One of the aims of chiropractic care is to get you on a path to better health, to create an opportunity to experience wellness.
So what is “wellness”? This can be considered a vague term for something that is hard to define. It may be useful to look at the Illness Wellness Continuum proposed by Dr John W Travis in 1972.
What is the Illness Wellness Continuum? Let us look at a diagram:
One end of the continuum is premature death and the other end is optimal wellness. Midway between these points is the neutral zone, where there is no discernible illness or wellness. From the neutral zone towards premature death we experience increasing signs, symptoms and disability. From the neutral zone towards wellness we have to increase awareness, educate ourselves and grow.
The modern medical model follows the treatment paradigm aiming to reduce disability, symptoms and signs until the body reaches the neutral zone. What is apparent looking at the diagram is that we can experience more by continuing and following the wellness paradigm. This is a much more proactive approach to our health requiring our engagement changing our choices about our lifestyle.
There are two questions we can ask with regards to this continuum.
Where am I on the continuum?
Which direction am I moving along the continuum?
It may very well be, that some kind of treatment paradigm is required to stop moving in the direction of premature death, however if we embrace the wellness paradigm at the same time we can make choices regarding our lifestyle that will carry us beyond the neutral point and into the zone of optimal health.
Chiropractic care strives to satisfy both in a holistic way. Starting with relief care we can assist with the symptoms and signs of your condition, as your body heals and repairs we can start rehabilitation processes which allow the body to return to full normal function. During this time we discuss how your lifestyle may be impacting on your body’s ability to repair and heal. What are the physical stressors in your life? Can you manage them differently? What are the chemical stressors? Can you make simple changes to limit the impact of these on your healing body? What are the mental and emotional stressors?
Managing our stress is a large component in our healing process and we need to get a handle on it if we strive for optimum health. Ask your Chiropractor how they can help you formulate a plan to achieving optimum health.
