this sucks

This is downright depressing. Check out the latest and greatest in a series of scary trends for America's youts (My cousin Vinny).

I get so tired of being right, especially about this particular topic.

I'll say it again:

Until we take the time and money to teach our kids about eating right and exercising, not just blowing smoke, we aren't accomplishing jack.

It's that simple.

Half a century of better living through better drugs did nothing but produce 2 generations of fat, sick, depressed, and addicted humans. The proof is indisputable.

Want healthy kids? Put someone in charge of making sure they have all the tools to be healthy, and then check in with them regularly. That is the only way. End of story.

anonymous

We had a young guy in the office with eczema today. I get a lot of questions about how/what we do to fix it, and why it works. I can certainly understand how people new to chiropractic or who harbor some antiquated ideas (backcrackers) about what we do having some confusion. I probably don't help the situation either. If I'm in public with a mixed group of people (chiropractically mixed, I mean) and someone asks about eczema, asthma, or some other malady that is really not associated with chiropractic I will typically respond with:

"Yeah, we punch 'em in the neck, then they get better" or "I throw them down the stairs, then bill you for it."

Why do I do this?

I have no idea. I guess I just have a chip on my shoulder because not everyone recognizes how good we are at keeping people healthy. The bottom line is that I know we should be the first stop for keeping kids healthy in all of St. Charles and we aren't yet. That irks me. The fact that people don't know about us irks me. People don't send me cars, cards, baseball tickets, or get my name tatoo'd on thier arms, I guess that irks me too.

There is nothing worse than being fantastic and no one knowing it.

vehemence

Have you ever looked at the "comment" section on places like the USA today or AOL story pages. What a bunch of jackasses. Where are all these Internet tough guys coming from? I cannot believe some of the reasoning behind most of the comments that are made. It looks like this:

Comment 1 : Random comment loosely based on story, suspicious statistics
Comment 2: Sharp attack on comment 1's logic, assertion of superior logic with equally flawed statistics
Comment 3: Weak attempt to poke fun at comment one and two
Comment 4: Vicious rant with clear relationship issues and/or poor typing indicative of inebriation or "angry-type"
Comment 5: Pacifistic comment completely unrelated and generalized to the point of blandness
Comment 6: Personal attack on the mothers of commenters 1 and 2

Viva la interwebz!

told you so.

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20090119/MOMS/90119016


Not a bad article, except for the zany parts where they ask medical doctors what they think about chiropractic care. In all the medical doctors I have spoken with (that is, the ones who actually return my calls when I try to discuss patient care with them) I have encountered 3 that actually have a grasp on chiropractic care. Normally, I wouldn't care, but isn't it their job to know the best possible treatments for their patients?

If I thought a patient needed surgery, I would recommend it at the drop of a hat. In fact, it is one of the first promises I make to my patients when I meet them. Our allopathic colleagues have the same responsibility. Period.

Ranting aside, we have been seeing 20-30 kids a month for several years now, getting them healthy and keeping them healthy. We do this through hours of education and research on how best to keep these tiny titans bulletproof. It is our greatest responsibility.

Also, their expression is fun to watch when I tell them I am going to sell their spleens.

bring me your huddled masses

New dads, I have heard your pleas. I know the depths of your pain and am here to offer you the way out.

These are the things you need to do when you want to get your newborn or toddler to sleep through the night (or just go to bed).

1) Make a routine and stick with it no matter what. This is the hardest, but the most important. Little brains are busy shaving off white matter and gray matter and organizing new connections, its an awesome sequence of enzymes and catalysts. What does this have to do with you? You can develop a habit or pattern in those young minds by using the same environmental cues at the same time each day. Give the baby a bath, turn the lights down, read to him or her (no t.v.) in the baby's room. As much as you can, recreate the same scene every night. This is difficult for new parents who may still be used to the 'stay up till whenever thing'. Those days are gone. You traded them in for your bundle of joy.

2) Put the thermostat down and slowly back away. Most of the parents I speak with about this react like I just deleted their TiVo. I completely understand the desire to make sure the child is comfortable, especially when you won't be in the room. Understand that most humans will sleep better in a colder environment. It induces the sleep reflex. If your child is flush while sleeping, you may have too much heat for their sleep to be relaxed and uninterrupted. In general, if you have the room temperature below 70 degrees (F) you are in the ballpark.

3) See you in hell! Placing a sleeping baby in a cold bed will not work well for you. Especially when you think you've almost got the baby down. Using a warm towel or flannel sheets to warm that bed up or keep it warm will work wonders for you.

4) Just 10 minutes more, please. Drapes, shutters, black paint, anything but those airline eye patches to keep the room dark. This will buy you time enough time in the morning to get to the coffee pot, thereby saving everyone a rocky start.

4) Fight on! At first, the new routine will be annoying for both of you. Stick with it, over time the pattern will take effect, you will notice your baby getting sleepy as soon as you begin the routine.

5) Act cool. Any mom will have this information because they have already researched it 1000 times. What scores you monster points is then you know this information. Don't tell her I told you, act like you knew it on your own. She will be reassured that she selected you as a mate.

Let me know how it goes, and good luck out there!