I saw my third patient today with space between their second and third toes (counting from the big to to the small toe).  It seems to be related to a shift in weight bearing from the great (big) toe (where it belongs) to the second or third toe.  It seems that the body will then “group” the big and second toe together, then make those two toes function as one.   This is what seems to be the mechanism behind the second and third toes moving apart.  I made no progress when I diagnosed this issue with the patient laying on their back, but if I made them stand up and tested them, I noticed the weight shift from the great toe to the great/second toe “group”.  I then treated what I found and have been getting pretty good results by approaching the feet in this manner.  Physical manipulation and prolo therapy (injections of sugar water to stimulate ligament growth) may be used to get your foot to come back to where it started.

Do you suffer from cold hands and feet?  It does not matter whether you are male or female, this is a significant issue.  Medically speaking, this usually points to a condition known as hypothroidism.  That means that your thyroid is not doing everything it needs to with efficiency. Although hypothyroidism can have an origin other than what I am about to describe, falls play a huge role in this condition.

When you have a fall on your rear end, physics come into play.  Force is introduced into the body and that force has to go somewhere.  The body has to follow the laws of physics.  The law of conservation of energy says that energy can be neither created nor destroyed, only transformed.  This means that your “fall” put energy into the body and that energy has to be transformed. Those are the laws of physics.  If the force comes in very rapidly, then the body may not be able to handle the injury and a fracture my be the result. This is becasue the time of impact is very small and the body cannot adapt and change fast enough.  It does its best, but the energy of the fall results in a fracture.  This is the “transformation”.

If the SAME energy comes in just a tiny bit more slowly, then what?  There is not a fracture (what medically would be called a pathologic fracture – something that would show up on x-ray), but what can happen is a physiologic fracture (think of this as energy storage).  The tissue behaves as if it were fractured, but nothing shows up on x-ray.  This is where many people seek medical attention and nothing is “wrong”.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  The energy of the fall has been effectively stored in the body.  The sacrum and coccyx may actually deform in response.

From a Chinese medicine perspective, the two meridians that flow down the center of the body (the governor and conception vessels) do not flow freely.  This is what I believe leads to the thyroid disturbance.

Ligaments, when subject to impact, will constrict.  There are a pair of ligaments in women that connect the sacrum to the uterus (uterosacral ligaments).  If these ligaments tighten (secondary to a fall) then constipation, abnormal menstrual cycles (everything from amenorrhea – no periods, to menorrhagia – heavy flow) can be the result.  It can also make conceiving a problem, because the uterus does not move correctly.

In men, the prostate can be effected.

Sitting may be painful, you may not be able to sit still – fidgeting all of the time, you may lean when you sit, you may be agitated most of the time, if you are female you make have irregular or painful periods or difficulty conceiving, if you are male, you may have prostate issues…and these are just some of the possible symptoms I have seen from falls.  The sacrum and the coccyx (tain bone) can be effected.

Removing the forces stored in the body and releasing the tissues can set all of these things back to normal and not only improve thyroid conditions without medication, but also improve “fertility” and restore normal menstruation and relieve prostate issues.

There are MANY things I could talk about when it pertains to infants, but they all share a common thread – our bodies only grow normally when there is freedom of motion.  Birth is a serious hindrance to free motion!  If you introduce any restriction, the body cannot overcome it and must adapt.  The adaptations, if not treated, become permanent in adulthood.  These can cause symptoms and disease.

Let’s take two relatively common issues with an infant – poor suck/latch and colic and explore them osteopathically.

In a normally developed newborn, poor suck is due to birth trauma.  Period.  That is a bold statement.  When we are born the occiput is on four pieces that overlap a bit when we come through the birth canal.  This allows our head to fit.  What is supposed to happen is that, upon coming out of the birth canal, the babies first breath is supposed to decompress (expand) the portions of the occiput – this moves those parts back into a normal relationship.  However, Robert Fulford, a pioneering DO who practiced in Cincinnati for many years, found that 95% of us did not take a good first breath.  That leaves the occiput compressed in most of us into adulthood.

The parts on the sides of the occiput articulate with the first cervical vertebra and are called the condylar portion (they articulate with a groove in the 1st vertebra).  If either of these get jammed, the hypoglossal nerve is effected.  The hypoglossal nerve runs through an opening in this part of the occiput.  This nerve controls movement of the tongue and, if it is not working efficiently, the tongue can’t move effectively.  Thus, babies with poor suck (because they can’t move their tongue well) have a hypoglossal nerve that works inefficiently and a compressed occipital condyle.  Releasing this compression in the occiput and the hypoglossal nerve can be like turning a light switch on in a child – they brighten up, start to feed (and feed well) and their diagnosis of failure to thrive goes away.

These are babies that would have been bottle fed becasue mom would have been told that the baby could not breast feed.  Breast feeding is SO important for good mouth, tooth and mental development that is recommended for every child (historically that is how your ancestors got here after all). Babies with compressed condyles and rescricted hypoglossal nerves would not get this opportunity.  They will then grow in this pattern – which could mean that they have headaches, poor posture, the need for othodontia (braces), and chronic disease at some point during their life.  This is in no way a comprehensive list of what could go wrong from this one issue either.

Colic is another thing that is directly related to birth.  When we are born the liver is not quite fully formed and the valve that delivers bile to the small intestine from the liver (the sphincter of oddi) may not be working in synchrony with the rest of the digestive system.  If this happens, bile does not get adequately released and fats don’t get digested well and they ferment in the gut.  The gasses from this process cause pain and the child tells you in no uncertain terms that things are not right.

The coronal suture in the head can also influence the pituitary and the hormones of the body that can add to colic.  Releasing the suture and coordinating the motion between the head and the valves of the gut frequently relieves the symptoms during the treatment.  More than one treatment may be required for full resolution, since this can be compared to “training” the gut to work correctly.  Colic responds very well to osteopathic treatment.

All of us, not matter what age or health status, have some amount of restriction in our nervous system.  This restriction will cause pain in the skin and perhaps other areas.  Those of us with more health problems, by definition, have more of an issue in our nervous system.  That is part of the cascade that leads us to poor health.

To keep the anatomy simple, all nerves originate from the brain or the spinal cord.  They travel along a pathway that allows them to connect to organs, muscles, blood vessels, etc. and finally wind up at the skin and what is called peripheral nerve.  John Hilton, who was an English surgeon, found that ANY irritation along a nerve path affected EVERYTHING along the path and caused the skin that the nerve goes to become sensitive.  It is called Hilton’s Law.

Still keeping it simple, that means that if you can take the end of a ball point pen, press into the skin with its end, and find even one sore spot ANYWHERE on your skin, then you have an irritation somewhere inside as well.  These sore spots are there long before you have any disease.  They are there before your diabetes, your acid reflux, your endometriosis, your chronic migraines, etc.

If found early enough, all of these conditions can be treated (perhaps to the point of resolution) by releasing the nerve.  Treating the nerve (either through effective trigger point injections, manual treatment of the peripheral nerve, myofascial release, neural prolo therapy, acupuncture or other manual treatments) will help to release the entire nerve and thus help all of the things that connect to it.  In this way you can halt the progression of, and perhaps reverse, chronic disease.

So it is very important to have a practitioner that is skilled in this area as part of your healthcare team, AND it is important for you as the patient to make certain that your doctor and your practitioner (if they are different) not only know your complaints, but make sure they are checked from the aspect of the peripheral nerves.

I have had many patients show significant improvement after getting the peripheral nerves treated.  Their pain diminishes (and after a few treatments does not return) and their health continues to improve.

To schedule your initial visit, please call the office for more details.  The number is 317-228-9270.

This is copied from Dr. Mercola’s website.  I include it here because it is well written and explains many aspects of vaccination that are vitally important.  If your children or any of your loved ones have any of the symptoms of an adverse vaccine reaction please seek the help and guidance of an experienced osteopath and health care team…and don’t give up.  Even things that are many years old can be changed with proper treatment.

If You Vaccinate, Ask 8!

What You Need to Know Before & After Vaccination

Under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, over $2 billion has been awarded to children and adults for whom the risks of vaccine injury were 100%.  Vaccines are pharmaceutical products that carry risks, which can be greater for some than others. NVIC encourages you to become fully informed about the risks and complications of diseases and vaccines and speak with one or more trusted health care professionals before making a vaccination decision.

1. Am I or my child sick right now?
2. Have I or my child had a bad reaction to a vaccination before?
3. Do I or my child have a personal or family history of vaccine reactions, neurological disorders, severe allergies or immune system problems?
4. Do I know the disease and vaccine risks for myself or my child?
5. Do I have full information about the vaccine’s side effects?
6. Do I know how to identify and report a vaccine reaction?
7. Do I know I need to keep a written record, including the vaccine manufacturer’s name and lot number, for all vaccinations?
8. Do I know I have the right to make an informed choice?

If you answered yes to questions 1, 2, and 3, or no to questions 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 and do not understand the significance of your answer, you may want to review information on NVIC’s website with links to other websites and resources so you can better answer these questions designed to educate consumers about the importance of making fully informed vaccine decisions.  Click here to learn more about the role of informed consent in vaccination. 

NVIC also publishes a free online NVIC Vaccine eNewsletter to keep consumers informed of the latest information about vaccines and infectious diseases and offers tools like NVIC’s Advocacy Portal that helps consumers protect vaccine choice in their state and the Vaccine Ingredient Calculator to assist consumers in becoming knowledgeable about vaccines, existing safe standards for toxins found in vaccines and a printable vaccination plan to facilitate parent-health provider dialogue.  Be sure to visit our Diseases and Vaccines webpage, which provides information on risks and benefits associated with vaccines.

If you choose to vaccinate, always keep a written record of exactly which shots/vaccines you or your child have received, including the manufacturer’s name and vaccine lot number. Write down and describe in detail any serious health problems that develop after vaccination and keep vaccination records in a file you can access easily.

It is important to be able to recognize an adverse reaction and seek appropriate medical attention, as well as reporting a vaccine adverse event with federal health officials at the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), who monitor vaccines after they have been licensed. Information provided to VAERS, may also help identify high risk factors that make some individuals more vulnerable to suffering vaccine reactions.  To learn more about injury compensation and filing an injury claim, click here.

If you or your child experiences any of the symptoms listed below in the hours, days or weeks following vaccination, it should be reported to VAERS.  Some vaccine reaction symptoms include:

• Pronounced swelling, redness, heat or hardness at the site of the injection;
• Body rash or hives;
• Shock/collapse;
• High pitched screaming or persistent crying for hours;
• Extreme sleepiness or long periods of unresponsiveness;
• High fever (over 103 F)
• Twitching or jerking of the body, arm, leg or head;
• Crossing of eyes;
• Weakness or paralysis of any part of the body;
• Loss of eye contact or awareness or social withdrawal;
• Loss of ability to roll over, sit up or stand up;
• Vision or hearing loss;
• Restlessness, hyperactivity or inability to concentrate;
• Sleep disturbances that change wake/sleep pattern;
• Head banging or onset of repetitive movements (flapping, rubbing, rocking, spinning);
• Joint pain;
• Muscle weakness;
• Disabling fatigue;
• Loss of memory;
• Onset of chronic ear or respiratory infections;
• Violent or persistent diarrhea or chronic constipation;
• Breathing problems (asthma);
• Excessive bleeding (thrombocytopenia) or anemia.

There are other symptoms, which may indicate that you or your child has suffered a vaccine reaction. Not all symptoms that occur following vaccination are caused by the vaccine(s) recently received, but it cannot be automatically concluded that symptoms which do occur are NOT related to the vaccine. Therefore, it is important for your doctor to write down all serious health problems that occur after vaccination in the permanent medical record and to report ALL serious symptoms or dramatic change in physical, mental or emotional behavior that does occur following vaccination to VAERS.  It is also important that re-vaccination does not continue until it has been determined that the serious health problem which developed after vaccination was not causally related to the vaccination(s). Continued vaccination in the presence of serious health deterioration could lead to vaccine injury or death.

Although it has been the law since 1986 for doctors and other vaccine providers to report hospitalizations, injuries, deaths and serious health problems following vaccination to VAERS, it is estimated that less than 10 percent, perhaps less than one percent of all vaccine-related health problems are ever reported. If your doctor will not report a serious health problem that you or child experienced after vaccination to VAERS, you have the right to make the vaccine adverse event report to VAERS yourself.

Since its’ founding in 1982, the National Vaccine Information Center has operated a Vaccine Reaction Registry which has served as a watchdog on the VAERS system. We encourage you to also report any suspected vaccine reaction you or your child has experienced to NVIC’s Vaccine Reaction Registry.

Water is essential for life.  Unfortunately for the earth and her inhabitants (us), truly clean water is going the way of the dodo bird.  After reading numerous articles and doing experiments on water quality, here is what I recommend:

1) Avoid bottled water.  The regulations are spotty about how bottled water is handled.  It can contain MANY chemicals that regular tap water is not allowed to have.  The plastic containers it is housed in give off chemicals as well.  Save the earth, your body, and the landfills by steering clear of bottled water.  Use one of the other sources of water below and store it in stainless steel, glass or BPA free plastic containers.  Don’t heat water in plastic!

2) Tap water is OK, but not optimal.  Tap water is an improvement over bottled water.  It is much more strongly regulated.  There are limits to many harmful chemicals that it can contain.  It is tested multiple times per day.  That being said, it is not pure.  I still recommend at a minimum a charcoal filter (like a Britta) to remove tastes and odors (which come from chemicals).  An even better choice is a sinktop filter that removes fluoride, chlorine, etc.

3) Reverse Osmosis water is still a better choice.  This water has been run through a membrane that gives out WATER (as in just H2O).  It tastes like water (humans are one of the few animals that actually don’t “taste” water. We taste the impurities).  The drawbacks are that it uses much more water than it gives out to drive the RO membrane and it takes out the minerals that we need with our water.  These minerals can be replaced by adding sea salt or potassium salts to the water after it comes out of the filter.

4) Distilled Water should be used ONLY for a short time.  It contains NO minerals, and thus none of the “life” that we need from water.  If you are drinking distilled water, then do so for no more than two weeks and do it for a specific reason (like detoxification).  It will also pull in carbon dioxide from the air if left open.  That is why some distilled water takes like the plastic jug it comes in.  This makes the water acid.  If the water you use tastes like anything but water, use a different source.

5) Alkaline water is great, but has drawbacks.  To get the water alkaline, it is run through an electrical gradient.  To achieve alkalinity, particles must be moved across that gradient.  Particles from tap water….  Alkaline water still has the chlorine, fluoride, etc. in it due to the nature of the process to make it alkaline.  That does not mean it is bad, just that you should have a good source of water before connecting the alkalinizer.

This simple formula for water consumption is to take your body weight in pounds and divide that number by two.  The is the number of ounces of water you should take in daily.  That amount can come from soups, broths, or plain water.  Coffee, tea, soda pop (Coke, Pepsi, etc.) and alcohol are all diuretics – they remove more water from your body than they give you.  If you are going to consume these beverages, then here is the guideline: for every cup of coffee (tea, etc.), ADD one cup of water to your total for the day.  When adopting this guideline, start slowly and build up gradually to allow your body to adapt.

For more information about potassium salts to add to your water to help with detoxifying water soluble toxins, please call the office.  These require a visit to a pharmacy that compounds them and that requires a prescription.

Please call the office for more details.  The number is 317-228-9270.

I started medical school with newly prescribed bifocal glasses.  I got at least weekly headaches that were debilitating.  After starting school I found out from my mentor and teacher, Ed Stiles, that there was a way to get eyeglasses prescribed in a way that could reduce your prescription and at the same time help your headaches.  Dr. Stiles had gone from trifocals to bifocals and he was about 65 at the time.  His eyes were still improving.  He made a phone call on my behalf and I went to Hartford, CT and saw Steve Shifreen, MD, and got my first cranial eyeglass prescription.  I got enough relief from a single change in my prescription that I sought out training to learn how to do cranial eyeglass prescriptions to my patients.  I took my first course in 2005 and have been prescribing glasses for my patients since then.

First, let me say that I am not an ophthalmologist.  I do not perform traditional eye exams that check for cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration, etc.  The services I provide are not a substitute for being seen by an optical professional.  For that reason I require that anyone that is working with me for eyeglasses to have had a full eye exam within the last two years prior to seeing me and that they continue seeing their optical professional during our time working together.  Working together in this way we can be assured that you do not have a condition with your eyes that requires the medical attention of an ophthalmologist or other specialist.

If you have received an eyeglass prescription from your optical professional please bring that with you to your first appointment.  Although I can do a full refraction (eyeglass exam) in my office, bringing your prescription saves time.

A simplistic way of describing what we will be doing is using your body’s muscles as an indicator for when your eyes are staining to be able to see.  We will use lenses and eyeglasses to work together to minimize or completely remove this muscular tension.  That way when you open your eyes your body does not have to “work” to see.  It just comes naturally.  The reality of what we will be doing is much more complex and involves physics, optics, the properties of metals and plastics and how they all interact with the body.  I would be happy to discuss those things in person when you come in.  It fascinates me.

Because this approach is scientifically based, is precise, and is fairly technical, I require a few things from your glasses and lenses that most optical professional do not.  My prescriptions are precise (to the nearest 1/8th diopter) and I require that the optical lab that grinds your lenses meet that precision.  This is usually not hard to accomplish, but can take an extra day or so to get your glasses.  Also, because we are going to be fitting the glasses very precisely to your head, I require eyeglass frames that allow the adjustments that need to be made and that will hold them in place.  In general, these are either full or semi-rimless metal frames.  No memory metal (because I have to heat it to bend it and that discolors the frames), no plastic frames (again because heating is required and the frames may distort), no rimless frames (because they are not designed to be precisely adjusted and the lens will likely crack during the adjustment) and no frames with wide temple arm hinges (they cannot easily be bent).  I will talk with you more during your visit on how to select the correct frames.  I also have a limited selection of frames in the office for you to choose from or to use as a sizing guide for your eyeglass selection.

We will also talk about lens selection and the pros and cons of each lens material.  For the most part we will be using plastic lenses that are fairly standard.  They are the least expensive type and distort the visual spectrum the least.  If you require bi- or tri- focal lenses we will discuss the types of lenses available and what they can do to your vision – again both pros and cons.  We can also talk about tinting and sunglass options if required.  Polarized lenses (like the ones you get when you choose non-prescription sunglasses) cause big problems with the head and are not recommended for sensitive folks (and we are all sensitive to these).  3D glasses can also cause problems.  If you need to use these for entertainment, we can talk about better choices among what is available.

After you get your glasses made, I adjust the frames to fit you as perfectly as I can.  Once we get your glasses adjusted to your head, the glasses themselves become a treatment.  You will get instruction in how to care for them.  Each time you open your eyes with your glasses on your body begins to treat itself.  This is a powerful process and can shift longstanding tension patterns in the body.  Most of the time this tension pattern shift will change your eyeglass prescription.  For some people this change can happen in a relatively short time (say two to three weeks after getting your glasses) and for some it can take longer (a year or more).  There is no set time period, but each change usually means an adjustment to your frames and/or a new prescription for lenses.  Since changing your lenses a few times a year can be costly, we will work together to find the most cost effective ways to make this happen.

Just to be clear, this treatment requires that you actually WEAR the prescription that is given to you.  We will work together to optimize your comfort level with the prescription you will be wearing.  The goal of this type of treatment is to remove “visual somatic strain” (that is the tension the can happen in the head and the body during the process of seeing).   It has helped me reduce my headaches (the ones that were caused by glasses by well over 95%).  I may now have one per year as opposed to one or more per week.  My own journey has helped to benefit many of my patients since then.  As I teach this method to other physicians, I continue to gain more knowledge to improve my methods.

If you are interested in exploring this process to help your eyes, symptoms or body, please ask me or my staff.  The office number is 317-228-9270.

Grounding (also called earthing) is literally reconnecting your body with the ground (earth).  It is the basis of healing.  Here is how it works: 1) The earth is a universal electron donor.  What that means is that the earth provides negative charges (electrons) to any positively charged particle that needs them.

2) Oxidative stress is neutralized by grounding.  Pollution, poor nutrition, lack of adequate sleep and many other things can cause the body to oxidize molecules (develop a positive charge).  This can lead to tissue and DNA damage.  Grounding helps to neutralize this effect by providing electrons.

3) Some hormone imbalances can be corrected with grounding.  If your hormone imbalance is a result of stress, returning your body to a more relaxed, grounded state, can correct the hormone imbalance.

4) Disturbed sleep may be helped by grounding.  If you are having sleep problems, grounding can help to restore better sleep by lowering the levels of the hormone cortisol (which is responsible for your sleep/wake cycles).

5) The effects of aging can be helped by grounding.  Oxidative stress contributes to aging.  Grounding helps to correct oxidative stress and can help relieve the effects of aging, such as DNA damage, varicose veins, and spider veins.

6) If you work indoors all day, work or live above the ground floor, drive a car, don’t get outside much, or live in a stressful environment my strong suggestion is that you learn as much as you can about grounding/earthing and take measures to ground yourself.

Grounding can be as simple as walking barefoot in the grass.  It can be sleeping on the bare ground as well.  However, there are simpler ways to ground yourself in today’s modern world.  There are conductive fabrics that can be connected to the earth that will act as if your body is on the ground, even if you are in the comfort of your bed, at your computer or are in your favorite chair.  You can learn more about how grounding/earthing works by clicking here.  You can order the book “Earthing” or visit their product selection.  If you are a do-it-yourselfer, you can order the fabrics and materials to create your own grounding system here.  Or you can visit our office for pre-made earthing sheets and more information on earthing products.

Maintaining zeta potential is one of the main keys to leading a long and healthy life.  Zeta potential refers to the ability of particles to stay suspended in solution.  Its main usage is in industry where manufacturers want things to stay in solution.  When the zeta potential falls, things precipitate (fall) out of solution. They form clumps.  If you want your pasta sauce to look mixed together in the jar, then the correct zeta potential is the science behind why….

Here is how it works in the body:

The simple definition of electrolytes is anything, that when placed in water, will separate into charged particles.  Your body is full of electrolytes – sodium (Na), calcium (Ca), chloride (Cl), bicarbonate (HCO3), etc.  Many of these are measurable with standard lab tests to some extent.  However, the tests don’t tell much about the environment these molecules exist in.

The lab tests can tell us about the numbers of particles, but not how they are interacting.  That is where zeta potential comes in.  In keeping the chemistry simple, all molecules want room to move.  That “space” is due to temperature, thickness of the solution they are suspended in, number of particles and the charge on the particles. It is the last two that I want to focus on.

Particle charge: particles are positively charged, negatively charged or neutral (when they are called a molecule).  In the body, the main liquid that moves things around is called blood plasma.  It is what the red blood cells move in.  If we look at blood plasma from an electrolyte standpoint, there are a specific amount of electrolytes (particles) that are supposed to be in solution.  These charged particles attract or move away from each other very much like traffic on a highway as they move through the body.

Red blood cells are commonly negatively charged.  Through small electrical forces this makes the red blood cells slightly push away from each other.  This allows blood to normally flow smoothly.  This is healthy blood.  If the charge on the blood cell changes from negative to slightly positive, the blood cells now want to be closer together.  They may even want to stick to each other.  What do we call that?  A change in Zeta Potential…or a clot.

If we just cut our finger on a piece of paper, then this is good thing.  If we are talking about the blood vessels that run into our brain, this is very bad – that is a stroke.  If it is our heart, that would be a heart attack.  So Zeta Potential is important.

If you are in the optimal range for Zeta Potential, your blood is able to move around well in the body.  Your pH (the acid or base level) is normal, you are hydrated, AND it is extremely unlikely that you WILL EVER develop heart or kidney disease.

If you have an excess of positive charges (the positive particle number goes up) in your body (which can come about from many things – like too much salt in your diet, heavy metal toxicity, drinking tap water, chronic dehydration, and WAY too many things to list here….) you predispose yourself to: cancer (from a drop in pH), blood clotting diseases (heart attack, stroke, pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis and many more), kidney and gall stones (from the precipitation of blood electrolytes).  If you notice, this is most of the chronic things that people die from.

If you have an excess of negative charges in your body (which can come from many things as well) you predispose yourself to diseases of fluid retention: congestive heart failure, peripheral edema, and nutrient deficiencies.  These are the rest of the chronic diseases.

Remember that Zeta Potential just describes how much the particles in your body (blood and other fluids) attract or repel each other.

There are some simple ways to test Zeta Potential:

You can measure it directly with a urine and saliva test from Solaris.

You can measure it indirectly by using a zeta potential meter on urine.  I have those meters at the office.