Family Chiropractic Centre

LIFE HEALS

Mary had been a patient of mine for several years when she asked me if I could help her son, Billy. He was in kindergarten, and his teacher had asked Mary to consider moving Billy into the "slow" class -- his speech was getting worse and he was obviously not understanding much that went on in the classroom.

Mary said that if she yelled when they were facing each other, he could understand. If his back was turned, he wouldn't know she was in the room.

Several courses of antibiotics had failed to improve his hearing. Her doctor said that tubes in the ears (tympanostomy) would be the next thing to try. Understandably distressed, Mary wanted to know if chiropractic had anything to offer.

Stories like Billy's are frowned on by the scientific community. Cries of "placebo" and "population study of one" ring out in sterile hallways: "Any snake-oil salesman or charlatan tells of miracle cures."

But this is the tale of a little boy whose life was turned around, and it bears telling. Every function of the human body is under the control of the nervous system (Gray's Anatomy, 29th edition, p. 4).

On examination, I found only one subluxation (a misalignment or dysfunction in the spine causing interferences or irritation to the nervous system) in Billy's spine. I told Mary that, though I did not know whether this was causing Billy's hearing loss, I was willing to try to help. I was unprepared for the results. Natural forces within us are indeed the true healers of disease.

(Chiropractic recognizes that interferences with the nervous system decrease our ability to perceive our environment, and to relate to it and to other people. A chiropractor's role is to locate and correct that interference, restoring the body's innate ability to heal itself.)

I adjusted Billy that day, and told Mary he would need to be adjusted for several weeks before I could reasonably expect any changes. Mary called me later that day to tell me that upon arriving home, Billy had turned around and asked her to stop yelling, he could hear her fine.

(Chiropractors will tell you that the adjustment is a powerful tool in helping people to regain their health. They will tell you of seemingly miraculous improvement that was unlooked-for and unexpected. They will also tell you that healing comes from within, and is innately inherent in all of us.)

I saw Mary last week, and asked her how Billy was doing in school this year. "He's doing great," she said, "we've got a genius on our hands."

• Paradigm Lost
• Paradigm Found
• Taking Aim at Sacred Cows