Sarpy Chiropractic Blog

There is still a common misconception out there that it is very important to stretch before you run or play a game of sport. While it might sound crazy to you, I am suggesting to you that you stop it. Static stretching to increase your flexibility is an extremely important part of your health care regime and everyone should be stretching multiple times a week, if not every day. What's most important though is the timing of it. When you stretch, you are lengthening your muscles and other soft tissues, so after stretching you're joints are actually vulnerable to injury for approximately 90 minutes. So you need to stretch either after a workout, or ideally when you are relaxing at home and not planning on following the stretching session with a workout. However, I am also not suggesting you start a run or a workout cold, otherwise you will create even more injuries than of you stretch. Instead, what you need is a dynamic warmup. Getting the blood pumping through all of you...

"It's never too late to be who you might have been" - George Elliot In society, we have fallen into a trap where success is measured by what we gain or achieve. Unfortunately, we tend to only measure material things like money, climbing the corporate ladder, or a new car. Success isn't what we achieve, success is who we become. You can have all the wealth in the world, but without the health to enjoy the quality of your life, or strong relationships with the people around you to share it with, what is the point? As humans, we are designed to live between 90-120 healthy years on this planet, so becoming “successful” has to start with your health. No one wants to live a life of sickness , yet the average person living in America will spend their last ten years of life, and their entire savings, dealing with major health issues. Dying from a heart attack at 55 years of age isn't due to bad luck! Cancer rates continue to increase. Diabetes is an unst...

"The only disability in life is a bad attitude"  - Scott Hamilton If you want to live a healthier life, this is where it all starts - Attitude. You will never take the necessary steps to build the required disciplines to become and stay healthy if you don’t have the correct mindset. This includes your attitude about life, about the world, about others, and about yourself! You may have noticed how closely health and happiness are linked? This is because when you are living a healthier life, you are experiencing a higher quality of life. You’re benefiting from more energy; you’re showing yourself love and respect; you’re fighting disease; and living a longer life all while simultaneously improving your mood. The principles of being healthy are actually very simple, but following them on a regular basis is very difficult. It's hard to live a healthy life. There are obstacles everywhere: sugary junk foods that taste better than broccoli; reality TV that...

COACHABILITY "My best skill was that I was coachable. I was a sponge and aggressive to learn." - Michael Jordan Coachability is the willingness to be corrected and to act on that correction. When we are coachable, we are prepared to be wrong. We can withstand a high degree of candor. Why is this important? To become healthy, and then to maintain good health, you have to be willing to adapt and change things depending on what your body and your life needs. You need to be willing to admit sometimes that the way you are currently doing something is no longer serving you, and it needs to be changed. It is so much easier to be healthy and happy if you are able to seek out new knowledge, or people who have already achieved what you want and be willing to learn from them. Your journey to health doesn't have to occur alone. But if you take the stubborn approach of "this is how I have always done things" or "health is all up to genetics anyway" the...

It's that time of year again. Spring! While everyone else is excited, you dread the suffering. You know your sinus cavities are going to swell up, your eyes will water, you will constantly be sniffing, and just generally feel miserable. It's allergy time of year again! The good news is you have far more options than just reaching for the over the counter drugs, which may provide temporary relief but also increase the toxic load on your body. So what else can you do? Any, or preferably ALL of the following: 1. Neti Pot - helps clear out the irritants from the nasal passages which cause most of your allergy symptoms. Filtered or distilled water  is best to use because the chemicals in normal tap water like Fluoride and Chlorine will actually irritate your immune system and often make your symptoms worse! 2. Frankincense or Eucalyptus Essential Oils - Diffuse them in your house. Rub them on your chest and behind your ears.They will help boost your immune system, decrea...

Unfortunately almost everyone reading this will have experienced at least 1 episode of severe back pain at some point in their life. And as you may have read in our previous blog "Should you be scared of back pain?" you would know that you need to get ice on your painful area and get moving as much as you can. However, there are also a number of gentle stretches and exercises you can do that will help decrease your pain and speed up your recovery process. 1 .   Sphinx Stretch Start lying face down on the ground or your bed, then push up on your hands but keep your hips on the ground. Hold this position for 5 seconds then relax back down on your stomach for 20 seconds. Repeat 10 times. 2. Knees To Chest Lie on your back and tuck both knees to your chest like you're rolling up in a ball but try and keep your head on the ground, don't lift it up. Hold for 20 seconds then let your legs relax. Repeat 10 times. 3. Cat Camel Start on your...