Chiropractic Perspectives: From Child to Adult

This past week I had the pleasure of being part of the Lawton Chiles Middle School 7th grade health fair where I talked to students throughout the day about chiropractic. While it was great to see all the different health booths set up, it really was interesting talking with the kids. As the title of this blog says, kids really do say the darnedest things.

For those of you who have been to a chiropractor, you may have talked with people and shared your experience. As you have done so, you have probably come across two types of people. Ones who seem interested and/or share similar experience to you, and of course the others, who swear off chiropractors, calling them “quacks” and claiming they serve no purpose.

Well the year is 2015, and the war on bullying is in full swing. As I walked through the halls of Lawton Chiles in Oviedo, there were anti-bullying signs, kids were having fun before the 1st bell rang, and I began to set up my booth, preparing for a swarm of 7th graders, not knowing what to expect. When the first science class started, I decided I would start talking to the kids who visited my table with one question: “Do you know what Chiropractic is?” with my follow up being, “What do you think Chiropractic is?”

I was truly amazed at the responses. Some kids did not have a clue, but were intrigued to learn (maybe it was because of the shiny Graston tools out on display or the portable chiropractic table I had set up) while others gave great answers. “Yes,” some kids would say, “It’s like physical therapy.” Or, “You do the massages,” to which I would reply that chiropractic takes elements of both massage and physical therapy. Many of answers I received were, “It’s where you go when your back has a lot of stress and tension and you leave feeling good.” Wow. This was incredible! Out of the hundreds of kids I talked to, not one of them had anything bad to say. In fact, most were super excited to tell me that they knew what chiropractic was!

So where does the paradigm shift? When does this eager-to-learn 7th grader become the bitter adult who despises chiropractic? We can’t say for sure. Maybe it is due to a bad experience down the road or maybe this is just an old school train of thought. Like I said, it is a 2015, and bullying is behind us. People are becoming more open to alternative healthcare and are looking to lead a healthier lifestyle! So I applaud you Lawton Chiles 7th graders! Keep being awesome! And to all those reading this, if you ever questioned chiropractic or had doubts, just think of what these 7th graders say, “it is where you go when your back has a lot of stress and tension.” I know most people can relate to this. And at the end of the day, how can you tell a 7th grader no?

For more information about Chiropractic and Dr. Stumpff visit www.stumpffchiro.com or you can find us near 33324 in Plantation, FL. We know that not everyone has been to a Chiropractor before or has heard things regarding chiropractic from others. Feel Free to reach out and discover is chiropractic is something that can help you. If you want to see a list of conditions treated, you can visit the site and see what else we provide in our Plantation office.