Last week, on September 18th, the chiropractic profession celebrated its 125th anniversary! It has been amazing to see the growth and impact chiropractic has had in this time.
My journey started when I was in grade school and was shown how the nervous system controls or influences the organs, tissues, and cells in the body. A chiropractor explained it this way… If you have two hoses running to a garden, and you accidentally park the car on one of them, it will choke off the water supply to that part of the garden. That part of the garden will then begin to wilt, then die. You could increase the sunlight or add nutrients to the soil, but the only way to maximize the health of that part of the garden is to get the pressure off that hose and restore the flow of water to that part of the garden. He explained that the spine consists of twenty-four vertebrae, which are separated by discs, allowing for the spinal nerves to exit the spine and run to every area of the body. Misalignments of those vertebrae can impinge those nerves, which can lead to health problems involving the organs, tissue, and cells.
While that model is a simplification, it triggered something in me. I was in awe of the power of the human body, I couldn’t believe more people didn’t understand the relationship between the nervous system and those organs, tissues, and cells, and it instantly made me question modern medicine’s failing approach to treat symptoms, rather than the underlying cause of illness.
When deciding to pursue my doctorate in chiropractic, I told myself that if it wasn’t everything that I thought it should be, I would leave and go to medical school. Well, it turned out to be much, much more than I thought it would be. So, I never looked back. And after being in practice for almost twenty-three years, I can say my excitement and appreciation for chiropractic care has only grown.
Here’s the thing… chiropractic has been beat up, criticized, and misunderstood since it started. Yet, it has continued to grow. This growth has not been because of referrals from medical doctors (the medical profession has primarily discouraged chiropractic care), or because of huge marketing or advertising campaigns (our profession has never done one successfully), or because the media has highlighted the success of chiropractic care (you never see the miraculous success stories featured on the news). Chiropractic has grown because of one thing… RESULTS! And when people get results, they tell others.
The body is a self-healing, self-regulating, and self-regenerating miracle! We put nothing in the body, and we take nothing out. As a chiropractor, I remove interference to the nervous system, restoring its ability to heal itself. I do not heal. The body heals. The innate intelligence within the body is far greater than the intelligence of any doctor. I work to allow the body to do what it was designed to do.
The amazing results produced in chiropractic offices over the past 125 years have inspired people to tell their stories. These stories have inspired others to seek chiropractic care. This is how chiropractic has not only survived, but thrived, for so long.
I want to thank the community and my patients for their trust. I am grateful for the relationship I have been able to build with the local medical community, and for their trust as well. Having cared for thousands of patients, I continue to be impressed with the far-reaching and powerful results we are able to produce with chiropractic care. I am so proud to be part of this profession. Happy 125th birthday to the chiropractic profession!
