Why do you get adjusted? I think most people would say some semblance of: to feel better and/or function better. Basically: I want to do what I need/want to do and I don’t want to hurt doing it. This makes sense, mostly because chiropractic is really good at pain relief (like, REALLY good). For example Blue cross/Blue shield of Tennessee looked at 60,000 of their insurance holders who had low back pain. Long story, short: people who initiated care with a chiropractor vs a MD, had better results and less cost. So, yeah, I get why you’d seek a chiro for when you feel bad. Here’s the thing, at Crossroads you’ll learn that we want you to feel good, but we aren’t going to stop there. To stop there is to miss the point of chiropractic and that would kill us if we didn’t convey the bigger picture to you. So what’s the bigger picture? I think it’s found in three levels…
Level 1: Understanding pain is a poor metric for health. So we want to stop using pain as a marker for whether or not you’re well. Frankly, you can a lot of pain and it not be that serious (paper cut, stubbing a toe, etc) or you can have NO pain and it can be very serious (certain cancers, heart disease, high blood pressure, etc). If you only say, “i feel good, so I must be good” health issues can be missed. For this reason, we don’t adjust for symptoms, but for subluxations. Remember: a subluxation can be painful or asymptomatic.
Level 2: What’s a subluxation? This is when a spinal bone deviates from its normal position. This causes two kinds of disturbances: biomechanical and neurological. Biomechanically, a spinal joint that doesn’t move correctly begins to get damaged and wear out at an accelerated rate. The surrounding muscles and ligaments, function incorrectly, increasing the possibility of injuries and damage. Neurologically, the spine houses the spinal cord. The spinal cord has nerves that bud directly off it. These nerve roots exit the spinal column through small holes between the spinal bones. Basically, the brain communicates with and controls all body systems by using this nerve system. When a person gets a subluxation this interferes with the brains ability to do its job, and thus diminishes health.
Level 3: So what’s the point? The point of chiropractic is this: adjust the spine, to remove subluxations, so that the mechanics of the spine work normally/effectively and the brain can fully control/order/and operate all the systems of the body. This is the meat of chiropractic. This is the steak dinner, pain relief is cool, but its just the appetizer. In short, if we remove the subluxations, the body can take care of itself. This is why we say: chiropractic, because the body heals itself.
Ultimately, this is why we are so passionate about chiropractic. We believe that it is the best way to safely and effectively improve your whole health. So when a person is feeling better and no longer has pain, and begins to wonder if they should keep getting adjusted, you can see why we answering with a resounding, yes! If you intend to still work, play, live – then you will get subluxations again. They may hurt or they may not. But even if they don’t hurt, they will damage your health, and your body’s ability to maintain itself. This is why, we will always prefer to check you for subluxations and not for pain. By the time pain has arrived, the damage is already happening, You get one body, be smart, be preventative, and be subluxation free with chiropractic.
In Health, Dr. Graham
