Is a fever bad? Depends on your definition of the word "bad". Having a fever often causes us to miss work, lose concentration, shiver, and lay around on the couch for a few days feeling generally miserable: all this could easily qualify as "bad". But these bad things are all effects of the fever, not the fever itself. Let's approach the question this way: Why does a fever occur, and what would happen if you didn't have a fever? Long ago, most kinds of bacteria figured out where they most like to live. Some insane critters decided that they like to live only in the hot springs (and are called thermophiles), some elected to grow in your fridge (called psychrophiles), but the vast majority prefer the nice warm, moist environment of an animal host. That's you. When enough bacteria manage to eke out a nice living for themselves in your throat, lungs, or other body part, your body kicks into defense mode. One plan of attack involves mobilizing vast hordes of immune cells, which actually hack through many of your own cells in their attempt to get at the bad guys. Can't break an omelette without making eggs, you know. But the body has another, complementary, elegant solution to the matter. Since the bacteria have so nicely adapted themselves to living at your body temperature (averaging 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit), the body says... "Aha! We'll burn 'em out!" Your body turns up the heat. It stimulates muscles, makes the heart pump faster, and increases its own internal thermostat. The increased temperature makes life very difficult for the bacteria, who can easily cook in this suddenly hostile environment. The temperature increase also makes those microorganisms much more sluggish, making them easy targets for your immune system. Then, when the forces of darkness has been vanquished, your body "breaks" the fever, and you cool down (and often have sweats as your body attempts to cool off). So, given a choice between having a fever as a defense mechanism, or having your body overrun by bacteria? In this case, the fever is "good". So why do we so often attempt to thwart our body's natural and effective response? We take anti-inflammatories and fever-reducing medications in order to feel better... but this only prolongs our healing process. We hope that we'll be able to forge on through our sickness, but then the sickness lasts twice as long. Because we end up fighting against our body! Although you may want to snuggle under a blanket for at least a month, the best thing to do with a fever, believe it or not, is to go to your local Activator Methods chiropractor. The great thing about the Activator is that it's so gentle. During a fever, your whole body tends to become more sensitive, and the low-force adjusting method of the Activator is unlikely to jar your teeth from your mouth (if you know that feeling). The chiropractic adjustments are designed to help your body's nervous system work at top capacity during the fever, because the nervous system has to coordinate your immune system, your internal thermostat, and all your other regular functions as well. So, to sum up, I personally think fevers are "great". I never take anything for a fever, because I want my body to function at top capacity so I can be back to normal as soon as possible. When you say, "I feel so sick", what you really mean is "I feel healthy, because my body's doing exactly what it should in order to protect me from bacteria and keep me strong, although my limbs are surprisingly weak and I'm going to lay down now." If you weren't healthy, you wouldn't have the fever, because the fever is your body's expression of natural, healthy living. Your fever keeps you alive: if you didn't cook the bacteria, you'd wouldn't be long for this world. Caveat: although rare, if your fever rises above 104 degrees Fahrenheit, you'll need immediate medical intervention. In this instance, your body has actually lost the capability to control its own internal temperature, and is in danger of having the temperature rise out of control. Also, for the record, meningitis is bad. I'm just talking about run-of-the-mill winter fevers here. UPDATE: There is an interesting article on children's fevers published yesterday in the New York Times that dovetails nicely with my blog post. It was written by a pediatrician, and discusses the prevalance of fear and worry about fever.
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Upon entering the anatomy academy
And reading each book through, I soon remarked on the astonishing capacity The body had to do. Think how overwhelming life is for an active lymphocyte. A trip across a thumb Takes hours of labor, bumps, and scraping with all its might Till it's fin'ly done. Could I, behind my podium, balance out the sodium Racing through my tubules? Could I, through my glasses, define all the masses Of nerves in my lobules? Could I, if I chose, convert glucose into glycogen Or, better yet, back again? Could I, if I wait, navigate a breath of air back To an alveolar sac? Could I, if I'm idle, end a knock-down drag-out fight With an eager phagocyte? Could I, if I tried, redirect my core blood flow To a freezing frostbit toe? Not I. But my body can. But the most amazing thing in a sea of amazing things Deserves a passing remark. We humans are so dependent on the light to aid our sight. We hail, we look, we hark. But how does one cell call another? What force unseen brings Them, binds them, in the dark? Each cell's uncanny attraction to another is a marvel to me. For when left unchecked, These noseless, eyeless, earless, legless cells continue to be Effortlessly perfect. Norway Study Reveals 30% Of Pregnant Patients Seek Chiropractic As First Choice For Pain Relief1/6/2011 The December 2010 issue of the Journal of Clinical Chiropractic Pediatrics (JCCP) includes an original study on the characteristics of pregnant women who seek chiropractic care in Norway. The study was approved by the AECC of Chiropractic Ethics Research Sub-Committee for Postgraduate Research in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and conducted at a chiropractic clinic in Oslo.
According to authors Elisabeth Aas-Jackobsen, BS, DC, MS and Joyce E. Miller, DC, DABCO, the study was designed to collect demographic data from the first 100 women presenting at the clinic that included reason for visiting the clinic, average weeks of pain vs. pain sites and the number of pain sites vs. number of chiropractic treatments. The study found that 90% of the patients’ chief complaint was pelvic pain; for 30% of the patients chiropractic was their first choice of treatment; and those who had never had back pain before waited the shortest time before seeking treatment. The authors also found that the longer the patients waited to seek chiropractic care the more pain sites they experienced and the more areas of the spine were treated. Chiropractic and Pregnancy is the focus of the articles published in the December 2010 JCCP. Papers include management of care during pregnancy for intercostal neuralgia; gestational diabetes mellitus, non-optimal fetal positioning and pelvic girdle positioning and dysfunction; musculoskeletal and radicular pain during pregnancy, labor and delivery and the concurrent use of spinal manipulative therapy, craniosacral therapy and dynamic body balancing techniques. There is also a paper on complementary and alternative care for infertility issues. The Journal of Clinical Chiropractic Pediatrics is published by the ICA Council on Chiropractic Pediatrics and provided free of charge to its members. JCCP is available to non-members for an annual subscription fee. Members and subscribers receive a hard copy but are also able to access issues online with the ability to download papers without an additional fee. Content provided by the International Chiropractors Association Council on Chiropractic Pediatrics. Many people think that since chiropractic is a treatment for muscle pain, it isn't necessary for children because they don't have muscles yet. Or rather because the children rarely complain of muscle and joint pain.
But the largest flaw in that thinking is this: chiropractic isn't just for pain. It's for the proper functioning of the nervous system, the system which controls and regulates all other systems in the body. The system which controls proper growth! Children, as growing human beings, need a properly functioning nervous system almost more than adults do. Why? Because as they grow, they adapt to their surroundings at an astonishing rate. A child's body doesn't have the time to figure out if it's growing improperly: it just needs to grow. It needs to get bigger, stronger, faster, and it's going to do it whether the conditions for growth are potent or not. Much like these trees. Trees are meant to grow higher towards the sun. It's not their fault that the bikes just happened to get in their way. They adapted to the bikes' presence, and continued doing what they are designed to do. Grow. Children don't need chiropractic care because they're aching. They need chiropractic care because they're growing. If their muscles are operating properly, if their spinal column is positioned properly, if their nerves are communicating properly, then they'll grow properly. But if their muscles are imbalanced, if their spinal column is fixed or subluxated, if their nerves are communicating at less than optimal capacity, then they're bound to continue growing right around whatever problem they're facing. These childhood adaptations can cause major problems when the child grows into an adult. Just like how that pesky little bike suddenly ended up six feet in the air. That's why I am so proud of the Activator analysis and adjustment method. It's gentle, yes. It's non-invasive, yes. But most importantly, it's effective. Children hardly feel the Activator when it's working, and they often want to use it themselves. It's almost like they instinctively know that chiropractic and the Activator are helping to get that bike out of their trunk. Michelangelo's David was sculpted out of an "undesirable" block of marble rejected by all of his contemporaries. The artist said that when he looked at a blank slab of stone, it didn't matter what it looked like on the outside. He only saw the perfect figure entrapped within it. He only needed to chip away what was not the image to reveal the true masterpiece. Chiropractors approach a patient's care in much the same way.
Within each patient is a masterpiece waiting to emerge. Like Michelangelo, Chiropractors see only the potential health within everyone. Years of stress, trauma, pain, and fear act like granite that entombs your potential. Every adjustment delivered by a skillful Chiropractor is like a finely placed chisel and hammer strike that gently chips away excess stone to reveal the beauty inside you. No matter how covered, disfigured or unfinished you may feel, remember that you are a fine piece of art in the making. Stay consistent with your Chiropractic care so the amazing, healthy person that lies within can be completely revealed. Content provided by Principle33. |
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DisclaimerUnless otherwise attributed, all content is written by Kyle Johnson, DC, of Johnson Family Chiropractic of Peoria.
All images used are under Creative Commons license. Although every effort has been made to provide an accurate description of our chiropractic care and its benefits, the information given on this website and blog is not intended to be, nor should it be interpreted as, medical advice for any condition. If you have any questions regarding your condition, you should seek the help of Dr. Johnson in person, so that he may properly assess your condition. This blog is provided by Johnson Family Chiropractic of Peoria, S.C., proudly located in Peoria, IL. |