Growing up playing sports this was a question I heard often and never understood.  I would be asked if I was hurt (meaning I could go back out and play with discomfort but not risk doing something worse) or injured (there was something wrong with a muscle or joint that required attention and could definitely cause major problems).  How do you determine that and what does it mean for seeing a chiropractor?

Anyone whose been in athletics, exercises, does yard work, or has an active job has faced this question.  Is my back pain just a lingering issue I can deal with or is something wrong?  One of the first things to pay attention to is whether the problem gets better or worse over time.  While almost all injuries heal over time, they're recovery is much longer (2-3 weeks) and will often come back quickly if re-aggravated.  Being hurt presents as a short term discomfort that goes away quickly and doesn't seem to flare up with activity. 

I recently experienced this first hand.  Last week I had a minor surgery to repair a hernia I suffered weight lifting.  It's been there for about 2 years but I had always been able to manage it by taking breaks and being smart.  If I noticed pain or discomfort I'd take time off and let the swelling go down.  I'd ease back into my workouts and be good for awhile.  But then it made the big change.  The hernia showed itself in my abdomen and after three weeks hadn't gone away.  The discomfort was tolerable but constant and even after resting for  two weeks the bulge was still there.  This "hurt" had turned into an "injury."

I'm sure it could be argued that a hernia is an injury the whole time.  But even talking about with the doctors here in Edmond my course of action was correct.  With it becoming a full injury, a new course of action had to be taken.  Medical care to repair the hernia was needed to prevent this from getting worse and having potential long term complications.  

Here's how to figure out if you're hurt or injured.  It's not a perfect science to put this in writing and never should be taken in place of sound medical advice.  If you're on the fence about whether you should see a chiropractor or family physician it is always best to seek their counsel.  

1.  Is it getting better or staying the same/getting worse?  If it's getting better, chances are it just needs time and you should feel fine.  Slow down a little and let things get back to normal.  If it's not changing or getting worse, suspect that there's something else going on and you need to seek help now.

2.  Is the pain mild-moderate or severe?  Some injuries show themselves immediately by a severe pain that makes living miserable.  Any time you have pain that is affecting your ability to move or do daily tasks get it looked at immediately.

3. Does it keep coming back?  Almost everyone gets an occasional headache.  But you shouldn't have them 3 or 4 times a week.  Same thing with other injuries.  If it keeps coming back regularly, chances are it needs to be addressed.

If any of these 3 apply to you then give us a call at our Edmond office right away and see how we can help you deal with your injury and get you back in the game.

I like donuts.  Probably more than I want to admit.  And part of me hates it.  I know they're unhealthy and loaded with bad fats and sugar.  But the other part is that after I eat one, I feel lousy.  A feeling of sluggishness and clouded-thinking takes over accompanied by a small but annoying headache.  All this happens within a few moments after my first bite.  

Yet every few weeks someone brings donuts to the office and plops right in the spot I walk by over a dozen times each day.  Often times I can resist their sweet seduction.  Sometimes I give in an have one.  Why do I do that when I know how they make me feel?  What tests my willpower so much that even when I know all the reasons for NOT doing something, including my own experience, I still find myself reaching for that donut?

The answer has to do with habits.  Habits, even some of the earliest ones formed in life, live on in the wiring of our brains in the basal ganglia and brain stem.  There is evidence that these old habits never really go away.  They're merely covered up by the layers of new habits that we set for ourselves.  Given the right conditions, the old habits can drive us to act in ways that don't make sense based on our new ideas or ways of living.

Getting kids to eat healthy early in life sets habits that be the groundwork for a lifetime of better, healthier choices.  We all hear the numbers of kids suffering from diseases.  But we still fall into the trap of looking at a skinny kid eat three scoops of ice cream covered in hot fudge with sprinkles and think it's okay. Not only does that affect that child now (any researcher who says sugar doesn't affect kids must not have any), the habits that are being formed in the most substantive period of their lives can affect them for the next several decades.

My family spent almost every Sunday after church going to the local donut shop and having breakfast together.  We'd each have two donuts and sit together.  It was a time of connection, being close to one another, and relaxing.  Charles Duhigg, in his book Habits, says that emotional states drive many of our habits.  When I thought about it, I realized that donuts suggest relaxation, connection, and family to me.  So in my "weaker" moments, longing for one of those feelings, I reach for a donut and have to deal with how it makes me feel afterwards.  

What we do early in life matters.  Giving children the chance to form healthy habits early on is critical.  Simply believing that they'll change when they get older is wishful thinking.  After all, how many adults do you know who are readily able to overhaul a bad habit with ease and grace?  What if we started on the right path and build wiring that sought out healthy solutions?  What would that look like?

In the next post, we'll discuss three ways you can get your kids to start forming those early habits.  So if you're ready to help your children begin a path to a lifetime of energy, health, and happiness, tune in for tools that will help you and your kids get there.

Car accidents happen way too often.  And the timing is never good.  Plus the number of things you have to deal with afterwards is exhausting.  Not only does your body hurt, you have to call the insurance company, get the car fixed, play phone tag, sign endless papers, and on and on..... UGH!

But when it comes to get actual relief following your accident, chiropractic is likely your best answer.  Here's a few reasons why.

1. Pain meds cover the problems but don't fix them.  While you may get temporary relief, without getting muscles and bones back in place the strain on the body stays intense.  We've seen a number of people go through months of medications with little results only to find almost instant relief with an adjustment.  Sure, the medication can be tremendously helpful at first.  But it doesn't get to the root of the problem.

2. Car accidents can have long term effects that chiropractic can directly address.  Headaches, neck pain, and shoulder problems are common problems after a wreck.  The impact of cars hitting each other can damage the spine pretty severely.  Chiropractic and a combo of proper therapy helps repair that damage and stop it from getting worse over time.

3. Gets you back to LIFE more quickly.  The physical pain of an accident is bad.  Couple that with the mental/emotional stress and it creates enormous drains on your time and energy.  Relieving the pain and having some of that stress lifted off your shoulders helps with everything else.  Our office has worked with enough car accidents that we can streamline not only your treatments, but the behind scenes headaches that pop up as well.

If you or a loved one are in an accident, don't wait to call for help.  Get the relief and care you need right away by giving us a call.

​The brain is awesome.  Filled with a dizzying labyrinth of cells and connections, it takes in huge our world and turns into something we can understand.  But as amazing as it is, the brain likes to play little tricks on you too.  Here are 6 tricks you might not have known your brain was pulling right between your very own ears.

1. You See Everything - 11 Trillion bits bombard your system every second.  How many do you consciously recognize? 50.  That's it.  Which means all that you see, hear, taste, smell, and feel is just the beginning of what's out there.  You are consciously aware of a staggeringly little amount.

2. You do See Everything....sort of - The remainder of those 11 Trillion bits outside of your conscious awareness  don't go to waste.  You respond to them through other ways.  Ever notice your jaw clenched without realizing you were upset?  

3. It Fills in the Gaps - How many of each animal did Moses put on the Ark?  2 right? Nope.  Read the question again.  Look at the name.  If you missed it don't worry.  So did I.  The brain takes familiar information and fills in gaps.  For example, it sees "animal" with "ark" and assumes you're talking about Noah.  

4. Just Read This - I cnduo't bvleiee taht I culod aulaclty uesdtannrd waht I was rdnaieg. Unisg the icndeblire pweor of the hmuan mnid, aocdcrnig to rseecrah at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mttaer in waht oderr the lterets in a wrod are, the olny irpoamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rhgit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whoutit a pboerlm. Tihs is bucseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey ltteer by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Aaznmig, huh? Yaeh and I awlyas tghhuot slelinpg was ipmorantt! See if yuor fdreins can raed tihs too.

5.  You Think You Know - Ever knew something that you KNEW you KNEW only to realize you were wrong later on?  Like mixing information together in #3, we group data in our brains in certain ways.  Sometimes the "wires get crossed" and what we thought was right was a incorrect grouping of similar information.

6. Finds Middle Ground - Go the store and look at coffee.  Of all the brands, you're most likely to choose the one priced in the middle.  Not the highest (you're not a Rockafeller).  Not the lowest (you do want some quality).  You almost always pick right in the middle.  Study after Study prove it.

Can you trust your brain?  Yes, to a degree.  Just remember that for everything you see - there's more to discover.  ​

​Truthfully, the human brain is built for change.  It thrives on the constant stream of input pouring into it on a moment by moment basis.  Each bit of data is a bite of food that nourishes and sparks growth and development.  The ever changing environment and ongoing interpretation of our world provide a necessary stream of conscious and subconscious information that makes change both unstoppable and healthy.

But there are parts of the human brain that make it difficult to create change on our terms.   It often leaves us feeling swept away in the tidal wave of change that can't be held back. One major part of the brain responsible for this action is a small structure tucked deep inside the core of the brain called the Amygdala.  

The amygdala's role in our world is to color our memories with the paintbrush of emotion. Whenever you notice a feeling of warmth and love around the memory of a grandparent or a sense of fear and anxiety around a spider in your home, you're getting a glimpse of the Amygdala at work.  And really, we're glad for this activity.  It serves as a protective mechanism helping us recall dangerous situations and urging us to avoid them further. 

"The Amygdala serves us by protecting us from potential danger.  But it can sometimes hold us back."

Yet there are times when this emotional memory can act as a hindrance.  During those times when you attempt to create positive change in some aspect of your life but are struck with fear, doubt, confusion, and anxiety it is most likely the amygdala stirring this response.  Each movement towards something new and different sparks a cascade of memories about similar experiences from your past.  Each one is met with the activation of the amygdala relaying a detailed emotional recall of how you felt before, during, and after those changes.  If previous attempts towards change have been met with failure, disappointment, guilt, and shame (you can tell my personal favorites), stepping out to achieve that change can be extremely difficult while the amygdala is chattering endless warnings in your ear.

Consider this example.  You want to lose weight.  Another New Year's is coming and with it a fresh batch of resolutions.  Most likely among them is the desire to drop a few pounds.  You've read some books, created your grocery list, and are ready to go.  But as the day approaches you feel apprehension amidst the excitement.  You begin to worry that this year will be like all those before with initial gains outweighed by eventual demise.  The sheer emotional frustration of it all has you unsure of how you'll succeed this time.  What will be different?  And what will happen to your confidence if you fail again?  Maybe it isn't worth it.  Maybe you should just learn to be happy where you are.  Maybe everyone else is right and living "just ain't worth it" if you can't have your cake and actually eat it too.  

All of these thoughts are messages from the amygdala.  It questions and consults previous experiences and then portrays possible outcomes.  Unfortunately, most of them are protective and negative.  It's not very often that it shows us the upside of stepping outside our comfort zone.  So what do you do?

Follow the ABCs. 1. Awareness   2. Breathe   3. Confront and Create.

With awareness you notice where in your body the memory or thoughts are coming from.  Does it cause a tightness in your throat or knotting in your gut?  Are you writing a story that seeks out all the potential hazards and things that might go wrong?  Just notice.  Once you do, move to Breathing.

Breathe with your belly.  Inhale with the belly pushing out and exhale sucking the belly back in.  Doing this immediately shifts the physiology from stressed to relaxed.  It provides the brain and every other cell with high levels of oxygen that allow for clear thought and better decision making.  Do 10 breaths in this manner and then move to part three.

Confront and Create.  Confront the feelings or thoughts by determining if they're real or just a series of mind chatter.  Then create the feelings and thoughts that provide the change and outcome you desire.  Take the time to really feel the happiness, joy, and pride of your achieved goal in the very cells and tissues of the body.  This creates a new circuitry for the amygdala to support and the body to achieve.  

Your body and brain are built for change.  Use the power of the mind and human form to step into a life that brings healing and harmony to you and your world. 

​While running the other day, I came to a big hill. I was already tired, but committed to my goal of finishing the run. At the bottom of the hill I could barley see the top and had a moment thought of, "I can just walk this". True statement, nothing would be lost from walking up the hill and much would be gained. I made a choice, a choice to run up this hill. As I continued up, staring at the peak, I remembered something special. Short term goals are just as important as the long term goals." With that reminder in my mind, I shifted my gaze from the peak of the hill to the ground in front of me where my next step would land, and the next. Ever so often, I looked up to remember where I was going and see how far I had come, but then back to the next step. Before I knew it I was at the top of the hill and cruising down the other side. But, in this downhill moment, there was much to be observed. For one, if I just let momentum take me, I could easily have tripped over my feet and rolled down the hill. I was still mindful of the moment and the movement. At the bottom of that hill, I gave gratitude for my experience and the clarity of life I received. So here it is, my reflections from the hill.
When setting goals, we are best served by having short and long term goals. It's great if the long term goals make you weak in the knees, focus on the short term goals to strengthen those knees. 
Don't forget to look up (and around) once in a while. If we become too rigid or too focused and single-minded, we miss the beauty along the way, we miss new opportunities or possibilities that show up and we might lose sight of our goal.
Don't stop once you reach the top. Sometimes reaching a goal can be anti-climatic, but that doesn't mean to just jump into the next goal. Take time to celebrate your success. Celebrate! Maybe on a run like this it is just a smile at yourself or throwing your hands up in the air in victory, but whatever you do, don't forget to celebrate.
Then, reflect, restore and relax. The downhill portion is easy, gravity will just take you all the way to the end. But, this is the time to reflect on what you learned about yourself, your beliefs and abilities. It's time to ground that expansion that occurred inside you on the journey up so that it  anchors into the cells of your being. "I did this." "I am enough" "I am supported". It is a time to rest and restore the body, mind and spirit. Many people forget about this step and find themselves forced to rest because of illness or severe body pain or fatigue. Reflect, rest and restore.
The journey up and the journey down are just as important as reaching the goal, I would say more important. It is where we learn about who we are, who we can be. There is an understanding, a clarity and and expansion of wisdom that occurs when we stay in line with who we are as we climb towards those goals. It doesn't matter if you reach the top, it matters if you pay attention to who you are on the journey, what you choose on the journey and what you learn on the journey.
Life isn't just about the peaks and valleys, it's about the lessons in between. 

​Make room for the unexpected. It seems like a bizarre thought, welcoming the unexpected. More often, we seem to be told to make a plan and stick to it, always be prepared, or set specific goals and don't waiver from them. How has that worked for you? Sometimes, it might have worked extremely well, other times it probably didn't work at all. Whether it is weight loss or setting a budget, life seems to take its own twists and turns. If we are rigid in our path, only seeing it in the way we determined it should work, we are often met with perceived failure.  Perhaps it wasn't failure, but an unexpected success. If it doesn't work out the way we planned, we call it failure, but is it really, or did it indeed work out for us, just not as we expected? 
Does this mean we don't set goals or make plans? Of course not, but there is availability for the unexpected to be part of that plan. Allowing for the unexpected gives us more freedom, more possibility for our goals to happen in a way we didn't even consider or perhaps even know was possible. Weight loss, for example, is often looked at as sacrifice, misery, restriction and a lot of painful exercise. You may set a goal of losing 20 pounds by your vacation, and set upon strict calorie restriction, hours of intense exercise and even avoiding going out with friends in order to stick to your plan. After one week and only half a pound lost, you may give up or turn to even more misery through cutting out major food groups and resorting to exercise practices you detest. Still, the weight doesn't seem to be coming off. 
What if, instead, you set the goal of 20 pounds by your vacation (hopefully you have a few months if this is your goal) and you plan to practice mindful eating, staying hydrated and finding activities you enjoy with the possibility that the weight will come off easier than you expected, or that you can be grateful to yourself for taking steps to be healthy and trust that whatever amount of weight is ready to be released will do so easily. This or something better. Learning to detach from the outcome, learning to let go of the rigidity of your plan and allowing for your idea (weight loss in this scenario) to happen in ways you didn't even consider.
Rigidity sets us up for failure, creates friction and more force. What is forced into being will not last long and it will not last with ease. Eventually, the system will break down. It may be a loss of relationships, a loss of finances, a loss of health, sometimes a loss of all three. If we can welcome the unexpected, we set the space for flexibility and as the circumstances develop, new possibilities show up that would have been missed if we stayed rigid in our plan. The new possibilities, new people or relationships that appear might make your plan more fluid, more successful, with ease and fun, and it may become even bigger or better than you could even imagine when your first set the plan or goal. 
You don't have to make this a difficult process, you don't have to do anything extra. As you set your goals and plans write into it "this or something better" to make room for the unexpected. As the plan unfolds and things seem to take a twist or turn, take a step back and remember, "this or something better". The second step is to recognize when something good happens, something in alignment with the end goal, even if it doesn't look the way you expected. Thirdly, give gratitude every time you have that recognition. Gratitude that even though it looks different than you thought it would, it is still in service of you. 
Make space for the unexpected.
Namaste,
​Dr. April

The brain is awesome.  Filled with a dizzying labyrinth of cells and connections, it takes in huge our world and turns into something we can understand.  But as amazing as it is, the brain likes to play little tricks on you too.  Here are 6 tricks you might not have known your brain was pulling right between your very own ears.

1. You See Everything - 11 Trillion bits bombard your system every second.  How many do you consciously recognize? 50.  That's it.  Which means all that you see, hear, taste, smell, and feel is just the beginning of what's out there.  You are consciously aware of a staggeringly little amount.

2. You do See Everything....sort of - The remainder of those 11 Trillion bits outside of your conscious awareness  don't go to waste.  You respond to them through other ways.  Ever notice your jaw clenched without realizing you were upset?  

3. It Fills in the Gaps - How many of each animal did Moses put on the Ark?  2 right? Nope.  Read the question again.  Look at the name.  If you missed it don't worry.  So did I.  The brain takes familiar information and fills in gaps.  For example, it sees "animal" with "ark" and assumes you're talking about Noah.  

4. Just Read This - I cnduo't bvleiee taht I culod aulaclty uesdtannrd waht I was rdnaieg. Unisg the icndeblire pweor of the hmuan mnid, aocdcrnig to rseecrah at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mttaer in waht oderr the lterets in a wrod are, the olny irpoamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rhgit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whoutit a pboerlm. Tihs is bucseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey ltteer by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Aaznmig, huh? Yaeh and I awlyas tghhuot slelinpg was ipmorantt! See if yuor fdreins can raed tihs too.

5.  You Think You Know - Ever knew something that you KNEW you KNEW only to realize you were wrong later on?  Like mixing information together in #3, we group data in our brains in certain ways.  Sometimes the "wires get crossed" and what we thought was right was a incorrect grouping of similar information.

6. Finds Middle Ground - Go the store and look at coffee.  Of all the brands, you're most likely to choose the one priced in the middle.  Not the highest (you're not a Rockafeller).  Not the lowest (you do want some quality).  You almost always pick right in the middle.  Study after Study prove it.

Can you trust your brain?  Yes, to a degree.  Just remember that for everything you see - there's more to discover.  

Over the past couple weeks we have really enjoyed watching the 2016 Rio Olympics.  We've found ourselves staying up beyond our normal bedtime routine to watch beach volleyball, track, and swimming events...thing we never watch accept every 4 years to be honest.  

One night watching, something else caught my attention.  I found myself recognizing how cool it was that each person doing their particular event could be a champion.  As amazing and inspiring as Michael Phelps is for his all-around performance (who hasn't had their jaw dropped by what that guy does), stepping out of the pool and watching women and men sling a shot-put, swing a hammer throw,  hurl a javelin, jump long distances, cycle up mountains, or flip on a 4-inch wide beam made me see something different: each of us has our own unique talents and abilities.

But you already knew that.  Hopefully you've been told that for years and know it to be true.  Hopefully you know what you're talents are and some of your weaknesses.  But I also want to shift this to conversation to how you keep yourself healthy. There are going to be different ways for each of us in making sure our bodies and minds stay as agile, flexible, strong, and durable as those athletes in Rio.

The unconscious lesson I want you to consciously recognize is that, just like in everything else, there is a method for YOU to find health and wellness that is specific to YOU.  Sure general rules apply (each veggies, exercise, etc.).  But your life and your body might need something slightly different than mine or your spouses to keep it feeling at its best.  The hardest part is finding out what those differences are.

That's where the "unconscious" part comes in.  In order to start noticing how to make these changes, you have to gain some level of awareness.  Pay attention not just to the food you eat but how it makes you feel in the 30 minutes to 2 hours afterwards.  Recognize if your exercise routine is causing more boredom than weight loss.  Notice if your days are spent stressed out agonizing over all the potential bad things that may happen instead of an optimistic outlook.  Each of these plays a role in your overall well-being.   

I first learned this lesson in school during a physiology lab where we were testing the kidneys.  I had been trying to keep up with my roommate who consumed huge amounts of protein that fit his heavy workout style and physique.   Even though I worked out regularly, often with my roommate, I discovered trying to eat that much protein was damaging my kidneys.  For him it was okay.  For me it was dangerous.  I had to learn what worked for me.  And in doing so I discovered how good I could feel. 

I was lucky to have a test show up that let me know something else was brewing under the surface.  I was unaware of the damage I was doing to my kidneys until that test.  But it served as a lesson in how each of us is truly unique.  Just like the variety of talents and skills displayed at the Olympics, we each have our own methods of health that serve us best.  The first step in capturing that awesome potential is becoming conscious of what works best for you.

The number of people regularly trying to lose weight is enormous.  And for most of us, our attempts often end up leaving us disappointed.  Considering that with each new cycle of diet-weight gain-diet-weight gain it makes it harder for us to shed those pesky pounds, having an actual plan that achieves deeper levels of health is really necessary.  So try using the R.I.G.H.T. way to lose weight.  (I'm literally making this up as I go but people love acronyms).

R- Relax:  Stress causes aberrations in your sugar and hormone levels.  The results? Fat deposited around your hips, butt, and gut.  Rest and relaxation are critical for any type of continued success when it comes to losing weight because without them, your body will continue to fight itself.  Of course, worst of all is getting stressed about not losing weight!  Talk about counterproductive.

I- Intentions: You say you want to lose weight.  But it's more likely that you want to have more energy, be able to play with your kids, or just feel sexy...it's okay to admit it!  From my experiences, weight loss as a goal lacks any real motivating power.  It just doesn't have any juice.  Find what means something to you and set that as the intention.  Far more likely to get you going and keep you on track towards your goals.

G - Get Moving: Yes you should eat well.  But you have got to get your butt moving if you want to rid the extra poundage and keep it off.  Walks, yoga, weights, karate, zumba....it doesn't matter what it is.  Just do it! (what can I say...Nike nailed it)

H - Heap on Praise: So much of dieting is based on misery.  No sweets, denied pleasures, strict plans with little wiggle room for things we enjoy.  Flip the script and start patting yourself on the back for the little things you do that are moving you forward.  Even a momentary thought of "I feel better" after a drink of water helps.  Too much pain = No gain.  WTF!?!  Did I really just say that? YES!

T - Taste: When my parents were trying to improve their health we replaced real cookies with SnackWells.  They were TERRIBLE!  Cardboard covered in tempting fake chocolate.  It was misery.  Today, we focus on how our food tastes.  We savor and enjoy it.  Know what we've found?  Bad food tastes bad.  Seriously.  McDonald's and Subway are gross.  When we started paying attention to the real taste of food we found that what we made at home was not only healthier but often tastes way better.  So slow down and enjoy your food.  You just might find that vegetables are enjoyable and the cheap stuff that comes from fast food joints tastes....cheap.