My wife and I years ago sat in a restaurant and wrote down our goals, dreams and ambitions on a napkin. We have met or exceeded all of those goals and then some. It makes a difference when you actually write them with a pen rather than typing them on a device. What's your napkin moment?

"Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and our power to choose." What is the stimulus? And more importantly, before the response, there exists a space and what you do with that space decides your future! Because in that space you make a choice and your choices accumulated over time equal your life! Quote from Victor Frankl, read in Stephen Covey's phenomenal book: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

"Life is difficult...but when you accept the fact that life is difficult, life becomes easier." Chiropractic helps make life the best it can be, within its limitations. Life isn't easy, but our goal is to make life just a little bit better for each practice member, each time we see them.

A recent article states that if labor is induced, those children have lower school performance at age 12! In Australia the article reports that a shocking 36% of labors are induced (in the US the stats are 25%). What does this mean? That there are always unintended side effects to any intervention! Article link here: https://obgyn.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/aogs.14520

Health care in the US is not about 'health' nor is it about 'care.' It often is about what gets paid by insurance. Chiropractic has a unique opportunity to truly be about healthcare, educating our practice members that health comes from within, that health takes time, that health is an inside job.

Gravity is ever present and in a recent journal article, it mentioned how gravity might be the cause of certain GI related issues such as Irritable Bowel. Ultimately what this means is that the brain and nerve system are unable to accommodate gravity's ever-present 'caudal pull' and dysfunction occurs. The dysfunction is in the brain and nerve system but its effects are noticed at the GI level. Hmm... Article found here: https://journals.lww.com/ajg/fulltext/2022/12000/gravity_and_the_gut__a_hypothesis_of_irritable.15.aspx

Chiropractic gives kids hope! It gives parents hope! Most health related offices base their services on fear...we base chiropractic care on possibilities! Our offices are like an oasis in a desert of negativity and fear. Hope, possibilities, potential...that is the 'lasting purpose' philosophy.

What do you do when a child for whatever reason is unable to go face down on an adjusting bench? You adapt your technique to the child. Adapting to them vs making them do it 'your way' is imperative for building trust, especially among neurodivergent children.

There is no competition if your build yourself a niche practice. If your 'jam' is pediatrics, and your focus is on optimizing brain and nerve function, your brand is unique, different, special. There is so much competition in back pain. Stand out! Adjust more kiddos!

What can someone do to prepare themselves for the most difficult pediatric cases? Learn as much as you can, become a sponge, reading articles & books about pediatrics, the brain and nerve system, immersing yourself in places & with people who are doing what you want to do, and go to seminars like the ICPA seminars that make you an authority in your community.

Why pediatric chiropractic? We've got to disrupt how chiropractors take care of kids, and why! Kids are our future, and if we don't focus on the kids, who is going to?

Ever cut open an acorn? Is a little tree inside of it? No...it's just a bunch of tree dust! But that dust knows just what to do, IF given the right food and soil and sunshine and rain. Isn't that like all of us? We have everything we need inside of us...we have the potential to grow into a mighty oak tree. Introduction by Dr. Chuck Ribley

A repost of the popular podcast from a few months ago! Happy Holidays!

There are so many things to consider when starting a pediatric practice. Dr Rubin answers many of the common questions that you might be thinking about creating that practice of your dreams from locations and contracts to financing and getting new patients in the door!

A recent article in The Atlantic magazine mentioned that researchers think by 2025 we will see a lot more pediatric obesity & asthma. My prediction is that we will also see more learning disorders, Autism & ADHD. Why? Due in part because of the isolation of the 'Covid-babies' born late 2019-2021, and the massive increase in 'world-stress' since the start of the pandemic. See article here: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/12/pandemic-hygiene-kids-microbiome/672362/

Walking through a forest, you see the entire circle of life all around you. If a tree has an obstacle in it's growth, it just grows around it. Trees use patience and discipline for their success...something we can learn from!

The Polyvagal Theory has revolutionized the way I think and practice regarding pediatrics. Safety first has become our motto...not just in having all the outlets covered but in making sure that our neurodivergent kids feel safe as our top priority, since that is the key component of their potentially malfunctioning ventral vagus nerve. Want to learn more? Dr Rubin did a seminar with Dr Stephen Porges and it is available here: https://bit.ly/34X5MOk

An adult had leg pain and was given a CT scan of their brain. It turns out that this person was missing large portions of their brain due to hydrocephalus that they had as a child, that worsened after they had a shunt removed during their teenage years! Yet through the power of neuroplasticity, they were able to use the brains that they did have to lead an otherwise healthy life. What does that mean? That anything is possible with the right neuroplastic combination! Article here: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(07)61127-1/fulltext

In the 1960's, those born as females were hitting normally reaching puberty at around age 11. By 1997 that had shifted to 10 years old, and now puberty is defined as normal if it occurs between ages 8 & 13. Early onset puberty is potentially being driven by stress, increase in endocrine disrupting chemicals, body-mass index(BMI). According to recent research, poor sleeping habits also contribute to this due to less melatonin which comes from a massive increase in screen time! Article here: https://www.newyorker.com/science/annals-of-medicine/why-more-and-more-girls-are-hitting-puberty-early

I see everything through a chiropractic lens. While reading a book, "Slouching Towards Utopia" by economist by J Bradford Delong, I was struck by the chiropractic parallels, even though chiropractic is not mentioned at all. Apparently there is a long twentieth century in economic-speak (1870-2010) in which world economic growth was unprecedented. My thought: How about the "long chiropractic century", 1985-2020? Listen on for more details...