When you think of the word "health", think about what that word means. Eating right? Excercising? The medical definition from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary is as follows:

"The condition of an organism or one of its parts in which it performs its vital functions normally or properly : the state of being sound in body or mind; especially : freedom from physical disease and pain"

"Freedom from physical disease and pain" is the key point in that. What if you go throughout your day, week, or your life really and you don't feel any physical pain does this mean you are healthy? Not necessarily. Sometimes, your body may be experiencing a health issue but it doesn't cause you any pain until it is too late.

Get Serious About Your Health

Eating right and excercise are key components of a healthy lifestyle, yes, but also educating yourself to take proper precautions is also important. As you know, the brain is like the control center of your body. Your brain tells every part of your body how and when to do their job to keep you functioning. The brain is also connected to your spine/spinal cord which serves not only as a pathway for impulses for nerves but also as a center for carrying out reflex actions. Since the nervous system relies on the spinal cord to determine what impulse(s) to send next it is vital to keep your spine in its most optimum condition.

If the spine is not in the correct alignment, then nerves can be pinched, stressed, or have pressure on them preventing them from sending correct information, or sending it slower than it should. A person may not be able to physically feel the tension that is in place until it is too late, when the nerve is being completley cut off.

It is important to keep yourself healthy and with the spine as the main control center for all of your nerves and functionality of your body, where do you think it might be best to start with your health? Of course, your spine! A chiropractor can take the appropriate x-rays and thermal scans that will help keep your spine in alignment to aleviate tension that may be on certain nerves.

Get Smart, Get Healthy

Of course, visiting a chiropractor will help but it may not be a solution to your problem. It will all depend on the person and how much damage is being done. However, it is probably one of the best places to start in keeping yourself healthy.

When something is wrong our bodies, usually the first thought is to visit the family doctor. However, how often do you visit a doctor and your in the office for 5 minutes, sent off with a prescription (that the doctor may be unsure if it really will work), and then told to come back if you're still feeling ill after a certain period of time for them to either try something else or refer you to a specialist? It can be frustrating paying for numerous doctor bills and for a specialist when you could've had treatment sooner rather than later had you not had to jump through hoops to find out what was really wrong.

Leading Causes: Can You Guess The Leading Causes of Death?

If someone were to ask you what the leading cause of death in the United States was, what would you guess? Cancer? Heart Disease? Obesity? While all of those are good guesses, one of the leading causes of death in the United States is Iatrogenic causes, aka malpractice. Not only is it bad enough to have nurses stealing drugs, but to have our doctors and physicians not doing their jobs properly.

Iatrogenic causes may be something new to some, and if it is new don't be surprised. We live in a country that has wonderful doctors and access to wonderful technology that is changing the game in healthcare. Why would you think that malpractice could be a leading cause? Having access to the "best-of-the-best" doctors and machines is a wonderful opportunity but what good does it serve if the job is not being handled correctly.

Where does healthcare staffing come in to play?

It is important as healthcare staffing providers that we stay on top of our "staffing game" to ensure that hospitals and clinics have the best nurses, doctors, physicians and caregivers are entering the facilities ready to do their job at the highest and best level. Credentialing and verifying information is vital in doing so. Keeping up with the credentials and verifying is even more important.

Take control

Staying healthy is a team effort, with yourself and your caregivers, but starts individually. Educate yourself on your health and healthcare options. Be sure to eat right and excercise. You can't put a price on being healthy.