Dr. Mark Riggs and Dr. Akilah Spencer, of 5280 Functional Medicine in Englewood Colorado, make it their job to educate patients to get healthy and stay healthy. This involves embracing the meaning of the word “doctor,” which means “teacher.” Dr. Mark Riggs and Dr. Akilah Spencer regularly emphasize an active approach to treatment. This approach is one that requires patients to be active participants in his or her own healthcare. What does this mean? It means that while a good doctor must constantly be educating his or her patients on how to better take care of themselves outside of the doctor’s office, a good patient must take personal responsibility for effort that must be put in outside of the doctor’s office in order to be healthy.

Dr. Mark Riggs and Dr. Akilah Spencer are extensively trained in Functional Rehabilitation and Posture Correction, which are highly effective methods for achieving and maintaining wellness in addition to regular Chiropractic care. The difference is that while Chiropractic care is a passive therapy, which is one that a doctor perform on a patient, functional rehabilitation and postural correction are active therapies requiring an active effort from the patient. Functional rehabilitation consists of targeted exercises to activate and strengthen weakened muscles as well as to help relax tense, hypertonic muscles. Additionally, when activating or strengthening weakened muscles it is also important to correct poor posture. Poor posture is often a significant contributing factor to a patient’s chronic pain and can hinder the process of achieving timely results. In conjunction with adjustments, functional rehabilitation and postural correction not only get patients better faster but also help patients gain knowledge as to how they can treat themselves and prevent recurring injuries.