How does a human ‘Pimp his or her Ride‘?
Someone asked me the other day what I did and without really thinking about it too much blurted out that ‘I’m a pimp your ride guy‘. Well needless to say his eyebrows perked up a notch or two!
Only afterwards, as I started to elaborate, did I realize that I was actually right on target with my comment.
Many of the patients that come in to see me are functioning like old cars…their carburetors are blocked, they are spewing out toxic exhaust fumes, they are misfiring, their tyres are worn and out of alignment, their motors are ‘pinking’ and generally their ‘get up and go’ has got up and gone!
In human terms this means that their arteries are clogged, they are toxic because of poor dietary choices, their energy reserves are depleted, they are subjecting their neuro–musculo–skeletal systems to significant trauma from poor posture, excessive computer work or driving, they are bombarded by stress and more often than not they are depressed.
Not a pretty picture!
My job then, as a chiropractor and Functional Medicine specialist is to ‘pimp their ride’ and to get them back to firing on all cylinders. So what does that really mean?
Well my first task is to take a full history, covering all the different body systems. Very often the problem area may not be the one that is most obvious initially. As a Functional Medicine specialist I have to employ ‘Sherlock Holmes’ type tactics, leaving no stone unturned to uncover who the perpetrator is, and secondly where he is hiding.
Functional Medicine, a more holistic and patient-centred approach to wellness, is now supported by so much scientific research that it is becoming easier to manage even quite complex cases using a far more natural approach. Research has shown us how making appropriate dietary choices and topping up with specific targeted natural supplements can supply the human metabolic engine with the fuel it requires to function at optimum level.
My approach to patients, then, is 3 pronged:
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Motivation:
There has to be a motivating factor involved for any of us to adopt a different behavior pattern. Unfortunately, when dealing in the health arena, quite often the motivating factor comes in the form of a heart attack or a diagnosis that no one wants to receive.
My mission is to motivate patients to act before the onset of a health crisis. It’s to paint a very clear picture of the road ahead (a) if they do nothing and (b) how much better it could be with some minor lifestyle changes.
Often, even with just minor changes, the old motor can be given a new lease on life.
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Information:
Patients often don’t know how close they are to potentially serious health challenges. The typical approach to dis – ease is suppression. Take medication to just make the symptom go away. This will just ‘drive’ the problem deeper into the cells until, finally, they can no longer cope and disease sets in.
Providing all the relevant information to empower patients to make better choices and showing them how easy it would be to avoid impending doom with simple adjustments to their lifestyle can often be life changing, if not life saving.
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Action:
It would be no good simply providing the information without also providing simple action steps for the patient to follow.
This usually takes the form of specifically structured dietary recommendations or things to include and, often more importantly, of things to exclude, from their diet. I usually recommend specific natural supplements to enhance the healing process and provide the building blocks for the body to step up function.
At the bare minimum, my goal with all patients is to
- achieve optimum body mass index
- achieve optimum fat to lean body composition
- to optimize detoxification and elimination
- to optimize digestive function
- to reduce the effects of stress.
If I am able to achieve these 5 things I’m happy to say, ‘that ride has been pimped….’