Alpha Health eNews

How Can I Get My Spouse To Come In?

It's a question we hear all the time. If you’ve experienced great results from care in our office, it’s only natural to want someone you love to benefit too. Here are some approaches you may find helpful.

Ask questions. Rather than judge their unwillingness to try chiropractic, become curious. Since our behaviors are the result of our beliefs (conscious and unconscious), try to find out what belief(s) are standing in the way. Often it’s some unfounded fear or misconception. Find out what the real issue is.

Supply information. One of the best ways to defuse irrational fears that people have is by sharing information. By now you know that our office is committed to patient education. Let us know how we can help. What could we do to equip you with the information you need to make a difference?

Offer an invitation. I’d like to think our office is especially open and welcoming to skeptics, doubters and cynics. We stand ready to field phone calls—even anonymous ones. Or bring your loved one with you to take an office tour on your next visit.

Give it time. Change takes time. Whether it’s making changes to the spine or changing someone’s beliefs. Be patient. Trust that your friend or family member will choose chiropractic if and when the time is right. Each of us gets but one body. Some say if properly looked after our bodies could function nicely for over 100 years.

Every bodily function, controlled by our nervous system, is the key idea behind chiropractic. And since we experience our lives through our nervous systems, the decision to use chiropractic has huge implications. When you tell others, you’re changing the world. Congratulations!

How to Catch a Cold

Some people seem to expect a bout with a cold or the flu each year. If you haven’t had your quota yet, here are some things you can do:

Eat a poor diet. If you want to catch a cold, make sure your body lacks the vitamins and minerals it needs to keep itself in good repair. Eat lots of processed foods, stripped of their nutritional value.

Avoid adequate rest. Deprive yourself of adequate rest. Stay up late and reduce the time you sleep as much as possible. Use tobacco, coffee and other stimulants to fool yourself into thinking you have plenty of energy.

Stop exercising. Reduce the effectiveness of your immune and lymphatic systems. Unlike the circulatory system, your lymphatic system depends upon exercise and movement to circulate these germ-fighting fluids.

Rarely wash your hands. Increase your chances of catching a cold by compromising your personal hygiene. Remember to use your dirty hands and fingers to rub your eyes, pick your nose or wipe your lips.

Think negative thoughts. Look for opportunities to visualize having a cold. Pay attention to news reports about outbreaks of the flu and pay close attention to advertising that sells medications for cold sufferers.

Invite stress. Stress yourself physically by experiencing extreme temperature and humidity changes. Stress yourself mentally with constant worry or fear.

Become dehydrated. Avoid drinking enough water. Reduce the effectiveness of your natural defense mechanisms and other bodily functions by avoiding fluids.

Forget your appointments. Ignore your nervous system, the master control of your immune system. Avoid these preventive strategies and shun our suggestions of periodic chiropractic checkups to help you stay well.

Of course we’re joking! The only way to catch a cold or the flu is to make yourself a hospitable host to the millions of cold and flu germs around you every day. Include regular chiropractic care to keep you working at your very best.

Do Antibacterial Soaps Work?

By the looks of most bathrooms in this country these days, just about everyone is using antibacterial soaps. In fact, it takes some effort to find soap that isn’t antibacterial.

Advertising teaches us to fear germs. You sell more antibacterial soap that way. It’s even marketed as a preventive measure against colds and flu. Only problem is colds and flu are viral and anti-bacterial products have no effect. The truth is, antibacterial soaps contain harmful carcinogens, are no more effective in killing germs than regular soap and are probably responsible for breeding stronger, more resistant strains of bacteria.

The U.S. Center for Disease Control agrees. It recommends that the most effective way to reduce the spread of infectious disease is washing our hands. But anti-bacterial soaps are not necessary. Neither is scalding hot water, since our hands can’t withstand the temperatures necessary to kill germs with heat.

Experts recommend that you use a combination of soap and comfortably warm water. Rub all surfaces of the hands for at least 20 seconds, especially under your fingernails. The soap and scrubbing action, along with the slippery surface created by the soap, do the trick.