Debunking The Popular Myths About Chiropractic Part 3

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#5) Chiropractic treats conditions like pain, asthma or stomach problems.

It all comes down to this: there is only two ways that healing occurs, either the repair or the replacement of the cells that make up our body. It does not matter if a healthy body does the healing normally from the inside or if we seek the help of doctors to stimulate the body from the outside, the result is the same. It can happen in no other way for the physical body.

CellHowever, please keep this in mind, everyday our bodies lose billions of cells. On average, every seven to ten years our bodies are almost a new collection of organisms with very few cells in place from seven to ten years prior. We are built for and by new life, as our cells are actually living entities in and of themselves. As I said before, every cell needs the communication from the nervous system to be able to work in harmony with all of the other cells of the body.

Most, if not all, diseases and conditions start out as “dis-ease” in a normal function. Once the ease of function is lost cells become worn out and damaged before becoming completely dysfunctional. Since the chiropractic adjustment helps the body restore the ease in communication, normal function then has the possibility of being restored by the natural systems that our cells have. This is why many conditions will appear to be healed as a result of receiving good chiropractic care BUT this DOES NOT mean that the chiropractor cured these conditions. Only your body and the intelligence that organizes it can truly heal or cure your body by repairing or replacing damaged cells. Many health care professionals can support your body in the healing process with nutrition, drugs, exercise, touch, surgery, or counseling but only chiropractors are specifically trained to identify and correct the cause of the loss of ease in communication between the cells of our body and brain. No system of the body can function properly with mechanical interference on the nervous system.

“Maintenance it the mortar of health!”

With this in mind, chiropractic is best utilized as routine maintenance to help our brain correct the “dis-ease” before the “dis”-function sets in which precedes disease. If we wait too long then diseases and symptoms will require more time and effort to correct. Waiting to see our chiropractor until something is painfully wrong is very much like waiting to change the oil in our car until the engine starts to seize up. Once the engine seizes it is too late for preventative maintenance. Then our options become limited until, eventually, we have an emergency and emergencies are the specialty of the medical profession.

So in the end, chiropractic does not treat any disease or condition. Rather it treats “dis-ease” and helps to restore the foundational element in optimal function, which is the normal informational flow between the cells and the intelligence that coordinates their function. My family gets checked by our chiropractor about twice per month because we want to be sure we are maintaining as much function as we can. Some people may require more and some people may require less, everyone is unique.

#6) Chiropractic fixes back and neck pain

Although pain is by far the most common reason to go to a chiropractor, this is another marketing inspired mythShockedSmiley based off the observation that most chiropractors experience in practice, which is; most people with back and neck pain benefit from a chiropractic adjustments.  The pain myth became mainstream when in the 1980’s medical insurance companies started reimbursing chiropractors for their services with the stipulation that improvement could be documented and predicted. It is easy to document improvement in symptoms but to claim that something “fixes” pain is a gross misunderstanding of the nature of pain itself. Pain is a creation of the brain. When someone tells you that it is all in your head, they are right, but that does not mean it is not real or it does not hurt. Pain is a very important signal from the brain that tells our body:

StrokeBrain#1) Something is not functioning correctly

#2) Slow down

#3) Fix the problem

Herbs and medication can alter the chemicals that signal pain but no one can fix pain except the person who is experiencing it. Chiropractic can help the body restore the proper communication between the brain and the body. This can help with the cause of pain in two ways.

#1) If the body is sending information along the nervous system and that signal is distorted on its way to the brain then responding correctly to the stress of life is impossible. Our brains need to receive as much correct information as possible from the body in order to make the correct decision on what to do in response. Eventually this lack of correct response can lead to wasting the time and the fuel that is needed for good function and repair. When certain cells of the body do not have the time and/or fuel for repair or function then we can eventually develop pain symptoms as the surrounding cells signal the brain that there is dysfunction.

#2) If the brain is sending information along the nervous system and it gets distorted on its way to the body then responding correctly to the stress of life is, again, impossible. The trillions of individual cells that make up our bodies need the information from the brain to be able to do their part for the body as a whole. We might know what to do but our cells might not be getting the message and simply do their own thing. When our cells stop functioning in communion with the rest of our bodies then dysfunction begins that will eventually lead to destruction and pain.

According to number 17 of the 33 principles of Chiropractic: every effect has a cause and every cause has an effect. Pain is an effect (symptom) and unless the cause is addressed by the intelligence that runs our body then it will never truly go away. Taking drugs for pain is much like unhooking our check engine indicator in our cars. It does not fix the problem with the engine. Now for some people it is necessary to turn that signal off because it can be so overwhelmingAlexGrayEnergyBody that it inhibits the functions required to live. So medicine definitely has its place in these emergency situations and it is very effective. However, outside the emergency situation, the medical philosophy guides a medical doctor to try and fix the engine. This is where chiropractic philosophy differs from medical philosophy. According to the chiropractic principles, since the person who’s engine needs repair has the same intelligence that built the engine to begin with, it would be best to have the builder oversee the repairs. The doctor is an assistant who helps to remove the obstacles preventing the builder from repairing what was broken and worn out.

“The power that made the body heals the body.”

The spinal column (neck and back) is a vital component in signaling to the brain where the body is in relationship to the environment. Without this information it is impossible to adapt and survive. This is why so much pain can be associated with the spine, the brain is very picky about its function. The smallest dysfunction in a single of the 76 joints can result in the brain sending massive pain signals. At the same time, the smallest restoration of joint function can signal the brain to decrease or stop the pain signal completely.

PainPostureAlthough many chiropractors claim they are improving joint function, that is not credit they should take.  Some evidence does exist that very subtle changes in position happens immediately as a result of a good chiropractic adjustment, the improvement in function of the joints is accomplished by the cells that make up the joint. This is the indirect effect chiropractors have on back and neck pain; they help to restore function by applying a force to remove the mechanical interference from the nervous system. A specific chiropractic adjustment frees our nervous system of mechanical interference allowing our inborn intelligence to do its job, which is to organize the material of the body to adapt to the stress of life. Any abnormal inhibition of this system’s function will eventually lead to destruction and dysfunction which causes the brain to give us pain as a warning. Once the brain no longer needs to warn us then the pain goes away.

What are your thoughts? Leave a comment below – I’d love to hear from you.
– Dr. Tad