Chiropractic works when traditional methods fail.

Dr Esteb writes a Monday motivational email that many Chiropractors subscribe to. I would like to share with you one of his Monday motivational emails and expand on this topic in my own words. Hopefully this will give you an insight into some of the principles of Chiropractic.

"Chiropractic works when traditional methods fail." William D. Esteb

1.    Is the original stress still present? If subluxation is the body's attempt at accommodating physical, chemical or emotional stress, and the stressor is still present in the patient's life, the likelihood of chiropractic working is less assured. 

Teaching patients to work smarter not harder has to be part of their treatment. It’s like a mechanic performing a wheel alignment and balancing the tyres, then teaching you not to hit the potholes on the way home. If you continue to do what you’ve always done – you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten. Looking at the small daily things that you do is a great place to start. It could be how you are sleeping at night, how you sit at your desk at work, how you exercise or don’t. Otherwise you’re only putting a bandaid over the whole issue and not getting to the cause.

2.    Limitation of matter. In the same way we can't regrow lost fingers and toes, there are limitations to what is possible based on a patient's age, conditioning and their willingness to follow recommendations and make lifestyle changes.

Getting the best outcome for our patients needs to be taken into perspective, we just aren’t able to make you into your younger self (lets think about it – Do you really want to be) But what we are able to help you with is being the best you can be at this stage of your life. That is, progressing towards your true health potential with you, not as many patients seem to think that we do this for you. Your healing is your body’s responsibility; we merely give it the adjustment and allow it to heal itself.

3.    Is the patient invested in their recovery? Some may enjoy secondary gains from their poor health and aren't fully committed to healing. Harnessing the mind/body connection is essential and one reason to employ effective chiropractic patient education.

 It’s an often unspoken subject that someone could be gaining from their ill health, but it is more common than you think. We receive attention; we receive sympathy and empathy from often even strangers. Helping ourselves is the first step to healing and it’s fraught with the unknown for many people. So while there is still a benefit from being ill, stepping into the unknown may not be something we are willing to do and this paradox holds people in limbo for years.

In light of this, William has rephrased the original statement to be “Chiropractic often works when traditional methods fail”.