The Alternative Press

Good afternoon,

My name is Dr. Todd Cunningham, D.C. and I am a treating Chiropractor at New Providence Chiropractic in New Providence, New Jersey. This is my first article and blog in a series of articles I will be writing biweekly or possibly more often when an idea or thought strikes me and I want to share it. I hope there is a way to comment after it and respond because I look forward to getting responses and feedback on these articles.

How many of you watched the amazing 2012 Super Bowl when the NY Giants defeated the New England Patriots? What a great game and amazing season. Did you watch the commercials? See the halftime show? They were advertising everything from cars, to sodas to online sites and so many medications, both prescriptions and over the counter medications. In all those hours of coverage, how many Chiropractic commercials did you see? Natural health care? Truly natural foods and healthy lifestyle options? Not many, so first of all I need to address a public relations issue. What exactly is Chiropractic?

I am a rarity in Chiropractic circles. I had never been adjusted prior to attending Chiropractic school. I played sports, hated taking medications and my diet was ok at best. I was excited about being a Psychology major at UCLA and wondering how I could help people for the rest of my life. After talking to Erwin Chessen, D.C. a long time family friend and amazing man, I enrolled in Chiropractic school. I know what it is like to learn about what a Chiropractor does and hope to explain it to you from someone who learned it, is skeptical in nature and has continued in the field for over 20 years.

Have you ever watched Jay Leno or David Letterman? When a guest is announced, they walk onto the stage,  shake hands, sit down and then the host asks the person what they do. Every person should have a 30 second answer to Jay Leno or anyone else who asks them what they do. It should be clear, concise, entertaining and not sound like a Sheldon Cooper intellectual rant from  the TV show Big Bang Theory. If you have not already realized, I do watch some TV and movies, so many of my sources will be from there. Anyway, you have 30 seconds, maybe less, until the short term attention spans of most people has expired and their bored minds move onto another thought.

Chiropractic is the science and practice of finding and treating subluxations, usually in the spine.  These "luxations" or minor dislocations, can severly affect how your body feels, functions and communicates. They occur thru trauma, poor habits, bad ergonomics and gentic abnormalities. When one is present, symptoms like pain, numbness and tingling or hot and cold sensations can be felt because of pressure on the nerves caused by this subluxation. How many people rush to the doctor when they feel pain or numbness? It is a wonderful motivator, its scary and worrisome, but its often just a symptom of an underlying problem.

Have I reached my 30 seconds with you yet? Let me just finish up by stating one more thing. Every tissue, organ, vessel, fiber of your body exists and functions based on your nervous system. It is the first thing to form when conception occurs because nothing can exist without proper communication and feedback providing instruction to the amazing genetic miracle that occurs to take two cells and turn it into the complex human body. Your body can handle just about any challenge it faces as long as its communications can continue between one healthy organ and another. Subluxations interrupt this communication and affect or eliminate it and Chiropractors try and restore this communication to affect it.

This is a powerful idea that should be seen, heard and explained on TV, in books and magazines until it becomes a bigger part of the fabric of our society. The more we work on answering "why" disease and pain occurs, the sooner we can figure out "how" to avoid and correct it. I look forward to future articles to explain more and do more.

Until then.....

Readers may contact Dr. Todd Cunningham at info@npchiro.com and visit New Providence Chiropractic on the web at www.npchiro.com