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Planning for Success Every successful athlete knows that a plan is necessary to reach the highest levels of performance. Even though we may not plan to become professional athletes, we still require a plan for success in ...
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Coming Up for Air Human beings continue to evolve, although we ourselves don't notice the process. On an individual level we're not able to alter our genes. But we are able to take steps to make our bodies strong and h...
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Straight Talk About Health Care In 2009 there's been lots of conversation about health care, both at the federal and state levels. Not all the talk has been friendly. Those favoring broad reforms describe serious problems in the hea...
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Managing Your Symptoms Most of us are procrastinators. We let things go until the last minute. Papers, magazines, and books pile up on the desk until the process of finding what we're looking for resembles an archeological ...
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Fate Or Choice We all know some people who get sick all the time. They're just getting over one thing when here comes the next round of illness. We also know people who just seem to be full of energy. Those people n...
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Your Health Accounts We can use fiscal accounting as a metaphor for our physical health and well-being. The more resources we can accumulate in our "health account" the healthier we'll be. And if we're able to diversify t...
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Many people go to a chiropractor because they are in pain. In this first phase of care, the main goal is to reduce your symptoms. Sometimes this will require multiple visits per week for a short period of time. Treatments during this phase focus primarily on those techniques and therapies which most quickly and effectively reduce pain and other discomforts. This will allow the majority of individuals to continue their activities of daily living and even their work responsibilities. People are generally recommended to "take it easy" but are encouraged to stay mobile and functional with light stretching and suggested exercises, so long as there is not a risk of further injury or tissue damage. Therapies that reduce inflammation and muscle spasm are also utilized during this stage to improve your ability to regain lost motion and go about your day.
Most people are under the assumption that if they don’t feel any pain that there is nothing wrong with them – that they are healthy. This couldn't be further from the truth. Unfortunately, what many people do not understand is that pain is a very poor indicator of health. In fact, pain and other symptoms frequently only appear after a disease or other condition has become advanced enough to cause the pain.
For example, consider a cavity in your tooth.
Does it hurt when it first develops or only after it has become serious?
How about heart disease, can you sense how much plaque is accumulating in the artery?
Can you feel high blood pressure?
The obvious answer is no, but it exists and impacts your health despite the fact that it goes undetected by your body's pain sensors until it gets to the point where chest pain or shortness of breath (function loss) become apparent.
The same can be said for your spinal health. If you have misalignments in the bones of your spine, you may not necesarily be able to "feel" them, but you will soon come to notice the effects of having such a condition. Typically, the biomechanics of your body will be altered and there will be an increase in the wear and tear stress on your joints which can result in stiffness, soreness, numbness and tingling, weakness, fatigue, muscle spasms, and countless other conditions that will limit your activities from day to day. In many cases, people "just wake up with pain" and cannot pinpoint a causal factor. This is when a chiropractor may discover a misalignment that has been present for quite some time, which only now has finally become symptomatic.
Therefore, regardless of whether you are talking about cancer, heart disease, diabetes, stress, migraines or various other problems with the spine, pain is a poor indicator of health because it is usually the last thing to appear and the first thing to remiss once treatment begins. The best way to gauge your health is how you are functioning on a day to day basis. Are you able to wake up and get out of bed without physical ailments limiting your morning activities such as dressing, washing, and feeding yourself? Are you able to get through a work day without being stiff and sore or having reduced energy levels?
It is important to recognize the subtle changes in our health that occur before the pain materializes. It is always easier to help prevent health conditions then sit by and wait until they become a debilitating crisis.