February 2003

Contents

1. Freedom – Chiropractic Style
2. Question of the Month
3. Fitness Corner – New Feature!
4. Health News
5. Office Happenings

Freedom – Chiropractic Style

Freedom is a very powerful word. Freedom is the ability to exercise choice. Freedom is also the capacity to engage in certain actions without interference. The concept and principles of freedom are enormous: countries have been founded on it, societies run by it and wars have been fought over it. Chiropractic care shares many similarities with the definitions that are mentioned above because it offers freedom for people who choose to use it.

Most people think of chiropractic care as a natural treatment of an ache or an injury, the freedom from pain. This can be valuable to the person suffering from the discomfort. It allows them to resume their normal activities, return to work or sleep through the night. They can do their housework, earn the money they need to support their family or have energy throughout their day. When the pain is no longer there, normal routines return.

People who choose regular chiropractic care enjoy the freedom of movement. Their spines and nervous systems become stronger over time. This allows them the opportunity to use their body as it was designed. This means that many people can do things they haven’t been able to do. Grandparents are able to pick up their grandchildren, people can ski for a whole day or complete a full round of golf. As the movement returns to the body, their quality of life improves.

When the health returns to the spine and nervous system, other people enjoy the freedom from medications. For some, they no longer have to take the antacids to relieve ulcer discomfort. Others can cut back on the blood pressure pills or they no longer need them. The overall health of the individual improves. The body is able to use what it already has on the inside. It doesn’t need chemical help from the outside.

The most powerful aspect of lifetime chiropractic care is the freedom from fear. This is the knowledge that your body is capable of standing up to what challenges the environment may throw at you. You know that you have the best doctor in the world working inside of you. You can rely only on yourself for health. When the media talks about the latest virus being reported in your area, rather than feeling threatened, you know your body is up to the challenge.

Regular chiropractic care offers many benefits to those who choose to use it. Less pain, more mobility, a stronger immune system and a higher quality of life just to mention a few. That’s freedom – chiropractic style.

Question of the Month

At what age should you begin to see a chiropractor?

Chiropractors work on the spine because it houses and protects important parts of the nervous system. The nervous system sends messages from your brain to all parts of your body. This allows the body to work like it was designed to work. The healthy balance between the spine and nervous system can be upset by stress. This process is called a vertebral subluxation and a chiropractors job is to remove them. Subluxations can occur during infancy. In fact, the first stressful event for the spine and nervous system can be the birth process. Crawling, walking and riding a bike are other milestones of a child’s life that impact the spine and nervous system.

As the spine increases its length, it is important that it’s free of subluxations to ensure a sound future. A child should be checked regularly by a chiropractor from birth, allowing the nervous system to do what it was meant to do – heal, guide and regulate. Today is a good day to start ensuring your child is the best he or she can be.

Fitness Corner

Welcome to our new feature. To give you up-to-date information on a key part of a healthy lifestyle, we are introducing a great free email newsletter by Scott McDermott, owner of Body Fit Fitness Centres in Sylvan Lake. It’s full of good, sound information and Scott has been producing it for over 2 years now. One of this month’s four topics: For the Best Results From Weight Training: It’s All About Form. To receive a free copy, send an email to mybestbody@shaw.ca.

Health News

Being fat at 40 cuts years off life

“People who are overweight at 40 are likely to die at least three years sooner than those who are slim, meaning that in terms of life expectancy, being fat during middle age is just as bad as smoking, researchers say.” Read more: http://www.msnbc.com/news/855580.asp?0cv=CB10

The message from the study was that it’s important to work on your weight early on because it affects your life expectancy in the long run. Health is a process, not an event and this study is further evidence of that. Spend time daily on your health, everyday for your lifetime. Where your focus goes, energy flows and results show and that includes your health.

More kids getting psychiatric drugs

“The number of American children being treated with psychiatric drugs has grown sharply in the past 15 years, tripling from 1987 to 1996 and showing no sign of slowing, researchers said.” The question of ‘why’ remains unanswered. To read more: http://www.msnbc.com/news/858825.asp?0cv=CB20

The researcher agreed that her study could not determine whether the trend represented a growing awareness of mental illness or was evidence of over-medication and mistreatment. She also pointed out that children are being medicated at almost the same rate as adults but few safety studies of the drugs have been done in children. If you refer back to our December newsletter, using these kinds of drugs makes permanent changes in adolescent brains. This is an alarming trend.

Office Happenings

1. Have a Heart Day. On Friday February 14, $5 from every adjustment will be donated to the Central Alberta Women's Outreach Society. Stop by for a Valentines Day tune-up and support a great cause!

2. Wellness Orientation Workshops (W.O.W.'s). Do you want to maximize your results from us? Attend one of our W.O.W.’s! Here are the dates for upcoming classes: Monday February 3, Wednesday February 12, Wednesday February 19 and Monday February 24. They all start at 5:30 pm in the office. Bring a friend!

3. Office Closed Family Day. The office will be closed on Monday, February 17 so we can spend time with our families. I hope you do too!