Posts for: November, 2019
It was family affair this past weekend here in the office! The wonderful and always fun Rose family came in for their monthly adjustments, and, as always, they came together. I love that the Roses choose to come together for their holistic chiropractic treatments every month. They literally make a Saturday afternoon of it!
The Roses take a very holistic approach to their health care and wellness, and so we do the same here in the office with their chiropractic treatments.
With each of the Roses, I use a lot of my tool of Applied Kinesiology muscle testing and do a lot of chiropractic adjusting using manual, activator, pelvic blocks, and drop piece techniques. We also work on a plethora of other things, such as organ function, lymphatic reflex points, and mind-body and energy healing techniques. A few of our highlights from this Saturday included helping to process some old emotional and physical traumas with mind-body techniques, flower essences, and colored lenses, working on cognition/memory/learning with some techniques from Total Body Modification, fixing up some knee pain related to the large intestine, shoulder pain, and much more!
Why do I feel that holistic chiropractic care is essential for the entire family? First of all, chiropractic is a non-invasive, safe, and natural way of bringing the body into a state of optimal healing and function. Not only can we address musculoskeletal complaints, but we can ensure that the nervous system is properly functioning to support the entire body and mind. The benefits of chiropractic care extend so far beyond pain relief.
I feel that the Roses experience an even greater level of healing in the office because they come in as a family. There is always an energetic component to any kind of health care, and the energy of family together in the office to support each other in their health and healing adds a special kind of quality to our treatments.
Thank you to the Roses for recognizing the incredible value of regular chiropractic care, and for being such kind, amazing souls that brighten up any Saturday here in the office!
Recurring misalignments- why do they happen? For many reasons! Today I wanted to address a couple of the primary physical reasons that joint misalignments and pain can be recurrent.
Oftentimes, when a joint misalignment is recurrent, there is ligament laxity, either in the joint area locally, or throughout the entire body. Ligaments can become loose for multiple reasons, including past injury, repetitive stress, high cortisol levels and adrenal stress, genetics, and more. Using muscle testing, we can determine if there is local ligament laxity which may be contributing to an unstable and painful joint. We can then do physical work to the ligaments, and add nutritional supplemental support (my favorite product for this is Ligaplex II by Standard Process Inc.) to re-strengthen the ligaments of the area.
If systemic (whole body) ligament laxity is present, I often choose to focus my treatment on the adrenal glands and probably high stress/cortisol levels in the body. Cortisol eats away at ligaments, particularly of the upper neck and low back/pelvis, where many people experience their pain. Getting stress levels under control, and the adrenal glands working properly again, can greatly help with these cases.
Another reason spinal misalignments can return is an inability to withstand the forces of gravity, often due to an octacosanol deficiency in the body! Octacosanol is chemically similar to vitamin E, and supports the strength and stamina of the musculoskeletal system, making it better able to support the body against gravitational and postural excess forces.
There are plenty of other reasons for recurring spinal segment issues, including related organ system dysfunction, acupuncture meridian imbalances, emotional triggers, and more. Thankfully, with our tool of Applied Kinesiology muscle testing, we can determine which possible factor/s are in fact causing the recurring issue! More often than not, it is a combination of various factors, which we are again able to ID with muscle testing, and then apply the appropriate treatments, whether it be chiropractic adjustment, soft tissue work, reflex point work, organ system work, meridian balancing, nutritional supplementation, mind-body techniques, and our list of tools goes on.
I just sat down and took one of the most important assessments I keep around in my office- Standard Process Inc. Stress Assess Questionnaire. I will be very open with you all and share my results!
I scored a 44 on the assessment this time around. The Stress Assess not only gives you an overall window into how high your stress levels are and how it is affecting your health, but also into how you are handling the stress in your life overall. I like to take this questionnaire periodically throughout the year to check-in on my overall stress-response and well-being.
I want to encourage all of my patients (and non-patients!) to do the same. Take 5-10 minutes to invest in yourself, evaluate yourself and discover how your stress may or may not be affecting you. More often than not, we are surprised by the results.
Taking this questionnaire also helps me when working with my patients on their health goals. It helps us both to know how much of a role stress is playing, and what kinds of things we need to evaluate and work on further in our treatment sessions.
If patients have a high amount of stress in their lives, I tend to incorporate more:
*Adrenal Gland/Endocrine System Testing. I test different adrenal and endocrine related muscles such as the gracilis, sartorius, and calf muscles, the glutes, a rotator cuff muscle, and more. We may work certain reflex points and do particular adjustments to support these organs.
*Mind/Body Techniques such as Neuro-Emotional Technique, Emotional Freedom Technique aka Tapping, emotional reflex points, and more to protect the body from and help with unprocessed emotional complexes.
*Boost Parasympathetic Nervous System and Other Calming Techniques- includes all chiropractic adjustments particularly upper neck and pelvis/hips, pelvic blocking, cranio-sacral therapy, suboccipital release, and more.
*Nutritional Testing- both for foods, chemicals, or deficiencies that may be contributing to increased stress, and possible homeopathic remedies, flower essences, and/or nutritional and herbal supplements that can support a healthier stress response.
Please take the questionnaire below sometime soon (you can blow up the page by opening it in a new window), or you can always request them from me in the office! I keep them right in the treatment room. I look forward to helping all of my patients lead lives less negatively impacted by the inevitable stresses of life on planet earth!
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Congratulations to the Washington Nationals on their first ever World Series Championship! Our Game 7 starting pitcher Max Scherzer woke up after Game 1 with severe neck and shoulder spasms and pain. It appears he had a severely irritated nerve. He credits part of his rapid healing process and ability to pitch their series-winning Game 7 to receiving 2 immediate chiropractic sessions. Check it out at the link below!
https://www.facebook.com/acatoday.org/videos/2820119071356354/?t=9.