Dr. Amanda Haeg - Living a More Functional Life

Good morning and welcome to Green Tea Conversations, the radio show that delves into the pages of Natural Awakenings magazine to bring you the local experts who share their progressive ideas in the latest information and insights needed so you can lead your best life. I'm your host Candi Broeffle, publisher of the Twin Cities edition of Natural Awakenings magazine, and I am honored to bring these experts to you. Today's guest is someone I am really excited to introduce you to, and her name is Dr. Amanda Haeg of Cadence Chiropractic in Eden Prairie. Welcome to the show, Dr. Amanda.

 

Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.

 

[00:00:57.330] - Candi Broeffle, Host

And I am really excited to get into this with you today. But before we get started on everything else, I'm just going to ask you to take a couple of minutes and introduce us to you. Tell us about yourself, kind of what your journey is and what brought you to becoming a chiropractor?

 

Well, I started off very active in athletics growing up, and I decided I wanted to be an athletic trainer, so I'd get to be on the sidelines and watch sports and help people stay active and in the sports that they wanted to do. And part of my continuing of school took me to Pittsburgh, where I played volleyball and got to learn about athletic training from one of the best schools in the country. And I actually was able to work there at the school after I graduated as an athletic trainer.

 

And so all of this time being an athlete and helping people to stay active and have their best movement patterns, avoid injury, all of that was very exciting. And then I had my own injury. After volleyball was finished, I was bored having not had a time in my whole life that I hadn't played a sport. And I found out about women's full-contact football. So I joined the Pittsburgh team and played for a few years. And one of those seasons I had an injury that was pretty impactful in that I wasn't able to walk normally without pain.

 

I had a lot of fronts, hip, and growing pains with walking. I couldn't run or stride well, and being in my mid-twenties, it was kind of like, how is this going to affect my entire life? I don't know the answer to these questions. Who can help me? And I had some great resources from working at Duquesne University and the Pittsburgh Passion on the team and nothing was really making an impact. And then I went to a chiropractor who did something different than the traditional laying and twisting, and he saw me three times a week for two weeks.

 

Then I went from walking in pain to jogging with no pain in that two-week period. And from my own experience as an athlete and as an athletic trainer, that just blew my mind. I was very much "What is happening and how can I understand this and how can I help other people experience this?" And it didn't take long for me to know that I needed to go to chiropractic school to learn how to do that so I could identify what was really not moving properly with individuals and help them to get better as fast as I felt like I did. I went from that.

I have no idea what's going to happen. Two weeks later, these possibilities are there again. And that just impacted me so much. I knew I needed to use that. I was passionate about it and wanted to help people in that way. So I went to school then in Atlanta for chiropractic school. That was four years. And I knew after what had been then 13, 14 years living out of state that I wanted to come back by family and open a practice so that I could help them and others and also have their support because opening a practice isn't exactly simple.

So being around family and having their resources and being a resource for them in the Minnesota community is what brought me back here.

 

Well, that is really, really interesting. I'm so glad that you shared that with us. And as you know, I have my own story that I'll be sharing later as well. And it is really exciting to hear how you had such great results in such a short amount of time going to the chiropractor that you did. So tell us a little bit about the name of your practice...it Is Cadence Chiropractic and why did you choose that name?

 

I love this question and it's part of my tour and the practice. I like to tell people about it whenever they come in for the first time. A lot of people think that my name is Candice and so clarifying that Cadence is it my name... and really it comes back to my entire life being involved in moving and athletics is moving your body and all of life is finding movement patterns, no matter what you're doing and cadence, by definition, is that rhythm of movement.

And so when we translate that into the spine, we're wanting to evaluate how well the spine is moving and maximize that, helping it to be at its best so that our body and its whole is functioning at its best as much as possible for as long as possible.

 

That makes so much sense, so much more sense than Cadence chiropractic.

 

And my tagline is "motion is life" because I think it's an interesting thing for people to come in. I'll meet really active people and they move all the time. But there are certain areas of their body that are not moving with them while they are active. And so that is limiting their body's ability to express itself. And so whether you're inactive and not moving or active but not all of the parts of your body are moving the way they should, we still need to get that movement reintroduced because motion is life.

 

So, as I said earlier, Dr. Amanda has been my chiropractor for the last probably three and a half years now. And though I tend to be perhaps a bit dramatic at times, I can honestly say there's no drama at all when it comes to letting you know just what a significant impact your chiropractic care has had on my life in a very positive way. And I appreciate that. But it wasn't easy for me to decide to actually come and see you, because, as Dr. Amanda knows, I had a bit of a traumatic experience myself with chiropractors when I was a kid.

Back in the 70s, early 80s, my mom had all of us seeing a chiropractor, and back then in the chiropractic care was so different it resulted in a lot of manual adjustments and twisting us up and cracking her back. And I was always so afraid and always thinking, "Oh my gosh, one day I think he's going to break my back" because it was so frightening to be in that position. It was years. I mean, I didn't see a chiropractor for 40 years because I just had this in my head that that's what it meant to go to a chiropractor.

It wasn't until I met you when we were at an expo many years ago and we both had exhibition booths at the expo. And you had a special a new member special. And I said, "You know, I think I just need to start doing this again." And I just liked you so much, felt so comfortable with you that I was willing to take a chance and come in and see you. And it really has been so different.

But I didn't know at the time that your approach is actually a really unique approach and not something that is found anywhere else in the Twin Cities.

 

That's true. Yes. And I'll say how grateful I am that you gave it a chance, whether it was drawn to me or just ready for another opportunity. I'm very thankful for that.

 

I am, too. I am too. But I do want people to know about your particular approach because I have found it to be both...it's gentle and yet it's highly, highly effective. And I didn't have to do I didn't have to be a contortionist in order to do it.

 

Right. Yes. The actual adjusting style that I use is different than what a lot of people are used to, whether they've had it or seen videos of it or whatever it might be.

We aren't putting you in twisted positions and the adjustments are actually very specific. I mentioned earlier how important it is for the whole body to be moving. So in the objective assessment that I do, we identify exactly which bones aren't moving and those are the only ones that I work on. It isn't something where everything moves. It's where we work on one at a time to increase the motion that's needed in that specific joint. And we don't need to put your body in positions in order to do that.

 

It is very unique, and I would assume that it is also something that almost anybody could use. I mean, it is so different than what other people may be thinking of that if they have had any kind of issues with it or feel like, "Oh, my bones are really frail or I feel like I'm pretty fragile", is this something that most people can use?

 

Absolutely. It's very gentle, very specific. There are different things that we can do when there is a specific situation where we need to be even more gentle. But because we aren't twisting anything that takes so much of the added stress that people imagine and what is happening to the body is that action of twisting, we don't even need to really worry about that. The adjustments that are very specific. I have a table that helps me to do that adjustment. I have an instrument that helps me to do the adjustment in the range of gentleness, if you will, it has a wide range so that we can work with a lot of people with different things.

 

So talk for just a minute about the table.

 

So it's called a drop table. And the best way that I've learned to try to explain it and the visual always helps. But there's individual pieces of the table that lift up and then there's a tension that is set so that the piece only drops when I add pressure to you being on the table. So we put you in the right position where you're only laying face up or face down, relax, just like you're sleeping. And then the table lifts up underneath you and the tension is set just right, so when I contact specifically the one bone that I need to adjust for that moment and add that tension and force that the table will drop, creating...essentially it's like a gravity point where the gravity of you dropping is allowing me to put that force into the bone that needs to move better wherever your body is entirely relaxed and just that joint is moving.

 

So for people who would like to learn more about Dr. Amanda and to find out how they can make an appointment, go to CadenceChiroMN.com. You're listening to Green Tea Conversations on the Progressive Voice of Minnesota. And we will be right back. 

Welcome back to Green Tea Conversations, where we delve into the pages of Natural Awakenings magazine and talk to the professionals to share their expertise and mental health with you. I'm your host, Candi Broeffle. And today we're visiting with Dr. Amanda Haeg of Cadence Chiropractic in Eden Prairie.

 

So, Dr. Amanda, help us to understand why chiropractic care is so important.

 

I could probably talk about it for a very long time. So I'll do my best to give a brief synopsis of it. But we joke in chiropractic that everybody has a spine and everybody's spine should move well. So that is one of those factors. So we want to evaluate your spine to make sure every joint is moving the way that it should so it stays as healthy as it should and prevents things like degeneration or that change in posture that we often see as we get older.

 

But really, chiropractic, we are working on the bones. We're evaluating their motion and our position. But the whole emphasis is on helping the nervous system because the way that your brain and spinal cord and nerves communicate and control everything in your body can be impacted by the health of the spine. So every adjustment is done to help the spine, to allow the nervous system to function better. And everyone has a nervous system and we want everyone to be functioning as best as it can.

So ultimately, there's two systems or two areas of the body that we need to be functioning well for us to be at our best and live our best life.

 

Is there anyone who should maybe think twice before getting an adjustment?

 

I would say that I have seen people ranging from 20 hours old to 90 years old and everything in between, and everyone has something that a chiropractor could help with. But you need to have the proper assessment and a good chiropractor will be able to identify if what's going on is something that they can or should be helping with, or if you need to be referred to another specialist because we're here to help you be healthy and stay healthy. And it's not always an answer that chiropractic is the only answer for, but we want to collaborate with other professionals. So ultimately, yes, I would love an opportunity to work with anyone and everyone with anything going on with them. But I am very able and ready to say "you need to see someone else" if it's something that I should be the only one working with.

 

What are some of the ailments or things that people come to you to get help with?

 

Well, we save a lot of people experience a neck pain or a back pain of some kind, and that could be just kind of achy at times or a reduction in motion or even to the point where it's creating a radiating pain down the shoulder into the arm or down the leg. These are some of the more obvious chiropractic-related symptoms that people would would seek us for. But as I mentioned, the entire spine and nervous system are essentially what we want to focus on and help in chiropractic.

And with that, we can see a lot of changes with things like breathing, digestive function, attention issues, focus, mental clarity. And it isn't that, "Oh, I have focus issues and my chiropractor diagnoses and fixes them." It's that chiropractors help your nervous system function as best as it can, which allows your body to clear up many of those things. So a whole range of things that we can really help people with, but it starts with helping the spinal nervous system.

 

I would think, too, that a lot of the times people don't even realize how they're not moving because you've gotten so used to it or you have adapted to just not feeling at your best.

 

Absolutely. And it's generally, for many people, a slow process. They're sitting every day or doing any repetitive activity every day. And slowly their body is losing this or losing that. And they don't notice it until sudden they're trying to turn their neck to to merge onto the highway. And they can't rotate as far as they should be able to. I hear things like that, often in those slow and gradual, repetitive things, that's part of why in general, we do recommend maintenance, chiropractic, that it's something that you put into your whole keeping your body healthy so that you slowly aren't losing things.

But on the other side, I'll have people that bend down to pick up a piece of paper and their back is thrown out and they can't stand up in those more acute things rarely or from an injury that day. A lot of times it's from the slow progress of something going on under the surface. And that one added stress just was, you know, typical essentially the straw that broke the camel's back. So. We want to make sure that we're evaluating everything, before the injury if possible, but helping anybody get healthier faster.

 

And that's it's really kind of similar to how I came about coming to you too. It was a slow progression.

So I had been I was still living up in Moose Lake and I was driving down to the cities here a few times a week to meet with customers or to take care of business things. And just over time, I mean all that sitting and driving and then driving around the city while I was here, I would get stiffer and just not feel like "I'm just not feeling my best. But it's part of the part of what I'm going through right now.

I'm getting older." There's all these other things that I was thinking in my mind. And it wasn't until it got so bad that it ended up causing a very painful sciatica event. And then it was honestly, it was actually probably a month to six weeks after that started before I even came to see you. So it was a long time of being in pain, a gradual pain and then an acute pain that also I had for a long time before I thought, "Wait a minute, I have this. I should go see Dr. Amanda. You know, I have this." I had purchased your new member special at that event and I had kind of forgotten about it. So when I made the appointment to come and see you and this is going to sound really, again, kind of dramatic for people, but I honestly had such good results in such a short time. After the first visit, the intense pain was completely gone. So there was still kind of a nagging pain that was there.

But I would say at least 70 to 75 percent of the discomfort had was gone. And after the second visit, I'm sure it was at least 85 percent done. And then it was like, I couldn't believe how good I felt and not having realized how bad I had felt for so long. So it was, "Yes, I'm going to continue to come in. I'm going to get regular visits. I'm going to come in regularly to continue to feel good like this."

 

And boy, if there's ever times where I am not coming to see you like, say, 2020, when I was not leaving my home that much, I really felt it. So I'm glad I'm back in the office with you. And I just really you shared your dramatic results that you had, and I really had those same types of dramatic results. So I highly recommend if people are having issues, contact you and come in and see what can be done because it can really make a difference.

 

 I remember I'm so thankful that everything went the way that it did.

 

I am, too. So for people who want to find out about Cadence Chiropractic and to make an appointment with Dr. Amanda, visit CadenceChiroMN.com, or call 952-855-7656. Again, that number is 952-855-7656 . To read the online version of Natural Awakenings magazine, visit NaturalTwinCities.com. You can find a podcast of this show on AM950Radio.com, Apple, and Google podcast. Anywhere you get your podcast, you're listening to Green Tea Conversations AM850, the Progressive Voice of Minnesota. And we will be right back.

[00:21:09.860]  - Candi Broeffle, Host

Welcome back to Green Tea Conversations where we delve into the pages of Natural Awakenings magazine and talk to the experts who share their expertise on natural health with you. I'm your host, Candi Broeffle. And today we're speaking with Dr. Amanda Haeg of Cadence Chiropractic in Eden Prairie.

So just before the break, I was sharing with our listeners about my own experience, having come to you after after really suffering with some really bad sciatica that I had and how quickly I got results from the adjustments and from the care that you provided.

And so I'm just curious, you said that your results were very quick. My results were very quick. Is that pretty typical with with the patients that you work with?

 

Yeah, I would say that with the objective and very specific assessment and adjustments that we use, we generally have about 80 percent of the time where the person is leaving that first day feeling better. That could range from 20 percent to more. But within the first few visits, at minimum the first month, I definitely expect to see 60 to 80 percent improvement in what's going on. There are people that take a little bit longer than that because the problem is been there longer.

 

And that's a factor that impacts how quickly people can heal. In the chance that they aren't noticing anything different within the first two to three weeks, then I'm reevaluating what I could be doing differently or need to be doing differently and if they need to be seeing someone else. So we're really making sure that these changes are happening quickly and that you understand if it isn't happening quickly, why it isn't, that it's something that will take time and we're working together to make that happen.

 

I mean, what are some of the more difficult situations that you've had or the more difficult ailments that you've had that have maybe taken to see results?

 

Usually, it's when there was an improper motion pattern for a considerable amount of time before symptoms started. So you don't really even know it's happening. But certain bones are not moving. And as they're not moving, it's essentially the degeneration process is happening. You're getting arthritis degeneration in the joints. Those joints are not moving the way they're supposed to, but have not gotten to the point of creating pain. And then when they do create pain, whether that starts gradually or immediately, the problem has been there.

We call this iceberg, what you feel is above the surface and what else is going on that you don't feel is underneath the surface. And that's one of the reasons why I love going to events like the one where I met you because I get to talk to people and say, "Come in for this assessment. I'll show you what's not moving. Now you get to make your decision on whether I'm the one to help you with that or not and what you want to do with it", because ultimately we want to prevent those underlying things from becoming, on the surface, things that prevent you from being able to do your job or your activities or live life the way you want to.

 

So that is really interesting. So that kind of goes back to what we were saying earlier about you just beginning to feel like it's normal like this is a normal part of our aging process.

 

Yes. It's good, I'm glad you brought that up because one of the things I kind of tried to talk with people about is the difference between common and normal. Common is essentially societally the normal way we see it. So often my parents have this, my friends have that. Headaches are normal. Back pain is normal. It's normal as you get older to not be able to do things well, those things might be common, but they aren't necessarily normal.

 

A spine truly should be able to last over one hundred years. your body, yes, there are things that happen as we age but if we keep all of the joints moving while keeping the disc healthy, the nerves healthy, getting the communication from the nervous system of the brain to your body to keep your body as healthy as possible, we should be able to live much healthier and active lives than what is currently common. So we want to move from the common to getting our body to function in the normal ranges.

 

Well, I am going to be an advocate for common from now on and let people know it may be common, but it's not necessarily normal.

 

Yes, we want the normal.

 

Yes, that is a very, very good distinction. So tell us a bit about..you have talked a couple of times now about the different assessments that you do or the different diagnostics that you do. What are some of the diagnostics you use and what does it tell you?

 

OK, so when I first meet with somebody, we sit down and talk through what's going on with them so that we're on the same page with their history and what's happening. And then the actual assessment has three parts. It the first part is a thermography stand and that stands for temperature graph, and what we're doing with that is it's measuring the temperature of the skin on the back because all of those nerves that come out of your spinal cord have branches that control the blood vessels for the skin on their backs.

So it's giving us a window into how well the nervous system is functioning when we measure the temperature. If the neck region is really cold and the back is really warm, that's not an appropriate balance of temperature. Your body should be symmetrical, even, changing throughout the day and adapting. Adaptation is one of the biggest things to evaluate in the nervous system. We want to see that even, smooth temperature through the whole spine, not big swings of cold or warm.

And we want it to be different each time we do the scan. So I do the scan on that first visit and we talk about it, explain what I'm finding and what that could mean. And the after the adjustment, we do a scan again to see what's changing and every visit before every adjustment, we're repeating the scan to see how it's changing, because if it's not changing, then it's something you or I need to evaluate that needs to be different.

And as it does change, it actually helps me to continue to be specific with helping your body and not being too much for your body. Because if I do the same thing every day, every time you come into the practice, then what's really changing? What am I impacting? What should I be doing to have your body function better and better? So we talk through the scan.

 

I just have to say, it's really interesting, the scan, because even after you start feeling so much better, it's like you feel like, "Oh, my goodness, everything is is taken care of." But then when you do see the scan, you see each time how it's getting better, how you're seeing results. So you're already feeling better and you could just walk away and say, "I'm good", but the scan is helping you to see you can be even better.

 

Well, that's helpful also for those situations where the healing might be slower because it's not something I enjoy. I want you to feel better as fast as possible just as much as you do, maybe a tiny bit more at some point, because I really want to make sure that I'm doing the right thing. And that's where the scan comes in, because if you feel the same but the scan is improving, now, we both know that there's changes in healing being made.

 

It takes away that question of "Did we do the right thing? Do we need to do something different?" And that's something that we get to ride through the healing process. And then there will be times throughout care that the scan won't look as good, even though you still feel good. And that's when we're getting back into those little things that are underneath the surface where the scan is saying "The nervous system isn't adapting well and we need to do something."

 

And now I get to do that adjustment that's necessary before you ever get to the point where you felt like it was needed. So we're keeping the progress. Instead of losing it, having the symptoms come back, you come back in and we correct it. You go the symptom based. You only come when you feel it. We're really trying to maintain the progress and keep your body functioning well, not having flare-ups.

 

So the other thing that I found really interesting was the moving x-ray that you do.

 

Yes. So after the scan, we do the x-ray portion where we do a standing postural x-ray, we see where the curves of the spine are explained where they should be and what's going on. And then the moving video x-ray is where I show you the motions, I record the bones moving, and it's allowing me to see exactly which bones are not moving properly. So you're looking up. You're looking down. You're leaning left and right.

And I'm watching that video in order to see how well the motion in your spine is functioning. Because when bones don't move, well, that's what changes the structure and that's what changes the function of the nerves, which changes the scan and creates your symptoms. So the moving part is ultimately what tells me where to work when we do the adjustment.

 

And so how often do you do the moving x-ray?

 

Great question. The x-rays, for the posture and the motion x-ray, we do certainly that first visit. I do a reassessment around visit 10 because I want to see that progress that can be around a week, a month and a half to two months into care. And at that point afterwards, it's once a year for most people, checking in to see what's continuing to improve, what now needs our help so we're not missing something that needs us to focus on it.

And then we can do the assessment any time if there's a new injury or fall or if something isn't going the way that we think it should be going. And we need to double-check that work correctly working where we need to be working.

 

And that actually happened to me when. But I was getting...care came in for my adjustment in Belgrade went home and shoveled the driveway and fell in the driveway, called you and said: "I think I might hurt myself."

 

Yes, says Minnesotans, the shoveling can definitely be a time of the year when I see people more.

 

So you have a special and I talked about this a couple of times because it was a special that I had when I came to the table at the expo and I really want people to know about it. You have a 49 dollar new practice member special. So tell us about that. What all does that entail?

 

That's exactly what we were just talking about. The consultation with me, the three steps with the thermography and the extras, the video x-ray. We do an adjustment that first day also because I really believe that you should be able to start feeling that feeling right away and know how I work as far as how I adjust so that, you know if it's a good fit for you. So the 49 dollars gets the full assessment. We do that adjustment the first day and then it includes the second day where you come in.

We sit down and talk through all of the x-rays or draw the lines, explain what normal is, explain where you are, what it is we can change if there are things that are your unique normal that we cannot and should not try to change. Sometimes, we have things that we were born with or things that have developed over time that is just going to be part of you. And it's important that we have this assessment in order to walk through and explain that and be on the same page.

I give my recommendations and we talk about what that means as far as visit frequency and duration and how much it costs. And then you get to make that educated decision on what you would like to do.

 

And so anyone who is a new patient can just simply go to your website, which is CadenceChiroMN.com, or they can call you at 952-855-7656 to make an appointment with you. So, again, I want to give that number one more time, which is 952-855-7656. So if you're a business owner who is seeking health in environmentally conscious customers, reach out to learn how you can start advertising with Natural Awakenings magazine. Simply call us at 763-270-8604.

 

Again, that number is 763-270-8604. To read the online version of Natural Awakenings magazine, visit NaturalTwinCities.com. You can find a podcast of this show on AM950Radio.com, on Apple and Google podcast and anywhere you get your podcasts. You're listening to Green Tea Conversations, Twin Cities, Progressive Voice of Minnesota and we will be right back.

 

Welcome back to Green Tea Conversations, where we delve into pages of Natural Awakenings magazine and talk to the professionals who share their expertise on natural health with you.

I'm your host, Candi Broeffle. And today we're visiting with Dr. Amanda Haeg of Cadence Chiropractic right here in Eden Prairie. Before the break, you were talking about the different diagnostic tools that you use and some of the different adjustments that you make. We've kind of discussed some of the different ailments that you that you work with. But there is also some specialty things that you do as well. And one of those is pregnancy chiropractic care. So tell us a bit about that.

 

Pregnancy is such an exciting time. I love working with the expecting families. We see how much mom's body changes, but sometimes you don't realize how impactful that can be on her spine, on her nervous system, on the function of her body. Yes, assessment as far as x-rays and imaging, this is different if mom is already pregnant when she first comes to see me, but we are able to isolate and work on the neck, which can really impact that nervous system and the stress response and posture.

And we want to help her body be as calm and well-functioning as possible. So for her sake and baby's, of course, so the assessment is a little bit different and the adjusting is also a little bit different as the ligaments start to become more relaxed during pregnancy because of the hormones. So there's a specific assessment that I'm trained in to evaluate pregnant mothers, and the whole goal is to get their body function better, but also specifically to the pelvis we want the womb and the abdomen to be adapting while she's going through her pregnancy to best suit for baby and for labor and delivery so that her body is in the best position to have the best function while Brandi said.

 

Well, I'm just thinking about so many things, as you're saying this, it's like so physically preparing the body for birth is important, I would imagine, reducing any kind of pain. I had a large baby when I had my son. And so you have a lot of that pain. You have a lot of neck pain. Your whole body is changing so dramatically. And then also, yeah, like you said, the the mental health, the emotional health that can be impacted by things getting off-kilter as well.

 

Yes, absolutely.

 

So do you recommend people come to you when they're planning to get pregnant?

 

That would be wonderful, because that would also help us to make sure that the pelvis is in the best position and motion as possible. I've worked with a few people that were trying to get pregnant in patterns and so they have been seeing me for a little while. And cause and effect, I can't tell you that it was chiropractic that helped them, but I know we helped their pelvis be more balanced in their nervous system function better. And they told me that it was because of chiropractic. So I just I really just like those things because chiropractic for me is the avenue that I can help people to do the things they want to do, whether that's an active activity with sports or starting a family or anything in between. I'm here to help you do what you want in your life and just help connect the dots on how chiropractic can be a part of that process and getting you to what you enjoy. So I feel like that's an awesome story. If they want to celebrate with me, that little one came in after their chiropractic care was impactful. I'll take it. I love it.

 

I found it really interesting a couple of weeks ago when I was in the office with you and we were talking I have a new grandbaby. And you were talking about how important it is for babies very soon after birth to come in for chiropractic care.

 

Yeah, actually, just to be clear enough, adjustments for babies are very different than for adults. They're very, very light pressure and it's almost like you're checking a piece of fruit to see how ripe it is. It's very gentle and also very specific. And the reason why we want to evaluate them is, again, we want their nervous system to be at its best from Day One, from Hour One, as much as as close as we can. And the reason why their nervous system could be affected from birth is it's a traumatic experience, no matter how beautiful and how simple or easy it was.

 

It's a big deal for mom and baby and family. So we want to make sure we're helping that nervous system clear any stress that was from that time so that it's starting life from the best place it can. One of the statistics that always stands out to me is they found that the pressure on a baby's spine and head during the delivery process could be up to 60 pounds. Put onto that that little gentle never held their head up before the first seconds within this world.

 

60 pounds of pressure would be a lot for any adult, let alone this little infant. And that can create a lot of changes and stress on their spine and nervous system. And that's exactly what we want to evaluate for and correct and help their body to function at its best from day one.

 

You know, it's so interesting. A long, long, long time ago somebody explained to me that we don't remember childbirth. We don't remember being burst into this world. And they said, can you imagine how traumatic it is, what a traumatic experience it is to be birthed into this world and how your body is contorted and scrunched and all the different things that happen to your body as you come in? So, of course, you can't remember it because it's our body's way of protecting ourselves.

And until I talked to you, a couple of weeks ago, I hadn't even thought about that as far as how important chiropractic care could be for an infant because it is such a traumatic experience.

 

Yes. And we don't remember it as an event in our memory, but our body and our nervous system can remember it. And that goes back to the importance of our nervous system function and its adaptation. Every insult, every trauma to our nervous system is something that it learns from and uses and sometimes it learns in proper patterns, such as like it's been a very stressful world for this last year and a half. And ultimately it changes the function of our nervous system and adds tension and limits our body's ability to function the way that it should.

The traumatic experience of birth or being so early in life. We want to clear that, allow the nervous system to calm down and adapt so that the baby's body can replace as much of that trauma as possible instead of creating trauma patterns from Day One.

 

So important. And to think that so many of us have never seen a chiropractor until we're in our 30s or 40s or beyond.

 

Yes.

 

I guess even though it was a traumatic experience for me, I should thank my mother for taking me to the child. Well, Dr. Amanda, I just want to thank you so much for being with us today. You have helped us to understand chiropractic care in a way that I never have before and I'm sure many of our listeners never have before either.

 

So, again, I want to let people know about your 49 dollars special for new members of your chiropractic care, and for people who want to learn more, they can go to your website, which is CadenceChiroMN.com. Again, that's CadenceChiroMN.com or you can call 952-855-7656 and make an appointment with Dr. Amanda. Again, thank you so much for being with us, Dr. Amanda. It was a pleasure.

 

Thank you very much for having me, Candi. It was wonderful.

 

And thank you for joining our conversation as we awaken to natural health. To read the online edition of Natural Awakenings magazine or to check out our complete online calendar of events, visit NaturalTwinCities.com. You can find a podcast of this show on AM950Radio.com for Apple and Google podcasts. You're listening to Green Tea Conversations on AM950, the progressive voice of Minnesota. And I am wishing you a lovely day!