What Is Chiropractic
Chiropractic is the Science, Philosophy, and Art of healing that deals with the body in a natural way, without using drugs or surgery. It is a method of restoring the bony segments (vertebrae) of the spine to their correct position in order to reduce or eliminate nerve irritation caused by misaligned spinal bones.
Your spine – made up of 24 bony segments – is the main support of your body. A healthy spine keeps the body erect and protects one of your body’s most vital parts: your spinal cord. Billions of nerves leave the spinal cord through small openings between the vertebrae. These nerves carry electrical nerve impulses to part of your body.
We know that the nervous system controls the functions of every tissue, organ and system in the body.
Dr. William Garner Sutherland, a student of the founder of osteopathy, developed cranial osteopathy in the early 1900s.
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Why Do We Need Functional Medicine?
Our society is experiencing a sharp increase in the number of people who suffer from complex, chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, mental illness, and autoimmune disorders like rheumatoid arthritis.
The system of medicine practiced by most physicians is oriented toward acute care, the diagnosis and treatment of trauma or illness that is of short duration and in need of urgent care, such as appendicitis or a broken leg. Physicians apply specific, prescribed treatments such as drugs or surgery that aim to treat the immediate problem or symptom.
Unfortunately, the acute-care approach to medicine lacks the proper methodology and tools for preventing and treating complex, chronic disease. In most cases it does not take into account the unique genetic makeup of each individual or factors such as environmental exposures to toxins and the aspects of today’s lifestyle that have a direct influence on the rise in chronic disease in modern Western society.
There’s a huge gap between research and the way doctors practice. The gap between emerging research in basic sciences and integration into medical practice is enormous—as long as 50 years—particularly in the area of complex, chronic illness.
Most physicians are not adequately trained to assess the underlying causes of complex, chronic disease and to apply strategies such as nutrition, diet, and exercise to both treat and prevent these illnesses in their patients.
How is Functional Medicine Different?
Functional medicine involves understanding the origins, prevention, and treatment of complex, chronic disease. Hallmarks of a functional medicine approach include:
Patient-centered care. The focus of functional medicine is on patient-centered care, promoting health as a positive vitality, beyond just the absence of disease. By listening to the patient and learning his or her story, the practitioner brings the patient into the discovery process and tailors treatments that address the individual’s unique needs.
An integrative, science-based healthcare approach. Functional medicine practitioners look “upstream” to consider the complex web of interactions in the patient’s history, physiology, and lifestyle that can lead to illness. The unique genetic makeup of each patient is considered, along with both internal (mind, body, and spirit) and external (physical and social environment) factors that affect total functioning.
Integrating best medical practices. Functional medicine integrates traditional Western medical practices with what is sometimes considered “alternative” or “integrative” medicine, creating a focus on prevention through nutrition, diet, and exercise; use of the latest laboratory testing and other diagnostic techniques; and prescribed combinations of drugs and/or botanical medicines, supplements, therapeutic diets, detoxification programs, or stress-management techniques.
Definition:
Chiropractic
Functional Medicine
Method whose purported goal is to remove impediments to a patient's "energy."
It involves manually aligning skull bones.
What is Functional Medicine?
Functional medicine addresses the underlying causes of disease, using a systems-oriented approach and engaging both patient and practitioner in a therapeutic partnership. It is an evolution in the practice of medicine that better addresses the healthcare needs of the 21st century. By shifting the traditional disease-centered focus of medical practice to a more patient-centered approach, functional medicine addresses the whole person, not just an isolated set of symptoms. Functional medicine practitioners spend time with their patients, listening to their histories and looking at the interactions among genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors that can influence long-term health and complex, chronic disease. In this way, functional medicine supports the unique expression of health and vitality for each individual.
Cranial work performed by experienced Dr’s can help with a number of Musculo Skeletal conditions. ie TMJ disorders, neckpain backpain, headaches just to name a few
Let me explain the mechanisms: the spinal cord is covered by a touch layer of tissue called the ‘Dura Mater’ or ‘Tough Mother’ in Latin. The Dura starts at sacrum and connects with every nerve root in the entire spine and continues all the way up to your skull, surrounds the brain and exits through the sutures which are the joints where your cranial bones attach to one another.
When we experience stress, whether that stress is physical, emotional or chemical, our body naturally goes into a torsion or twist as a result of our fight or flight response’. This is a normal function of our sympathetic nervous system in response to stress.
Craniopathy
Chiropractic concerns itself with the relationship between structure (primarily the spine) and function (primarily coordinated by the nervous system) of the human body, and how that relationship affects the restoration and preservation of health.
When that relationship is compromised by a spinal bone interfering with the nervous system (a vertebral subluxation), your Chiropractor will apply a spinal adjustment (a specific, precise, corrective force to the offending spinal segment). This correction permits normal nerve transmission, enabling the body's innate recuperative power to begin the healing process.
Day-by-day physical, mental and chemical stresses may lead to spinal misalignments. Therefore, periodic chiropractic checkups are as important to your health as regular medical and dental checkups. How often to have chiropractic checkups depends on your life-style. Check with your doctor of chiropractic for a sensible program tailored to your individual needs.
We are stronger and faster in this position of torsion. Picture the stance of a sprinter or a boxer; they don’t stand square, but twisted, because this is a temporary position of power and speed.
Normally we can go into and out of this torsion without issue. But in periods of prolonged or intense stress, our bodies have trouble getting our of this position of stress state, and that’s when problems start.
Muscles pull asymmetrically, joints get restricted.and pain and symptoms start to present.
Dr VanHeule
at Better Brain and Body
Do you have a Headache because you have an Aspirin deficiency?
No!
Holistic Healthcare looks for the cause.
We don't just treat Symptoms.
Here’s how craniopathy can help:
If you can picture a belt that is getting twisted from both ends, you can imagine that there is a twist that runs the entire length of the belt. In normal chiropractic therapy, the goal is to try and untwist the spine by taking the torsion out of the spine in the middle. But just like the twist that runs the entire length of the belt, taking the twist out only in the middle without untwisting the ends will only result in the twist quickly returning in the middle.
This is why most forms of chiropractic, while being very powerful tools require frequent treatment sessions to maintain the results, because the spine will quickly rebound back into torsion.
Throught the addition of cranial work, we can untwist the dura at both ends balancing the cranium at one end and the sacrum and the pelvis at the other , alleviating many musculoskeletal conditions in the process.
We untwist the dura by contacting points on the sutures or points on the skull that correspond to different areas of the spine.
The main focus is stabilizing your pelvis, which is the foundation of your body and balancing the cranial bones.
This will take the twist out of the spine so your nervous system can function optimally.
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