“Straight” chiropractors and “Mixers”?? A question of focus.
Some chiropractors focus mainly on the musculo-skeletal health of their patients—helping to reduce pain, stiffness, and restriction. Chiropractic can offer great relief to patients by freeing up restricted joints, not only in the spine but in many other joints of the body. In many cases, muscle spasm and inflammation cannot be reduced until these joints are freed up, because the restricted joint can be the underlying cause of the issue.
However, chiropractic was not originally started as system of pain relief. It was designed as a system of maximising the health. The founding principal of chiropractic is based on the idea that the brain controls everything in the body via nerves and almost all of these nerves pass through the spine. If there are areas of dysfunction in the spine, this could potentially interfere with the flow of messages passing between the brain and the body, affecting the health. Some chiropractors focus the aims more along these life—to maximise the health and function of the body by removing nerve interference in the spine.
BOTH of these styles of chiropractic improve the wellbeing of the patient. If you’ve ever had a bad back or neck and found relief through chiropractic care you know how much of difference it can make to your life. So, one style is not better than the other.
For me personally, I see no need to focus on one over the other. If chiropractic can offer benefits in both areas, why not do both? I’ve have seen amazing results with chiropractic in both styles. It is difficult to do research on whether chiropractic can improve the health of patients and therefore some people think that the purely musculo-skeletal style is more “scientific”. But if you have practiced as a chiropractor for long enough, you will see enough changes in the health of patients that any doubt soon evaporates. As long as the patient is healthier and happier, a chiropractor is serving them well.
Stefan Becker
“Chiropractor” (not one type or the other)