The Benefits of Chiropractic Care

When people think about chiropractic they typically think about adjustments being made to the spine.

But did you know that chiropractic was originally based on getting people healthy through trauma, thoughts and toxins? Reducing physical stress, getting people moving better, reducing mental stress, getting people to be happier, and then removing toxins through nutrition and through our environment are all ways to help people get healthier.

The foundation of chiropractic is improving total health, and that foundation has never been more important than it is today.

The Importance of your Spinal Cord

The spinal cord is the main source of communication between the body and the brain. 

Through chiropractic care, we improve the health of the entire body - muscles, joints, and internal organs - by addressing the health of the spine.

Pain Leads to Worse Things

Have low back pain?

Believe it or not, that pain can create trouble for more than just your back.

Connected to your spine are nerves, and those nerves go to your internal organs. Back pain creates inflammation, and that inflammation can affect the nerves traveling to your organs, creating, for example, issues in the stomach and the processing of food.

Get Moving!

One of the aims of chiropractic care is to get people moving better.

But why is that important for people who aren't professional athletes?

The more you move the longer you live!

Movement is anti-inflammatory, especially inside joints. Lack of motion increases pain signals inside the joints leading to the feeling of pain.

Chiropractors get motion back into joints that aren't moving and help to break the inflammatory cycle reducing pain and preventing long term joint problems.

Chiropractic Care Over Prescription Drugs

Chiropractic care helps people lead a life without pain, but it helps them lead a life free from the potentially devastating side-effects of prescription painkillers.

Side effects and addiction to pain killers have never been more prevalent that right now. They are easy to get prescribed and are massively addictive, while chiropractic adjustments have been shown over and over to be one of the most beneficial treatments for many types of pain. Adjustments allow the body to heal itself, avoiding the complications that prescriptions can bring.

If prescription painkiller use is required to manage pain, this study published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics concluded that even when people were taking pain medications their side effects were greatly reduced when going to a chiropractor.

Please have anyone dealing with chronic pain to consider chiropractic before taking pain medications. Addiction and side effects associated with pain medications ruin lives and kill many people on a daily basis.

Link: https://read.qxmd.com/read/29843912

Chiropractic Care Reduces Opioid Scripts

Wow, almost a 50% reduction in opioid scripts! Please share!

Legally prescribed opioids can ruin lives extremely fast. I never realized how huge of a problem opioid addiction was until I started seeing patients in practice. AND IT'S A MASSIVE PROBLEM and deviating for those dealing with it along with their families.

Yes, there is a time and place for powerful medications like this (metastatic type cancers, repeat failed osteopathic type surgeries, etc.) however just going to the doctor with general pain and not trying chiropractic, PT, anti-inflammatory supplements or anything else natural first is NOT the time for these medications. The risk of getting addicted after a short period is extremely high.

The Yale School of Medicine revealed that “patients who visited a chiropractor for a musculoskeletal pain condition were 49 percent less likely to receive an opioid prescription than their counterparts who went to other healthcare providers.”

Nobody wants to be in pain but starting with the most aggressive route first is never the answer!

1. Get your body moving better, proper movement reduces pain and accelerates healing. Work with a professional to guide you.
2. Reduce processed/inflammatory foods, they are inflammatory and cause physical pain.
3. Take anti-inflammatory supplements that are right for your specific problems.
4. Sleep more, this is when your body heals.
5. Meditate and reduce mental stress. Mental stress causes increased inflammation which causes physical pain.

Link: https://www.chiroeco.com

Chronic Pain and Medication

Chronic pain now affects 116 million Americans, and our medical system's first line of defense is powerful pain medications. This is a problem for a variety of reasons, but here are a few reasons that it's a ridiculous route.

1) Pain pills don't do anything to fix the problem, they only cover it up. For example, why fill your car with oil when you can just disable the oil light on your dash?

2) Powerful pain killers take away the pain, but they can also cause serious addiction problems - the destruction of health, relationships, and death.

It is not always the doctor's fault either. Patients need to take responsibility for their own health. You need to be your own advocate.

If you keep going to your doctor for chronic pain but haven't tried to make a change in your lifestyle (nutrition, stretching, posture, chiropractic, massage, acupuncture), you're exposing yourself unnecessarily to the risk opiods bring.

Chiropractic Before Pain Medication

Side effects and addiction to pain killers have never been more prevalent that right now. They are easy to get prescribed and are also massively addictive.

Chiropractic adjustments have been shown over and over to be one of the most beneficial treatments for many types of pain.

This study published in The Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics concluded that even when people were taking pain medications their side effects were greatly reduced when going to a chiropractor.

Please have anyone dealing with chronic pain to consider chiropractic before taking pain medications. Addiction and side effects associated with pain medications ruin lives and kill many people on a daily basis.

Study: https://www.readbyqxmd.com

Move More to Live Longer

The more you move the longer you live! 

Movement is anti-inflammatory, especially inside joints. Lack of motion increases pain signals inside the joints leading to the feeling of pain. 

Chiropractors get motion back into joints that aren't moving and help to break the inflammatory cycle reducing pain and preventing long term joint problems.

Natural Treatment Options for Asthma

There are natural forms of care for asthma for both children and adults, as this recent article on WebMD states: Vitamin D May Cut Risk of Severe Asthma Attacks. 

"Taking vitamin D supplements was associated with fewer hospitalizations or emergency room visits for severe asthma attacks -- from 6% to around 3%.Taking vitamin D supplements also reduced the number of asthma attacks needing steroid treatment.

There was no increase in side effects with the vitamin D doses given."

Besides Vitamin D, other types of treatment for asthma includes chiropractic care. It is a natural treatment that has been shown time and time again to help relieve and prevent asthma in many patients.


The stress from our daily lives puts excess stress on our bodies and our nervous systems. Chiropractic helps to reduce the stress on our bodies, reducing inflammation and increasing joint motion. Proper joint motion in the mid back is especially important for people with asthma as it increases rib motion, allowing more oxygen to be inhaled. With all joints moving and inflammation reduced as much as possible, our nervous systems can function properly which is essential for true health.

“I used to take Advair daily to control my asthma, but after one adjustment, I wouldn’t need to take Advair for at least a month,” Jordan, 28, Kehres Health & Chiropractic patient, said. “Ever since I have been getting adjusted regularly, I haven’t needed to take Advair or any other type of asthma medication.”

As asthma becomes more prevalent so does the use of asthma drugs. Unfortunately, these medications don’t come without a cost both physically and financially. Many asthma medications seem to reduce asthma at first, but ultimately mask the underlying problem while potentially causing life threatening conditions.

In 2010, due to safety concerns the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) required changes in four of the major asthma medications; Advair, Serevent, Foradil and Symbicort because of their potential life threatening side effects.

It is estimated that 22 million Americans have asthma, and more than 6 million Americans use one of the four medications mentioned above.

Elimination of dairy and inflammatory processed food has also been shown to greatly reduce asthma symptoms.

Consider chiropractic, Vitamin D and other types of natural treatment for asthma, to avoid the risk of potential life threatening side effects, especially with children.

Contact us at Kehres Health & Chiropractic in Saginaw or Midland to set up an appointment as we offer chiropractic care for all ages, Vitamin D blood testing and Vitamin D3 supplements. 

Dr. Kehres, SVSU team chiropractor, featured in Training & Conditioning Magazine

Dr. Dan Kehres, DC was featured in the March 2016 issue of Training & Conditioning, the leading trade publication for athletic trainers, strength and conditioning coaches, and other sports medicine professionals. Head Athletic Trainer at SVSU Jeremy Glaser, MS, ATC was interviewed for the article. 

Dr. Kehres was the first chiropractor added to SVSU Sports Medicine staff and as the article states, SVSU is likely the first Division II school to offer on-campus chiropractic care. 


At Saginaw Valley State University, the most popular addition to the school’s athletic training room is not a fancy new whirlpool or high-tech wearable—it’s chiropractor Dan Kehres, DC. By including Kehres on its sports medicine team in the fall of 2015, SVSU is likely the first school in NCAA Division II to offer on-campus chiropractic care. 

For Jeremy Glaser, MS, ATC, Head Athletic Trainer at SVSU, the hire has paid off already. “The kids all really like Dr. Kehres, and we’ve seen great outcomes,” says Glaser. “He has helped us with some of our chronic injuries, especially low-back pain. We’ve seen much quicker results getting kids pain-free and back on the field following those types of injuries.” 

Glaser first got to know Kehres through his work with SVSU athletes at his private practice, including a former football player who’s now in the NFL. “Dr. Kehres has two offices in the Saginaw Valley region, and we’d been sending athletes to him who were looking for local chiropractic care,” says Glaser. “One of those athletes was Jeff Janis, who now plays for the Green Bay Packers. Jeff regularly saw Dr. Kehres during the season and while preparing for the NFL Scouting Combine and spoke very highly of those experiences.” 

After receiving similar feedback from other SVSU athletes, Glaser wanted to make chiropractic services more accessible. He approached Kehres this past summer about the possibility of holding office hours in the athletic training room. “I liked what I heard, and he liked what I had to say,” says Glaser. “We both knew immediately that the relationship would work—and it has.” 

Once a week, Kehres sets up two adjustment tables in the SVSU athletic training room for two hours, treating around 10 athletes per session. When signing up for his services, athletes first meet with Glaser, who writes up injury evaluations for them and shares them with Kehres. “He uses the evaluations to guide his pre-treatment questioning for each athlete,” says Glaser. “Having that information ahead of time keeps him from doing a full evaluation on every kid, which can take a lot of time.” 

Payment for the chiropractic services is facilitated by SVSU’s insurance provider. Kehres bills the athletic department for each athlete, and the claims are submitted accordingly. So far, Glaser says the process has been affordable and issue-free. 

Along with Kehres’ passion for treating athletes, Glaser says he is impressed by how chiropractic care complements athletic training. “He’s not just doing spinal adjustments,” says Glaser. “He’s also big into foam rolling, core strengthening work, and manual therapy—all things athletic trainers are very familiar with. What he does meshes nicely with the modalities we’re using in the athletic training room.” 

Kehres has also become an asset to the SVSU athletic training education program. “The athletic training students can observe him when he’s treating our student-athletes to satisfy their physician hours,” says Glaser. “He’s great at explaining what he’s doing and why, and our students get a great deal out of those interactions.” 

Calling the relationship win-win, Glaser believes chiropractic care can help round out a comprehensive sports medicine approach. “The best part about adding Dr. Kehres is that he has become another resource in our quest to provide holistic health care,” Glaser says. “Having another expert here to help us take care of our athletes has made our lives easier and given them a better experience.”



Learn more:

• Training & Conditioning Magazine: training-conditioning.com
• SVSU Athletic Training: svsucardinals.com
• Kehres Health & Chiropractic: KehresHealth.com

Healthy kids get adjusted

At Kehres Health & Chiropractic we regularly adjust kids and babies. It is safe, gentle and helps keep kids healthy. 

Babies and toddlers can't easily communicate to tell us they are in pain. Chiropractic adjustments is a way to reduce and prevent pain naturally. 

Classroom hours of Doctors of Chiropractic vs Medical Doctors

I love when people say, "I don't believe in chiropractors." 

What? We aren't unicorns, we are doctors from a well established and researched profession and we have more classroom hours than MD's or DO's. 

Chiropractic has also been shown to be the most effective and cost efficient treatment for back pain in the world. 90% of people are going to experience severe back pain at some point in their lives. 

If you do have back pain hopefully you can sprinkle some fairy dust and a unicorn will appear to carry you to the our office.

See a chiropractor to increase mobility and to reduce and prevent pain

 

Movement is anti-inflammatory. See a chiropractor to increase mobility and to reduce and prevent pain.

Contact Kehres Health & Chiropractic with locations in Midland and Saginaw at 989-607-4322. 

Mobility Tip: Lumbar Curvature Release

Mobility Tip: Lumbar Curvature Release.

Anyone who sits on a regular basis is going to lose their lumbar curve, if you aren't doing something proactive to get it back you are going to have low back problems at some point. 

This video shows you a quick exercise to help release lumbar tension and helps to get your curvature back!

If you need to buy a foam roller, they are available at Kehres Health & Chiropractic Saginaw and Midland chiropractic offices. 

Natural remedies for ear infections

source: family-wellness.com

We see kids with ear infections (ear pain) pretty frequently in our office. 

If you go to your medical doctor you are going to either get antibiotics which typically don't make sense at all because if there actually is an infection it will most likely be viral in nature which antibiotics don't work at all for. If that doesn't work they are going to want to do surgery and put tubes in their ears.

Drugs or surgery. Those are your options in the medical world.

Why not try something less invasive and natural? We see results all the time by adjusting kids. Their Eustachian tubes (Ear canal) are not slanted down like adults and fluid can get backed up. Getting them adjusted can help release the fluid and allow the ear canal to function properly and drain the fluids.

The American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines now state antibiotics should not be prescribed unless there is an obvious ear infection. They recommend the wait-and-see approach (without treatment) for:

• Children 6 - 23 months with mild inner ear pain in one ear for less than 48 hours and a temperature less than 102.2 F
• Children 24 months and older with mild inner ear pain in one or both ears for less than 48 hours and a temperature less than 102.2 F

For more information on ear infections and natural remedies, visit mommypotamus.com.

Chiropractic for kids and babies

My daughter Delaney getting adjusted! Chiropractic for infants is safe and gentle, she has been getting adjusted regularly since she was born.

Hopefully chiropractic works for attitude adjustments when she's a teenager...

Interested in chiropractic for children? Contact us at our Saginaw chiropractic office or Midland chiropractic office. 

Kehres Health & Chiropractic
Saginaw: 989-607-4322
Midland: 989-631-5910
www.KehresHealth.com

Motion: critical for life

Motion is critical for life and is required for the function of every organ and cell in our bodies.

When joints in our bodies are restricted and not moving properly they send pain signals (nociceptors) to our brain. This is a warning signal that something is going wrong in that area of your body. The warning signals start way before you can actually feel pain.

When you get proper joint motion back into those joints, our bodies have anti-inflammatory signals called mechanoreceptors that inhibit and over shadow the pain signals. These receptors are also a required nutrient for brain function and communication with the body.

Chiropractors focus on getting proper motion back into joints, not only can this reduce your pain, but it can prevent further damage to that joint.

See a chiropractor to keep your joints moving and your nerves functioning properly!

Visit www.kehreshealth.com or contact 989-607-4322 to see us at our Midland chiropractor or Saginaw chiropractor office. 

Have you ever heard of a spine transplant? Neither have we.

Professional tennis player adjusted at Kehres Health & Chiropractic

Dr. Dan Kehres with professional
tennis player Vesna Dolonc

We were very excited to have professional tennis player Vesna Dolonc in the office this past week! She was in town for the Midland Community Tennis Center tournament.

Vesna is very proactive with her health, she gets adjusted everywhere she travels to make sure she's preforming at the top of her game.

Good luck Vesna!

She visited both Kehres Health & Chiropractic Saginaw and our Midland chiropractic office.