There is a time and a place for medicine. Chiropractors are perceived to be ‘haters’ of all things to do with medication, but that could not be further from the truth.
Our goal is to try to eliminate health issues through natural and holistic means FIRST to see if we can avoid drugs and medication, but we are not opposed to the idea that sometimes medication can be a huge help to our patients – our goal is to always enrich our community with health and empowerment in the knowledge that the body innately heals.
Here is why drugs and medicine are not always the best first choice.
1.) Drugs mask the issue.
While medicine can temporarily make you feel better, it is simply masking a potentially serious issue that was causing the negative symptoms in the first place.
Symptoms are the way your body communicates with you.
Just as it is important to feel it when you break a bone, it is also important to feel your symptoms that your body uses to tell you that something is wrong. Chiropractic care can truly help with a variety of symptoms including back/neck pain, sciatica, plantar fasciitis, headaches/migraines, neuropathy, you name it, but unfortunately, many people first seek out pain medication due to habit or perhaps loss of confidence in the chiropractic philosophy. Either way, we highly encourage our patients to seek natural means first when combatting illness or uncomfortable symptoms before resorting to medication.
2.) Your body was designed to heal.
When you scrape your knee, you have the confidence to know that it will eventually heal. Sure, you may put a band-aid on it to keep it protected for a few days, but your body is intelligent in that it knows how to effectively heal the issue. This goes the same for other injuries and illnesses that the body experiences throughout your lifetime.
When your body is not healing correctly, we interpret that as there being a misalignment, or a break in communication within your body.
Your spine is the highway of your nervous system, but when this ‘highway’ is misaligned, damaged, or injured, there are breaks in communication. For example, think of the good old days when we used land line phones. If there was a break in the telephone cord, you would not be able to communicate with the person on the other end. The same goes for your body. When something is out of sync, the lapse in communication can lead to negative symptoms, disease, and even serious illness.
Chiropractors work with your body to detect areas of misalignment or miscommunication to effectively get your body back to it’s innately healing position it was designed to be in.
3.) Medicine can have negative side effects.
Have you heard one of those ‘miracle pill’ commercials recently that shows a happy scene with beautiful models enjoying a perfect day? Perhaps it distracts you from the quiet voice in the background quickly listing off a laundry list of potential serious side effects of the pill that is being marketed. Just because a pill has been approved for sale to the public does NOT mean that it is safe. Everyone’s body is different in how it reacts to different chemicals, and there is absolutely no assurance that taking medication is going to be a safe choice for you or a loved one.
Simply by doing a little research, you can find a plethora of different pills, vaccines, and miracle potions that have been discontinued due to injuries and even deaths that were caused by them. While there is a process for discontinuing dangerous medicine, think of all the people who have already been affected negatively. It is important to know what you are putting in your body, as well as, in the body of those you care about.
Just because something has been ‘approved’ by doctors, and/or pharmaceutical companies does not mean it is 100% safe.
4.) Drugs, medicine, and surgery can be expensive.
While insurance companies tend to work better with drugs, medicine, and surgery providers, these options still can add up when it comes to medical expenses.
Depending on the surgery, sometimes a procedure will lead to another one down the road and so on.
Certain medications can be downright addictive, in that a person will need to continuously refill their prescription to maintain the initial positive effects they experienced when first on the medication.
Let’s not forget that medication typically will mask important symptoms, meaning that if left untreated, the body may break down in other areas forcing a patient to seek additional care to feel better.
When the core root of a problem is not addressed, the body can get pretty creative in where it produces signals to let you know it needs real help and a real solution.
5.) Medicine is made up of chemicals.
It is not uncommon to find organic food flooding the aisles of grocery stores across the nation. People are also starting to demand other products free of chemicals such as soaps, diapers, and even clothing. With an increase in knowledge of how harmful chemicals and medication can be within our food, water, and day to day products, people are becoming wiser in their selection in what they decide to purchase for the health and safety of their family. While these products typically come at a higher cost, people are beginning to understand that the initial cost they are paying now, could very well prevent them from having to pay serious bills down the road due to illness or injury. While it may seem like I’m reciting common knowledge to you, there is a point I’m getting to here.
When you are concerned about what is in your food and daily products, shouldn’t you also be concerned about what chemicals are in your medications?
Most medicine is man-made, meaning that there is pretty much nothing natural about it. When reading the ingredient list off of the next medication you grab off the shelf, ask yourself if you can pronounce any of the names you see. Feeding an organic apple to your child is a great step, but if it is being followed by an over the counter medication that is filled with unpronounceable ingredients with potential side effects, are we really benefiting?
**Again, there is a time and place for medicine, and at Abundant Life Chiropractic, we support our patients in their right to decide what is best for them and their families. We solely serve our community to offer means to combat illness and injury from a drug-free, natural approach first before resorting to medicine or surgery. Please do not hesitate to Contact Us with any questions! We would love to connect with you!
