THE BIG-TWO EXCUSES

Mountain View, Missouri (West Plains / Willow Springs / Cabool / Winona / Summersville, Thayer, Mountain Grove) ---- Spinal Decompression Doctor, Russell Schierling, presents another blog article on Spinal Decompression Therapy.

THE BIG-TWO EXCUSES
or
WHY YOUR MEDICAL DOCTOR WON'T RECOMMEND SPINAL DECOMPRESSION THERAPY

If you suffer from chronic, unrelenting low back or neck pain, you very well may have heard these two excuses before from your doctor.  They're convenient.  They blame the situation wholly on you.  Not to mention they require no effort as far as finding a solution to your problem.  No solution, of course, other than drugs or surgery ---- things we know not only do not help large percentages of suffering people, but frequently result in making things worse (HERE).  No, I do not even hope to claim to have all the answers, but in all honesty, why would you not try our SPINAL DECOMPRESSION PROGRAM before jumping in to a SPINAL SURGERY?  Although Spinal Decompression Therapy routinely helps people who have already had spinal surgery, the odds of you getting better with conservative means begins to decrease sharply each time you go under the knife.  Oh, and here are The Big-Two Excuses.

• Well, Mrs. Jones, you just aren't as young as you used to be.
• I'm sorry Mrs. Jones, but you are just going to have to learn to live with the pain.

Like I said, excuses like these are simple.  They require little from your doctor.   They put all the blame back on you.  After all, you're just "too old" to have any hope of improvement.  Mind you that you will hear this excuse whether you are 35 or 85.  It's usually a simple cop out.  And because doctors are more than aware of just how poorly their bag of tricks for dealing with THE BIG FOUR really is, they tell you to just learn to live with it.  Listen up folks; don't take this sort of advice lying down.  Your health is up to you.  Leave it solely up to your doctors and you'll end up like so many patients I have seen over the years ---- Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead!

Of course, you should watch our videos and think seriously about Spinal Decompression Therapy.  But the truth is, I am not interested in helping people who refuse to help themselves.  Sounds callous doesn't it?  It's not.  The promise of modern medicine is, "What can you do for me doc?".   For many people this means, "What can you prescribe me or do to me that will fix my back pain and sciatica but let me continue to live the same self-destructive lifestyle I always have?".   If people are not willing to take some baby steps and do some of the things required to help their own cause, odds are I will not be able to help them.   What can people do to help their cause?  Glad you asked!

HELP YOUR CHRONIC BACK PROBLEM
(Self Help Tips)

• LOSE WEIGHT:  I had a patient who had incredible results with Spinal Decompression Therapy.  Unfortunately, he was severely overweight ---- all right in the belly.  I warned him that this would affect his results.  It did.  After a few months, he weighed more than when he started our program, and was right back where he started as far as his pain was concerned.  To learn how to get excess weight off and keep it off, visit THIS PAGE.

• EXERCISE:  This is not just a weight issue.  All the joints in your body (including your Spinal Discs) require motion / movement to remain healthy.  Without some exercise of some sort, healing a Disc Problem is going to be difficult.  By the way, sitting puts four times the amount of mechanical stress on your spine as standing does.  If you can stand it, walking is great exercise for a disc --- just try to stay off concrete.

• AVOID INFLAMMATION:  Inflammation is not synonymous with swelling, it is a group of normal Immune System chemicals that attract swelling to them.  Although using local ice is beneficial to help limit these chemicals, you will have to avoid the foods that cause INFLAMMATION.  This means that you need to be avoiding sugar and junk, while eating lots of vegetables and a certain amount of lean protein.  You will also have to learn the difference between good fats and bad fats (HERE), because this is a factor that can seriously drive inflammation or substantially inhibit it.
  

• GIVE UP THE CIGS:  I know that this is a tough one.  Unfortunately for you, the research says that if you smoke, you will have significantly greater amounts of SPINAL DEGENERATION in your spine than your non-smoking counterpart.  The disc has a poor blood supply to begin with.  This is why we use OXYGEN THERAPY as part of our standard DISC PROTOCOL. 
  

• TRY INVERSION:  I bought my first Inversion Table years ago.  It is interesting to note on the "customer comments" sections of huge sites such as Amazon dot com, just how many people with the same problems you are dealing with are helped by this simple / inexpensive therapy.  However, it must be done correctly.  HERE is my Blog Post on which table to buy and how to use it properly, as well as the best research studies on the topic. 

• USE AN EXERCISE BALL:  The instability of the ball builds stability into your back.  Also, the bouncing motion pumps fluid in and out of the disc.  This is how exchange takes place in a disc in lieu of a blood supply.  CORE STRENGTH AND EXERCISE BALL PAGE
  

DO NOT AUTOMATICALLY BUY WHAT ANY DOCTOR IS SELLING!

When the things above do not work, it is time to move to plan "B".  All I mean by Header Title is do your own research.  Do not automatically assume that any doctor you consult with is telling you the truth or looking out for your best interest --- after all; Spinal Surgery can be a huge money maker.  I personally want patients who ask questions and do their own research.  The truth is, CHRONIC PAIN patients are a group of people who are easily taken advantage of.  This is what desperation brings out in people.  At Schierling Chiropractic, LLC, my goal is to not only help you as much as you can be helped, it is to help you help yourself. 

After a free consultation where I review your history and tests (MRI's, CT's, X-rays, etc), I will tell you whether you are a GOOD CANDIDATE for Spinal Decompression Therapy.  Unfortunately, for all sorts of reasons, about half of the patients I consult with are not good candidates.  If I think I can help you, I will tell you.  And if I think I can't, I will tell you that also.  We had a person recently, whose problem was not disc related, but instead a PIRIFORMIS SYNDROME that was easily resolved with TISSUE REMODELING.  If you would like to schedule a free, 100% no-obligation consultation with Dr. Schierling, just call Tracy at (417) 934-6337.