One of the most common complaints I have heard is that “once you see a chiropractor you see them for life”.
Let’s take this negative quote and put it into perspective.
How does the body work?
How does the body work?Think of the brain as your power house.
The spinal cord and the nerves are your highway for the power to transmit information to and from different organs and tissues.
The speed at which this information flows determines how efficient the organs and tissues can function.
What do the joints and bones of the body do?
The body has the skeletal system to hold you up, joints to help you move, and a spine to protect the spinal cord and nerves coming from it.
Every joint in the body has an optimal position. When the optimal position is present, the motion/biomechanics of that joint is functioning at 100%.
You might notice that when you are sitting up right you can turn your head right and left fairly easily. Now move your head forward about an inch. Try turning your head right and left now.
Much harder right?
That’s the same thing that happens with the joints of the body. When they aren’t in the optimal position, they don’t move 100%.
So, what does that mean?
Every joint of the body, especially the spine, has muscles that are attached to it to help the joint move.
Think of a lever, the muscle moves and causes motion of the bone. For the spine, this allows the brain to know that the joint is healthy and functional. Almost like food for the brain. If the joint isn’t moving properly the brain doesn’t know the joint is healthy.
As a protective mechanism it will then start to break down the joint to start to fuse the two bones together to further protect the spinal cord and nerves. This is referred to as Degenerative Joint Disease. This is a progressive condition and contains multiple phases. When caught early, it is very treatable.
Other things to keep in mind.
The body likes to be in an equilibria state.
Think of the old fashion scales with a weight on each side. Nice and equal in the beginning. Throw something on one end and the scales goes off balance for a while until the body handles the stress.
What happens with the body is that as more and more stress is thrown into it, its ability to go back to equilibrium is lessened. This is called dis-ease.
As this continues for months and months or years, you then start to show signs of disease. i.e. migraines or degenerative joint disease.
So how does this apply to the original statement?
Chiropractic is a preventative form of treatment.
The philosophy of chiropractic is to make sure the joints of the body are functioning at 100% so that your body never enters the dis-ease phase. But with us living in a very western medical state, we typically don’t seek treatment until the body is in the disease state.
So as a chiropractor, I must get your body out of the disease phase, then out of the dis-ease phase into the what we refer to as the wellness phase. Wellness meaning, your body is functioning at 100% and able to handle the stressors of life.
Wellness is a way of life. It’s a journey not a destination.
When you work out, you don’t just go until you lose 15 lbs. Once you lose that weight you continue to workout to maintain the weight and health you desire.
You don’t just go to the dentist when you need your teeth cleaned. You clean them daily to help prevent disease of the teeth.
Wellness in the chiropractic world is getting the body checked on a regular basis to ensure the body is functioning 100%. This wellness varies person to person depending on their stress and is determined by your chiropractor.
So, take the negative connotation of chiropractic for life and change it to CHIROPRACTIC FOR LIFE! Live life whole and healthy!