Do You Have Carpal Tunnel?
There are ways to minimize the risk
Y ou're w orking at your desk, try lingers warm .
ing to ignore the tingling or nu m b
T o do th is, m ak e su re th at y o u r
ness you've had tor m onths in your w o rk sp a c e and e q u ip m e n t are at
ham! and w rist. Suddenly, a sharp, the right h eig h t and d ista n c e for
piercing pain shoots through the y o u r h an d s and w rist to w ork w ith
w rist and up your arm . Just a pass less strain . It you are w o rk in g on
ing cram p? M ore likely you have a c o m p u te r, the k e y b o ard sh o u ld
carpal tunnel syndrom e, a painful be at a h eig h t that a llo w s y o u r
progressive condition caused by w rist to rest c o m fo rta b ly w ith o u t
com pression o f a key nerve in the h av in g to bend at an an g le. D esk
wrist.
o r ta b le w o rk s p a c e s h o u ld be
M any things can help m inim ize a a b o u t 27 to 29 in ch es a b o v e the
pel son's risk for carpal tunnel. Strat flo o r for m ost p eo p le.
egies include perform ing hand anti
It also helps to keep your elbow s
w rist exercises, preventing w rist close to your sides as you type to
injury at w ork, and relaxing the grip. reduce the strain on your forearm .
People w ith jobs that have aw kw ard K eeping good posture and wrist
wrist positions and repetitive hand position can low er your risk o f g et
mov em ents are at increased risk for ting carpal tunnel syndrom e.
carpal tunnel.
A void repetitive m ovem ents, if
Prevention in the w orkplace is possible. Try to perform tasks that
focused on w ays to relieve these use different m uscle m ovem ents
positions. I hese include varying during each hour. Break up tasks
your tasks, perform ing exercises, that require repetitive wrist and hand A b ra c e to k e e p th e w r is t s tra ig h t c a n h e lp re d u c e th e p a in fro m
relaxing the grip and keeping your m otion with those that do not.
C a rp a l T u n n e l S y n d ro m e .
Weight Loss Scams Hurt
A com m on resolution f or the New
Year is to lead a more healthy life and
lose som e of the excess w eight
gained from holiday revelries. It is
especially during this tim e o f year
that scam m ers exploit our desire to
slim -dow n w ith phony products
that claim to help you lose w eight
with little to no effort.
M any w eight loss scam s sug
gest you can achieve “ great results”
w ithout exercise or m odifying your
diet.
At best, fad diets and fake health
products might result in short-term
tem porary w eight loss but can be
dangerous it follow ed over a longer
period.
THE
Dr. Billy R. Flowers
An ongoing senes of questions and answers about Amencas natural healing profession
Part 21. Chiropractic VS Fatigue: Climbing the
stairs to a new you, two steps at a time.
: I feel exhausted all the
time. 1 d o n 't w an, to take
"p ep ” pills because o f addic-tion
possibilities. W hat can 1 do?
: I have a good friend and
patient w ho only a year ago
at the age o f 61 loved life but has
a trem endous concern. 11e becam e
fatigued so easily that any activ
ity w ould leave
Him exhausted. The interesting
point w ith him w as that he prac
ticed excellent health habits. N one
theless he got to the point w here
exercise w as nearly im possible.
He still clim bed the steps at work
but w ould have to stop halfw ay up
to catch his breath before co n tin u
ing. I persuaded him to look to C h i
ropractic for increased vitality. At
First he could not see a correlation
betw een his nerves and his
Energy level. I told him that it w as
virtually one and the sam e. O ur
nerv es are the highw ays o f energy
Tips to avoid phony products
In 2009, over 300 O regon c o n scientific evidence to back up health
sum ers received refunds totaling claim s about their "dietary supple
m ore than $ 180,000 from ow ners o f m ents," including that one n orm al
the defunct die, chain LA W eight ized blood pressure.
Loss f ranchise C om pany based on
A ttorney G eneral John K roger
a settlem ent reached by the O regon offers the follow ing tips to spot
D epartm ent o f .1 ustice.
w eight loss scam s. Y ou should p ro
I he law suit alleged that the co m ceed w ith caution if a product d em
pany had no com petent and reliable onstrates one o f the follow ing:
* Lacks scientific evidence or a
dem onstrated link betw een the prod
uct and the prom oted health ben
efits.
ÎM
SPINA.,COLUMN
in the body. If the nerves are
trapped or irritated, our energy will
be drained as well. He took my
advice and now' instead o f stop
ping halfw ay, he charges up the
stairs, tw o steps at a time! If your
vitality is giving up at the halfw ay
m ark, get charged up w ith C h iro
practic. It’s a natural!
Flowers' Chiropractic
2124 N.E. Hancock Street, Portland Oregon 97212
Phone: ( 5 0 3 ) 2 8 7 *5 5 0 4
A fter d o in g re p e titiv e m o v e
m ents for a w hile, you can som e
tim es cancel out the effects o f those
mov em ents by flexing and bending
your w rists and hands in the o p p o
site direction.
S o m e tim e s, p e o p le get into a
h ab it o f te n sin g m u scles w ith o u t
n e e d in g to — o r re a liz in g it. P ra c
tice hand and w rist m o tio n s m ore
g e n tly and less tig h tly . S tress and
ten sio n play a ro le in m u scle strain
and irrita tio n .
M u scles th a t are w arm are less
lik ely to g et h u rt, an d the risk o f
g e ttin g carp al tu n n el sy n d ro m e is
g re a te r in a co ld e n v iro n m e n t. It is
im p o rta n t to k eep y o u r h a n d s
w arm w h ile y ou w o rk , even if you
m u st w e a r fin g e rle ss g lo v es.
In c o rp o ra tin g e rg o n o m ic s o lu
tio n s, su ch as e rg o n o m ic a lly d e
sig n e d to o ls, tool h a n d le s, and
w o rk s ta tio n s th at k eep a m ore
n a tu ra l w rist p o sitio n , is id eally
the first step in carp al tu n n el p re
v e n tio n .
*SoId only through the internet,
individuals, telem arketers, m ail, or
on television.
*C’laim s fast w eight loss w ithout
exercise o r diet.
*U ses term s such as “ m iracu
lous b re a k th ro u g h ” and “ e ffo rt
le ss.”
* Prom otes one particular ingre
dient as the central factor for suc
cess.
* D em ands large advance pay
m ents, or requires you enter into
long-term contracts.
fh e O regon D epartm ent o f Ju s
tice is com m itted to keeping fraudu
lent businesses and products out o f
O regon. If you or som eone you
know has fallen victim to a health
product or w eight loss scam , co n
tact the C onsum er I lot I me at 1 -877-
877-9392. D o n 't let the scam m ers
foil your New Y e ar’s resolutions.
Doctor Joins Portland Clinic
I he Portland C linic is w elcom ing
Dr. M ural N ishikaw a to its d o w n
tow n office.
Dr. N ishikaw a earned her m ed i
cal degree from the M edical C ollege
ol Pennsylvania and H ahnem ann
U niversity School o f M edicine. She
com pleted her residency at Legacy
Em anuel and G ood Sam aritan I los-
pitals in Portland.
N ishikaw a is board certified in
Internal M edicine and is an affiliate
o f the O regon M edical A sso cia
tion. She also has a special interest
in P r e v e n ta tiv e M e d ic in e an d
C hronic D isease M anagem ent.
In her spare time, she enjoys
yoga, travel, reading and cooking.
Dr. M u ra l N is h ik a w a