Sometimes, Ignorance Is Not Bliss
by Dr. Chad McIntyre
I grew up around here. When I was in high school, I used to go to a local restaurant almost daily. I got to know the manager well enough that he would sing my praises when I would come home from college. It always made me feel awesome. He seemed genuinely excited for my future, and he was one of the first people to call me, “Dr. Chad.” However, he was also one of the first people to tell me that, as much as he liked me as a person, he would never ask for my help as a doctor. We bumped into each other shortly after I moved back here to open my chiropractic practice. He was dealing with a problem that I was confident I could help him overcome, but when I offered my help, he said, “I’m sorry, I don’t believe in chiropractic.”
In situations like that, as a doctor, I want to explain and inform those who may not understand what I do. Saying you do not “believe in chiropractic,” to a chiropractor, feels like you are trying to make it less than other doctorates in healthcare, cheapening it really. For many of us, it is that serious because it changed our lives, it is not just something we do, but it is part of who we are. Lots of strong feelings come up in response, even 17 years of private practice later, though I am usually more shocked into stunned silence when I hear such comments.
This happened again recently with a family member, which was my inspiration for bringing it up with you. His child was experiencing the kind of symptoms that most parents would be encouraged to throw unnecessary medication at. It was a clear alignment problem, which is what chiropractic is about, but he was going with what he had heard and would put a hard stop to any conversation about bringing his son to be evaluated at my office. Over 90% of you reading this may be able to relate to his stance. To him and to you, consider this:
Alignment is not a treatment; it is a habit. If you do not have alignment, it is like going to school and learning how to do everything but read; you can live in this world without it, but it is a much harder life. The spine refers to the bones that protect the brainstem and spinal cord, which along with the brain are the most important parts of the body. Spinal alignment (or lack thereof) directly influences everything that happens in the body. Chiropractic is the science, art, and philosophy of identifying how to restore alignment, without which the ceiling of health can lower. By making sure the body works normally, by increasing blood flow, balance, and movement, and by decreasing inflammation and stress, chiropractic removes many variables that stand in the way of the body being healthy.
Belief systems do not change without significant personal experience, and even then, that is just the first step. I do not want you or my nephew to end up someday like my old friend, who I learned while writing this, had died several years ago at 53 years old. My belief system about chiropractic, which stems from my own life changing experience with it, says that there is a good chance my friend would be alive today if his belief system about chiropractic had been different. He was not a healthy man, I knew that as a teenager, but if someone had been able to reach him, if someone had been able to shake him free of the idea that masking his symptoms was the way rather than forming the habits necessary to be healthy, I have little doubt he would still be here. Chiropractic is applied faith in the wisdom that created us: move the obstacles out of the way and let the power that made us go to work. I honor each and every opportunity to put that belief to the test in my practice.
We have so many huge problems to tackle with our increasingly broken healthcare system. Not knowing something such as alignment—which is common knowledge if we are talking washing machines, cars, or houses, but completely absent from health education—and the process of how to achieve it (chiropractic) does not need to be among those problems. Being in alignment is one of the best ways to help the body heal and being out of alignment is one of the worst habits you can have.