Erica had been having severe and agonizing ear infections since she was six months old. So far, in a mere forty-some months of life she had been subjected to having her ear drums punctured with tubes placed in them. She had spent the majority of her life on antibiotics and various other drugs. This was a living hell of unbearable pain and sleepless nights for Erica and her parents.

Erica was almost four. Eight weeks ago this shy little girl came into my office holding the hem of her mother's skirt. Erica's mother and father were not quite sure why they had brought their child to a chiropractor's office. Her mother was only following the advice of a trusted friend who had insisted that she bring Erica to see me.

Erica's father was the first to get right to the point. "Can you cure ear infections?" He said, with a strange twist of hope and skepticism. "Actually," I said, "I cannot." Any trace of hope fell from the young couples face and the father's expression began to harden. "Then why are we here?" he asked, indicating his suspicion was being confirmed that this was all a big mistake. "I did not say that your daughter cannot get better," I said, "only that I cannot cure ear infections." In the moment of silence that followed I could feel the confusion welling up in their minds. With the fate of their precious daughter in the balance why would I be mincing words?

Because, my friend, it is imperative that you understand what chiropractic is, what it is not and why it is important to you and your child. My answer to them is my answer to you. Each of us is endowed with a potential that most never achieve. We do not achieve that potential, not because of what we lack, but because we are blocked from expressing it.

Little Erica did not suffer from ear infections because she needed holes in her eardrums. She did not suffer because she was deficient in some drug. She suffered because she was not expressing the full power and potential of life in her body. An awesome power had made this entire little girl from a single cell, but now something had impaired its complete and perfect expression.

If the lights in your kitchen suddenly all turn off you go check the circuit breaker. When a part of a person’s body is not functioning properly I also check the circuit breaker. In your body the circuit breaker is the spine. In Erica's little spine I found three subluxations or misalignments. One was at her atlas, the top vertebrae in her neck. The second was in her eighth thoracic vertebrae in the lower middle of her spine. The third was in her sacrum, the base of the spine. I adjusted Erica that day and sent them home with instructions to return in two days.

The next day I got a call from Erica's mother. "What did you do to Erica?" she asked. A brief flush of panic went through me - the kind a doctor gets when a patient asks that kind of open ended question. "Why do you ask?" I inquired. "She slept through the night and she's like a different child today!" she said, "She's more calm than I've ever seen her!"

I saw Erica at her next appointment and she was a different person. She climbed right up on the adjusting table without even being asked. Young children are so in tune with their inner wisdom before they become infected with fears, cynicism and distrust. They are still dancing and singing to the inner music of their own body. We each still have this if we would only take a moment to listen. Then we would know the truth of chiropractic. It's there within us right now.

When the block is removed, when the circuit breaker is re-set, then the power that made the body has an opportunity to heal it. Over the past eight weeks Erica's ear aches have completely disappeared. Her pediatrician cannot believe the incredible change in her condition.

So what am I saying, that chiropractic is a great treatment for earaches? No! A chiropractor only corrects the subluxation - the block to your innate power to be well. Regular correction of subluxations is imperative to expressing the full potential of your life. Nothing else corrects the subluxation, no pill, no form of stretching, only the chiropractic adjustment.

Dr. Greenwood has been in practice in the valley for over 15 years. Along with his practice he also operates an Aikido martial arts school from The Greenwood Center. For more information on receiving principle centered chiropractic care, call Dr. Greenwood's office at (951) 600-0550.