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