3 ways to measure your health that most doctors are missing
Have you ever been told from your doctor that there is nothing else they can do to help?
Or perhaps they told you that “you’ll just grow out of it,” or that it’s all in your head…
Recently I learned that on average MD’s spend less than 7 minutes with their patients even on their initial visit.
In my opinion, that’s not acceptable.
We as humans are multifaceted and multidimensional beings. We are complex and have stories, histories, and habits that provide insight into our current health and longevity.
So why aren’t other doctors measuring this?
Part of the reason is because our healthcare system focuses more on resolving symptoms versus digging deeper to get to the true cause. As frustrating as this can be, this is how the system is designed. Now of course, there is a time and place for medicine. I always tell my practice members if my leg got ripped off by a bear attack in the woods, please don’t bring me to my chiropractor or massage therapist. I’d want to go straight to the ER as our healthcare system is amazing at emergency medicine.
However, I think we can all agree that the health in our country is lacking. As one of the most financially well-off, 1st world countries, we are one of the sickest countries in the modern world. In my opinion, it should be the opposite. If we have so much money and charge premiums for health insurance, why are will still so sick?
Here is what I think - we are not looking at the true cause of health.
We chase symptoms versus digging deeper. We treat people like numbers versus looking at the entire human system. We study the cause of disease rather than studying what creates true health from the inside out. We measure effects versus analyzing the cause.
It all starts with how are we measuring the function of our body before symptoms arise. Let us begin to look for the cause rather than mask the effects.
In this blog I’ll be sharing the 3 ways we measure true health in our office that I guarantee most doctors are missing.
1. Spinal Thermography (ST)
Spinal Thermography (ST) is the measurement of how your Autonomic Nerve System (ANS) is functioning. The ANS is responsible for controlling all autonomic (or “automatic) functions of the body including heart rhythms, digestion, kidney filtration, liver metabolism, hormonal rhythms, and immune system function just to name a few. When our bodies endure more stress than we can tolerate, ST can measure exactly how deeply this stress is impacting the ANS even before symptoms arise. This is what we call preventative care and is essential for creating true, long-term health.
2. Spinal Electromyography (EMG)
Spinal Electromyography measures how well your paraspinal muscles along your spine are adapting to the demands of stress and gravity. These are the muscles that give feedback to the brain letting us know exactly where we are in space-time as we move throughout the day. EMG is also an efficient way to measure how postural awareness and structure is impacting brain efficiency. Often times when our bodymind is functioning less than optimally internally, our posture mirrors this decrease in function as well.
3. Heart Rate Variability (HRV)
Heart Rate Variability is the gold standard in measuring overall adaptability to life. HRV specifically measures not only your heartbeat at rest but also the time interval between beats. The more variable this time is, the more adaptable you are. When our bodies begin to take on too many demands of life, our HRV shifts out of alignment which impacts our ANS as well. Think of it as going 100 mph (or 0 mph) in a 55 mph zone - not ideal. The basic question we must ask when it comes to adaptability and HRV is when life comes at you, how do you respond? Does it totally exhaust you and wipe you out, draining your healing reserves? Or does it inspire you and challenge you in all the best ways?
These are just a few of the ways we measure health and adaptability in our office. We do these measurements on your first exam visit as well as every 12 visits to make sure you are making progress in both feeling better AND functioning better.
So my question for you is this - has your doctor (including your chiropractor) measured your health this in depth lately?
Let us know! Shoot me a message on instagram @dr.melkrug and share if you’ve ever had these test done and how it went.
Yours in longevity and vitality,
Dr. Mel