Oct
21
What Is Chiropractic?
Filed Under Chiropractic Care
What is chiropractic?
Chiropractic is the science by which the doctor locates and removes the cause of disease. Treating symptoms is an unrewarding task for both patient and doctor alike. Drugs tend to mask the pain and hide the underlying illness or disorder. Illness and pain tend to come from within and, logically, the cure should also come from within.
A simple example of correction of the cause of health problems is the “hose theory”. You are in the yard watering the lawn with a garden hose and a rock falls across the hose. It may interfere with the flow of water to where there is only half the original amount coming out of the nozzle. Do you work on the nozzle? No, you go back down the hose and remove the cause-the rock. That is what Chiropractic is all about, locating and removing the cause. What follows?—HEALTH!
Does chiropractic always work?
No, Chiropractic doesn’t always work. The same as the water hose situation—if the rock caused too much damage to the hose, then the removal of the rock is not going to make the water flow freely. Or, if you keep twisting and pulling on the hose, it may interfere with the flow. The same holds true in your body. The Chiropractor may remove the cause, but there can still be too much damage done to restore the body to perfect health. Also, as with the twisting or pulling of the water hose, if you don’t cooperate with the Chiropractor and allow correction to take place, you shouldn’t expect complete health. Chiropractic will work, does work, and has worked. Chiropractic will restore your health if there hasn’t been too much damage and you cooperate.
What is the cause of my disorder?
Suddenly you find yourself ill or in pain. Why? Some part of your mechanism has failed to function normally. Let us see what is causing this function to fail. Function fails because current fails, and that is the reason the light bulb doesn’t burn if the wall switch is off and the normal flow of current is interfered with. The current fails because something has interfered with its transmission.
How does chiropractic find the cause?
The chiropractor has to find the cause before he/she can correct it. Knowing that cause is an interference to normal flow of impulses from brain to tissue, then it is the job of the Chiropractor to find this interference. The chiropractor has an instrument called a Tytron which determines where interference exists and to what degree it exists. A recording is made of that portion of the spine with the Tytron to ascertain the pattern of interference. When this is established, precision x-rays are taken which virtually act as blueprint negatives. These confirm the Tytron readings by revealing exact position of the Atlas or Axis vertebrae and recommend to the chiropractor the correct manner in which to reposition the vertebra.
If a watchmaker didn’t know what was inside of your watch, would you care for him to work on your watch? – For that same reason we take spinal x-rays. We have to know what exists inside the body to do our job correctly. We are in business for your health, so we want to do the right thing in the right way and at the right time.
Do I get adjusted each visit?
It is impossible to predict, in advance, the number of adjustments that any given case requires. No two people in this world are alike. Not one individual can be compared with another. The speed with which people recover depends on several factors:
1. Amount of damage done
2. Age of the patient
3. Duration of the patient’s disorder
4. If interference is kept removed
5. Patient’s cooperation with Chiropractor
Why must I keep getting checked?
People lose sight of the objective that they are trying to reach when they ask this question. They may think that they are not getting enough for their money if they are not adjusted each visit. People are adjustment-conscious instead of health-conscious. Health is the objective, Results are what you want. As Chiropractors, we look farther than just today or tomorrow. In order to get you well and keep you well, we know just when you should be adjusted and when you should not. Furthermore, adjustments are not what you are paying for; you are paying for the prospect of getting well.
If readings are good, will pain leave?
You may not be restored to health immediately following removal of the nerve pressure. It sometimes takes nature weeks and months to rejuvenate worn out cells and tissues after an adjustment. Although there is correction taking place and damaged parts being repaired, you may still have some pain. Nature works in man as she does in plants. If a plant is withering and dying from want of water, it does not immediately blossom forth in all of its splendor following the administration of water. Water is what the plant needed, just as your body needs nerve force. Time factor is an important element for the plant growing back to normal as it is also an important factor to the body in its process of getting back to normal.
What is upper cervical chiropractic?
Dr. D.D. Palmer discovered Chiropractic in 1895. His son, B.J. Palmer, is considered the developer of Chiropractic, as he researched the best way to correct spinal subluxations. His discovery was that the upper neck area was not only the weakest structural region of the spine, but that it influenced the nerves throughout the entire body. Thus the term Palmer Specific/Upper Cervical was coined to envelop any precise work performed in the upper neck region.
Dr. William Blair, D.C. concerned himself with finding more accurate ways of measuring and correcting cervical spinal subluxations. He was the first Chiropractor to individually x-ray and measure the spinal subluxations at the joints where the injuries take place. A combination of three-dimensional and articular/skull condyle x-rays makes for the most accurate and comfortable adjustment a patient can receive. When the term “Blair” Chiropractic is referred to, it is to signify the culmination of Dr. Palmer’s and Dr. Blair’s research.
What are the long term benefits to Blair Chiropractic?
The most obvious benefit is regaining lost health! Other gains are longer periods of relief because the goals are to keep the spinal adjustments in alignment for as long as possible. This not only results in faster recoveries whenever there are flare-ups but also tends to save you money.
Why do spinal segments continue to “slip out” of adjustment?
Spinal subluxations can be either acute or chronic. Acute subluxations are readily corrected and because the muscles and ligaments have not grown in an abnormal manner, the segments heal in an uncomplicated, rapid manner. The only exception to this rapid repair would be traumatically induced injuries such as whiplash.
Chronic subluxations unfortunately can result in ligament laxity (weakness from overstretched ligaments which hold bone to bone) and the result can often be like that of a “trick knee” that can give way with little strain. Another factor to consider is that the cartilage that separates the spinal segments can actually change its shape over many months and cause the adjusted spinal segment to no longer fit properly in position. Time is needed for the ligaments, cartilage, and shriveled muscles to regain their original shape and function. Once this is accomplished, the vertebrae should remain in their natural position and no longer compress the nerves and hamper your recovery.
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Very nice article. This is a very well written concise article that explains chiropractic very well.