Network Care Chircopractor

As I've been seeing my personal trainer I've started to use my neck a lot more in our exercises. Even ones that wouldn't work any muscle near my neck. So, he recommended I go see a network care chiropractor who would help my faulty muscle recruitment patterns.

Below is the chart my chiro filled in indicating the tension that was in my muscles. On a 1 to 5 scale, I was off the chart! I liked to joke that if 5 = steel, then my 5++ was adamantium (Wolverine's indestructible metal alloy skeleton). He also said he was able to tell that I was a type A personality (which I am completely) from the way I sat and composed my email.

After 10 sessions, I'll get my updated chart. Stay tuned.

Naturopath 3

8 weeks in, 6 weeks from last visit...

Annulocytes (Gone!)


Platelet Aggregation (mild [down from medium])
Platelets are responsible for blood clotting. Various lifestyle choices (such as smoking or eating fatty foods) and disease states may make platelets stickier, resutling in platelet aggregations. Large aggregations can be a sign of an increase tendency to blood clotting.
[THIS WILL TAKE A FEW MONTHS OF DIETARY CHANGES TO GO AWAY]

Naturopath 2

Second visit, 2 weeks later...

Annulocytes (very mild [down from medium]) Annulocytes are also known as 'target cells' due to their characteristic inner ring, which indicates that the cells are not fully inflated. This is typically due to a lack of haemoglobin inside the cell, which my be caused by nutrient insufficiency. A mild annulocyte-like appearance may occur with dehydration.

Platelet Aggregation (medium [stable at medium) Platelets are responsible for blood clotting. Various lifestyle choices (such as smoking or eating fatty foods) and disease states may make platelets stickier, resulting in platelet aggregations. Large aggregations can be a sign of an increased tendency to blood clotting.

Fibrin Clusters (mild [down from medium])
Clusters of Fibrin, resembling small spider's webs (observed within 10 minutes) indicate that your body may be experiencing inflammation. Fibrin may also indicate liver stress, which can be caused by dietary or lifestyle factors.

Protein Linkage (No Grade)
Some of your red blood cells are linked together by strands of sticky proteins, produced when the body is experiencing inflammation. This can give the red blood cells a tear-drop appearance and they can form long chains. This inflammation can be associated with infection, allergy, toxcity, poor digestion or unhealthy dietary choices.

Naturopath

My natural health kick started in April 2009 when I decided that I was tired of getting antibiotics and drugs from traditional doctors. I didn't feel like it was doing anything. I remember watching Michael Moore's SICKO documentary about how doctors in the UK are paid more if they get patients healthy - which means they need to treat the source - not the symptoms. Living in Australia, natural health and alternative health solutions are much more common and accepted. In the US, you simply walk into a doctors office, they give you a pill and you walk out. No one gives you the 'why' to the symptoms.

My first visit to the naturopath was eye-opening and the blood screening was the wake-up call that tipped me over the edge and on my path to be come a 'healthinator'. Here's what we found:


Annulocytes (medium)
Annulocytes are also known as 'target cells' due to their characteristic inner ring, which indicates that the cells are not full inflated. This is typically due to a lack of haemoglobin inside the cell, which may be caused by nutrient insufficiency. A mild annulocyte-like appearance may occure with dehydration.

Erythrocyte Aggregation (mild)
Your red blood cells are sticking to one another and forming clumps, due to being coated in sticky proteins. This is a sign that there may be inflammation happening in your body. This inflammation can be associated with infection, allergy, toxicity, poor digestion or unhealthy dietary choices [regularly ate take out, although I thought I chose healthier options, in reviewing my behaviour I didn't].

Fibrin - Clusters (medium)
Clusters of fibrin, resembling small spider's webs (observed within 10 mins) indicate that your body my be experience inflammation. Fibrin may also indicate liver stress, which can be caused by dietary or lifestyle factors.

Platelet Aggregation (medium)
Platelets are responsible for blood clotting. Various lifestyle choices (such as smoking [I don't smoke] or eating fatty foods) and disease states may make platelets stickier, resulting in platelet aggregations. Large aggregations can be a sign of an increased tendency to blood clotting.


In my next post, I'll review the progress I've made since then. But, so I don't leave the 'chapter' in suspense... things have remarkably improved.

First trip to the network care chiro...

So my first trip to the 'chiro' was interesting. We started off chatting about what I was there for. I told him that I am a typical type A personality and a perfectionist. He told me he could tell from the email I'd written (Geez, didn't realise it was that bad!).

I walked him through the weird way I always recruit my neck muscles when doing heavy weights or core excersises and the pain from a Uni injury in my lower right back. He said that I was making him dizzy just by sitting there talking to me - not only was I talking fast, but I also held my body tensely (eek!).

I got on to the table, face down. First he examined my muscles and basically they were all tense. In a permanent tense state and to top it off, he said they were like steel. In some places they were more than steel, which I guess makes me Wolverine with adamantium muscles. Cool, but not really. My hamstrings were so tight he could see them through my jeans. I'm one messed up cookie!

As I lay on the table, there was no bone cracking (something I was freaked out by and would never let anyone do). No massaging either, he just hit certain pressure points in my muscles. Soon, I started to feel the muscles in my legs pulsing. I could really feel the blood flowing through them. He had to keep telling me to relax my shoulders (which I thought I was already doing). So, no changes to note there. On the way back to work my trapezius muscle in my shoulders felt like it was burning a little bit.

Ever since this visit, my neck muscles have seemed tight the entire weekend. They are always sore. Also, I've noticed that I unconsciously always have my shoudlers up near my ears and I have to really think about relaxing them. Next appointment is tomorrow. Keep following for my next update!

NOTE ABOUT NETWORK CARE CHIROPRACTIC:

How Network Care Works

Network Care teaches your body how to self-correct, dissipate, integrate and release tensions on its own. This is an ability you will learn over a series of visits and have for the rest of your life. Practitioners use very gentle, specific touches to areas of your spine where your stress and tensions attach. Through these gentle touches practitioners bring your brain’s attention to areas that are holding on to tension, and encourage your body to release it.

When the nerve system is freed from interference caused by misalignment or tensions on the spine and nerves, then the body can achieve a higher form of healing and alignment.

In the beginning...

This blog will follow me on my journey to becoming a healthy person. I never really thought of myself as an unhealthy person. I was never really overweight and I stayed (mostly) away from fast food. That's healthy, right? Well, not really or at least not enough.

I have been using two professionals to help me become a healthy person. I see a personal trainer 2 times a week and I'm seeing a naturopath/nutritionist to change my diet. I've recently added a network care practitioner. Network Care is a gentle non-manipulative style of Chiropractic.

This is my journey to become a healthinator.