by Dr. Matthew | Jun 11, 2013 | Chiropractic Care
My grandfather, Charlie, or Paw-Paw as I knew him, was an accomplished carpenter. In fact, he was responsible for building many of the bar tops that still operate in New Orleans today. He was a man that knew what his purpose was, and he lived it religiously. Paw-Paw would get so involved in his work, that he even lost a few fingers in his time! Of course that was in the day of less safety equipment, with guards on saws, or even eye protection. One of the things I remember so clearly about my grandfather, was that he couldn’t see clearly at all.
This was for a couple of reasons. For one, my grandfather had an accident as a child when he lost vision in one of his eyes. It was a firearm accident, in which gun powder found it’s way into his left eye. As tragic of a story this is for his left eye, the right eye has a more humorous reason for decreased clarity.
You see, the right eye worked rather well. Charlie did need prescription glasses for a simple case of nearsightedness, however the true cause for his lack of clarity in his right eye, was that he always had sawdust on his glasses. Let me explain…
Not just a little sawdust, it would be obvious to anyone within 20 feet. The sun wouldn’t need to hit the lens just right to see the dust, and grime. No, this layer of dust would require the type of cleaning that would need much more than a shirt-tail to get the job done. To clean his lenses would require moisture to get through the soiled lenses! The phenomenon truly would baffle me, and still does to this day.
Imagine this:
You have one eye that you can use to see, on this one eye, you have to wear glasses. One would think that this last eye would be seen for what it truly was: The last opportunity to be able to see the world in which you live! I’d venture to say that I would pamper this right eye beyond all measure. I would treat that eye like it was the most vulnerable part of my body. And yet, Paw-Paw would literally get into his life’s work of carpentry, thus ignoring this main form of input to the human experience. Paw-Paw would deny his only hope of sight, a clean lens in which to see. His life experience, already dulled by 50%, would decrease even further.
Do you see a comparison to your life?
So many of us experience life with dirty lenses. The lens I am referring to is your nerve system. The truth is that your nerve system can work dirty. In fact, it can get quite a bit done, if it has a little dirt on it. But here is where your life becomes limited. You get acclimated to the dirty lens. Slowly throughout your life, the dirt and dust and grime of your life’s work builds up. Your confused, you never “saw” it coming. Your life was limited, and you didn’t even notice.
Sometimes it takes a different perspective. Sometimes it takes a friend to tell you to clean your lens. Believe me, they can’t see the dust. You will have to wipe it off for them. And when you do, they will be so very thankful, but that’s not why we do it. We clean the lens because it’s the right thing to do. We clean the lens because we care, because we know that only through a clean lens can the body actually work the way it was designed.
by Dr. Matthew | Jun 1, 2013 | Chiropractic Care
Do you participate in activities at work, school, and at home? Are you involved, really involved, in the life of your children? At the end of the day, are you fully exhausted, knowing that you gave your all, with nothing left to give?
My favorite part of a sporting event is the very end. The last play in the basketball game. A real nail biter, where the time is going away, and the underdog has the ball. It’s that moment when you know the whole game is hinged on the next shot. Everyone gets involved in this last shot. Everyone on the court is truly involved in this play. You will see the absolute best of every individual at that moment. Whether defense or offense, everyone is fully participating to the best of their abilities…wide awake.
Imagine if you had the energy, the focus, the determination to be wide awake at the precise thing that you wished to make better in your life. Whether you feel you are coming up short at work, or at home, we want you wide awake.
Look to your nervous system first. We were meant to be wide awake. Today, I see more people that are disconnected than ever before. It’s time to function the way that we were designed to function. Turn on your nervous system with chiropractic care, and live the life you were meant to live…wide awake.
by Dr. Matthew | May 15, 2013 | Chiropractic Care
Results in your health come from a handful of important things you can do to be healthy. You do not have to be perfect, to be healthy. I see this incorrect thought all the time in healthcare.
EXAMPLE:
A patient goes to a healthcare provider. For this example, let’s say a chiropractor. The patient is immediately told that he or she needs to receive chiropractic care, along with other recommendations to stop the progression of ill-health, and diminished life experience. Sounds about right, however here is the issue that often ensues:
How many “other recommendations”?
Most of the time it will involve:
vitamins
pillows
orthotics
electric stimulation
heat or ice
massage
exercises
stretches
diet modification
detoxification remedies
gels or lotions (biofreeze)
The chiropractor may actually believe that these things are good for the patient, and some may be, however are they really necessary? The truth is that my own profession will often overstep their knowledge, and profession, by recommending things that are out of the scope of chiropractic. That is not what we do.
We do one thing, and we do it well. We adjust. In order to adjust, we analyze the spine and nervous system for the presence of subluxation. A subluxation is interference to the impulse in your nervous system. We find that subluxation, and remove it. If we find that there is something else that you need other than chiropractic, we will refer you to the proper intelligent individual in that specialty.
by Dr. Matthew | May 9, 2013 | Chiropractic Care
How much will it take..
to be healthier?
to make a change?
to see the change?
to feel the change?
to heal?
It depends on..
how long has your health been neglected?
how much stress have you undergone?
how much stress are you still under?
whether you will follow my recommendations.
whether you are committed to changing.
These are the questions we find answers to in the first couple of visits in our office. It takes time for me to get to the answers, however the answers that I receive from our consult, and the examination are instrumental in determining the course we take.
The largest factor truly is this:
How long have you neglected your nervous system?
by Dr. Matthew | May 8, 2013 | Chiropractic Care
For everything there is a season.
-Ecclesiastes III, KJV
There is no process that does not require time.
-BJ Palmer
Time is one of those subjects that your doctor will not want to talk about. Most people, in fact, will try to play into the hands of the consumer with their wishes. Most patients, consumers, and customers want the goods NOW. Sometimes that is possible. Sometimes all it takes is one adjustment, and that individuals life visibly and completely changes. I had that happen just this week. However, more often than not, healing, and therefore changes, take time.
The real question is, “How much time?”.
That depends on how much time it took for you to get in this condition. Notice I said, “condition”. I did not say, “How long have you had the symptom?”. Once the length of time of the condition is discovered, then and only then can an educated answer with regards to time occur.
Fortunately, the body heals faster than it will degenerate. From my experience, the average patient will take 1 month to heal 1 year of condition. Therefore, if the condition is found to have been present for 20 years, then 20 months is healing time. Another fortunate for you, is that what you feel (your symptoms) will clear up much sooner than your healing time.
