Recently I took my wife’s car to our very friendly local mechanic for a little bit of maintenance, it needed (as the owners manual stated) a few things done to prevent bigger problems in the future, things like spark plugs, timing belt, and a good service including topping up the fluids, and away we go for a few more happy kilometers of motoring. We try to service our car at the correct interval to get the most out of our it, if we leave it too long we often don’t get too much warning, that’s why my father and grandfather always insisted of periodic checks of things such as water, oil etc. Now days modern cars will often have a “time for service” light on your dashboard or even a check engine light that will warn you of a problem and this light will just not go out until its been serviced, ignore it for too long and bad things may happen! The same with our air conditioning in the office a little bit of maintenance makes it work more efficiently, and reduces the risk of inconvenient and costly break downs. There are many other examples where it pays to service things as preventative measure, often there is a dollar incentive (it costs you less in the long run) however there is also the knowledge the things will run better and more efficiently by putting in a little bit of preventative maintenance, such as replacing worn parts.

Its easy to understand tangible things such as broken cars, and even broken bones, such things present to us at times and are forefront of our mind, in our body pain is usually a symptom that becomes very difficult to ignore. But what about those small things in our bodies that require a bit of TLC, perhaps its that little niggle that’s not bad enough to do something about it, to put it in perspective just like the wheel alignment on your car, you may notice it pulls to the side a little or not at all, but not significant enough to do something about it, left long enough our Friendly Mechanic issuing a WOF (warrant of fitness) will give you a big X for worn out tyre(s) which need to be replaced.

I’ve never heard of a Spine Replacement, often we ignore our own warning lights – stiffness, minor aches, pains, it feels catchy, or that symptom that we class as a normal thing (did you realise while is is common to have a regular weekly headache, even low grade stiffness this is not normal), left long enough these underlying problems can present as bigger problems. Chiropractors can often tell those who have looked after their bodies if we see someone over 50, in fact it is often very evident on an xray, it is more than someone who keeps fit, even keeping fit does not prevent structural or functional imbalances in your body (and as chiropractors our first priority most likely how is your Spine and Nerve system functioning)

It makes sense to all those in the motor racing industry that they would give the car a through going over at increased intervals, they are putting a lot more stress on those cars (compared to your grandmothers Honda Jazz) Likewise with our body and nerve system, that the more you use it – exercise, work, sport and play, and the more strain it has to cope with, the more regular the maintenance intervals required.

Whatever “it” is in your life, your car, bike, air conditioning if you use it you need to maintain it, this includes your spine and nerve system, it just works better!

When was your last WOF for your body and spine? Schedule one today.