Last week I was blessed with the opportunity to share in chiropractic history. A local woman, whose father had been a graduate of Palmer College of Chiropractic, was cleaning out the basement of her parent’s home. She invited me over to view some of his things, much of which was absolute treasure to me. You can see a rare old oil painting of B.J. Palmer (the Developer of Chiropractic) now hanging by table number one in our Pembroke office! Seeing the old photographs, textbooks and diplomas made me reflect on my profession’s roots. Many chiropractors have left the “old ways” behind in exchange for new gadgets, electronic healing methods and new ways to bill your insurance company. At Crossroads we strive to keep the main thing the main thing. We adjust your spine by hand to reduce subluxations in your spine, so your body can heal itself.
For today’s blog, I want to share a passage from a book entitled, “Good Medicine.” This book was authored by of one of my mentors, Dr. James Sigafoose, many decades ago. Many of our long term practice members were inspired, moved and in awe of his wisdom as they heard him speak when we hosted Dr. Sigafoose in Manchester at the Palace Theatre and then again at the Concord Audi. Here, Dr. Sigafoose writes of exactly what a subluxation is, and how it affects the healing and function of cells anywhere in the body, with a historical context. (my emphasis added)
“Chiropractic, as we understand the origin of it, was developed and discovered by D.D. Palmer in the year 1895. It was then promoted and researched by B.J. Palmer. The ultimate purpose of chiropractic was, at that time, to establish that there was subluxation, and that a subluxation did exist in a living body, and that subluxation was a misalignment of a bone and its relationship to the bone above and below, the reduction of nerve impulse and the quantity, as a result of the pressure on the nerve itself. That by understanding what the nerve does, and understanding the law of life, the chiropractor would realize that the mental impulse or that rivulet of life being expressed over the nerve system to the tissue cell, would, in fact, be interfered with. By reducing the rivulet of life to the tissue cell, it produced disease. Knowing this, the chiropractor’s purpose was, not to treat the disease, not to treat the symptom, but, logically, to find the subluxation, determining where the subluxation was. Was it causing interference, or was it not, to the nerve impulse? If so, the correction thereof would allow a normal expression of mental impulse of the nerve system to the tissue cell.”
I love the distinction here, as he uses the term “mental impulse.” It implies that the nerve impulse carries a wisdom with it. Yes, your body is infinitely intelligent, capable of healing a wound, digesting an apple and turning it into new cells, and adapting brilliantly in times of crisis. It is this healing potential, this “innate intelligence”, that we as chiropractors respect as that wee-bit of God inside you. While chiropractic adjustments may be helping you “FEEL” better, please don’t forget that they are more importantly allowing that wisdom, those mental impulses, to travel from the brain to every part in your body. The complete control and coordination given by our brain, enables our body to stay organized and functional. If you haven’t figured it out yet, you don’t need to have pain to benefit from chiropractic care. It’s really not about pain at all. Pain is just a signal from your body that there is a problem happening, and you should attend to that problem. The BIG benefit from chiropractic care, is keeping your spinal column free from subluxation so your life force can travel to your body!
Yeah, I know, chiropractic philosophy can get deep. Thanks for reading to the end. And thanks for choosing us to keep you and your family healthy with chiropractic adjustments!
In love and health,
Dr. Stephanie