Chiropractic Care

The natural healing art of chiropractic was first developed by a magnetic healer named D.D. Palmer in 1895. According to history, it all started when Harvey Lillard — a man who was deaf in one ear — went in to see Palmer for his condition hoping that he had something up his sleeve to cure the deafness.

When Palmer learned that Lillard suffered a head injury that preceded his condition, he evaluated his spine and noticed that a vertebra in the upper back seemed wildly out of alignment. According to Palmer:

“I had a case of heart trouble which was not improving. I examined the spine and found a displaced vertebra pressing against the nerves, which innervate the heart. I adjusted the vertebra and gave immediate relief — nothing ‘accidental’ or ‘crude’ about this. Then I began to reason if two diseases, so dissimilar as deafness and heart trouble, came from impingement, a pressure on nerves, were not other disease due to a similar cause? Thus the science (knowledge) and art (adjusting) of Chiropractic were formed at that time.”

Palmer coined his manual therapy technique chiropractic, which comes from the two Greek words cheiros and praktikos (meaning “with hands”). Since then, countless millions of people across the globe have benefited from this manual therapy that some sources date back to Hippocrates!

Many things can lead to a vertebral subluxation. Some of the more common causes I’ve found are:

• A vertebra going out of place (“misalignment”) because of a slip or fall (i.e., “macrotrauma”).
• The entire spine misaligning globally due to poor posture.
• Joint swelling caused by damage done to the intervertebral joint.
• An inflammatory response caused by a poor diet, lack of pure water or psychological stress.
• Osteoporosis or degenerative changes of the spine or intervertebral discs.
• Trigger points and tight back muscles that pull the vertebrae out of place.

At the core of the numerous chiropractic miracle stories is a concept known as “vertebral subluxation.” When chiropractors use this phrase, they refer to mechanical compression and irritation to spinal joints and nerves. In Harvey Lillard’s case, the nerves affecting his sense of hearing were compromised, and once D.D. Palmer freed his body of this “neurological insult,” his hearing was restored.

For someone else, it could be sciatica
Or gastrointestinal complaints
Or (fill in the blank)
When you consider how most cells and organs in your body are controlled by nerves traveling through your spinal canal, it’s mind-blowing to consider how vast the side effects can be!

The problem that we see in Western cultures is that our unnatural habit of sitting down all day does a number on our spines — not to mention our posture! We’re glued to our cell phones, iPads and laptops!

Far too many live their lives hunched over and with their necks stuck out like turtles. Doctors call this “forward head posture,” and studies prove that for every inch your head sticks out from a true center of gravity, your neck bears an extra 10 pounds of stress. Just think about how common and dangerous this can be for your health!

During posture evaluations, chiropractors regularly observe many of their patients carrying their head two to three inches forward, which is an extra 20-30 pounds of pressure on their neck!