Provided and published by ICPA, Discover Chiropractic Newsletter
Chiropractic gives a new, refreshing angle on health and well‐being. It approaches each individual with a particular focus on his or her nervous system and the obstructions that can occur to the nervous system. Chiropractic is fundamentally different than medical care in that it’s not prescriptive. The primary objective of chiropractic is to restore and enhance overall physiological function so the body can make its own adaptations and perform its own healing acts with greater efficiency and ability.
Even though people may come in to see a chiropractor for specific pain‐related conditions, chiropractic care always maintains the holistic aim of improving overall nervous system function with each adjustment. Oftentimes, people will experience positive improvements after their chiropractic visit and confuse chiropractic as a successful “treatment.” The distinction is often missed that “treating” or “curing” disease is a medical claim concerning interventions for diagnosable symptoms, whereas normal physiological function is a natural feature of innate biological intelligence that leads autonomously to healthy expression.
Another way to see the distinction between chiropractic and traditional medicine is to recognize that medicine puts new demands on the body, in the form of drugs or procedures, whereas chiropractic takes demands off the body and nervous system. In fact, a common motivation for people seeking chiropractic care has to do with achieving greater levels of well‐being and performance once these old “demands” are taken off the body. Optimized nervous system function—not merely symptom improvements—are why chiropractors are reaching new levels of public interest and excitement. When the nervous system is free of interferences, normal physiological function can perform in amazing ways.
Here’s an analogy of why chiropractic is so important for holistic well‐being:
The body is like the most complex energy grid on the planet. Like any energy grid, there can be interruptions in service or impediments to flow from a host of factors, including physical, emotional, and chemical stresses. The body reacts (read: subluxates) in ways to compensate for those interruptions, but those reactions are not always in our best long‐term interests.
The nuance here is profound, and worth our attention. Subluxations are not a “cause of disease” as many commentators like to claim. Subluxations are an adaptation to life’s stresses which serve us in the short term. If their presence is prolonged, however, they may not always serve our best interests.
Correcting for subluxations is the chiropractic art and science. The possibilities afforded thereafter belong to the art and science of the body’s own innate intelligence.
—ICPA