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The Reality Check: A quest to understand Chiropractic from the inside out
The Reality Check is about the effects of chiropractic care. It describes in easy to understand language what happens in the brain when a chiropractor adjusts dysfunctional segments in your spine. It is based on cutting edge research performed over the past two decades and was written by Dr Heidi Haavik, a pioneering scientist who has been instrumental in establishing the link between neuroscience and chiropractic.
This book is a must read for anyone who is interested in what happens in the body when a chiropractor adjusts your spine, and is an essential resource for anyone in the chiropractic community.
This book is a must read for anyone who is interested in what happens in the body when a chiropractor adjusts your spine, and is an essential resource for anyone in the chiropractic community.
- GenresNonfictionScience
118 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
51 people are currently reading
215 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
August 15, 2022
In this chiropractic primer, Dr. Haavik offers an outline of the philosophy of chiropractic with current research science. She distills some complex physiology into accessible concepts and clearly addresses some of the more common public misunderstandings about chiropractic. As there are more references listed than pages in the book, this is both a good reference for non-DCs as well as a research pool for DCs looking for dive a bit deeper.
"To become a chiropractor is to step away from the acceptance and comfort of mainstream medicine, and to step into the firing line with the knowledge that if you don't, and other's don't, the world will be worse off."
"To become a chiropractor is to step away from the acceptance and comfort of mainstream medicine, and to step into the firing line with the knowledge that if you don't, and other's don't, the world will be worse off."
June 21, 2024
This book is basically just a long essay. Super quick read. As someone who has done their extra research as to what an adjustment does, I didn’t learn any crazy novel information from this. But this book is definitely the most concise and best summarized work about what an adjustment does. Which for some reason is hard to find in our profession. Lots of references, which is good. Could’ve been a little more academic, but I believe the target audience was not people who need my level of detail.
May 23, 2022
The only thing i liked was the effect of chiro on brain. Tha analogy of walking in your house in dark without lights vs with lights was good. Your own body, if you lose touch a part can be like the dark alley where you bump into your cycle, even though you walk by it everyday.
Rest was utter waste of time to read.
Rest was utter waste of time to read.
Read
September 30, 2019Very interesting to read about the influence of the mind to our movements. Surprising and very helpful for the understanding of chiropractic therapy. As seen on the table of the waiting area of my chiropractioner, and borrowed to read during my holiday. Happy to have read it.
February 24, 2021
Great book
This is a very good book for Chiropractors, Osteopath and others health therapist that would like to develop to expand their knowledge about the spine function and the benefits that a regular adjustment can provide to our health.
This is a very good book for Chiropractors, Osteopath and others health therapist that would like to develop to expand their knowledge about the spine function and the benefits that a regular adjustment can provide to our health.
April 25, 2023
I thought the book was very educational and interesting. It explains chiropractic in away anyone can understand. She includes a lot of great illustrations and studies within. Would definitely recommend if you are interested in the field of chiropractic.
October 6, 2024
What you think you know and see are reality might not be the 100% reality... The spine correction will get you somewhere you feel better. Chiropractic treatment should be in primary care for all ages from baby to the elderly.
July 27, 2017
A pretty good read, still not as clear at explaining to the peeps reading it.
September 27, 2018
A good read for any Chiropractor and patient wanting to know a little more about how the chiropractic adjustment affects our neurology.
January 12, 2023
Very important book for the chiropractic profession. We need others like it.
January 15, 2025
Grateful for this volume on chiropractic research and I hope these efforts continue in our field!
May 28, 2025
Must read for anyone curious about true chiropractic
June 4, 2019
I enjoyed that she shared her research and gave different perspectives when looking at chiropractic care.
November 23, 2016
Dr. Heidi Haavik of New Zealand comes from a family of doctors. Her parents were doctors and her great-grandfather was one of the first graduates of Palmer College, which is Chiropractic’s founding college, in the early 1920’s. So, it is not surprising that Heidi has such an affinity for chiropractic care, and has spent her entire adult life as a chiropractor. In the last 15 years Heidi and her research team have been studying chiropractic care with an emphasis on neurology and their findings are the centerpiece of The Reality Check.
The Reality Check is a short and easy read about one of the most confusing and controversial issues in chiropractic medicine. The brainchild of Dr. Heidi Haavik and her research team in New Zealand, The Reality Check seeks to explain “subluxations,” or spinal dysfunction. And its thesis, written from a neuroscientific point of view, is to help us better understand why this condition wreaks so much havoc on the body.
A fancy term for “spinal dysfunction,” subluxations were once thought to be bones that were “out of place” or “stuck.” However, this old-school way of defining subluxations is no longer true, according to modern-day scientists. “A better explanation,” says Dr. Haavik is that “some of the small muscles that attach to individual vertebrae have become tight...the tight muscles twist the vertebrae so that certain parts of the vertebrae are more prominent and palpate as ‘misaligned’ or ‘stuck.’” When we visit a chiropractor, we are seeking a spinal adjustment to fix these subluxations.
For many of us, we notice certain improvements in the body when these adjustments are made. Greater range of motion, improved core strength, and even loss of pain, to name a few. So, what is actually happening in the body to make these sorts of “hocus pocus” changes occur?
According to Dr. Haavik and her team, it all has to do with what happens inside your brain when these corrections or “adjustments” are made to these subluxations. And what Haavik and her team are reporting after almost two decades of research is that the brain is receiving stronger signals from the spinal cord and peripheral nervous system thus allowing better motor control and timing amongst opposing muscle groups.
While subluxations and the brain are the main reasons for writing The Reality Check, I picked up a lot of information along the way about pain, muscles and anatomy that helped me understand the human body better. With so many opinions floating around on chiropractic care, a little briefing from The Reality Check sure did help clear the air. I never imagined myself reading a book on chiropractic care much less one that included information in regards to the nervous system, but sometimes you must think and act like a chiropractor to expand your mind and body.
“To become a chiropractor is to step away from acceptance and comfort of mainstream medicine, and to step into the firing line with knowledge that if you don’t, and others don’t, the world will be worse off.” -Dr. Heidi Haavik
The Reality Check is a short and easy read about one of the most confusing and controversial issues in chiropractic medicine. The brainchild of Dr. Heidi Haavik and her research team in New Zealand, The Reality Check seeks to explain “subluxations,” or spinal dysfunction. And its thesis, written from a neuroscientific point of view, is to help us better understand why this condition wreaks so much havoc on the body.
A fancy term for “spinal dysfunction,” subluxations were once thought to be bones that were “out of place” or “stuck.” However, this old-school way of defining subluxations is no longer true, according to modern-day scientists. “A better explanation,” says Dr. Haavik is that “some of the small muscles that attach to individual vertebrae have become tight...the tight muscles twist the vertebrae so that certain parts of the vertebrae are more prominent and palpate as ‘misaligned’ or ‘stuck.’” When we visit a chiropractor, we are seeking a spinal adjustment to fix these subluxations.
For many of us, we notice certain improvements in the body when these adjustments are made. Greater range of motion, improved core strength, and even loss of pain, to name a few. So, what is actually happening in the body to make these sorts of “hocus pocus” changes occur?
According to Dr. Haavik and her team, it all has to do with what happens inside your brain when these corrections or “adjustments” are made to these subluxations. And what Haavik and her team are reporting after almost two decades of research is that the brain is receiving stronger signals from the spinal cord and peripheral nervous system thus allowing better motor control and timing amongst opposing muscle groups.
While subluxations and the brain are the main reasons for writing The Reality Check, I picked up a lot of information along the way about pain, muscles and anatomy that helped me understand the human body better. With so many opinions floating around on chiropractic care, a little briefing from The Reality Check sure did help clear the air. I never imagined myself reading a book on chiropractic care much less one that included information in regards to the nervous system, but sometimes you must think and act like a chiropractor to expand your mind and body.
“To become a chiropractor is to step away from acceptance and comfort of mainstream medicine, and to step into the firing line with knowledge that if you don’t, and others don’t, the world will be worse off.” -Dr. Heidi Haavik
July 12, 2024
A miniature, but dignified explanation of the mechanical and physiological role chiropractic has on the brain. The author defines this role from a dynamic point of view (bones moving in a less-than-ideal way) as opposed to simply putting bones back in place. Furthermore, the author describes how intervertebral muscles and ligaments play a role in maladaptive movement. Hence, vertebral augmentation is explained regarding how it and the spine modulate the brain's interpretation of what the author defines as our "inner reality". Our inner reality is all the information that is picked up by the spine from the peripheral nervous system and then is perceived by the brain. This, in turn, appears to play a constant, pivotal role in brain plasticity. Brain plasticity, in turn, will affect muscle activation. According to the author, people with chronic pain have abnormal muscle activation, particularly in their antagonistic muscles. Furthermore, chiropractic, or vertebral subluxation, is meant to change the way muscles are activated by the brain via spine adjustments.
My favorite chapter was on multisensory integration. Here, the author hints at the role the basal ganglia and the cerebellum have on sensory processing and movement (motor subroutines). Hence, it appears these brain structures are critical in filtering and processing our "inner reality", which in turn, will affect the way we perceive pain and muscle activation. This chapter was far too short.
My favorite chapter was on multisensory integration. Here, the author hints at the role the basal ganglia and the cerebellum have on sensory processing and movement (motor subroutines). Hence, it appears these brain structures are critical in filtering and processing our "inner reality", which in turn, will affect the way we perceive pain and muscle activation. This chapter was far too short.
September 4, 2015
I have bought 4 of these books. I gave 2 as gifts and I'm currently lending my copies to friends and students.
The Reality Check: A quest to understand Chiropractic from the inside out is a fantastic and yet simple book. You can finish it quite quickly or take months of study if you delve into the references and immerse yourself in the contents of it. Heidi Haavik explains in a very understandable language what happens in your brain when your spinal health is not in it's optimal state and when a chiropractor adjusts it.
It is a must read to anyone interested in the neurophysiology of the vertebral subluxation and how it affects your health.
I'm not sure how it would be for a lay person, but it is a incredible book for students of chiropractic and chiropractors alike.
The Reality Check: A quest to understand Chiropractic from the inside out is a fantastic and yet simple book. You can finish it quite quickly or take months of study if you delve into the references and immerse yourself in the contents of it. Heidi Haavik explains in a very understandable language what happens in your brain when your spinal health is not in it's optimal state and when a chiropractor adjusts it.
It is a must read to anyone interested in the neurophysiology of the vertebral subluxation and how it affects your health.
I'm not sure how it would be for a lay person, but it is a incredible book for students of chiropractic and chiropractors alike.
March 9, 2015
My sister's a chiropractor, and she recommended I read this. I know nothing about the field, and this book worked well as an introduction both to chiropractics as a whole and the author's own research. The text is easy to follow - it's clearly aimed at the layperson, with simple illustrations and explanations of terms.
I have to admit I found the introductory section a little off-putting (it verges on self-congratulatory) but once Haavik gets to the science I became a lot more interested. To her credit, there's a heavy emphasis on research for such a short book, and each claim is backed up with references to peer-reviewed literature which gets thumbs-up from me. Granted, I'm not qualified to assess the research myself, but I appreciate the effort and Haavik discusses some interesting ideas and some very interesting studies.
I have to admit I found the introductory section a little off-putting (it verges on self-congratulatory) but once Haavik gets to the science I became a lot more interested. To her credit, there's a heavy emphasis on research for such a short book, and each claim is backed up with references to peer-reviewed literature which gets thumbs-up from me. Granted, I'm not qualified to assess the research myself, but I appreciate the effort and Haavik discusses some interesting ideas and some very interesting studies.
August 20, 2024
As a chiropractic student, this is the best well-researched explanation I’ve seen of how chiropractic works and why if benefits people in the way it does.
April 12, 2017
nice short book, that provides scientific evidence of the benefits of chiropractic care. I wasn't a huge fan of the writing style (casual and scientific), words like "cool" just don't belong in this book lol. but the knowledge is solid.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews