taking out the batteries

Chiropractors first and foremost are physicians. we receive training in all the same general areas of health care as a primary care M.D. does. A couple things that make us different are the following:

First chiropractic as a profession has chosen not to use medications and our scope of practice in all 50 states do not allow us to do so either. Also one of the differences between chiropractic and medical school is that as chiropractors we don't receive nearly the amount of education in toxicology and pharmacology as a medical doctor does. (and thats totally ok by me :P)

Second the medical model of health care is usually to just take a pill to help with what is bothering you and then another pill if that pill bothers you. Now that is a generalization not all medical doctors think or believe that is the way to practice health care. but its kind of the road that medical doctors end up going down with their patients. However taking pill after pill for what ails you in a sense is like being in a house fire where instead of getting out of the house and putting the fire out you just go around and take the batteries out of all your smoke detectors. Thinking that if the smoke detectors stop sounding an alarm then you are ok is as flawed of thinking as if "I'm not in pain I must be ok now." A chiropractic physicians goal is to get you out of pain yes but that is only the first step. once you are out of pain then its easier to address the source of the problem be it biological, physiological, bio-mechanical or whatever it may be.

In a perfect world a chiropractor would want to find the source of the problem, fix it and that would be the end of it. However sadly chiropractors are usually not the patient's first choice we are usually the patient's last resort. When fixing the problem isn't an option a chiropractor then turns to maintaining the highest level of function with the lowest amount of pain for the patient. Different chiropractors use different methods to accomplish the above but what I think all will agree on is that the way to truly be healthy is not just get rid of pain but improve the body's function because the lack of function (of one kind or another) is what caused them to have pain in the first place.