Why I'm A Chiropractor AND A Chiropractic Patient For Life

I first experienced chiropractic as a child.  I remember watching my mom suffer from bad migraines and my dad suffer from debilitating back pain.  They met a chiropractor who encouraged them to come in for care to see if he could help them.  They both responded very well to chiropractic care.  The positive changes in my parents’ health made a big impression on me.  By age 12, I knew I wanted to be a chiropractor.  I wanted to help others the same way my parents were helped.   After their success with chiropractic, my parents began to take my sister and me to get checked and adjusted.  We didn’t have any symptoms.  We simply got checked for our overall well-being.  I didn’t realize it at the time, but looking back, I recognize that I was sick much less often than my friends who were not going to a chiropractor.

      During my career as a chiropractor, I have witnessed many patients experience life altering changes.  I have seen colicky babies stop crying and sleep through the night; I have seen allergy sufferers improve; I have seen patients with MS and Parkinson’s function better; I have seen people limp in and walk out.  I have seen all of this and much more.  Chiropractic doesn’t treat any of these conditions.  Chiropractic helps the body to function better by keeping the spine more properly aligned.  The happiness I have experienced from witnessing these positive changes in others, through chiropractic care, confirms for me that the decision I made to be a chiropractor and a lifetime chiropractic patient myself, was the right decision.

    Everything in the body is controlled directly or indirectly by the nervous systems.  A large portion of the nervous systems travels through the spine.  When the nervous system can function free of interference, it allows the body to be as healthy as possible.  By keeping the spine properly aligned, chiropractic helps the nervous system to be free of interference and to function at its optimum potential.  This, in turn, helps the body to function at its optimum potential, too.  I truly believe the reason I am not on any medications, prescription or over the counter, is because I have been a lifetime chiropractic patient since my youth.  I know many others who would say the same.  I would like to invite you (and your friends/family) to join me in choosing chiropractic care for life as well.

Sincerely,

Dr. Paul Aalderink

Cold and flu is not a season

    Cold and flu “season” is nearly upon us!  Dr. Stan and I are often asked what can be done to prevent them.  First and foremost, it is vitally important to make sure you get your spine checked and adjusted.  There is a link between your nervous system and immune system.  Chiropractic adjustments can help the nervous system to communicate better with the immune system, and therefore, the immune system can function more efficiently and effectively. 

Secondly, it is important to make sure your digestive system is healthy.  It is estimated that 70% of the immune system functions through the digestive system.  If we don’t have the proper “good” bacteria in the gut, it isn’t healthy and the immune system will suffer (and ultimately we most likely will then, too).  Antibiotics can destroy much of the good bacteria.   This allows non-desirable bacteria, and other things like yeast, to grow and take over the gut. This is a very unhealthy situation.   Therefore, we would recommend that you take a Probiotic.  Probiotics are the good bacteria that we are supposed to have in our intestinal tract.  Additionally, it is a good idea to take a Prebiotic.  Prebiotics are the food that the good bacteria need to multiply and grow strong so that they can “choke out” the bad bacteria.

Taking Vitamin D3 can also help the immune system.  In fact, Vitamin D is an important vitamin for the immune system to function well.  We make Vitamin D via sun exposure.  If you have spent a winter or two in the West Michigan area, you may have noticed that we don’t have many sunny days in the fall and winter.  We often go to work in the dark and then return home in the dark as well.  Consequently, we don’t get much exposure to the sun from October through March.   So, consider taking Vitamin D3 starting now through early spring.  The common recommendation is 5000 IU’s a day. 

There are other supplements to consider as well and we can discuss those with you at any of your appointments.  I always have some Andrographis (herb) and some homeopathic remedies on hand to take at the first sign of any illness…they work great too.  Following the recommendations above are a good start however, and they should help your immune system to be revved up and ready to go for the upcoming cold and flu “season”.

Dr Paul Aalderink