Good analogies are hard to come by, especially when you\u2019re trying to compare very complex things, like the human body, to inanimate objects.<\/p>\n
For years, chiropractors have used analogies, some good, some bad, some just plain ugly, to describe chiropractic.\u00a0 For example:\u00a0 \u201cThe Garden Hose\u201d analogy goes a little something like this — your spine is made of 24 movable bones.\u00a0 Between each of these bones emerges a pair of nerves off the spinal cord.\u00a0 These nerves are how your brain communicates with and controls the rest of your body.\u00a0 Sometimes the bones become misaligned, which pinches off the \u201cflow\u201d of the nerve like putting a kink into a water hose. <\/em>Sometimes this is the case, but it is actually quite rare.\u00a0 A truly pinched nerve, or at least a nerve pinched to the degree of a kinked water hose, causes a whole lot more than just a backache.\u00a0 Now we\u2019re talking about paralysis, total numbness, and sometimes, even loss of bowel or bladder function!\u00a0 These patients come my way sometimes, but it is extremely rare.<\/p>\n Another popular analogy is that of tires.\u00a0 If the tires on your car are not aligned properly, they will wear out unevenly.\u00a0 Likewise, if your vertebral bones are not aligned properly, your spine will wear out unevenly.\u00a0 I must admit, I use this one sometimes.\u00a0 It\u2019s really not that bad of analogy.\u00a0 However, if your car has a bent frame, good luck getting the wheels aligned!\u00a0 Many of us have a \u201cbent frame.\u201d\u00a0 Maybe one leg is longer than the other.\u00a0 Maybe we crushed\u00a0 the growth plate in one of our vertebral bones while we were young, causing that bone to grow differently from the rest.\u00a0 Perhaps, a few segments of our neck or low back have lost the natural cushioning between the bones, causing bone spurs to form.\u00a0 None of these things are easily \u201cfixed,\u201d and they make it nearly impossible to re-align those bones to their proper position.\u00a0 Hmmmm . . .<\/p>\n Well, here is my analogy.\u00a0 It no doubt has it\u2019s flaws (I\u2019ll even list them if you\u2019d like).\u00a0 I like it, though.<\/p>\n Imagine an old baseball glove.\u00a0 It was left in the rain a few times during its active years, and now its been lying in the garage for about 10 years under a workbench (that\u2019s piled about 4 ft. high with stuff the workbench was never meant to hold).\u00a0 Because the garage has no heating or air conditioning,\u00a0 the glove weathers\u00a0 some extreme conditions year after year.\u00a0 Freezing cold and dry in the winter, moist and hot during the summer.\u00a0 Those conditions obviously wreak havoc on leather.<\/p>\n So now, It\u2019s 10 years later and you\u2019re 60 lbs heavier, which means your hand has expanded some, too.\u00a0 Your workmates decide to start a beer-league softball team and you were a mean short-stop back in the day.\u00a0 You dig out you lucky glove and are saddened to find that it\u2019s just not in the same \u201cpristine\u201d shape that it was in when you got married and threw the glove under the work bench.\u00a0 It has shrunk.\u00a0 It\u2019s hard.\u00a0 The color is not even right.\u00a0 You wonder just how did you go so wrong in your life (a bit dramatic, but you get the picture).<\/p>\n You\u2019re now left with two choices:\u00a0 buy an new glove (which is never your \u2018lucky\u2019 glove), or re-condition your old one.\u00a0 The first choice is the easiest.\u00a0 Who needs stupid \u201cluck\u201d anyway?\u00a0 But that choice is definitely available.\u00a0 If we\u2019re going to compare this thing to your spine, though, you can\u2019t just get a new one, so we\u2019ll go with the latter choice.<\/p>\n Your\u00a0 spine is stiff (you probably noticed this at your first softball practice).\u00a0 It just doesn\u2019t move right.\u00a0 Some of the discs have shrunk, leaving less room for the nerves to come out (like the finger-holes in your glove \u2013 not enough room for your fingers).\u00a0 You may experience some pain (like the pain your fingers will feel if you try to shove them into that rigid glove).<\/p>\n So how do we re-condition this thing?<\/p>\n The first thing you do is take the glove inside.\u00a0 You remove it from the environment that caused it so much damage.\u00a0 In comparison, \u00a0stop treating your spine so badly!\u00a0 Stop sitting hunched over, looking down at a computer screen while slouched in your office chair, you know, the chair with your permanent butt-print in it?\u00a0 Stand up and move around once in awhile.\u00a0 Move that screen up some.\u00a0 Stretch, for crying out loud!<\/p>\n Secondly,\u00a0 you have to really manipulate the parts of the glove that are badly stuck.\u00a0 As far as your spine goes, this is where the chiropractor comes in.\u00a0 Some parts of the spine don\u2019t regain proper motion very easily, not even by hanging upside down on an \u201cinversion table.\u201d\u00a0 A chiropractor can detect these parts and establish motion in these areas.\u00a0 This is where the analogy breaks down \u2013 the human body is way more complicated than this.\u00a0 It has nerves and muscles and ligaments that all must work together to move the spine.\u00a0 Stick with me, though.<\/p>\n Now that the glove is becoming more flexible you can start to stuff your fat fingers into the glove.\u00a0 Likewise, in your spine, after a few chiropractic treatments, you notice that you can turn your head a little further.\u00a0 Your low back isn\u2019t so tight at the end of the day.<\/p>\n Before long, you\u2019re actually catching balls with that glove again.\u00a0 Plus, with the exercise of a few softball practices, you\u2019ve lost some of those 60 extra pounds and your fingers aren\u2019t as fat anymore!\u00a0 You\u2019re more agile and quick!<\/p>\n Now, the glove isn\u2019t perfect.\u00a0 It still has a couple stiff spots.\u00a0 It may even have a hole or two between the fingers.\u00a0 It is still discolored.\u00a0 It works, though, and that\u2019s what matters.\u00a0 Likewise, I can take your spine, in its current condition, and make it work better.\u00a0 I can\u2019t fix all of the problems.\u00a0 However, I take what you have and make it work better.<\/p>\n So, add this to the list of analogies for chiropractic care.\u00a0 Better yet, call my office and make an appointment for me to find those dysfunctional spots in your back.\u00a0 Experience for yourself what I can do for your health, just by re-conditioning your spine!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Good analogies are hard to come by, especially when you\u2019re trying to compare very complex things, like the human body, to inanimate objects. For years, chiropractors have used analogies, some good, some bad, some just plain ugly, to describe chiropractic.\u00a0 For example:\u00a0 \u201cThe Garden Hose\u201d analogy goes a little something like this — your spine […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n