Great Basin Chiropractic Salt Lake Wellness Center
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Misperceptions of Chiropractic Care
...It’s Not Just For Adults with Back Pain
At 37 ½ weeks pregnant, Nicole Eversull’s baby was still breech. This would be her fourth pregnancy and she had never had any complications or C-sections and wanted to keep that track record. Her research led her to the Webster Technique and then to a chiropractor certified in it. This chiropractic technique restores pelvic balance and function for pregnant mothers.
“The chiropractor said my tailbone and pelvis were twisted and that this baby couldn’t turn even if he wanted to,” recalls Eversull, who had her pelvis, back and neck adjusted. She suspects it was a fall down some stairs after her third pregnancy that caused it. Over the next 24 hours, the baby was very active; the next day, an ultrasound at her OB/GYN’s office revealed the baby had turned.
“In one adjustment he turned,” says Eversull, incredulously. To fully correct and maintain alignment, she continued with multiple regular adjustments until the baby was born. The delivery ended up being her easiest one yet and Eversull avoided an episiotomy, unlike her other deliveries (all the variables—size, duration, doctor—were seemingly the same). “I can’t believe more people don’t know about this—I thought chiropractors only dealt with back pain.”
For Eversull, this new found discovery and understanding of chiropractic has her looking at the benefits and possibilities for her newborn and her older children.
Eversull is not alone in her assumption that chiropractic care is just for back pain or just for adults. This is a prevalent misconception regarding chiropractic care along with limited information on what chiropractors are trained to do. Doctors of Chiropractic receive education similar to a Medical Doctor except the focus is on optimal functioning of the neuro-musculo-skeletal system to promote health. Medical doctors do not study health or the promotion of health, their focus is on disease and the treatment of the symptoms of disease through medical intervention that typically involve drugs and/or surgery. It is also not well known that acceptance into chiropractic programs is as competitive as medical programs.
Chiropractors focus on correcting spinal misalignments, referred to as subluxations, using adjustments to restore joint motion. Restoring this joint motion increases the function of the nervous system and provides better communication between the brain and every cell in the body. In short, subluxations interfere with the neurological communication in the body, depleting a person’s vitality.
The central nervous system is made up of the brain and the spinal cord. The cord is protected by the spine itself, and runs down a canal inside the spinal column. The nerves exit openings between the vertebra and control body function. For example, the sinuses are connected to THORACIC vertebrae 1 thru 4 as is the bronchial tubes and lungs. When there is nerve-system stress, the body is less likely to function optimally.
Chiropractic care has progressed significantly with the evolution of advanced diagnostic procedures, sophisticated technology, and scientific research.
The profession’s roots can be traced back to Dr. Daniel David Palmer, who in 1895 was studying the cause and effect of natural healing. He examined the spine of Harvey Lillard, a janitor in his building, and found a lump on his back. Lillard had lost much of his hearing 17 years prior when he exerted himself and heard a “pop” in his upper back. Suspecting that a vertebra might be out of place, Palmer repositioned it with a gentle thrust. After several such treatments, much of Lillard’s hearing was restored.
The use of chiropractic care for children is first referenced in a 1910 Chiropractic Adjuster Journal. Whenever babies or children lose spinal alignment and function to any one of the 33 movable vertebra, they partially lose the neurological connection between their brain and their body. Just as many concerned parents take their children to the dentist for regular check-ups, many parents bring their children to chiropractors to have their nervous system’s checked.
One reason for the misperceptions of what chiropractic care treats is due to the advent of health insurance companies. They added pressure on chiropractors to identify health issues as pain-related to in order to earn coverage. This splintered chiropractice into two schools of thought—the original philosophy and the narrower scope of those who focus exclusively on fixing back pain.
“Chiropractors take a vitalistic and wholistic approach in working with the body to naturally heal itself,” explains Dr. Jeanne Ohm, director of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Assoc. “We’re enhancing normal body function for each individual person, not treating diseases.”