Coordinating Your Pit Crew For Better Health

In the spirit of the all important Indy 500, the Prather Wellness Center has been encouraging our community to "Race into health." Think of yourself as the driver of an Indy Car; you are the driver and you have the most direct personal responsibility, but you are still part of the team. Who are your team mates??

Your pit crew of health is much like the pit crew of an Indy racing team. True they may not change the oil, keep the motor running and rotate and change out bad tires per say but metaphorically you need a team of people to keep your car (body) running in tip top shape. Even if you think you're in great shape, you still need regular maintenance.

So who should be on your pit crew?? The following members of the health community play integral roles and should be a part of your personal health crew. A family physician (MD), a dentist, a nutritionist and or / athletic trainer to help with exercises, ob/gyn for women, and a structure/function doctor (such as Dr. Prather).

Some of you may be asking what exactly is a structure/function doctor? The FDA has coined the term for doctors treating patients to be well, not coming from the viewpoint of treating a disease state. Regular MD's are classified as "disease doctors". There is a big difference between disease and just not functioning properly. For example, a patient may feel a bit "off" and go to an MD who may say "Nothing wrong"; however, they are looking for a disease state. That same patient may go see a structure/function doctor that may determine that the symptoms they feel are due to improper function of some system of the body. It is important to address an improper function, since that will often lead to the creation of a disease state, that could have otherwise been prevented.

Keep in mind, as you build your pit crew, it's important to keep all team members informed equally so you end up with the best results in the end. Don't forget you are the ultimate driver of your health, and that your patterns for nutrition, exercise, sleep and most importantly your mental attitude play the BIGGEST roles in maintaining the engine that is your health!