This past weekend Dr. Diane, Austin and I attended a really cool chiropractic seminar/convention in Las Vegas. It was really cool and was hosted by our daughter Abigayle’s school. She was also there! Always great to see Abby who will be Dr. Abby in April of 2020! Keep up the good work!

Great speakers and lots of great information. Let me assure you, we are all on the right team and the right path with chiropractic!

One of the topics discussed by most speakers was the positive impact the chiropractic adjustment has on the central nervous system, including the brain. Manipulation was shown to increase overall muscle strength in certain populations of people from as much as 6% to over 54%- this last group being patients who had suffered a stroke. Amazing stuff. WE DON’T HAVE TO LEARN TO LIVE WITH IT AND SIT BACK AND WATCH OURSELVES AND LOVED ONES WASTE AWAY. Chiropractic really is the answer!

If I can find my notes, I’ll write more about these incredible studies in later blogs.

In the meantime, I thought I might talk more about neuroplasticity- the way your brain learns. In previous blogs, I discussed the more positive components of this. Simply by playing and challenging yourself and others, one can wire new pathways and new ways to function into their brains and nervous systems. This would be very important in people who have suffered brain injuries, concussions, or who had neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s.

The negative side is that one can also train or re-wire more contra-survival pathways, and this would not be good.

Consider a person who is in pain, and who is “learning to live with it.” That’s exactly what they are doing- teaching themselves to feel the pain anytime they do a certain type of movement or activity.  The hurt they are now feeling, can and will become the feeling that they hurt.  This is a mammoth problem because it is no longer just physical at this point- it is mental, emotional and possibly spiritual. They take pills for the pain, the need to take the pills becomes part of the pattern, and one now needs drugs to feel well, but the drugs decrease a person’s ability to perceive life. They move differently, think differently, are less aware and all of this becomes “learned” in terms of neuroplasticity- the brain is taught to develop pathways that limit function and the joy of being alive.

Think of someone who, because of pain, has limited mobility, or dysfunction. They have changed the way they walk, turn their heads, sit, bend, perform typical activities of daily living, and each one of these alterations develops different dysfunctional pathways in the brain. A guy stubs his toe and limps around for a month or so. He has now wired into his nervous system the limp. He doesn’t notice it, but his body does and starts to make changes in the way he functions, thinks and looks at life, and in terms of neuroplasticity wires in new pathways that insist upon the dysfunction.

How about the guy at the gym who is going to work through his pain. No pain, no gain, right? Well, he is only training his pain and dysfunction into his nervous system- and the more he does this the less likely he will ever become well again. He could get well again if he just began to move correctly once more, but how is this done when dysfunction is the way he moves? Good luck!

Just so you aren’t too bummed out, this can be accomplished- all the person has to do is demonstrate to themselves that the correct motions, the ones they thought hurt too much, don’t hurt and re-train and re-learn the pain-free pathways.  Paragon Chiropractic can show you how!

Here’s one a little closer to home. How about the person who sits at a job all day, unhappy and in pain. This unhappiness and pain in time will be learned and carry over into their entire life. We all know these people. Some of them come to my office and want an adjustment every so often. It makes them feel better for a while, but once it’s hardwired in, it will take more than an adjustment every few months and a couple of exercises they are too depressed to do to fix them.

Or, here’s another one, we have people who tell us they can do a 3-minute plank or 50 push-ups and when we watch them it’s more like a 15-second plank and maybe 20 push-ups. Once the form goes out the window, they are training dysfunction into their mechanics through neuroplasticity.

It is not a good idea to train or push yourself beyond your capacity to perform correctly with exercise and other similar activities.

I know, “But, Dr. Dave, how are we supposed to improve, get stronger and better?”

Well, not by training pain and dysfunction into your hardware. Do you realized that the runners on the US Olympic Marathon team only run about 3 miles a week? Heavy weightlifters lift heavy only once in a while, and that’s to adapt their spines and joints to hold enormous amounts of weight. They actually cause micro fractures in their spines and the bone callouses and gets thicker to support the weight. Instead of heavy lifting? They use lighter weights and focus on training excellent mechanics so they can life heavy in competition.  Interesting, huh?

These people who go to Spin Class or Jazzercise or whatever is currently all the rage 3 and 4 times a week and max out- what are they doing?!?!? That’s right- they are training dysfunction. They are not getting bigger and better- they are breaking down their bodies faster than they can adapt to the stresses of the exercises- they are training dysfunction and wiring that dysfunction into their brains and nervous systems.

This idea of beating the living heck out of something in the name of progress just isn’t so. In fact, it does the opposite and trains de-gression, not pro-gression.

I guess the point of this blog is you don’t have to suffer, and in fact, it really doesn’t build character or strength or anything else that’s considered admirable in another human being- it trains dysfunction, it trains pain, it trains suffering all of which we seem to have plenty of already. And besides, how are you supposed to experience the spirit of play and the joy of being alive when you are killing yourself?

Please let us know if we can be of help restoring your function and get you back into the game of life. You’re playing either way, so why not let us help you win?

Until next time,

Dr. Dave