Chiropractice
A healthy lifestyle for ALL

Amelia Costales
Amelia Costales had always practiced the hobby of looking after herself and her loved ones in a natural way. However, Chiropractice arrived in her life almost by chance. A relative fell seriously ill due to a slipped disk, and a desperate visit to a chiropractor changed everything. For Amelia, who has been on the island for almost thirty years, it was a “great discovery”, and since then she champions this health profession which for most people is like the unknown sister of the conventional medicine we all know. The chiropractor aims to restore the body's innate capacity to heal itself through the care and maintenance of the spine, which protects the vitally important spinal chord, as Amelia reminds us: the spinal chord is an extension of the brain, and both together make up our Central Nervous System. Chiropractice is above all preventive, it does not treat specific symptoms nor pains. It searches for and acts upon the root of many potential problems, present or future. Its outlook is life-oriented, completely natural, so it does not use medicines nor surgery.

Contrary to what people may think, Chiropractice is not a newly invented science. It exists since 1895, when Daniel David Palmer, a Canadian living in the USA, discovered it. For cultural reasons, and due to a lack of tradition, this medical profession is very new and unknown in Spain, but in the USA it is the second most important therapy in the care of people's health (40% of the population goes to their chiropractor on a regular basis) and lives in harmony with conventional medicine. Chiropractors study for 6 or 7 years at Chiropractic Universities, most of them in the USA.

In our daily lives we suffer various different types of stress: physical, chemical, postural and emotional, which contribute to causing subluxations of the spine. Subluxations happen when a vertebra is displaced, puts pressure on the intervertebral disk and pinches the spinal nerve. Chiropractors intervene on these subluxations by specific adjustments to put the vertebrae back where they should be. These adjustments are carried out with their hands or with a neurological activator, for three to five minutes, and are “soft, quick, precise and painless”. It is about improving the flow of vital energy that circulates between the brain and the rest of the organism, modifying information at a cellular level so that a degenerative process can turn into a regenerative one. This is why people like Amelia insist on the benefits of this natural science, which as well as improving how the nervous system functions also aims to inform and educate the patient, advising on healthy posture and lifestyle habits.

According to Amelia, “we are not well informed and tend not to take control of our health. We have lost the connection with our own body, and we only react and remember it when we fall sick or feel pain, but we do not take into account how important PREVENTION and MAINTENANCE are. We all need to regain control, wherever possible, of the changes in our health, since within us lies the best laboratory in the world, no doubt about it. To stay healthy is the responsibility of each and every one of us.”

Amelia believes that, among others, the following golden rules need to be followed: drink water, eat good food, rest, be in contact with nature, exercise, maintain a positive mental attitude and emotional balance and, especially, keep a good SPINAL HYGIENE (= care and maintenance of the spine). In 2005, Amelia organized a chiropractic team and started a travelling practice, and four years later “El árbol de la Vida” (“The Tree of Life”) is open in Ibiza, Santa Gertrudis and Formentera.

Since being born until old age, we ALL would benefit from receiving regular chiropractic care: people who suffer discomfort can improve their situation, and those who are well can maintain themselves that way.

“ El árbol de la Vida” offers a free talk every Monday at 8.30 pm at the Ibiza practice, for which you need to book your place by calling 971 190 130 or the mobile number 661 21 21 19.

Amelia is sure about it: “it is the best investment we can make in favour our own health”.

Texto: Jordi Canut Martín