“Symptomatic Whack-a-Mole”

The object of the carnival game Whack-a-Mole is to use a mallet to hit as many critters as possible when they pop up in random succession. Trouble is, as you hit one mole, three more pop up and disappear before you can nail them all. Whack-a-Mole is a perfect metaphor for how people are medicated today. Unfortunately in this game you end up on a ton of drugs, for a bunch of problems, with no actual improvement in your health.

According to a NCHS Data brief by the CDC, over the last 10 years the percentage of Americans who took at least one prescription drug in the past month increased from 44% to 48%. The use of two or more drugs increased from 25% to 31%. The use of five or more drugs increased from 6% to 11%. Yet despite taking all these drugs, the US embarrassingly ranks 37th among the world's industrial countries when it comes overall health.

For Chiropractors, health is not defined by how many symptoms you can temporarily 'whack away' with drugs, but how well your body can adapt to its environment and heal under its own innate abilities.

You have more healing intelligence in your little finger than all the doctors and pharmacies in the world put together. Big Pharma doesn't believe so, but Chiropractors do. Keep your Nerve System clear and you won’t have to play their failing game.

How Bumpy is Your Wellness Wheel ???

When I was young and free and

my imagination had no limits,

I dreamed of changing the world;

As I grew older and wiser I realized

the world would not change.

And I decided to shorten my sights somewhat

and change only my country.

But it too seemed immovable.

As I entered my twilight years,

in one last desperate attempt,

I sought to change only my family, those closest to me,

But alas, they would have none of it.

And now here I lie on my death bed

and realize (perhaps for the first time)

That if only I’d changed myself first, then by example

I may have influenced my family

and with their encouragement and support

I may have bettered my country, and

Who knows I may have changed the world.

Written By an Anglican Bishop

With the center of the spoke as zero and the outside edge 100%, gauge where you are at in each area of your life. Then connect the dots. Are you rolling along in life, or is it a bumpy ride??

When we look to make changes in ourselves, it can be difficult to know where to begin. Sometimes we put a disproportionate amount of energy into one area of the wheel, then, al-though that area may improve, it throws the other areas of our lives out of balance. For exam-ple, we’ve all heard of the successful executive who worked his way to the top of his field, only to find that he’d lost his family in the process. The key is to work on the out of balance areas, while still maintaining those areas where we’re doing well. Then, once we’re in fairly smooth bal-ance, taking small steps to improve each area will allow us to expand our wheel and travel farther and faster on the road of life.

This example shows us why continuing Chiropractic care is vital to health and wellness. Chi-ropractic can have a positive impact on all areas of our life, because of the far reaching affects of the nerve system. Once we’ve done the initial work to correct the subluxations, we can’t just ignore this important area of our life. People will sometimes ask, "When am I done?" As long as we live in a world where we’re subjected to physical, chemical and emotional stresses, we’ll de-velop subluxations. When subluxations are present we’re expressing less of our potential for life and health, regardless of whether or not we have symptoms. By the time we wait for symptoms to develop, our wheel has a major imbalance and we’re running on a flat tire. Regular Chiroprac-tic care allows our body and our life to express at its fullest potential.

Develop goals for each area of the wheel and begin to take steps to balance yourself out. If you keep at it regularly, you’ll be amazed at the positive changes you’ll experience.

Chiro-Works Bayside

Dr. Alan Corin

17 South Concourse

Beaumaris, Vic 3193

9589 0076

www.chiro-works.com.au © Weekly Handouts

Chiropractic Care Increases Self Perceptions Of Quality Of Life

   A study in the May 15, 2009 issue of the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research finds that workers in high stress situations benefited greatly from a short course of chiropractic care.

    The study is a follow up to a pilot (test) study in 2007 regarding the effects of chiropractic care on public safety personnel such as city, county and state police, firefighters, 911 operators and public safety administrators who perform their duties under high stress. The 2007 study found there was enough benefit to the personnel that a larger study was warranted.

    In the latest study, 32 participants, male and female, completed a little more than 5 months of chiropractic care. At the beginning of the study, in addition to a full chiropractic examination, the participants filled out a Health Related Quality of Life questionnaire (HRQL).

    The questionnaire measured how a participant perceived six different domains of their health including: Physical State, Mental/Emotional State, Stress Evaluation, Life Enjoyment, Overall Quality of Life, and a "Combined Wellness" assessment that represented a sum of all other domains. The participants also completed the questionnaire after eight and 16 visits.

    22 of the 32 (69%) participants reported significant improvements in their HRQL scores. The remaining 10 (31%) reported no or negative change. All 32 (100%) showed significant improvements in their physiological/neurological chiropractic findings.

    Interestingly, at the beginning of the study, the group that reported no changes in their HRQL scores had higher average scores than the group that reported significant change. This indicates they began the study with a higher level of perceived health and because of this didn't report a change for the better. They felt fine already even though their physical/neurological findings were not significantly better than the group reporting change.

    Commentary: The authors point out that the hypothesis in the follow up study was the same as it was in the pilot study. "That is, chiropractic care will provide demonstrable positive benefits in regard to physical/neurological state as well as self perceptions of improved health related quality of life and wellness domains among public safety personnel."

    Critics may argue that this test only proves that chiropractic care improves a person's self perception of their quality of life, that is, it only makes a person think they feel better. If there were no improvements in their physiological/neurological chiropractic findings we might agree. But, we feel the fact that 100% of the participants showed improvement in objectively measured physiological/neurological chiropractic findings represents a pretty good correlation between functioning better and feeling better. In other words, get your body working better and all kinds of good things start to happen.

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