Chiropractic - A Drug-Free and Natural Approach to Wellness

by Laura Beaumont

The first thing people often say when I tell them I’m a chiropractor is, “So you fix backs, right?”

Well, yes … and no.

One of the things I love about chiropractic is that it is about so much more than just backs – it’s a natural, drug-free approach to maintaining health and wellness.

As a culture and society, we are moving further away from nature – we are eating more and more processed foods, the natural foods we are eat are treated with increasing amounts of pesticides, our work is more and more desk-based and we spend more and more time in front of the TV or computer. This is starting to show in our health (and our environment) with increasing numbers of people living with long-term, chronic disease and a poorer quality of life.

And, in a world where most things are only a mouse-click away, our first instinct is often to go for the quick fix. Our response to aches and pains is to reach for the painkillers to make the pain go away. But, did you know that taking painkillers is no longer considered the best practice for the management of pain?

Painkillers simply mask the pain, they do nothing at all to address whatever is causing the pain. Food for thought, right?

Chiropractic looks at health in a different light. Without using drugs, chiropractors encourage a better environment for your body to heal, grow and thrive; restoring the body’s natural equilibrium and allowing it to function with freedom and vitality. Sounds awesome doesn’t it!

So how does it work?

Chiropractors assess, identify and then adjust what we call subluxations – ‘misbehaviours’ somewhere in the spine, which can cause a cascade of events. Inflammation – of the joints, discs and the nerves – causes irritation and interference on the nerve, reducing the nerves ability to function properly. This can result in one of several outcomes:

1. The brain isn’t informed that there’s anything wrong, so your body continues through life as though everything is fine.
2. The brain does know what’s wrong, but due to the interference, the information from the brain does not reach its desired destination in the body.
3. The brain knows what’s wrong, and panics. In this situation it sends information to the muscles around the misbehaving area telling them to restrict their movement further – the theory is, ‘if it can’t move, it can’t break’.

A chiropractic adjustment restores the normal flow of information from the brain to the body, and also from the body to the brain. This gives your body the opportunity to optimise your life expression.

As we turn towards a more natural way of living, we allow our bodies to return to health and vitality – and chiropractic has an important part to play in a natural lifestyle.

To find out more, give us a call and book a place on one of our complementary Introduction to Chiropractic talks.

Laura Beaumont
4th September 2018