E9: Is Chiropractic Good for You?

Ashley B (00:00):

Hello, and welcome to Episode Nine of Life Beyond the Curve. I'm Ashley Brewer, your host for today's episode, where we'll cover the topic, Is Chiropractic Good for You. I promise it will come full circle back to scoliosis, because our co-host for Episode Nine, Dr. Dio Kim from Tustin, California has been CLEAR-certified since 2011. That being said, scoliosis is not his only area of expertise. He also specializes in sports and pediatric chiropractic. He holds a Diplomate in Clinical Chiropractic Pediatrics, or DICCP; a board certified credential in pediatrics for doctors of chiropractic, who specialize in infants and children, all the way up to teenagers. He also holds a Diplomate in American Chiropractic Board of Sports Physicians, DACBSP. That was a mouthful! But in this episode, he shares a few stories that I know you won't want to miss. Episode Nine, here we go!

Intro (01:18):

You're listening to Life Beyond the Curve, a podcast brought to you by CLEAR Scoliosis Institute. Each week, we interview experts in the industry, answer your pressing questions, and empower you to take control of your scoliosis diagnosis and live life to its fullest. Enjoy the show.

Dr. Kim (01:58):

How you doing?

Ashley B (01:59):

I am doing well. How are you?

Dr. Kim (02:01):

I'm doing really good, thank you for asking.

Ashley B (02:01):

So the first thing I want to know is what made you want to become a chiropractor?

Dr. Kim (02:09):

Uh, it can help our body to heal in a healthier way without taking chemical drugs or surgeries.

Ashley B (02:16):

Have you ever, had you ever been to a chiropractor before that, or was him talking to you like your very first experience with chiropractic?

Dr. Kim (02:25):

Um, actually the first chiropractic experience I had was after I attended chiropractic school.

Ashley B (02:30):

Oh, wow!

Dr. Kim (02:31):

Yeah. That's kind of unusual for most of the chiropractors, but you know, that's what happened to me, but, uh, I really loved it and I heard very good things about, um, you know, chiropractors and since, um, I grew up in family, uh, who strongly believe in, um, effectiveness of natural herbs and home remedies, um, uh, chiropractic philosophy I for into that. And, uh, once I studied more and more and I really got into chiropractic and now I strongly believe in to it.

Ashley B (03:03):

Yeah, I love hearing that. I always like hearing why people got into their professions, specifically chiropractic, because it has such a ability to transform the lives of people. I definitely think your story is interesting, though, that your first experience wasn't until after school, but now like in the profession, a lot of times you'll hear us talk about the brain and the spinal cord and the central nervous system and reference the brain as being the command center, and the spinal cord as the pathway for messages to be sent from our brain to our body. Considering all of that, like when people are listening to Life Beyond the Curve, can you explain to them how chiropractic improves communication from the brain to the body?

Dr. Kim (03:58):

Yes. Um, our body has innate ability for healing. Um, I went over essential nutrients and energy are provided it and all those bad toxins are moved from the injured body, um, our body will be recovered well. Um, as the brain and spinal cord makes up the central nervous system that communicate through the body, um, we need to make sure there's no obstacles or pressure on those, uh, nervous system to optimize its function. Um, it is like a, um, you water plants in the garden. Um, it's something steps onto a water hose to limit the water flow to the plants, the plant was slowly die off. Um, it is the same thing to our body as well. Um, if our nerve system is pinched by a misaligned joint, um, muscle tensions, and or trauma, uh, the injured body area will experience lack of communication flow to or from the brain, uh, because the main pathway's blocked, as you explained, um, and it would cause pain and malfunction of, uh, of the system and the, our body. So, um, as a chiropractor, we adjust the misaligned joint to take those pressure off from the nervous system and have the body three improved a number of functions.

Ashley B (05:23):

I like that analogy of the hose watering the garden, and when there's a kink in the hose, the water doesn't get to the garden and it can't grow. So you mentioned like similar things can happen with the body, uh, injury or trauma that can interfere with our messages going from our brain to the rest of our body. What types of injuries or trauma are you talking about that can cause that type of miscommunication and, um, obstacle?

Dr. Kim (05:56):

Um, I believe it, it doesn't have to be like a big trauma or anything like, uh, uh, from the bad habits every day, like you cross your leg, you know, when you're sitting at the desk and it actually a makes a distribution of your weight differently on to your hip area and your nerve systems get, it irritate in over the period. So, um,

Ashley B (06:18):

I love that you're saying that as I'm like sitting with horrible posture in front of my computer recording this podcast, so okay. Now I'm in my good posture. You can get, you can keep going, but now you've got me thinking about that.

Dr. Kim (06:31):

Yeah. I mean, um, if we do the same bad habit over and over, it can be habits. And, um, there should be some misalignment, which is the very small amount of pressure, it can fill it, but, uh, over the period, if you just remain like that, um, the symptoms are going to be getting stronger and stronger. So in that case, you know, you definitely get adjusted, um, and, um, make those pressure off from the, your, um, body and, um, make it feel better.

Ashley B (07:00):

And when there's not that interference, everything just kind of communicates better. And, uh, it's, it's super interesting that you say that. I'm just going to share a little bit of my story with you because I don't think I've shared it with you before. But my first experience with chiropractic was 11 years ago when I was 24 years old. And I would go to my Bible study every single Tuesday night. And I would complain in Bible study about being dizzy all the time. I had severe, severe vertigo to the point where it was like impacting me being a mom and my ability to work. And every week at Bible study, when we were getting to the prayer section, I'd ask for prayer and a girl there would say to me, Hey, you should come see my chiropractor. And I, I didn't get it because I always thought of chiropractic as helping back pain or headaches.

Ashley B (08:00):

And I had no idea how much the brain and the spinal cord and the central nervous system plays a role in everything we do. So long story short for me, finally, I kind of just got annoyed with the girl that she kept saying that to me and I agreed to go in, but I still did not understand why I was there. But after a month of going in to the office and working with the chiropractor, my vertigo went away completely. And I mean, it had been months, almost years that I had been experiencing that. And by getting adjusted, what he found was that I had no curve in my neck and that was causing massive interference. And by getting adjusted, not only did my vertigo go away, but I could, you know, work and be an employee without my job being interfered. And I could be a mom and play with my kids and, and just live life, like what felt more normal to me. So that's my experience with chiropractic. And I always love hearing that type of story. One of my favorite things is hearing about patients and let's not talk scoliosis specific right now. I just want to hear about one of your recent chiropractic patients and kind of what their experience was like.

Dr. Kim (09:29):

Um, well, um, yeah, they are, um, so many I can think of like, um, um, like a torticollis baby who can not turn their head side to side or a ping pong players who had an injury and come to recovery by chiropractic. But I want to share this story, uh, for, um, audience, um, because, um, this is a very recent, um, story that I have, um, 82 years old lady, um, actually who came for her low back pain for the last 20 years. And she tried to physical therapy, injection, acupuncture in the past, but, um, it helped a little bit, but not so much. And, uh, we're seeing it was, um, her symptoms got worse over the period and, um, uh, she wasn't able to handle those excruciating pain and numbness that radiates down to her legs last year. So she's trying to, you know, look for orthopedic doctors who conformed with MRI, that she had some degenerative disc stenosis or ended up, uh, bulging disc, and, um, doctor recommended a surgery, but, uh, he also said to her, uh, the surgery was, uh, kind of risky and not always work for her.

Dr. Kim (10:50):

So she kind of researched around and found me, and I started treating her with a Cox Technic, uh, which is, uh, flection distraction, um, manual spinal depression, uh, chiropractic technique, uh, which is a very gentle and non-invasive, and after a few treatments, um, she started to notice a significant improvement and a few more weeks of treatment, um, she did appear in much less pain and numbness, which is completely gone, uh, occasionally she feel a little bit, um, mild achy discomfort and she wasn't too happy with it. And we granted

Ashley B (11:29):

Was she able to avoid surgery as a result of that?

Dr. Kim (11:32):

Yeah, she didn't have to go for surgery.

Ashley B (11:34):

That's awesome.

Dr. Kim (11:35):

But, but she actually was recovered by chiropractic care and which is awesome. And, and she kind of regret that she, wasn't not trying chiropractic earlier, so that makes it feel better.

Ashley B (11:46):

I think that's what I hear the most often from like, when I worked in the office or even just talking to people as I'm out and about that they wish they had tried something like that sooner. Um, and, and that's, that's a great thing to hear. I mean, I wish we had met them sooner too, but it's good to hear that their experience was that positive. So, uh, we're gonna transition a little bit here because Life Beyond the Curve is designed to provide essential support to people who are living with scoliosis. So you, you mentioned like sports injuries. I know you specialize in, in sports and you also specialize in pediatrics, but you're also a CLEAR certified chiropractor. So let's talk about scoliosis and how a chiropractic specific approach like the CLEAR approach can improve scoliosis.

Dr. Kim (12:47):

Okay. So, um, when you look at our body, um, there are healthy, normal curvature, uh, such as, uh, uh, [inaudible] lumbar spine curves and kyphotic, uh, thoracic spine curve that, uh, we need to keep it, and there are unhealthy and normal curvatures such as scoliosis that we need to restore to the normal curve. Um, if we, um, lose the healthy, uh, lordotic kyphotic curves, uh, our body, uh, would start to decrease its function. Um, however, uh, by restoring unhealthy curves to healthy curves, and stabilizing it for longer period of time, uh, it will improve, uh, flexibility, mobility, stability, functions, and quality of life. Um, I think the CLEAR approach helping all those, um, moreover, um, CLEAR approach treating patient as a whole person. Uh, we are not just looking at the Cobb angles, um, but we care about the patient's function and help their quality of life with less restriction as possible.

Ashley B (13:57):

Yeah. So one of the things that I hear specifically from CLEAR patients is that they really like the home exercise program, because as a CLEAR certified doctor, our doctors actually prescribe custom exercises that a patient can take back with them and do them in the comfort of their own home. Is that something that you can talk a little bit about?

Dr. Kim (14:22):

Yes. So, um, each, um, cases when a patient comes in, um, doctor actually start to having some, uh, treatment for the patient and while she's in the clinic, um, um, doctor, the CLEAR doctor actually prescribed some home exercise for the patient, and it's pretty much that customized for each patient and everybody has a little bit different of the exercises. Um, you need to commit yourself to perform this exercise every day because, um, if you're not committed by yourself to do these exercises and even to read the results is not going to come out as we expect it. And, and, um, we strongly recommend to this exercise, you know, regular basis.

Ashley B (15:07):

Yeah. It's a, it's a super oversimplified analogy that I've heard, but I like the analogy. It's kind of comparable to, if you're wearing braces on your teeth to straighten your teeth where you've got to wear 'em every single day, if you take them off, it's not going to work. It's kind of the same thing doing the custom prescribed exercises is if you want to see the stabilization and reduction of that curvature, it's something you have to be doing every single day. Um, it, it kinda, it sounds like a big task, but it's really just incorporating them into your daily routine. Is that right?

Dr. Kim (15:45):

Exactly. Yeah. It's like a body builders. They go to gym every day to maintain the, uh, their strength and the muscle mass. And if they skip a few days, I mean, you can not maintain those. So it's the same thing happened to scoliosis patients.

Ashley B (16:00):

Now, I always also love to say that a picture is worth a thousand words and you have some before and after pictures up on the CLEAR website, which is clear-institute.org. So if you're listening and haven't checked out the before and after sections, make sure that you do that, but I, uh, you shared a chiropractic story. I would love to hear now one of your recent scoliosis stories.

Dr. Kim (16:24):

Oh, okay. Um, I think, um, you probably not going to be hearing this kind of a case as much, but, um, actually, um, there was like a lady, young lady in 30s came to my office for CLEAR treatments. And when she came in, she was so depressed, stressed and hopeless because of the, her spinal condition. Uh, the reason is, um, she had, uh, her actually, she had discover her moderate scoliosis when she was in middle school. And, uh, she had the surgery as recommended, but, um, her surgery was not successful because, um, she starting having some pain after the operation and it was getting worse and worse as time goes by. So, um, the pain was so severe the later years and she starting to having some numbness and lack of sensation, uh, to her hands and legs. And, um, she couldn't handle it anymore.

Dr. Kim (17:23):

So she went back to the spine surgeon for a second opinion, but, uh, doctor told her, her scoliosis got worsened and, uh, uh, there's more pressure putting on her nerve. So she was in the depressed, um, period, but, um, she wanted to do something for herself to get better. So she said that she was feeling so much of a handicap and finally decided undo the scoliosis, um, surgery. Um, I think that was a very brave decision because, um, there's lots of a risk can be involved in those surgery. So, um, um, she actually went to the spinal surgeon and, um, taking off all the metal screws and the rods off from her back. And after that, um, she went to, actually, she started the physical therapy and, um, once she is doing her physical therapy sessions, um, she thinks she needs more than physical therapy to stabilizing her back at that time.

Dr. Kim (18:27):

So she was researching around and she found CLEAR and, uh, came to my office. Um, fortunately, uh, we are able to reduce the Cobb angle, but a more important thing was, um, she did not experience the excruciating pain and numbness down to her legs. And she stated that she can do more, uh, chores, uh, for her daily activities since there was no pain and great thing was because her attitude has changed it and become more happy person, happy person. Um, she became more motivated and positive and energetic, and it was such a great feeling to see her changing physically and emotionally at that time. So I think that was something we can share it with some other people [inaudible].

Ashley B (19:13):

Yeah. I mean, I've heard that from a lot of patients that they just, their overall health benefits, attitude, mental, physical, spiritual wellness is better. Um, and you are right. That is a story that I don't think people will hear very often. I've heard of it happening, but I've never heard of someone actually. So you said she actually got the hardware and the rods removed from her spine?

Dr. Kim (19:40):

Yes, uh-huh. I think it was very brave because she didn't expect what's going to be happened, but she did it because she couldn't handle that pain. But, um, she actually, uh, after that surgery, um, she actually control herself like through the physical therapy and CLEAR program and she's very happy with it. And one day she brought her, um, metal, um, screws that she had in her spine to me. And I saw that, wow, that was pretty, you know, adverse, I guess. It was a pretty big screw as I actually didn't expected to see it from her body.

Ashley B (20:14):

Yeah. Wow. That is definitely a different story. And for our listeners, probably not one that you are going to hear often, if ever again. So, um, I think that we get, probably talk about chiropractic all day long, but we are nearing the end of our episode. So thank you so much for joining us today. Dr. Kim, we look forward to having you again on a future episode.

Dr. Kim (20:40):

Okay. Thank you so much for having me, Ashley, thank you so much.

Ashley B (20:44):

If you are listening in today and would like information about scoliosis, visit clear-institute.org. There is more to come next week. We'll see you soon, but first here's a little bit on how you can support our show.

Ashley B (21:03):

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