Chiropractic and Neuroscience
These are the days my friend! At long last the Chiropractic Profession can break the bonds that have kept it under challenges, misunderstanding and suppression for the last one hundred plus years. While many will continue to fight change and want to stick to the old theories of vertebral subluxation, the new information coming from the field of neuroscience has provided the opportunity for a new understanding as to “why” Chiropractic continues to get such outstanding results.
The rule is that over time new knowledge will create change. This does not mean that the “change” will be welcomed with open arms, but the truth of the matter is that without change there is no growth. As for the chiropractic profession, the need to change is being driven by factors such as the insurance coverage game, and the reduction of our scope of practice to pain reduction.
The further we moved down the road to ensuring insurance coverage, the more we have been forced to find billing codes for reimbursement which unfortunately are all medically modeled and therefore symptom based. We are well aware that Chiropractic plays a role in pain and /or symptom reduction; however, by limiting the profession to this level of participation we not only sell our value of care short but also the real benefits for the patient.
The demand for billing codes, diagnosis and evidence based care has forced the profession into the medical model which in turn moved all research toward the study of care as it pertains to some disease diagnosis. In order to present a diagnosis we have had to fall back onto the symptoms based disease classification. What this means is that we have been pulled into the game of treating symptoms which removes us from the field of a health profession and into the business of disease management. I understand I can’t answer for everyone reading this article but this was not the reason I became a Chiropractor.
In my presentations I like to ask the DCs in the audience if they have ever had a “Chiropractic miracle” happen in their practice. It may be something as simple as the disappearance of some health challenge that the patient never mentioned before all the way to someone regaining the ability to walk or a autistic child breaking through. Without fail the stories start to come forward. Someone who had low back pain not only had their pain go away but their high blood pressure dropped as well.
Here is the point I wish to make. Chiropractic has so much more to offer than what the insurance companies or medical billing diagnoses impose. These two influences continue to degrade our services. The catch is that the new information from neuroscience and research within the chiropractic profession has changed the role of chiropractic care. The old theory of nerve interference from vertebral subluxation has now been superseded by research which clearly shows the problem is Compromised Neural Integrity (CNI) at the central nervous system level. Research has also revealed that the “Adjustment” acts as a neurological pattern interrupt which allows the CNS to reset the CNI to a more appropriate function.
If this information caught your attention, just wait for the next edition. The future is bright if you aren’t afraid of change! With this information these really are “The Days”!!
To read part IV in The Truth of the Matter series click HERE.
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