Des Moines Chiropractic July 2016 Newsletter

Suffer Less Cycling Class

Thursday, August 11 at 6:30 PM – Free!

Does back pain, neck pain, hand numbness, or hip pain take the fun out of your rides?  Is soreness for days an unpleasant reminder of the fun you had riding casually or aggressively with your friends?  Does shoulder pain and a headache linger long after the Cumming Tap Tacopocalypse Tuesday, even though the Moscow Mules have worn off and you never took a tumble?

Don’t let pain keep you from what you love!

Join us for a free class on the top stretches and strategies to reduce or rid yourself of pain during and post ride!

In this action packed class, Dr. David Krohse will clearly explain how the structures in your spine, nerves, shoulders, and hips can be aggravated during extended riding.  Then he’ll demonstrate the top “cycling micro breaks” you should be doing periodically when you spend extended periods of time in the saddle.  Finally, Dr. Krohse will demonstrate and have you try the most effective stretches you should be doing regularly at home to cycle pain-free throughout your life!

RSVP to compasschiro@gmail.com or 515-309-1217!

Pain-Free & Efficient Running Workshop

Tuesday, August 16 at 6 PM – Free!

“Essential for new runners and those who are sick of being among the 65-80 percent of runners who get injured in a given year!”

At 6 pm on Tuesday, August 16 Compass Chiropractic will host a Pain-Free & Efficient Running Workshop.  We’ll start by shooting some video of your current running form for comparison later.  Then the concepts and techniques of low impact running styles will be introduced.  A workshop will follow where participants will practice simple drills to integrate these concepts into their running. The session will end with video and slow motion review of participants running form pre and post concepts and drills.  Participants should arrive in clothes and shoes suitable to run in.  Please RSVP to 515-309-1217 or compasschiro@gmail.com.

Check out the testimonials from past participants below!

Just wanted to drop you a line thanking you so much for last night’s workshop. I incorporated the simple techniques into my run tonight and I ran faster than I ever have, had more energy at the end – never ended up feeling winded or tired and actually felt like I could have gone another couple of miles – and my knees didn’t hurt and aren’t hurting now at all! Thank you so much. I’m thrilled and looking forward to my long run this Saturday to see what a difference it makes there.

-Blair

Dr. Krohse was referred to me by a colleague and quickly became a trusted care provider for both chiropractic adjustments as well as ART treatments.  As an amateur athlete/triathlete, I was battling issues with neck pain/headaches and knee pain.  Adjustments as well as ART helped get me into a maintenance mode with my overall wellness, but I continued to have some nagging issues with my right knee.

We were able to schedule time to go through the techniques and philosophy of Pain-Free Running.  At first I was in denial about my heel striking but after reviewing the video and discussing some of the drills, it was obvious I had room for improvement.  Initially the changes felt awkward after decades of my old running style and my running times per mile were definitely slower and not impressive.  What I did note fairly quickly was the reduction of pain in my knee which has since gone away.  It’s been over two years since I’ve changed my technique and I have been able to cut close to a minute per mile off my average pace in Half Ironman races (sub-7:45’s now) as well as feel my running is more effortless. 

-Sara

Why are these classes offered for free?

The best health care providers do everything they can to prevent the conditions they treat.  That’s why we always empower our patients with the best stretches to improve their problems and maintain their improvement.

We hope the powerful strategies that you learn are successful at helping you enjoy your activities without pain!  However, if you don’t fully improve, or if you are interested in feeling better as quickly as possible, we believe we are your best option!  We help so many athletes with a variety of spine, arm and leg conditions!

We find the quickest results with stubborn, ongoing conditions are achieved through a combination of care.  After a thorough exam, Dr. Krohse provides the most effective natural treatments for headaches.  For spine joint dysfunction, he provides hands-on or gentle, instrumented-assisted chiropractic adjustments.  We always prioritize keeping care within each patient’s comfort level!  For tight muscles, Dr. Krohse has become the most certified Des Moines area providers of Active Release Techniques.  Finally, if any other stretches or exercises are required to fix your pain we would teach you those.

We know you’ll love have an amazing experience and feel confident to choose us for your current or future healthcare needs! 🙂

Sandy Recommends Crème Brulee Cheesecake from Firebirds Wood Fired Grill

I can’t remember the last time that a dessert left such a lasting impression on me.  Recently, I reunited with a bunch of friends and we dined at Firebirds Wood Fired Grill in West Des Moines.  Dinner was great — but dessert was amazing.  So amazing that I haven’t stopped thinking about it.  Not-so-plain and no-so-simple, the dessert I savored and drooled over was Crème Brulee Cheesecake.  Sweet, savory, decadent, rich, smooth, creamy…..I could go on and on.  Suffice it to say that it’s worth a trip there just to try their amazing cheesecake. 

 

Firebirds is located at 440 S. 68th Street in West Des Moines and is open 11am-10pm Monday-Thursday and 11am-11pm Friday and Saturday.

Amy Recommends Southwest Chipotle Grilled Fish Taco Recipe

One of my favorite summer grilling recipes is Southwest Chipotle Grilled Fish Tacos. It’s quick and easy, tasty, and pretty healthy!

• frozen fish fillets- we use Mahi Mahi or Tilapia (grilled)
• bagged coleslaw mix or shredded cabbage
• Farmhouse Originals Hidden Valley Southwest Chipotle dressing 
• tortillas, heated – we use Mission brand Carb Balance flour tortillas
• your favorite salsa                                              
• black beans
• whole kernel corn
• avocado

Prepare fish fillets according to package directions (we usually grill during the summer). Combine coleslaw and dressing. Wrap tortillas in a paper towel and microwave for 30 seconds or until warm. To assemble, place 1 fish fillet on the warmed tortilla (we like to shred the fish). Top with dressed coleslaw, black beans, corn, avocado, and salsa. ENJOY!

Anne Recommends Going Vegan (or Nearly Vegan)

Since this is my birthday month, I’m suggesting something very dear to me… going vegan or, at least, almost vegan.  Compassion towards animals is enough to convince me to remove meat and dairy from my diet for the rest of my life, but there are countless more incentives; a lot of people choose to be vegan for their own well-being, for example.  This short recommendation can only amount to a quick outline of a very complex issue, but, for me and a ton of others, legend Paul McCartney’s statement sums it up:  “if slaughterhouses had glass windows, everyone would be a vegetarian.”

I’ve been a near-vegan for over 20 years, so you can imagine I’ve encountered skepticism, which has only encouraged me to advance my research and become aware of the myriad of motives to be vegan, starting with individual health.  There are numerous ways to consume sufficient protein, B12, and every nutrient essential to your vitality, and there are masses of vigorous vegan athletes and “brain-powered” individuals out there to prove it, such as ultra-marathoner Scott Jurek, UFC fighters/brothers Nick and Nate Diaz, professional bodybuilder Jehina Malik- and did you know that Leonardo da Vinci and Albert Einstein were vegetarians?  Scores of strong competitors give their reasons for being vegan or vegetarian on the websites fuelforthefighter and adaptt.  Athletes mention increased energy and faster recovery times from switching to vegan, and it is well-established that eliminating animal products from one’s diet can drastically reduce your chances of developing heart disease, cancers, and diabetes.  Plus, do you want that “beach body”?  Vegans also, on average, weigh 5 to 20% less than omnivores.

There are also our communities and children to consider. Antibiotics, steroids, and hormones are administered with shocking frequency to animals in meat and dairy industries for rapid development (which plumps the industry’s profits) and to maintain some semblance of life in environments that are, undeniably, havens for disease.  Human populations encounter consequences from this too…for example, writer/researcher Jonathan Foer states, “beyond the sheer number of illnesses linked to factory farming, we know that factory farms are contributing to the growth of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens.”¹  “Super-bugs, like MRSA, have become a modern threat to our public health system due in large part to manufactured meat and dairy.

Another crucial motivation to be vegan is our ecology.  It is well-known that the majority of greenhouse gases are caused by factory farms, and excessive and contaminated feces  contributes immensely to the pollution of our air, water, and soil.  Nearly 20% of man-made pollution comes from the meat industry alone, which trumps even transportation!  In addition, animal agriculture guzzles 7 times more water than crop development.  It also takes about 13 pounds of grain to produce just one pound of animal flesh; therefore, our earth’s resources could sustain a much larger population if it’s vegan. An article in the National Center for Biotechnology Information discusses how the meat industry is devastating our ecosystem and declares that, “given the urgency for global action- calls echoed by scientists and world leaders alike -individual consumers must also participate.” ²

Again, principal to my persuasion to be nearly vegan, is this: meat and dairy operations- especially our modern factory systems- are absurdly cruel to animals, from life to death.  Sadly and ironically, there are loads of “ag-gag” laws in place to protect affluent meat and dairy companies from consumer awareness, keeping the atrocities to farmed animals in the dark so their “product” ends up on your plate.  Animals raised for meat and dairy suffer agonizing, unnatural existences and- if they make it- a hurried, brutal slaughter.  Did you know that it’s standard practice for egg manufacturers to dump unwanted male chicks alive into grinding machines?  United Egg Producers, a trade group for U.S. egg farmers, have estimated and confirmed that 200 million chicks die this way per year. ³   I put myself and my pets in their shoes- because any creature with a nervous system feels pain- and I have decided not to be a source of their suffering.

Here’s a fraction of the vegan icons out there who might also inspire you… numerous sensible, astute individuals select to be and thrive as vegans, such as: American physicists Brian Greene & Edward Witten, actresses Natalie Portman, Jessica Chastain, and Michelle Pfeiffer, CEO of Apple Steve Jobs, rapper and producer RZA, track & field legend Carl Lewis, American politician Al Gore, actors Alec Baldwin, Woody Harrelson, and Joaquin Phoenix, and Mr. Universe bodybuilders Bill Pearl and Billy Simmonds. (Anyone who would like references from this recommendation- or helpful vegan tips, etc- please ask!)

Dr. Krohse Recommends Snapseed & Prisma Apps for Photography

For years, photography has been a hobby of mine.  I took black and white photography classes in both high school and college where I spent time in a dark room personally performing every step of the image creation process.  While that process was very time consuming, today you can use Snapseed or Prisma and in seconds tune it into an amazing image to share through Instagram, Facebook, or Snapchat.

Snapseed has been my go-to image tuning app for the last couple years and is available for both iPhone & Android.  The filter I use most frequently is the HDR filter.  Once you select your image and apply the filter, swipe left/right to increase or decrease the filter.  Then swipe up to see other options to tweak your image to perfection.  In 30 seconds or less, I can make a good image even better by bringing a bit more pop to the scene.  See a before and after below.

Recently I added Prisma to my phone.  Unfortunately, it is only available for iPhone currently. Prisma takes photos and applies filters that turn your image into a painting.  The results can be quite stunning.