Chiropractic and Quality of Life

http://www.jvsr.com/index.asp

There have been some great studies over the years on Chiropractic and Quality of Life.  I stumbled across this reference, and thought about the simple approach to health that we take in the chiropractic health model, and how that simple approach is still the absolute most effective.

“A study published in The Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research in August 2004 shows that a healthy spinal column can improve posture, reduce stress and increases range of motion when performing various exercises. People who undergo regular chiropractic treatment sessions may also take better care of themselves by exercising regularly, getting enough sleep and making healthy nutritional choices that also improve the quality of life (Source: ChiropracticResearch.org).  Here’s a close look at some of the key benefits of regular chiropractic treatment:

1. Natural way to reduce stress. Chiropractic treatments can help to improve nervous system functioning which in turn helps minimize the effects of stress. When someone is suffering from poor nerve function, stress buildup can be significant enough to trigger migraines, headaches, joint pain and extreme anxiety.  Sustained stress on the nervous system leads to hormonal dysregulation, immuno-compromise and secondary diseases such as cancer.

2. Improves posture. A better posture encourages better breathing patterns which helps keep the energy flowing throughout the body. Better posture also minimizes the risk of upper and lower back pain, joint problems and fatigue.  In addition, there are numerous studies linking postural degeneration to heart disease, and degenerative conditions of the spinal cord.  Together, these effects will improve quality of life.

3. Increased joint flexibility and mobility. Regular chiropractic treatments can improve range of motion and thereby encourage physical activity. This reduces the chances that someone will maintain a sedentary lifestyle, and regular exercise or physical activity can improve quality of life overall.

4. Promotes natural healing. One of the most significant outcomes of chiropractic treatment is that the body can begin to restore itself naturally. An impaired nervous system often leads to injury and damage to the tissues and joints. Any type of spinal misalignment can contribute to the deterioration of the body, so chiropractic adjustments reduce this risk and promote the natural healing process. This means that a patient may not need to resort to prescription drugs and medication just to feel better, thereby improving their quality of life.

5. Reduces blood pressure. Improved nervous system functioning can improve blood and energy flow throughout the body, which in turn can reduce blood pressure. High blood pressure can contribute to a number of health problems and diseases, and may be difficult to control as the patient ages. Regular chiropractic treatments can reduce blood pressure naturally, which means the patient may not need to resort to medication in order to improve their health.

Simple and to the point, this is why chiropractic works”

So as I said in the beginning, the simple approach is what makes sense.  And we will continue to teach chiropractic for its life giving qualities, the improvement on healing and immune system capacity.

If you have a child, spouse or parent living nearby who has not been checked, you owe it to yourself and them, to get them through the doors to ahve their spine checked.  It is that important, and silent subluxations do not sleep.  Hope you enjoyed the reminder of why you come here!

Chiropractic Revisited

Dr. Levi

Occasionally a patient might think, “If chiropractic was so important, how come it wasn’t around hundreds of years ago? What did people do back then?” Well, it has been. It may not have been as scientific (neither was medicine) but forms of manipulation have been around since the beginning of recorded time.

1. Chinese Kong Fou Document written about 2700 B.C. is the earliest indications

2. A Greek papyrus dating back to at least 1500 B.C. gave instructions on how to maneuver the extremities to relieve low back pain.

3. Ancient American Indian hieroglyphics demonstrated “backwalking”

4. Some Indian tribes used manipulative therapy

5. Tissue manipulation was practiced by the ancient Japanese, Indians of Asia, as well as the Egyptians, Babylonians, Syrians, Hindus, and Tibetans

The famous surgeon, Sir James Paget, wrote in the British Medical Journal January 5, 1865, an article entitled, “Cases that Bonesetters Cure.” He reflected on the economic threat these bonesetters were to medical doctors when he wrote, “Few of you are likely to practice without a bonesetter for a rival; and if he can cure a case which you have failed to cure, his fortune may be made and yours marred. Learn then to imitate what is good and avoid what is bad in the practice of bonesetters.”

Hippocrates, who lived between  460B.C. – 357B.C., wrote over 70 books on healing including, Manipulation and Importance to Good Health and On Setting joints by Leverage. He said “Get knowledge of the spine, for this is the requisite for many diseases.” He stressed the importance of rest, fresh air, sun light, proper diet, exercise in moderation, cleanliness, tissue manipulation, and minimum usage of drugs.

Claudius Galen 130 to 200 A.D. was given the title “Prince of Physicians” after he corrected the paralysis of the right hand of Eudemus by treating his neck, apparently by adjusting the neck vertebrae. Galen, like Hippocrates, said  “Look to the nervous system as the key to maximum health.”

The Bible- The importance of massage procedures for maximum beauty and health are emphasized in the  Book of Esther.

The importance of cleanliness in both physical and moral well-being is mentioned over 200 times in the Bible. Cleanliness of water, food, clothing, bathing, and proper latrine methods are stressed. The Book of Leviticus stresses these measures with leprosy and veneral disease, and cautions against omens and magic.

Current medical literature will tell you that medical science has increased the longevity of people in recent years. The credibility of that statement is challenged by the fact that the life expectancy during Biblical times is given in the Bible as “three score and ten”- which is 70 years of age. Thus people are not living much longer today than they did in the Holy land 2,000 years ago.  However, the people of Biblical times observed proper hygienic  and sanitary measures.

With the fall of the Roman Empire and through the dark ages that followed, proper hygiene and sanitation became nonexistent. Ignorance, pestilence, and filth prevailed while logic and science took a back seat. Great masses of people died and, of course, longevity took a severe drop, too.

The physicians of the middle ages did not perform surgery, considered it beneath their dignity, and felt it belonged to the barber or executioner.

Ironically, the principles of proper hygiene and sanitation as taught in the Bible, were ignored until the turn of this century. These basic principles were rejected and violated by the physicians, many of whom would condemn anyone who tried to tell them otherwise.

Thus it was not any miracle pill which restored our longevity back to the Biblical days, but proper public health and sanitation measures.

Why we adjust…

We see a lot of patients in our office, for a lot of different reasons.  Well, they come for a lot of different reasons I should say.  We actually see them for only one reason, and that would include you… one reason.  Though there might be thousands of possible complaint variations: I have headaches, I have neck pain, I have TMJ, irritable bowel, indigestion, low back pain, etc.  There is only one cause for treatment in our office, subluxation.

It is important to put this out, because even though you might visit us for any of the above reasons above, that is not why we adjust.  Subluxation – the misalignment of your vertebrae, in such a fashion that there is interference with nerve flow… better described as the flow of life.  So if the flow of life is interrupted, then wouldn’t it seem as though there were much worse consequences than back pain?  So when you walk in the room, and you say “my back still hurts”, or “I slipped and fell, and now my neck hurts”.  You are often trying to relay “I have a pain, can you fix it”… to which my response would be, “no, your pain is of little concern to me, however let me see if that pain is being caused by a distrubance in the very flow of life that keeps your hody working, and let me see if it appears to be something that I can help improve”.

We adjust you to save your life.  Does it need saving?  Perhaps not in the short term, but if you live for any length of time with an interference in the messages that your brain is sending to your heart per se.  It won’t be long until that heart displays effects of the lack of communication.  Weakening in the valve function leading to murmurs, disruption in the accelerator nerves, causing palpatations… and over time a general weakness in cellular replication leading to tissue disease, atrophy and death.

Though you might have pain between your shoulders, I am going to adjust you to save your life.  It would be easy for me to fall into the pain model, and to focus on what adjustment you might need to feel better.  But what if I forget about the area that has been shown to have dysfunction… how long can we avoid it and hope to be doing the right thing.  Subluxation doesn’t sleep.  Time and aging move forward, so without full healing traveling through your nervous system, it is only time before we realize the error of not aggressively pursuing wellness for your spine.

We have seen both in our office, and through chiropractic published research, that the longer someone has been under chiropractic care, the better off they are.  Both in how they feel, and how they function.  One such study tested serum thiol levels (a hormone that repairs DNA, which basically means an anti-aging hormone).  In this study they found that the highest levels of DNA repairing thiols existed in people who had been chiropractic patients regularly for seven plus years.  Makes me think I should get all of my patients to commit to seven years of care before they could possibly be released!

I want to push a bunch of testimonials your way over the next few weeks, as we work towards clearly defining for you, our true role in your health.  If you have a great chiropractic story, please let us know.  Likewise, if you are looking for a great story, let us know.  If you are being led by an MD towards medication or surgery… of any kind, please let us know.  We can help.  You know, I think back to the 40 plus women who were told they would not have baby’s, or that it would be really hard, who became pregnant after our care.  The interesting thing is that only about 15% if them came to see if we could help them get pregnant, yet it worked in those who weren’t even expeciting a benefit.

Over time, health improves from what we do, period.  It isn’t about you, it is about your ability to be what you were designed to be.  Your symptoms, and the focus on them, only gets in the way.  Let’s see you through to the healthiest you ever in 2011!!