My approach to patient care is simple:
1. Treat the person, NOT the diagnosis
2. The function of your body determines your health
3. Everything affects everything. What’s missing in today’s healthcare is proper and complete evaluation. Most of the time, within your typical doctor’s office visit, your symptoms are heard and the prescription pad is pulled out and a script is written for a drug which will most likely only treat the symptoms. Of course I’m going to explore your complaints…but…I learned a long time ago that if I get too focused on your symptoms or your label (diagnosis), then I miss the big picture. And what is that? EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED…BRAIN…IMMUNE SYSTEM…HORMONES…ORGAN FUNCTIONS…IT ALL MATTERS. Looking at symptoms ONLY and naming the disease (giving a diagnosis) is ridiculously limited in assessing your health. Your lifestyle, job, food choices, sleep quality, stress levels, exercise regime, support systems, medication usage, and the efficiency of your neurological system are just SOME of the things that need to be assessed to get to the bottom of your health challenges.
It is mainstream healthcare’s philosophy (treatment of symptoms/disease/effects) that makes the United States one of the sickest countries in the world NOT the lack of access to health care.
My approach combines Functional Neurology and Metabolic Assessment and Correction.
The brain and nervous system is the master system and controls all aspects of bodily function. It is completely aware of the body and it’s environment. It is the environment that drives the brain. Our environment is monitored via the receptors of the nervous system. Chiropractic Functional Neurology utilizes all the receptors of the nervous system to facilitate change within the nervous system. Light, sound, proprioception, receptors for body position and movement, and the receptors of the spine and joints (mechanoreceptors) can all be utilized to create positive change within the nervous system. Utilizing the principles of neuroplasticity is what creates the change.
The difference between traditional chiropractic and chiropractic/functional neurology is that functional neurology recognizes that the spine is NOT the only window into the nervous system. I analyze all aspects of the nervous sytem: cortices of the brain, cerebellum, brain stem, cranial nerves, basal ganglia, peripheral nerves, and end organs. From a Functional Neurological analysis, I am able to develop a plan of correction utilizing different tools to influence nervous system function.
Activation: When nerves are activated, it stabilizes them and therefore keeps them healthy. The more nerves are activated, the happier they are. The spine is a powerful window into the brain, but is not always the best choice. In some cases, it is inappropriate. In my office I will find the most effective route into the brain. Brain-Based Correction may use eye movements, core/balance, vestibular stimulation, vibration, visual stimulation, light, sound, color, interactive metronome, acupuncture point stimulation, or ATM2. Anything that changes the frequency of firing of nerves is a potential tool to drive improvement. If you improve the function of the nervous system, you improve the health of the individual. The key is to identify the location of the malfunction.
Everything you experience is influencing the function of your body-and therefore, your health. Your total sensory experience is a function of the information your BRAIN receives. How accurate that information is, determines the resulting output of the brain. This output creates the function. So, if you have heard of the axiom in the computer world of “garbage in-garbage out,” that is your brain and nervous system in a nutshell. If you brain is receiving distorted information (“garbage”) due to breakdowns in communication between the environment and the brain, then adaptation to the environment is compromised and ill-health results. If the fuel available to run the brain is compromised, then it results in bad nerve function and bad health. Which brings me to the next point: metabolism.
Metabolic Assessment and Support:
Nerve cells need 3 things to survive in order to receive and transmit their information to coordinate body function and therefore keep the person adapting to their environment (health).
They need: Fuel, Activation, and the absence of inflammation.
Fuel: ATP; every cell uses ATP (adenosine triphosphate) to do it’s work. ATP is made from Glucose and Oxygen. As a result, anything that influences the production of glucose or the utilization of oxygen will influence energy production in the body.
Everything that influences the production of this energy and regulation of metabolism needs to be assessed in order to find the solution to your health challenges. These include the food choices you make, digestion efficiency, blood sugar balance, detoxification, hormone balance, immune function and more. All of these systems may need to be assessed in order to find the cause and to keep things running as efficiently as possible. See the section on Functional Medicine.
Absence of Inflammation:
All you need to do is look at the research. EVERY chronic illness including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, arthritis, obesity, osteoporosis, dementia and Alzheimer’s have inflammation as a common denominator-a smoldering fire inside the body. It activates the immune system and puts the body in a mode of constant vigilance. Research by cell biologists tells us that when any cell is in defensive mode, it cannot be thriving. You are either moving towards better health or away from it. When your body’s cells (especially your brain and nervous system) are constantly fighting inflammation, they cannot be thriving. You need to find out where the inflammation is coming from and address the cause. NOT just TREAT the inflammation.
Inflammation can be coming from: injuries (old or new), infections (old or new), adrenal insufficiently, immune insufficiency, food sensitivities, toxicities, blood sugar imbalance (insulin is inflammatory-therefore if your diet consists of foods that constantly produce excess insulin, then that can cause the inflammation), and many more.