A great motivator for change is always pain. Pain is an indicator to your body something is wrong. Our society has adopted the mentality that pain is just something we must deal with and Tylenol is usually the fix. I can promise you the pain you experience is not a result of your Tylenol deficiency. So why is our mind trained for this? Here is what traditional healthcare looks like. In the entire world, there are 7.6 billion

people with a “B.” Of those people, America represents 323 million. America also consumes 80% of the world’s medication, yet we rank 34th in the world for healthiest countries according to the Bloomberg Global Health Index. We rank behind countries including Singapore, Norway, Spain, South Korea, Portugal, and Malta. With such an alarming statistic, it's evident that something needs to change in the way we

view healthcare.

What needs to change? Typically, if something hurts, you take a pill and it appears to go away. If you have a headache, you take a pill and it seems to vanish. Most Americans follow this common protocol. This symptom-based treatment does not address any underlying problems. A greatanalogy is putting a piece of black tape over your check-engine light. It puts your mind at rest, but you'll be delaying a much bigger, more expensive issue. This is called Reactive Healthcare.

So how do fix it? In most cases of pain, the problem could have been avoided long before it started. This is where Proactive Healthcare plays a role. Much like it's important to get regular checkups for your overall health, your teeth, or even to change your car’s oil, it's important to have the health of your spine checked too. Just because something doesn't hurt, doesn't mean there isn’t a potential problem. Pain is usually the last thing to show up when there is dysfunction. This can be the case for not only pain, but other things as well. For example, in cases of the upper cervical region (upper neck), if there's misalignment of bones in the neck it can lead to chronic headaches, allergy issues, sinus infections, and sometimes hearing loss. All of which can be prevented long before it starts by having the wellness of your spine checked.

So why the spine?

  One hundred percent of communication throughout the body comes from the spine. This means in order for your heart to beat, there is a nerve that tells it to... For your arms or fingers to move, there is a nerve telling to... For your eyes to move and comprehend this message, you guessed it... there is nerve telling it to. The nervous system is extremely important in all of your body functions, keeping it healthy is the cheapest, easiest, and most painless way to improve your overall health and keep you free from regularly taking medications.

How do I get my spine checked out? Lookup a great wellness chiropractor. If you don’t have a Chiropractor that you see regularly, you are likely way behind the ball, especially if you are over the age of 35.

-Drs. Lauren and Jimmy Allgood 

Do you go to the dentist? Why? If you're like most people, your answer is probably something like:

“So I don’t get cavities”

“To keep my teeth clean and straight” “Because my dentist tells me to”

“For proper dental hygiene”

“To express my genetic potential”

Okay, most people wouldn’t say that last one.

The fact is most people go to the dentist on a routine basis and have for many years. This is because the dental profession has done a fantastic job educating the public about what happens if you don't. They've also done a great job showing the public what your smile can look like with routine care and hygiene.

Doctors of Chiropractic on the other hand haven't done such a good job with this. Most people only go to a chiropractor when their neck or back hurts. This is like going to the dentist only when your teeth hurt. At that point, the damage has been done and you're doing damage control. The point I'm trying to make isn’t that people should stop seeing a dentist on a regular basis. It's actually the opposite.

People should see their dentist on a regular basis. They should also see their chiropractor on a regular basis. Here's why: You can replace teeth; you can’t replace the bones in your spine. Routine care is essential. The “cavities” of the spine are misalignments. When pain shows up, the damage is already done in many instances.

Any misalignment of the spine can cause organ dysfunction. Every organ has a nerve telling it how to work, and at what rate. If that nerve isn’t at 100% the organ never will be.

Even your heart has a nerve that tells it how to work. That nerve comes from the spine.

Why treat an injury when you can prevent it? Often, a misalignment leads to compensation from elsewhere. Over time, this breaks down normal movements; a recipe for injury.

Easier to raise a healthy spine than to fix a broken one. Kids of any age (including infants) should have their spine evaluated. Can you imagine if the first time you went to the dentist was when you were 45 years old?

Probably on the road to dentures... “Dentures” do not exist for the spine. You are stuck with the spine you have, so take extremely great care of it.

-Drs. Lauren and Jimmy Allgood