Two Perspectives on Health: Reactive vs. Proactive
For most people, health is understood through the lens of pathogenesis: a focus on the origins of disease. This model asks:
- What causes illness?
- What symptoms are present?
- What is the diagnosis?
- How do we treat or cure it?
It is a reactive approach, where health is defined by the absence of disease. If you aren’t in pain or don’t have a diagnosis, you are considered “healthy.”
But let’s consider this, if a person who eats fast food at every meal and spends all day watching Netflix, yet has no symptoms; are they truly healthy? Not quite.
Salutogenesis: The Health Model
While the pathogenic model has its place in acute and emergency care, it does not take in the bigger picture of what it means to truly thrive. This is where Salutogenesis comes in. Instead of asking “What causes disease?”, Salutogenesis asks:
- What creates health?
It shifts the focus away from illness and towards the factors that help the body function, adapt, and flourish. This highlights the difference between a ‘disease’ frame of mind and a ‘health’ frame of mind.
Chiropractic and the Salutogenic Approach
Chiropractic care is deeply grounded in this Salutogenic perspective. Rather than diagnosing or treating diseases, chiropractors focus on supporting the body’s innate capacity for health. Central to this is the nervous system – the master control system that co-ordinates every cell, tissue, and organ function in the body.
When subluxations are present, they can interfere with the nervous system’s ability to communicate effectively. This disruption creates disharmony, often showing up as tension, pain, or dysfunction.
By locating, analysing, and correcting subluxations, chiropractic care helps restore balance within the nervous system, allowing the brain and body to communicate without interference.
Shifting the Mindset
The result is not just symptom relief, but a body better able to adapt, heal, and thrive. Instead of waiting for health to break down, chiropractic encourages a proactive, health-focused mindset. One that unlocks greater ease, energy, and vitality, and empowers you to live your best life.
By Dr. Ryan Lian