At the heart of chiropractic practice lies the belief that a perfectly aligned body will heal itself of disease or injury. For many years the belief was that subluxation (the spine being out of alignment or “out of place”) was the only cause of poor health or disease. Dr. Kelly tells us,” There was a study done at a medical university back in the 1920s, I believe. They looked at a thousand people who had died and traced the nerve fibers from the organ that was the cause of death all the way back to the spine and the spinal connection. And in 96.4% of the cases the organ and nerve that was related to the cause of death was always misaligned. And for those that weren’t misaligned, the one above or the one below was misaligned.”
Our bodies are electrical. Nerves branch from the spinal column to every organ in the body. If the nerve is impinged, the electrical current is affected and function of the organ suffers. Conversely, if the organ is suffering, it can affect the spinal alignment. Dr Kelly says, “The vertebras are almost like the circuit breakers in your house. If you overload the circuits, yes, that circuit will trip. If
someone has a severe allergy and they ingest or inhale that allergen, their top vertebrae will usually rotate. The spine will just shift.”
The majority of chiropractors today are no longer the purists of yesteryear who restricted treatment to spinal manipulation believing subluxations to be the only impediment to the body’s ability to heal itself. The majority now embrace a holistic approach to health and they recognize poor nutrition, toxicity, and a sedentary lifestyle as major causal factors in disease. Many employ various methods beyond spinal manipulation including supplementation and nutritional, detox, and lifestyle counseling along with massage, hydrotherapy, hot and cold treatments, and orthotics. Their choice of practice may, however, be restricted by their license as each state sets its own treatment parameters.
One major criticism of chiropractic is that adjustments don’t hold and patients return again and again for realignment. Many critics claim there is no real progress made and that chiropractic care is no more than a “feel good” treatment with no lasting value.
When chiropractors do not take a holistic approach to treatment, this can be true. If the patient does not exercise and strengthen the muscles that hold the spine in place or continues to abuse his/her body through poor
nutrition and exposure to toxins, adjustments do not hold. Dr. Kelly says, “I try to get people to look at, ‘What will best suit me to help me from needing to get worked on over and over again?’ You have to exercise. You have to eat right. You have to rest properly. But there are people who have been hit by cars or have fallen out of trees. People like that need ongoing care to some extent.”
Dr. Kelly has found orthotic shoe inserts to be invaluable in his practice. “Make sure your
