local insights

For many of us, the New Year is an opportunity to renew our commitment to good health. gina Marino, DC, owner of the Center for the alignment of body, Mind and Spirit, in wantagh, says regular chiropractic care can help us stay healthy and avoid aches and pains. In fact, chiropractic can ease recovery from the holidays themselves. “enjoyable as they may be, holiday activities can strain your joints, muscles, ligaments and tendons,” she says. Gina Marino, DC even seemingly harmless activities, like putting away decorations or shoveling snow, can leave us in pain. Marino says these symptoms may be related to misalignments or subluxations of the bones that make up the spine, and chiropractic treatments facilitate recovery from these injuries. “Subluxations happen when the vertebrae become misaligned,” she says. “They may be caused by falls, poor posture, car accidents, poor lifting technique, sitting for long periods, and even mental and emotional stress. when you're feeling stressed, the muscles in your neck and back tend to become tight. If your muscles remain tense for a long period of time, the tension can pull your spine out of alignment.” Spinal adjustments, one of the hands-on treatments offered by a chiropractor, ease the vertebrae back into alignment, she says. The goal is to relieve pain, reduce nerve tension, loosen tight muscles, improve mobility, and increase range of motion. Marino lists seven ways receiving chiropractic care throughout the year can make for a better 2022: FEWER ACHES AND PAINS: It’s always easier to prevent problems than it is to treat them, and aches and pains are no exception. “with periodic visits, your chiropractor can identify subluxations and correct them before they trigger pain, inflammation, nerve dysfunction and muscle tension,” Marino says. “Regular appointments help keep your spine aligned and your muscles and joints limber.” QuICKER HEALING: Chiropractic treatments like spinal manipulation improve nerve and blood flow to injured areas, speed healing, reduce muscle spasms and promote healing, she says. LESS STRESS: “Spinal adjustments provide a gentle way to treat stress naturally,” Marino says. “If your life is hectic, add regular chiropractic visits to your calendar. Treatments decrease the production of the stress hormone cortisol while triggering the body to release serotonin and endorphins, natural chemicals that promote feelings of relaxation and happiness.” BETTER SLEEP: about 30 percent of americans struggle with insomnia, according to the american Sleep association. Luckily, sleeping pills aren’t the only solution. “Chiropractic offers a completely natural way to relieve pain and stress, both of which can make it hard to fall or stay asleep,” Marino says.

CONDITIONS: Regular chiropractic care may make it easier to avoid flare-ups of arthritis, sciatica, migraines, fibromyalgia and other painful conditions—and even manage chronic conditions like asthma, Marino says. “Improving spinal alignment gives your lungs more room to expand and also decreases pressure on nerves, improving the function of the nerves that serve the lungs,” she explains.

NONE AT ALL: Marino notes that pain medication provides only temporary relief, and even over-thecounter pain meds can have unpleasant side effects. “Chiropractic care treats the source of pain and helps the body heal naturally,” she says. The Center for the alignment of body, Mind and Spirit is located at 2050 wantagh ave., wantagh, NY. For information or appointments, call 516-221-3500 or visit align-Me.com. See ad, page 19.

by greer Jonas

we have entered the global year 2022. we will never have the vibration of three 2s in our lifetime again. what does it all mean? when a number contains two of the same digits, it’s called a master number. when it contains three of the same digits, the energy has triple the power and mastery. In numerology, 2 represents love and relationships of all kinds—our interaction with partners, friends and family, and how we deal with business associates.

adding those digits together (2 + 2 + 2) gives us the global year of the 6, with its tender energy of compassion, love, support, family and community. Most importantly this year, we must find a loving, unjudgmental and empowering union within ourselves. along with the power of the three 2s, we might predict a time of additional understanding, acceptance and healing—rising up to fight injustice and unrest. we could see more marriages, births, reunions and new business partnerships. To every number there is a shadow, which is often necessary in order to move forward rather than stagnating. with the 2s and 6, we may find conflict of all kinds in the shadow—in communications, in social unrest that leads to more violence, and in political discord of views and power. The shadow of every number gives us a lesson and an opportunity to shift and change. If we ignore that lesson, we can continue on a path of mediocrity and lack of personal, mental and spiritual growth.

what will happen for us in the global year of connection and relationships is different for each of us, depending on our birthday and our outlook on life. In numerology, your personal year reflects the theme that’s specific to you. To calculate it, add the digits in your birth month and day to those in the current year. Then reduce the sum by adding the digits in that number until you get a number with a single digit. (The exceptions are numerology’s master numbers—11, 22 and 33—which should not be reduced.) The calculation should look like this: e a year of creative expression and uniqueness in all forms (art, music, writing, dancing, speaking) r a year of building something new, of organization, perseverance and skill t a year of embracing freedom and change as you share yourself with people and seek new opportunities y a year of compassion, birth and support for your loved ones and community u a year of bonding with the inner you, a spiritual and intuitive period to seek the unknown with fascination i a year of charismatic leadership, abundance and empowerment o a year of transformation, change and completion s a master year, a time of inspired ideas that make a difference 2@ a powerful master year, when you have the potential to start or strengthen a relationship, build a business or begin a dynamic project

Find Your Personal Year in 2022 Birthday: April 28 The formula would work like this: 4+2+8+2+0+2+2=20 which reduces to a "2" You are in a 2 personal year If the sum adds to a master number such as 11 or 22 do not reduce Birthday: April 1 4+1+2+0+2+2=11 You are in an 11 personal year

Once you’ve calculated your personal year, read the brief description of its theme, below. How will you enhance your relationships with this theme in mind?

q a year of new beginnings, leadership, taking action and inspiring others w a year of forming relationships of all kinds (love, business, family, collaborations) greer Jonas has been an intuitive numerologist for more than 30 years. She conducts readings online and in person in New York City. For more information on numerology and to make an appointment, visit Numerology4YourSoul.com. She is also an artist. To see or purchase her art, visit greerJonas.com.

by David pollack, DC

Over the years, I’ve helped many young adults and kids overcome severe digestive problems such as irritable bowel syndrome. Many tell me their IbS seemed to come out of nowhere. Others have had milder symptoms that were mostly ignored for years. Young people don’t always feel discomfort or pain the way adults do. Sometimes these new feelings of discomfort can be interpreted as anxiety or even a pulled muscle. Sometimes the anxiety or even that pulled muscle is actually part of the problem. I tend to find three common factors in young adults and kids with IbS.

People in their early teens and twenties are experiencing an abundance of new stress. between school, social situations, and learning a bit more about what’s happening in the world, it can be overwhelming. In many kids, stress manifests as anxiety. In others, it shows up as extreme study or sports habits. Obsessive behaviors are common as well. Stress is a major component of many, if not most, IbS situations. Simply put, what looks or feels like chronic stress is the emotional manifestation of hormone imbalances, primarily involving adrenal gland hormones such as cortisol, which is our natural cortisone/prednisone. Cortisol helps us overcome health issues that are inflammatory in nature, such as IbS. If we are chronically stressed or anxious, our cortisol level rises and our immune response suffers. we know that yoga and various therapies can help mitigate stress. From the perspective of cause, we want to improve the adrenal gland’s ability to balance hormones like cortisol, so the negative experiences of stress are minimized or eliminated.

The second major factor I find in virtually all IbS sufferers is a history of physical injury or trauma. It can be obvious, such as a labral tear to the hip or a severe sprain of the lumbar spine. Or it can be subtle, or perhaps even hidden, such as repetitive stress to and inflammation of the spine, hips, knees or ankles. why these areas? because the nerve roots that control the bowel also control the physical aspect of the lumbar spine all the way down the legs. Injuries in these areas put bandwidth pressure on our lower nervous system, creating spillover from the motor (muscle) control nerves to the autonomic (organ ) control nerves. I’ve also seen the same mechanism in reverse—for example, lumbar scoliosis that resolved after bowel function was repaired. The injury or trauma can have various causes, from poor posture resulting from being on the phone for hours on end, to youth sports, which are often traumatic on the body. unlike professional athletes, who have regular therapeutic and physical care, our kids just build up injuries and live with them. These injuries may not seem relevant at first, but for many young people, they are a piece of the puzzle as to why IbS sets in “out of nowhere.”

while the symptoms of IbS affect the bowel movements, the true digestive root of this condition is actually the other side of the digestive tract. Most cases I help seem to have insidious and almost invisible upper digestive tract dysfunction. This can be in the form of silent reflux (geRD), gall bladder dysfunction or stasis, or small intestines motility issues (SIbO/candida). Most kids with these issues aren’t aware of the problem, although some have had overt symptoms dismissed by their general practitioner. but if digestion is compromised in its early stages—in the stomach and/or beginning of the small intestines—then the bowels can’t function normally. attention must be given to the upper digestive tract to make sure primary digestion is optimized. Nine out of 10 IbS patients I help never need direct intervention targeting the bowel. The treatments often target stress, physical injuries from the low back down, and the upper digestive tract. These treatments can include emotional-release strategies, physical-type therapies, nutraceutical supplementation, acupuncture and other Chinese Medicine therapies. They are among the many safe, natural alternatives that have helped millions of people overcome health challenges.

Dr. David L Pollack is founder of Pollack wellness Institute, in Commack, NY. For more information, contact him at 631861-0801 or davidpollackdc@gmail. com, or visit Pollackwellness.com. See ads, pages 4 and 29.