Neck Pain: Its Simple Cause and Its Simple Solution

Neck pain is an increasingly common affliction ranging from annoying to life-altering. Identifying its cause is where an understanding of neck pain’s solution begins.  Primarily, neck pain is caused by the mis-alignment of the top cervical vertebra, nicknamed the atlas or C1.  Foundationally, the area where the head and upper neck meet must be balanced or else the rest of the body compensates in adaptation.  As with any other structure, the body shifts when the foundation moves.  Each of us is born with a structural support system in our body to help carry the weight of the head on top of the neck and the rest of the body from the shoulders down.  The supports are the natural spinal curves and the discs in between the vertebrae.  When the C1 misalignment occurs, the structural support curve in the neck is lost. 

Alfred Brieg, a leading neurosurgeon, states that the loss of the support curve in the neck stretches the spinal cord and causes tension on the brainstem, cranial nerves, the cervical part of the spinal cord, and the cervical nerve roots.  This is often goes undetected for years because pain and symptoms do not always come about in the early stages and, if they do, we have been taught to use medication as a way of ignoring the pain instead of finding its source.  Kids are resilient and usually show few signs, but a generation of texting and computer use is thought to be responsible for added strain that makes symptoms arise faster than in the past. 

Normal Curve

Curve Lost

Once foundational stability is lost and the support curve in the neck is gone, the weight from the head is carried more so on the discs than is intended.  The added pressure causes the discs to break down. Spinal degeneration – a fancy way of saying structural breakdown - has long been passed off as a part of the aging process, yet generalization is not evidence.  Age causes our bodies to wear down; not break down.  Research indicates that stress on the joint surfaces is the primary cause of degeneration; the primary cause of stress on the joint surfaces is loss of structural balance; and the primary cause of structural imbalance is head and neck (foundational) misalignment.

A study was performed to compare the spinal degeneration of fighter jet pilots against their military peers.  The pilots showed significantly more degeneration because of G-forces on their bodies when they flew; increasing the stress on their joints caused their bodies to break down faster. 

It’s imperative that the head/neck misalignment is corrected as soon as possible. The sooner it is, the sooner the recovery begins. The body can readapt and re-structure once the foundation is set.

Once foundational balance is restored, food allergies, emotional stress, lack of physical activity, and medication side effect are the most common secondary causes of neck pain. The longer the causes are left undiscovered, the longer pain persists.

Thinking good things for you,

Dr. Chad

The Best Kept Secret to a Healthy Pregnancy

Pregnancy is one of the greatest examples of the human body’s innate intelligence.  The miracle that starts with a sperm and egg and ends with a trillion cells working together cohesively nine months later is truly amazing.

Unquestionably, it is a special responsibility to carry a child in the womb and it should not be taken lightly.  It is important to support the process of pregnancy as the expectant mother’s body goes through numerous changes and the developing baby moves through various stages of maturity.  An enhanced concentration on proper nutrition, for instance, is imperative.  The parents provide the cellular blueprint for the child, but the cells produced for building the baby, so to speak, come from the food consumed by the mother.  If mom eats poorly, then so does the baby. 

Supplementing healthy eating habits with ample hydration, vitamins, and essential oils ensures that mother and baby are fueling their bodies in a manner supportive of a wonderful pregnancy and birthing experience.  Yet, the single most underrated benefit for moms-to-be and their babies in the womb is Upper Cervical Chiropractic. 
 
If we concern ourselves with the quality of the nutrients that we put into our systems, then we must be equally mindful of how well our systems are working.  Though the Chiropractic profession, at large, has mainly become an alternative niche for pain relief, there are still Chiropractors whose fundamental goal is to assess and manage how well a person’s body is functioning.  Thermographic imaging, known to most of the public as a non-invasive breast cancer screening device, was developed by an Upper Cervical Chiropractor and has been used by Upper Cervical Chiropractors for over 90 years as a tool to detect abnormal function.  The inner workings of the organ systems are not black and white processes; they do not just work at 100% or 0%.  Every organ, muscle, and tissue in the body is at the mercy of our nervous system, which is designed to function optimally, but often merely functions adequately. 

The nervous system is run by the brain and the brainstem.  The brain is in constant communication with the rest of the body.  The brainstem, like a cell tower in a phone network, routes the communication between the brain and the body.  Unfortunately, the brainstem is the most common area where neurologic function is disrupted due to its position inside one of the body’s most delicate structural areas.  Exiting a small opening in your skull, the brainstem sits in the ring of the top bone in your neck.  Misalignment at that area where the head and neck meet commonly occurs during the traumas that we experience throughout life.  In Upper Cervical Chiropractic, this condition is called a brainstem subluxation.  Compensatory misalignments in the rest of the spinal column frequently follow, potentially interfering with the transmission of critical information along the vast array of nerves in the brain-to-body network. 

It is vital that moms-to-be ensure that their bodies are operating at full capacity.  Just as the baby is dependent upon Mom’s nutrition, it is also dependent upon Mom’s nervous system.  The basic flow chart of life is as follows: the brain stores the information, the brainstem directs the information down the spinal cord and along the nerves out to the organs, which produce cells and hormones.  The brain needs to maintain an open line of communication with the organs that make the cells and hormones, as over or under production can greatly influence internal actions.  Digestion, for example, results from the synergy between several different organs.  If normal functions are disrupted, the digestive process may be delayed or weakened. 

Essentially, if Mom’s body works optimally, then pregnancy should occur optimally.  There is, thus, never a time more important to evaluate the function of the human body than when a woman is pregnant.  If we view neurologic activity as a game of percentages, then it is crucial that our bodies work at or near 100% of their full capabilities.  70% of normal also means 30% abnormal.  Abnormal communication between the brain and the body leads to abnormal things happening within the brain and the body.  If Mom’s body is not functioning properly, then it will not be just her who is impacted, but her baby too. 

Disturbances in neurologic activity may affect the reproductive system during all phases, particularly as it pertains to making hormones such as progesterone - the managerial hormone of the reproductive cycle.  Progesterone prepares a female to be able to nourish a fertilized egg by stimulating the release of several proteins.  When deficient in progesterone, a woman cannot accept the egg and the menstrual cycle continues.  After conception, its job is to organize the other hormones (estrogen, et al) which then help grow a normal fetus.  It also lowers Mom's immune response so that her natural defenses do not recognize the baby as a foreign intruder and relaxes mom's uterine muscles to make room for the baby.  Without the proper level of progesterone, the biological progression of pregnancy can become chaotic.

The brain is intrinsically programmed to send the right message at the right time.  Like a super computer, the brain holds all the information and, as needed, releases instructions for when and how to use it.  Progesterone is produced in the adrenal glands, ovaries, and in the placenta (during pregnancy).  It is the brain’s ability to communicate with those organs that fundamentally dictates hormone production.  If a brainstem subluxation or any compensatory misalignment occurs, the brain may not be able to fully relay the information necessary for progesterone and other hormones to be made in the quantity required to conceive and then maintain a normal pregnancy. Upper Cervical Chiropractors identify and gently corrects these misalignments.  The upper cervical spine should be handled very delicately and the subluxation corrected very specifically.

Of course, there is also the impact of pregnancy on Mom’s structural frame to consider.  The average weight gain over nine months is between 25 to 35 pounds and, combined with the increased stress placed on the body by the baby, may result in varying levels of discomfort.  The most common reason for these aches and pains is not the weight gain itself, however, but a lack of structural balance that changes the way that their bodies are positioned to carry that weight. 

A body that is lacking in structural balance is a body under constant strain.  If the head is not level due to a structural imbalance, the body will naturally adjust to restore equilibrium.  For example, a shoulder will raise, a hip will drop, and a leg will appear to be longer than the other. If left unchecked and uncorrected, other parts of the body will also work to compensate for the basic structural imbalance, forcing the body into a constant state of repair.  This is only amplified by the additional weight of pregnancy, especially in the latter stages when the baby's head presses down on a woman's back, legs, and buttocks.  There is a natural amount of physical stress to endure during pregnancy, but when Mom’s body is already compensating and already has added tension on her joints (from head-to-toe), it creates an unnecessary additional issue.

Upper Cervical Chiropractic is important to help stabilize the spine, hips, and pelvis by keeping it all balanced, allowing expectant mothers to enjoy the process of pregnancy more than endure it.  Maintaining structural balance removes tension on the ligaments that support the uterus, reduces intrauterine constraint, and maximizes the chances of an easier labor and delivery for the mother and child.  Along with ensuring that the brainstem and nervous system are able to properly coordinate internal functions, Upper Cervical Chiropractic is an invaluable asset for moms-to-be.  It is one of the best kept secrets in healthcare.

Thinking good things for you as always,

Dr. Chad

Resiliency Through Challenging Times

I have often told patients that it would be nice if we could isolate them from the rest of the world when they began their time under Upper Cervical Care, so as not to have other issues arise independent of what their bodies need to do to get them back on an even keel. 

Everyone can relate to that.  If you’re an expecting mother and your toddler decides that they don’t want to go to bed at night anymore, forcing you to remove the afternoon nap from his/her schedule – the same nap used as “mommy time” – then it would be wonderful if stressors were not accumulating throughout the rest of your life during the transition.  If you’re planning to retire and you need to work just one more year to reach that point, then the last thing you want is a knee replacement that forces you to take time away that could have been spent inching one step closer to your career finish line.  If you’re starting a new business and your primary focus should be on letting people know what you offer, then weeks at a time trying to get a bank to loan you money gets in the way.  The bottom line is that the ideal scenario for anyone who needs to commit to one major thing is not to have several other extraneous things getting in the way. 

Unfortunately, we are rarely afforded the ideal circumstance, as true for a healing process as it is for anything else.  If we could lock ourselves in a bubble for one month and focus only on the things that we need to do in order to get well, then we would regain our health much faster.  So, how do we navigate the waters of our respective paths toward wellness when, odds are, there are going to be a few things that pile up on our plates while we’re on that journey? 

There is a basic framework that we can operate within to give ourselves the best chance to succeed – to lay a solid foundation to build ourselves into our best possible versions while life’s challenges are being thrown at us. 

It starts with the right attitude.  Resilience is defined as battling back from adversity to become stronger than you were before adversity struck.  One of the characteristic traits of resilient people is their positive outlooks on life.  Napoleon Hill, who worked with some of the most successful people of the early 20^th century to discover their commonalities, wrote that “Your mind has a secret invisible talisman [lucky charm]. On one side is emblazoned the letters PMA (positive mental attitude) and on the other the letters NMA (negative mental attitude). A positive attitude will naturally attract the good and the beautiful. The negative attitude will rob you of all that makes life worth living.”

We cannot let challenges defeat us.  We’re going to be tested, but what defeats us is not the challenges, themselves, but our attitude toward them.  People who are genuinely grounded in their faith offer us templates for to make perception work in our favor.  When they encounter a rough patch, notice how they accept it as part of their journey and move strongly forward to the next phase. 

Consider, also, that it is much easier to maintain a good attitude if we take the time to gain perspective of our situations.  Famous French philosopher, Pascal, once wrote that “All of man’s problems could be solved if he could just learn to sit alone in a room with himself for an hour.”  Amen to that.  We are bombarded daily with so much information, but rarely do we take the time necessary to process and assimilate it.  That extends to health, especially to our patients, who can vouch for the fact that we do not go easy on the education.  We try to counteract the barrage of allopathic/pharmaceutical information with a steady dose of the holistic mindset.  So, it is wise to find quiet moments to relax your mind. 

“When you connect to the silence within you, that is when you can make sense of the disturbance going on around you,” says Stephen Richards, who has written many books on the power of the mind.  Meditation is the common practice suggested by the natural health community to quiet the mind, but I know from speaking with many of you that said term has a negative connotation.  Well, really meditation is just contemplation; a fancy way of saying “sit down and think.”  We could all benefit from sitting down to think.  People of faith have a natural outlet for it (prayer), again offering us a pattern to follow. 

I get it.  I’ve always been open and honest with you about my own life and the challenges that I have, partly in hopes that you can see that just because you know the path doesn’t mean that you won’t find a winding road to travel while walking the path.  We have another baby on the way in two months and our 2 ½ year old daughter has been as challenging as she has ever been.  She was the inspiration for the nap time comment made in the second paragraph.  Her developing immune system was exposed to some sort of virus that she got over in a day, but which knocked me down hard for most of a week, thanks in large part to my being run down because the snow days knocked my office schedule into chaos.  The week before the snow storms began, my front office computer went down on the same day that my garage door wouldn’t lift.  Sometimes, it seems like it’s just one thing after another.

Each of the five essentials of healthy living – normal function, proper nutrition, structural balance, stress management, and physical activity – are important aspects of going with life’s flow (especially while trying to regain your health once you’ve lost it); they all work together to shape what your road to well-being actually looks like.  Body chemistry and hormonal balance is governed by the quality of your food, the basic activity that produces hormones is governed by your brainstem and nerve system, structural balance is largely responsible for physical well-being, and exercise keeps your structural frame durable and strong.  However, your attitude is arguably the most pertinent to today’s topic.  Thinking well makes it easier for you to be well.  Taking time to think better allows you to think well. 

Thinking good things for all of you,

Dr. Chad

Putting Your Mind at Ease About the Measles

Disclaimer - The information in this newsletter should not be interpreted as medical advice for any condition.  Dr. McIntyre is a licensed healthcare professional, but this column is intended only to make you aware and to make you think.  The primary sources cited in this article are the websites for the Center for Disease Control, the Institute of Medicine, and the National Vaccine Information Center.

Last December, a family visited Disneyland.  According to officials, one of them had the Measles virus.  Over one hundred others received the same diagnosis in the months that followed and ongoing media frenzy has ensued.

Television has a way of dramatizing even the most objective story.  Stripping away the sensationalism, the real question is: should we be concerned about the Measles?

There are 319 million people in the United States.  150 people have had the Measles, thus far, in 2015 and 644 people had the Measles last year; an infinitesimally small percentage of the American population.  To put that into perspective, between 16 and 64 million people (5-20% of US residents) are diagnosed with seasonal Flu viruses each year.  The number of new Measles cases has been waning since the first week in February and, of those already reported, none led to deaths.  In fact, there have been no deaths from Measles in the United States in 15 years. 

The symptoms of the Measles are of the variety comparable to a bad cold, with a characteristic rash being the defining characteristic that separates it from other viral infections.  Basically, it makes you feel really lousy for several days, much like with the Flu, and then you get over it. 

Considering that it is a virus that primarily attacks the developing immune systems of younger children, it is perfectly reasonable for parents to be alarmed by what they are seeing on the news.  However, the situation has been over exaggerated.  One California Pediatrician was even quoted as saying that “Our nightmare would be for someone to show up at our door with the measles.”  Such an attitude has helped create unwarranted fear throughout the public and suggests a fundamental misunderstanding of the virus.  Even at its height over five decades ago, the Measles was responsible for just 500 deaths in 500,000 diagnosed cases per year (0.001%).  Can the Measles be dangerous?  Yes, but not to the degree that should elicit widespread panic.  If you evaluate what the Measles does rather than what it can do, you will find very little reason to worry. 

A simple evaluation of the situation reasonably leads to the conclusion that we can breathe easy.
 
Perhaps of greater concern is of how the Measles coverage has fanned the flames of a larger issue.  Inevitably, when there are numerous cases reported about conditions for which the general population receives a vaccination, the story shifts to the modern argument between those who vaccinate and those who do not.  A recent CNN poll revealed that 80% of American parents believe that vaccinations should be mandatory and that 60% believe that unvaccinated children should be banned from public school and daycare.  This article is not intended to draw a line in the sand and pick a side.  Contrary to popular opinion, the vaccine debate is not that black and white and, as such, is a broader topic for another day.  This article does, however, support the parental right to choose whether or not to vaccinate.  It also supports the ethical ideal of informed consent between patients and their doctors, meaning that patients get to choose what treatments are administered based on verbal and written facts about the risks and benefits. 

Many a debate should be had in regards to vaccines, but emotions often run too high (thanks in no small part to the media) for this debate not to devolve into a knockdown, drag out argument.  Hopefully, a little bit of perspective on the matter will ease the minds of anxious readers and allow cooler heads to prevail.  We have the capacity to rise above and have genuine discussions on such pressing matters. 

It might help if the two opposing sides better understood the other’s choices.  It would also be beneficial for both sides to recognize that there are more than two views.  Since much of the fervor surrounding the Measles cases has centered on the so-called “anti-vaccine movement,” though, it is important to point out to the pro-vaccine group that there are still very real concerns about the safety of vaccines.    

Thousands of severe reactions are reported to the CDC each year which have resulted in prolonged hospitalization, permanent disability, or death.  Many reactions never get reported, with some sources stating that they are “grossly underreported.”  The fact, though, is that adverse reactions happen.  $3 billion have been paid out to victims of adverse reactions to vaccines.  Yahoo Parenting published an article in February that detailed the stories of some of these victims.  The daughter of Dr. Susan Lawson, for instance, was left with permanent brain damage after receiving the MMR vaccine.  She had previously had the utmost faith in medicine, but after seeing her child become a toddler for life “felt shocked, bewildered, and guilty” by her vaccine experience.  “Like any medication, vaccines can cause side effects,” said a CDC spokesperson to the author of the article.  The MMR vaccine, in addition to adverse reactions, has been responsible for over 100 deaths since 2000. 

Scientists are unable to prove that a definitive connection exists between vaccines and so many of the potential adverse effects, but rarely are they also able to prove that a connection does not exist.  The fine print states that “the evidence is inadequate to accept or reject a causal relationship.”  No two people are exactly the same, so we may never know with 100% certainty that vaccines are or are not safe.  Thus, there may always be a debate. 

As you can see, this current Measles situation is not as extreme as it may seem, which means that our response to it does not need to be extreme either.  Using the recent Measles scare as a platform to condemn parents who choose not to vaccinate is without merit.  It certainly should not be used as a way to lobby for stripping patients of informed consent under the guise of “public health” needs. 

Upper Cervical Perspective: No matter your position on vaccines, the true issue at hand is immunity.  If you are concerned about infection, in general, there are things that you can do to build a strong immune system on your own.  Upper Cervical Care ensures the basic, neurologic component, connecting the brainstem to the brain and glands that govern immune response.  Eating your fruits and vegetables, of course, is extremely important, too.  Being active helps; keeping your body moving.  The less stress the better, as well, so if you need support in this area then make sure that you get it.  On that note, surround yourself with positive people, places, and things; it will help you keep stress manageable.  Essential oils offer a natural alternative to symptom depressing drugs and is actually a true "preventative medicine." 

Thinking good things for you, as always,

Dr. Chad

"At Today’s Rate, by 2025, One in Two Children Will Be Autistic"

Disclaimer - The information in this newsletter should not be interpreted as medical advice for any condition.  Dr. McIntyre is a licensed healthcare professional, but this column is intended only to make you aware and to make you think.

Dr. Stephanie Seneff made a bold prediction last year, claiming that the number of children with the clinical signs for autism will not just continue to rise, but will skyrocket to astronomically high levels in the next decade. Seneff, a widely published author in the research world, was alarmingly confident in her assessment, the tone of her words chilling.  Her reasoning stemmed from the “remarkably consistent correlation” found between the rising use of the weed killer, Roundup, on food crops and the rising rates of autism.  
 
When a leading researcher at MIT says, “At today’s rate, by 2025, one in two children will be autistic,” you take notice.        
 
Seneff’s work echoes the long held belief that autism is more a chemically and/or neurologically-based condition and less a condition of directly genetic origin (so deeply ingrained within the genetic code, like eye color, that we should stop looking elsewhere for causes).  Her focus is on strengthening the chemical argument, specifically citing the main active ingredient in Roundup called glyphosate and its heavy use since 1990, coinciding with the strongest spike in cases of autism occurring during the same span.  Seneff notes in her presentation that symptoms of autism are strikingly similar to symptoms of glyphosate toxicity.  Thirty plus years ago, autism was diagnosed once in 5,000 kids.  Today, it’s one in 68 by the most conservative estimates and as high as one in 20 by others.  Either number is staggering and is in need of some logical explanation.  Seneff’s findings are, at the very least, logical.

This topic is incredibly frustrating.  Scientists have not found a direct relationship between Roundup use and autism diagnoses.  Seneff counters that “most studies are too short to show Roundup’s oft-studied effects as a cumulative toxin, one that builds up both in the environment and in our bodies over time.”  Something is causing the increased incidence of autism and it may be time that we acknowledge that the scientific process should not trump what makes sense.  Much like the vaccine debate, the science is not conclusive, which is often misconstrued and mistranslated to suggest that there’s no link.  Inconclusive means that it can neither be scientifically proven nor scientifically denied.  However, it can be logically deduced.  
 
In Europe, they pay very close attention to such chemical hazards as glyphosate because it can destroy healthy bacteria in our digestive systems allowing disease to grow inside our bodies and can also interfere with our nervous systems.  According to Seneff, glyphosate is found in the breast milk of American mothers at levels that are a 760 to 1600 times higher than allowable limits in European drinking water.  Testing has also shown that Americans have 10 times the glyphosate accumulation in their urine than Europeans.  Logically, if you introduce a chemical with negative capabilities galore into food and water, then it’s reasonable to assume its potential, toxic side effects.  Every chemical has toxic side effects.  No exceptions.  To scientifically deny the harm is to deny logic.  Glyphosate is an herbicide, after all.  By its very meaning, it is toxic.  
 
Far too often, those in favor of holding these chemically based compounds (of all sorts of varieties) and the companies that produce them accountable for their ill-health effects are put on their heels, forced to prove that the compounds are dangerous.  It should be the other way around.  If you’re going to spray a chemical on our food then, dear chemical compound company, it is YOU that must prove to US that it IS NOT dangerous.  Are we to sit back for another decade and do nothing as the rates of so many diseases reset their record levels while, logically, there seem to be rather plausible causes but, scientifically, such reason is refuted through arguably flawed methods?  
 
A logical argument could also be made that the number of increases has spiked so greatly because of changes in the diagnostic criteria.  Generally, I have long been a supporter of this camp, as I feel strongly that we overdiagnose in our society across the board in modern medicine’s constant quest to label each symptom set.  Yet, I’ve seen autism and its sister syndrome, Asperger’s (a higher-functioning form), in our clinical setting.  I believe that, in this case, the condition is on our radar more than ever before mostly because its prevalence has so dramatically increased.  And we have to find out why.  
 
The Upper Cervical Perspective: I’ve been studying autism since before I graduated from school.  Autism was given its name from the Greek word “autos,” meaning “self,” as in consumed with their world.  It presents as a neurologic disorder, hence the language and information processing issues.  I believe it to be a combination of multiple causes, the two most likely being chemical insults (triggering the neurologic deficits) and developmental inhibition, either in utero or after birth.  To address the chemical insults, parents must be better informed about the things that they put into their children’s bodies (and their own, during pregnancy) and we, collectively, must hold chemical companies accountable.  “Neither confirm nor deny” is not a good enough answer.  
 
As for the developmental issue, there are two primary areas that need to be addressed: pregnancy and infancy.  A few years ago, much of the attention in research began focusing on the manner in which the brain develops, in utero.  Expecting mothers need to be aware of this.  We’re expecting again in May and our progressive thinking birthing team has stated it clearly: eat well and stay well adjusted.  Indeed, ensuring that your body functions well ensures that the baby can develop normally.  Then, once the baby is born, it’s important to ensure that the child’s delicate structural-neurological balance is not thrown off, as it can impede important developmental processes.  
 
To conclude, the aim for many of these articles is to put the information in your hands and stimulate you to think more about it.  The battle within the scientific community, as you can see, rages on.  Meanwhile, the autism rate just increased again.  So, be well and think freely.

Thinking good things for you, as always,

Dr. Chad 

A Message to the Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired

Two weeks ago, I was sitting in a coffee shop (drinking organic green tea), when I overheard a couple of college students talking about biochemistry, and then physiology.  I assumed that they were studying for careers in the healing arts.  Later, the buzzword “chiropractic” came up and, being just a few feet away, I could not help but eavesdrop.  What I heard was disappointing.  It was the same old gobbledygook started by the American Medical Association (not stirring things up; just a fact) that permeated throughout the public in the old days.  Despite an anti-trust lawsuit won by the chiropractic profession 25 years ago to stop the libelous, slanderous perpetuation of negativity by the AMA, you can still see the lines drawn in the sand between medicine and chiropractic today.

I suppose it makes sense, to a degree.  The two paradigms are, after all, based on fundamentally different philosophies.  It’s just a shame that, in order for one to be right, the other has to be wrong.  Earlier in my career, in trying to find a balance between sharing the unfortunate truths about the allopathic/medical model of healthcare and condemning it, I veered far too strongly toward admonishment.  I hope that time has mellowed my approach and is reflective in the education that I provide both verbally and through the written word.  After hearing the students bash my profession as “unscientific,” I made it a point to walk by their table before I left, introduce myself, and hand them my card and a scrap piece of paper with some suggested reading.  Such little gestures can be powerful agents of change to the uninitiated.

However, to those of us that have been initiated and that have been trying to help our families, friends, and peers to make changes, we have a responsibility to increase our efforts.  I recall, a year ago, when Mollie and I were watching my former protégé turned colleague, Dr. Josh D’Allasandro, give us a dry run of the New Patient Orientation Class that he would go onto use when he opened his office in February 2014.  At the end, after he had explained the offer that he would make to people learning about Upper Cervical Care for the first time, he said something that I’ve said a hundred times before in our office: “…if you don’t want to make an appointment, then that’s OKAY.”  I highlighted the last two words because something struck me that night, which prompted me to ask myself, “Is it really OK?”

Of course, I remain adamant to the idealization that making decisions about your health should not be driven by fear.  I don’t want somebody to become a patient at Triad Upper Cervical Clinic because they’re afraid of what will happen if they don’t.  That’s a lousy foundation upon which to build a doctor-patient relationship.  All the same, Upper Cervical Care is not a luxury; it’s an essential.  Remember my story?  I wouldn’t be who I am today without Upper Cervical Care.  It was the missing piece of the puzzle to me getting my life back.  It has played the same role for so many of you.  So, again, I posit and slightly rephrase the previous question: “Is it really OK for us to stand idly by and watch people suffer for another moment longer than they should, solutionless and without guidance?”

Throughout the year, I’ve written in many a newsletter about how we need to modify black and white thought processes about health-related matters.  Let’s do that one more time for 2014.  There is a gray area, here, that I believe we’ve been neglecting.  In regards to Upper Cervical Care, we either spread the word or keep it a secret; we tell someone a thousand times with as many rejections or just once and leave it be (if we say anything at all).  Why don’t we, moving forward, push a little harder when the person we’re telling is in dire straits?  It would be wonderful if everyone were completely ready for something different before walking a non-medical path, but sometimes, the best way to get the truth out there is just to clearly and definitively state it without reservation of how someone else might feel about it or react to it.  Those students at the coffee shop?  They need to be spoon fed new information.  The chronically ill recipient of half a dozen diagnoses on several medications per day?  Maybe it’s time we not so easily concede, constantly giving them the ball instead. 

I met a woman at our Dinner w/ Doc recently that clearly needed help in the present and not several months or years into the future (she might not have that long at this rate).  She said, “I’m not ready, yet,” when we prompted her to come get evaluated.  I asked, “With all due respect and with genuine concern, why aren’t you ready yet?”  She didn’t have an answer.  But the ball is in her court.  I decided to no longer be “OK” with everyone who wanted to wait until the perfect time (if any time) to explore their vast array of “other” options in healthcare beyond medicine.  Our system is, arguably, broken beyond repair.  To sit back and watch people go down with a sinking ship?  I’ve reached a point in my life and career where that’s no longer “OK” with me.

Many of my patients will vouch that “Dr. Chad listens.”  I am always listening.  I’m hyperaware.  Just as I hear the students try to piece together their understanding of complicated body chemistry and spew false rhetoric about chiropractic, I hear such statements as “I’ll give Upper Cervical Care a try” or “my friends just don’t get it” or “I just want to think about it for a little while” or “getting adjusted won’t help you get over that cold.”  I thoroughly observe.  I see the kids that visit the office with their parents and don’t follow through with getting them checked, the reluctance to stop bombarding their children with medications despite the statistics that we offer, and the hesitancy to fully embrace a different model of healthcare.

I want each and every one of you that personally remains skeptical to read this message clearly – and pass it along to the skeptics that you encounter: if you give your body the chance to be well, then I promise that you will regain your health.  It may take time, but you’ll get there.  Remember that the biggest difference between Upper Cervical Care and the other holistic approaches is that we aren’t aiming to treat the body; we are helping the body heal.  People don’t get truly well by being treated; they do so by healing.  As we exit 2014 and enter 2015, I am personally enhancing my goal to practice as I preach, to lead by example, and to make lasting change in this community.

Are you ready?

Thinking good things for you, as always,

Dr. Chad

How Does Healing Work?

Mollie and I wrote an article together for the November edition of the Natural Triad Magazine.  As not all of you are in a position to read it, we thought we would reprint it here for you as this month's e-newsletter, as its message is powerful.  Thinking good things for all of you!

How Does Healing Work?

By M. Chad McIntyre, D.C., and Mollie Gordon, HHC

Do you know how your body heals? Do you know what you need to heal and be healthy? Much of traditional medicine is symptom-based, and our society has gotten caught in a "Take a Pill" mentality. But what about the body? What about the healing process? What about our active role in our own healing?

There are five primary areas of healing:

• Normal function

• Structural integrity

• Positive attitude

• Nutrition

• Exercise

Normal function

The body knows how to heal. For example, when your skin is cut, the body naturally performs functions to clot the blood and repair the tissues. If normal functions are disrupted or are not working properly, though, the healing process will be delayed or weakened. What can cause a disruption? Most commonly, it occurs when the brainstem is impeded or compromised. Since the brainstem is the control center for the nervous system, which controls each organ system, any interference disrupts bodily processes. Healing and remaining in good health are largely dependent upon your brainstem properly regulating basic functions from digestion to heart rate to immunity.

So what can someone do if they suspect that they are not healing normally or optimally maintaining their health?  Visit an upper cervical practitioner for analysis of the brainstem. Upper Cervical Care specializes in this specific area of the body, safely identifying and removing potential interference with gentle corrections. Through supported health practices, the body can repair itself and health can be improved.

Structural integrity

A body that is lacking in structural balance is a body under constant strain. The body is so smart that if the structural integrity is compromised through trauma (car accidents, falls, childhood injuries, etc.), it will compensate. The body’s foundation, located where the head and neck meet, must be level to maintain equilibrium. If the head is not level due to a structural imbalance, the body will naturally adjust. For example, a shoulder will raise, a hip will drop, and a leg will appear to be longer than the other. If left unchecked and uncorrected, other parts of the body will also work to compensate for the basic structural imbalance, forcing the body into a constant state of repair instead of performing daily, routine maintenance. This will ultimately result in structural breakdown and coinciding symptoms such as pain, numbness, tingling, etc.

So what can someone do if their structural integrity is compromised? Visit an upper cervical

practitioner or massage therapist to regain and maintain structural integrity.

Positive Attitude

Do you know of anyone who is negative all the time yet still has an abundance of good things happening to them? A positive mental attitude has long been considered a key to being a successful, contributing member of society, but it has also been found to have a profound impact on healing. People who strongly believe that they will get well despite the occurrence of a dire circumstance recover faster than their pessimistic counterparts. Developing a genuinely positive attitude, not just deflecting all negative thoughts, allows us to move through life with less stress and more constructive energy. As it is known that stress is the #1 cause of disease, one of the best ways to decrease stress is to improve how we deal with it in the first place. Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond to it. Mental, emotional, and energetic road blocks can decrease your ability to heal.

So how can you improve your attitude, even when surrounded by negativity? Cultivate positive relationships, including with yourself. Develop a hobby. Read and watch positive media. Participate in workshops, seminars, or health coaching programs that help you identify your roadblocks and provide tangible solutions to overcoming them. Health coaching can really help you transform longstanding health issues and support your healing process.

Nutrition

Do you know how quickly your body regenerates parts of your body? Your stomach lining regenerates every 6-8 minutes; your liver cells regenerate every 4-6 weeks; every 4 months, you have fresh blood; every 12 months, your bones regenerate to a certain extent. In a nutshell, you are not who you were last year. Each organ, muscle, and tissue in the body is in a perpetual state of regeneration and healing through the production of new cells. We make new cells through what we consume. Would you prefer that your body make new cells for your heart, lungs, intestines, and reproductive organs with fast food or with quality, nutrient-packed food? The more chemicals that are in the food you eat, the more difficult it is for your body to properly process and use that food. You really are what you eat.

So how can you improve your nutrition? Make dietary changes, learn new recipes, work with a registered dietician or a holistic health coach. There are a lot of options in the marketplace, so keep looking until you find what works for you. And if you need help, be sure to seek out a professional who can help translate all that data into information you can use.

Exercise

Your body is meant to be active and mobile. There are several hundred muscles in the human body, and they are meant for movement. To remain sedentary for much of the day is to go against the very nature of the human frame. A person with a job that involves mostly sitting must find ways to get their body moving each day. Continued health and healing cannot be achieved without some degree of physical activity. There are so many ways that you can get exercise these days, so be sure to choose some and keep moving. Take advantage of the options that exist. Motion is vital to structural health and healing. 

So how can you improve your body's movement? Walk around the block and extra time, take the stairs instead of the elevator, or join the gym. If you need more guidance, work with a personal trainer, purchase a quality exercise DVD, or take yoga classes with instructors that will help you learn. There are lots of options, so keep looking until you find what works for you.

A body that functions properly can take the constructive foods put into it and create an abundance of normal cells.  A workout can be immeasurably more effective if the body is structurally balanced.  A positive attitude helps us manage stress.  By taking an honest inventory of these five primary areas of healing, you can identify how you can take an active role in your healing process. Then, you can expect health. Be well!!!