November 2005

Long story short

by Dr. Will Tickel

The original prime mover, aka Old Dad Chiro, DD Palmer described the lack of tone as the cause of dis‑ease. Tone, he told us, has three arch enemies: physical, chemical, and emotional trauma (auto‑suggestion). [1] As DCs, our job is to remove the cause of lack of tone and not merely treat the symptom or effect. Or, has chiropractic evolved?

Most of the folks we see functioning in today's virtual world either have complaints originating in the c‑spine and causing dysfunction elsewhere or display neck‑shoulder‑arm‑hand compartment syndromes or cervicocranial symptomatology, etc. ad nauseum. Some of these states of dis‑ease may come from repetitive postures and movements. But many, if not most, stem from chemical or emotional trauma.

It's funny, but educated folks like to prioritize or catalog trauma, quite often relegating emotional trauma to the back burner ‑‑ as in, "I can handle it!" This is particularly true of the male gender. Ever notice? Most likely, this is the ego and its inclination toward mind over matter. Of course, tone relies on mind through matter ‑‑ the basic premise of chiropractic. Just the same, socially and intellectually, folks are more likely to buy physical trauma over the other two as the cause. Clinically, chemical and emotional causes are growing exponentially these days and, quite likely, are now overshadowing the physical cause of interference, especially as people are growing more and more sedentary and the world, in some ways, more frightening.

"Multiple Chemical Sensitivities" [2] and "Emotional Support" Groups of various ilk and nature are springing up all around us. It's mandatory that we chiropractors continue to step up as major players in these arenas. Our main thrust, from the start, has been health and wellness via the removal of interference. This doesn't require that we become nutritionists or psychologists. It simply means that we keep our eyes and ears on a body at ease, helping others to discover their pathway to it. This is, in effect, "the idea" we talk about in chiropractic. The one from which "all else will follow." [3]

One example is my own recent, personal tale of being a healer. Being in the sixth decade of life, I've begun to notice changes, chemical changes it turns out. To cut to the quick, my body is tending to move toward becoming more acidic. This, of course, is an affront to the life of ease. [4] Time to make some adjustments!

Specifically, my body began to exhibit signs of respiratory distress. The only liaison I've had need to develop thus far in our five‑year‑old practice here in Cincinnati is with a cardiologist (even after 20 years in the Chicago suburbs we only needed a handful of relationships with other disciplines). Anyway, I made an appointment. Upon entering the room, the heart guy blurts out, "Oh, a case of asthma. I can hear it from over here."

Asthma, I thought to myself, I'm 57 years old. No way! I've never had asthma. The rales are both inspiratory and expiratory. No way.

I'll not detail the prescriptive nightmare this numbskull caused. (Incidentally, numbing the skull ‑‑ the consciousness of mind toward body ‑‑ is a primary effect of drug therapy.) Nor will I mention the facial paralysis the steroids caused. The symptoms returned, along with the ugly drug effects that did dissipate in time, thankfully. The heart guy, incidentally, explained to me afterward that facial paralysis is sometimes permanent. Gee, thanks, Doc!

Next, I consulted a lung guy. "Gastroesophageal reflux disease," he quipped right off ("GERD" is the buzz word on the marquee, er, I mean, billboards). I must admit I was somewhat impressed with numb skull number two, especially as he said to me, "I don't suppose you, as a chiropractor, are going to be interested in taking any pills for this?" Huh, I thought, is the profession finally making some headway into society, after all? After some expensive diagnostics (gotta have some numbers, can't simply play a hunch in these matters, ya know) and a couple more expensive consultations with the specialist, I left his office with samples of some purple pill in my hand and a scare of "cancer" he'd lodged in my mind from the absence of same purple pill. I promptly discarded the samples, but the cancer idea proved to be more difficult to dismiss.

Long story short, I made some dietary changes, moving my ph more toward alkalinity [5], along with some other lifestyle changes. Cause corrected! Which leaves me ‑‑ a chiropractor with, by and large, a medical education ‑‑ realizing it's no wonder the general public is so drugged and duped by the Managers of Disease (MDs) and their Pill Purveyors ‑‑ the pharmaceutical industry.

By the way, this story is one I share often and vehemently with my practice folks. Can you imagine?

References

1. Palmer, DD, "The Chiropractor's Adjuster," Davenport, IA, 1910.

2. Rogers, Sherry A., MD, "Detoxify or Die," Prestige Publishing, Syracuse, NY, 1989.

3. Palmer, BJ, "The Bigness of the Fellow Within," Davenport, IA, 1939.

4. Baroody, Theodore, ND, DC, "Alkalize or Die," Holographic Health Press,

 Waynesville, NC, 1991.

5. ibid

(Will Tickel, DC ‑‑ willtickel@yahoo.com ‑‑ is an internationally known speaker on "things natural." He and his wife, Dr. Pam Tickel, are both graduates of a chiropractic college that no longer calls itself such. One son and his wife are both DCs and two other sons are now rapidly pursuing their right to licensure at Life College of Chiropractic. Dr. Tickel is finishing up a third book on healing, entitled, "Stirrin' it Up! A baby boomer's look at life, liberty, and the pursuit of imperfect bliss." He is available for talks in your area.)