Various studies and surveys from the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe indicate that 95% of all chiropractic patients see their chiropractor to find relief from neuromusculoskeletal pain (pain involving the nerves, muscles and/or bones). Of course, the majority of complaints that fall under this category is back pain, neck pain and headaches.
This trend reflects directly to the patients I see in my clinic and I suppose that the same is true for the majority of chiropractic practices all over Hawaii. Most of the people we see are in search of relief from some manifestation of neuromusculoskeletal pain.
So how do chiropractors help folks with this type of pain find relief?
First off, it is important to share a very important point about back pain as explained by an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Gordon Waddell, in a paper he published in Spine in 1987:
The most common problems with back pain arise from a functional pathology (mechanical problems with the spinal joints and muscles) rather than structural pathology (fractures, disc herniations, etc.)
To put it in the local vernacular: "Your back stay sore cuz da buggah no move and bend da right way, not because da spine stay bus' up."
A chiropractor helps the patient achieve relief by restoring proper function to the spine. And the chiropractor achieves the restoration of proper spinal function through the restoration of proper spinal alignment.
This is all done by way of the chiropractic adjustment.
However, besides the pain relief that comes with an aligned spine there is an extra benefit that comes with the chiropractic adjustment. In fact, this benefit is way more important than the relief of an aching back.
The ultimate benefit of a chiropractic adjustment is a better functioning nervous system. You see, when the spine is not in good alignment and suffers from functional pathology, it will often times place damaging pressure on the nerves as they exit the spine and branch out of the spinal cord. When the nerve tissues are irritated and inflammed because of spinal misalignment, bad things can happen to the body. (By the way, this is the condition that chiropractors refer to as subluxation.)
If the nervous system is compromised and not functioning at 100%, there is no way that the cells, tissues and organs at the end of the faulty nerve can thrive and work at full potential.
Or again to put it in the local vernacular: "If da crooked spine make da nerves all hemajang, den da body guarans going be all hemajang, too."
It is for this reason that chiropractic can help many, many, many conditions besides back pain, neck pain, and headaches.
For example, if the nerves to the lungs are not at 100% because of subluxation, an asthma condition may be aggravated. Chiropractic can help by restoring proper alignment and fuction to that part of the spine.
Or how about high blood pressure? Click this link http://www.webmd.com/hypertension-high-blood-pressure/news/20070316/chiropractic-cuts-blood-pressure and read for yourself on WebMD how the adjustment lowers blood pressure!
Chiropractic can help (and to all the chiropractic haters still reading-- note I'm using the term help, not cure) a variety of ailments because it helps the nervous system function better. And when the nervous system is optimal, our health and self-healing potential can be optimal!
