What Is Chiropractic?
In the over one hundred years of its development, Chiropractic science has grown to major stature in the field of the healing arts and has reached millions of people. The modern chiropractor works both directly and indirectly with the nervous system. Every function of the body is under the control of this system. Every organ, tissue, and cell is controlled by nerve impulses traveling from the brain to all parts of the body.
Nerves make possible all movement. Nerves transmit all sensations to and from the brain. Nerves make possible all sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing. Nerves maintain balance and keep the body temperature at 98.6. Nerves make it possible to swallow. Nerves make the bowels move. Nerves control the liver, lungs, spleen, pancreas, gall bladder, and kidneys. In fact, the nervous system is the master system that controls all other systems of the body, including the glandular, reproductive, digestive, eliminative, respiratory, and circulatory.
Every science of healing has what is known as an avenue of approach. For example, in the field of medicine, a hypodermic needle injects drugs through the skin. A pill is swallowed and goes into the stomach. They are the avenues through which the drugs gain access to the body.
In the field of chiropractic, the avenue of approach is the spine. The spine houses and protects the spinal cord, the SWITCHBOARD of the nervous system, through which nerve fibers pass from the brain to different parts of the body. For every effect there must have been a cause. The nerves leave the spinal cord through openings between movable spinal bones called VERTEBRAE. When vertebrae, through injury or posture problems, become dysfunctional, the opening closes down on the nerve resulting in a pinched nerve, thus causing interference with the normal function of these nerves. This joint dysfunction causes pain and malfunction of the nervous system and is called a SUBLUXATION.
The objective of chiropractic care is to determine, through x-ray films and a thorough examination, the degree of vertebral subluxation complex. Proper adjustments reduce these subluxations, removing pressure from the nerves. This removes the cause of pain and dysfunction, allowing the body to perform at its greatest potential!
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