Where does healing begin? Is it influenced and commenced by factors internal to the body or external?
There is no right or wrong to this question, but your answer will define your pathway to health. Will you be someone reliant on medicine whenever there is a problem, or will you be someone who will ensure that you promote your own health before falling into disease?
There are these two vision on health, and in chiropractic we call them as follows:
ADIO (Above-Down-Inside-Out)
This concept is based on the fact that the human body, as well as any living being (animals, plants etc.), has the potential of regulating itself, adapting to environmental circumstances, healing itself when damaged and most importantly maintaining health.
- Think of a tree, if you’ve ever been on a mountain you will notice that trees that have been dragged down by a landslide will often find new soil to plant their live roots and will change direction of growth towards the light again.
- In the same way when you break a bone, you might indeed wear a cast to hold things into positions, but an automatic response will happen within the body that will initiate a new formation of bone to hold the two parts together and strengthen it further.
So, to break the acronym down:
Above-down: the nervous system plays a role in which the brain (up above) will initiate responses and coordinate vital functions towards the body (down).
Inside-out: health and wellness originates from within and is determined by your body’s ability to adapt to all external circumstances.
OIBU (Outside-In-Below-Up)
In this case there is a change in perspective which is primarily focussed on symptoms. This concepts suggests that external factors and interventions are needed to stimulate the body’s healing response (outside-in). Examples of this might be medications, surgeries or therapies to treat diseases or conditions. Interventions such as these will often focus on treating the symptoms rather than addressing the cause.
- For example, imagine someone who is suffering with constant and regular headaches due to dehydration. This person might prefer taking regular medication like paracetamol to feel better rather than addressing the main problem which could easily be solved by drinking more water with electrolytes.
- Another example: Multiple trees are cut down on the side of a mountain, leading to a series of landslides falling on roads and paths, in this case the choice taken would be to cover the slope in steal rockfall barriers, rather than replanting trees to stabilise the terrain again.
How do health problems arise if healing starts from within?
If we go back to the first concept, there are limitations: stressors to our body are not avoidable in life, this will have an effect on how are nervous system is communicating and controlling our body. If there is interference (we call this a subluxation which you can read about here), the body WILL lose its potential to adapt to external situations (viruses, movement patterns, postural patterns etc.) and will find it harder and harder to maintain its health.
That is why, throughout my life I have done my best to maintain my health through making conscious decisions on eating habits, physical fitness, mental health etc. By reducing the stressors on my body I am increasing my potential to adapt to external factors that I can’t control: air pollution, having a physical job, encountering flues and colds.
But … Most importantly I get my spine and nervous systems CHECKED and ADJUSTED regularly by the few chiropractors that I would trust my life with, because I know that they will make sure there is nothing preventing my nervous system from working at its full potential and keeping me healthy!
P.S. Don’t get me wrong, if I lose a leg in an accident please just take me to a surgeon to close the wound up and stop me from bleeding to death.
So … What is your way of thinking on health? Where does health come form? Where does healing begin?
Just some food for thought.
Ciao for now,
Dr Sarah Spadon