Where do you even start when you remember this date 10 years later? I remember exactly where I was. I was in my first hour class in chiropractic school and a girl that is always late came in and sat in front of me and said she just heard that a plane flew into one of the twin towers in New York. We all thought that was weird and then we went on with class for about 10 minutes and then the whole school responded. There were TVs on in every common area and we all began to process what this meant for the United States. Things would never be the same. I am humbled and stand in reverance to all of the families and individuals affected by this date.
"Man, my sinuses have been acting up lately... i need to go to the Chiropractor". - This message was emailed to me from a patient over the weekend. He was explaining how this is now the new normal in his household instead of tylenol or over-the-counter sinus relief. I'm excited to see that the education process in our practice is paying off and people's lives are being impacted.
Sinus and Allergy symptoms are some of the most troubling symptoms there are and they affect people year round. We have had a good amount of success in our practice with children and adults seeing their symptoms reduced and sometimes even completely resolved.
I think of one patient in particular that has lived on allergy medicine his entire life that now no longer takes anything and his symptoms are nearly nonexistent.
This past week in the office a miraculous thing took place. A patient of mine that came in almost 6 weeks ago practically carried by his assistant because of his pain, now sits up and looks me in the eye after his chiropractic visit and says the unimaginable. "You know doc, I can't believe it, but I feel fantastic." He said FANTASTIC and he gets better with every visit. If you could have seen this guy 6 weeks ago you and I both would have said this is impossible.
He said he was completely skeptical the first week or two because no change was happening, but then he started having progress and gaining momentum. He is sleeping 8 full hours uninterrupted from pain, which was maybe an hour or two at a time before. He is working without anything close to the pain he was having before. He is truly getting his life back.
He said even things he didn't tell me about initially are improving like his aching feet after work. He said he used to get home from work and just collapse because of the pain in his feet. That is so much better he can barely believe it. He is definitely on his way to a new lease on his life and we are thrilled to be a part of it.
Real quick, I had another patient telling me how he feels better than he has in probably 10 years and this is only his 3rd week coming to us. That's amazing. We truly love the stories that are happening in our patient's lives.
Let me tell you the most recent story of a family with a 4-month-old boy that has been colicky since day 1 at the hospital. He has been a disgruntled baby to say the least. He slept 6 hours a day and it took all types of routines and specific scenarios to try and get him to sleep. Crying was an understatement. Never comfortable to lay on his back for any amount of time. He would cry and scream a lot while in the car seat driving different places. Mom and dad were literally at their end and have tried almost everything.
We met this little guy just a few days ago and after an exam and consultation decided to begin chiropractic care. Although mom was very nervous of the unknown and pursuing chiropractic that seems a little scary for a baby, she was willing to try about anything. I explained to her that this process is extremely gentle and that I see a few reactions with babies after an adjustment of the spine. Those can include more upset and cranky, calmer, they may sleep better and they may fill a few diapers if they have been constipated, or there may be little difference at first. I like to let them know so there are no surprises. I explained to this mom of another baby in the practice that was sleeping only an hour at at a time who actually slept for 6 solid hours after his first adjustment.
We adjusted the patient and the parents returned the next day explaining that this was a different kid. He hasn't been crying and he only got up a few times during the night. The next morning he was lying on his back to get changed without fussing. He seems so much more calm. They are blown away. Wow. This is the kind of story that defines why we are so passionate about what we do. This is obviously the beginning of the journey, but it is certainly an amazing start.
In my practice I am seeing a landslide commonality of disorders related to the upper thoracic part of the spine. Within the spinal cord, at the base of the neck and in the upper back, this part of the nervous system affects the heart, lungs, thyroid, and lower arms. When this area has dysfunction and abnormal movement I am finding a direct connection to one of the four symptoms I listed. This is so prevalent that I see the signs in most people over age 25, especially women. The cause of this common problem in the spine is posture related. In nearly all cases their is forward head posture that is increasing the load on the upper back and gravity begins forcing the head more forward and the upper back curves abnormally. This leads to strain in the upper thoracic spinal cord and then we have conditions like asthma, heart disease, thyroid dysfunction and carpal tunnel more prevalent. Although there are many causes of these disorders I am theorizing, based on practical exposure to countless patients, that poor postural habits are a contributing factor.
I'm often asked by parents if their child's behavior problems like Attention Deficits, Hyperactivity, acting out and overall disruptive behaviors, can be affected by chiropractic care. In my experience in practice I am discovering the answer to that question to be an absolute yes. I have had so many children that parents have tried about everything with and still not getting an acceptable outcome. The theory that chiropractic helps these children is the basic understanding that the spine itself encases the spinal cord and central nervous system. The nervous system essentially controls all functions including decision-making and movement. If a child has stress and tension in their spine causing a tension on the nervous system then we are finding that is one of the contributors to some of the challenges parents are facing. Obviously there are so many factors that play into a child's behavior issue, but we are finding consistently this to be true in our office and we see the improvements with chiropractic care. Recently we had a 5 year old boy that has had a lot of trouble at school and was one step away from getting asked to be taken out of the program for a while. After we have been under care for a few weeks his mother told me he has had "green days" since we started which means very good. She said, "I don't know exactly what you are doing, but it's working and let's keep doing it." That is an amazing testimony to how chiropractic can truly, directly affect a child's behavioral challenges. If your child has challenges and you would like to know if we can help you then get scheduled for an initial spinal screening. Go to our website for info. www.drbecking.com
How do incontinence and bed-wetting fit into a title with chiropractic? Mainly because not many people understand that these two disorders can potentially be helped with chiropractic adjustsments. I am thinking of several patients that have come in with lower back pain and no mention of the bladder issue or the dysfunction. I can think of one women in particular who came in because her feet hurt something fierce and she had lower back pain. She was too embarassed to tell me about the incontinence. After several visits in our office this patient told me that her bladder issues were almost gone and she was shocked with the outcome she was getting so far from my office.
It's interesting how many people think it is normal to have regular allergy and sinus problems just because they live in Missouri. Many patients that come into me for their neck pain or upper back pain also discover that some of the very complaints they have had relate to their sinus and allergy problems. Did you know that the upper part of the spine and spinal cord relate directly to sinus problems and allergies? Most often when I find misalignment in the upper neck of a person I can predict that person either has sinus problems, allergies or at least ear problems. We have been able to help a lot of people over the nearly 6 years we have been doing this.