Turn on any television medical drama or soap opera and what do you see? Young, heroic doctors dramatically rescuing people from the jaws of death. The news is frequently inundated with stories about a new wonder drug, miracle cure or high surgery for this or that terrible disease. Most of the time we thank our doctors profusely when they help us with some troubling ailment. And the worse the affliction, the more lavish the praise. Indeed, I have been the recipient of such gratitude on numerous occasions throughout my career.
Of course, I would be lying if I said that I didn’t feel a profound sense of satisfaction when my chiropractic ministrations have made a positive change in the health condition of a patient. But I must tell you that when you get better neither I nor any doctor can take the credit. Why? Well, let me ask you: Who is really doing the healing, you or the doctor? It’s YOU!!!
Let’s look at a few examples. Suppose you get a cut on your finger. After cleaning the wound, you put some antibiotic ointment on and a bandage over the cut. And in a few days, the cut has healed. But try this experiment: Take a nail and scratch the paint on your car. Then rub some antibiotic ointment on the scratch and put a bandage in place. How long do you think you’ll have to wait before the paint scratch heals up? You might be waiting a long time!
How about some more gruesome examples: Let’s say you went into a morgue, broke the leg of a cadaver, and then placed an immobilizing cast on the leg. Once again, you might be waiting a very long for the broken bone to mend.
Or what if I, as a chiropractor, gave an adjustment to this same cadaver? What do you think would happen? Nothing!
So you see, no matter what intervention is applied, no matter how skilful or elaborate, no healing or recovery will occur unless this doctoring is applied to a living breathing, human being with the ability to self-heal. In other words, you’re the doctor!! Pat yourself on the back! All the people we call “doctors” are really just facilitators of healing, albeit very essential and necessary facilitators.
Of course, all this miraculous self-healing and self-regulating activity that you do on a daily basis is ultimately controlled by your nervous system, which is precisely the area of concentration for chiropractors.
So, next time you have a great healing experience, go ahead and thank the doctor…both doctors!
Dr. Paul is the owner of Weber Chiropractic Clinic and Wellness Centre in Port Hope. He can be reached at 905-885-9306. http://www.drpaulweber.com/
