“Wow. I sure wish I had started getting chiropractic care at their age,” Barb said as she watched two young children leave the room after their adjustment. “I really believe that the next generations will have to take much better care of themselves than my generation and my parents’ generation did.”
Barb Janzen spoke from experience. After watching her 92-year-old mom lose the dignities of life that we all take for granted, she has earned her opinion. “It was so tough finding the right place and then finally getting my mom into that nursing home. There is just such a bottleneck in the system. And I don’t think it’s going to get any better. The system is too backed up. It’s going to be up to people to really work on their health during their whole lifetime.”
I couldn’t agree more with Barb. As I approach my thirtieth year as a chiropractor, I am struck by the sheer number of seniors that only now have begun working seriously on their health. Many of them have already had knee and hip replacements even by their early 60s. But as the demand for orthopedic intervention grows and the supply of those services appears to stay level, the waiting lists grow increasingly long. And I am struck by an ugly and growing trend. I see middle aged people consciously not taking care of their bodies today because they feel science will be able to replace their body parts tomorrow. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard, “Medical technology is only going to get better. By the time I am 70, science will be able to replace all of my body parts. They’ll be even better than new.”
OK, maybe, but how long will you have to wait, will the surgery work, will there be complications, and who will pay for those elective surgeries as our population ages?
I have a solution. I pose a whole new way of thinking. Let’s shift away from “replacement” thinking and instead devote those science and health care dollars to the preventive health care of the young and susceptible. Let’s set up screening clinics in schools to determine which children need more exercise and what type in order to preserve the health of their joints. Add to that nutritional counseling funded by taxing the alcohol, tobacco, fast and junk food industries to ensure that every child and family is educated on health habits with an emphasis on natural and whole food nutrition. Then add to that the development of a moral obligation to keep ourselves well. We need to not become a burden to the health care system and to our families and we need to be made aware of that responsibility from an early age.
That’s my two cents.
Aloha and Peace
Dr. Carl Weber, B.P.E. (Hon), DC, is a chiropractor at Lake Cowichan Chiropractic, 85 Darnell Rd. Contact them at 250-749-3393 or check the out on the internet at www.lakecowichanchiropractic.com.