El Cajon Chiropractor - Fever in children - friend or foe?

When illness is accompanied by a fever, many are quick to pop a few over-the-counter pills to get rid of it as quickly as possible.  But is this the best course of action?

A fever is the bodies natural reaction to an infection.  Increasing the temperature of the body serves several purposes:
1. It increases the mobility of the white blood cells of the immune system helping them to get to the site of infection faster.
2. It increases the speed by which the white blood cells destroy the infectious agent.
3. It increases the speed by which white blood cells are created.
4. It decreases the effectiveness of toxins secreted by the infectious agent.
5. It decreases the ability of bacteria to reproduce as most bacteria are extremely temperature sensitive.

So the question begs...fever or reliever? This depends on a few variables such as age.
Let's first consider adults:
In adults, there is more room for error.  In adults, a fever doesn't become serious until it sustains an oral temperature of 105 degrees Fahrenheit for over an hour without dropping below 103 F.  Keep in mind that a fever is merely a symptom, an indicator of your body being in fight mode.  The most common cause of a fever is a minor bacterial or viral infection.  It is very rare for a bacterial or viral infection to cause a fever of over 105.  It is important to seek medical attention if your fever stays above 105 F or if you experience other symptoms such as stiff neck, severe abdominal pain, skin lesions, or any other unusual symptoms.

With Children over 2 years of age, the same temperature guidelines are in place, over 105 F for over an hour without dropping below 103 F.  Kids are not able to communicate as well as adults.  The fever is ok as long as your child - is somewhat active and playing, is eating and drinking, is alert, has normal skin tone, and looks generally well.  There is no risk of any brain damage until the fever reaches 107.6 F, which is difficult to achieve without bundling a very sick child.  

Seizures can occur when your child has a fever.  The important thing to remember is that though they can be terrifying, they rarely cause any permanent harm.

If your child is between 3 mos. and 2 years, seek medical attention if the fever goes above 102.2 F or lasts more than 48 hours.

If your child is under 3 months, call the child's doctor if their rectal temperature goes over 100.4 F.

In all cases, it is imperative that you follow these rules during a fever:
1. keep well hydrated - Fever and associated vomiting or diarrhea can wipe out water stores extremely quickly.  Straight water can upset the stomach.  Soup, popsicles, & jello can help supplement water.
2. Do not give too much sweetened drinks or juice - These feed bacteria and can make the infection last longer.  It's better to drink diluted fruit juice or water.
3. Give a room temperature bath - Cold baths can cause shivering which will bring the temperature up.
4. Do not bundle up someone with the chills - A thin blanket will do, heavy blankets or wraps can take their temperature too high too quickly.
5. Although I am not advocating the use of over-the-counter medicines, NEVER give any child aspirin when they have a fever - This can lead to a very serious condition called Reye's Syndrome.

If you do take steps to lower a fever, keep in mind that you are much better off lowering the fever than eliminating it all together.  A low grade fever helps you to get better quicker.

It's a good idea to contact a pediatrician if your child: Has a fever and another ongoing illness/condition, recently had an immunization, has new skin problems, has trouble urinating or pain when urinating, has compromised immune function, or if they have recently traveled out of the country.

Call 911 immediately if your child has a fever and any of the following:

• Is crying and cannot be calmed down (children)
• Cannot be awakened easily or at all
• Seems confused
• Cannot walk
• Has difficulty breathing, even after their nose is cleared
• Has blue lips, tongue, or nails
• Has a very bad headache
• Has a stiff neck
• Refuses to move an arm or leg (children)
• Has a seizure

If you're an adult, call the doctor if:

• Have a fever over 105 °F (40.5 °C), unless it comes down readily with treatment and you are comfortable
• Have a fever that stays at or keeps rising above 103 °F
• Have a fever for longer than 48 - 72 hours
• Have had fevers come and go for up to a week or more, even if they are not very high
• Have a serious medical illness, such as a heart problem, sickle cell anemia, diabetes, cystic fibrosis, COPD, or other chronic lung problems
• Have a new rash or bruises appear
• Have pain with urination
• Have trouble with your immune system (chronic steroid therapy, after a bone marrow or organ transplant, had spleen removed, HIV-positive, were being treated for cancer)
• Have recently traveled to a third world country

Dr. Dennis Barker DC is a Chiropractor in the Community of Fletcher Hills serving the cities of El Cajon, La Mesa, Santee and all of San Diego County.

Visit us at www.fletcherhillschiropractic.com and www.facebook.com/fletcherhillschiro

El Cajon Chiropractor - Prescription painkillers - Cure or band-aid?

When you have a back ache, headache, tooth ache, or any ache, many people turned to over-the-counter or prescription painkillers for relief.  My question is this...does this painkiller actually heal the body, or does it only mask the pain?  I liken this to the following analogy - When the check engine light comes on in your car - do you put a piece of tape over the light so that it doesn't bother you, or do you take your car to the mechanic?

Most of you would do the latter.  While tooth aches are most of the time out of my scope, other aches and pains of the body are in my wheel house.  I often ask my patients "why does your back, knee, or elbow hurt and someone else's doesn't?  Are you unlucky?  Were born under a bad sign?  Did a black cat cross your path?"  Of course not.  There is a cause behind your pain.  Pain is transmitted via nerves from the source of the pain back through the spinal cord to the brain.  When nerves are irritated or compressed by the vertebrae of the spine, pain is often experienced.  Misalignments of the vertebrae are called subluxations and they have a lot to do with chronic pain in many cases.  You may be asking yourself "why would my spine be 'out-of-whack'"?  Remember that car accident a few or many years ago?  That one where you "didn't get hurt".  Or what about that time in high school during cheerleading practice where they dropped you on your butt or neck.  That time when you slipped and fell and it only hurt for a little while.  Or what about that time when you were a kid and you fell of the swing or the see-saw.

Many of these accidents go without major pain at the time, but they begin an injury process that doesn't mature until much later, like today.
The problem with painkillers is that they work.  Their job is to relieve pain, a job that most times, they do very well.  Here is where the problem lies - with the pain gone, temporarily, people think that they have "cured" themselves.  The painful muscle spasms that can occur with acute or chronic injuries is the body signaling you that the area must be protected and rested.  After popping a couple of painkillers, people feel well enough to go about their day, possibly causing further injury.  After the acute period passes, the muscles calm down and the pain often dies down as well.  However the damaged joint is now frozen in place and forces the adjacent joints to do double the work, beginning the damage process on those as well.  Let this process continue and you've got the perfect recipe for a chronic, painful condition down the road.

Here's the take-home lesson.  Fix the problem.  If you get to the root of the problem and repair the damage when it happens, not only will you not need to take painkillers, but you'll be saving yourself from future chronic-pain conditions.

Dr. Dennis Barker DC is a Chiropractor in the Community of Fletcher Hills serving the cities of El Cajon, La Mesa, Santee and all of San Diego County.

Visit us at www.fletcherhillschiropractic.com and www.facebook.com/fletcherhillschiro

El Cajon Chiropractor - Chronic headaches after whiplash injuries

A common problem after a car accident is chronic headaches with or without neck pain.  The source of this pain is irritation to the dura mater in the upper neck.  The dura mater is the outermost layer of the sheath which surrounds your spinal cord.  There are 4 pairs of small muscles that run between the base of your skull and the first 2 bones of your neck.  These muscles are called the "suboccipital" muscles ("sub" meaning "below" & occiput is the anatomical name for the base of the skull) Three of these muscles are attached to the dura mater.

The suboccipital muscles shown attaching to the base of the skull and the first  2 bones in the neck

During a whiplash injury the head is thrown forward, then back.  As the head is thrust forward, these tiny muscles are often stretched and/or torn.  Additionally the dura mater and the attached pia mater (another layer of the sheath surrounding the spinal cord) are stretched, causing great irritation and possible interruption of blood flow to the spinal cord and brain.  This is why many times a headache is often felt immediately after the impact of a car accident.

Illustration of whiplash showing the stretch-type injury of the suboccipital muscles

The dura mater is closely linked with intense headaches. This is why headaches often accompany meningitis (meningitis means inflammation of the meninges - the dura mater & pia mater are 2 of the 3 layers of the meninges or spinal cord sheath) as well as epidural (above the dura) injection.  If whiplash injuries are left untreated, the suboccipital muscles can begin to atrophy.  Without proper tone, the meninges are left unprotected and can cause the chronic headaches.

What your Chiropractor can do - Headaches have many causes.  A significant number of the causes are easily treated with Chiropractic adjustment of the neck.  If you're afraid of having your neck adjusted, call the office of a Chiropractor and ask what technique the doctor uses.  Many Chiropractors are trained in low-force techniques such as the Activator Technique.  If you've had an automobile accident recently or even in the distant past and you suffer from chronic headaches, you owe it to yourself to stop popping pills and get after the cause of headaches.  Your local Chiropractor can give you an examination and let you know if Chiropractic is right for you.

Dr. Dennis Barker DC is a Chiropractor in the Community of Fletcher Hills serving the cities of El Cajon, La Mesa, Santee and all of San Diego County.

Visit us at www.fletcherhillschiropractic.com and www.facebook.com/fletcherhillschiro

El Cajon Chiropractor - Is texting ruining our kids posture?

Notice the forward head & shoulder position

Twitter, texting, & video games.  What do they have in common?  Well, our kids’ posture is being destroyed by them.  If you’ve ever watched kids during a texting frenzy, you would’ve seen the classic posture: head down, neck craned forward, and shoulder rolled in toward the front of the body.  A recent study published in the Journal of School Health found that 38.3% of children had poor posture.  An even more interesting number was that at 7 years old, the % of children with poor posture was only 33% while 11-year-olds were found be at 41%.  As the children get to the age where they are trusted with cell phones, their posture gets dramatically worse.  The most common complaints amongst the poor posture group were headaches, neck pain, & low back pain.  As Chiropractors, we have seen an increase in neck and back symptoms in a younger group. 

Notice the forward head
& shoulder position

The posture plague may have begun when schools eliminated lockers back in the early 1990s.  Kids were required to haul around backpacks with up to 6-8 books in them and these backpacks began to increase in weight up to 50 lbs.  This forced the kids to pull their heads & shoulders forward to handle the load.  Who exactly thought it was a good idea to put a 50 lb. backpack on a 60 pound child?  After this came the hand-held video game craze which took kids with forward head and shoulder posture, and kept them in this posture long after their school books had been cast aside for the day.  The next big thing was texting.  The average teenager sends 60 texts per day.  That adds up to 1,800 text messages per month.  A study found that while texting, children’s heads sit 4-1/2 inches in front of neutral.  This is a lot of spent in a “buzzard posture” after spending even more time with the video games and carrying the heavy backpack.  Add on top of this facebook & homework on the computer it seems that kids are only out of this poor posture when they are lying on their backs in bed!

A buzzard with buzzard posture

A kid texting in buzzard posture

So what’s the big deal if you have bad posture?  Anterior head carriage as it’s called, can produce up to 30 lbs. of additional pressure on the neck.  That’s like walking around all day with a cinder block on top of your head.  Imagine doing that 5, 10, or 20 years.  This can lead to degenerative arthritis in the neck at younger and younger ages.  Also, symptoms most influenced by poor posture are spinal pain, headache, mood, blood pressure, pulse, and lung capacity.  On top of that, older adults with increased curve in the midback, called hyperkyphosis, have a higher rate of mortality.

Hyperkyphosis

What is being done about this?  Well, more schools are going to 2 sets of books (1 for school, 1 for home) and some are even using digital books.  This should help some with correcting posture, but not the lion's share.  Let’s face it folks, texting, twitter, video games, backpacks, facebook, & homework are going to be here for a while.  Why not bring your child in for a Chiropractic consultation so that they don’t grow up to suffer with the same health problems that you have endured?

Dr. Dennis Barker DC is a Chiropractor in the Community of Fletcher Hills serving the cities of El Cajon, La Mesa, Santee and all of San Diego County.

Visit us at www.fletcherhillschiropractic.com and www.facebook.com/fletcherhillschiro

El Cajon Chiropractor - Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Chiropractic

Would you believe me if I told you that the pain, numbness and tingling in your hands could be coming from your neck?  In fact, when I have a new patient in my office complaining of these symptoms, I typically don't even give an adjustment to these areas until I've adjusted the neck first.  Sounds crazy, right?  Well, here's the explanation.  Carpal tunnel syndrome is defined by Wikipedia as "... an entrapment median neuropathy, causing paresthesia, pain, numbness, and other symptoms in the distribution of the median nerve due to its compression at the wrist in the carpal tunnel".

Entrapment means trapping or compression
Median is referring to the median nerve (I'll explain this later)
Neuropathy is a loss of nerve tone or function
Paresthesia means tingling

The carpal tunnel is literally a tunnel where the median nerve and the muscle tendons going to the hand pass through.  There are a total of 9 tendons which join the median nerve in the tunnel.

Close up of the carpal tunnel

The tunnel has rigid walls created by the transverse carpal ligament and the carpal (wrist) bones on the back of the wrist.  The transverse carpal ligament is what creates the tunnel and is the part of the tunnel closest to the surface of the skin on the palm side of the wrist.

So, that being said, it seems obvious that the problem is still in the wrist, right?  Well, follow me on this one.  The median nerve is part of what is called the brachial (arm) plexus (group) of nerves.  The brachial plexus begins at the neck where 5 nerves exiting your spinal cord at your neck join together.  They then travel down the arm all the way to the hand. The median nerve travels through the carpal tunnel and is responsible for touch sensation to the palm side of the thumb, index, middle, and part of the ring fingers.

The median nerve gives touch sensation  to the thumb side of the palm

These  particular nerves exit your spine at the level of the lower neck.  Any trauma to the neck (car accident, slip and fall, sports injuries, etc.) can cause long lasting, chronic nerve compression or irritation.  These injuries often cause of a loss of the natural curve of the neck.  This narrows the opening in the spine where the nerves coming off of the spinal cord exit and go down the arm all the way to the hand.

The brachial plexus exiting the neck and traveling down the arm

 When the nerves are irritated or compressed at the neck, the effects are often felt at the location furthest from the spinal cord, in this case the hand.  In some cases, you may not have significant symptoms in your neck, only in your hands.  This is why 1 person doing the same job as another may have problems, while another doesn't.  The worker with carpal tunnel likely has neck issues.  This is also why some patients have a recurrence of symptoms after having carpal tunnel surgery.  Because their problem was not in their wrist, it was at the source, at the neck. I like to compare this to a car with a bad front-end alignment.  The symptom is tires that wear unevenly.  You can replace the tires a hundred times, but it doesn't ever get rid of the problem.  Until you align the front end, you haven't fixed the problem at its source.


Seeing your Chiropractor will get your neck in proper alignment.  This will open up the paths for nerves exiting the spinal cord at the neck and help them to heal.

Dr. Dennis Barker DC is a Chiropractor in the Community of Fletcher Hills serving the cities of El Cajon, La Mesa, Santee and all of San Diego County.

Visit us at www.fletcherhillschiropractic.com and www.facebook.com/fletcherhillschiro

El Cajon Chiropractor - Plantar Fasciitis, Running and Chiropractic

Plantar Fascia

Plantar fasciitis is inflammation of the connective tissue that travels on the bottom of your foot from your heel to your forefoot.  It can also be known as a heel spur although they’re not necessarily the same.  You may experience pain in your heel or in your arch, usually worse first thing in the morning, that gets better once you take a few steps.  The pain may come and go throughout the day.  So what's causing this?

Our tendency is to locate the source of pain and then - rub it, poke it, heat it up, cool it down, inject it, or cut it out.  While any of these may be effective, they are treating the end result, and not the source of the problem.  This is akin to replacing your right front tire of your car every 3 months because it keeps wearing down.  The problem is that your front end is misaligned and the worn out tire is the outward symptom.

Pelvic subluxation making legs uneven

The most common cause of plantar fasciitis is a subluxation (mis-alignment) of the joints in the lower half of your body.  Now I know that the first thing you thought of was "the bones of my foot are misaligned?".  Ah, ah, ah...We need to go further up the chain.  Although the source of the misalignment may be in your foot, it is significantly more common for this to be occurring in the low back or pelvis.  When your low back or pelvis become subluxated, it alters your gait (walking or running pattern).  This causes 2 things: leg-length differences leading to muscle-length differences.  This leads to excessive pull on the plantar fascia due to the altered mechanics.  One leg becomes longer, there is reduced dorsiflexion (bringing foot up towards shin) in the leg, the achilles tendon becomes tight, the arch of the foot begins flattening, this creates increased distance between the forefoot and heel and increased tension on the plantar fascia.  If this added tension on the fascia is not lessened, the body begins to change the soft tissue of the fascia into stronger tissue - bone.  Voila!  A heel spur develops on the front of the heel bone because this is where the fascia inserts and is its weakest link.  A heel spur can not be removed except by surgery, so it is imperative to receive proper treatment at the onset of symptoms to prevent spur formation.  

The major medical treatments are surgery and cortisone injections.  I don't need to tell you the complications associated with surgery.  Cortisone, on the other hand is a steroid.  As with any steroid, continued use can lead to high blood sugar, diabetes, osteoporosis, personality changes such as anxiety or depression, and increased chance of illness or infection.  Cortisone is also used to suppress the immune system.  In fact, it works so well that it is often used following an organ transplant to prevent rejection of the organ.  It works by beating down the immune system to the point where it can form an attack against the foreign organ.

Here's what to do if you start to feel the symptoms of plantar fasciitis:

1. Get adjusted – if your pelvis or low back is out of alignment, you’re putting increased stress on the foot, you may not have proper nerve supply to the muscles of the foot and leg, and your walking/running biomechanics can be off.  This step is critical because it gets to the cause of the problem and doesn't just mask the symptoms.
2. Fill a small water bottle (the standard 16.9 oz. size) with water and freeze it.  Then, take it out and roll it under the bottom of your foot, front to back.  This does 3 things: it breaks up the scar tissue which has formed and the ice reduces inflammation & and decreases the pain.
3. Take omega-3 oils – Fish or krill oil are nature’s greatest natural anti-inflammatory.
4. Get a gel heel cup – This gives your heel some cushion and raises your heel slightly which takes tension of the plantar fascia.  If you know you already have a heel spur (from a previous x-ray), get a U-shaped heel pad which puts a small gap between the center of the heel and your shoe.
5. Try a natural topical analgesic – 4X/day.  Something with menthol works great, like Sombra or Biofreeze.
6. Stretch the plantar fascia – Do this by bending your toes back towards your shin.  First, while sitting, second while standing, if symptoms persist you made need a brace that will do this while you sleep.
7. Stretch the achilles tendon.  Do this by putting your foot in a toes up position against a wall or cabinet then leaning forward until you feel a stretch in your calf.  Alternate with your leg straight and with your knee bent - this works both muscles in the calf.

Plantar fascia stretch

Calf stretch

And remember as always - This stuff works folks!

Dr. Dennis Barker DC is a Chiropractor in the Community of Fletcher Hills serving the cities of El Cajon, La Mesa, Santee and all of San Diego County.

Visit us at www.fletcherhillschiropractic.com and www.facebook.com/fletcherhillschiro

El Cajon Chiropractor - Neck pain: Chiropractic vs. Pain killers

A recent study published in The Annals of Internal Medicine compared the effectiveness of Chiropractic care against over the counter pain killers and narcotics in treating neck pain.  The results? Of the 272 study participants, 82% of those receiving Chiropractic adjustments reported significant pain relief vs. only 69% in the medication group.  Here's the best part...the results were similar after 6 months and 12 months AND the Chiropractic patients reported greater satisfaction and overall function.  But that's not all...call now and you can relief from your neck pain with NO harmful side effects.  If you didn't already know, acetametophen has been tied to kidney damage with extensive use and narcotics are addictive.  So stop suffering needlessly with an achey neck and see your local Chiropractor. This stuff works folks!

Dr. Dennis Barker DC is a Chiropractor in the Community of Fletcher Hills serving the cities of El Cajon, La Mesa, Santee and all of San Diego County.

Visit us at www.fletcherhillschiropractic.com and www.facebook.com/fletcherhillschiro