The Quick-Fix Mentality versus the Freedom of True, Deep Healing

Earlier this year, Lori was referred into our office by her good friend, James, a fellow cyclist.  James had seen us for chronic neck and low back pain.  His body gradually healed and James noticed over time that his cycling performance was getting better than ever.  James gladly referred Lori after she experienced a serious injury in which she had been thrown over the handlebars of her bike.  After the accident, Lori could barely turn her neck (left or right) and experienced shooting pains throughout her neck and upper back.  Initially, we saw Lori at a fairly intense frequency to move her body out of a fight-or-flight state into a state that could actually relax, breathe, and heal.  After about 3 weeks of care at Body In Balance, Lori stated that the shooting pains in her neck were significantly improved.  Lori was very pleased with this change but she expressed her concern that she still had dull achiness and trouble turning her head to the right.  She had already experienced great changes but expected to be symptom- free after a few weeks.  I explained that after such an intense injury, we can heal deeply and return to “normal,” or even better than our baseline state.  Time and consistency are key elements of healing.  Within about 6 weeks, Lori’s severe neck injury was healed, but after about 4 months, her long-term headaches and old shoulder injury were also healed.

We live in a quick-fix society.  We wait until a symptom arises, often wait too long until it becomes unbearable, and then try to apply a quick-fix.  If someone mentions proactive or preventive care, the response is often, “But I feel fine.”  Unfortunately, this is the mindset that gets us into huge trouble and tremendously interferes with our health.  We all know someone who “felt fine” but dropped dead of a heart attack.  Studies from the University of Colorado actually show that there is typically a 60% loss of function by the time someone actually has a symptom.  This means that not only has the body experienced dysfunction, but most likely has developed patterns of compensation that need to be addressed in order for deeper healing to take place.  While I have seen many people be symptom-free from an injury or long-term dysfunction in the body with a very short time-line of Network Spinal Analysis (NSA) chiropractic care, this rarely means the true issue has been healed.  There are many aspects of a healing process.  Typically, spinal alignment needs to change, muscles need to work in new patterns, tendons and ligaments are involved.  Deeper, longer-term healing is a process.  It typically involves time, consistency, and gradual change that the body and brain can adapt to.  What I love about what we do is that while physiology is healing, NSA improves quality of life, outlook, sense of wellbeing, and the ability to adapt to change and stress.

If you are wanting to get out of pain, chiropractic can do this.  But using chiropractic care just for pain is like buying an I-phone and only using it for its calculator.  NSA chiropractic can help people heal from physical, structural issues.  It can also help people heal from emotional wounds and trauma.  It can improve the function of the immune system, help someone physiologically adapt to stress better, and improve athletic performance.

I urge you to evaluate your health from a long-term perspective versus a short-term perspective.  Get out of the quick-fix mentality and think of action steps to improve your health and function now.  Work on those steps consistently.  We have seen some people in our office for 16 years consistently—not because they are always in pain but because they love the great health and function NSA has brought them and they want to keep that up!  NSA chiropractic is part of their lifestyle, just like exercising and getting good rest.  Others refuse to ever feel like they did before they started seeing us.  Many see us consistently because they manage their stress so much better that they cannot imagine letting their stress build in the way that it used to.  

Our mission is to create vibrant health for our community.  If you are wondering if NSA could help you on your journey towards health, call us at 303-215-0390 to receive a $49 new patient consultation and exam (normally $195). Remember, you too can Create Health by Choice, Not by Chance.