benefits of Chiropractic

If you have never visited a chiropractor, you are missing out. Millions of people around the world have experienced the incredible benefits of chiropractic care. One of the best things about chiropractic care is that the process for natural healing is medication-free and surgery-free.

People report that the benefits of chiropractic help improve:

• Back Pain
• Headaches
• Ear Infections
• Neck Pain
• Joint Pain and Arthritis
• Scoliosis
• Asthma
• Blood Pressure
• Healthy Pregnancy
• Organ Function
• Surgery Prevention

There are a lot of misconceptions about chiropractic and how Doctors of Chiropractic are trained. In fact, did you know that many chiropractic programs also incorporate a whole year of advanced doctoral training in nutrition? However, most of the benefits of seeing a Doctor of Chiropractic come from a chiropractic adjustment. Let’s talk about the philosophy, history, and evidence-based research of chiropractic care.

What Chiropractors Believe

Chiropractors are proud to have a natural and medication-free way to help their patients achieve their health goals. The basic principle is essentially the foundation of the entire profession in which our bodies have the incredible innate ability to heal themselves (under the right conditions), and it is the chiropractor’s job to help create an environment to facilitate this task.
Because the nervous system controls the organs and each of its cells in your body, chiropractors focus their attention on the health of your spine to ensure it is properly aligned and, if there are changes, help the spine return to its alignment.

History of Chiropractic Benefits for Deafness

The art of natural healing of chiropractic was first developed by a magnetic healer named D. D. Palmer in 1895. According to the story, it all started when Harvey Lillard – a man who was deaf in one ear – went to see Palmer for his ailment hoping that he had something up his sleeve to cure his deafness.

When Palmer discovered that Lillard had a head injury that preceded his illness, he evaluated his spine and noticed that a vertebra in the upper back seemed completely out of alignment. According to Palmer, “I had a case of a heart problem that was not improving. I examined the spine and found a displaced vertebra that was pressing on the nerves that innervated the heart. I adjusted the vertebra and gave the patient immediate relief – nothing ‘accidental’ or ‘sudden’. Then I began to reason, what if two diseases, as different as a heart problem and deafness, stemming from a pinching or pressure on the nerves, were just another disease due to a similar cause? That was how at that moment the science (knowledge) and the art (adjusting) of Chiropractic was formed.”
Palmer shaped his chiropractic manual therapy technique, which comes from the two Greek words cheiros and praktikos (meaning “with the hands”). Since then, millions of people around the world have benefited from this manual therapy, and some sources trace it back to Hippocrates.

Vertebral Subluxation

At the core of countless stories of chiropractic miracles is a concept known as “vertebral subluxation.” When chiropractors use this phrase, they refer to mechanical compression, irritation of the nerves, and joints of the spine. In the case of Harvey Lillard, the nerves affecting his sense of hearing were compromised, and once D. D. Palmer freed his body from this “neurological insult,” his hearing was restored.

• For others, it may be sciatica
• Or gastrointestinal complaints
• Or (fill in the blank)

When considering how most cells and organs in the body are controlled by nerves that travel through the spinal canal, it’s astonishing to think about how broad the side effects can be!

Why Seek Chiropractic Adjustments?

There are many things that can lead to a vertebral subluxation. Some of the most common causes I have found are as follows:
• A vertebra out of place (“misalignment“) due to a slip or fall (i.e., “Macrotrauma”)
• The entire spine globally misaligned due to poor posture (e.g., “Microtrauma”).
• Joint inflammation caused by damage to the intervertebral disc.
• A inflammatory response caused by a poor diet, lack of pure water, or psychological stress.
• Osteoporosis or degenerative changes in the spine or intervertebral discs.
• Trigger points and tight muscles in the back that pull the vertebrae out of place.
Importance of Posture

The problem we see in Western cultures is our natural habit of sitting all day, which has an impact on our spine. Not to mention our posture! We are glued to our mobile phones, iPads, and laptops.
Too many people live their lives hunched over with their necks jutting out like turtles. Doctors call it “forward head posture” and studies have shown that for every centimeter your head juts out of the true center of gravity, your neck bears 2kg of extra stress. Just think about how common and dangerous this can be for your health!
Through posture assessments, chiropractors regularly observe many of their patients with their heads 5-7.5 centimeters forward, which is an extra 10-15kg of pressure on their necks.

The 10 Best Studies and Research in Chiropractic

Marc Bony, DC