A little backbone Blog

And wouldn’t you like to keep it that way?  Sure your child may not have ever had a significant fall or accident.  They may never have been hospitalized but does that mean they’ve never been significantly injured?

The American Pediatrics Association published a study that counted the number of times that children, learning to walk for the first time, fell down.  How many times do you think it was?  100?  150? 300?  Not even close.

The study found that on average, a child falls down about 5,000 times as they are learning to walk.  Oh, but kids have rubber bones and bump into stuff all the time.  Maybe, but if you or I fell down 5,000 in less than a year we’d probably want to get checked.  What do you think all those impacts are doing to a child’s spine?

So our question of the day is:  Have you ever considered bringing your kids to see the chiropractor?

“Oh, I don’t go to the chiropractor because it’s too expensive.”

“My insurance only covers some of my visits so the insurance company must not think that it’s worthwhile.”

Most people use chiropractic just like they would any other doctor, in a crisis.  So they are okay paying for the services and expertise of a chiropractor only when they are hurt.  It doesn’t make sense to them to get their spine checked on a regular basis so they may be able to avoid an injury in the first place.  To each his/ her own but would these same people also go years without changing the oil in their car?  Without brushing their teeth?

“But it’s too expensive to keep going when I’m not hurt.  I’ll just wait until I can’t work any more, then I’ll go.”

Every single one of the x-rays that I have seen of my patients have shown signs of premature spinal decay.  A twenty year old woman has the spine of a 40-year old, someone in their fifties, the spine of someone in their eighties.  Luckily, they now get their spines checked on a regular basis.  But what if they were like so many others and waited until they were in really bad shape?

Did you know that the average cost of a back surgery is over $80,000?  And any orthopedic surgeon will probably tell you that they’ll have to do another one in five years or so.  Not to mention all the post surgical care that goes into the process.  And since so many back surgeries could be delayed or even avoided with regular chiropractic care the choice is pretty obvious.  Now who’s too expensive?

How about this one:

I don’t want to go to the chiropractor because he won’t tell me when I can stop coming.  He must be greedy and wants me to show up every week for forever…

There is actually some truth to this concern.  And it’s not the greedy part…

Chiropractic works to help your body function better through correcting interference to your nervous system, right?  So when your brain-to-body communication is improved healing is too.  And that’s the tricky part.  How long does it take your body to heal from a paper cut?  A few days.  A broken bone?  Six weeks, maybe.  How long will it take your body to heal from having a crimp in your spinal cord from a misaligned back bone?  What if that crimp has been there for 20 years?  How long will that take?

Many people that I encounter seem to be scared of what I do.

What do you mean you move bones? Why do I need to get my spine checked more than once? Doesn’t it hurt? I don’t want my neck broken!

While it is healthy to have questions and find out more about something that is different. So many of these are based on fear. Fear of the unknown.

Fear is healthy (in moderation) in keeping us safe. But too much can keep us from becoming more.

Yes, as a chiropractor, I move bones in order to correct interference to your nervous system. You should get your spine checked on a regular basis to catch this interference and correct it as soon as possible, should it return. Done properly, a correction does not hurt. The most common response that I hear following a correction is: “That’s it?” And as far as getting your neck broken at a chiropractor’s office, it is far more dangerous and risky to your health to get in your car and drive somewhere, 1 chance in 6500 for an auto accident compared to 1 in over 1 million for a chiropractic injury.

So America, the question I pose to you this week is: What are you afraid of when it comes to the chiropractor?

Once you’ve decided that your nervous system is worth taking care of and scheduled your first visit, there are a few things that you can expect from your first visit.

1) Expect to be in the office for about two hours: the first office visit is extremely important in introducing you to the principles of chiropractic and getting information about your spine.  The doctor has probably seen thousands of spines but has never seen yours before.  The more information that the doctor has, the better your spine can be cared for.

2) Your friends and family are always welcome to come with you: experience shows that the better the people you care about understand chiropractic, the better you do.  Good communication is important in more than just your nervous system.

3) You won’t be treated like a number.  There is a saying in chiropractic schools that spines don’t walk into your office, people do.  You will be given the doctor’s undivided attention EVERY time that you visit and treated with the highest level of respect.  As a result, please be understanding of any small delays you may experience.

Depending on your case, the doctor may take additional steps not listed here but this should give you a good idea of what your first visit is like.  Congratulations on taking care of yourself and your family’s health and welcome to chiropractic!

A chiropractor needs to take x-rays of your spine to determine several things:

1) How your bones are shaped since this can change how you get adjusted

2) How your bones have misaligned and potentially effected your nervous system

3) How to correct the misalignment that you might have

Without being able to take x-rays of your spine, you’re missing out on at least a third of the information needed to properly adjust your spine.  For example, the top two bones in your neck can misalign a combined 274 different ways.  Which misalignment do you have?  On which side?  Would you rather “think” your adjustment is correct, or “know”?  Without being able to see the bones, you are just guessing.

It is a way of looking at the body that is based on a simple idea:  that the nervous system controls every cell (all 75 trillion of them) and function in our body.

The easiest way of taking care of our nervous system is to maintain the integrity of the joints of the spine.  Through detailed x-rays, postural analysis, and thermal scans around the spine we can tell how and when and where you may be misaligned.