The Financial Benefits of Chiropractic Healthcare

The Financial Benefits of Chiropractic Healthcare

Let’s face it, sickness or pain are the largest motivators for visiting a doctor’s office. Although the case for preventative care can be made, its importance is often overlooked. The benefits far outweigh the sacrifices, however, unless struck with a health crisis we don’t prioritize our health until after the problem has occurred. We pursue our careers, raise our families and try to make our mark in life with little emphasis on the very thing that will stop us dead in our tracks if lost…our health. But, what if we could make a case on how neglecting your health could actually affect your pocketbooks? Would that help get your attention?

There are definitive economic benefits to preventative health care including a decrease in health care cost and an increase in work productivity. Prevention can reduce the significant economic burden of disease in addition to improving the length and quality of people’s lives. Treatment, lost productivity, and health care costs are significant burdens to the economy, families, and businesses. According to the U.S. Surgeon General, the following examples show why prevention is the best buy in health:

• A 5 percent reduction in the prevalence of hypertension (high blood pressure) would save $25 billion in 5 years.
• A 1 percent reduction in weight, blood pressure, glucose, and cholesterol risk factors would save $83 to $103 annually in medical costs per person.

• Increasing the use of preventive services, including tobacco cessation screening, alcohol abuse screening, and aspirin use, to 90 percent of the recommended levels could save $3.7 billion annually in medical costs.
• Medical costs are reduced by approximately $3.27 for every dollar spent on workplace wellness programs, according to a recent study.
• Reducing the average population sodium intake to 2,300 milligrams per day could save $18 billion in health care costs annually.
• Asthma, high blood pressure, smoking, and obesity each reduce annual productivity by between $200 and $440 per person.
• Research from the Milken Institute suggests that a modest reduction in avoidable risk factors could lead to a gain of more than $1 trillion annually in labor supply and efficiency by 2023.

Prevention policies and programs are usually cost-effective, reduce health care costs, and improve productivity. With billions of dollars spent each year attending to the sick, the cost continues to rise each year. Health care is one of the largest expenditures in our country and it’s no wonder why. How can we call our system “health care” when it practices just the opposite? Our failures demand we take a more preventative, practical approach.

The chiropractic approach to health looks to the cause of your symptoms thereby helping to prevent or decrease their occurrence. Doctors of Chiropractic are also highly trained in helping you make the right choices in your diet, daily exercise routine, and overall health regimen.

Symptoms are your body’s way of telling you something is wrong and with every symptom, there has to be a cause. Something as simple as sitting or standing all day can cause stress to your spine and extremities. This stress can cause joint restrictions, otherwise known as “joint dysfunctions” many times without you even knowing it. When spinal joints become restricted in movement, the rest of the body can be affected in ways you never thought possible. These joint restrictions can cause a lack of motion that can cause an interruption of the nerve communication from the brain to the body. This interruption in nerve communication can inhibit your performance and your body’s ability to function at its best often resulting is often pain or discomfort.

Chiropractors apply a gentle, targeted movement to the restricted joints to improve the motion of the body’s spinal column and extremities, thereby enhancing nerve function. This highly controlled procedure is known as a chiropractic adjustment. Chiropractic isn’t just for back pain. Many symptoms and inflammatory processes within the body can be contributed to joint restrictions within the spine. Whether you’re suffering from pain or not, make chiropractic a part of your wellness lifestyle and have your spine checked for joint dysfunctions. Keeping your body functioning at its peak is one of the best investments you will ever make.

Chiropractic is widely recognized as one of the safest, drugfree, non-invasive forms of health care available for all ages. More and more people are experiencing the benefits of routine chiropractic care than ever before. They are learning that chiropractic makes a much better vitamin than it does an aspirin. Discover how millions of Americans have not only found relief from pain, but also a pathway to wellness without the use of unnecessary drugs or surgery through the chiropractic and economic approach to healthcare.

_{Dr. Dallas Humble is a chiropractor, author, and executive consultant for various national alternative healthcare organizations. For more information email drdhumble@gmail.com.}