​A recent study shows that when your body is under attack from bacteria, the spleen can be placed under stress.  It takes a lot of work keeping you healthy.  The nerves that tell the spleen to make antibodies, also tell the muscles in your spinal muscles to contract.  AKA the harder your organs work, the more stress is placed on your spine.

HIppocrates, The Father of Medicine said "Look to the spine for the cause of disease."  By getting adjusted regularly we stimulate the nerves that turn on your immune system.  Health takes constant effort...

Getting Adjusted=Getting Healthy

Fight or Flight

Many of us have heard of Fight or Flight and Rest and Digest.  These are features of our Sympathetic Nervous System and our Parasympathetic Nervous System.  The Sympathetic Nervous System creates the Fight or Flight effects.  It pumps blood to your legs while closing down the blood to your organs.  It makes your heart pump faster and your pupils dilate.  Why?  So you can fight or run when in danger.  We don't face the same dangers today as our ancestors would have, but we have the same responses.  Today our stress is kept high by bills and jobs.

Rest and Digest or Feed and Breed

The Parasympathetic nervous system often have the opposite effect on our bodies.  It diverts blood back to our organs so we can digest food and filter wastes.  It signals our bodies and minds to rest, to eat and breed.  We cannot stay in Fight or Flight all day and so this part of your nervous system activates to bring down the stress.  These two parts of your nervous system keep you in equilibrium, so you don't go too far in either direction.

Chiropractic is for the Nervous System
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When you get adjusted, I'm working to stimulate the sympathetic and parasympathetic aspects of your nervous system to create balance and health.  Chiropractic is about restoring balance to the nervous system so your body does what it's supposed to when it's supposed to.  Chiropractic isn't just about making pain go away.  It's about creating a healthy nervous system.   For example, we were taught that throwing up and having a fever meant we were not healthy.  It's actually the opposite.  Throwing up and having a fever are healthy responses to the body being invaded by dangerous substances.  It means you are healthy.  Through chiropractic, we restore your body to healthy.  

Many of us remember the song "The Neck Bone is Connected to the Head Bone", so I want to take that deeper.  There are actually seven bones in the neck and even more in the skull.  How they attach is important because in many cases it can be a source of our pains. 

Without me, you'd fall apart.  Even though I am the largest organ in your body, scientists only recently even noticed me.  I memorize all the injuries that have ever happened to you dating back to your birth.  Of the 37.2 trillion cells in your body, I notice, watch and influence them all.  What am I?  If you said, the nervous system, I'd give you huge points, but the answer is:  FASCIA.


Take a look at the picture below.  That crystalized spider web holds you together.  When you get injured or just do the same repetitive motion, it alters your fascia and creates abnormal movement patters.  So while you're at the office getting your nervous system checked, make sure to get your myofascial system check as well.

What is Chiropractic?

Chiropractic is the, art, science, and practice of correcting the cause of our pain and ailments.  You'll notice we don't talk a lot about drugs and medication here at the office.  That's because I follow a different philosophy toward health.  Depression isn't caused by a lack of prozac, and pain isn't caused by a lack of pain killers.  Medicines rarely, if ever, cure your problems.  So what does the healing?  The answer is:  YOU DO!  Imagine you get a cut on your hand.  Neosporin doesn't heal you.  Your own body heals the cut through clotting factors in your own blood.  You do the healing.  The same principle applies to your spine, muscles, fascia, and nerves.

Maintenance!  So Important!

People get adjusted on a regular basis (weekly to monthly) because they see the value in it.  It's the same reason we eat vegetables everyday.  It's not one and done.  Health never is.  Health is a lifestyle of healthy food, healthy thoughts, healthy movement, and getting adjusted, aka getting your nervous system checked.  That's the magic sauce: doing the right thing over and over.
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Is it just for Pain?

Nope. It's for anyone with a body. That's athletes, babies, moms, dads...everyone. We all have bodies that need to be taken care of. I'm amazed when someone comes back to me after an adjustment and tells me about something unexpected happening to their body. My favorite story is that of a two week old little girl with colic who wouldn't latch to her mother for feeding. I adjusted her very gently, and two weeks later the mother reported that the baby had become a quiet, well-fed little angel. That's the power of a body healing with the guidance of Chiropractic.

I recently had an experience I'd like to share with everyone.  It's one to which I feel most of us can relate.  I found myself sitting in a doctor's office.  The wait in the lobby wasn't even the worst part of the experience.  The lack of genuine care was.  The doctor's assistant (not the doctor) came in and performed a spinal exam that was similar to mine, but colder, and 5 times more expensive.  After more waiting, the doctor finally came in.  You've all been there before, right.  The doctor spent a rushed 5 minutes telling me things I already knew about my body and then after two visits, referred me somewhere else without providing any treatment.  When you call to talk to someone on the phone, you get a voice recording that bounces you from department to department.  The doctor is protected from the public behind a wall of staff and voicemail extensions.  And while on hold, you're told "we treat you like family".

So, what's my point?  It's not to complain.  It's to create contrast.  When my wife and I dreamed up Formation Chiropractic in Arcadia, we envisioned a place where people really were treated like they matter (because they do), a place where you all have my cell phone number, so you can text me when you need me.  I've been through the medical system as a patient.  I've been in pain like many of you.  My vow is to do it differently.  And that's my vow to all of you.  At Formation, you get in when you need me, you get conversations about your health and how to create health in your own bodies naturally.  You get someone who really does care about you, your kids, and your spouses.  And you still get top notch care.  I'd say better care.  I work very hard to get you the care you need and want.  I even try to provide as much for free as possible.  

Go to my instagram, facebook, and/or youtube, and you'll find plenty of ACCURATE  information (for FREE).  If you want to find out what your body is really capable of, talk to someone who looks at you like a worthwhile human being.

​It's a huge tragedy and loss when anyone develops cancer.  I want to piggy-back off of last week's message about prioritizing health.  Last week we discussed the passing of billionaire Steve Jobs.  Now Alex Trabek, whose estimated net worth is $50 million, has been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer.  We are all mortal and our health doesn't care how much money we have.  Keeping ourselves healthy keeps us around for our kids and grandkids.  What is more important that?  Staying healthy keeps our mood and self-esteem up.  It improves our work, our income, our achievements, our families and all those you inspire.  Stay healthy.  

While in grad school, my radiology professor shared with the class that his father-in-law was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer.  If we look close, there's a crucial lesson here.  They were both diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.  Not stage 1. Not stage 2.  Not stage 3.  They didn't skip stages 1, 2 or 3.  They went through all the stages and never knew it.  The body craves health.  It's relentless in its pursuit of health.  Disease and lack of health takes years to develop.  If you're waiting for symptoms, you may be waiting too long.  Sometimes the first symptom of a heart attack is the heart attack.  

Some things are out of our control, but many things are in our own hands.  Remember to do what you can.  I know life gets crazy between kids, educational goals, financial goals, careers, etc.  The best gift you can give your families though, is a healthy you.

I hope you all know that I am always here for you.  If there's anything health related that you want to discuss, whether it be making a change, sticking to a change, or taking health to the next level for you or your families, please give me a call.  I'm here for you.

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Every day we are balancing the things and people that are the most important, and we have to do it within the limitations of time, money, and sometimes physical ability. I want to remind everyone that you're just as important as the people in your lives.

Steve Jobs was 56 years old when he died of pancreatic cancer.  That's WAY too young.  He had $10 billion when he died.  Just think about how much life happens after 56.  This was a man that was not limited by money.  He was limited by health.  We all are.  One of the hardest things about being mortal, is accepting our mortality.  We only get one body, so you've got to take care of it.  Treat it like a Ferrari.  

Top 5 Healthy Habits:
1. GET ADJUSTED. Health comes from the spine. If you do nothing else, get adjusted. It will take your nervous system and fascial system further than yoga, pilates, and massage combined. I don't let a single week go by that I don't get adjusted.
2.  Eat right.  There's so much to say here, but for the sake of keeping this brief, just cut out corn syrup and you're doing better than 90% of America.
3.  Sleep.  This is when your brain heals.  Your mind consolidates information and clears emotions when you sleep.
4.  Be nice to yourself.
5.  Drink (clean) water.  Dump all the flavors.  Soda isn't water. Stop drinking tap water.  Don't let your kids drink it either.  Scientists are finding pharmaceutical drugs in tap water.  Not cool.  Get an RO filter in the house.  Up to 70% of your body is water.  Make sure it's clean.

On the first Saturday of the month from 9am to noon and the first Wednesday of the month, we are going to start adjusting children under 12 for $20.  I hope that many of you with children will take advantage of this and get your children's spines checked.  
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Many times, an infant's neck is injured at birth.  We call this birth injury.  Babies can get wedged in the pelvis, pulled on too hard, vacuumed out, etc.  These injuries at birth are now the baby's starting point.  Without correction, an injury that set the baby off course by only 1 degree, can create a path away from health and in 10 years, the child can be miles away from real health.

For decades, chiropractors have seen the benefits of adjusting children. More and more research is being published. In a recent paper published in the Journal of Pediatric, Maternal & Family Health Chiropractic, Volume 2019, an infant with recurring ear infections was brought to a chiropractor to get her spine checked. Remember, health comes from the spine. The baby was found with damage to the spine. After chiropractic care, the baby's infections resolved.  The symptoms were ear infections; the problem may have been in the spine.  It's not about curing symptoms.  It's about creating health and watching symptoms go away.

This is always one of the fun questions every student of the body encounters.  It's usually followed by imagining each organ and trying to see if the brain is larger than the heart, or if the liver is larger than the brain.  Then the questioner drops the answer and usually feels quite satisfied by blowing someone's mind.  The SKIN.  Hold the phone though.  Our smug questioner is still wrong.  The FASCIA is the largest organ in the body.  Double mind blow.


Three questions arise from this "new" information.  
1.  What on earth is Fascia? 
2. How did scientists miss the largest organ in the body for hundreds of years?  
3.  Why does it even matter?

Let's tackle these questions.  

1.  Take a look at the pic below.  All of the white material is fascia.  In the pic you can see that it holds muscle tissue together.  If we were to zoom out, we would see that it wraps around all of the organs, bones, muscles...everything.  It is the CONNECTIVE TISSUE.  It's what holds your body together.

2. Usually a scalpel is used to cut things apart, but someone finally used it to see how things are connected.  In doing so, they found that all of the white and yellow material we had been cutting through and disposing of was all connected and in fact created a huge system of biomechanics.

3.  Oh, it matters.  Everything you feel is a result of how tight or loose the fascia is.  Do you want to drop to your knees and cry in pain when someone rubs out a knot in your shoulders?  All those knots, and trigger points are caused by problems in your fascia.  Remember, the fascia wraps all of your muscles.

LET'S DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!! It's time to Foam Roll.  I'm going to begin releasing instructional videos on the Formation Youtube page that will show everyone how to methodically relieve those knots, make the fascia move and thereby improve the health of your entire body.  

Here's the link:
youtube.com/channel/UCTwvNwjScKc4p4OJCC9aa7g?view_as=subscriber


Image provided by Ronald Thompson.
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3632 E Indian School Rd, PHOENIX, AZ, 85018-5130
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Image thanks to Ronald Thompson.

There's More To Us Than Meets The Surface
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Looking in the mirror has given us one way of seeing our bodies, but how does our brain perceive the body?  The answer is Homunculus.  Take a look at the pic below.  This is how your brain perceives you.  The pic only shows one Homunculus, but your brain actually has two.  One is for the motor cortex and one is for the sensory cortex.  Your brain puts a disproportionate amount of attention on certain parts of the body.  Take a look at the pic below and you'll see that the hands and face get the majority of the brain's attention while the legs get much less.  The image is made by determining how much of the brain senses parts of your body compared to the whole.  For example, the nerves that run from the hands lay claim on large portions of the brain compared to other parts.  

The way our brains perceive our bodies plays a huge role in our lives.  Keeping your nervous system healthy can have effects that you may not imagine yet.  Getting adjusted can literally change the way you see yourself and the world around you.