20th Annual Food Drive

Just a reminder that we have our patient appreciation day this year on Thursday, November 20th. Bring in a bag of Thanksgiving non-perishable foods to benefit the East Fort Bend Human Needs Ministry.

 We will have several vendors here, and some free refreshments. Come by and see Thirty-One, Mary Kay, Rodan & Fields, Scentsy, Pure Barre, and several other vendors that will be in our office!  

Look forward to seeing you!

This is one of my favorite photos from the Guatemala mission trip.  Rosa, my assistant, comforting a patient before the adjustment.

I'll post more soon...still catching up.

Like us on Facebook to see more photos.  https://www.facebook.com/barretthealthcenters

Invest In Your Health Today

The American Red Cross is an organization that I’m sure you are very familiar with. On a large scale, they organize and provide relief work throughout the world when disaster strikes. On a smaller scale, they have effective programs teaching first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), swimming and so much more.

I believe they are a vital part of our community and provide crucial and important services, much being done by volunteers. I really enjoyed my time working with the American Red Cross as a certified instructor for their Protect Your Back Program. Part of the course material was a questionnaire which I’ve recreated for your review. Take a look. See how you fair.

So many people take their spinal health for granted, but that’s true for health in general. Some people refuse to invest in their health, thinking its wasted money…that is until something really goes wrong and then forced to confront their health or lack of it. By this time it costs them a great deal and perhaps even leaves them with a permanent condition or disability.

Though statistics often vary and sometimes conflict in many arenas, the statistics on back pain seem to be consistent over the years indicating about eighty percent of the population will suffer back pain problems in their lifetime.

This can range from a simple musculoskeletal problem to more severe nerve and disc issues.

One sure thing not to do is ignore a problem. Little problems can turn severe fast or into a bigger problem in the future. With consequences that become permanent or even land you in surgery.

Some of us are more likely to have back problems because of our activities of daily living or our inactive lifestyle (the way we live). Others are prone to injury because of work conditions or factors they have no control over. It’s hard for a fireman in a dangerous situation fighting a fire or extracting a person from a car or burning building to always use proper lifting techniques. This is just one example.

Here are a few risk factors to be aware of. The more often you answer “yes” to the following questions, the greater your risk of back injury.

Are you pregnant?
Are you a woman who has had a hysterectomy or is past menopause?
Are you more than 20 percent overweight?
Are you exposed to prolonged vibration at work, such as driving motorized equipment?
Do you often wear improper footwear for the job?
Do you stand or sit in one position for 30 minutes or more?
Do you carry a heavy shoulder bag or keep a thick wallet in your hip pocket?
Do you work at a keyboard, computer, or video display terminal much of the day?
Do you frequently use files stored in a drawer below hip level?
Do you make frequent or lengthy telephone calls without a head set?
Do you often place objects on, or remove objects from shelves located above shoulder height or below knuckle height?
Do you work at a workstation requiring prolonged standing, stooping, reaching or twisting?
Do you lift heavy objects off the floor frequently?
Do you often carry or lift a small child?
Do you drive for more than an hour at a time or commute long distances to and from work?
Do you exercise only occasionally?
Do you sleep on either a hard or sagging mattress?
Do you stretch out on a sofa or scoot down in a recliner to watch TV all evening?
Do you smoke or use any type of tobacco products?
Do you work at a cash register for long periods?
Do you have a history of previous back injury?
Do you have a known structural problem in your spine, such as curvature, disc degeneration, or one leg shorter than the other?

How many of those questions apply to you or someone you know?

If so, start taking positive steps to correct those that you can. Some solutions may be obvious to you and others not so much.

If you need help determining what to do next, here are some options:
• Give me a call.
• Visit me at the office.
• Look for solutions on my website. www.barretthealthcenters.com
• Come to one of my frequent In Office Workshops (being my patient is not a prerequisite…all are welcome).
• Invite me to speak and teach at your club, organization or business…if it’s local, it’s free. I’m happy to support our community.

Well, enough for now. Let me know how I can help you. 

As always, I hope to be the chiropractor you wish you had in the family.

Blessings,
Dr. Rick Barrett

P.S. Heading to Guatemala soon for a medical mission. Can I count on your help with prayers or donations or both? Thanks.

Dr. Rick Barrett and the ALS Challenge

Dr. Rick Barrett has joined many including numerous celebrities who have accepted the ice bucket challenge for ALS.  (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease).  The viral, for good cause has swept America by storm raising money and awareness for the illness and its research.



Dr. Barrett challenges his patients to participate in this very worthy cause.



Donate at http://www.alsa.org/

Relief From Chemotherapy Side Effects...

A short encouraging story...I was thrilled to hear her result.

During my chemotherapy process, I struggled with many side effects as most patients do. At times, the exhaustion and nausea had me in bed for days at a time. When it was suggested to me to try the detox treatment, I have to admit I was a bit skeptical. But when I had my last chemo session I incorporated a detox during and right after, and the results were absolutely amazing. For the first time, I was able to continue with my life, even right after I was detached from my mobile pump! I couldn’t believe the difference in my overall health and wellness! I immediately had energy, my sinuses felt cleared up, and my nausea subsided. My recommendation to anyone dealing with medical issues, whether complicated as mine have been or not, invest in the detoxing. It will change your life!        ~Jasmine

Detox can help with a variety of issues such as inflammation, muscle cramping, joint stiffness and energy to name a few.  I've been personally detoxing for about fifteen years.  Other than turning my hair gray (joke), it's been very therapeutic.

To read more about the EB 305 go to:
http://barretthealthcenters.com/about-us/services---techniques.html

Blessings,
Dr. Rick Barrett

This is short, please read...

A very important letter from my patient, Mary C., that may have relevance to you.  As I read the letter, I was struck with how relevant it is today as when she wrote it in 2006.  With Mary’s permission, here it is:

Dear Dr. Barrett and Staff,

I am writing to express my deepest gratitude for the kindness and care you have extended to me.  I have been searching for a way to deal with my health issues using natural methods and thought about turning to Ayurvedic Medicine but because health insurance do not consider natural healing in their policies, I had no choice but to go with conventional medicine, until I came to you.  You are my answer to my health care.  There is no question in my mind.  You are not only teaching me how to care for myself, but helped me realize that health has no price tag, and I should not allow others to dictate what type of health care I need.  For years, I have been limiting my health care needs to what insurances determine for me, but my eyes have now opened, thanks to your enlightenment!

I want to thank you for allowing me to be a part of your wellness program and I am committed to this type of care from now on because I feel strongly deserving of it.  I cannot thank you enough for helping me feel better than I have felt or even remember feeling in so long.  I will do my part in helping this healing process along.

Thank you very much, Dr. Barrett and best wishes to all of you for all your help and for making me feel at home when I am around you.  I wish you health and prosperity for always, and may the Spirit of God go before you to make sure and successful your way.

Love and gratitude,
Mary C.

Wasn’t that a beautiful letter?  I am still grateful for the letter and especially for Mary.  She continues still as my patient and is in wonderful health. 

There are several significant key points that apply to so many people.

Mary wanted natural methods to help resolve her health issues.  She was tired of none results and hearing medication was her only answer.  She felt trapped as though she had no choice but to use her health insurance.  Mary was allowing others to dictate how she would be treated.  She was not in control of her own healthcare decisions.

Because of money, Mary was allowing to be lead (herded) into treatment that she was not interested in.  Happily, I was on Mary’s insurance plan giving her an alternative means to approach her health problems.

Fortunately, she learned that there are wonderful solutions like chiropractic and nutrition, exercise, positive thinking and a belief system that allows you to be a powerful, spiritual and healing being.
Unfortunately, Mary is not in the minority.

People have been lead into a wonderland where magically insurance has paid for much of one’s healthcare needs.  But that system is about to change and it is a system built on sickness care NOT wellness care.

Chiropractic and nutrition protocols have long been a wellness care system.  The premise is to keep your body in a natural state of great health.  Handle health issues as they come along as naturally as possible.

Our new healthcare system will no longer pay for any procedure at the whim of a doctor or patient.
People must learn how to care for themselves better and be willing to pay for health themselves.
If you don’t think differently, you are in for big surprises.

The brilliant inventor, Thomas Edison was attributed as saying, “The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest her or his patients in the care of the human frame, in a proper diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease."

• Get regular non pain chiropractic adjustments
• Allow me to help detoxify your body and show you what good nutritional products can do for you in improving and maintaining your health
• Let me design a program of wellness for you that includes a whole host of protocols you can use at home without a doctor
• Get tips and ideas from my blogs and website

Take control of your health and don’t let others decide what’s best for you.  But don’t have your head in the sand either.  I’m always here to serve you and yours and I always hope to be the chiropractor you wish you had in the family.

Blessing and Good Health!
Dr. Rick Barrett

Godzilla, Rodan, Giant Ants, Mutant Spiders, Antibiotics and a Real Alert from the CDC!

What?

Stay with me for a moment.

Remember those good old horror flicks depicting large mutant creatures caused by radiation exposure, a demented scientist or a laboratory error?

Sure, they were silly, looked horribly fake and usually didn’t have great acting. 

Nowadays, people are engrossed with stories about mutants like zombies, X-Men, and the timeless characters of vampires and werewolves.  But what if the idea of mutants wasn’t so far-fetched?

So many in our society believe in the fantastical, but don’t give a second thought about the real monsters that put them and their families at grave risk.

Mutant bugs are real!  They happen to be very small, however.  Not the giant radioactive mutations of the movies.  You likely have heard of them.  Maybe you’ve even dismissed the thought of them.  They have been called “superbugs”.  A superbug is a bacterium that has become resistant to antibiotic drugs!  They are extremely dangerous, multiply, spread quickly and are deadly.

The uncontrolled misuse and abuse of antibiotics is the cause. 

Just think of an outbreak of these bugs invading our hospitals and clinics; taking up residence in our bodies and destroying them.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified “antibiotic resistance as one of the greatest threats facing human health.”

Do we need antibiotics?

Yes.  They can be life savers.

“Antibiotics save lives, but poor prescribing practices are putting patients at unnecessary risk for preventable allergic reactions, super-resistant infections, and deadly diarrhea.  Errors in prescribing decisions also contribute to antibiotic resistance, making these drugs less likely to work in the future.”-Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Superbugs are just another example of humans trying to solve one problem and creating another.  It’s not just the fantasy world of movies. 

We are creating monsters.  Small deadly monsters!

Partly because antibiotics are given to chickens and livestock causing superbugs in them that easily transfers to humans through food and water supplies.  Partly because people are demanding antibiotics from their doctors for any little sniffle, cough, congestion or sneeze they have.

Doctors are not taking control.  Some feel bullied by their patients because they are demanding the medication.  Well, who is in charge anyway?

Realize that antibiotics don’t work on:

·         Common cold

·         Influenza (flu)

·         Viral bronchitis

·         Measles

·         Chicken pox

·         Herpes

·         Mono (infectious mononucleosis)

They do work on:

·         Strep

·         E. Coli

·         Salmonella

·         Bacterial sinusitis

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is alarmed, issuing warnings and telling doctors they need to change their ways.  They say:

·         More than half of all hospital patients receive an antibiotic.

·         Doctors in some hospitals prescribed three times as many antibiotics as doctors in other hospitals.

·         Reducing the use of high-risk antibiotics by 30% can lower deadly diarrhea infections by 26%.

 

Some other staggering, alarming, scary statistics are:

·         23,000 Americans die each year due to antibiotic resistant bacterial infections.

·         25% of antibiotic prescriptions aren’t necessary (because the infection is viral).

·         One out of four times a doctor gives an antibiotic, it won’t help.

·         60% of the time, prescribed antibiotics are “broad spectrum” which kills good and bad bacteria.  Then superbugs can develop.

This is like dropping a nuclear bomb on Houston killing the bad and good people, resulting in mutant zombies.

What you can do:

Resist taking antibiotics.  Consider allowing your body to heal using natural remedies when possible.  It has everything it needs to heal, but may need a little help on a physiological level.  Nature provides great answers.  Drugs are derivatives and alterations of plants, herbs, etc.  So why not look to these first?  There’s no harm to your body and your better for it.

We carry many nutritional supplement products that are immune system builders as well as viral and bacterial fighters.  These natural remedies have been used long before I was born, by chiropractors, naturopaths, homeopaths, herbalists and holistic medical doctors.  They are clinically effective and safe.

Should you choose to take an antibiotic, ask your doctor.

·         Do I really need it?

·         How does he/she know what type of infection I have?

·         What are the consequences of taking or not taking the drug?

Remember that there are consequences to taking all medications.  Drugs are abundant and readily available (over the counter and prescribed), but it does not make them any less dangerous.  Be thoughtful and investigate any medication you use in or on your body. 

Wishing you a long, healthy and abundant life.

Blessings,

Dr. Rick Barrett

P.S.  General rule (not always accurate)…if you see…green and yellow phlegm (sputum), think bacterial infection (doesn’t mean you need an antibiotic).  Red/rust: viral…antibiotics don’t work.  Clear or white…antibiotics don’t work.  Allergies can also cause green/yellow mucus, sputum.  Culture will always give a definitive answer if you need it. 

Tip:  Keep your immune system strong to fight disease and infection!