When I was a child, Chiropractic changed my life. This is one of the reasons I became a Chiropractor and perhaps the reason my son chose to follow in my path. I’ve been in practice for almost 40 years now — and tickles run down my spine when I think of all the lives (and spines) I’ve touched!
A technique I often use to help children relax for an adjustment is similar to tickling. I say that a dinosaur is walking up and down their back while I’m checking their spine. Older kids laugh. But rest assured, I don’t use the dinosaur walk with (all) adults…
No matter how old or how young one is chronologically, spinal health correlates with one’s overall state of health. If you don’t believe this, ask anyone in pain due to herniated discs or someone who’s undergone spinal surgery or paralyzed after spinal injuries or surgeries. Most people don’t realize how important their spine is — until it breaks.
The spine provides the structure for the body which enables movement. It also provides housing and protection for the nervous system, the master controller of the body’s functions. The nervous system is so important that the neural tube is the first specific part to form after conception with all the other organs forming off of it, including the brain. The brain/gut is headquarters to the nervous system that communicates with every cell, organ, and system in the body. As long as the nervous system can communicate freely (without interference) the body functions at optimal performance.
Let’s look at how interferences begin. The moveable bones of the spinal column are called vertebrae. Chiropractors use the term subluxation to describe one or more vertebrae being out of alignment. Subluxations occur because of stress or injury. Stress may be physical, mental, emotional, chemical, or a combination of all.
When stress causes vertebrae to lose their normal position and their ability to have normal motion, problems develop throughout the entire body, not just the spine. When there’s subluxation/spinal misalignment, the musculature of the body initially attempts to realign the vertebra as it’s interfering with normal nerve transmission. If the body cannot restore the normal positioning of the vertebrae, it will eventually initiate a calcification process. Commonly known as arthritis, this process is a way of the body protecting itself. It limits movement that would otherwise grind down nerves which would cause further pain and dysfunction.
When the body’s organs start to lose function due to nerve interference, health becomes compromised. Even if symptoms don’t develop right away, it doesn’t mean we don’t have problems. They just haven’t been discovered yet. For example, if the heart loses 25% of its function, a person may not begin to experience chest pain or high blood pressure for years. However, the first symptom may be a fatal heart attack.
Approximately 80% of the time, or more, the body can successfully restore normal function — or we’d cease to function. When the body cannot overcome the external invasive forces with the internal resistive forces, a Chiropractic adjustment is an intervention it needs.
The reason Chiropractic works so well is that it works in harmony with our incredibly designed bodies. Emergency medicine may save lives in a disaster, but food, exercise, clean water, and other natural energy inputs, including Chiropractic, help restore health after it’s been compromised. By respecting our body and providing it with what it needs, we are rewarded with optimal health. And when we have our health, life is good.
Despite the fact that the body replaces cells at the rate of 250 million cells a minute, it cannot continue performing necessary tasks when the information flow between the brain and the body is corrupted by nerve interference. When there’s a subluxation, the nerve supply must be rerouted to maintain as close to normal function as possible. Similar to driving in an area with closed roads and rerouted traffic, there will be chaos and congestion.
Another strong case for Chiropractic is our tendency to get sick when our body’s resistance is low. Our body’s natural resistance helps protect us from infections, colds, bronchitis, pneumonia, etc., but it becomes compromised when organs aren’t functioning normally. Restoring proper function through the Chiropractic adjustment helps increase our body’s resistance, helping us become stronger and less receptive to bacterial or viral assaults.
How can something as simple as a Chiropractic adjustment have such profound results? One of my patients wrote about the benefits of Alternative Therapies, including Chiropractic and PEMF, after receiving radiation and semi-experimental drug treatment for Stage 4 metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. He’s now proud to be cancer-free for over a year and is exercising, eating well and enjoying life. Although no one can definitively say what’s most responsible for his recovery, he believes that prayer, hope, and alternative medicine were most instrumental.
Most holistic Chiropractors encourage patients to utilize other natural therapies to complement Chiropractic. One of my favorites is Pulsed Electro-Magnetic Field Therapy (PEMF) which improves communication between the cells in the body by increasing their surface voltage. Healthy cells have a voltage of negative 70-90 millivolts. Sick cells have lower voltages. PEMF increases cell surface voltage and improves circulation.
The electromagnetic field in PEMF is created by the use of copper coils embedded into a mat. In advanced PEMF units, the practitioner can choose specific waveforms and frequencies. PEMF also helps decrease pain by improving calcium transport within the cells. This increases calcium absorption in the bones and improves the quality of cartilage in the joints. Cold laser/low-level light therapy (LLLT) is another modality used to help increase blood flow, increase energy in the cells and restore healthy communication between the cells of the body.
Chiropractic helps restore health by removing interferences to the proper functioning of the nervous system. Don’t let minor problems turn into major ones. Let us help you discover why we believe that Chiropractic is the most direct path for maintaining or regaining health!
