You can’t teach new tricks to an old Chiropractor. Or can you?
Over the last year, I’ve been feeling uninspired with limiting my chiropractic care to only adjustments, because I’ve encountered so many people coming into my practice with long term chronic issues. Much of the time they’ve had problems for at least 5 to 10 years or longer.
As you can imagine, this has left very little room for not getting things exactly right as these people want immediate relief.
However, in caring for these people, I’ve discovered a long history of different stresses such as:
- Physical Stresses: work from physical labor to prolonged sitting, car accidents, athletic injuries, repetitive movements
- Psychological Stresses: work, family, relationships, finances
- Chemical Stresses: poor diet, sugar, alcohol, medications, chemicals in air-water-food
If you’re like the vast majority of Americans, you are in a similar place and have been dealing with the consequences of a host of stresses that have accumulated over the years, you’re going to love this post. I’m sharing what I’ve added to my personal routine as well as that of my patients..
Hint: There’s also one thing I’m giving up despite the fact that it benefits many people and they have experienced great results with it.
Can you guess what it might be? Read on to find out.
Why is Trying New Things in Spinal Care So Important?
You may think that you have your body care all figured out, and you don’t need to be messing with something that isn’t causing a problem.
However, after working with thousands of folks like yourself over the decades, I’ve discovered that eventually the body breaks down and it is a lot more productive to be proactive when it comes to caring for your spine and nervous system than to be reactive.
Let me share a story of a current patient.
Mary came in a few months ago with hip pain. She’d been to her primary care MD who told her she had arthritis and sent her to an orthopedic surgeon. The surgeon offered injections in her hip which brought her to me. Long story short – yes, she has hip issues but the big issue was in her lower lumbar spine.
Fast forward 3 months…she’s back doing all her activities, running for the first time in years. Now, she’s coming in every 2 to 3 weeks not because she has pain. She’s coming in because she feels so great and wants to stay that way.
Thankfully, I am always curious and questioning what is causing a problem beyond the location of the pain..
Let’s get into the 3 refinements I’ve put together to form my Corrective Rebalancing Program..
#1. New Spinal Hygiene Thing: Lubricate those Joints
As people, we are often prone to ignoring those nagging back and neck issues until they get so bothersome we are forced to do something..
I know for me that has meant the progressive loss of certain movements and avoiding things so I don’t get hurt. For example I have learned to avoid really heavy lifting to protect my lower back.
What I realized is that I need to do some easy, gentle self-care to the joints of my spine regularly to keep them moving.
That’s right, oftentimes it’s simple little things that can prevent big problems.
Instead, we have to treat our spine like we should anything mechanical, with some maintenance.
I call this practice Spinal Joint Flossing. I can’t teach it without showing you but here is an example.
- Sit straight up at the edge of a chair.
- Gently tip your head back and look up at the ceiling. Go as far as you can without sharp pain.
- Come back to looking straight ahead.
- Repeat 10 to 15 times.
That’s one simple movement that reinforces movement in the small facet joints of the neck.
There are more movements for the neck, one for the mid back and some for the lower back.
#2. New Spinal Hygiene Thing: Posterior Chain Activation
I know, just like you, I have been rolling my eyes whenever there’s a new and greatest exercise program to solve all your problems.
Thankfully, I was reading a trade journal about 12 years ago and was intrigued with the concept of the posterior chain being a neglected series of muscles, and I felt I needed to explore this practice.
The posterior chain consists of the postural muscles up the back of the legs, hips, pelvis, and spine all the way up to the shoulders. These muscles are largely neglected by our sitting and sedentary lifestyle. Even if we are active it is difficult to properly exercise these muscles.
Here’s what I discovered when I started activate the Posterior Chain:
- I almost immediately felt like I stood taller
- My lower back and pelvis felt stronger and more stable
- Tension that I didn’t know was present was released
#3. New Spinal Hygiene Thing: Corrective and Balancing Chiropractic
Silly to think that after practicing chiropractic for decades I would find a refinement to how I deliver chiropractic care, but that’s exactly what I discovered. I had a realization and refinement in my approach to helping people return to a state of balance.
It dawned on me that the most important first priority is to create as much balance in the structure of the body. Now, this wasn’t new but the approaches in chiropractic that did this traditionally were rather aggressive and forceful, and sometimes painful.
I sat down and combined the best of the best approaches that I’ve studied over my more than 35 years in chiropractic. I always want to honor the body and trust that there’s a reason for any imbalance. Thank goodness, I have an extensive set of tools.
Fast forward to today, and I’m happy to say that I am able to identify the critical areas of the spine to unlock and align to achieve an almost immediate improvement in balance.
For example:
I told you the story of Mary above. When she came in I found her pelvis was imbalanced. This is like having a 24 story building (24 spinal bones) with the foundation unlevel. That first adjustment to her pelvis only had to be done once and shifted her pain almost immediately. It wasn’t the cause of her problem but it was a key to correcting everything.
Here’s the link to that post: Are You Out of Balance?
Bonus! I’ve Given Up On Everything that Really Didn’t Move the Needle to Help People Get Well!
Here’s what I’m not doing anymore.
Through my work developing the Corrective Rebalancing Program, I’ve discovered that many commonly prescribed Physical Therapy Exercises and exercises given by chiropractors are largely worthless..
Too much of what is out there in healthcare is cookie cutter! What do I mean?
This means that everyone with a hip or back injury gets the exact same course of treatment.
There is enough variation in each person to make this a largely ineffective approach.
Everyone I see not only gets examined initially to form a baseline of where they are and what they need BUT every single visit I am performing an exam to determine what needs to be adjusted.
The Spinal Joint Flossing and Posterior Chain Activation are the only 2 movement patterns that I’ve found are needed universally. And, each person is given a unique program.
What I do instead
Chronic problems ranging from neck pain to headaches to back pain to sciatica to hip pain and anxiety are all signs of imbalance that exceeds the body’s capacity to return to balance.
My job is to identify what is causing the imbalance and chart a course to correct it. While there are some very common areas that tend to be involved, each person is unique and requires their own individualized program.
Key Takeaways
You can make the most progress in caring for your spine and nervous system (Spinal Hygiene) when you approach the problem with the goal of assisting the body to return to balance. I’ve discovered that this requires a multi-pronged approach. Some strategies are better suited for some people than others.
That’s why it is essential to uncover the primary cause of the imbalance in order to correct it and restore balance.
Spinal Joint Flossing and Posterior Chain Activation only work when there is a foundation of balance on which to optimize joint and muscle function.
Is there a main takeaway that was especially appropriate for you?
Here at Life Chiropractic of Grass Valley, we’re all about helping people overcome chronic pain and challenges to be able to perform their best in all areas of life.
Want to know more about how the Corrective Rebalancing Program works?
The best options are to either schedule a Complimentary Consultation or an Initial History and Exam. You can do either here: Schedule Here