A lot of talk about inheriting conditions.

Lately I’ve heard a lot of people talk about their conditions and push them to the side by saying something like “well, my mom had it too. It’s just genetic.” It’s understandable to come to that conclusion, but even so, why wouldn’t you want to do anything about it? 

Before I began working here at Active Life Health and Wellness, I used to think and feel the same way. My mother and my grandmother, I believed, had passed down everything bad to me. I never realized all of the strange things that I went through when I was younger were all a part of my body telling me something is wrong. 

When I was about seven, I had a slew of unfortunate events impact my life. I had been hit by a car while I was riding my bike on the sidewalk by someone who took the turn way too fast. The car ended up pushing me into a fence where I fell off my bike and somehow got stuck in between the fence and the driveway opening that had another movable fence. It wasn’t anything serious (my family and I thought); I didn’t even go to the hospital. The car had just barely tapped me enough to push me off and into the fence. I remember walking about with my head permanently tilted to one side for about a week after that. It was just stuck there…I couldn’t move it. Very recently after that, I remember practicing a handstand when another kid ran by and knocked my flat on my back. I thought I was paralyzed; it just hurt so badly. And now I see how much even that little event may have impacted my life.

One of the first things I learned when I started working at Active Life Health and Wellness is that if damage occurs and is addressed within 3-7 days of the accident, it can prevent the damage from getting worse and it can help relieve the symptoms at the present. Had my mother or grandfather taken me to a chiropractor during those times, I may not be in as bad of a condition as I am (Or at least was when beginning my care here) and I wouldn’t have had to walk around like a goof with my neck crooked to the side for a week!

 I was shocked when the docs showed me my x-rays. They require all the employees to go through care as well as the patients because it’s that important. I’ve never felt like a doctor wanted to know everything he or she possibly could about me, my experiences, and my conditions. They coaxed me to remember everything and had they not done that, I would have never remembered falling off my bike when I was hit by a car, and that is a truly important event in determining how my neck got the way it is.

 I could have easily shrugged off the way I was feeling as it being “genetic”, but why would I want that? I don’t want to give myself a reason to let the way I feel affect my life anymore. I never correlated all the symptoms I was having to my spine, but now that I understand how my body works, it makes sense. Although the “hump” at the bottom of the neck and conditions that come along with interference in the spinal cord may happen with mom and daughter, it’s not necessarily genetic. You learn everything from your parents, the way you talk, the way you walk, the way you think are all influenced by them, and so is your posture. Yes, you can inherit posture because you observe when you are young, but it doesn’t mean it’s permanent, and it doesn’t mean you must accept the fate of whatever runs in your family. I used to suffer from fatigue, a lot. It really affected my life. I was just always tired, no matter what I did. I would also get neck pain and stiffness, and very, very bad allergies. I’ve suffered from many other symptoms as well that have come and gone. You may be asking, how does all of this relate to the spine? Well, it’s pretty simple. Sometimes you just have to stop thinking about everything you already know.

 Your brain controls everything! It’s as simple as that. We can all agree on that, right? Well, how does your brain communicate with the rest of the body? The spinal cord. The spinal cord is this amazing creation that connects your brain to your body through the spine and the nerves between each bone in your spine. Your spinal cord is encased and protected by bones in your spine, or vertebra. Between each vertebra is a disc, which allows each vertebra to move in many directions with the cushioning necessary to move in such ways. Within each vertebral bone is a complex foramen which allows the nerves of the spinal cord to get out to the rest of the body. Each nerve goes to one major set of organs, and one major set of muscles. Those nerves supply the body with the energy the brain is sending them, which is 100% vital for life.

 Now let’s say, since there are 24 vertebrae in your spine, and each of those vertebrae is it’s own joint that can move in it’s own directions, one of them slips out of place in your…neck…and now that bone is strangling your spinal cord, making it harder than ever to get energy through. Energy starts building up like a hose with a kink and no where to go, and viola! You very well could be suffering from a headache now.

 But it gets worse. Imagine if you don’t address this issue of your spinal cord being strangled. Your body is already not getting 100% of the energy your brain is trying to send you, so that means that everything at the end of those nerves is also not getting the energy it needs (Remember, organs and muscles) which means your body is weak and susceptible. Remember that old saying; you’re only as strong as your weakest link? Well, that one bone that is strangling your spinal cord now, that’s your weakest link. And it’s not very strong. In fact, it’s so weak that it’s going to affect the other 23 vertebrae you have in your spine because that one vertebra is officially off duty. Now the rest have to make up for that one vertebrae, which leads to more and more strangulation and eventually, degeneration, abnormal curvature/scoliosis, along with an array of health problems and symptoms that could seriously begin to impact your life.

 Chiropractic doesn’t heal anyone of anything. Ask any diligent chiropractor, they will tell you the same. If your chiropractor would like to lead you to believe that chiropractic cures everything and that he can fix any problem you can think of, he’s probably not your best pick. Healing comes from within. All chiropractic does is remove the strangulation of vital nerves and organs and muscles by removing interferences, focusing largely on the spine.

 I had a choice to make. I could either decide to let my ancestor’s fate determine my fate, or I could think about it and say, I’m going to change this. I’ve made the decision. I don’t want to die at 53 like my grandmother– From a heart attack! I refuse to have an expiration date stamped on my foot. I know there’s got to be a better way than drugging myself up and causing a multitude of side-effects just to ease one symptom. I know that I have found that solution here.

Ashley R.
Marketing Director/Office Assistant