What is Chiropractic
hiropractic is a philosophy, science and art which utilizes the inherent recuperative powers of the body and deals with the relationship between the brain, the body and the spinal cord and the role of that relationship in the restoration and maintenance of health.
A healing science that places emphasis on maintaining the structural integrity of the body. An approach to health care that is conservative and does not utilize drugs or surgery. A method of restoring, maintaining and promoting TONE, so that all cells vibrate at their proper frequency.
The major premise of chiropractic: a universal intelligence is in all matter and continually gives to it all its properties and actions, thus maintaining it in existence.
The essence of the chiropractic is summarized shortly in hereinafter and visible that stands significantly near to the philosophy of the eastern therapies than to the western redress.
History of Chiropractic
Chiropractic was born in Davenport, Iowa on September 18, 1895. A man by the name of D.D Palmer operated an office on the corner of Second and Brady street in downtown Davenport.
He was a healer, teacher and philosopher.
Dr. Palmer met the janitor who worked in his building and learned that the janitor was almost totally deaf. This janitor was a gentleman by the name of Harvey Lillard. Upon questioning Harvey explained to Dr. Palmer that he had lost most of his hearing 17 years earlier when he was bending over and felt a „pop” in his upper back or neck. Dr. Palmer examined the area and noticed a bump which he determined to be a spinal vertebra out of position. It seemed that Harvey noticed this bump right after he lost his hearing. Having a working knowledge of anatomy and phisiology, Dr. Palmer convinced Mr. Lillard to allow him to tery to fix it by pushing the bone back into place. History is uncertain as to whether it was one visit or several, but the result was Harvey got his hearing back.
Palmer originally thought he found the cure for deafness. He advertised far and wide, „Come to Davenport Iowa and have your hearing restored!” People came for all over the country. People who were deaf and blind, deaf and disabled… deaf and all kinds of disorders. Most people did not have their hearing restored. However, some who were deaf and blind could suddenly see. Some who were deaf and disabled could once again walk and perform other functions that they were unable to previously. And yet some who were deaf and”sick” returned to a state of health. It was at that point that D.D. Palmer realized that why he may not have found the „cure to deafness”, he found what he believed to be the fundamental underlying cause of most if not all health problem, the vertebral subluxation. From that point on, D.D. Palmer practiced this new method of replacing misaligned vertebrae thereby allowing people to heal naturally. His practice grew and the profession of Chiropractic was born! Within two years D.D. Palmer opened the first school of chiropractic on Brady Street on Davenport.
It was his son Dr. B.J. Palmer who continued the school after the death of his father. B.J is given credit for growing and developing the profession into what it has become today.
Philosophy of Chiropractic
What is health?
- How do you define health?
- Is it feeling good?
- Is it not having a cold?
Or maybe it is something more.In Chiropractic, we have always considered health to be something much more than not being sick, something more than just pain free. The truth is, health speaks to a higher quality of life itself. But do not take our word for it.
Here is a definition from the World Health Organization that seems to approach the fullness of what we are speaking about in Chiropractic: „Health is a state of complete phisycal, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
Health vs. Sick
A fever is a body’s defence mechanism to fight off infections. Bacteria live in a very narrow temperature range. Might a rise in temperature be the body’s natural response to weaken or kill the invader?
This person appears to suffer from the common cold. Common treatments would include: antihistamines, ibuprofen and cough suppressants just to name a few.
Yet the body’s natural response is often overlooked. Interferon is a substance constantly produced by the body’s immune system to kill viruses on contact. Interferon travels through the body with the mucus. How does the mucus with the killed virus leave the body? Coughing, sneezing, runny nose, etc…
Inclement weather, just like the symptoms of a common cold, although inconvenient and uncomfortable is essential for life and growth.
Just by these examples, we can see that the symptom is not a clear indication of whether a person is sick or healthy. In fact, the symptom is often what brings the person back to health and homeostasis. Therefore, symptoms are not an accurate measure of one’s state of health!
So sickness is: when the body does not do what it is supposed to do!
Right now, as you are reading these words, your heart is beating 60-72 beats per minute, your kidneys are filtering blood, your liver is producing hundreds of chemicals and your lungs are exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide moment to moment. Are you consciously controlling these physical process or are they self regulated by your body?
What exactly is it has takes a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and turns it into hair cells, new skin cells and fingernails? Chiropractors refer to this inborn, self healing, self regulating mechanism as Innate Intelligence. The word „Innate” means inborn, so a child can have a same amount of Innate Intelligence expressing through their body as a Harvard Professor.
The medium or pathway by which this intelligence travels from the brain to the rest of the body is the neural system. The neural system acts as an „information superhighway”, literally allowing billions and billions of bits of information to travel from the brain to the body and from the body back to the brain. This is not a highway that you would want traffic on…in other words, this is not something that you want interfered with in any way, shape or form. How well your body function is determined by the quantity and quality of your innate expression. Remember, the wrong message being transmitted from one part of the body to another can be just as damaging as no message getting through at all! Our sole objective as Chropractors is to keep the lines open and allow the „Innate Intelligence” within the body to express itself at the highest level possible. This is our noble mission here at our Chiropractic office.
If you have read up to this point, you are probably askong yourself, ’how do Chiropractors keep the lines open?” In other words, what exactly is a Chiropractic adjustment and how does it allow for a greater expression of „Innate Intelligence”. Before we can answer that question, you must understand the principle of…
Everything on this planet is structured in order to gain a desire function. Since structure determines the function, if the structure is less than 100%, the function will have to be less than 100%.
Take a sports car for example. These cars don’t only have high performance engines to reach top speed, but they also must be aerodynamically designed to create the least amount of wind resistance.
What if you put luggage on top of the car? Now that you have changed the structure, will it function as well as the same car without luggage? What if the wheels are not aligned properly? The change in function may not be apparent to YOU because YOU may not know what that car is capable of doing. However, even if you are not aware of the change in function, it is still functioning less than 100%.
Communication
Imagine that a young lady is ordering a red scarf for her grandmother’s birthday. Notice that she is using a cellular telephone. What if there is a static on the line? Is it possible that the credit card’s 16 digit number will not be heard properly, resulting in a denial of the purchase? What if the credit card is approved but the catalog number for the red scarf is misunderstood? The grandmother may end up receiving a different colour scarf instead. Or worse yet, she may not receive a scarf at all.
The neural system, consisting of the brain, spinal cord and corrisponding nerves, communicates vital information to all body parts. The neural system is the master controlling and cordinating system of the body. This global network is what your body uses to communicate ALL BODY FUNCTIONS!
Interference in the neural system compromises the integrity of all other systems!
In one or more bones in the spiral column move out of its proper position, stress may be placed on the body’s neural system. This creates an interference within the body’s communication network. This is called vertebral subluxation.
Subluxations do not frequently have pain associated with them. This is because your body has two types of nerve fibers, sensory and motor. Sensory fibers relay information about pain, temperature, taste, etc… from the body parts to the brain. Motor fibers transmit information to the muscles, organs and glands for proper function. If the irritated nerve has sensory fibers it might express as pain. However, since most nerve fibers are completely motor in function (67%) with no sensory components the only thing associated with these subluxations will be dysfunction. This is why we must always remember that pain is not an indicator of the presence or absence of vertebral subluxations.
How healthy are you?
Imagine we put a pebble in your shoe. you are not allowed to remove the pebble for the entire day. How long do you think it would take before your foot begins to bother you? How about your ankle, your knee, or your back? Perhaps you’ll even get a headache. Is it possible that you would be irritable and unable to concentrate? Perhaps you might snap at your spouse, child, parent or teacher.
Now take the same irritation and place it on your nerves. What effect do you think it yould have on your well-being? How would that infuence your attitude and state of mind? How about the rest of your life?
What causes subluxations?
Subluxations are caused by the inability of the body to adapt to stress. Stress comes in three forms: Phisycal, Chemical and Emotional.
Physical Stress
Everyday, people endure physical stressors, whether they are aware of them or not. Poor posture, repetitive injuries, trauma and inproperly performed activities place the muscles, ligaments and bones in compromising and unstable positions. This unequal pulling and added tension creates subluxations.
Chemical Stress
Air pollution, drugs (pushed or prescribed), food allergies and cigarette smoking are just a few examples of chemical stressors which interfere with the body’s ability to function at 100%. When these chemical toxins enter the body, the neural system short-circuits and loses the ability to process information properly.
Emotional Stress
At the workplace, in school and during family funtions are just a few of the many places where people endure emotional stress. Everyone has heard at one point or another , „stress kills”. „What does that mean and what does it have to do with Chiropractic?
Have you ever noticed how TENSE your muscles get after an emotionally draining day? This increased muscle tension places an enormous amount of torque on the vertebrae, resulting in subluxations.