The Story of Doug Harkey

The newspapers carried a story last year that I paid particular attention to, since it directly regarded my profession. It was the story of Doug Harkey and it is one that should be told to everyone with questions about chiropractic.

Doug Harkey lost vision in his left eye around 1998 due to a degenerative disease of the retina called retinitis pigmentosis. While he maintained vision in his right eye, his vision was completely lost in the other until 2008.

On January 3, 2008, to be exact, Doug’s life changed. On that day, Harkey visited Dr. Tim Stackis, a chiropractor in Iowa. He was hesistant to proceed with chiropractic care, but gave it a try after attending a new patient class conducted by Dr. Stackis.

Dr. Stackis performed an adjustment in his office, causing Harkey’s blind eye to begin watering for a period of 45 minutes. After leaving the office, Harkey went to a friend’s house. Due to the watering, Harkey wiped his eyes. When he removed his hands, he was surprised to find that his vision had been restored to his left eye after 12 years.

This type of story is not uncommon in the world of chiropractic care. In fact, I have personally witnessed people with life altering problems become well again with simple series of adjustments. In a profession thought of mainly for back and neck pain, it is important to realize the true nature of chiropractic.

While it is a great tool for degenerative conditions within the neck and spine, it is also a tool used to restore nerve function within the body. Your nervous system is made up of the brain, the spinal cord, and a network of nerves running to every cell, tissue, and organ in your body. The messages that travel within that system are your life line. Without being able to transmit those messages, you could not continue to live.

In the case of Doug Harkey, medical professionals are baffled at how he regained his sight. In the field of chiropractic, the mystery has already been solved.

Since it is vitally important that your nerves are able to carry messages to your body, what happens when the messages are hindered or blocked all together? As you may surmise, the function of the receiving party of those messages would not be able to carry out its function.

You have 24 bones that make up your spine. Between each bone, nerves exit through small holes and carry messages to specific parts of your body. What you may not know is that your spine is constantly working to stay stable. It does this by allowing bones to shift positions in order to create the needed stability in your spine. When a bone shifts out of location, it is called a subluxation.

When a bone in your spine is subluxated, it creates pressure on the nerves that are exiting between the spinal bones. This pressure can reduce the nerves ability to carry messages transmitted from your brain. The resulting problems are directly related to a lack of information getting to its intended target.

In the case of Doug Harkey, it’s obvious which part of his body wasn’t “getting the message.” So what happens when other parts of your body can’t get the message? This is the basis of chiropractic care. The smartest doctor in all the land is inside of you, working 24 hours a day, to keep you happy and healthy. Chiropractic care allows your nervous system to function uninhibited, restoring all the tools your body needs to heal from the inside out.

And you may ask, “Does it really work?”

Just ask Doug Harkey.