Do You Have Allergies?

It is that time of year again!  I know you have seen them.  They are everywhere!  People rubbing their eyes, sneezing, sniffling and complaining.  Some of them deny it saying, “I do not have allergies,” or, “I never had allergies before” and many others just try to grin and bear it.  Knowingly or not, more than 50 million Americans suffer from allergies.  The culprits in these most annoying conditions (i.e., the allergen) include some of the most ordinary things, such as cats, dogs, grass, dust, pollen, copper coins, nickel-coated earrings and buttons, insects and insect stings.  I once met someone who told me they were allergic to air.  I imagine if you are allergic to dust you might as well be allergic to air.

Despite the variety of substances that an individual can or may be allergic to, all allergies result from the same basic cause:  an immune system that is unable to distinguish between the harmful and the friendly.  This is an extremely important point.  Many people have the misconception that it is the dust or the pollen (the allergen) that causes the allergic reaction.  It is not!  It is the body’s inability to adapt to the allergen that is the problem!!!  If pollen was the problem, everyone would have allergic symptoms in the presence of pollen, and that is not the case.  Rather, it is the body’s inability to adapt to the allergen that is the problem.

For example, an article in the newspaper noted that the pollen count was almost 50 times above what is considered normal to the Clean Air Council.  The purpose of the article was to provide readers with tips on how to control allergic reactions, all of which boiled down to avoiding the allergen.  The article noted that the high levels had caused reactions in people who had never experienced them before.  At first glance, this might seem to suggest that indeed it is the pollen that is the cause of allergies.  However, as long as there are still people who do not develop symptoms in the presence of  these unusually high levels of pollen, then pollen is not the cause.

You see, everyone is born with a certain potential for adapting to pollen (as well as to every other allergen), and some have a greater potential to adapt than others.  For those who express no symptoms when in the presence of high concentrations of specific allergens, it is because their bodies are working the way they should.  Their bodies do not see pollen as harmful (which it is not) and consequently, do not declare war on it by trying to rush it out of the body by either sneezing or washing tears across the eyes.  More importantly, while everyone is born with a different potential to adapt to allergens, some may have the potential to adapt but are not fully expressing it because of interference in their nervous systems caused by vertebral subluxations.

The medical world admits that the best way to treat any allergy is to avoid the allergens that cause it, but how does one avoid air or dust. We suggest that one of the best things you can do for allergies is to be sure your nervous system is free from interference so your body can work at its highest potential to recognize what is harmful and what is not.

We suggest that one of the best things you can do for allergies is to be sure your nervous system is free from interference so your body can work at its highest potential to recognize what is harmful and what is not.

Are You All Aboard?

Disease treatment (represented largely by medicine) and health restoration (represented by straight chiropractic) are two approaches to the health and well-being of individuals. They are like two trains on parallel railroad tracks. The two trains are essentially going to the same destination, that of physical, mental and emotional well-being. The objective is to lead a long, productive and fulfilling life, expressing your maximum potential through as much of it as possible. Which is going to get you there in the fastest, most efficient manner? If we can follow this analogy, we might describe the medical track as the Local and the chiropractic track as the Express line.

The Local (medical) track is really not concerned with getting its riders to the ultimate destination as quickly as possible. It has another priority, stopping at every little junction along the way. This is analogous to the idea of treating diseases. Medicine believes that by treating disease, “scheduling” their train with disease in mind, they can reach the destination. Some people ultimately do reach a long, productive life, despite the many disease stops they make along the way. Sadly for some, due to genetic problems, poor health care as a child and injuries, they have no choice but to take the Local. But there is another group that is even sadder. This is the group that wants to reach the train’s final destination but still chooses to take the Local. They make every little stop along the way and often never reach their ultimate destination.

In traveling back and forth between New York City and Trenton, New Jersey for three years on the Express an individual could never understand why people would opt for the Local rather than the Express. He could understand if they were only going to Princeton Junction, but if they were traveling all the way to New York, why take the Local? Most of the time the reason was fear. The Local was standing in the Trenton station ready to go. The Express, on the other hand, was coming up the east coast from Florida and had not arrived yet. Despite the train station’s assurance that it was “On Time,” they opted for the Local. He would always smile as the Express passed them somewhere south of Newark.

Taking the Express does not guarantee you will get there sooner. The train could break down or be delayed, and there are still a few stops that it has to make along the way. Chiropractic is not a guarantee that you will lead a healthier, more productive life. You could get run over by a truck walking out of the chiropractor’s office and even if you don’t, you will most likely have a few “disease stops” along the way. But if you are truly interested in being as healthy as you can be, leading a full, productive and long life, your best chances are in taking the Express.

Chiropractic is not a guarantee that you will lead a healthier, more productive life. But if you are truly interested in being as healthy as you can be, leading a full, productive and long life, your best chances are in taking the Express.

A Day in the Life of Your School-Aged Child

            They wake from the soundest of sleep startled by the sound of their alarm clocks or your voice calling them for the fourth or fifth time.  Groggy and still half asleep, they shuffle from their beds to the bathroom stubbing their toe on something they should have put away, forcing them to hop on one foot the remainder of the way.  They shower in water containing who knows what all kind of chemicals and they shower and they shower. 

Now, late for the bus they go running full speed down the stairs, grab two Pop-tarts and with a 40-pound bag of books strapped across their backs, they make a mad dash out of the house to their bus stop.  At school all day, they sit in uncomfortable, hard-as-rock chairs with their heads bent over their books (whether they are reading or sleeping).  When they take a break from the more than six hours of bending their necks in the opposite direction of their natural curve, they are in a constant state of stress.  Are they going to pass all of their classes?  Who are they going to the dance with?  When will their face clear up?  What if they don’t get into college?  Why won’t their parents leave them alone?  Why won’t their parents pay more attention to them?  And this is a good- to best-case scenario.  We all know children who have other serious personal struggles--with their identity, with handicaps, with peer pressure.     

After school, they challenge themselves physically with sports of all sorts—football, soccer, tennis, golf, track, wrestling, basketball, baseball, volleyball.  Unfortunately, often times this activity is fueled solely by the one lousy piece of pizza they had for lunch or maybe a cheeseburger and fries or sometimes nothing at all!  It’s possible that their after school activity isn’t physical maybe it’s musical, artistic, or academic.  Still, the stress of a long, challenging day on little fuel takes its toll. 

By the time they arrive back at home in the evening they are often exhausted not to mention cranky.  This may result in arguments with other family members, which is upsetting to everyone.  Dinner often is fast-food or if it is homemade they fall asleep on the couch while it is being prepared with their bodies contorted in some unbelievable position that they’re too tired to even notice.  After dinner, it’s homework time or probably more likely TV time or computer time where they sit lifeless for another several hours.  Or maybe they sit and talk on their cell phone for hours on end with their girlfriends or boyfriends with their heads tilted over stressing the delicate neck musculature.  Finally, you yell to them saying it’s getting late and they better get ready for bed (mostly because you’re exhausted at this point and you just don’t want to deal with it anymore).  At this point they are pretty much ready to go again since they power napped if not on the couch in the car or the bus on the way home).

With all the physical, chemical, and emotional stress your child packs into the typical day—do you really think their spines are going unaffected?  Is it even possible to undergo such numerous and various stresses and not have every part of their body be affected?  No, it is not.  The problem is the nerve system directs and organizes every other system and every function of the body.  If you want your child to learn and grow and play and be all they can and should be, you simply must have their spines checked regularly.  Take your child to see their chiropractor this week and every week.  Make the time to fit it in.  It’s vitally important.     

100% All-Natural

Just because something is touted as “natural” does not mean it is good for you.  “All-natural” is a marketing ploy utilized by many in the food industry today to attract baby-boomers with their ever-increasing health consciousness.  This is certainly true for products like oat-bran cereal (which can be loaded with sugar) and no- or low-fat snacks (which usually have chemicals and other additives to improve taste and/or consistency), but it is also true for things like vitamins and minerals.  Just because vitamins are “naturally-occurring” does not mean they can be taken with reckless abandon and we have to be careful not to fall for the common consumer trap. 

            For example, a recent one-page ad in a women’s magazine purporting the importance of calcium consisted mostly of a beautiful young child (probably just a few months).  The ad was black and white except for four tablets in pretty pastel colors, which ran along the bottom of the page and cast shadows shaped like hearts (also in pretty pale pastels) and a medicine bottle with a bright yellow label.  The ad read, “Somebody loves you, please take your Tums.”  While it is true that you are important, you are loved, and you should take calcium (as the ad further states), none of these have anything to do with taking an over-the-counter antacid.  I understand that some women have trouble getting enough calcium in their diets, whether it be because they have trouble digesting dairy products or because of their poor diets.  But does it make sense to fulfill that requirement by taking a drug—a drug whose primary mechanism of action is counteracting the naturally-occurring chemistry of the stomach?  I know some people who say they have to take an antacid anyhow so they choose Tums for the calcium.  What will it take for these people to reevaluate the food they are ingesting?  The food they eat is not only not providing them with proper nourishment (they lack calcium), but it is actually making them sick!!!

            On another note, just because something is good for you does not mean that more of it is better for you.  For example, exercise is good for you but running a marathon clearly does more damage to your health than it does good.  Similarly, vitamin C, has been lauded since the early 1900’s when it was discovered that British sailors who went for months on ships without fresh fruits developed scurvy, a disease caused by a vitamin C deficiency.  Since then, and especially recently, vitamin C has been found to have antioxidant properties and researchers now believe it may lower your risk of cancer.  But wait—before you go buy stock in Sunkist—too much vitamin C can clearly be harmful to DNA, which has been linked to cancer, heart problems and other conditions.  Studies now suggest that a safe dose (about 200-mg daily) is about what you would get if you ate the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables.

            Oddly enough, people have a similar reaction to chiropractic.  They think if it is natural they should be able to do it themselves and/or that more is better.  The fact is unless someone checks your spine for subluxation (and the only people qualified to do that are chiropractors), there is no way to know if you even need an adjustment.  A specific chiropractic adjustment is given for the purpose of removing interference in the nerve system caused by a vertebral subluxation (misalignment of one of the spinal bones).  Regarding the issue of frequency, the only right time to give an adjustment is when there is a subluxation.  So if there are no subluxations, an adjustment is neither required nor given.  Whether subluxations are found in your spine once a month, once a week or once a day, the best time to remove the interference is immediately.  There is no substitute or supplement for a chiropractic adjustment.  They are safe and effective at removing interference in the nerve system due to vertebral subluxation and promote health by allowing your body to function better naturally—no gimmicks.

Are You Part Of The Problem Or Part Of The Solution?

The University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute rated Minnesota Counties on their health and it was reported that, “Cass County ranked at the bottom of the list for Minnesota, and Beltrami County fared almost as poor.”   With Cass County and Beltrami Counties rated as two of the lowest rated counties in Minnesota, there is a lot of work to do if this is going to change.  The definition of insanity is to do the same things over and over and expect a different result.  So the question is, what do we need to do as a community and what do you have to do as an individual to make Cass and Beltrami two of the healthiest counties to live in? 

You first must determine if you are healthier today compared to 5 years ago.  IF THE ANSWER IS YES, WHAT DID YOU DO TO GROW YOUR HEALTH OVER THE PAST FIVE YEARS?  If the answer is no, well that’s not good and what are you going to do about it?

Will you be healthier five years from now than you are today?  If the answer is yes, what will you do to grow your health over the next five years? 

What’s the common thread?  Everyone healthier today than five years ago and everyone expecting to be healthier five years from now have something in common.  A healthier lifestyle.

The first step to becoming healthier is creating your vision. Without a clear vision people are in a constant state of confusion about health and wellness and they usually end up not doing anything.

Vision asks the question… IF YOUR LIFE AND HEALTH COULD BE ANYWAY YOU WANTED IT (Next year, 5 years from now or at the age of 85… Your choice) WHAT EXACTLY WOULD IT LOOK LIKE? Be specific. Do you want to be sitting on a beach somewhere enjoying the company of your loved ones?

Or in some nursing home sitting in a wheelchair, wearing Depends and drooling on yourself? It’s your choice…The lifestyle choices you make in life now will determine your quality of life years from now.

A football field has a goal line, and in order to be successful in football you must be able to see the goal. The same is true with health… you must first create a vision of what you want your life and health to be like.

Next month we will discuss the skill, motivation, resources, and a plan to get you were you want to be so you are part of the solution and not part of the problem of the health care crisis right here in Cass and Beltrami Counties.

Dr. Mike Headlee is the owner of Explore Chiropractic in downtown Bemidji.  He has been a chiropractor for 18 years.  He speaks about and teaches health and wellness principles.

Enjoy Life More

            The primary reason for chiropractic care is so that you can get more out of life.  Feeling good is an important aspect of enjoying life.  While there are many people who seem to enjoy life despite physical pain and discomfort, there is no doubt that it is easier to enjoy life when you are feeling good.  Being healthy is also an important aspect of enjoying life.  While most people think that being healthy and feeling good are synonymous, being healthy is a great deal more than merely the absence of symptoms.  There are many people who feel perfectly fine today who next week or next month will be dead or told they are dying from some disease.  Feeling good is not health and health is more important than just feeling good.

            There is a third level to enjoying life.  It can be described as being all you can be, reaching your potential in life, functioning at your best.  It is more than just feeling good and even more than just being given a “clean bill of health.”  It is the difference between being competent at your work and being a success.  It is the difference between muddling along in life and squeezing every ounce of joy from it.  It is enjoying the reality of life rather than watching reality shows on television.

            For all the advances in science and medicine in the fight against disease, for all the efforts people put into being healthy with exercise and nutrition, not too many people seem to be really enjoying life.   With all the labor saving devices of modern technology, we should be doing more with our lives than increasing the time we can watch television.  We should be enjoying more life and enjoy life more.

            Chiropractic enables you to enjoy more life.  The mental energy traveling through your body over the nerve system is the life that not only makes you healthy but gives you the ability to function at your best.  When the spine subluxates, you are deprived of a little bit of life and your ability to enjoy life more is decreased.  Chiropractic adjustments literally restore the life to your body so that it can heal itself, increase its level of health and function at its best.

            There are a number of important areas involved in enjoying life more including spiritual, physical and mental.  Chiropractic does not have the answers to all of these areas, but having a good nerve supply touches upon so many that it can hardly be classified as just a health profession.  It affects so many aspects of your life in a positive way that to have your spine checked on a regular basis in order to keep the life energy flowing to all parts seems like a common sense action that no one could or would overlook.  Yet so many people miss this simple but vital part of life and never enjoy life to the fullest.  Have your spine checked regularly and enjoy life more!

The primary reason for chiropractic care is so that you can get more out of life.

Does Your Digestion Need A Tune-Up?

            “One man’s meat is another man’s poison” is an old saying that still conveys a lot of truth.  Why is it that some people can eat anything, while others complain that just about everything disagrees with them.  We can solve the problem by just avoiding particular foods or food groups.  Yet, while that may ease the discomfort, it does not resolve the problem.  The body is still not functioning as it should.  Perhaps much of the difficulty in people’s lives results from constantly avoiding or ignoring little problems or covering them up with medication, while the cause of the body functioning incorrectly is never addressed.  If the body cannot digest a certain food and you do not eat that food, you are symptom free.  But that does not resolve the problem.  There is something wrong in your digestive system and if not corrected, it will create problems later in life.  If your car shakes and has abnormal vibrations when you get up to speeds of 60 MPH would it be wise to keep your speed below 60 and ignore checking into the cause of the problem?  Of course not.  You may damage your car or endanger your life.  Ignoring certain foods and not trying to find out why your digestive system is not working properly pretty much amounts to the same thing.

            The digestive system is one of the most delicately balanced systems in the body.  Think about all the different types of food we eat.  Did you know it takes a different type of chemical substance to digest all of the different types?  Sugars, fats and proteins all require different chemicals to be digested and assimilated.  On top of that, we usually put them all in the body at the same time!  Somehow our bodies know which chemicals work on which foods and how much is needed for the proper digestion of each.  When our bodies are working properly, the innate wisdom of the body produces these chemicals exactly as needed.  When you realize that digestion in the stomach necessitates highly corrosive hydrochloric acid and yet the stomach lining is protected from being burned, you have to be in awe of our fantastic bodies.

            Suppose the cells that produce the protective coating for the stomach were not working as they should.  Messages from the brain over the nerve system are needed to produce that protective coating as well as to produce the right amount of acid at the right time.  Every function of digestion, whether in the mouth, the stomach, the intestines or anywhere in between, necessitates chemical production which in turn necessitates mental impulses from the brain.  If there is an interference to these mental impulses, the body will not and cannot work as it should.  That interference occurs with vertebral subluxation.  Digestion and assimilation of food is necessary for life and health.  Proper digestion and assimilation is vital to a healthy and productive life. Keep your digestive system working at its maximum by seeing your chiropractor regularly to have your spine checked for vertebral subluxation.

Keep your digestive system working at its maximum by seeing your chiropractorregularly to have your

spine checked for vertebral subluxation.

Do You Want To Improve Your Performance?

            Everyone seems to be attempting to improve their performance these days.  The economy has corporations and industry trying to get the most out of their employees.  Athletes are doing all kinds of things to improve their athletic performance.  Viagra and similar competitive medications are publicly touting enhanced performance in an area that a few years ago was a personal and private matter.  Perhaps it is part of the American psyche that we all want to do better at work, at play, and at everything else.  We are going to great lengths to improve our performance.  Self-help programs, food supplements, drugs, seminars and meditation are just a few of the methods that people are using to attempt to improve their performance in various aspects of life.

            One of the easiest and most effective ways of improving performance, generally and in specific areas, is to remove or reduce the interference to maximum performance.  Unfortunately, our society is geared toward adding something rather than removing something.  Instead of removing the mental and emotional stresses that interfere with our ability to be effective in our job performance, we take mood-altering drugs as if that will make our internal problems go away.

            Instead of removing the unhealthy things from our diet, we add supplements assuming that will compensate for a poor diet.  Instead of addressing the cause of our lack of energy (often getting enough rest), we take “pep pills” as if they were a substitute for getting the proper rest.

            The human body was designed with all that is needed to reach peak performance.  Adding things to our body, especially in the form of unnatural chemicals, may stimulate increased performance on a temporary basis but it cannot be sustained and it has to result in harmful side-effects.  The best we can do is to live naturally and remove interferences.  That may not make us the best that there is but it will make us the best we can be and that should be sufficient.

            On the subject of removing interferences to performance, we cannot overlook nerve interference.  It is probably the greatest interference, at least the greatest that can be easily removed.  When a vertebra subluxates (misaligns) due to various activities of daily life, it interferes with the function of the nerve system.  The nerve system is the primary tool by which the innate intelligence of the body controls and coordinates all function.  Every function of your body will be reduced in its ability to perform if there is a vertebral subluxation in your spine.  How great that reduction in function will be depends on a number of factors and is different for every person.  But without a doubt, you will not be the best you can be.  Perhaps the reduction will be imperceptible, perhaps it will be noticeable only to you.  Or perhaps it will only be noticeable to others and affect your work and your life.  Regardless of who notices or who does not, you should have your spine checked regularly for subluxation so that there is no reduction in your performance due to nerve interference. 

The human body was designed with all that is needed to reach peak performance.