Put Chiropractic on the Top of Your Prevention List

There is not enough prevention in health care. Physicians, dentists, social workers, physical therapists, and chiropractors all say it. We know prevention is a good thing, but road blocks can get in the way.

Primary prevention consists of activities such as proper diet and exercise to help the body avoid disease. Since most illness is life style related, this makes sense.

Another type of prevention, called secondary prevention, is early detection of a disease process. An early stage of treatment is preferred because it is usually less complicated with a higher rate of success.

Even the Affordable Health Care Act brags about covering prevention visits, so this is a good sign that decision makers realize it saves money and enhances life. But all good ideas have their problems.

For one, prevention is very personal. Some people breeze through life breaking all the rules, yet they seem to suffer no repercussions. Blame George Burns on that one as he smoked and drank to age 100.

People decide for themselves what they think is best for their own health. No one wants to be told what to do unless they get a paycheck for it. Doctors' instructions can seem to be very hard to follow.

I see it in my own life. When I am told how much work my car needs I begin to whine. Today of all days, really? I don't have time to replace nine things on my car. What do I need in order to drive it out of here? I promise I will come back to get the rest of the work done.

People also believe they have plenty of time to get to it later. I had one practice member tell me he was going to get healthy when he retired. Which he did, so I am glad for him. However, I've read too many obituaries that didn't work out that way.

In researching this article I came across a personal story in the Atlantic titled Why I Had to Close My Preventive Health Care Clinic. The doctor had great statistics on positive health outcomes. Numerous patients lost weight, improved their lab numbers and no longer needed medications.

Stories like these truly brought back quality of life for the folks who made the commitment to change their habits. But the owner relied solely on insurance and the reimbursements barely covered one fourth of his operation. His colleagues would not make referrals and hospitals would not partner with him.

That does not mean prevention is a lost cause. We will always encourage our practice members to strive to be their best. We can offer a helping hand by making prevention services as convenient as possible.

Routine chiropractic adjustments have been shown to keep people active which translates into many health benefits from pain reduction to more energy, better mood, and less sickness. This provides a nice ripple effect making other preventive practices more successful as well.

If you want to make important health changes, be sure to learn how chiropractic plays a unique role in prevention care.