When patients face health challenges, their first instinct is often to visit a doctor. In our healthcare system, physicians are widely regarded as experts – largely because they’ve earned the title “MD” through years of rigorous training. That credential alone, regardless of actual patient outcomes, places them in a position of authority.
Patients seek answers, and more often than not, the guidance they receive from MDs leads down a familiar path: medications, injections and/or surgery. This isn’t necessarily the doctor’s fault; it’s a product of the system they’re trained in.
Medical education focuses heavily on acute care, and in that realm, physicians excel: treating heart attacks, infections, broken bones, trauma, and concussions. But when it comes to chronic conditions – heart disease, cancer, diabetes, mental health challenges, sleep disorders, and obesity – their track record is far less impressive. Still, the system continues to promote a false sense of efficacy, creating a mirage of success where substance is lacking.
Chiropractors, by contrast, have long positioned themselves as holistic practitioners. Many DCs already consider themselves health coaches – offering drug-free, patient-centered care that goes beyond the adjustment. This article affirms that identity and challenges us to go further. Because in today’s healthcare environment, being a chiropractor and a health coach is no longer enough.
Our Next Evolution
To truly lead, we must evolve into lifestyle strategists – accountability partners, behavioral mentors and long-term wellness guides. Consider the world of sports: Every great athlete has a coach. A coach identifies blind spots, reinforces positive habits, sustains motivation, and challenges the athlete to reach new levels of performance. Even the most gifted players would struggle to thrive without that structure.
Imagine a professional team without coaches – no strategy, no accountability, no timeouts. The result would be chaos. The same holds true for many patients navigating chronic illness today. Without real-time guidance, structure and support, they’re left to figure it out alone.
While traditional MDs focus primarily on managing symptoms and emergencies, chiropractors are uniquely positioned to step into that coaching role. We are already educators and hands-on healers. Now we must also become structured guides – helping patients shift habits, create momentum and reclaim control of their health.
This next level of chiropractic care includes offering practical, consistent lifestyle education, such as:
- Why hydration with sea salt and minerals helps prevent cramping and injury.1
- How sleep posture impacts spinal alignment, recovery and nervous system health.2
- The role of stretching, yoga and Pilates in balance, flexibility and fall prevention.3
- Strength training to support bone density, mobility and vitality.4
- How nasal breathing enhances nitric oxide production for brain and lung function.5
- How HIIT training with nasal breathing boosts cardiovascular, immune and cognitive health.6
- Why chronic mouth breathing contributes to neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer’s.7
- The value of accountability in overcoming deeply ingrained health habits.
- Building a personal wellness team – trainers, instructors, gym partners, and chiropractors – to support ongoing success.
- Using meditation and mindfulness to support mental clarity and better decision-making.8
Costco and Chiropractic?
Too often, chronic illness is the end result of deeply embedded behavioral patterns – choices repeated so often they become automatic. These habits are hard to break alone. That’s where coaching comes in. Chiropractors are in a powerful position to disrupt those patterns, not just through adjustments, but through education, encouragement and strategic intervention.
Here’s a metaphor I often use: No one walks into Costco just to buy a bottle of wine. You leave with more than you expected – and often more than you knew you needed. Chiropractic care should work the same way. A patient may arrive looking for pain relief, but they should leave with something far more valuable: knowledge, clarity, confidence, and a plan for lifelong well-being.
The Future Is Here
This is the future of chiropractic: a model focused not just on spinal alignment, but on lifestyle alignment. One that helps patients move beyond reactive care and into empowered, intentional living. This is the vision we must embrace as modern DCs: building practices rooted in prevention, purpose and deep connection. Spaces where patients feel like family and where we get to do the work we love – helping people live fuller, healthier, more intentional lives.
References
- Shirreffs SM. The importance of good hydration for work and exercise performance. Nutr Rev, 2005;63(6):S14-S21.
- Lee J, et al. Effects of sleep position on the quality of sleep in older adults. Nature Sci Sleep, 2019;11:231-238.
- Page P. Current concepts in muscle stretching for exercise and rehabilitation. Int J Sports Phys Ther, 2012;7(1):109-119.
- Booth FW, Laye MJ. Resistance exercise and muscle aging: molecular mechanisms and clinical implications. J Cachexia, Sarcopenia Muscle, 2023;15(1):1-10.
- Lundberg JO, et al. Nasal nitric oxide in man. Thorax, 1996;51(3):210-212.
- Dreyer HC, et al. Effects of nasal versus oral breathing during high intensity interval training. J Sports Sci, 2020;38(4):401-408.
- Liistro G, et al. Mouth breathing and its influence on pediatric sleep disordered breathing. Sleep Med Rev, 2021;57:101468.
- Tang Y-Y, et al. The neuroscience of mindfulness meditation. Nature Rev Neurosci, 2019;20:213-225.
