Summer is Almost Gone

By Michael Dorausch, D.C.

If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, you are likely one of the millions engaged in end of summer activities, such as getting kids prepared for going back to school, or preparing for your Labor Day final summer weekend. Having a chiropractic practice nearby the shores of the Pacific coastline in Los Angeles, I’ve seen a number of interesting things taking place inside and outside the office. It’s fire season here in Southern California, and while fires in the hills around Los Angeles never help the hot weather, the combination of heat and smoke does make for interesting sunsets. Hopefully, everyone will stay safe throughout the remainder of this season and California firefighters will do what they do best.

The sun sets on Santa Monica Bay – smoke-filled skies make for interesting orange and purple colors on the horizon.Schoolteachers — I never anticipated how many schoolteachers would be getting chiropractic care in our office. I’ve talked to many other chiropractors and have discovered this is not a phenomenon, quite a few schoolteachers tend to receive chiropractic care on a regular basis. One thing I learned about schoolteachers is they are human, meaning they simply don’t live just to teach, but have lives outside the classroom. That being said, it’s been impressive to see how many schoolteachers have been heading back to school early (without pay mind you) in order to prepare their classrooms for students returning to school in late August and early September. Be thankful for our educators, while they love their summers, many of them go above and beyond in their efforts to teach our children.

Surfers and Other Beach Rats — The Venice Santa Monica area is not necessarily popular for the surf, and it’s nowhere near in comparison to Malibu and San Diego areas. However, you’re likely to find locals year-round hitting the breakwater, areas north and south of the pier, and some parts of Santa Monica. We had some big swells hit the area this summer, and I would’ve never needed to leave the office to know about them. Apparently activities like surfing, volleyball, beach cruising, wave skimming, boogie boarding, sailing, and even fishing, have resulted in job security for chiropractors. Even though much of my clientele is wellness minded and concerned with maintaining subluxation free proper spinal alignment (they might call it sublimation), plenty of the summer tales we get from those engaged in beach activities, are quite amusing. Something along the lines of… it’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt. While I care for their health and well-being, we often times have a chuckle together as the story leading up to their visit unfolds.

Take for example the big swells crashing waves onto the beach. I had not one, but five people in a matter of days, report nearly the same injury which occurred in nearly the same popular local surfing spot. Even when you’re in 10 feet of water, the ocean floor may be a lot closer than you think. Joking and antics aside, regardless of your summer (now late summer) activities, remember that ever so boring mantra… safety first.

Back-To-School — Daria summarized the topic of back-to-school related articles pretty well two summers ago. Most of us already know traffic is going to increase over the next two weeks and parents may seem a little bit more frazzled, as their kids get back into school schedules for the fall. Watch out for kids on the road and remember all those school zones you been breezing through over the summer will now actually have kids crossing through crosswalks. Keep your eyes open.

Nearly any chiropractor that’s been in practice for a few years can tell you about the patterns of chiropractic visits for kids around the start of the new school season. Those going back to college are getting adjusted locally before they leave, and those attending college locally (we have students coming from three major universities in the LA area) will be back on their autumn chiropractic adjusting schedule in the next week or so. I have found lots of parents make that extra effort to get the whole family and for adjusting before school starts since their personal schedule sometimes get a little bit hectic during the upcoming weeks. It’s great when chiropractors can accommodate their needs and make sure everyone’s been adjusted before heading back to school.

Summer Vacation — Hopefully you have had some good times this summer, the Labor Day weekend is yet to come, so we’ve all got one big hurrah before the reality of the 2009 holiday season is upon us. Thought about what you want for Christmas yet? 🙂

planetc1.com-news @ 1:17 pm | Article ID: 1251490683