Everyone’s heard of chiropractic! you say. There’s like ten chiropractic clinics just on my street alone yo’, why are you talking about this like it’s something no one’s ever heard of? The truth is, I’m not worried about whether people can say, spell, have heard of, or have been to a chiropractor. What I wanna know is… do you know what chiropractic is? Can you tell me the basic claims of a chiropractor? What he/she does, or thinks he’s doing to you when he gives you an adjustment, and how he believes that what he’s doing is helping you? (forgive the masculine pronoun, chiropractors can be women too, people). When you go to your chiropractor, do you know why you are spending money on his services? When you dismiss chiropractic as quackery, “fake medicine”, or just not a service worthy of your beloved dollar, do you actually have a legit reason for dismissing it, based on what you know to be true about it’s services?
The sad reality is sobering: a good honkin majority of people who say “oh yeah, chiropractic I swear by it” or “chiropractic, ha, that’s fake medicine, a bunch of trolling wannabe doctors” , can’t even tell you the basics of what chiropractic claims. Get this: there are even licensed medical doctors and healthcare practitioners of all different varieties that will bash and dismiss chiropractic on bases that have nothing to do with what chiropractic even does/claims, or will demonstrate massive misunderstandings of the procedures that chiropractors actually do perform!
Lemme give you a perfect example.
H. Doyle Taylor, former director of the department of investigations for the American Medical Association, during his deposition in the lawsuit against the AMA, and his involvement in trying to “contain and eliminate” the profession of chiropractic, admitted: “I didn’t know anything about chiropractic when I went to the AMA, I didn’t know a chiropractor from an antelope”.
I know, I need my mandible adjusted too, after that. A guy who (if you research any of his claims) vehemently preached against the profession of chiropractic was entirely clueless as to what chiropractic is at all. My point, and challenge to you is this: if you go to a chiropractor, AWESOME, but you should know what the service is really all about if you are investing your money in it. And more importantly, if you are anti-chiropractic, please have a reason.. a good reason, basing your disagreements securely on what chiropractic actually claims, and does.
Before I set the record straight by simply defining for you what chiropractic is, I wanna squash a few myths regarding what chiropractic it is not.
Myth #1: Chiropractic is “fake medicine”.
Actually this statement is true. Reason being that chiropractic has nothing to do with medicine! Wait.. but you said chiropractors are doctors, right? So what gives? Yes, chiropractors are doctors, meaning they have a professional, doctorate degree in chiropractic (which explains the D.C. after their names, standing for “doctor of chiropractic”). If someone can don the title “doctor” it is because they have earned a doctorate degree in what ever discipline the degree was offered in. Chiropractors are rightfully called “doctors”, but they certainly are not medical doctors. Medical doctors receive their doctorate in medicine, for which they rightfully earn the title “medical doctor” and thus the letters M.D. after their names.
Furthermore, Chiropractic philosophy and the philosophy which serves as the foundation of conventional/allopathic medicine, have absolutely critical, fundamental differences concerning the healing arts, sickness and dis-ease, and believe it or not, the substance of life itself. I will expound on these key differences in future posts you won’t wanna miss. But for now, know this: Chiropractic is not, and does not seek to be, classified as medicine.
Myth #2: Chiropractic training is a joke.
If one considers the rigorous academic program that comprises a chiropractor’s professional training, it will be easy to understand why chiropractors are definitely deserving of the title “doctor”. Here is a table (follow the link below) that gives a concise breakdown of the minimum credit hour requirements in key health sciences, compared between chiropractic school and medical school programs. This is brought to you by Dr. Grisanti, the medical detective http://www.yourmedicaldetective.com/drgrisanti/mddc.htm.
The truth is that chiropractors receive very solid, thorough training in the health/biological sciences. As the table demonstrates, many of the core aspects of health science are actually focused on a lot stronger in chiropractic college as compared to medical school (e.g. Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Diagnosis etc)!
Myth #3: Chiropractic is not scientific.
Anyone who truly does their research knows that this claim is untrue. All one has to do is search in any database containing peer reviewed scientific medical literature and they will find documentation on studies that promote the safety, efficacy, and scientific veracity of various aspects of chiropractic (e.g. Dynamed, EBSCOhost, PubMed, MANTIS database, Medscape, etc). Now, with that said it is important to understand that chiropractic does not enjoy the same favored position in academia, or as close association with deep pocketed monetary giants as conventional medicine does (e.g. the pharmaceutical industry). Therefore, funding for research in chiropractic is greatly outdone by that which is made available to the programs of conventional medicine. What this means is that research could be a lot stronger, if given the right opportunities. Chiropractic research teams are already getting stronger and working around the clock, so you can be sure that it will only get better as time goes on. Perhaps the coolest thing about chiropractic research, is that medical science seems to be publishing more and more literature bringing about “new findings” in research that supports what chiropractic has been teaching all along. More on this in future posts!
So what is chiropractic?
We’ll break it down real smooth. I’ll spare you the complicated textbook jargon and give it to you straight. Chiropractic is a healing art/science/philosophy that focuses on the health of the whole human body, by emphasizing the necessity of integrity (proper functionality) within it’s primary structural component (the spine) and it’s primary control component (the nervous system). Chiropractic operates under the scientific premise that the body, at all levels of organization, works together to maintain the homeostatic balance of the whole organism. This is the recognition that the body is self regulatory, and self healing. Therefore, the greatest healer is truly within the capacities of the human body itself, and the role of the health care provider is to facilitate the natural processes of the human body that lead to it’s ability to heal and thrive.
Let’s talk a little anatomy to give you a solid picture (don’t worry, I’ll be gentle). The spinal column (bones of the spine) enclose and protect the spinal cord. The spinal cord, connected to the brain, makes up the CNS (central nervous system). The CNS through the PNS (peripheral nervous system, nerves that go out from the brain/spinal cord to the rest of the body) control and coordinate every tissue, cell, and organ in the body (whether directly or indirectly).
In other words, in order for your heart to beat, your lungs to breathe, the organ systems of your body to function correctly, there needs to be that vital connection to the command and control center (the brain), and it’s the nervous system that allows this connection to happen. Without your nervous system.. you’d be destroyed.
So why do they crack my back? Well, this is where the spine/nervous system relationship comes in. The spine encloses the spinal cord (CNS), and it’s meant to protect it from trauma. It performs this function really well. The problem is that when we roll through the punches of living life in this world, we experience traumas, toxins, and all sorts of other insults that rock our bodies to the core. It isn’t hard for the bones of the spinal column to become misaligned, and as a unit, go into mechanical breakdown. When this happens, the bones of the spine, being out of place, now impinge and compress the nervous tissue of the cord (whether directly or because of inflammation found among joint surfaces). This phenomenon is known as “spinal subluxation complex”. Subluxation, referring to the misaligned spine impinging the anatomy of the spinal cord.
This is where the bigger issue lies. When the nerve trunks of the spinal cord become impinged, it creates interference in that nerve complex’s ability to transmit information to the organ systems throughout the body, that it supplies. Therefore, it’s ability to connect that organ system to the brain, is now greatly effected, in a negative way.
Because the nervous system controls the organ systems of the body, interference in the nervous system’s ability to communicate because of misaligned spinal bones compressing it in various locations along the cord, directly affects the ability of the related organ systems of the body to function properly.
The role of the chiropractor, is to restore the structural integrity of the spine, putting it back into it’s normal anatomical position restoring normal range of motion, and thus relieving the compression off of the nervous system, and therefore restoring the nervous system’s ability to maintain a full, unimpeded connection between brain and then rest of body.
Chiropractic is about health. Notice how I didn’t say chiropractic is about disease. Medicine, is about disease. I plan on amply demonstrating these key differences in future posts. Chiropractic, therefore, doesn’t treat disease. If you have a cold, an upset stomach, an ear ache, or perhaps a more serious condition like cancer, MS, or ulcerative colitis, your chiropractor won’t be treating you for these conditions.
But let me ask you something: If your nervous system is free of interference, and thus your body is able to coordinate and regain control over it’s natural healing processes and establish internal balance.. do you think these conditions will have room to thrive in your body? I agree.. no they won’t.
Hating on chiropractic, and loving on chiropractic are your rights as free people. But let’s be consistent and love or hate chiropractic on basis of what it is, not on basis of what it is not.
The Biomechanic.
The Biomechanic 