Chiropractic is the largest non-medical healing art in the world. It's name is derived from two Greek words, chiro (hand) and praktos (to do), meaning "done by hand', without drugs or surgery. This natural healing profession attracts millions of people each year; housewives and movie stars, scientists and businessmen; lawyers and labourers; infants and the elderly; professional athletes, and "weekend warriors"; they all come seeking the unique services that only a doctor of chiropractic can provide.

Many People Don't Know
But many people have never been to a chiropractor; they haven't the faintest idea of what chiropractors do, who should go to one and how chiropractors help people. In fact, to some people, chiropractic is something strange or mysterious.
These attitudes contribute to one of the greatest health tragedies of our time: the millions who are sick, suffering, and dying, who are living on pain killers and other drugs, perhaps facing surgery, who are tired and fatigued and ill and yet have never considered trying chiropractic care. In so many instances help is literally around the corner.

Why Won't They Go?
Why won't they go? What's stopping them from at least giving the chiropractor a chance where other doctors have not been able to help? What's holding them back? Two things: Ignorance of the new and fear of the unknown.
In that regard chiropractic is in good company: every new idea, every breakthrough, every invention, every discovery has been met with a certain amount of scepticism, doubt and ever fear. What is needed to break through these barriers? A little knowledge and a little courage. With one it's easier to get the other.

The First Chiropractor
Yes, chiropractic is new. In fact, in 1895, the year of its discovery, there was only on chiropractor in the entire world and he had only one patient. You couldn't get much newer than that! But Dr. D.D. Palmer of Davenport, Iowa had something wonderful: a new idea. A better idea. An idea of how to get sick people well, keep the well from getting sick and relieve humanity from sickness and suffering without pills, potions, lotions, prescriptions and surgery. Oh, one more thing - his new idea worked. 1 worked very well. People began to travel from far away to be cared for, and in many cases, stayed to study this promising new healing art. In spite of chiropractic's newness it began to take hold and grow throughout the world. Dr. Palmer's discovery has been a blessing to millions!
However, in the early days people did not enter the chiropractor's office easily. They went because they had nowhere else to go. They had been to medical doctors, osteopaths and others and turned to the chiropractor as a "doctor of last resort". It has been said that every chiropractic success had been a medical failure.

So who should go to a Chiropractor?
It depends on whom you ask. For example, if you asked a person who was relieved of migraines he'd say that anyone with migraines should go. Ask a child who no longer wets his bed and he'll say chiropractic is for bed-wetting. Ask a woman who suffered from menstrual cramps and she'll tell you anyone with menstrual problems should go. Ask a person saved from back or disc surgery and you'll hear it's for people with spinal, back or neck problems. In fact, there are stories of people recovering from nearly every known disease and condition under chiropractic care: from heart trouble to hyperactivity, from fatigue to allergies, from digestive problems to colds and flu.

Spinal Nerve Stress
And yet, surprisingly, doctors of chiropractic do not treat migraines or bed-wetting or menstrual cramps or backaches or the flu or high fevers or any other disease. The goal of the doctor of chiropractic is to turn on your inner doctor, your own natural healing ability by correcting spinal nerve stress (vertebral subluxations), one of the deadliest, most destructive blockages of life and energy that we can suffer from. This promotes natural healing, vitality, strength and health. So, if you'd go into the waiting room of a doctor of chiropractic you'd probably see people with many kinds of health problems yet they are there for one thing only, even though some of them may not know it - to have their spinal nerve stress corrected, not to have their diseases treated.

A Common Mistake
So are patients wrong when they say, "Chiropractic is for headaches" or for other problems?
Well, yes. It's a common mistake. Most people first go to the chiropractor because of a specific health problem. They may have heard from a friend of relative that chiropractic is good for such-and-such a condition. They don't usually enter the chiropractor's office asking to have their spines checked for vertebral subluxations. They want the chiropractor to heal them of their ailments.

Spinal Nerve Stress
If the spinal column is unbalanced the nerve system that it protects is placed under stress, is damaged, and is not able to function at 100% capacity. That causes disease or overall body disharmony or malfunction. It interferes with and damages our nerves, ligaments, discs, and joints, weakens our muscles, and decreases and alters the energies to all parts of our bodies. You may have it for years before you'd begin to notice its effects. It can weaken you to the point where you'd begin to develop lowered resistance to sickness and diseases of all kinds.
Doctors of chiropractic fight disease by first analysing the spinal column and structural system for areas of spinal nerve stress or vertebral subluxations. They then rebalance and realign the body. The realignment procedures are called chiropractic adjustments. Adjustments are painless and take a short time to accomplish.

The Chiropractic Message
We are spending billions of dollars fighting disease in this country and precious little on discovering ways to regain and maintain health. Chiropractors fight disease, they help turn on your inner doctor.
This is chiropractic's message to humanity: Our body is the best doctor and if we remove the interferences to our natural function we'll feel better, heal better and live longer. The human body has an inborn or innate natural healing ability that needs to be reawakened and unleashed. Periodic chiropractic examinations and adjustments correct spinal nerve stress and unblock your hidden healing ability.

"Should I go to a chiropractor if I'm suffering from a disease?"
Absolutely! Chiropractic care will help turn on your body's natural doctor and improve your self-healing ability. You'd be better able to fight whatever disease or condition you're suffering from.

"Does it matter which disease I have?"
It does not. Chiropractic is not for diseases; it's for people. If you have a spinal column you need to have it checked for possible spinal nerve stress.

"Can I go if I'm under medical care?"
Yes. Having your spinal nerve stress corrected is important no matter what other type of care you're receiving. You can have your spinal column checked for vertebral subluxations by a doctor of chiropractic and still visit a doctor of homoeopathy, naturopathy, osteopathy or medicine. M.D.s and other healers cannot tell if you're suffering from spinal nerve stress (vertebral subluxations) and are not trained in correcting it.

"I'm feeling good, why should I visit a chiropractor?"
Because feeling `good" is not the same as being healthy. Too many people who felt "good" have been told they had silent cancers growing within them, or were close to a heart attack, or sudden y fell victim to a., stroke! To ensure health you should make sure your spinal column and structural system are healthy'- and bring in the family! Clinical studies show t all age groups, from infants to the elderly can benefit from chiropractic care.