Doctored - Please see it if you can!

I attended a private screening of "Doctored" last Saturday in Austin. This new documentary is an eye-opener for those who are unfamiliar with the hardships chiropractors have had to face in order to practice their non-invasive, drug-free trade. It is about the hardships the average American faces in getting care outside mainstream, modern medicine. It is about trusting your care to alternative doctors and the fight that many patients have to struggle through in order to get well.

I consider my chiropractor my primary care doctor. She practices a specialty of chiropractic called NUCCA and she only adjusts the atlas (very gently, too, mind you!). I've been dealing with what I thought were allergies last week but eventually the coughing (along with other symptoms like a skin rash and fatigue) made me suspect I had walking pneumonia or bronchitis.

What can a chiropractor do for that? He or she can manipulate your spine in order for the messages that come from the brain to travel without interference throughout your body. Your body can better fight off infections.

After not being checked for a while, I started coughing and was adjusted on Friday.  The coughing went away for six hours, until I lost my adjustment. Feeling like I may really need antibiotics to kick this gunk's butt, I saw my MD today. She ordered a flu swab, a chest x-ray, and prescribed an inhaler and cough syrup.

While I was back at my chiropractor's office this afternoon, my MD's assistant called to say it wasn't the flu and my chest looked clear. But they would prescribe antibiotics "just in case."

Dr. Gregg adjusted my atlas and I stopped coughing. She did muscle testing and agreed that the antibiotics would help me...so, although I'd prefer not to, my original hunch to take drugs was accurate. While I'm glad I don't have the flu or pneumonia, I'm also grateful that keeping my adjustment has kept me from making urgent care appointments with my MD for over a year. Prior to getting my atlas adjusted, I went 2-3 times a year for various ailments.

Being "Doctored" was clearly on my mind today. I found help in both traditional and alternative modalities (oh, not to forget, a Qigong energy healer also worked on clearing my lungs whilst at the chiropractor's) and I'm so very grateful that I have the intuition, knowledge, insurance and time to get good care.