The Blaine Chiropractor to see - Chiropractor Blaine

Introducing Blaine Chiropractor Dr. Scott Oswald, DC, NATA:ATC, NASM:CES

Health is measured on a scale, one side being life and the other side being death.

Because you don’t feel sick or not experiencing pain doesn’t mean you are void of sickness. If you have more unhealthy habits, (i.e. living a sedentary lifestyle or smoking or eating a poor diet robbed of nutrients) the scale is tipped in the favor of death and eliminating genetics and advances in modern medicine as factors, the faster your body breaks down. The sooner your quality of life begins deteriorating and the sooner the grim reaper comes knocking at your door. If the scale is tipped in favor of health, then the advantage goes to living a better quality of life, longer. In today’s society it is extremely challenging to live a healthy lifestyle and I understand better than anyone that no one is perfect, because knowing how hard I work at being healthy, not even I live the perfect lifestyle. I know I could do better and I challenge myself daily to do so. I ask this of my patients as well, to do better. I challenge everyone to take on more healthy habits while trying to minimize their bad in order to tilt their scale in favor of a long and healthy life.

I chose chiropractic as my career because it embraced my life philosophy that life is the greatest gift to receive and it should never be taken for granted. I view my body as my vehicle of life. This vehicle is unlike a regular car though. When a regular vehicle ceases to run we make the decision to buy a new one. When our “vehicle of life” decides to stop running, as much fun as it would be, we can’t go shopping for the latest model. I can see the fun people would have, “I’ll pass on the side airbags. Maybe a little more in the front airbags though. Not so much trunk space and lot more horse power. Better mileage...”

So instead of ignoring the flashing and beeping warning lights and putting off that oil change for another 1000 miles I chose to get regular maintenance care on my vehicle of life via chiropractic care. The problem most people have is they have learned to ignore those warning signals so well, the signals no longer exist. It has taken me several years to be able to listen to my body and understand what those signals are and what they are warning me of. The beginning signals are usually very subtle but over time, if ignored, become louder and louder. Eventually the signals do get heard but as the signals grow louder so does the severity of the problem and the harder it is to fix.

Since I was a sophomore in high school I had made the decision to try and live life as healthy as I could by getting regular exercise, avoid all drugs and eating healthy. If I ever did get sick I chose not to load up on different medications but did what I could to let my body do what it naturally does, heal. Throughout college I continued to learn more about the body and how it functions and how it’s possible to influence those functions naturally. I discovered chiropractic as a means to improve a poorly functioning body while at a seminar on biomechanics and exercise. Since that day, my life hasn’t been the same.

Education

I received my Bachelor of Science from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities with a degree in Kinesiology specialized in athletic training. I worked as a student trainer for the women’s athletic department treating the universities best athletes for the 3 years I was in the program and was honored to be hired, even if only as a temporary position, as an assistant athletic trainer for one year after my graduation. I give tremendous credit to the training and coaching staff that I worked for during my time there. I thank them for teaching me, being patient with me, believing in me, and giving me confidence. While at the U of M, I spent a good portion of my time with the strength and conditioning staff and team doctors learning how to train athletes and rehabilitate their injuries. Once leaving the University I was able to practice my skills as a personal trainer at Northwest Athletic Club. It is here that I was fortunate enough to have learned the latest training strategies from the industries top professionals. The company stopped at nothing to make sure they had the best educated trainers in the country. I give thanks to all my past clients for being my guinea pigs over the years. I’m also thankful for my time at Northwest Athletic Club for it is where I met my lovely wife.

I received my Doctorate in Chiropractic from Northwestern Health Sciences University in Bloomington, Minnesota. There, I was challenged, to say the least, in every possible way by my professors and classmates. For that, I thank them all.

My Philosophy

My primary objective as a healthcare provider is to be a teacher. Why do I say this? Two reasons, the first being that the word doctor is Greek in origin and actually means teacher. Doctors should be able to explain to patients how their bodies work and why their course of treatment was chosen to help their condition. The second reason for saying I am a teacher is, I can’t live your life for you. I see patients for a short period of time in perspective of the whole week or month or year. I can’t be there to make every decision for every person as it pertains to their health. What they should eat, when they should exercise, how much is too much, when they should call for an appointment?

In fact, I can’t even make their aches and pain go away. My patients do that themselves. My actual physical hands on role play a small part in getting them better. The bigger role is played by them and the actions they chose to take to get better. That might be little things like sitting with correct posture more frequently or by eating less sugar to taking on bigger commitments like choosing to start a daily exercise program or quitting smoking.

I like to think that I give my patients the tools to put themselves in the best position possible to allow their own body to heal itself to the best of its ability. I do this by educating them while they’re getting treated and I place them in charge of their own health. They get to choose how fast or how slowly they want to heal. I teach them what they need to know to achieve their needs. And if that ever means I don’t think I can help them, I won’t hesitate to tell them that and direct them to someone who I feel can help them.

Fun Facts About Me

I was born in St. Paul MN, but I grew up in Thunder Bay Canada.
I am the oldest of three boys.
I married Carrie in 2005 at a private ceremony at my family’s lake cabin. It is one of the highlights of my life.
My favorite sport to play is basketball even though I’ve acquired all my major injuries from playing the sport.
I’m a huge fan of Michael Jordan. We even share the same birthday.
I love, LOVE, to downhill ski. Night skiing while it’s snowing is the best. It’s what I imagine heaven to be like, peaceful.
I enjoy listening to music. I would almost rather listen to music than watch television. There’s a song for every emotion.

My Health Habits

I work out on a regular basis consisting mainly of strength training with various types of cardiovascular training. I started getting serious about fitness when I was a sophomore in high school and have been going at it ever since. The last three years my focus has been on nutrition and trying to eat quality foods and taking in the right nutrients.

No time is better than now, this actual moment, to start living a healthier life. No, don’t just agree, mean it. Now is when you stop smoking. Now is when you change your diet. Now is when you start an exercise program. Now is when you take the initiative to better yourself in some way. Consistency is the key to success. It doesn’t matter how big or how small a goal you set, the key is being consistent with your plan. Once you’ve set the plan in motion and you’ve laid out the guidelines there should be no exceptions.