Chiropractors have, since 1895, treated sickness and infirmity without the use of drugs and with the goal of avoiding surgical removal or repair of any of the body's organs or structures. Chiropractic's message is that the proactive care of one's body and wise lifestyle choices are necessary to achieve health. Chiropractors have held and maintained this view even before it became fashionable, and long before evidence made it clear that the drug and surgery model of "health care" is really nothing more than "disease care," waiting for disease to occur and then treating the effects. Chiropractic takes a preventive approach to health care.

Chiropractors have always maintained that interfering with the transmission of the electro-chemical signals that connect your brain - the master control system for the human organism - to every organ and cell in your body has a detrimental effect on health.

The nervous system is so delicate and of such vital importance that the body has designed the most elaborate set of protection- armor, if you will - to protect it. The skull is a protective vault that houses and protects the most sensitive of systems: the eyes, the mouth, the ears and most importantly, the brain. The next critical organ in your body, the spinal cord, is guarded by your spine. This masterpiece of engineering contains 24 vertebrae - each one a unique bone - that serves not only as the axis of your musculoskeletal system, giving you the unique ability to walk upright, but also has a unique set of nerves that run through it to every other system of the body through individual holes called foramen.

What travels through the spine and the foramen that protect them is the very essence of your being. From your brain, your spinal cord and the millions of nerves that branch out from it are the core from which your body functions. Before you came into the world, you formed a brain and a spinal cord and developed a body around it. And so it is today, that the brain regulates the rest of your body through this delicate system of nerves protected by your spine.

Chiropractors maintain the proper position of these delicate joints and the precious cargo which they protect: your nerve system.

Pressure on the root nerves that leave the spine through the foramen to control and regulate all of the other organ systems of the body can affect millions of nerve fibers. Pressure on the brain stem, where it leaves the skull and enters the spine, can also affect millions of nerve fibers. Interfering with these nerve fibers can have disastrous effects on your health.

Chiropractors detect and correct the cause of this interference, allowing your body to self-regulate, adapt and heal. The care and maintenance of the spine and nervous system is a necessary component of any natural approach to health and wellness.

Today, chiropractors embrace and support the growing body of evidence that health is a result of a fully functioning nerve system; consuming natural, nutrient rich food and clean, pure water; proper exercise; natural sleep; and emotional/spiritual wellbeing. A healthy spine allows your body to adapt, regulate and fully realize the benefits of all of these other natural methods of avoiding disease and achieving health.

Dr. Wayne Fichter is the lead doctor at Disk and Spine Northwest, a comprehensive outpatient rehabilitation center specializing in the treatment of serious, chronic back pain, acute injuries and postural/scoliosis problems. Contact him at diskandspinenorthwest.com or (208) 215-3261.