Editorial
Front Page - Friday, November 27, 2009
Morris Family Chiropractors say they move the bone and God does the healing
David Laprad
Most people think of chiropractors as the people to see when there’s more snap, crackle and pop in their backs than their bowls of Rice Crispies. But Drs. John and Lisa Morris of Morris Family Chiropractic in Chattanooga say the benefits of their care can extend beyond back and neck pain to encompass your entire physical well-being.
“We believe the body is self-healing,” says John, “and we try to bring out that innate capacity. Our job is to get the body to do what it was designed to do.”
Life, of course, is hard on the human body. Lisa, John’s wife, says most 5-year-olds have already fallen about 5,000 times, which can knock a child’s spine out of whack and interrupt the communication pathways within him. Since his body is unaware it needs to activate its healing processes, issues affecting nearly every part of him can linger.
John says chiropractic services, however, can bring about a dramatic reversal. “We focus on finding and removing the cause of a problem versus addressing the symptoms,” he says, contrasting his practice to traditional medicine.
Does this mean men who suffer from ED should toss out their little blue pills and head straight to a chiropractor? What about people who have high blood pressure or suffer from indigestion? Sitting in the lobby of his office, John points to a brochure with a diagram of the human spine and a list of the structures, organs and body functions spinal misalignments can affect. The list is as long as the drawing of the spine.
“When chiropractic first began, it was a broad-spectrum profession. Recently, it’s been pigeonholed into back and neck pain because insurance companies recognize that element of what we do,” he says. “So someone might come in with back pain and then mention having a hiatal hernia.”
To live a better quality life, John and Lisa recommend beginning chiropractic care at a young age. In fact, they frequently adjust babies fresh out of the womb.
“Everyone focuses on the mother, but what about the baby? The birth process is traumatic for him, too,” says Lisa. “We tend to think allergies and ear infections are common in children, but those things can result from nerve interference that occurs during the birth process. Our mission is to remove that so their little bodies can work at their optimum potential.”
Both Morises are board certified pediatric chiropractors and fellows of the International Pediatric Chiropractic Association, and believe so strongly in care for the young, they adjusted their four children at birth. John is also board certified to do extremity adjustments, such as those meant to address sports injuries and carpal tunnel.
The two met at UTC, where John was studying pre-med and Lisa was majoring in criminal justice. At the time, she was receiving treatment from a chiropractor following a car accident. As John accompanied Lisa to her appointments and began to absorb the philosophy of the profession, he fell in love with what he learned.
In the same manner, Lisa received more than a spinal adjustment; her visits also altered her life plan.
“When God has a plan for you, He directs you into it,” she says. “The crash was Him telling me I was going to the wrong classes. My chiropractor helped me so much, I went into it myself.”
The next stop for John and Lisa was Life University in Marietta, Ga., which offers studies in chiropractic. While there, they married and started talking about where they wanted to set up shop. John scoured East Tennessee for a location and ended up at the corner of East Brainerd and Gunbarrel Roads, where he and Lisa remain today.
In the 10 years the Morrises have been in practice, they have not only developed a locally respected operation, but have also received recognition as two of the top chiropractors in the country.
To them, it was all a part of a plan larger than themselves. Their belief in that design is evident on a sign outside their office, which reads, “I move the bone and God does the healing.”
“We’ve seen chiropractic transform so many lives for the better that it’s easy to get caught up in the idea that we did it,” John says. “But it wasn’t necessarily my wife or me; it was the power that animates the living world.”
In closing, Lisa tells her story about a man whose orthopedist had told him he’d have to undergo surgery to get relief from pain he was experiencing. While stopped at a red light outside their office, she says, he prayed for guidance and then saw the sign. Nine months of treatment and zero surgeries later, says Lisa, the man is pain free.
“If a nerve runs to it, then a chiropractor can help it,” she says.
For more information, visit www.morrisfamilychiropractic.
com.
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