Retracing: Your Body’s Memory

Retracing is a phenomenon of healing usually associated with expressive or vitalistic healing arts.

What do we mean by retracing in West Des Moines? Primarily it implies re-experiencing or the reawakening of old symptoms, These symptoms can include pain, memories and even emotions for more complete healing.  Even though these experiences are part of the healing process, they may cause you unnecessary concern if not fully understood.

When you under go chiropractic care, you may start to exhibit symptoms that have not manifested themselves for months, or even years. A patient's first impression is that they are becoming worse, but rather they are retracing the several stages through which their disease, pain or health concern progressed in the first place.

In retracing, an understanding of time is essential to recognizing the process of healing. If a health concern has been in progress for a number of years, the patient should not expect to regain the normal state within a few days.

Since it took time for the condition to impact your health, it also takes time to retrace from the abnormal state back to a healthy state.

Response Varies

The time spent in recovery does not always equal the time developing the disease. In general, acute diseases respond rather rapidly, while chronic cases might be slower to respond to chiropractic care.

Some conditions show very extensive involvement of tissues, while others show very little involvement of tissues. Regardless, your tissue structure must retrace the various steps through which it passed through in order to assume a normal condition.

What We Do

As neurologically-based chiropractors, we are thoroughly trained to detect the abnormal positions of the vertebrae in the spine. We perform a very specific technique of restoring these vertebrae to their normal positions.

A common question is why we can't just return the vertebra immediately to its normal position, therefore immediately restoring the tissue to a healthy state. What actually happens when we do an adjustment in our office is the vertebra are returned towards their normal position. This adjustment allows the ligaments and muscles an opportunity to regain, in part, their normal tone. This process then permits them to hold the vertebra in a more normal state.

Points To Remember

The spine and even the body in general are subject to more or less strain during everyday life, making it possible that the vertebra may recede towards its old abnormal position. This then requires another adjustment.

It's important to keep in mind that tissues often must be rebuilt in order for the vertebra to hold its normal position. In addition, tissues that have perhaps for years assumed an abnormal condition, due to the gradually increasing pressure upon the nerve fibers, must be allowed time to return through the various stages they have passed in the production of the abnormality.

This all takes time, and patience becomes critical to the healing process. Time and repetition is needed to allow the tissues to heal and repair.

It is essential for this period of retracing to be passed through in order to achieve the end goal. Don't allow any temporary symptoms to discourage you and prevent you from achieving your ultimate health!