Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to Align to lead. I'm Dr. Megan Parks, and today we're talking about real solutions for women's health, healing and balance.
You're watching now Media Television.
Welcome to Align to lead. I'm Dr. Megan Parks, and today I want to begin with a truth that every leader, entrepreneur, professional and parent needs to understand.
Health is not separate from performance.
It is the foundation that determines how clearly we think, how well we move and how we recover, how we make decisions, and how we show up for the people who depend on us. When the body is out of alignment, we often feel it first as pain, fatigue, tension, stress, or even frustration.
But underneath these symptoms, there may be a deeper story about how the nervous system, the spine, your lifestyle, stress, injury and recovery are all connected.
My guest today is Dr. Sharita Cooper, clinic director of Senergy Medical in Marysville, Ohio. She's a doctor of chiropractic, president of the Ohio State Chiropractic association, and a leader in helping patients understand their bodies in a more complete way. She works with complex injury cases that do not always appear clearly or standard on standard imaging, and she is also a certified pediatric and animal chiropractor.
Today, I'm excited to explore about how chiropractic care, patient advocacy, alignment, and leadership all come together in the business of being healthy. Dr. Sharita, welcome to Align the Lead.
[00:01:35] Speaker B: Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Megan.
[00:01:37] Speaker A: Absolutely. Well, as we begin the conversation, I want everyone watching to basically think about your own body as a leadership system.
Where have you been pushing through the pain or ignoring the stress or treating your health like something you will manage just later.
So today we're going to talk about why alignment is not just physical. It is personal, professional, and deeply connected to how we lead.
So I'm starting with Dr. Sharita by looking at the bigger leadership lens behind chiropractic care, not simply as an adjustment, but as a way of understanding the whole person, the nervous system, and the impact of stress and the body's ability to function with clarity. So this conversation is going to establish Dr. Cooper as both a clinical expert and a professional leader. The focus is on how her role with the Ohio State Chiropractic association has shaped her belief that better healthcare begins when providers stop looking at isolated symptoms and start looking at the full person.
The key idea for this segment is simple. Alignment is not just about posture or pain. Alignment is about communication, function, recovery, and the body's ability to perform under pressure.
So, Sharita, as the president of the Ohio State Chiropractic association, how has your leadership role shaped the way you think of patient care and basically the future of chiropractic.
[00:03:05] Speaker B: Thank you, Megan, for that question.
As the Ohio State Chiropractic association president, a lot of my role is educating legislators and insurance companies and employers and the public on chiropractic and how chiropractic should be essential and not elective and how we are the neuromusculoskeletal system experts and, you know, how, you know, we can reduce the cost of a lot of the burden that's on, you know, a lot of insurance companies and a lot of employers and, you know, be the lead for the patient's health and not just about back pain or neck pain or headaches and how the nervous system affects the whole body.
[00:03:56] Speaker A: That's great. When you're, when you're talking about a whole body approach, what does that look like from a chiropractic perspective?
[00:04:06] Speaker B: You know, instead of just looking at the body through pieces and parts, it's, you know, being able to see the, how, you know, everything compensates and, you know, it affects, so like, your gait can then affect your low back, and it can, you know, affect between your shoulder blades. It can affect, you know, headaches. So. So instead of just looking at the area of complaint, sometimes people will say they have shoulder pain, but it can be coming from the neck. So instead of just looking at the area of complaint, it's looking at the body as a whole.
[00:04:38] Speaker A: Absolutely. I couldn't agree more.
Now there's so many people still today that just look for a chiropractor when they have neck pain or back pain. We're good at that. Or they, they say, I don't need a chiropractor because I'm not hurting. What are they missing? When we're looking at the body's ability to function properly and the whole nervous system as a whole,
[00:05:00] Speaker B: the nervous system controls and coordinates everything, every body function. So it's the master controlling system of the body. And the spine is fully encased and protected by bone. So it's a very important system. So. So a lot of times people, they get off of the table and they're surprised that they can breathe better or they're starting to sleep better, or they have less tension between their shoulder blades or up in their traps. And so it helps a lot of other things. You know, sometimes people talk about how their digestion's better.
So it's not always just about, you know, we are great at low back pain, neck pain, headaches, but we are also great at working with the nervous system to Allow that your body to heal.
[00:05:46] Speaker A: I love that. And one thing I love about your office is you really do move past just traditional chiropractic adjustments, and you really do incorporate everything.
With that being said, when we're talking physical alignment, how does that affect someone emotionally?
How does that affect how they might be feeling, how they're moving, or even how they might be leading in all aspects of their life?
[00:06:13] Speaker B: So a lot of times, you know, we do get a lot of patients that come in with, you know, pain. And so you'll have someone that comes in that, you know, they're not able to sleep. They can't even think straight because they just keep thinking about the pain. And you don't really get to see the real person until they're out of pain because, you know, you can just. You can just look in their eyes and just tell that they're just, you know, the sparkle has been diminished. And it's amazing what you can see once you start, you know, getting a person out of pain and restoring that nervousness system function, how you. You see the real person and the spark comes back for them. And it's like a totally. A totally different attitude, a totally different, you know, person that's walking in your door.
[00:06:56] Speaker A: Absolutely. One of the things I always tell my patients is if you think of pain as the acronym PAIN stands for pay attention inside. Now, a lot of us wait till we basically are at the breaking point. So with that kind of a mindset, what do you wish more business owners, professionals, busy parents understood about listening to the body before it reaches that breaking point?
[00:07:25] Speaker B: The body is really good at giving us warning signals. It's whether or not we pay attention to them, you know, so it's, you know, kind of like you get that check engine light on your dashboard of your car. If you just let that go, then, you know, you're, you're. You're jeopardizing your engine on your car. So your body's more important than your car. So your body gives you warning signs. But I think the problem is that a lot of these warning signs have been normalized. So people think that headaches are normal, but headaches aren't normal. They're just common. So back pain's common, so they just assume that it's normal, but it's not normal. It's just common.
[00:08:02] Speaker A: Absolutely. I love that because so many people. I have people in front of me, well, I don't hurt or. Well, everybody hurts. I'm xyz, I'm getting older, and I like to tell people until you're 85. You really don't get to tell me that.
And I try to make light of it, but we do. You hit a perfect point on we treat our cars better than our bodies. A car that I've replaced so many times since I was the age of 16.
But you only get one body.
So with that perspective in mind, when someone comes to you and says, I'm not hurting, I don't need you, why do they actually need to see you? That it's not. And when we're not having pain. But what is another benefit of seeing the chiropractor not just for, for pain, but for maintenance and prevention.
[00:08:54] Speaker B: So because we work with the nervous system, you're allowing, you know, you're checking to see if that nervous system is operating at its, at its most potential. So, you know, just because a person doesn't have a, necessarily have a pain or a headache or a condition, a lot of times, you know, just by getting adjusted, people will notice, you know, they're breathing better, they're sleeping better, their, their clarity is better.
They don't associate that necessarily with chiropractic. They just think of us as back pain, neck pain, headaches.
So there are a lot of people that are just surprised because they didn't even tell us. They may have come in with back pain, but they didn't tell us about some of these other things that are going on because they didn't think it related to chiropractic. And they're, they'll say, you know, I'm just shocked that this is helping me so much. You know, I can, I've had a patient last week, said that he can see better. So you're working with the nervous system, so you just never know, you know what surprise you're going to find.
[00:09:53] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, definitely a good reminder. So basically what you're telling the audience is that the spine isn't just about getting it aligned to prevent pain. The spine does so much more. It can help with breathing, it can help with sleeping, it can help with hearing. Can you explain why that is and how as a chiropractor, that, that could help that person?
[00:10:18] Speaker B: So as a chiropractor, our role is to find misalignments and correct them. And by correcting that misalignment, that misalignment
[00:10:26] Speaker A: is
[00:10:29] Speaker B: centered around the nervous system and the spine. So the nerves travel that come out of the spine. They travel to every organ cell tissue in the body. So by releasing that, fixing that motion to that joint, it allows the nervous system to communicate more appropriately to that organ or to that system and allows the body to heal naturally.
[00:10:53] Speaker A: Yeah, thank you so much for clarifying that. Well, what this reminds us is that health is not something that we can separate from leadership. The body keeps score. It tells us when we are overloaded, misaligned, when we're compensating, or even when we're operating without the proper support we need.
So when we learn how to listen, especially early, before we're in that burnout mode, we give ourselves the chance not only to lead, but to work and live with a stronger foundation in mind.
In a moment, we're going to just take a short break, so stay with us. When we come back, we're going to talk about stress, inflammation and how the pressures of modern life can show up in the physical body. We'll be right back with more practical tools to help you feel healthier, stronger and more aligned. Stay tuned.
And we're back. I'm Dr. Megan Parks and this is Aligned A Lead on Now Media Television.
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Welcome back to Align to Lead. I'm here with Dr. Sharita Cooper, clinic director of Senergy Medical and we're talking about how alignment, nervous system health and whole person care can affect the way we function and lead.
I'm continuing with Dr. Sharita Cooper. And now I want to look at something that's so many leaders and professionals experience but often minimize and that's going to be stress that ends up becoming more physical.
This segment should make the conversation practical and relatable. It should explore how chronic stress, poor recovery, inflammatory lifestyles and daily pressures can affect the spine, nervous system, movement patterns and pain.
The goal is not to position Dr. Cooper as a functional medicine provider, but to let her speak from the chiropractic side about what she sees downstream in the body when people are chemically, emotionally or physically stressed. The core tension here is that many high performing people just try to push through the stress until the body forces them to, unfortunately stop. This segment should have viewers understand and help them understand that pain, tension and stiffness, fatigue are not random interruptions. They may be signals that your Body is carrying more load than it can manage.
So, Dr. Sharita, we often hear the word inflammation used in health conversations. Let's be honest. So from a chiropractic standpoint, how can stress, poor diet, poor recovery lifestyle choices show up physically in that person's body?
[00:14:05] Speaker B: A lot of times, you know, people will carry their stress even like between their shoulder blades or in their low back.
And you know, they have poor diets. You know, a lot of them are under a lot of stress. So then they don't eat well, they don't drink a lot of water, they don't get a lot of proper rest, or, you know, poor sleep patterns, you know, just constantly in that sympathetic fight or flight mode which then, you know, doesn't allow them to rest and digest in the parasympathetic.
And so it just causes a lot of, a lot of pain and discomfort and you know, tight musculature. And then that's when, when it starts affecting something that they love or something that they're, you know, trying to accomplish. That's when a lot of times they'll come into our office and, you know, are seeking care. But, you know, the warning signs were there much earlier because they weren't taking care of themselves because of the stress.
[00:15:00] Speaker A: Now that's a great reminder. You know, again, we, we do as people, we just keep pushing, we just, we just keep juggling. And yet if it's something that's taken that we really truly love, then it, then it's when you no longer can stand it. So with that in mind, when we talk chronic stress, like these people are just having this stress over and over again that they're not even realizing that they're even under stress. How do you sometimes see, what kind of patterns do you see? Do you see it in their posture? Do you notice it in their movement? Do you notice tension?
Or is there certain pain patterns that people can look at or that you see and you're like, oh, yeah, of course it's this.
[00:15:40] Speaker B: I think a lot of people, you know, carry a lot of the tension between their shoulder blades. And then, you know, sometimes people will carry it in their lower backs as well too, or jaw pain, you know, clenching their teeth a lot, especially at night.
Stress, stress in their neck.
You know, they tend to have a forward posture, rounded shoulders and you know, head forward carriage as well too. So they're just, you know, they, when you, when you finally, when you finally tell them just to relax, like to them, they think they're relaxed, but they truly are not relaxed. They don't have, you know, they have their shoulders up, you know, they just can't, you know, and you're like, just take a deep breath and just blow it all out and relax. And then they finally realize, you know, what that looks like, because they're just constantly, you know, shoulders up, you know, tense neck, tense shoulders, tense jaw, relax.
[00:16:32] Speaker A: What does that word mean?
I feel like all these days with stress and just go, go, go. We never.
That, that doesn't even happen. You know, days off do not happen.
So when we talk, even stress. So you're kind of basically telling me that it can affect so much more.
How, how specifically does it affect the nervous system's ability to communicate with the rest of the body?
[00:17:01] Speaker B: So, you know, you, you know, like we talked about earlier, you know, your body's in fight or flight, so it's constantly, you know, revved up. And so we're, you know, when you get into your parasympathetics, you know, your rest and digest, you know, to allow your body to heal and to just decompress.
So it, you know, it just doesn't allow for that because you're, you're just, you know, get your cortisol levels up, you know, and get you inflamed. And then, you know, you've got sore back, sore knees, you know, sore joints. And it's just a whole cascade effect. It's that whole downstream effect from, you know, just being inflamed and stressed. Poor diet again, isn't. Isn't a part of that as well,
[00:17:48] Speaker A: too, for those people listening, those busy professionals or even the parents who are juggling nine different schedules at once, and it just is so chaotic. And honestly, their lifestyle, they don't have, they don't feel like they have a choice. They just keep pushing through that stress. They just keep pushing through that discomfort to keep going.
What, what do they risk by continuing to ignore these early signs that this isn't going to be good if we keep going this direction?
[00:18:24] Speaker B: We know the old saying, it's the straw that broke the camel's back. You know, it was like all these straws were on the camel. And then it was finally that last straw that broke the camel's back. So, you know, people will come in to us and say, well, if I just wouldn't have loaded my laundry, you know, into the. It was when I loaded my laundry into the dryer. Well, a healthy spine doesn't react that way. It's not going to have, you know, the, it's not going to have that reaction. So it's, it's just been unhealthy for a while. So you know, people just try to ignore the symptoms. You know, they try to normalize it.
And so instead of just, you know, making some small steps to make, to make a change, you know, a lot of people don't stretch, which, you know, we really emphasize a lot in our practice. And you know, stretching allows you to, you know, decompress as well too. It gives you, you know, a few minutes and it doesn't, you know, it doesn't take a lot to stretch and you can, you do it while you're doing other things as well too. So it's not like it's adding a lot to your, to your day, but you know, just not listening to your body.
You know, your body has warning signals and so you know, it's, it's, it's trying to tell you in your body keeps score. So, you know, you just have to listen to your body more often.
[00:19:37] Speaker A: Oh, absolutely. No, you hit it perfectly.
Now let's switch to today. Like so today. I, I always joke around with people that we live in a fast food society. We want it and we want it now. We want food quickly. We don't have the patience. We don't, we now don't have to wait a week for our favorite TV show to go in. We can stream it and we can binge watch all day long. But then we also treat our health that way. I feel like we get to the point of all right, I got a problem.
Help. And I'm really now wanting to do something.
I expect the results now. Well, and unfortunately these people are coming into you, your office.
They're inflamed, they're tense, they're overwhelmed by lifestyle and different choices whether they can control or not.
Where do you begin the conversation to help them regain that control?
[00:20:37] Speaker B: Our bodies require repetition and time and that's for good and bad. So you know, repetition and time to gain weight, repetition and time to lose weight, repetition, repetition in time to gain muscle or to lose muscle. So you know, it's, it's, it just our bodies like that consistency and you know, you can't, you can't rush it. There's not a pill, potion or lotion, you know, out there that'll allow you to, to rush that. So you know, you have to just listen to your bodies and you know, it's the small daily habits and you can, you know, form those over a period of time that will really make, you know, strides into health and healing.
[00:21:18] Speaker A: Absolutely. What do you Say to that person who really isn't aware, they really just chalk it up to I'm getting older or why do you feel people.
People are accepting that you made. You made the words. I'm trying to remember exactly. You said, just because it's common does not mean it's normal. Can you explain what that means?
[00:21:43] Speaker B: So, you know, headaches are very common. A lot of people have headaches. But, you know, it's not normal to have a headache. That's your body's warning system, you know, telling you something's going on.
So even though it's. Although it's common, it doesn't mean that it's normal. So it's just all about listening to our bodies. And, you know, with our patients, a lot of it is just listening to the patient. You know, a lot of times, the history that they give you gives you a lot of clues as to, you know, what's going on and, you know, just.
Just, you know, making them aware. A lot of times patients come in and they don't even know. Like, you start, you know, putting some pressure on some trigger points, and you find trigger points on them. They didn't even know they were there. So, you know, it's just because they've chalked it up to I'm getting older or it's just, you know, a part of stress.
[00:22:32] Speaker A: So.
[00:22:32] Speaker B: So it's just a lot. You know, it hasn't caused them pain yet, so it hasn't kept them from doing things that they love. So they just, you know, they just chalk it up and keep moving on and just assume that we're supposed to, you know, as we age, that we're supposed to be uncomfortable. But that's not. That's not necessarily the case.
[00:22:52] Speaker A: I love that. And I really do feel like a lot of us at any given point really do need to have that reality check that just because you're having it doesn't mean you should be having it. And I also feel what else stood out with me in this conversation is the body's always communicating, and stress doesn't stay invisible forever. It's gonna show up, and it's gonna show up in the movement, it's gonna show up in recovery. It's gonna show up even in energy and pain.
And honestly, the way we carry ourselves. And so as leaders and parents and people just trying to survive, that matters because society, sustainable performance requires a body that is not, sadly, constantly fighting against the load that we're creating and putting on ourselves.
So we're going to go ahead and take A short break and when we return, we're going to talk about the complex injury cases, the patients who still are in pain even when standard imaging does not show the full story and why. Finding answers requires a deeper level of advocacy.
We'll be right back with more practical tools to help you feel healthier, stronger, and more aligned. Stay tuned.
And we're back. I'm Dr. Megan Parks, and this is Aligned, a lead on Now Media Television.
Welcome back to ALIGNDA Lead. I am here with Dr. Sharita Cooper. And now I want to talk about one of the most important parts of her work, which is going to be helping patients who know something's wrong. Yet standard imaging or labs, they don't necessarily show a clear path or explain why they're in pain.
So if you've ever been told everything looks normal but your body still feels far, far, far from that reality, this is the part of the conversation it's going to be. It's especially important to you and me. Leadership as health often begins with self advocacy and knowing when to keep asking the questions and finding the providers that are willing to take a closer, deeper look.
So I'm continuing with Dr. Sharita Cooper, and we are exploring her work with her complex injury cases, especially the kind of injuries that do not always appear clearly on standard imaging.
This segment's going to position Dr. Cooper Cooper as an advocate for patients who feel dismissed, confused, or stuck in pain without answers.
The conversation should help viewers to understand that imaging is valuable, but it is not always the full story. The body's function, compensation patterns, nervous system responses, soft tissue and patient history is what truly matters. The emotional center of the segment is validation because let's be honest, many patients are not looking for a quick fix. They are looking for someone who is willing and believing into them and willing to listen and to figure out what's going on. They're willing to examine the full picture and help them move toward lasting relief, not just a temporary band aid.
So, Dr. Sharita, you specialize in diagnosing and treating complex injury cases that again, obviously do not appear always on standard imaging.
So with that being in mind, what are patients usually feeling emotionally and physically by the time they're coming to you?
[00:26:23] Speaker B: They feel like they're not being heard.
You know, they know something's wrong. They know that they know what they feel, but they, it's just not showing up. And some of the other testing that they've had, and so they're frustrated. They, they just, they, they want someone to look at them with fresh lens and see you know, if there's something that has been missed along the way and you know, to be able to bring them the relief that they are searching for.
[00:26:59] Speaker A: No, I love that. I love the fresh lens. I love the relief. I love the listening too.
So why could a person be experiencing real pain or real problems yet? Maybe they've gone to the medical route and they've had tests, they've had labs, they've had images and they don't have any answers. They're told nothing's wrong.
Why, why are they still in pain if there's quote, unquote, nothing wrong?
[00:27:30] Speaker B: So with our process, you know, we, you know, if you have someone that, especially if they've been in an accident, they can have a clean MRI or a clean X ray or maybe even they have some pre existing stuff going on, or they may have a disc, some disc involvement, but it's just a moment in time that, you know that, that X ray or that MRI is a moment of time. And it doesn't show motion. So it's just very static.
So, you know, what we do is we take films that show with motion. If there is some spinal instability that can be causing a lot of the symptoms that they're still complaining about after an accident.
You know, it can be an accident that's happened or one that's happened many, many years ago that they just assumed, you know, they were, everything was fine, but then, you know, now they're suffering from it in the future now that, that's great.
[00:28:27] Speaker A: When, when you're looking at these complex cases, is there stuff that you look at beyond just the image? I mean, you even just said it perfectly that some things don't show up. But what are you looking for? What are you, what are you digging into to see what's causing them the problems that they're having
[00:28:46] Speaker B: A thorough history, you know, start is, is the best place to start, you know, just to, you know, see where the, the patient is and to get the history from them, as you know, when did all this, you know, start happening? You know, a lot of times it's after an accident. So, so, you know, just getting the full story, looking at them, you know, as a whole person. In my practice, you know, there's two chiropractors, myself and my husband, and then we also have two nurse practitioners. And so we collaborate together and look at the patient's history and with the examination and if there's any, you know, spinal tenderness and other things, you know, differences in their ranges of motion and we do a full workup on them. And then we sit down together and we discuss that amongst providers to see, you know, what can we do together to help this patient.
[00:29:42] Speaker A: I absolutely love that because, you know, we're so much stronger together, and we're going to look at it from different lenses, different viewpoints.
I might be looking at it in this realm, but you might be looking at it over here. But when we come together, we usually can find great ways to help these patients. And I do. I absolutely love that collaborative approach that you have.
How do you tackle the problem of helping a patient rebuild trust when they've been told so many times there's nothing wrong with them, even though they feel terrible? Because, let's be honest, a lot of times going to the chiropractor, you're kind of their last resort,
[00:30:24] Speaker B: I think, validating, listening to them and validating their, you know, what, their. Their symptoms and, you know, what they're telling you.
Sometimes people will come in and say, well, I've just been told it's all in my head. Because they can't find any. Well, it can be in your head. It can be a spinal instability. So, you know, a lot of people can have these issues that just linger and continue on after an accident.
And so it's just. It's a lot of, you know, listening to the patient, doing a great workup on the patient, spending time with the patient and not just dismissing their symptoms.
[00:31:08] Speaker A: Now, that is really, really good.
You mentioned earlier about the fact that it takes time.
It's not just usually one and done.
So how do you address or how do you explain that to a person who literally only had thought of, it's just one symptom or I only need one adjustment.
How do you explain that that's probably not what's happening, Especially when the issue becomes more complex.
[00:31:39] Speaker B: You know, again, it's. It's going back to, you know, patients want, you know, fast food, fast service. They want, you know, they want things now. And our bodies just aren't designed that way. And so when you kind of start poking and prodding on a. On a patient and showing them things they didn't even know was there or, you know, I didn't know it was tender there. And because, you know, they were just going on, you know, with life, and it hadn't stopped them from doing what they love. But our bodies just. Our bodies are designed to heal. It just takes time and repetition.
So it's just. It's all about education. It's all about educating the patient on the body. And, you know, the healing aspect of the body and the potential to even
[00:32:24] Speaker A: feel better from your standpoint of, you know, being a chiropractor. And so seeing these people day in, day out and having that integrated approach, where do you feel chiropractic should fall? Because again, most people. Most people wait till they're in pain, and obviously we're finding out that that's not what it all is about. Should they be doing this more in a prevention method? Should they just be like, when should they come to see you?
[00:32:53] Speaker B: You know, in a perfect world, patients, we would start with chiropractic. Chiropractic would, you know, we are experts in the neuromuscular field and, you know, are able to, you know, help the body heal on its own as opposed to some pill, potion or lotion that, you know, you have to keep taking over and over and over again in order to have that, you know, that relief.
So in a. In a perfect world, patients would start with their chiropractor and they would, you know, be. They would acknowledge and, you know, learn more about the nervous system, how the nervous system controls everything and how it's all interconnected and how the body does have the capacity to heal. It just needs the environment to do so.
[00:33:43] Speaker A: Now, I absolutely love that. That's such a good reminder that, you know, it is. It is so much more. I can't remember I'd heard this at one point. I don't know if it's still the case, but in Germany, before a kid was even able to go to school, they actually had to start with the chiropractor. And so, you know, why do you feel people hesitate to go to the chiropractor?
[00:34:10] Speaker B: I think, especially in the United States, I think people just assume you have to have, you know, neck pain, low back pain, headaches to benefit from chiropractic. It always goes back to the educational portion of, you know, of what we need to do, you know, to the public is just to educate people on, you know, how we can help through chiropractic care and, you know, to allow their body to heal naturally and, you know, what an investment that is into their health.
[00:34:43] Speaker A: Absolutely. My one chiropractor that works with me, he always says, you're gonna have to pay no matter what. You either pay now and feel comfortable or you are going to pay a whole lot more later when you have problems that you just keep ignoring. And that is such a good reminder that we really shouldn't wait. We really should be a lot more proactive and take charge when it comes to our Health.
What I appreciate about this, this part of the conversation is the reminder that patients really need more information.
You hit it perfectly on that.
They really need advocacy.
They need someone willing to not only listen to them, but usually even connect the dots. Like, we don't think about how our body is more important than a car, yet we treat our car better than our body and we replace that.
So I love that you're willing to listen to the story, basically help them understand how their body works, their body functions as a whole system, that it's so much more than just pain. Because I feel like when people finally get, get the answers that they've been searching for, they don't just feel a physical relief, they regain the confidence and they just, their life looks so much better, from energy to not having those headaches. And I love that.
So we're going to be taking a short break, but when we come back, I want to explore Dr. Cooper's specialized work in pregnancy, pediatrics, animal chiropractic and her vision for the future of chiropractic as a profession. We'll be right back with more practical tools to help you feel healthier, stronger and more aligned. Stay tuned.
And we're back. I'm Dr. Megan Parks and this is Aligned to Lead on Now Media Television.
Welcome back to Align to Lead. I'm here with Dr. Sharita Cooper and we're gonna dive a little bit more into some of the things that she specializes. And so we're gonna look at things from a broader picture, not just typical patient, but it could be from pregnancy to pediatrics to even animal chiropractic.
So first off, stay connected to Align to Lead or any of your other favorite NOW Media tv live or on demand anytime you like. Go ahead and just Download the free Now Media app on Roku or iOS and unlock non stop bilingual in both English and Spanish. If you're on the move, no problem. We've got you down. Go into the podcast version of www.nowmedia TV or Now Media TV. From business and news to lifestyle culture and beyond, Now Media is streaming, streaming around the clock, 24 7. Ready whenever you are.
So I'm going to close Today's conversation with Dr. Sharita Cooper by exploring her specialization work in pregnancy, pediatric chiropractic, animal chiropractic and her larger vision for the future of the profession. This final segment should expand the audience's understanding of chiropractic care. It should connect early development, pregnancy support, nervous system function, animal chiropractic and professional leadership into one larger takeaway.
Alignment Matters across every stage of life, and the principle of the spine and nervous system are universal. It's not just a chiropractic thing. The goal is to close with vision and legacy. Dr. Cooper is not only treating patients, she is helping shape how people understand chiropractic care, how providers collaborate, and how future practitioners are trained.
So, Dr. Sharita, you are certified in a bunch of different things. You're certified in pediatric chiropractic.
You've literally dedicated extensive hours, like over 200 hours. And pregnancy impedes. I love this.
Why are those stages so important for alignment and nervous system for that patient?
[00:38:45] Speaker B: You know, for the pregnant mother, they have such a wonderful thing going on as they're pregnant with their child, and it's just such a beautiful time in their lives. And so they deserve to have a beautiful pregnancy and not have to worry about pain or discomfort. And so it's just. It's so wonderful to be able to help the mother and the baby. It's. You get a two for one in this.
To be able to help them throughout that pregnancy. Pregnancy to feel more comfortable in their body and, you know, to allow that nervous system from the mother to. To speak with the. To communicate to the baby as well, too, and to provide, you know, a more balance for. For both of them, for mother and baby. And it's just important because it's. It's a. It's a short period of time, and, you know, the body is expanding, and so in a short period of time. And so it can, you know, cause a lot of. Of for the mother to be uncomfortable during that time.
And so it's just.
[00:39:54] Speaker A: It's.
[00:39:55] Speaker B: It's a.
It's just such a beautiful time for the mother to, you know, have with her child and to make it as pleasant as possible through chiropractic care.
[00:40:10] Speaker A: I love that. So I was just even thinking as you were talking, it's crazy to think that we've known each other for almost 18 years because we were both in the same program with the pediatric and pregnancy and just truly understanding that at that time. And both you and I were both. We both got Webster certified.
Can you explain to people who are going through pregnancy what Webster technique or Webster certification means and how that can help them in their delivery and the pregnancy itself?
[00:40:42] Speaker B: Yeah. So the Webster technique was designed by Dr. Larry Webster. It's an analysis of the pelvis and the sacrum to, you know, provide the best environment for the child. So it's all about balancing the pelvis and balancing, you know, the sacrum.
So that the, you know, once you have that balance and once you have, you know, the ability for the baby to have a little, you know, hopefully be able to create a little more comfort, you know, by balancing out the pelvis, potentially being able to allow a better delivery for the child as well too, you know, by making sure that everything is aligned correctly. But it's a complete analysis. There's a lot of people that claim to do Webster's that they, they don't truly do the, the full analysis. And so it's, it's, it's not doing any type of obstetric work. It's just, it's a, it's a true analysis and correction of the pelvis and the sacrum for mother.
[00:41:51] Speaker A: So when we talk Webster technique, how does that, like I've heard it can help with people who are carrying a baby, breed breach. Is, Is that true or what? What, how can it, how can that help assist with that pregnancy?
[00:42:06] Speaker B: So most people, that's when they come to see us is, you know, when they've been given a breach diagnosis, you know, they have a breach presentation, you know, for their child. And they, so it's all about, you know, with the analysis, it's, it allows for, you know, to the, to balance out the pelvis and then to allow for the ligament to relax. The round ligaments can be tight, you know, pulling on that uterus, which causes, you know, the baby to not be able to move the way that it probably should.
So, you know, when you don't have the proper movement, it can cause the baby to kind of get stuck in that uterus. So it allows. When you, once you balance out the pelvis and the sacrum, it allows, you know, and, and the ligaments and the musculature as well too. It allows, you know, hopefully a better for the child and in turn allows the baby to then flip.
[00:43:02] Speaker A: I love that. So one of my things, I always tell my pregnant moms, I look at it as a two for one deal. I'm not only helping you, but I am helping the baby inside you. Because if you're stressed, baby's stressed. If you're in the wrong place, baby's in the wrong place. And so I just think it's a beautiful part of it.
So we've really hit upon the pregnancy factor. Let's shift after.
What about kids? What about babies? What role does chiropractic play into that? What role does.
What do you wish parents understood as to why they should get their babies and kids adjusted?
[00:43:40] Speaker B: So as chiropractors we work with the nervous system, and the nervous system is the master controlling system of the body. So, you know, with these babies and with these young kids, it's the.
The quickest time that they're going to grow in such a short period of time. And so it's just important to make sure their nervous system is, you know, communicating properly. You know, chiropractic for newborns, it can help a lot with digestive issues, with sleep.
I get a lot of torticollis. So, you know, a lot of babies that come with a stiff neck you can look at.
When you take pictures of your child, you notice that their neck's always to the one side. And so every single picture, you compare them. It's like my baby, you know, kind of has a tweak in its neck. So that's kind of, you know, the first way that people kind of notice that. But it's just important because, you know, the body, you know, those little babies and are growing up so fast, and it's. And as they're learning to walk, you know, they're constantly falling on their butt. And so, you know, that can cause a pelvic misalignment. And then as they're playing sports, you know, it just goes on and on and on. So, you know, it's just important to allow the nervous system to communicate properly and effectively throughout their life as their body is growing.
[00:45:00] Speaker A: I love that because so many times we don't think about a kid needing it or how that could help just their development process or give them that edge.
What a great reminder. I'm now going to kind of switch. We're going to completely switch from pregnancy, peds and kids to. You also adjust animals. And not just adjust animals. You work with a program where you teach. You teach here. You actually come down to Dallas and you teach through, I believe it was Parker University.
What has working with animals taught you about universal principles of the spine and the nervous system?
[00:45:41] Speaker B: It's all the same. They have a spine as well, too. So people say, well, how can you help an animal? Well, they, you know, they have spines, too. So, you know, we're just working with the spine and the nervous system.
So with animals, you know, they can't tell you. A lot of times they hide their pain because, you know, they're prey. And so you got your preys and your predators, and so they react differently. But, you know, a lot of animals don't want you to know. They'll hide their pain.
And so you have to do a lot of detective work. You Got to watch their gait. You got to watch their function. You know, sometimes their habits, they don't want to jump up anymore or, you know, they, they don't want to play as much. So it's just so rewarding to help them because, you know, they just give us unconditional love. And so I had a personal experience with my dog. He woke up one day and couldn't walk. And chiropractic changed his life. And the original vet that I took him to wanted to put him down because he's 14. And I, I wouldn't allow her to do that because, you know, thank God we don't do that to our humans when they get back pain. So I said, well, we're not going to do that. And so anyway, I got him with someone that did animal chiropractic that was certified in animal chiropractic, and he lived another two years. So I just feel like it's my calling to help these animals and, you know, to decrease unnecessary euthanasias.
[00:47:01] Speaker A: I love that. That's amazing. And, you know, they do. They give you such undying love. I know I take my dog with me to the office and I think, well, not even think he is everybody's favorite. They are more worried coming in there for him. And so. And I don't blame them. Now, because of your background as the president of the osca, what would you like to see as a shift? What would you like, not only for Ohio, but like the healthcare in general, to understand about chiropractic care,
[00:47:35] Speaker B: that we're essential, we're not elective. You know, it's been kind of eye opening to work with some, the. Of the insurance companies because they, they don't see us as essential. And so they see us as, you know, not as, not as a primary, which we should be. So I think a lot of it is just education. They don't understand the cost effectiveness of chiropractic.
They don't understand, you know, what it is that we're capable or even how we're trained. They don't understand that we're physicians.
So, you know, we can decrease ER visits, we can decrease prescriptions.
You know, the United States is the, you know, we're the sickest country. We have the highest cost of all the countries, and we. And we prescribe the most of all the countries. So, you know, it doesn't look like what we're doing is working, so we probably should reevaluate that. So I think, you know, it always comes back down to education and relationships. It's all about building relationships with the legislators, with the insurance companies, with the unions, with the employers, with the public, even with other healthcare professionals. They don't understand what it is we do. They don't understand what we're capable of.
So I think it's just important for us to, you know, our, our mission statement for the OSCA is to protect, promote and advance chiropractic. And so that's what we're constantly working on and guiding. That's what guides us.
[00:49:04] Speaker A: I love that Dr. Shrada and I love everything that you do. If someone was listening and they wanted to work with you or find out more about you, how can they connect to you?
[00:49:16] Speaker B: My website is senergymedicalteam.com and so they can reach out that way through, through our website.
[00:49:26] Speaker A: Thank you so much.
This is what we believe on Aligned to lead. Health is not a side issue. It is a leadership asset. When your body is aligned, supported and understood, we make better decisions, move with more confidence, show up better, recover more with intention and lead with a stronger foundation. We want to thank Dr. Sharita Cooper for joining us and sharing her perspective on chiropractic leadership and whole person approach.
And to everyone watching, we invite you to keep protecting your health like the asset it is.
Stay connected, stay aligned and keep leading with clarity and strength. Right here on NOW Media tv. Until next time, have a great day.
[00:50:19] Speaker B: Sam.
