When most people are seeking help for a healing challenge or crisis, they invariably ask the question of which intervention is right for them. This article is meant to help the reader understand the differences between the two most prevalent health philosophies: (1) Allopathic medicine (sometimes known as Newtonian or Western medicine), and its opposition (2) Holistic health care.
Hopefully, this article will help you decide which intervention fits best with your philosophies and beliefs.
The Modern Western Medicine (Allopathic Medicine) model
Let’s start with the model that most of us are familiar with, the allopathic model.
In its simplest form, allopathic medicine is a reductionist, mechanistic model. What I mean by that is that it is rooted in the assumption that complex systems can be broken down into smaller and simpler parts. Medicine then attempts to isolate the single factor that is most responsible for the dysfunction or pathology and uses pharmacological agents (medications) or physical interventions (surgeries) to treat or suppress symptoms or pathological processes of diseases or conditions.
While this philosophy often results in lifesaving intervention in emergency situations, it risks the danger of a myopic belief that each disease has a potential singular target for medical treatment. It is the disease, and not the person affected by it that becomes the central focus.
Allopathic medicine is inadequate at improving health and function because drugs are not physiologically compatible with life. They don’t even claim to be. Allopathic medicine provides care aimed at treating disease and/or symptoms of the disease not at improving health and function. Ultimately, allopathy defines success by whether or not a drug or surgery can decrease a symptom, not by whether or not the patient returns to health and vitality.
Holistic Chiropractic
The chiropractic model is one of vitality and holism, or simply put, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
The heart of chiropractic work rests in our awareness of the Intelligence found within all living things. We call this intelligence Innate Intelligence. It is the physical expression of Universal Intelligence, or what some call God. This is not a new concept or one that is exclusive to chiropractic.
In Chinese medicine, for instance, qi or chi is the vital force or energy that circulates through the body through channels called meridians and is responsible for sustaining all life.
In Ayurvedic medicine, an ancient practice of health care dating back at least 3,000 years, there is a similar concept called prana in which essential ordering energy animates life. Other examples include Vayu, Mana, Pneuma, vital fluid, Odic force, and Orgone to name just a few. Even the bible makes mention of God’s intelligence flowing through “man”; “the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” Genesis 2:7
To sum it up; there is an intelligence in all living things that regulates the optimal healing and function of every cell, organ, and tissue in the body. We call it innate intelligence and that Intelligence communicates with the body through the nervous system.
So, if we accept this truth, it means that health is never lost. We are continually being created through this intelligence and that is one of the great gifts of life. When health is compromised It is simply a matter of interference in the flow of innate intelligence. If we can free up any interference and allow the body’s intelligence to flow freely, without resistance, then the body will do what it has done since the point of conception, to control and coordinate the body to function optimally within its environment.
That is the primary intent of chiropractic. To free up our innate intelligence in order to allow the body to heal and function optimally. We do this through chiropractic adjustment. The purpose of the adjustment is to free up nerve interference. Chiropractors choose to correct the cause and not the effect, to assist and free rather than control and intrude on the natural processes of the body. The primary objective of all doctors should be to restore and maintain proper form and function, rather than chasing and manipulating symptoms.
So, is chiropractic right for you?
Ask yourself this question; Is it better to build health or fight illness?
If you understand that health cannot be restored any other way but to remove interferences to the body’s healing abilities and provide it with the building blocks (nutrition & exercise) for health then health and vitality will be the result. This is not a theory, it is a universal truth that has been known for thousands of years.
When you are ready to start living the best life possible, give our clinic a call, because life is better when you are healthy.
