Chiropractic

1. Chiropractic

1.1 History

In 1877, a man by the name of Harvey Lillard became deaf. He was in a stooped, cramped position, he heard something “pop” in his neck and he was deaf for 18 years. One day in 1895, Dr. D. D. Palmer was called to examine Mr. Lillard. Upon examining the patient, he noticed a large visible bump. He reasoned that if the production of that bump produced deafness, reduction should restore hearing. He pushed the bump, three days in succession, the bump disappeared and hearing was restored.

The more Dr. Palmer examined spines, the more he continued to find abnormal bumps. Some bumps were found on spines of people who were deaf, but most were found on spines of people with other illnesses. When he reduced these bumps, some illnesses, such as heart trouble, stomach trouble, etc., were relieved. Dr. D. D. Palmer believed that spinal bumps were caused by malpositions of
vertebrae, called subluxations. It was believed that the subluxated vertebra occluded the neurocanal, or intervertebral foramen, and impinged on the spinal cord or spinal nerves. Since the nervous system controlled all systems, it was believed that any interference in the nerve impulse was the cause of disease.

Disease originally meant “uneasy, uncomfortable or disturbed.” As medical men began to classify these feelings into symptoms called an illness, disease became an entity, B. J. Palmer (Danial Palmer’s son) liked the term disease. Dis-ease was used to mean “disorganized, or without organization,” and Palmer believed that the cause had to be removed or corrected (adjusted). Chiropractic is defined by B. J. Palmer as follows: “Chiropractic is a philosophy, science and art of things natural; a system of adjusting the segments of the spinal column by hand only, for the correction of the cause of disease.”

1.2 Chiropractic Philosophy

All parts of your body must work together properly to give you physical health. According to Chiropractic philosophy, the common denominator of life or health is proper transmission of nerve energy and the most damaging interference factors where nerve flow affects systems of organization must be corrected.

The primary system of organization is the nervous system. Our whole nervous system was developed to maintain our lives and make activity satisfyingly purposeful. Chiropractors reason that if we accept the premise that the nervous system causes organization, they draw a conclusion: any interference in the nervous system causes disorganization. They reason that any factor which abnormally adds or subtracts impulses to or from the nervous system acts as an interference and causes disorganization. Since the nervous system is so important to the survival of the human organism, they assume that the wisdom of adaptation provides good protection for it. To protect the most sensitive tissues (nerves), the hardest tissue of the body is used (bone).

1.3 Determine the True Cause

Chiropractic treatment is intended to eliminate the cause of a disorder. Upon correction, healing becomes easy. However, chiropractors take a rather narrow view of cause and effect. It is true that there are special cases where adjustments are necessary following injury or trauma. If nerves are being impinged upon due to abnormal pressures on the spinal column, chiropractic adjustments may be
helpful.

Since disease is the result of an accumulation of toxins, chiropractic adjustments may bring temporary relief, but the underlying causes have not been corrected. If illness is caused by unhealthful living practices, then these habits must be corrected and a more healthful lifestyle must be implemented. A straight spine will not produce health if you are eating junk food, smoking cigarettes, not getting enough rest and sleep and doing other things that are wrong.

In some cases, Chiropractic treatment may be helpful, but such therapy will only result in health if all the conditions for health are provided simultaneously.

1.4 Subluxation

A subluxation is the condition of a vertebra that has lost its proper position with the one above or the one below or both. The chiropractor holds that a subluxation is the major nonpathological interference factor found in an unhealthy host that can be corrected by nonsurgical, nonmedical techniques, and is the most common cause of disorganization in the human body.

A rapidly increasing tendency on the part of the Chiropractic research and therapy is to seek the cause of disease in the spinal column and to correct that cause by correcting nerve interference. The spinal column, according to the chiropractor, is being recognized as the seat of more abnormalities than any other part of the body structure, and is being held accountable for an increasing number of manifestations of disease.

Dr. Andrew T. Still founded Osteopathy in 1874 based on the principle that disturbances of the musculoskeletal system may lead to disease and that the treatment of this problem should be manipulation. D. D. Palmer insisted that Chiropractic was different because the manipulation of the chiropractic method was a direct, specific thrust on the processes of the vertebrae for the purpose of correcting nerve interference.

Darald E. Bolin, D.C. states, “Neuromusculoskeletal conditions can be considered those disorders arising from the structural and/or functional alterations of the musculoskeletal connective tissues and their attendant neurological complications.” The condition of a subluxation, he says, is a neuromusculoskeletal condition in itself. Strains or sprains almost always occur in the spinal column at the subluxations. He maintains that if the subluxation is preventing the natural healing of diseased conditions, the treatment of the subluxation is called for.

Chiropractic principle and practice is to adjust, to open occlusion, to release pressure, to restore normal quantity flow between brain and body, that innate intelligence can, does and will rebuild normal rhythmic energy wave flow to re-establish its normal rate of function, sensibility and cell activity, thus restoring a healthy level.