Day 7 #12DaysofChristmas #SeasonofGiving: The Gift of Chiropractic for the Whole Family

Fear of Germs 
by Dr Seth LaFlamme of Great Works Chiropractic and Wellness Center

NNM has several posts re the benefits of chiropractic in infants and children, including this one

I’m going to be very up front with you…I have stolen the title of this blog post from a George Carlin routine of the same name (at least, that’s what it’s called when you search it on YouTube). Yes, George Carlin… he would have been a chiropractor if not a comedian, guaranteed.

Tell me if this rings any bells: sanitizing wipes at shopping cart stands, disinfecting soap at every sink in the house and in every public bathroom and ads, ads, ads on killing germs. I’ll let you in on a little secret: your body does that for you.  It has an immune system custom built for the task, and not only that, it only kills what it’s supposed to as long as….

As long as what? As long as it’s working correctly; meaning as long as it’s not exposed to an overabundance of aberrant stressors, as long as it is properly hooked up to the master system (the nervous system) that controls it, and as long as it is properly exercised.

EXERCISED?!?! But aren’t we supposed to stay away from germs at all costs, and kill them on sight with sprays, potions and pills? Look, just because you’re being sold this bill of goods doesn’t mean it’s true…there’s NO MONEY in letting people’s own bodies do the work these things are designed to take over the job for. Think of the immune system as a muscle…you’ve got to learn how to flex it!

Proof, you want? Proof you will get. Listen, I’m not going to reference a zillion scientific journals, here, but hopefully I’ll get your brain pan boiling, and you can explore from there. A few examples of why our crusade against germs in every facet of our daily lives might perhaps be a little misguided:

photo courtesy of Google

I’m going to seem to jump around here, but it will all make sense so bear with me: we are able to exist right now because of a bacteria. Without it, we would all collapse, and probably stop breathing in seconds if not minutes. I’m not talking about your beneficial gut bacteria that even your M.D. has caught on to advising you to take. I’m not talking about bifidus or acidophilus or any of those guys. Nope. I am talking about something far more profound that lives in the hundreds and thousands inside every one of your cells.

Don’t go running for a prescription for this…this player is often presented in high school biology as “the powerhouse of the cell.” Any guesses? You got it! Mitochodria. Many researchers have concluded that these are actually little bacteria that came to live inside not only our bodies, but every single cells, and allow us to get seventeen times the amount of energy from a molecule of glucose than we otherwise would. Want to kill it now?

Furthermore, there is a study going on in Britain in which they are feeding soil microbes to kids! No, these guys are not being sent to jail for child abuse. It turns out that kids who grow up in overscrubbed, oversanitized environments are sicker—more likely to develop asthma, allergies, autoimmune problems, chronic infections—than their counterparts who grew up digging in the dirt, licking toads and eating mud pies. 

Baby A bookin it in the White Mountains of New Hampshire

Spiderman and hubby touching fish lol, in Harrison, Maine

This early exposure is so important, kids will do nearly anything to accomplish this, so no, there is nothing wrong with your wee one who seems to home in on every little speck on your floor and immediately shove it in his or her mouth. The kid is just flexing that muscle so it can be strong later! What a concept…they actually know what is good for them without us interfering whatsoever! I love it.

The list goes on and on, but I see I’m over a page, and I know how Internet reading is, so let’s bring it home:

Not only are many bacteria actually helpful but even the potentially harmful ones have their place. Culture all the throats in New England and what will you get? Strep. Yup. See, it’s not presence of “bugs” that makes us sick, but a weakness in our defenses. We have strep and staph around us all the time, and they live all over us and our skin surface, but they don’t become a problem unless we have a problem. Unless.

Now I’m stealing from the Lorax. Shameless. Anyway, unless we keep fighting these normal natural environmental and skin/gut bacteria with the aforementioned potions, pills and sprays. THEN, they get stronger and more virulent until now, we’ve taken a normal everyday mostly harmless little streptococcus, and turned it into an apocalyptic zombie bacteria that turns your insides into mystery meat.

Bottom line is, maybe we should cut down on running around scrubbing this and sanitizing that and shunning all contact with germs, and let ourselves and our children develop strong and healthy resistance rather than relying on Dow or Pfizer to “protect” us from something we never needed protecting from in the first place.

So next time you catch you kid eating mud pies, have him make you one! And (I can’t help it, it’s what I do, for goodness sake) if you haven’t looked into the immune boosting benefits of chiropractic, might I suggest you do so? A simple Google search will blow your mind. Farewell and be well!

baby A getting adjusted, NNM sees the benefits of chiropractic!

photo courtesy of Google

Dr. Seth LaFlamme, D.C. is the owner and clinic director at Great Works Chiropractic & Wellness in South Berwick, ME, which specializes in family and pediatric care. When he’s not checking spines and saving lives of patients of all ages, he’s getting used as a jungle gym for three young kids of his own. For more information, or with any questions, visit greatworkschiro.com, or give ‘em a shout at facebook.com/greatworkschiro or the old fashioned way at 207-704-0298.