In a former chapter, we have explained the chiropractic practices and how these can assist you and your system switch back to a healthy, optimal state. To comprehend better how this approach can aid in you in increasing your strength, health, and longevity, this section will be dedicated to the specific cycles of chiropractic healing. But before we jump onto this, we are going to affirm this statement–chiropractic practice isn’t a fast cure or overnight miracle. If your system is out of whack, that is the result of years of issues to reach that unhealthy condition. While the good news is that, it won’t take years to regain back your health, it will take some time for sure. Therefore, you need to practice patience and devotion. Let’s now explain all the cycles, one after the other.
STAGE 1-THE INTENSE INFLAMMATORY PHASE
This is the stage that urges people to pay more attention and seek some type of expert help. This could be conventional medicine methods or alternative means, when everything else doesn’t manage to bring the desired effects. Why is that? Simple because this pain is governed by its own pain and discomfort. Remember previously in this report where we dispelled the misconception that chiropractic practice was painful?? Chiropractic method in its nature is not painful. What actually triggers pain is your system’s reaction to painful and sore tissue under work. Some of your joints and muscles are connected to be soft. Or perhaps your overall system is painful, which is a result of your own system’s hypersensitivity to pain, as your body is subject to this pain for long periods of time.
This is the stage in which we chiropractors examine our patients because at this point, it is given that the patient experiences some level of pain or signs of discomfort like swelling, itchiness, redness, loss of balance and so on. The patients that come to visit us, are not doing so because they want to improve their health, but because they are fed-up of being in pain. Their main concern is to reduce their pain and symptoms and not the underlying mechanisms or origins of their issue.
It is vital to state here that this stage doesn’t just happen overnight. It took ages and many years for your system to reach such a painful status and years of mishandling and doing inappropriate moves. So, as supported in this report, healing during this initial stage requires some time and can take up to 4 months to see good results. And anticipate that you’ll have to come to a chiropractor’s office once or twice a week. While this may sound a bit far to the ear’s of the average american who wants a quick fix, it is actually a minimal investment for your long-term health.
It should be pointed out though, that therapy will vary in regards to power and frequency, based on the following factors:
- Sex
- Age
- Height
- Weight
- The time you’ve been suffering from this issue
- The level you are capable of following your physician’s suggestions
- The max. pain level you can tolerate
- If and whether you experience other health problems
Upon the initial consultation, the chiropractor will assess all the above parameters as well as any other relevant aspects and problems, to come up with a personalized plan for your case. Your needs and challenges of course, will be also taken into account. However, this isn’t like medicine–the chiropractic approach isn’t the same for everyone.
STAGE 2-The RESTORATIVE AND CORRECTIVE STAGE
During this stage, you pain and discomfort issues will begin to subside. Your pain will become much more tolerable and while you won’t feel as if you are running like a first-class athlete, you will most likely feel better and have a more positive mood. Sitting or standing will no longer be painful.
This is the point where we rely to rehabilitate strength and integrity and take off the damaged tissue that prevents the road to full and felt recovery. This a great stage as the patient starts to feel better. The energy levels of the patient start to increase and the scope of motion is restored. This is due to the fact that pain “eats” vast amounts of energy. So the logic of pain reduction to increase energy during this stage, has a point.
But there is one aspect that we need to pay extra attention to, during this cycle of treatment and this is to avoid pushing you and forcing you too early. Like most folks who get treated, you might mistakenly think that you can do everything you wish, after you’ve just begun to feel better. The issue is, if you push yourself too hard and do inappropriate movements, you may end up with worse pain than before, due to the fact that your initial issues that made you visit a chiropractor in the first place are still lingering in your system.
During this phase, our aim in chiropractic treatment is to concentrate our movements on the boost of spinal mobility so that the healthy physiological function is restored to your spine and nerves. You might still have to visit your physician once of week but this depends on the intensity of your condition.
Keep in mind that this correcting stage isn’t a brief one, but there are other parameters and factors that can surely affect the speed of the healing progress. This can feature length of time and intensity of the issue. If, for instance, you come to the office after suffering from multiple car accidents in a row (yep, it might sound bizarre but I had a patient like this), of course, it will take much more time for the therapy to start working compared to the average patient that has poor posture problems intensified over the last few years. Some things that affect the therapy and slow down the progress are:
- Poor diet/nutrition
- Smoking
- Stress
- Improper ergonomics
- A negative mindset
We’ll tackle some of these factors as we proceed with this section. (the only thing we won’t address is smoking as there are countless of studies and evidence that proves the destructive effects of smoking and you don’t need us to tell you so). In a later section, we will also to some basic nutrition guidelines to help speed up your recovery process. But at the moment, we are going to proceed to the next healing cycle.
STAGE III-the maintenance stage
Ι love seeing this specific stage in a patient that visits me. This means that they have followed the treatment and there doing what they can do to restore their health and feel their best they have ever felt maybe in their life. The pain is minimized or at least kept under control.
Once the system achieves a state of health, it’s necessary to maintain it. The good thing is that while you go through this phase, it’s much easier to maintain your body to this healthy status. Remember that a status of perfect health, doesn’t only imply lack of pain and disease–it is a state of optimal physical, mental, and even interpersonal well-being. Once your system enjoys health, you will most probably feel the best you’ve felt for years.
Another advantage is that in this state of health, even if you are bothered by a spinal injury, it will recover more quickly and not many treatment sessions will be needed afterwards. Consider this: when a highly practiced and fit athlete endures an injury, he/she recovers more quickly than the average Joe (provided that the athlete doesn’t push their limits to far and use the injured part more than they should). This is due to the fact they are used to conditioning practices and their systems are in optimal health already. Recovery, for this reason, is much faster.
Consider kids and the rate they recover from such injuries. This is due to the fact that our systems are wired from a very young age to recover and restore perfect health. As we grow older though and age, the rates of recovery start to slow down and we are less resistant and able to fight any health problems as quickly as young people. During the maintenance stage though, the system is loaded with more things to work with.
This stage goes more than a periodical chiropractic sessions, however. It boils down to lifetime habits and patterns. This where the majority of people begin to feel uncomfortable as this translates to more healthy diet, exercise, and a positive, stress-free mindset.
We hear many different excuses in our work (don’t stress, we sometimes use these too as we are just humans). Perhaps the greatest excuse is lack of sufficient time. But, there is always some time to decide on what’s vital in your life, what’s your priority to achieve health. You should prioritize some things to make sure you take the matter of health in your own hands.
Nathaniel Branden, an inspiring psychologist who has authored many books about self-confidence and self-esteem, supports that the things we try to improve, are the things we already realize, while the areas that we neglect to work on, are the ones that we don’t pay attention to and are beyond our control.
This also applies to our health. It is just something that doesn’t occur overnight. You have to work on it every day. Think about gravity–we’ll have to walk against it every day of our existence but we are capable of doing this. Same goes for our health. Once we are armed with the necessary means to achieve it, we can easily work towards its achievement.
But there is no point on making it so complex, as many folks many times do. These are just a few queries to raise to yourself to help pave the way for health and rejuvenation.
- How can I enjoy today eating properly and working out?
- What foods can I eat that are healthy and taste delicious?
- What type of exercise or activity can I do that I enjoy doing?
- How can I fuel my system with the foods that it requires?
- Why do I have to eat properly?
- Why should I exercise today?
The 9 KEY HABITS OF HEALTHY FOLKS
Now that you are familiar with the basic stages of the chiropractic science, we can jump to the 9 essential habits that healthy folks practice on a daily basis which are vital for your health. This information will help you take more thoughtful and life-changing decisions.
These 9 habits trigger substantial lifestyle adjustments, one part a time. Like in the case of every new change, if you push it too aggressively and fast, you will most likely burn out and come up with the excuse later that “it just didn’t work out” and quit from making another attempt. In the upcoming chapters, we’ll explain these 9 habits in great detail but for the moment, here are the key principles.
- Water/Hydration
Everyday we’ll joyously sip our cup of coffees and sodas. But when it comes to actually drinking glass of water, we just brush it off. We just can’t force ourselves to drink it that easy. But drinking plain water is vital for our health–afterall, 95% of our systems are made of water and not coffee or a fizzy drink. Furthermore, water is able to expel toxins from our systems, and various studies have confirmed that drinking at least eight glasses of water daily can yield a substantial impact on the system’s power to preserve health and fight of disorders.
2. Veggies
Some may feel like puking whenever they see veggies. But our parents weren’t wrong when they told us back when we were kids to eat our veggies, especially green ones that are full of vitamins like spinach and broccoli. Increasing your daily consumption of greens is one of the wisest nutrition decisions you can make for your health. Consider this from a scientific perspective. When greens are out in the nature, they transmute light into energy, a procedure called “photosynthesis”. By consuming wholesome and raw green leafy greens, you are taking this energy from the plants. We have stated “raw” here, because we are going to explain the misconception of cooked greens later on.
3. Antioxidant nutrients.
Antioxidants are the key foe of destructive free radicals, which are bad cell reactions raising daily as we age. Excessive free radicals have been connected to cancer in some studies. However, free radicals are not only triggered by the aging process as other factors like stress, injuries, or bad diet rich in processed and chemical loaded foods come into play.
Our parents would always tell us to eat our veggies and fruits and they had a point on doing so. Studies have also validated that our parents advice to eat fruits and veggies really pays off. One of the key factors that makes their consumption healthy, is the fact that they are naturally fortified with antioxidant nutrients. This a broad term with a rather simple explanation. Mary Beth Russell, registered dietician validates that Antioxidants are essentially nutrients that you consumer from your food that ensure the proper function of the cellular reactions that are supposed to happen inside your system.
An abundance of antioxidant substances in your systems, makes it more capable of fighting and eradicating inflammatory diseases like heart problems, diabetes, cataracts, and even cancer. But here is an issue. Only a very small minority of 7% of Americans consume sufficient amounts of antioxidant nutrients daily. This is a bit of surprise as antioxidants are not scarce to find–they are found in fruits, veggies, tea and even wine. As matter of fact, the more vivid color a fruit or veggie has, the more antioxidants they most likely contain. So how many antioxidants should we take on daily basis? Experts say 5 portions of fruits or veggies per day e.g a fruit for breakfast, 1-2 veggies for lunch, 1 fruit or veggie for snack time, and 1 veggie for dinner. This is an easy addition to your diet that will pay off for the years to come.
4. Healthy Oils
Even though we tend to pile on fat inside our bodies to a great degree, we seriously lack enough fatty acids that could benefit our health. Based on studies, the mean person has a lack of vital fatty acids that reaches 90%! Insufficient E.F.A intake is connected with heart and brain problems among a huge range of other inflammatory disorders. Now, that doesn’t mean that you have to swallow that bottle of vegetable oil that’s stored in your cabinet. Only certain oils are healthy and these are fish oils and flaxseed oils. We are going to elaborate on this further in a later section.
5. Proper oxygenation
It is important to repeatedly allow proper oxygenation of the tissues through mindful breathing methods (here is where cardio exercise can help you out). In reality, every few of us know how to breathe properly. We are going to mention the right techniques of breathing in the next sections.
6.Good Posture
A good reason why we are unable to breath properly, is because we have a wrong posture in the first place. When we stand or sit and squeeze ourselves, we place strain on our breathing canals as well, including our diaphragm and lungs. Bad posture additionally causes other issues. It puts stress in the spinal curve and this causes issues with the nervous system. It can also bear an impact in our moods also, as we’ll examine later in this report.
7. Physical activity/exercise
Yep, we know that this is challenging and we all come-up with various excuses not to get ourselves moving. But whether you like it or not, exercise and physical activity in general is vital for your health. There are no excuses such as babysitting, running around doing house chores, or being too busy. What your system needs is a complete cardio workout plan which activates a very vital muscle in your system and that is the heart. You have to challenge it in positive manner to get it moving more blood and oxygen throughout your body. The more you can trigger it, the better it will work for your system.
8. Adequate sleep
It’s no surprise that Americans lack sufficient amounts of sleep, every day. We are reportedly so busy being like that, that we neglect the necessity of sleeping adequately every night and complete a full 8 hours of sleep. The issue is, insufficient sleep is a vital culprit of poor health. People who don’t sleep enough have a higher risk of suffering from poor immune system capacity. So besides inducing tiredness and fatigue, lack of sleep can also lead to the onset of other issues due to suppressed immunity.
9. Positive mindset
We don’t want to sound like we have our head in the clouds or promote new-age stuff, but there is a point in having a positive mindset. If let’s say you catch a cold and your mourn and complain about it, you will end up feeling worse. But if you work with it instead of “cursing it’ and don’t pay much attention, you’ll recover faster, almost magically. Of course, this doesn’t imply that you should go kickboxing or run a mile when you are ill. This is a signal that maybe your system need some resting time so take a break. But don’t focus too much on that or you will feel worse.
By practicing these 9 lifestyle habits and believe in them, you will manifest a more healthy reality for yourself. Towards the next sections, we are going to explain these in more detail.
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