Bouncy Castles and 10 reasons to see a chiropractor

On Friday, I was talking to a friend and he asked me what my plans were for the weekend.

"Oh, I'm going to someone's 90th birthday party on Sunday."

"AH, I hope there'll be a bouncy castle."

Once he said that, I couldn't stop visualising all the old people jostling around in the biggest, most colourful bouncy castle. 

That would be the best 90th birthday party ever.

Well, I'm sorry to report that instead, it was much quieter and more tame of a party with everyone sitting at lunch engaging in small talk.

We all know what it's like to sit around with people you barely know, introducing yourself, and answering questions. 

I think the most common questions is: "So, what kind of work do you do?"

It's a good conversation opener because we all try to connect with what that person is sharing about their profession.

For me, it never fails - when I tell people what I do, 99% of the time I get people telling me about a past accident they had, or that they are currently dealing with sciatica, or they start asking me for advice about their back.

This time, I had a little audience with most of the people at the table listening to my answers.

At one point, the man across from me asked me why would someone need to go see a chiropractor. 

And I gave him this list. 

I started off with the more obvious and simple reasons:

1. The most understood and well-known reason is back or neck pain. It's just what it is. You have spinal pain. Go find out why and visit a chiropractor.

2. You have a history of any car accident, even if it was a fender bender, and even if it was 25 years ago. 

3. You have a history of breaking any bones, especially in the lower limbs. This also includes spraining your foot or ankle.

4. You've had any type of physical trauma, for as far as you can remember. Think back to as early as toddlerhood.

Then I got into the less obvious reasons:

5. You've had chronic pain in the past, it goes away for a while, but then keeps coming back.

6. You've had a series of stressful events in your life, either recent or in the past, and somehow you might notice that it's related to some of your current health problems.

7. You are experiencing a lot of chronic illness, low immune function, extreme fatigue, low moods, low energy, and you think that something doesn't seem right with your health.

8. You're pregnant.

9. You're a kid.

10. You have a spine.

(As a disclaimer, you should always seek what you feel is the right professional opinion for you to make sure that this is not an urgent pathological health emergency.)

Needless to say, the conversation became interesting (as I'm used to people's interest peaking at this point in the game), and many of them were unhappy to know that I lived too far away for them to get their spinal assessment.

The people sitting nearest to me all said that my 'job' sounds like a great one.

And I told them, "Yes. I love what I do. I love to be able to help people."

The other thing I love to do is talk about chiropractic and share with them what it's all about, and how important spinal health is.

Nearly everyone I speak to learns something new.

I love doing that.

If I can give someone a bit of information that will open their eyes in a way that they never thought of, and it's a way to help them, that's an awesome result.

It's not just about spending my time in my practice adjusting babies and people every day. 

It's sharing what I love about chiropractic, and educating people about their health.

Almost everyone is interested in learning something that will help and improve their lives.

Well, at this 90th birthday party today, there was no bouncy castle, but I definitely did have a great ride.

See you next week!

— Dr MaryAnne.