In our fast-paced, hectic society, we often don’t make the time to really take good care of ourselves and “suddenly” find ourselves in pain, poor shape, over-weight or in bad health. It never really happens all of a sudden though – it happens gradually and slowly over time. You may not notice something is wrong until something is seriously wrong. But be certain, there were subtle or even not-so-subtle problems occurring for months or years before things seem to show up.
Most health problems are like that: you don’t start experiencing symptoms until months or years after a disease process has started. For example, with heart disease, it is well known that plaque is forming in the arteries for as much as 25 years before symptoms appear. And the first symptom in about half of all heart attacks is sudden death! That doesn’t really leave adequate time to do something about it if you decide to wait for symptoms to occur.
Ongoing and proper care of your body is vital for your overall health, energy and longevity. Just like you can’t expect your car to run without regular attention to the fluids, tire alignment, brake pads, etc., you shouldn’t expect your body to run at full capacity without some ongoing maintenance. Often, people don’t visit their chiropractor until they feel something is wrong or are in pain.
However, as with most things in life, it is a lot easier to prevent the big problems than it is to fix them once they develop. Your spine is under continual and constant stress throughout the day. It is affected by stress, nutrition, toxicity as well as mechanical forces such as sitting or standing for long periods, lifting improperly and repetitive activities. The slight subluxations (vertebra which are out of alignment) that occur when you don’t even notice them are none-the-less interfering with proper nerve flow, circulation, etc. It is very important to keep your spine aligned and moving properly so that good neurological communication can occur on an ongoing basis.
For example, if you have a vertebra out of alignment and pushing (even slightly) on nerves that control the stomach, you can have symptoms of heartburn, your food might not digest fully and you end up with poor nutrient absorption, gas or numerous other gastro-intestinal disturbances. Over time, this scenario can cause serious health problems which may have been completely preventable if you had maintained regular chiropractic care which helped keep your spine aligned and nervous system unimpeded.
In order to get or stay healthy you need to eat a well balanced diet, exercise sensibly and regularly, keep your stress levels low, get a good night’s sleep every night and maintain regular chiropractic care to help prevent problems BEFORE they become major issues. Don’t wait for things to get bad to do something about your health. I want you to live a full and healthy life!