One of my mentors posted this recently, and I reposted it as it's one of the foundations of how I treat my clients.  (Shout out to Perry Nickelston at Stop Chasing Pain.  You can follow his IG @stopchasingpain for more info.) I can often see what's holding back my clients' health, keeping them in pain or poor performance by the subtle clues that are often overlooked.  These clues are the body's way of telling us a system needs help.  On my repost, one of my current clients asked:

"What are some subtle signs to look for?"

So, I thought I'd cover some of the major signs I use as indicators of system dysfunction.  I will say that oftentimes the "dysfunction" tends to be unresolved inflammation or infection.  I'll also match the organ or system that's typically involved.  Know that this isn't meant to scare anyone and most of my clients aren't to a life threatneing state with their symptoms, but they are often the answers to their chronic pain or other symptoms keeping them from feeling or performing their best.  As always, my goal is to educate and empower anyone who reads my content toward better living through feeling better.   So here we go!

Signs and Symptoms Often Overlooked for System Dysfunction

Moles, birthmarks, and freckles - moles and birthmarks often appear over areas or organs that are dysfunctional and often match up to other symptoms.  Freckles in particular tend to correspond to lymphatic dysfunction in the area where the freckles are present.  Got freckles and moles all over?  I'll suspect an unresolved infection of the lymphatic system.  

Menstrual issues - SPOILER ALERT: menstrual cycles aren't supposed to be painful.  That's a pretty solid clue of infection, and is typcially bacterial based.  Got heavy bleeding?  Back pain? That's also heavily related to bacterial infection.  Headaches?  The infection may be specifically located in your blood, since that travels to the head.  Difficulty conceiving or miscarriages?  Often a sign of unresolved infection or poor immune function.  (That's a sensitive topic, message me if you want more info on that).

Allergies of any kind - foods, dust, animals, seasonal...anything.  Allergies often indicate an overstressed immune system.  More allergies? More dysfunctional immune performance which gives opportunity for other conditions or diseases to arise.  Top allergies that I look for?  Penicillin (related to mold infection with decreases immune performance and increases risk for illness), and nuts (related to high omega 6 fatty acid levels, often associated with unresolved bacterial infection). 

Skin issues - bad acne, frequent rashes, ezcema, sensitive skin; breakouts on the face, arms, chest, or back.  Location matters and often corresponds to organ dysfunction.  Skin breakouts are also heavily related to digestive and immune health.  About 80% of your immune cells are in your gut lining. Developmentally speaking, the cells of the gut lining and the cells of the skin come from pretty much the same cell base.  So that means whatever I see in terms of breakouts on your skin is pretty much what's going on in your gut.  And if gut lining isn't healthy, then immune cells are likely unhealthy as well.  

Food habits - I'll tackle the most popular ones quickly and give the most common associations:
     Sugar cravings - poor digestion, bacterial infection (why you crave sweets during a menstrual cycle)
     Salt cravings - poor elimination, especially by the bladder and kidneys
     Hates veggies - poor digestion and nutrient absorption
     Craves fatty/greasy foods - viral infection
     Hates drinking water/Water goes through you - poor water absorption, infection in lymphatic system
     Craves pickles or spicy foods - poor digestion, hormone dysfunction
     Hates eggs or cilantro - poor liver function

Medical signs/symptoms - I'll also tackle the most popular ones quickly and give the most common associations that are overlooked by the traditional medical community:
     High blood pressure or heart rate - blocked lymphatic flow, infected lymphatics
     High cholesterol - bacterial infection (espcially if its high HDL)
     Low iron, low vit D - clogged liver, poor liver function
     Stomach pains/IBS - gut infection
     Abnormal thyroid readings - inflammation/infection in another organ (that's why it's hard to control with               meds)
     Migraines/Chronic headaches - blocked lymphatic flow, infected lymphatics

I could go on and on, but these are the most frequent ones I come across and the ones that get me to the underlying issues affecting someone's performance. 

So I know what you're probably wondering...

How do I know all this?

The short answer is SCIENCE.  Which science?  The natural ones.  Anatomy, Physiology, Biology and especially Pathophysiology.  Digging deeper into natural sciences to understand how the body works and what the body looks like and how it performs when it's not feeling well are the key to restoring proper function before disease sets in.  So that's where I focus.  It's been my focus over the last few years and has helped me guide clients to better healing beyond belief. This is different than pathology and pharmacology.  These are also sciences, but focuses more on understanding the body once disease has set in.  I prefer to focus on prevention of disease and the best way I've found to do that is to not ignore the natural signs the body gives us that it's not doing well. 

My team and I continue to study to help our clients the best that we can which has helped our clinic expand to help non-dancers as well through our sister company Renatrition Health & Wellness.  And we look forward to learning as much as we can to help as many as we can live the best that they can.  

- Alexis at AZ Dance Med