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History of Chiropractic

Adjustment of the spine has been with us since Egyptian times. A student of anatomy and physiology, Daniel Palmer, founded the modern system and theory of chiropractic in 1895. Palmer had met a janitor who had been deaf for 17 years following an injury to the janitor's upper spine. On examination, Palmer found a misaligned vertebra, which corresponded to the area the janitor, had injured 17 years before. By adjusting the vertebra and bringing it back into normal alignment, Palmer restored the janitor's hearing.

Palmer developed a philosophy that health is the normal state of the body when structure and function were in perfect equilibrium. He believed that all living things are endowed with "innate intelligence." Palmer theorized that this intelligence flows through the central nervous system and regulates all the vital functions of the body, organs and systems, and knows how to keep the body in health.

Palmer felt the purpose of the chiropractor was to remove nerve interference caused by spinal misalignments that blocked or restricted the intelligence of the body from carrying out its natural role of healthy regulation. The task of the doctor was not to treat conditions, but to reestablish the structural integrity of the body. The body knows what to do unless it is interfered with. The chiropractor was not considered the healer. The body itself knows how to heal when its structure does not interfere with its functions. The doctor simply removes interference of many kinds.

In the early years of chiropractic, doctors believed that misalignments of the spine were the only cause of disease. Today we understand there are many pieces of the puzzle that constitute wellness, which we have put together in 6 steps. Spinal, skeletal, muscular, and connective tissue misalignments are still major components that are adjusted to remove interference to allow the body to heal itself. When the structure is right, we have seen as much as 80% of most conditions improve. Reestablishing structural integrity is still the foundation of health.

Today chiropractic is a champion of wellness care and has become the second largest health care field in the world. Each year over 15 million people choose chiropractic health care for natural, drug-free approaches to many conditions including internal conditions of the body, pain, backaches, injuries, and trauma. However, we do not treat conditions. We treat people with conditions. We do not treat cancer. We may treat people who happen to have cancer. We do not treat MS. We treat people who happen to have MS. And we see miracles happen every day by treating the whole person, not the disease.

Number one is - Trauma stress responses both physical and emotional.

The second cause is - Toxicity- this includes chemical irritation, lack of minerals like calcium, magnesium, and others. Toxins from our environment are increasing by the hundreds every year and many of these are neurotoxins, which cause the nerves to stress, and this tightens our muscles and joints. Toxins and poor nutrition overburden our organs and they have a profound impact on the stress in our muscles. Every muscle is related by nerves to an organ because they originate from the same part of the spine as they are forming in the mother. Scientists call this Somato (Body) - Visceral (organ) communication. An example is chronic liver and gall-bladder problems can cause reoccurring subluxations in the right upper back around the shoulder blade area. Chronic abdominal digestive problems can cause reoccurring low back subluxations and muscle tightness.

The third cause of subluxations is Autosuggestion or abnormal emotional stresses. We call this stress or tension. Once a body learns to react to fear or stress in a certain way it becomes a reflex response in our subconscious nervous system. Then before we have even consciously thought about it, we are all tense and tight again and this can create subluxations. This is actually a large component to our problems. As we remove the nerve interference and change the imbalance in the structure, nutrition, and any emotional stresses we can eliminate the cause of the subluxation. Then our intelligent computer resets its postural defaults and begins to unwind the spine and the associated muscles. This causes an unwinding of the structure and takes stress off the nerves, muscles and tissues. The nerve impulse from the organs to the brain and back again functions at a more harmonious state, called central nervous system integration.

Using some of the latest science and technology in the form of a healing laser - which emits a frequency of light at 635nm per second - we can bring about a state of balance in the nerves and central nervous system before thought impossible. The Erchonia Cold laser, which is FDA approved, has been shown to bring about balance between the 3 parts of our nervous system and integrates the balance centers of the brain in a matter of minutes. This gives your Wellness Professional the ability to integrate your nervous system after the adjustment and have it be profoundly more effective. The body then can handle much more trauma and stress without it causing a reoccurring subluxation. Muscles and ligaments, which are fatigued or in spasm can be balanced in seconds compared to very lengthy and painful procedures before needed. Nerves can actually be turned back on which have stopped functioning normally or calmed down if over stimulated. This allows for the balance or integration of the nervous system and the entire brain. The nervous system takes a big sigh and says, "Thank you". Endorphins are released which cause a sense of well-being and allow our cells to use the nutrition for growth, healing and repairing instead of just protection and stress reaction.

Much like the reset button on a computer, the postural part to the brain is reset and begins to unwind and correct for the months and years of spinal torsion and compensation thru out the spine. It may have taken months and years to get in the shape you're in and it will take months to correct the underlying spinal distortion and let your body unwind itself and find balance in a corrected posture again. A major reason that our spines need continual tune-ups is that we as humans have a dominant hand and leg. This causes us to use one arm and leg more of the time. Doing this from day to day causes more tension and stress to one side and slowly winds us up again. This causes a stress pattern and the subluxation to re-occur from even a simple movement like tying your shoe or bending over. The daily use of simple stretching techniques is very helpful to prevent this from happening. Frequency of care is more intense in the beginning phases of care in order to begin this unwinding. It slows as the process is in progress and then reaches a stage of maintenance. 

Brain Balancing and Nervous System Integration

Using all three aspects of our nervous system the body has a powerful desire to keep itself balanced in relation to its position in space. Its major objective is to keep the center of the head over the center of the pelvis and the head, shoulders and hips level. It literally receives millions of signals every second from all the muscles, ligaments, and joints in our body and then translates this into a 3-D image of us in relationship to our surroundings. Eighty percent of our brain function is involved in this process and eighty percent of the nerves that we call proprioceptive nerves (which tell us where our body's parts are at) are located in the neck and head. This allows the body to move without sight and maintain equilibrium.

When the body perceives an imbalance in the structure, an alarm system tells the brain that it is off balance. The brain then creates a "righting response' which tries to correct this by compensating or curving the spine in order to reposition the head etc. This shifting of the spine or vertebrae and the resultant muscle, tendon and ligament imbalance causes nerves to get irritated. We call this a subluxation. Subluxations have three main causes:

 

Cranial Sacral Rhythm

The cranial bones have a natural gentle rhythm influenced by our breathing and motion, which pumps the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) around the brain and down the spinal column. Our pelvis, spine, rib cage, and cranium move as we walk and breathe which creates a further pumping action. This fluid bathes our nerves in nutrients and energies, which are essential for us to think and be alive. We can get blocks in any of these areas, which restrict the flow of CSF. Using some of the latest techniques and an instrument called the Percussor, we can release these blockages and restore this movement yielding a greater level of health and wellness.

Myofascia & Scar Tissue

Your practitioner may use several techniques to release scar tissue. An important area of imbalance is in the fascia due to scars and deformations as a result of injury, surgery, burns, or toxins. Trauma of all kinds is stored in the fascia including physical, chemical, and emotional stresses. These scars or adhesions can pull on the fascia and create pressure points throughout the body, much like a sheet of plastic wrap when it is scrunched up.

We make use of a technique, which percusses, or creates a strong smooth force to stimulate the release of the fascia from an unwinding pressure both mechanically and electrically. This is much like using a shaking vibration to straighten out the piece of plastic wrap that is scrunched together.

This technique pioneered by Dr. Robert Fulford allows the fluids and electrical properties of tissues and organs to flow normally again, restoring motion and life. Dr. Fulford believed that many of these blocks are caused as far back as the womb and birthing. He performed research on infants and noticed severe adhesions and restrictions in fascia even at an early age. Based on his research the procedure is done in a specific order to unwind the fascia through the entire body and head.

When the fascia is restricted it can complicate every normal process in the human body. Dr. Goodheart popularized a percussor technique to restore restricted fascia (called "Myofascial Gelosis") to its optimal fluid state. This is very helpful in many conditions. This is a different technique than popularized by Dr. Fulford and expanded by Drs. John and Brett Brimhall. All of these techniques are very powerful and painless.

New research revealed by Dr. James Oshman in his revealing book, “Energy Medicine In Therapeutics And Human Performance” states the fascial system may be a new nervous system that ties the central, the peripheral and the autonomic nervous systems together. It now becomes clear why Dr. Fulford was called the “Healing Magician” with the percussor work. We now use the cold laser, which enhances the percussor in creating miracles.

Visceral Manipulation

Visceral manipulation was developed in France by Dr. Barral and Dr. Mercier, osteopathic physicians. Normal organ movement is also critical in order to create balance and remove tension and spasm in the all organs and the tissues.

The body is in constant motion, from the individual atom to the entire organism. There is motion in our organs due to how they take in and use energy. This energy can come from physical motion of the fascial structures or from nutritional energies as they are used and metabolized. It also comes from emotional reactions brought about by the brain.

Organs are held in place by ligaments and connective tissue or fascia. Organs have to move when we walk, run, breathe or play. Without proper movement there is restriction of the organs and tissues near them. If the motion is restricted it can cause inflammation and feedback of stress to the brain. This further alters the function of the organ to compensate.

Adhesions can form due to injury, such as broken bones, burns, scrapes, or surgery. Also infections, chronic fatigue or tightness in muscles, tendons and bones can cause adhesions as well as emotional stress.

Once an adhesion forms it causes abnormal motion in the body and organs. This further decreases the effectiveness of the how the cells and tissues receive and use nutrition and fluids and how they remove waste toxins. This decreases the motion and translates into further decreased function of the tissues and organs.

Percussion over the solar plexus creates a deep release of shock or emotional tension that is a miracle for many patients with structural and emotional concerns from asthma to depression. The cystic duct, which drains bile from the liver and gall bladder into the intestines can be released with the percussor. Colon spasms, prolapsed bladder, and other organs many times make great improvement by releasing their supporting fascia and tissues. This thereby improves the overall balance, circulation and function of these organs. 

Nutrition

Nutrition is essential for a strong yet elastic and resilient structure. The energy and nutrients from our foods make up the fibers of our structure called collagen. The pattern that the collagen fibers are formed in is determined by the direction of the flow of electrical forces passing through them. This is how our bodies know how to grow new bone and muscle fibers in the right direction.

Motion is the key to creating these electrical impulses, which determines the direction of formation. These fibers are made of proteins, long chain sugars and slippery substances, which create strength yet flexibility and cushiness.

Minerals are the cement but some act as re-bar to give the tissue strength. Glucosamine and Chondroitin sulfates attract water to the tissue and give bounciness to it - like our discs and cartilage.

As we get older we lose our bounciness, especially if we are not getting these nutrients to heal and repair our tissues. All of our tissues heal and repair constantly. Even our bones are continually renewing. The rate of repair and turnover of these cells is:
gut lining cells- 3 days,
muscles-3 weeks,
average skin cell-28days,
ligaments-6 weeks,
organ cells-3-6 months,
and bone-1 year.