10 Reasons Not To Take Care Of Yourself

I've heard it all ... As a health care provider (as opposed to a sick care practitioner) for 15 years, I have heard most (if not all) of the reasons people put off going to a health care provider for health care. Moreover, just for the perspective: medical care in this country is often called health care. If this is so, how come most of medical care is intervention - waiting until there is a problem and then fixing it? Consider: In a country that spends nearly one billion dollars annually on "health" care, wouldn't you think we should be the healthiest country in the world? What is your experience?

Just for the record, more people now see "alternative" health care providers than medical physicians. It appears that those seeking health care are discovering that perhaps the medical model is indeed the alternative - that is, sick care.

Back to basics: Here are the top ten dangerous thoughts about your health, and some considerations around those thoughts

1. Maybe it will go away.

Maybe it won't! But seriously folks. Have you ever walked into a home (maybe even yours!) and been greeted by the magnificent scent of fresh, homemade, apple pies baking in the oven? What a treat. You immediately recognize the aroma. After a while, however, your system acclimates to that sweet smell, and you are no longer aware of it. Has the aroma gone away, or have you just become used to it? Has your pain or problem really gone away, or has it become so much a part of you that you just do not even recognize it any more?

2. It comes and goes.

However, it comes back! Is this like a recurring nightmare? What's important here, is that it comes back, not that it goes away! Maybe the oil light on the dashboard of your car only comes on occasionally. Certainly, you know a problem is brewing. How long will you choose to ignore it?

3. It's not that bad.

Compared to what? If you have a toothache, how bad does it have to be before you get to a dentist? Do you know anyone who was told by their dentist that if they took care of their teeth, or came in earlier, it would have been preventable, or perhaps just a simple cavity? You let it go long enough, and you may need a root canal. Ignore your teeth long enough and you'll need new teeth. Ignore your spine & nervous system long enough and you are in serious trouble...remember it controls EVERYTHING!!!

4. It only hurts when I ...

This is analogous to having an alignment problem on the front end of your car. If you drive at 55, the front end wobbles. If you drive at 35, it doesn't. Does this suggest there is no problem with the front end? Here, too, let it go long enough and soon you'll not be able to drive over 15 without your front end wobbling, never mind all the other problems that show up (symptoms!)

5. I know what my problem is, it's ...

Most of the time, people describe their symptoms. "My problem is I have a backache, or a headache, a toothache." Great! So like the toothache, the symptom alerts you to the fact that there is an underlying problem. Let's wake up to the underlying cause of the problem, not the symptom. Depressing or numbing a symptom is like putting a piece of tape over the oil light or taking the battery out of the smoke detector.

6. I was told I have to live with it, so I do.

So, who told you you have to live with it? In my 16 years of practice, I have helped countless people who have been told they have to live with it. They felt that since they were told they would have to live with it, they indeed would. What they found, however, was after appropriate healthbased, honoring, specific chiropractic care, they were free to live without the "it!" Living with utmost health potential. The Asthma chld who no longer needs the inhaler. The colicy baby who can sleep through the night.The bedwetter who can have a playdate & sleepover. The grandma who no longer needs a walker.The spouse who is not a walking medicine cabinet, because they said it was in her head...the life changing stories go on!!

7. My doctor couldn't find anything wrong.

Has your doctor performed an in-depth, appropriate spinal screening, comparative thermal scan (measuring the temperature variation along your spine), or a surface EMG (to measure the comparative tension along your spine, which just happens to house the spinal cord, the master control system of the body)! If you hit a bump with your car and your car now shimmies and sways, would you take it to a body shop for an evaluation? They would find nothing wrong. (Unless the shimmy was so severe, you hit another car or a wall!) In my practice, I look at the alignment of your spine & nervous system to determine the underlying cause of your problems.

8. I've been this way for years, why change now?

Your body consistently regenerates. There is no time like the present to begin to lead a healthier, freer, more flexible life. Your body is a self-regulating, self-healing, self-regenerating system. Remove interference, and you have no choice but to heal!

9. I don't want to know!

Denial is as great a killer as anything else is. Back to the tooth analogy. How long would you choose to deny there is a problem with your tooth before you have to be strapped into the dentist chair? Honor yourself, take care of yourself.

10. It's because of my age!

I love this one! Many years ago, my father was told that the arthritis in his right knee was because of his age. He calmly asked the doctor, "So doc, how much older is my right knee than my left?" ( I told him to ask that!!) Please, give me a break. How many people older than you do not have what you have that you have been told, "It's because of your age?" This is a great excuse not to take care of yourself.

Take your power back. If you do what you've always done, see the doctors you've always seen, you'll get what you've always gotten. You are the only one who can take the responsibility of taking care of you — do it!

Pass this along to those you know need to read this!! You know there are plenty of them.

Dr Kirk

Thanks to my friend & colleague, Dr. Luigi

Why are Chiropractors referred to as Back Doctors?

It seems that wherever I go, when someone finds out that I’m a chiropractor, a joke about back popping or bone cracking comes about.  These repeated scenarios have inspired me to tell you a little bit about the word, profession, and purpose of chiropractic.  Let’s get right to it…

Chiro-practic

The word, broken down to its roots, literally means to do by hand.  It was derived from two Greek words: chiro (hand) and praxis (to do).  When the term was derived to give a name to the new healing art, it was implied that chiropractic meant “healing by hand.”  Most people assume that chiro means “back.”  

So how did we get from “healing by hand” in the early 1900’s to “back doctor” a century later?  Well, there’s two ways to look at it.  One is from the perspective of the chiropractor.  For that tale, I would encourage you to read the following for an in depth answer.  The other is from the perspective of the people/public/patients.  Let’s take a look at that point of view…

My grandparents’ generation largely rejected the notion that a person could be “healed by hand,” thus denouncing chiropractic.  My grandmother once told me that my grandpa thought chiropractic was complete quackery, largely based on what his medical doctor told him.  MDs and DCs have a long, storied history of their own and perhaps we can visit that some other day, suffice to say that one of the most respected people in any given society is the medical doctor.  

So, getting back to the notion that one could be “healed by hand” is quite contrary to modern medicine, which is all about either putting something in your body or taking something out of your body. Despite the fact that doctors of chiropractic were having great success with conditions typically reserved for medical doctors, I can’t really say it was
surprising that the majority of people were rejecting it.  It was, after all, a new concept to our increasingly modern society.

So, then we move forward to my parents’ generation, when chiropractic was gaining some acceptance, but not as the philosophy, art, and science of “healing by hand.”  Rather, it was viewed as what has become the modern definition of chiropractic.  

This part of the history requires a bit of a back story.  Doctors of chiropractic were growing in number and the message of what chiropractic was all about was becoming more and more diluted. There were less doctors who wanted to change the way that medical doctors

and the public looked at chiropractic and more doctors who just wanted to gain some sort of acceptance.  Acceptance, in this case, meant just finding a niche.  It’s easier to just find a way to fit in than to stand up, be yourself, and let people accept you for what you are.

Well, holding the keys to chiropractic’s acceptance was the medical community.  And our profession, despite the urgent calls against it by some of the more passionate doctors who really believed in chiropractic’s potential, took what they gave us… musculoskeletal issues, the most common of which is low back pain.  It’s our own fault.  We made ourselves into a niche instead of a new paradigm…which might have been thriving by now had we all been on the same page.

What chiropractic was (and at its core, still is) is a different approach to healing.  Rather than put something foreign into the body or surgically removing something from the body, chiropractic is about allowing the body to heal itself.  Believe it or not, doctors of each healing art being discussed take the same amount of classes to earn their doctoral degrees.  Yet, the one that emphasizes medicine instead of your body’s own ability to heal is so vastly more respected.  I find that to be tragically amusing more and more each year.

Even though both kinds of doctors learn about the human body from the same textbooks…even though we learn how complex and downright miraculous life is…and how all the things that happen in the body occur because of the nervous system, which by the way is more than just the nerves but also the brain, brainstem, and spinal cord…

SOMEHOW the paradigm that says “none of that matters, take this” has all of the credibility and acceptance in the world and the paradigm that says “the body is pretty smart, so let’s make sure it’s working properly” has almost no credibility nor acceptance.

A fever, in the medical model, is a condition that needs treatment.  A fever, in the chiropractic model, is the body raising its temperature for a reason (usually to kill an infection).

A sinus infection, in the medical model, is a condition that requires anti-biotics.  A sinus infection, in the chiropractic model, means your immune system is weak and not working properly.

I’ll state this very clearly: CHIROPRACTIC HAS ALMOST NOTHING TO DO WITH LOW BACK PAIN.  Yet, that’s our niche.  It’s tough to escape those three words: low back pain.

Chiropractic is the philosophy, science, and art of adjusting that part of the vertebral column that misaligns to the point that it interferes with the function of the nervous system.  It isn’t about bones!  It’s about what those bones developed in your body to protect: the brainstem and spinal cord!  

When the nervous system isn’t functioning properly, you may experience all kinds of symptoms.  Fevers because your immune system is weaker to the point that you’re more prone to infections, diabetes because your endocrine or immune systems are weak, or musculoskeletal pain – which is really nothing more than the body sending out an alarm signal that “something ain’t right!”

So, those of you that are patients under chiropractic care…remember that you didn’t truly know that you needed chiropractic care until you learned about what chiropractic was all about, at which point you should’ve realized that maybe you needed it for a long time.

Remember that everyone deserves to know what their options are.  Don’t fail to tell your friends and family about the true purpose of chiropractic.  Don’t diminish what chiropractic is and has done for you by justifying not sharing your story by thinking “I’ll tell people who need it,” as if it was something far less than what it is.

And for those of you that aren’t patients under chiropractic care, remember that chiropractic is much more than you likely ever thought it was and can potentially do for you things that you never thought it could.  It’s not magic.  It’s just DIFFERENT.

At the office this week a patient told me that after getting off cholesterol medication his muscle aches have improved. He is working with his medical doctor on this issue and the doctor was very pleased that his cholesterol is stabilized, he is off medication and his body is feeling better.  Interestingly though, his liver enzymes are still high.  His doctor assumed they would return to normal once off the medication.  I love what his doctor recommended he do next: improve his diet and lose some weight.  They will be checking the liver enzymes again in three months and the doctor wants to see them improved.  So here is my patient, happy to be off his medication, feeling better and wanting to lose weight.  He asked me if I had a liver cleanse to get his started.  I told his I do and that is a great idea.  In addition, I told his that to lose the 30 pounds he wants to lose he’ll have to get serious about his nutrition.  I could tell by his demeanor that he isn’t really committed to changing his diet.

Honestly, I understand.  It’s not fun to change your diet.  What you eat is what you eat.  The morning cereal and coffee is how you get out the door in three minutes.  The quick lunch at the drive through is efficient and tasty.  The box of pasta you make at night is inexpensive and makes you feel full.  It is a huge inconvenience of time and taste buds to change. I can speak from experience as I am currently changing my eating habits.

I told my patient that he’ll have to decide how bad he wants to lose weight.  He’s got to really want it.  It either has to hurt to stay the way he is (hurt as in scared of liver enzymes being elevated) or he can attach a great feeling to the success of weight loss (more stamina, feel better in his clothes, be admired by a loved one, etc.)  It seems that if you don’t have one of these, it’s not easy to just rely on “will power.”

As a wellness chiropractor, I often feel the healthy pressure of making choices that will set a good example for my patients. I have not been a good example, unfortunately, but I (we) are now committed to staying fit and eating well. I’m constantly recommending that my patients stay fit and eat well but now we are going to lead by example.  I already realize the benefits a million-fold. 

Why is it so hard to eat well? Not just staying away from the sweets and sodas and fast food joints, but really consuming organic, non-processed, whole foods. We have been doing a workshop in our office for the past month with great success.  One of the participants told me this week that her blood sugar is finally under control in just four weeks!  This is a great program.  If you want more information about our Transitions Lifestyle Workshop call our office 919-493-1940

I believe it is almost impossible to consistently eat well because the vast majority of food we have available to us is JUNK.  Everywhere you look is high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated vegetable oils.  Forms of glutamate are in a great majority of food and food flavorings and colorings are rampant in our food supply.  It is near impossible to walk into a national chain restaurant and get completely fresh, organic, whole food that contains no sweeteners or flavor enhancers.  You just can’t do it.

It’s easier to eat the best when it is summertime with better access to whole organic food.  Eat primarily at home and take the time to prepare fresh meals.  My focus is vegetable salads with organic protein on top.  But I’ll tell you, if I go to a restaurant, I’m likely going for the white roll and fried calamari.

In conclusion, here’s a loving shout-out to the local small organic farms.   My wish is that we will continue to see small organic farms thrive and large corporate GMO farms suffer as more people choose to eat local and organic.

WOW!, Summer is already over.  Frankly, I am ready for so cooler weather.  But I have to admit I love the longer days.  I’m also, like many you, refocusing on my eating habits and food choices.  Gone are the lazy summer evenings grilling cheeseburgers while dipping my hand in the tortilla chip bag. I think I had one too many cheeseburgers.  Grass fed or not, it is time for a Detox.  And it's time for me to lose some weight.

Ready to lose some weight?  I’m writing to motivate you and clarify details on how to make your cleanse & weight loss a success.  Let’s start with the simple details.  The most obvious question is: What can I eat?

Vegetables, fruit, vegetables, oatmeal, vegetables, brown rice, vegetables, fish, vegetables, almonds, vegetables, eggs (if not allergic), vegetables, lentils, vegetables, seeds, vegetables, lean meat if you choose, vegetables and goat cheese!   Surprisingly, there is a lot you can eat.  Many people find that they learn to enjoy many foods they would never have tried such as hummus and rice crackers, swiss chard (sauteed with garlic, onion and coconut oil), and ezekial bread (sprouted grain).

The next obvious question is: What can’t I eat?  To summarize: alcohol, chocolate, dairy products (milk, cheese, ice cream), salt (except celtic sea salt), sugar (except honey and maple syrup), white flour products, wheat products, corn and corn products, bread (except brown rice or Ezekial or 100% sprouted), nuts (except almonds or walnuts), fried food, white vinegar, and butter.

If your main objective is to lose weight, I recommend backing off caffeine and NO cream or sugar in coffee or tea beverages (honey, agavae and rice milk are okay.)  If your main objective is to cleanse, strive to completely eliminate caffeine (slowly if necessary!)

The two trickiest ingredients to avoid are wheat and corn.  When you start looking at package ingredient labels you will notice that wheat and corn are everywhere!  By avoiding these two allergen-producing, often genetically modified ingredients, your body will be happy and lose weight more easily.  Be especially watchful for corn syrup or high frustose corn syrup.

I know what you’re thinking.  How can I give up sugar?  I know it may be hard, but you must!  To put it bluntly, that sugar you love is what’s responsible for the size of your belly and the width or your thighs.  If you really want a leaner body and better health, say goodbye to sodas, candy, cookies and cakes.  If you look closer, there’s probably sugar in your bread, salad dressing, pasta sauce, soup and protein bars.  Sugar has infiltrated itself through our food supply and is one of the biggest factors in obesity.  Once it’s gone for awhile, you will find your taste buds reset and cravings will diminish.  Once your body experiences the satisfaction of REAL nutrients, it will feel more alive.  Just give it time.

Now that you know what to eat, and what to avoid, the biggest focus for cleansing is on preparation.  When prepared with healthy food choices, it will be much easier to not reach for the junk. Avoid setbacks by having healthy delicious food prepared and available.  Spend a few hours cutting up fruit and making a fruit bowl for the week.  Same goes for vegetables that can be steamed or put in salad.  Put small bags of nuts in your car, work drawer and pocketbook.  Prepare containers with water and have them ready for when you run out the door.  Hard boil a dozen eggs, peel them and have them waiting in the fridge for a quick snack.  Make a cleanse-friendly soup to heat up at the end of a long day.  Buy a rice-based protein powder and frozen fruits for making quick yummy shakes.  Pre-plan which restaurant and menu items are cleanse-friendly for that special occasion.

Cleansing is always easier with a buddy.  It’s even easier when done with the people in your home.  But, don’t force anyone to do this with you.  Do it for YOU.  Having support is extremely helpful.  Being certain you want to do this is critical.  I recommend you tell, write and review your goals often.  If you want to lose weight and all the people around you know it, you’ll likely feel more supported and accountable.

Length of time to cleanse should be about a week.  Some people choose to do 2 weeks.  I recommend buying a  cleansing kit to speed up the detoxification.  The one we sell at the office is great and most people lose 5-7 pounds in a week.  I also recommend people do a detox/ cleanse once a quarter, when the seasons change.

We have more supportive handouts and binders of information available at the office if you’d like to read up on cleansing, or want to also focus on cleansing a certain organ.  If you solely just want to lose weight, remember the three golden rules:  eat less overall, eat nutrient dense food, and eat more in the beginning of the day with less in the evening. And eat 4-6 smaller meals a day; this keeps your insulin more level and your metabolism higher.

Dr Sandra & I just started a Transitions Lifestyle workshop in our office.  Each workshop is a series of 13 weekly meetings.  Check our calendar of events for future Transitions Weight Loss/ Lifestyle workshops.  I can’t wait to hear your results!