Integrating Chiropractic Care with Traditional Medical Care
By Dr. Tim Fargo, Chiropractor
Much has been made of the antipathy and mutual exclusivity of chiropractic and traditional (allopathic) medicine. I can well understand why people might feel that the two disciplines are like oil and water, and never the twain shall meet. The truth is that there is no reason for this antipathy because we really occupy different spaces in the healthcare arena.
Chiropractors are trained to view health as something that flows from inside out, that within each person resides a powerful innate healing ability. Based on this philosophical tenet, we look at what we can do to remove interference to the natural healing power of the body. Therefore, we work with such things as nutrition, stress management, ergonomics, exercise and rehabilitation and, not least, the functioning of the spine and the nervous system. We actively seek to create health rather than focusing on treating, preventing, or even detecting disease. While it is true that we are trained to treat, prevent, and detect disease and other health problems, where we shine as a profession is in taking the people who see us and helping them to mobilize their own innate healing abilities.
Traditional medicine, on the other hand, is focused primarily on treating disease. As proof of this assertion, you should ask yourself when the last time was that you sought medical care. With the exception of routine physicals, most people only see a doctor if they are sick and if they are really sick, they go really quickly. The primary tools they utilize are drugs, surgery, and some forms of physical medicine. It has been my observation that the philosophy underlying traditional medicine is diametrically opposed to that of chiropractic and little attention is given to healing from the inside out. Even if physicians are inclined toward the latter viewpoint, the systems in which they work tends to discourage or dis-incentivize them from operating consistent with those philosophies. In my discussion with many physicians, I find them to be stressed and harried, particularly those that are working in what now has become “corporate medicine”.
These are all foibles of a flawed system, but one which is extremely valuable and necessary. Even though I am a relative purist when it comes to healthcare, I have certainly made ample use of my medical friends and colleagues. I have often said that “There is a time and place for everything”.
If your interest is to optimize function and create a body that never requires medical care, then see a chiropractor and those with both the inclination, knowledge, and tools to help you accomplish that job. If, as often happens, your circumstances require more radical or invasive intervention then, of course, see a medical doctor. If you have a fracture, strep throat, cancer, advanced heart disease or a host of internal disorders ranging from pancreatitis to pneumonia, then you should see a medical doctor. If, despite your best efforts at addressing problems conservatively, you find that you are not making progress, then your chiropractor should refer you to a medical doctor that they know and trust. Over the course of decades, I have collected the names and contact information for medical doctors in various specialties who I know will take good care of my patients, and I do not hesitate to refer my patients to them.
You can rest assured that, despite our confidence and belief in the power of our art, we will never hesitate to send you to medical doctors who can complement what we do. We are all working together to help you, our patients.
