Once You Start You Can Never Stop!

Common Chiropractic Myths Number 1

We typically get asked about whether people can stop getting adjusted after they start, or someone says that “once you start you can never stop on a weekly basis”.

We will be going over the type of care that they will need in order to make life changing improvements to their nervous system and health and they will say then once, and then I don’t have to come back?

I, as well as my entire family, have been getting adjusted routinely for years, so this is a bit differently from how I think, BUT let’s take a step back and think of this objectively–and not from MY point of view.

My First Adjustment

My first exposure to a chiropractor was shortly after a severe dirt bike accident where I fractured my spine in three places.

At the time I had no idea that my spine was injured, just that my back hurt. I was 16 years old and felt like I was 100, hobbling around for 2 weeks after the accident.

It was the first time I realized how debilitating lower back pain could be.

My uncle had a good friend that was a chiropractor and suggested that I go see him. I still remember to this day asking why I should go and what a chiropractor was. He explained that I needed to get my back checked in order to make sure there was not any long term damage from the accident.

I showed up to his office and for the next hour, we looked at my posture, took a set of x-rays, explained the anatomy of the body and even got to see others being adjusted. The next day I went back into the office and he told me that my posture and X-rays looked like a 60-year-old man!

There were multiple injuries–old and new–and that I needed to get under care immediately in order to give myself and my health the best possible chance for future success.

That day I received my first chiropractic adjustment and I remember laying there and praying, “God, if you let me walk after this adjustment and if I can still use my legs, I will serve you forever.“

I took the doctor’s recommendations home and I remember my parents saying that they could not afford the care. A few weeks later my pain went away and I forgot all about the chiropractor.

My Biggest Mistake

A few years later I was recruited to play college basketball out of high school and was extremely excited to start my college career.

I transferred to a few schools and finally found a place at a school that I loved my junior year. I had struggled almost my entire college career to stay healthy.

My feet, knees, hips and back all hurt, at 18 years old.

I tried shoe lifts, PT, massage, ice baths, laser therapies and many others. I finally got to the point where I took a handful of Ibuprofen to make it through practice. My body just simply could not recover from day-to-day activities.

After my senior season, I was relieved to be done with basketball, my body hurt and I was worn out. I could not believe that every joint in my body was failing me at such an early age.

Shortly after my last season someone again recommended a chiropractor. Reluctantly I went, mostly because the chiropractor was a nice guy that came to all of our basketball games. The same X-rays were taken and those same old injuries showed up, except now the rest of my spine looked far worse.

I started care and was amazed at how good my body felt. I could jump without pain and run without taking a handful of Ibuprofen.

At the same time I was rejoicing being pain free I remember being incredibly disappointed that I had not started care years before.

All those years I thought it was just “normal”, that everyone was going through that same pain.

I truly believe I lost out on a huge portion of my college basketball career and life before I went to that Chiropractor.

Have I Stopped Regular Adjustments, and Should You?

When we look at anything worthwhile there is typically some type of time and financial commitment involved, especially with your health.

Let’s make a brief list of what we do for our bodies/health:

• See a dentist multiple times a year-or else we know there will be big dental procedures that will need to be done to catch up with our oral hygiene.
• We see our doctors for checkups where they look at different systems of our body. Listen to heart and lungs. Look inside your ears, eyes, nose and throat. Take urine and blood tests.
• We work out as consistently as possible because we all know what happens when we stop for more than a week or two-we feel tired and weaker.
• We eat as healthily as possible because again after a few weeks of not eating so well, we can see/ feel the difference.
• The list goes on.

The point is that no matter what positive health changes we make, it takes consistency at first to get the desired results, and then maintenance in order to never go back to the way we were before. We know that if we stop any of the above habits it will take more time and money to get back on track. Here’s the golden question.

“What are you doing to maintain your nervous system?”

It is the single most important system in your body. It controls every other system and cell in your body.

If it is not functioning the way that it should, then you cannot function the way that you would like. My body started to fall apart because I looked at every other system in my body except the one that controlled it all.

So the question is, once your start chiropractic care will you ever finish?

I pray that the answer to that question is NO!

Most of our practice members complete their care needed to restore the function of their nervous system.

Once there, they decide they will NEVER go back to the way they were functioning before.

They periodically come back into the office to make sure that they are still functioning at 100%. They understand that just like any important system in your body it takes upkeep and maintenance.

Some of the children in our practice will never go through the sickness, aches and pains that I had to in order to find this out. They may never be on a handful of prescription drugs in order for them to get through the day.

They will never be scheduled for surgery because they procrastinated with their spine and health. Most importantly, they will experience life the way that it was meant to be, their body and health being the vessel needed to pursue their dreams.

So the next time you get your teeth cleaned, workout, eat a good healthy meal or even take your blood pressure ask yourself, when is the last time I have done something for my nervous system?

If the answer is I saw my Chiropractor then you most likely will not be asking this question.

Blessings,

Dr. Aaron Cain