The Dogma of the typical Chiropractic Approach

Every week I am confronted by someone, generally a new patient, who has visited a colleague in the area and was told they needed to be adjusted 3x/week for months. Most often these people complain of the typical pain syndromes involving the usual areas, neck, back etc…These syndromes are not a result of a recent trauma and have no exact cause. There are many marketing tactics out there to lure uninformed individuals into these clinics. Free X-rays, consultation and even the first adjustment will be offered to entice these patients into getting some relief from their condition. Once they are in the door the brain washing begins. "Your spine controls everything and the reason you are not well is because you need Chiropractic care and you need it often". They are told, in addition to Chiropractic Care they also may need therapies such as E-stim., massage, ice, heat packs and if they offer it, physical therapy. Most of the time their care plans and the frequency depends on your insurance or your financial capacity. Also, note, this approach is one of the reasons many insurance plans now are apprehensive about paying for Chiropractic care. This is the standard Chiropractic approach and (in my opinion) one of the main reasons Chiropractic loses it’s credibility with every patient that is sent down this pipeline.

Yes, everyone should be “checked” by an ethical Chiropractor, but not everyone is un-healthy because they don’t have a “built in” Chiropractor. The same goes for Acupuncture, Massage and more. We are not designed to be ill if we don’t have these "professionals" built into our bodies. In Chiropractic College, we were taught that we have an innate ability to heal and yes, we do. Is that innate ability only available if we have a little Chiropractor always looking out for us, sitting on top of our shoulder…? Often times, we do need the help of various modalities to restore our health to a certain baseline, but at some point we should not be in need of constant care. If your routine has not changed and your body is breaking down on a regular basis and requires an adjustment, massage or more all the time then you must dig deeper to figure out why is your body is not coping with your regular stress? Or, if your everyday workout creates pain, pulled muscles, and more there is a deeper mechanism. If your car needed a tune up, even once a month wouldn't it make you wonder? Every time you push on your gas pedal it “stresses” your car. Why does it not break down once a week and skip or run erratically? This is what your body does when it needs help, yet many continue to visit their “natural” approaches and are told they need adjustments, massage, acupuncture only to sidestep the underlying problem.

This is the dogma I rejected long ago. It was that dogma, however, that fueled my desire to reach further and understand the mechanisms involved. Bottom line is, if your body is breaking down under a normal “load”(day to day activity) then you must ask yourself, why? Are you pushing your body too hard? Think of how much work your car would need if you floored it at every stoplight only to slam on the brakes at the next light. Do this every time and see how your car holds up. Probably not well as the same would hold true if you did this to your body by putting too much on it. Your body will only cope with so much stress before it gives up and manifests a pain syndrome or a serious health concern. If your stress is reasonable and you are “breaking down” regularly there is more to the puzzle. Once the basics are met physiologically, you may need some Chiropractic and more to regain your benchmark of health.

This is why we educate and do our best to make it known that there is much more to health/wellness than just treating the symptoms on the surface. Even if it is a alternative/natural approach and there are no side effects you still may be enabling a more serious health concern to rear it’s true form.