Dr. Laura Vanloon and Synergy Wellness of Birmingham MI, truly care and take pride in being a portal of health and wellness information. For more information about Dr. Vanloon or about our practice, visit us on the web, at www.drvanloon.com!
What is the perception of chiropractic?
I had my car in for service at a local dealership recently and in conversation, it came up that I
am a chiropractor. The service employee’s response was “I bet you’re really strong to be a chiropractor. My buddy gives me a bear-hug and my whole spine cracks. You look too little to be able to do that!” I thought ‘Wow-that’s really what this gentleman thinks chiropractic is!’, which got me thinking outside the bubble some chiropractors live in. When you’re insulated in a
successful practice filled with patients who get the “Big Picture” (I’ll explain more about that in a moment), you can lose sight of what a great deal of the population think of chiropractic and chiropractors. I would like to take this time to dispel some of the rumors.
All the chiropractor does is 'pop' your back and you feel better, right?
It’s not as simple as it sounds. There is a science, art and philosophy behind what a chiropractor does. Now with that said, I will offer the sad caveat that just like you have bad restaurants and bad hairstylists, you can have bad doctors, too-in any specialty.
The science is finding the exact area of the spine that is putting pressure the spinal cord which is resulting in the pain or dysfunction you are experiencing. It is also helping the patient to determine what other aspects of their lifestyle may be hindering them from being as well as they can be, and helping them to find more health-conscious habits.
The art is determining how to best adjust the area that is causing the nerve interference or ‘subluxation’, which is the chiropractic-word for bone out of alignment. This is not only what direction is necessary to restore the bone to proper position, but also the specific type of technique that would be most appropriate for the patient and the amount of force required for the adjustment.
The philosophy is the ‘Big Picture’ I referred to earlier. That is the understanding of the role the
nervous system plays in your overall health, and how it governs every function in your body. When your nervous system is healthy, the energy that flows through your nerves is able to properly reach the cells, tissues, glands, organs and muscles that they supply. When they have the right amount of energy, they can better perform their normal function—be it digestion, hormone production, respiration, or any of the thousands of processes that go on inside
our bodies on a daily basis. Sufficient nervous energy is also essential to healing, whether it’s healing from a particular injury or accident, persistent inflammation or just the physiological effects that stress has on our internal structure and immune function.
So now tell me-does a chiropractor do more than just “pop” your back?
Health and happiness,
Dr. Laura Vanloon
*This article is not a substitute for medical advice. Please consult your chiropractor or medical
physician before considering discontinuing any prescribed medication or changing your course of therapy.
