Healing vs. Symptom Treatment
Do we silence the alarm, or do we put out the fire? Symptom treatment and healing represent two fundamentally different approaches to health. Understanding the distinction is the difference between temporary relief and lasting transformation.
Symptom treatment is focused on suppression. It addresses the immediate discomfort—the headache, the inflammation, or the anxiety—without investigating why it appeared in the first place.
The goal is comfort and functionality through the use of medications or procedures that turn off a specific signal.
If you have a broken leg or a life-threatening infection, you need immediate intervention to manage pain and prevent further damage.
The risk here is that chronic reliance on symptom management can mask underlying issues, allowing them to worsen over time while the alarm system is muted.
Healing is a process, not an event. In chiropractic, healing focuses on releasing subluxation and its root causes of chronic stress, environmental toxins, and emotional trauma, in order to resolve the imbalance at its source.
The goal is the restoration of full expression of the body’s innate healing intelligence. Chiropractic adjustments create nervous system regulation, thereby addressing the “why” behind the “what.”
It leads to sustainable, long-term vitality and often resolves multiple issues simultaneously because it treats the body as an interconnected system.
Chiropractic requires patience, discipline, and a willingness to confront uncomfortable feelings and symptoms as you heal. It’s part of the process. Healing takes courage.
True health isn’t just the absence of symptoms, it’s the presence of vitality. When we stop merely managing our symptoms and conditions, when we stop complaining and talking about them endlessly, when we stop repeating day in and day out, “I have this and I have that,” and instead start nurturing and healing our whole selves, we move from just surviving to truly thriving.
Healing is a choice that anyone can make. Make the choice and watch the miracle of your life unfold.
Dr. Gerard Perrella was drawn to becoming a chiropractor after successful treatment of a spinal injury that he incurred from playing football in junior high school. Unable to be helped by an orthopedist, a neighbor recommended he see a Doctor of Chiropractic. After just a few visits, the injury had healed, and other health issues were improving. He quickly realized that chiropractic offered so much more than just pain relief.
Dr. Perrella completed his pre-Chiropractic studies at New Mexico State University, majoring in electrical engineering and chemistry, and received his Doctor of Chiropractic degree from New York Chiropractic College (NYCC). Shortly after graduating, he was asked by the college to train as the first chiropractic resident in the history of the profession. After successfully completing the residency program, he was asked to stay on as an associate director at NYCC's Greenvale Outpatient Facility, where he assisted in the training of hundreds of Chiropractic interns. During this period, Dr. Perrella was exposed to numerous Chiropractors with 20, 30, and 40 years of practice experience. They instilled in him a passion and love of Chiropractic that has remained with him throughout his career.
After practicing in New York and North Carolina, Dr. Perrella moved to New Jersey and is very excited to be joining the Upper Cervical Chiropractic of Monmouth team. He is excited to join a practice that is committed to practicing traditional subluxation-based Chiropractic. Dr. Perrella firmly believes in Chiropractic's role as a “total-body” healing and wellness delivery system that frees the ability of mind and body to express their fullest potential through the correction of vertebral subluxation.
In his spare time, Dr. Perrella enjoys his practice of Taiji, Yoga, Qigong, Meditation, cooking and continued personal and professional development.
