Many people who I meet in the community ask “What is the difference between chiropractic and medicine?” The difference is very simple, but in order to appropriately discuss this topic, it is important to understand that chiropractic is completely different from medicine.
Chemistry and Structure
The human body is a whole unit, and operates as one fine-tuned machine. There are no parts of the body that work independently, but if you had to separate the body into divisions, they would include body chemistry and body structure.
Examples of body chemistry would include water, urine, blood, hormones and enzymes.
Examples of body structure would include bones, muscles, joints, alignment and posture.
A major concept to understand is that a chemical cause needs to be corrected with a chemical solution and a structural cause needs to be corrected with a structural solution.
An example of a chemical problem would be if the body is not producing the right amounts of insulin or thyroid hormone. These would need to be addressed medically, with medicine, by a medic. A medical doctor is a physician who is licensed to prescribe medication.
An example of a structural problem would be crooked teeth, uneven hips or a bone out of alignment in the spine. These would need to be addressed structurally. If your child had crooked teeth, what would your reaction be if the dentist said that a drug would be needed to straighten them out? You would probably wonder how in the world a chemical is going to align a structural problem.
Chiropractic’s Role
Chiropractic is the science which is concerned with the relationship between the spine and nerve system, and how that relationship affects your health. Chiropractic does not use drugs, surgery or needles. It is completely different from medicine. It is a health care approach designed to remove the cause of your problems instead of masking the symptoms with drugs.
The symptoms in your body such as pain, numbness, tingling and headaches were never meant to be masked, numbed, adapted to or ignored. Symptoms are the way your body gets your attention. Behind every symptom is a cause. Behind every cause is an opportunity to improve your overall health. Only eliminating symptoms is similar to drying a floor that is getting wet from a water leak, but not fixing the leak itself. The true cause of the problem is not repaired.
How Does Chiropractic Work?
Your NERVE system controls EVERY function in your body. It controls all of your muscles, tissues and internal organs. Minor interruptions to the nerve system cause malfunction. Major interruptions to the nerve system cause paralysis and death. Since all of your nerves originate from the spinal cord, spinal bone misalignments are a common cause of nerve interference (interruption).
A spinal bone that has shifted out of its normal position resulting in nerve pressure is called a subluxation. The subluxation is a structural displacement that cannot be corrected with drugs. Just like our example above, misaligned teeth get braces, not drugs. Getting your spine checked for subluxations may be the single most beneficial thing you can do to assure your own good health.
Common symptoms originating from one or multiple spinal subluxations may include:
If you have a spine, it should be checked for subluxations. This applies to everyone, from infants to the elderly. Many would choose chiropractic first, before drugs or surgery, if they understood how the body works and how a healthy spine relates to better health. Give chiropractic a chance. Find out why millions of people have benefited from chiropractic for more than 125 years.
Your health is truly your responsibility. It is not something that you can take for granted, and it is not something that someone else can do for you. Please call for an appointment today and find out that chiropractic is the gentle, safe, natural health care you’ve been seeking for lasting health. Best of all, CHIROPRACTIC WORKS!!
Sincerely,
David N. Steinberg, D.C.