healthyLifeby Dr Dave Herlihy

“The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease.”    Thomas Edison, 1902

The American Heritage Dictionary states that Health is, “Optimal functioning with freedom from disease and abnormality.”  The two components of that definition, optimal functioning and freedom from disease and abnormality, identify the two different approaches in healthcare.

Sick care is based upon viewing the body as a sophisticated machine; that life is equal to the sum of the parts of the body.  The objective of sick care is to diagnose and treat disease. Sick care focuses on treating symptoms rather than the causes of the disease.  These symptoms are often treated with drugs and surgery.  In reality, symptoms are the body’s attempt to rid itself of harmful agents.

Well care is based upon a philosophy called vitalism.  Vitalism recognizes that there are mechanical aspects to the human body, but we are much more than sophisticated machines.  Therefore, we are more than the sum of our parts, that there is an intangible part of life that cannot be measured.  The objective of well care is to support your body so that you can heal yourself by addressing the causes of disease rather than the symptoms of disease.  Today, more of us are interested in a higher level of health called wellness.  Beyond merely feeling better or preventing health problems, we want to fully enjoy life by being at our very best mentally, physically, and socially. True health is only possible with an optimally functioning nerve system.

Chiropractic care understands that you cannot focus on sickness and disease and expect health and wellness to prevail.  Merely treating symptoms and refusing to look at the body as a whole, self-healing system is a harmful mistake that is all too common.  In our office, we take a broader approach to your health, and look at how you are functioning rather than just asking how you are feeling.

Those who want the very best add regular chiropractic care to their other health practices.  The pleasant result is often more vitality, endurance, and the capacity to enjoy life to its fullest.  Good nutrition, exercise, chiropractic care, and other preventive measures are part of a wellness lifestyle.

It is always less costly to try to maintain health and prevent injury than to deal with neglected, deteriorating health or an acute injury occurring from a weak, abnormally functioning, misaligned spine.  We have observed over many years in practice that the patient who elects to do some wellness care spends far less, over time, that the individual who elects to do acute care only.