A Chiropractor In Minneapolis Explains Holistic Treatments
What does holistic chiropractic mean?
Hi...my name is Dr. Harlan Mittag and I'm the founder of Mittag Holistic Chiropractic in Minneapolis and St. Louis Park, Minnesota.
Since the name of my clinic is Mittag Holistic Chiropractic and you hear the word holistic a lot these days, many people ask me what it means.
What is holistic?
Holistic means that you look for and treat the cause or causes of a problem. Lets take an example.
Lets take the example of someone who gets tension headaches most days, towards the end of the day, and mostly on work days after sitting in front of a computer all day long. I know from experience that these headaches often arise from a combination of mechanical stress to the neck and stress.
The non-holistic solution to these headaches is to take an ibuprofen. The problem with this solution is that it only temporarily solves the headache. It doesnt guarantee that you wont get another headache the next day, and need yet another ibuprofen. That wouldnt be that bad except that ibuprofen has been shown to cause gastrointestinal problems like bleeding ulcers and more.
The holistic approach would aim at resolving the underlying cause or causes of the headaches. And in this case there are likely a number of causes. Sitting in a bad position all day long puts strain on the neck. So adjusting the work station for comfort and correct posture is necessary. Relieving the accumulated muscle tension in the neck and releasing the pressure in the upper joints of the neck that actually cause the headaches would require chiropractic treatments. If it was stressful at work, an herbal combination for stress would lessen the impact of the stress on the body. A mineral combination would help keep muscles relaxed and break the cycle of tension. These are just examples to give you an idea of what holistic treatment would be like.
In any holistic approach, the approach centers on the patient and everything that is contributing to the specific problem. For instance you cant use the same formula for everyone with tension headaches in holistic care. The care is customized to whatever that patient needs.