First off, let me remind you or maybe teach you for the first time the importance of infant, toddler, and childhood adjustments.  The first system that forms in the womb during pregnancy is the nervous system, and from that time on it regulates and controls body function.  Since most births these days are no longer natural, the first trauma is during the birth process.  Not being checked for subluxations or spinal misalignments until later in life, is a major detriment to the child’s  nervous system, leading to weak immunity and poor mechanical structure.   Even though its now 2011, we still see skyrocketing numbers of asthma, ear infections, allergies, and sensory integration issues.  This is all the result of a nervous system that is not adapting to changes in environment, and has very, very little to do with genetics.

Also, when kids grow up getting regular wellness adjustments, they realize their body is important  and when taken care of properly works fine without medications or vaccines to battle the flu, common cold, headaches, fevers, ear infections, etc.  This is empowering and lessens the likelyhood that your child will be another sad victim of the side effects of medications, which is a leading cause of death in this country.    Did you know that greater than 80 percent of medications given to children under 18 are OFF LABEL, which means they are prescribed for reasons other than what they were researched for!  This is insane,  yet most of the parents in the country are either unaware, or are aware, but just don’t know what to do as an alternative.  Actually, drugs should be the alternative.  Every drug has a side effect, even Tylenol, so why we constantly rely on drugs and teach our kids to reach for drugs first when we have body symptoms is beyond me.  Safe, gentle, natural, regular chiropractic adjustment help restore nervous system function without side effects.

This doesn’t mean you will go through life without drugs, but you will be far less likely if its working at its best.  I have no problem what so ever bragging that my children have never had a drop of poisonous vaccines put into their bloodstream, and have also never taken a drug for any symptom ever.  It just really makes me sick to see all this sickness when being proactive IS the answer.   Many of you reading this get it, and I applaud you.   But others still come in to improve their own nervous sysem, while leaving their kids at home unchecked, waiting for symptoms to show up and when they do, just teaching the kids that drugs fix everything.  Look around…its not working…we are NOT the healthiest country on the planet by FAR.  Some of you, simply haven’t gotten your kids checked because you just haven’t explained it to your husband or wife, so they don’t get it, and that’s the end of it.  Bring them in or let me or Dr. A talk to them.  It would be easier for me to say nothing, but it flies in the face of my purpose.

JULY is free exam month for kids, and many of you are getting your kids checked for the first time.  For those of you who have been putting this off for too long, the second best time is NOW.  I can’t tell you how many kids we saw in my four days in Peru, but I can tell you there was nothing but pure gratitude from the parents that saw the results in the short time we were there.  For those of you who helped with my trip by purchasing the finger puppets hand made in Peru, thanks again for your support!  I also want to help Chicago kids, not just children from Peru!  It takes courage to be different.

Thank you for trusting us with your wellness….Dr. M

That being said, I do want to spend a little time examining the following question:  “What symptom is bad for you?”  I generally ask this question at some point in all of our lectures, and I get great dialogue and creative answers.  You see, while headaches, fever, insomnia, depression, muscle aches, anxiety, and other symptoms may all “FEEL” bad, they are ALL very SMART alarms and/ or actions the body is innately making as part of a healing process.  Some of you may say, but how is depression good for you?  Well, I would counter, if I found out today a close family member died suddenly, and I felt no despair or depression but instead happiness, then THAT would be bad.  I didn’t say I like depression or sadness, but there are moments in one’s life, where that is the healthy response for the body.  This is the same with a runny nose and fever.  Sure, it feels bad, but it is a process the body must go through to achieve wellness. 

 For too often, we are our own worst enemy, because many of the teachings of our parents, and of western medicine, has taught us that SYMPTOMS are bad, and we should mask them as soon as possible with a chemical to FEEL better.  We see this in kids too!  Before trying natural processes like chiropractic care, parents are accepting diagnosis like asthma and ADHD as inherent problems with their kids , and are resigned to the fact that  their child must be on side effect ridden medications for life!  As babies, we overmedicate young immune systems with more vaccines than any other country in the world, and give a million rounds of antibiotics for ear infections.  All the while, the body was simply doing what it was designed or evolved to do.   

Anyone who exercises will tell you there is a “passage of pain.”  At some point during the exercise in order to grow, to improve, to get better, our bodies hit a point where we become very uncomfortable, to the point where you don’t know if you can go on.  It is at and beyond that point where our greatest growth takes place.  The body is going through the exact same thing when we have symptoms.  It doesn’t mean you are sick, it means your body is healing and getting stronger.  But, unfortunately, the majority of us don’t look these symptoms as a good thing.  We are trained from the time we are kids to avoid discomfort, to avoid symptoms.  So as adults, when we can’t handle life’s stresses, so we pump up with Paxil or Ambien to sleep, or Vicodin for pain, or Xanax for anxiety, or any of the other common presciptions out there.  And then we wonder why the average adult takes 8 prescription meds by the age of 55 (yes, true statistic), and that our health care system is causing us to go broke.   

Ok, now let me make myself clear one more time.  I ALSO do not like to GET symptoms, but I appreciate their purpose and like to listen and respond naturally to their meaning.  This is why I love getting regular adjustments for my family and I, so we have a clear communication pathway to our cells, tissues, and organs through our healthy nervous system.  This provides for a stronger adaptation to the stressors of life and when we do have symptoms our response is always faster than those bodies who don’t have a fine tuning, allowing us to have a better, more appropriate response to life’s stresses – whether that is a virus, an accident, etc.  (And I know that many of you get this as well because every single days we hear stories of children and adults getting sick, or having pain, and their bodies fighting it off much much easier than in the past before they started getting adjusted.  It’s why we come to work each day!  So keep those stories coming!)

Much respect

Dr. M

It is so prevalent that it has worked its way into all aspects of our culture.

Asthma (or the diagnosis of asthma) is an exploding epidemic in this country and in the developed world.  Since 1980 asthma rates in the U.S. have almost quadrupled.  There are a number of reasons for this:  vaccine recommendations per child in the US has tripled in the same time frame (vaccines change the way our immune system works, leading to sensitization of and inflammation in airways), lack of exposure to bacteria due to antibiotics and antibacterial soaps, pollution, the increase of pro-infammatory foods such as grains, sugars, and milk in our diets, the increasing lack of activity and exercise in our lifestyles, and poor posture related to the increase in TV, video game, computers, and other sitting activites in both children and adults.  (A comparison between asthma rates in the US (very high) and under-developed countries (very low) demonstrate these reasons nicely.  Underdeveloped countries (and even developed countries such as those in Europe and Japan) don’t mandate nearly as many vaccines as the US, live a much more active lifestyle, don’t each nearly as many processed foods, and are typically exposed to bacteria and dirt in much more natural ways.)

There are good news though.  Both research and our clinical experience have demonstrated that it is possible to help people with asthma throw away their inhalers and take back their lives naturally.  Its for this reason that we have decided to declare March Asthma Awareness Month here in our office.  We have set a goal of helping at least 25 people overcome their asthma and start living their lives again, start running, and playing, and stop living in fear.

We need your help!  Each and everyone of us knows someone with asthma who could benefit from our help.  Simply give them our information, or even better yet, make them an appointment with Sarah or Monica.  There are no prizes, gifts, or giveways for doing so.  Just the joy in knowing that you have helped someone change their life!

Unfortunately, these procedures and others, like the epidural, are being used to comfort the mother, at the expense of the baby and mother’s health.  For instance, if the birth is natural, the mother does not need anyone to tell her to “PUSH” because she feels WHEN from hormones released, followed by a “RELAXATION” phase, which allows the mother to rest a minute or two before the next surge of pushing comes.  This all allows for a smooth transition of the baby’s head through the vaginal canal.  When the obstetrician does not need to use instruments or hands to pull, twist, and turn the head, the baby’s own delicate spine and nervous system are MUCH safer.  

On the other hand, if an epidural is used, the mother is temporarily paralyzed from the waist down, so she won’t feel pain (at least not during labor).  Once paralyzed, the nerve connection to the brain will not be able to let the mother feel when to push, so the doctor will have to say “PUSH” for her.  Also, there is a considerable loss of strength with the epidural’s temporary paralysis effect, so the muscles won’t be strong enough to push the baby out without the help of about 90 lbs of pulling pressure from the obstetrician,  which increases the risk of upper neck birth trauma leading to a multitude of problems such as difficulty breastfeeding, decreased APGAR score, and lowered immunity to name a few.  Then to make matters worse, the mother is usually hooked up to an I.V. administering a drug called Ptosin, which is a synthetic hormone that speeds up the contractions.   The problem is, the synthetic hormone isn’t as good as the one God made  (we call that organic these days ), so Ptosin doesn’t allow a resting phase between contractions; it just says, keep contracting, even though you can’t feel it because of the epidural, which then fatigues the mother, who already has weak, temporarily paralyzed muscles from the epidural, so then the c-section comes. 

This is not an article to bash c-sections.  About 8 percent of the time, they are absolutely the only known way to get a baby out, in those cases the complications are worth it, but with the national average pushing close to 40% of all births going to c-section, well that means that most of them didn’t need it, and caused the baby and mother harm in the process.  I thought, (I know I did), doctors needed to take an oath, that said, “first, do no harm?”  Maybe the oath should say, “first, make sure mom doesn’t feel pain, and if its harming the function of her body or the baby its ok, just first make sure mom doesn’t feel pain.”  You see, here is where it all comes again.  We (most of our subconscious health ideas) are taught that pain is bad, which is why we make the mistake of giving medicine too early for normal, healthy fevers, take cough medicine for a good, healthy cough, take ibuprofen for normal, healthy swelling, and yes, in this case take paralyzing injections into our spinal cord to not feel normal, healthy contractions in pregnancy. 

No one ever said you had to like PAIN, but if its helping you or YOUR baby, wouldn’t it be a good idea to help facilitate what is normal, instead of working against it? Ok, well, I was going to write more about how wonderful chiropractic care allows for a more natural delivery by balancing the round ligaments that connect to the uterus from the pelvis, but I’ve obviously been pulled away by pure philosophy again, which is always more important.  “Get the BIG IDEA and ALL ELSE WILL FOLLOW”—B.J. Palmer. 

For those of you who are expecting, please let Dr. Arthur and I know as soon as possible, because there are very important, natural techniques we have to help facilitate better nerve function and pelvic stability during these miraculous 9 months of pregnancy.  Please feel free to ask us questions about this important topic.  Pregnancy should be a joy, not a DIAGNOSIS.  

Much Love and GO BEARS!!!!

DR. M

I want you to imagine that I took all of the garbage cans out of our Chicago alleys and put them on the street like NYC does.  Do you think that our scavengers (squirrels and rats) will stay in the alley, or do you think they will come out to the street, since I moved the garbage there?  Since we are talking about garbage by the way, do you think squirrels and rats are good for our environment or bad?  Do they help with the decomposition of our waste or make it worse? I’m sure you answered that they would come to the street to where the garbage has been moved, and I’m sure you said they are good for the environment. 

Now, you see, germs are really just smaller versions of opportunistic life, like rodents.  They will survive in high quantity where there is a form of garbage that they like to live in or near, and, like rats, they are actually good for our planet.  Mind you, I didn’t say you had to say they were cute! 

Most people are running around scared of germs and viruses as if they are actually out to get you.  Calm your ego down, because none of you are that popular to these organisms, unless your body is a hospitable host due to its current state of garbage.  Nobody if perfect, but some of us have a lot more garbage in our internal system than our neighbors, and those are the individuals whom are more likely to be “infected” with illness, due to their poor immune system, not because you are popular or look cool with your new Banana Republic underwear you got from your mom at Christmas. This is why only 2 kids generally get sick in a classroom of 30 kids.  If it were the germ that caused it, then all would be sick, because kids touch and get into everything, as any parent would know.

So, for 2011, is the New Year going to bring a New You?  What are you willing to do different, or stop doing, in order to clean up your internal garbage to keep the rats/germs away?  If you are reading this, then at least you already get regular chiropractic care which improves immune system function instantly.  On the other hand, maybe you need to schedule more fun into your weekly calendar, eat less sugar, eat more greens, stretch, relax, meditate, pray, or just turn your cell phone off for 20 seconds a day.  You get to choose!

 Happy New YOU/Year!

Dr. M

We know that this wouldn’t be possible without you!  That’s why next week, November 1st-5th, we will be hosting a Patient Appreciation Week.  This is a chance for us to say a big THANK YOU to each and every one of you!  There will be a lot of suprises throughout the week, but here are a couple of things that we wanted you to be aware of:

• Thursday:  Name Your Supplement!!!  We are very proud of the supplement brands that we carry.  Our suppliers, Standard Process and Innate Choice, are industry leaders when it comes to all natural, non-synthetic, whole food supplements.  This is why we personally use them and recommend them to our patients.  Many of you have made them your supplement of choice as well.  As our gift to you for making us your supplement supplier, any patient who has previously purchased a supplement through us can purchase their supplements of choice today for 50% off! (limit one bottle per supplement, excludes detox packages).
• Friday:  Kid’s Day:  Kids need chiropractic too!  All kids adjustments today (under 16) are completely free!  Is your child not already under care?  Bring them in today for an exam and we will do it at no charge!  It’s a win-win….your child’s nervous system function improves and you save money!

Of course this isn’t everything so make sure you are scheduled (or if you are not due for an adjustment, just stop in and say hi!) for this week!

What you don’t hear from big pharma or the media is that while these are great marketing strategies that make a ton of money for those involved – they don’t actually stop you from getting sick or getting the flu.  And this isn’t me talking, and this isn’t new, breaking research, we’ve known this for a while.  Take a look at some different groups and try to see who it helps:

• Not babies: In a review of more than 51 studies involving more than 294,000 children it was found there was “no evidence that injecting children 6-24 months of age with a flu shotwas any more effective than placebo. In children over 2 yrs, it was only effective 33% of the time in preventing the flu. Reference: ”Vaccines for preventing influenza in healthy children.” The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2 (2008).
• Not children: A study 800 children with asthma, where one half were vaccinated and the other half did not receive the influenza vaccine. The two groups were compared with respect to clinic visits, emergency department (ED) visits, and hospitalizations for asthma. CONCLUSION: This study failed to provide evidence that the influenza vaccine prevents pediatric asthma exacerbations.  Reference: “Effectiveness of influenza vaccine for the prevention of asthma exacerbations.” Christly, C. et al. Arch Dis Child. 2004 Aug;89(8):734-5.
• Not children again:   “The inactivated flu vaccine, Flumist, does not prevent influenza-related hospitalizations in children, especially the ones with asthma…In fact, children who get the flu vaccine are more at risk for hospitalization than children who do not get the vaccine.“ Reference: The American Thoracic Society’s 105th International Conference, May 15-20, 2009, San Diego.
• Not adults:   In a review of 48 reports including more than 66,000 adults, “Vaccination of healthy adults only reduced risk of influenza by 6% and reduced the number of missed work days by less than one day (0.16) days. It did not change the number of people needing to go to hospital or take time off work.“ Reference: ”Vaccines for preventing influenza in healthy adults.” The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 1 (2006).
• Not the Elderly:   In a review of 64 studies in 98 flu seasons, For elderly living in nursing homes, flu shots were non-significant for preventing the flu. For elderly living in the community, vaccines were not (significantly) effective against influenza, ILI or pneumonia.  Reference: ”Vaccines for preventing influenza in the elderly.” The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.3 (2006).

The crazy thing is that there are safer, more effective ways to prevent the flu.  For example, a recent study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that Vitamin D supplements are more effective than vaccines for preventing the flu in children.  Yet we continue to push unproven, possibly unsafe vaccines for kids!

Don’t be a wimp.  You’re body has the tools and ability to fight the flu – you just have to train it to be strong.  Vitamin D is one way, there are others.  We are the personal trainer for your immune system.  Talk to us today about what you can do to make you and your family strong!

Ok, first off, of all primary care physicians, chiropractors have the lowest malpractice premiums (malpractice rates are based on the chance of something bad happening).  I personally pay about $100 a month for mine; ask your MD what they pay. Second, chiropractic has been a profession for over 100 years.  During that time there have been approximately 10 cases of serious adverse advents possibly attributed to the chiropractic care.  This is out of billions of adjustments.  Does that mean I should scare all the members of our practice by discussing every possible negative outcome, regardless of how miniscule the chance of it happening might be?  I might as well warn them that they might get struck by lightning or get robbed during their adjustment too.  In fact, our office has been robbed twice during the last eight years (outside of office hours), so this is your fair warning.  We have never been struck by lightning though.  I’m sure you are getting my point in this sarcastic commentary, but let me put another nail or two in this.  SINCE SIDE EFFECT to PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS ARE NOW ONE OF THE LEADING CAUSES OF DEATH, CAUSING 100,000 DEATHS A YEAR IN THE U.S., does your M.D. inform you of this VERY REAL statistic before handing you the scrip?

There is still an incredible amount of faith being put into our antiquated medical system and its primary medicinal/surgical approach to remove symptoms and not problems.  For example, why did we have to wait until 2007 to put black box warnings on Zoloft and Paxil acknowledging that they cause suicide in 4 out of 100 kids who are prescribed to take them?  They’ve known about it since 1990!  Remember VIOXX? That powerful pain reliever killed more people than the Vietnam war before they pulled it.  Does your pediatrician inform you that your child has a 50% greater chance of developing asthma each time an antibiotic is prescribed?  Lipitor is the King of the prescription drugs, the amount of profit it earns makes Columbian drug lords look like corner hustlers.  Lipitor is supposed to help lower the risk of Cardiovascular disease, instead, it’s just causing a lot of muscle ache and a lot more VIAGRA, since another side effect is lowered testosterone production.  Oh, and by the way, mercury is a neurotoxin, but please take the next HINI or R2D2 flu vaccine because, even though we haven’t tested its safety, kids and old people need it?  Is it just a fluke that now 1 in 100 kids are autistic?

We just keep buying into this crap, and I’m wondering when it will end.  Well, I know it’s closer, because people aren’t laughing anymore, they generally get angry.  That is how new thoughts conquer old paradigms.  First those new ideas are seen as laughable, then anger, ridicule, and opposition forms, and finally acceptance is achieved.

While I by no means want to live in a society without medicine, I do want to live in a society that uses medicine appropriately.  We are not tapping into the natural healing ability of the human body enough.  This is what the chiropractic lifestyle is all about.  Remove the interference and let the body do its thing.

Much respect,

Dr. M

We have experience this turn of events as adults no doubt, such as our first flight in an airplane, 4G cell phones, or maybe even the idea of the internet itself.  At other times it might not be so obvious.  For example, for me to watch a patient/member of our practice see the this truth with the principle of chiropractic care and the adjustment for the achievement of optimal health through improving the efficiency of the nerves that feed info back to the brain and communicate to all cells of the body.

Someone might not know how they gained control of a paralyzed leg by just getting adjustments, or they might not know how they stopped having years of migranes or asthma through seemingly simple chiropractic care.  Once it happened though, at that point, they Believe it to be true because of the results they see and feel.

You see, you don’t need to know exactly how chiropractic adjustments improve these things anymore than you need to know how Tylenol can cause kidney failure.  Once you see it happen, you believe it to be true.  You may even also go on to study exactly how it happens, but most will be satisfied with just seeing and feeling it, like Nico was with the remote contol.  Once you see it happen, you believe it, and that phenomenon is what then forever changes your actions because of a new belief system.

This country and our world in general need a much better belief system when it comes to health and wellness.  Like many of you reading this, we have seen the truth, and we feel a passionate need to keep spreading it.  Please help us do the same.  Without your voice, enough beliefs won’t change and people will continue to treat their health ills with more pain relievers, antibiotics, anti-depressants, drugs for cholesterol, asthma, acid reflux, allergies, asthma and more.  Better health through better chemistry isn’t working, but because most belief systems are the same, we continue to look for answers in the wrong places.

Keep Spreading the TRUTH,

Much respect,

Dr. McKinley