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Wow! January 1, 2009!? Where did the time go? It seems like just yesterday
that I was sitting here writing the very first "Weekly Well-Being." 52 weeks
later and I'm sitting here writing the 53rd edition. I hope this newsletter goes
to show that it's possible to make a worthwhile New Year's resolution and
actually stick to it. Next week, I'm going to talk about New Year's resolutions
and tips to get you to stick with them. Perhaps that should've been this week's
topic, but time flew...and I had the following on my mind...
On deck as this week's topic is an issue that concerns about half of all adults.
ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzz. Snoring occurs when the muscles of the tongue relax and narrow
the air passages, creating for a vibration that leads to a potentially nasty
sound. While half of adults snore occasionally, about 1/4 will snore
habitually...some of them all night...and all kinds of loud. I can remember
thinking that the issue would never affect me. When I was younger, I recall
going on road trips for soccer games and sharing rooms with my folks. A
particular member of the family, who shall remain unnamed, often ensured that I
would be all, but well rested when I took the field the following morning. A few
years later, a good friend of mine's snoring would keep up an entire dorm room
during road trips to UNC-Chapel Hill. Think of what it might be like to shove
knives down the garbage disposal and you might get an idea of the sounds that
this guy would make.
Then one day, I started to snore. Luckily, I was told that I snored for almost
exactly ten-minutes while on my back, before rolling over to my side and
sleeping quietly for the rest of the night. And now those days are gone...I,
like so many others, have become a habitual snorer. And I, just like the rest of
them, really don't want to be and certainly don't mean to be.
Let's first clear up the details of the definition of snoring. The definition in
the opening paragraph of today's newsletter came from an MSNBC article written
in 2007. That pretty much nailed it on the head, but I want to clarify that it
isn't just the muscles of the tongue creating airway interference, it's really
anything that creates airway resistance. So, things like nasal congestion can be
big contributing factors and amplify snoring habits. Take me, for
instance...I've now broken my nose twice in the last 4 years. I still crave
competition and my competitive outlets of choice are the soccer pitch and the
basketball court, where each of my two reasons for rhinoplasty have occurred.
Because the structure of my nose is no longer conducive to proper air flow, I am
often a little stopped up. It's often mistaken as a "head cold" but I haven't
had a head cold that last more than a day or two since I started upper cervical
care a year and a half ago. For people like me, the only way to ever hope to get
that snoring to stop is going to be having surgery to fix the nose and restore
proper air flow.
Luckily, not everyone is like me. If you snore and you don't have any structural
damage, that you are aware of, to your nose, then correcting the subluxation by
making a simple correction in the upper cervical spine will assuredly give you a
great chance of decreasing your snoring. That slight misalignment of the head as
it sits on the neck immediately restricts the airway. This is why sinus
surgeries don't always fix sinus congestion. Put quite simply, the root of the
problem was not sinus congestion, but rather a subluxation that was causing the
sinus congestion. When removed, the sinuses cleared and spouses suddenly found
themselves migrating back to their rooms from the guest quarters.
Speaking of spouses moving to other rooms to get away from the snoring, I want
to stress the effect that snoring can have on a relationship. I cannot stress to
you enough the importance of mental health and well-being and how stress is the
absolute worst thing in the world for your body. Stress is one of the main
detriments of snoring. In regards to relationships, snoring ultimately causes
resentment. The snorer justly feels that he/she cannot help it and that the
other should learn to deal with it. The person that has to listen to the snoring
isn't getting any sleep, is often not well rested, and struggles to get through
the day having not gotten his/her 6-8 necessary hours. Then, the snorer may
start waking up in the night to make sure that the other is asleep. He/she feels
bad for causing the other's poor night of sleep. It's a vicious cycle.
I urge you to not separate to different rooms. Wear ear plugs. Do what you must,
but studies have shown that couples do some of their best communicating right
before bed. I will back up that notion. I 100% agree with those studies. Life is
about establishing positive habits, and if you aren't spending that quality time
with your loved one, I would certainly call that the establishment of a negative
habit. Negative habits are contagious, particularly in relationships. Avoid them
at all costs. Sleep is important. It's unbelievably important. So, is it not
worth simply going to get your spine checked? That's a very simple solution to
snoring. If that doesn't work (for as I said, the nose may just be in need of a
little procedure), is it not worth it to fix the problem? Just something to
think about...
I wanted to mention something that happened to a friend of mine recently. She
went into labor early in the morning. By the early afternoon, the nurses were
concerned about infection developing. She and her husband had planned not to
have any drugs. This was to be a natural birth. To that point, everything was
going according to their plan. She was being a real champ through the whole
thing. However, the hospital insisted on giving her medication to speed along
the process. In the next few hours, she dilated just short of the optimum for
going forward with full-on delivery. Also during that time, she experienced
contractions that hurt her so badly that she began getting sick to her stomach.
As the hours passed, she decided she couldn't take the pain anymore and asked
for more drugs. They gave her an epidural and she calmed down, just in time for
them to alert her that she'd likely need a C-section. So much for the natural
birth, eh?
Now, things go wrong and not everything happens according to plan. I simply take
issue with the manner, in which this scenario was handled. The body was doing
what it needed to do to get her ready to deliver, but the decision was taken out
of her hands. Medication was all but forced on her. The meds sped up her
contractions and dilation too fast, and her body couldn't handle it. She felt
that she needed the epidural at that point. The couple's plans for a natural
birth were dashed with the "by the book" decision to give a woman meds if she
isn't progressing as fast they'd like. Now, I've not spent a great deal of time
in hospitals recently, but I spent 5 summers following around medical doctors. I
know one when I see one. It wasn't until she had been in labor for nearly 22
hours that I finally saw a medical doctor come in. Her decisions were being made
by nurses following a protocol. That protocol stripped my friend of her right to
choose how she wanted to give birth. I really resent that. I am disgusted with
what I witnessed.
Furthermore, since I was at the hospital for the better part of 24 hours, I had
a chance to talk with a lot of people. I learned that, on the previous day, 5
newborns were delivered via C-section. On the day of my friend's delivery, 2
more were born by C-section. As it would turn out, only one of the last nine
births at this hospital were from vaginal delivery.
Could be a coincidence...probably is a coincidence...but I'm no less upset and
disappointed that my friends didn't get to do this the way that they wanted and
had planned for the last 9 months. The father would go on to tell me that they
were invited to their Bradley class to share their story. After their
experience, they aren't very excited about sharing.
Well, that's it for this week...I hope you have a phenomenal New Year and I'm
thinking good things for you as always...
--
Dr. Chad McIntyre
Upper Cervical Chiropractor
"If we all did the things that we are capable of, we would astound ourselves" -
Thomas Edison
"Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to
it" - Lou Holtz
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