What is Chiropractic?
Chiropractic philosophy begins with the principle that the human organism has the
power to maintain its own health. The art of chiropractic focuses on adjustments
to correct spinal malfunctions, called subluxations, in order to remove interference
to the spinal cord and the nerves that exit between the bones of the spine. Science
has found that the nerve system controls all other organs and tissues of the body,
so a nerve system functioning at its best facilitates the body's ability to cope
with disability and disease. This enables patients to live healthier, more fulfilling
lives.
The chiropractic approach to health care is holistic, stressing the patient's overall
well being. It recognizes that many factors affect health, including exercise, diet,
rest, environment and heredity. Chiropractic focuses on maintaining optimal health
naturally so that the body is better able to resist disease, rather than simply
treating the symptoms of disease. Traditional medicine typically views the body
from a more mechanistic standpoint - as a system of parts that can be altered through
outside interventions to produce certain results. Both approaches have important
roles to play, but they are fundamentally different.
Chiropractors focus on the nerve system (the brain and spinal cord) which manages
the body's vast chemical interactions to help ensure proper function. The brain
sends messages through the spinal cord across a huge network of spinal nerves to
deliver information to every cell, organ and system of the body. This system coordinates
the chemical reactions that dictate how well you sleep, how food is digested, your
ability to concentrate, physical coordination, the capabilities of the immune system
and all aspects of body function. When bones of the spine move out of their normal
position, they can distort the flow of information from the brain to the body. That's
why chiropractors gently correct these misalignments (subluxations) - to correct
interference to the nerve system and the body's ability to control and coordinate
its many functions.
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