Why is consistency important under chiropractic care?
Healing progress chart
As I’ve said before, and I’ll say it again—how you feel is not a great indicator of how you’re healing.
During your initial exam, HealthWorks Family Chiropractic takes many factors into account.
- How long have you had these symptoms?
- Are your symptoms getting worse?
- Lifestyle factors like how you eat, move and think.
- Spinal structural integrity.
- Postural abnormalities.
- Autonomic nervous system function.
Each one of these factors plays into your personal healing process. This is how healing actually looks—hey, don’t shoot the messenger, healing takes time and consistency to achieve, but well worth your effort. After all, this is the only body you’ll have for a lifetime! Taking care of it is the only choice you have to add LIFE to your YEARS!
What does “consistency of care” mean?
In many fields, being consistent is the basis for the recommendations for your care. For instance:
- Dentist: Brush twice per day AND come in for check-ups and a deep cleaning at least twice per year
- Personal trainer: minimum three times per week of exercise
- Medical Doctor: Take this medication every day for the rest of your life AND/OR take it every day until the bottle is gone and come in every year for your physical exam
- Hairdresser: Come in for a trim every 6-8 weeks to keep up with your style
- Nail Tech: Come in every 2-3 weeks to keep your nails looking fresh
- Eye Doctor: Clean your contacts daily and come in minimum every year for a check-up
Ok, I think you have the idea. Why wouldn’t you think being under chiropractic care is any different? We are all looking for lifetime care somewhere, why not in a profession that promotes a healthy lifestyle that’s hopefully free from drugs and surgery if, at all possible?
“Medicine is the study of disease and what causes a man to die. Chiropractic is the study of health and what causes a man to live” –BJ Palmer, Developer of Chiropractic
Why isn’t chiropractic care just one and done?
Unlike medications or surgery, chiropractic is suitable for almost everyone. Chiropractors believe that it’s better to be proactive towards spinal health rather than to be reactive. Vertebral subluxations (spinal misalignments) occur from birth to grave. From the use of forceps during a birth, toddlers falling on average 1500 times a day while learning to walk, poor postures in teenagers, and desk-bound workers to degenerative changes of the spine with aging, all add up to cause spinal dysfunction and decay. Therefore, chiropractors believe that everyone with a spine needs to be under chiropractic care in varying degrees whether a symptom is present or not.
This wouldn’t make sense if your definition of health and healthcare resides in the medical paradigm. Why would I go see a doctor when I’m not sick?
You see, many of the issues we see on a regular basis are those that have been festering for years, possibly decades! Restoring proper spinal alignment and subsequently, the function of the nervous system takes time. It can take years to restore proper function after decades of damage. Maintaining that correction is also important after restoration.
Does that mean that all medical care is bad?
No! Of course not! Many times our patients are being treated very appropriately and concurrently for crisis and/or chronic care by their medical doctors with drugs and surgery. However, wouldn’t it be great if you and your medical doctor decide that you are healthy enough not to have to be on any medication any longer, take less medication or that the surgery you were possibly needing in the future is no longer necessary? Of course! Who wouldn’t want to avoid those interventions?
Dr. James Chestnut, explains the role of medical doctors in our lives. They are much like firefighters.
When there is a house on fire (health crisis), the right person to call is firefighters (medical doctors). Once they arrive, they will start to axe their way into the house (the human body), knock down the walls, spray all over the furniture (drugs and surgery), and hopefully, they got there early enough to put the fire out in your house (your body). When the fire is extinguished, the house is saved. Medication and surgery work to do exactly that, which is great!
I believe that medical doctors and their expertise are phenomenal. They save millions of lives worldwide. But after the firefighters leave the scene, what remains is a ruined house. Your body isn’t the way it used to be. The use of drugs and surgery comes with all sorts of side effects and health challenges, and this is where the mistake happens. Once the fire has been put out, you wouldn’t call the firefighters again the next day for help with the axes and hoses they used to put out the fire, would you? But people do this all the time! After a health crisis is taken care of, they rely on more drugs and more surgery to keep them “healthy”.
Ok, I understand why chiropractic care is important for my health, but why do I need to come every week?
The answer to that question really begs another question. How long would you like to feel great? Rhetorical question, yes, but necessary to understand that taking care of the most important system in the body takes DAILY effort. Chiropractic care is the foundation of spinal hygiene, much like going to the gym or eating healthy to create a strong and healthy body. Chiropractic care, however, provides your muscles and organs with the nerve function you need to get the most out of your daily care. Without proper nervous system function, muscles, organs, and glands will not have the information they need to function optimally, therefore leaving your body in a state of dis-ease.
How far will you take your chiropractic care?
I love this graphic. It really shows how the phases of care change over time.
This graphic depicts how long care can take and how, based on a patient’s decision, health returns or succumbs back into an unhealthy yo-yo pattern.
The fact is the choice is completely up to you. HealthWorks Family Chiropractic doctors and team members are here in any capacity based on your goals, lifestyle, and wishes. Our job is to give you our best recommendations, your job is to tell us how much you want.
We completely understand that the very reason you set foot in HealthWorks Family Chiropractic is to get rid of pain, so that’s ultimately our initial goal. But, did you know that unless you treat the underlying issue, your pain will continually come back, and you will never get rid of the pain? Who wants to be on a roller coaster ride (see image below) like that for the rest of their lives?? Not me!
The Road To Recovery
Unfortunately, pain or lack of pain is not the greatest indicator of whether your problem has been corrected—the pain is usually the very first thing to go! Thank goodness! However, it typically provides a false sense that the problem is gone, when correcting the cause is simply just in its infancy.
When joints are out of alignment and have been moving improperly for years, this creates inflammation. Inflammation causes pain. Chiropractic adjustments restore proper motion and movement to the joints over time and reduce the inflammation—pain starts to diminish. However, this is when the real work begins! Once the joints start moving properly, the proper structure of the spine—the true cause of most spinal/back/neck issues, can finally be addressed. So, the very worst time to stop chiropractic care is when you are finally out of pain!
Each and every adjustment builds on the next one which creates stronger structure and better biomechanics each and every time. You can’t expect to go to the gym, do a couple of bicep curls and expect to be sporting some guns the next day! Consistent chiropractic care TRAINS your spine to stay in proper alignment!
Why is consistency in my chiropractic care important even if I have no symptoms?
Our current lifestyle is simply not conducive to a healthy nervous system. We sit too much, we are on our computers and phone too much, we don’t eat well, and stress keeps compounding daily. All of these factors contribute to inflammation and spinal/nervous system dysfunction. Just one of these factors creates significant stress on our spines and can create the perfect storm for irreversible degenerative changes in our spine. Believe it or not, but many come into our office stating that they never had pain in their neck or back until recently, typically doing something rather benign like bending down to pick up a pencil, and BAM! they couldn’t get back up again.
The 4 phases of subluxation degeneration
When we gather all the data from our comprehensive examination, the truth reveals itself that this problem has been brewing for decades. If you’re past the age of 35, have never been under corrective and consistent chiropractic care, then you are most likely to be in late Phase II and/or Phase III level of degenerative change. Unless you’re really lucky, yes I mean lucky, that your symptoms begin BEFORE degeneration has already begun, significant damage has already started.
Well, the damage is already there, why then do I need to stay consistent with my chiropractic care?
Restoring normal structure, motion, and movement in your spine is key to reducing the inflammation that causes the problem in the first place. Reducing inflammation slows down this progressive degradation and in some cases, stops it completely. But, just as mentioned above, our lifestyle plays a significant role in the health of our spines, so regular chiropractic adjustments are necessary to heal and maintain its integrity.
DJD is the leading cause of disability when it comes to back and neck pain, but it doesn’t have to be! Just as your dentist is trained to prevent tooth decay, chiropractors have been trained to prevent and slow the progression of degenerative joint disease in your spine. However, if you wait too long before seeing your dentist or your chiropractor, too much damage can occur which reduces your chances of the best possible outcome. So don’t wait, start moving, stretch, exercise, and get proper sleep and call HealthWorks Family Chiropractic when you need our help.
Our promise to you
HealthWorks Family Chiropractic is dedicated to a comprehensive and specific approach to taking care of spinal and nervous system needs. Let us help you find out how taking care of the most important system in the body will create optimal health that will last a lifetime!
If we find we’re not the best to help, we promise to refer you to someone who is.