50+ Lifestyles

Chiropractic Use On The Rise!

By Robert J. Scranton, D.C.
Fibromyalgia Centers of America

Patients like you are having more say in your health care, and you want natural options – options that enhance health and prevent illness. As a result, Chiropractic is becoming more and more popular for treatment of…

• Back Pain
• Neck Pain
• Headaches
• Fibromyalgia
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
• Golf & Tennis Elbow
• Auto Injuries
• Whiplash
• Work Injuries
• Sports Injuries
• Poor Posture and…

Health Maintenance!

Consider this old analogy; there is a hill, dangerous in its height. With no protection, people could fall down the hill, and need an ambulance to take them away. Or the alternative would be to place a fence at the top of the hill to prevent the damaging falls.
Chiropractic can be likened to the fence…it is preventative and deliberate by nature, whereas conventional medicine is the ambulance – it was designed to treat illness and disease, not prevent them in the first place with diet, exercise, positive mental attitude, and a healthy lifestyle including chiropractic care.

Yes as you can see, Chiropractic is America’s Choice for quality drug & surgery free Health Care!…

“20 million Americans use chiropractic services every year.”
– American Chiropractic Association, 4/02

“23% of consumers said they would go to a chiropractor if they experienced an injury causing pain to their back or neck.”
– Chiropractic Economics Website, 4/02

“60 million people in the U.S. have used chiropractors.”
– American Chiropractic Association, 5/00

“Results of a study of more than 800 patients showed that more than half of people age 55 seek chiropractic care for mild to moderate complaints, without visiting a primary care provider.”
– Journal of the Geriatric Society, 5/00

“Doctors of chiropractic reported that approximately 12% of their patients were under the age of 16. The largest group of patients-37%-was in the 17-44 age group, with the 45-64 year old group encompassing 34% of patients.”
– American Chiropractic Association, 2/01

“A New England Journal of Medicine article stating that a group of patients with acute low back pain were more satisfied with the treatment they received from chiropractors than from orthopedic surgeons or primary care physicians.”
– Business & Health “Chiropractic: The new benefit staple” 3/98

“About 80 percent of working-age adults can expect to have at least one bout of back trouble during their lifetime.”
– Healthy Living “Beyond Back Care” 9-10/99

And here’s how it all began…
Used by ancient Chinese, Indian, Roman and Egyptian cultures forms of Chiropractic has been around for thousands of years. Hippocrates, the father of medicine once wrote “Look well to the spine, for many diseases have their origin in dislocations of the vertebral column.” Even with such a long history, Chiropractic wasn’t introduced into the United States until the early 1900s.

In America, Chiropractic initially was developed by Daniel Palmer of Davenport, Iowa in 1895. A long time student of anatomy and physiology, like many physicians of the time, Palmer was practicing prior to licensing laws and the establishment of medical education requirements.

In the course of his studies, Palmer offered healing therapy to a building janitor by adjusting a misaligned vertebrae and thereby restoring the man’s hearing. Palmer began treating others with Chiropractic and his reputation grew. Many people experienced the healing of physical disorders after they received these Chiropractic adjustments. In 1897, Palmer opened the first Chiropractic school in Davenport, Iowa.

Although many medical doctors lacked formal education at that time, Palmer’s techniques were espoused as dangerous and as a result, a backlash toward Chiropractic was created.

This distrust continued for more than 100 years.

But then it finally happened…

In a climax of distrust, in 1980, the AMA (American Medical Association) referred to Chiropractic as an “unscientific cult”, declaring it unethical for doctors to refer patients to Chiropractors. Finally, in 1987, five Chiropractors sued the American Medical Association and won!

Now medical doctors no longer are allowed to keep their patients away from appropriate chiropractic care.

Doctors of Chiropractic are trained at Chiropractic colleges with similar educational requirements as medical schools and are now accepted as primary health care professionals; giving special attention to the structural, spinal, musculoskeletal, and neurological relationships.

Fortunately for your sake, acceptance of Chiropractic is even increasing in the medical community. An increasing number of primary care physicians are referring patients to Chiropractors and many insurance companies offer reimbursement for Chiropractic services.

Chiropractic is now considered one of the most widely used forms of alternative health care with more than 22 million people annually seeking treatment.

With such a positive shift toward alternative medicine by the public, the U.S. Congress mandated the creation of the Office of Alternative Medicine in 1992. Then in March 2000, President Clinton ordered the establishment of a White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy. A 15-member advisory committee was commissioned to make legislative and administrative recommendations for education and training for health care professionals, and provide guidance for alternative care access and delivery.

Consumers are finding that Chiropractors are an effective “fence at the top of the hill”, rather than the “ambulance at the bottom.” As health care costs rise and many conventional medicines offer impersonal care, people want positive alternatives to conventional medicine like the care Chiropractors provide.

And don’t forget, if you ever have any questions or concerns about your health, talk to us. Contact us with your, questions. We’re here to help, and don’t enjoy anything more than participating in your life long good health!