Blog by Dr. Jami West

Stop Calling It Healthcare! It’s Sick Care

We do not have any form of healthcare system regardless of what you may think. We have a sick care system, dedicated to caring and treating sickness. That’s it. Nothing else. Nada. Once you get sucked into the vortex good luck getting out. The title of Jim Morrison’s first biography sums it all up; “No One Here Gets Out Alive”. Pretty depressing no? I have taken care of countless people over the years that have been sucked in only to get stuck on the merry-go-round of the medical and pharmaceutical industries. I will never say that the medical profession has no place. That would be foolish. When my daughter had to have a birth defect corrected, they helped her immensely. Who knows where she would be without their help. In emergency situations and acute care they are the best. What I am saying though is that in terms of HEALTH and WELLNESS, they don’t know SH!T. They have no idea because the medical paradigm doesn’t support anything but sickness. This isn’t their fault. They aren’t bad people. I know they have good intentions. Having said that, they are not part of any solution to any problem other than crisis care. There. I said it. The health and wellness industry should be the leader. This is the bandwagon to jump on. The more people that become even slightly more health conscious, the better. Notice I didn’t say anything about exercise or nutrition or anything else like that. The more people who are conscious of what they are doing to themselves day in and day out would create a huge change. I had a guy tell me the other day that until he hurt his lower back he never gave his body and what he has been doing to it for the last 58 years a thought. He literally said he just wasn’t conscious of it. Needless to say, he is thinking about it now. Why do we wait until there is such an unbelievable crisis before we do anything in terms of health? I can answer that. It’s because all we know is SICK-CARE.

The more people who change their focus to health and wellness, the more of a reality it becomes that we could actually have a healthcare system. Until that time, our politicians will continue to miss the big picture and try and fix a broken system by once again bandaging it up so it stops hemorrhaging for a little while longer. Do I believe people are entitled to insurance? Yes. But stop saying people are entitled to have healthcare coverage. Insurance doesn’t cover HEALTHCARE. It only covers SICK-CARE! Phew! It’s a mess out there. Arm yourself with information. Most of it is FREE! Knowledge is power.

Dr. Jami West. – December 2015

How an 86 Year Old Man Found His Smile Again

I started an 86 year old man as a new patient the other day in my office. He has had some pretty severe medical issues over the years and was on the brink of death when his kidneys started failing a year ago. Thankfully, he recovered, but he still has less than optimal health. The reasons he came to see me were because he was experiencing a lot of pain in his low back and pelvis as well as his neck. He also fell recently and cracked three ribs due to instability in his legs. This particular gentleman also has severe weakness in both of his arms, wrists and hands and he is also having trouble walking. To make matters worse, he is barely getting any sleep. After going over his history and recent x-ray reports, I examined him and went over his findings and determined that it was safe to proceed with chiropractic care. On this visit I opted to use a hand held instrument that delivers a very specific yet gentle impulse. I determined where to apply the impulses to his spine, adjusted him and sent him home. He came back yesterday and we talked about his first visit and how he did. He told me how he couldn’t believe that what I did on his first visit had the effect that it did. He noticed that he now had almost complete range of motion of his neck which totally blew his mind because he hasn’t been able to turn it well to the left for quite some time. He also noticed that he had less pain in his low back and he felt more stable while standing and walking. During our consultation he told me that his handwriting was getting worse because he barely had any grip strength in his right hand. He told me the day after his first adjustment he was writing a note to himself and he noticed that his handwriting improved. He then realized he had more strength in his hands. One of the most exciting changes that he experienced with his first adjustments was the fact that he slept through the night for the first time in YEARS! These changes might not seem like a big deal to you, but it was LIFE CHANGING for him.

The story above is really about a man who was searching for happiness and finally found it with chiropractic. For YEARS he has been poked, prodded, tested and medicated only to be disappointed. He has been through 10′s of thousands of dollars of MRI’s, CT scans, and x-rays only to progressively get worse. Many people benefited from his “condition” except him. A lot of people he trusted to help him got him nowhere. After 3 visits in my office he is the happiest he has been since his wife was still alive. The power that made the body heals the body every time. Chiropractic can unleash that power. Imagine what chiropractic can do for you.

Dr. Jami West – November 2015

Do You Cell-Phone-Itis?

Almost overnight there is a new repetitive injury people are dealing with on a daily basis: Texting, emailing tweeting etc. from your phone!  Yes I know.  Having the ability to do all these things and more is awesome.  I’m totally guilty!

One of my new clients is a 15 year old girl with chronic neck pain!  Chronic neck pain at 15 is just plain wrong.  I asked her how many texts she does a day.  She didn’t know the exact number but it was in the 100’s!  I then asked her to show me what it looks like when she texts.  She pulled out her phone, hunched forward with her head bent down and simulated what it looks like when she texts.  BINGO!  That posture will create so much strain on all of the muscles, tendons and ligaments of the upper back and neck not to mention the spine and spinal cord.  This is serious people.  If this girl has a chronic problem now, what the heck is going to happen to her?  Well, actually, since she is coming to me for chiropractic care this will probably end well for her but for millions of tweens, teens and adults it usually doesn’t.  In addition to the care that she is receiving in my office we also talked about better texting postures like holding the phone up a little higher or dare I say, decrease the amount of texting she is doing!

Who do you know that suffers from Cell-Phone-itis?

Dr. Jami West. – October 2015