The Shortest Distance Between Two Points

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line.  The shortest distance to healing is the nervous system.  Upper Cervical Chiropractic Care is the shortest distance to the Nervous System.  I AM an Upper Cervical Chiropractor!

My Thoughts on the Swine Flu

A friend asked me recently what I thought about the pending Swine Flu panic and the vaccine which has YET to be “developed”.

While I believe ANY vaccination should be a personal choice based on FULL informed consent, I do have  a personal opinion on the matter.  Here’s my feeling on it.

• First, the human body is a self-healing, self-regulating organism.   I think we’re designed to resist ANY and ALL pathogens. A healthy immune system needs no help from an experimental concoction.
• Second,  I was around during the LAST Swine Flu “panic” in the 70’s.  The shot killed more people than the flu!
• Third, I don’t trust the Government, PHARMA or the Medical Industrial Complex. Anytime the Government tries to work up a frenzy of fear to motivate the masses to action, I slow down, back up and usually turn and run.
• Fourth, we have never vaccinated our kids. I understand the vaccination dogma and simply don’t buy it. Our kids don’t buy it. We feel like we actually put our kids at greater risk by injecting them with both fear and who-knows-what in the vaccine.
• Fifth, as a chiropractor, I understand the concept of ADAPTABILITY. A single cell virus, supposedly THAT virile, will mutate very rapidly and ANY vaccine will be virtually worthless.
• Finally, I believe this thing (IF ITS real) will make several rounds through the populace. By being exposed to it early, we develop natural and stronger immunity.

In the end, whether you vaccinate or NOT has to be YOUR decision. But, just know that you were made in the likeness and image of the Creator of ALL life – strong, healty and powerful. Make a rational decision based on knowledge and principle NOT fear.

What I’ve Learned from My Emory Experience.

This is the 7th year I’ve participated in the National Youth Leadership Forum for Medicine.  While there are several of these forums across the country, my experience has been at the forum held at Emory University in Atlanta, GA.

First, NYLF is a fantastic program.  It’s primary purpose is to expose aspiring young people considering careers in health care to various professions to help them hone in on exactly what direction they’d like to pursue OR if that’s really what they want to do.  I applaud the folks at NYLF for their efforts.

One of the most interesting things I’ve learned from talking with these young people about chiropractic is that very few of them have a clue what chiropractors do or what chiropractors believe about health and medicine.  BUT the more striking reality is that these young people who will be the doctors of the future are TOTALLY open-minded about what we chiropractors do and CAN DO!  I’ve heard from a few over the years that they actually decided to become a chiropractor instead of an MD because of what they heard in my talk.  Humbling, to say the least.

Of course, many of these young people only know what they have been TOLD about chiropractic.  Some of that information has been passed on by either parents, friends or MDs that know little if anything about chiropractic, whatsoever.  At the same time, I’ve been amazed at how many of these kids have been getting adjusted their entire life and love it AND communicate it better than many of us practicing chiropractors.

Another interesting aspect of my NYLF – Emory experience is the exposure to other health care professionals.  While never combative, I have encountered some negativity my a couple of my medical counterparts.  One tried to make me stumble by asking me about some esoteric aspect of spinal anatomy.  I answered his question and have not heard from him since.  But to my amazement, most of my contacts with medical practitioners has been VERY positive.  Maybe that’s because they work in an academic environment where folks are generally open to new perspectives or maybe just because our common purpose was to share with the kids and everyone was able to submit their prejudice to the greater good.

The most striking thing I’ve learned about MDs and their attitudes about chiropractic is their general ignorance about the chiropractic profession and the premise on which our profession is based.  Over the years, several MDs have asked me how it works.  Others have expressed their skepticism about chiropractors claiming to heal (or treat) disease.  I love it when an MD expresses this particular concern because it’s the perfect opportunity to dispel a significant misconception of chiropracTIC.

Imagine the look on an MDs face when I tell them that I accept ALL cases regardless of their disease, condition or diagnosis!  Heresy!  The shock factor alone makes it fun (in my own warped way) to amke that statement.  But, when I explain that I NEVER treat a disease but the person WITH the disease or condition, the doctor turns his ear to hear me better.  When most of them hear me talk about the autonomic nervous system (especially about the Vagus Nerve) they start to understand the neurological basis for chiropractic care.

Of course, there’s a great divide between medicine and chiropractic.  After all, we ARE two totally separate and distinct professions and ideologies.  I STILL want to help folks avoid getting trapped in what I call the “Medical Maze” and my medical counterparts want to make sure their patients are not denied medical care (that they deem important) by a dogmatic chiropractor.  I think to some degree that divide will ALWAYS exist.  It can’t help be exist.

The greatest lesson for me, though, is that there is much education to be done.  However, it has been made crystal clear to me that NOW more than ever, the public is OPEN to the message of self-healing and wholeness.

Let me ask you to do me one favor, please.  If you know of anyone or any group that is open to hearing more about this unique perspective on health and health care, please let me know.  I’ve dedicated my life to helping people KNOW they were designed to be healthy WITHOUT fear of sickness, disease and infirmity.

What can chiropractic mean to you? A personal Declaration of Independence!

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” One of the most powerful statements ever uttered by Man are these few words found in our own Declaration of Independence.

In addition to its profound meaning for our nation and as the guidepost for freedom for all peoples of this planet, it’s also a reminder that we (you, me and all of Mankind) were Designed to be great, healthy, strong, free from fear and able to pursue happiness in your life in all its’ forms.

How sad that in a society of affluence and almost magical technology, way too many folks live in fear of sickness, disease and infirmity. In our so-called advanced society, we’ve created a disease for every drug. We’re taught to fear life itself! So, we begin early living life as though it were a virtual mine field. This causes that and that cause this. So-called “scientific” research validates drugs that kill thousands while offering limited relief for those grasping for even an ounce of hope.

BUT, there IS hope for a suffering and searching Mankind. Chiropractic, the profession hidden by many’s focus on back pain, has been offering freedom to millions of Americans and peoples around the world for over 110 years. In its purest form, the proper application of chiropractic principles helps your body function closer to your own God-given potential for health. Sometimes, it happens with a single adjustment. Sometimes, it happens in layers like removing husks from an ear of corn. Eventually, as you’ve pulled back all the husks, you find the fresh sweet goodness inside.

As we approach our country’s Independence Day, I urge you to declare your won independence from fear of sickness and infirmity. Start pulling back those husks and seeing God’s Glory manifest in your own life. Pursue your potential in strength, love and joy and you’ll find your fears falter and fall behind. Sooner than you can imagine, they’ll fade into the distant past.

May God bless you in all your trials and tribulations but also in His Glory manifested in YOUR life!

Melba: 69 years old and NO drugs!

I’ve talked about my friend, Melba, before and her Minute Clinic experience.  Well, Melba’s at it again.  She’s still astounding (and confounding) the medical folks while wondering why folks don’t understand a drug-free lifestyle.

Melba was involved in a car accident a couple of weeks ago with a severe injury to her ankle.  Obviously, she was transported to the hospital where she would undergo surgery to pin those ankle bones together.   Just before going into the operating Room the surgeon came out and said, “I had to hear this for myself.  They don’t me you don’t take ANY drugs for ANYTHING.  Is that right?”  Melba’s response was, “Well, no.  Of course not.”  The doctor then asked her name and age to make sure she was coherent, shook his head and said, simply “Wow”.

Because Melba lives alone and will require some rehab on her ankle, she was transferred to a local assisted living facility.  Of course, most of these “assisted living” facilities are simply Medicare funding holding cells for old folks before sending them home or to their permanent residence.  Many of the residents there are simply drugged out of their minds and spend their days either in bed or in a wheel chair and pushed out into the hallway.    So far, she’s been there a little over a week.  She’s going a little crazy.

You see, Melba is 69 years old and hasn’t taken drugs for at least 40 years.  She understands that her body’s default mode is to be healthy and drug-free.  Her first experience with the “establishment” mentality was after three days of laing in bed, she got up, got in the wheelchair and rolled herself outside to get some fresh air.  Later, a caretaker said “You can’t do that!  You need to let us know ANY time you get out of bed, go to the bathroom or do anything.”  In a way that only folks approaching 70 can do, “Well, they can just kiss my ass!”  I thought I would die laughing.

Melba went back to the hospital yesterday to have some surgical staples removed and a permanent cast put on her ankle.  The doctor asked if she needed anything for pain.  Of course, she refused.  The doctor said “you’re tough”, to which she replied “Not tough.  Just realistic”.  Melba’s point was that she KNOWS that pain is part of the healing process and is there partly to keep her from doing something stupid before her ankle is ready.

At 69, Melba looks around at others her age (and younger!) and wonders “How can anyone WANT to live out their senior years like THIS?!”  In many conversations we’ve had, Melba asks “Why don’t they get it?  How can people stand to live this way?”  She talks about her best friend who’s had well over a dozen different surgeries and take numerous medications.  Her friend’s response to Melba’s ability to live drug-free is that Melba has just been lucky.  Melba realizes, though, that luck has NOTHING to do with living healthy WITHOUT drugs.  It is pure INTENT!

When I told Melba I was going to write about her experience, she said to make sure that people KNOW that they CAN be healthy without drugs and that they don’t have to fear life.  They CAN enjoy it IF only they would!

So, here you go, Melba.  Folks, you were designed to be healthy, strong and vibrant.  You were designed to run and jump and play al out, every day until your time is up.  You don’t have to live the last part of your life wasting away.  Don’t wait until you find yourself wasting away in a ursing home to decide you WANTED to live a better life.  Start TODAY moving toward a healthy, drug-free life.  Enjoy every day!

Why doesn’t Tamiflu work?

Just out.  America’s favorite antiviral drug, Tamiflu apparently doesn’t work.  A new article in the International Tribune, says that Tamiflu only helps improve flu symptoms 1% of the time.  Excuse me.  But DUH!

Apparently, we’re starting to realize that the flu virus changes (mutates) faster than drug manufacturers can make new drugs OR even anticipate which strain to attack.  When will we EVER learn that it’s easier to work WITH Mother Nature than against her?

Here’s a link to the article.  I’d love to hear what you think.

The View from Outside the Box: Vaccination

People seem to have this opinion that chiropractors are opposed to vaccination.  And while most of us don’t get vaccinated or have that done to our children, it’s mandatory mass vaccination that we oppose.

From my perspective, mass vaccination programs are unspecific, unscientific and unsafe.  I know.  I’ve heard all the stuff about herd immunity.  And honestly, I just don’t buy it.  If the rest of the “herd” is vaccinated, why should they worry if I or my kids are NOT?  Has the vaccination not made them immune to whatever I could catch or bring their way?

Another problem I have with vaccinations is that they never provide permanent immunity.  So instead of providing immunity from certain diseases, vaccination programs give people a false sense of security.  And if you’re only going to provide limited protection from disease, why go through with the program in the first place?  Is one answer that drug companies invest billions into vaccination programs and it’s a steady source of predictable income?  Oh yeah, if the “herd” doesn’t have permanent immunity, what happens if something happens to expose the herd to a given pathogen at some time in the future?  Would that wipe out the herd?

It doesn’t make sense to me that you would inject your child with the number of vaccines at a time when their immune system hasn’t developed to the point where it can even respond to the vaccine.  And, do you REALLY know what is in that vile?  And, has your doctor given you ALL the information on potential dangers related to the vaccine?

And, how about that flu vaccine?  Did you know that the flu vaccine you’re getting this year was developed LAST year?  The influenza virus is a single cell creature that adapts very rapidly to its environment and is probably different than the one for which this year’s vaccine was developed.  And, if the vaccine is not perfectly designed for this year’s flu virus, it simply won’t work.  Oh yeah, the flu vaccine still contains mercury.

Finally, exposure to many childhood diseases help build permanent immunity against stronger pathogens down the road.  By allowing children’s immune systems to develop slowly, they’re better able to fight off sickness and disease later in life.

In the final analysis, I have decided that I trust the design of the body to be healthy more than I trust those with a profit motive to tell me I need to inject some unknown substance into my or my kids’ body.  I’m concerned about the public health risk of dumbing down the “herd” immune response to a “super bug” that WILL appear at some time in the future.  And, I also wonder if the proliferation of autoimmune diseases aren’t partially the result of mass vaccination programs.

I’m open to your comments and thoughts on the subject.  Just keep it clean and respectful.

The View from Outside the Box

Surely you’ve heard the term “Think outside the boc”.  I first heard th term in a business workshop way back in the 70s.  We were told to put the following drawing on a piece of paper and told to connect all the dots with four STRAIGHT lines WITHOUT lifting our pencil off the paper.

It was amazing the gyrations we all went through to get the assignment done.  Well, there were a couple of folks who had seen the exercise done before.  Otherwise, no one had even a clue how to solve the puzzle.  Then the instructor proceeded to show us how the puzzle was solved:

As we all now know, the ONLY solution for the problem was to draw outside the (imaginary) box created by the dots.  What an awesome metaphor for many (most) of the problems facing our society at this point in time, including the economy, world affairs, politics, education and healthcare.  In fact, many of the problems we face have become SO institutionalized and entrenched that they can NEVER be resolved with the same thinking that caused the problem in the first place.

Let’s consider just healthcare.  As far as any of us can remember, healthcare in this culture has been one of fighting disease.  We start at birth vaccinating kids against all sorts of diseases from routine childhood illnesses like chicken pox and measles to diptheria, smallpox, TB and polio.  As we age, the battle is joined against cancer, heart disease and now diabetes.  Now, we’re being attacked by chronic health problems ranging from chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia to irritable bowel syndrome and ulcerative colitis.  And, that says nothing about the proliferation of autoimmune disease.  And lest we forget Restless Leg Syndrome?

In essence, we’ve creasted a “disease managment” system instead of a HEALTH care system.  Drug companies seems to “discover” diseases that they just happen to have a “new” drug that treat THAT diease perfectly.  Unfortunately, that system of “care” has made going to the doctor and paying for it an almost impossible task.  Finally, we’ve reached the point where we’re looking to Government to take over health care.  I take little comfort in knowing that the same folks that are handling Social Security, Medicare, the IRS and Hurricane Katrina will now be taking care of our health decisions.

So, for these and other reasons, I opted out of the traditional Western approach to “health care” a long time ago.  I guess it’s been almost 20 years now that I haven’t taken a drug or gone to the doctor for anything but emergencies.  Well, I DO go to the chiropractor on a regular basis to get adjusted.   But, I don’t go for pain management or any kind of symptom control.   I thought it might be interesting to explain what it’s like on the other side of the healthcare fence looking in.

Even prior to my exposure to the wholistic lifestyle, I was somewhat leery of established Medicine and would only take an aspirin for an occasional headache or when my back problem would flare up.  And, until I got my back problem resolved, there was always a tube of Preparation H in the medicine cabinet.  I don’t rember the last time I took prescription drugs.  The last flu shot I got was in 1975 when Uncle Sam made me get one before letting me out of the Air Force.

The view from outside the box is interesting.  I don’t take drugs.  Period.  I don’t need them.  I don’t get sick.  I also don’t go to doctors.  It’s not that I don’t “believe” in them.  I just don’t need them.  Now, if I were involved in a car accident or broke a leg, I’d be the first to go to the ER because that’s where Medicine shines.  Otherwise, I just don’t need it.  I don’t have a cardiologist, proctologist, orthopedist, neurologist (although I’ve referred folks to a few) or even a General Practitioner.  Are there any of those even left?  Now, quite a few folks have asked me “What if…?”  And, my response is “What if…what?”  The point is I simply don’t live in that “disease” world.  I don’t know what ny blood pressure is or my cholesterol level or my bone density or if I have polyps.  I don’t care.

Because I know that we were designed to be healthy, my focus is on health, not disease.  I know that if I eat right, exercise, drink water, develop and maintain a good attitude and spiritual life, get adjusted and do those things that help build HEALTH, I’ve done all I can do.  And because of my fiath and what I know about health, I am not afraid of living or dying.

When I look inside the box, I see folks living in fear of cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, etc.  Their lives are consumed running from disease.  And, by the time many folks are 60 they have those little boxes with pills for every day of the week.  They run to the doctor every time they have a cold or a symptom.   Some folks I know spend almost a thousand bucks a month on “health” insurance that typically covers far less than people really need.  Health costs has virtually driven American automakers out of business.  Even folks with “good” insurance aren’t immune to the fear of disease.  In fact, I know several millionaires who suffer from anxiety attacks and the same diseases that afflict the poor.

The main difference in the perspectives on either side of the box is fear.  From the inside, fear rules and limits one’s fullest expression and enjoyment of life.  From outside the box, a sense of peace about health is the rule rather than the exception.  Now, I’m not necessarily telling folks to cancel their insurance and shoot their doctors.  But what I am saying is that there is another way to view health and life.  In a later post, I’ll talk more about inspired living.  Until then, consider all your alternatives.

I Am a Principled Chiropractor

This quotation from Dr. BJ Palmer explains as clearly as I know what and why I do what I do as a chiropractor.  Enjoy!

“I am a Chiropractor working with the sciences of the universe by turning on the life in man thru the art of adjustment.

I do not prescribe, treat or diagnose conditions. I use only my hands. I work with that ‘mysterious something’ which created my body from two cells. At a time prescribed aeons ago I was set in this body to experience. That cosmic power which created me, which also moves the seas, rotates the earth, directs the heavens, gives life, takes it away, is everything. And that power which set the universe in motion and created me did not abandon me when I became free of security of my earthly mothers’ womb. It is still with me and protects me as it moves all forms toward their final predestined goal; It is not mine to educatedly ask ‘why’ or ‘where’, but to innately live; and live to help my fellow creatures.

And with this Chiropractic adjustment I use all the power and energies moving this universe, to allow my fellow creatures the chance to live, free of disease. I wish nothing in return, only the chance to GIVE. I give with the only thing I have, LOVE.  And I love all by removing that which interferes with 100% LIFE.  I do not look to others for direction, I look within. I am a perfect expression of God living 24 hours each day for others – I am a PRINCIPLED CHIROPRACTOR. By BJ Palmer

School Books a Safety Hazard?

I could understand when I was a kid having to tote books home.  But in these days of computers, hard drives, MP3 players, etc., isn’t it a bit ridiculous making kids haul 10-20 pounds (or more) of books home every night just a little ridiculous?

Maybe I’m just naive, but don’t most kids have a computer of some sort at home?  And if they do, why would school systems insist on issuing textbooks in lieu of either a compact disk or an MP3 download.  For one thing, it’s got to ba a ton cheaper on the school system to buy a master CD and give copies to their students.  Not only could they save on the literal cost of buying books, they could also save a bunch of trees needed to produce those books

Another (more important) issue is the effect that books and backpacks can have on the bodies and health of young students.  Kids (especially girls) have their growth spurts during their middle school years when homework becomes a ritual.  I’m a big, strong guy.  But I must admit, my 13 year old daughter’s backpack is sometimes heavy even for me.  Yet, she must carry it home and back 5 days a week.

What if she could go home, log into the school’s web site, read her lesson and do her homework online?  Not only is that more efficient for the school, the teacher and the student, it also helps prevent injuries whose effects can last a lifetime.

Scoliosis is a condition that can affect a child’s health for the balance of their life.  And, it’s not known what causes most scoliosis.  However, it is reasonable to assume that unbalanced stress on a young spoine is a major factor.

What can you do to help prevent scoliosis in school-age kids?  Contact your school board members and encourage them to offer kids a set of books that they may keep at home instead of having to carry them to and from school or, better yet, find a way to beging replacing books with CDs or MP3 downloads.  The latter alternative is probably the best.  It’s cheaper for the school systems, easier to replace and would have no negative effect on student’s health, whatsoever.