Weekly Chiropractic Info

Bringing Back the Balance: A Chiro Mom's Perspective

Posted: March 21, 2023
By: Pathways to Family Wellness

My introduction to chiropractic care came after the birth of my first child. As a new mother, I found myself bombarded with facts, stories, and ideas of what everyone else seemed to think was best for my child. Walking into a mom’s group at my local chiropractor’s office was like a breath of fresh air, confirming my natural mother’s instincts that told me to trust in my ability to make good decisions for myself and my baby. Chiropractic care not only supported this drive toward finding myself as a new mother, but also taught me to trust the inner wisdom of my body.

I believe we are all seekers by nature, looking for answers that resonate deeply within us. Quite possibly these answers reside in the unmapped areas of our own truth. These answers might not necessarily be what the doctor would order, but instead are what might make sense to us as individuals. I try to listen to my heart when making decisions for myself, my children, and my body. Our hearts hold a deep knowledge that is sure to guide us in the right direction if we take the time to listen.

“All paths are the same, leading nowhere. Therefore, pick a path with heart!” — Carlos Castaneda

Every living thing on our planet possesses an innate knowledge as it comes into creation. Wonderful examples of this can be found in nature. Each tree unfurls its leaves and blossoms at exactly the right moment for its personal stage of growth. We witness this same inner knowing unfold as a baby nurses for the first time, never having been taught to do so beforehand. As humans, we are all born with a natural drive to learn, create, and be one with our surroundings. As we grow older, it seems that most of us forget this truth. We forget how our bodies are actually capable of functioning on their own, and that we do usually know what is best for ourselves and our children.

Life also holds an abundance of learning opportunities. There are times we may struggle to maintain a sense of balance and harmony in our lives. In these times, we all could use a gentle and loving reminder to help set us back on track. A hug from your partner after a trying day with the kids or a chiropractic adjustment after a collision playing tag might be just the nudge we need to fall back into step, emotionally and health-wise. These struggles also serve as a wake-up call, guiding us toward a new way of thought that nurtures who we are in a gentle and trusting way.

“We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.” — Charles R. Swindoll

As a homemaker and a mother, I am constantly surrounded by the everyday chaos of home life. When things get very chaotic, I have the opportunity to hear my lessons loud and clear. This is when I know that I need to slow down and focus on the things in my life that mean the most to me. All of the “other stuff” can wait. Similarly, our bodies find numerous ways to call us back to a place of overall well-being. Fevers ward off nasty intruders, diarrhea rids our body of harmful toxins, and major illnesses alert us to make major dietary and lifestyle changes. It is in these places of distress that we have the opportunity to strengthen our core, as well as to take a hard look at what life means to us. Everything happens for a reason and our bodies are constantly working toward a state of balance. Remembering how our body does these things to protect itself, we can trust that it can also heal itself properly without forced intrusion.

Chiropractic is one of the most profound forms of holistic healthcare that my family and I have experienced. When we visit the chiropractor, we receive a gentle adjustment, correcting subluxations and bringing our bodies and minds back to a place of balance and clarity. When our bodies are in balance, they can function at optimum levels. When our spines are aligned, we can grow and thrive as we were intended to, warding off unnecessary illness and discomfort. We also feel at peace with ourselves and our surroundings when our minds are clear. This mentality gives my family freedom and ensures that our bodies are always functioning well.

Our bodies are our vehicles in this lifetime. Just as I treat my family gently and with respect, it’s natural to treat my body the same way. Chiropractic provides a gentle approach to healthcare, nurturing us inside and out, and helping us to be the best we can be. Outside my body is my family; outside my family is society. As a whole, we make up the world. If we take the time to nurture ourselves, our bodies, and our children, we can affect the world as a whole and the future of the planet. The next time you feel out of balance or under the weather, take a few moments. Listen to what your body truly is saying.


Connection Made: How the Chiropractic Adjustment Improves Body Function

Posted: March 14, 2023
By: Pathways to Family Wellness

Everything that takes place in the body is regulated by information contained in the brain and the nerve system. The brain is the control center of all bodily functions. The spinal cord and branching nerves send signals from the brain to control and coordinate the function of all the organs, tissues and systems. Nerves also send signals from the body back to the brain. This relaying of electrical and chemical signals to and from the brain allows the body to function and adapt to everything that we do and experience.

All organ systems and processes in the body connect to the brain, including the:

  • Heart and blood vessels

  • Digestive system

  • Production of hormones

  • Skin and sensory perception

  • Immune system

  • Muscular and skeletal systems

  • Detoxification and elimination of waste

  • Reproductive system

  • Respiratory system

  • Regulation of body chemistry

The brain controls all that we see, hear, smell, taste, touch, and feel. It is also the center for our thoughts, emotions, and behavioral responses, both conscious and subconscious.

The delicate brain and spinal cord are protected by bone. Pound for pound, bone is harder than cast iron or steel. In order for the body to be healthy, it must be able to adapt to internal and external forces. The body can be subjected to experiences that may overwhelm its ability to fully adapt. These stressors impact the body and may create vertebral subluxations.

Vertebral subluxations are disruptions in the motion and/or alignment of spinal bones with related irritation or obstruction of proper nerve function. Vertebral subluxations alter the ability of the brain and nerve system to properly control and coordinate the body, which results in decreased body function, adaptability, and vitality.

Vertebral subluxations are like static in a communication system. They prevent the brain from accurately perceiving what is happening in the body and from properly regulating bodily functions. Often subluxations are present without pain or symptoms. Left uncorrected, subluxations reduce the function of the body and may manifest in an increased aptitude for disorders, illnesses, disability, and disease. An unobstructed nerve system is essential for the body to be healthy and vital.

Correcting vertebral subluxations with a specific spinal adjustment allows the body to function better. Free of subluxations, the brain and body function more harmoniously and adapt to stressors more successfully.


Innate Intellingence

Posted: February 28, 2023
By: Pathways to Family Wellness

It must be luck, because a lifetime of the chiropractic lifestyle couldn’t possibly have maintained me in a state of active organization for so long.

As Dr. William Boyd states in his Texbook of Pathology, “It’s amazing that a harp with so many strings can stay in tune so long.” Spoken like a true mechanist—someone with the view that our bodies are machines, that these machines are imperfect and destined to break down piece by piece. But this mechanistic view, based in the Newtonian notion that the role of science is to “tease out the secrets of Mother Nature so that we may control and dominate her,” has a fatal flaw. We didn’t build the machine. Rather we are created by an infinite intelligence, which provided an individualized portion of itself to be present in every living thing. This innate intelligence is complete in its wisdom and knowledge of how to receive the challenges of our world with grace, to cause constructive changes and adaptations. This is the Law of Life.

The vitalistic view of living things recognizes that there is more to us than a fortunate accumulation of happenstances. An innate intelligence gives rise to innate forces that continually direct the molecular and biological activities to greater order. You may know this as healing, homeostasis, or adaptation. It is simply the normal behavior of a body expressing its portion of life itself.

We are not machines. We are living machines. The power and wisdom of life expresses itself in our material bodies, communicating with, and acting as, the controlling agent of the nervous system. Because nerves are delicate little things, they are easily traumatized. You all know the chiropractic story: Bones on soft nerves causes those nerves to lose their ability to behave normally. This initiates a cascade of events leading to metabolic and cellular behaviors which, once named, take their place in Dr. Boyd’s book of pathologies. Yet these pathologies are just names and descriptions of the ways subluxations—disturbances in the nervous system—choke our lifelines to our innate intelligence. I believe that many of the problems we face today are due to lack of knowledge of the Law of Life. Nature needs no help, just no interference.

So much for luck!


The Amazing Human Body

Posted: February 21, 2023
By: Pathways to Family Health

Have you ever wondered how your body heals when you fall off your bike and scrape your arm and knee?

Or how every cell in your body just knows the exact reaction to mount a response to a threat in our immune system? The human body has an amazing ability to adapt, change, and heal all on its own. This is called innate intelligence. Every living thing has innate intelligence.

How does innate intelligence communicate with all of the body parts? How does it know to absorb some nutrients and to reject others, and at the same time grow and develop the muscles that you just worked out at the gym? The answer to these questions is we all have an inborn wisdom, innate intelligence. This wisdom, which God placed in our bodies, is designed to develop us and keep us healthy throughout our lifetimes.

With innate intelligence, every cell of your body is connected and controlled through your brain and spinal cord. Your nervous system is the master communication network for innate intelligence. The brain and spinal cord, also known as the Central Nervous System (CNS), controls all functions of the body by a process that sends signals from the brain via the nerves and then out to the body. This system is called the Peripheral Nervous System (PNS.) 

It is vitally important for the body parts to always have communication and stay connected with the brain. One important reason for this connection is for restoring or repairing and healing from injuries that may happen on a daily basis. We all need to be able to adapt to our environment, which for many of us is always changing.

If a body part loses communication with that network, it will begin to lose its proper function and not be in sync with the rest of the body. This will cause us to become weaker and weaker, and more susceptible to injury or trauma because it isn’t performing and supporting us optimally.

The way for that body part to stay plugged-in to the innate intelligence is through the nervous system. Every nerve supplies every organ, every muscle, and every tissue. Those nerves need to properly relay their signals through the PNS all the way up to the innate intelligence headquarters in the brain. Our brain, being the master controller, sends signals that travel down the spinal cord, then exit out a small space between two vertebrae, which ultimately takes the information all the way to its destination.

If that network is disrupted at any point along its path, the signal will be weaker or even lost. The number one most common way for those signals to be disrupted is through misalignment in the spine. The space that the nerve needs to exit the spine is quite small and also contains blood vessels, lymph vessels, and fatty tissue.

Chiropractic frees up those signals of innate intelligence to flow from your brain to the body, allowing us to properly develop, heal, and achieve normal function. 

It only takes about 10mm of Hg (mercury) pressure on a nerve (about the weight of a dime) to cut the nerve signal off about 50%. The misalignment of the vertebra is called a vertebral subluxation. This mis-alignment causes pressure on the spinal cord and nerve exiting the space between the spinal bones. The result is that the intended body part for that nerve will not be receiving the full message from the brain. So you can imagine if the brain cannot communicate with the body, then there will not be proper function. 

The reason why so many people are helped with peripheral problems like muscle tension and weakness, digestive problems, and even asthma through chiropractic care, is because we remove the interference between those body parts and the brain.

It is not just about pain! So many people correlate chiropractic with helping back pain, neck pain, and headaches. Chiropractic is about restoring FUNCTION. Better communication between the brain and body is our driving force. Chiropractic frees up those signals of innate intelligence to flow from your brain to the body, allowing us to properly develop, heal, and achieve normal function.

Chiropractic’s main goal is to allow a clearer expression of your innate intelligence.

Yes, we help with back and neck pain, but that is not what gets me out of bed every day to help more people! Most importantly, chiropractic allows your innate intelligence to be able to communicate freely throughout the body through the nervous system. Your innate intelligence is programmed to cause your body to thrive with health, and I’m here to support you now and throughout your lifetime.


Train Your Brain

Posted: February 14, 2023
By: Pathways to Family Health

Creating new neural pathways will help you let go of bad habits.

When you understand how neural pathways are created in the brain, you get a front-row seat for truly comprehending how to let go of habits. Neural pathways are like superhighways of nerve cells that transmit messages. You travel over the superhighway many times, and as you do, the pathway becomes more and more solid. You may go to cigarettes or a specific food for comfort over and over, and that repetition forms a brain pathway. Thankfully, the brain is always changing, and you can forge new pathways and create new habits.

I used to drive with my left foot on the brake and my right on the accelerator, and I wanted to train myself to drive with one foot only. It took some time, as I had a strong neural pathway for two-footed driving. But because I had the will to do it, I built a new pathway and reprogrammed my brain. You can remove a behavior, or a thought or addiction, directly from the brain.

Because of neuroplasticity, the brain’s potential to change, anything is possible. People who’ve had strokes can retrain their brains to function again by building new pathways. Smokers, overeaters and many others can learn new behaviors and attitudes that can transform their lives. Whether you work with others to change their habits, or you work with your own—or both—you can apply these understandings to boost your success.

1. Identify the habit you’d like to transform and set the intention.

You may remember the punch line, “The light bulb has to want to change.” You have to have a high intention to change as well. If there is this high intention, then creating new pathways in your brain is bound to happen.

2. Observe what the old habit or pathway is doing in your life.

Look at your feelings, thoughts, and how your body is responding to the habit, and see what results you’re creating in your life. Be the witness, and be aware.

3. Shift your focus.

This is very important. To create a new neural pathway, you must take the focus off the old habit, and then that old habit will eventually fall away. Don’t pay attention to the doughnuts and cakes. Focus your awareness on wholesome, healthy, delicious foods.

4. Use your imagination.

You can build new neural pathways not only with new behaviors, but through the imagination. Imagine the new behaviors over and over and over. Keep repeating them in your mind so you build new pathways. Focus your mind and retrain your brain.

5. Interrupt your thoughts and patterns when they arise.

Say “no” or “cancel” when an old thought or impulse comes in, and say, “I don’t have to do that anymore.” Then turn toward the new neural pathway you’re building and keep on going in the right direction.

6. Use aversion therapy.

This isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. It’s an optional path. I like to call it the “maggots on the chocolate cake” technique. I used to love candies and sweets, and when I stopped eating them, I still had to pass by the candy store in town. I used aversion to train my brain to keep walking: “That’s junk,” I said to myself. “It’s made in factories, is sickeningly sweet, and makes me feel bad. The company makes it so sweet just to addict buyers. I don’t want any of that.” So I talk myself out of it. I’ve used it with many of my clients (only those who say they want it) to help them quit smoking, eating junk food, using cocaine and many other behaviors.

7. Create a specific plan and choose what to do instead.

When you get specific, it’s easier to build new neural pathways. You “make it official.” Decide that you want to exercise instead of overeating, or that you want to eat fruit instead of candy. Just keep focused on the new choice. You may want to create affirmations and anchors to reinforce your choices. This can be “I’m free,” or “I’m in control.” Reinforce this with energy therapies like Emotional Freedom Technique or other methods.

8. Transform the obstacles.

Look at what’s in the way. Look at secondary gain— what you’ve been getting out of the old habits or pathways. Look at the stress in your life, and think about how you can handle it differently. Get your mind in the place of possibility. Handle the emotions and thoughts, and get on a new superhighway in your mind.

9. Connect with your higher source for inspiration and support.

Listen to our guidance. Know you have the Force within you, and therefore you have great power. Meditation creates new pathways and brain changes. Actual studies have been done on the brains of monks to show meditation’s effect on neural circuits of the brain.

10. Transform and make the shift.

Know that transformation is always possible and that you can create new brain pathways whenever you’re ready to make the shift. When you keep your mind in the “I can do it!” space, you get a clear sense that you’re done with the old and on a new beam now.

Some people feel we’re being rewired spiritually for a new era. There’s great upheaval now in our world. And there’s a process of transformation happening on earth in which huge changes are taking place for all of humanity. You have to be present in the moment, overcome your fears, and get to know the infinite source so you can be a vehicle for the light to predominate on the earth.


Chiropractic and Your Child’s Brain Neuroplasticity

Posted: February 6, 2023
By: Beth Druckenmiller, DC

How chiropractic supports brain function throughout life

Regular chiropractic care has innumerable positive effects on your ability to live in health and live the life you deserve. While chiropractic can help reduce pain and prevent injury, it also positively affects your body’s ability to function optimally and heal— without being propped up by drugs and other outside interventions. Chiropractic care has improved the lives of millions of people across the globe.

One cool thing about chiropractic is that your adjustments improve your brain function. Yes, regular care can help you learn new things and be more adaptable to new information. This not only has very important implications for you as you age, but also your kids as they grow and develop.

The Role of Neuroplasticity

Your brain’s ability to cognitively function—being able to manage all your voluntary and involuntary tasks—is called neuroplasticity. To do this, your brain must form new neural connections over time. This is how children learn to walk, talk, read, ride a bike, learn a new subject… In fact, brain neuroplasticity is involved in every activity in our lives. Even as adults, when we learn new things or take up a new hobby, we are adapting ourselves to a new situation and processing information to adjust to new ways of thinking.

Our brain’s ability to respond to stimuli and process information and then convert that into thoughts, behaviors, and abilities depends on our brain being able to form new neural connections. Our very existence depends on brain neuroplasticity.

Neuroplasticity should happen on its own, without any assistance from the outside. A child with optimal neuroplasticity is going to develop and achieve expected milestones. They can pay attention in school, engage with their peers, and respond and adapt to changes in their environment.

The Spine’s Role in Neuroplasticity and Brain Function

The spine is integral to maintaining optimal brain function. The spine—the cervical spine, in particular—is the home to essential nerves and lymphatic delivery systems that are responsible for feeding the brain vital, life-sustaining information.

The nerve bundles housed in the cervical spine carry critical messages to and from the brain, facilitating unconscious and complex functions. Likewise, blood supplied to the brain provides oxygen, amino acids, electrolytes, hormones—essential chemicals and bodily substances for healthy brain performance.

The spine (along with the skull) is the protector of the central nervous system, which consists of the brain and the spinal cord. The spine is made of 33 bones, some fused together, but most that are extremely movable. The cervical spine contains seven bones and is the most mobile (and thus least stable) part of the spine. It is also the closest to the brain and brainstem. When the spine shifts out of alignment (or subluxates), the stress this causes is transferred to the brain supply systems located there. These misalignments, in turn, interrupt the flower of communication necessary for healthy brain function. 

When this happens in adults, we may experience neck pain. But before that, we may experience brain fog, outside interventions. Chiropractic care has improved the migraines, exhaustion (fatigue), memory loss, changes in temperament (more bad moods), etc.—things we may not attribute to poor spine health. But these are all signs of negative brain neuroplasticity. 

For a child, subluxation most certainly affects brain neuroplasticity. To put it plainly, a subluxated child is disconnected from his or her internal and external environments. These kids may struggle with focus and attention, learning, social and family relationships, impulsivity, or exhibit behavioral issues. These are examples of “negative neuroplasticity.” In these cases, the brain is not making the required neurological connections to adequately respond to stimuli and convert that into appropriate and expected thoughts, behaviors, or ability. These are the children who are diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorders, or any number of other behavioral or mental health disorders. They may also live with allergies, asthma, migraines, or other health conditions.

Chiropractic and Brain Neuroplasticity

With the link between the spine and brain evident, researchers have begun to look at how chiropractic may be used as a tool to help preserve positive neuroplasticity.

Clinical studies have already begun, monitoring the effects of chiropractic on patients’ abilities to solve puzzles, multitask, and recall memories.

A growing body of evidence is showing that regular chiropractic care can have a positive effect on brain activity. Chiropractic care removes obstructions in the nervous system and restores the neurological pathways necessary to ensure proper flow of blood and information, which has a positive effect on neuroplasticity. And what we see is that the life of a child improves.


Chipping Away at Dis-Ease

Posted: May 24, 2022
By: The Weekly Sticky

David was sculpted out of a “ruined” block of marble rejected by all his contemporaries. In choosing the block, Michelangelo said that he looked past the flaws to visualize the figure that had to be freed. He then merely chipped away at what was NOT David to reveal the masterpiece. Likewise, in his dramatic series known as the Captives, partially sculpted figures appear as if they are escaping from the stone that imprisons them. Subluxated patients are very similar.

Within each subluxated individual is a masterpiece waiting to emerge. Like Michelangelo, a skillful Chiropractor sees the potential health within every patient. Years of stress, trauma and fear acting as granite which entombs your potential – every adjustment acting as a finely placed chisel strike that gently chips away the stone to free the beautiful life inside you! With time and persistency, a fine piece of art emerges.

No matter how covered, disfigured or unfinished you may feel, stay consistent with your care. Every adjustment that chips away at nerve interference reveals the amazing, healthy person who lies within you!


Forget Someone?

Posted: December 7, 2021
By: Weekly Sticky

Chiropractor – “Hey Mary, where are your kids?” Mary – “I left them at home, they don’t have any back pain…” Chiropractor – “That might be true, but are they subluxated?”

 

Studies show that stress from the birth process alone is enough to produce pediatric subluxations – subtle, yet significant vertebral misalignments which alter normal nerve function in children. And don’t forget the stress they experience from falling off bikes, rough housing with siblings or just trying to fit in at school. Kids are inherently subluxation prone!

If you bring your kids to the dentist for preventative maintenance as soon as they get teeth, it only makes sense you bring them to the Chiropractor as soon as they get a spine. In other words, don’t leave them at home… get them checked EARLY and REGULARLY for subluxations. You’re investing in their health and their future when you do!


The Rest of the Family

Posted: May 4, 2021
By: The Weekly Sticky

Mommy loves going to the Chiropractor. Ever since she’s started, we’ve seen a huge change in her. She used to get headaches every day, but now she rarely gets them. Daddy notices that Mommy sleeps through the night more often now and she wakes up in a much happier mood. She’s even doing more around the house and spending more time with us reading, playing and just being a great mom. We never see her popping those pills anymore.

Mommy told us when she goes to the Chiropractor they check her for something called a Subluxation… that’s what’s been making her sick all these years. They check her spine to see if she needs to get worked on. When she does they do something called an adjustment to fix her. Mommy’s been the healthiest she’s been in a long time. We’re all so happy for her and we love having our Mommy back. But we have one question…

With Mommy doing so well, we wonder if going to the Chiropractor could help us too! Daddy’s always sore after work and he has to take more and more medicine for his high blood pressure. My sister has to take an inhaler every day for her asthma and I hate having to take stuff for my allergies and ear infections. We all want to be healthy like Mommy but we don’t know where else to turn. Maybe the Chiropractor can help us too. If Mommy would only bring us to get checked!


The Scale Moves Slowly

Posted: March 2, 2021
By: The Weekly Sticky

If you jump on the scale after every healthy meal you ate, looking for an immediate change, you’re going to drive yourself nuts. Doing good things for your body is good – but those good things may not register noticeable changes right away. The same goes for your adjustments.

It’s common for clients to hop off the chiropractic table after an adjustment, looking for some instant, measurable change in the way they feel… and there are times when some relief is experienced. However, to expect an immediate resolution of a chronic complaint from one adjustment is no different than expecting to be 10 lbs lighter after just one low carb meal.

Patience is your friend and time is the road you must both travel to reap the health rewards you hope for. It takes work and time for your body to make the best of each life enhancing adjustment. Be consistent and faithful with your care and you’ll eventually experience the lasting results we know you’re capable of getting!

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