I get asked a lot about what chiropractic is, what it does, how it works, etc. In his recent blog post, Freehold, NJ Chiropractor, Russell Brokstein shares what chiropractors have fondly referred to as, "The Chiropractic Story".
As he relates in the article, the critical elements of The Chiropractic Story are:
1. The Nervous System (which includes your brain, your spinal cord, all the nerves that emanate from the spine) controls every organ and tissue in your body. It is this system which regulates all the critical functions required for you to survive.
2. In order for survival to occur at it's optimum level, in other words, in order for once to be healthy and to truly thrive, rather than just get by while on a path of gradually increasing disability, this system needs to be unencumbered by interference of any kind. Your nervous system has to have clear channels of communication with every organ and tissue, unimpeded by major or minor blockages.
3. Misalignments in the spine can create irritation to these delicate nerves, and interfere with that clear communication. In this way, nerve stress manifests as changes in all the tissues in the vicinity of that misalignment, all the tissues downstream which are directly innervated by the nerves that emanate from that spinal level, and this WILL lead to a cascade of events that has the potential of negatively affecting the health and function of organ systems that rely on proper efficient function of the affected tissues and nerves. Recognizing that the organism that is our body has no extra parts, it is obvious that all organ systems rely on all others and consequently, failure in one will eventually degrade all the others, either directly or indirectly.
4. Health is only achievable through a properly functioning nervous system. These stressors, misalignments, irritations are called subluxations. Subluxations are, by definition, impediments to proper nerve function and should be resolved. Chiropractors are the only primary care physicians that are trained to detect and correct subluxation. Chiropractic is also the only primary health care approach that does not rely on drugs or surgery to facilitate the recovery of health.
The Rest of the Chiropractic Story (with references to the corresponding numbered elements above):
Dr. DD Palmer was the one who first developed the therapeutic strategy of adjusting specific spinal vertebrae for the express purpose of relieving pressure or stress on the nerves that emanate from that portion of the spine. DD Palmer's son, Dr. BJ Palmer first referred to this classic explanation of chiropractic as "The Chiropractic Story". BJ Palmer bears most of the credit for the development of the profession now known as Chiropractic.,
With that background, and considering that it has beem nearly 113 years since the first chiropractic adjustment in Davenport, IA it is entirely understandable that a lot has been learned about anatomy, physiology and the therapeutic benefits of the chiropractic adjustment. I will not try to deliver that entire body of scientific knowledge here, but I would like to identify a few directions in which this story has developed in the last 112 years...
1. We know that there is an automatic nervous system that is entirely voluntary requiring no conscious monitoring in order to function. This is called the Autonomic Nervous System and includes two subsets called the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous Systems. With injury, we will often get into a hyper-sympathetic state, created an imbalance in that normal interplay with the parasympathetic system. This affects immuncehealing, cardiovascular function, sleep patterns, pain perception, and mental clarity, to mention a few. Studies have demonstrated a decrease in sympathetic dominance with the delivery of chiropractic care.
We also have gained a better understanding that our system of glands and hormones are an extension of our nervous system that was not appreciated early in the history of chiropractic. The secretion of hormones are directly controlled by nerves from the central nervous system which act in response to the needs of the organism perceived through communication by way of feedback again, by nerves. So we now better understand that nerves are utilized for short acting immediate actions while hormones are released into the bloodstream to affect changes that are longer lasting (ie. hours to days instead of miliseconds to minutes). This led to a better understanding of the benefits of chiropractic adjustments in hormone-influenced functions such as sleep, reproduction, immune response, etc.
2. It is clear that there is no way to have absolutely no interference. That is impossible. On the other hand, leaving a source of interference in place without simple efforts to minimize it, manage it, mitigate it in some way can only serve to have the situation snowball to the point at which it becomes unmanageable. If you have ever had a low engine oil light come on in your vehicle, you know that 1) cars consume oil and so this is not cause for panic, but that 2) it is very important that oil should be replenished immediately in order for continued proper operation. Would you ever consider not putting oil in just because teh engine still sounds good, starts just as easily, accelerates with great power, and every other function of the car seems unaffected by the low oil level? Of course not. You know, either from your own experience or the wisdom passed to you from others that ignoring the oil light will lead to catastrophic failure of the engine, possibly without any further warning. And, if you listened, you will understand that sometimes the oil light doesn't work, so, really, you should manually check your oil every time you get gas.
Do you rely on your body any less that your vehicle? Does it make sense to wait for symptoms of pathology or sickness to occur before you maintain your body? The central nervous system is so important and yet so delicate that it is the only organ system completely enclosed in bone (the cranium and spine). Since this is the computer that runs the whole system, don't you think those structures deserve at least some maintenance for proper function? You maintain your teeth. You maintain your car. This is obvious stuff, right?
3. We have discovered that misalignments absolutely do exist. Irritations and their influences do exist. But these are also controlled by your nervous system. Chiropractors absolutely do affect alignment, but not by simply restacking the blocks (vertebrae) of your spine. The effect of the adjustment is by way of neurological (data, information, impulse) input to the central nervous system by way of sensory receptors in joints and other body tissues. Your alignment does change, but it is not simply putting a bone back into place. This is not a procedure like taking a pill or undergoing a surgical procedure. What the chiropractor does is best described as a "soft reset" on your computer. With the gentle, specific, and safe input of a chiropractic adjustment, we wipe away all the misplaced 0's and 1's that have your system spinning around in a fog and allow your brain to take new inventory of your body's state and of the influence of your environment and reset the 0's where 0's should be and the 1's where the 1's should be so that, over the next 12 to 24 hours a new strategy, that is current, appropriate and accurate, is in place to allow you to jump the hurdles that remain to the absolute healthiest function you can attain.
4. This one is simple and it remains true as ever. For most of the 112 years all the other health care professions denied what we do. Now, they are beginning to recognize the absolute pure truth of the concept that was discovered first by the CHIROPRACTIC PROFESSION; that our bodies heal themselves... we have all the drugs we need, we have all the tools we need... inborn. We simply need to maintain our bodies properly. So as the PT's and MD's and who knows who else fall over themselves to try to claim proficiency at "spinal manipulation", the truth is that they still don't understand how to determine where to adjust or why... They still think it is a "pill". And it doesn't work that way. Only chiropractors are trained to detect and correct subluxations.
As he relates in the article, the critical elements of The Chiropractic Story are:
1. The Nervous System (which includes your brain, your spinal cord, all the nerves that emanate from the spine) controls every organ and tissue in your body. It is this system which regulates all the critical functions required for you to survive.
2. In order for survival to occur at it's optimum level, in other words, in order for once to be healthy and to truly thrive, rather than just get by while on a path of gradually increasing disability, this system needs to be unencumbered by interference of any kind. Your nervous system has to have clear channels of communication with every organ and tissue, unimpeded by major or minor blockages.
3. Misalignments in the spine can create irritation to these delicate nerves, and interfere with that clear communication. In this way, nerve stress manifests as changes in all the tissues in the vicinity of that misalignment, all the tissues downstream which are directly innervated by the nerves that emanate from that spinal level, and this WILL lead to a cascade of events that has the potential of negatively affecting the health and function of organ systems that rely on proper efficient function of the affected tissues and nerves. Recognizing that the organism that is our body has no extra parts, it is obvious that all organ systems rely on all others and consequently, failure in one will eventually degrade all the others, either directly or indirectly.
4. Health is only achievable through a properly functioning nervous system. These stressors, misalignments, irritations are called subluxations. Subluxations are, by definition, impediments to proper nerve function and should be resolved. Chiropractors are the only primary care physicians that are trained to detect and correct subluxation. Chiropractic is also the only primary health care approach that does not rely on drugs or surgery to facilitate the recovery of health.
The Rest of the Chiropractic Story (with references to the corresponding numbered elements above):
Dr. DD Palmer was the one who first developed the therapeutic strategy of adjusting specific spinal vertebrae for the express purpose of relieving pressure or stress on the nerves that emanate from that portion of the spine. DD Palmer's son, Dr. BJ Palmer first referred to this classic explanation of chiropractic as "The Chiropractic Story". BJ Palmer bears most of the credit for the development of the profession now known as Chiropractic.,
With that background, and considering that it has beem nearly 113 years since the first chiropractic adjustment in Davenport, IA it is entirely understandable that a lot has been learned about anatomy, physiology and the therapeutic benefits of the chiropractic adjustment. I will not try to deliver that entire body of scientific knowledge here, but I would like to identify a few directions in which this story has developed in the last 112 years...
1. We know that there is an automatic nervous system that is entirely voluntary requiring no conscious monitoring in order to function. This is called the Autonomic Nervous System and includes two subsets called the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous Systems. With injury, we will often get into a hyper-sympathetic state, created an imbalance in that normal interplay with the parasympathetic system. This affects immuncehealing, cardiovascular function, sleep patterns, pain perception, and mental clarity, to mention a few. Studies have demonstrated a decrease in sympathetic dominance with the delivery of chiropractic care.
We also have gained a better understanding that our system of glands and hormones are an extension of our nervous system that was not appreciated early in the history of chiropractic. The secretion of hormones are directly controlled by nerves from the central nervous system which act in response to the needs of the organism perceived through communication by way of feedback again, by nerves. So we now better understand that nerves are utilized for short acting immediate actions while hormones are released into the bloodstream to affect changes that are longer lasting (ie. hours to days instead of miliseconds to minutes). This led to a better understanding of the benefits of chiropractic adjustments in hormone-influenced functions such as sleep, reproduction, immune response, etc.
2. It is clear that there is no way to have absolutely no interference. That is impossible. On the other hand, leaving a source of interference in place without simple efforts to minimize it, manage it, mitigate it in some way can only serve to have the situation snowball to the point at which it becomes unmanageable. If you have ever had a low engine oil light come on in your vehicle, you know that 1) cars consume oil and so this is not cause for panic, but that 2) it is very important that oil should be replenished immediately in order for continued proper operation. Would you ever consider not putting oil in just because teh engine still sounds good, starts just as easily, accelerates with great power, and every other function of the car seems unaffected by the low oil level? Of course not. You know, either from your own experience or the wisdom passed to you from others that ignoring the oil light will lead to catastrophic failure of the engine, possibly without any further warning. And, if you listened, you will understand that sometimes the oil light doesn't work, so, really, you should manually check your oil every time you get gas.
Do you rely on your body any less that your vehicle? Does it make sense to wait for symptoms of pathology or sickness to occur before you maintain your body? The central nervous system is so important and yet so delicate that it is the only organ system completely enclosed in bone (the cranium and spine). Since this is the computer that runs the whole system, don't you think those structures deserve at least some maintenance for proper function? You maintain your teeth. You maintain your car. This is obvious stuff, right?
3. We have discovered that misalignments absolutely do exist. Irritations and their influences do exist. But these are also controlled by your nervous system. Chiropractors absolutely do affect alignment, but not by simply restacking the blocks (vertebrae) of your spine. The effect of the adjustment is by way of neurological (data, information, impulse) input to the central nervous system by way of sensory receptors in joints and other body tissues. Your alignment does change, but it is not simply putting a bone back into place. This is not a procedure like taking a pill or undergoing a surgical procedure. What the chiropractor does is best described as a "soft reset" on your computer. With the gentle, specific, and safe input of a chiropractic adjustment, we wipe away all the misplaced 0's and 1's that have your system spinning around in a fog and allow your brain to take new inventory of your body's state and of the influence of your environment and reset the 0's where 0's should be and the 1's where the 1's should be so that, over the next 12 to 24 hours a new strategy, that is current, appropriate and accurate, is in place to allow you to jump the hurdles that remain to the absolute healthiest function you can attain.
4. This one is simple and it remains true as ever. For most of the 112 years all the other health care professions denied what we do. Now, they are beginning to recognize the absolute pure truth of the concept that was discovered first by the CHIROPRACTIC PROFESSION; that our bodies heal themselves... we have all the drugs we need, we have all the tools we need... inborn. We simply need to maintain our bodies properly. So as the PT's and MD's and who knows who else fall over themselves to try to claim proficiency at "spinal manipulation", the truth is that they still don't understand how to determine where to adjust or why... They still think it is a "pill". And it doesn't work that way. Only chiropractors are trained to detect and correct subluxations.
Edward Harriott, DC
Mission Viejo Chiropractic
24896 Chrisanta Dr. #120
Mission Viejo, CA 92691
(949)360-1112
If you want to reach more from Dr. Brokstein's Freehold Chiropractic blog, fee free to visit it. If you need a chiropractor in Freehold, NJ, you can find him at:
Hometown Family Wellness Center
9 Broadway
Freehold, NJ 07728
(732)780-0044
