September will mark the 120th anniversary of the Chiropractic profession. The first professional football game and Grover Cleveland’s presidency marked the beginning of that 1895 mission to reach people with the benefits of Chiropractic. Football has changed and our noble cause also requires a change in approach. With over a century of progress supporting the cause, we have accomplished as much as two to nine percent of the market share, depending on who you ask. But we need to create more access to more people and increase the number of families experiencing Chiropractic. The root of modern change resides in our value system. We must commit to changing the local and global perception of Chiropractic.
The majority of people associate Chiropractic with alleviating back and neck pain. That is the perception that must change! We provide true health care and many of our own brothers and sisters in Chiropractic do not fully understand the impact of vertebral subluxation and the power of an adjustment. The confusion begins when Doctors first begin learning in our Chiropractic Colleges. Most students get a bi-polar education on vertebral subluxation stemming from philosophies that are not unified in the true foundation of Chiropractic and its supporting cutting edge evidence.
Some educators will state that subluxations do not exist, others will have no understanding of the term itself, while others will teach that understanding subluxations and giving proper adjustments are the very basis of everything Chiropractic can provide to humanity. The conflicting values in our own professional schools produce a lack of unity on a mission of priceless importance. Chiropractors should not be confused about their own value system. Trainings and seminars should not be needed for students to even be introduced to some of the most basic principles upon which the Chiropractic profession was founded.
The perversion from the truth has produced a society where Chiropractic is associated with back and neck pain. Rather than health care professionals, we are viewed as pain relievers. We treat good people who battle with insurance companies who wish to provide the least amount of care possible in order to make citizens functional. The problem is not just about the preservation of Chiropractic history. The problem is a society of sick and suffering people who have no idea that the solution to so many of their health care issues lives inside their nearest Chiropractic office.
A society grown weary of drugs and surgeries demands and deserves to know the truth! Science and research have made that truth clear. Chiropractic is more effective in improving visceral physiology than musculoskeletal pain. Research from Irvin Korr dating back to the late 1970’s backs up the fact that when the spine is altered in movement and position it radically affects human physiology. Korr’s work is not only published in PubMed, his eulogy was published in PubMed. Korr was respected and renowned for his research on the spine’s influence on the nervous system and human health.
Heidi Haavik’ s Research (Exploring_the_Neuromodulatory_Effects) published in the Journal of Neurophysiology explains the power of a Chiropractic adjustment on the brain and nervous system. Her work also shows that subluxation can be present in the absence of pain.
A study published in 2011 shows the influence of a Chiropractic adjustment. This study was done in Japan and used some of the best technology available. The results were remarkable! The study showed that just one Chiropractic adjustment inhibited the nervous system and caused a reduction in stress hormones that links to numerous disease processes.
In fact, a study out of Johns Hopkins University in 2009 explains that an increase in Noradrenaline (a hormone that a chiropractic adjustment has been proven over and over again to reduce) has a direct relationship with: cancer, bipolar disorder, excessive body weight, hypertension, type 1 autoimmune diabetes, type 2 diabetes, glaucoma, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, and immune system function. Your community needs to hear about this.
You Need to Understand This: Vertebral Subluxation is Real.
These studies are just the tip of the iceberg. Chiropractors can reference study after study and science upon science that validates the consequences of a subluxation and substantiates the power of an adjustment. From anti-aging and reversing neuro-degeneration to improving immunity and life-long epigenetic expression, Chiropractic plays a major role. The evidence is very clear. Chiropractors are infinitely more valuable than perception has allowed us to be. The change we need begins with better understanding the implications of a vertebral subluxation and the power of a Chiropractic adjustment!
My goal is to provide you with the best up-to-date evidence validating the power of Chiropractic and how to best make it usable in your practice and community.
Mission: To change the perception of Chiropractic worldwide.
Will you help?
Dr. Dan Sullivan is a chiropractor, speaker, author, and one of the most sought after health experts in the United States. He’s well-known for showing chiropractors the profound science and proof behind what they do to give them certainty in communicating to the public. For more studies and useful up-to-date information on the Power of Chiropractic please visit www.chiropracticadvocate.com.
