March Newsletter 2026 Daylight savings is March 9th. We are going to spring forward…and lose an hour of sleep. Most of us complain that it affects our health negatively and it is not all in our heads. Around 70 countries observe daylight savings time (DST), and many complain about it (it’s not just us). The European parliament actually voted to get rid of DST in 2019, but so far it has not been implemented. In the spring, we lose an hour of sleep which disrupts our circadian rhythms, our internal clock that is synchronized to sunlight. In spring DST, there is more sunlight at bed time which interferes with our melatonin production making it harder to go to sleep. Also, the mornings are darker, which makes it harder to wake up. This combination makes many of us lose precious sleep in the spring and the effects can last for weeks afterwards. The loss of 1 hour of sleep negatively impacts our memory, attention span, and focus. This causes people to be easily distracted and less productive. There has been found to be a 6% increase in fatal car accidents after DST due to impaired decision making. DST also exacerbates mood disorders, depression, anxiety, and substance abuse most likely due to the disruption of normal sleep cycles. There are even multiple studies that show a small, but significant increase, about 8%, in heart attacks and strokes for days and weeks after DST. Due to the stress of the disruption of normal sleep cycles. DST was supposed to help conserve energy cost, but studies conducted in 1974 by the Department of Transportation and again in 2008 by the Department of Energy have found no such savings in energy usage or gas consumption. The states of Arizona and Hawaii have permanently decided to opt out of daylight savings time. There are ways to make DST easier on you to help with your sleep and your health. You can start by adjusting your sleep schedule a few days in advance. Go to bed 15 to 20 minutes earlier each night so that way the loss of the hour is not such a shock to your system. Cut our caffeine by 2:00 pm each day. With the loss of an hour of sleep you will be more likely to reach for that cup of coffee in the afternoon, but that will also disrupt your sleep cycles making it worse. Keep good sleep hygiene, such as keeping your bedroom dark, quiet, and cool. Try using a sleep mask to block out any sunlight that is still remaining. Do not drink alcohol or use screens before bedtime. These tend to stimulate the brain causing a disruption to your sleep. In the morning try exposing yourself to sunlight as soon as you can. Go outside and have a cup of coffee on the porch or even better yet go take a walk. If it’s too cold (because we live in Michigan) pull a chair up next to a window that has the sunlight shining in and enjoy your coffee there. References: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20251024-how-daylight-saving-time-affects-our-health https://www.aarp.org/health/healthy-living/daylight-saving-time-and-your-body/ Tech Neck Is tech neck real? Unfortunately, yes. Tech neck is a new term for neck pain that is caused from looking down at all the new technology that we have today such as cell phones, tablets, and laptops. Yet you can also include hobbies such as crocheting, knitting, reading, or any other activity that keeps you looking down for long periods of time. The human head weighs around 10 to 12 pounds, when you are standing straight up and looking straight ahead. The more you tuck your chin towards your chest the heavier your head feels and the more work the muscles need to do to hold your head up. If you tuck your chin down to look at your cell phone (about 60 degrees), your head will then weigh about 60 lbs. If you tuck your chin down to look at a laptop (about 30 degrees), your head will then weigh about 30 lbs. The normal symptoms of tech neck are neck pain, pain in the shoulders and upper back, headaches, and if the behavior continues over many years, more severe problems can occur such as disc bulges, degenerative disc changes, and pinched nerves. Due to the postural changes caused by tech neck the problems may radiate down the spine causing mid back and low back pain. Helping tech neck is possible, but it is also multi-faceted. First and foremost, you must correct your posture. Bring your cell phone up to your face, do not look down at it. Same with reading books, bring them up to eye level. (My aunt stacks a bunch of pillows in her lap and props her books up on them so she doesn’t have to hold it up.) If you are on a laptop, get a laptop stand, a wireless keyboard, and a wireless mouse. This will allow you to look straight across at your laptop screen without needing to look down. If you are on a standard computer make sure that you have a monitor stand that brings your screen up to eye level. For hobbies such as knitting and crocheting they make glasses that allow you to look forward, but due to the lenses look down at your craft. This would be a good solution to looking down so much. If you are a student and look down at text books, get a recipe book holder to prop your books up to stop from looking down so much. Second, getting a chiropractic adjustment will help to decrease the pain in the spine by correcting the fixations. This will help decrease pain in the neck and back and help reduce the frequency and intensity of the headaches. Therapeutic massage will help decrease the muscle tension in the neck and shoulders, which will also help decrease pain in the neck and back and reduce frequency and intensity of headaches. Third, you must strengthen the muscles of your neck and upper back to keep the muscles strong enough to withstand the repetitive use damage that is caused from looking down and being on a computer all day. Dr. Teresa and Dr. Ron are always happy to give you stretches and exercises to help you undo tech neck and muscle tension. If you are unsure about doing exercises on your own there are wonderful physical therapists in our area who would be thrilled to get you stronger to help decrease your pain. Lastly, taking breaks from looking down will help so much. Set a timer on your cell phone/tablet and only stay on it for 15-30 minutes at a time. When the timer goes off, get up for an hour and go find something else to do. If you need to work on a computer for your job, or your hobby that you love has you looking down, take a 3-5 minute break every 30 minutes. In this break time do some neck or back stretches or get up and walk/march in place. Giving your muscles a break on a regular basis helps to keep them healthy and helps to decrease the amount of repetitive use injury caused from having a desk job or looking down at your favorite hobby. If you have any questions at your next appointment about correcting tech neck, all of us at Cummings Chiropractic will be happy to help you! Below are two helpful articles about tech neck that I wanted to share with you. https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/effect-of-technology-on-your-neck https://health.clevelandclinic.org/tech-neck Class at the Office On Friday March 6th, 2026, Holistic Hypnotherapy Services will be holding a group session focused entirely on pain management. This class will teach you how to harness the power of your mind to manage your discomfort, reduce tension, and improve your quality of life. Time: 6:00pm to 7:30pm. Cost: Only $50 The class will be right here at the office in the event space up front. For $50 you will learn two effective pain management skills that you can use at home. You will get a $50 coupon for a future individual hypnotherapy session. And you will get a $50 discount on the purchase of the recording of the hypnotherapy session for home use. There is limited space available because she is committed to providing an intimate and effective experience. So sign up now. You can call Megan Yelle at 810-771-8594 or use the link below to sign up. https://www.facebook.com/share/1FRWm5SUTn/?mibextid=wwXIfr Employee of the Month: Megan Yelle Megan is a certified hypnotherapist here at Cummings Chiropractic. Drawing on a rich background in education and public service, Megan Yelle, C.Ht., is a certified hypnotherapist with a passion for helping people achieve their full potential. She holds two master's degrees from the University of Michigan, one in Liberal Studies in American Culture and another in Public Administration, which have shaped her deep understanding of human behavior and organizational dynamics. Trained and certified by the esteemed Clinical Hypnosis Institute, Megan brings the same caring and supportive nature that defined her distinguished career as a retired public school teacher and administrator to her hypnotherapy practice. She is a member of the Clinical Hypnosis Professional Group and is skilled at designing and delivering individualized hypnotherapy approaches to maximize healing and growth for her clients. Megan brings her extensive leadership and motivational experience to her wide range of specializations, which include sports performance hypnosis, educational and super learning hypnosis, stress and anxiety management, pain management, smoking/vaping cessation, weight management, and past life regression work. Her unique blend of academic knowledge, professional experience, and compassionate hypnotherapeutic skill allows her to guide clients toward lasting positive change and personal empowerment. What You Can Expect At Holistic Hypnotherapy Services, she specializes in transformative hypnotherapy techniques that unlocks your true potential. Her sessions are individually designed to help you overcome obstacles and achieve personal growth. Sessions are personalized to meet your specific goals and needs. Individual sessions are 1 hour and 15 minutes long. If participating in a treatment plan, sessions are scheduled 2-3 weeks apart. Supplement of the Month: Designs for Health: Probiotic Synergy 5bil cfu It helps you digest food, yes, but they also help to train your immune system, decrease gut inflammation, stimulate the production of the neurotransmitter serotonin (which is one of your body’s natural happy chemicals), and they secrete hormones that tell you when you are full and help balance your blood sugar. Unfortunately, if we take antibiotics not only do they kill the bad bacteria that are making us ill, but they also kill the good bacteria in our gut that is keeping us healthy. Many additives and preservatives in our food can also be bad for our good bacteria in our gut. Environmental toxins like alcohol, tobacco smoke and pollutants can cause our good bacteria to struggle to survive. For many people taking a probiotic will help to keep a diverse group of good bacteria in our gut which will help with many health issues. We sell this probiotic here at the office and it’s the one I take every day. If you are interested in more information about the amazing world of your gut bacteria here is a great article from Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/25201-gut-microbiome Did you know? Dr. Ron is now taking walk-ins on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. You are now able to TEXT the office number 810-664-4185 and you get a direct line to Alex and Ben and they will be happy to make your next appointment. Thanks, All! Tune in for more next month....