Clear Thinking and Chiropractic

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I know what you’re thinking.  “What the heck is this guy talking about?  Clear thinking and chiropractic?  You must be kidding!  I thought chiropractors were about back pain and stuff like that.”  And, there are lots of folks (including many chiropractors) that think the same thing.

Truth is that if you see a chiropractor just for your back pain, you’re really missing the boat and your chiropractor is cheating you out of the greatest benefit of what he/she has to offer you.  And chances are they’re simply giving you what your insurance company is paying for, symptom relief.  Sadly, many chiropractors (all kinds of doctors, actually) sell you lots of stuff you don’t need simply because your insurance company is paying for it.  Sorry chiropractors.  It’s just true.

Let me explain.  Most chiropractors are trained to locate and correct a misalignment in the bones of the spine (vertebra) that is putting stress on a spinal nerve or the entire nervous system.    Because the nervous system is the first system developed in your body and the one that runs everything else, if you have stress on it, your body AND your life is simply not going to work as well as it could.  When that stress is reduced things work better.

Okay, I’ll get to my point.  If you have stress on your nervous system, your body chemistry might be just a little off, your perception of the world around you and your interpretation of things you see and hear might be slightly different than reality.   Have you ever noticed that when you’re stressed, you react differently than when you’re relaxed?  It’s the same concept.

When you’re stressed, you’re in “fight or flight” mode.  When you’re relaxed, you’re in fulfillment mode. When you get adjusted (especially at the top of the neck) your body relaxes and moves toward that fulfillment mode.  That’s when you think more clearly and can focus on things much bigger than your physical symptoms, like your life goals and reason for being.

When you’re finally able to think bigger thoughts, you begin to see the world as it is instead of merely how you are.  The cleaner your filter on the World becomes, the clearer your thinking becomes.  When that happens, another new world of possibilities opens to you.

If you’re not under chiropractic care or if you’re chiropractor is more focused on your symptoms than your life, let me know.  I’ll help you find one that will help you begin to open yourself to a whole new way of thinking and living.  Clear.

I had a patient die this week

I had a client die this week.  I know the tile said a “patient”.  But, I titled the post that way so more people might read what I needed to say.

I was really bummed out until I started thinking about our relationship.  Linda had been referred to me by her husband whom I had met at the Chamber of Commerce.  He heard me talk about chiropractic and HBP and heart problems.  Linda had had a congenital heart defect.  At best, Linda was a 95 lb (probably 85 lb) weakling.  Her wrists and ankles were no bigger around than a corn stalk.

When she started, she complained of fibromyalgia and had a hard time walking any distance without tiring out.  She could not go to her Mary Kay conventions without a wheelchair and someone to help her.  Eventually, she shed the wheelchair but kept the meetings.  Her fibromyalgia mysteriously disappeared.  She was a sweet, cheerful little room that added light to my life and those around her.

Oh.  Linda had been under another chiropractor’s care in the past.  She wondered why I would adjust only one or two bones while her previous DC seemed to “click” every extremity joint and articulation of her spine.  Should loved our Principles and the beauty and simplicity of what we do.

While I’m sad at the loss of my friend and client, I know where the “other side” is for her AND that her life was improved for the few years we shared because of chiropractic.

Simply put, chiropractic works.  I never doubt it.

Holy Crap! So that’s what $69 a month can do!

I’m a chiropractor.  I’m “cheap”.  I charge $69 a month for “unlimited care”.  Some of my chiropractor friends think I’m crazy.  And, some of my chiropractic non-friends accuse me of cheapening my profession and even breaking the law.  Consumers sometime wonder “what’s the catch?”  But, the folks that like how they feel from getting adjusted on a regular basis LOVE me.  Some think I’m a “marketing genius”.  I like to think they’re pretty bright, too.

Let’s take a look and see who is right, me or my detractors.  I know I’m right.  I just feel the need to give my detractors a crack at being right.

When I first started getting adjusted 22 years ago, I had health insurance and gladly used it to pay for my care.  But, it wasn’t long after that that I became self-employed and no longer had a third party paying for my adjustments.  So, I did what any intelligent, red-blooded American man would do, I married my chiropractor and have not had to pay for my adjustments since!

After seeing and experiencing the wondrous benefits of getting checked by a chiropractor on a regular basis (and seeing it work on my own kids) I decided to become a chiropractor.  The joy and miracles I’ve experienced as a result of that decision are sometimes difficult for me to express in words.  My kids are healthy, happy and strong and have never worried about sickness or disease.  Neither have had a single vaccination (well, until my son entered the Army) nor dealt with chronic or infectious disease as a result.  And, I’ve not even taken an aspirin for the problem that led me to get adjusted in the first place.

Early in my own chiropractic career, I decided that I wanted to make this thing afforded and accessible to virtually everyone.  You see, I’m what’s called a DE chiropractor.  We understand that the world would be a better place if EVERY family could realize the benefits from chiropractic that my family has.  Some of my early mentors, including Drs Bob Sottile, Jim Sigafoose, Sid Williams and Richard Santo always posed the challenge “Make your care affordable and see lots of people”.  That was a formula that I could understand and embrace.

So, that’s what I did.  Like I said earlier, we charge a low monthly membership fee of $69.  It’s a little more for a couple and a family.  My thinking was not necessarily to make it “cheap” but to have a fee that someone would be willing to pay every month for the rest of their life.  In my case, if I had been paying just $69 a month, I would have paid over $18,ooo!  EIGHTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS!  What if I had a hundred clients doing that or two hundred, three or five?  Do the math!

I wonder how we could transform the chiropractic profession from a bunch of insurance chasing back crackers to an army of folks helping families live fuller, happier drug-free lives?  What a wonderful place America (and the World) would be if we could help get millions fo families off drugs and on life!  I’m thinking $69 a month just might change the World!

What’s better than trusting yourself again?

One of the great things about having had clients stick with me for over ten years is that you have the benefit of lots of feedback in little bits over a long time.  Instead of trying to fill out some form with objective data at the end of a care plan, you get to hear how chiropractic has affected people’s lives in real time and in real ways.

One of the things I hear all the time from folks that have been with me for a long time is “You know, since I’ve been getting adjusted, I seem to know when things aren’t right.”  Another thing I love to hear is “I feel better about asking my doctor questions these days.  I wouldn’t have done that before.”

I wish that more people knew what chiropractic really is.  Obviously, lots of folks (maybe most) think it’s a drug-free, non-surgical approach to correcting chronic back pain.  Sure, it works for that.  But really, chiropractic is first a philosophy.  A philosophy whose premise is that all things are organized, whether living or inorganic.  In living things that organization is responsible for keeping you healthy and performing at your maximum potential.  Watching that principle play out in my life and the lives of those who use my service is one of the most awe inspiring experiences in my life.  The philosophy of chiropractic is “Why” we do what we do.

Chiropractic is also a science.  As such, we understands how it works.  We know that that organization I just mentioned flows over the nervous system and that any interference or disruption in how the body and brain communicate will affect how your body functions.  We call that a state of dis-ease.  If that communication is allowed to persist, eventually dysfunction can become disease that eventually leads to symptoms and death.  The science of chiropractic is “What” we do.

Chiropractic is also an art.  Every practitioner has their own way of expressing the art of chiropractic.  It’s our technique and mental approach to what we do.  It’s the “How” of what we do.

My kind of chiropractor is most concerned that you understand your body.  I want you to KNOW that you were designed perfectly and capable of adapting to most of life’s challenges.  And mostly, I want you to trust your instincts.  After all, “What’s better than trusting yourself again?”

What Do You Mean It’s Not Level?

A friend was helping me rearrange some things in my office recently.  One of the things we did was to put up a white board or Dry Erase Board as a way to educate and communicate with my practice members on a more real-time basis.

After everything was done, we stepped back to admire our handiwork.  That’s when my buddy said “It’s crooked.”  I replied “What?  How could that be?  You saw the level balance perfectly!”  I had downloaded an app called 3D Level for my new smartphone and used it to make sure the white board was perfectly level.  After checking 3 or 4 more times, we realized that the level had worked perfectly.  The problem was the tiny (almost undetectable) little bumps on the side of the phone for volume control.  Although tiny, it was just enough to affect what the level was perceiving.  And over the 4 foot width of the white board it was very apparent.

Right then, it hit me like a brick.  That’s EXACTLY what happens when we have a misalignment of the top bone in the neck.  While we don’t really notice it, that slight misalignment puts pressure on the nervous system at the brain stem.  That affects the feedback your brain gets from your body.  It can cause all sorts of problems like vertigo, high blood pressure, headaches and all sorts of weird symptoms.  And even though your brain might be sending the right instructions for the input it’s getting from your body, if that feedback is not quite right, neither will be your brain’s response.

And while that little tilt in the white board won’t affect the message that I’m trying to convey to my clients, it WILL affect how they view the board.  That same scenario works in your life and mine and everyone else’s, too.  If you’re off even a little bit, it can affect how you view your whole life.  Not only that, it can affect how you respond and adapt to situations in your life.

One other thought.  So much of our health life is affected by various “measurements” like blood pressure, cholesterol levels, body temperature, etc.  Unfortunately, many treatment protocols are based purely on a single measurement.  What IF either the measurement were not accurate because of “white coat syndrome”?  Worse yet, what if the “measurement” was outside of “normal” range but very appropriate for whatever your body was dealing with at that moment.

My point is, be careful when you measure.  Understand what you’re measuring and why.  Understand that your body’s own innate wisdom is always on the ball.  And remember the old carpenter’s rule of thumb “Measure twice.  Cut once.”

Chiropractic and the Apple iPad

My friend, Pete Kane, is a social media consultant helping businesses grow and prosper by expanding their presence through social media.  Pete is a great guy.  He’s been a career salesman and has been quite successful.  But like me, Pete has a short attention span (some people call it ADD) that sometimes limits his productivity.  He’s tried the planners, lists and almost every organizing scheme you can think of.  And yes, despite my objections, he’s used some of the popular medications.

But, Pete seems to have stumbled onto a miracle cure for his “ADD” while improving his productivity “at least a hundred fold” as he says.  Pete recently got an Apple iPad.  Not being an Apple user (yet) I’m not sure exactly how this new computing device has helped him so much so fast.  Pete will tell you that the training package he bought with his iPad (from PeachMac in Marietta, GA) has opened new vistas that he had never considered before.  He says that now, he no longer has to close a sale because it just happens.

As Pete is raving about his newfound productivity, I’m reminded of what chiropractic really does for people.  I know.  I know.  You think it’s for back pain.  But, what chiropractic really does is take stress off your nervous system so that you and your body are more aware of better ways to live, work and function.  And as you learn how to listen to all the new feedback you get from your body as a result of de-stressing your nervous system, your productivity and health begin to compound to the point that it takes on a whole new meaning.

Every now and then a new invention or discovery comes along that enables tremendous leaps for Mankind.  For me, chiropractic is one of those discoveries.  For Pete, it’s the iPad.

Your Ruthless, Vicious Immune System

It is often said that “the best defense is a good offense”.  When it comes to your immune system that is absolutely true.  In our culture we often either overlook our immune system OR suppress it in order to control symptoms that might be making us a little uncomfortable at the moment.

One of the things I really enjoy and appreciate about being a chiropractor is watching how well people’s body performs when they ween themselves off various drugs.  When people start realizing how powerfully they were designed and how effective the body is in dealing with health and healing, they actually get excited and enjoy watching it work.

Your immune system is designed to be a ruthless killer.  When your body is attacked by a virus or bacteria, your immune system will isolate what it does not recognize as being good for the body.  Once isolated, your body’s protective mechanism then attacks the invader, breaks it down into bite-size chunks and uses the remnants to feed and nourish good, healthy cells.  A healthy immune system is ruthless and vicious in nature.  It’s job is to protect and defend you while the innate wisdom of your body continues to operate in a postive manner to help you get most out of your health and life.

However, there are ways that your immune system can be squelched and made less effective.  One way is by taking drugs that suppress your immune function for simple symptom relief.  The very thing we seek for comfort from fever, sinus problems and headaches is the very thing that allows the problem to persist and even worsen over time.  Another thing that can suppress the effective function of your immune system is stress on your master control system or nervous system.  Because your body uses the nervous system for communication, stress can actually reduce that vital communication.  That’s why we see folks under regular chiropractic care having fewer and less severe colds and flu while those under chronic stress tend to have more.

If you want your immune system to remain a “lean, mean fightin’ machine”, then stay adjusted or find a good Principled chiropractor to include on our health performance team.  You’ll be glad you did.

How Can a Roller Coaster Affect Your Health?

A new client came in yesterday complaining of dizziness and nausea since her recent trip to Six Flags.  Apparently, her kids convinced her to ride the roller coaster, Batman the Ride.  If you’ve ever ridden Batman, you know how fun, but jarring, it can be. You might not have known how dangerous it could be, though.

As much as I love roller coasters, the first time I rode Batman was the last.  I remember thinking while on the ride “Man.  This ride is rough!  I wonder how many people need an adjustment after getting off this thing?”  Apparently, more than I imagined.

My new client only experienced dizziness and nausea.  there have been a couple of reports of people dying of heart attacks after getting off the ride.  Truth is, that is entirely possible.  Not because the ride scared them to death, but because the neck trauma can damage the spinal cord at the level of the brain stem which affects all of your body’s vital functions, including heart rate, blood pressure and breathing.  That’s the part of the nervous system that was damaged when Christopher Reeve (Superman) fell off his horse and Dale Earnhardt hit the wall.

Oddly enough, it only took a simple, gentle adjustment at the top of the neck and my clients dizziness and nausea went away.  For most people, that very same adjustment can help their blood pressure, asthma, vertigo, acid reflux, ADD/ADHD, migraines, even hemorrhoids.  I know it seems strange that something that simple can be so powerful.  But, it is.  You just have to find the RIGHT chiropractor.

So, the next time you leave the amusement park with a sore neck or back, don’t ignore it.  Visit your chiropractor or get in touch with me to find you one.

I’m a ChiropracTOR

I’m a chiropracTOR. My focus is on chiropracTIC and NOT on Medicine. Medicine has its own problems and kills lots of Americans every year. I DO get frustrated at how religious folks can be about their Medicine. Medicine is a Man-made contrivance and is subject to Man’s fallibility. At its core, chiropracTIC acknowledges a higher power in both the design and function of all living things. We don’t try to “fix” it. We just try to remove A barrier to its normal function.

Can we build a new human?

Then how can we fix an old one?hat’s a reasonable question.  hat’s a reasonable question.  Isn’t it?

It never ceases to amaze me how “scientific” Medicine purports to know how to treat all kinds of conditions of the human body.  Yet, these “scientists” don’t even know what has caused most of the problems they claim to “fix”.  In virtually every case, the best they’re able to do is affect the symptoms of whatever the real problem is.  Shrink the tumor.  Stop the sinus drainage.  Suppress the immune response.  lower blood pressure.

Yet, “something” takes one sperm and one ovum (egg) and makes a baby in just 9 months in the case of humans WITHOUT help from “science” or Medicine or even the Government.  Personally, I consider that quite miraculous.

When I think of  two cells becoming a complete functional living being with all its cells and tissues and organs and systems working together in perfect harmony, I have to ask the question “Wouldn’t the process that made that happen also not also have provided a functional immune system capable of dealing with any malady likely to confront it?”  I’m sure you know the answer.  Yes, of course!

Maybe it’s time we open our minds to the possibility that we living things typically arrive complete and that we don’t as much need to be “fixed” as much as we just need to make sure the system is allowed to function as it was designed with as little interference as possible.

That’s actually, what the chiropractic profession was designed to do.  Those of us that practice from that perspective have seen what some would call “miracles” because without drugs or surgery because we respect that Design, remove interference and step back and watch.

Sadly, we get bogged down trying to explain it in a really technical way.  But, the truth is that just like gravity works every time, taking stress off your nervous system works every time, too.  And just because “science” or Medicine can’t explain it in their terms does not mean it doesn’t work.  It does work, just not the way they want it to.

Principled chiropractic works because it works WITH the same wisdom that took those two cells and made it a living functional human being.  It is that same wisdom that strives to make you healthy and able to adapt to virtually any situation or circumstance that you may encounter.

Dire Warning to Chiropractic Students!

It’s about time somebody got real with chiropractic students.  The cost of chiropractic education has skyrocketed over the last two decades while the quality and scope of that education has declined significantly. The likelihood of you being successful in practice has been severely diminished BECAUSE of your education.

Graduating chiropractors now leave school with student loan debt in excess of $200,000 while most new graduates don’t even understand the history and basic principles of their profession.  In fact, many graduate not even believing in the merits of chiropractic care.  By the time many have graduated, they’ve applied more physical therapy modalities than they have chiropractic adjustments.  Some are even afraid to adjust the one area that EVERY person should have checked on EVERY chiropractic visit, the upper cervical spine.

This current model of chiropractic education is borne out of the Napoleonic Complex of many in the profession and fueled by “insurance parity” gained in the 60’s and 70’s.  On one hand, you had those chiropractors of the “We’re real doctors, too!” mindset trying to gain equal status with MDs.  On the other, was the group that wanted to broaden the profession’s scope of practice to enable chiropractors to be able to bill for more services in the loose (at the time) third-party reimbursement environment.  As time passed, those groups gained power in the profession and influenced the education to a purely mechanistic model of practice while assaulting those schools that dared offer a choice to the aspiring chiropractic student.

Those chiropractors graduating today will encounter a market totally different that the one that existed when they entered chiropractic school.  third-party reimbursement for chiropractic services has all but vanished.  What is there is so far out of reach that chiropractors must get very creative in their billing practices to access any of those monies.  That practice alone has tarnished the image of the profession even more.  The realities of the market are that “health” insurance is almost too expensive to buy and too selective to use with extremely high deductibles and copays.  And on top of it all, the profession now has the highest student loan default rate of any of the health professions.

Oddly, there’s a branch of the profession that appears to be doing well and making a remarkable resurgence even in the face of massive student loans and the loss of third-party reimbursement.  That end of the profession that still adheres to the founding principles of the profession seem to be thriving.  Their offices are filling with people seeking a different approach than the allopathic, therapeutic approach to mere symptom relief to the vitalistic approach of locating and correcting vertebral subluxation, the ONLY thing that ONLY chiropractors (well most chiropractors, anyway) are specifically trained to do.

Faced with the disappearance of third-party pay and the reality of massive student loan debt, the chiropractor of the future will have even FEWER options for practice.  Graduates could get a job as an associate for an already successful practitioner,  get a job as a  public school science teacher or start their own practice.  Few existing practitioners will pay a graduating chiropractor what their teachers have told them they’re worth.  A degree and a license adds nothing to your worth, only to your opportunity.  Teaching public school might offer some benefits and job security.  But even that is questionable in this economic environment.

The only real choice for new chiropractors for success in making a decent living and ever paying off their student loans is to open and operate a high volume, low overhead, cash practice based on those principles on which the chiropractic profession was originally founded.  As I see it, there are simply no other alternatives.

What would this kind of practice look like?  Fees would be lower because chiropractors would now be competing for consumers’ disposable income (which they really always have) instead of getting on insurance companies preferred provider lists.  Care plans would either need to be compact and specific AND understandable OR variation of unlimited care plans which allow the greatest flexibility for both the customer and the chiropractor.  Both alternatives allow the consumer to get the most care at the lowest total cost possible.  The latter approach would enable the new chiropractor to build their volume and income as quickly as possible while providing a long-term stable and predictable  income.

Chiropractic’s educational hierarchy has let both its customer base (students and graduates) down, but has also endangered both the chiropractic profession and the American taxpayer who underwrites all those student loans.  And in the end, will cause the closing of several chiropractic schools because of the lack of focus on chiropracTIC principles and practices.

Dollar Tree and The Membership Practice

My daughter and I love the Dollar Tree.  It’s amazing how many things you can buy there for $1.  You can get tools, batteries, food, cleaning products, toys, holiday decorations, gift wrap, etc.  It’s ridiculous.  As an economist and former banker, I’m also amazed that there’s a business that there’s enough profit margin on $1 items to pay rent for a retail location, salaries and utilities and STILL make a profit significant enough to make it a worthy investment.

But, I LOVE the concept.  It’s simple.  It’s clear what they do.  It’s easy to get, find what you want and get out.  That’s the premise of The Membership Practice: Great chiropractic adjustments available in a hassle free, affordable manner so that virtually anyone can afford to feel better, work better and live better ALL THE TIME!

Dollar Tree and The Membership Practice is NOT about cheap.  It’s a business model that respects the consumer’s (your) time and resources while ensuring a reasonable profit on each visit.  This mode of practice is designed to attract LOTS of dedicated, long-term clients that ensures an excellent income on a low overhead, low stress practice for the chiropractor.

Whether you’re looking for a chiropractor or a chiropractor looking for a simpler way to practice, think about The Membership Practice.

Chiropractic Education to Pose New Threat to Public Health with New Proposal

The Council on Chiropractic Education, the monopoly accrediting authority for the chiropractic profession, is about to adopt new rules that could pose a real threat the well-being of millions of Americans.  The CCE has decided to use the power granted it (under false pretenses) to turn the entire chiropractic profession into an unwieldy group of “not quite Medical Doctors” and loose on an unsuspecting public.

For over 115 years, chiropractic has been a drugless, non-surgical natural remedy for many ailments that haven’t responded to traditional treatment.  Over the last 30 years, CCE has sneaked its way into allopathic medicine so subtly that only traditional chiropractors have recognized the push.  And, they’ve done it in the most unscrupulous way.  By pretending to be the watch guard over chiropractic to ensure its graduates are fully trained and capable of safely serving the public, CCE has actually used that authority to wield an iron fist over anyone in the profession who dared oppose their agenda.

In 2001, the organization was so bold, it stripped the largest chiropractic school in the world of its accreditation status to mute its founder and stop the flow of new students that wanted to enter the profession because of what it was designed to do from its onset.  Only a ruling by Federal judge, Charles Moye, that CCE would probably lose its case in Federal court kept it from succeeding.

Few people know (and CCE will NEVER tell) that the vast majority of chiropractic students attend a mere handful of chiropractic schools.  Those few schools are those that embrace and teach the founding principles of the chiropractic profession.  In other words, the consumers of chiropractic education have shown with their dollars, their time and their lives that THEY want to be involved in a drugless, non-surgical profession dedicated to serving Mankind in a natural way.

Everyone knows about the problem with student loan default rates among graduates of chiropractic school over the last 30 years.  What we’re seeing is the result of an education that is hardly relevant to the practice of chiropractic being financed by Federal student loans to thousands of students, some who can’t even use much of the education they (and you, the American taxpayer) have paid for.  Isn’t 30 years of leading all health professions in student loan default rates sufficient evidence that CCE has not only failed in its missions to ensure quality chiropractic education but to also protect the American public AND taxpayer?

Now on top of quadrupling the cost of and education that serves neither the profession nor the public, the Council on Chiropractic Education has decided that it should literally remove the essence of chiropractic principles from the very profession it claims to protect.  In its proposed revised guidelines, CCE wants to remove the concept of nerve interference and any reference to “drugless, non-surgical” from its lexicon.  Obviously, the intention is to begin re-shape the profession into something NO chiropractor ever imagined they’d be or ANY chiropractic patient would ever use.  CCE would have chiropractors diagnosing medical condition, prescribing drugs and doing minor surgery.

CCE has accomplished much of its dirty work with subtle (?) nods from both the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards (FCLB) and national Board of Chiropractic Examiners (NBCE) as informal co-conspirators in this dangerous veer toward Medicine.

I love being a chiropractor. I chose to be a chiropractor and NOT a Medical Doctor.  Their job is difficult enough.  Imagine if you will one day having 60,000 chiropractors turned loose thinking and serving as “not quite” MDs.  Some might do well.  Honestly, there are probably a few chiropractors that preferred to be MDs that just could not get in to medical school that would still make great MDs.  But, imagine the tens of thousands that would eventually be granted those privileges that should not have those privileges and could not handle them if granted.

The Council on Chiropractic Education with its proposed changes threatens both the chiropractic profession and American public.  Drastic measures should be taken by the profession, obviously.   But, the public should get involved and contact their Congressman and Senators.  They should also contact the US Dept. of Education to complain about CCE and encourage DOE to remove CCE’s status and either replace it with one without an agenda or, at least, allow another agency to offer an alternative to those schools that choose to offer chiropractic education consistent with both chiropractic principles and the consumers who demand THAT education.

The hearing on CCE’s status is in Washington, DC.  To contact appropriate staff at the US Dept. of Education, follow this link: http://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2010/12/23/2010-32351/national-advisory-committee-on-institutional-quality-and-integrity-notice-of-members

The Membership Practice: Walmart and Unlimited Chiropractic Care

Some people just don’t like Walmart.  But, LOTS of people obviously DO like Walmart.  In fact, in less than 50 years Walmart has become the largest corporation in the world.

Walmart is the world’s largest corporation for one reason, value.  Sam Walton’s little business became a BIG business because their prices were just a shade lower than their competition’s.  As a result, the average American family shops at Walmart EVERY week for the typical stuff you could buy at any grocery store or hardware store or clothing store.  Granted, no one goes to Walmart for specialty items or designer clothing.

While the typical prejudice is that Walmart serves only low-income families, actual research shows that the retailer has a growing high-income clientele that shops there for their store brand items for even greater savings.  In other words, intelligent, informed consumers shop there to save money on items they purchase on a routine basis where name brands are not necessary and the saving sis appreciated.

Which brings me to The Membership Practice, a concept in chiropractic that provides individuals and families with access to chiropractic care at affordable fees without the need for insurance.  In fact The Membership Practice model offers unlimited chiropractic care at a low monthly fee deducted from your credit/debit card.  The business model is based on long-term maintenance and wellness care.  The assumption is that the average user of wellness-based chiropractic care will get checked an average of once a week.  At Langley Chiropractic Office (in Marietta, GA) the monthly fee is $69 for an individual and $129 for an entire family.

While some practitioners complain that the fees is too low and cheapens the profession’s image, my response is “baloney!”.  The concept actually enables chiropractors to help more people get the regular care that helps families stay healthy and out of the doctor’s office.  Fewer trips to the doctor’s office means money saved that can go to other needs the family may have like vacation, retirement, braces, etc.  Just like Walmart’s new slogan ““Saving people money so they can live better lives”, The Membership Practice aims to lower the barriers to families having affordable access to routine chiropractic care anywhere in the United States.

Heck, I can even see The Membership Practice in all 6000 or so Walmart stores across America!  What a great deal for Walmart, chiropractors and the public.  Imagine getting the family adjusted once a week when they go to Walmart or 500-1000 new customers going shopping at Walmart when they go for their weekly adjustments. Imagine 12-15,000 fully employed chiropractors earning a good living as they adjust hundreds or thousands of folks each week.  And, imagine the money and lives saved because of the number of Americans taking fewer drugs and making fewer visits to the doctor’s office because of their new-found health.

The vision of The Membership Practice is that every man, woman and child in America has access to quality, affordable chiropractic care.  Insurance is hardly affordable for chiropractic care these days.  IF the average American is to have ready access to regular chiropractic care, it is imperative that the profession find ways to make it available.  And honestly, I’ve always believed the free market is where the solution to rising health care costs would be found.

Look for The Membership Practice near you.  If you don’t have one, let me know.  I’ll help you find one.  And, maybe one day you’ll even find them in your local Walmart store.

What the Heck is a “Family Chiropractor”?

Isn’t a chiropractor a chiropractor?  Yes, of course.  but then again, maybe not so much.

Essentially, a chiropractor locates stress on the nervous system caused by a bone in the spine being out of alignment with the one above or below it.   Unfortunately, there are some chiropractors that don’t even do that.  And, many practicing chiropractors these days only do so for folks who complain of back pain or other kinds of joint problems.

But, there is a special breed of chiropractors that understand that those misalignments affect every member of the family whether they have symptoms or not.  “Family chiropractors” are those chiropractors who dedicate themselves to maximizing your family’s potential for health and performance.  Their fee systems are sometimes different to accommodate a family’s budget and based more on having a long-term relationship with you instead of short-term care plans based on what your insurance company might pay.

“Family chiropractors” will show you why everyone in your family needs chiropractic and why the approach is similar for everyone to the day old infant to the 90-year-old great grandparent.  they will also help you understand your body’s innate intelligence  and how and why you were made to be healthy.  A long-term relationship with a “Family chiropractor” will help you stay off drugs, avoid surgery and live a fuller, more active life.

If you don’t have a “Family chiropractor”, I’ll be glad to help you find one in your area.  Send me an e-mail or find me on Facebook.  You’ll be glad you did.

You’re NOT a Piece of Hamburger!

I grew up in the 60s and 70s when the thinking was to always question authority.  So, I learned to do just that.  Over these many decades, I’ve learned to ask questions.  Lots of questions.

When you ask questions and develop the skill of listening and thinking for yourself, you also become better at knowing when someone is shooting straight with you or giving you a line of BS.  Unfortunately, many folks have not developed their gift of discernment and merely accept what their told as truth.  There’s an old saying about assuming that most folks have heard.  It’s still true.  Generalized assumptions can get you into lots of trouble.

One of those areas that assuming you’ve been told the truth is your health.  There is so much “information” about your body and your health being shoved down our throats that it is sometimes hard to decide what’s true and what’s not.  But, it has been that way for so long that most folks get overwhelmed by the piles of information that it’s just easier for them to assume they’ve been told the truth about drugs, vaccinations, conditions and “diseases”, surgery, etc.  Things like “cholesterol causes heart disease”, “meat is bad for you”, “prescription drugs are safe”, “shots prevent the flu” and so on and so on.

The problem with all these assumptions is that they leave us with the impression that we are our bodies and an assortment of pills, potions, lotions and/or procedures are all we need to be healthy.  NOTHING could be further from the truth.  A friend of mine often says “We are NOT our bodies”.  Still others have said that we’re not physical beings having a spiritual experience but spiritual beings having a physical experience.

By assuming that we are merely machines crafted from flesh and bones directed electricity and chemical reactions, we steal from ourselves the true essence of life itself.  We are, in fact, MORE than our bodies.  Think about it.  There is NO difference between a living person and someone who has just died of a heart attack.  All the chemicals are still the same, the structure is still the same.  They have all the same parts.  But, what is different?  The difference is that intangible thing we call life!

Mechanistic practitioners of the healing arts scoff at the concept of “life force” or “Innate Intelligence”, yet they can never quite put their finger on what causes homeostasis, your body’s vital balancing act.  Sure, they know when that force is present and when it leaves.  But, they can never quite define it.  Many so-called “scientific” practitioners even deny its very existence.

But, you KNOW there’s something in you that wants to be “healthy”, happy and “whole”.  You know that feeling good is more than just not having symptoms.  You also know that somewhere inside you is a desire to be part of something bigger than yourself.  At a time when technology and “knowledge” have reduced humans to little more than lab rats and the culture forced us into machine-like tools of production, the human spirit clamors for freedom.

I believe that is why chiropractic was discovered only 115 years ago.  It took a few generations of production lines and deadlines to become a major source of death, disease and societal mayhem.  Since that time, the pace has only quickened.  We’ve finally reached the point where palliative care and reactions to medical treatments have become as dangerous as the ailments they are designed to treat.  In fact, the whole treatment mentality has become devoid of common sense.

Americans (ALL peoples, in fact) are seeking something, actually anything, that will help them live better, feel better and enjoy their life more.  People are realizing that there is more to life than just getting by.  The search for “meaning” is greater than ever because the separation from “meaning” is greater than it has probably ever been.  Because the simple chiropractic adjustment takes stress off the nervous system, it helps you relate better to your own body as well as your immediate environment.  The longer you keep that stress from piling up on your nervous system, the quicker and deeper you will realize that greater “meaning” that everyone is seeking.

No.  I’m not talking about God.  But, what I am saying is that there are millions of people who say they believe in God yet lean on Medicine for their comfort and hope.  Real comfort, real hope comes from KNOWING who you are, what you are and how powerfully you were truly made.  Chiropractic simply helps you more fully realize your potential for health and happiness.

Grow Tree!

Autumn is my favorite season.  I love the changing of the leaves, the cooler temperatures and trips to the mountains.  Just today, I noticed that the leaves have started dropping, leaving the landscape a drab grayish brown.  If you didn’t know better, you might think the trees were sick and dying.

In our thoroughly modern culture we might be tempted to think “Gosh, these trees are sick and dying.  I had better do something if they’re to be saved!”  We then proceed to diagnose the problem and then to treat the problem.  OK.  “So, the leaves have lost their color and fallen off.  They must need to be fed.”  So, we feed them.  When that doesn’t work, we figure they must need water.  Still, no growth and no green leaves!  “Oh my.  They must be dying.  I better cut off the dead growth before it takes over the whole tree.”  So, we cut off limbs or otherwise “treat” the tree with everything we have.  When nothing works, we give upon the tree.  If we don’t cut it down and use it for firewood, we simply walk away from it and leave it to Mother Nature to run its course.

Oddly, in late Winter we see buds on the trees.  Come Spring, those buds sprout beautiful green leaves.  It’s alive again!  “Why, we must have done something to make it healthy and grow again!”

Of course, we know it was NOTHING we did to the tree to make it grow. We know that it wasn’t even sick.  It was simply going through its seasons.  It happens every year and has forever!  And. guess what?  It will continue to do so, forever.

We’ve allowed ourselves to become so mechanized in our thinking that we’ve forgotten that WE go through seasons, too.  Yet, when things don’t look perfect on the outside, we revert to “treatments” to make it feel like it is or look to others like it is.  Whether it’s to give stimulative narcotics like Ritalin or Adderall to a bored, active little boy in school or antidepressants to someone dealing with a stressful life or simply an aspirin a day to prevent stroke, we’re doing the same thing.  Sadly, when the first remedy doesn’t work, the “treatment” gets more aggressive.  And as all the drug commercials tell us, treatments can carry the risk of killing the patient.

What if we recognized that there’s a great wisdom at play that knows what it’s doing with our bodies and our minds and that we don’t as much need our health to be “managed” as much as it simply needs no interference and to let us go through our seasons?  What if we would simply nourish our life and our health and simply created a fertile environment in which we could grow and prosper?  As our own personal Winter passes, we would have become a better stronger person for having gone through it awake and aware.  The adversity that we allowed ourselves to experience would have made us better and better able to handle worse adversity later in life.

As a Principled chiropractor, my job is to help you develop a fertile environment within you that your own greater inner wisdom can prosper and thrive.  Yes, of course I’m talking about taking fewer drugs and feeling more pain.  I want to get you off straightline and on to the thrilling ride of your life.

Chiropractic Missions and The Membership Practice

In the late 90s, Dr. Jim Sigafoose lead a series of chiropractic missions to Central America.  Over a span of a dozen years, hundreds of chiropractors participated in those missions adjusting hundreds of thousands of people.  Still today, chiropractors do missions work all over the world.

Some of these missions stand out for several reasons.  One was the miracles.  People with chronic illness were healed.  The lame began to walk, the blind to see, the infirm strengthened and the hopeless regained hope.  Another reason was the sheer number of people served.  In single trips lasting up to 10 days, literally hundreds of thousands were adjusted by a mere handful of chiropractors.  Some  adjusted at least 10,000 in a single mission.  That’s 1,000 a day!  Probably one of the greatest things that resulted from those missions is that some chiropractors were set free of limitations.

I remember Sigafoose telling folks one time that participating in a mission had the potential for making or ruining a chiropractor’s practice.  When asked what he meant, he responded “You never see yourself or chiropractic in the same light again.  You’ll either go back and tear down the walls that limit you and chiropractic OR you’ll go back to where you were and resent the things you let hold you back.”

Some chiropractors returned and literally tore down the walls  and began adjusting in the open.  Others began to simplify their procedures and systems.  Still others converted to “All cash” practices to remove interference in their practice by third party payors..

Even today, many chiropractors say “How can it be that simple?”  One answer is to stop practicing as limited scope medical doctors diagnosing every patient and jumping through the hoops required to get paid by insurance carriers.  Still others have been pigeon-holed by their so-called chiropractic “education” into thinking you can’t possibly deliver quality chiropractic care to that many people in that short span of time.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

So, how could so few adjust so many in such a short period of time and STILL give quality chiropractic care?  The answers may amaze you.  Here’s just a few reasons why it worked:

• Few words were spoken – Because of the language barrier, a simple presentation was made by an interpreter to large groups before getting in line.
• Adjustments were limited to the upper cervical spine.  In other words, deliver the MOST effective adjustment to the MOST people in the LEAST amount of time.
• Simplest procedures possible.  No paperwork.  No insurance.  No CYA.  No BS.  Chiropractic analysis ONLY.
• No worries about money.  Many will say “Of course they were busy.  It was free!”  They paid plenty, just not as a direct fee.
• The chiropractors had no distractions like phones, families, news, sports or world events.

Many have asked since those mission trips, “How can I integrate THAT perspective into my practice here in the US?”  The simple answer is “You can’t.”  Well, you can’t INTEGRATE that perspective into a traditional American-style chiropractic practice.  Simply put, today’s chiropractic is practiced literally from a Medical perspective with all it’s procedures and complexity.  And to make a point, THAT is exactly what chiropractic wasn’t (and isn’t) at its core.

You can’t integrate simplicity into complexity.  But, you CAN replace complexity with simplicity.  I know it sounds difficult to do.  But, so is falling off a log.  The hardest part is simply deciding to opt out of the complex system practiced here in the US.

Here’s the key.  SIMPLIFY!   That’s it.  Just like with those mission trips, you get back to the very basics of what we do as chiropractors.

• Tell the story in as few words as possible to as many people as you possibly can.
• Don’t waste words on idle chatter.
• Limit paperwork and procedures to the bare minimum required.
• Do JUST chiropractic!  Locate and correct subluxations.  No medical diagnosis.  Better yet, do ONLY what is necessary.  If nothing else, make sure the Atlas is clear.
• Offer a simple, affordable fee system that fits into most people’s budget.  Unlimited care plans at a fixed fee makes sense to me.

Personally, I have found The Membership Practice the most congruent way to practice.  The concept is not new, but growing.  I challenge every chiropractor who wants to enjoy their practice more by doing JUST chiropractic to simplify their business on every level.

CCE Reveals Contempt for US Deptartment of Education

It’s amazing that so many people were surprised at the Council on Chiropractic Education’s (CCE) recent proposal to essentially strip chiropractic education of everything chiropractic.  But for those of us who have watched the CCE closely over the years know full well what a corrupt and depraved organization it truly is and what contempt it has for both the accreditation process and the US Dept. of Education.

Throughout the history of CCE, it has been at odds with those chiropractic schools that upheld those principles on which the chiropractic profession was founded.  Being the only agency certified by the United States Department of Education to offer accreditation to chiropractic colleges, CCE has subtly (in some cases) and not so subtly in others imposed its will on chiropractic teaching institutions for almost four decades.  During that time the cost of chiropractic education has soared.  Coincidentally, so have student loan default rates.  Also in recent times, the organization has illegally taken one school’s accreditation only to have it restored in Federal court.

One of the justifications for CCE taking the accreditation of Life University in 2002 was that the school failed to adhere to CCE standards.  Obviously, one of CCE’s standards was NOT honest and forthright representation as the organization had manipulated its corporate structure and bylaws to put itself in a position to yank Life’s accreditation while the school had no representation on either the CCE Board of Directors or its Council on Accreditation.  At the time, Life University graduates accounted for 20% of all practicing chiropractors.  Yet, one school on the COA had graduated fewer than 100 chiropractors and did not even have a human dissection lab.  Other schools represented on the COA and Board of Directors were under severe financial stress, benefited from the exodus of students from Life AND even had a role in the decision to remove Life’s accreditation.

So at the very least, CCE has tainted both its own credibility and that of the US Dept. of Education from whom CCE gets its authority.

In a hearing in June of 2006 by USDOE’s National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity, CCE was admonished by the members of the Committee to make its processes more transparent to both the public and the profession and to make certain that CCEs reputation (and reality) of bullying its schools was curtailed.

Well, CCE has not failed to disappoint those of us that know it well.  Just in the last few months, CCE has authorized one of its schools to offer degrees “equivalent to” the Doctor of Chiropractic degree.  Further, in its latest proposed changes, CCE has removed everything from chiropractic education that makes the profession chiropractic.  While those chiropractic schools that attract the most students are the more conservative schools that continue to teach the founding principles, CCE continues to push the profession’s schools in a direction shunned by the market for chiropractic education.

What a bold move for CCE!  In less than a year, it will be back in front of the USDOE to have its status renewed as the sole accrediting authority for the chiropractic profession, the organization has tried to sneak these changes through with a minimum of time available to the profession for input.  However, the proposed changes were discovered in time for literally thousands of responses from a broad spectrum of the profession.  I don’t know what CCE will do with those proposed changes, at this time.  I DO know that if left to its own devices, CCE will seek more opportunities to force its will on the profession by way of the institutions it controls with an iron fist.

There is only one conclusion that can be drawn from CCE’s continued aggressive moves on chiropractic education.  That conclusion is that CCE has nothing but contempt for both the US Department of Education and the entire accreditation process.  It has literally spit in the face of those bureaucrats in Washington, DC who are dedicated to ensuring quality education through through the accreditation process.  CCE has threatened the health of the public, the profession and the American taxpayer.  CCE has run up the cost of chiropractic education beyond the typical graduate’s ability to pay, forced courses on programs that most practitioners will find illegal to use in their practice thus causing student loan default rates (among virtually EVERY chiropractic school) that dwarf those of other health professions.

Many will disagree.  But personally, I believe CCE cannot be fixed, that it should lose its certification by the US Dept.. of Education and that either an alternative accrediting authority be formed or that chiropractic teaching institutions continue their accreditation by regional agencies like SACS (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools) until a credible alternative accreditation agency can be formed.  In this case, nothing is better than what we now have.

The Membership Practice: What are the benefits for the practitioner?

What are the benefits of The Membership Practice for the practitioner?

• Revenue stability,
• congruity of practice,
• improved “compliance”,
• better results,
• eliminates “sales pitch” aspect of your recommendations,
• better planning,
• no insurance paperwork or hassle,
• lower overhead,
• simplifies practice,
• increased credibility,
• increases loyalty,
• consumer friendly,
• Principled.

What are some other benefits that you can think of?

Arthritis and Chiropractic

“Can chiropractic help arthritis?”  That’s a question every chiropractor is asked on a regular basis.  Depending on the chiropractor, the answer might be “It depends”, “I don’t know”, or “Yes!  Of course!”  This is where you ask, “How can that be?  My doctor says arthritis can’t be reversed.”  Well, let’s take a look and see how chiropractic can help arthritis.

Before we go too far, it’s important to know that there are actually TWO different conditions known as “arthritis”.  By definition, “arthritis” is inflammation of the joints.  But as I said before, there are actually two kinds of “arthritis”.  First, there’s osteoarthritis, sometimes referred to as “wear and tear” arthritis.  This includes DJD or Degenerative Disc Disease.  Then, there’s several variations of rheumatoid arthritis.  Let’s look at each of these separately.

Osteoarthritis or “wear and tear arthritis” is just that, a sort of wearing away of the joint.  It usually shows up as we age OR after years of excessive use or wear on a joint.  I can’t tell you how many folks tell me “The orthopedist told me the disc in my neck or low back is worn down because of my age.”  My response is “Well, how old are the other discs in your spine?”  Obviously, I see more of these problems in the spine because the spine is the focus of my practice as a chiropractor.  DJD or osteoarthritis in the spine, is usually caused by a (or several) bones in the spine that are not in perfect alignment.  And just like your car being out of alignment, these areas wear out quicker than the rest of the spine.  The discs wear away and the wisdom of the body tries to stabilize the area.  On x-ray, this reaction looks like little bone spurs.  It’s actually the body trying to fuse these vertebrae in order to protect you.  Usually, the problem is not noticed until the disc is about gone and the spurs (or osteophytes) start to press on nerves, causing pain.

The typical medical approach to dealing with this type of arthritis is self-medication with over-the-counter painkillers and NSAIDS, or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like Tylenol, Advil, etc.  If not resolved, you can end up on steroids or prescription painkillers that can lead to addiction.  The eventual medical solution is surgery, sometimes very risky surgery with long-term consequences.

The other kind of arthritis, called rheumatoid arthritis, is an inflammatory autoimmune condition that causes pain, swelling and disfiguration, usually easily seen in the hands.  As with most autoimmune conditions, the cause is unknown.  Yet, treatments start with over-the-counter painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs, then prescription painkillers, then immunosuppressant drugs.  That just means that the drug you’re taking actually retards your immune system.  The mandatory warnings on these drugs warn you of infection, disease and even death.  Hmmm.  Since we don’t know the CAUSE, should we be treating the effect with potentially lethal drugs?

I know you’re saying, “Alright, already.  How can chiropractic help either of these conditions?”  Since you asked, I’ll tell you.

There are two (at least) ways chiropractic helps those with arthritis.  The first way is biomechanically.  If you do, indeed, have spinal misalignments (we call them vertebral subluxations) that can cause the discs to wear down more quickly, we help correct those misalignments with gentle, specific adjustments.  As your body stays in its proper alignment, pressure is taken off nerves AND your nervous system.  When that happens, your symptoms tend to clear up.  If you maintain that proper alignment, you become stronger and help keep them from coming back.

The other way chiropractic helps is neurological.  Anyone that has ever suffered from an autoimmune disease knows that it’s made worse by stress.  Chiropractic adjustments help take stress off your nervous system allowing your body to rest, relax and heal.  By taking stress off your nervous system, your body functions better and is less likely to attack itself.   When your body is restored to proper function, healing and health happens naturally.

So from both a biomechanical and neurological standpoint, chiropractic helps your body deal with both the causes and effects of both kinds of arthritis.  If you suffer from either of these conditions, find a good Principled chiropractor and learn more about the chiropractic lifestyle.  If you do, I promise you more and better health and life.

Love, Fear and Your Health

Sometimes we get so caught up in the way of the world that we tend to forget some simple truths.  “Scientific” studies are always pointing out ways to treat one condition or the other.  Other “scientific” studies tell us what’s bad for our health.  Yet over time, those “scientific” studies are often shown to have been somewhat errant either in their results, their assumptions or their methods.  We even find that some “scientific” studies are even designed to scare us into buying in to a mindset of fear, sickness and disease that can make us timid, fearful consumers of drugs, treatments and various protections.  To me, this is appalling.

As a former American President once said “All we have to fear is fear itself.”  Nothing could be more accurate.   think about fear for a moment.  When you’re scared, what do you do?  You contract into a defensive posture.  When you stay in a contracted state, you become stiff, inflexible.  Over time, you lose the ability to react to life’s situations appropriately.  Accumulated inappropriate responses causes your body and your life to break down.  Eventually, things start to fall apart.  Finally, you succumb to a lifetime of fearful reactions.  Disease and death overtake you.  In other words, you may live a long time, but you don’t really “live”.  Instead, you die a little every day over a lifetime.  Miserable. Scary.

Let’s look at the other end of the spectrum, love or faith.  What happens when you love?  You open yourself to a world of opportunity and joy and experience.  You grow.  You become flexible and adaptable to life’s situations and challenges.  There’s a passage in the Bible that says “Perfect love casts out fear.”  So when you decide to look for what is good in your life, your body and your relationships, you begin to live expansively.  Life’s challenges become opportunities.  Instead of thinking about death ad disease, your focus is on life and wholeness and health and happiness.  True “science” has shown that stress (or fear) causes heart disease, cancer, strokes, ulcers and chronic and autoimmune disease.  Ask yourself, “What would the opposite cause?”  The answer, of course, is health, wellness, wholeness, happiness and joy.

Life is not always easy.  And, it’s impossible to be happy with every outcome.  But, I will tell you that if you love life, life will love you back.   Open yourself to all that life has to offer.  Look with suspicion at anyone who tries to sell you on fear.  Always question their motives and their methods.  Ponder the magnificence and perfection of Nature and always doubt that anyone could improve on its Design.  And when you do, you will see that perfect love casts out fear.  Be well.

Does your life suck?

Seems like everywhere I go, there’s always someone talking about how bad life is.  I know you hear it, too.  “My job sucks!  My spouse sucks.  This economy sucks.  My life sucks!”

You could really get depressed listening to that nonsense all day long.  Imagine if you were a psychotherapist.  Man, THAT would SUCK!  But, it really is amazing how in a country as affluent and rich with resources, opportunities and freedoms that virtually anyone could be depressed.  Yet, the Unites States consumes more psychotropic drugs than the rest of the world COMBINED!

How could this be?  Amid the affluence and freedom available to every American, we each should be far enough up Maslow’s ladder that depression or anxiety simply would not exist in America.  Even the poorest of American’s are RICH (not just well off) compared to most of the rest of the World.

Maybe we’ve just grown so accustomed to “Easy Street” that we’ve become self-absorbed as a nation and a people.  Seems like we’re either feel guilty because we have more than the rest of the World or inadequate that we don’t have as much as our neighbor.

What would happen if instead of comparing ourselves to everyone else, we simply compared ourselves to what WE each could do or be?  Then, the only anxiety in a person’s life would be that they are not living up to their own potential.  That realization should free anyone and everyone from depression and anxiety because once you realize that your only competition is yourself, you can correct virtually any problem you have.

Sure, there are some problems over which you have little or no control,  However, you DO have control over how you see those problems and how you deal with them.  That’s when you quit being a victim and become a participant in life.  The more you participate the less time you have to be merely a spectator in your own life.  Talk about adding meaning to life.  Wow!

A mentor once said “Comfort arrives as a guest, lingers as a host and stays to enslave you.”  Don’t become a slave to your own comfort zone.  Get off the bench and onto the field.  Taking the hits and making the hits add a whole dimension to the game of life that is never apparent from the stands or in front of the TV or PC.

Make life worth living by living it!

Chiropractic Maintenance: If It Ain’t Broke Don’t Fix It, Maintain It!

One of the most misunderstood and misused concepts in healthcare is that of “chiropractic maintenance”.  Let me explain.

Some folks go to the chiropractor because their back went out or their in some sort of pain.  And because chiropractic adjustments are so effective in taking pressure off nerves that cause pain, symptoms clear up pretty quickly.  Well, relatively quickly depending on how long symptoms have been apparent.  This usually takes a few weeks to a month.  Most folks that use chiropractic care simply for pain relief end up coming back sooner than later because the problem was not fully corrected before they stopped care.

And then, some folks go to the chiropractor not only to get rid of the pain but to do what they can to keep the pain from coming back.  This process can usually take anywhere from 3-6 months.  There’s a good chance in some cases that the pain never returns and the person thinks everything is OK.   And as long as the symptoms don’t return neither does the patient.  And, as long as symptom relief and prevention is concerned that’s probably a reasonable outcome.  Most chiropractors that accept insurance would probably say that is perfectly fine.  It’s great (sort of) for everyone.  Patient knows where they can go for relief and the chiropractor always has a source of insurance reimbursement.

But then, there’s maintenance care.  Some folks look at maintenance care as a preventive measure to keep that serious problem from coming back.  And, you know what?  It IS great for that.  But, maintenance care always presents a problem.  Insurance doesn’t pay for it and Americans expect to use their insurance if they have it.  Many times, patient and chiropractor alike tell little white lies to the insurance carrier so that their patient can continue their maintenance.  Ongoing care is GOOD.  But, having patient and doctor lie to have insurance pay for it is NOT good.

There’s a bigger reason why chiropractic maintenance is a good idea.  In fact, I think “chiropractic maintenance” is a better idea than crisis or corrective care.  While some view “maintenance” as a preventive measure, that’s only a small part of the benefit that “maintenance” affords you.

The best comparison I can think of is your car.  Just about everyone maintains their car at some level or another.   We know to change the oil every 3-5000 miles, to rotate the tires on a regular basis, to have the front-end aligned, to check the radiator, the transmission fluid and so on.  Obviously, doing these things will help prevent breakdowns and maybe even accidents.  But what routine maintenance on your car REALLY does for you is to give you peace of mind.  Not only do you have the comfort of knowing your car is safer to drive it’s also less likely to have a breakdown.  You know that now your car will now run better.  And because it runs better and you worry less, you can enjoy driving and focus on those other things that make your life better.

Ongoing chiropractic “maintenance” care does that same thing for your body and your life.  As you and your chiropractor keep stress off your nerve system, your body functions better and helps prevent all sorts of problems in the future.  It also helps you be better able to handle future stresses.   In short, “chiropractic maintenance” will make every aspect of your life more effective and enjoyable.

Oh, here’s another great reason to choose ongoing “chiropractic maintenance” care.  It’s cheaper.  Just like a regular oil change is cheaper than replacing a burnt out engine, regular wellness visits take only a few minutes while the benefits pile up.  One of the aspects of my practice that I really enjoy is that folks come in smiling and leave smiling.  And because you pay monthly or yearly, you never have to deal with the hassle of insurance, copays and collections.

So, regardless of your health situation, whether sick and hurting or a finely tuned athlete, I encourage you to seek out a chiropractor who specializes in “maintenance” or wellness care.  Heck, you can even qualify them by looking for someone who doesn’t even take insurance.  Good luck in enjoying your new worry free body and lifestyle!

Life Lessons from Ft. Knox

The family and I visited my son at Army Basic Training at Fort Knox recently.  After 40 years, it was interesting to hear the stories about Basic Training.  While not quite as its depicted in the movie “Stripes” with Bill Murray and John Candy, it is amusing to hear the stories and compare to my own experience of long ago.  And ironically, there are lessons there that I had not perceived before.

I know that Basic Training is different for every military branch.  But still, it’s the same.  The purpose is to force a young person to leave the comfort of their teenage womb and give themselves to a higher calling.  My son tells me that since I only went through 6 weeks of Air Force Basic that mine didn’t really count.  But, he WAS amazed at how accurate I was when telling him what to expect when he got there.

One must understand that the job of the military is war, pure and simple.  The military is our defense against attack from forces that would seek to profit from our demise.  Every branch of the military has its job and every member of that branch has duties specific to that mission.  The ultimate goal, however, is to protect and defend the country and our way of life.  So while some training is specific, much of it is designed for the purpose of transitioning a young person into a dedicated member of a unified force whose calling is to put the mission before the man.

The young soldiers all lamented that the Drill Sargent always seemed agitated and that even the slightest transgression by just one troop would cause everyone in the platoon to have to drop and do push ups.  Sometimes, it seemed that “Drill Sargent” would say they were doing a 20K march when it turned out to be 26K.  Sometimes, it seemed that Drill Sargent’s purpose was to drive them to “break”.  In fact, a few tried to intentionally “wash out” to no avail.  And, Drill Sargent would never tell them they could NOT eat something at chow but was quick to remind them of the effect that indiscretion could have on their PT scores.

While the Family Day pass was only for two days, it seemed like my son was bored the whole time.  When I asked him why, he said “I’m used to getting up at 4am, going all day, having to know when different formations were scheduled, taking care of my weapon and even doing laundry.  I don’t know what to do with all this spare time.”  I was also struck at how sharp he and his “battle buddies” appeared.  When I mentioned that, he said that two things “Drill Sargent” impressed on them was teamwork and attention to detail.

I’ve spent many hours thinking about some of those little chats we had and on the profound meaning they have for all of our lives.  We do take plenty for granted these days, from our health to our freedom.  And many times, that comfort makes us vulnerable to sickness, disease, infirmity and attack.  What my son is learning is that we are capable of far more than we believe we are.  He’s learning that life is unpredictable and that strength, flexibility and adaptability to the situation at hand is VITAL not only in dealing with the matter at hand but simply survival.  One of the lessons that Chris is learning is that life is constant and constantly changing.  You must be ready on a moment’s notice, whether it’s awakening at 4am to go on a 15 mile ruck march or to answer a question about the UCMJ.

Our bodies are virtually the same.  We ALL have our own personal “Drill Sargent” always pushing, always preparing us to be the best we can and the most we can, prepared to handle ANY situation that might confront us.  We chiropractors call our internal Drill Sargent “Innate Intelligence” because it knows what to do, when and how.  It goes when we think we can’t.  If you’ll listen and obey your inner Drill Sargent, you’ll become stronger, tougher and better able to handle whatever life brings your way.  Survival can then be assumed as you work toward the greater good for yourself and all around you.

Your body understands the concepts of “teamwork and attention to detail”.  If you will just understand that Drill Sargent is your friend and your protector, you will become a great soldier in life and in the war against weakness, sickness and frailty.

Seven Times Seven: How Will Your Health Be at 49?

Did you know that every red blood cell in your body is replaced every 120 days?  Did you know that your entire body is replaced on average every 7 years?  Wow!  Personally, I find that amazing.  I’m thinking, “If I clean up my act and start living according to some sound principles, I could have a whole new body…and life in just a few years!”

Since getting in the health business, I’ve noticed things I’d never even considered in the past.  I remember being in 6th grade and the teacher telling us how old we’d be when the millennium turned over and thinking “Dang.  I don’t want to be around if I’m gonna be like folks I know that age.”  Sadly, that’s even more true now than then.  Of course I’m 10 years older than that now and younger than most folks my age.

Enough nostalgia.  Let’s talk about regeneration.  Let’s assume that everything in your body and life goes according to God’s design.  By the time you’re 50 years old, you should be in pretty good health.  But, we all know folks that age that simply are not in good health, at all.  What happened?

Here’s one premise.  We know that the first system to form in our bodies is the Central Nervous System and that every aspect of our lives are either controlled by or filtered through our nervous system.  If someone had had any kind of difficult birth process, there could be damage (or at least stress) on the neck and brainstem.  Since the brainstem affects ALL of your body’s vital function, pressure there could affect your development and health.

Let’s just say that happened to you or someone you know and your nervous system (and body) was functioning at say 90%.  Since you’re growing so fast in your early years you might not notice any problems whatsoever.  Well, maybe some colic or seizures or ADD/ADHD.  But nothing “serious”.  OK.  Maybe you grew up with chronic colds and seemed to catch whatever bug was going around when none of your friends or family did.  But, nothing serious.

But, as newborn becomes seven, then 14 then 21, you start to notice a pattern.  Then about the time you turn 30, life begins to wear you down.   You might have developed chronic health problems like fibromyalgia,  migraines, high blood pressure, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, arthritis or some other kind or arthritic condition.  Then, by the time you turn 40, you’re wondering how you’re going to live as long as your parents and what the heck is your life going to be like.

Let’s do the math on that.  If you start out with your nervous system and body functioning at 90%, your blood cells and tissues and organs and systems don’t develop and function quite as well as they should.  At 14, it’s 90% times 90%.  At 21, it’s 90% times 81%.  By the time your 49 (the halfway point)  you’re functioning at 36% of the potential God sent you here with.  Your body is falling apart and your life sucks.   You begin to wonder if you’ll even live long enough to enjoy your retirement and IF you do, will you be able to afford to!  You purchase long-term care insurance so your family won’t be saddled with the cost of warehousing you in your waning years. Bleak picture, huh?

What if we could correct that problem that started at birth or during childhood?  Could we reverse all that was done or not done?  Maybe so.  What if you could help your body start functioning at 100% of what your potential is right now?  Would that help?  Of course it would!  Because your body ALWAYS strives to do ALL that it can with what it’s got to work with, you begin IMMEDIATELY toward better function and better health.  It’s like investing in a retirement account.  You can get a late start and still be way ahead of where you’d be if you had never invested in the first place.

Simple chiropractic care focused on the original stress on your nervous system (NOT on back pain or symptoms) can help you move toward your potential immediately.  Sure, you can improve your health with diet and supplementation, exercise and a good spiritual life.  However, since EVERYTHING is filtered through or controlled by your nervous system, more of all (or any) of these is fruitless if there’s nerve interference.  So, the key is to locate and reduce interference to the proper function of your nerve system.  That usually happens at one place, the top of the neck.  So, it’s important to find the right chiropractor.

You were Designed to do great things and be productive your whole life.  If that’s not happening for you and with you, find yourself a good Principled chiropractor.  If you need help finding one, let me know.  I’m always glad to help.

Herpes and Chiropractic

Wait!   Herpes and chiropractic?  You thought chiropractic was for BACK PAIN, didn’t you?  Well, it’s NOT!  While reviewing statistics on my blog, I noticed that someone used “herpes and chiropractic” as their search criteria.

Sadly, some folks (including lots of chiropractors) think it is.  Over the decades lots of lazy chiropractors have taken the easy road and succumbed to back pain because lots of folks DO seek a drugless, nonsurgical way of dealing with their back pain.  Oh yeah, that’s where the easy insurance money is, too.

But, chiropractic is about much more than mere back pain.  It’s about helping you have MORE LIFE!  It’s about helping your body (hence YOU) functioning at a higher level and with much more ease.

OK, back to herpes.  If you’ve ever known someone with herpes (genital herpes or shingles) you know that it is made worse with stress.  In fact, stress is usually the reason it expresses itself.  We don’t need to get into the epidemiology of herpes. Everyone agrees that once you’ve got it, you’ve got it.

However, you CAN keep it from ruining your life.  You CAN control it somewhat by controlling how you and your body deals with the stress in your life.  That’s where chiropractic comes into play.  Conservative chiropractic care that deals with your autonomic nervous system, specifically your parasympathetic nervous system, helps keep your body calm under stress and helps you manage the effects of stress on your health.

BUT, don’t wait until you have an outbreak of herpes to go see your chiropractor. Find a chiropractor you can see weekly.  You might not get adjusted every week.  But, you should get checked.  It may be your best insurance for avoiding untimely bouts with herpes.

Niagra Falls and the Principled Chiropractor

Everybody knows about Niagra Falls.  Well, at least every American knows about Niagra Falls.  It’s the largest single source of hydroelectric power in America.  It’s also a source of amazement for anyone who’s ever witnessed it.  If you’ve ever seen it, you marvel at both its beauty and incredible natural power.  One thing is for sure.  Mankind has surely learned how to work with that power to improve our quality of life.  But, what if the flow of water to Niagra Falls was slowed or stopped?  The power generated would certainly be reduced and the quality of life for all those served by it would surely be diminished.

There’s a Power inside you that’s very similar to Niagra Falls.  That Power is limitless as long as there is no interference with its flow.  Your brain and Central Nervous System runs your body and is Designed to make you powerful and virtually unstoppable.  But just as it took someone to first recognize the potential power of Niagra Falls, you must recognize your own potential power. It’s only potential power UNTIL you decide to unleash it!

That’s where chiropractic comes in.  The Principled Chiropractor works from the premise that you were made powerful AND part of the Creative Force of the entire Universe.  Further, the Principled Chiropractor recognizes that any interference in the flow of that power can limit how well you perceive and realize that power in your life.  The Principled Chiropractor  locates the source of interference in the flow of that Power and makes a simple, yet powerful, adjustment.  When the correction is made and the Power flows freely again, you are better able to fully enjoy and benefit from your own Power.

Using chiropractic simply for symptom relief is like using Niagra Falls as a water fountain.  Find yourself a Principled Chiropractor TODAY and see how powerful your life can truly be.

The Friend Within

There’s a mechanism in all living things that we chiropractors call Innate Intelligence.  Don’t let it scare you.  It’s a name that we use to communicate about the concept that you were Designed to be healthy and powerful and there’s something that guides you toward your greatest good, at all times.  That’s why a great mentor called it “The Friend Within”.

Many of us falter in life because we fail to listen to and obey our “Friend Within”.  We know we should eat right,  exercise, work on our spiritual life, say “I love you” more and simply doing the right thing.  Your “Friend Within” guides you along that path.  It also works on your body without you even knowing it, innately communicating instructions to the body from the brain, conducting the orchestra of life to and through EVERY cell in your body.  It’s that mysterious thing that is present in a living being that leaves the moment one dies.  At that point, cells act independently of the body and starts the decomposition process.

If that Innate Intelligence (or your Friend Within) is disturbed, you actually begin the decomposition process WHILE you’re still alive.  That process leads to dysfunction and eventually disease.

The MOST important thing a chiropractor can do is to teach you about your “Friend Within” or Innate Intelligence and THEN adjust you to allow that mechanism to express itself as closely to 100% as possible. The better able you are to hear that “wee small voice within” and then act upon its instructions, the more powerful your life becomes.

The world needs for each of you to live as close to your God-given potential as possible.  When that happens, we become less prone to disease, strife and war.  We think higher thoughts and make better decisions.  Come join me on this journey toward your own greater good.  Let me introduce you to your “Friend Within”.

Council on Chiropractic Education: The Clash Between Economics and Accreditation

The chiropractic profession is at a crossroads.  A profession based on hands on non-allopathic, holistic principles has methodically been moved closer and closer to the practice of Medicine much to the chagrin of most practitioners in the profession.

Under the guise of ensuring the highest quality of care rendered to the public, the CCE has forced every chiropractic school into moving away from the profession’s founding principles and toward a sub-par version of manual medicine.  Being the only accrediting authority in the profession, CCE has almost no oversight and has become a rogue agency imposing its will on the chiropractic profession.  And, like a cancer, has gone virtually ignored by the U.S. Department of Education or the public which it supposedly is sworn to protect.

The folks at the Council on Chiropractic Education has even certified one chiropractic college to confer a degree of Chiropractic Medicine to its graduates.  Not only is this outside CCE’s scope, it is dangerous for the public at large.  The practice of Medicine is difficult enough for those who attend medical school and do the residency necessary to practice that art.  Chiropractors that play Medical Doctor are a menace to society just as is an MD that tries to manipulate patients in their medical practice.

There is NO justification for teaching Medicine to chiropractic students or requiring  medical education at chiropractic schools.  For one thing, it confuses the chiropractic student and graduate.  The two professions have totally opposite philosophies and really are separate and distinct.  In most states, it is illegal for the chiropractor to either make a medical diagnosis or prescribe even over-the-counter drugs for simple symptom relief.  Personally, I think it’s a good thing that chiropractors have a narrow scope of practice.

From an economics standpoint, it is almost impossible for a new chiropractor to survive in practice.  Let me restate that.  It’s virtually impossible for a new chiropractor to survive in practice without heavy third-party reimbursement or participating in multi-level marketing or by having a part-time job.  Here’s the truth.  If people want Medicine, they’ll go to a medical doctor.  People typically seek a chiropractor because they want something DIFFERENT from the Medical approach.  If all a chiropractor offers is medical LITE, he/she is simply not a good alternative.  Hence, many chiropractors fail in practice.

Because so many chiropractors fail in practice, student loan default rates are the highest of ANY of the healing arts.  If CCE’s purpose is to protect the public and make sure that student loan defaults are minimized, I would think they have failed miserably at their job.  In fact, if I were the Department of Education, I would encourage the profession to create an alternative to CCE as soon as possible and prepare to remove CCE’s standing as THE sole accrediting authority.  A worthy accrediting authority would ensure MINIMUM compliance with core requirements while allowing its schools to specialize and compete for students via different philosophical, clinical and business perspectives.

All the Council on Chiropractic Education has accomplished is to have raised the cost of chiropractic education beyond the average student’s ability to repay their debt.  Something has to stop.  Neither the chiropractic profession, the public nor the Federal Government is served by the policies and practices of the Council on Chiropractic Education.

Netflix and Unlimited Chiropractic Care

A long time ago, if you wanted to watch a movie you either had to go see it at the theater or wait for it to show up on TV.  Then came the VCR and you could buy videos to watch at home whenever you wanted.  Then came Blockbuster and you no longer had to buy videos, but simply rent them.  Consumers saved lots of money.  But, Blockbuster got greedy and put all sorts of restrictions and penalties on their customers.  And as always happens in a free market, a new competitor showed up.

Netflix offered unlimited rentals through the mail for a low, flat monthly fee.  This enabled consumers to order the videos they wanted to watch, when they wanted to watch them without fear of restrictions and penalties.  Netflix has improved on the concept and now allows you to simply download a movie on your computer removing another barrier to their customers.  Granted, cable companies are now allowing you to watch and pay for movies on demand.  BUT, Netflix changed the movie rental market and has almost put Blockbuster out of business.

Health care, especially the chiropractic profession is very similar to the movie rental business.  For a long time, insurance would pay for almost any bill a provider submitted.  As a result, fees went sky-high and about the only way folks could afford to the chiropractor was if it was covered on their insurance.  Even without insurance, doctors created “corrective care plans” based on what was the generally accepted per visit fee based on insurance reimbursement schedules.  Needless to say, lots of folks that wanted chiropractic care simply could not afford to go .

An innovation in health care, especially chiropractic, is the concept of unlimited care at a fixed fee.  Because the greatest benefit of chiropractic care is long-term health and wellness, a fixed number of visits over a limited period of time was limiting for both the consumer and the provider.  Unlimited care allows you to get adjusted as often as you need while KNOWING what the cost will be.  And because of the fixed fee, you can include the care as part of your lifestyle without regard to uncertainties in health care and insurance.

Unlimited care programs also work for the provider/chiropractor.  Without having to hassle with insurance companies and an overhead to justify the expense, chiropractors are able to cut their overhead.  Also, the lower fee allows them to see more people with less hassle.  This makes the chiropractor more efficient and more effective.  It actually allows more people to get care in a simple, affordable fashion.  And as people realize the great benefits of regular chiropractic care, the greater demand for simple, effective chiropractic care grows.

I urge chiropractors to consider this business model and consumers who want true health to find chiropractors that use this model.  It’s probably the best way I know to make sure that you’ll find a good chiropractor that does JUST what a chiropractor does.

No pain no gain?

Whether helping a friend deal with a broken heart or a practice member deal with a physical problem, it’s important to understand pain from a proper perspective.  Pain is mostly a good thing.

Obviously, pain is NOT a pleasant thing to endure.  But, if you put your hand on a hot stove wouldn’t you WANT to feel some pain?  Wouldn’t that be letting you know there’s a problem?  And, wouldn’t it be a reminder the next time you approach the stove to NOT put your hand there?

Over the years, I’ve seen many people (my parents included) literally destroy their lives by medicating (with alcohol, prescription medications or illicit drugs) away their pain only to find their lives have eroded or corroded while they were not really conscious.  It’s the same way with physical pain.  The pain is merely an indicator that something is wrong OR that healing is in progress.  Healing is a process that STARTS with a painful awareness of the problem.

By masking our problem indicators, we ensure our long-term demise.  Emotionally, we lose touch while our world crumbles around us.  Physically, we lose touch while our bodies crumble within us.  The end result is that our life falls to pieces physically, emotionally and spiritually without us even being aware of it.

Why not take a look at the source of your pain?  Figure out what the problem is.  Deal with it.  Learn the principles of effective living (that includes your health) and live a fuller, more free and fulfilling life.

Is Mankind Inherently Destructive?

Is Man (Mankind, that is) inherently evil and destructive or enlightened and good?

Personally, I believe both.  A part of Man is like the natural forces of earth, wind, fire and rain.  While they can serve us well, they are destructive in nature.  If you don’t believe me, just stand out in the elements or expose virtually anything you can imagine to those elements long enough and you’ll see the destructive nature of those forces.  They’ll simply wear you down.

There IS an aspect of Mankind that is cold, cruel and destructive.  That part of us is selfish and either unaware or ambivalent to the effect we have on others and the world around us.  And, it’s not just a few people.  It’s all of us.  Some are just more subtle than others about it.

BUT, there’s also an aspect of Man (Mankind) that is peaceful, loving and creative.  It’s this part of us that separates us from all other forms of life from other mammals to the lowly single-cell amoeba.  It’s also this part of us that gives us hope for the future, to smile when we see a baby or to cry when our emotions are touched, to create beautiful works of art, to invent, to build, to imagine, to create.

I also believe this higher self is easily accessible to each one of us.  It’s only a decision away.  There’s an innate mechanism is each of us that strives toward our immediate AND our long-term good.  Its purpose is to guide and direct us, to help us make good decisions and to live with the consequences of bad decisions.  the decision is simply to LISTEN to that wee small voice and obey its command whenever and however it expresses itself.

Decide today to listen and respond to that wee small voice that is creative, clean, pure, powerful and positive.  Watch your life expand and create new opportunities and joys for you every day.  And as you expand your own creative joy and peace, you will automatically expand that of the world around you.

What’s Your Diagnosis? Chiropractic CAN Help!

Uh oh.  I’ve done it now!  There’s another one of those crazy chiropractors that think they can cure anything from cancer to the common cold.  Close!  Honestly, no doctor of anything EVER cured ANYBODY of ANYTHING.  Healing is a NORMAL, natural part of your design.

What do I mean when I say that “Chiropractic can help regardless of your diagnosis”?  Simply put, chiropractic is NOT a treatment for ANYTHING.  Yet, it’s good for EVERYTHING!

Chiropractic adjustments reduce stress on your nervous system.  Your nervous system controls EVERY function in your body.  Less stress on your nervous system, better function.  Better function, better health.  Better health, faster healing.  Better health, less NEED for healing.

So, find a chiropractor that accepts AL cases instead of one that merely treats limited conditions like back and neck pain.

All You Can Eat Chiropractic

Have you noticed the number of all-you-can-eat restaurants popping up all over the place?  You’d think the quality of food would be (let’s say) lacking.  In most places, though, the quality of food is pretty good while staying fresh and hot.  Oh yeah, those places always seem to be busy!

What would happen if your chiropractor (or other healthcare provider) offered a limited number of services and a reasonable (even low) price for unlimited care?  Here’s what.  You’d get better, more focused care in less time at a great value.  The other thing that would happen is that you’d see your chiropractor more often because you CAN!  Oh yeah, you’d experience the long-term benefits of regular adjustments, too!

It’s time for chiropractors (and ALL health providers) to take a second look at how they offer their services and be more transparent with their clientele.  The day of hiding behind their white coat and insurance reimbursement are all but gone.  Adapt or die.

The Nursing Home Hallway

By the time you reach my age, you’ve had hundreds of opportunities to visit family and/or friends in a nursing home.  I can’t think of a place that is more depressing that the nursing home.

There’s this image burned in my mind of walking down the hall amid all the wheelchairs occupied by sad, bent over little elderly folks trapped in a body and in a situation that they simply can’t escape.  As you make your way past, some reach out seemingly wanting a touch they’ve not received form a loved one in a long time, while others stare blankly though a drug-induced stuper.  Sometimes, you’ll see residents visiting with family members.  Unfortunately, far too many have become a burden on their families and have just been abandoned.

My heart aches every time I enter that realm.  I hate seeing suffering, especially in children and old folks.  I know there simply are some situation where grandma or grandpa may have a physical condition that must be monitored around the clock.  BUT, there simply has to be another way.  Some suffering just can’t be prevented.  But in my opinion, much of what I see in nursing homes surely can.

While I acknowledge the problems in nursing homes along with the costs, abuse and inefficiencies, my focus here is on keeping YOU out of them.  Most of the problems in nursing homes WON’T affect you IF you don’t need to be there in the first place!

If you’re one of those folks already betting against yourself by buying long-term care insurance, you’re probably not going to be interested in what I have to say.  You’ve already bought in to the notion that YOU will be one of those folks withering away in the hallway.  However, given that costs keep rising and insurance rarely covers everything you thought it did when you bought the policy, you might just read on.  Just in case.

Many people end up in the nursing home after years (or decades) of dutifully taking drugs prescribed by the doctors for various conditions.  There’s no use in going over the litany of drugs old folks take.  We’ve all seen folks with those little blue things marked for every day of the week and how they’ll spend a Sunday afternoon getting their “meds” ready for the next week.  Studies have shown that the typical American senior citizen takes and average of 12-15 different prescriptions.

The problem here is that EVERY drug has a “side effect”.  Many drugs are prescribed to counter the “side effects of another drug.  And since the way a drug works is to fool the body into thinking it has something it doesn’t or doesn’t have something it does, years (or decades) of this abuse will simply make a person dysfunctional, either mentally, physically or spiritually OR all combined.

What if you could start RIGHT NOW weaning yourself off drugs and move towards a healthy vital life?  What if you could be independent until your time comes to check out?  Wouldn’t you prefer THAT to wasting away in the nursing home hallway?

Here’s a better way.  If you’re taking medication for ANY condition, make your doctor explain WHY you’re taking a particular drug and how the drug works.  Educate yourself on the condition.  Begin TODAY working toward a more natural solution to your problem.  Also, begin TODAY learning more about how your body works and the principles of life.  Once you compare how you are SUPPOSED  to be with the way you’ve been told you are, you’re in a better position to make some sound decisions on your healthcare.

Another powerful strategy for better living is to seek out what is called a Principled chiropractor.  This is a special kind of chiropractor that will help you learn these principles of life while helping you remove a critical source of stress on how your body should function.  They also won’t run up expensive bills on therapy modalities of dubious value.  A clear nervous system combined with a less toxic body will help you live a better life NOW and help you avoid the nursing home hallway later.

Good health is NOT a coincidence or an accident.  It is deliberate.   It’s a decision you make and a plan that you follow.  Bad health is usually the result of an accumulation of bad decisions.

So, if you believe you’re on the wrong track, start turning the train around NOW.  You CAN!

HAPPY GIVING THANKS.

As I sit here contemplating this particular Thanksgiving week with all the craziness in the world AND in America, I realize there is much for ME to give thanks.

I was born a free man in the United States of America, a nation maligned by many who take so much for granted. For all that America has been blamed, it still has done more to improve the life of hundreds of millions of people around the World. It is STILL the place where the World seeks refuge and opportunity.
I was born a Southerner. As such, I was taught manners, respect for women, strength of character, duty, honor, to protect the weak and to love my country.

I am thankful for the United States military. Military service gave a young man discipline and direction when it was much needed. It also allowed me to earn a college education and the chance to be more than what my past had prepared me.

I have been blessed to have finally realized my calling and purpose of serving God by serving my fellow man as a chiropractor focused on freeing people’s locked potential for expressing life, health, happiness and prosperity. I get to help babies, kids, families and individuals in all walks of life. It’s also a great avenue for sharing the message of a bigger Design for people’s life and potential. I’m a crazy chiropractor and that is awesome!

I have two great kids who are smart, productive and who love their parents. They understand their potential and want to make the World a better place in their own ways.

Finally, I’m grateful to have been pulled from a morass of despair and hopelessness by a Loving God who set me free to be me. I have found in the darkest of times that His Grace is sufficient and gives me a peace in the midst of any storm.

Oh yeah. I am grateful for the many friends I have who tolerate my sometimes weird sense of humor, my Conservative political philosophy.

HAPPY GIVING THANKS!

Downed Power Line or Subluxation?

What happens when a storm or a wayward automobile knocks down a power pole? Well, lots of things.

You can cut off power to many homes in the area causing all sorts of calamities from spoiled food to lost computer data to any number of problems. It can also cause electrocutions and fires at the site of the fallen power pole.

Vertebral subluxation (misalignment of spinal bones putting pressure on nerves/nervous system) can do the same thing in the body. It can cause pain and loss of function at the specific site of the misalignment OR problems throughout the whole nervous system adversely affecting the overall vitality of your body and life.

And just like you look to the power company to put up a new power pole and restore power to the area, your chiropractor essentially does the same thing with your spine and nervous system.

So, if things don’t seem to be working quite right in your body, health or life, maybe you should pay a visit to a good Principled chiropractor to help you determine if you are subluxated and what it will take to get your power turned back on.

Remembering Memorial Day

Hemorrhoids

I suffered for 20 yrs with hemorrhoids because of chronic subluxation. Since getting cleared (and staying clear) of subluxation, I haven’t had that “pain in the butt” ONCE in 25 years!

Do you have subluxation?

I Love Being a Chiropractor!

I DO love being a chiropractor. Just knowing that I have the ability to locate and remove an impediment to a person’s ability to express their health and their life as fully as possible is both awe-inspiring and humbling at the same time.

In these 15 years of practice, I’ve had the opportunity to work with folks with so many different challenges. It’s run the gamut from back pain and migraines to high blood pressure to constipation, seizures and ear infections. Of course, Chiropractic is not a treatment for any of those conditions or ANY medical condition, in fact. We know that the ONE thing that the chiropractor DOES do is to locate and correct vertebral subluxation. And when we DO what chiropractors were meant to do, people’s lives improve.

One of the things I appreciate most about Chiropractic is the awareness that everyone has the innate potential for better health and performance. Helping folks realize that their innate potential for expressing more life IS in my mind the greater part of my job as a chiropractor. AND realizing this fact helps my members make better life decisions only increases my value as their chiropractor.

One of the greatest benefits (to ME as a chiropractor) of adjusting a high school football and basketball team for five years was having kids get on the table EVERY week to get checked for subluxation whether they had symptoms or not. And having a teenager tell you that they not only feel better but PLAY better when they get adjusted is powerful confirmation that you’re on the right track.

Having practiced and studied Chiropractic for several years now, I understand that EVERYONE is better off without vertebral subluxation. Even more, I believe that EVERYONE deserves to have access to Chiropractic care regardless of age or condition, whether infant or geriatric and with or without symptoms. And, the only diagnosis needed is the presence of vertebral subluxation.

If you don’t have a chiropractor for yourself and your family, I urge you to find one.  Let me know if you need some help.  I know hundreds all over America.

The Inspired Chiropractic College

The inspired chiropractic college of the future will provide to its students, recruits and profession the following:

• Graduates that understand and embrace the history and philosophy of Chiropractic
• Graduates that understand WHAT a vertebral subluxation is and know WHERE it is, HOW, WHEN (and when NOT) to adjust it and WHY
• Graduates that are the very best adjusters in the profession
• Graduates that understand the subtleties of business and are ready to either start their own practice or step into another’s with minimum training required
• Graduates that fully understand the CURRENT state of the business environment they will encounter and are able to rationally decide to practice in one or several models, including all cash, third party reimbursement, Personal Injury/Worker’s Comp, etc.
• A quality education that reverses the tide of ever-increasing tuition costs for its students.
• Employ teaching and learning methods that ensure the greatest results for its students at the least cost.
• Strive for ZERO student loan defaults among its graduates
• Aggressively work to create a vibrant market for Chiropractic care (and it’s graduates) in both their local area and nationally.
• Provide mentoring to EVERY student throughout their entire Chiropractic program.
• Provide a special opportunity for military Veterans
• Aggressively pursue research on Principled Chiropractic care though its own clinics, alumni and in partnership with major research institutes.
• Be as concerned about the success of its graduates as it is in the success of its recruiting of new students.
• Set and achieve standards for post graduate success that make the entire profess better
• Inspire its recruits, graduates, profession and community through its pursuit of excellence and commitment to the profession and the Principles that brought it into existence.

This profession is starving for inspired leadership and inspired chiropractors.  The school that fills this void could literally change the course of the profession

2014 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 5,800 times in 2014. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 5 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Help Your Body Heal Better, Faster and With More Certainty

How does your body heal?  How can you help it…or should you even try?

In our thoroughly modern, “scientific” age, we employ all sorts of therapies and remedies to “enhance” or “speed” the healing process.  And quite often, we take drugs to ease the pain and symptoms CAUSED by the healing process.  BUT, I would suggest to you that there is a better way.

Now before I start, I’m not telling you not to go to the ER if you’ve been involved in an accident and need immediate attention.  I’m talking about routine chronic problems that never get to heal and diminish your quality of life.  And well, what I’m about to tell you might even help that broken arm heal better, too.

Your body heals itself much like a mason repairs a damaged wall.   A crew is brought in to remove the damaged parts and prepare the way for rebuilding the wall.  Then new materials are brought in to replace the old damaged material.  A competent and capable body (like the mason) will get the job done in the appropriate amount of time.

How does your body repair itself?

However, If the nervous system is compromised, the process simply will not function appropriately.  It’s like the mason gets the word late and is not quite prepared for the job.  Then we take something to ease the pain and it’s like giving the mason a bottle of booze to keep him from getting mad.  He can’t focus and just takes longer to do the job at less than 100%.

Enter the chiropractor.  He/she makes sure the brain gets the right signal and proper instructions and the right mason are then sent to the damaged/sick area.  The demolition and repair are done correctly and timely.

So if you want to make sure your body heals properly and as efficiently and effectively as possible, find a good chiropractor that ONLY ADJUSTS the spine to remove this thing we call a vertebral subluxation.  You’ll be glad you did.

Networking

NETWORKING

I’ve been a “networker” for years. As a young banker, we were required to belong to a civic group like Optimist, Rotary, etc. As you advanced in the bank, your membership at either the country club or dinner club was paid by the bank. These days, “networking” is more direct with the specific intent to GET business.

One of the problems with “networking” these days is the myopic effort to “pitch” yourself in 30-60 second sound bytes. While that might get you some referrals, that gets boring and painfully “salesy”.

IF you’re going to “network”, why not try a longer term approach of GIVING. Instead of silently rehearsing your “pitch” till it’s your turn to stand up and spew, why not make the effort to LISTEN to others make their presentation. THEN think of all the people you know (family, friends, associates) who could possibly use the services of your fellow networkers? Become a resource for everyone you know and they will naturally think of you when someone needs what you have to offer.

The Law of Reciprocation works. As President Kennedy stated “All boats rise with the tide”. We’re in the helping business. Why not help as many people as you possibly can in as many ways as you can. It will add new meaning to your life and you practice.

Woman decides against suicide after chiropractic adjustment

I got a call the other day that went something like this:

Caller: I called about your video.
Me: Yes ma’am. Which video?
Caller: The one with the noose.
Me: OK. How can I help you?
Caller: I found it because I was looking for a way to kill myself. I watched the whole thing. Everything you talked about is what I’ve been dealing with and I just haven’t been able to get any help. Can you help me?
Me: Yes ma’am. When can you get in?
Caller: I’m 2000 miles away. I can’t get to your office.
Me: I know some great chiropractors not too far from you. Let me call someone. Give me a little while, OK?
Caller: OK.

I found a fellow DE chiropractor who drove a hundred miles to adjust this lady. He called me a few hours later to tell me that she is still with us.  The next day, she attended an Open House my friend was having.  The picture taken at the event looked nothing like someone who was ready to take her own life just the day before.

What did my friend do?  He checked the top two bones in her neck and adjusted what was needed.  That’s all!  The sad part of this story is that she HAD seen a chiropractor just recently who took her money but NEVER adjusted her neck! If you don’t get the top bone in your neck checked, why bother?

The whole point of this story is that a subtle interference in how your body communicates with itself can have serious effects on your life AND removal (or reduction) of that interference can have profound (maybe miraculous) effects on the quality of your life.  Not all chiropractors are of this mindset.  So, it’s important you find one that does.  Let me know, I’ll help you find one.

Here’s the video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Db4AiiCWhFs