One of the questions I am occasionally asked in practice is, “What else can I do for this problem?” The first thing this tells me is that the practice member really has not grasped the full impact of what the chiropractic objective is. It is not to get rid of a problem. Hopefully, the question is raised very early in care. If the question is raised later in care, it may mean that you have to focus your early explanation of chiropractic a little more on the objective. If the question is raised, it is a perfect opportunity to make it a teaching moment. Two things should be taught:
1. Chiropractic’s objective is to enable the innate intelligence of the body to be expressed more fully. It is not to treat a condition or a problem. That understanding of our objective should be foremost in their understanding.
2. If a person wants temporary relief from a problem, that is the role of the therapeutic realm of health care. If they want to address a problem from an ADIO perspective then they really need to embrace a health-restoring model. After all, (medical) problems occur simply because an individual has moved away from a state of health, well being, or proper function relative to his/her body. So what needs to be done is to restore proper function to the body, i.e.,restore health. Proper function (health) is dependent upon good nutrition, sufficient exercise, proper rest and good mental, emotional and spiritual attitudes, among other things. Those things are not part of chiropractic but they are part of keeping your body working at maximum efficiency.
When practice members ask what else they can do for their problem, they mean what can they do at home to help themselves. This is the perfect time to tell them that the best thing they can do for their problem is to give their body a better chance to heal itself by keeping their spine subluxation free. There are things that can be done to enable the body to work better but none as important as having subluxation corrected. Practice members need to understand that they should take a proactive part in restoring and maintaining their health. They need to develop and maintain an active exercise program. They need to make a conscientious and consistent effort to eat well on a regular basis. They need to develop good sleeping habits.
Basically, we need to teach them that improvement of their health is the answer to their “problem” and that is what they must concentrate on. It’s a whole new way of looking at life and health. They need to know that they are not going to truly address the problem until and unless they stop focusing on their problem and begin restoring their health. V25n3