Giving Birth To Health
Being a pediatric chiropractor who sees and cares for oodles of amazing pregnant mamas and babies, I often get to talk about a lot of things relating to giving birth. However, this newsletter won’t be focused on anything regarding “giving birth” in a labor and delivery sense. This month, we are going to talk about “giving birth” to health aka salutogenesis.
Few are familiar with the term salutogenesis, yet it expresses the very essence of wellness. Aaron Antonovsky coined the term just before my time, back in 1979. It’s derived from salus, which is Latin for health, and genesis, meaning to give birth. (Literally the most ideal way to give birth lol, all you mama’s out there feel me.) Salutogenesis literally means “that which gives birth to health.”
Conversely in traditional public health and community medicine approaches, a “pathogenic” perspective, in which the focus is on disease or illness and its prevention or treatment, most often dominates medical interventions.
Taking care of one's own health is probably the most neglected part of most people’s individual life. We often consult a doctor when we are ill but never introspect on the conditions which are keeping us in good health.
Health and disease are two contrary situations in which the whole medical industry relies upon. Maintaining health and treating disease are two difficult tasks which are still to be conquered. Modern medicine mostly talks about pathology and the pathogenesis of a disease condition. Think of it, ironically most health professions have this term incorporated in their names. Conventional medicine is known as allopathy. Even alternative medical systems such as homeopathy, naturopathy, naprapathy, and osteopathy, incorporate “pathos” in their names, and focus on disease prevention or treatment.
However, all of you now know that salutogenesis focuses exactly on concepts opposite to modern medicine – not the pathogenesis but instead the health factors that keep us in good health. It focuses on strategies and lifestyle choices that empower individuals to experience the full spectrum of the human experience.
From a chiropractic perspective, we recognize that the body is a self-healing, self-regulating organism. The goal of a chiropractic “intervention” is not to control, manipulate or manage the body; it is to provide positive input (spinal adjustments) to the body to allow for ideal adaptability and functionality within the nervous system. I don’t know that I’m always so great at explaining this to you all, but it’s true.
By correcting structural shifts in the spine and addressing lifestyle issues, chiropractic has the tools needed to help you (and others) transform from a disease-centered system to one that indeed gives birth to health.