Telemedicine has become increasingly popular over the years, exponentially more so recently due to the “uncertain” events of 2020. With Telemedicine on the rise, questions emerge: How does it compare to in-person medicine?
Is it on par with in-person medicine? Better than in-person medicine? Does popularity equate with better outcomes? Is Telemedicine good for all branches of medicine? Teleproctology anyone? Or how about other forms of healthcare: could we see a rise in Teleaccupuncture or Telehomeopathy?
What about Chiropractic? Can Telechiropractic work? Telemedicine might be the future of medicine, but not for Chiropractic if Chiropractic wishes to remain true to itself. How come?
Chiropractic is a literal hands-on approach to health. Telechiropractic could never be a thing because Chiropractic requires touch. And not just any touch, but a healing human touch.
Yes, the majority of healthcare practitioners use their hands in their day-to-day practice, but not to the same extent as Chiropractors. Most medical doctors just use their hands to manipulate diagnostic and surgical instruments or to write prescriptions; very few of the modern-day MD’s actually use their hands solely for the purpose of healing. In this regard, modern medicine has no problem with shifting toward a virtual paradigm. Medicine can be done without direct contact. Chiropractic though requires contact as part of the interaction.
The power of touch is real and can be used for good or evil. I will not go into any details, but touch can be used inappropriately and cause not only physical harm but chemical and emotional trauma as well. But when touch is used in an intentionally positive manner, it can be used to heal physical, chemical and emotional traumas. For example, positive touch is known to release oxytocin from the brain and other important growth hormones essential for health. This is why oxytocin is often called the ‘love’ hormone.
An instrument only performs as good as the hands that use it. For the Chiropractor, the hands are the instrument. What are the hands used for? Chiropractors use their hands to adjust vertebral subluxations.
A vertebral subluxation is a physical sign of body disruption. Body disruption creates less than ideal function. Less than ideal function can lead to sickness. A specific adjustment corrects a vertebral subluxation. The specific adjustment is two things: physical and intentional. The intention is to improve body adaptation by physically adjusting the subluxation. When adaptation is made sufficient, health can be optimized.
An adjustment is just one of many ways that touch can be used for healing purposes. One of my favorite stories on the power of touch is the true story often title the “Rescuing Hug.” In 1995, two twins girls were born 12 weeks premature. They each only weighed about two pounds.
They were placed in two separate incubators. After three weeks in the NICU, one of the girl’s oxygen levels started to dramatically drop and her heart rate skyrocketed. The medical staff did everything to try and help the baby, but she was turning blue very quickly.
Out of desperation, a nurse decided to put the dying twin in the same incubator as the stable one. This is not a standard of practice and is avoided because of the fear of infection. Once next to each other, the stable twin put her arm around the twin that was struggling to live. Immediately, the vital signs of the weaker twin began to normalize.
Human connection requires contact. And one not of virtual or artificial but real and natural. Artificial is never as good as natural, especially when it comes to connections. Sure, it’s great to video chat with grandma who is a 1000 miles away so you can show her the newest member of the family; but to physically offer your child to her so she can hold her will ignite more joy and health than any technological advancement will ever do.
Jarek Esarco, DC, CACCP is a pediatric, family wellness and upper cervical specific Chiropractor. He is an active member of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA). Dr. Jarek has postgraduate certification in Pediatric Chiropractic through the ICPA. Dr. Jarek also has postgraduate certification in the HIO Specific Brain Stem technique through The TIC Institute. Dr. Jarek is happily married to his wife Regina. They live in Youngstown, Ohio with their daughter Ruby.