The Brown Cow Eats Green Grass and Gives White Milk.

Editor's note. Dr. Sanford Black was a 1947 graduate of the Palmer School of Chiropractic. As a longstanding practicing Blair practitioner, Dr. Black was one of those "gentle" giants in chiropractic. The type that had an unshakable certainty about chiropractic and left a lengthened shadow on our profession. My favorite memory of Dr. Black is when I checked him one day and he had lost his adjustment. Just at the moment I was setting up on him, he said I was the 5th chiropractor to ever adjust him. Drs. B.J. Palmer, Sterling Pruitt Sr., Mary Ann Pruitt, and Bill Blair were the other four. I have never been more honored and nervous at the same time. Dr. Black has passed away, but he left me with about eight small essays on chiropractic philosophy. Today's post is the first and it is my honor to keep a small part of his legacy alive.

Chiropractic Philosophy

By Dr. Sanford Black

In Chiropractic Philosophy we understand that there are no separate and independent major systems within the human body. No separate or isolated actions or function can occur without affecting all other systems of the body.

In a patient that is critically ill, when one major system begins to fail, it will affect all other systems to the extent that measurable responses can foretell the failure of the body to respond.

As a student in Chiropractic Philosophy class, I asked a question, “When should you stop adjusting a critically ill patient?” The professor responded by asking me the question, “How young a patient can a Chiropractor adjust?” To both questions his answer was: “It always helps if the patient is breathing.”

Yes, it is always indicated to adjust Vertebral Subluxations whenever THEY ARE DETECTED. The Innate response must be allowed to occur. Sometimes that response can be so very intense and strong so as to startle the Chiropractor.

So many times we find that we tend to adjust a patient with only one result in mind. For instance, to get rid of a headache or relieve muscle spasm. We have all seen patients that have been under the care of a Chiropractor for a very long time and have been adjusted symptomatically for the relief of the acute system that may have been present. The patient feels bad, goes in to their Chiropractor and feels better after an adjustment and then only returns when another symptom or the same one shows up.

Regardless of the new patient’s initial complaint, the modern Chiropractor must be looking at the patient as a whole – as a complete functioning organism. The patient’s initial complaint is quite often only the visible tip of the traditional iceberg. In taking the history, constant attention must be paid to the chronicity of each complaint. The presence of Vertebral Subluxation must be noted, verified and considered to be affecting the whole organism. Careful case management during the process of recovery will educate the patient to know what is occurring within all their body systems and will help them to realize that their return to health is a direct result of the correction of their Vertebral Subluxation. The patient will then realize that their return to health is an expected natural result, just like when the brown cow eats green grass and give white milk.