Philosophy of chiropractic and alternative healing.

Often times when people hear that you are going to see a chiropractor, they automatically assume you are suffering with low back pain, sciatica, neck pain, or headaches. Yes, chiropractic care is quite effective in reducing or relieving such symptoms, but that's all they really are, symptoms. This attraction to chiropractic mainly for "fixing" problems misses the best applications of chiropractic and limits many people from getting well, staying well, and suffering less.

The best use of chiropractic in your life is actually preventative instead of reactionary. It's easier to regularly maintain your car rather then constantly fix it when it has broken down, and the human body is similar. It is much easier and much more cost effective to check and change the oil in your car rather than wait for it to start smoking, burn off oil, and eventually blow up. Many of us understand this concept when it comes to our cars, our homes, or other high-ticket items, but we simply forget this when it comes to our bodies. The same goes for our teeth. We are taught to brush and floss them it you want to keep them, and if you don't, you get false teeth, but with our spines it is much different; after all, they don't make fake spines.

Some years ago, Thomas Edison said. "The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease." What a simple way to look at things, a way filled with truth and common sense.

We have gotten away from this way of thinking and caring for our bodies, and instead we have started thinking that we need to add something to our bodies like drugs or medications just to make them function properly, When you go in for heart bypass surgery, the surgeon only fixes the valves of your pump, it is still up to your body to heal after surgery. The basis of chiropractic philosophy is much different from the surgical model, It is rooted in the simple notion that the body is able to heal itself. Chiropractic philosophy has always understood this simple fact: our bodies are so well designed that if you take care of them properly they will not only last you a lifetime, they will also function effortlessly and efficiently, without sacrificing strength, speed, or functioning well into the golden years. All they need is some good nutrition, water, and motion.

The common misconception out there is that chiropractors think they can cure anything. Again far from the truth, because what the public does not understand is that all that chiropractic is good for is to remove the nerve interference from our bodies, which then restores the proper communication lines between our brain and the rest of us. Simply put, our brain is the master computer, it controls everything, from blood pressure to heart rate to digestion to walking, breathing, sleeping, running, standing, jumping, and thinking ... everything. What's even more impressive is the delicacy of our nervous system, made up of the brain, spinal cord, and spinal nerve roots. Two independent research studies have shown the weight of a dime on a spinal nerve root will diminish that nerve root's ability to transmit signals by forty to sixty percent. Those signals are equivalent to life; without them, part of you is not fully alive.

The brain coordinates everything, most of it beneath the level of our awareness, and it sends signals to all organs, muscles, glands, and tissues in order to make things run smoothly. Those signals, or life impulses, can be easily disturbed when you put pressure on the nerve roots or spinal cord. Think about a garden hose with free-flowing water in it. If you step on the garden hose, the water stops, much like the nerve signals stop flowing when mechanical pressure is put on the nerves themselves. Mechanical pressure, you say? Well, like gravity or a fall trip, or slip, or car accident, or poor posture at home or office. Nearly everything we do can potentially cause a problem by putting pressure on a nerve; chiropractors call this pressure subluxation. The easy definition of a subluxation is a minor misalignment or misplacement of the spinal bones (called vertebrae), putting endangering stress on the spinal nerves and spinal cord, which is your lifeline and goes to every part of your body. According to chiropractic, subluxations are responsible for most of the unwanted conditions people suffer with every day because they do not allow our bodies to function properly. Unwanted conditions like asthma, allergies, digestive and reproductive problems, ulcers, colds, skin conditions, aches, pains ... pretty much everything. Now I am not saying that going to a chiropractor will cure any of these things, but by getting a chiropractic adjustment, you boost your immune system and allow your body to function better, thus allowing your body to take care of unwanted conditions faster.

When subluxations occur, and most people have them due to gravity, they cause unwanted stress to have an impact on the delicate spinal tissues and on the spinal bones. These bones, or vertebrae, are responsible for stability and protection of the nervous system. When the stress from subluxations goes unchecked long enough, the results can be devastating. First, it causes the millions of chemical reactions inside our bodies to become diluted causing mental stress, tiredness, achiness, swelling, circulatory and other functional impairments. Then it can start causing stress on the bones surrounding the nerves, which doctors call arthritis or bone spurs or disc degeneration. When this occurs, the body may have permanent impairments depending on where the degeneration impacts the delicate nerves. Once this occurs it will cause extra stress to the body and make it much more difficult for the body to function perfectly.

One thing to remember is the simple fact that this is all preventable. If you take care of your body from an early age, these preventable diseases like arthritis are much less likely to plague you. It's much easier to maintain good health and functioning rather than trying to regain it. It takes very little energy for things to go bad, and tremendous amounts to regain the good green-light status.

Amazing. Our bodies were designed perfectly to function perfectly. By adding high-test fuel, our bodies perform better. Ignore your health and it will go away.

By Dr Mark Szostczuk, DC

Dr. Mark Szostczuk can be reached at his office at 828-274-1122. He earned his DC degree in March 2000 and has been in private practice in Asheville, NC since December 2001. Dr. Mark focuses on using posture when evaluating and creating custom treatment plans based on the Chiropractic Bio-Physics (CBP) spinal evaluation system.