Early Investments

How To Set Yourself Up for a Wealth of Health

 If you have ever spoken with a financial planner or a life insurance salesman, you have likely been presented with a comparison of two scenarios. The first scenario typically shows an individual that began making modest contributions to a retirement account at a young age. The next scenario depicts that same individual beginning their retirement contributions 10-20 years later. When the time comes for that person to retire, the sample that made small investments earlier winds up in a MUCH better position financially with a lower overall out-of-pocket expense.

  How does this relate to your health? Stay with me here. Much like early investments in your financial security pay off in the long run, small investments in your health from an early age greatly improve the likelihood of living a long and healthy life. As we are growing and developing, we are building the framework from which we will live the rest of our days. These formative years can either set a person on the path towards a healthy and independent life or on a path towards sickness and disease. In the giant equation that is our life, each decision we make regarding our diet, activities, or habits either contributes to or detracts from our health. If you wanted to strip that statement down to its essentials: Everything we do either moves us one step closer to health or one step closer to disease. The cumulative effects of sedentary lifestyle and poor diet have been well documented in the medical literature for several generations. By eating a balanced diet and exercising regularly, we can increase our likelihood of living a longer, more active life.

  One component of preventative health that often goes overlooked is the correlation between the structure of the body and its function. As a chiropractor, I concern myself with how the structure of my patients’ body is affecting their functioning. When small misalignments in the bones of the neck and back exist without correction for extended periods of time, the body’s natural regulatory functions are impaired. This can lead to decreased efficiency of body processes and subsequent breakdown of important tissues and organs. Just like a finely tuned machine, alignment and cohesive action of all the parts of the body is paramount to optimal function. By visiting a chiropractor periodically, the body can be adjusted if necessary and reduce the long-term consequences of spinal misalignments.

  The cost of most spinal surgeries today exceeds $100,000. When checking some very basic math this equates to 2000-3000 chiropractic adjustments, depending on the clinic fee. That is enough to pay for about 2 adjustments each month from birth through the first 100 years of your life! A good chiropractor can also be a wealth of information, guiding you in healthy dietary choices, proper exercise habits, injury/fall prevention, and other good health practices. A typical wellness care goal in our office is to try and get our patients to a bi-monthly or quarterly visit frequency. The younger and healthier a patient is when a they begin care greatly improves the chances of care being even less frequent. For this reason, Dr. Hannah has received additional training in techniques developed to gently and effectively adjust infant patients, giving them the greatest possible chances for a healthy life. Periodic check-ups by a chiropractor can help your family reach its optimal health potential and pay dividends in the future.

To request an appointment with Dr. Alex or Dr. Hannah, please call our Metamora, MI office at (810) 212-1200

Dr. Alex

Halloween in Moderation

Lessening The Impact Of A Treat Oriented Holiday

     Dr. Alex and Dr. Hannah had a great time serving apple cider and hotdogs to the Metamora community along side the Metamora Lions Club last night!  

     As we all wind down from Halloween and look around at the piles of candy collected by the kids, this is a great time to remember that the key to a healthy life is MODERATION! Over indulging in anything (including fun-sized Snickers) can negatively impact your health and have long term consequences. Teaching this lesson to our children early on can help set them up for good health in the future.  Be sure to place reasonable boundaries on your children (and yourselves) to make the candy last longer and give you all a better chance at a healthy November! We have heard of parents placing a 1-2 piece limit on candy packed in lunches or a 1-2 piece after dinner dessert rule. The point of these limits isn't to suck the fun out of Halloween, its to ensure your children understand that the decisions they make have a very real impact on their health.

     Looking for a way to get the candy out of the house all together? Consider checking with your local dentist offices to see if any of them offer a candy "Buy-Back" program where kids can turn in their candy for cash and the office will donate the candy to American service men and women. If this isn't available in your area, you can always consider "buying back" the candy yourself to help your child pay for that toy or game that will last them much longer than a pillowcase full of Gobstoppers ever could. This is also a great way to earn some brownie points with your coworkers as you stock to office candy dish for a couple of weeks. 

     However you decide to address the Halloween candy craze, know that the doctors and staff at Wolfe Family Chiropractic are here to help you and your family achieve you maximum health potential!