above & beyond
mary young chiropractor
Welcome! You’re in the right place if you’re looking for personal, private help with your health.
MARY YOUNG CHIROPRACTOR
Gentle, insightful, private health care. For you, your family, your horses and your dogs. Based at Smailholm, Kelso, Scottish Borders and opening (September 2024) at Longniddry, East Lothian
WHY CHIROPRACTIC FOR HUMANS?
Chiropractic care varies between practitioners. My approach to body work is based in a holistic philosophy of health. This means I spend hour on hour working to understand the whole person, a little deeper every day. Now I use a unique combination of chiropractic, cranial therapy, fascial work, visceral manipulation and bio-geometric integration. There’s very little cracking, these days, of backs or anything else.
Human Testimonials
WHY CHIROPRACTIC FOR HORSES?
Everything we do with our horses asks them to respond appropriately, to internal and external signals.
Every discipline asks them to demonstrate their ability to stand, develop and move in a co-ordinated, correct way. When they don’t – or can’t – that’s because their nervous system is not signalling correctly.
Every horse is better with a correctly functioning nervous system. That’s what chiropractic does.
Here are some examples of the changes we can achieve when we are prepared to put the work in to move ‘fine’ to ‘great’.
A problem that could superficially be perceived as ‘a hock’ or ‘sacro-iliac’ is most likely more complicated than the headline. If you are prepared to do the work, the real problem lies underneath and is the key to real healing. Here are the systems I assess and work with when I visit your horse. Here is the link to the greenlight project where you can learn to do this for your own horse.
A problem that could superficially be perceived as ‘a hock’ or ‘sacro-iliac’ is most likely more complicated than the headline. If you are prepared to do the work, the real problem lies underneath and is the key to real healing. Here are the systems I assess and work with when I visit your horse. Here is the link to the greenlight project where you can learn to do this for your own horse.
This is is the checklist we use to prioritise the start of care for your horse. You will find here a brief introduction to each of the systems I’m testing. As I work, I’ll record the detail of the testing and this will give your horse an overall score in each category, letting us see what’s going on. From there we can agree a plan of action.
VAGAL TONE
The Vagus nerve governs the balance between the ‘fight and flight’ state and the state of relaxation. Vagal tone is a prerequisite for health and is the first consideration before all others when approaching any animal.
SYSTEM HEALTH
We can tell a lot about the general wellness of the horse by noting the condition of his skin and coat, and his brightness of eye and spirit. Muscle tone and fat deposits give clues to how the nervous and organ systems are operating.
FEET
The shape and condition of the feet tell us what the long-term postural patterns and nutritional stresses have been.
WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION
This is a huge area including not only how the horse chooses to stand but also how he’s able to shift weight from one part of his system to another. Within this category are the classic considerations of skeletal symmetry and muscular balance – all giving us clues about issues that have been around long enough to be ‘baked in’ to the horse’s stance.
SKELETAL SYMMETRY
Our bones start off with symmetry, then develop in response to the way we use them over time. This section assesses joint position in the horse’s stance, noting postural and also established asymmetries that will affect performance.
MUSCULAR SYMMETRY
Before bony changes take place, there will be identifiable muscle imbalances, first in asymmetrical tone and then over time in atrophy (shrinkage) or hypertrophy (buildup).
CRANIAL SYSTEM
Within the cranial vault, cerebrospinal fluid is continually created – it then circulates within the spinal column nourishing the entire system. If dysfunction in the cranial tissue or the pelvis prevents this circulation, health will be limited.
STOMATOGNATHIC SYSTEM
This system governs the balance, posture and movement of the whole horse. It relies on the unimpeded function of the temporomandibular (jaw) joint, the hyoid apparatus and the eye.
DURAL SYSTEM
Strong connective tissue protects the spinal cord, attaching strongly at the top and bottom of the spine. Where it is dysfunctional, the spine cannot move freely and all attempts at stretching and freeing muscles will be for nothing.
THORACIC INLET
The junction between neck and ribcage needs to allow nerve, blood and air supply between the head and the body. Compromising this free flow of information is the tissue shortening that allows the neck and forelimb to move.
FLEXION
The lines of fascia allowing the horse to round its back and step under with the hind leg run all along the back from nose to hind foot.
EXTENSION
Gentle flexion-extension undulation of the whole spine is necessary not only for full and healthy breathing but also for all paces. Where the spine cannot bounce downward it’s likely there’s a restriction in the tissue along the front of the vertebrae preventing them moving freely.
TORQUE
Life is a helix! Spiral patterns show up throughout all systems, human and animal. Where a horse is fixed in a torqued pattern to the left or right, the dysfunction will show up as anything from a solid contact to an apparent lameness.
PELVIC FUNCTION
The pelvis is made up of three main bones – the central sacrum and two wings that make the hip crests. The sacrum needs to be able to oscillate in order to do its part in the circulation of cerebrospinal fluid, and where it doesn’t, extra pressure is placed on the sacro-iliac joints that cannot be removed by adjusting them alone. The pelvis must be understood as a complex arrangement within the whole horse.
FRONT LIMB FUNCTION
The front limbs need to support the majority of the horse’s weight (without being attached by a bony joint) and also to express accurate and light movement. Their freedom is intimately connected to that of the neck and the trunk.
HIND LIMB FUNCTION
The hind limb’s function is a useful indicator of the ease within the major fascial lines. Although the hock is often isolated as the cause of problems, it is possible to correct the strain placed on that joint and avoid the injuries caused by abnormal loads.
VISCERAL SYSTEM
There are various reflexes identifiable to indicate where an organ is not functioning well. The organs are mediated through the central nervous system, linking their health to spinal health in a feedback loop that the chiropractic adjustment can affect.
Horse Testimonials
WHY CHIROPRACTIC FOR DOGS?
Your dog can be safer, happier, and more resilient.
Does your dog…
Sit symmetrically, or always off to one side
Jump up and down happily, or more hesitant
Allow you to handle all parts of him, or have ‘no-go’ areas
Trot with a swing through his whole back, or look stiff
Carry his weight evenly between front and back end, or all on front
Carry his tail in a jolly way, and wag it freely
Chiropractic doesn’t treat arthritis, but it’s a really good thing to add to the care of a dog who’s coping with it. Whether your dog is growing, working, playing or ageing, why not give him the chance to have the most symmetrical, functional body he can have?
This was the dog who led me to find a vet, who sent me to a chiropractor – and the rest is history!
