Check Engine Light: What your body may be saying

If you've been following the last few weeks, you should now have a pretty good grasp of chiropractic terminology, what it entails and how we perceive a healthy, functioning body. Now we come to another aspect of the dynamic chiropractor-body-patient relationship - communication. Conveying how you are feeling to your chiropractor will help evaluate your spine during your adjustment sessions; especially if it is something that is not normally checked on your regular visits, such as an extremity, or if something physiological or internal is occurring.

So check in with yourself. How are you today? Are you having any on-going or chronic pain? Unexplained aches? Frequent headaches? Less than normal energy level?

I know this seems like a very broad, all-encompassing list but in all reality, having one of these symptoms could be your body's way of trying to alert you to a small problem before it becomes more. Granted, if you haven't run for months, and ran a few miles yesterday, you would expect to be a bit stiff and sore. But a chronic condition is a sign that something in your body is not working as it should.

As always, our autonomic nervous system is our key to health but there can be multiple factors at work. What you are fueling your body with has its own impact and shockwave value. For example, in a 2006 Surgical Neurology study it was found that 59 percent of chronic pain sufferers can eliminate the need for pain drugs when they consume adequate levels of omega-3 essential fatty acids because these help reduce inflammation.

In addition, in 2002 the Annuals of Pharmacology stated that chronic pain can be eliminated in some just by removing aspartame and glutamate (aka monosodium glutamate or MSG) from their diet for four months. So check in with yourself, make an appointment to have your spine evaluated today and check those food labels!

To find out more about chiropractic or about our nutrition counseling, call us at (208) 667-7434 or see us at our office at 370 E. Kathleen Ave., Suite 600, Coeur d'Alene, to find out more. You can also visit our website at www.CDAHealth.com or find us on Facebook.