You are not destined to get sick. Your body is a remarkable piece of machinery capable of healing itself. If you treat that system right and respect your body, you won't have much to worry about in terms of "health care."

I put that term in quotations because it seems like the wrong terminology? If you wait around to get sick in order to utilize "health care," don't you think it would be more appropriately called "sick care?" I don't want to split hairs, but getting sick in order to concentrate on your health doesn't seem like the right idea.

You can damage your body in any number of ways. Lack of exercise, an unhealthy diet and undue stress are just a few of the things that can deplete your bodily resources. With the hustle and bustle of everyday life, it is not uncommon to watch our health take a downward spiral.

If you hope to have a long and fruitful life, there is a very reasonable way to achieve that goal. Take care of yourself before you get sick!

A 2007 study by the American Journal of Medicine concluded that 62 percent of all bankruptcies in the United States for that given year were due to illness and disease leading to overwhelming health-care bills. That number represented a 50 percent increase since 2001. What would happen to that number if everyone was taking preventative steps to avoid illness and disease? What would then happen to the cost of health care?

If more people were taking care of themselves and living a healthy lifestyle, the demand on the health-care system of this country would be greatly diminished. Simple economic principles tell us that this lack of demand would bring a lower cost.

As a chiropractor, I am committed to stopping health issues before they begin. Your spine is made up of 24 bones. Housed inside of those bones is your spinal cord. The spinal cord is a super highway of information that is transmitted from your brain to all your organs, tissues and cells. These electrical messages tell your body what to do, how to react, how to fend off illness and how to keep on living. Without these electrical messages, you could not survive for one minute.

The stresses of our everyday lives serve to displace the bones of the spine (known as a subluxation). When this happens, the bone or bones, place pressure on the fragile nerves that exit through small holes from the spinal cord. This restricts the flow of nervous system information from the brain to the body. Without that information, the body cannot do everything it needs to do to keep you healthy.

Only about 10 percent of the nerves in your body are capable of transmitting a message of "pain" to the brain. While you might not feel like anything is wrong, a subluxation can be completely painless. If it continues to persist over time, you may in fact begin to feel the problems that a subluxation can create. By that time, most of the damage is already done and spinal degeneration may have already occurred. On top of that, the subluxation is restricting the flow of nervous system information to your body as long as it continues to remain unchecked. This can cause a great number of other issues.

The purpose of chiropractic is to tend to the body before a problem arises. Think of it much like you would brushing your teeth. Most people brush their teeth a couple of times a day. This is a simple and effective way to maintain your health and stop a potential problem before it starts. You don't start brushing your teeth only after you get a cavity. Why would you start taking care of your health only after you become ill?

Chiropractic is a proven way to ward off problems before they manifest into illness and disease. If you want to stay healthy, feel better, and avoid illness and disease, a fully functioning nervous system is the great way to start.

If you are interested in learning more about chiropractic care, you can contact us at (208) 667-7434, or visit us on the Web at CDAhealth.com.