Working with Innate for chiropractic health

[Guest guest]

Another article in the NY Times on exercise and back pain, showing

progress on accepting the introduction of motion/activity on a painful

spine. The movement toward an acceptable form of exercise for back

pain is still very immature. To wit, the article closes with the

importance of each person learning to bring a greater level of personal

control over their pain, but does not bring any clarity as to how this

is accomplished.

<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/15/fashion/thursdaystyles/

15fitness.html?

ex=1129867200 & en=ca4ace93f53e39c3 & ei=5070 & n=Top%2fNews%2fHealth%2fDiseas

es%2c%20Conditions%2c%20and%20Health%20Topics%2fTherapy%20and%20Rehabili

tation>

Rossner <http://www.chiroweb.com/archives/23/12/30.html>

summarizes the factors facing American health care, and places

chiropractic's identity within it, at a crossroads between mainstream

and alternative care. If surveys are to be believed, we are currently

seen by the public as neck and spinal pain specialists, separate from

the health advise, maintenance/prevention and wellness that

characterize patient-centered care. At the same time, mainstream

health care is moving closer to the chiropractic model of addressing

the whole person. Rossner quotes Elias Zerhouni, director, National

Institute of Health from an April, 2005, lecture at Harvard School of

Public Health: " I think we are going to start to focus more on early

intervention in the 21st century as compared with the 20th century. The

paradigm of medicine is changing. In the past, we just didn't know

about biological systems enough to intervene before a disease struck

someone. You are going to see an increase, and we are seeing that now,

in the approaches that are not just medication, but lifestyle changes.

I think that you are going to see a lot of behavioral and social

science impact on how we organize society to decrease disease burden. "

Chiropractic's ability to reduce neck and spinal pain is a valuable

service and we are well positioned to benefit the increasing numbers of

people who suffer biomechanically. But we have failed, imho, to

achieve equal success on presenting to the public a chiropractic

prescription for accessible preventive care which would bring one more

control over body and mind. We have failed to date to tie the workings

of innate to improved spinal health; this in spite of innate being a

central focus of chiropractic history. We've failed at the academic

level to provide evidence-based support for the practiced use of

controlling the autonomic nervous system.

Can you name the one thing that you can simply do right now, without

getting up or changing position in any way, that will lower your

respiration and heart rates, reduce your blood pressure and improve

your immune functioning, all within a minute or two? It's no secret: a

calming breath will quiet our stress responses moment to moment

regardless of the external circumstances of those moments.

Further, I would suggest that stress reduction (the ability to

influence one's autonomic nervous system's responses to external

circumstances) is intimately tied to spinal health. Since responses to

external stress (as well as internal mental and emotional stresses) are

a measure of the cascading flow of hormones present at any moment in

the body, the body must be the training ground for stress reduction.

Accessible resting postures, aligned biomechanically, coupled with a

calming breath, practiced over time, enables a person to reduce chronic

spinal tensions as the ability to improve stress responses improves.

The low level stress of simple resting postures allows one to practice

a calming breath, distracting the mind from the stress itself, a skill

that transfers to all areas of personal stress response.

Life CC is promoting a preventive project, Straighten Up, America,

<http://www.life.edu/Chiropractic_and_Wellness/pdf/

Straighten_Up_America.pdf> but it is physically based only and fails to

recognize the stress reduction components that will really sell the

product. At least, they have recognized the future needs for

chiropractic to be identified with simple preventative measures for

spinal health.

Preventive chiropractic care will be different than pain-reduction

care. The time is right for an evidence-based accessible body-centered

program for unwinding spines and reducing stress, that is uniquely

chiropractic.

Sears, DC

NW Portland