Chiropractic & Wellness – The Model For Health

“The doctor of the future will give no medicine,but will interest her or his patients in the care of the human frame, in a proper diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.”
Thomas A. Edison, 
U.S. inventor (1847 – 1931)

In his book “The Wellness Revolution,” economist Paul Zane Pilzer predicts that wellness will become the next trillion-dollar industry. According to Pilzer, wellness is “not about a fad or trend, it’s about a new and infinite need infusing itself into the way we eat, exercise, sleep, work, save, age, and almost every other aspect of our lives.”

Pilzer succinctly articulates the difference between sick care and health care: “The sickness business is reactive. Despite its enormous size, people become customers only when they are stricken by and react to a specific condition or complaint…the wellness business is proactive. People voluntarily become customers – to feel healthier, to reduce the effects of aging, and to avoid becoming customers of the sickness business. Everyone wants to be a customer of this earlier-stage approach to health.”

Many people have a misconception about chiropractic and the critical role it plays in health and well-being. That misconception is that chiropractic care is limited to treating back and neck pain. Although many people have experienced relief from back and neck pain through chiropractic services, the foundation, intent, and vision of chiropractic is far beyond simply helping to reduce symptoms.

As the culture moves in a direction seeking behaviors that enhance well-being, there will be those who attempt to fit old paradigms with new clothes. For example, some factions in medicine are promoting early detection protocols as “wellness” services. Such services may include such things as screening for hypertension, cancer, or other medical conditions. While there is a place for early disease detection, it should not be confused with a wellness strategy.

What then is wellness? The “Merriam-Webster” online dictionary defines wellness simply: “The quality or state of being in good health especially as an actively sought goal.” Arizona State University has a more comprehensive definition: “Wellness is an active, lifelong process of becoming aware of choices and making decisions toward a more balanced and fulfilling life. Wellness involves choices about our lives and our priorities that determine our lifestyles. The wellness concept at ASU is centered on connections and the idea that the mind, body, spirit and community are all interrelated and interdependent.”

Chiropractic, Wellness & The Human Frame

A short course in the basics of spinal anatomy is tremendously helpful in understanding why the chiropractic profession is the number one source of alternative care in the world; focusing on the wellness rather sickness model of health.

The central nervous system (the brain, brain stem, and spinal cord) is connected to the peripheral nervous system (the spinal and peripheral nerves) and controls the way we move and function. Our skull protects our brain and most of our brain stem, and the spine provides protection to our spinal cord and spinal nerves.

The spine is a column of small bones called “vertebrae” that supports the entire upper body. The column is grouped into three sections: the cervical spine (neck), the thoracic spine (middle back), and the lumbar spine (lower back).

Vertebrae in the spinal column are separated from each other by small “cushions” of cartilage known as inter (between) vertebral (spinal bones) discs. The vertebrae and discs combine to create a space (called the intervertebral foramina or IVF) for each spinal nerve to exit from the spinal cord on its way to the body. Abnormal positioning of the vertebrae (also known as the vertebral subluxation complex or nerve impingement syndrome) can compromise the IVF or nerve space, and create nerve irritation or nerve interference. The nerve will still influence the muscle or organ it supplies, however the quality of the nerve transmission will be affected.

Here’s probably one of the most important concepts to grasp – nerve interference may occur without a trace of any symptoms.

This point allows a sharper understanding of the wellness approach to health. Just like brushing our teeth before we get cavities, uncovering nerve interference before symptoms arise is a foundation principle to achieving your personal peak performance.

The Chiropractic Philosophy: A limited nervous system means limited wellness.

A limited nervous system means limited wellness. If we want to optimally create higher levels of wellness, we then need to remove nervous system interference as a part of the process. Chiropractors are uniquely trained to do this. Millions of people, from infants to seniors over 100 years old, benefit from chiropractic adjustments every year.

The chiropractic profession is perfectly positioned to lead the wellness revolution, and to reap the benefits, material and spiritual, of accepting that challenge. Vertebral subluxations affecting sensation may distort your perceptions of the internal and external environments. The inevitable consequence is a distorted worldview.

Furthermore, vertebral subluxations may interfere with our responses to internal and external change. Such subluxations compromise our ability to experience life to our fullest potential. By addressing vertebral subluxations, and the physical, biochemical, and emotional distress that cause such subluxations, a person seeking wellness care enhances their life experience.

A wellness patient does not seek merely to maintain the status quo, return to pre-injury status, or prevent illness. Such an individual recognizes that chiropractic care is a lifelong process – and a way of life.

 

Chiropractic History

The roots of chiropractic care can be traced all the way back to the beginning of recorded time. Writings from China and Greece written in 2700 B.C. and 1500 B.C. mention spinal manipulation and the maneuvering of the lower extremities to ease low back pain. Hippocrates, the Greek physician, who lived from 460 to 357 B.C., also published texts detailing the importance of chiropractic care.

In one of his writings he declares, “Get knowledge of the spine, for this is the requisite for many diseases”. 

In the United States, the practice of spinal manipulation began gaining momentum in the late nineteenth century. In 1895, Daniel David Palmer founded the Chiropractic profession in Davenport, Iowa. Palmer was well read in medical journals of his time and had great knowledge of the developments that were occurring throughout the world regarding anatomy and physiology.

In 1897, Daniel David Palmer went on to begin the Palmer School of Chiropractic, which has continued to be one of the most prominent chiropractic colleges in the nation. 

Throughout the twentieth century, doctors of chiropractic gained legal recognition in all fifty states. A continuing recognition and respect for the chiropractic profession in the United States has led to growing support for chiropractic care all over the world. The research that has emerged from ” around the world” has yielded incredibly influential results, which have changed, shaped and molded perceptions of chiropractic care.

The report, Chiropractic in New Zealand published in 1979 strongly supported the efficacy of chiropractic care and elicited medical cooperation in conjunction with chiropractic care. The 1993 Manga study published in Canada investigated the cost effectiveness of chiropractic care. The results of this study concluded that chiropractic care would save hundreds of millions of dollars annually with regard to work disability payments and direct health care costs.

Doctors of chiropractic have become pioneers in the field of non-invasive care promoting science-based approaches to a variety of ailments. A continuing dedication to chiropractic research could lead to even more discoveries in preventing and combating maladies in future years.

Are you ready to take the first step towards wellness? If so, give our office a call, we’ve had the privilege of providing chiropractic care to many people in this wonderful community, and we’d be honored to care for you.