What Is Health?

This simple yet elusive question is one I often return to in order to re-center myself in this effort. Is health a measure of the “absence” of something? Or is it better understood as the presence of something? In terms of absence, we refer to symptoms as a guide. We reduce the human organism to a series of histological, microscopic, and physical findings as to whether dis-ease is present. Orthodox medicine doesn't know what health is, only what the presence/absence of symptoms can tell them. This reductionist approach has resulted in a medical culture seeking methods to remove symptoms, and in their eyes, restore health. But what if there is more to the picture? What if removing symptoms results not in health, but merely the removal of outward signs of disease and dysfunction?

It must be said that symptoms, as commonly recognized by orthodox medicine, often occur near the end of the disease process, preceding many phases of dis-ease and dysfunction. It should be clear then that the removal of symptoms through pharmaceutical drugs or surgery (remove a wounded part of the anatomy and the symptom disappears...) is not what can be described as “health”. Rather, being symptom-free is just the beginning of the journey towards health.

Now if we consider health as the presence of something, a new paradigm of understanding is available for us to utilize. Instead of poking, prodding, and turn-your-head-and-coughing to find symptoms, health professionals with a vitalism approach will have a very different perspective. Looking at health through the lens of holism, determining health would involve gaining an appreciation for a person's physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health. A passion for life, loving nature, kindness, generosity might be looked for in the healthy person. Instead of stating what is missing, doctors might diagnose and treat based off a person's energy level, range of motion, cranial symmetry, breathing, and/or spinal structure.

The crux of the matter is that orthodox medicine thinks in terms of what is NOT present. Following that line of reasoning we can view the allopaths as “taking away” symptoms or tissues (often times they take our immune strength and well-being instead). D.C.'s and other holistic healers view the patient in terms of what IS present. They look at the whole person, looking for avenues of giving, seeking ways to give more to the person so that after treatment the person is more “whole”. The underlying reality to this additive, whole-person model is the understanding that within each of us are better, more healthy versions of ourselves. More specifically, the goal of treatment for the chiropractor is to give to the patient in such a way that the patient's own body can more fully express health. This giving often comes in the form of adjustments, using bare hands or simple tools, which help alleviate disturbances in the body's nervous system – the body's master control unit. Chiropractors can also utilize advances in our understanding of nutrition and detoxification, which can help cleanse and nourish patients bodies, giving support to the fuller expression of health.

Health can then be better understood as not only the absence of symptoms but a more complete, full expression of the innate intelligence of the human body. To many this will be easy to understand, as the same forces which create health in our body create balance and plenty in the world around us. To many this concept is too large and too powerful to fit into their narrowed world-view. Health is a journey as we living beings are in constant motion. Health is not some tangible “thing” but a direction toward a better future for humanity. Relieving pain and symptoms is part of this healing process, only it is just the beginning. The destination is not the absence of symptoms but the presence of the innate intelligence of the universe through the human body. This is the foundation of chiropractic.