History and Philosophy on Natural Medicine - MyAssignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theHistory and Philosophy on Natural Medicine. Answer: Chiropractic medicine is a form of medicine that is used in the diagnosis and the treatment of spinal disorders that leads to a negative effect on the nervous system of the body and normal health of an individual (Stephenson,2015). It is a type of natural health care that involves the use of spinal adjustments in order to help the body to heal in a normal manner by correcting the misalignments in the spinal cord and restoring of normal functioning of the nervous system.It is also known as the science of treatment without the use of any drugs or surgery. The first chiropractic treatment occurred in 1895 by Daniel David Palmer and was given to Harvey Lillard (Waters, 2014). Daniel David Palmer believed that treatment of the spine plays an important role in curing all the diseases in the human body. This essay deals with the philosophy, principles and clinical implications of chiropractic medicine that helps the patients to get relieved from back pain or in the treatment of sciatica. The philosophy of chiropractic treatment includes both vitalistic and holistic. The holistic approach deals with promoting health, helps in preventing illness and promotes healing based on social, personal , environmental and familial factors. The philosophy of Chiropractic treatment is based on the fact that nervous system plays an important role in the normal functioning of the body. It controls all the parts of the body through various nerves and signals. A chiropractor recognizes various factors that affect the health of an individual that includes hereditary factors, heat and ice therapy, environmental factors, hydrotherapy, nutrition and sleep intake and exercise (Davis et al., 2015) .Chiropractor improve circulation of blood by providing massage to the soft tissues. This also helps in reducing the inflammation and swelling related to back pain and helps in healing at a faster rate. Various therapies are used in the treatment process by the chiropractors. These include ultrasou nd, diathermy, hydrotherapy, and electrical muscle stimulation,. Ultrasound helps in reducing the back pain, stiffness and increase the flow of the blood in the body that ultimately helps in healing at a faster rate. Ultrasound involves therapy including sound waves and heat is applied to the joints and the soft tissues to reduce the pain. Diathermy is form of wave that is short and it passes to the tissues that are soft and helps in relaxing the muscles and the connective tissues. Hydrotherapy is performed by using water and its temperature and pressure is varied using hot baths and saunas. It is used to improve the blood flow , accelerate the healing process and decrease the sensitivity of pain in the back. Electrical muscle stimulation involves the use of electrodes that are kept in the skin and electrical impulses are send to all the parts of the body. It is used to relieve the back pain and decrease the inflammation (Coulter, Goertz Walters, 2014).Hence, a chiropractor helps i n the diagnosis of problems in the nervous of the body and helps it to heal in a natural manner and not by focusing only on the symptoms of any disease. When a patient visits the doctor for the treatment, he or she is evaluated on the basis of case history and is examined physically. They are also examined using laboratory treatments and X-Ray analysis and special attention is given to the spinal cord. Chiropractors can use various techniques during the treatment such as massage, ultrasound, and adjustment in the spine manually or muscular stimulation using electrical signals (Penney et al., 2016). There is no involvement of surgery or any drugs during the treatment as it is natural method of treatment and improves the communication system of the body to function in an effective manner by initiating, controlling and coordinating various functions of all the cells and the organs in the body. The most common problem that the patients visit the chiropractor is for the treatment of back pain but this treatment can be used for other problems as well such as headache, acute and chronic issues, pain in the neck, and problems in the nervous system and sciatica that may have occurred due to injury during sport activities, accidents or heredity (Vernon et al., 2015). According to researchers, chiropractic treatment can be used to cure the lower back pain or pelvic pain in pregnant women and it was observed that the patients felt improvement after the treatment (Peterson, Mhlemann Humphreys, 2014). It is reported that chiropractic treatment can be used to cure ear infections in young children and the children reported that they had no ear pain or fever after the treatment with the chiropractor (Center et al.,2013). It was also found that chiropractic care played an important role in the treatment of back pain in older population. Chiropractic treatment is reported to benefit females who were infertile and suffered from polycystic ovarian syndrome and helped them to attain pregnancy. It can be concluded that chiropractic treatment plays an important role in diagnosis and prevention of various disorders related to the musculoskeletal system that is the spinal cord. Chiropractors use a technique known as spinal manipulation that helps the spine to heal in a natural manner without being dependant on drugs and surgeries. It is a safe process and widely used in Australia to improve the functioning of nervous system by the patients. It is also reported that patients who suffer from osteoporosis, arthritis, compression in the spinal cord and people who take medicines to thin their blood are not advised to undergo manipulation in the spine. There are various disadvantages of chiropractic treatment such as some patients may experience side effects after the treatment such as increased pain, stroke and problems in the bowel movement ( Bryans et al., 2014). It can also take a long time in some patients in getting cured and can be an expensive treatment depending on the time spent by the chiropractor. References Bryans, R., Decina, P., Descarreaux, M., Duranleau, M., Marcoux, H., Potter, B., ... White, E. (2014). Evidence-based guidelines for the chiropractic treatment of adults with neck pain.Journal of manipulative and physiological therapeutics,37(1), 42-63. Center, N. P., Bontrager, D., Bennett, M., Zurawicki, T. (2013). Ear infection: a retrospective study examining improvement from chiropractic care and analyzing for influencing factors.Spine,38(8). Coulter, I., Goertz, C., Walters, J. (2014).Assessment of Chiropractic Treatment for Low Back Pain, Military Readiness and Smoking Cessation in Military Active Duty Personnel. RAND CORP SANTA MONICA CA. Davis, M. A., Yakusheva, O., Gottlieb, D. J., Bynum, J. P. (2015). Regional supply of chiropractic care and visits to primary care physicians for back and neck pain.The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine,28(4), 481-490. Penney, L. S., Ritenbaugh, C., Elder, C., Schneider, J., Deyo, R. A., DeBar, L. L. (2016). Primary care physicians, acupuncture and chiropractic clinicians, and chronic pain patients: a qualitative analysis of communication and care coordination patterns.BMC complementary and alternative medicine,16(1), 30. Peterson, C. K., Mhlemann, D., Humphreys, B. K. (2014). Outcomes of pregnant patients with low back pain undergoing chiropractic treatment: a prospective cohort study with short term, medium term and 1 year follow-up.Chiropractic manual therapies,22(1), 15. Stephenson, R. W. (2015).Chiropractic text book. Ravenio Books. Vernon, H., Borody, C., Harris, G., Muir, B., Goldin, J., Dinulos, M. (2015). A Randomized Pragmatic Clinical Trial of Chiropractic Care for Headaches With and Without a Self-Acupressure Pillow.Journal of manipulative and physiological therapeutics,38(9), 637-643. Waters, T. R. (2014). Mabel Palmer on Thin Ice: A History of Chiropractic That Almost Wasn't.Chiropractic History,34(1).