Welcome back to Well and Worthy Life Podcasts. I’m super excited. I’ve got another great guest today and boy, I mean, I have so many questions for her, and you probably will too after listening to this podcast, so I’ve got Ashley Laird with me. Ashley was brought to my attention because she and her husband own.
Osteostrong right here in Birmingham, Alabama. And if you know me, you follow me on Instagram. Anyway, you’ve seen that I’ve been going to Osteo Strong. Osteo Strong is well, Ashley can tell you better about it, but I first ran across Osteo Strong when I was at the Tony Robbins conference right before Covid, so it must have been 2019.
I went with my son to the Tony Robbins Conference and it was amazing. We did walk on fire and so I saw it there. Really didn’t think. I was like, that’s really cool. But I mean, you know, I live in Birmingham and we were out in California, so never imagined it would come to Birmingham. Then I bought Tony Robbins’ latest book, I guess it’s his latest book, life.
And again, he talks about Osteostrong in there. And again, I thought that was really cool. And then guess what? We got an Osteostrong right here in Birmingham, Alabama, which is really cool because you know, if you, again been around, you know, I work with perimenopause and menopause women, and this is one of the things that a lot of women supper with as they go through.
Menopause. Our bones become weaker and we can get osteopenia, we can get osteoporosis. And if you’ve ever seen that woman walking over with her back hunched over, or somebody older that’s gotten a lot of broken bones, then you know that’s not what you wanna be if you want longevity in life. So I’m super excited to introduce you to Ashley today.
Ashley, thank you so much for joining. Thank you so much for having me. So let’s just get right into your story because boy, you have a story. So I know that you and your husband opened Osteostrong probably what, a couple years ago now? Is it two years old? We’re coming up on our one year anniversary.
On one year anniversary. Mm-hmm. . Okay. But it’s probably been in the works for more than one years, right? It has , yeah. Yeah, because all all, you know, I owned a business too. I know it. It takes a while to get it up and running. It does. But let’s go back to when your husband, Matt came in. Well, let’s go back a little bit further too, because I think there’s a bigger story here.
about your whole life. Okay, so Ashley, you and Matt got married and started having babies, and life was great, right? ? Yes. Yes. . Okay. And so you’ve got three boys. 3, 2, 3, and one. Okay. So I’ve got three boys and I know what three boys are. Mine were five, three, and newborn, I mean, I, I mean, so mine were a little spaced, a little bit further than yours, and I cannot even imagine.
And were you a stay-at-home mom at that point, right? I was, yes. Okay. So then what happened when they were three, two, and one. So we found out that a family member was expecting and she was had a history of drug use and that she was looking for a place for her baby. We had always been open to the idea of adoption, but really didn’t have a timeline for that.
But this was one day in November that I found out about this and just felt like the Lord was really. This is, this is your time that this is what I want you to do. And so we decided in November that we were gonna adopt. I had never met this, you know, the birth mom, , I did not know her at all. Mm-hmm.
So we decided in November, and she was born at the end of January. Now, were you concerned with the drug use that she had been doing or did. . I mean, did you even consider that part? Like there might be something wrong? Sure, sure. And I did, and I took some time to, you know, visit with people that I knew that had adopted kids that had some drug exposure in the womb.
And typically what you see is you know, some learning challenges. Mm-hmm. Most of the time there’s not global effects like there were with Tin. So I was surprised. I was not expecting that. Okay. So, okay, so you’ve got these boys three, two, and one, and now you’re going, and how old wa when Tinley was born, how old was your youngest son?
He was like 18 months. Okay. Oh my heavens. Oh my just like, okay, so now Tinley is born and what did you know, right? Were you in the delivery room with her? I was Aw, yes. Sweet. You and Matt, I’m assuming Matt was actually not, he was at home with the kids. So it was just teen, it was just me and the birth mom.
And it was very sweet. I mean, she thanked me in that moment for giving Tinley a life that, that she knew she couldn’t give her. Aw, that was very sweet. Okay. Yeah. So did you know right away that there were gonna be, . So we knew that she was gonna have to go through withdrawal because mom had spent some time in like a rehab facility on some maintenance medication.
Had really no expectation for what that was gonna be like. Like I said, I hadn’t talked to some other moms that experienced it. Mm-hmm. . But it happened pretty quickly. And so, We were there about a month, and I started noticing that she was not opening one of her eyes as much as the other. And so I started asking questions and they had just really been struggling to wean her off the methadone.
That’s what they use, you know? Mm-hmm. , four babies. And anyway, one thing led to another and sh we found out that she had toxoplasmosis which is a parasite, you know, that’s why they tell pregnant women to not change cat litter. And. Yeah. Stay away from cats while they’re pregnant. Yes. And so that kind of opened the door for all of the things that we found that were going on with her.
They ended up having to actually sedate her to get her off the methadone so that we could see neurologically what was actually happening. Wow. Okay, so this was month one. And I mean, I’m assuming now you’re going to the hospital every day. I mean, you’re her mother at this point, right? Yes. Cause the, the birth mother is, you know, gone on.
Yes. And, and so, okay, so you’re there every day. I mean, I just can’t, I imagine, and you’re not sure what, Long-term consequences are, and you’ve got these three really baby boys at home that you wanna take care of too. I mean, that’s the only thing I can think of is I had a brief moment in time. There was nothing even, even close to being, compared to what you went through.
But when my oldest son was four, he had bacterial meningitis and was in the hospital. and I had a two-year-old at home and and I was a stay-at-home mom too. And then I was pregnant with my youngest son. And I just remember just so many things going through my head. So, you know, I worried about that. I wasn’t with my two-year-old.
I worried about the baby that I was carrying and I worried about my baby that was, had bacterial, I mean like. So you’ve got now four children that you are very concerned about, and you know, how, how did you deal with that? , we had a wonderful support system. During that time, our church family really came around us and helped.
My youngest Cooper at the time was not going to preschool. Our church has a preschool and they made a spot for him so that he could come, so that I could try to be at the hospital. And I mean, really just had to lean into that support. And I will say those. , Jesus was so close, . You know, I really felt him carrying me and giving me the strength to do it.
I mean, there’s just really no other explanation. Yeah. So, I think that that is so true. I mean, you know, that’s where my strength comes to from too. And I didn’t even tell you at the same time my father was dying of cancer. Oh my gosh. So . So it, it was a lot going on with me too, and I look back to those days.
Oh, and we were moving. Oh my word, . Like, what, what are you all doing here? I mean, like, this is craziness, right? Yes. But I do think that when you are in some of your toughest moments of your life, it’s when you’re, you’re closest to God and you look back and you’re like, how if somebody would’ve told me that this was gonna be my life, I would’ve said, no, I cannot do that.
But only, God only gives us tho those things that he knows we can handle and we can come through it. So Wow. I mean that was, that’s a lot. Okay. So, so a month into it, they’re doing, you know, I guess testing Tinley and and what, what did they find? . So she ended up being in the hospital for about 12 weeks.
You know, they found the toxoplasmosis, they were able to. Start treatment for that which were some pretty exotic medication. There are only a few pharmacies that will even deal with it. And so we had to get it from a pharmacy in Tuscaloosa. They had to overnight us the, the day she was supposed to be released.
I had to drive to Tuscaloosa to pick up. her medication before she could be released from the hospital. But there were issues she had, you know, some started having on some feeding issues regulating her temperature, what they would call neuro storms where she was just very overstimulated and would just cry.
And so it was kind of just a process of getting her to a point to where she was stable enough to bring her home. . And so that happened, like I said, about three months after her stay. But her first year home was. Very difficult. She cried a lot and what most moms had told me that had dealt with babies, that had had drug exposure was skin to skin.
You know, just cuddle ’em and love ’em. And that skin to skin really calms her nervous system. Well, it was entirely the opposite for her because she was so overstimulated by everything, by touch, by sound, you know, there was just her, it was like her nervous system was just totally over stimulated all the time.
So we finally got, you know, some, her medications leveled out after about the first year to where she was a little bit more stable. But we ended up going to a hospital in Tennessee because we thought that she could potentially be having seizures. But they did an M R I, which nobody had done before, and they were able to tell us that not only did she have the toxoplasmosis, but there was evidence of prior hemorrhaging on her brain.
And oxygen deprivation, which were both from the drug exposure. It also showed that there’s a portion of her brain that never developed. So the doctor was wonderful and she was able to tell us, you know, look, she’s probably always gonna live with you. She’s probably never gonna be able to make complex decisions for herself.
Which was hard to hear, but it was good to have answers and, you know, to kind of know what to. , right? What did you expect? You know, you get to a point to where you just kind of have to take it day by day.
Mm-hmm. And take it as it comes. I mean, there have been things that. So many things that you, you just can’t know. And every child is so different different challenges that we faced. I mean, just this past October she had to have a, or I mean, this past August, she had to have a major hip surgery. We had to take her to Texas and they literally, Like cut her femur and turn it and reattach it because her hip was coming completely out of a socket.
So nobody can prepare you, you know, for the things. But you just, you just have to, you know, you just have to learn to take it day by day and realize that we’re not really in control as much as we like to think that we are, you know, we’re not in control. And so it has helped me to learn to. and I’ve struggled.
I’ve struggled and wrestled with it for a while. I’m not a saint. It’s not anything like that. But I’ve come to a point where I’ve learned, you know, I have to just trust the Lord and trust that he is in control. And that even as on the hardest days, you know, he says that he works all things together for good, for those that love him.
And so that’s where we walk. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. I’m thinking about the boys in that first year and how she cried all the time and. From overstimulation too, and let’s face it, three boys are wild and crazy. . Ok. Yeah, I would cry all time. , like my mom used to tell me, she’d say, when she would keep my boys, she’d go.
I don’t know why you haven’t run away yet so I’m thinking that, you know, this is all, you know, how do you keep the house quiet? And, but, but the other thing I’m thinking about is how it is affecting these, these three boys. Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, I still to this day worry about that a lot. Mm-hmm. At the time, Abel. Abel went, tokin, went to public school, kindergarten, first grade.
And I’ll never forget, his kindergarten teacher told me they had a little boy in their class that had autism and that for the most part was non-verbal. And she said Abel was the first one to go up to him and take him by the hand and really treat him like a friend. And so that was like a god wink moment for me, you know?
just being reminded that yes, their life is very different than what it would’ve been, but they are also learning so much. I mean, they absolutely adore her and always have mm-hmm. You know, so even now, like they are learning how to take care of somebody else. I’m like, it’s gonna one day be. , it’s gonna be great.
It’s gonna help them be better husbands and fathers because they are learning how to think about somebody besides themselves and just really see people for who they are and not just what they look like or their abilities. So it, it’s, mm-hmm. it’s a challenge for sure, cuz now, you know, they’re much older and they’re very active.
But even still, like, it’s, it’s a very tender place for. Oh yeah. I, I, I can imagine they will end up being you know, so much more thoughtful and and they probably are now, I mean, just because of what the, their daily life. So, so now you are stay at home mom with them. Your husband, Matt, he’s in the mortgage.
So I’m, I’m, I’m assuming too, y’all got tons of bills from all this stuff, right? , like we were, you know, we were fortunate that Tinley was because of her disability and because of the adoption that she was able to have secondary Medicaid. So she always had insurance, but she got the secondary Medicaid.
So thankfully, I mean, that was just a way that the Lord, you know, took care of us. Yeah. That that picked up everything. Insurance didn’t cover. I know that’s, I mean, cuz that’s one more stress, right? Oh yeah. And lemme ask you this, you know, cuz I, I’m, as I coach women, I’m always asking them and they’re like, we, we as women, we take care of so many things, right?
Mm-hmm. And so how did you take care of you though? Not very well, in the midst of all of that. I ended up in the hospital for a couple of days because I got really sick and I could keep nothing down. And I ended up with a diagnosis of Cel a C, which I had never, you know, really had issues that I knew of before.
But I believe that there are things that are lying in us that just with the right circumstances can be activated. And so I think just the stress of all of it. Turned that on you know, inside of me and I just didn’t, you know, I mean, you go and you go and like you said, you take care and you do. I was just surviving.
I didn’t know how to manage that stress. And I would say it’s really been just within the past year that I’ve begun, feel like I’ve begun to. Figuring that out. But I mean, it showed up in, like I said, in my health and in my body and just everything kind of changed. I’ve seen firsthand what stress can do to you and it’s not good.
Yeah. You know, it’s, that’s exactly why I started, well, unworthy life because I was being a caregiver of my stepfather who had Lewy body dementia. And the more I researched. They were talking about how caregivers, the stress that are on caregivers, it can make them sick. And and in the situation of a caregiver in dementia, it was really talking about like a husband, wife thing that a lot of times the partner passes away before the person with dementia.
Mm-hmm. , and it was like this eye-opening thing for me. I was like, wow. Can have a huge impact on us. Yeah. Yeah. So so we have, I mean, stress is gonna be there, stress is going to be in your life. I mean, it’s just going to be, so how have you learned to deal with it? I have had to learn to one, be able to admit that I have limit.
You know that we, we literally cannot do it all. And humble myself to be able to ask for and accept help when I need it. That is not a strength of mine. mine either, girl, I feel you. I am the same. I just had one of my team members tell me that she was like, Just ask for help if you need it. I’m like, I know.
I just have a hard time with that. Yeah. Agreed. Agreed. And I think that that’s probably true for a lot of women. You know, I mean, we are, should be able to handle it, and if we don’t then it feels like a failure. But I think that’s something that. , you know, the enemy uses to isolate us. Like, I don’t think that that’s, people do not view needing help as a weakness for the most part.
So, no. In fact, people want to help. Help, yes. They just don’t know how to help. Exactly. Yes. Yes. So I’ve had to learn to do that. Learn to take you know, just find little pockets of time for myself, you know, to be able to pour into the things that do fuel me. . And honestly, a lot of the things that I have learned along the way of opening Osteostrong mm-hmm.
have been a huge help. You know, we have red light in our biochar and the P m F mat and even the vibration plate. All of those things help lower cortisol levels and it’s truly helped me in. Oh, I bet. Okay, so let’s get back, let’s get to hostile strong . Okay, so now you’ve got these children. And how old are they When Matt comes home?
Does, I’m, I’m assuming Matt comes home one day. I can just see it. You’re taking care of her. Reba. Well, first, wait, you’re you, you start homeschooling right? At some point? Yes. Yes. So we took that. What made you decide to do that? First , like, I had always kind of wanted to, but when Ava went to kindergarten, With where Tinley was, there was just no way in our journey, there was no way we could do it then.
So when Covid hit Abel was in first grade we did that last little bit, you know, online and it was horrible . Mm-hmm. And you know, I just did not, I didn’t wanna do anymore of that. I didn’t wanna send my kids to school on a mask. Like, we enjoyed the time that we had being together. And so I was like, well, what better time than now to jump into it?
Mm-hmm. and it has been, Been phenomenal for our family. I mean, again, it’s hard. They’re mm-hmm. , everybody’s like, I don’t have the patience. I couldn’t do it. I’m like, patience is a learned skill. It’s something you grow . Yeah. But it has been so great. I mean, the relationship between my boys has just flourished so much.
And even I’m able to know them and their personalities better because we’re together all the time. Mm-hmm. I put that I, I can see that especially, they’re so close in age. Okay, so you started homeschooling at Covid. That makes sense to me. Yeah, because I, I, I said I’m tha I was so thankful my children were all grown during that because I can’t imagine sending my child to school on a mask either.
So that you started homeschooling them, do you ever see them going, to regular school. I would be, I don’t intend for them to mm-hmm. You know, I mean, we’re always kind of open to the conversation at one point if that’s something that they just really, really desire. Mm-hmm. . But we really love, you know, the co-op and the program that we’re involved in, and.
Love the idea of just really being able to teach them to love to learn and teach them to think critically, you know, for themselves and give them that freedom and flexibility to kind of dive into things that they’re interested in. And let’s be honest, I think by the time, you know, they’re teenage ish.
They’re gonna appreciate getting able to, being able to sleep in . Exactly, exactly. I don’t think it’ll be an issue. . Yeah, exactly. And you can, you can travel more, you can do a lot of things, I think, yes. That are kind of really cool. Especially if you’ve got already, you know, what about, are they sport sports at all?
Do they like sports? Yes. Yes. So my, so what about sports? , my oldest plays lacrosse. This is actually his first year, but he loves it. Mm-hmm. . And then the younger two, they do baseball. My middle really Lucas, he really loves baseball. But you know, they do flag football and basketball and Right.
All the things. . Okay. So then when did Matt come in and start talking? Because he was the one that found Osteo strong, right? He was, yes. Yes. So when was that? Was this during Covid? Goodness, I guess it was had to been right after Covid. So it was, let’s see, this, it was 2021. Okay. That he started talking about that.
And how did he even find. So Dr. Jaqui is the biomedical engineer that created the osteogenic loading equipment, and he has a banded workout system. It’s called the X three. You do it on a vibration plate, so it increases growth hormone and it’s variable resistance training. And so Matt’s always just.
Into things. Mm-hmm. . And so he kind of started doing some research on Dr. Jay and seeing, you know, who he was and what else he did. And so he stumbled across Osteo Strong. And I guess he filled out some online something and so there are three other. Centers in the state. There’s one in Fairhope and two in Mobile, and so Josh is our regional guy in Fairhope, and so he called me.
I was like, Hey, I hear you’re interested in opening a franchise, . This is all, without my knowledge, I didn’t know anything about it at this point. Of course, you know, entrepreneurial, I mean, , it sounds like my son or my one of my sons would’ve done this. I can see that for sure. So we, he was like, well, not really.
But anyway, he’s like, well, let’s just go see. And so I was like, sure, take me to Fair Hope. We’ll stay at the grand. Like we’ll just go by there. It’ll be fine. But once I got on the equipment and tried it and visited the center, I was like, okay, you know, there’s, there’s something to this I could see.
it made sense to me. But I still was like, I have four kids. I’m homeschooling. I’m not giving that up to do this. You’re gonna have to find a manager. Well, he, you know, moved forward in the process and I was still kind of not willing to be involved at this point, . But I told him, I was like, you’re gonna have to find a manager.
So we found Sandy. Matt knew her from the gym world and she’s fantastic. And of course she justt herself. She really is. She. So wonderful. Yeah. Yes. You’re lucky to have her. Yeah. Yes. I mean, again, God provided because we would not have been able to do it without the right people in place. Mm-hmm. . But she threw herself into it and learned as much as she could learn.
You know, she had about a year before we got open mm-hmm. . And so we’re coming up on one. . I got involved I guess about three months before we opened. Mm-hmm. . I was like, okay, if I don’t jump in, this is probably gonna crash and burn. , . Cause he’s still got his full-time mortgage job. Right. And I mean, and the mortgage business is like, was especially during that.
Yeah. So hot, right? Yes. I mean, I’m sure he was like, busy, busy. Oh, absolutely. Well, Anne, like, I love him and we balance each other out, but he. A visionary. He’s the big picture. He is not a detailed person. . Yeah. So that’s, I’m like that too. I’m the visionary. Yes. Yeah. Yes. So that it was, it was time for me to get involved and it was really, invigorating for me because, you know, I was able to do things and use, you know, parts of my brain that had not been used for a while.
Mm-hmm. . So it was a lot of fun and I enjoyed it. But when we got open, we, I spent about the first couple months here, just about every day. And that was, that was tough. You know, there was not, not a lot of things. There were a lot of things at home that just got left undone for a little while. Okay. But I know everybody that’s listening saying like, well, how could you do that if you were homeschooling and you have this your daughter Tinley is in a wheelchair.
She is. And she has, she can’t verbally, she, she, how does she communicate? , well, she has a Toby speech device that we are working with her on, but she doesn’t love it because she’s social and she’d rather look at your face than talk to you. So she can very well make her wants and needs known, but in a non-verbal way.
Mm-hmm. We were very blessed. I had a cousin here in town that was finishing up nursing school at the time. Mm-hmm. , and she was able to be there and help the kids with their school while I was here. Ok. So again, it was just another one of those details and I. The Lord just had his hand. It was just meant to be.
Right. Right, right. Okay, so, so tell us more about Osteostrong and how it can help people. Yeah, because I think that people still, you know, I think of it from the osteopenia, osteoporosis world, but you’re right, you have a lot of different modalities there that can help so many people. Yes. Yes. So, , we are a biohacking center.
Mm-hmm. You know, biohacking is getting the most effect in the least amount of time. So the, our, the majority of what we do is strengthening the skeletal system. And of course, most people don’t think about their bones until there’s a crisis. But everybody starts losing bone at the age of 30.
Mm-hmm. . So we are trying to educate people, like, don’t wait until, you know, you reach that point to where you have that diagnosis, but after menopause, women start losing at a rate of up to 2% a year. So it is much, much faster. And so there was just a need, you know, people, a lot of people do not wanna get on the medications, you know, because they have such terrible side effects.
There was just a need. And so in that first week we saw people come in, people that had had breast cancer that were young, but it had breast cancer. Mm-hmm. And it had just totally wiped out, you know, their bones just crying and saying, thank you so much. Like I finally have hope. I feel like I have somewhere to go.
So the premise of what we do majority is strengthening the skeletal system. To kind of bring the science down. It’s based off a wolf law, which basically says that the bone’s gonna adapt under the pressure that it’s put under. So we. Allow you to put pressure on your bones in a very safe way, that emulates impact, that causes your body to naturally respond and grow bone.
Do what it’s already made to do in a natural way, and strengthen that bone density. In the meantime, it also strengthens the tendons, the ligaments, and the joints. So it’s gonna help with that knee pain, with that back pain. The other modalities and things that we have, everybody starts on a off on a vibration plate that is known to lower your cortisol levels.
So I try to stand on it as much as I can while I’m here. Yeah. Especially, yeah. Yeah. Cause I talk about that all the time, that when our cortisol levels are elevated, that’s where we get the belly fat from, so. Yeah. Right. Absolutely. Yes. Yes. So so we have that, and again, it, it, we’ve had people that have come in, you know, that have had different issues with just like lymphatic drainage, not being able to, you know, get things moving and you stand on the vibration plate and it helps with that, you know, because we know that that has so many.
Impacts in our health as well. If that system is not moving and we’re not detoxing, then you know it backs up. Mm-hmm. . We have full body red light therapy, which most people when they think about red light, they think about the dermatologist and your face. . Yes. Which it is. A lot of people call it needleless Botox.
It is fantastic for your skin because it increases your collagen production naturally. That’s also good for your bones, but that helps with detox. Red light helps with your mood. It can help with recovery helps with sleep. Like you just feel better and I feel like especially during those winter months when we just can’t get enough sunlight, like it is just so, so important.
Mm-hmm. Hmm. . We also have pulse electromagnetic field therapy. So grounding, everybody cares about that now. It’s kind of a, a fad. , we were made to walk on the earth. We are all electrical beings. We have el, everybody has electricity. There’s a range. There’s good electricity, and then on the other end there’s bad.
So we’re surrounded by our wifi and our 5G, and our microwaves and our smartwatch, and all of these things that are draining us of energy. , but we’ve gotta have something to replace that so we’re not walking around on the earth barefooted as much as we maybe once were. So our P E M F mats recreate the energy of the earth in a much powerful way.
So they’re great for pain. Anywhere you have damaged tissue, it’s gonna increase the blood flow there and help it to heal. But you also get eight hours of protection from EMFs from laying on it. Wow, I didn’t know that. That’s it can. , it can help take you out of that fight or flight mode. That’s what I found for me, that I was always so highly vigilant because of just all of the things that it would actually make my body relax and rest.
Mm-hmm. So many benefits. We have Norma Tech boots which help with, you know, it’s a compression therapy. Mm-hmm. , most people don’t know. We. actually also have a hip attachment, which is my favorite if you have lower back pain or anything like that. Mm-hmm. , it helps with that. It’ll help with flexibility in the hips, which has so much to do with our posture and how we carry ourself.
Mm-hmm. and how we’re able to, you know, do exercise moves with that range of motion. . We have a bio charger, which that one, everybody’s like, what is that? ? Yeah. It’s, it’s kinda crazy. Yeah, it is. It’s very different than anything you’ve ever seen. But it uses, a lot of people are familiar, at least with frequencies.
Mm-hmm. , so it’s a type of frequency therapy. Mm-hmm. And has very specific, you know, recipes that we can run from everything from bone to inflammation. Stuff as specific as, there’s one for Celiac that I. Oh wow. We just put my daughter in front of it. There’s one for cerebral palsy, so Wow. It’s, yes.
Very powerful. That’s so cool. And I love that term biohacking because what that means too is that we can do it very quickly, so, When I come in there, I can be in and out in 15 minutes and in that 15 minutes I could get on the, the core plate. I can go through the exercises. What is it? It’s 1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 4.
Four machines. Four of them? Yep. and then I could probably sit on the P m F mat. Oh, when you have that massage chair too? Oh yes. That, yes. Which I love that massage chair. Yes. Yes. And and yeah, and I love compression and I love the red light therapy and the what’s the other, the bio charger? Mm-hmm.
It’s really cool and I love sitting in there. With other people too. Yeah. Cause I think that’s kind of neat that you can and like three or four people can sit in there together and take advantage of it. So you have so many modalities there. So it’s not just one thing, but you really only want to come.
For the osteo strong machine, what do you call it, those straight bone loading. It’s called spectrum bone loading. Yes. The bone loading. You only wanna come there once a week for that. That’s all you need to come, right? Correct. Once a week because it takes bone seven to 10 days to recover. We know with muscle that you can work, you know, the same muscle.
Give it a day rest and you can be back at it. But bone takes longer to recover. So seven to 10 days is what they say. We say once a week cause it’s just easier to remember and fit on your schedule. . Okay. So tell me I’m, I know you’ve got some great stories to tell and, and Sandy may even be better to tell some of these star stories, but I know, you know, some of the stories where it has really, really changed people’s.
Yes, absolutely. Well, we just had a member come in and she’s been with us for about eight months and she had a 12% increase in her bone density. Wow. Yes. Wow. So I mean, just that peace of mind. But then one that comes to mind is she’s become a dear friend. She is a Pilates instructor here in town and she had breast cancer and literally her muscles were pulling away from her bone and her hip.
Oh. She could hardly walk on her own two feet and she would come for a long time. She was coming every single day to do the other modalities. Mm-hmm. . She is now back teaching Pilates and Wow. Smiling . Oh. And she says, I can walk my own dog, you know, for the first time in a long time. I mean, she tells us like that it has just drastically changed her.
Wow. I mean, that is, I mean, that is so amazing. So amazing. Yeah. So let me ask you this. So how do people do y’all? Is the Dexus skin the best way to measure your bone density? That’s a complicated question. Deanna . I figured it was so that’s why I thought I’d ask you, . That is, you know, that has been the standard of practice for everybody for a long time.
They’re not super reliable because picture this, say you go outside in the very same position, you take a picture. and then a year later you’re gonna come back and you’re gonna take the same picture. Even if you stand in an exact same position, face the camera in the exact same way, it’s probably gonna be a little bit different, right?
You’re not gonna get an exact same picture. So the same is true with the Dexo, all that it is one, all that it’s really showing is how much light is getting through the bone. And you have to go to the same place on the same machine, preferably with the same tech to have any kind of reliability with it.
but the problem is they put people on, on medications to try to, you know, increase their bone density. All that is increasing is the outer shell of the bone. So less, it’s not showing as much light getting through, but that’s why people still have fractures and still have breaks because the quality of the bone, you’re not, you’re not actually strengthening that inner portion of the bone to make it strong.
So there is a new blood marker test that they’re just kind of starting to do some that will show the osteoclastin osteoblasts that are happening within the bone to actually see if. rebuilding itself. That’s, so I don’t really have a great answer for you that question. No, I I, I remember talking to Sandy about that and I felt it’s like, wow, that is so interesting.
So interesting. Okay. Well I could talk to you forever and I know we’re gonna have so many questions for you. Yes. I mean, it’s so amazing. I’m so amazed with what all you’re doing so I have to ask you this question too, before we go though. How do you create. Some sort of, and do you even believe in this balance in your life?
Because I think that’s what we all want is right balance. And I even named my program’s balance because I think that’s what we want now, is that achievable? Oh. So how do you, what do you, what does balance mean to you and how do you create that in your own life? You know, I do think that that’s something that we all.
Have this romanticized idea of is some kind of balance. If I could just balance everything, then it would be better. I’m like, I don’t think that that’s, I don’t think that that’s real and I’ve had to learn that like there are seasons in life that are, certain areas are gonna require more of you and some of that.
To me, some of that balance is releasing some of that control and knowing. , you know what? It’s okay. And it’s gonna be okay. And kind of just going into it open-handed, you know that there are, there are days that I have to be at Osteostrong and I don’t get as much done with my kids. But then there are days that we have intentional one-on-one time and we probably do more than what they might get in public school in three days.
Mm-hmm. You know, so it’s just, I think it’s more of a ebb and a flow, you know, and just rhythms and. . If you’re doing things that you believe in, you know, then, then I think that in the end that it’s all just gonna work out. And I know that when I’m here, I’m doing something good, you know, that we are helping people you know, that we’re loving on people that come in here.
Like we are doing good things, putting good things out there into the world. And so, I, I don’t have what and what, what are you doing for. Oh goodness. You know, we have, my kids and I are part of a homeschool co-op, and I have found some of the best women there. And so that has been, oh, just refreshing to my soul, you know, just genuine, authentic friendships.
You know, and just taking the time to do some of those kinds of things. And you know, when it’s, I love to be out in the sunshine, you know, so I really try to put down all of my to-dos when it’s pretty and just go for a walk outside and just breathe. You know, just try to really be present where I’m at.
Oh, I love that. I love that so much. Okay, so let’s tell everybody about Osteo Strong where they can find y’all. And if somebody is listening to this and they’re well, first of all, if you’re in Birmingham, come on into Birmingham. But if, if you’re not, you can go online and look for other locations, right?
Yes. Yes. Because other locations, all. There are, there are worldwide. Mm-hmm. . So our local website is osteostrong birmingham.com. You can go on there and find out, read some of the science, find out, you know, about the different modalities that we have. You can also schedule, you know, a free appointment with us to come and check it out and see what we do.
You can. Our number is 2 0 5 2 0 3 8 7 5 5. Sandy will take care of you if you’re not local. The website is osteostrong.me and you can look up all the different locations and find one that’s close to you. . Yeah. That’s awesome. Well, Ashley, thank you so much for spending the time today. I know super busy and now I’m like even know that you’re even more super, super busy.
But I’m so glad to meet you and hear your story. Yes. And thank you so much for bringing Osteo Strong to Birmingham. Well, thank you for having me, and we’re so glad that you’re a part of our Oscar Strong family. Thank you.
