At Thrive, we are in the business of empowering patients to care for themselves.
One of our favorite book titles is Jordan Rueben’s “Patient Heal Thyself.” Jordan is the son of a chiropractor.
So, if you don’t want to see a doctor, or you’d like to extend the time between visits, do this:
1. Move Regularly
You were designed to move, often. In our “civilized” world, it is easy to forget how akin we are to the wild. Have you ever seen a over weight, wild mountain lion? Like the lion, we were made to be lean, strong, flexible, agile, ready to hike miles at any moment.
You don’t have to be an Olympic champion to do this. In fact, we recommend that you start by walking 15 minutes, every other day. While you are walking, breathe deeply. Put your hands in the air. Circle your shoulders.
At night, stretch in the mirror. Do a few yoga poses before bed. During the day, stand up and move your body in directions that your desk, chair, keyboard and mouse don’t allow.
It is amazing what these simple things can do for your everyday pain levels, your core strength, and your energy.
Energy begets energy, and movement begets movement. You’ll find, once you begin to move often, that you’d like to move more often.
2. Try Yoga
If you’ve never tried, you are missing out. If you think it is soft, then several of our local Olympic Gold Medalists would disagree with you.
Yoga is an inexpensive solution for stretching and movement. It helps posture, breathing, and stress relief.
Yoga does not negate the need for spinal adjustment, but it greatly speeds up the healing process, it stabilizes the results created by your adjustments, and it accelerates the effects of adjustments outside the office.
3. Participate in your health care
If you are on some sort of care plan with us, then you have received exercises and traction to do at home, and in the office. Core to true healing and health is that annoying and difficult concept of personal responsibility.
A pill does not cure. Cutting out a piece of your body – surgery – does not cure. True healing is accomplished by your body, and it requires your involvement. We utilize Functional Movement Training as one way to help patients participate in their health care journey.
4. Live within your dietary means
Dave Ramsey has made sure that we’ve all heard to live within our “financial means.” This means don’t spend in excess, or go beyond what is financially healthy for you.
Your diet has a “means” too. Eat what you need, no more, no less. Success in all areas of life comes with self-discipline. That is a hard pill to swallow, but we all need to work on our self-control, if we want to accomplish our goals.
If you do this, and focus on being healthy, then you will naturally lose weight. Back pain can be greatly complicated by excess weight on the body. It creates undue pressure on joints, increases inflammation levels, and increases pain sensitivity throughout the body.
5. Eliminate ego
How many injuries do think are caused by ego? A lot. We regularly see sports injuries, lifting injuries, overexertion injuries, too much too fast injuries, and on and on. This is true for both men and women.
Let’s, together, create a firm foundation to build on. We may have to take a few steps back before we go forward again. Let’s start slow, and then build.
A healthy marathon runner didn’t run 26.2 miles the first day they started training. Olympic power lifters don’t start by moving their piano around the house. People who lose weight in a healthy way, don’t stop eating.
True healing is a nurturing of the body. For many, this is a difficult hurdle in their health care journey. It is also one of the most powerful, when the ego is kept in check.
TAKEAWAY: Follow These 5 Tips To Stay Out Of Doctors Offices
Our offer to you: If you’d like to come in, see one of our doctors to discuss how you can enjoy true health care, or how Chiropractic Care or Functional Medicine might support your body, then you can do so by claiming our $19 new patient special. Simply select the location you want to visit, give us a call, and we’ll look forward to meeting you!
