"I have never considered it beneath my dignity to do anything to relieve human suffering."
-- D.D. Palmer
Probably the most continuing aggravation found in the chiropractic profession is not the definition of chiropractic, but rather the argument about what should constitute the practice of chiropractic.
Dr. Richard H. Tyler, associate editor of Dynamic Chiropractic, has constantly challenged the criticisms leveled at those doctors who treat the patients' general needs rather than just adhere to a specific set of rules. Dr. Palmer's statement above concurs with Dr. Tyler.
However, as far back as 1956, Dewey Anderson, Public Affairs Institute, Washington, D.C., in a pamphlet titled, "The Present Day Doctor of Chiropractic," wrote that chiropractors should look to the future to develop chiropractic as a complete health service, and that as long as the profession limits the science of chiropractic to some specific type of practice, such as adjusting the articulations of the spinal column by hand only, we will never attain this goal.
The Straights and Mixers Syndrome
This is quite an arbitrary stance which has developed within our profession, and may be defined as:
- Those who will do anything that they are allowed by law to do in order that human suffering may be relieved.
- Those who limit their usefulness by self-limitation to one form of therapeutic approach only.
This latter group attempts to mimic a philosophy which follows general allopathic approaches. The allopath approaches treatment as follows:
Specific Disease A is diagnosed as a chemical imbalance, which is then treated with a specific drug relative to that disease.
Group 2 chiropractor diagnoses Disease A as a specific subluxation, and the treatment is the adjustment of that subluxation.
Which of the two chiropractic groups follow D.D. Palmer's statement above?
The Subluxation
Over the years, there have been many approaches to define the chiropractic subluxation. Dr. William David Harper indicates that subluxations may follow three major phases:
- "The subluxation caused by traumatic force becomes a primary nidus of irritation and impulse transmission and cause of disease.
- "The subluxation that is caused by some mechanical, chemical or psychic irritation of the nervous system, that is of short duration, leaves the subluxation as the primary nidus of irritation, impulse transmission, and cause of disease.
- "The subluxation that is caused by some mechanics, chemical, or psychic irritation of the nervous system, that is lasting and perpetuated, causes the subluxation to recur after adjustment because the mechanical, chemical, or psychic irritation is the primary nidus of irritation and impulse transmission and the cause of the phenomenon of which the subluxation is but a symptom."1
It is this last relationship of the subluxation that we must consider as being the most difficult to handle with the chiropractic adjustment alone.
Differential Diagnosis
A patient slips on icy ground, injures his back, and presents with subluxation at L4 and L5. This may easily be determined as an irritation of a first order neuron. However, if you are presented with a subluxation at C4 to C6 with no corresponding trauma and your adjustments increase the pain, the doctor should look more closely at the problem.
Pain in this cervical area may be the result of gallbladder disease or liver malfunction, especially as the embryological development of the liver derives its supporting tissues from the diaphragm which develops at the level of C4 to C6.
The endotoxins and exotoxins from these organs irritate the nervous system precipitating the subluxation in the lower cervical area.
Such toxic conditions are becoming more prevalent in our current chemical environment. Generally, major organs are building up toxins and affecting the health status of patients to varying degrees. As chiropractors treating the total health of our patients, we must recognize these patterns and seek the appropriate means of reversing the disease pattern.
Ideally, once the area of organ dysfunction is found, either by specific deduction relative to the pain and subluxation, or by analysis of the metabolism through such procedures as homeopathic ionictherapy, the toxic effects are drained from the diseased organ, and the residual subluxation is readjusted resulting in a pain-free and subluxation-free patient.
Chiropractic, as a profession, is at the pinnacle of natural therapeutics, having educational standards at university level in many parts of the world. Homeopathy is a time-proven modality that safely corrects the morbid states of altered metabolism. The allopaths are quite satisfied with their chemical remedies and frown on the use of homeopathy as being just a placebo. Homeopathy is ripe for integration into a well-recognized natural health profession such as chiropractic.
Many chiropractic doctors are following this style of practice, providing a total health service for their patients. Dr. Grady A. Deal, Ph.D., D.C., concurs, "Toxic, sick patients need both spinal manipulation and a complete detox and health program to help the adjustment hold, to keep the spine moving freely , and to help the body continue to heal itself."2
One thing we can learn from the allopaths is to bend a little toward those measures that provide a greater emphasis of healing in our practice. After recognizing the value of acupuncture, they claimed it for a medical modality, and introduced it as part of their armory. Chiropractic must recognize the value of homeopathy by integration of it into their practice and with applied nutrition, treat the whole person, thus continuing to fullfil the precepts of D.D. Palmer.
References
- Harper, WD: Anything Can Cause Anything. Private Publication, ed 3, 1974. Dr. William D. Harper, Box 384, Seabrook, Texas 77586.
- Deal GA: Dr. Real's Delicious Detox Diet and Wellness Lifestyle. Wellness Lifestyle, 1991, P.O. Box 1147, Kapaa, Kaui, Hawaii 96746.
Douglas Jesse, D.C., D.HOM.
Ronkonkoma, New York
