Introduction to Brady Salcido

I’d like to take the opportunity to introduce the newest chiropractic professional working alongside us at Living Well Family Chiropractic: Brady Salcido. Brady was born and raised in Camarillo, and went to high school at Oaks Christian in Westlake Village. It was during that time that he felt called to Chiropractic. He studied Applied Health at Azusa Pacific University and then went straight to Los Angeles College of Chiropractic.

Brady found that he loves working with families and children on a mission trip to Peru, where he adjusted over 800 patients in 12 days. This passion led him to specialize in families’ wellness and pediatric development. In his free time, he loves the outdoors, the beach, Crossfit, doing educational lectures in the community, and just living life. He looks forward to the new patients our clinic will bring him and looks forward to meeting you, too!

The Seventh (and Final) Lesson of my Chiropractic Philosophy

7. Your body has an innate healing wisdom

If we look at our lives from the time that we are born until the time we die, our bodies are in constant motion, even when at rest. The cells of our bodies are constantly dying and being replaced by new, healthy cells. Two and one-half million of them will die and be replaced by the time you finish reading this. It is a completely normal process.

Health can be defined as the ability of the body to replace the cells and tissue structures normally and consistently. There is an innate intelligence within each of us that is far superior to our educated brain, which creates and recreates us on a continual basis. In order for this process to occur, life force (mental impulse) must be flowing through the body to all cells and tissues. Its medium is the brain and nervous system. The innate intelligence directs this life force to every cell and tissue of the body. When the life force is free of interference, the body is at its maximum health potential. If the life force is interfered with, however, the body does not have the ability to recreate itself normally and disease results.

Only the body has the ability to heal. There is no pill, potion, surgery, or anything else that can heal from the outside in. The body has built all disease known to man from within and has the capability to heal the same disease through its own innate power. When life force is interfered with through a subluxation, the body loses is ability to function normally. Chiropractors recognize that all healing comes from within through the innate intelligence and, therefore, do not treat disease or symptoms but subluxations. In order to maximize the health potential of the body, this innate mental impulse must not be interfered with.

A symptom only results from abnormal, weak, or damaged tissue cells. Damaged tissue occurs in two ways: one, from acute trauma, and two, from the interference of the mental impulse from a subluxation. Cells of the body are constantly dying and being replaced as a normal life process. The interference of this normal life process by a subluxation results in the breakdown of normal tissue cells. A symptom is a warning signal sent to the brain from the tissue cell level to alert the brain that there has been damage. The most common symptom is pain; however, symptoms such as burning, tingling and numbness can also occur. Symptom threshold is different for everyone. Therefore, some people may not get symptoms until there is massive tissue destruction. The chiropractor does not treat the symptom. Our main focus is to treat the subluxation, thus allowing the mental impulse to reach the tissue cells so the body’s innate intelligence can rebuild them with normal ones. When a sufficient amount of normal tissues has been built, the symptoms will disappear and a healthier body will prevail.

Isn’t this approach better than taking drugs to merely mask the symptom while the body builds and re-builds itself abnormally? I think so, and I’ve seen the natural functioning of the body perform many “miracles” given the right conditions (structure) to allow for it.

I encourage you to start to experience the physical and mental improvements in well-being that will result from incorporating chiropractic consultation into your life today. I hope you've enjoyed this series of posts on my chiropractic philosophy! Be sure to check back next week as I move on to a new topic. 

The Sixth Lesson of my Chiropractic Philosophy

6. Structure determines Function

Historically, chiropractors have worked primarily on one thing: the vertebral subluxation. A subluxation is a vertebra that is out of alignment with the vertebra above and below, resulting in nerve pressure and interference of the mental impulse (life force) from the brain to the tissue cell. This lack of mental impulse causes a breakdown of the normal tissue cells until enough abnormal tissue cells have been formed to cause disease. The chiropractor’s job is to remove the subluxation, which allows the mental impulse to get to the tissue cells and replace the abnormal cells with normal cells. This is healing. When a subluxation is corrected and maintained and optimum mental impulse is getting to the tissue cells, the body has a greater potential to heal and stay healthy.

Curvatures of the spine adversely affect the sympathetic nervous system. That is why I additionally prescribe my patients exercises which are specific to the personalized spinal corrections in each patient. This is critical for encouraging the spine to slowly but surely correct the misalignments that compound over a person’s life.

The sympathetic nervous system controls the blood supply to the viscera, and is therefore related to all manner of visceral diseases and pathology, and specifically, “the ordinary diseases of adult life.”

Research has found that chiropractic adjustments affect the chemistry of biological processes on a cellular level. Chiropractic care can affect the basic physiological processes that influence oxidative stress and DNA repair, so in addition to addressing any immediate spinal misalignment that might cause pain, it can also address deeper dysfunction in your body.

In the case of the human body, structure dictates biological and even chemical functioning. Maintaining your spine is not only smart for your health, but is also cost-effective.  Maintaining your spine requires just these three things…

1. Fluids: Drink plenty of fluids, preferably water, to lubricate the joints.

2. Movement: Exercise and stretching on a stable structure will enhance flexibility and mobility.

3. Adjustments: Chiropractic adjustments are essential to provide proper alignment for stability, mobility and flexibility. You can not achieve optimum spinal maintenance without chiropractic adjustments.

Check back next week for the seventh part of my chiropractic philosophy, which will address and explain the body's innate healing wisdom. 

The Fifth Lesson of my Chiropractic Philosophy

5. Water: Hydration – Oxygen is essential. Avoid non-water liquids.

One of the benefits of drinking water is that adequate hydration has a huge impact on your immune system. Water helps all of your body’s systems function at optimum levels. Drinking plenty of water flushes toxins and ensures that your cells get all of the oxygen they need to function as they were meant to, which is vital to overall cell health.

First, a quick discussion of oxygen before we talk about water’s role in its production. Oxygen is very good in general for the body, and specifically for the immune system. Oxygen is one of the primary catalysts for energy and optimal health in the human body. It plays a vital role not only in our breathing processes, but in every metabolic process in the body. Nutrient compounds inside our cells are oxidized by enzymes, and this oxidation process is our main source of energy. In addition, healthy cells in the body are aerobic, meaning they require adequate levels of oxygen for cellular respiration and growth. When cells are deprived of oxygen for any reason, decay sets in and cells can mutate or die.

Drinking enough water is essential not only for the utilization of oxygen in the body, but also for transporting the blood and other bodily fluids. If you feel thirsty, you are already dehydrated. And without adequate water, all bodily functions are diminished, including cellular respiration and the removal of toxins and metabolic wastes.

Drinking plenty of water helps keep you healthy in the long-run. A surprising number of illnesses can be treated or prevented simply by drinking eight to ten glasses of water a day. I like to get my new patients to drink half their bodyweight in ounces of water. They are usually blown away by the results after just a couple of days. For example, a 200 lb male should be drinking 100 oz, or 10 x 10 oz glasses per day.

Another small thing that is excellent as a quiet way to increase oxygen levels is proper diaphragmatic breathing of about 12 breaths per minute, as opposed to chest breathing, which is shallow.

Next week I'll provide an explanation of the sixth lesson of my philosophy: structure determines function.