Chiropractic is about choices

Chiropractic has always been about choices...

Not only is it about choices, it's about empowerment. You have the ability to be healthy and stay healthy for a lifetime; this is one of the major platforms of chiropractic. I recently heard a quote that sums it up for me: "Your body's ability to heal is far greater than anyone has permitted to believe." 

This is made even more true seeing as how approximately 80% of our culture will die from chronic disease and/or complications from chronic diseases. Chronic disease are those diseases that are preventable (heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, etc...), because they are all about lifestyle choices. Lifestyle choices are in our hands, hence empowerment. The food we eat, the water we drink, the sleep we get, the time we allow to recover, the people we surround ourselves with (our pack/community/tribe as it were), the exercise or activity we engage, the thoughts we allow to persist, the things we tell ourselves on a constant basis, removing interference in our nervous system, and so on, are all things that make up our lifestyle. When our choices are congruent with our genes, we move into health. However, when these choice are congruent with our stress, we fall towards disease and death... But that is a subject for another blog.

My point is that health is in your hands. Make better choices, then make them again, and again, and again. Make them until they are second nature. Then keep going and if you are congruent with your genes, you will move closer to optimal health. 

Optimal health is the ultimate goal of chiropractic. Many chiropractic patients get to hear the story:

There is an intelligence in all things giving that thing its properties. Innate intelligence makes you a self-healing, self-organizing organism. You cut yourself, you heal; your heart rate rises, it will return to normal; you eat food, the food is assimilated into your body. All the functions of the body synchronizing like a giant orchestra, and all without you having to think about it. The central nervous system, the brain and spinal cord, are in charge. They control and govern all other systems of the body, and the messages passed between each travel across the neurons and nerves. If communication is interrupted, much like static on a TV or cell phone, the function of the system is lessened. We call this a vertebral subluxation. Put differently, the vertebral subluxation is your body's inability to fully adapt to, or integrate, a stressor; it is a maladaptive pattern that gets "stuck". It is the job of chiropractors to find and remove subluxation, as well as finding out what is causing them and help you figure out how to stop recreating them. Again, empowerment.

As a person moves through care, they get to choose the care that's right for them:

1. Pain relief - Probably the most utilized across the globe. In fact, there are chiropractic offices that deal only in pain cases and not in wellness. The patient can choose to come in a handful of visits, usually 12-24 (1-3 months), and get themselves out of pain. The upside of this type of care is that it can be quick and drug-less, or drug-lite. The down side is that this probably is not enough time or energy focusing on what has caused this pain, if it is a subluxation pattern, and what can be done to prevent it in the future.
2. Correction/Stabilization care - This choice in care is the least chosen. By the time most patients are ready to make a larger commitment to their health and bodies they skip this step and move directly into wellness or optimal care plans. The correction, or stabilization, care plan is still a short term commitment, but longer than pain relief, 30-60 visits (6-12 months). This plan focus' on care beyond the relief of pain. When the pain is gone, your body can move out of a survival or reactive mode, and more into a growth or responsive mode. This care is then focused on stabilizing the problem area(s) and begins to help you prevent future problems. The upside is that you get strategies to combat you current subluxation patterns. The down side is that you will not reach optimal function when you've stopped care. Remember, optimal health and function can only occur if all of your parts are communicating optimally with each other and the central nervous system. Since vertebral subluxation is a pattern to unprocessed stress, you will likely reacquire subluxations after you've ended care. 
3. Wellness care - Is the plan of action to get well and stay well for a lifetime. This type of care is the most self-explanatory. Take the upsides from the other types of care, pain relief and strategies for prevention, plus two more. First, continuous care can reverse the effects of the aging process. When a spinal segment subluxates and there is a decrease range of motion, the area ages prematurely. Second, you can have a better quality of life. Getting adjusted regularly keeps your joints mobile and keeps communication free and clear between you brain and body and this leads to a more optimal you. Therefore, in wellness clinics, this is the plan of choice for optimal health and well-being. 

Chiropractors get choices too! Which means that patients can choose chiropractors that best fit their needs. There is a growing list of specializations in chiropractic. While it is not as different as a internist and surgeon, there is a level of expertise in each. Much like a cardiologist has a differing skill sets than a nephrologist, or an ob/gyn, etc. The specialties can include, orthopedics, neurology, nutrition, X-Ray, sports, pediatrics, and applied kinesiology (forgive me if there are others I just don't know them). The all require advanced training and certifications put on by their governing bodies. For example, the ICPA (International Chiropractic Pediatric Association) has an advanced certification in pediatrics and maternity, as well as an advanced diplomate program. 

I began my career having extensive knowledge and experience in sports chiropractic. It was the field that I was most interested in taking my life's work. As I learned more, and explored advanced degrees in the sports chiropractic world I began to realize that, not only was it too expensive for my perceived value, but the rules for this specialty stifled my philosophical stance. I believe, and I'm not a fan of "believing" in chiropractic because it's a science not a leap of faith, that chiropractic is an integral part of a wellness/optimal lifestyle. Without chiropractic as a part of your lifestyle choices, you cannot express your fullest potential. In the world of sports chiropractic, we are remanded to technicians that can only treat the musculoskeletal complaints of the athletes. This was, and is, not good enough for me! I will not participate in an environment where the work I do is to be marginalized by those who cling tenaciously to the dogmatic "old sciences" that do not hold relevant for the new millennium...
(You know who you are, your the ones that are reading this and thinking, "dogma? look who's talking!," or something like, "chiropractic is a pseudo-science at best! you should be grateful to work along side real professionals." (both of those, any others, I have actually been told). To you, I urge research and education.)... but I digress.

... I have thus chosen a different road. Beginning last September, I joined the ICPA and have begun the 2 year process towards my pediatric chiropractic certification. Once I have become certified, I will then work towards the diplomate. I have found that when I adjust expectant mothers and children, my work makes a real difference. When I adjust adults, I do impact their lives, but not to the extent as to when I adjust a baby. I will be able to utilize my extensive knowledge acquired through my many years of athletics and chiropractic because the vast majority of children are physically active. I will also get to reap the vast reward that comes with knowing that I am changing a child's life for the better. I am, for the first time, realizing my contribution to humanity, to my country, my community, and my tribe. If you are at all aware of how we, as pack mammals, are built, there are very few things better than making meaningful contributions to your pack/tribe/community.

I thank you for reading and I hope I've been able to inspire or challenge you in some small way.

sláinte mhaith,
Dr. B---