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Let’s face it, today’s healthcare landscape is more difficult to navigate than ever before. With the seemingly endless array of products, goods, and services, making an informed choice has never been harder. And as someone considering their options, you have to ask yourself, “What IS the best use of my time and money?” Before answering that question let’s make a distinction between cost and value. Cost is how much you actually pay for something. For example, if you go to Whole Foods and buy a bottle of multivitamins and you pay $35 for them, $35 is the cost. The VALUE is the impact that product or service will have on your life, which is much more challenging to calculate, especially when dealing with the intangibles of the human experience. To continue the above example, how will that bottle of multivitamins impact your life? Will you have more energy? A stronger immune system? Will you have more focus? Greater productivity? Fewer sick days? Because of the impact they have on your life will your relationships with family and friends improve? This is what VALUE is all about.
Now to revisit the question above, the best use of your time and money would be a product or service that has the lowest cost while offering the highest value. The good news is that time and time again regular chiropractic care has been found to offer extraordinarily high value with low costs, as highlighted by the following research: “One study showed patients utilizing a chiropractor as a healthcare provider required 50% fewer drugs and pharmaceuticals and had a 50% fewer days spent in the hospital (Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics). "Another study in Oregon showed chiropractic care helped people who are unable to work due to low back injury to get back to work in a third of the time of medical treatment (Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics). "Another study in Utah showed medical treatment cost 10 times the amount of chiropractic care for lower back pain (Journal of Occupational Medicine). "Another study in 2005 showed that chiropractic care for low back and neck pain resulted in a reduction in the rates of surgery, advanced imaging, in-patient care and x-rays (Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics). "Finally, chiropractic patients found more satisfaction with their care than patients who received medical care or physical therapy (American Journal of Public Health).” Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Chiropractic---The-Cost-Effectiveness-Of-Chiropractic-Care&id=5814520 We hope you’ve enjoyed this month’s blog. As always, health is a way of life, not a lotion, potion, or pill.
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We’ve all heard the news: Sitting is the new smoking. What’s worse is that every year more and more research substantiates the deleterious effects of prolonged sitting. However, for those of you whose livelihood requires long hours seated, you may be wondering, “What can I do? I know it’s not good to sit for a long time, but what can I do about it?”
Well, if you are one of these people, tune in! We can help! There are four basic things to remember regarding seated posture. 1) The human body is not designed to be sitting for long periods of time - getting up and moving around every 20 minutes or so is important. 2) Regular change is a good for our body! Periodically switching the surface you are sitting on will help to slow some of the deconditioning that occurs with prolonged sitting (ex: 20 min on a chair, 20 min on an exercise ball, 20 min standing, repeat) 3) While sitting on a standard office chair, sit on the front half of the chair. This will tilt your pelvis forward, thus bringing a natural curve into your low back, which in turn brings your shoulders back, straightening the top portion of your spine and avoiding that dreaded “hump” which can develop from years of sitting and bending/stooping over. 4) This may be the most important one here and the most often overlooked. There is absolutely no replacement for quality chiropractic care. Receiving regular care will have a profound effect on normalizing the tone of the intrinsic muscles of your spine, allowing you to enjoy better posture without even having to think about it. Can you say enhanced unconscious proprioception?! It’s as simple as that! We hope this information helps you make a more informed choice regarding you daily habits. Please be sure to forward this along to anyone that you think could benefit from this information.  We have a plant in our office that is currently thriving, but it wasn't always this way. In fact, on two separate occasions this plant has gotten sick, lost all its leaves, and almost died. This plant is one of those pre-potted money trees that you can buy in many stores.
The first time it almost died I wasn't sure what to do. At first the leaves turned brown, then one after another they all fell off. At this point it’s important to note that I am not someone who you would say has a “green thumb,” but I like plants and am learning. So I asked someone who knows much more about plants what to do. She took a look at the plant, then at the pot, and noticed that the pot didn't have any way for water to drain. She recommended that I drill some holes in the bottom of the pot and see what would happen. I drilled the holes and lo and behold the plant began to come back! It sprouted new leaves vibrant and green. This new abundance of life continued for several months until once again, the leaves turned brown and began to fall. What to do? It just so happens that this pre-potted plant had a layer of decor-stones glued to the top of the soil. So this time I smashed the pot, scraped off the decor rocks, and then replanted the money tree in a larger pot with good drainage and plenty of nutrient rich soil. In time, new leaves grew back and today, this money tree is once again thriving and expressing vibrant health. So what can we learn from this? 1) Having healthy plants isn't rocked science. It simply requires a consistent balance of environmental elements such as water, sunlight, air, temperature, and soil composition. Just like BEING healthy isn't rocket science, it simply requires a consistent balance of quality food, healthy movement, good relationships, a purpose to live, a positive mental attitude, and of course a clear connection between brain and body. 2) When the plant was appearing sick and dying not once did I assume, “This plant must be sick because of some genetic deficiency!” Instead, the plant was sick because it was in an environment that wasn't conducive to its health. 3) The healing took TIME. It didn't happen overnight. 4) How often when WE ARE sick and having less than an amazing experience of life do we look to blame something outside of our control, like our genes, or our boss, or the latest bug out to get us? Instead, we need to take some careful time to examine whether we have a toxic internal or external environment and make the appropriate adjustments...AND this environment is much more in our control than many of us may think. So please join us in celebrating having a green thumb in our lives!  Do you know your body has the innate power to heal itself?
It's true! Your body can, and does, heal. Let’s explore how it does this. Think about what happens when you get a paper cut on your finger . . . it stings, it bleeds a little, maybe gets a little sore, the bleeding stops, the pain dissipates, and the cut heals. You didn't even have to think about it, your body just healed that cut for you. A cut is a great example because it is something that we can see. What do you think is happening internally? Your body is constantly healing. Our cells are always cycling through, killing off the bad and making the good. We all have "cancer" cells in us all the time. The only reason why we don't all express a cancer disease process is because our "wicked" smart body knows to kill off those nasty cancer cells. When there is a breakdown in the system, when something isn't working right, that’s when a cancer cell might not get caught and killed, or a cut won't heal, or a cold won't go away or many other unpleasant aliments can arise. The fact remains that when everything is functioning at 100%, your body heals itself. Do you think you are functioning at 100%? So how is it that our body is so darn smart and what controls all this self-healing? The answer is the nerve system. It is the master control system of the body. I don't want to oversimplify things, there are a lot of physiological processes happening to ensure that everything is in working order, but your nerve system is command central. Your brain receives signals from your body and in response sends messages back out to your body. Your nerves act as the go-betweens, the relay runners of the messages from brain to body and body to brain. When your brain, your spinal cord and your nerves are all in working order, things run smoothly. However, what happens if there is miscommunication somewhere along the line? What if a few bad cells pop up and the brain gets the message and sends the command out for those cells to be killed, but the message doesn't get out? It’s like a game of telephone where maybe the message got out but it was muffled or mixed up. So what happens then? Maybe only a few of the bad cells get killed or maybe good cells get killed instead- now we have a bigger problem and it all started with a simple breakdown in communication. Your body possesses an innate intelligence. This is how it knows what to do, how to heal, how to keep itself in tip top shape. All your body needs from you is the right fuel to keep it going. If you aren't able to fuel it properly, like putting bad gas in a car, your body breaks down. So what is this fuel your body needs? Proper nutrition, clean water, adequate sleep, and appropriate exercise. And what if you haven't always given it those basic things? There may be some breakdowns happening, some messages muffled, some signals confused. So in addition to cleaning up your diet and getting your groove on, there is a very powerful tool which will help clear the channels and facilitate proper communication and that tool is. . . Chiropractic care! Chiropractic care helps the body to restore its natural ability to heal itself. Chiropractic adjustments remove interference in your nerve system. When the interference is removed and the communication restored . . . ahhh. . . YOUR BODY has the power to heal! And if you still don't believe me, I suggest giving it a try so you can see for yourself!  A living human being possesses:
· 70-100,000,000,000,000 (70-100 trillion) cells · A nerve system with 100,000,000,000 (100 billion) neurons · A circulatory system with 60,000 miles of blood vessels · A musculoskeletal system with 642 muscles and 206 bones · A liver, spleen, intestines, kidneys, lungs, and pancreas · A genetic code within each cell Shortly after death, the body possesses: · 70-100,000,000,000,000 (70-100 trillion) cells · A nerve system with 100,000,000,000 (100 billion) neurons · A circulatory system with 60,000 miles of blood vessels · A musculoskeletal system with 642 muscles and 206 bones · A liver, spleen, intestines, kidneys, lungs, and pancreas · A genetic code within each cell So what’s the difference? If the matter is the same, what’s the difference between life and death? Picture the cleanest, most pure, organically, sustainably grown-in-nutrient-rich-soil, fair trade kale. This is the best kale on the planet. Now picture giving that kale to the body after death. What will happen? Will the body digest the kale and turn it into nutrients to be used by that body? Of course not…but why? That body has a mouth, has teeth, has a tongue, an esophagus, a stomach, intestines, and a colon. So why can’t the body use the kale? All the structures needed for digestion and assimilation are there. The reason the body cannot, and will not ever use the kale is the difference between life and death. The difference between a living, breathing human being and a lifeless body isn’t in the material present. A corpse has a nerve system, a heart, lungs, muscles, bones, organs, and a genetic code. What a copse doesn’t have is an animating life force, that human electrical energy which expresses itself through that matter of the body. This life force, which the chiropractor calls the “Innate Intelligence,” brings the genetic code alive! This Innate Intelligence controls and coordinates all the 70-100 trillion cells, the 100 billion neurons, the flow of blood through the 60,000 miles of vessels, the coordinated growth and action of the 642 muscles on the 206 bones, the function of our viscera, and so much more! Stay tuned for next month as we discuss how this Innate Intelligence communicates with itself…  The large majority of people associate chiropractic with neck and back pain. When I tell people I specialize in working with pregnant women and children, I often receive puzzled glances. Common responses are, “I hope we don’t need you” and “Haha, my children don’t have back pain.” With that in mind, I’d like to share with you one of my favorite sayings: Using chiropractic for back pain is like robbing a bank and only taking the pens - meaning, chiropractic has SO MUCH more to offer than pain relief.
We are all human, we all deal with stress. Whether it’s the commute to work, eating poorly or financial worries, stress is ever present. Through life’s physical, chemical and emotional stressors, the body becomes burdened with excess tension. This tension causes interference in our nervous system. The nerve system, including our brain, spinal cord and all of our nerves, serves to control and coordinate EVERY function in our body. In order for us to function at 100%, our nerve system must be working at its optimum. When stress causes nervous system interference there is a breakdown of communication within the body. Over time, this breakdown typically results in symptoms. Sometimes symptoms are pain, however, they may be digestive issues, frequent colds, allergies, asthma, altered blood pressure, thyroid issues, reproductive issues, chronic fatigue - the list could go on and on. A chiropractor works to help balance the body from the inside out. By looking at the body as a whole and analyzing where tension has settled, the chiropractor can assist the body to release tension. This serves to remove interference from the delicate nerve system, allowing for a fuller expression of life. The good news is, we are designed to be healthy! Our bodies are incredibly smart and are constantly working to keep us as healthy as possible. A symptom is a red flag. It is our body’s way of telling us that something is wrong. Whether a child is suffering from allergies, asthma, colic, ear infections, behavioral issues or bed wetting, there is something amiss in their body. Their body needs help to normalize itself. Chiropractic care serves to bring the body back into balance. Unlike most adults who have layers of tension in their bodies from years of life’s stressors, children respond very quickly to chiropractic care. Care for children is different than that for adults. A chiropractic adjustment for a child utilizes the same amount of pressure you would use in the grocery store to check a tomato for ripeness. Adjustments are often performed in between playing games and socializing, helping the child to feel safe, comfortable and relaxed. Chiropractic care is one of the best things you can do for your child from a young age. Whether or not your child has symptoms, getting checked by a chiropractor can help to ensure your child has the best opportunity to grow and thrive. From enhancing your child’s overall health and wellbeing to assisting with proper development, posture and immune function, there are countless benefits to be found. Many parents are delighted with how vibrant their children become after just a few chiropractic visits and at how well their family functions after a few years of regular chiropractic care. Now I put the question to you: Do you think it’s a good idea to be as balanced as possible from the moment of birth until the moment of death, or is it better to wait until something breaks down before taking action? Chiropractic care as a means of prevention and wellness may seem like a very foreign concept, however is it an integral part of a wellness lifestyle for your whole family. My advice to you, take more than the pens!! |
Drs. A & BWe want to share as much health information with you as possible, so here is some healthy reading for healthy bodies and souls. CategoriesArchives
April 2020
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