The Weekly Sticky: A Dime's Worth of Damage

 

The human body operates within a very small window of 'normalcy' that we refer to as homeostasis. There are safe measures in place if various systems in our body detect changes that may be harmful or detrimental to our survival. Your fevers, your sneezes, your goosbumps - these things that constantly annoy us and often signal that we are ill, are actually very acute ways in which your body expresses that it is still healthy! Yes, you read that correctly. These outward symptoms you feel and see demonstrate that your body is fighting for your survival and that it has not given up. If your body did not induce a fever to create a difficult environment for that bacteria/virus to live in, if you did not expel that pollen from your nasal cavity with a forceful sneeze, if you did not feel the tightness of goosebumps prickle your arms and legs to keep you warm - these situations may lead to greater damage to your body and prevent it from responding in such manners as your condition deteriorates.

In such a way, your body has internal regulatory patterns as well. And much of these regulations depend on careful communication between your body and your brain. The majority of this 'talk' takes place via your strong and sensitive nervous system. Like the pictorial above explains, the weight of the smallest coin causes enough interference in your nervous system to wreak havoc throughout your entire body. Most people don't have dimes housed in their spinal columns, but they do have bodies with mobile joints and are weight-bearing individuals. When life happens (yes, it happens to all of us), some joints become less likely to move, some move too much, some move in manners that they were not meant to move and some simply compact due to posture and sedentary tendencies. This is how the 'pressure' and 'stretch' of the dime analogy comes into being. Any of the above-mentioned mechanisms alter the manner in which your nervous system enters/exits your spinal cord. If one thing is off, it may irritate the surrounding tissues mechanically or chemically, and begin a process by which your nervous system and the the structures it feeds begins to deteriorate in function and health. Enter: your chiropractor. Your chiropractic physician is trained to asses the function of your nervous system at the source, and assist in altering the biomechanics of compromised regions, ultimately freeing your spine from the interference and allowing you to continue about life in a healthier manner. Check out the references from the pictorial here.

Yours in health,

Dr. Baar

 

The Weekly Sticky: Quantity Counts

 

In our Western culture the trend to combat all obstacles appears to trudge the path in which the greatest results are promised through the least amount of effort. We are a culture of Fad-everything! From diets to clothing to jewelry and especially healthcare! This holds true for most aspects of our lives. We have truly embraced a mentality that says we can get everything we want for little effort, nevermind the consequences of those actions immediately or in the future. Take this pill, get that shot, cut it off, snip it out, eat this, drink that - the 'friendly suggestions' list goes on and on.  

Chiropractic, as a very generalized rule, is frequently accused of requiring that patients succumb to a never-ending treatment plan. I'll be the first to admit that there are doctors out there that provide a less than appealing education for their patients in regards to continued chiropractic care, what we will refer to as wellness care. Wellness care is exactly what it sounds like: periodic treatments, scheduled at a frequency appropriate for each individual's body and lifestyle, implemented with the specific intention of keeping the body communicating optimally with the brain, boosting immune function, preventing or reversing immobilized joints, and an unlimited amount of additional positive 'side-effects.' Wellness care follows a completed treatment plan for corrective or maintenance care (the original reason why a patient visits a chiropractor). 

The treatment plan almost always consists of several scheduled adjustments - and yes, many of these adjustments take place AFTER you are out of pain or have noticed resolution of your chief complaint(s). To understand the reasoning behind this, you need to also understand that pain is the worst indicator of dysfunction in your body - it is frequently the LAST symptom to indicate a problem and the FIRST symptom to disappear during treatments. Additionally, it is important to note the difference between a symptom and a sign. A symptom is what you, as the patient, tell the doctor you are experiencing. It is subjective. A sign is what the doctor sees in your body, based on examination, touch, labs and other tools. It is objective. 

Very frequently you start to feel better long before your body is finished healing. Too much stress on your body before it is fully healed predisposes you to recurrent dysfunction. This is the key reason why you should stick to a suggested treatment plan in chiropractic - if you cease treatments before your body is fully healed, you are to likely re-injure yourself (or get sick again), leading to frustration and an extended treatment plan for the second round. Or worse, you may leave care prematurely and feel that chiropractic did not work for you, preventing you from seeking appropriate care in the future for different (or even the same) ailments.

Like the picture implies, your health is not something that can be achieved and then maintained through one visit to the gym, one healthy meal, one shot, one pill or one surgery. Time accumulated in a state free of dysfunction and subluxation is what gets you healthy and well. Your body has the innate capability to heal itself, and accumulated healthy behavior like physical activities, healthier meals and wellness adjustments provide an environment for your body to maintain optimum health. It's a commitment to yourself. Be good to yourself!

Yours in health,

Dr. Baar

The Weekly Sticky: Don't Miss if You're Sick

 

We hear it over and over again during cold & flu season: "I need to cancel my appointment today because I/my child/my spouse/our house is sick. I don't want to spread the symptoms."

We appreciate the kind thought. Truly, we do. But we must take a moment to discuss the fact that this is backwards, as an adjustment should be your number one priority and first line of defense once symptoms of illness begin to appear! Your immune system is a fairly sturdy and complex  entity that can be and is affected by your neurological system. Your powerhouse of your neurological system is primarily housed inside your spine and skull. Chiropractic focuses on the health and mobility of the joints of your spine, allowing optimum correspondence between your nervous system and your immune system (and every other body system you have). Therefore, by getting adjusted as soon as symptoms appear, and frequently throughout the course of your illness, you are ensuring that your nervous system is communicating at top speed with your immune system, delivering messages to those 'bug'-fighting cells and directing them to the areas where they are needed!

Additionally, your chiropractor is trained to understand the complexity of your spine and the spinal cord - this includes understanding which nerves leave from which specific vertebral joint, and what organs or body functions those nerves serve once they leave. The nerves that service your stomach, your liver, your kidneys and other abdominal organs primarily come and go from your spine in the midback. The nerves that service your eyes, ears, nose, sinuses, throat and most of your head structures primarily come and go from your spine in the neck. Each nerve is associated with a specific vertebral segment, each nerve serves a specific organ(s) or function(s), and each nerve is dramatically affected by the health of the vertebral segment that surrounds it. So, if you are suffering from a stuffy nose and sore throat, and the segments of your neck associated with the nerves that service those organs are subluxated and incapable of allowing optimum communication between your brain and your body, your chiropractor will skillfully adjust the middle segments of your neck, creating mobility in your spine and unleashing the innate power of your nervous system! This, in turn, signals your immune system (via a chemical influx) that focus should be paid to the structures associated with the areas just adjusted, and you are one step closer to recovery. You can be your own doctor, if you give your body the environment it needs to innately heal itself! Go YOU!

All of this stems from what we know about the combined fields of neurology and immunology. Although each system can function separately from the other (arguably, this is far from ideal and would probably leave you very ill after a certain period of time), together they act synergistically and create an environment better suited to keep you happy, healthy and well.

Now, the next time you are feeling a bit under the weather, please think twice about cancelling your appointment with your chiropractor. Instead, do yourself and your body a favor and keep that appointment. Help your body fight whatever is contributing to your symptoms of dis-ease, get adjusted, and feel better. FASTER! And don't worry about us; I assure you that we are well-adjusted and can handle any potential contagion you might introduce to our immune systems! ;0)

Yours in health,

Dr. Baar

For your review, here is a Meric Chart. This is an explanation of the nerves of your spine and the body areas they are commonly thought to serve.