We all know there's no cure for the common cold. But, if you go to any drugstore, you'll see shelf after shelf of "cold remedies." There are medicines for head pain, chest congestion, runny noses, stuffy noses, itchy eyes, sneezing, and body aches -- for all the discomforts associated with the cold.

Curing the Common Cold?

Do these drugs cure the common cold? No. The best they can do is temporarily stop the symptoms while the body works to regain its health.

Yet, you'll often hear people rave about a particular drug. "It really knocked that cold right out of me," they'll exclaim. "I was sick as a dog and I took two of those pills and felt better the next day.

Unfortunately, these people are confusing their symptoms with the actual dis-ease taking place in their bodies. They think that because the symptom is gone, the dis-ease is gone.

They think that good health is merely the absence of symptoms. Actually, a vital part of good health is the presence of a normal flow of energy through the body -- and that depends on eliminating any interference caused by subluxations.

Warning Signals

We need to realize that symptoms are the body's way of announcing that there is a problem. When everything in the body is functioning normally, we don't have headaches or stomach problems or back pains.

If the smoke detector alarm in your home went off in the middle of the night, would you rush over and disconnect it? Once the noise was gone, would you go back to sleep again as if nothing had happened? Of course not. That's because you know that the alarm is NOT the problem. It's just a warning that a problem exists.

The same is true for symptoms. Your body will often send out a warning signal -- a symptom -- to tell you that a problem exists. If you take a couple of pills to cover up the symptom, it's like disconnecting the alarm. You haven't solved the problem you've just silenced the alarm.

That's why chiropractors don't attempt to mask or treat symptoms. Instead, they listen to the alarm and work to find the cause of dis-ease.

The Real Danger

Unfortunately, our bodies can't always warn us that there's a problem. Nerve interference can cause dis-ease without any outward sign.

Chiropractors often see people who appear perfectly healthy. Yet, an examination will show that they have serious, long-term subluxations. Outside, everything seems fine. Inside, the interference is doing its damage.

We can't ignore symptoms when they show up, but we can't afford to wait for them to show up before we see a chiropractor.