us to breathe properly, increases concentration, reduces the risk of neck and back pain and increases our sense of well-being.
Yet, most people practice bad posture. And in the computer age, it's not surprising, given how many hours we spend sitting at a desk. Bad ergonomics, as well as the number of hours spent sitting without getting up and moving around, has led to an epidemic of bad posture - and subsequently many cases of back and neck pain.
"I have had many patients seek care at our office due to posture related pain," notes Dr. Hertz. "One who comes to mind is an elderly gentleman who had moderate neck, upper, and lower back pain with an obvious forward lean to his posture and gait when he walked into the office. He was not even aware that his posture had deteriorated to that extent.
 "His particular symptoms arose from years of sitting with bad posture. After the initial phase of chiropractic treatment he had been telling me that almost everyone he came into contact with was noticing and commenting on the fact that he was walking straighter and that he actually looked taller! He was very happy and of course as we were correcting his posture his body started to heal and his symptomatology improved."
Dr. Roger Sperry, who received a Nobel Prize for brain research, observes, "the more mechanically distorted a person is, the less energy is available for thinking, metabolism and healing."
To help maintain your posture throughout the day and every day this year:
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Choose an ergonomically designed office chair, with extra support for the lower back.
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Get up and move around frequently throughout the day.
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Strengthen your core muscles -- yoga and pilates are good forms of exercise for overall stretching and strengthening and will enable you to maintain good posture.
By correcting misalignments, many people live healthy, well, and with great posture! Read the rest of the article here
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 Introducing 3D Imaging for
Sophisticated, State-of-the-Art
Patient Care & Treatment
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St. Charles Pain and Wellness Center is introducing a new treatment protocol to provide a more thorough patient exam: Foot Levelers' 3D BodyView, the first true color 3D imaging device for chiropractic care and treatment.
 | | New 3D BodyView imaging device |
The Foot Levelers 3D BodyView produces a 3D volumetric image to enable chiropractic physicians to indicate relative relationships between the body and different components of the foot. This device is the most accurate 3D technology in its class, and is certified to be accurate within 300 microns. The same technology is used for industrial inspection of jet engines and other critical precision equipment.
Dr. Hertz welcomes patients to schedule an appointment for a complementary body assessment using 3D BodyView to determine their overall health needs. For more information and/or to schedule an appointment, call us at 630-513-7770.
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How Can You Increase Range of Motion and Flexibility as You Age?
|  As we age, health conditions and the cumulative effects of wear and tear can affect our ability to move the way we used to, and makes it difficult to carry on the activities of daily life. Even such simple tasks as picking something up off the floor or tying your shoes can be challenging activities when your movements are curtailed.
A decrease in range of motion and flexibility can result in a downward spiral of disability. An injury or degenerative condition can cause pain, swelling and stiffness, limiting flexibility and range of motion. So we avoid activities that involve the affected body parts, either consciously or unconsciously. This then becomes a classic case of "use it or lose it". Without regular exercise, the muscles and joints stiffen, adhesions and scar tissue can form, and mobility is further reduced. Eventually, a person can become completely incapacitated.
Regular chiropractic care can help increase both range of motion and flexibility. A study performed in 2001 by researchers at the Phillip Chiropractic Research Centre of RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, and published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics found that chiropractic adjustments increased range of motion in 105 patients who participated in the study. There were three phases of this study, in which each of the participants was given no adjustments, fake adjustments or true adjustments. In each phase, the patients who were given the true adjustments showed a significant improvement in range of motion, which was not the case for the other two groups.
A chiropractor uses spinal adjustments and manipulations to other parts of the body to realign the bones and joints so as to reduce pain, restore range of motion, and improve flexibility, balance and coordination. These adjustments may be performed manually, or other techniques may be used to increase circulation and improve function, such as ultrasound, trigger point therapy and electrical stimulation.
Your chiropractor can also recommend exercises that can be done at home to increase strength and flexibility so that you're able to maintain and build upon the gains from your chiropractic adjustments.
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Beware of Your Toaster?!
|  There has been considerable controversy over the past few years about whether or not exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) is harmful to our health. The current bottom line on EMFs according to the World Health Organization (WHO) is that they have not been shown to cause an increase in adverse health effects. There are, however, gaps in knowledge about their biological effects.
Electromagnetic fields have existed since the earth was first formed. The earth's own magnetic field, which is what makes a compass needle point north, and the electromagnetic radiation we get from the sun were the only sources of EMFs for billions of years. But ever since Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, the public has been increasingly exposed to ever rising levels of EMFs, and the expansion of modern technology has led to a bombardment of EMFs -- from high-voltage power lines, cell phone towers, cell phones, WiFi networks, even the toaster in your kitchen. There is virtually no inhabited area on the planet that does not have some form of artificially-created EMFs in its atmosphere.
If you feel your home may be subject to excessive amounts of EMFs, you may want to invest in or rent a gauss meter -- a hand-held device that can measure the strength of EMFs that exist around your home. Test possible EMF sources both when the item is turned on and when it is turned off.
Until further research is complete, there are some things you can do to keep your exposure to EMFs to a minimum: keep mobile phones and other electronic devices at least 6 feet away from you while you sleep, and unplugging household appliances when they are not in use (since they emit EMFs if they are plugged in whether or not you're actually using them).
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Getting Fit Without Getting Crazy
by Richard Wolff, RD, LDN,
MedFitness of St. Charles
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It's been only a few weeks since you resolved to work out more often and eat a healthier diet, but your living and working environments make it nearly impossible to stick to your resolutions and live a healthy lifestyle.
In recent years, the U.S. has been referred to as a paradise of energy conservation! We never need to run, rarely do we need to walk, and we can often sit for extended periods of time without ever having to move. In fact, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports that the number of Americans who engage in no physical activity has increased significantly in recent years.
At the same time, the quality of our food supply continues to decline. According to Dr. Kelly Brownell, professor of psychology at Yale University, "Americans live in a toxic food environment" saying that we are over-exposed to low nutrition, high-calorie foods and that the pressure to eat is enormous. But take heart! Even small changes can make a real difference with your health.
Build Minutes, Not Miles
Despite overwhelming evidence linking physical activity to better health, few Americans are embracing the advice to be more active. One of the most significant barriers reported is a lack of time. Unfortunately, most people believe that physical activity needs to be performed over long periods of time in order to be beneficial, but there is strong evidence linking short bouts of physical activity to better health.
The American College of Sports Medicine, the U.S. Surgeon General and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend 30 minutes of physical activity on most days.
Dividing your physical activity into shorter bouts (three 10-minute walks versus one 30-minute walk) provides the same health benefits as longer bouts. To build minutes, not miles, take advantage of small calorie-burning opportunities throughout the day. The real issue is compliance, so customize your approach to include both long and short bouts of physical activity.
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