I've heard it all ... As a health care provider (as opposed to a sick care practitioner) for 20 years, I have heard most (if not all) of the reasons people put off going to a health care provider for health care. Moreover, just for the perspective: medical care in this country is often called health care. If this is so, how come most of medical care is intervention - waiting until there is a problem and then fixing it? Consider: In a country that spends nearly one billion dollars annually on "health" care, wouldn't you think we should be the healthiest country in the world? What is your experience?

Just for the record, more people now see "alternative" health care providers than medical physicians. It appears that those seeking health care are discovering that perhaps the medical model is indeed the alternative - that is, sick care.

Back to basics: Here are the top ten dangerous thoughts about your health, and some considerations around those thoughts

1. Maybe it will go away.

Maybe it won't! But seriously folks. Have you ever walked into a home (maybe even yours!) and been greeted by the magnificent scent of fresh, homemade, apple pies baking in the oven? What a treat. You immediately recognize the aroma. After a while, however, your system acclimates to that sweet smell, and you are no longer aware of it. Has the aroma gone away, or have you just become used to it? Has your pain really gone away, or has it become so much a part of you that you just do not even recognize it any more?

2. It comes and goes.

However, it comes back! Is this like a recurring nightmare? What's important here, is that it comes back, not that it goes away! Maybe the oil light on the dashboard of your car only comes on occasionally. Certainly, you know a problem is brewing. How long will you choose to ignore it?

3. It's not that bad.

Compared to what? If you have a toothache, how bad does it have to be before you get to a dentist? Do you know anyone who was told by their dentist that if they took care of their teeth, or came in earlier, it would have been preventable, or perhaps just a simple cavity? You let it go long enough, and you may need a root canal. Ignore your teeth long enough and you'll need new teeth. Ignore your nervous system long enough and you are in serious trouble.

4. It only hurts when I ...

This is analogous to having an alignment problem on the front end of your car. If you drive at 55, the front end wobbles. If you drive at 35, it doesn't. Does this suggest there is no problem with the front end? Here, too, let it go long enough and soon you'll not be able to drive over 15 without your front end wobbling.

5. I know what my problem is, it's ...

Most of the time, people describe their symptoms. "My problem is I have a backache, or a headache, a toothache." Great! So like the toothache, the symptom alerts you to the fact that there is an underlying problem. Let's wake up to the underlying cause of the problem, not the symptom.

6. I was told I have to live with it, so I do.

So, who told you you have to live with it? In my 20 years of practice, I have helped countless people who have been told they have to live with it. They felt that since they were told they would have to live with it, they indeed would. What they found, however, was after appropriate gentle, honoring, specific chiropractic care, they were free to live without the "it!"

7. My doctor couldn't find anything wrong.

Has your doctor performed an in-depth, appropriate spinal screening, comparative thermal scan (measuring the temperature variation along your spine), or a surface EMG (to measure the comparative tension along your spine, which just happens to house the spinal cord, the master control system of the body!)? If you hit a bump with your car and your car now shimmies and sways, would you take it to a body shop for an evaluation? They would find nothing wrong. (Unless the shimmy was so severe, you hit another car or a wall!) In my practice, I look at the alignment of your nervous system to determine the underlying cause of your problems.

8. I've been this way for years, why change now?

Your body consistently regenerates. There is no time like the present to begin to lead a healthier, freer, more flexible life. Your body is a self-regulating, self-healing, self-regenerating system. Remove interference, and you have no choice but to heal!

9. I don't want to know!

Denial is as great a killer as anything else is. Back to the tooth analogy. How long would you choose to deny there is a problem with your tooth before you have to be strapped into the dentist chair? Honor yourself, take care of yourself.

10. It's because of my age!

I love this one! Many years ago, my father was told that the arthritis in his right knee was because of his age. He calmly asked the doctor, "So doc, how much older is my right knee than my left?" Please, give me a break. How many people older than you do not have what you have that you have been told, "It's because of your age?" This is a great excuse not to take care of yourself.

Take your power back. If you do what you've always done, see the doctors you've always seen, you'll get what you've always gotten. You are the only one who can take the responsibility of taking care of you - do it!