I have loved chiropractic since the day I was introduced to it by Tom Tumbarello in December of 1978. It’s beautiful in its clean, pure approach to health and vitality. When the nervous system is interfered with, there are consequences. We reduce or eliminate the nervous system interference with chiropractic adjustments. We don’t add to the body or take away from it. We just help it to function better and feel better. When the cause of nervous system malfunction is physical pressure on the nerves from bones, discs or any other tissues including inflammation, we adjust the spine to correct the cause.
The body functions much better when the messages from the brain to the body can get there with the message exactly as it was sent, with no unwanted modifications from start to finish. When that message is altered in any way, the command sent from headquarters (the brain) causes a different response than was ordered. Too much sensation? Pain. Spasm. Not enough? Numbness and weakness.

And there’s more! What about when messages are going from the body to the brain to give feedback??? These messages are also distorted, so the brain is reacting to faulty information! It’s like the thermostat in your heating system going haywire. You set it for 68 degrees, but if it cannot properly assess what the current temperature is, proper fine tuning of the room temperature is inaccurate. If the nerve goes to your feet, they feel cold and/or numb. If it goes to an organ, that organ functions too slow.

Once that happened to my bedroom thermostat and it wouldn’t shut off, so it was 88 degrees in my bedroom! With nerves to your feet, that would be burning and/or excruciating pain. With digestion, that would be an irritable bowel. Bladder? Always feeling like you have to go. Muscles? Spasm. If these nerves feed an organ or gland, they will function at an abnormally fast pace, leading to eventual symptoms and disease.

Most people only go to the chiropractor when their back or neck hurts, but what happens when the digestive system or kidneys are over or understimulated by corrupted messages from the brain!? Function is messed up and over time, problems that are severe can, and do, occur. Nerves coming out of the little openings up and down both sides of the spine are vulnerable to pressure and damage, causing malfunction in several ways.
When we were young and had better posture, the nerve openings were wide open. Now, they’re not. Our posture has changed, and it doesn’t matter what changes have occurred in your posture, because any change away from ideal causes the holes for the nerves to come out of the spine get smaller. It was perfect to start…hopefully.
Accidents and injuries commonly lead to altered posture in general, as well, including specific levels where the spinal bones are knocked out of their normal resting positions. Remember that bicycle crash at 10 or the first big snowboard or ski crash at 15? Falling on ice or lifting something too heavy also causes problems. How about one of the car accidents you’ve been in? Even the mild ones give your neck a significant jolt, possibly leading to problems right then, and more commonly later in life, as the effects of the trauma progress into arthritis and several other “itis’s”.
I’ve been adjusting people for over 41 years, and I’ve gotten pretty good at it. I’ve seen a lot of people and each person has their own history of trauma and their own, unique set of symptoms and limitations. I use many tools and styles when adjusting someone. A 30 year old bodybuilder certainly gets adjusted with more authority and athleticism than does an 82 year old with arthritis in their neck and low back. And by the way, EVERY 82 year old has arthritis in their neck and low back! A less abrupt technique, with less force is required here.

I do not have an assembly line where everyone gets adjusted in 2 minutes. Although those adjustments can be totally awesome, that’s not my style. I won’t spend all day with you, but I will get to know you and your body and will take a few extra minutes each time to get to know how to help you the most. Maybe one day we do some stretches on the floor and another I’m stimulating trigger points in a tight muscle. Or maybe we’re doing what I like to call “bobblehead.” We might go over ideal sleeping positioning or some dietary suggestions. Does your shoulder need to be adjusted or your hamstrings stretched? Who knows, we might even discuss the world series or superbowl!

I eat, sleep and breathe natural health. I’ve always thought of myself as a combination between a jock and a geek. Most people think of a geek as someone good at technology, and that's definitely NOT me! I am a science and health geek. I’m ALWAYS looking for another way to get myself, my family and my patients healthier. What food can add to my diet? What supplements are going to get me the healthiest? Yoga, weight training, meditation, elliptical, Total Gym, pilates, martial arts (Silat), you name it. I don’t run any more, because I’m aging, just like you are, and my ankles and low back won’t allow it. I do this wide variety of exercises because I want to be able to adapt to the inevitable minor and possibly maybe major injuries that are yet to come as I continue to age. If I was “only” a runner and injured my foot, I would have nothing to fall back on. I want to be well rounded enough that I can easily switch from emphasizing one exercise to two or three others without skipping a beat. I would recommend that for you too.

We all have an innate, inborn intelligence that is on the job every second of every minute, hour, year and decade of our lives. Its job is to do everything possible to utilize what is available to cause the highest level of health and wellness in every little nook and cranny of the body. It balances the function of every cell, tissue, organ and system in the body. It decides which functions are the hughes priority in any given moment. It never takes a rest and it never gets mad and spiteful. It is always there doing its best for you. The chiropractic philosophy of providing what the body needs to help our innate intelligence so the body can heal itself resonates with me and I have embraced it with vigor. I rely heavily on it whenever assessing a situation and considering solutions and recommendations.

Finding chiropractic has changed the course of my life in many significant ways. I guess I knew I was destined to become a “health nut” when I gave up junk food at age 12 so my mother would stop buying it because everyone in my family was overweight except me. It didn’t work. I remember trying to convince my mother to park further from the grocery store so she would walk more. I also tried to convince her to quit smoking and to “think thin.” I told her that people walk faster and don’t sit as much. They go up the stairs with a spring in their step instead of trudging along like they might not be able to make it. Well, nothing worked.

So I’ve been fine tuning my skills of influencing people around me to make little changes that lead to better health for a LONG time. When enough of these little steps are taken, there is a trend that I like to call “health momentum." This is when the accumulation of healthy actions accelerates you into better health. It’s empowering and exhilarating!

When you stick with it, health momentum will lead you to “health equity.” We need extra health on reserve, available to spend on the eventual and inevitable health challenges that will come our way. Want to recover quickly and completely from a surgery? Build your health equity starting today! Want to prevent health problems in the future? Build your health equity. Want to minimize the effects of arthritis, diabetes, heart or liver problems? Build up your health equity! There isn’t a person alive that doesn’t want to come out of a health problem with flying colors and get back every bit of the health that was under attack. The best way to make sure this happens is by building up as much equity in your health as possible. Not just a little bit, but all of the health equity you possibly can. Your quality of life may well depend on it. In fact, your LIFE may someday depend on it!

I haven’t taken a medication since an antibiotic for an ear infection when I was 12. I haven’t needed or wanted to, because the best weapon against sickness and disease is health.

If you are ready to fine tune your weapon of health against disease, it’s time for you to make some changes toward gaining health momentum and work towards health equity. I’d love to help by providing gentle, hands on adjustments and lifestyle suggestions.