The Truth About Insurance

The Truth About Insurance

It used to be, you’d visit a doctor, wave your insurance card and the bill was taken care of. Times have changed, especially with the talk of a health reform bill.

Sick Care

Your policy won’t pay for things that actually advance or preserve your health, such as wellness chiropractic care.

The truth is, so-called “health” care is actually “sick” care. It has little to do with promoting health. It’s mostly about reducing symptoms with drugs or surgically removing body parts when they fail.

Most policies help cover some sick care costs. But, will they pay for bottled water, nutritional supplements, gym memberships, jogging shoes and other wellness activities?

Probably not.

Repeated Relapses

Most policies will help pay for chiropractic care when you have obvious symptoms. Benefits run out when you’re feeling better, but before muscles and ligaments fully heal.
This invites a relapse of your original problem. Lasting healing occurs after symptoms clear up.

Discontinuing your care too soon invites a relapse of your original problem.
If you rely on your carrier, you’re likely to suffer a roller coaster series of relapses without correcting the underlying problem!

Catastrophic Problems!

That’s because your policy was probably designed for catastrophic problems. Cancer. Triple by-pass surgery. That sort of thing. Reimbursing for chiropractic care when you don’t have any obvious symptoms is a new idea for them.

And...it may be a new idea for you too.

That’s okay. There was a time when regular brushing and flossing to promote healthy teeth and gums was a new idea!

The Solution

Will you count on the limited vision and profit motives of your carrier to dictate what you do or how far you’ll take your chiropractic care?

Or will you value your health and longevity enough to pay for the care needed to strengthen, stabilize and support your spine and nervous system?

It’s your body, your health and your future.
Whatever your decision, we’ll honor it and do what we can to help you achieve your health goals.

Roseville, Arden Hills, St Paul Chiropractor

Checking Your Spine for Misalignment

Checking Your Spine for Misalignment

Uneven weight distribution is a common sign of spinal misalignments.

During the examination on your first visit to our office, we use a number of tools and techniques to determine the presence and extent of any misalignments in your spine.

When your spine is not aligned properly, nerve interference is often the result. This can affect your entire body, even your immune system. Chiropractic care is designed to reduce this nerve interference, which then permits your body to assume its true, healthful vigor.

How do we determine whether there are misalignments in your spine? Well, we generally use a number of different diagnostic tests, which may include one or more of the following:

Bilateral scales– Two scales, set up side-by-side, determine if there are differences in weight distribution, between the left and right sides of your body.

Leg length tests– A contracted leg, causing one leg to appear shorter than the other can be a common sign of spinal misalignment.

Gait – We may have you walk as we notice any pelvic or spinal abnormalities that affect your stride or the way your heels strike the floor.

Bending – Bending in different directions and at different angles can reveal spinal problems such as inflexibility or scoliosis.

Rotation – Restricted movement when turning your head to the right or left can be a significant clue that misalignments are present.

Posture – Checking your posture from the side can reveal a forward leaning head and other postural distortions. From behind, we’ll note a high shoulder or hip.

In the early, easiest-to-correct stages, spinal misalignments often produce no noticeable symptoms. Yet. A spinal checkup in our practice can reveal problem areas that we can address before they become headaches, back pain or more serious health issues.

St Paul, MN Area Chiropractor

"But Doc, I Didn’t Do Anything!"

"But Doc, I Didn’t Do Anything!"

Backaches and Sciatica

Some of the simplest, everyday things can reveal long-standing neglect.

I can't even count how many times a patient has walked into my practice with some kind of ache or pain and said, “But, Doc, I have no idea what happened, I didn’t do anything!” Really?

What many patients don’t know, or don’t understand, is that it’s not always a case of what you did five minutes ago, or what you did yesterday, or even what you did last week that’s causing the current problem; it’s more a case of “the straw broke the camel’s back,” no pun intended!
Sometimes it’s chronic stress that wreaks havoc on your nervous system and finally causes your back to “go out” or a “pain in your neck” because of the strain of carrying the weight of all that stress on your back and neck.

Or maybe it’s some underlying long-term health problem that you’ve failed to address that finally manifests itself in pain of some sort that forces you to look at the real cause of the symptom (pain).

So, you walk outside to pick up the newspaper and you feel a sharp pain in your lower back. But picking up the newspaper certainly didn’t cause that!

Let’s use an everyday example to demonstrate. You go to the local eatery and put your purchase on your bank debit card. All of a sudden, bells and whistles go off because you didn’t have enough in your account to cover that charge. It’s not this charge that “broke the bank,” it’s all the money you spent before this purchase and the fact that you didn’t properly manage your account in the first place that put you in this predicament. Now, you’re faced with overdraft charges, embarrassment and the inconvenience of having to deal with the situation.

It’s the same with your health…ignore it and it will find a way to let you know you’re overlooking something.

The best way to stay on top of things so you don’t wind up “over spent” is to stay on schedule with your chiropractic adjustments, eat healthy foods, sleep at least eight hours each night, and learn how to manage your stress (exercise, yoga, meditation, a relaxing hobby, etc.)

Shoreview, MN Back Pain Specialist

Wii Fit: Exercise in a Video Game?

Wii Fit: Exercise in a Video Game?

Exercise and Fitness

Anything that gets you up and moving is better than doing nothing at all, even if it’s just a game.

It seems as though everyone is talking about it. Is it a video game? Is it a serious interactive workout? Just what is Wii Fit and can it really help you to stay fit?

First introduced in Japan, Wii Fit became an instant success, selling more than 1 million copies at lightning speed. The success of Wii Fit lies in the fact that it actually makes the “player” get up and move, instead of sitting like a couch potato –the way you generally play most video games. Advertised as uniting fitness and fun, the game starts by calculating your body mass index (BMI), your body control and your center of balance to arrive at your “Wii age.”

The key component to this game is the balance board that is used in different types of “games.” Games include yoga, balance, strength training, and aerobics. Because the game requires the player to move physically, it allows you to simulate action-packed adventures such as snowboarding down a mountain or even walking a tightrope!

A daily chart that comes with the software allows you to monitor your progress and set goals to challenge yourself to meet higher levels of performance.

This game could be a good way to get off the video game controller and a sedentary lifestyle. However, we think maybe the Wii people have it a little backwards when they say. “Your center of balance, the point between your left and right sides when you are standing upright, has a lot to do with your health. Those without an even center of balance will be unnaturally compensating for this imbalance, which causes their posture to become misaligned, increasing the possibility of putting unnecessary strain on their body. Wii Fit can help you learn more about your balance, and give you tips on how to improve it.”

Chiropractic looks to correct spinal misalignments that cause imbalances in your body, not the other way around. The imbalances do not create the misalignments, the misalignments create the imbalances. That is why we look at the way you stand, compare leg lengths, adjust hips, etc. – to rebalance the body and remove nerve interference that contributes to ill health.

Anything that gets you up and moving is better than doing nothing at all, but, if you want to stay indoors, a dance video might just give you a more complete calorie-burning, heart-thumping workout!


Shoreview, MN Chiropractor