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#79 The Hypocrite's Spine

4/10/2014

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            From article #78, you learned that the Reformed Hypocrite (me) had ignored his spine for the first 13 years of chiropractic practice, much to his own peril.  He was adjusted but far too rarely to slow or stop the relentless degenerative changes that occur due to gravity, aging, and trauma (subluxation).  You also learned from the same article that since my hospitalization in 2000 I am the Reformed Hypocrite.  I have listened to my own advice and been adjusted each and every week, and often more, since 2000.  I am a much healthier, happier, and more active person since then.  I can accurately state that my body, while 11 years older structurally, is functionally younger than it was in 2000.  One series of studies showed that it would take at least weekly adjustments over a prolonged period of time to counter the effects of subluxation.  It is because of these studies, originally done in Finland, that we recommend weekly adjustments in our Reconstructive and Wellness care plans.

I thought it would be fun and educational to look at actual MRI images of my spine so that you can see the effects of not doing what one tells his patients to do.  In the left image the upper arrow points to the L2 disc.  Do you see the overall darkness of the disc compared to the one below it?  This is due to dehydration of the disc due to long standing subluxation.  The same arrow is pointing to the back end of the disc where it is herniated several millimeters.  In fact, the whiter part inside of the darker outline is what is called the nucleus.  It is supposed to be in the middle of the disc.  It has migrated about an inch from where it is used to be.    The lower left arrow is pointing to the L5 disc.  It is also dehydrated and herniated.  In the center image by the arrow the little white bubble is there due to a tear in the disc.  And perhaps the most important thing to remember in all of this is that my x-rays on the right look perfect, but my spine is far from perfect.  So when I tell you that you are in phase 1 of subluxation degeneration it is almost always worse, but sadly we don’t have an MRI machine in the back room. 

I’m so thankful for the E.R. visit in 2000.  That’s the day I began to take my own advice to keep what I have working as well as I can and as long as I can.  I hope you learn from my hypocrisy.  It’s never too late. 

                                      MRI                                      MRI                                     X-RAY
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    Dr. Rick

    After writing an article per week for a year, I just kept going.  These are most of my collection.  They are written with my existing patients in mind, so some stuff may seem odd or unusual, but would make perfect sense to those who know chiropractic and who know me.  Enjoy and share!  For my personal blog visit: 

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Yolanda wrote:
     
     I used to suffer severe headaches and migraines on a daily basis, usually all day.  I managed to work in an office because I had to.  When I went home at the end of the day I would often close the shades and go to bed.  I could not plan weekend events because I simply never knew how I was going to feel tomorrow.  If there were a special event such as a birthday or wedding, I would begin to medicate myself two weeks in advance to give myself the best chance of making the event.
     Friends and fellow church-goers had been trying to get me to see Dr. Rick for some time before I finally gave in.  Looking back, I don’t know why I waited.  Within a month, I was headache free.  I couldn’t remember what it was like to not feel pain.  I could do whatever I wanted and not live in fear of the headache.  This was a miracle for me, but the story does not end here.
     An opportunity came up for us to adopt a newborn baby girl not long after I began chiropractic care.  This baby was particularly important to me and my husband because her mother is a relative.  Tragically, her mother was also a drug user and did drugs during her pregnancy.  If we could not adopt the baby she would have been put into the foster system since the biological mother was incapable of raising her.
     To keep a long story short, we did adopt her and she is doing fantastically.  There is no sign of any effect of the drugs on her as of yet, and with God’s help, there never will be.  We think that is because of the vast amounts of love and attention she gets from us, her real mommy and daddy.
     What does this have to do with chiropractic?  The reality is that without chiropractic, I would still be nearly an invalid with headaches.  I COULD NOT HAVE TAKEN CARE OF AN INFANT OR RAISED A YOUNG CHILD.  THEREFORE, SHE WOULD NOT HAVE ANY OF THE OPPORTUNITIES IN LIFE THAT MY HUSBAND AND I WILL BE ABLE TO PROVIDE FOR HER.  MY DAUGHTER’S LIFE IS POSSIBLE BECAUSE SOMEBODY MADE ME GO TO A CHIROPRACTOR. 
     You need to tell everyone you know what you know about chiropractic.  Who knows who’s life you will change too.
Andrew's mother, Barbara, wrote:

     Hello, My name is Andrew and I am a happy, healthy one year old.  But I wasn’t so happy or healthy when I first met Dr. Rick a few months ago.  I had been having problems with my ears for four months, I couldn’t sleep at night and I was miserable.  We’d been to the doctor lots of times but nothing was helping.  In fact, all the medicines the doctor had tried seemed to make me worse instead of better!  Both the regular doctor and the Ear-Nose and Throat doctor said that if the antibiotics didn’t work, then they’d just have to put tubes in.  Now my Mom and dad weren’t about to let them do surgery on me, especially since they had been reading and learned that tubes can cause more problems than they solve.  My mom and dad did a lot of praying.  Then my mom heard that sometimes babies who have a traumatic birth like mine have ear trouble.  You see when I was born they used a vacuum extractor and forceps to pull me out.  I guess all that yanking on my head, hurt my neck.  She also heard that chiropractic care can be the answer.  Now she was skeptical because she couldn’t imagine a chiropractor helping ear infections!?!  But at that point she was willing to try anything!!  Happily, a few weeks of adjustments and my ears were all cleared up.  In addition, I no longer had a stiff neck or shoulders and my whole personality was happier.  I have to tell all babies who have ear troubles, don’t let them give you tubes until you at least try chiropractic care first.  After all, it can’t hurt and if you’re like me, you could be perfectly well with no drugs and no surgery.  In my family, we thank God for Dr. Rick, because I feel better, my mom and dad are happier and sometimes, I even sleep through the night.