Health with a Healing Touch

Have you seen the news lately?  There are the events in the Middle East, the upcoming election, the stalled economy and rising gas prices.  What’s scarier, however, is the news that’s not making headlines.

It’s the story that’s usually saved for closer to the end of the newscast, or sandwiched in between commercial breaks.  It maybe didn’t catch your attention quite as much as the front-line stories, yet it’s big news just the same: the state of our nation’s health care.

Diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and more, are all on the rise.  And the system most count on to save them from these conditions, well that’s rising, too (and not in a good way).  Rising costs, rising corruption, rising complications, and rising error rates are growing by leaps and bounds, and that’s making news, too.

I’m not a big fan of the news and usually suggest to my practice members that they avoid it if they can.  All those negative news stories mess with your attitude, keep you from your healing sleep and just plain stress you out!  However, health and healing is my business and it’s pretty hard to ignore the news stories that have come to my attention in recent months.

For a country that ranks #1 in healthcare spending in the entire world, it’s sad to note that we rank a disappointing #37 in actual health of our citizens (those figures are compliments of the World Health Organization).  In the report the World Health Organization stated that, “A good health system, above all, contributes to good health.”  Could that be where our system has gone wrong?

There sure are a lot of studies about disease, and with every study there seems to be another pharmaceutical company pushing a drug.  Instead of a system that contributes to good health, our system is focused on illness and disease.  Our approach to health: relieving the symptoms.  It’s like putting a piece of tape over your car’s “check engine” light.  You no longer notice the problem, but under the hood your vehicle is slowly deteriorating until one day the engine finally dies!

And that’s what’s happening to a growing number of people; not just from their disease alone, but the medications used to treat their disease symptoms.  According to the Los Angeles Times, “Drugs exceeded motor vehicle accidents as a cause of death in 2009, killing at least 37,485 people nationwide, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”  To put it in perspective, the death toll from prescription drugs has doubled in the last decade, claiming a life every 14 minutes.

With one out of every two Americans on a medication right now, you have to wonder what we’re being medicated for…

Pain: When in pain it’s a common practice to prescribe painkillers.  However, painkillers like OxyContin, Vicodin, Xanax, Soma and Fentanyl now cause more deaths than heroin and cocaine combined.

ADHD: The use of prescription stimulants to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in kids has increased steadily over the last decade.  Between 1996 and 2008, the percentage of U.S. children taking stimulant ADHD medications rose from 2.4 to 3.5 percent (that’s an increase of a half million kids).  As reported by Fox News, high doses of the drug methylphenidate (the active ingredient in Ritalin and other ADHD medications), may delay puberty.  Studies are also reporting ADHD medications may interfere with children’s growth.

Depression: When Americans complain to their doctors about being depressed 90 percent, are given antidepressant drugs such as Prozac or Zoloft or Paxil.  Studies are now showing that placebos (sugar pills) are just as effective at improving mood and improving brain chemistry as prescription antidepressant medications.  The answer may not come from a bottle after all.

Sleep Problems: People taking certain prescription sleeping pills are four times more likely to die than people who do not—even if they are only taking low doses of the medication.

Scanning over this list fuels my passion as a health practitioner.  I’ve got my work cut out for me though, because clearly not enough people know that chiropractic and the other wellness services we offer at Healing Touch Chiropractic have shown success in not just covering up the symptoms of these conditions, but in correcting the source of the problem and empowering the body’s own innate abilities to heal.  That’s all natural “HEALTH” care with no drugs and no surgery.

Dr. Tiffany

Today I’m revealing a health secret that’s had a powerful impact on my life, as well as many of the practice members of our office.  There are no pills, no strict diet, and no exercise regimen; actually, it’s all in your head.

By now you’ve probably guessed that I’m talking about your thoughts.  I’m a big believer in the power of a positive mental attitude having seen plenty of evidence within my practice.  An ever-growing amount of scientific literature also supports what I’ve seen firsthand; positive thoughts have a positive effect on our health and ability to heal.

While it all starts with our thoughts, I must clarify that it’s actually our feelings and emotions that intensify our body’s self-healing powers.  You think a thought, that thought generates an emotion, that emotion sparks a feeling.  Positive feelings like love, joy and gratitude have a positive effect on our health and ability to heal.  They enhancing the immune system which then enables the body to resist disease and recover more quickly from illness and injury.  Not only does our immune system get stronger, but these positive feelings also release endorphins into our blood stream.  These are our body’s natural pain killers, which also help to dilate blood vessels, increasing blood flow to healing tissues and organ systems, and reduce stress on the body and heart.

Likewise, your thoughts can also hinder your body’s ability to express optimal health.  A negative thought can trigger negative emotions, like fear, despair, anger, worry and hopelessness.  The feelings from these types of emotions cause stress.  It’s no secret that prolonged stress makes us sick. It’s linked to several leading causes of death, including heart disease and cancer, and claims responsibility for up to 90% of all doctor visits.  Negative emotions also reduce the number and slow down the movement of disease fighting white blood cells in our blood stream and can contribute to the development of stroke or cardiac disease by releasing high amounts of adrenaline into the blood stream.  This adrenaline raises blood pressure and constricts blood flow to working and healing tissues and organs.

So you see, positive emotions better serve a healthy lifestyle.  All in all, when we live in love, joy and gratitude, we are facilitating and tapping into our healing capabilities and de-stressing our bodies so we can heal. This contributes to optimal levels of health and longer healthier lives.  Yes, feeling positive will make us feel and be better!

While for some, positive thinking comes naturally, it’s important to know that positivity and optimism are skills that can be learned.  It just requires practice.  If we focus on thinking positive, healthy, happy thoughts we can’t help but cultivate an attitude of hopefulness, happiness, and gratitude.   The problem is that most of us carry on an inner dialogue with ourselves that is often referred to as “self-talk” and most of this “self-talk” is anything but positive.  It’s possible to easily change negative self-talk to a more positive and health supporting dialog with the use of positive affirmations.

An affirmation is a thought of a desired condition or thing.  By repeating positive affirmations and allowing yourself to experience the emotions and feelings as if the statement were true for your life at that moment, you can quickly and easily turn negative feelings and emotions into positive ones.  Recite your affirmations throughout the day, especially in the morning before starting your day and in the evening before going to sleep.  When faced with worry or anxiety, replace those anxious thoughts with affirmations.  Since your subconscious mind doesn’t know the difference, repetition will lead to acceptance in the mind.  Note: Don’t try this technique halfheartedly for a day and then report back that affirmations don’t work.  They do work; however, it takes repeated effort and dedication on an ongoing basis to experience true results.  Below are some of my favorite affirmations for you to try for your own health and healing:

• I listen with love to my body’s messages.
• My body is always working toward optimal health.
• This is a new day; I am a new me.
• I connect with the part of myself that knows how to heal.
• In this moment I am healthy and well.

I love speaking with parents and just last week had the pleasure of presenting to 20 moms at the Hope Lutheran Church KAMS (Kids And MomS) group in Fargo, ND.  Apparently the title of my workshop really caught their attention: “10 Ways Parents Unknowingly Sabotage their Kids Health…And How to Fix it Before the Kids Find Out!”

As parents we make hundreds of decisions each day that impact our families.  What mother wouldn’t shudder at the thought that perhaps some of those everyday choices might be harming her child’s health, both now and in the future?  Worse, as parents, wouldn’t we be mortified if the kids found out about our mistakes?  I know, I’ve panicked about this a million times myself, and I’m a doctor!

And that’s when I tell myself to r-e-l-a-x.  We may be parents, but we’re also human, and as humans we’re going to make mistakes.  It’s only after we become educated and “know better” that the kids have a case (if they find out, that is!).

So that’s my goal; to help parents understand the health implications of the myriad choices they’re making for their kids, many of which are done mindlessly and rarely get a second thought, and then help them to put simple and common sense strategies in place for the benefit of their kids (and the whole family).  I’m sorry, but those same old excuses like, “It’s the way our parents raised us,” or “It’s the way other parents do it,” can no longer be justified once we know the facts.

For example, when I share that childhood obesity has quadrupled in the last 40 years, and I explain how as parents we’re contributing to this statistic with the foods we’re feeding our kids, parents sit up a bit straighter and pay a little closer attention.  The same is true when I talk about dehydration in our children.  That’s right, our kids, and especially our teens, aren’t drinking enough water and it’s contributing to headaches, weight gain, fatigue, concentration problems, skin problems, and worse.  And, I really see some horrified faces when the discussion turns to processed and fast foods.  As I posted recently here on “Health with a Healing Touch”, “If We Are What We Eat, We May Be in Trouble”.

I actually outline 10 ways in total that parents are unknowingly putting their children on the path to ill-health.  Originally I was worried this presentation might not be very well received; nobody wants to be preached to or told they’re doing something wrong.  However, it’s been totally the opposite!

Parents have thanked me for speaking openly and honestly about the mistakes I’ve made raising my own daughter and son.  They appreciate learning about less expensive, less invasive, less dangerous and more natural ways of treating common childhood conditions like ear infections, allergies, ADD/ADHD and asthma.  They also love my very practical wellness lifestyle tips for a modern family on the go.  Hey, I’m a working mom with active kids, just like you!

I figure that we parents need to stick together because if word gets out, our kids might be pretty upset about some of the things we’ve done!  If you agree, I hope you’ll consider inviting me to an upcoming mother or parents group meeting to share “10 Ways Parents Unknowingly Sabotage their Kids Health…And How to Fix it Before the Kids Find Out!”  My assistant, Courtney, knows my schedule, can answer your questions, and reserve a date on my workshop calendar for your group.  Just don’t tell the kids!

That’s a scary thought, isn’t it?  Just picture it…You’re walking along, minding your own business, and…BAM!  Not a pretty site.

While maybe not quite that graphic, for many this image isn’t far from the truth.  For today’s post I wanted to get back to basics and share about a condition called Vertebral Subluxation Complex.  As a doctor of chiropractic, it’s a condition I deal with daily.

Vertebral Subluxation Complex (Subluxation for short) is a term used to describe misalignments of the vertebral bones along the spine.  When subluxations are present they can put stress and pressure on the surrounding nerves and cause irritation at the site, as well as interference in the communication between the brain, nerves, cells, tissues and organs connected with the affected nerves.

Here’s what you need to know…

• Subluxations don’t discriminate; regardless of your age, your gender, your race, your lifestyle, and your occupation, your health could be deteriorating due to undetected misalignments.  I’ve seen subluxations equally in babies and older adults, in men and women, in office workers and construction workers, in marathon runners and couch potatoes.  No one is immune.
• The body is self-regulating and self-healing…that is as long as there is no interference in its ability to function.
• Subluxations stress the nervous system.  Studies repeatedly show that ninety percent of all illness and disease is linked to stress, and once you understand what stress is, and the effects of stress on the nervous system, it’s easy to understand why.
• Doctors of Chiropractic are the only health professionals who specialize in the detection and correction of Subluxation Complex.
• If you’re NOT subluxation-free, you’re NOT living to your fullest potential.
• Subluxations can result in various symptoms, and even pain, although most subluxations cause no pain at all and their full effects may not become evident for months or even years.

And, that’s what makes the condition so concerning, and the loss or deterioration of your health very real.  Because subluxations often go undetected, the irritation they cause exacerbates, leading to more complicated health issues down the road.  An analogy I often share with my practice members is that subluxations are similar to cavities in the teeth.  Thankfully your dentist will find a cavity before pain is felt, yet the damage has still been done. This is why I recommend, just like regular dental visits, that you receive periodic spinal evaluations to check for the presence of subluxations and other spinal abnormalities, even in the absence of pain.

If you’re in pain or experiencing symptoms, it’s time to listen to the message your body is sending you and schedule a spinal health checkup with your chiropractor today.  If you’re not in pain or experiencing symptoms, get checked anyway to be safe.  If you don’t have a chiropractor, it would be my pleasure to fill that role for you and your family.