What's the Best Way to Get Through Life?

Be an optimist. It’s like being in a fight. If I’m losing on points with three rounds to go, I know I still have a chance-- always think you have a chance.  --Sugar Ray Leonard

Just keep punching.

And believe in yourself.

And have faith that God, family and good friends will always have your back.

The Efficiency Trap

When I first started my chiropractic practice, I had a goal of adjusting 1000 patients over the course of a week.  There were other doctors in Hawaii who were hitting this mark and I aspired to be like them.

I have since crossed this goal off my list.  Not because I achieved it.  Not because I dejectedly deem it to be an impossible dream.

I no longer shoot for the 1000 PV/week milestone because I realize that to achieve this goal I would have to become extremely efficient.  My chiropractic practice would need to become a model of efficiency.

Wait a minute.  What's wrong with that?

Well, in a highly efficient chiropractic practice, patients need to flow in and out of the office like clockwork. Patients would need to hop on and off my adjusting table like parts on an assembly line. There's no time to chat.  No time to ask questions.  No time to consider new, original procedures to make healing more effective.  In a sad way, patients almost cease to be people-- just spines to be worked on.

The problem with focusing on efficiency is that it very often diminishes a person's desire and capacity to focus on effectiveness.

When you are constantly thinking about how many possible patients you can cram into your practice's schedule book, it's easy to start to neglect the unique needs of each individual patient.

As each patient gets treated more and more the same way with streamlined policies and techniques with little variation among those adjusted, the efficient practice becomes more like a factory than a clinic of effective healing.

Baggy Scrubs and Jeans

The experts say to dress the part.  If you don't look like a professional, don't expect people to take you serious, they say.  One chance to make a good impression... and all that.

When I was an intern, the student clinic dress code required us to wear a shirt and tie with a white clinical jacket over that.  Working on patients could get very uncomfortable, but at least we all looked sharp.

Today when I adjust, I adjust in baggy scrubs and jeans.  How baggy?  3XL baggy.

I realize my dress may not be ZZ Top sharp, but I sure am comfortable as I move around the table. It's my objective to let my hands make a good impression as I adjust a new patient.  My looks: not so much.

Adjust with Honor

This is my motto for the new year.

As a chiropractor, it is my job to find areas in the spine that are out of alignment and then help restore that subluxation back to proper position and function.

Performing this service with honor means that while I adjust I must try my best to keep my focus sharp, integrity pure, and heart open.

I also realize that my motto extends far beyond the realm of chiropractic.

In all facets of my life, I intend to adjust with honor.

In that, I will be ever-vigilant to discover those areas in my life that are not in alignment with my code-- my principles and values.  And then after diagnosing these misaligned areas of my character, diligently work to correct those flaws.

Long Time Since the Last Time

I can't play the guitar.

But I imagine that picking up the guitar and strumming a tune after a long time since the last time is very much like adjusting a patient I haven't seen for years.

The hands just remember where to go.  Naturally, freely, so easily.  Automatic.

And as I reacquaint myself with the spine of that patient who hops on my table after a long time since the last chiropractic adjustment, and that patient happens to also be a friend-- well, that must be what it feels like to not only just start playing the ol' guitar again, but to strum and sing a favorite song.

As if no time had passed by at all.

Origami and Chiropractic

Origami intrigues me.

One night a few months back, I happened to watch on Netflix a PBS documentary, Between the Folds.

While debates ebb and flow on issues of folding technique, symbolism and purpose, this unique film shows how closely art and science are intertwined. The medium of paper folding—a simple blank, uncut square—emerges as a resounding metaphor for the creative potential for transformation in all of us.

What appealed to me the most about this movie was realizing the interesting similarity between origami and chiropractic.

Painting is the fine art of addition-- the application of oils or acrylics onto a canvas.  Medical drug therapy is also about adding: ingesting something from the outside, hoping that the effects of the merging of the drug with the body leads to something good.

Sculpting marble or carving wood is the fine art of subtraction-- the careful removal of unwanted pieces.  Medical surgery is also about subtracting: cutting out something that is damaged and pathological, hoping that the removal of the undesirable part leads to something good.

The art of paper folding simply transforms what is there without adding or subtracting.  The parameters of the spine, like the single square piece of origami paper, are set and constant. The chiropractor, like the origami artist, can only create through controlled application of force and pressure.  Nothing is affixed.  Nothing is combined nor connected.  Neither is anything purged.  No cuts.  No rips.

And yet, despite the absence of the art of addition and subtraction, both chiropractic and origami when done correctly with wisdom and dexterity, yield incredible, amazing results.

An elegant paper crane emerges.

An optimal nervous system allows the flow of innate intelligence.

Art, science, and philosophy manifested.

King Midas and the King of Pain

I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign, but it's my destiny to be the king of pain.  --Sting

©2007 Publications International, Ltd.Midas got his wish.  Everything he touched turned to gold.  His joy quickly turned to despair, however, when this "gift" backfired with tragic consequences.

Hungry, thirsty, and devastated because he transformed his daughter into a golden statue, King Midas learned the hard way that the fulfilment of your greatest desire may turn out to be a dreadful curse.

Many wish they could live a totally pain-free life.  No headaches, no back spasms, no aching joints.

But like Midas, such a wish fufilled would lead to heartache.

While some relief from pain (like some gold) can be a nice thing to have, if taken to the extreme where no discomfort whatsoever is ever felt, major problems would soon develop.

Without pain, all injuries would be ignored and the intervention needed for proper healing would never happen.  Disease and all sickness would go untreated because there would never be any warning symptoms that something was wrong.  Without pain, we could not grow stronger physically, mentally and emotionally.  Without pain, the soul would never appreciate health and wellness.

Until it was too late.

Sciatica

Many people use the term sciatica incorrectly. Sciatica is pain along the path of the sciatic nerve which extends from the lower back down each leg. Sciatica is a symptom (like itching), it is not a diagnosis (like diabetes). Sciatica can range from an occasional nuisance to excruciating pain that makes walking near impossible. There can be multiple underlying reasons for your sciatic nerve pain. A chiropractor can help find the root cause of the problem with an exam and may also order some diagnostic imaging such as an x-ray, MRI or CT scan to examine the underlying structures.

To answer the question, ‘what is sciatica’ it is helpful to explain some of the relevant anatomical structures. The sciatic nerve is both the longest and the widest nerve in your body. It begins in the lower back as five separate nerves that extend from five different vertebrae – L4, L5, S1, S2, and S3. These nerves meet up to form one large bundle which runs through the buttocks and down the entire length of the leg. The sciatica nerve is responsible (directly or indirectly) for nearly all the sensation in your leg including the skin of the thigh and gluts.

Sciatica occurs when there is compression or irritation of the sciatic nerve. The pain is felt in the low back and leg, but the site of the pain isn’t always the site of the underlying issue. Since the sciatica nerve is so long and travels around or through the large muscles of the buttocks, it takes an expert to determine if the pain is coming from disc compression, from muscle spasms or from something else. Again, sciatica is a symptom, not a diagnosis.

While sciatica is most often associated with pain, other symptoms may be present such as tingling, numbness, or muscle weakness. The pain can be nearly constant or intermittent. If you think you are experiencing sciatic nerve pain, keep a record of the location, duration and intensity of the pain. Your specific history plays an important role in determining the cause of the pain.

Treatment for sciatica depend on the underlying cause, so there is no one recommended course of treatment for all sciatic pain sufferers. Chiropractors use a variety of non-invasive approaches that include spinal manipulation, physical therapy, targeted stretching and active muscle release. They’ll also discuss the role that nutrition and hydration play in reducing tissue inflammation and keeping discs healthy. The spine, discs, muscles and soft tissue all have a role to play in sciatica and should be evaluated and treated as a connected system.

The most important thing to remember is that sciatica (sciatic nerve pain) is a symptom of an underlying condition. You’ll only start to get better once the underlying condition is identified and this is done through a combination of an exam, history and recommended diagnostic imaging.

Getting a Fever is a Good Thing

For most parents, when their kid gets a fever they consider it a bad thing.  A very bad thing.  When their child runs a high temperature, many mothers and fathers become extremely worried and immediately try to lower the high temperature, usually by means of a drug.

Because a fever can kill, right?  Or cause severe brain damage.

It is a fact that very, very high fevers may put a child at risk.  We're talking about a reading of 106 degrees or higher, however.  Rarely will the body's innate intelligence allow a fever to rage that high. And even upon exceeding 106 degrees, many doctors say that the chance of any fever placing an otherwise healthy child at grave risk is unlikely.

So before reaching for the medicine to bring down a fever, it is helpful to first consider the benefits of the way our body coordinates a rise in temperature:

• The metabolic rate increases which gives the body more energy to heal.
• White blood cells increase in number.  These cells directly attack and kill the pathogen invaders, including bacterium and viruses.
• The self-replication of the bacterium and viruses slow down in a warmer environment.
• A fever response is actually a reassuring sign that the body's immune system is working as it should.

And consider this (from Mercola.com):

In a study reported in Pharmacotherapy, December 2000; 20:1417-1422, the researchers compared the duration of illness in those who received aspirin or acetaminophen for relief of fever with those who did not and found that flu sufferers who took medications to break their fever were sick an average of 3.5 days longer than people who did not take either of the drugs.

Even with knowing all this, I know it's still hard... especially as a parent when one of my children is sick and miserable.  When I see them suffering with a fever, my first impulse is still to try to ease their discomfort with some aspirin.  But I catch myself and let the fever run it's course.  A fever is a good thing, I tell myself.

The Five Enemies of the Honor Box

Skepticism

Ingratitude

Selfishness

Arrogance

Complacency

...applicable to both patient and (especially) doctor.