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About Applegater. (Jacksonville, OR) 2008-current | View Entire Issue (May 1, 2010)
Applegater Spring 2010 15 What is a chiropractor? BY SCOTT B. COOPER, D.C. People often wonder what type of education Doctors of Chiropractic (D.C.) receive compared to Medical Doctors (M.D.). They are very similar. Both attend undergraduate college with specific science prerequisites such as anatomy, physiology, biology, and chemistry among others. They then attend a chiropractic or medical college and their curriculum has many of the same fields of knowledge, although there are several areas where the paths diverge. Chiropractors devote more hours to specializing in the areas of neurology, X-ray and orthopedics, while medical doctors are using those same hours concentrating more on pharmaceuticals, psychiatry, obstetrics and gynecology. Hours of anatomy, physiology, diagnosis and chemistry are fairly similar. These demanding pursuits take over 4,000 hours of training in four years of classes before students can graduate and receive their doctorate. National and state testing follows to be classified as a primary care physician. Chiropractic colleges are accredited by the Council on Chiropractic Education, which is recognized by the United States Department of Education. The National Board of Chiropractic Examiners conducts ongoing testing throughout chiropractic college to certify that the student is accomplished enough to continue schooling, including a Part IV that most states accept as part of their state licensing. Each state usually has a written test for the particular scope of practice. Chiropractic is the largest drug- free form of health care in North America and the third largest form of any type of health care. Chiropractors often use modern technology such as computer scans of the nerves and muscles to help evaluate problems and cold-laser therapy to stimulate healing. Chiropractic is based on the understanding that our body is self- healing. When your skin is cut, for example, you do not have to concentrate on the blood stopping and the skin growing back together. Your body innately knows how to repair the damage. Messages are first sent from the injured area to the brain that interprets those signals and understands what has gone wrong. The brain then sends messages down the spinal cord and along the nerves to the injured area, telling that part of the body how to BLM Phytophthora lateralis, a spore that infects Port Orford cedar trees causing death, has infected numerous trees in the project area. As part of the project, a roadside “sanitation” prescription was designed to reduce the spread of the disease by creating a break in the pathway for the spore. The project has been well received. Lomakatsi and BLM have led several field visits and, in general, the community support has been favorable. The field trips have helped the public better understand the project, and seem to create stronger support for forest health treatments implemented by the BLM. Site conditions within treated areas indicate that the project is on its way to meeting its main objective, which is reducing the fire hazard in critical response areas. Pre-suppression construction of treated fuel breaks gives firefighters a higher probability of success in stopping wildfires heal itself. This is happening constantly, whether it is a traumatic injury or the normal replacement of cells that have worn out. Our brain and spinal cord are so important that they were the first parts of our body to develop, and they instructed the rest of our body how to grow. They are surrounded by bone to protect them, but our spine also has to be flexible so that we can bend and twist as far as we do. That is where a problem can occur. Some messages travel along the nerves at over 250 miles per hour, and are very sensitive to interference. Our nerves exit from our spine, and if the spine is not moving properly, those signals can be interfered with. Imagine taping a dime onto the back of your hand. It is very light, so it does not put much pressure at all on your skin. You might even forget it was there after leaving it on for twenty to thirty minutes. That same slight pressure applied to a nerve near the spine will reduce the amount of nerve messages by half in that same amount of time, and you probably will not even be aware of it. That means messages from our body to our brain telling it how things are working, and messages from our brain to our body telling it how to function and heal can be significantly altered. This can slow or even prevent healing and create numerous health issues, all from a tiny amount of pressure that you might not even notice. Chiropractors are the experts in detecting and correcting this spinal interference which is referred to as subluxations or the vertebral subluxation complex. Chiropractors use many different techniques to perform a chiropractic adjustment, but the goal is almost always the same: restore proper alignment and motion to the vertebrae of the spine so the nerves can carry those signals along the nerves without interference. That is why chiropractic can help with so many different health problems and also maximize your ability to stay healthy. Chiropractic care can help injuries heal faster, resolve chronic problems and helps our organs and immune system to function at their highest level, which our brain and body can communicate without interference. Scott B. Cooper, D.C. 541-282-5800 FROM PAGE 14 and the Deer Willy project achieves the goal of producing less waste. Stewardship contracting is being used to accomplish treatments at a reduced cost per acre and timber and other industry workers are being employed where they might not be otherwise. Labor jobs have been created with living wages. Biomass is utilized instead of being burned on site, and less smoke is being produced. And finally, taxpayers are saving a few hard earned tax dollars while the theme of the project is realized – a safer environment for firefighters and the public. BLM Grants Pass Resource Area is pleased with the results, and looks forward to continuing to work with local communities as more projects are developed and implemented across Josephine County. Tim Gonzales • 541-471-6643 Fire Mitigation and Education Specialist Medford BLM Grants Pass RA Don’t forget to attend the Silent Auction at the Applegater Fundraiser to be held April 25, 2010 from 3 - 7 pm