Dear Friends, 

When I was a chiropractic intern 33 years ago, a friend from school and I were up from Chicago doing some mountain biking in the Kettles. As we were biking back to my in-laws, we saw there was an accident at the County Rd A and Highway 23 intersection. A woman in a car was t-boned by a pickup and trailer. We were the first on the scene. The woman was fading quickly- unconscious and gray. Her 5 and 6 year old daughters were in the backseat screaming. 

There were no cellphones- Nick ran to find a phone to call 911 while I started getting the girls out of the car. When the paramedics showed up, we helped get the girls into the ambulance while the fire department used the jaw of life to get the woman out. She unfortunately did not survive. 

About 20 years later, I was treating a woman who was in her upper 20s for recurrent headaches of an unknown origin. We took some X-rays and her neck was a mess! I asked her, “Have you ever been in an accident? You have a ton of arthritis for anyone, let alone someone your age.” She answered, “Yes, in fact my mother was killed in a car accident.” I asked, “Was it on A and 23?” She looked shocked like she saw a ghost and said, “How would you know that?”

I simply replied, “I pulled you out of that car.” We had a good cry together. It felt like her guardian angel, her mom, brought us together that day. I always wanted some resolution to how those two girls turned out, and it was good. 

Her neck-  not so much. When you suffer a trauma, many times the focus is on the immediate pain, without optimally healing the damage below. With trauma, early care usually means a shorter duration of care. WHY? Because early care impacts the quality of your healing. 

In fact, some of the worst long term outcomes are accidents where there is very little pain upfront. The obvious pain is always dealt with, even if it’s just pain reduction. It is the dysfunction under the radar that really gets to work creating deep seated problems like accelerated or early onset arthritis in the spine. 

After a physical trauma, always get examined- no matter your pain level. If you aren’t in pain, that will simply allow you to get through treatment quicker. Like the angel above, sometimes it can take decades to reveal itself. 

Below are a few of our supplements that support muscular trauma and stress:

Bromelain: a strong anti-inflammatory supplement that comes from the core of a pineapple! Great after acute injuries or surgical procedures. Think of bromelain as a natural form of NSAIDs like Advil or Ibuprofen that take down inflammation so your tissue can start healing. 

Ligaplex 1: Ligaplex 1 is a multi-vitamin for the connective tissue. We use this to support healing and repair of acute sprains and strains such as ankle sprains, disc injuries etc. Also wonderful postoperatively to help repair from the trauma of the surgical procedure.

Turmeric Forte: Turmeric is my favorite herb because of its far reaching health properties. This formula in particular is concentrated by 55x and has been wrapped in a fiber that increases its uptake by up to 30x. Really potent, and it seems to take everything good in the body and nudges it in the right direction. It is most known for having anti-inflammaory benefits and antioxidants. 

Gotu Kola Complex: This herb combo of gotu kola, grape seed, and ginkgo supports healthy capillaries and promotes good blood circulation, both critical for proper tissue healing. 

Enjoy your holiday weekend and stay safe! 

God Bless,
Dr. Dan