My air conditioning unit went out recently at my office – and I mean completely out. Temperatures rose up to 98 degrees pretty quickly. I was out of town when it occurred and a couple of days passed before I realized what had happened. When I returned and walked into the office it was like walking into an oven. The walls were hot, the furniture was warm, and everything felt as if it was literally baked in the Arizona summer sun. Because of this, my work as an upper cervical chiropractor in Phoenix, AZ has become challenging.
After getting angry and frustrated at how long it took to get it repaired, I recognized a lesson from all of this: For the past two months I have been feeling like my air conditioning unit was failing. I would set my thermostat at 74 degrees and by 2 PM the temperature would rise up to 79-82 degrees. Sure that’s not terrible, but for an office full of sick people looking to get well that is miserable.
I called the a/c company and they came out several times. Each time they came out they would run tests and check several things. And every time their tests came back normal. They’d leave the office after saying “Well, everything appears to be working just fine.” But it wasn’t. I ensured proper insulation was installed throughout the office, personally installed heat resistant window tinting to reflect the heat, and made sure the warm air was staying out as best as I could. If I had done everything I could to make the a/c work properly why was I experiencing these issues?!
Finally, I decided to call a different a/c company and get a second opinion. They ran some different tests and looked at things differently. And sure enough, they identified a problem. It was this little piece called a thermal expansion valve, or TXV. This part is basically a metering device that controls the amount of refrigerant that flows through the entire unit. This little piece was a nightmare to replace. The manufacturer didn’t have any in stock. 200 other local suppliers didn’t have any in stock either. The part had to be ordered overseas and took what seemed like forever to arrive. Of course, once it was repaired and installed correctly, the unit operated as perfectly as possible.
What did this teach me?
1. No matter what you’ve been told – or taught to believe – by others, they are not necessarily right.
I knew that even though the test results on my unit were “normal” that something was wrong. There was more going on than anyone realized or was able to find. Or so I thought.
2. Metering devices, such as the TXV, are necessary for optimal performance
When that little TXV was not controlling the refrigeration appropriately it vastly impacted the a/c unit’s ability to cool down my office. Sure air was coming out of all of the supplies but it was not cold nor doing its job like it should.
Our body’s metering device is the brain stem: a tiny piece of anatomy between the brain and the spinal cord that controls nerve communication to the entire body. Proper brainstem function is necessary for optimal function and performance in the body. When you have been told by others that “everything is normal” but you can tell that it’s not, chances are your metering device isn’t functioning as it should.
If this sounds like you or someone you know, you may be a candidate for the work we do in our office. Give us a call or set up a consultation here. If we find you are a candidate for the upper cervical care Phoenix we offer, the only thing you will be asking is “Why haven’t I heard of this before?”
Dr. Cameron Call
602-753-7782