UNBLOCKING

Most people believe that chiropractic care is for helping spinal conditions, like neck and back pain. Many individuals I work with seek chiropractic treatment for such musculoskeletal issues, which is very typical. However, once we start looking into the individual’s health history, we often find there have been other ongoing issues as well that may be related to their pain and other health conditions that we may help with.

Recently, I had a female patient who came in with horrible fatigue and headaches. She had been suffering from these headaches for years. She visited several doctors and tried medications and injections, ice, stretching, etc., but nothing lasted. As we went through her health history, she also mentioned issues with brain fog and chronic indigestion that had been going on for quite some time.

As chiropractors, we look at the body in its entirety because it’s how we are wired as humans—everything is connected. The brain and the spinal cord serve as an intricate wiring system that gives feedback to the rest of the body—what we feel, how we move, what we sense, and how we function daily without telling our lungs to breathe and our stomach to digest. If there is an interference along this intricate wiring system, an individual may not only sense pain but may also have a disruption in everyday function, like stomach indigestion, because the nervous system is working harder somewhere else.

Returning to the patient I spoke of earlier, she was a mother of two, very active during the week, and works part-time. Like many women, she was trying to balance life with chronic fatigue and headaches, which can be very disruptive over time. I looked at her lifestyle, diet, activities, stress levels, posture, and sleep. Changes were made to all areas over the course of a few months along with her chiropractic treatment, which all helped to reduce interferences in her nervous system, allowing for better nerve response, resulting in less inflammation and less pain overall. She noticed less indigestion, less tension in her neck, and also less brain fog as she began to sleep longer and didn’t wake up with daily headaches.

It’s a matter of finding the source of the problem causing the pain and a lot of time it’s multifaceted, therefore it may result in multiple health concerns. She is now able to recognize when she goes off course because she is tuned in not just her pain, but other signs of getting off course with her health as well. As a result, she is able to manage her health better.

Dr. Dina Rabo is a chiropractor and owner of Rabo Chiropractic Center in Chico. You can find her online at www.RaboChiropracticCenter.com

I start my day with a cup of matcha green tea and then fill up my ginormous water bottle with 8 cups of water and drink that throughout the day to stay super hydrated. try and get 10,000 steps in a day either on the treadmill or walking in Bidwell and take time to be outside and soak in just being.

My husband and I usually do a big loop in Lower Park a couple times a week with our dogs. They love to swim in the creek when it’s warm, and we have lots of dog friends and people friends we see on our walks. In nature, and in the park, much of the outside worries get stripped away in favor of your baser understanding of your place in this world and what’s really important. It’s incredibly peaceful.

I enjoy listening to The Mindset

Mentor podcast. My sister-in-law sent me one, and I am hooked. It helps me see different views and helps keep me positive. With 20-minute episodes, I can listen on the way to and from work, and the language is genuine and not overdone.

I try to start each day with a twomile walk, take a one-mile walk after lunch, and finish off the day with one last two mile-walk. The cadence ensures I get five miles in each day, and I just naturally feel better by doing it! It's a great way to get energized in the morning without coffee, beat the lunch food coma, and wind down before bed.