You’ve probably heard about chiropractors, chiropractic therapy, or even chiropractic treatment while watching a sports news about your favorite athlete getting therapy because of an injury. It’s not uncommon since chiropractic treatment is commonly associated with sports. If you’re thinking that you don’t need it since you don’t do sports, think again. Chiropractic medicine are not isolated to the sports world; in fact, you might even have an injury that needs chiropractic attention.

Unknown to many, chiropractic practices are based on several key principles. The basic assumptions behind this form of therapy include the belief that the body can heal itself and that the brain controls body functions through the nervous system. The belief that spinal malfunction has direct effect on the nervous system as well as on the body’s general health is also an underlying factor of chiropractic treatment. This is because chiropractic treatments are usually focused on neuromusculoskeletal disorders or NMS. NMS disorders are usually diagnosed at the back muscles and the spinal cord.

A founding principle of chiropractic is adjustment. Adjustment in this case is a distinct type of manipulation of joints by using controlled direction, leverage, force, velocity, and amplitude. Adjustments can be practiced on almost all joints in the body. This can be accompanied by cavitation usually characterized by a popping sound. The goal of adjustments is to affect nerves and nervous system to ease the body in returning to homeostasis by restoring the normal function and condition of the joints. These may sound to technical but chiropractors, chiropractic therapists, and chiropractic practitioners maintain that chiropractic treatment is also an art. Art in chiropractic medicine is viewed as the intuition, expertise, and skill that practitioners employ to accurately diagnose dysfunction and abnormality of the body’s NMS system. Specific tests are administered to the patient to determine the injury, its extent, and the proper treatment or technique that must be used to correct it. Art is also seen in perspective as the finesse of the practitioner in applying techniques. Chiropractors insist that grace and fluidity of movement are necessary so as not to shock the NMS system and aggravate injury.

Though people with some sports injuries are still on top of the list, other injuries or ailments can also be treated by chiropractors, chiropractic, and chiropractic treatment. Reports indicate that there is an increasing number of people availing of chiropractic help to ease head aches, neck pain, arthritis, and other muscular pain. Patients also indicate that they function better and feel energetic after undergoing chiropractic treatment. Also, there is no need to worry as chiropractors have undergone rigorous training and study for as much as 4 to 6 years before they can get certified. As a plus, the practice is also less expensive than NMS surgery that you might need if continue to ignore your NMS problems.

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An oximeter, or a pulse oximeter, is a medical device that measures the amount of oxygen in the blood. A pulse oximeter has become an important monitoring tool in modern medicine. The oximeter is attached to a monitor so as to enable a direct reading of the patient’s oxygenation at all times. This is because timely recognition of low saturation conditions and emergency correction measures can prevent potentially devastating complications. Before the oximeter was invented, a series of complicated blood tests were needed.

Oximeter manufacturers have been rising to the occasion by continually improving on their products to reduce the margin of error and provide safer tools. Clinicians are thus provided with the most technologically advanced systems. Oximeters now come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and they serve a variety of uses, but the main aim of all oximeters is to monitor oxygen saturation readings.

Clinical motion by the patient and corresponding errors in reading accurate saturation levels pose a major challenge to manufacturers. Clinical motion may cause volatility, dashing of display, inaccuracy, and freezing of saturation readings. Studies reveal that among adults extending, rubbing, clenching and flexing are the most common motions. In infants, kicking, clenching and flexing are the most common motions. Clinical motions are irregular and are generally very short in duration. Oximeters traditionally calculate saturation by measuring the difference in trough and peak of each plethysmographic waveform. Advanced digital signaling allows the modern hi-tech meters to make accurate readings that were otherwise impossible.

An oximeter usually measures the percent of normal. Normal ranges usually vary from 95 to 100 percent. The blood vessels expand and contract with the heartbeat, so the monitored signals bounce in time with the heartbeat. Modern oximeters can also clip onto the finger of a patient and determine the amounts of chemicals by using optical properties of light.

The way in which pulse oximetry works is interesting. Well oxygenated blood is bright red in color, while poorly oxygenated blood is darker, almost purple in tinge. Bright red blood will absorb more light. Oximeters can also distinguish between venous and arterial bloods.

Oximeters or blood-oxygen monitors are critical in emergency medicine and can be crucial for patients with cardiac or respiratory problems. Another interesting use of the meter is in non-pressurized airplanes where pilots operate above 10,000 feet, thus needing supplemental oxygen. Oximeters are routinely used in operating rooms and intensive care units as a part of their vital-sign monitoring. They are also used in sleep labs and with overnight oximetry tests to determine nocturnal hypoxemia (drop in oxygen levels). Patients who need supplemental oxygen aids or any other type of non-invasive breathing aids are thus helped greatly.

Other than hospitals and labs, people who are dependent on supplemental oxygen find it useful to own an oximeter. Such people feel comfort and security in being able to monitor their own oxygen needs. When such people become extremely short of breath, they are able to understand processes that take place within them, and thus feel empowered. People use oximeters while exercising or exerting themselves, so they can monitor their oxygen levels continually.

Oxygen is a form of medication, and oxygen levels should not be adjusted without consulting a doctor first. It is good for patients to be proactive with their own health care, but one should not get obsessed with the readings and get over alarmed.

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When I tell people I maintain a website about light boxes, the response I often get is: “What exactly is a light box?”

In the simplest terms a light box is a type of light that uses a low-watt diffuse bulb to spread light throughout a small translucent box. They have several different uses.

In art, a light box is used for stenciling, transferring designs or patterns, or tracing. For example, if you’ve ever gotten a tattoo, the tattoo artist may use a light box to trace out the pattern you’ve chosen or drawn for your tattoo with transferable inks, allowing him or her to transfer the pattern to your skin as a guideline before they start drawing on you. Or comic book inkers may use a form of tracing for their art finishing in comic books and graphic novels.

Photography uses light boxes for looking at negatives and slides. With a light box to lay small transparent images on to view, the photographer has a much easier time figuring out what images he or she wants.

Other uses include stained glass design, embossing, quilting, calligraphy, or lettering. Basically, any purpose that requires a form of tracing to transfer artwork from one medium to another can use a light box.

Light Therapy: The Most Popular Use for Light Boxes

Because a light box delivers diffuse, non-straining light in a variety of wavelengths, light boxes are sometimes used to treat Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a form of depression instigated by a lack of sunlight, especially in northern climates. Not only do light boxes deliver full-wave light for therapeutic reasons, they can also deliver UV light.

Regular light used to treat SAD can be much too bright and intense. With constant exposure to bright light, you can strain your eyes. The diffuse light of a light box eliminates many eye strain problems and allows you to expose yourself to light for much longer and with more frequency. And because light boxes deliver light with little or no UV light, it’s a safer way of getting light therapy than exposure to sunlight.

Most light boxes that deliver light to treat SAD should concentrate their light emission on the shorter wavelength blue light naturally delivered by the sun. They should be cool and diffuse, allowing you to stay close to your light box so you can expose yourself to the highest possible amount of light.

Light boxes for SAD therapy should also be large enough to deliver light all over the user, and make allowances for the user’s movements during a normal day. You should be able to mount your light box on the ceiling, which will allow the light to diffuse throughout the room and provide you with the maximum amount of exposure when you want it throughout your day.

You should also be aware of what times of day you should use your light box. Your therapist or physician should be able to tell you what the ideal times are, and you can adjust its location accordingly.

Portable light boxes are also a good idea. Hard-to-use or inconvenient light delivery devices wind up in the closet. A light box on a stand, with a handle so you can easily move it around, is probably your best bet.

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