Greetings to you!
I apologize for this newsletter being so long. This one combines two months into one. It contains information that relates to my recent trip to India that?s important to share with you.
This is a great newsletter to give to friends who can benefit from Chiropractic care – and it serves as a reminder for all of us to get adjusted periodically in order to stay healthy.
Enjoy!
Many patients have expressed curiosity about my recent visit to the university and ashram in Penukonda, India and the health care processes and presentations experienced.
This newsletter focuses on presentations that were directed toward Americans regarding the unprecedented stress and tension that our culture now suffers from. I?ll tie this in with how these stresses and tensions are affecting us from a Chiropractic perspective.
Many Americans are experiencing high stress levels coming from contributors such as financial concerns, heartbreak and depression over relationships, and from stress and tension at work. You can probably relate to some of these stressors yourself.
These stresses are not without their repercussions. They affect us mentally, emotionally and physically. Unresolved tension causes unhealthy constrictions on our system. These constrictions block proper blood and nerve supply, full emotional expression and diminish the body?s ability to stay healthy. In India they referred to such constrictions as “energy blocks”. These energy blocks in turn can cause further stress, pain, depression, fatigue and limited function.
Several insightful presentations discussed ways to help dissolve or “de-charge” many of the negative energy blocks we carry. It?s beyond the scope of this newsletter to discuss these de-charging techniques in depth. But here?s a brief mention of a few simple ways to help de- charge stresses and negativities that we accumulate: Try taking a shower or bath after work. Water helps de-charge excess negative electromagnetic energies. Staring at a still candle flame for ten minutes or longer helps to de-charge and calm negative thought patterns. Besides adding beauty and fragrance, flowers help absorb negative energies, especially roses. Prayer, meditation and breathing techniques of course work well too. So does exercise. These are some basic techniques that can produce profound results when practiced regularly.
Americans can benefit from de-charging more regularly from the stresses and tensions affecting our lives. This will help us become much healthier than we are. Releasing such stressors on a more regular basis not only helps keep us healthy but it also helps prevent even more serious conditions from developing.
I explained to a group the mechanisms by which stress and tension affects us from a clinical, Chiropractic perspective. When you endure stressful tension, one form of resulting energy blockage comes from your muscles tightening up. We?ve all heard the term, “He or she is so uptight”. Tight muscles tugging on the spine pull vertebrae out of alignment. This is why muscle tightness resulting from stress (or injury) often causes spinal related problems.
Vertebral misalignments caused by stress and tension in turn cause more compressions. They compress discs and vessels carrying blood and nerve supply. When normal nerve transmission is blocked it causes pain, weakness, fatigue and further stress – which then causes further muscle tightness that pulls ever more on the vertebrae … It?s a vicious self perpetuating cycle.
Spinal compressions and suppression of nerve transmission are serious forms of energy blocks. These blocked energy systems must be released and de-charged to bring pain relief and restore healthy function. Chiropractic spinal adjustments give you the most effective and accurate way to provide spinal de-charging.
De-charging spinal compressions and becoming free from unnecessary pain obviously leaves you feeling better. It makes you more energized too. It also allows you to emotionally enjoy life better, because it?s difficult to feel full sensations of enjoyment when pain is bothering or distracting you from life?s activities. It?s extremely difficult for you to be experiencing pain and to also feel good and be happy, no matter what your other life circumstances may be. Life has enough challenges and suffering – you don?t need to add to it by being unnecessarily burdened with spinal related pain that can be helped!
We discussed how we can no longer afford to wait until our health is in crisis mode to take care of ourselves, especially as we age. The price you pay is too great. We need to learn as a culture to take better care of ourselves. We?re simply not doing a good enough job at it. We suffer more than we really need to. A main reason why we suffer unnecessarily is because we weren?t taught how to take care of ourselves by participating in healthy practices like regular exercise, proper nutrition, massage, Chiropractic and other methods.
When you ignore your spinal pains not only do you not feel good as you go through life, but permanent and sometimes debilitating conditions are also occurring. Because our spines are our central- most origins of movement, those who aren?t taking care of their spinal problems will become part of what one doctor labeled a “wheel chair nation”. I?m not trying to invoke fear by reporting this, but it?s the truth and hiding from it won?t help anyone.
I further explained how stuck or misaligned vertebrae are like misaligned care tires – they wear and tear very aggressively. Such spinal wear and tear causes early degenerative arthritis, degenerative disc disease and other permanent problems. I don?t like scaring patients into having regular adjustments to ward off or slow down the progression of such conditions, but on the other hand I plead guilty of perhaps not emphasizing strongly enough the urgency to get adjusted regularly in order to help avoid unnecessary danger further down the road.
The real question of focus was, “Is there really any advantage to go through life with unnecessary pain, muscle tautness and limited mobility if it can be helped?”
In India they reflected “How crazy it is that you Americans have access to basic health care that enhances your lives that most people in the world don?t have access to. Yet too many Americans don?t take advantage of it. Many believethey are too busy or can?t afford to take care of themselves, when in truth it is more of a ?priority issue?.”
The “craziness” he was referring to is how too many Americans are so busy or worried about life?s stresses that they neglect accessing opportunities that are available to them that will allow them to feel good in life – which is what we all really want in the first place! It?s an interesting catch-22 situation many Americans find themselves in. Someone pointed out, “You Americans are the wealthiest nation but you live with so much unnecessary suffering – I don?t know that you realize your predicament!”
I reflected back to him, “I know, it?s crazy, isn?t it?”
We talked about the moral imperative for doctors and other health care providers to reach out to guide people toward better health versus not intruding upon their choices and “leaving them alone”. I?m rather lenient – perhaps too lenient at times – because I don?t like being pushy. But on the other hand it?s my job to recommend and remind you that it?s important for you to maintain good health. Believe me, it?s tricky trying to educate patients about the need for regular Chiropractic care without coming across like you?re trying to “over sell” care.
It seems like the Dental and Medical Professions do a nice job of educating us to have regular checkups whether or not we?re experiencing pain. I believe the Chiropractic Profession has failed to effectively do this.
We mentioned how a big problem in America is that the pharmaceutical industry and its sales force – namely the medical profession – does not really promote wellness care or Chiropractic care. It?s not because Chiropractic and wellness approaches don?t work. The opposite is actually true: They work so well to free up blocked energies and keep you healthier and pain free that you won?t need to rely on pharmaceutical products like pain meds, muscle relaxants or anti-inflammatories. Believe it or not, the pharmaceutical companies actually don?t want you to be free from blocked nerve pain, because the sale of their meds are a multi-billion dollar business they do not want to see decline in sales by you being too healthy or pain free.
These meds don?t free up the sources of blocked (pinched) nerves anyway. They only suppress the symptoms. From pain meds to anti- depressants, the pharmaceutical industry is thriving on a stressed out nation.
Please don?t misunderstand. All drugs have their place, especially in severe or acute situations. But they should never be used persistently to mask symptoms. There?s a sarcastic saying that isn?t too far from the truth: “M.D.” stands for “More Drugs” while “D.C” stands for “Doctor of Cause”.
Robert Kiyosaki (Rich Dad, Poor Dad author ) mentions this problem in his bookConspiracy of the Rich. On page 254 he writes about someone who asked, “I would like to ask you about the conspiracy against our health and can you tell me about it?”
Kiyosaki responded, “I?m not a doctor, nor is my expertise in the health care industry, but I suspect that the pharmaceutical and the health insurance industries have tremendous power over the health care system and the health care we receive. Personally, I utilize alternative medicine techniques such as acupuncture, naturopathy and Chiropractic treatments, in addition to traditional medical treatments. I also try to minimize my intake of medicine. As with anything, the more you know, the better equipped you will be to make sound decisions for your health and money. I encourage you to begin a personal course of study on the subject.”
In countries like Italy that have more universal health care coverage provided to its citizens, Chiropractics and M.D.?s work together in most clinics. Citizens of all ages are allowed to receive about thirty Chiropractic visits a year (last I heard) paid for by their health care system. The reason they allow their citizens these visits is because they know how important having one?s spine adjusted regularly is for maintaining good health. It?s much easier maintaining good health than it is trying to rescue neglected problems.
When you think about it, most people understand the common sense need to approach certain healthy practices on a regular basis. For example, you know that somewhat regular exercise is important. You wouldn?t expect to work out only twice a year and stay fit and healthy. The same is true for stress reduction techniques like meditation. You wouldn?t expect to do it only a couple times a year and have ongoing mental calmness from life stresses. Most church goers attend fairly regularly and not just once or twice a year to help stay more spiritually attuned. To stay healthy from a nutritional angle we need to eat well fairly regularly and not just occasionally. The need to maintain somewhat regularhealthy habits is true in many other areas of our lives, from brushing our teeth to bathing.
In Chiropractic it can be challenging trying to “convince” people to receive treatments somewhat regularly so they can stay as pain free as possible while helping prevent serious long term problems from developing. Some patients are afraid of being “over sold” something, even when they realize they need it. Some people are even sarcastic about receiving Chiropractic care, cautioning that while it leaves you feeling pain free, the “catch” is that you have to go back periodically if you want to keep feeling good. It?s honestly difficult for me to understand this type of avoidance, because it implies that you are better off not feeling good in life and you should just stay in unnecessary pain, instead of living free from unnecessary pain by getting adjusted occasionally.
A question patients ask is how often they should be adjusted to maintain the pain free state they?ve achieved. The frequency of adjustments depends on many factors and varies among individuals. Variables include a person?s age, their history and severity of injuries, physical condition, posture, exercise habits, nutritional intake, demands imposed by work, general life stresses, etc. If I had to say an average frequency of visits that most people utilize to stay relatively pain free, it would be about once every month or so. Personally I get adjusted about every two weeks. If I wait too long my neck destabilizes and pain starts developing.
Here?s the way care really works: There are three phases of care – relief, corrective and maintenance. The single goal of relief care is to bring immediate relief by adjusting vertebrae causing nerve impingement. The next step iscorrecting the underlying vertebral problem so it reaches its maximum improvement and stabilizes longer. The frequency of treatments required to reach successful results in the corrective phase can be once or twice a week, ranging anywhere from one or two weeks to several months, depending on the variables we just mentioned.
About 80% of patients choose corrective care and the others just want some quick relief. The challenge with relief care only is that the underlying instabilities are left uncorrected, so the pain returns relatively sooner. Stopping care before the spine is brought to its optimum improvement is like removing braces from your teeth before the orthodontist suggested, in which case your teeth will start reverting back toward their original misalignments pretty quickly. Those who continue with proper orthodontic correction get much better results. Then they wear retainers periodically to retain or maintain the corrections made. The same thing occurs with Chiropractic spinal corrections – periodic maintenance adjustments help you retain your normal pain free state.
The toughest challenge in Chiropractic is the patient who presents for care for the first time with their spine deeply entrenched in misalignments from years of neglect. Some time may be required to bring them to reasonable correction. It usually doesn?t happen in one or two visits, no more than working out at the gym two times can restore a long time couch potato to good health.
As a culture we have not been educated very well to take care of our health. We?ve actually been brainwashed to perceive otherwise. I know this first hand because I grew up with several medical doctors in my extended family. They weren?t anti Chiropractic – they simply had no educational understanding of what Chiropractic does. That?s why they never recommended or referred me to one although I suffered for years with pain caused by a pinched nerve in my neck. Because Xrays didn?t show a “medical pathology” such as fractures or disease, they told me nothing could be done to fix the problem and to take pain meds as needed.
My nephew Seth was recently in medical school and told me they spent a mere 90 minutes of class time mentioning the spine and related nervous system. He asked the teacher how they can expect to understand spinal problems with so little time spent studying them. The teacher responded that in medical school they?re primarily interested in problems that occur outside of the spine such as organ pathologies, or “medical pathologies” that inadvertently affect the spine such as tumors or infections. The professor told him that if he wanted to learn the ins and outs of spinal mechanics he should attend Chiropractic seminars.
Trust me, very few M.D.?s really understand how Chiropractic works or what it offers. Osteopaths do to some degree, but they have become more focused on treating end stage medical pathologies, such as spinal fusion or tumors, through drugs or surgery. This begs the question, why would an M.D. recommend or refer someone for something that they have no true understanding about? The answer is, they usually don?t!
A friend eventually took me to his Chiropractic to help my neck. The experience was so life changing – becoming free from pain and restricted mobility – that I decided to learn Chiropractic so I could help free others from their suffering like I had been.
This relates to a quote from the famed medical doctor, researcher and author Rene? Calliet, M.D. who was Chairman and Professor of Department of Rehabilitative Medicine, USC School of Medicine: “Unfortunately the soft tissues are not considered an organ system and, thus, are not on the curriculum of medical schools. Except for occasional symposia or postgraduate courses on musculoskeletal syndromes, the practicing physician receives no education in this area.”
This predicament is further expounded by Dr. John Lowe, Founder and President of the Myofascial Institute: “The M.D.?s education and clinical experience equip him with the skills of neither palpation nor manipulation. Each of these is an art, and artistry in any field comes slowly. Therefore, the M.D. who ?learns? these skills at a weekend seminar and then tries to use them in his practice is likely to be as effective as a Chiropractic who takes a Red Cross CPR course and then tries to practice the emergency room care of cardiac cases.”
M.D.?s are great when you need them. I wouldn?t want to live in a time or place where they aren?t available and I hold much respect for their hard work and valuable skills. But the public needs to understand that Chiropractic is a different system of health care than what the M.D.?s practice. It?s not in competition with what they provide, it?s just a different angle to good health. Chiropractic adjustments are a form of renewing our health by releasing or de-charging nerve impingements while also restoring normal spinal mobility.
I know it?s difficult for may people to believe that the medical profession could be “missing it” in this area. But think about it – if they were adequately taking care of all spinal conditions, there would be no need for Chiropractic care. Everyone would just do what the M.D.?s suggest and get well from it. But that doesn?t happen, because if it?s a Chiropractic problem, nothing else will ultimately fix it. That?s the truth that I?ve seen thousands of times in the real world of clinical reality over the past twenty seven years of practicing Chiropractic. Clinical reality reveals truths that are far beyond concepts or brain- washed paradigms that are not evidence based.
The fact that you?re reading this newsletter shows that you?re one of many Americans who are discovering that they can proactively improve their health greatly by engaging more regularly in healthy habits. Chiropractic patients understand that life?s stresses and tensions periodically cause spinal destabilization and an important antidote to de-charging from the effects of these stresses is by having spinal adjustments somewhat regularly, instead of always waiting until the pain becomes intolerable and possibly uncorrectable before doing something about it.
I?ve heard some say, “I?m not sure I believe in Chiropractic.” It would be an interesting survey to find out why they have that belief and where they got it. Do they imagine that I do something that only pretends to help people and that patients only pretend to get better? And 90% of them return periodically for adjustments just so they can pretend to keep feeling well when they really don?t? That?s absurd. Granted, someone may not “believe” in Chiropractic because they or someone they know had an unsuccessful experience with it. But if you had an unsuccessful experience with a car mechanic or dentist you probably wouldn?t claim that you don?t believe in mechanics or dentistry, would you?
The truth is that regular Chiropractic care prevents many permanent conditions from haunting you later in life, plus it helps you feel good and perform better as you go through life. That?s the bottom line reality!
You may have heard that nearly all pro athletes receive Chiropractic care. They receive it regularly not necessarily because they are in pain but because they know that 99% of nerve impingement occurs at the spinal level. And they know that nerves are the electrical wires that command and give power to their muscles. Athletes don?t want to lose any power or control to their muscles due to nerve impingement. It?s intolerable to them, just as a race car driver wouldn?t tolerate having fouled spark plugs. Likewise, musicians also realize the need to tune their instruments regularly.
Spines go out of alignment periodically because of stress and tensions pulling on them just like a guitar goes out of tune occasionally because of tension pulling on the strings. But regular tune ups on an as-needed basis help maintain proper performance and harmony. That?s what Chiropractic care offers us – to stay more in tune and in harmony with good health on a regular basis. We need to ask ourselves if our bodies are any less important than a car or guitar? Aren?t we deserving to keep ourselves tuned up?
The word “doctor” comes from greek and latin and means “to teach” or “to guide” (as in health care). If I had the power and abilities to guide you in one direction, it would be to choose living as pain free as possible and don?t let excuses or outdated concepts stop you. In other words, Stay “feeling good and functioning well” – it?s essential to naturally enjoying life more!
Life presents us with enough unavoidable suffering – you don?t need to also live with unnecessary pain that can be relieved!
My daughter asked me what was my most memorable experience from this recent trip to India. It was while walking through the streets of the large city of Bangalore toward my hotel late at night. There was an elderly woman beggar who looked quite ravaged by life?s toils, sitting on the street-side wrapped in an ancient shawl. I could only wonder where she slept or bathed, or how she ate if no one gave her money? As I bent over to hand her a few rupees she reached out her hands to receive the paper bill. I saw that she had no fingers. She took the money with her palms and blessed me.
Moments like that can?t help but change our perspective on life. It makes you asses how important are the problems that we face and how much suffering is really necessary? Which problems can be helped and which ones do we have to accept? One thing?s for certain: We can prevent many health problems and eliminate a lot of unnecessary pain and suffering by participating more regularly in taking care of our health!
Looking forward to seeing you soon.
Yours In Health,
Michael Koplen, D.C.