NOSE BREATHING CONTINUED

AND THE RABBIT HOLE GETS DEEPER Just 2 days ago I returned from a fascinating course which highlighted even further the miraculous and infinite connections between the mouth and the rest of the body. The lecturer spoke about TMJ problems and how this is so intimately connected to our body alignment and breathing. He told of a connection that took him about 10 years to figure out. It seems that in medicine and dentistry we focus on the part of the body that the patient reports to be a source of discomfort. In chronic pain states this can often be misleading. Say for example, that you have a pain in your foot. In order to walk comfortably, you would probably avoid putting pressure on that foot and lean more heavily on the opposite foot. This in turn puts more weight on the leg of the normal foot and this pressure is accomodated for by the rest of the body. You might be able to imagine that after walking a mile in this condition, you might develop a pain in your neck from bearing up an unbalanced posture. This position that the body assumes is called a postural compensation and this is very common when a person is suffering from a chronic injury. MY AHA MOMENT! The connection that I referred to in the above paragraph was that after resolving his patient's TMJ issue, he found that the patient had a residual issue in the sacral area (low back). This always baffled him, and he found that this was a rather common occurrence. After seeing this pattern in many patients over an approximately 10 year period he had a flash of insight that he should look more closely at the patient's breathing pattern. The patient had a nasal obstruction. ... difficulty breathing (airway blockage or resistance) can cause us to move our head forward to decrease the resistance. This not only leads to jaw malpositioning, but creates a strain that extends all the way down the spine, in this case to the sacrum. After alleviating the obstructed nose with nasal spray, the patient's head straightened up and the sacral issue was amazingly resolved. I thought that was so cool! I am continually amazed and awed by the connections that exist in our bodies and how all of our parts coordinate resulting in our abilities to live and perform on a daily basis. So I leave you today with the following thought ... When our bodies are healthy and functioning well, we can live happily, pain free, and full of energy. My goal and Mission in life is to "Change people's Live" for the better by helping to relieve and resolve long-standing pain issues that perhaps they have resigned themselves to endure, thinking that there is not solution in sight. Until the next time I wish you a Happy Canada Day and a peaceful relaxing summer. Dr. Marty Frankel - Smiles by Design 416-770-8526 3030 - 3080 Yonge St., Toronto, M4N 3N1