Time to Grease Up With Carcinogens!

by Will Forrester 

Well, summer is upon us, and for a lot of us that means hitting the pool or the beach whenever we get the chance! Our family has three small children, so an added bonus for us is when we take our kids swimming they SLEEP BETTER! Time outside during summer is truly one of life’s joys. 

But in recent decades we have all been inundated with news reports that our time outside comes with a price on our skin. Most of our parents didn’t grow up using sunscreen, starting getting skin cancer or pre-cancerous spots, and started taking action. My mom was diagnosed with melanoma as a young adult, so I was raised in a home that used sunscreen religiously. And none of that suntanning oil stuff. Only the best and highest SPF for us. So I’ve always been a big believer in sunscreen. 

So I was personally outraged to learn what you may have been hearing in the news... that many, many of the most popular sunscreens on the market actually cause... skin cancer. For years now, in an attempt to prevent skin cancer, I have been unknowingly rubbing carcinogens all over my body. Oh, and I’ve also found the spray sunscreens that apply so easily a great option for my kids. Turns out... they are some of the worst offenders! I have been spraying carcinogens on my own children. 

As with most issues these days, there is a wide variety of opinion on the efficacy of using sunscreen and how much time is healthy to be in the sun. We know there are numerous health benefits from sunlight exposure that can get reduced by using sunscreen. We also know we don’t want to get burned up, and if you’re a parent the last thing you want is to see your son or daughter in pain because of a bad sunburn. Before you go out again for your next family outing or time working in the yard, I would highly recommend you get out the sunscreen you’re using, read the label, and do some research online. This article has tons of great information on which sunscreens to avoid as well as other tips for managing sun exposure. With the “exposure” this issue has been getting lately in the media, I have found some natural sunscreens have been very hard to purchase because people are already tossing the more harmful stuff they have in their beach bags. 

As always, we are constantly learning from our collective mistakes as a human species. We probably still have more to learn about this issue as well, but for now, it is critical that you do your own homework and come up with a plan for staying healthy this summer, which includes getting some good sunlight on your skin! 

A few basic suggestions before your next time spent basking in the sun: 

• Read up online about the harmful effects of sunscreens

• If you’re going to use sunscreen, find a safe, natural option

• If you’re going to forgo sunscreen, consider building up your skin’s exposure over time and early in the season

• Keep in mind the general principle that our bodies are designed to be healthy and thrive without outside chemical interference. 

• Schedule a wellness visit with Dr. Ranicki to learn more about how you can maintain overall health and wellness this summer and year round! 

I want my kids to have an absolute blast at the pool all summer. I also want them to avoid chemotherapy down the road. 

Back Surgery or Chiropractic Care?
Dr. Ranicki 

There seem to be two paths that people choose to take when they battle chronic back problems. Some people choose chiropractic care, and others choose a medicinal and surgical approach. 

The chiropractic path: Some people see a chiropractor and their symptoms are largely relieved. Others find they need to come back for occasional or routine adjustment to deal with problematic places in their spine. 

The surgical/medical path: Other people begin taking medicine to mask the symptoms and dull the pain of back problems. Over time they generally have to take more and more medicine, then they begin getting steroid injections, and finally they begin having surgeries. Often, one operation is not enough. The question you may have is... Can I change paths? Once I’ve gone down the medical/surgical path, can I jump paths to seeing a chiropractor? Will that really work or help at all? The answer is yes. Absolutely. Chiropractic care can be very beneficial in helping to prevent further back problems, even if you have already had surgery or even multiple back surgeries. In fact, chiropractic care can help heal from surgery and can even prevent or reduce the need to have more surgery down the road. 


A few points you need to consider if you’re considering chiropractic care after surgery: 

• If you’ve had a fusion, you will need care just above and below the fusion site. This is because they will move too much to compensate for the fused joint. Without good chiropractic care around the surgical site (using a low force technique), often people wind up having to get more fusions, sometimes all the way up and down the spine. 

• You need a chiropractor who takes and reads x-rays as part of routine care. Be wary of getting chiropractic care after surgery that does not use and read x-rays. They need to be able to see exactly what hardware has been installed and where. 

• Chiropractic is also very beneficial in the days immediately after your operation to aid in healing. Because chiropractic helps reduce and remove subluxations, your body will be better able to heal itself and fight off possible infections which is critically important after invasive back surgery. A well-trained chiropractor knows how to use low-force techniques so that the back can properly heal while still getting helpful adjustments. 


If you haven’t had surgery yet: If you go see a surgeon, chances are you are going to be told that you need surgery. If that’s you and you’re weighing which path to take, why not keep all your options open by scheduling an evaluation with Dr. Ranicki? We have helped numerous people who were told they “have to have surgery” solve the problem they were experiencing and eliminate the need for back surgery. We see this all the time. By all means, we encourage you to get a medical evaluation from a qualified back doctor, but please do see us as well so we can help you see other routes to health. 

If you’ve already had surgery: We cannot stress highly enough how critical it is that you consider maintaining your back after surgery which chiropractic adjustments. Even though your back may feel somewhat better after surgery, chances are it may be weakened over the long haul, so why not do yourself and your back a favor by getting it fine-tuned so you can hopefully avoid further problems? 

Perhaps you are convinced this back surgery is all you will need, but so was everyone else, until things got worse again and they were back for yet another operation. It doesn’t have to be that way. If you don’t like the path you’re on, why not take a new one? We are here to help.

Welcome to the Allergy Belt

“Are you sick?” 

“Oh, not really. It’s just these allergies.” 

Did you know that there is a simple, homeopathic method to possibly alleviate some of your allergy symptoms if you are a person who is overly bothered by the pollen? Honey. But not just any honey. It needs to be local. And it matters when it was harvested. Before going any further with this possible remedy for your symptoms, it is important that we do a little thinking about this. We are all breathing the same air around here. Some people are bothered by the pollen and some are not as much. People who are reacting to the pollen in the air do not have a honey deficit or a medicine deficit. Their body is just overreacting to pollen and treating it like it were a germ. The good news is that there are lots of treatments out there to help your body learn to recognize pollen better and not get thrown off so badly that you are wiped out with “allergies.” Chiropractic, acupuncture, probiotics, and other techniques can help your body recognize the difference between pollen and germs over the long term. 

But in the meantime, or if your reactions to pollen remain severe, you may want to try taking some local honey, since it is made with pollen, and introducing it to our bodies does help to alleviate allergies in a lot of people. The key is to be able to find out exactly when the honey was harvested. You want to take honey that was made with the same pollen you are affected by. So if you experience pollen allergy symptoms most severely in March and April, you would want to consume honey that was harvested around May of the previous year, and you would want to begin taking it before the onset of symptoms, maybe around February. So get to know your local honey seller so you can find out exactly when and where the honey was harvested. We love the folks over at Polk’s if you want to give them a try! 

And of course, if you’re not working on getting healthier in general, your body is going to have more reactions to more stressors, so it’s a good idea to begin getting chiropractic care for your general health. You’d be surprised how much less the pollen will bother you when your immune system is working optimally! Why not set up a wellness evaluation with us so we can get you on the road to optimal health this week?

Confessions of a Chiropractic Skeptic
By Will Forrester

I’ll never forget my first appointment with Dr. Ranicki. As I’ve mentioned before, I came in with severe sciatic pain. I was hurting and I was desperate for help. And I was a chiropractic skeptic. 

I had internal defenses up a mile high in my mind. It was like I was looking for something to not go well, for someone to say something I disagreed with so that I could say, “See, this chiropractic care is nonsense. It’s a rip off.” Instead, the office was pleasantly decorated, and the staff was out of this world. The place had a very calm, soothing feel. They offered me a bottle of water, had me sit down to watch a video with some information about chiropractic, and asked me to fill out an intake questionnaire. 

As I’m watching the video, I’m still skeptical. Then at some point, they ask me what my goals are for my chiropractic care. Do I want to have Good Health, Great Health, or Optimum Health? Now my skepticism really rises up. Now I see they’re plan. They’re trying to manipulate me into signing up for some regimen that I don’t need or want. What person is going to honestly say they only want to settle for good or great health? Of course I’m going to say “optimum,” and then they’re going to sell me on some long term commitment I’ll never get out of. Right? 

But there was no manipulation. Yes, I admitted I wanted optimum health, and Dr. Ranicki explained what type of care I might need (and also what lifestyle changes I would need to consider as well). I didn’t feel pressure, but I did sense that Dr. Ranicki genuinely cared that I get the very best health and wellness care I could possibly get. 

It took some time for my mind to absorb the difference that chiropractic care could make for me. How it wasn’t just about cracking bones but about improving my central nervous system and removing subluxations. How it was designed to help with more than just leg, neck, and back pain. I didn’t become sold on the program overnight. But I’m so thankful today that my leg pain was worse than my skepticism and hesitancy. Pain can be a great motivator, and it pushed me to at least come back for a few visits and see if this deal could work. 

Why do I bring up how skeptical I was at my first visit do Ranicki Chiropractic? When I was looking for any exit I could find to get out of there? I bring it up because it’s been more than two years now, and while I’m not sure I’ve hit optimal health just yet, I think I’m pretty close. I feel so great most of the time now! This skeptic has become a regular. I still see Dr. Ranicki regularly as part of my ongoing care so that I stay healthy rather than get sick and in chronic pain again. I wouldn’t think of missing my appointment each week so that I stay healthy and feel energized and alive. 

But if you are a skeptic like I was—if you’ve clicked over to this blog and are considering your options but are just unsure—it’s okay. Be skeptical. It’s a good thing to use your mind, toweigh the facts, to consider what path is best. Just don’t be so skeptical that you don’t do your own investigation. Maybe you’ve heard this quote from Herbert Spencer, which definitely applied to me before giving chiropractic care a fair hearing: "There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance—that principle is contempt prior to investigation."

If you’re in need of help with your back, neck, sciatic pain, whatever – why not give chiropractic care an honest evaluation? Come in for an assessment and see if Dr. Ranicki and his team can’t 
take you to better health. Maybe even optimum health.