Did you ever play the game Clue while growing up? You know, the game that has Colonel Mustard, Miss Scarlet, Professor Plum, and Mrs. Peacock? The object of the game is to solve a murder mystery based on clues. Each player competes to find clues to determine first which character is guilty of the crime. What a chiropractor does is very similar to the premise for the game Clue. Our body reveals a series of clues that tell the doctor what the symptoms mean. In other words, a chiropractor does not diagnose and treat symptoms (clues). Instead, he or she evaluates all the symptoms (clues) to find the root cause of the problem.

This is not to say that medical doctors are wrong, only that their specialty is very different from that of a chiropractor. Doctors of Chiropractic rely on the symptoms and history of a patient to determine why they are experiencing a problem. Chiropractors focus on lifestyle factors, past injuries, other symptoms that may not appear related, and family history to solve the pain mystery. While a patient is seeking immediate relief from pain, they also discover that finding out the underlying reasons for the pain will help prevent it from returning. A chiropractor works to resolve the immediate problem of the pain and also providing a long-term solution as well.

The ultimate goal of chiropractic care is providing each patient with a lifetime of wellness. Most patients arrive with a problem, only to realize later the countless benefits of chiropractic. What began as a last resort for pain relief, turns into a partnership that elevates their quality of life. It also shifts them from disease care to wellness care.

Ultimately the choice in maintaining our health rests in our own hands. We can let the clues keep mounting, treat them as they arise with medications, or seek to change our lives through accountability and the desire to understand the clues and solve our health problems once and for all.