I started to practice as an associate at Advanced Physical Medicine & Rehab in Hoffman Estates, Illinois for 8 years with some of the greatest mentors and some of the worst. Practiced with DCs (Doctor of Chiropractic), PTs (Physical Therapist), LMTs (Licenses Massage Therapists), Acupuncturists, Trainers, Orthopedic Surgeons, Physiatrists, Psychologists, Nurses, Medical Assistants. Even as hospital staff of St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates under the Allopathic Health Dept (one of the first Chiropractors to be on staff at a hospital in all of Illinois). Some of the greatest education happened during these years from being on staff at a hospital, scrubbing in to observe patients getting orthopedic or neurosurgical procedures to working with some of the most talented and gifted Physical Medicine practitioners around.

I started my own private practice, Integrated Chiropractic in 2010 in this awesome little city of Silverdale, Washington. Google it! It’s amazing and hidden gem of beauty in this part of the country.

I have done plenty since opening Integrated with stuff you can read on my website @ www.DocJoseph.com or Facebook site (www.facebook.com/IntegratedChiro).

Thank you to all those who have supported and continued to support Integrated Chiropractic. Also, to all of those who have asked/suggested/asked some more to put together more information for patients. Well, you can now find The Chirocast (podcasts by yours truly) on my website at https://www.docjoseph.com/blog or any podcast platform: Apple, Spotify, Google, etc…

I do have a disclaimer; I am not a know-it-all and I do not have the only answer or solution to a diagnosis or problem. I am sharing thoughts and clinical pearls I have learned in 20+ years of practice. There are multiple ways to help a problem, but what is the best way? I am hoping to provide you all, with a way to approach wellness.

That brings me to today’s topic that comes up indirectly a lot with patients of all types. How do I keep this from happening to me again or in my language, how do I optimize my performance/function/everyday life or ADLs (activities of daily living)?

Optimizing once health is a broad topic but simple. The analogy I like to use a lot with patients is the comparison to a vehicle or a car. Some of us have nice cars, some not so nice, some luxury and really fancy or some dilapidated. How do you take care of your car? Are you ahead of the game or do you wait for the lights and sensors to go off and warn you that you better get some gas or your engine needs attention? Same thing with our bodies. Another car analogy… there are cars that go through Jiffy Lube, there are cars that need 2-3 specialist mechanics to manage then there are the professional racing cars that need the 10-12 specialists that make up the pit crew. Your bodies are similar. Do you want to just see one practitioner or do you want a team of specialists? Are you a professional athlete or someone that has a daily physical demand, maybe the team approach is necessary? Anything to optimize the performance, right? My perfect team of specialists by the way, Chiropractic, Massage Therapy and Physical Therapy.

We have signs and signals happening all the time that we can either listen to or ignore. Most will ignore the small stuff. Even the semi-big stuff, I have wondered why patients waited so long to get checked out. But waiting for the big stuff to happen, can leave you spending more time and money trying to recover. Just like if you had a car with an issue that was being ignored. Have you had that happen to you? I still remember when I first learned about a car’s braking system. Did you know to get that persistent squeak or grinding every time you break, usually your pads are worn down really badly, your calipers are seized and they are grinding on your rotor. I have had my rotors replaced; it can be pricey. I do know it would have been cheaper if I knew my pads needed to be replaced and did that when I was supposed to.

How many of you are ignoring symptoms of a problem that will get worse, it’s just when. I describe this to patients in the form of symptoms of stiffness, achiness, stabbing/sharp pain. Stiffness turns into an ache which can turn into sharpness. The reverse is typically what we’re looking for in a recovering patient.

By getting joints and muscles to work properly or OPTIMALLY will result in less recurrent pain, will slow down the arthritic cascade, improve sleep and immunity function (to name a few) – allowing you to perform at your best. Whether you’re a stay at home mom or a professional athlete, optimizing your performance will allow your body to work the way God created it. Trust me when I say that your body prefers the optimal position of its joints and muscle. Everything just works better, just like a well-maintained car.

To schedule an appointment and learn more about how you can optimize your performance or ADLs, call Integrated Chiropractic or send us a message from the contact us page.

Yours in health – Dr. SJ