It's Been That Long?

It is not uncommon for a patient to wait a long, long time between adjustments.  Once in a while, when a patient comes back after a lengthy hiatus, I may check the date of their last visit and let them know.

"It's great to see you," I say.  "The last time you were here for an adjustment was seven months ago."

Surprised, they exclaim, "Seven months!  It's been that long?  I thought it was like two!"

Time flies.  Life moves fast.  A patient skips an adjustment and tells him or herself they'll get to it next week.  But that week passes and another then another.  Weeks turn to months...

When we find out how much we've procrastinated, how long we have neglected that which we know we should've done, usually we are SHOCKED.

Time flies.  Life moves fast.

We skip adjustments, workouts, going Church, organizing that closet, etc.-- not because we can't find the time, but simply because we fail to make the time.

I know.  And I know the remedy: having the discipline to schedule the important things into our lives and the discipline to abide by that schedule.

I know!  Because when was the last time I posted on this blog?  July 9?!?

It's been that long?  Snap.

This blog is important to me and my chiropractic mission.  I will do better.

What's important to you and your life's mission?  Can you do better?

The Intention of Chiropractic

I just wrote the following comment on a recent blog post written by Bill Esteb:

"The distinction between chiropractic and medicine is considerably more than merely the difference in the intervention used. Instead, one must examine the intent and hoped-for outcome from the intervention. Reducing, ameliorating or eliminating symptoms is the domain of medicine. Enhancing, restoring or reviving a person’s ability to self-heal and 'right themselves' is the practice of chiropractic."

According to what you've written here, I would say that all chiropracTORS should, at times, be willing to practice medicine. When a new patient starts chiropractic care, most of the time they are in our clinics for the sole purpose of reducing, ameliorating or eliminating a symptom.

If a doctor of chiropractic uses the desperation of the new patient to promote chiropractic, giving little or no thought towards what the patient really wants (eliminating pain symptoms) it is disrespectful at best and unethical at worst (as in those times when a patient's fear and anxiety are used as tools to get a hold of thousands of dollars in pre-payment).

For those principled doctors who state that they do in fact address the elimination of pain symptoms by promoting the principles of chiropractic, I ask if the promises of "self-healing" and "righting themselves" for pain relief are then, not in fact, medicine. It is the intent which defines, right?

For those principled doctors who state that they do not identify or treat symptoms at all, I would ask them to scrutinize carefully their marketing efforts, entrance forms, patient education materials, exam and report procedures to see if they are truly FREE from direct or implied promises which uphold that chiropractic can eliminate specific symptoms.

With all due respect, Mr. Esteb, many of the products that you sell focus on symptoms, caused by subluxation, with which people have a great desire to reduce, ameliorate and eliminate.

I am a chiropractor who practices medicine, according to your definition. I am not ashamed of this even though many other chiropractors may look down on me with disdain. Ironically, many of these colleagues who would condemn a chiropractor who practices medicine, probably do the same on some unidentified level to which they are blind to.

My first purpose, as I see it, is to eliminate suffering by relieving symptoms. This my FIRST hoped-for intention of my chiropractic "treatments." After the symptom is gone, I am then ready to continue my relationship with my patient on a different, higher plane by teaching them true principles of healing and wellness through chiropracTIC.

A chiropractor who practices medicine (as defined in your post) is not necessarily a hypocrite or incompetent-- just as a medical doctor who incorporates chiropractic principles into his or her practice should never be deemed less of a healer.

Thank you for considering this perspective.

Pain Relief and Spinal Correction

Chiropractic care breaks down into three phases:

• Pain relief
• Spinal correction
• Wellness

Each phase has an obvious purpose and a logical protocol.

Most patients make an appointment to see a chiropractor because they want to eliminate a symptom-- usually pain.  I feel it is the doctor's responsibility to respect this desire of a patient to attain pain relief.  I believe that a chiropractor who does not address the pain problem in the initial assessment and care plan is doing their patients a diservice.

This may seem obvious and logical, but I often hear of certain chiropractors who pride themselves on their extreme subluxation correction approach.  Chiropractors who would rather talk about restoring alignment to a new patient before talking about controlling pain.  These doctors often times skip over the pain relief phase altogether and jump immediately into spinal correction.  These chiropractors view symptoms as mere subluxation signals.  Eliminate the spinal subluxation and the pain will automatically stop, they declare.  So just focus on the subluxation, the rest will take care of itself.

This is not always the case, however.

I believe my first responsibility is to stop suffering.  And some might think this is blasphemous, but I also uphold that the chiropractic adjustment may not always be the most effective way to end the suffering.  Sometimes ice or heat, or stretching or traction, or kinesiotaping, massage, trigger point therapy or even electric stimulation (or a combination of two or more of these) may work better for the patient in providing relief.  Sometimes even, the exacerbating factor of the pain is not physiological, but something that must be identified on an emotional, psychological or maybe even spiritual level.

Then only after the pain is controlled, we, doctor and patient TOGETHER, can move to the next phase of care, that of spinal correction.  In this phase of care, the purpose is to stabilize the spine and allow the vertebral subluxation complex to heal.  With the vertebrae in better alignment with better movement and functioning capacity, the patient moves beyond pain relief into the realms of wellness.

Of course, in this spinal correction phase, the chiropractic adjustment stands alone as the most important component of the process.  All those therapies that helped reduce pain, now take a back seat to the power of the adjustment at this point.

The benefits attained from spinal correction totally outweigh any benefits attained from mere pain relief treatments.

This is why I understand why many chiropractors gloss over pain relief, maybe even ignore this aspect of pain relief care from their practice.  But it can get too extreme.

We, as chiropractors, must give our patients not just what they need, but what they want.

Because this is what's right.

And by the way, the opposite viewpoint is also detremental to a patient's welfare: that is of those doctors who focus ONLY on pain relief-- the idea of helping patients get out of pain and then dismiss them without detemining the need for spinal correction.

The "okay-come-back-and-see-me-if-it-starts-to-hurt-again" practice style.

For we, as chiropractors, must give our patients not just what they want, but what they need.

Because this is what's right.

Chiropractic Fantasy Files

Pick me.

Jerry Rice and Chiropractic

Please forward this post to every person you know who is looking to get an athletic advantage over the competition.

If chiropractic has been an important part of the successful career of future NFL Hall-of-Famer, Jerry Rice, shouldn't every high school and collegiate athlete at least consider adding spinal adjustments to their own training program?

And what about all you weekend warriors out there?  Take a look at how chiropractic can help bring out your A-GAME!

10,000 Hours

According to Malcolm Gladwell in his new book Outliers, there is a 10,000-Hour Rule.  This rule states that it takes 10,000 hours of hard work and practice before a person can become extremely successful in his or her chosen field.

He says that there is no such thing as an "innate genius" which carries the most successful people to the top. 

"The emerging picture from such studies is that ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert-- in anything," writes neurologist Daniel Levitin.  "In study after study, of composers, basketball players, fiction writers, ice skaters, concert pianists, chess players, master criminals, and what have you, this number comes up again and again."  (Page 40)

Even Mozart, Gladwell declares, despite composing at an unreal early age, never wrote music at the genius level until he actually put in his 10,000 hours.

Computing the time I have spent in practice as a chiropractor, I come up with this:

10 years and 5 months have passed since I have graduated from chiropractic college.  At a conservative estimate of 150 hours a month devoted to spinal adjusting, the time I have devoted to my profession comes to a total of 19,050 hours!

I've put in the time.  And this is good to know.

And here's another interesting computation.  With another conservative estimate of an average of 7 patients adjusted each hour over the 19,050 hours, I conclude that I have been privlege of giving 133,350 adjustments, give or take.

So far.

I'd like to hit a million before I die.

Patience and Stonecutting

The stonecutter wishes to split a rock.  After choosing the right tool, he strikes his hammer at an exact, pre­determined spot on the huge boulder.  The blow was not arbitrary or random; he hits precisely at a specific point de­termined after much study and analysis.  But nothing happens.  The stonecutter strikes again. No change.  The stone does not split.

The stonecutter slams his hammer down again.  And again and again. Nothing.  Not even a dent or chip in the rock’s surface.  His expression is stoic.  No worry or confusion.  His expression is one of knowing— a faith in himself, his tools, and the laws of the physical world that govern the splitting of large rocks.  100 blows. 200 blows.  The rock simply shows no sign of any change, much less breaking in two.  But the stonecutter persists.

Then, on the 357th strike, after 356 hits to a rock at exactly the same point without even a chip or a scratch, the large boulder splits in two.

What would have happened if the stonecutter quit after five hits, or ten, or one hundred?  Wouldn’t it have been so easy for the stonecutter to say, “This rock is too tough, I better pick another one.” Or maybe, “I must’ve chosen the wrong hammer.”  Or, “The spot I picked is wrong. I better choose another spot to hit.”  If the stonecutter kept second guessing himself and changed his technique, tool or focus, the rock would never, ever split.

When we know our objective and have formulated a plan to achieve that objective, it is imperative that we stick with it.  Don't quit!  Just because the results do not come right away does not mean that we are on the wrong track!

We should expect the miracle, but prepare ourselves for a trial of faith.

For faith precedes the miracle.

Not the other way around.

Chiropractic and Blood Pressure

Last year, the medical community credited the chiropractic adjustment as an effective way to decrease blood pressure.

It was even reported here on the WebMD site!

If you or anyone you care about is taking a daily medication to control hypertension (high blood pressure), PLEASE consider a drug-free approach, instead, to manage this problem.  Consider these conservative, safe methods: chiropractic, yoga, biofeedback, meditation, increased hydration, nutritional supplements, improved diet and of course, exercise.

There are many possibilities out there.  Effective alternatives that don't have any bad side-effects.

Hypertension medications, on the other hand, often lead to an adverse reaction like:

• Dizziness
• Headaches
• Fatigue
• Depression
• Constipation
• Dehydration
• Digestive disorders
• Depression

It is very easy for a medical doctor to prescribe a pill instead of devising and implementing a natural, drug-free comprehensive plan with their patients to lower blood pressure.  (or lower blood glucose, cholesterol, etc.)  A plan requires time-- time to teach, commit and follow-up.  It's so much faster and easier for an M.D. to phone in a prescription and let the drug do the work.

Because treatment with medication is so simple and easy (for both doctor and patient) hypertension drug sales exceed 12 BILLION dollars every year in the United States.

Yup, that's billion with a "B."

Aren't you amazed, like me, that whether we're talking about pharmaceuticals, fast food or even music, movies and books, the most popular choices-- the choices out there that seems to bring in the most money...

are very rarely the BEST option?

The Tao of Chiropractic

A chiropractor cannot force an adjustment.

The subluxation cannot be corrected by brute force, superb velocity, or even pure, loving intentions.

A subluxation is corrected best with effortlessness.  More flow than focus.

Patience over haste.

Consider the words of Lao Tzu:

Flow around obstacles, don't confront them.  Don't struggle to succeed.  Wait for the right moment.

It's all about timing.  A dance between chiropractor and patient.  The art of giving and receiving.

More Lao Tzu:

Trying to understand is like straining to see through muddy water.  Be still, and allow the mud to settle.  Remain still, until it is time to act.

The Right Way to Adjust

John Wooden, the greatest collegiate basketball coach of all time, said this:

"Be quick, but don't hurry."

During my prime time adjusting hours, I must always remember this. Keep my mind focused enough, my heart calm enough, my hands in flow enough. . . to do this.

Without quickness, I disrespect my patients' time.

But by hurrying, I disrespect not just their time -- but their trust and their loyalty.