Chiropractic care: Allowing the body to heal itself

Shelby Ramsey

Special to the Village News

Our bodies can be described in many ways but the reality is that they have endurance, are powerful, and do a lot for us, especially behind the scenes.

It's important to value our bodies and do what we can to keep them healthy. Dr. Adam Del Torto, a chiropractic specialist, said in just one hour of watching television he counted six pharma-sponsored drug commercials. What concerned him about that was that he hoped people remember that "there are different approaches to health."

Do the majority of people look to a drug to solve all symptoms, problems, or health conditions? Medication is not the only answer, nor is it always the answer.

"Good health is not something we can buy. However, it can be an extremely valuable savings account," said Anne Wilson Schaef.

Enter the picture, chiropractic care.

"Chiropractic is a natural approach where we use the body's ability to heal itself, to help assist it to do what it does best," Del Torto said.

He emphasized, "Look what this body created all by itself with no help from the outside."

Our bodies are truly miraculous. Many new parents or parents-to-be commonly exclaim they "welcomed a miracle." Let's not forget that our entire lives are miracles, it's not just something to celebrate on the anniversary of the day we entered the world.

"Who are we to think that once we are born that all of a sudden [the body] loses that innate intelligence and we have to step in to assist it to do what it did – the miracle it produced," Del Torto said.

"Chiropractic focuses on the nervous system, which is the governing system, the controlling system of the body and by removing the interference in the nervous system and allowing it to express itself at its full capacity, your body can pretty much heal most things," he said.

While Del Torto acknowledged respect and understanding for medical doctors and their approach to health by treating a patient's symptoms and disorders with medication, he said, "There are so many situations where medicine is absolutely necessary, but not as a first line of defense."

He also frequently sees that once patients have "been through the whole medical gambit of surgery, drugs, more, now they are drug dependent."

It's so common. "Most people, once they can't get their health back, they get depressed and then the doctors start treating the depression. The whole mode of treatment shifts from the original treatment goal to 'Let's just manage their depression.'"

Many people know what it's like to take a medication that has a side effect.

"Every medication has side effects," Del Torto said.

"They aren't even side effects," he said. "They are the effects of the drug. They may not be the desired effects of the drug, but they are still the same effects." Many are quick to dismiss this notion.

"You can put them over here on the side and say, 'oh these aren't the ones, these aren't the desirable [effects] so we will call them side effects, but they are the exact same effect the drug has on the body that you are targeting,'" he said.

An interesting technique that is said to help the body heal itself is Cranial Facial Release. https://thehonestmigraine.com/the-brain-is-the-hard-drive-of-the-entire-body-and-the-primary-focus-of-cranial-facial-release-technique/

"The brain controls everything," Del Torto said. Through chiropractic care, "Just the lightest amount of mechanical pressure on the control centers of the brain has dramatic effects on the visceral area/dysfunction."

While most associate chiropractic care with back or neck pain, including headache, Del Torto explained how many of his patients reap many rewards from their visits. Patients will start getting adjusted [over a few sessions] and they say "'my menstrual pain has gone away,' 'my constipation has gotten better; is that possible doc?'"

He says, yes.

It was interesting when Del Torto mentioned patients he has had that have been trying to get pregnant. Upon evaluation in general chiropractic care, he would adjust the L3 vertebrae which, for women, is "the exact vertebrae that controls your uterus."

"I would just go in because it was subluxated and adjust it and they would come back three months later and say, 'We'd been trying to get pregnant for five years and we just conceived,'" he said.

This result has been achieved over two dozen times in his 39-year career, Del Torto said.

Each individual has a choice when it comes to their health regarding what they deem the best decision or preferred approach.

Del Torto's focus and approach in life has been more conservative. "The one that has the least chances of adverse reactions or least invasive of the procedures," is his first choice. "And if that doesn't work, you always have the option to move further up the ladder and take a more radical approach."

For those who haven't explored all the options (Western medicine, Eastern medicine, Naturopathy), let this serve as a reminder that it can be helpful to put all the cards on the table, review carefully, and employ sound decision-making for your health. Achieving and maintaining good health is no small task.

"Time and health are two precious assets that we don't recognize and appreciate until they have been depleted," Denis Waitley said.

Dr. Adam Del Torto practices chiropractic medicine, specializing in the balloon assisted cranial adjusting technique. He has been featured on Access Hollywood, E-Channel, and Celebrity News, and has lectured at many chiropractic forums. For more about CFR, visit http://www.cranialfacialrelease.com/home.html

Shelby Ramsey is the author of the blog, thehonestmigraine.com, which also features interviews with patients and medical experts.