Chiropratic Medicine

Chiropratic medicine involves restoration of the spinal biomechanical balance which affects the musculoskeletal, neurological, and vascular health systems aof the body.Treatment is applied by manipulation of the spine to remove mechanical stress.The main reason for chiropratic treatment is relief of pain and reduction of tightness especially of the neck and spine.

                The origination of chiropratic medicine is credited to Daniel David Palmer who opened an office of osteopathy and magnetic flow in the 1880s.In 1895 Palmer perfomed vertebral manipulation on a junior who had been deaf for many years and restored hearing that had been lost 17 years earlier.Palmer reasoned that improper alignment of the spine presses on nerves that leave the spinal column at various levels to supply virtually every organ in the body.This disrupts the normal flow of nerve impulses which results in organ dysfunction.Correction of the misalignment releases the pressure on the nerve and restores health.

                There are various categories of chiropractors.The “straights” contend that virtually every illness id due to subluxation and therefore can be corrected by correction of these slippages.The “mixers”understand that other factors are involved in disease and add nutrition, massage, and other holistic measures for treatment.A third category, as yet unnamed, restricts their therapy to nonsurgical musculoskeletal disorders.

                There are 50,000 licensed chiropractors in North America, and it is the fourth largest health profession (after physicians, dentists, and nurses).There continues to be difference of opinion between chiropractors and medical doctors.The latter consider that it is unlikely that subluxation of the spine contributes to many non-skeletal conditions.