“Awakened Wellness”, where self-discovery meets purposeful, lasting change.

Chiropractic and Holistic Health Revealed

• Marie knoetig • Season 2 • Episode 11

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Chiropractic care is more than just cracking backs. We're exploring its diverse benefits, from pain relief to digestive health. Drawing parallels to Eastern practices like yoga and Qigong, we emphasize the crucial role of patient participation in achieving lasting results. Plus, we highlight the holistic approach to wellness, stressing the importance of core strength, proper footwear, and nutrition. Whether it's the impact of a balanced diet on gut health or the use of self-care tools like foam rollers, this episode offers practical advice to help you engage actively in your health journey and sustain your well-being in the long run.

For More Information join our community by visiting www.awakenedwellness.life or marieknoetig.com

Speaker 1:

Transcription by ESO.

Speaker 2:

Translation by Good afternoon and welcome to Awakened Wellness. Marie and myself are so glad you could join us this afternoon. I think we have two very interesting shows for you today. The first one is chiropractic and you. But as always, before we get started, let's find out. What is the feedback and what are people saying about the past shows. I know right.

Speaker 1:

So the first person and there's actually a couple of have said this to me recently that they're feeling great, they're doing really well and they're with their peers and their peers are actually dissing them. Must be nice, you have good genes, yeah, because they're all in the aging you know the over 50, 60 age and they're all starting to fail Because they're all in the aging. You know the over 50, 60 age, and they're all starting to fail. And then my clients are like look, I did this, you just have good genes, or you're lucky you can do that, or you didn't have the same injuries I had. And no matter what they say, they can't get people to jump on board. So they're just in awe of how people are noticing, but they don't want to know.

Speaker 2:

They don't want to do anything about it. They don't want to do anything about it. They don't want to know what they did or how they could participate. Boy, little green monsters, I know right Little green hop toes.

Speaker 1:

I hear it constantly now, which is kind of interesting right, that is yeah.

Speaker 2:

And the people themselves that are hearing it? Are they a little shocked? Are they feeling good about themselves? Because wow.

Speaker 1:

I think they're frustrated because they want for their friends and their family what they have for themselves. Okay, and I have to say I've been down that same road and you can't force your beliefs on somebody and you can't make them live your lifestyle, but you know you feel so good. It's just like when you find a new product, you know, you buy a new car, you want to share it. And this is something people do not want to know, oh dear. They want to know the quick fix in the fad, but they don't want to know the hard work.

Speaker 2:

They want to know the hard work. Well, congratulations to those people that did the hard work and I'm sorry that you know you're having to deal with that, but it does lend credence to what you're saying about people just hands out, don't want to know.

Speaker 1:

La, la, la, la la and that is what some of this is about today. Like, the next person has been doing a lot of hard work on themselves, they've been reading their own body and they're starting to see a trainer and a massage therapist and the practitioners don't give them the respect that they need, that they know their own body that much Because, again, you're going to a practitioner who's trained in something. They want to do their thing. They don't want you to say, well, I think it's my leg or I really think my shoulder's, causing my hip. They don't want their skills undermined. They want to kind of listen to you but don't. And then it just goes bad from there because we're not aware of how to help ourselves and once we are, the world isn't equipped for us to help ourselves.

Speaker 2:

Interesting.

Speaker 1:

Right, it's kind of weird.

Speaker 2:

We're not so needy, we're understanding what's going on, even when they go to the primary cares.

Speaker 1:

Now they're more strong about what they think is going on. They don't want to hear it. No, because they want to make their own opinion first. So I tell people you have to kind of dance with the person you're with, but they don't want to because they're so happy they finally get it. So it's kind of interesting to watch that.

Speaker 2:

That's another whole psychological perspective to that that we're not prepared to deal with Once you've arrived at that spot. Now you have people that are just not happy that you're there.

Speaker 1:

Oh, I know, I see it in my own family. Sometimes they're like Mom, enough's enough, and I'm like I'm not doing anything. Well, yeah, you are, you don't stop. I'm like, but I'm not. But that's your life.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's who I am. It's not on and off, it's simply how you are. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Wow, okay, but I'm supposed to be doing the downhill spiral.

Speaker 1:

Now I'm not supposed to be getting more energy and yeah, it's kind of funny, is. And the last one's a little bit of a different spin, okay. Okay, when people have worked with me for a while and they hurt, they try to assess their bodies and try to correct it. Okay, and the one thing that a lot of them do is chase the pain, I call it. So they go to the spot that hurts nine times out of ten, unless you actually bang that spot or twisted your ankle or whatever it could be coming from somewhere else, like you could be overusing a shoulder that's pulling on your hip and that kind of stuff.

Speaker 1:

And they'll come in after going from practitioner to practitioner trying to resolve it and they say it's their hip and they can't figure it out. And then they come in and I tell them you know they, what were you doing? And I hear that they were raking and then they got twisted and their shoulders overcompensating. And I tell and then once I released their shoulder, their hip releases. Now they're mad and they're frustrated. How can they not know that? How would they know that? And my advice to them always is if you don't understand it, just lay there quiet, ask to see what you need to see and do nothing and just see if your body alerts you to something. And then from there go massage it and just kind of play with it and just wait till the next day and see if you can figure it out. But the more you focus on what hurts, the less your body can talk, because it's just focused in on there.

Speaker 2:

Okay, it's not. It's not able to backtrack, which makes sense because I've. I've also um myself and with some of my friends growing up in dance, it's okay, you're going to lift weights and you're going to do this and you're going to do that. That was never part of who we were growing up and dancing. So to take that on later on in life works against us, works against us, and so I always felt I don't know if I'm correct or not but if you grow up a skater, you don't want to become a football player later on in life to stay fit. Not saying that you can't, but I think your body how do I want to say this? I think your body learns one way and-.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, but we're pretty much talking more about like, if you hurt, how do you self-assess and start self-healing things that you can.

Speaker 2:

Right, but if you start doing exercises or another sport that you get injured, I found it's harder to trace because you're doing something so different, right, I can see that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I can see that.

Speaker 2:

So I sort of went off the path on that one. Sorry, that's okay, that's okay, I can see that.

Speaker 1:

All right, so chiropractic care Okay, so I'm going to try to start slowly bringing in modalities and we can go through them and just to show you how to use them, okay, okay, the focus of chiropractic care is for diagnosing, treating and preventing mechanical and musculoskeletal issues. Okay, there's a lot of people that have their own misconceptions. A lot of people will never use chiropractic care because they think that they're not doctors maybe, or just because there's a belief out there they're very. I mean, they have an undergraduate in education, a four-year chiropractic program. They have clinical internships. They have to pass national boards and exams. You know they have state licensure requirements. They're highly educated.

Speaker 1:

And people think that they're not because of an old school misconception.

Speaker 2:

That they're a glorified masseuse. Yeah, some people think they're dangerous.

Speaker 1:

You know that all goes back to don't crack your thumb. They think that they're cracking bones. They're not cracking bones, so you'd be broken into smithereens, right? So there's all these things that people think that they need to kind of if they're in pain and they're not sure what to do and somebody's brought it up to a few times, maybe you just need to investigate and start learning. Why do you think what you think and is it a real truth? Because it could be stopping you from helping yourself. That's the biggest thing, because these are out here as tools. Spinal adjustments, I mean surgery comes with a risk. Taking a drug comes with a risk. Is it risk-free? Nothing in the world is risk-free. Is it unlikely that you're gonna get hurt? Yes, because you're working with a trained professional.

Speaker 2:

Don't let your friend give you a chiropractic adjustment yeah yeah, don't let somebody crack your back, yeah.

Speaker 1:

All right. Is it only for back pain? That's what I hear. Why would I go for my shoulder? Why would I go for this? Why would I go for that? Because if you look at chiropractic and the theory of it with the spine and it opens the nervous system and the nervous system feeds everything from your organs to your digestion, to you know, your lymphatic system, to everything, so that when your spine's crooked you're going to be off. So to have a way to realign, that is a wonderful thing.

Speaker 2:

It's not opening up the pathways, it's almost like so it can send the messages to the computer Right.

Speaker 1:

So it's not just for back pain, right? People think once you start, you have to go on forever, that you always have to see a chiropractor. That depends on you and we're going to get into that more at the end. But that is a complete misconception, because if you're being working with them and using it to correct a problem, you can absolutely correct a problem. If you're using it to maintain because you don't want to do the work, yeah, you could probably be going forever. Correct, yeah, all right. Yeah, People think that they hurt. I think most people find relief when they go.

Speaker 2:

There's been a couple of times I've gone and it's. It's been a couple of times I've yelped yeah, um, and did it help correct the?

Speaker 1:

issue, but it did correct the issue so what's that?

Speaker 2:

no pain, no gain so you're tight in a joint and then the right of the joint has pressure in it and then and then then there's the relief and and then you have to do what's necessary ice drink, you know, take care of it, but I can't say that actual pain, pain, the injuries pain, but I think it might be a little bit of discomfort, and that's what people have to assess.

Speaker 1:

You know, when they think about. Somebody said it was painful. If you broke your wrist and you had to move that right after you got out of the cast, that's going to be painful too. So when you are in an injured state versus a maintenance state versus depending on why you're going and what your body is doing at the time, it's not always going to be comfortable sitting in the chair with your feet up Right. Okay, a lot of people believe that they don't believe in traditional medicine. Again, I've seen both.

Speaker 1:

Okay, I've seen some that are totally against the Western model of medicine and don't want you to use it at all, and then I've seen some that blend it extremely well, correct.

Speaker 2:

So where you end up is the one that resonates with you. Again, like you said, speak with the provider, speak with that doctor. What resonates with you?

Speaker 1:

Exactly Right. So yeah, the reasons you would use chiropractic care for back pain, neck pain, headaches, joint pain, sciatica, sports injuries, concussions, digestive disorders, fatigue I mean the list goes on and on.

Speaker 2:

Anytime that you feel out of balance and you're just not feeling right and you want to get your system up and running again. It's not a bad idea if you see one regularly, just to pop back in and check in and have them assess you again and see what's going on. I like that. The other reason with I had three boys and so I would use the chiropractor because they were always getting a fracture or this or that and for the first couple of times, being a good mom, I'd run to get an x-ray Once they fall, say they fall, they're going to jam up the opposite shoulder the neck's going to be jammed up, but everybody's just looking at the wrist Looking at this.

Speaker 2:

And that's a perfect way to use a chiropractor, because you're going to realign everything after that jolt Correct and if it's a small fracture which I had a couple of times in my son's clavicle, that the x-ray didn't show right away because of the swelling, you take a tuning fork and you get that really zappy, zippy pain right there. You know there's a fracture and you then can go forward and take what the next step is, but more importantly, making sure that the rest of the body is not overcompensating and twisting in order to mask or protect this.

Speaker 1:

Right Good point yeah, like there's so many reasons. If you have a job where you're very one sided, say you're a cashier, that's something you go and get yourself realigned on a regular basis, because when you overuse one side of your body more than the other, you're going to end up with problems.

Speaker 2:

Well, I also heard that people that drive long distances don't always remember to sort of stretch before they get in the truck or wherever, and stretch when they get out tend to get very lopsided driving men with the wallet in one pocket.

Speaker 1:

So if you're self-assessing every day and you realize, yeah, it's a great tool, I would not discount it as a tool ever. How do they do it? Some just manipulate the spine, some just stay right in that. Some will do traction, they'll mobilize your joints, they can do soft tissue on you. They do what's called Graston, where they have a tool where they break up some of the scar tissue. They can give you exercises. Some of them will do muscle stim to soften areas. Some of them will do ultrasound to help with the pain and reduce inflammation. I've seen some and not a lot, and I wish there was more around here. Some of them adjust all the extremities, like every toe, every bone in your foot, every heel. Oh yeah, I had one lady that was doing that for a while and it was incredible to see because just the little bones in your hand will start changing the way your arm moves, the way your neck moves. It's rare, but you can find them.

Speaker 2:

I think I had that years ago and I never really thought about it until you said something.

Speaker 1:

Some of them focus on only the C1 up in here and they believe once you line that up I mean I'm not saying one's more right than the other you have to look at what you need for you and just do your research, because there's a lot there that can help you.

Speaker 2:

And again, the important fact and I like that you started with it is they are actual doctors. Yes, yes. I think it's eight to 12 years, I think, that they've spent on their education.

Speaker 1:

Yep, and when they adjust you, it opens your nervous system, it realigns your joints, it reduces stress on the body in so many different ways. There's all kinds of things you can use chiropractic for. So, from my opinion, this is just what a chiropractor does. Now you're going to get my opinion. I don't give my opinion very much, but, yeah, okay, it's extremely important that if you use it, you understand it correctly.

Speaker 2:

Okay.

Speaker 1:

That you don't just go and just go and just go and just go. Okay, you need to be part of the process. So if you look at chiropractic from an Eastern philosophy, where it's really not. But acupuncture is all about the meridians and lining up the energy flow, yoga is about the spine and opening up the nervous system, which is very similar to chiropractic.

Speaker 2:

So if you do enough yoga, you're your own chiropractor, you're your own chiropractor.

Speaker 1:

Qigong is the same thing. It's about bringing energy through you, and the energy pushes through and aligns the spine. So when you start looking at it, it just falls in line with all of those types of modalities. It's just another one that's more manual hands-on than you doing it yourself. Okay, so it can become negative if you abuse it, and what I mean by that is I see people that don't do their part. Okay.

Speaker 1:

And what I mean by that is, I see people that don't do their part. So they're constantly going once a week, twice a week, because it's easier than doing their core, it's easier than stretching, it's easier than walking, it's easier than doing their stability exercises. But what I see happens is you'll go for the first couple of times and even maybe the first six months, and you get such an adjustment and everything opens. So your body says fool me once. Shame on you. Right that whole scenario. The more you do it, you start losing mobility and then you have segments that only open, correct, and I see that over and over and over again.

Speaker 2:

You can go back, feel like you're going backwards.

Speaker 1:

Yes, actually yes, and I've talked to a lot of chiropractors and their frustration of the patient not doing their part is huge, so a lot of them don't even push it anymore because it's exhausting. And that's really sad, it's really sad that you're losing that knowledge from that person because you're just going for what you want to make your life easier but you're not taking all that knowledge in and using it for yourself. Wow, yeah, we've quick fixed ourselves too much.

Speaker 2:

Yes, yeah, too death. Yeah, I have a headache and within 10 minutes there's an aspirin or a Tylenol or something popped, whereas it could be again, like you said, lay down and figure out what's out of place and maybe do a little stretch or something before you start popping something and doing that instant fix. Yep, so even the chiropractors themselves.

Speaker 1:

I mean what I've seen over time going to you know many different ones. The first couple of visits they're all in and they just assess you and they check you out. And then, after you've been coming for months and months, even years down the road, they've never self-assessed you again, they've never even helped you again. They just keep adjusting the same way over and over and over again, because it becomes like they're doing more per hour and you're not asking for more, they're not looking for more.

Speaker 2:

So that's something that you and it's not a different problem, so it's not being expressed. So they're not going to look for something different, right? So?

Speaker 1:

when I do it, I make sure they know exactly where. I'm at what needs to change, what I'm coming out there with what I've done to correct it always comes into every single appointment, not just all right, next, next, next, because you become next next Cookie cutter. Yeah, and you're allowing it.

Speaker 2:

Yep, because you don't want to do the work.

Speaker 1:

So just doing the same thing that we do with PCPs and everybody else Fix me, fix me, I don't care how, just fix me. And it's a huge tool and we're totally missing the boat because it can do so much more for us. The other problem with it now they're having such a hard time getting payout by insurance. I feel bad for them, so they're trying to do more in an hour, so now you're getting less time with them. Correct, yeah, so you've got to be your own advocate and really get what you need out of the chiropractic care that you're soliciting, because, yeah, so just a little on topic, but off topic.

Speaker 2:

Why do you think that the insurance companies are not reimbursing them or covering that kind of treatment? Because it seems to me. I mean, they are a doctor because it's the chronic piece.

Speaker 1:

Right keeps going over and over and over and over so not a one-time fix. Not seeing resolution awake they can take the physical therapy where they're not reimbursing great anyway, and you've got your six to eight weeks and you're out of it okay, again quick fix Sad. All right. So if you want to pay less for your chiropractic, do the work. Yes, you'll need it a lot less.

Speaker 2:

Or understand that you're going to have to pay out of pocket for it. Yeah, but make that choice rather than just jumping into oh, insurance pays for it, because that can't be the right answer either.

Speaker 1:

I truly believe, from what I've seen for 20 years, that if you don't do the work, you're setting yourself up to fail later because you're not opening the spine the way you should. You just keep trying to band-aid it. That you need to be part of it. You need to definitely do core. Core is vital because the reason why the spine is misaligned is because you don't have a strong core to keep it aligned. I'm not saying you should bend down and do crunches, because I think crunches hurt a lot of people. Things like plank, wall sits, bridging all of that stabilizes the core. Getting out and walking, but making sure you have good shoes when you're walking.

Speaker 2:

Making sure when you're doing the hardest work possible.

Speaker 1:

I had a dime for every time. Somebody came in from gardening and threw out their back and are wearing the oldest possible shoes they have the one time they're working their body the hardest and they should have good alignment. They've got the crappiest shoes and they're hurting their bodies. Buy a pair of hiking boots whatever it is that are fully supported and keep them for your garden, but don't destroy your body.

Speaker 2:

Don't wear flip-flops to do your gardening. It's crazy.

Speaker 1:

It's crazy. So you really want to be part of it and learn what you need to do Next time you go. If you've been going on a regular basis and there's no dialogue, say, can you assess me? Where am I at? What do you see? What do you think I need to do to get myself to the next step? Okay, you know, I watch it all the time, even out of my own office. The same people Monday, wednesdayiday, that's right monday, wednesday, friday and a lot of them are in the older generation and they're not doing any of the work and it's just a part of their lifestyle now and I just think it's wrong. So I have my posture for life. I'm going to be redoing that again soon because it was my original, but I'm gonna update it and tweak it.

Speaker 1:

Update it and tweak it, update it and tweak it, but that's a great way to get yourself realigned. It's on my website. I was just going to say it's on your website. Yep, you could try Pilates. You could try barre. There's this thing called the melt method. This woman did this incredible job with using rollers and everything else. You can do all your own soft tissue work. She shows you how to roll your hands, your feet, every part of your body, and do your own soft tissue work. You can get videos on it. You can get a book on it.

Speaker 2:

Now, is that similar to fascia, blasting fascia or a little different?

Speaker 1:

It's more you doing the work, okay.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you're on the floor with the roller.

Speaker 2:

You're becoming Like a foam roller and that kind of stuff.

Speaker 1:

But it's a little bit softer for people of osteoporosis Some people do. There's a physical therapist in my area that does actually melt classes to show you how to do all your own soft tissue work.

Speaker 2:

That's incredible. I've never heard of that. Melt classes Yep, I have to look that one up. That's a new one.

Speaker 1:

Well, it's not real popular again because you've got to get down. Well, you've got to do the work. Yeah, you got to do the work. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2:

It's not just Well. I know when my kids come to the house and I have a basket of all sorts of torture instruments they call them, but they know when something's wrong.

Speaker 1:

Something in the basket for them. Where is that?

Speaker 2:

Where's the pool? Noodles are the best. I have three sizes. I have the skinny, the medium and the wide, and lay it on your spine and they now know. You know with the fascia blaster, with the claws and the different ones and the little nuggets.

Speaker 1:

So yeah, Massage is a great way to complement chiropractic. A lot of offices have massage therapists take advantage of that. Even some insurances will do it medicinally. You can see if you can get written up for PT or whatever. Strength training is huge in keeping yourself strong as you age.

Speaker 2:

Nutrition is the key to everything.

Speaker 1:

For strong bones, everything Strong muscle the only way you're going to keep your body fit and strong as you age. And use chiropractic correctly. Make sure your nutrition is in check.

Speaker 2:

No more processed foods or balanced them. I shouldn't say no more. I just fell into that trap Balance your foods. And the one thing that stuck with me is something you said a couple of weeks ago when we were talking about the fruit and veggie gummies, and you said your stomach and your gut and your intestines, they're supposed to do their job, and when you just take those gummies, they're not really doing their job. They are not. And that has stuck with me ever since you said that Food is alive.

Speaker 1:

We are alive, so eat live food and everybody's got. Oh, they're made out of raw. They're raw food supplements. They're still chewed up and processed and not alive. Correct, yeah, chew on a carrot I hear it all the time, but they're raw food supplements. Well, put it on the table next to my piece of broccoli and we'll talk. Tell me which one's raw. I'm kind of thinking the broccoli.

Speaker 2:

I don't think I grew that pill in my yard, okay, and whatever process, heating, cooling and all of the above.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I mean, and the more you learn about the foods and the nutrients in the foods and you do that and you build your gut, the more you crave them. You honestly do crave them. You change your palate, you change Taste buds, yeah.

Speaker 2:

And you crave them. I like that, and you also can pay attention, like you say. You know, lay there and find out what your body wants to tell you what's going on. I find it's the same with food, especially seasonally, that when you're constantly doing processed foods, you don't acquire a taste for the squashes in the fall and the fruit in the spring, and that's something that I've noticed.

Speaker 1:

And the more you lie quiet and ask to see what you need to see and the more you listen to that, there comes a point where, when the food is actually in front of you, you feel like what you're going to feel when you eat it, so it makes it harder to eat it.

Speaker 1:

You don't want to eat that it doesn't become about what it tastes like on your tongue. No, it becomes about well, what do I want to finish today? If I eat that I'm not going to be able to finish that I'm not going to. Tomorrow, I'm going to be toast. What do I have to get done tomorrow? Do I really want to do that? To myself, and that's the dialogue.

Speaker 2:

That happens Not. Oh my God, there's powder sugar on that. I want that me. Yeah, and it just happens all of a sudden. It's really bad when you're going through the grocery store and you're like not feeling it.

Speaker 1:

And the fridge when you're starving. You're like, oh so yeah, and walk, walk, walk and keep walking that's.

Speaker 2:

That's something I've been hearing an awful lot. You're sitting too much. You're sitting too much. Get up, people get up.

Speaker 1:

Well, not only that people get caught in just doing the spinning or they're just doing the whatever. Pilates Walking is the most natural thing we have that patterns our nervous system and when your arms swing it brings that spine up, it makes space, it cleanses your organs. It's just the most natural thing we have and that you can do to maintain your body.

Speaker 2:

And it doesn't cost you anything except a little bit of time and effort and a good pair of sneakers. Yes, don't skimp and don't ever skimp.

Speaker 1:

That's the funny thing in my family because I grew up and I have a larger foot, so when I was growing up there was no more than a size 9 in this area for women and I always had shoes that didn't fit. So my grandkids my kids. Oh my God, I'm a shoe Nazi.

Speaker 2:

I am too With my boys. I'm like mm-mm, and they'll come over to the house. I'm like take those off. There's no support. Those are not any good for you. You're getting older, You're going to mess your spine, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1:

Oh, yeah, yeah, All right. So awakenwellnesslife is my website, okay, and info at dot awakenwellness at gmailcom for any questions.

Speaker 2:

I love it. Yeah, and feel free to drop in and say what you think about the show, ask questions and the website's evolving.

Speaker 1:

It's becoming a membership website. Now it's free, but there's all kinds of info going in there. Self-help info.

Speaker 2:

I love it. Yeah Well, thank you. Yeah, all right, so thank you for joining us and we will see you next time. Thanks to Marie and Awakened Wellness, see you next week.

Speaker 1:

Thank you.