Dirty Words of Chiropractic: Part 1

I've been writing about health and healing for quite some time and it can seem as if I am repeating myself. The rules for health are fairly basic but there is still plenty to discuss when it comes to chiropractic. As a thank you to my regular readers I am now going to reveal some of the dirty words of chiropractic.

Just like the old days on the back of the school bus and in the bathroom stall with the broken door, we can be rebellious and talk about some surprising topics. How can there be dirty words in chiropractic? Well, all professions have their disagreements and they can get ugly.

The chiropractic dirty word I will blurt out is subluxation. Oh, the cringing has begun. While some of my peers will rant all night about this word's profoundness, the other half will say it is as useless and extinct as the woolly mammoth.

I give tons of credit to my own practice members. They know all about subluxations. They come in to the office and tell me with no doubts that they are subluxated. They get adjusted. We work together to reduce their subluxations.

I don't know why it is a dirty word when when orthopedics, dentistry, and ophthalmology also use the word subluxation to define a dislocation or displacement of some type of anatomy. In chiropractic it is a spinal joint that has lost full range of motion which also demonstrates a number of dysfunctional processes that are taking place to cause discomfort and energy depletion.

A subluxation shows there is a stress in play that interferes with homeostasis. If it goes on too long, permanent damage can be observed. We don't want it to get to the permanent point.

The problem according to chiropractic complainers is that subluxations are a bit subtle. It is not as blaring as a heart attack or fractured femur. A chiropractor doesn't get the heroic response for adjusting spines the same way as someone holding an artery together during transplant surgery.

Chiropractic researchers want to perfectly measure a subluxation so they can say, there it is, oh my gosh! We can, however, look at health indicators before and after a spinal adjustment. There are clear changes shown with blood pressure, brain wave patterns, endocrine responses, immune responses, muscle activity and skin temperature.

Let's not overlook the unique form of palpation where the chiropractor relies on the hands to assess thousands of spinal presentations over many years of practice, storing them in his or her brain in order to give a personalized adjustment to each patient.

Subluxations are not complicated to my practice members. They know when they have let stress get the better of them. They also learn over time their own subluxation patterns. They have trained themselves to be more aware of their bodies' needs.

If you're not the type to shout out dirty words in public, you can whisper. But make sure to learn how subluxations affect quality of life so you can do something about it.

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Chiropractic Recognizes You Are a Work in Progress

Last month I wrote about the garden hose theory and why the nerdy science types hate it. Now I want to talk about the term manipulation which I personally cannot stand.

In the last few weeks, folks mentioned they liked the garden hose theory because it made sense. Some said my style resonated with them and they felt comfortable talking to me.

These recent encounters reminded me that each person receives information differently and has a unique learning style. Some folks are visual learners while others are more auditory, and others need to hear stories. Word choice also plays an important role

So, let's get back to my dislike of the word manipulation. The general media and peer reviewed journals use spinal manipulative therapy as a way to describe chiropractic techniques. It sounds simple enough, but it has a negative tone.

Scientists like to manipulate variables so they can report that specific things happened as a result. It is just like the courtroom saying, proof must be shown beyond the shadow of a doubt. Everybody likes precision.

People, however, are complicated and cannot be manipulated. Do you want to be manipulated? It happens to soap operas characters, but when it comes to health, the variables are numerous.

To say chiropractors manipulate the spine leaves a bad taste in my mouth because I work with people on their health goals. They decide to pursue health. No one is manipulating them.

Please use the word adjust. I adjust people's spines. Because everyone is different, the adjustment is applied differently from person to person. How someone responds to an adjustment is different, as well.

The adjustment facilitates a change that can unburden the body to boost healing. The spine is a gateway to the rest of the body. For this reason, manipulation does not give honor to the true magnificence of the body's capabilities.

There is no need to get bogged down in the details of anatomy and physiology. But it is crazy wild what the body does by itself. I am so glad I don't have to remind my heart to beat every second or tell my immune system when to fight an infection.

As much as we study the body, its innate and automatic functions are quite the sophisticated orchestration of events. There is no manipulation. Our cells are finely tuned to respond intelligently and appropriately to environmental changes.

We can feel manipulated by forces in our lives that are beyond our control. The world is full of stress and doles it out quite liberally. We have the power to adapt and build up resilience with chiropractic.

Spinal adjustments can influence your organs to work more efficiently. You can address how your brain and nerves communicate survival needs from breathing to thinking and moving.

If you are ready to adjust to a better way of living rather than feeling manipulated, work with your chiropractor on a step by step plan to rebuild and re-energize.  

Chiropractic and Your Power Supply

Have you ever heard a chiropractor talk about the garden hose theory? It's not really a theory, but it provides a simple visual to explain chiropractic.

Stepping on a garden hose shuts down water flow. Bending or kinking a hose does the same thing. Chiropractors use the garden hose illustration to explain how nervous system communication is disrupted by the pressure of a jammed or fixated vertebrae.

Chiropractic researchers who have never provided care to first time patients hate the garden hose theory. They would rather talk about disafferentation, mechanoreceptors, and nociception. Got that? There is a mild rivalry between the field doctors and university researchers.

As a front line doctor who hears many stories of people suffering from chronic conditions, I naturally encourage them to visit my office. When someone looks at me with puzzlement, I have to come up with a quick and concise reason.

Most people have the chicken and egg idea about chiropractic. First they fall and then their back hurts. We can take the chicken and egg story a bit farther to help someone understand how chiropractic has much wider benefits.

The researcher would prefer to lecture about long term disafferentation of the subluxation causing a break down of homeostasis, thus setting up the body for a disease. I would rather use the garden hose idea and explain how years of stress and injury put enough pressure on the spine to make the nervous system shut down the healing response.

If the garden hose theory helps somebody realize the garden can wither away and become overrun with weeds, that person may decide to take a keener interest in his or her health.

It does not matter how old or busy we are. We should not take for granted the healing reserves of the body. When life is rushed with different priorities taking center stage, we do plenty to wear out the body's nervous system.

Life is more important than fancy terminology. I would rather talk with people about their lives, helping them come to terms with the stresses they have control over. It is crucial to share how chiropractic plays an important role in stress management.

Folks who experience the benefits of chiropractic adjustments tell me how it works for them in their own words. They feel the tension in their bodies become released. It has been described as a rubber band being relaxed so a person can feel more calm and refreshed.

What they understand very well is that they don't have to let stress weigh down their spines. It doesn't take long for the body to alert us with pain, fatigue and illness. Certainly ignoring the body's hints can be worse.

I only hope I don't hear people say they are sorry they waited so long before coming in. At this point the garden hose theory is out. Now it's more appropriate to use the theory of the tangled string of lights. If you ever had to unravel a set of lights that are twisted into terrible knots you know I mean.

To maintain health and manage the effects of stress, you are invited to experience how chiropractic can turn up your healing power.

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Your Bucket List Needs a Healthy Bucket

What's on your bucket list to do before you kick the bucket? The recent popularity of the bucket idiom has launched a funny movie and a number of coffee table books. Here's my turn. How are you taking care of your bucket?

How can you complete your bucket list, if your own bucket it getting in the way? Is it difficult to make plans because of health concerns? Our short summer has arrived and there could be a lot of great things to do but nagging problems can be detrimental.

With the usual picnics, festivals, and opportunity to be outside many folks are held back. They can't walk too long. They can't tolerate the heat. Events are too crowded. The parking lot is too far away. The bathroom is too far away and the line is too long.

These are not just bothersome things. For people with certain impairments this is their daily life and it forces them to stay home. Isolation and lack of meaningful activity are also important health risks that do not get enough recognition in the health arena.

What's the solution? We can help each other understand what is causing our buckets to wear out. Too many leaks lead to an empty bucket. The body is like a bucket and determining the leaks can help prevent health issues from taking away quality of life.

Chiropractic is a drug free and surgery free healing art that looks at natural ways to combat the stresses that wear away at the spine and eventually lead to damage in the rest of the body. Chiropractic is a great first step to manage stress.

Chronic health issues all start out as slow leaks in the bucket. Slow leaks may not be of concern at first, but a leak is a leak. Even someone driving on low tire pressure knows the tragedy that can be averted with proper intervention.

If someone takes the initiative to alter stress, the level of health achieved can be amazing. A chiropractic evaluation can paint a clear picture of stress effects. The spine not only mirrors what is happening with the rest of the body's organs, the spine itself can also weaken and become its own bad leak in the bucket.

You can take your own assessment of the cricks and cracks when you move. You can look at your posture in a mirror and see a head tilt, high shoulder, and feet rolling outward. A comprehensive chiropractic evaluation can connect the dots between spinal bones and the rest of the body's organs.

Learning to modify stress in one's life is not so easy. I hear many arguments that change is quite a personal challenge. We can all use a weekly adjustment to release built up tension and get back much needed energy so tasks don't seem as daunting.

Don't let stress drain you of your quality of life. I invite you to learn what a chiropractic care plan can do for your health. If you've never been to the chiropractor, put that on your bucket list. You'll enjoy the experience.

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