Chiropractic is greatly misunderstood and if you currently see a chiropractor or are contemplating visiting one the more you understand what chiropractic is and how to use it the greater the benefits you can get from it.
Much of the blame for this misunderstanding falls on chiropractors themselves. There are very different approaches that chiropractors use and differing philosophies. It only makes sense that you clearly identify what you want so you can find the appropriate practitioner.
The government website Medline Plus says among other things that chiropractors provide adjustments and manipulations to the body to correct alignment problems. It also states that other treatments used include heat and ice and electrical stimulation may be involved. As you read further you’ll discover why chiropractors that offer electrical stimulation have a very different philosophy and purpose than those that don’t.
Here’s a related post I made: Chiropractic is Not About Your Back.
Are Chiropractors Back Doctors
This is a common assumption by the public. And, many chiropractors practice as “back doctors”. However, many like myself do not and let’s explore this. It’s understandable that you might associate chiropractic with the back because we work on the spine and many people do seek chiropractic due to back and neck pain.
The greater value and power of chiropractic has nothing to do with the back. The focus of true chiropractic is on the brain and nervous system. This is the only system of the body so critical to life and health that it is encased in bone.
The reason I as a chiropractor address the spine is because:
- Imbalance of body structure causes tension and interference to the nervous system
- Misalignments interfere with normal nerve function
- The Central Nervous System (CNS) consisting of the brain and spinal cord is critical to the health functions of monitoring, regulating, and healing the body
- All illnesses and diseases are in some way related to altered communication between the brain and the body
- Removing nervous system tension and interference is key to restoring the communication between brain and body
Human health is dependent on the body’s ability to self-monitor, self-regulate, and self-heal. Your nervous system is continually tracking thousands upon thousands of chemical and physiological processes. The focus of chiropractic is not on fixing back pain but on removing any source of tension or interference to the body functioning as it is intended to.
How the Body Works and What Causes Problems
Let’s keep this simple to provide a framework for how you can use chiropractic to not only overcome pain but to improve and optimize your health.
- The spine and pelvis comprises 28 bones from the top of your neck to the tip of your tailbone.
- Between almost all of these bones nerves exit and travel to every organ and tissue in the body.
- If any of those bones lose their normal alignment or ability to move it puts pressure or tension on the nerves and causes some disturbance in function to the area controlled by those nerves.
- This can cause pain. This can cause numbness, This can cause muscle spasm. This can cause weakness. BUT OFTEN IT DOESN’T CAUSE ANY OF THOSE SYMPTOMS FOR YEARS AND DECADES.
- What it does do is interfere with the nervous system’s ability to help maintain the body in a state of balance or homeostasis.
- These imbalances in the spine cause an overactivation of the Sympathetic “Fight-or-Flight” division of the Nervous System.
- The activation of the Sympathetic System and the resultant depression of the activity of the Vagus Nerve is associated with at least 90% of all human illness and disease.
- This is why 90% or more of all diseases are stress-related.
5 Keys to Using Chiropractic to Improve Your Health
You can certainly see a chiropractor whose focus is limited to relieving your neck or back pain. And, there’s a benefit to that. But, if the care is limited to pain relief and you stop there you are missing out on the greatest advantages chiropractic has to offer you.
Here are the keys to chiropractic care that is not only more effective at eliminating your pain but also improving your health and resilience. Stress is the single greatest factor in the development of chronic illness. Stress causes an imbalanced nervous system that results in a range of issues that encourage chronic illness like:
- Increased heart rate and blood pressure
- Impaired digestion – acid reflux, constipation, diarrhea, inflammatory bowel
- Increased inflammation
- Stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline
- Impaired immune system function
- Poor quality sleep
- Increased muscle tension and pain
- Anxiety and depression
- Chronic Fatigue
- Fibromyalgia
Here’s an article I wrote related to this: Beware of the Litany of Life Effects of Chiropractic Care.
Key #1: Corrective and Balancing Chiropractic. If you want the full range of potential benefits of chiropractic then you want a chiropractor with a focus on correction and restoring balance. Everything from the name of the practice to the website should communicate this.
The chiropractic care will not be focused on the area of pain because rarely is the most painful area the cause of the problem. You might get short term relief by addressing the pain but you also might experience a flare up of the pain.
The imbalance is most often above, below, to the right or to the left of where you experience pain. A chiropractor that repeatedly adjusts the area of pain is potentially creating a situation where that pain keeps returning.
Key #2: Evolving Care. If you’ve been to a chiropractor and he or she did the same thing to you each visit or provides an almost identical service to most patients they are not helping you get stronger and healthier. The body is dynamic and ever-evolving. As areas of interference are corrected they should not require repeated adjustments each visit.
The goal is a chiropractor who assesses your spine and nervous system each and every visit to deliver what is needed at that time. And, that should be changing over time.
Key #3: Health is a Process. What do I mean by that? Both departures from health like chronic pain and illness and the return to health take time. Nothing that truly supports health and wellbeing happens in a day. Think about what you do to support your health like…
- Exercising
- Flossing and brushing your teeth
- Eating healthy
You can’t do any of those one time or even once a week and expect to benefit from them. Everything that supports your health and wellbeing is a process that must be repeated. Chiropractic is no different.
The initial goal of corrective and balancing chiropractic care is to correct any sources of interference and return you to balance. While this almost always gives you the relief you initially sought, the real benefits come from maintaining and optimizing balance and function.
Key #4: Areas of Focus. While the entire spine is important there are areas that have a much greater impact on the function of your nervous system than other areas and it will benefit you to find a chiropractor with expertise and a focus on these areas.
The sequences I laid out earlier about how interference to the nervous system causes problems along with the impact of stress has everything to do with the chronic imbalances to the Autonomic Nervous System.
The cervical spine is the most critical area to balance, especially the upper cervical spine. Imbalance of the upper neck, restriction of the neck, and a loss of mobility or curve of the neck all create pressure on the delicate brainstem and this is a significant source of health challenges.
Key #5: Variety of Techniques. Different approaches work better for different people and different approaches work better at different times for the same person. For this reason you want a chiropractor who matches your needs each visit to the type of care you receive. And, as I’ve previously noted since you and your body are continually evolving so should your care be evolving and different from visit to visit.
For instance in my office I….
- Adjust people sitting, standing, lying face up, and face down
- Adjust some people with very light pressure
- Adjust some people with more traditional structural adjustments
- Adjust some people with a toggle piece or drop piece
- Adjust some people with very gentle manual or automatic instruments
- Adjust hips, shoulders, ankles, elbows, wrists
- Adjust the TMJ or jaw
- Adjust the cranial bones
It all depends on the person and how they present on any given visit. How I might adjust an infant or elderly person might be very different from a person in their 30’s. The point is you should not be adjusted the same as every other person and the same visit to visit if you want the greatest benefits from chiropractic.
I often relate to my clients that our modern world is a soup of stress and that stress is the single common factor in the eventual development of chronic degenerative illness. Chiropractic has the potential to massively improve how you handle the stress of life and therefore your level of health.
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