Dr. Kenney’s Friday 5 Spot
On Fridays I like to share some of the experiences I’ve had during the week with patients and in my personal life that I’ve found significant in some way. I like to share them in hopes that you might find value in them and have something resonate with you in your life.
Can you help with jaw pain? Yes. There are two main causes of jaw pain that I see. First, the top vertebra in the neck is called the atlas and is oval-shaped. When misaligned enough, it can interfere with the opening and closing of the temporomandibular joint located in front of it. Second, sometimes the TMJ joint itself can be tracking improperly. This indicates that the jaw itself is misaligned.
Of these two, I would say that about 70% of the time, the upper neck is the culprit and 30% it’s both. There can certainly be more severe issues with the jaw but most cases I see are able to be fixed by adjusting one or both areas (sometimes incorporating muscle work and/or stretches as well).
A good reminder regarding symptoms. Something important to remember about symptoms is that assessing your level of health based on presence or lack of symptoms can be very limiting. For example, the first sign of heart disease for many is a ride in an ambulance. Likewise, cancer does not give you immediate symptoms and often displays signs only after being present for some time. Lack of symptoms does not necessarily indicate great health.
When symptoms are present, this does not mean you are unhealthy. If you get food poisoning, you’ll probably have something coming out of both ends for a while which is not pleasant but is helping to correct an issue. Pain is not fun, but your body is using it to give you information. Symptoms are essentially messaging your body sends you indicating something is going on, just like a check engine light in your car would be. It’s not always pleasant but it’s always valuable. When assessing your own health try to remember that the absence or presence of symptoms is only a piece of the puzzle and need to be considered as such.
Something I enjoy. The football team I coach is off to a tough start. Last season we dominated and this season after moving up and age level, we’ve taken some lumps. As a competitor and leader this is not my favorite place to be by any stretch but there is a good life lesson in this situation.
Rather than whine about it, start pointing fingers or going in the tank; I have learned to enjoy the process of getting my team to improve. I love trying to figure things out – what we do well, what we need to get better at, how to teach the players in a way they’ll understand more, maximizing our potential, how we can be unpredictable, where are our unique advantages, etc. I use this same approach in business, life, and everything I do – I enjoy the grind of drilling down on anything and everything that can lead to success.
Something that I found interesting and valuable this week. Someone I respect greatly got on the topic of opinions versus advice. Everyone will have opinions and they can be based on biases, past experiences, ignorance, limited knowledge, or any number of other factors that need to be taken with a grain of salt. Advice on the other hand, usually comes from experience. As a parent, have you ever received advice from someone without children? It doesn’t have anywhere near the effect it does when it comes from another parent who tells us what they’ve done in a certain, similar situations that we’ve faced.
This premise is valuable. Opinions are a dime a dozen and can be found anyplace. Turn on any news station and you’ll see plenty of them. Conversely, when we look for advice, we are seeking to hear from those that have been there and done that. Good advice gives us the opportunity to streamline efforts, avoid mistakes and reach intended outcomes faster. Not everyone can give you this type of information so when you do find it, treat it like gold. There is nothing wrong with giving or receiving an opinion, it’s just not the same thing as advice.
Some quotes I love.
“Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.” – Hellen Keller
“Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald
“Never accept an inferior position to anyone. It is the strongest spirit that wins, not the most expensive sword.” – Miyamoto Musashi
“Your calendar and your bank account will show you what you truly value.” – Ryan Michler
“If you knew how quickly people forget the dead…you would stop living to impress people.” – Christopher Walken
Want more?
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- To see previous Friday 5 Spots, visit www.newbodychiro.com and go to “blog”
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