Today most of us are very aware of the extremely high costs of most health care services. These costs not only effect our wallets, but also the loss of time and productivity spent waiting at the doctor’s office. Waiting times can often be an hour or more. If unfortunately you suffer a problem that requires same-day medical attention, the waiting time at a hospital emergency room could easily range into several hours or more.
Your Pocket Book
With the current financial situation, more and more are finding it difficult to keep up with the rising health costs. Those fortunate enough to have health insurance are able to cushion some of the monetary expenses. Even with an individual or family health insurance policy, annual out-of-pocket costs continue to rise sharply as monthly premiums, co-payments, and deductibles increase considerably each year. For example, during the past five years monthly premiums for many policies have increased 15% or more annually. This means that monthly payments in 2013 would be approximately double those paid in 2008. Twice the cost for the same coverage. It’s a tough situation. Of course, the fees don’t stop at the monthly premium. Many policies have deductibles in the range of $5000 or more.
With this in mind we might consider getting a “personal” health insurance policy if we want to enjoy good financial health as well as good physical health. Your personal health insurance policy, which takes more work, involves taking action in the two main familiar lifestyle areas of one, diet and nutrition and secondly, exercise. A third lifestyle area, often ignored, involves our personal well-being. This area includes building increasingly positive family relationships and friendships plus developing a broader set of interests beyond one’s favorite television programs and virtual friend websites.
What Matters
Lifestyle matters greatly to one’s long-term health and well-being. Numerous studies have shown that one in three Americans have one or more chronic diseases – diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. This not only effects with substantial costs to our personal and family costs, but also at a price to society. We can help prevent these major health problems by implementing habits of good nutrition, regular vigorous exercise, and rewarding relationships and activities. Most importantly by engaging in healthy lifestyles, we are building a health savings account that will continue to grow and harvest many rewards for ourselves and our families in the future.
The Fourth Area – Chiropractic
A key to gaining the benefits from all the other lifestyle areas and activities is held in the fourth area – Chiropractic.
Chiropractic care is a comprehensive form of healing, which means that all aspects of a person’s health and lifestyle are taken into consideration for understanding how well your body is doing its job. This “job” is to interconnect all the various separate physiological activities – to make sure all your body’s systems are working harmoniously. The responsibility for this harmony lies with the nervous system. This master system controls every function in your body from your heart and lungs to your complete immune system. When a vertebrae has shifted out of its normal position it places unwanted pressure on to our delicate nerve tissue. Over time this “dis-ease” in our bodies becomes the disease. By identifying and correcting misalignments in the spinal column, chiropractic care helps ensure that your nervous system is functioning optimally. When your nervous system is functionally optimally the rest of your body has the opportunity to produce optimal health. The great result is that chiropractic care helps you get the most out of all your other activities and helps you gain and retain good health.
Getting Started
The only requirement to begin receiving the benefits of improved health is the willingness to get started. Investing into your future today will produce a great return on your investment quickly!
For Your Health,
Dr. Steven M. Gillis
