There is discussion and difference of opinion as to whether chiropractic is an alternative to medicine. The very fact that chiropractors want to take care of medical conditions indicates that there is the perception among many chiropractors that we are an alternative to medicine. Chiropractic is not an alternative to the practice of medicine. It is, however, an alternative to the philosophy of medicine. Unfortunately, most people only know of the practice of medicine, and do not understand the philosophy of medicine.
We must first understand that both chiropractic and medicine desire to improve the quality of a person’s life. The medical doctor endeavors to do that by relieving, treating or preventing diseases. Chiropractors do not address disease. They correct vertebral subluxations to allow the body’s innate intelligence to be expressed more fully. It is immediately clear that the objectives are different so one could not be an alternative for the other. Diseases sometimes need to be treated. Whenever there is a subluxation, it needs to be corrected. The confusion occurs because often when the subluxation is corrected, the body has a greater capacity to heal itself, so it does. However, that is not the chiropractor’s objective. His objective is solely to correct the subluxation because the body is better off with no interference in the nerve system. Whether or not a body can heal is another issue entirely. So where is the alternative aspect of chiropractic?
The alternative is in the philosophy, the basic principles and thinking that comprise chiropractic in contrast to that of the therapeutic approach. The philosophy of medicine relates to symptoms and their alleviation. While symptoms are not the cause, the therapeutic philosophy maintains that if symptoms are alleviated the body will heal itself in most cases. For example, take an aspirin for your headache and lots of times whatever caused the headache will resolve itself. Chiropractic never relates to symptoms. Its objective is to give the body greater capacity to heal itself and perhaps maintain itself in better working condition so that treating headaches is not necessary. The philosophy of medicine addresses outside causes, environmental factors that they believe are the cause of disease.
Chiropractic addresses an internal cause, the body not working properly due to an interference in the nerve system caused by vertebral subluxation. While these are two different objectives, the alternative aspect of the philosophy is that in many cases addressing the internal cause negates the need for addressing the external cause. Most environmental factors have no effect on a body that is working properly and a good nerve supply is a prerequisite to the body working properly.
In the end, people have a choice. Do you want to spend your life trying to relieve symptoms, treat disease, address factors that you really cannot control like the environment and hope that you do not get sick. Or do you want to take a pro-active role in keeping your body working at its maximum. It seems like an easy choice, if you want to get the maximum out of life. If you choose the latter then you really need to do many things to keep your body working at its best, not the least of which is seeing your chiropractor on a regular basis to keep your nerve system free of the interference caused by vertebral subluxation. V25n4