Chiropractic: a holistic medicine

What is holistic medicine?

Holistic medicine is based on the law of nature that a whole is made up of interdependent parts. The earth is made up of systems, such as air, land, water, plants, and animals. If life is to be sustained, they cannot be separated, for what is happening to one is also felt by all of the other systems.

In the same way, an individual is a whole made up of interdependent parts, which are the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. When one part is not working at its best, it impacts all of the other parts of that person.

What are the origins of holistic medicine and how has it evolved?

Ancient healing traditions, as far back as 5,000 years ago in India and China, stressed living a healthy way of life in harmony with nature and the general principle of holism was concisely summarized by Aristotle in the Metaphysics: "The whole is more than the sum of its parts." The actual word holism was not introduced until 1926 when the South African statesman Jan Smuts coined the term in his 1926 book Holism and Evolution.

Today, most insurance companies in the United States and other western nations cover the types of medicine that can be defined as holistic, among which include chiropractic, acupuncture and naturopathy.

What are the cardinal principles of holistic medicine?

	emphasizes understanding the cause of illness in an effort to eradicate, rather than palliate, associated symptoms
	recognizes the centrality of the nervous system and its intimate relationship with both the structural and regulatory capacities of the body
	appreciates the multi-faceted nature of influences (structural, chemical, and psychological) on the nervous system
	strives toward early intervention, emphasizing timely diagnosis and treatment of functional, reversible conditions
	preventing illness is preferable to managing disease
	recognizes dynamics between lifestyle, environment, and health
	emphasize the connection of mind, body, and spirit
	individuality: focus is on the unique needs and nature of the person who has an illness rather than the illness that has the person
	promotion of healthy lifestyle
	patient autonomy is encouraged
	physicians influence patients by their example
	search for the underlying causes rather than treating symptoms alone
	assess body systems not just individual parts
	evoke inherent recuperative abilities

How is holistic health care different from conventional medicine?

“Do you have a headache? Here, take these pain killers. They aren’t working? Let’s try more potent pain killers.” That is the conventional medical approach. This is like disconnecting the oil light on your dashboard when it flashes. The irritation is eliminated, but the real problem still exists. A holistic medicine practitioner seeks to alleviate symptoms too, not by suppressing them, but by using them as a guide for going below the surface and arriving at the root causes.

Holistic health care professionals also work in partnership with their patients, treating the underlying causes while also acting as coaches or guides on the patient’s path toward wellness. This is quite different from the traditional medical approach in which patients and doctors wait passively for symptoms to appear before intervening with drugs and surgery.

Why is it that with the levels of technology we have in the 21st century, conventional medicine has poor success rates trying to resolve such common problems like headache, back pain, and fatigue?

There is so much knowledge today, that doctors have moved to high levels of specialization, which means there is a lot of knowledge about very little. People are divided into individual parts and organs. This is wonderful for crisis health care, but it is disastrous for many of the general health problems. In fact, many medical cures often are more harmful than the disease itself.

What types of doctors practice holistic medicine? Are they real doctors?

Most holistic practitioners have been trained with a conventional medical base. Examples include chiropractors, acupuncturists, and homeopaths, but even conventional medicine practitioners such as dentists, gynecologists, and veterinarians can also practice holistically.

How do chiropractors apply the principles of holistic medicine?

The role of chiropractors is distinctly different from that of conventional medical doctors and yet similar in other ways. On the one hand, we are considered specialists in neuro-musculo-skeletal disorders, and yet patients present with a wide variety of complaints in the hopes that chiropractic will be an alternative approach to care. For example, a podiatrist is considered an expert in foot and lower leg disorders; however, it is unlikely that a patient would complain of headache or dizziness and expect an evaluation and treatment of the complaint. In the chiropractic office, this is a rather common occurrence because we act as holistic practitioners.

What is the typical chiropractic approach to treating patients?

A chiropractor has a solid medical foundation and incorporates a holistic approach to evaluating his patients. For example, when presented with a chronic knee problem, the chiropractor evaluates the person with the knee problem, not just the knee. This may involve performing orthopedic and neurological tests or ordering x-rays and MRIs for the knee, as well as giving attention to past injuries, diet, and exercise - whatever is necessary to look at the big picture.

Chiropratica e Kinesiologia Applicata - Dr. Robert Morrison - Doctor of Chiropratic Specialist in Applied Kinesiology

Chiropratica e Kinesiologia Applicata per liberare il corpo dal dolore e mantenerti in equilibrio

ASK DR. MORRISON

SCHEDULE AN
APPOINTMENT

Chiropractic: a holistic medicine

Chiropratica e Kinesiologia Applicata - Dr. Robert Morrison - Doctor of Chiropratic Specialist in Applied Kinesiology

Chiropratica e Kinesiologia Applicata per liberare il corpo dal dolore e mantenerti in equilibrio

ASK DR. MORRISON

SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT

Chiropractic: a holistic medicine

SCHEDULE AN
APPOINTMENT