Chiropractic, Applied Kinesiology,
Nutritional Counseling
Holland, MI

616-738-1200
info@vickersak.com 

After the Dental Appointment

After the Dental Appointment

by | Dec 28, 2015 | Applied Kinesiology, TMJ

Have you ever wondered if your jaw pain or misalignment, your headaches, or your body aches and pains are the result of that last visit to your dentist? If you do then you’re not alone. But did you know that the number one cause of TMJ disorders is the actual dental work itself? That trip to the dentist may have long-lasting effects other than just a cute smile and straight teeth.

It’s important to understand that this isn’t the dentist’s fault. They need to get their hands inside your mouth to do the necessary work and get the job done. If the dentist has larger hands, then they may need to open your mouth wider, stretching and consequently turning off muscles in your jaw. If the patient has a smaller mouth, then the patient may need to open their mouth wider to accommodate the dentist and their tools, resulting in the same injuries. By the way, having a “big mouth” can help you avoid TMJ and cranial problems.

So, what are your options? Bite splints are often used to hold your jaw in its proper alignment. Braces may have to be re-installed in an effort to correct muscular weaknesses and imbalances caused by the dental work. However, this approach to a TMJ muscular imbalance is like keeping your broken bone in a cast forever or using crutches for the rest of your life.

Other therapies include making structural corrections in the bones that make up our head, otherwise known as the cranium. Cranial Therapy, Cranial-Sacral Therapy, Sacro-Occipital Technique, etc. are names of various techniques that have been developed to normalize the movement of these cranial bones. Our cranial-sacral movement is extremely important to help keep our bodies healthy.

These therapies, which include gentle movements that encourage these bones to move correctly, are excellent and needed. However, it is important to remember that muscles move bones and hold them in their proper alignment…not the other way around. Moving these bones is often only half the therapy needed.

Another approach includes the ability to diagnose and turn back on the muscles of the head, neck, and jaw that can become injured and “turned off” through jolts, jars, falls, and impacts, as well as through dental work.

As an Applied Kinesiologist, I have been trained to perform cranial therapy via manipulation of the cranial bones. I am also trained to discover which muscles of the jaw have been turned off and then I turn them back on so they will hold and maintain the required cranial corrections.

Structural imbalances in the cranium and the TMJ mechanism may be linked to such maladies such as (the obvious) jaw pain, headaches, vision problems, neck and upper back pain, as well as (the not so obvious) knee pain, middle back and low back pain, foot pain, as well as digestive problems of all kinds.

If you or your loved ones are suffering from the results of jaw trauma, call me, Dr. Joel Vickers at Vickers AK Chiropractic at (616) 738-1200 and let me fix your TMJ and cranial imbalances!

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

by | Dec 28, 2015 | Applied Kinesiology, Carpel Tunnel

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is caused by a nerve that’s trapped in your wrist. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, or CTS, is understood much better if you look at it from the perspective of an Applied Kinesiologist.

My name is Dr. Joel Vickers and I practice Chiropractic and specialize in Applied Kinesiology (AK). I’d love to tell you all about Applied Kinesiology in this article, but I’ve already written a previous article, “Muscle Weakness from Trauma” that explains AK much better, and I encourage you to read it as soon as you can.

First of all, it’s important to understand that muscles move bones; bones do not move muscles. Muscles also hold bones in their proper position, and when these muscles work properly all the other components (nerves, arteries, veins, ligaments, discs, joints, etc.) that are located in and around these properly balanced muscles work exactly the way they were designed to work. If any of these “components” fail to work properly or fail to pull their own weight they put the burden on the other parts that, as a team, function to move our limbs and our trunk around.

In the case of CTS, one of the simplest cures is to turn on and re-balance the muscles of the forearm, or arm, or shoulder. That’s it. Not “exercise it”, not “stretch it”, not “ultrasound it”, or “cold pack it”, or “hot pack it”, or anything like that. Receiving a cortisone shot or taking anti-inflammatory drugs may cover up the pain, but they will not and cannot turn on muscles or re-balance the muscles of your forearm, arm, and shoulder.

If you know anyone who suffers from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, maybe someone who has fallen and injured their wrist or arm, don’t let them suffer needlessly. Please send them to me, Dr. Joel Vickers, at Vickers AK Chiropractic, and I will help them back to full strength with full use of their hand and arm! Call today at (616) 738-1200.