If you adjust me, will my headache go away?

This post is inspired by precisely this question. I was asked this question about 2 weeks ago after explaining chiropractic to a small group of people. One person stopped to think for a moment and then asked, "If you adjust me, will my headache go away?" He was obviously in pain and uncomfortable and looking for relief. While I know that chiropractic is renowned for relieving headaches, and I wanted my response to be a screaming "YES!" I had to answer honestly and say, "It depends on why you have a headache."
Headache is the most universally ambiguous symptom. If you were to look up the signs and symptoms of common ailments, you're sure to find headache on almost every list. The biggest culprit to headaches is dehydration. For all of you who were crossing your fingers, coffee doesn't count as a glass of water..... Your body requires a lot of water to maintain all of the many chemical reactions occurring inside your body. A good rule of thumb is half of your body weight in ounces. That's right, for a 200 lb. person that 100 ounces a day. This works out to be more like 12-13 glasses of water/day. Hydrating your body is a fantastic way to prevent headaches. Sinus pressure and stress are two other really common reasons for headache. The BIGGEST reason for headaches is a subluxation. What is a subluxation?? This is a misalignment between two or more bones in your back, vertebrae, that causes disruption in the information being sent from your brain to your nerves.
Ok, back to the story. I explained to the man that as a chiropractor, I look for these misalignments and restore balance to the body by adjusting these vertebrae. This improves the function of the nervous system and allows to body to function the way it is supposed to. With a healthier, balanced, properly adapting body he would be more equiped to deal with whatever the cause of the headache is. To be perfectly honest, I have adjusted many people whose headache went away completely or drastically reduced immediately following an adjustment.
The moral of the story; listen to your body, drink plenty of water, and go see a chiropractor to check for misalignments in your spine that may be interrupting your nerve system.

Previously Healthy?

What is health? According to the world health organization, "Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." Often, our way of viewing health is just the latter part of this definition......the absence of disease or infirmity. The absence of symptoms, pain or "sickness" does not at all mean that we are necessarily healthy. For example, the common story of a man in his early 40's who suddenly drops dead from a heart attack. People say things like, a perfectly healthy man in his 40's just drops dead, or it was sudden or unexpected.
The fact is that heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women in this country. If we really examine what is going on, most people would agree that the perspective of "previously healthy" is false. Heart disease is a process that unfolds for many years. What people mean by previously health is simply previously symptom free. When we begin to relate symptom free with healthy we are missing the boat on our potential... according to the world health organization. So, how do we reach a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being? It begins with a paradigm shift that starts to focus on healthy habits. Chiropractic care is the absolute best way that I know of to focus on prevention and health. Getting support socially, and mentally are also important. Identify what is truly important to you mentally and socially and it will improve your health physically.
In my work as a chiropractor, people are often surprised when I can tell when they have had a major life change just by the way they lay on the table. Our bodies absorb all the stress we carry around, all the stress we aren't dealing with, and try to communicate to us that SOMETHING needs to change. Are you listening to the signals? When you can tap into these signals or signs when your body is communicating to you instead of waiting for obvious symptoms, you are well on your way to health.

FOOD MATTERS

Join us this Tuesday, September 29th at 6:30 for a free screening of the documentary Food Matters. You can sign up for this event by going to their website http://foodmatters.bravenewtheaters.com/screening/show/12905

The right conversation

Over the past few weeks I have shared with many of my friends and family that I feel like America is having the wrong conversation. There has been so much talk about Obama's healthcare plan and what universal healthcare would look like. The focus is on how we can make medical care affordable for everyone. This country has done a great job of putting everyone into the fear of what if mode. I'm definitely an advocate for planning, and I do think that appropriate medical care is necessary in many circumstances, but what is being left out of most of these conversations is the concept of prevention and wellness. This is what I refer to as the right conversation. As human beings we often wait until something becomes a crisis before we put it on our priority list. Our health is the one thing that we can influence in a huge way with the right resources and education. It is my mission to create a center in downtown Rochester where people are having the right conversation. Where life is honored and focused on, where wellness and prevention are the aim and people can have a greater quality of life. Stay tuned for upcoming events, speaking engagements, and informaiton on how chiropractic can improve your quality of life and start you on your way to creating a healthy lifestyle for yourself and your family. I am so happy to be in Rochester. This is a health conscious, fun and welcoming city and I look forward to serving the community over the years to come.