Wichita Chiropractor "Doc" Scharenberg's Blog

The best prostate treatment is preventive treatment

2010-12-08T06:56:00.001-08:00

Prostate inflammation, commonly called prostatitis, is one of those basket terms that has a wide variety of meanings. There are several causes and symptoms for inflammatory conditions that affect the prostate gland.

Those related to bacterial infection can usually be treated with medication, but 90 to 95 percent of prostate inflammation cases have other, less understood causes. In the absence of bacterial indications, we believe the following factors may increase chances of prostate inflammation:

- Pressure on the prostate from surrounding, possibly diseased tissue

- Traumatic injury

- Psychological stress

- Immune system problems

- Disorders of the nervous system

- Consumption of caffeine

- Other dietary considerations

Symptoms of prostate trouble may include:

- Frequent urination, especially at night

- Sudden, urgent need to urinate

- Impotency

- Erectile dysfunction

- Abdomen, groin or lower back pain

- Pain in the area of the prostate (between the penis and rectum)

- Difficult, intermittent or hesitant urination

- Pain during urination

- Pain during ejaculation

- Discomfort of the testicles and/or penis

What to do if you suspect a problem
As the title of this article indicates, the best prostate treatment is preventive treatment. If you have even the slightest hint of any prostatitis symptoms, call my office. We'll conduct a complete physical examination, including laboratory work and a discussion of your medical history. If we determine that you have a nonbacterial prostate inflammation, your recommended treatment may include Digital Rectal Massage, a chiropractic treatment that has proven effective for many men in the reduction of prostate inflammation and its symptoms. It's my belief that, when undertaken early, this non-pharmaceutical, non-surgical treatment can also reduce the risk of more serious prostate conditions, including prostate cancer.

To learn more, visit the prostate information page of my website: New Prostate Treatment
--Wichita Chiropractor Doc Scharenberg

Does your fussy baby have colic symptoms?

2010-11-29T14:22:00.000-08:00

(Wichita chiropractor Dr. Dennis "Doc" Scharenberg has successfully cured baby colic for 37 years, using a chiropractic massage technique called ileocecal massage. Visit his Wichita chiropractic clinic website to learn more about this and other chiropractic wellness strategies that help families stay healthy without the use of drugs or surgery.)

I talk a lot about baby colic as a reason that babies cry, and other articles on this blog discuss colic cure and baby colic symptoms. But it's important to realize that, most of the time, when you have a fussy baby, it's caused by something far less serious. In one study, only five percent of fussy babies brought to an emergency room had serious medical conditions. The study also revealed that the ones found to have serious conditions had other, visible symptoms beyond fussiness.

Let's look at some other issues that can turn your happy, healthy baby into a fussy baby:

1. Some experts believe that babies may cry simply because they are overstimulated or overwhelmed by their environments. Naps and mealtimes usually cure this problem.

2. Has the baby missed a nap or meal due to disruptions in the family schedule?

3. Is the baby teething?

4. Does the baby have a fever, congestion or runny nose? It could be a cold or ear infection.

5. Is the baby vomiting? Does the baby have diarrhea? This could indicate a stomach virus, especially if illness is "going around." (Continuous vomiting combined with tender, distended abdomen indicate a severe infection or other problem, which requires immediate medical attention.)

6. Does the baby have a rash, insect bite or other skin irritation?

7. Is the baby scratched or injured?

8. Has the baby's diet changed? If the baby is being breastfed, has the mother's diet changed? This could open the door to a food intolerance.

How to soothe a fussy baby

Walk and rock your fussy baby.
Give your baby a warm bath.
Take a ride in the car.
Turn a fan on low. As with many adults, this sound can relax a fussy baby.
Play with toys or draw pictures for your baby.
Change the baby's position, from belly to back or vise versa.
Play classical or soothing music.
Do a baby massage. Like anyone else, infants like to be touched.
Offer the baby a pacifier.
Wrap the baby in a warm blanket.
Try putting your fussy baby in the crib and walking away for a few minutes. Maybe your attempts to sooth are having the opposite effect. It happens (although I'm not a believer in the theory that you can spoil an infant with too much love and attention).
Keep looking for solutions. Remember that what works for friends' babies, may not work for yours. We're all individuals, even in infancy. If you think your baby has a serious health problem, contact your doctor.

If you still think your fussy baby has baby colic symptoms, call my office, and let's take a look. The treatment is very low cost, it's drug free, and it's 100 percent effective as a colic cure.

And remember: never shake your baby. This can cause shaken baby syndrome.

Baby colic symptoms ... and the long-sought colic cure for your fussy baby

2010-11-02T09:26:00.000-07:00

We've talked in the past about how ileocecal massage is the only real colic cure (and a lifesaver for sleepless parents who have had to deal with a fussy baby for days or weeks on end), but we haven't talked much about baby colic symptoms.

First of all, it's important to realize that a fussy baby is sometimes a normal baby; crying is part of infancy and doesn't always indicate colic or any other health problem. However, if your baby is well fed and otherwise healthy, and you see any of the following indications, they could be baby colic symptoms:

Extremely intense crying. (Your baby cries so hard that his or her complexion flushes, legs curl up, or fists clench.)
Sudden crying with no apparent cause.
Crying episodes that begin at the same time every day.
Long periods of crying (although colic episodes may last anywhere from a few minutes to two or three hours).
Baby passing gas or having a bowel movement around the time the crying ends.
Onset of cyring episodes at around 2 weeks of age (colic usually starts at about 2 weeks of age and ends by 3 or 4 months of age).

What Causes Colic?

Plenty of theories have been advanced as to what causes colic:

Acid reflux
Sensory overload
Intestinal gas
Lactose of protein intolerance
Hormonal changes
Underdeveloped nervous system

However, only one theory has been proven true by virtue of successful treatment: a weak ileocecal valve. Daily ileocecal massage for a period of approximately two weeks has proven 100 percent effective as a colic cure for my patients.

One hundred percent.

We strengthen the ileocecal valve with chiropractic massage, and the colic goes away. To me, that's a pretty strong indication that we have found the cause--and the colic cure.

Treatments you may have already tried without success

Changing the baby's food

Swaddling the baby
Warm baths
Car rides
Warm water bottle on the belly
Pacifier
Medications

If think infant is suffering from baby colic, please take a look at these videos to learn more about our treatment and its record of success:

- Colic Cure Explained

- Parents talk about Doc's colic cure

- KSN TV Coverage of Colic Cure

Visit my website to learn more about a colic cure for your fussy baby, and please, call my Wichita chiropractic clinic to set an appointment before you lose another minute of sleep. It only costs $200 for the full treatment, and the baby usually feels noticeably better very quickly.

--Wichita Chiropractor Doc Scharenberg

New Website Content

2010-07-28T06:58:00.000-07:00

Pardon the shameless promotion, but I have to share my new website content with you. The site looks about the same as everm but we've made it easier to find the information you're looking for, whether you need to find a colic cure, learn about my Wichita weight loss program or discover a new prostate treatment that could keep the men in your life healthy to a ripe old age.

--Doc

New video of my Wichita Weight Loss Challenge

2010-04-30T08:33:00.000-07:00

My Wichita Weight Loss Challenge is working great for me, and I'm also helping other people in Wichita, Kansas, with healthy weight loss. Check out the latest video: Doc's Wichita Weight Loss Challenge.
Questions or thoughts? Please comment below.

New video on fussy baby colic cure

2010-04-30T08:28:00.000-07:00

Be sure to check out the latest colic cure video, some really nice footage we shot of some of the parents whose babies I'm treating for colic: Colic Cure.
Thoughts or questions on colic treatments? Please leave a comment below.

Doc Scharenberg's Wichita Weight Loss Challenge

2010-04-23T09:53:00.000-07:00

I've never worked harder or felt happier. The chiropractic practice is growing quickly, I'm busy-busy, and I'm thankful for the increase in energy level that comes from losing 45 pounds, so far.

It probably goes without saying that I highly recommend the healthy weight loss I'm using. If you want to join me in my Wichita Weight Loss Challenge, check out our Facebook events page at Doc Scharenberg's Feel-Good Group. It's every Thursday at my Wichita Chiropractic Clinic, starting at 7 p.m. I'd love to see you there.

Here are my latest numbers:

Prostate symptoms are worth talking about

2010-03-18T12:09:00.000-07:00

Men have a tough time talking about prostate problems. Why is that? Are we afraid people might think we’re less masculine? Vulnerable?

Well, guys, we are vulnerable. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men, like it or not. And prostate symptoms are not about being less a man. They’re about life and death, if you ignore them, and it’s time we started talking about it. If you think you may have prostate symptoms, here are some great resources:

http://www.webmd.com/prostate-cancer/default.htm

Alternative prostate treatment

http://www.prostatecancerfoundation.org/site/c.itIWK2OSG/b.271349/k.87DD/Prostate_Cancer_Symptoms.htm

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/prostatecancer.html

And here’s an excellent prostate self-assessment tool from the Mayo Clinic.

I would be very pleased to see some comments on this article, and will answer any questions I can, here on the blog or privately, if you’d like to call my Wichita, Kansas, chiropractic clinic.

(Watch this video to learn more about prostate function.)

New prostate treatment

2010-03-13T14:29:00.000-08:00

It’s common knowledge that frequent urination can be a sign of prostate problems. There are several other symptoms of prostate trouble, including erectile dysfunction, a weak or interrupted urine stream and inability to urinate.

What most people don’t know is that there is a new prostate treatment that can be administered at the earliest signs of prostate trouble. Okay, it’s not that new. It’s actually been used in the past by urologists and chiropractors alike, but somewhere along the line, urologists starting placing more trust in radiation, and chiropractors decided to limit their practices to other areas.

This is sad because I have patients who drive hundreds of miles for the treatment. That’s how effective it is.

It’s called digital rectal massage, and it’s exactly what it sounds like: a chiropractic technique by which the doctor directly massages your prostate gland to increase blood flow to the area and reduce inflammation.

Chiropractic massage provides the same benefits for the prostate gland as it does for any other part of the body--and for the same reasons. Blood is the body’s food supply, so when a chiropractor performs massage on a specific area, increasing its food supply, it enables that part of the body (and any other areas it influences through the nervous system) to function at a higher level of health. It also reduces inflammation.

If we keep inflammation low and healthy blood flow high, it stands to reason that the prostate will tend to function more closely to the way it is intended to function.

All I know is, it’s working wonders for every patient I’m treating.

(Watch this video to learn more about prostate function.)

Contact my Wichita, Kansas, chiropractic clinic to talk to me about this.

How to get skinny the normal way

2010-03-13T09:37:00.000-08:00

I’m ahead of schedule, averaging about 2 pounds a week, which is great. I’m not in the business of teaching people how to lose weight fast, and in fact, it can be dangerous to lose weight quickly, in some cases. But my lab work looks great, and my energy level is high, so I’m on the path of
healthy weight loss.

I’ve been doing this for roughly four months, and I’m starting to get used to it, which is a milestone in itself. This is the beginning of a permanent lifestyle change. What used to be normal can no longer be normal.

It used to be normal to consume lots of cholesterol-laden foods (I come from a farm; we like to eat). My new normal means choosing foods based on how they make me feel, rather than solely on how they taste. Flavor is still important, but it’s no longer my only consideration.

My new normal means getting up in the wee hours to exercise, then working 13 hours without fatigue. I’m learning how to live in a much bigger, healthier way. I’m very happy. And there’s a new sound in my life: “Hey, Doc, you look skinny.”

I know: I claim to be dieting for my health and not my ego. But both of them are feeling pretty good, about now.

Watch my latest weigh-in video (shot February 24, 2010).

Learn more about my Wichita weight loss program. Scroll down to see my latest weight loss numbers:

How to repair the broken health care system

2010-03-06T12:24:00.000-08:00

It’s ironic that our broken health care system is designed to fix broken people rather than creating healthy ones. Medical insurance providers spend millions of dollars treating heart conditions connected to obesity, but resist paying a few dollars for resources that encourage thin people to exercise.

The system doesn’t like to pay for your diet counseling unless a doctor says you have a weight-related medical condition.

It doesn’t like to subsidize your fitness equipment unless a medical professional prescribes the equipment as part of a remedial treatment.

And now here we are, trying to repair the broken health care system, once again putting bandages on a problem rather than removing its causes. What we need to do is invent a new system that doesn’t so heavily favor those who have wandered from the feel-good track. It should still help them, yes, but it should also help people who want to take control of their health and feel wonderful all the time.

Even though we haven’t learned how to do this as a nation, individuals are learning it. There is a small-but-committed contingent of chiropractic customers who regularly go to the doctor, but who are not ill, which is why I don’t call them patients.

These customers pay very little for health care because they spend their health care budgets on nutrition, exercise, health counseling, and regular check-ups with lab work (an early warning system for many medical conditions).

No, chiropractic counseling can’t prevent all medical problems, but it can prevent a lot of them. If everyone followed a professionally supervised system of health maintenance, we could potentially cut billions from our national health care budget.

And something even more wonderful might happen. Our attitudes might improve because that’s what usually happens when you have plenty of energy and your body isn’t bogged down with weight, drugs, aches and pains.

Imagine that: lots of people feeling really good, a lot of the time. What kind of world would that be?

Holistic Health Lecture Series for Wichita, Kansas

2010-02-05T11:27:00.000-08:00

I really enjoy speaking to classes, churches, companies and other groups about staying healthy without drugs, so I thought I would share some of my favorite lecture topics:

Why Foot Rubs Work
The human body is a chemical machine that’s controlled by electrical nerve impulses. Doc explains how the feet, hands and other parts of the body act as electrical triggers that can increase blood flow and improve health in various organs.

Self Treating with Acupressure
Allergies bothering you? Is your knee sore? Doc will show you how to apply pressure at key nerve centers to alleviate these and other symptoms.

Improve Asthma and Allergies Without Drugs
Learn how the sinuses and respiratory system are interconnected with electrical substations in the nervous system, including tips for treating the symptoms of asthma and allergies without medications.

Take Control of Acid Reflux
Acid reflux is often treated with surgery or medication, but the truth is that diet, lifestyle and chiropractic treatment can dramatically improve this condition for many people. If you know someone who suffers from acid reflux, this presentation will offer holistic treatment alternatives without side effects.

Alternative Prostate Treatments
Drugs, chemicals, radiation and surgery are the commonly known treatments for prostate cancer, but what if the condition could be prevented in the first place by diet and non-drug treatments? Learn about some little-known approaches to prostate health in this lecture.

An End to Head, Neck and Back Pain?
Too many people have allowed head, neck and back pain to become “normal” parts of their lives, but this doesn’t have to be the case for most people. Learn more from this informative lecture.

Carpel Tunnel Syndrome Prevention
The best defense against carpal tunnel syndrome is to catch it before it becomes an irreversible condition that requires surgery. Learn about early symptoms, preventive exercises, joint manipulation and physiotherapies that can keep your wrists healthy.

Knee and Hip Pain: the Truth About Arthritis
Arthritis is an inflammation of the joints that’s often preventable through nutrition, exercise, physiotherapy and acupressure, but it’s important to take action before inflammation turns into tissue damage.

All my lectures are provided at no charge, but please try to book me at least one month in advance by calling 316-945-0075.

How to choose a good chiropractor (or “Doctor shopping and the importance of the no charge consultation”)

2010-01-26T08:23:00.000-08:00

As with traditional medical doctors, chiropractors come in all shapes, sizes and personalities. If your first encounter with a chiropractor is negative, you may form an opinion that’s hard to shake off. That’s why I thought it might be valuable to offer up some suggestions on how to choose a good one.

My first advice is that you--being the patient--should be in control of the “customer service” experience, from the very start. Any doctor worth their salt should be willing to provide a no-charge consultation, so you can make an informed decision about whether he or she is the right person to help you take charge of your health. I would like to see this offered by more chiropractors, and I think that, as health care reform makes the industry more competitive, it will increasingly be the case.

Unfortunately, this has not been the case for most doctors, in the past. There seems to be a turning point in many practices where the doctor goes from not having enough patients to having plenty of patients. When this happens, too many of them forget their most fundamental role as a care provider: to be patient focused. We’ve all been to clinics where we felt like “numbers” in a system designed around the convenience of the doctor, rather than the other way around. If you get this feeling when you visit a health care provider for the first time, I advise you to get out of there and don’t look back.

Ask about the no-charge consultation on your initial phone call, then set appointments with doctors who are comfortable with the idea. If they care about you, your health and your “business” at their clinic, it shouldn’t be a problem.

Ask good questions during the first visit. How does the doctor feel about drugs? Diet? Does he or she perform x-rays before doing musculoskeletal manipulation? Are they focused on treating conditions rather than symptoms? The priority of a true healer should be to help you attain and maintain good health, rather than just solving isolated problems as they arise.

Any good chiropractor should also perform a comprehensive physical examination and a full lab work-up before making any decisions about how to guide you along the path of good health.

In short, try to see yourself as being in control of your health, and ask yourself if this person will be a good guide in this quest. The right chiropractor should become a lifelong consultant, just like a dentist or fitness trainer, providing resources and advice that prevents problems from occurring rather than healing them after they occur.

What experiences have you had--positive or negative--with doctors? Please share them by commenting below.

Weight loss journal entry #4 - eating for quality before quantity

2010-01-17T13:41:00.000-08:00

Last Tuesday’s "The Early Show" offered a great look at the way Americans have increased food portions, compared to past generations.

The rise of fast food chains in the 1960s and 1970s played a role in increasing portions. Because one chain wanted customers to feel they were getting a better value than that offered by other chains, the meal sizes grew. As portions grew, so did obesity and related health problems.

Here are some examples of specific dietary increases cited on the show:

- The size of salty snacks increased by 93 calories (0.6 oz)
- French fries by 68 calories (0.5 oz)
- Mexican dishes by 133 calories (1.7 oz)

It’s become a national feeding frenzy that will continue to leave the majority of Americans overweight until we decide, one by one, to control the quantity and the quality of our food intake.

One thing I notice as I pursue my diet, which uses USANA meal replacements, is that because my portions are controlled, my focus is also changing. By deciding that I will eat specific amounts of healthy foods, each day, I find myself thinking of food as more of a source of energy than a source of indulgence. I also find it easier to eat less when the nutritional quality of my food is so high. I simply don’t get as hungry as I used to.

It’s working well. I was down 18 pounds at my last weigh-in. Be sure to watch the video in the right column of this blog or on my YouTube channel.

Are you dieting? Please share your comments at the end of this blog entry.

Here are my latest health statistics:

Why I cure baby colic at reduced rates

2010-01-17T10:14:00.000-08:00

When I first started offering treatment for baby colic, I charged full office-visit fees for it, as I would for any other service. But a problem quickly emerged: money was an issue for some parents, and in these cases, the parents would see some improvement, right away, and stop coming to me after a treatment or two.

You have to understand that baby colic typically takes a couple of weeks of daily visits to fully correct, so if the parents stop bringing the baby to the clinic after just one or two treatments, the problem is better, but it is not cured.

Of course, that, in itself, isn’t good for the baby, but what frightens me is the possibility of shaken baby syndrome (SBS), which is sometimes associated with colicky babies. The scenario is that the baby cries ... and cries ... and cries. The parents want to help but are ultimately at a loss, and the crying continues. The parents lose sleep and start to get cranky, themselves. That’s when trouble can start, and the parents can become tempted to shake the baby, out of sheer frustration and exhaustion.

As many as 1,400 cases of SBS are documented each year in the United States, and one in four of these babies dies as a result. For me, it’s not worth the risk, so I provide this treatment at no charge.

Why chiropractic treatment for baby colic is so effective
Though it’s often mistaken for a stomach problem, colic is actually an intestinal problem. Here’s what causes it: the end of the small intestine is called the ileum and the end of the large intestine is called the cecum. They’re separated by a muscle called the ileocecal valve. After the majority of the digestive process has occurred in the small intestine, the digested matter is passed through ileocecal valve to the large intestine. Weakness in this muscle allows digested matter to flow back into the small intestine, and this leakage creates severe bloating of the small intestine.

Many colic medicines are designed to stop bloating in the stomach, but because colic is an intestinal issue, they are seldom successful. Ninety percent of the babies I treat have already been given medicine, without success.

I use a chiropractic technique that strengthens the ileocecal valve, and within two weeks, the muscle--and the digestive process--are working as they should. Result: no more colic, a happy baby and happy parents.

Ileocecal massage is also explained in my latest video, which you can view from the right column of the blog, or on my baby colic cure YouTube video.

If you live in south central Kansas and have a colicky baby, contact my chiropractic clinic and we'll set up an appointment.

Questions? Comments? Please post them below.

Food portions article from the National Institutes of Health

2010-01-04T07:01:00.000-08:00

Since many of us on weight loss diets, I thought I would share this very informative article about food portions from the National Institutes of Health.

If you're interested in following my personal weight loss challenge, be sure to click on the videos in the right column of this blog and visit my Youtube channel. You can also join my Facebook group for more frequent updates.

Have a great week, and as always, please share your thoughts on weight loss by commenting below.

Weight loss journal entry #3 – To lose weight takes more than a new year’s resolution

2010-01-02T14:20:00.000-08:00

There’s no magic spell we can utter and make fat go away. But for some reason, around New Year’s, we let ourselves believe it. Surely you’ve done it: spoken a weight-loss resolution, fully expecting to pull it off ... but a couple of months later you’re the same old you at the same old weight.

This year I saw it coming around the middle of November and decided to make the decision early. On November 18, 2009, I started my new diet, knowing I would have to miss out on the gluttony of the coming holidays. Turns out I didn’t miss it much, at all. And I’m feeling so much better in my body and my attitude that, looking back, it’s a great trade-off.

So here we are, six weeks and 13 pounds later, and if I can do it, you can do it.
Want to join me? If you’re in Wichita, Kansas, come to one of the workshops at my clinic (docscharenberg.com), most Thursday nights from 6:30 to 7:30, and I’ll show you how.

If you’d like to share your own weight loss secrets or post your personal weight loss numbers here on the blog, please email me or leave a comment below.

Here are my latest numbers--looking good!

Chiropractic is in your blood

2009-12-31T08:45:00.000-08:00

I really enjoy chiropractic for its predictability. Like the electric company, the human body has its own grid of electrical substations that control specific areas--let’s call them neighborhoods. The Chinese mapped these substations and neighborhoods thousands of years ago, and called it acupuncture, and now the U.S. Government’s National Institutes of Health have dedicated a branch of their website to it.

The substations are located in the same places on everyone. If you have a pain in the neighborhood of your knee, we can use acupressure or acupuncture on your ear to make that pain vanish--or at least feel better--almost every single time. It’s not supernatural, it simply indicates that the brain sends a neural signal to the ear, which acts as a substation that affects the knee.

If you have ulcer pain, we can adjust a specific part of the spine to improve intestinal function because that’s where the neural substation is located.

These substations are primarily responsible for delegating the amount of blood flow to their neighborhoods. When I place my hands--or chiropractic tools--on a neural substation, I can stimulate blood flow to the neighborhood it controls.

If you’ve ever had a good foot rub, and suddenly your sinuses cleared up, or your headache went away, you’ve experienced the benefits of increased blood flow, triggered by a remote substation in your feet. If you haven’t experienced this, do yourself a favor and get a good foot rub.

Why blood flow is important
Blood travels to all your body’s tissues with two purposes: to bring in food and take out toxins. If you don’t have enough blood flow to a specific spot, it can’t function properly.

How to stimulate blood flow:

- Exercise
Do regular stretching and walking to nourish your body’s tissues. Use load-bearing exercises like push-ups to help your bones generate new tissues, a process which also relies on the delivery of nutrients.

- Eat Well
Add light, vitamin-rich foods to your daily diet.

- Laugh
According the Mayo Clinic, laughter increases oxygen intake and helps digestion, among other things.

- Consult a wellness/healing professional
A physical exam, medical history and lab work-up can accelerate your progress to a healthier life by getting you on a track that matches your personal needs.

Do you have other ways of “getting your blood going?” Leave a comment, so we can discuss it.

Never suffer from another headache?

2009-12-28T08:17:00.000-08:00

For all their good intentions, many of my colleagues in the healing professions treat only symptoms.

“Tummy upset? No problem; drink this pink stuff. It will coat your intestinal lining so you won’t notice the overproduction of digestive acids being caused by your fat-heavy diet.”

“Your head hurts? Take this pill; it will deaden the pain.”
Don’t get me wrong: there are many valid uses for drugs. My point is that we’ve grown too easy with the idea of popping a pill rather than treating a condition.

Headaches have all sorts of causes, but if we treat only the symptom--the pain--we overlook the cause. Maybe your headache was caused by a compression of vertebrae in the neck. Maybe you have a sprain or other injury that’s causing the pain. Maybe you have a dietary need that’s not being met. With a physical exam and a study of your medical history, we can look for the causal condition and treat it. And who knows? Maybe you won’t have to suffer from another headache.

And if we can stop the next headache, surely we can treat the causes of other conditions ... ulcers, allergies, pre-cancerous inflammations. And pretty soon, maybe you’ll feel wonderful because the electrical/chemical machine we call the human body is running the way it was meant to run.

That’s what chiropractic is really about. Not cracking joints, but increasing blood flow and improving neural activity. It’s also done with diet and exercise and all the other things we know are good for us, but we don’t always do.

No judgments, here. I’m not perfect. I began a diet in November of 2009 to correct my blood chemistry and take a load off my joints. I’m making progress. And I’m setting an example for my patients.

And what if all healing professionals started setting examples to help their patients create lives without pain, rather than just concealing pain?

Maybe that’s what healing is really about.

Please share your thoughts on the roles and responsibilities of healing professionals by commenting on this article.

Weight loss journal entry #2 – Slow and steady wins the race

2009-12-14T11:45:00.000-08:00

Going into my second two-week period of weight loss was easier, knowing that I was already making progress. Not a lot of progress; I’ve known all along that this would not be a crash program for me. It’s hard to stay healthy if you lose more than about a pound and a half per week, so I’m in it for the long haul.

My goal is to lose about five pounds per month, which will get me to my target weight of 185 pounds in about a year. I started at 251 in the middle of November, so that’s 66 pounds over the course of the next year. By Christmas of 2010, I plan on feeling like a million bucks.

Which brings us to:

Doc Scharenberg’s Weight Loss Rule Number 2:

Slow and steady wins the race.

There are a lot of reasons to take it slow. Losing weight too quickly can change your body’s chemistry, put a strain on your heart and cause a lot of other unpleasantness. Also, as I’ve said before, it’s not just about looking better; it’s about feeling better, so I’ve made a long-term commitment to myself to change my lifestyle, not just my appearance.

The rest of my life is looking brighter every day. By losing weight, I’ll take a load off my hips and knees, reducing the likelihood of surgery. I’ll take a load off my heart, reducing my risk of cardiovascular problems. If I eat right, which I am, thanks to the Usana Nutritionals I’m using, I’ll also reduce my diabetes and cancer risks.

I’m already seeing positive results in my lab work (which I recommend keeping track of, by the way, if you’re serious about healthy weight loss). My cholesterol is down from 189 to 165--back up a touch from 162 two weeks ago, but I'm not too worried about that. My triglycerides (another fat like cholesterol) are down from 417 to 226; that’s phenomenal. And my weight’s down a total of 8 pounds, from 151 to 143!

Here are the graphs:

So far, I’m right on schedule, and I feel great! If you’re having success with a weight loss program, I’d like to hear your comments below. If you live in Wichita, Kansas, and want to join me in the program, contact me through my website or call me at (316) 945-0075. Let’s do this together.

Weight loss journal entry #1 – A taste of my own medicine

2009-12-14T11:36:00.000-08:00

People have been asking me, “Why would you go public with your weight loss program?” I guess they’re not accustomed to doctors who are willing to taste their own medicine, especially in front of a crowd.

My first answer is, “I want to feel better and live longer, and I want to help others do the same.” For me, weight loss is not about looking handsome; it’s about improving the way I feel. Sure, I wouldn’t mind looking better, but at age 61, I’m much more interested in keeping a high quality of life in the years to come.

My blood pressure has been high. I’ve had some blood chemistry problems in the past that it would be nice to get rid of. My energy level is not where it should be. It’s time for a change.

My second answer is that it’s important for doctors to practice what they preach. As a chiropractor, my mission is to help people adopt healthier lifestyles, and when I found the right weight loss program, I knew it was time to start leading the way with my actions as well as my words.

For those of you who are just catching up with my story, it started on November 18, 2009. I weighed 251 pounds, my cholesterol was 189 and my triglycerides were at a chart-busting 417. Not good.

The first thing I wanted to do was make things better, not worse. We’ve all heard horror stories about diets that make people feel worse rather than better, and there are reasons this happens; everything from malnourishment to drug reactions.

My diet does not include the use of drugs. Don’t get me started on the topic of America’s overuse of pharmaceuticals, at least not in this article. Yes, my diet does include nutritional products and supplements, and I can’t stress how important it is to keep your nutritional level high while you’re losing weight. Yes, starving yourself will help you lose weight, but it will not keep you healthy.

Which brings us to:

Doc Scharenberg’s Weight Loss Rule Number 1:

The purpose of weight loss is to improve your overall health, not to damage it.

That’s why I chose Usana Nutritionals when I decided to lose weight. I know, it sounds like a sales pitch, but the fact is, they’re the top rated supplements in the world. We’ll talk more about supplement ratings some other time, but for now you need to know that it can play a huge role in weight loss.

So far, the diet is working and my health is improving. I checked my weight on December 3, and it's down from 251 to 246 1/2, in just two weeks! Below are all the changes from November 16 to December 3, 2009:

Wish me luck! Better yet, if you live in Wichita, Kansas, and you want to join me in my program--maybe even take up the challenge and put your numbers online--contact me through my website or call me at (316) 945-0075. Let’s get healthy together!