Category: Health & Wellness

I went to Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi on a scholarship in 2003. I enrolled in the pre-medicine program with huge hopes and aspirations of one day becoming an orthopedic surgeon. I made the honor roll multiple times and enjoyed school in the challenges of my undergraduate education. I learned the complexities of the medical field and healthcare in general while I was interning at different offices and clinics. I fell in love with all aspects of medicine in healthcare but quickly learned that our society is Extremely unhealthy. I fell in love with Chiropractic even though they cannot prescribe medication. 

Chiropractors cannot prescribe medication in Idaho. They do have the ability to diagnose any medical condition and utilize advanced imaging. Chiropractors in Idaho often refer to other healthcare providers when chiropractic is not an effective treatment option. 

A couple of things happened towards the end of my undergraduate degree that made me choose to become a chiropractor. I was a division one track and field athlete that suffered from shin splints my entire career. The medical staff at the university ordered a bunch of scans including a bone scan and determined that I had four stress fractures in both of my legs. My options were to stop running or start an intensive physical therapy program with the hopes of being able to return. Competing in collegiate athletics is like having a full-time job, especially if you’re on a scholarship. If you don’t perform lose your scholarship therefore the ability to pay for school. I would’ve had to return home if I did not continue running as the cost of education would’ve been too expensive out of state. 

The orthopedic surgeon for the university recommended I see a physical therapist as well as the team chiropractor for evaluation before we considered surgery. I went to the chiropractor first. I’ve never been to a chiropractor in my life so I was super skeptical. I mean what can crack my bones do for my legs? I quickly learned that there is far more to this profession than the mainstream media and medical doctors have led for many years. I was thoroughly evaluated just as a medical doctor would do. They asked for a video of me running and had me do a whole bunch of tests to figure out what could be causing my pain. 

Backtrack to my high school days. I was a skinny white kid that grew up in southern Idaho with a God-given talent for being fast. I was blessed to be a state champion many times over and despite my speed, my closest friends and family would give me a hard time about my running form. They would always tell me you run like a duck with my feet turned way out. I never thought much of it because my talent was carrying me through my career. However; once I got to college and the training program got far more intense the slight nagging in my shins that I had experienced for many years became almost debilitating. This is where the chiropractor shined. They determined that my running form was putting so much pressure on my leg bones that I was actually causing microfractures with the repetitious trauma. 

I spent the next six weeks going to the chiropractor twice a week, We worked on ankle mobilization, stretching of the lower leg muscles, and neuromuscular reeducation to re-teach my muscles how to fire properly and thus improve my running form. I was back on the track within a few weeks of starting treatment and to this day I’ve never had a shin splint. I have competed in triathlons, long-distance running, and continue to hike and hunt avidly in the outdoors of Idaho. 

I decided then if my symptoms could be remedied without medicine and surgery how many other things could be fixed this way? Despite my family’s wishes I decided to pursue a degree in chiropractic. “The golden child” that was destined to become an orthopedic surgeon was now resorting to cracking backs for a living. Haha. Over the years my family and friends have learned just as I did that chiropractors are far more skilled than the misinformed medical society could ever realize 

Western medicine is experiencing a huge change right now in the world of healthcare. The general population is beginning to understand that we are still very sick as a society despite our avid consumption of medication. I recently saw a statistic that the United States makes up 5% of the world’s population but consumes 75% of the world’s medication. How are we still 74th among the world’s healthiest countries according to the World Health Organization? 

We cannot rely on medication to cure our problems all the time. Don’t get me wrong I still love medicine I even recruited a family provider to come work with us so that we can utilize medication when it’s appropriate. I refer to medical doctors weekly and still diagnose appropriately despite my desire to not utilize medication in my professional career. I have helped thousands of patients over the past 11 years as a chiropractor and I will continue to do so. Only recently did I realize that a lot of my success is because Chiropractors cannot prescribe medication in the state of Idaho.

Do I Really Deed to Take Vitamin D?

Once viewed as a waste of money vitamins are changing the landscape of health care. It only took a pandemic, pharmaceutical companies, and desperation to live to convince us that supplementing vitamins or consciously seeking them out in our diet is essential for survival. If you’ve been to our office then the chances are high that you’ve been asked about your vitamin D intake and typically one of our providers has told you that you should be taking it. Not because we want to sell you something! In fact, we don’t give a crap where you get it, just get it in your body! Sometimes our patients have heard this from other doctors and ask “do I really need to take vitamin D?”

Most people in the United States, especially in the Pacific North West, need to supplement with vitamin D especially during the winter months from October to March.

In a study published by Forrest & Stuhldrreher, it was discovered that 42% of the healthy population was deficient in vitamin D. Up to 81% were deficient in certain subpopulations. 

Prevalence and correlates of vitamin D deficiency in US adults. Nutr Res. 2011 Jan;31(1):48-54. doi: 10.1016/j.nutres.2010.12.001.

What Happens if You Don’t Take Vitamin D?

Clinically low levels of vitamin Dare defined as less than 20ng/mL, although some other texts define it as less than 30ng/mL. These lab values were determined in the 1930s when we began fortifying milk with vitamin D to eradicate a harmful bone disease called rickets. One must be reminded that this was the decade immediately following “The Great Depression” which was certainly the reason for the onset of the condition in the first place due to the lack of nutritious food. Within a decade the FDA had nearly eradicated the condition through a simple supplantation process.

Vitamin D Deficiency Symptoms

There are a large number of symptoms associated with low vitamin D however http://www.ecowatch.com has created a pretty good starter list that I like to follow.

• Getting sick or infected often
• Fatigue & tiredness
• Bone & back pain
• Depression
• Impaired wound healing
• Bone loss
• Hair loss
• Muscle pain

Can Vitamin D Prevent COVID-19?

I will keep this short and to the point. In a study conducted on Covid-19 patients, it was found that 94.27% of them were deficient in Vitamin D.

How Do I Prevent Low Vitamin D?

Harvard Medical School determined that anyone living north of the 37th parallel needs to supplement with vitamin D during the winter months (October to March). This is because the UVB radiation from the sun is not potent enough during these months to convert vitamin D to its active form in the body. IF YOU LIVE IN A NORTHERN STATE YOU MUST SUPPLEMENT WITH VITAMIN D. The European countries have known this for centuries and have even supplied their populations with krill oil and fortified milk to prevent the onset of disease.

Can Chiropractic Help With My Low Vitamin D?

If you are suffering from any of these symptoms, it is time to get to your doctor or chiropractor. 

If you are suffering from any of these symptoms it’s time to get to your doctor or chiropractor
immediately. We are trained and licensed on ordering blood work and blood panels as well as treating blood-related disorders TO A CERTAIN EXTENT. There are a plethora of conditions that should be seen by a specialist far beyond a family medicine provider as well. Your chiropractor is able to make that referral if they find a uniquely abnormal value in your labs. 

How Much Vitamin D Should I Be Taking? 

The recommended daily allowance is between 600 and 800 IU however clinically, across the country, we have learned that is not sufficient to address this worldwide deficiency. Medical doctors around the world are prescribing 50,000 IU a week for some patients. I recommend between 5,000-10,000 a day. It is a fat-soluble vitamin as we get fatter in America due to poor eating and exercise habits we will need to continue to adjust our supplementation levels. So when asked “Do I really need to take vitamin D?” The answer is more than likely “Yes, you’re probably already deficient.”