Consistency - The Mother of all Triumphs

I was reading an online article about "consistency" and it struck me as all too true. The article was geared towards dieting and exercise, and we all know how important those are to our well-being – physically and mentally. But, I was immediately drawn to how this might help you, my patients. And, if changing your perspective on "consistency" regarding your care, whether chiropractic or a program you are working on with me, might help you understand that your consistency is what will "win the race" for you.

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

I'm sure you would agree that consistency is the bedrock for any success. And most of us do apply this in our lives in many respects. We know it takes consistent, steady work to get things done. And, we usually don't give up on something we really want to accomplish, even if after working at something for a few days or a week isn't getting "that thing" done. We see it through with the consistent work needed to accomplish the task - school, work, family, kids - I'm sure you can think of examples in all these areas of life. But, what about when "that thing" you need to accomplish is something just for You?

In my practice over the years, I have seen patients who have dealt with physical pain for a very long time before they decided to seek help. The reasons for this are varied, but I can tell you that we are less likely to take care of ourselves and more likely to take care of others. Whether this is because you need to work to put food on the table, or you don't want to spend the money right now, or someone is depending on you in some way, we tend to grin-and-bear-it, rather than take the steps necessary to get ourselves back to battery physically. And when time goes by, the pain or discomfort you are in also weighs on you mentally. For women, while they are huge advocates of "take care of yourself," they sometimes go months or years before they seek help for themselves, because they are taking care of everyone else. For men, well, most men don't like going to the doctor at all. So, unless the women are persuading you...

The Truth - When you are not feeling 100% everything else suffers

Going back to my original statement of consistency with chiropractic care or a diabetes program, there needs to be some understanding around what that means. If you come to see me right away when your back "goes out" or if you have a fall or an accident, I can usually help you in a much shorter time span that if you had waited for months or years before seeking help. When a person comes in because their back is hurting, and the accident that caused the injury was last month, it's usually going to take more time and treatment to get this resolved than if they had come in for care right away. When a physical issue has been unattended for many months, and sometimes years, it will often take much longer to resolve than in either of the other two scenarios.

The same goes for my Type 2 diabetes, Parkinson's, and stroke patients. Consistency is especially important for you. You already know that your road is a longer one than someone who is coming in for an adjustment, and you have been fighting this disease (or condition), in most cases, for quite some time so "working hard" is your middle name. Believe it or not though, some patients don't realize that coming in more often will help speed their recovery. So, in order to get optimum results in a shorter amount of time, make that little extra effort for real consistency in your treatment program which includes doing what you are supposed to be doing at home between visits. And for those of my patients who are already doing this, well done. My goal is to get you all on the road to consistency and triumph!

To your good health,