Hi Everybody,
MAINTENANCE OR CRISIS- Most people know that if they have a heart problem that they need to monitor it with a Cardiologist to keep it healthy. They’d never think about having a heart attack and not taking medications or getting checkups for their heart. The same goes with your teeth. We all get our teeth cleaned and checked regularly. If you do not, you know bad things can happen. In fact, the same goes with every part of the body.
Anything that you do not take care of, anything that you do not maintain, will eventually break down. This goes for your teeth, your heart, your car, your house – and your spine.
MAINTENANCE IS EASIER- For some reason, when it comes to maintenance, most people still do not understand taking care of the spine. The majority of people will wait until their spine breaks down before seeking help. And often the help they seek are merely pain killers which takes away the pain signals but does nothing to fix the problem.
If they do seek help fixing the problem, they usually quit before it is corrected, do nothing to keep the problem at bay, and only show up again once another crisis has occurred.
We are not really sure why so many people understand taking care of other body parts, and even their cars (changing the oil), but not their spines. You can get false teeth if your teeth rot out, even replace your heart (as an extreme example), but you are stuck with your spine…there is no such thing as a spine transplant.
TWO REASONS- There are two reasons taking care of your spine is important. First, it is the central column of the body. You can lose a toe, finger, or even a hand or foot. You can even hurt a knee, elbow, hip or shoulder and still be able to function somewhat. But if your spine goes bad your central support is gone and you just can’t do anything. Everything hurts, everything is limited.
Secondly, the bones of the spine protect the nervous system, which carries the electricity that makes your organs work and your body move. When the spine degenerates it can irritate the nervous system and cause other areas not to work as well.
The Chinese have a saying – “Waiting for a crisis to show up before taking care of a problem is like being in the desert and waiting until you are thirsty before starting to look for water”. They also have another saying – “What fools do in the end, the wise do in the beginning”. A harsh quote but true. Most people eventually end up seeing us (or another chiropractor) regularly. It is just that some come for prevention and maintenance of a mostly healthy spine, while others come for nearly constant treatment once their spines have worn out.
Hope this helps,
Dr Matt and Dr Robin
mattandrobin@yahoo.com (email)
This week’s bit of Useless Information: From 1978 to 2013, the average CEO’s salary in the US – adjusted for inflation – increased 937%, while the average worker’s wages rose 10%.
This email is courtesy of Matthew Barnes, D.C. and Robin Barnes, D.C. Neither this nor any of our emails are intended to be medical advice and should not be taken as such. They are opinion and are for informational purposes only. None of the nutrients discussed here are meant to diagnose, treat, or cure any disease.