Chiropractic is the science, art, and practice of restoring health through identifying, correcting, and preventing imbalances to the body. The root word “chiro” is Greek for hands, so the word literally means “to practice with the hands.” The profession was founded by Daniel David Palmer in 1895 when he restored Harvey Lillard’s hearing by adjusting, or manually correcting, the imbalances in his spine. And while D.D. Palmer was the one who founded the profession in the United States, the practice of manipulating joints is documented in Chinese culture for centuries. The philosophical basis of chiropractic, established by D. D. Palmer and furthered by his son B. J. Palmer, distinguishes it from western medicine yet finds common ground with alternative health systems through its holistic premise.
Chiropractic philosophy holds that there is an innate intelligence, or life force, within the body that creates health and balance. Interference to this innate intelligence creates dysfunction and disease. This state of balance, or homeostasis, is maintained automatically without any need for direction or help. An easy example to understand this idea is that all mothers create a newborn baby within their wombs without any need to follow a manual. Life takes care of everything as long as it is free to do its job. This view of health is called the vitalistic model and is common in every alternative heal care field such as acupuncture, naturopathy, or ayurveda. The philosophical base of western medicine lies in the mechanistic model, that views the body essentially as a machine with many parts and chemicals. It was the vitalistic model that resonated with Dr. Tim and led to his choice to receive his doctoral training in chiropractic.
“When the body is free from interference, health is a natural result.”
Since chiropractors view health as an expression of this intelligence, treatment involves removing any interference in the body. With this concept of innate intelligence comes the heart of chiropractic; the importance of the nervous system and its role in expressing this innate intelligence. The central nervous system, which consists of the brain and spinal cord, controls the body through the network of nerves that exit the bones of the skull and spinal column. Interference, or stress to the body, is prone to creating problems to these movable segments of the spine. These problems result in a misalignment or “subluxation” of the spinal bones and are created by physical, emotional, dietary, or other stress. Subluxations interfere with the function of the brain to regulate the body. Chiropractors perform adjustments to remove subluxations and restore balance and expression of innate intelligence.
There are many ways to adjust subluxations and restore balance to the nervous system. Most people who have been adjusted are familiar with the standard methods that create a “crack” when the spine is adjusted. While these methods have their advantages, they are not for everyone.
Dr. Tim is trained to use a variety of methods that range from gentle, non-force methods to the familiar adjusting styles to support the individual needs of every client.
Dr. Tim’s primary method of restoring overall balance to the body is through adjusting the spine and clearing the nervous system of interference. As a holistic doctor, he will quickly recognize that this is only one of many ways that balance can be restored. Other health care practices such as acupuncture or ayurveda achieve the same end of overall balance. And since balance is the main focus behind Dr. Tim’s care, adjusting subluxations in the spine occurs in every appointment so that the individual will always leave with that much more balance and health.
