Dr. Anna with her husband Ryan and son Raymond!
Growing up, I had a number of health challenges. I had chronic ear infections as a child, terrible stomach pains in my teen years and ADHD in high school and college. I rode horses competitively and had my share of falls. The one that finally lead me to chiropractic care was my stomach pain.
I remember being in 7th grade over at a friends house. We were watching a movie and I remember my stomach hurting so bad that I called my parents to come pick me up. When we went to the doctor, they didn’t perform any kind of testing. Yet, I was diagnosed with a stomach ulcer. I was instructed not to eat anything acidic and hopefully it would go away.
Fast forward to my college years. I was living in the dorms with the university meal plan. I began having stomach pains that I described as feeling like I swallowed a cup of needles. This happened often and there was no pattern to it at all. This time around, I received ALL the testing. X-rays, barium swallows, food allergy testing, ultrasounds of my pelvic organs (what?!). Not only was I told that nothing was wrong, I was told that I had a beautiful digestive system. Great.
The third and final time I saw a medical doctor I was in college, my boyfriend (now husband) was so concerned that he brought me to the E.R. They did a number of tests and again, found nothing.
All of this and still absolutely NO answers. I have respect for medical doctors and all the amazing things that they can do. Unfortunately, in my case they were failing.
My aunt recommended we see a Chiropractor who had helped her. My Mom had taken me to a chiropractor before, we weren’t sure how it could help my stomach problems but we were both feeling desperate by that point. We arrived and I shared my story with the doctor. He nodded along because he’d heard stories like these before. He did an examination and then adjusted me. He told me that he thought the adjustment would help and that he thought he could help me get rid of my stomach issue. I had no idea what he did that was different from my other chiropractor. The adjustment felt similar to all the adjustments I’d had before. I kind of laughed and didn’t believe him but I hoped he was right! I went back a few more times as he recommended, not really sure what to make of it all.
To my complete surprise, I have not had the stomach problem since my receiving care under that doctor!
As time went on I began to trust my body again. I didn’t have to be so cautious, constantly wondering when this pain was going to happen again. I was absolutely intrigued by the fact that this chiropractor somehow adjusted my back and made my stomach pain go away?!
I began to do more research and I began to learn more about holistic health practices. What I know now, that I didn’t know then is that chiropractic care helps with so much more than neck and back pain. The reason an adjustment to my back could make my stomach pain “go away” is because I had an interference in the communication between my body and my brain. My spine is the protector of my nervous system. The nervous system communicates every single message between our brain and our body and it controls and coordinates everything. Our breath, our heart beat, our digestion, immune system, ability to sleep, and most importantly… our ability to heal. So when that doctor made those adjustments in my back, he was directly affecting the health and vitality of my nervous system. The adjustments restores the proper communication between my brain and my stomach. With those nerves firing at 100%, my stomach was able to heal.
One of my mentors taught me a really valuable lesson. That lesson is that everyday, we are either getting sicker or we are getting healthier. The difference is entirely dependent on each and every choice we make. Chiropractic allows your body to heal and thrive so you can grow healthier every day.
I am incredibly grateful for my stomach ulcer and my stomach pains. They lead me to chiropractic. My only wish is that I could have started sooner. How would my life be different if I had gotten adjusted earlier? Would I have had chronic ear infections? Would my parents have better memories of as an infant? How would my grades have changed? It helped me with ADHD as an adult, I’m sure it would have had a positive impact as a child.
The part that really gets me is when I think about where I’d be if I hadn’t seen that chiropractor? How would my health be different? Would I have been diagnosed with something? Had to take drugs for the rest of my life? Would I constantly live every day wondering when that pain would hit me again? Chiropractic changed my health, changed my career path and ultimately changed my life… 100% for the better.
As a brand new mom, it was incredibly important for me to have my son checked and adjusted immediately after birth. Even though I had a completely natural, unmedicated and uncomplicated home birth, my son was in need of chiropractic care and body work. It took us weeks to get his body to release all the tension and to be completely comfortable. I can’t imagine how that tension in his nervous system would have negatively impacted him if it had been left unaddressed for his entire life.
I am grateful that I have the ability to share this message with other parents. I want you to know that you have an amazing option to have yourself and your child checked as soon as you choose. In making this choice, we can’t tell you exactly what kinds of things you’ll avoid down the road. However, we can guarantee that adjustments are one of the biggest keys to allowing a child to always be growing healthier!