– by Doreen Marion Gee –
This is the third in a six-part series of profiles on some great local businesses that are working to keep us all in good health.
“Chiropractic is the science of the cause of things natural … of how to analyze certain conditions quickly back to the cause”: B.J. Palmer, the Developer of Chiropractic. The staff at Island Family Chiropractic in Saanichton are using their expertise to be health detectives, looking for the roots of problems and correcting them. And they want people to understand the dynamics of their invaluable health service that is raising the quality of life for many people in our community.
Island Family Chiropractic is home to two highly skilled chiropractors, Dr. Misty Watson and Dr. Randy Kerr. Misty has been in practice since 1998 and specializes in helping women through the stressful changes of pregnancy and birth. After forty years in the profession, Randy’s focus is chronic pain. Dr. Kerr wants people to understand the ‘what’, ‘how’ and ‘why’ of their important work at the clinic. A core belief in chiropractic is that health comes from within. “We are not just here for head, neck or back pain. Chiropractic is one hundred percent about the nervous system”, which controls everything in our body, including our ability to function within and adapt to the environment.
“What we deal with, and what causes all the troubles we see, is stress” says Randy. This can be physical, emotional or chemical stress. Sometimes these stresses overwhelm the nervous system, causing interference or irritation within it. “This can set up stuck patterns in the nervous system which lead to physical compensations and dysfunctions in the body. This is what brings people to our office.”
Now to the detective work: “We get in and find where the problem is happening. Once you deal with the underlying problem, the body and the nervous system start functioning at a better level. This is where chiropractic shines!” How do you do that?, I ask. The doctors use an instrument-based, non-invasive adjusting technique on the spinal column called the Torque Release Technique, rather than manual adjustments. This gentle method utilizes an “Integrator”, a device that produces an impulse which releases the stuck tension within the nervous system and produces mobilization within the spinal joint. In a nutshell: “We are clearing and opening up the nervous system by releasing the stress and tension that has blocked the nerve.” As a result the nervous system starts running the body in a different and better way and “you are allowing that person’s body to go to a place of wellness in such a beautiful natural manner.”
Randy has no magic wand; “All we are doing is allowing the body to heal itself.” He believes that, because chiropractic therapy improves nervous system functioning which in turn controls our immune system, it directly facilitates our body’s natural propensity to heal itself and to move towards wellness. Their clinic keeps up with the newest research and uses the latest technology. Clients benefit tremendously from assessment tools such as the Insight Diagnostic Spinal Scanning System, Surface Electromyography (EMG) Scan, Surface Thermography (NeuralTherm) Scan and the Heart Rate Variability (Pulse Wave Profiler) Scan.
Randy loves his job. He especially loves to help people with chronic problems, where nothing else has worked. “It never fails to amaze me that when you release the nervous system and get rid of the interference and allow it to function better, so much can change. People have less pain, more mobility. It is amazing – it’s crazy – what symptoms clear up with this treatment.” It never fails to excite him to see “a body come to life.”
The doctor-detective knows the value of his work. “My job is getting to the deep down stuck stress, getting to the real roots, giving the body the best chance it has to function well.” Misty Watson and Randy Kerr open the door to health. The body does the rest. It is simple, not rocket science. Most important, it just makes sense.
Contact: www.islandfamilychiro.ca
