The Chiropractic Measurement of Health

the-measurement-of-good-chiropractic-health

Humankind’s concept of health and well-being is always evolving. In the past century up to the present day, the primary emphasis over matters of health were materialistic, such as chemistry, potions, remedies, surgical interventions, nutritional regiments, physical exercises, and others. These material concerns are still important for understanding and promoting health.

Moving forward, the emphasis in health is evolving to focus more on the individual human being, and his or her ability to adapt to stress emotionally and mentally. Here, we are elevating above the chemical or physical focus, to focus more on life experiences and stressful challenges.

Chiropractors support the individual’s ability to adapt to stress on all levels, by focusing on the structural alignment of the body to free up neurological function in the nervous system. From this, chiropractors can help support the higher-level functioning of the nervous system which is largely responsible for responding and adapting to life’s everyday emotional stresses.

In the work and research of Aaron Antonovsky, we learn that health has a positive, substantial, measurable origin and genesis. “Salutogenesis,” meaning the “birth of health” arises from our adaptability to stress, namely our ability to manage, comprehend, and derive positive meaning from the stressful experiences we encounter. When we can manage, comprehend, and derive positive meaning from life’s stresses, this creates a “Sense of Coherence” and a strong foundation for biological well-being.

Within this new framework—where health is born from our ability to adapt to stress coherently—we can begin to measure health beyond the purely materialistic dimension. We can learn to measure each individual’s Sense of Coherence and then work to improve this higher capacity throughout life.

Here, we must add in chiropractic subluxation as a key component to this conversation. Subluxation (vertebral and brain-level subluxation) represents an important factor affecting our Sense of Coherence. Subluxation is also an important measure of our overall adaptability—a measure that helps us “see” the presence of emotional stress reflected in the individual’s life.

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