AJCC October 2000
- Does
the Patient’s Logic
- Turn You Inside Out?
by
Dwight DeGeorge, D.C.
BJ
Palmer spoke of the body’s innate ability to function from above down
and inside out. Chiropractic philosophy tells us that growth, healing,
and disease work the same way. It is this philosophy that makes us stand
out as a profession and allows the chiropractic adjustment to facilitate
healing and health through the expression of innate. When speaking with
our patients, I have learned it is extremely important not to address
them or speak to them from the outside in.
There has been many times when I have encountered blank stares
from patients who seemed to logically grasp the content of their
chiropractic education. They speak about chiropractic care with myself
and with the people working in our office. The thing missing is the
passion and interest people have when something holds meaning to them. I
have learned that pushing something on people when they are not ready
for the information or for the experience, is an attempt at educating
them from the outside in.
Bill came to my office several months ago and after seeing his
x-rays chose corrective care. He attended the spinal care class and
asked questions when the class ended. He seemed genuinely curious about
the chiropractic services provided in our office, but was merely
collecting information for himself. After 2 weeks of getting adjusted,
Bill asked if he could cut the frequency of his visits to one time per
week and still expect correction of his spinal and postural
displacements. I explained to Bill that these periodic adjustments might
help keep him comfortable, but would not take the pressure off his
nervous system or change his posture the way it would need to for health
to be free to express itself in his body. Bill explained he understood
the need for consistency and he understood what the research was and was
aware of my past clinical experience with an inappropriate treatment
program to make spinal change, but he still wanted to test those
theories and asked if he could come in to the office once a week to save
time in his busy schedule. Bill had his opinions despite all evidence
presented. He had different opinions even though he could explain how
correction was made possible by effort, consistency and frequency. Bill
requested we use him as an experiment and agreed to exercise and stretch
at home daily. He left the office with plans to get adjusted only one
time per week through the duration of 10 weeks of corrective care.
Bill never even seemed to gain any flexibility in his range of
motion during his daily activities. He never seemed to progress in
traction and there were few changes on re-examination. After 10 weeks,
we took a post x-ray. During the post report of findings, Bill was upset
to learn his experiment failed and there was no change on his post
x-ray. Bill still had trouble moving around and felt stiff and tight in
his back at the end of the day. When asking why there was no change, I
reminded Bill that we did this at his request as an experiment against
the information from the available research and against my better
judgement. Bill was quiet for a moment and asked if we could start over
with corrective care several times per week.
Bill understood the concept of subluxation and the regiment
necessary for correcting it. During the post report when he was feeling
discouraged, I asked him what he would have done if I had just refused
to allow him to try his experiment. Bill said plainly that he would not
have come back for more care. Instead of taking chiropractic out of
Bill's life, he learned a lesson he needed to experience before he was
able to consider the reality of the concepts he was exposed to in our
office. Instead of living without chiropractic care, Bill ended up on a
program of correction after having already paid for weekly adjustments
over a 10-week period.
I cannot understand why in spite of my best efforts, Bill
insisted on doing things his own way. It was not my responsibility to
tell him what to think. It is not my responsibility to tell him what
decisions to make. It is my responsibility to educate him to the best of
my ability for the purpose of conveying the best possible information to
him. All we can do as doctors is educate and accept the decisions our
patients make. If we push them, we are asking them to be force-fed
information. This forcing of the body and the mind is addressing the
patient from the outside-in. When patients are educated in a
comprehensive, caring, genuine, entertaining, creative and specific way,
they will make good decisions from the inside-out when they are ready.
The time it takes to achieve this is up to the patient as long as the
doctor has been doing his/her job in communicating the appropriate
message to the patient.
No matter what the logic and no matter what the evidence, true
decisions are made from the heart. No amount of education can change the
shape of someone's heart. Only the thoughts and interpretations of the
individual patients when processing the information taught to them by
their doctor can cause decisions to be made from the inside out. If the
doctor did his/her job right, will the musings of information processing
lead the patient from the inside-out to understand the importance of
addressing the entire health from the inside out.
As doctors, how do we know when the information has been
processed and held inside instead of just being technically understood?
The key is in the patients’ interest. It is in the smile they show
when talking about their understanding of the subluxation. When the
patients start to relate the subluxation to their life and the ability
they have to live it well, they are more likely to refer their friends
and family. It is at this time, they are ready for more information. Now
they may become megaphones for the once monotone message found only in
their logical minds which turns and warms in their brain and heart, like
fresh rising bread in an oven.
Back to CBP® OnLine
CONTENTS
Biomechanical & Neuro responses to Adjustment
Communicating From the Inside Out
Normal Values in Anatomy, Physiology, Disease and Chiropractic
Ambulatory Translational Traction
Percutaneous Radiofrequency Neurotomy...