Thursday, Mar 11, 2010

Chiropractic Philosophy and Success

By Eddy Cohen, DC Dr. Eddy Cohen's Fearless Chiropractic website

Thursday, Mar 11, 2010 05:27

I believe, sadly that there is an abundance of self-limitation in chiropractic. Not limitations placed on us by others, but by ourselves. Before going any further with these comments, you should know some of what I consider as the basis of chiropractic, as I see it. That way we know whether we are congruent in our thinking in the first place. I believe: Chiropractic practice is to a large extent based upon the simple principle that the body naturally strives toward a healthy 'state of wellbeing.' This is the normal expression of the body's innate (inborn) intelligence. 'Innate Intelligence' can be defined as the actual source of the ability to express the basic functions of life in our physical body. The nerve system's primary responsibility is to coordinate, and serve to communicate the 'mental impulse, so  this process results in normal activity in the body. If the bones of the spine become subluxated, the nerve system is interfered with and this striving toward a healthy state of wellbeing and harmonious function, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually is lessened. Therefore the body, whatever it's state or level of 'health,' is better off with a good nerve supply, and no interference. That, to me expresses the essence of the basis for chiropractic practice. And I believe it has essentially been so since the very beginning. DD Palmer did more than name chiropractic -- he gave us an understanding never known before, and often misunderstood since. How amazing the incredible mind of DD Palmer. At about the same time in history that Quantum Physics was being born -- he was giving birth to Chiropractic. In The Chiropractor's Adjuster he stated… "Life is the expression of tone. In that sentence (he said) is the basic principle of chiropractic. Tone is the normal degree of nerve tension. Tone is expressed in functions by normal elasticity, activity, strength and excitability of the various organs, as observed in a state of health. Consequently, the cause of dis-ease is any variation of tone, nerves too tense or too slack." He also said… "Spinal adjusting is not an auxiliary to any method. To relieve an impingement in acute disease by one adjustment in less than a minute, so Innate can transmit functions in a normal amount, is not an auxiliary to any method, neither does Chiropractic need any method as an auxiliary. Those who expect to put in a lifetime combating disease, fighting the entrance of disease, as though it was an enemy with hostile intent, should not learn Chiropractic. It is very difficult to turn a medical fighter into a peaceful chiropractor." It is clear from these statements that DD Palmer was not talking about a new more effective means of treating neuromusculoskeletal conditions. What he was doing was giving birth to a completely new and different way of looking at the body, health and life. What an incredible leap of understanding. What an amazing leap of comprehension and awareness. How many could have kept up? He gave us something truly amazing and incredibly simple. But the leap was clearly too much for many of us. It takes critical thinking and at least a basic awareness of Vitalistic science to see where DD was heading. But not all of us were thinking critically or vitalistically enough to 'get' what he was really saying. Let me review something written by Gary Zukav, discussing Max Planck of Planck's Constant, in The Dancing Wu Li Masters: "Not one physicist, not even Planck himself, wanted to accept the implications of Planck's discovery, for to do so threatened a scientific structure (Newtonian Physics) over three hundred years old. Heisenberg wrote about the quantum revolution: ...When new groups of phenomena compel changes in the pattern of thought ...even the most eminent of physicists find immense difficulties. For the demand for change in the thought pattern may engender the feeling that the ground is to be pulled from under ones feet… I believe that the difficulties at this point can hardly be overestimated. Once one has experienced the desperation with which clever and conciliatory men of science react to the demand for a change in the thought pattern, one can only be amazed that such revolutions in science have actually been possible at all." Remember the words of Colin Powell, "Opportunity knocks for everyone. But, everyone doesn't have their bags packed." As a result of our inability, as a profession, to truly appreciate the scope of chiropractic, we have split into 'camps' none of which, I believe, really 'gets it.' What do I mean? Well, we have one group that says that chiropractic is really just a method of treating certain conditions. And if we accept that role we will become more acceptable to the medical/scientific establishment and therefore accepted by them. Then we have another group that says that we correct subluxations "just because they are bad." And since we don't treat disease, we should not even discuss how our patients feel or what symptoms they may be concerned with at any given moment. Why not? Because, it is believed, that would be the practice of medicine. And I see good, caring chiropractors in both camps failing for seemingly different reasons. But in fact the actual underlying cause of this increasing occurrence of failure may be the same. It just may be a lack of clarity due to limited thinking. Both of those positions strike me as mechanistic at their heart. Mechanism says there is only right or wrong. Things are either proven through tangible means and are therefore correct, or explained by intangible means and are therefore incorrect. Therefore, if I am right and you think anything different, you must be wrong. We can't both be right, can we? Can both positions have some truth connected to them and can we actually express them both legitimately? One of the things we should have learned from quantum physics is that something can actually have more than one attribute. Like light behaving as either a particle or a wave depending on the need of the situation. This understanding should be a lot more comfortable to someone thinking vitalistically than it appears to be. Chiropractic is non-linear. It is not just one more method or means of doing the same thing as medicine (fighting disease caused by external forces), regardless of whether the actual means is orthodox or alternative. It is in fact a means of doing something different (increasing the State of Wellbeing by removing interference to the internal capacity to express life). DD Palmer said that chiropractic is founded on tone. By that he meant, clearly, that a living system expressing normal tone is capable of maintaining an optimal expression of its 'self.' He also said that expressing too much or too little tone would result in loss of that natural attribute, that being dis-ease, and ultimately a state of disease. Unfortunately, we tend to look for those statements that tend to support the position we have already taken rather than see where they all lead while applying critical thinking. We can see that process occur when we look at the basic philosophy of medicine. That is known as Koch's Postulate, which is, of course, the basis of the Germ Theory. Koch's Postulate The bacteria must be found in every person with the 'disease.' The bacteria must never be found in a person without the disease. The bacteria must be capable of culture (i.e. survival) outside the body of the host. The bacteria must produce the same disease when introduced into a new host. Every scientist and medical professional knows this concept to be provably false. Yet a variety of rationalizations are used to prevent a change in understanding and practice that makes more sense. Whenever things do not go according to expectations -- as is pretty consistent in this case -- those rationalizations are pulled out of the hat. It is atypical, or it must have been a mis-diagnosis. Those explanations can remove responsibility from the individual physician. But they do not change reality. Drugs are tested in the laboratory, and in small-scale clinical trials. Then approved for use in the general population where individual physicians can prescribe them for any other condition they choose. The results can be horrifying. Many investigative reports have born this out. Although some have been saying this for a while, the media now report that the real cause of recent shootings at high schools (and other locations) around the country may be related to anti-depressant medications. Reports are that 4% of those taking these drugs are lat risk to become homicidal. And over 2 millions children are currently on them. You can do the math and see what 4% of 2 million comes to. So I for one am very grateful that DD gave us something very different. But to truly achieve the advantage of that difference we must think differently too. We must see all that chiropractic can be. How do you know when subluxations are preventing your body from expressing life at a full 100%? If life is defined as the capacity to self-heal and self-regulate, which it is, how do we know when the body is not fully and effectively doing so?  What does 12% Death feel like anyway? On one hand we say the sole purpose of chiropractic care is to restore a normal state of tone by removing nerve system interference, and that we do not treat any disease or condition. But, we also know through over 100 years of experience that one result of that correction we call the adjustment is reduced disease and infirmity. To deny that is foolish and not truthful. As Bob Marley said, "In the abundance of water, the fool is thirsty." Yes, just like light, chiropractic can have different attributes at the same time depending on what it needs to be under the circumstance. People do, generally, get symptomatically better with chiropractic care. When we say "get well" we may be referring to the more normal expression of tone. But we are foolish if we do not acknowledge that people we care for also get less sick and symptomatic as a result of chiropractic care. The list of so-called conditions from which people have traditionally gotten benefit as a result of chiropractic care is enormous. Colic, ear infection, allergy, asthma, cluster headache, migraines, diabetes, congestive heart disease, colitis, lymphomas, ulcers, arthritis, are just a few. There are so many more. But if I ask you where to adjust to cure or alleviate any of these we know there is no certain answer. We don't even know where to begin to treat disease. However, we do certainly know there are areas of the spine that are more likely subluxated than others. So we are left in the end with what DD Palmer gave us in the beginning. DD Palmer should be recognized, and I hope one day will be, as one of the great geniuses of his age. There is no doubt in my mind, or in my experience, that we have exactly what most people are really looking for today. They want a means of experiencing true wellbeing without resorting to drugs or surgery. We just need to meet them where they are and show them what can be. And that is the real key to successful low stress, high income, and fun practice, on a daily basis. And that is what we can all experience by just telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Just remember this; You can't sell what you don't own.

Dr. Eddy Cohen's Fearless Chiropractic website

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