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Chiropractic goes beyond pain

Dr. Amy Spoelstra | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 12 years, 8 months AGO
by Dr. Amy Spoelstra
| May 16, 2012 9:15 PM

Our bodies are amazing. Think about that statement. As you do, also think about the fact that you probably took a breath, blinked your eyes, moved a limb, moved your head, focused your eyes, digested food, healed a cut, wiggled a toe, salivated and a million other internal operations. Although you were not readily thinking about all of these processes, they were going on without the need for your input. Your brain, while also supplying you with conscious thought, is simultaneously orchestrating a laundry list of functions to keep you alive and well.

One of these functions is healing. It is an amazing function all by itself. If you get a cut, a bruise, a wound or any other type of injury, your body works day and night to fix them for you.

What happens when the body is not able to fix these injuries at full capacity? This can happen when the bones of your spine are shifted out of place (a subluxation) and put pressure on the nerves that are exiting out between the bones of the spine. Those nerves carry messages to every tissue, organ and cell in your body. Without the full supply of messages, healing might be slower or non-existent.

Keeping that fact in mind, take a look at the study below. People often associated chiropractic with back pain alone, but it is important to realize the full spectrum of its use:

A study in the June 1994 issue of the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics finds that patients with ulcers experienced remissions of their problem quicker under chiropractic care than those under standard medical care.

Using an endoscope to see the inside of the stomach, 35 patients, ranging in age from 18-44, were diagnosed with ulcers. While both groups were put on the same diet, 11 of the patients were given chiropractic care from 5-22 days and the other 24 patients received traditional medical drug therapy. The effectiveness of each approach was evaluated every week with another endoscopic test.

Those patients who received the chiropractic care experienced pain relief in an average of 3.8 days and clinical remission of their ulcers an average of 10 days earlier than those patients treated by drugs.

By way of commentary, this article does not suggest that chiropractic is a treatment or cure for ulcers. Indeed, in their conclusions, the authors say that normalizing the nerve supply to the stomach and the positive reaction of the whole body to chiropractic care were the likely mechanisms at work here.

By removing interference to the nerve supply to the stomach, chiropractic care improved function to the point that the patient's bodies were in a better position to heal the ulcers themselves.

A body that is allowed to heal itself at full capacity, free of spinal misalignments, is a happy and healthy body. This is why chiropractic is not just about pain. It is preventative care aimed at supplying your body with the necessary tools to do what it does best.

For more information, or to attend a wellness class on chiropractic care, contact Spoelstra Family Chiropractic at (208) 667-7434 or go to www.CDAHealth.com.

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ARTICLES BY DR. AMY SPOELSTRA

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Chiropractic goes beyond pain

Our bodies are amazing. Think about that statement. As you do, also think about the fact that you probably took a breath, blinked your eyes, moved a limb, moved your head, focused your eyes, digested food, healed a cut, wiggled a toe, salivated and a million other internal operations. Although you were not readily thinking about all of these processes, they were going on without the need for your input. Your brain, while also supplying you with conscious thought, is simultaneously orchestrating a laundry list of functions to keep you alive and well.

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