By WIN Contributor: Dr. Matthew Bird, Chiropractor
One of the fundamental views of Chiropractic is that the sum of the parts is greater than the whole. Thus, how we move and interact with our environment sets up the interrelationship of health and disease as a singular entity.
One of the founding fathers of Chiropractic once stated that if we stop seeing an illness as something separate or special and instead, view it as part of a larger whole, as a milieu of behaviour, diet, sleep, exercise or activities of everyday of life, we often get better. Thus, we become the products of our everyday lifestyle and are responsible for our ailments.
Despite scientific efforts to fragmentally assess human movement, we cannot simply accept the idea of a reductionist mindset to solve our growing concerns and ailments regarding human performance either in sport or everyday life.
We are all connected to the forces that create both sickness and health:
- the beliefs of our society
- to the attitudes of our peers
- the words (written or spoken) we use to justify our existence
At WIN Health Solutions we evaluate human movement is part of our strategic plan to identify possible limitations that might be physical, mental, neurological, environmental or predisposing factors. Therefore, movement analysis reveals much more than just abnormal body mechanics.
The basis of motion/health is directly linked to our innate abilities. Take walking for example. How often have you actually thought about your gait pattern? Do you regularly assess your static and dynamic postures? Most likely not, unless you personally see me for your chiropractic care… 🙂 …but this would be your body’s innate ability to establish your daily intentions and control of all the components needed to perform your given tasks.
To go through all the levels of how we maintain functions is beyond the intent of this general blog. However, we can realize that the complex nature of human movement is something that we can all work to optimize and better our overall health and wellbeing.
Regular chiropractic care offers a holistic and natural treatment strategy to optimize function and form and minimize dysfunctions. Illness should not be viewed as an invading disease originating elsewhere, but as part of a process of living as a whole.
Focus should be directed toward the principle of relatedness and wholeness of many factors so that health may be achieved.
References:
Innes, Keith A; Palazzo, S; Tortorella, A; Chapter 9 Gait Analysis-Implications For Diagnosis, Treatment, and Rehabilitation: Functional Soft-Soft Tissue Examination and Treatment by Manual Methods Third Edition (Warren Hammer) 2007 Pg 427-428.