How do we heal?
by
Dr. George DeFranca
What is health? It is not just the absence of symptoms but the overall well-being on all levels. How do we heal? We heal by way of our own recuperative powers. What does the nervous system do? Essentially it controls things, including how we heal. Every cell in the body is affected by the nervous system. In addition, the function of the spine intimately affects the nervous system and the nervous system, in turn, affects ones health. If the spine exhibits poor function, it causes reflex changes via the nervous system. These changes cause pain, spasm, and poor function elsewhere in the body. By restoring normal spine function through chiropractic treatment, the nervous system is reflexly stimulated to reduce pain and other reflex changes.
Recent studies have shown that when the spine is manipulated, the entire nervous system is stimulated. Even the brain, immune system, and autonomic nervous system are stimulated. Nervous system function is reintegrated after a spinal manipulation, as if it were being re-booted. It is no wonder why we in chiropractic have noticed that patients that have received regular chiropractic treatments seemed to have fewer colds and an increased sense of well-being. It is not unusual to see middle ear infections, asthma, ADHD, sleep disorders, digestive upsets, headaches and dizziness, and even the common cold respond to chiropractic spine treatments. Why? It’s not the increased joint motion and release of muscle tension after a spinal treatment that is so important, it’s the activation and stimulation of the nervous system that is magic. By comparison, it is not the pressing down on the keys of a piano that is so important; it is the resonant music that comes out of the black box as a result of depressing the keys that is magical. It is the same with chiropractic treatment.
The real goal is to stimlulate the nervous system via spinal manipulation and trigger healing throughout the body. When the spine is manipulated, reflex changes occur as result of the neurologic input, and the body’s own recuperative powers are engaged. We doctors don’t heal anything. You do the healing via of the power of the nervous system, the immune system, and your own recuperative healing powers. The magic is within you.