How It All Began

Many people are unaware that chiropractic has been around for over a hundred years. This month is the anniversary of the first adjustment, or, when chiropractic began. It all started in Iowa. A man named D.D. Palmer who liked to experiment with different healing modalities, originally discovered the profession. The story of how it began is actually very interesting. A janitor by the name of Harvey Lillard had been suffering from hearing loss. At his job he was constantly working bent over making him very prone to developing rounding of the shoulders, forward head posture, and a hump in his back. D.D. Palmer hypothesized that this might be problematic and asked if he could attempt to help him. What D.D. Palmer did was perform an adjustment specifically to Harvey Lillard’s neck. At that point in time, not as much was known about the nervous system as it is today. Although, they did know that the nervous system controlled everything else in the body. Immediately, after the adjustment Harvey Lillard regained his hearing. This was the moment when the chiropractic profession was born. D.D. Palmer went on to start several chiropractic schools. The original school, Palmer Chiropractic College, still bares his name to this day. From that point on chiropractic expanded and many more stories piled up telling of all the amazing testimonials similar to the one that had taken place in Iowa with D.D. and Harvey Lillard. Chiropractic focuses on the spine in order to impact and improve the function of the nervous system. Most people think of chiropractic as just a treatment for neck or low-back pain. Although,...

Reciprocity

Do unto others as you would have them do for you. Give and you shall receive. There’s no shortage of sayings like this in our culture today. They may sound cliché, but the reason they do is because they’re tried and true. Hands For Life was founded, among other things, to help those in our communities who don’t have access to doctors, get the opportunity to have natural healthcare in the form of Chiropractic. Through our giving and serving, we have been blessed tremendously in ways we could have never imagined. In the years we’ve been running Hands For Life, we’ve had people experience health breakthroughs, touched thousands of spines, created connections with leaders in various communities, and been able to watch feeble children grow into thriving teenagers. We serve out of our own abundance to those who may not be as fortunate. In return, we receive way more than we give. The friendships that have been created through our mission work in Tijuana are outstanding. The gratitude we get as doctors every weekend we go down to serve the people always inspires us to do more of the work. Positive emotions, such as fulfillment, go hand-in-hand with doing this work, and always pay us back ten-fold for any effort we put in. These experiences also create a feeling of connection that’s more powerful than any drug known to man. Reciprocity is the exchange that happens in any interaction. It can happen in the form of money, touch, energy, etc. Without it, someone feels cheated or taken advantage of. Many people are un-interested in mission work, or what some...

Chiropractic and Epigenetics

If you’re somewhat interested in health and the body you may have heard about the advancements in our understanding of Epigenetics. This is a field of study that looks at our environment and the role it plays on our health and bodies. For a long period of time, scientists and researchers thought that genes determined your destiny. In other words, if you had a certain gene for high blood pressure, then it was just a matter of time before you got it. This essentially made us victims without any control over what happens with our health. However, over the past ten-years we’ve discovered new information that proves genes aren’t the sole-determining factor in your health. In fact, they only play a minor roll. Actually, whas the biggest impact on your body and its health is the environment you’re entrenched in. This is what we call Epigenetics. For example, you could have a gene for high blood pressure, but you will also have a gene for normal blood pressure. The high blood pressure gene won’t turn on unless it’s signaled by the environment. What would this kind of signal look like? Typically, an environment that will trigger an unwanted or negative gene to express itself will be due to one or more stressors. The stressors could be, toxic air quality, fast food, lack of exercise, loss of sleep, etc. If your environment is negative and full of stress, then your chances of turning on these negative genes goes increases. The reason chiropractic plays a role Epigenetics is because of the research that shows chiropractic reducing stress in the body. Less...

Are Your Headaches the Problem?

Let me start by first saying headaches are a very common issue. That being said, they aren’t normal. What I mean is many people suffer with headaches rather frequently. However, our bodies weren’t designed to have headaches. They were designed to function normally without the pain. Therefore, whenever a headache is present, it hints at a larger problem. Headaches are symptoms of the problem. They’re the tip of the iceberg. What we don’t see is the root cause of the symptom. That’s usually operating somewhere out of plain sight. Headaches are typically never the main issue. In fact, they are commonly the result of a neck problem. That doesn’t always have to be the case, as there can be rare cases, such as a brain aneurysm. But for the extreme majority, a neck issue will precede any type of headache. So, if headaches aren’t the problem and the neck is, how do you improve your situation? Well, step one is to confirm the neck is in fact the cause of the headaches. You can do that by having an x-ray series taken of your neck. This will show the alignment and curvature of the spine. If there’s any structural damage in your neck, then chances are likely it’s contributing to the headaches. Another way to do this is to have a chiropractor examine your spine and check for any signs of that your neck may be causing your pain. Whatever you decide to do about your headaches it’s important to realize they are just the surface level and the problem usually lies much deeper. To find the true source...