Cause or Effect
Many of us have been misled into thinking pain is a problem.
Headache? Numb it. Gall bladder malfunctioning? Remove it. Sore throat? Soothe it.
All of these so-called “solutions” make the symptom the problem rather than attending to the underlying cause.
Imagine if you approached your car with the same attitude. Engine noise? Turn up the radio. Annoying vibrations at highway speeds? Drive slower. Squealing brakes? Turn the radio up even louder!
Ridiculous, right? Yet many of us employ this attitude when it comes to our body. We occupy this miraculous self-healing, self-regulating organism, and if we’ll listen, it warns us when things are amiss. First, with a little whisper. Then a serious warning. Or finally by SHOUTING!
Then we have a choice: address the underlying cause (fix) or suppress the warning sign (patch).
Chiropractic care produces great results by attending to the cause, rather than merely suppressing symptoms. Do you know a pill-popping symptom-treating friend who could benefit from chiropractic care? Encourage them to give us a call. Or bring them along with you on your next visit.
Don't Be a Yo-Yo
I’m not talking about yo-yo tricks like “Walk the Dog” or “Rock the Baby.” I mean, does your weight go up and down?
We’ve been led to believe that maintaining our weight, fitness and spine is a once-in-a-while thing, rather than a lifestyle habit.
That’s why diets are so disheartening: they have a beginning, middle and end. Then we resume our former way of eating and gain it all back.
Some of our patients take this approach with their chiropractic care, too, stopping as soon as they feel better. Since their soft tissues and muscles never strengthen (that happens with continued care after symptoms subside), they relapse. And the process begins again.
Proper nutrition, rest and exercise, plenty of water and an interference-free nervous system are lifestyle choices. True health is a journey, not a destination; a process, not an event; a habit, not a diet.
How’d You Sleep Last Night?
If you aren’t getting enough sleep or enough high quality sleep, the problem may simply be the amount of light you’re exposed to.
Drowsiness at Work
Melatonin, which is a hormone produced by the pineal gland in the brain, affects both our desire to sleep and the quality of our sleep. Darkness enhances melatonin production, while light inhibits it. Therefore, shift workers typically experience drowsiness when at work and suffer from insomnia when they try to sleep during daylight hours.
Night Lights
Because bright lights can disturb the normal production of melatonin, make sure your bedroom is completely dark. Create a darker environment by using light–blocking blinds, lined curtains or even an eye mask to block out all light.
Don’t overlook night lights and bright clock radio lights! Even an area of light the size of a coin falling onto your skin can affect the production of melatonin.
The Elderly Suffer Too
A major health complaint for the over-65 population is difficulty sleeping. Many elderly people do not spend sufficient time outdoors and therefore, lack an adequate amount of bright light exposure.
Getting outside more, or increasing the level of light in their homes during the day and early evening hours may actually alleviate the major cause of their sleep distress!
In This Issue
Not Disposable
We have evolved into a disposable society.
We’re lucky if our television lasts 10 years. Same with cars. Computers? Two or three years, tops! We grumble every time we need an upgrade, but the truth is, few of us would prefer Windows 3.1 to our current operating system!
Unlike mechanical devices, some say our bodies are designed to last 120 years... or possibly even longer. To achieve this feat, our bodies are designed to survive.
In fact, many everyday symptoms are merely our body's innate survival strategies at work, keeping us alive and as healthy as possible without any conscious input from us.
Runny nose? Survival strategy. Extra mucus production enhances immune system function, helping to fend off cold and flu bugs.
Coughing? Survival strategy. Expel foreign material from airway passages.
Perspiration? Survival strategy. This cooling system keeps vital organs and tissues at healthier temperatures.
Butterflies in your stomach? Survival strategy. Warns you of an imagined impending physical or emotional threat.
Bleeding from a cut? Survival strategy. Blood contact with the air invokes the body's clotting response.
Gas? Survival strategy. Remove toxic food from the digestive tract as quickly as possible.
Vomiting? Survival strategy. Remove toxic food from the digestive tract even more quickly!
Pain? Survival strategy. Our body's on-board early warning system tells us we need to make a change.
When you consider how many survival strategies our bodies use, you understand why the nervous system is so important—it orchestrates the whole show.
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