Chiropractic Healing

Do You Believe Your Body Has the Ability to Heal Itself?

For many people who walk into a Chiropractor's office the first time, they really don't know what to expect.

We hear from time to time: "I don't think this is going to work, but I'll give it a couple of times." Ok, so now you walked in with a negative attitude. Your Chiropractor will take the time to explain if and how he/she feels Chiropractic can help you. You still leave the office thinking that this is too good to be true.

The first thing to understand is Chiropractic does NOT cure. It does not cure your pain, symptoms and diseases. Chiropractors like Dr. Graeff will gently give you an adjustment, which will align your spine and remove spinal nerve interference. Proper nerve messages are now able to flow from the brain, down the spine and out to all the organs. Your body has now been given the ability to heal itself. Patients must follow the care schedule given to them by their Chiropractor. I cannot emphasize how important this is! How bad do you want to be better? I wanted it bad!

(Listen to her healing story)...At 18 years old, I had a nasty lower back accident. I slipped on water and fell in a sitting position straight on the tip of my coccyx impacting my spine. I couldn't walk for two weeks. Orthopedics, physical therapy and drugs didn't help me. After I had refused the Orthopedics suggestion of surgery on my L4-L5 herniated discs. I complained and suffered for six long years until I finally found Chiropractic care. Before I started care at 24 years old, my body felt like I was 60 years old. (Now at 41, I feel 24) Chiropractic was my last hope!

When I walked into the Chiropractor's office, I had no clue what Chiropractic was about. He did educate me very well. I entered with a positive attitude that this was going to make me better. After my exam and first adjustment, I left his office and said, "I know Chiropractic will help me!" In my case, I felt great after my first adjustment. To me it was a miracle; I knew I was going to get my life back.

After a month of getting adjusted several times a week, I felt like my back accident never happened. I started to resume all my old activities. I knew my injury was healed, but I didn't want to stop getting adjusted. I noticed the more I was adjusted, the better I felt. I asked my Chiropractor one day, "When do I stop getting adjusted?" He smiled and said to me, "You will know." It is now 17 years later, and I am still "well adjusted."

I was only under care a few months as I discovered besides getting out of pain there was a lot more to Chiropractic than meets the spine! Now I began the road to wellness. I learned that the symptoms that started after my back accident were a result of me being so subluxated. I had so many bones out of place putting pressure on my nerves that my organs were not getting the proper messages.

After so many adjustments, my aches and pains were gone. I had sciatica so bad, that I had to wear a back brace quite often or I just crawled around my house when my leg gave out. Well, the sciatica and brace became history. Headaches were gone that lasted 3 days at a time, as well as my stomach and digestive problems. My allergy symptoms disappeared and so did the allergy shots. My spirit became high again. Due to the back pain I had to live with, I suffered depression at times. The best was learning how and why my immune system became so strong. I realized I wasn't getting "sick" anymore. Until I started Chiropractic care, I was chronic with strep throat, tonsillitis and head colds. I was on and off antibiotics all winter, every winter. Medication also became the past for me. Now all the "medicine" I need if I don't feel 100% is an adjustment. My power is always turned on! I had my answer: to stay healthy and keep my nervous system balanced, I would be adjusted for the rest of my life!

Frequency                                                    

Why does the Chiropractor have me go back every week or two when he has already fixed me? The very same reason why your MD prescribes you Physical Therapy for 3 visits per week for 4-6 weeks. The same reason why your dentist wants you to brush your teeth three times daily. The same reason you exercise three or four times per week, and not once per month, etc. The question is, what do you define being "fixed" as? Most likely, your definition will be far different than your MD's, PT's, or DC's professional opinion.

Your MD fully understands, just as your Chiropractor, that the structures in your body are designed to respond to stimuli slowly, whether it by positive stimulus, or negative stimulus... your body will respond. A few basic examples are as follows: when the orthodontist puts braces on your teeth, your teeth respond and adapt very slowly to the forces acting on them in order to correct the function of your bite (1-2 years minimum). Also, your liver responds very negatively, and slowly, to a person consuming large amounts of alcohol over a long period of time by building up fatty cells, causing cirrhosis. Joe Workout in the gym, spends 4-5 days per week in the gym, the muscle tissue, very slowly, starts to respond to the stimuli with hypertrophy (becoming larger) over an extended period of time, usually about 6-12 months. To drive the point home, when you brush your teeth, you don’t call it good for a month, you brush your teeth 2-3 times per day to PREVENT plaque and tooth decay.

So when a Chiropractor recommends you visit the office once or twice a week for the next few weeks, understand that this runs parallel to the majority of all other traditional treatment methods and frequencies. The most important issue to understand is how pain plays a role in determining your treatment. You may feel that your pain has subsided even after the initial visit. However, it is presumptuous to take this as a sign that you need not follow through with the treatment plan your Chiropractor has recommended. The body has a magnificent way of adapting to negative stimulus and when it is unable to continue, your body sends pain signals to your brain, letting you know something is wrong. Unfortunately, pain is the last thing to show up when there is a problem, as well as the first symptom to go away after treatment starts. DO NOT use pain as a means to determine whether or not your condition is improving or getting worse.