How Long Will I Take to Heal Under Chiropractic Care?

1. What YOUR health aims are.

2. Your body's healing ability.

3. The degree of irreversible damage already caused.

At first glance it may seem that only point 1 is with in your realm of control but with a little further analysis you will see that you can heavily influence all 3 of these factors.

1. What YOUR health aims are. Chiropractic offices tend to offer one or more of the following types of care:

i. Primary Care. This consists of pain/disease/symptom relief. It is usually an intensive series of chiropractic adjustments designed to bring the nervous system and structure to a state of balance as quickly as possible.

On completion of this stage of care most people do not recognise that much cell and tissue damage in muscle and nerve fibre remains, although pressure has been removed from the nerve system and motion restored through chiropractic care. This means that although an individual is asymptomatic (without symptoms) damage remains at cellular level and indeed the autonomic nervous system (automatic/involuntary nervous system which controls, regulates and replaces every cell, tissue and organ in the body) can remain compromised and in a state of atrophy (decay).

ii. Corrective care. This phase of care is very much about maintaining the correction of the vertebral subluxation whilst the surrounding muscles and systems are able to heal and repair. Posture and imbalance starts to correct itself.

iii. Wellness care. Many individuals find other health benefits manifest as they progress through their chiropractic care programme such as restored gastro-intestinal function, better rest, restored hearing and improved immune system response and energy levels. As such they wish to experience this improved level of wellness and quality of life more and more and they opt for a wellness care programme.

2. Your bodies healing ability. This will depend on your HEALTH levels. Your health levels depend on the FOUR FACTORS OF HEALTH. The factors are:

i. Rest

ii. Nutrition

iii. Exercise

iv. Good Mental Attitude

These HEALTH FACTORS are all integrated into improving the body's healing ability by a FULLY FUNCTIONING NERVOUS SYSTEM. e.g. Even with the best nutritional programme on the planet if you have nerve interference at the level of the spine which controls digestion you will not be able to absorb all the nutrients from the food you consume and therefore you will not exercise, rest or maintain good mental attitude at your maximum potential.

RESTORING NERVOUS SYSTEM FUNCTION is the role of chiropractic.

YOUR ROLE is to make life choices which strengthen the factors of Health

3. The degree of irreversible damage already caused.

To call damage to a living organism 'irreversible' is very subjective. The principles which apply to a living organism are not the same as those which apply to a lifeless machine - although the predominant mode of health analyses a human being using the mechanistic model.

It has been discovered over the last 10 years that even neurons (nerve cells) which were previously thought irreplaceable can regenerate. Spontaneous remissions from 'terminal' situations are becoming more and more commonplace and are the subject of a host of literature. The power of the mind to have a profound effect in the healing process is so recognised that a new science 'psychoneuroimmunology' has been formed.

There is no cure for a common cold but people heal themselves from its effects every day.

The point is that if you want to take action to reduce the degree of irreversible damage:

1. Take action NOW. Delay will only lead to further damage. STOP damaging habits. START nurturing habits.

2. Keep an open mind. It is estimated that we know less than 1/10 of 1% about the working of the human body so even the best expert in the world is only scratching the surface.

3. Knowledge is power so get educated on your particular health challenge. If it is of value in your particular case - research cases of spontaneous remission

4. Maintain your health factors especially Good Mental Attitude and imagine yourself healed. People spend months and years under chiropractic care depending upon their own choices and answers to the 3 questions above.

And there are those who never take up care and spend a lifetime with a problem which chiropractic may have easily resolved at an early stage of their life and, in the main, they die with or even as a result of that problem.

References:

1. "Mind Maps" by Tony Buzan

2. "Evolve Your Brain" by Dr Joe Dispenza DC

3. "The Secret". Movie on the mind-body connection

4. "What the Bleep Do We Know". Movie on quantum physics and the mind body link