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Lost Coverage. Found Health

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Millions of people in the United States are losing their insurance coverage. With all the confusion about insurance, the focus and concern for many Americans and people everywhere is, “Will I have insurance coverage in case I get sick or injured?” While the concern over coverage is important, this question ignores the basic fact that having coverage for sickness and being healthy are two completely different issues.

Do we want to have this “insurance” to cover us? Sure. But good coverage does not replace poor choices. The best insurance of all is to eat healthy quality food, keep yourself fit and at your ideal weight, reduce stress, have a positive attitude, and keep your structure, spine and nervous system healthy.

Just because you are “covered” doesn’t mean you are healthy. In fact, if you have “coverage” and make poor health choices, you are much more likely to wind up sick, injured and suffering unnecessarily.

Don’t misunderstand – good coverage is a very good thing. Unfortunately, too many people are living unhealthy lifestyles and are headed down the sickness path. It’s time to change paths.

We are the first generation in history that is getting the advance notice that whether we like it or not, want to or not, we will probably live longer than we ever thought. According to the British Medical Journal, 50percent of the babies born since the year 2000 are expected to live to 100. The important question is what will your quality of life be like along the way?

The US ranks 51st in life expectancy compared to other industrialized nations and 44th in infant mortality. 60percent of the population is overweight and over 30percent are obese. Medical errors cause over 100,000 people to die each year unnecessarily, and we are watching the numbers of people with preventable illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer and autoimmune problems climb.

For a small number of those who suffer from a genetic problem, medical intervention can help save lives. Trauma from injuries and accidents may also be handled well by our current system, saving lives. But the vast majority of people that are seen by doctors have problems that can be directly correlated to unhealthy lifestyles; therefore, most likely preventable.

Too many people suffer through the last decades of their life because of poor choices along the way. Whether they have good coverage or not, every single one of those people who are suffering would choose being healthy and not needing the coverage over getting sick.

The 100 Year Lifestyle is about staying healthy throughout your entire lifetime. It’s about healthy choices including good nutrition and exercise, along with health care choices that are proactive including keeping your spine and nervous system well-adjusted with chiropractic Lifestyle Care.

Having insurance for the crisis care can be very valuable but not as valuable as the day to day choices you make to stay healthy.

Chiropractors are leading the way in communities around the world, teaching people how to live healthy and thrive rather than just survive. You owe it to yourself to discover your true value and potential and you hold the key to that potential in the decisions you make day to day. We will stand with you to help you on this journey.

Contributed by Dr. Dennis Buckley and Dr. Eric Plasker

Learning From Symptoms

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There’s a lot we can learn from symptoms. If you have been suffering from symptoms for any length of time, I’m sure you are tired of the learning process. However, the more you learn about them, the better you are able to make choices that get your body functioning at a higher level of health.

Lesson 1: Symptoms don’t always mean your body is broken. If you have ever had food poisoning for example, you know that the symptoms are extremely unpleasant and can cause incredible discomfort. When your body is working properly, it responds by violently eliminating the toxins as quickly as possible through the symptoms of diarrhea and vomiting. This is an example of symptoms that occur in a person whose body is working properly.

Fever is another example. The ideal temperature that bacteria enjoy is 98.6 degrees, which we all know is the normal body temperature. However, when we are under a lot of stress, over exposed to toxins in the environment or bacteria, the body will cause the symptom of raising its temperature to fight off the infection. This is another sign that the body is working the way it is supposed to.

Lesson 2: Symptoms can notify you of an area of your body that’s been injured. Injuries can occur in an area of the body that can cause you to feel it differently than normal. Pain in your back, neck, arm or leg can indicate that you have been injured. If the injury is not related to an underlying condition, like a cut or a bruise, the body’s self-healing, Innate Intelligence goes to work and within a few days or weeks, the symptoms usually disappear.

Lesson 3: Symptoms can notify you of an underlying condition, but not always. Waiting for symptoms to present before taking care of yourself is not a good idea. Underlying conditions can range in severity and variety, and absolutely must be addressed whether there are symptoms present or not.

Lesson 4: Treating symptoms with drugs can make you feel better while worsening the underlying cause. This is often true with people who take pain medication on an ongoing basis without addressing the cause of the pain. It’s also true for people who take ulcer medicine to alleviate their stomach pain while not addressing the ulcer’s cause. Athletes who take shots so they can feel better for the game run the risk of doing more severe damage to their body. People who get adjustments often feel better quickly, which may be great for today but the underlying subluxation still needs to be addressed.

Lesson 5: True health care is not about treating symptoms. Webster’s defines health as “the condition of an organism with respect to the performance of its vital functions.” To be truly healthy, your focus should be primarily on how your body is functioning rather than just how it feels. When you understand this approach, the health of your nervous system becomes your top priority.

The purpose of your nervous system is to control and coordinate the function of every cell, tissue and organ of your body, and adapt you to your environment.

Chiropractic examinations are essential to a healthy nervous system. They can reveal underlying problems in your spine that can lead to all types of health problems. Additionally, having good posture, getting plenty of rest, eating nourishing foods and exercising can also keep your nervous system healthy.

Don’t wait until you feel symptoms to get checked. Make Chiropractic Lifestyle Care a part of your “Lessons Learned” and enjoy a great quality of life to 80, 90, 100 years and beyond.

Bigness Within You

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There is a Bigness within you and it’s not about your size. It’s the amazing Innate Intelligence that runs your body which cannot be duplicated in a laboratory. In fact, if you tried, it would drain all the money in the world with no guarantee of success.

Yale University Biophysicist, Dr. Harold J. Morowitz, has confirmed scientifically that a pound of human flesh is worth about $111,475 and a whole body around $6 million. “Those prices only cover the raw materials, the hormones, proteins, enzymes, RNA, DNA, amino acids, and other complex biochemicals that are the stuff of life,” Dr. Harold J. Morowitz says.

“Fashioning the $6 million dollar chemical shopping list into human cells might cost $6,000,000,000,000,000 (six thousand trillion dollars),” Morowitz estimates. “Assembling the resulting heap of cells into tissue, the tissue into organs, and the organs into a warm body might drain all the treasures of the world, with no guarantee of success.”

Fortunately, the blueprints and the know-how to assemble the raw materials into your warm body were present at the moment you were conceived. Your Innate Intelligence stays with you every day and coordinates the massive amount of functions that occur every second in your body using your nervous system as its conduit. These numbers are staggering as well:

– A fully formed human brain contains 100 billion neurons or nerve
cells and gives off the equivalent power of a 20 watt light bulb.

– The human brain has the storage capacity of 100 trillion bits of
information over the course of 70 years, equal to 500,000 sets of the Encyclopedia Britannica books, which, when stacked, would reach 442 miles high.

– You have 45 miles of nerves in your body that send impulses as
rapidly as 325 miles per hour. Your brain and your body communicate instantly.

The amount of work that is coordinated by your Innate Intelligence over your nervous system is incomprehensible. Think about this:

– Breathing one pint of air 17 times a minute, we take in 78 million gallons in an average life span, enough to fill the Hindenburg airship one and a half times.

– 8,000,000 new red blood cells are produced in the bone marrow every second.

– 2100 gallons of blood are pumped through 62,000 miles of blood
vessels in a day.

– Your heart pumps enough blood in an average lifetime to fill the
fuel tanks of 56 moon rockets.

As long as you are alive and breathing, this Bigness within you is present and striving to heal you when you are sick or injured and keep you functioning at your full potential for 80, 90, 100 years and beyond. Unfortunately, there can be interference to the function of your nervous system from injuries that occur in the spine called vertebral subluxations. These spinal problems can be caused by birth trauma, childhood falls, stress, poor posture, accidents or other injuries which can affect your health on many levels.

Research shows that pressure equivalent to the weight of a dime can reduce spinal nerve transmission. Nerve compression can exist without pain and after just two weeks, leave serious damage to the nerves and the parts of your body supplied by those nerves.

The chiropractic care we provide can locate and remove this interference so the Bigness within you is freed up to do its job to the best of its ability. Whether you have symptoms or not, this checkup may be the most important decision you make this year. Make it today and don’t wait for a crisis. The bottom line says you are worth it!

Motivation for Lasting Change

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“Happy New Year!” How many times have you said these words to family, friends and coworkers? How many times have you said it over the past decade or two? How many times has it been said to you? Every one of us wants to have a happy, healthy New Year.

To ensure that this is your best year ever, there may be some things that you need to change and you probably already know what they are. Are they the same things you were thinking about last year? This time, let’s make these changes your new lifestyle.

To make changes that last, you will need to determine what your primary motivation for change has been in the past. Has it been crisis or quality of life?

Crisis motivation is caused by pain or suffering that has become so bad it forces you to take action. Crisis motivators include a health scare such as a heart attack, herniated disc or being diagnosed with a disease. For too many people, crisis motivation is their reminder to go to the chiropractor for a series of adjustments. Crisis motivation can also come from not being able to wear your clothes because they don’t fit anymore. Divorce, bankruptcy and a job lay-off are also crisis motivators that may get you moving and motivate you to make the changes that are inevitable. Crisis motivation does not lead to lasting change.

Quality of life motivation is inspired by the desire to live your best life today and every day. Think about what you want and the kind of life you want to live. Do you want to be healthy? Do you want a healthy relationship? Do you want to perform well at work or in sports? Quality of life motivation will lead you from survival to a life where you are thriving and living your ideal 100 Year Lifestyle.

Too many people live from one crisis to another crisis and never make the Critical Transition to the quality of life they deserve. We see this in some people who return with the same or similar condition year after year only with more deterioration and chronicity because they have not made the Critical Transition to Lifestyle Care. How many years will you let pass by before you make your health a priority and make quality of life your primary motivator?

People that have made the Critical Transition from Crisis Care to Lifestyle Care are enjoying a much healthier quality of life and are optimizing their potential with their choices. They get their spine checked as a lifestyle. They make healthy eating a lifestyle. They make being fit a lifestyle. Are you ready to make the transition?

When it comes to health care choices, any person at any age can benefit from chiropractic care as they make changes towards a healthier lifestyle. If you or a loved one are in the middle of a crisis or you are ready for lasting change, contact us to find out how we can help you on your journey to living your best life every day starting with today.

How Much Pain Can You Tolerate?

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“How much pain can you tolerate?” is a very interesting question. Some people have a high pain threshold and are very “macho” in their approach as they act like they can handle anything. On the other hand, many others have a mild to moderate threshold and search for a cover up to eliminate their unpleasant feelings. Based on the astronomical statistics of pain medication use, our level of tolerance has gone way down.

In the United States the total cost of health care related to pain is approximately $600 billion and the cost to employers dealing with employees who have reduced work productivity due to pain is in the neighborhood of $100 billion per year. An Auburn University study showed that 67 percent of children suffered muscle soreness, 51 percent back pain, 24 percent numbness and 15 percent shoulder pain. Studies from John Hopkins Children Center and many other places have shown that backpacks cause back and shoulder pain and poor posture in children. Between 1997 and 2005, the medical expenses for individuals with spine problems grew from $4,695.00 to $6,096.00 per person.

According to CBC News, 54 percent of Canadian seniors report that chronic pain is interfering with most of their activities. The National Population Health Survey found that seniors who saw their pain increase over a two-year period were more likely to be unhappy or have a negative impression of their personal health at the end of that period. In younger Canadians between the ages of 12 and 44, 10 percent are already experiencing pain that is affecting their life and limiting their activities.

Too many people look to manage their pain by numbing their feelings with non-prescription or prescription drugs. Certainly in extreme cases this may be helpful as any compassionate person would agree; however, managing pain with medication as part of a lifestyle rather than getting to the cause can lessen your body’s natural pain tolerance and cause horrible side effects including nausea, sleep disruption, lack of mental clarity, lack of energy, depression and potential damage to key organs such as the liver, kidney and heart. Overuse can create unintended addictions to pain medication that can lead to even more challenges and difficulties in your life.

Chiropractic care is a much better option for both acute and chronic pain sufferers. First of all, a chiropractic examination can locate areas in the spine that are out of balance and are putting pressure on nerves which can contribute to nearly every type of pain condition.

Crisis Care, the type of care that is delivered when someone is in pain or suffering from a health problem, is delivered with frequent visits close together to begin realigning the spine, reducing inflammation and pressure from the nervous system, which usually provides relief and stability within a few weeks or months.

The next phase of care, called the Critical Transition, is critical because it provides consistent care with less frequent visits stretched out over a longer period of time regardless of how people feel so the spine, nervous system and body can begin to regenerate. It is this phase of the care that is necessary to support an active, healthy, long life that is either free from chronic pain or certainly makes pain much more manageable.

Unfortunately too many people ignore this Critical Transition because they feel better and they go back to the destructive habits that caused their deterioration in the first place. This behavior, including numbing their pain with drugs, can only lead to more deterioration and pain even though you experience relief from the pills. Continuing your chiropractic care through the Critical Transition breaks this cycle and gives your body the chance to adapt and truly heal for the long haul.

Isn’t it time that you decide to not tolerate a pain and medication based lifestyle and the deteriorating future that it promotes? Take care of your spine and nervous system so that your body can heal itself and enjoy the quality of life you deserve.

Discipline & A Healthy Life

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Live More

“Discipline is getting yourself to do something you don’t necessarily want to do to achieve a result you really want to get.” – Andy Andrews

Most people want to be healthy, want to feel good, want to function well and live a long life. This does not happen by accident. The healthiest and happiest people on the outside have usually done a lot of work on the inside or in private to achieve this goal.

The discipline it takes to be healthy requires healthy choices done consistently for a long time. If you are currently unhealthy or have bad habits many of these choices are not easy at first. Discipline requires that we develop habits, good habits, which we rely on to give us the best opportunity to have a healthy state of being.

If we can discipline ourselves and take responsibility for our lives and we practice this discipline with healthy choices, good habits will become our lifestyle, freeing us to live unencumbered by illness or injury where we enjoy the quality of life we deserve.

In regards to our physical health, we should all become disciplined in the areas of exercise, nutrition, rest and protecting our spine and nervous system through Chiropractic Lifestyle Care.

How are your habits? Are your disciplines healthy? Good habits require discipline that, when put in place, are easy to live with. Bad habits develop when you are not conscious, not responsible and do not discipline yourself. Bad habits may seem easy but they are very hard to live with.

When you are in a health crisis and suffering from a situation that requires your utmost attention, you are likely to be motivated to reclaim your health. You will usually do whatever is required and are more likely to be disciplined to get the result you want. However, as you become stable and relief has been achieved, do you make the critical transition to change your lifestyle? Do you continue on the path to achieve optimum health and peak performance levels?

Exercise, nutrition, rest, good posture and having your spine checked for nerve interference and proper function are the disciplines of many top performers in sports, entertainment and in the board room as well. Top performers are disciplined and make chiropractic care part of the health disciplines they practice regularly so their nervous system can function properly, which is vital to good health.

As it says in The 100 Year Lifestyle, “Learn to love the things that are good for you.” By being disciplined today and every day you are more likely to enjoy a longer, healthier life. See you at your next appointment.

Contributed by Dr. Dennis Buckley
The 100 Year Lifestyle Licensed Affiliate Chiropractor in Pasadena, CA